Ex-CM Khanduri takes on ministers for foreign trips
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 24
Criticising the Bahuguna government ministers' foreign trips, former Chief Minister BC Khanduri today said the frequent trips by the ministers were sending a bad signal to the people of Uttarakhand who would be keen to know the purpose of these visits.

"Exposures of these kinds prove fruitful if at the end of the day the ministers suggest and implement plans for the betterment of the state. But most of these trips are mere junkets and send a wrong signal to the people," said Khanduri, while interacting with mediapersons.

He also criticised the government for miserably failing to act against corruption by taking forward the measures announced by his government.

"While the fate of the Lokayukta is uncertain, the Transfer Act has been cancelled. The government has failed to assign any reason for cancelling the Act, giving enough indication that it is not ready to act tough on corruption," said Khanduri.

He said the Transfer Act was implemented to end corruption which was rampant in the postings of teachers and government employees.

He also said the Congress government would be completing one year of rule but it had failed to fulfil the promises made in the manifesto. "With the eye on elections, the Congress made lofty promises even claiming the running schemes of the government as its own. Rather than bluffing the people it should have taken forward the previous government's schemes," said Khanduri.

The former Chief Minister also raised concern about the Bahuguna government's failure to allocate budget under the district plan and poor spending of the annual plan money.

He also took to task Congress leaders for taking the people of Uttarakhand on a ride by falsely making claims on starting work on the Karnprayag rail link.

Helicopter purchase scam
BJP activists take out protest march, perform yajna
Tribune News Service

MLA Aadesh Chauhan, along with BJP activists, performs a yajna in Haridwar on Sunday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, February 24
Protesting against the recent VVIP helicopter purchase scam, activists of the BJP district unit performed a yajna here today. Through the yajna, the activists tried to show that corruption was prevailing in the Congress and its ministers in such a way that yajna was the only way to clean it now.

Led by Ranipur-BHEL legislator Aadesh Chauhan, party activists performed the yajna and took out a protest march to Shivalik Nagar.

Addressing the party workers, Chauhan said both at the Centre and state government, the Congress was indulged in corrupt practices with its ministers misusing both positions and government funds to cater to their personal needs.

Chauhan lamented that the recent VVIP helicopter purchase scam had affected the moral of common public and armed forces. He also said the tenure of the UPA government had been marred with scams and corrupt practices.

“UPA Cabinet Ministers are involved in such scams but neither Prime Minister Manmohan Singh nor UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi utters a word about them. We hope that this yajna will purify these ministers and such scams do not take place in the future,” said Chauhan.

The activists also lashed at Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna for not approving the demand of residents of the Shivalik Nagar, Subash Nagar and Tehri Vistapith colonies who had been demanding their inclusion in the periphery of the Municipal Corporation.

BS Tejiyan, a resident of Shivalik Nagar, said while these three colonies had emerged as posh colonies of Haridwar and catering to thousands of employees working in the SIDCUL industrial estate, they were not being brought into the corporation purview.

“Our infrastructure is suffering owing to the growing population pressure which can be maintained by including us in the Municipal Corporation periphery. But recently, CM Bahuguna did not gave satisfactory reply when this matter was brought to his notice by Haridwar parliamentarian Harish Rawat,” said Tejiyan.

Apart from the party activists, a large number of local residents also took part in the protest.

State first in north to get isotope hydrology lab
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 24
In a major boost to the cause of water conservation in the Himalayan region, Uttarakhand has become the first state in North India to get an isotope hydrology laboratory. The state of art laboratory has come up at the Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Village (HESCO) village at Shuklapur, Dehradun.

Inaugurating the laboratory, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister R Chidambaram said isotope hydrology laboratory would be of immense use to the states of North India, particular the Himalayan states, towards replenishing its dried up natural water sources. He said earlier scientists had to go to Mumbai to get isotope hydrology tests done which was a cause of great inconvenience.

Asserting that the country needed both industrial and rural development, Chidambaram said while rapid progress had certainly been made in industrial sector, a lot was yet to be done on the rural front.

Appreciating the founder of the HESCO, Dr Anil Joshi, Chidambaram said Joshi was a role model for all those who believed in strengthening rural areas in the country. “If I could get six Anil Joshis, I can assure a rural revolution in the country,” said Chidambaram amidst a round of applause from the gathering that included scientists, villagers and social workers.

Former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who was present on the occasion, said Uttarakhand today was facing a grave challenge in the form of environment conservation. He strongly supported constitution of a separate authority for glacial studies, taking into account the receding Himalayan glaciers.

Also present on the occasion was eminent environmentalist Sundarlal Bahuguna, who expressed his concern over the environment degradation in the Himalayas and asked the Centre to formulate a separate policy for the Himalayan states.

Chairperson, Atomic Energy Commission, Dr RK Sinha, expressed concern over rising pollution the water sources in the country. He said the rising pollution levels were leading to rampant spread of a large number of diseases. He also called for striking balance between development and conservation.

Dr Gurusharan, isotope scientist at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), elaborated on the importance of the laboratory, asserting that it was very efficient, particularly to ensure recharging of water sources.

Referring to isotope hydrology, Gurusharan said it was a systematically devised approach which could be used to recharge the areas of any given spring. “In this methodology, firstly, an upper-catchment zone is investigated, where there is some possibility that a catchment may exist for a given spring. Secondly, different locations of that very catchment are surveyed and rainfall samples from these different locations are collected for isotope studies at the laboratory. The isotope measured in the water samples from these different locations are then matched to the isotopes in the water found in the actual spring. In the areas where the isotopes match the spring water, these become recharging zones for the springs,” he pointed out.

Dr Joshi said the HESCO had successfully recharged a number of water sources at Gauchar in Chamoli district. He reminded that water had always remained an important factor in the evolution of civilization. He said 8,000 villages in the state were reeling under potable water scarcity.

The Isotope Hydrology Laboratory has come up as a joint initiative of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Board of Research and Nuclear Science and Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation, Dehradun.

Dehradun Diary
Civic body elections a litmus test for Cong, BJP

A major worry for the ruling Congress in Uttarakhand will be to face the civic elections scheduled to be held in March/April this year. Already, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has announced that civic elections will not be delayed and held on time but still the state government has been unsure about its timing.

With both the ruling Congress as well as the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gearing for the crucial 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the civic poll in the state will be a litmus test for both political parties. The impact of the result of the civic elections will be felt in the Lok Sabha elections.

The ruling Congress with an eye on the civic elections had already announced ownership rights to the slum dwellers and upgradation of Roorkee, Rudrapur and Kashipur civic bodies to the Municipal Corporation level.

Earlier, only the capital city of Dehradun was having the status of a Municipal Corporation but now five more cities, Haridwar, Haldwani, Roorkee, Rudrapur and Kashipur, have been upgraded to Municipal Corporations.

The Congress government will be completing one year in office in the state and the civic elections will also be seen as a referendum on the working of the Vijay Bahuguna government. However, in the past one year there is not much that the Congress government can claim to have done for the betterment of the cities in the state.

The working of the civic bodies leaves much to be desired. The working of the lone Municipal Corporation in the capital city of Dehradun could be described as pathetic. Despite tall claims and employment of a private company, there is no proper garbage disposal system in the entire capital city as lanes and bylanes stink due to accumulation of garbage.

The entire city roads which were dug up to lay water and sewerage pipelines have not yet been repaired. The people of the capital city are suffering immensely due to these dug up roads for the past more than a year.

There seems to be no sense of responsibility among the bureaucrats or the state government to get these roads repaired immediately.

Less said better about the water and power availability in the state. There is an acute power shortage in the state as the rural areas and smaller cities are bearing the brunt of long power cuts. Already amid winters and lot of rainfall, there are reports of acute water shortages in various parts of the state.

The ruling Congress is not much bothered about the common problems of roads, cleanliness, power and water shortages but are busy in permutation and combination of winning the civic elections. Most of the senior party leaders are trying their best to accommodate their own persons in their areas of influences.

The first major priority before the state government is to determine the reservation of mayoral seats in these six Municipal Corporations. Since, Mayors in Uttarakhand are elected by directly as per constitutional requirement, certain Mayoral seats have to be reserved fot women and Scheduled Castes.

The Chief Minister as well as senior party leaders are in the process of determining these reserved seats as there are pressures from the interested leaders to get things done as per their own advantages.

While there is tussle between Yashpal arya and Indira Hariydesh, two senior ministers belonging to Haldwani, to get it done as per their own wishes. Similarly, Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat will have a decisive say in the Haridwar and Roorkee Corporations which fall in his parliamentary constituency.

There is also speculation about the Dehradun Municipal Corporation which is part of the Tehri Lok Sabha seat from where Chief Ministers' son Saket Bahuguna lost the byelection in October 2012.

The father-son duo will have a major stake in the Dehradun Municipal Corporation poll. According to Congress sources, a three-member committee comprising former minister Tilak Raj Behad, Navparbhat and Subodh Uniyal, both legislators, have been formed by the Chief Minister to suggest on all these issues related with civic elections in the state. — SMA Kazmi

SSB steps up vigil on borders
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, February 24
Keeping Hyderabad blasts in mind, Shashastra Seema Bal (SSB) has stepped up vigilance on the 235-km-long Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan border of the country. The Force is keeping a strict eye on the suspicious people passing through this border into the Indian soil, said SSB Director General, Arun Chaudhary at Ranikhet today.

He was addressing mediapersons after taking part in a passing-out parade at Almora.

“Though we have at present no threat from Maoists from Nepal on the border, we keep vigil on the border to nab smugglers and unwanted elements who try to use the border for their unlawful and anti-national activities,” said the SSB DG.

According to the DG, before the force took over to guard the border, the unlawful elements from across the border were using it as hub of their activities. After the SSB intensifies the vigilance, the activities have reduced tremendously.

“The Government of India has done remarkable work in expending the strength of the force in the last 10 years and it is also going to expand it in the coming five years by raising 16 new battalions to the force,” said the DG.

The SSB DG said there were 72 border observation posts of the force om these two borders, out of these, some are situated at rugged terrains.

“We have stepped up special attention at these tough terrains to let no chance for the criminals to cross the border,” said the DG.

According to the officer, his security force has a special style of functioning on the borders, which starts by taking the local people in confidence. “Besides guarding the border, we also work for the welfare of local people at the border to imbibe sence of patriotism in them.

Girish Rawat is class IV staff body chief
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, February 24
The newly elected working executive body of the Uttarakhand Chaturth Vargiya Rajya Karamchari Maha Sangh has vowed to take the issues related with the union with more vigour and make sure that pressure is created for time-bound solution. The working executive election of the UCVRKM was held today at Rishikul Ayurvedic College in which Girish Rawat was elected as Haridwar district chief.

For the second consecutive time, Narendra Bagdi was elected as district secretary unanimously. After taking oath, both Girish Rawat and Bagdi assured the union members of working sincerely for the cause of the employees and taking every employee in confidence while taking out decisions.

"You all have reposed faith in us, which we will try to live up to by sincerely working for the causes of the union. Our working will be unbiased and any action will be taken by taking every one in confidence," said Bagdi.

The Uttaranchal Chaturth Vargiya Rajya Karamchari Maha Sangh comprises fourth class employees of 36 government departments that include the Collectorate, the Irrigation, the Education, the Health, the ITI, the Animal Husbandry, the Employment Exchange and the Public Works Department. Vinod Kant Bhatt, Ghanshyam Singh Negi, C Narayan, Dinesh Lakhedra, Diwan Singh, Shiv Narayan Singh, Pramod Pant, Madan Lal Shrivastav, Mahaveer Singh, Shiv Narayan, Tajbar Singh, Vijendra Pal, Vinod, Devi Singh, Jagdeesh Prasad, Amardeep, Rohtash Singh, Inder Singh were elected as working body committee members.

Rs 900 crore for water schemes announced
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 24
The Department of Water Resource has proposed a budgetary allocation of Rs 900 crore for 2013-2014 for undertaking rural water scheme, urban water scheme, Ganga pollution and expenditure of Jal Sansthan and Peyjal Nigam.

While chairing a meeting on Friday, Uttarakhand Water Resource Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani said the proposed budgetary allocation would take care of the important programmes underway.

“We have also made adequate provisions for starting water schemes in areas that face water crisis during summers,” said Naithani.

He said in the Devprayag area, work would soon be started on the pumping schemes.

Under the proposed plan for 2013-2014 in the city, Rs 70 crore has been allocated for carrying out schemes in the rural areas, Rs 35 crore has been allocated under the Ganga Pollution Control plan, Rs 290 crore and Rs 5 crore for employees of Jal Sansthan and Rs 25 crore for pension and gratuity payment for the employees of the Peyjal Nigam. He said for the year 2012-2013, against the budgetary outlay of Rs 151.55 crore, Rs 113.40 crore had been spent by the Jal Sansthan.

Danpur villagers face scarcity of ration
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, February 24
Villagers of the upper region of Danpur in Kapkot subdivision, Bageshwar, have threatened to launch an agitation if the closed track routes were not reopened and ration supply to these villages, stalled for the past four months, was not restored at the earliest.

A delegation of villagers today met the District Magistrate and the local MLA in this regard and told them that due to the non-availability of ration at PDS shops, villagers were facing starvation-like situation.

Lishen Singh Danu, who led the delegation, said: "Villagers of Ugiya, Sorag, Bacham, Badiakot, Kilpara Kuwari, Borachak Gharkot, Dola and Teekh of Malla Danpur are facing an acute shortage of ration."

Villagers said last year they had received ration for the winter months in advance. However, this year due to the closure of routes to this area, the advance supply could not be made. "We want the closed routes to the area be reopened soon, so that ration could reach the villages," they said.

Sonia, Priyanka visit Doon
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 24
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her daughter, Priyanka Vadra, were in Dehradun on a private visit today. According to official sources, Sonia Gandhi, along with her daughter Priyanka and granddaughter Miriya Vadra, has come to Dehradun to meet Rehan Vadra, son of Priyanka, who is studying in Doon School here.

Priyanka had reached Dehradun last evening, but Sonia Gandhi reached the city this morning. They stayed at Raj Bhavan during their visit to the city. Reghan Vadra has recently taken admission in Doon School, where her uncle Rahul Gandhi and grandfather Rajiv Gandhi also studied.

Greetings on Ravidas Jayanti

Dehradun, February 24
Uttarakhand Governor Dr Aziz Qureshi and Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna have conveyed his greetings to the people of the state on the occasion of Sant Ravidas Jayanti.

In his message on the eve of the occasion, the Governor said Sant Ravidas fought all his life against the unfair practices in society and strove to create a just and peaceful society. “We should all derive inspiration from his life and

teachings,” said the Governor. He taught that one is not distinguished by one’s caste but one’s action (karma). He launched an attack against untouchability.” — TNS