|
|
|
|
|
Despite GO on ownership rights, houses of residents not registered
BJP questions intentions of Congress on Gairsain
|
|
|
|
Medical facilities on Char Dham route
ANMs hold dharna outside Assembly
Recovery of pangolin’s carcass
Notorious poacher arrested
Need to have strategies to conserve biodiversity, says Dobhal
Women to get rightful preference in party, says Teerath Rawat
Pindar valley villages cut off due to heavy snowfall
DIT students visit orphanage
Kumaon to have cyber cell
|
|
Despite GO on ownership rights, houses of residents not registered
Dehradun February 22 Kumar tried to shrug off the issue, saying that the state government would sort out the matter. Quite ironically, Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) could find only 17 among the original patta holders of the area to be living. The rest are dead by now but their families are living in those houses. Hence, the MNA talked of giving registry to only these 17 and not to the dependents of the rest. But again he put the condition that the registry would be given only with the direction of the state government. The residents who came to plead for the registry were in the 60-70 age group. Resident Leelavati said: “Most of the residents who had been living here for the major part of their lives have already died. We saw a glimmer of hope the with GO issued on this issue, but now the stubborn stand of the MNA has dashed all our hopes.” Another resident Prem Kumar said their children could not take loans of any sort as they were not having registry of the houses. He said the government must understand their plight and do the needful urgently. His remark was enough to arouse anger among the residents who burst out that after finishing the exercise of getting a GO in this regard, which took many years, why should they revert to the state government to obtain registry. Kukreja blamed MNA of playing politics on this issue. He said: “Owing to the DMC election due in the next couple of months, the MNA deliberately wants to drag this issue. He is working under the pressure of Congress government which does not want the BJP to take any credit of its good work.” He said it was MLA of the area Harbans Kapoor, who along with him, fought a long battle in providing these residents ownership rights. He said: “These people were given 0.25 bigha land per family as patta. Later they said as that they had been living there for more than 40 years, they must be given ownership rights. Harbans Kapoor helped in getting a GO released in this regard. Before the registry could be given to them, the state Assembly election took place and later Congress government kept this issue hanging.” |
|
|
BJP questions intentions of Congress on Gairsain
Dehradun, February 22 The Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, Ajay
Bhatt, has questioned the seriousness of the government and dubbed the Bahuguna government as not trustworthy. "Both the party and the government seem to be at different tangents on the issue of
Gairsain. While the Speaker of Uttarakhand Assembly, Govind Singh Kunjwal, had raised the demand for making Gairsain the permanent capital of
Uttarakhand, the Congress MP, Pradeep Tamta, has made a similar demand and questioned the government's decision to build a new Assembly building and a secretariat in
Raipur," he said. "Either the Congress government is pulling a fast one on the people, or it has developed cold feet on the issue of Gairsain that we are hearing contradictory statements. In the process, the government is playing a dangerous game," charged
Bhatt. Pradeep Tamta, MP from Nainital, had recently questioned the government's decision to build a new Assembly building in Dehradun when it was still an interim capital. A close associate of Union Minister Harish
Rawat, Tamta's statement coming on the heels of Chief Minister's announcement of shifting even the secretariat to Raipur on the same day is being interpreted as 'mysterious.' |
|
|
Medical facilities on Char Dham route
Dehradun, February 22 The options of the government become limited during the char dham yatra as only 45 per cent of the posts of doctor are filled. The doctors, who are deployed in District Hospitals, Community Health Centres and Primary Health
Centres, are then forced to perform duty on the yatra route. This results in a shortage of doctors at places where they are actually posted. The Health Department has earmarked these areas on the char dham route comprising
Rishikesh, Mussoorie, Srinagar (Pauri), Chamba (Tehri), Chinyalisaur, Gangotri, Naugaon and Ranachatti (all in
Uttarkashi), Rudraprayag, Fata and Agustmuni (all in Rudraprayag), Guptkashi,
Gaurikund, Kedarnath, Karnprayag, Gauchar, Joshimath, Chamoli, Panduksar, Badrinath and Gairsain where medical care and health facilities are not available. “These areas have no medical facilities and require urgent deployment of doctors. Health Minister Surinder Singh Negi has suggested to us to approach private organisations and hospitals for a team of doctors which will be willing to serve on the char dham route,” said Dr Yogesh Sharma, Director General, Health. |
|
|
ANMs hold dharna outside Assembly
Dehradun, February 22 “In view of the upcoming Assembly session in March, we had decided to hold the dharna outside the Legislative Assembly,” said Guddi Matuda, president of the Uttarakhand Matar Shishu Evam Parivar Kalyan Mahila Karamchari Association. The protesters under the aegis of the association have been pressing for the payment of arrears for the period 1979 to 2010. The government had only partially accepted their demands and agreed to pay arrears for the period 1979 to 1995. However, dissatisfied with the government response the ANMs had tried to approach Congress leaders in New Delhi but they failed to elicit any positive response. |
|
|
Recovery of pangolin’s carcass
Dehradun, February 22 Acting on a tip off linked to the presence of some miscreants in the Kansro range, the park patrol team, during recent the rains, came across a Kanjar community camp in the Kansro range of the park. They seized a dead pangolin that had its scales pealed off. However, the Kanjar community had already fled by the time forest officials reached the spot. Though Rajaji official denied recovery of any steep trap, sources reveal that two steep traps were also recovered from the spot. While denying recovery of any steep trap inside park, Deputy Director of the park HK Singh admitted recovery of a pangolin. He said a dead pangolin, an endangered species with its scales severed, has been recovered in the Kansro range from a deserted Kanjar community camp. He said patrolling has been further strengthened in the park and the matter further investigated. Meanwhile, the People for Animals Uttarakhand has shot off a letter to Uttarakhand Chief Wildlife Warden SS Sharma, expressing concern over the Rajaji National Park turning to a new hub of poachers. Gauri Maulekhi, Member Secretary, People for Animals, Uttarakhand, revealed that the presence of two steel traps at compartment number 13 of the Kansro range on February 15 and similarly, presence of another intruder with a steel trap in the Kansro range earlier this month were matters of grave concern. She also argued that it had come to her knowledge through credible sources that out of the three tigresses that inhabit the Dhaulkhand range of Rajaji, one had been missing for over six months. “No trace or pug marks of tigress have been found in a long time and despite knowing this, the park administration has not initiated any inquiry into the matter,” she observed. The PFA has also suggested to the Chief Wildlife Warden for putting microchips on the Rajaji tigers. “Since there are only a handful of tigresses left in the Rajaji park, it will be a good idea to tag them with GPS microchips so that their movement is ensured,” Maulekhi suggested. The Rajaji poachers’ challenge comes at a time when the park is already facing staff shortage. Out of 14 forest rangers, only two have been filled as yet and the park is short of 12 rangers. Similarly, out of the 150 posts of forest guards, 34 lie vacant. To keep over 820 sq km of the park safe from intruders, it is vital to ensure that all vacant posts are filled immediately and necessary skills be imparted to guards and rangers to face the fresh challenges of poaching or revenge killings in the park. |
|
|
Notorious poacher arrested
Dehradun, February 22 The park authorities are holding interrogations and are expected to solve a number of poaching cases by his arrest. Director of the Rajaji National Park SP Subudhi confirmed Arjun’s today and hoped that it would help solve a number of poaching cases both in Rajaji and Corbett. He said the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau officials would be in Dehradun shortly to further interrogate the case. Arjun was arrested when last night, three Kanjar community members were arrested in the Rajaji National Park and 60 kg of pangolin scales were seized from their possession. The three have arrested have been identified as Bhima, Naresh and Chacha. The park officials came across the trio while on patrols. Referring to the pangolin incident, Subudhi said as many as 25 pangolins would have been poached for the 60 kg scales. Significantly, pangolin scales cost at least Rs 10,000 per kg in the Indian market and could be of higher value in the international wildlife trade. |
|
|
Need to have strategies to conserve biodiversity, says Dobhal
Dehradun, February 22 It was meant for NGO practitioners and school, college and university teachers of Uttarakhand. Inaugurating the programme, Director-General, UCOST, Dr Rajendra Dobhal said there was definite need for strategies to conserve biodiversity in Uttarakhand. He said the destruction of habitat and uncontrolled tourism activities were leading to the deterioration of vital plant habitats. He said the state needed a proper action plan through active involvement of ‘educating youth for sustainable development’ (ESD) practitioners, roping educational institutions in loop for competing with the threats to biodiversity as a lot of species of birds, mammals and reptiles feed on it. Former Chairman, Uttarakhand State Biodiversity Board, Dehradun, Dr BS Barfal, in his key note address on “Biodiversity and sustainable development” spoke on the conservation of natural resources asserting it to be ingrained in India’s religion, culture and traditional lifestyles. However, he said, with increasing population and the rising needs, there had been a gradual erosion of conservation ethics. “If not controlled in time, this would damage beyond repair the rich repository of our natural resources”, he said. He stressed to focus on increasing the role of ESD practitioners for generating awareness regarding the alarming state of the environment of Uttarakhand. Senior scientific officer, UCOST, Dr DP Uniyal referred to the main objective of the training workshop pointing out that the training was aimed at building capacities for biodiversity awareness among people, who are best placed to help and implement a sustainable development approach in schools and higher education institutions as well as in the communities. Uniyal said the workshop was also expected to create a group of practitioners, who are able to rethink the role of educational institutions, seeing them as a field for promoting sustainable practises everyday not only in classroom activities but as a way of life. Earlier, in her welcome address, Livleen Kahlon from TERI said the goal of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005- 2014), for which UNESCO was the lead agency, was to integrate the principles, values, and practises of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning. She said sustainable development implied that local actions were taken in a context of global responsibility and mutual understanding. Prof JK Sharma, Dean, School of Environment and Natural Resource, Doon University, Dr Prashant Singh, Associate Professor, department of chemistry, DAV (PG) College, Dehradun, and Dr Harish Guleria, WWF- India Dehradun, were other speakers at the workshop. |
|
|
Women to get rightful preference in party, says Teerath Rawat
Pithoragarh, February 22 “Giving priority to the feelings of common workers of the party will be the main task of the organization, as the BJP is a workers-based party,” said the BJP president during his last leg of the first Kumaon visit after becoming the party chief. The BJP president agreed that due to discontentment among a section of workers before the last Assembly elections, the party had to face consequences in the form of defeat in the elections. “We are committed to give workers the right voice in all decisions of the party,” said the BJP president. Allaying the reported discontentment of BJP stalwart Bhagat Singh Koshiyari on his appointment as BJP chief, Rawat said there was no discontentment among any leaders of the party over his appointment, as he had become the party chief due to their blessings. |
|
|
Pindar valley villages cut off due to heavy snowfall
Pithoragarh, February 22 According to the villagers, the route from Khati to Dhakuri in Kapkot subdivision of Bageshwar district is still under about four feet of snow and as a result the residents of the area have been cut off from the rest of the district. “Schools in these villages were closed last week after heavy snowfall. The electricity and water supply has also been disrupted and the communication network has snapped in these villages,” said Dhano Ram, gram pradhan of Khati village. They said the main road from Song village to Badiakot, which covers almost every village of the valley, had been damaged due to heavy snowfall last week but no government help had arrived till now. “The quota of ration for February of these villages is lying at Loharkhet market and it could not be taken to nearby shops as the main road and routes are under heavy snow. And as a result the villagers are yet to get ration due for January,” said Keshav Bhatt, a social worker at Bageshwar, who had returned from a visit to the area. The affected villagers said they were facing a shortage of ration and medicines due to the closure of the alternative routes to these villages. They were not in a position to carry ailing and old people to the community health centre at Kapkot,” said the gram pradhan. Lalit Farswan, MLA, Kapkot, who had visited the border villages of the area recently, had written to the food, electricity and drinking water departments to urgently restore the basic supplies to these villages. “The drinking water problem has worsened in these villages as the main scheme that supplies water to them has been damaged due to heavy snowfall at Rithbagar,” he said.
|
|
|
DIT students visit orphanage
Dehradun, February 22 A group of students from the institute, accompanied by the staff, interacted with the orphans and shared their experiences with them. In addition to this, the students also motivated the children to go for higher studies and guided them on taking up new assignments in engineering, medical and humanities. The students also spent the day having recreational sessions with the children. Ashram secretary OP Nangia welcomed the initiative taken up by the university and asked the students to keep extending their support to the organisation in future also.
|
|
|
Kumaon to have cyber cell
Pithoragarh, February 22 Nainital SSP Sadanand Datee, who has returned from Hyderabad recently after a special training on checking cyber crimes, said: “The incidents of miscreants luring people on cellphones by giving big offers and the misuse of ATM cards have increased in the region in the past years.” he said. Datee said they had approached the DGP to start a cyber cell in the region with the cooperation of the police.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Classified | E-mail | |
Dehradun, February 22
Residents of the villages in the Pindar valley in Bageshwar district that are still covered by thick layers of snow, have started clearing track routes by cutting accumulated snow themselves as they have not got any government assistance even one week after the snowfall, sources said.
According to the villagers, the route from Khati to Dhakuri in Kapkot subdivision of Bageshwar district is still under about four feet of snow and as a result the residents of the area have been cut off from the rest of the district.
