Harak comes to aid of CM
Dismisses charges levelled by BJP
Cong to table Bhati panel report on March 20 in House
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 16
Coming to the aid of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, Minister for Agriculture and Medical Education Harak Singh Rawat today dismissed the charges levelled by the Opposition BJP against the Bahuguna government for selling of industrial plots in Haridwar and Pantnagar in the Uttarakhand Assembly as utterly baseless and false.

"The rattled BJP is afraid that some of their leaders may face a possible jail term as the Bhati Commission is already investigated some scams that took place during the BJP rule, including the Citurgia land scam, Kumbh Mela, allocation of power projects, misappropriation of the Central Government funds," he said, while addressing a press conference.

Rawat said the government would table the first Justice Bhati Commission report on the Uttarakhand Seeds and Terai Development Corporation (TDC) scam that took place during the BJP rule in the House on March 20. "But on March 19, an FIR will be lodged against the officials found involved in the scam," said Rawat.

He said the Congress government would not hesitate to take action against any minister or official and would go by the law of the land.

He said the Congress government was not motivated by revenge but keen to expose the corrupt.

"We had announced before we took power that the Congress government would set up a commission to bring persons to book involved in scams that took place during the BJP rule and we promptly set up the Bhati Commission. On the contrary, the BJP had accused the Congress government of 56 scams but did not set up a commission," said Rawat.

Rawat said the amount of Rs 1,000 crore trumpeted by the BJP as allegedly misappropriated by the Congress government in allocation of 20 acres of industrial plot in Pantnagar and Haridwar for carrying out activities such as industrial, commercial, residential and building of institutions was full of lies.

"The tendering process for the allocation of plots was undertaken by State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCUL) in its independent capacity and the government was not involved. The highest bidders Antrikish Engineers and Builders Ltd was awarded the Haridwar tender because it offered the highest price (two and a half times more than the prevailing circle rate). The Pantnagar tender was awarded to MS Supertech (Noida) based on the same rule," he said.

Workshop on soil testing and management
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 16
A three-day workshop organised by the Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) on ‘Awareness and capacity building on soil testing and management’ started at Baba Farid Institute of Technology here yesterday.

Chief guest on the occasion, Director General, UCOST, Dr Rajendera Dobhal, said blending of science and society was the motto of the council. He said the aim of popularising science and technology was to improve the quality of life of common man and develop Uttarakhand as society full of scientific awareness.

The convener of the workshop, Dr Brij Mohan Sharma, said looking at the situation in the state, which has a varied range of climatic conditions, such workshops were beneficial for the agriculturists. He said to attain and maintain better production and productivity standards of agriculture it was imperative to have a systematic soil health management.

In the technical session, soil scientist Hari Raj Singh delivered a lecture on ‘Basics of soils- Why do we need soil testing and its sampling’. He explained the genesis and formation of soil, especially under the rugged terrain conditions of the Himalayas. The importance of texture of soil and its meaning towards its fertility levels and nutritional supplying capacity was explained to the farmers.

Dr ABP Mishra, a senior scientist, said the basic objective of the workshop was to develop awareness material on soil testing and management.

A book titled ‘Mitti Ke Sidhant Aur Prabandhan’ by Hariraj Singh and Dr Brij Mohan Sharma was also released by Dr Rajender Dobhal on the occasion.

Earlier, Chairperson of the Baba Farid Institute of Technology JS Arora welcomed the dignitaries and participants. The workshop is supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology. Students from different colleges and universities are participating in the workshop.

Face of the week
Creating awareness about medicinal plants his priority
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 16
Bestowed with immense floral wealth, Uttarakhand is yet to be recognised as medicinal plants state in the country.

While the governments in power in Uttarakhand have done little to encourage villagers in hills to take cultivation of aromatic plants, the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) has started a door-to-door sensitisation programme informing the locals, particularly, youngsters about the advantage of cultivation of aromatic and medicinal plants.

It has been held under the guidance of Programme Director, CEE, Himalaya, Dr Abdhesh Kumar Gangwar.

Masters in Botany from Agra University in 1981, Dr Abdhesh Kumar Gangwar holds Ph.D in Ecology which was awarded to him in 1988 by the North Eastern Hill University, Shillong. Subsequently, Dr Gangwar travelled extensively across the Himalayan region and understood the environmental and social problems from a close quarter working with the local communities, religious institutions and the youth winning their confidence.

Gangwar joined the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) on December 13,1991, as Programme Officer. After successfully undertaking the CEE School Programmes Group in the Northeast, Dr Gangwar started replicating this programme in Uttarakhand which was responsible for strengthening environmental education in schools, training teachers and resource persons and developing locale-specific environmental education and communication materials. He extended the CEE school programmes in the remote and rural areas of Uttarakhand.

Dr Gangwar has been instrumental in building up the capacity of NGOs of Uttarakhand and mobilising the youth in environmental protection. He has been holding interactive programmes with schoolchildren informing them about the medicinal plant wealth of Uttarakhand.

"A majority of schoolchildren in Uttarkhand are not even aware of the state's rich medicinal plant diversity and thus we have to begin with a scratch and even make schoolchildren identify the medicinal plants in the region", Dr Gangwar pointed out.

From July 2001, Dr Gangwar started the Himalaya Initiative of the CEE, supporting and promoting conservation and sustainable development of mountain regions, thereby ensuring the well-being of mountain and low-land communities through education and communication.

The CEE Himalaya has documented and strengthened the environmental conservation efforts in the Himalayan region.

Gangwar asserts that working with the youth and community has been his priority. Learning from the community their indigenous traditional knowledge and using it to make a right blend with modern science and technology has been an area of interest. "I strongly feel that the clue of sustainable development and the right path of development that India should follow will emerge from the rural traditional communities and not from the concepts promoted by the West. The Indian youth has immense potential and if they are guided and groomed properly they can become the changed agents", Gangwar observed.

Urgent measures needed to keep Haridwar city clean
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, March 16
The Municipal Corporation and the district administration need to take immediate steps to make Haridwar city clean and green as the Char Dham pilgrimage and the summer tourist season are set to begin next month.

Heaps of garbage and filth can be seen everywhere and this gives a bad impression to the pilgrims and the tourists. This is also posing problems for local residents as foul smell emanating from garbage dumps has made commuting difficult for them.

The threat of contagious diseases looms large and swine flu and dengue cases have already been reported in the district.

But the authorities concerned have not taken steps to make the city clean by regular lifting of garbage.

The core Kumbh Mela zone at Har-ki-Pauri, adjacent Ganga ghats, inner roads, colonies like Kankhal, Gobind Puri, Moti Bazaar, Ranipur and suburban colonies like Jwalapur are littered with garbage.

Even the railway station, the bus station, City Control Room tower, Women’s Hospital, the Municipal Corporation office area and other important places are not being cleaned properly.

The garbage lifted by MC trucks for dumping on the outskirts of the city is dumped at Bhimgoda. City Health Officer Dr Anil Tyagi said adequate steps were being taken to keep the city clean and instructions had been issued to hire sanitation workers on contract in case of staff shortage.

Former Councillor Dinesh Joshi said this world-famous city gives a dirty look at the very entry. He added though the local civic body was upgraded to the Municipal Corporation a year ago nothing much had changed as far as civic facilities and cleanliness was concerned. 

Panel to check trafficking in Dalit girls
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, March 16
The Gangolihat administration has constituted a joint committee of revenue employees and local citizens in every village to detect the incidents of trafficking in poor Dalit girls in the name of marriage from the interior parts of area.

“We have instructed the committee members to inform the administration if people from outside the district are seen in any village for marrying their wards with local girls,” said Anurag Arya, SDM, Gangolihat.

Arya said a couple, which was suspected to be involved in the crime, had fled to Delhi after the administration stepped up vigil. “After our teams busted this trade, we have saved three poor girls from being sold in the name of marriage,” said the SDM.

He said of the 50 girls who were taken from the area for marriage, 10 had returned. They were married to men of 50 years of age or more. “We still have 25 girls whose whereabouts are untraceable. The administration is trying to trace the addresses to know the actual condition of these girls,” he added.

8 health centres given on PPP mode
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 16
Rajhbara Medicare (New Delhi) will operate and manage the eight Community Health Centres (CHCs) located in Garhwal on the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

With this, the Department of Health and Family Welfare has completed the process of handing over the operation and management of 16 Community Health Centres in the Garhwal and Kumaon regions on the PPP mode.

RajBhara Medicare, which is running mobile health units, won the bids for the CHCs located at Sayia and Raipur in Dehradun district, Naugaon in Uttarkashi district, Thottu and Hindolakhal in Tehri district, Pabo and Thalisain in Pauri and at Bhagwanpur in Haridwar.

Earlier in February, eight CHCs was awarded to Sheel Nursing Home (Bareilly). Some of these CHCs are at Gairsain in Chamoli district, Munsiyari in Pithoragarh and Kapkot in Bageshwar.