Mega industrial policy shortly 
CM: State most suitable for setting up units
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 9
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has said that very soon the state government will introduce a mega industrial policy to attract industries to the state. However, he laid emphasis on establishing pollution-free industries in hill areas and asserted that a balance between development and environment conservation was necessary. He said entrepreneurs played an important role in the development of the state.

The Chief Minister in his inaugural address of the design centre of the Everest Industries Group at Bhagwanpur, Haridwar, today said that peaceful and naturally beautiful Uttarakhand was suitable for industries with availability of skilled human resources. He said that industrialisation was initiated in the state by former Chief Minister ND Tewari and it's benefits were being reaped by all presently. He observed that investment was a must for development of industry, and industry houses from the country and abroad were likely to make investments here in the coming days.

Bahuguna called on the industry houses to extend their units to hill areas. He said that already a single window system has been introduced for industries, and SIDCUL Phase-II project has been started in Sitarganj. It would be an endeavour of the state government to ensure uninterrupted power supply to industries. He said that presently the state was facing shortage of 350 to 400 MW power.

Bahuguna said that the state government was serious about tourism development. He said Tehri Lake and its adjacent areas would be developed as tourism spots, for which Rs 250 crore has already been released.

Roorkee MLA Pradip Batra apprised the Chief Minister about various problems existing in Bhagwanpur industrial area. Also present on the occasion were Chairman, Van Vikas Nigam, Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion, Chairman, Everest Industries, Aditya Tomgi, MD Manish Sandhi and representatives of various industrial houses.

Few takers among minorities for scholarships
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 9
In the last couple of years there has been a substantial enhancement by the Central Government under the Multi Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP), but there have been few takers for the scholarships among the minorities in Uttarakhand.

Despite an allocation of Rs 6 crore for 2012-2013 for the pre-metric and post-metric scholarships, very few students from minority communities have managed to apply, and the authorities fear a major chunk of the funds would remain unutilised and may lapse.

While the pre-metric and metric scholarships for minority students under the Multi Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP) were aimed at improving the educational status of the minorities, the faulty norms and disinterest on the part of the officials at the districts and blocks have made these schemes inaccessible to the students.

“We have sizeable funds at our disposal. The number of beneficiaries from the two districts, too, has not been fully saturated. As such a sizeable chunk of the funds would remain unutilised,” said MH Khan, Secretary, Minority Affairs.

The MSDP is being implemented in the districts of Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar, where the minority population is 20 per cent and above. However, once a separate department of minority affairs was created, the issue of relaxing norms further to 15 per cent for Uttarakhand would be discussed with the Union Government.

“We had managed to convey to the Central Government to relax the norms for Uttarakhand so that the districts where the minority population was around 15 per cent, too, could be brought under the ambit of MSDP. But none of the districts managed to present the data. A survey of the minority population at around 15 per cent in the blocks, too, was suggested but the officials ignored the directives,” said Khan.

With the help of data the minority officials could have pushed the case of the state for relaxation in norms before the Steering Committee on Empowerment of Minorities for the 12th Five-Year Plan. But the exercise did not take off due to apathy of the officials

On the other hand, the Central Government has extended the deadline for utilising the first instalment funds for all the schemes under MSDP till March 2013 and submitting of utilisation certificate, after which funds under the second instalment would be released. 

Dry winter plays havoc with crops in Champawat
BD kasniyal

Pithoragarh, January 9
The winter in Champawat district has broken all previous records with temperatures dropping down to -4.5 degree Celsius. The Rabi crop is facing a grave crisis due to failure of rains in the district for the last 45 days.

“Due to no rain in the month of December, nearly 30 per cent crops of wheat, barley, peas and gram have been destroyed. These crops, sown in 11,000 hectares of area in the district, could not get the required quantity of irrigation,” said RK Singh, an agricultural scientist attached with Krishi Vigyan Kendra at Sui in Lohaghat area of the district.

According to agricultural scientists, since the month of December, there has been no rain. The district received 27 per cent less than required rain in the monsoon months. The hope of farmers for winter rain has also been shattered. “From November last year, the farmers had to remain content with a meagre 5 mm of rainfall in the district,” said Singh.

Agricultural scientists say that if the district does not get winter rains in sufficient quantity, the next crop of paddy will also get affected. “The moisture level in the soil is decreasing day by day due to scanty rain. If this situation continues, the sowing of paddy, which is to be started in the district from the month of February, will get affected,” said Singh.

The farmers’ organisations in the district have started demanding that the district be declared drought hit. Heavy frost, too, has damaged the cash crops of the farmers in the district. “Unprecedented frost this year has damaged vegetable crops heavily in the district, besides the damage to cereal crops due to no rain. The farmers are also seeking that their agricultural loans should be waived,” said Devendra Oli, a vegetable farmer in the Khetikhan area of the district.

According to weather scientists, there is no immediate possibility of rains in the next 48 hours, said HS Kushwaha, weather section in- charge at GB Pant University, Nainital.

Striking ministerial staff burn effigy of Chief Secy
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 9
The striking ministerial employees today intensified their stir by burning the effigy of the Chief Secretary, who heads the committee on pay anomalies, giving indication of intensifying their stir further.

The Uttarakhand Federation of Ministerial Services' Association today collected at the parade ground and denounced the government for failing to accept their demands. "The demand for pay parity with Uttar Pradesh employees is genuine. The government should agree to follow in principle the rules and regulations under way in Uttar Pradesh,” said TS Pundir, president Uttarakhand Federation of Ministerial Services Association.

Later in the afternoon, the employees burnt an effigy of the government at the parade ground.

During the talks with the employees a few days ago, the government had stated that the pay parity issue was not under it's jurisdiction as the state had been following the Central Government directives. "The government is fearful of taking steps as it fears it would put a burden on the government finances, but such excuses will not work as the government should take steps to check it's own expenditure," said Pundir.

The employees had earlier held talks with Uttarakhand Minister for Medical Education Harak Singh Rawat but the issue has not been resolved. The members have been on strike since December 26.

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand government has also issued the order for the enforcement of the provision of no work no pay.

The Uttarakhand Diploma Engineers' Federation has also extended support to the stir. 

CM for policy, panel to check pollution
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 9
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, while speaking at Mahadev Ganga Mahotsav at the Rishikul Ayurvedic College auditorium in Haridwar today laid emphasis on maintaining balance between development and environment conservation.

He said collective efforts were required for environment conservation. He also stressed on chalking out a policy and constituting an authority to make environment pollution free.

He said the authority would work on checking pollution at Char Dham, Piran Kaliyar and Hemkund Sahib.

Bahuguna underlined the role of the Environment Pollution Control Board and said it should work effectively by cancelling licences of industries responsible for pollution and imposing a fine on them.

He said a meeting has been convened on January 23 to review the progress in this direction. Advocating for the inclusion of environment conservation as a subject in school syllabus, he said soon an inter-school debate competition would be organised on environment subject.

Bahuguna said the Ganga and other rivers were part of the culture and environment was related to the life. He observed that in the developed countries, the rules were followed by the citizens but ironically it was not so here. Bahuguna said though the degree of environment pollution and pollution in the Ganga was not that high, yet the Ganga Treatment Plant would be executed effectively.

He said it would be tried that by next year, no untreated waste water or industrial effluents flow in the Ganga. The Chief Minister said making the state polythene free was his priority. Besides, he said more stress was being laid on organic fertilizer instead of chemical fertilizers so that no waste could pollute the Ganga.

Tourism Minister Amrita Rawat directed the officers to construct toilets at every 20 km. Also present on the occasion were area MLAs Kunwar Pranav Champion and Manoj Tiwari. 

State borrows power from Punjab
Tribune News Service

Dehradun January 9
Managing Director, Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), AK Johri said the state had bought 500 MW from Tata but the company expressed inability to supply 200 MW from Tuesday till Thursday. Tata would resume the supply for the rest of the month.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the state had to borrow 100 MW power from Punjab which will be returned to it in July with 5 per cent additional units.

While speaking about the current scenario of the power situation in the state, he said the power demand which was 31 Million Unit (MU) in a day last winter had jumped to 34 MU this season.

The share of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL) is static at average 6 MU, the share from the Centre at 10.5 MU, power purchase from outside sources 12 MU at Rs 5 crore and overdrawl of 1.8 MU. This way the availability comes around 31 MU.

To bridge the gap between demand and supply, the power cuts are effective for four hours in the rural belt, one hour in small towns, six to eight hours in furnace factories while Dehradun, Rishikesh, Mussoorie and Nainital are exempted of power shut down.

He said the overall increase in demand of the state from April to December had been 800 MW while the UJVNL share dropped about 400 MW which indicated to the direct requirement of 1,200 MW. The state got 165 MW from independent power producers such as the THDC, Vishnu Prayag, the NTPC.

He said line tripping was a common problem in peak hours in morning as well as evening from 6 to 9 o’clock when people used electrical gadgets, hence rostering would be undertaken in some pockets of the state for almost one to two hours in morning and similar hours in evening.

These are areas connected to Rishikesh to Majra 132 KV Line, Harbartpur, Sahaspur and Vikasnagar region connected to 132 KV lines between Khodri-Dakrani and those in the Kumaon belt connected to 132 KV line between Haldwani to Pithoragarh.

These power cuts due to transmission reasons would not be imposed after March-April as, he said, new 220 KV line in Jhajhra would start operating on March 31 and 12 km additional 132 KV line between Haldwani and Pithoragarh would be functional by April. The State Load Dispatch Centre would work well afterwards.

The state bought 150 MW from energy exchange at Rs 1.50 crore on Tuesday and additional 200 MW of Rs 2.25 crore for Thursday. It has also bought 450 MW power for February and 350 MW for March this year.

With regard to the financial health of the UPCL, Johri said UPCL had a revenue of Rs 3,400 crore in 2012 wherein it could not return electricity duties (ED) and the cost of 12 pc free electricity to the tune of 165 MW to the state government. The UPCL bill liabilities pending on customers are Rs 1,200 crore and Rs 700 crore on the government department. The line losses and power pilferage was, however, brought down from 27 to 24 per cent.

Out of penalty assessment of Rs 17 crore levied on those found involved in power pilferage, dues of Rs 10 crore had been collected till date. The UPCL loss this year was estimated at Rs 200 crore. 

Investment proposal to save Ganga ready: Alok Jain
Tribune News service

Dehradun, January 9
In a bid to prevent pollution and conserve the Ganga, a river basin approach will be adopted so that no untreated waste water or industrial effluent flows into the mainstream of the river. A proposal for investments as per the perspective plan from 2012-13 to 2019-20 has been prepared in this connection. This was disclosed at the second meeting of state executive committee of State Ganga River Conservation Authority chaired by Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain at the Secretariat here today .

The Chief Secretary said that all-out efforts should be made for recycling untreated waste water and alternate use of treated water should also be found so that minimum treated water had to be released into the river. He said that Solid Treatment Plants would be established in all the necessary places.

The tentative list of projects has been prepared and all the feasibility reports will be prepared in the next three years. As per National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), programme framework projects had been selected for four key sectors, namely municipal waste water, industrial pollution, solid waste management and river front development. The list had been sent to NGRBA and documented in its Annual Plan document for 2012-13.

The perspective plan includes institutional development with the estimated budget of Rs. 39.51 crore, infrastructure investment with Rs. 2148.23 crore totalling to Rs. 2187. 38 crore. The institutional development includes programme management by SPMG (State Project Management Group), Assistance to Environment Regulator by SPCB (State Pollution Control Board), Uttarakhand, and Assistance to ULB of SPMG. Infrastructure investment includes municipal waste water, river front development, solid waste management and industrial pollution.

Governor to distribute voter cards on Jan 25
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 9
Several eminent people called upon Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi today. Among them were Indian Military Academy (IMA) Commandant, Lt Gen Manvendra Singh, Chief Election Officer Radha Raturi and Joint Chief Election officer Saujanya.

Radha Raturi and Saujanya requested the Governor to honour (on the occasion of Voter’s Day on January 25) booth-level officers who have performed exceptionally well, and to distribute voter I-cards to young, first-time voters at Raj Bhavan auditorium. The Governor agreed to this.

The IMA Commandant told the Governor about the proposed two-day Governor's Sara Golf Cup Tournament to be held in the first week of March at the FRIMA Golf Course, Dehradun. The tournament will be jointly organised by FRIMA and Sara Group of Industries. The Governor gave consent to patronise the tournament, saying that such events would increase the interest of young people in sports.

VK Dhavan, CMD of Sara Group of Industries, was also present. Manglaur MLA Sarwat Kareem Ansari and AK Mittal from Pantnagar University of Agriculture were among others who met the Governor.

Chuphal backs ministerial employees
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, January 9
State BJP president Bishen Singh Chuphal extended support to the striking ministerial employees on the fourteenth day of their strike today. The district level offices in Champawat, Almora and Pithoragarh districts remained closed as the employees performed havan for better wisdom of the government so that it fulfils their three-point demand chart.

“While the ministerial employees are on strike for the last 14 days, the state government is mum on their demands,” said Chuphal while addressing the protesters at the party office in Pithoragarh.

“The indifference of the state government shows that it does not care for the interests of the poor people of the state,” said Chuphal.

Meanwhile, the normal work in the district and subdivision level offices in Champawat, Pithoragarh and Almora remained paralysed. “If the government does not take cognisance of the strike soon, the contractors’ association will also launch an agitation in support of the striking employees. The daily wage employees of the contractors are suffering as their bills have not been paid due to the strike,” said Tara Chand, president of the Contractors’ Association, Pithoragarh district.