Anti-Big Dam Day
Alaknanda-Ganga valley residents stage protest
Dehradun, March 14
As part of International Anti-Big Dam Day observation, inhabitants of the Alaknanda-Ganga valley in the state today held a demonstration in Chamoli district.

Residents hold a protest against the Vishnugad Peepalkoti hydropower project in Chamoli on Thursday.

Dehradun, March 14
Fireworks were witnessed in the Uttarakhand Assembly on the first day of the Budget session today with opposition members thwarting Governor Aziz Qureshi from delivering his address to the House.

As soon as the Governor began his address, the Leader of the Opposition, Ajay Bhatt, got up from his seat drawing the attention of the Governor towards the Cabinet decision on the Abolition of Zamindari and Land Reform Act (ZLRA) and the alleged sale of land at different places falling under SIDCUL to business houses at throwaway prices.

Soon, Bhatt reached the well of the House demanding a CBI inquiry into the sale of land at SIDCUL. The BJP MLAs raised slogans against the government saying “Ghotaley wali sarkar nahi chalege, nahi chalege”.

This forced the Governor to wrap up his address in less than five minutes and the Speaker adjourned the House till 3 am.

However, uproarious scenes were again witnessed after the House reconvened in the afternoon. Bhatt once again raised the issue of the Cabinet meeting and questioned the government on the important decision. “The state Cabinet should have desisted from taking a decision on the matter when an amendment to the ZLRA is pending with the House Committee,” he said.

Soon the MLAs stormed the well raising slogans against the government. In the ensuing din, the House approved the agenda set by the advisory committee for the Assembly from March 14 to 25. The Speaker then adjourned the House till 11 am tomorrow.

Speaker in the Legislative Assembly Govind Singh Kunjwal criticised the Opposition for its irresponsible behaviour and said it should have waited for the response of the government. “They could have come up with facts and figures and raised the issue in the House. Frequent disruptions are not in the interest of the House,” he added.

Later Bhatt told mediapersons that they were forced to boycott the Governor’s address as it did not hold any meaning and was a pack of lies.

He said the Opposition wanted to draw the Governor’s attention to the manner in which the Bahuguna government had flouted norms and took a decision on the ZLRA when it was pending with the House Committee.

“The government had tried to bring amendments to the Act during the winter session in December. Bur after we protested the Bill was referred to the committee,” said Bhatt.

However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hriyadesh refuted Bhatt’s claims saying they were confused on the issue and the decision to bring amendment was taken in public interest.

“All changes proposed in the Act are meant to bring relief to the people. Earlier, a person who had the permission to use land for building a hospital but wanted to change its use had to go through a tedious process. The process has now been simplified,” she said.

Dehradun, March 14
As part of International Anti-Big Dam Day observation, inhabitants of the Alaknanda-Ganga valley in the state today held a demonstration in Chamoli district.

Those affected by the under-construction Vishnugad Peepalkoti hydropower project, particularly from Kaudiya, Durgapur, Harsari, Naurakh, Tagari villagers, under the aegis of the Matu Jan Sangathan, gathered at the dam site and staged a massive protest. They also stopped the construction activities for the day and gheroed the Tehri Hydropower Corporation officials, who are constructing the dam.

Later, a procession was also taken out in which the protesters raised slogans, demanding an uninterrupted flow of the Ganga.

Ramlal, one of the protesters, said the company had not been able to compensate for the damages inflicted on villages due to the survey and asserted that the company was no more reliable. Geeta Devi said due to site blasting, it was difficult for the people to even sleep at night. Vimal Bhai of the Matu Jan Sangathan said there had been no rehabilitation of the people displaced by big dams in the state. He said the environmental norms had been grossly violated and power generation had not been up to the mark.

“The dams pose a danger not only to the rivers but also spell a doom for the state. For seeking their rights, the Tehri Dam displaced people had to go to the Supreme Court, only then some semblance of rehabilitation has happened,” Vimal Bhai added. He said their struggle against big dam to save rivers and people’s rights over natural resources would continue.

Dehradun, March 14
The Mukhya Nagar Adhikari, Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC), Ashok Kumar, has deferred the matter regarding the house tax policy till April.

Ashok said any change in the house tax policy would be made after the current financial year ends. The houses, which had not been included in the policy, would not be imposed any tax till April. “Moreover, we are yet to take legal opinion on the matter,” he said.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli also indicated towards those 60,000 houses of 18 gram sabhas which were included in the DMC later on. They were not being charged house tax at present. “As their population has not been taken into account for the past many years, DMC officials estimate the number to rise up to 80,000,” he added.

Chamoli blamed the Congress-led government for delaying the policy. He said the DMC had lost at least Rs 5 crore every year in the last 10 years by not levying house tax on the people of these 18 gram sabhas.

The revenue could increase further if the house tax policy was reviewed time to time. He said it was not clear at this stage whether the DMC could bring these people under its ambit or not. The matter of giving rebate to freedom fighters, whether of the Kargil War, of the statehood struggle or the freedom movement, is yet to be finalised.

Chamoli stressed on the need to resolve an impasse over the rebate issue as well. He said since the MC elections had been postponed for almost one year, there was no point to sit on the issue. The administration must hold deliberations on it and quicken the process of implementing the house tax policy. He said he too at his level was taking legal opinion as the state government left a lot of room for ambiguities, which could further complicate the issue.

Haridwar, March 14
The Haridwar Development Authority (HDA) has issued notices to 80 violators for constructing illegal structures in the 200 m area of the Ganga. The decision comes in the wake of the Supreme Court's directive on the issue.

In the initial phase, the HDA is targeting the buildings constructed from 2000-2005 while in the second phase it will cover the structures that came up after 2005. It is also conducting a survey at Har-ki-Pauri, Kankhal, Mayapur, Sapt Sarovar and Bhoopatwala.

HDA official Girdhari Singh Rawat said even those structures were being identified that had been or were being built without permission from the HDA, even if they did not fall in the 200 m marked parameter.

“If within a fortnight, the owners of these identified structures did not demolish them on their own, the HDA will raze the structures. The violators should take the notices seriously," said Rawat.

Meanwhile, an administrative team, led by City Magistrate Jeevan Singh Nambiyal, demolished a temple-cum-ashram at Birla Setu adjacent to the Ganga ghat today. The temple was owned by Hari Giriji Maharaj.

The district unit of the Aam Aadmi Party has threatened to launch an agitation if the illegal structures owned by local politicians, quarrying mafia, builders and hoteliers were not demolished.

Mussoorie, March 14
Colleen and Hugh Gantzer, a husband-wife team of authors from Mussoorie, have made the town proud by winning the prestigious National Tourism Award 2011-12 for their two books on tourism and heritage of the country.

The duo has received award for their two books in English titled ‘The Alluring North’ and ‘The Vibrant West’, part of a series of books titled ‘Intriguing India’.

The announcement for the awards was made by the Ministry of Tourism a few days ago and the two will receive the award at a function to be held at New Delhi on March 18 by the President of India.

The elated Colleen and Hugh Gantzer said, “We are delighted to have won the award the very first time we competed for it.”

Colleen and Hugh Gantzer further said the two books of a series of four are part of books titled ‘Intriguing India’ published by Niyogi Books of Delhi. The four books cover 96 places and events in the country.

The authors have given a new slant to tourism in the books by emphasising the intangible heritage of India, including the possible scientific truth that lies behind many of its myths and legends.

Colleen always wanted to fly and she did pilot a plane in the Swiss Alps while Hugh sat behind saying a rosary, just in case! Hugh had always longed to see those faraway places with their strange sounding names, so he joined the Indian Navy. Hugh took premature retirement when he was the Judge Advocate of the Southern Naval Area and the couple decided to become a travel-writer-photographer team.

Hugh and Colleen have discovered magical places in India, real and accessible. They have also hosted 52 weekly episodes of India’s first nationwide TV travel show, wrote the first travel scripts for dot.coms, won national and international awards, toured India and the world as guests of eager tourism organisations. They have, possibly, visited, photographed and written about more places in India than anyone else in the long history of the country. The husband-wife author duo resides in their Victorian Cottage in the Oak Woods in Mussoorie and remain avid travellers to this day.

Dehradun, March 14
Mountain Collective, a platform for various NGOs working in the state, has launched a campaign to sensitise the masses to climate change and its impacts on environment.

At a ceremony held here today, eminent environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt said the threats to environment due to climate change needed to be taken seriously. He said natural disasters like cloudbursts, floods and forest fires had become frequent now.

He said another visible impact of climate change had been early flowering being witnessed in plants like mustard flowers. He said rampant exploitation of environment needed to be checked.

Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli said the state was still to come up with a water policy and policies for other natural resources. State agitator and former chairperson of the State Women’s Commission Sushila Baloni said the climate change was adversely affecting the livelihood of people in the hills. She laid stressed on active sensitisation campaigns to inform the people about climate change.

Laksham Singh Negi from Mountain Collective said they would be reaching nearly 8,000 villages in the state as part of the campaign. He said street plays, posters and sloganeering would be some of the methods which will be put to use by the volunteers to reach out to the villagers.

Dehradun, March 14
Contractual employees of all three power corporations staged a protest in front of the Vidhan Sabha here today, where they also clashed with the police. However, no one sustained injury.

Later in the day, representatives of the employees' union met state ministers, Indira Hridyesh and Harak Singh Rawat.

Union president Yogender Vishal said: "The ministers have assured us of discussing the issue of the regularisation of their services at the next Cabinet meeting and they have expressed hope of resolving it."

Vishal also accused the police of misbehaving with the protesters. He said, " Before proceeding to the Vidhan Sabha, we had gathered in the Parade Ground. There, too, the police misbehaved with us. At the Vidhan Sabha as well, the police resorted to a mild lathi charge on the protesters and used foul language."

He said they were protesting peacefully, hence the police should not have resorted to force. SSP Kewal Khurana, however, ruled out resorting to lathi charge on the protesters. He said a little bit of jostling was required to keep the agitators in control and away from barricading.

The contractual employees are observing an indefinite strike since March 5 in support of their demands. The assurance given by the managing directors of the departments to the union members about putting up the matter of attaching contractual employees with the departments directly at the Board of Directors meeting, too, proved hollow, as the matter was not placed at the meeting held recently.

Dehradun, March 14
The Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) defeated the Abul Kalam Cricket Club by 48 runs in a match during the Doon International Cricket Championship played on the Matawala Bagh grounds here today.

Batting first after winning the toss, the IMT team scored 131 runs for six wickets in 20 overs. Shivam remained unbeaten on 56 runs while Pradeep scored 22 runs.

Pradhuyman took two wickets for 34 runs. In reply, the Abul Kalam Cricket Club was all out for 83 runs losing the match by 48 runs. Shariq scored 22 unbeaten runs while Chetan took four wickets for 15 runs.

Haridwar, March 14
A private hospital was opened at the SIDCUL industrial area here today.

The Metro Hospital and Heart Institute is the first major private medical institution that has come up in the area and would serve areas of Haridwar city along with Roshanabad, Lakshar, Roorkee, Bhoopatwalia, Hari-Pur-Kalan, Raiwala and many other rural and semi-urban areas falling in the vicinity.

Despite Haridwar being a renowned pilgrim city, the health facilities are of substandard quality here and patients have to either go to Rishikesh, Dehradun, Meerut and New Delhi for treatment.

Equipped with the state-of-the art facilities, the Metro Hospital and Heart Institute will provide cardiology, neuroscience, urology, general surgery, dental surgery, dermatology, radiology and other services under one roof.

Dr Purushottam Lal, who manages the Metro Hospital chain, said people from Haridwar and border areas of the state would also benefit from the hospital.

The COO of the hospital, Dr Sandeep Chatrath, said in comparison with other metropolitan hospital groups, the medical expenses in the hospital had been decided keeping in mind the common man. However, he said it was not a charitable hospital. He said the motive was to provide best medical facilities to the people of the state at affordable prices.

The hospital will also be holding free medical camps on a regular basis.

Dehradun, March 14
Dr Smriti Jain, phaco and glaucoma surgeon at Amritsar Eye Clinic, yesterday said as glaucoma is irreversible, periodic screening was essential for persons with a history of the disease running in their families and those taking steroids or were suffering from hypertension and diabetes.

“Unlike cataract, glaucoma that damages the optic nerve is irreversible and leads to complete blindness, if undetected. But it responds very well to medicine, if detected in the early stage. For this reason there is a need to spread awareness regarding the disease among the masses,” she said while addressing a press conference here yesterday.

Dr Jain said the perceptible change in vision takes place very late. “As loss occurs in peripheral vision, the patients normally do not suspect any changes. Usually they report very late and that is why regular screening of eyes after 40 years of age is important,” she said.

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness globally. An estimated 12 million people have glaucoma in India and by 2020, 16 million Indians are expected to contract glaucoma.

The clinic will screen patients for glaucoma and give them advice on the disease from March 11 to 16.

Dehradun, March 14
Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Limited (UJVNL) will now enter into the field of coal mining. Chairman, UJVNL, Subhash Kumar, made this announcement while chairing a board meeting of UJVNL on Tuesday.

While informing about other decisions taken at the meeting, he said: “The board has sanctioned the revised financial plan of Suringaad and Painigaad small hydropower projects. The board has also sanctioned business plans for the years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.”

He further said that all three corporations of the Power Department would work in close coordination with each other for the implementation of the enterprise resource planning computerisation, for which UJVNL had been nominated as the nodal agency. The board had also cleared funds for expenditure on Maneri Bhali II hydropower project (304 MW) up to March 15 and other pending works in the corporation, as well as for the repair work of Maneri Bhali I (90 MW), which incurred damages during natural calamities last year. It was also decided to hand over works up to Rs 5 lakh to local contractors for Vyasi hydropower projects on compassionate grounds. —TNS