PFA contests CM's claim on tiger protection force
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 29
People For Animals (PFA), Uttarakhand, has challenged the Chief Minister’s claim that a special tiger protection force has been constituted in the state.

Gauri Maulekhi, member secretary, PFA, Uttarakhand, asserted that a publication entitled ‘Santulit Vikas ki Aur Badhte Kadam, Badhta Uttarakhand, Sarkar ka Ek Varsh’ recently released on the completion of one year of the Vijay Bahuguna government in the state on page 12 has stated that a special tiger protection force (STPF) has been constituted in the state for the protection of tigers.

“Surely, one is aware that the government order regarding the constitution of the STPF was done way back on September 1, 2010, by then Forest and Rural Development Commissioner Subhash Kumar. And, thus the constitution of the STPF has nothing to do with the one year of the present government,” Maulekhi said.

Maulekhi further held that it has also been claimed in the same publication on page 22 that for the formation of the STPF, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed by the state with the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

“I myself have given umpteen reminders to various officials from time to time to expedite signing the MoU, but the same has not been done till date. It is, thus, a blatant lie communicated to and published and most importantly endorsed and circulated by none other than the Chief Minister himself,” Maulekhi said.

Registering her concern over these blunders through a letter sent to Principal Secretary Forest and Environment, S Ramaswamy, Maulekhi said, “I refuse to consider for even a moment that such a big blunder could have been merely an oversight. If information has been provided to the Honourable CM's office, it may logically be concluded that it passed through your office.”

She has also sought a public apology regarding the false information provided in the government publication.

I have given umpteen reminders to various officials from time to time to expedite signing of the MoU, but the same has not been done till date. It is, thus, a blatant lie communicated to and published and most importantly endorsed and circulated by none other than the Chief Minister himself.
— Gauri Maulekhi, member secretary, PFA

UKD constitutes 16-member panel for civic bodies’ election
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 29
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal has constituted a 16-member committee for the selection of candidates for the forthcoming civic bodies’ election.

Addressing a press conference here today, president of the UKD Trivendra Singh Panwar said a 16-member committee, headed by Virendra Mohan Uttarakhandi, has been constituted for the selection of party candidates for the forthcoming civic bodies’ election in the state.

Panwar said the UKD would be contesting the civic bodies’ election with all seriousness. The committee, apart from Virendra Mohan Uttarakhandi, comprises Latafat Hussain, Shanti Prasad Bhatt, Virendra Rana, Vinod Nautiyal, Geeta Bisht, Yashpal Rawat, BP Dobhal, Bahadur Singh Rawat, Manmohan Lakheda, Narayan Lal, Anand Silmana, Pramod Dobhal, Pramila Rawat, Sulochana Bahuguna and Furkan Ahmed.

Panwar reiterated that the UKD would continue to raise pro-Uttarakhand issues. He also said the entire state unit of the Uttarakhand Janmanch had joined the UKD.

Responding to queries, Panwar said there was a strong undercurrent in favour of the UKD, which will be amply reflected in the civic bodies’ election.

Civic bodies in Kumaon all set to have women chiefs
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, March 29
Several women candidates are all set to contest the election for the posts of chairperson of the civic bodies in Almora, Bageshwar, Khatima and Tanakpur and the Nagar Nigams in Kashipur and Rudrapur after these were reserved for women. In Pithoragarh, the present chairman and former chairmen of the Nagar Palika Parishad, which has been declared general, are willing to contest the election.

According to information received from these areas, several women candidates have announced to contest the election, which are likely to conclude before the first week of May. “The BJP has already declared its probable candidates for the Nagar Nigam election in Kashipur, Rudrapur and Haldwani. It has named Manju Yadav (Kashipur), Renu Adhikari or Dharmanad Tiwari (Rudrapur) and Gita Koli or Soni Koli (Haldwani) much before the scheduled election,” said Mohan Rajput, a senior journalist at Rudrapur.

Almora town will see an OBC candidate for the second time, but a woman OBC chairperson for the first time. Mohan Lal Varma was the chairman of the Nagar Palika before the post was reserved for women. “As the OBC community constitutes about 8 per cent of the total population of Almora town, the anointment of an OBC candidate as the chairperson of the civic body will increase political awareness among the women of the community,” said Varma, a senior BJP leader and member of the OBC community.

Both BJP and Congress have announced probable women candidates for the post of chairperson in Bageshwar. “While the names of Bharati Shah, Dhana Koranga, Nirmala Dafauti and Pushpa Shah have emerged from the BJP side, Congress leaders are pushing the names of their daughters or daughters-in-law for the post of chairperson of the nagar palika,” said Ghanshyam Joshi, a social worker of Bageswar town.

Pithoragarh town will see a fierce fight for the post of the Nagar Palika chairman as the seat has been declared general for the second consecutive year.

According to BJP sources, incumbent chairman Rajendra Singh Rawat is likely to be the party candidate for the second time this year while the Congress may field former chairman Jagat Singh Khati. Another former chairman Jagjiwan Singh Kanyal may contest the election as an independent candidate. 

The BJP has already declared its probable candidates for the Nagar Nigam election in Kashipur, Rudrapur and Haldwani. It has named Manju Yadav (Kashipur), Renu Adhikari or Dharmanad Tiwari (Rudrapur) and Gita Koli or Soni Koli (Haldwani) much before the scheduled election.

— Mohan Rajput, journalist at Rudrapur 

Civil defence important for social security, says Panwar
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 29
Uttarakhand Urban Development Minister Pritam Singh Panwar has stressed the importance of civil defence in ensuring safety and addressing other concerns of society in the time of emergency.

Addressing a programme organised by the Civil Defence here today, Panwar, while praising the civil defence volunteers from Dehradun, stressed on strengthening of the civil defence mechanism in the state. He asserted that a lot was still to be done towards extending civil defence in other districts of the state.

On the occasion, Panwar also honoured various civil defence volunteers who have given their services to the cause of civil defence in the past. Among those honoured included Incident Control Officer, Civil Defence, Anil Verma, Deputy Warden Yogesh Agarwal, Umeshwar Luthra, Sandeep Patwal, Vipin Chachara and Pramod Dobhal. Earlier, the Chief Warden, Dehradun, Chandra Gupta Vikram, informed the gathering about the day-to-day activities of the civil defence, Dehradun. Deputy Controller, Civil Defence, CS Bhounthiyal, presented the annual report.

Senior Dehradun Civil Defence officials Satish Kumar, Premlata Verma, Rajesh Sharma, Rajeev Sharma, Deepak Agarwal and Chamanlal were present on the occasion.

Five lakh pilgrims likely to attend Jhanda Mela
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 29
Nearly 5 lakh pilgrims are expected to attend Jhanda Mela beginning from March 31 at the precincts of Guru Ram Rai Darbar.

Vishnu Kumar Nautiyal, PRO of Guru Ram Rai Darbar, said today that elaborate arrangements were being made for housing the sangat that had already started arriving.

“We are expecting five lakh pilgrims for this year’s Jhanda Mela and most of them will be accommodated at different schools run by the Guru Ram Rai management and dharamshalas. Besides, 250 tents will be erected at different places,” said Vishnu Kumar Nautiyal.

He said langars would be held at five places. Medical camps would also be organised by the Mahant Indresh Hospital Trust for the pi grims.

On the occasion, the management also released a souvenir dedicated to the history of Guru Ram Rai Darbar.

Move to open bank accounts resented
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 29
The Grameen Vikas Samiti has resented the state government’s policy for forcible opening of new bank accounts of the social welfare pension beneficiaries.

Addressing a press conference here today, president of the samiti Kunwar Singh said the social welfare pension welfare beneficiaries already had one or more saving back accounts and the state social welfare directorate was now asking to open the third account, which was only meant to trouble them unnecessarily. He said most of the pension beneficiaries were illiterate and aged and opening a new back account was a tedious job for them.

Kunwar Singh said their samiti also supported the ongoing agitation of Anganwadi workers. “These Anganwadi workers must be given the status of government employees,” he pointed out. He said the state government must stop harassing the poor or else they would be forced to teach the Congress a lesson in the forthcoming 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Vijay Prasad Bhattarai, Kalam Singh and Kamla Devi were also present at the conference.

Rangoli, mehndi events held at DAV College
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 29
The Students' Union Week celebrations started at DAV (PG) College here today. Dehradun Cantt MLA Harbans Kapoor inaugurated the week-long celebrations. He is an alumni of the college.

The MLA appreciated the quality of education being imparted to students in the college.

Rangoli and mehndi competitions were organised on the first day of the week. Heena, Nargis and Saraswati secured the first, second and third positions, respectively, in the mehndi competition and Kushbu, Swati and Saraswati got first, second and third positions, respectively, in the rangoli event.

College Principal Devendra Bhasin and Students' Union leader Mahesh Jagudi were present on the occasion.

Power generation to be increased in Uttarakhand
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 29
To increase power generation in the state, work will be taken up on a large scale with the help of Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has directed officials of the power department to accelerate work in the field of power generation and transmission.

He expressed satisfaction that Additional Secretary (Economic Affairs), Government of India, Shaktikant Das has appreciated the work being done in the state in the sphere of power with the help of ADB.

The ADB has agreed to give a loan of $300 million to the state for electricity generation and transmission. The amount will be given to the state in phases. The work will be undertaken by the PTCUL and the UJVNL. Managing Director, PTCUL, SS Yadav said the PTCUL would strengthen the transmission system at a cost of Rs 1,464 crore.

He said the PTCUL was setting up a 400-KV substation at Srinagar which would provide electricity in the Alakananda river valley area. The substation is being set up at Pipalkoti using the GIS technique. A 150-km line from Srinagar to Kashipur is being installed. A 220 KV, 132 and 33 KV stations will be set up in Dehradun by May.

Managing Director, UJVNL, JP Patel said five mini hydropower projects namely Kaliganga 1(2x2 MW), Kaliganga 2 (2x3MW), Sobla 1 (2x4MW), Madhmaheshwar (3x5MW) and Kaldigar (2x4.5 MW) were being set up by the nigam. Kaliganga 1 has already started production while the others will be completed by December 2015.

Balance between environment, development stressed
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, March 29
A two-day seminar on ‘Environment and development with special reference to hill areas’ under the aegis of the Confederation of Indian Bar with the Uttarakhand Ministry of Forests began at Jaypee Residency Manor Hotel in Mussoorie today. The speakers stressed on striking a balance between environment and development, especially with reference to the hill region.

Justice Swatanter Kumar, a former judge of the Supreme Court of India and Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal, Vijay Bahuguna, Chief Minister, along with DK Sharma, president of the Uttarakhand High Court Bar Association, Ashok Gupta, senior advocate, inaugurated the function by lighting the ceremonial lamp.

Praveen H. Parekh from the Confederation of Indian Bar, in his opening remarks, said the hill areas since the Vedic times had been considered a vast repository of valuable medicinal herbs, minerals and forest resources. This potential, however, remained unexploited, especially in higher reaches due to inadequate means of communication.

“After Independence the Government of India laid special emphasis on industrial development in order to ensure socio-economic progress but due to lack of planning it resulted in serious ecological imbalances such as soil erosion and loss of fertility, disturbance of geological strata due to operations like blasting and excavation. The chipping of mountain slopes for the construction of roads has resulted in cracks, fissures and weak planes disturbing the ecology of the region. Due to an imbalance between development and environment the drainage patterns have been interrupted and improper disposal of fuel and industrial discharge into natural water bodies has led to contamination of the surface and ground water, thus affecting the general health of the people,” he said.

Parekh stressed that in order to maintain a balance between industrial activities and environment some protective measures like environment impact assessment before starting any Industry or road construction operation were needed. Environmentalists must be consulted in order to avoid any ecological imbalance. Geologists must be included in the whole process of blasting and chipping of mountains slopes to avoid any geological havoc. The development projects should be formulated in such a way that there is minimal loss to flora and fauna of the region.

Parekh said certain scientific measure should be taken into account while starting construction and industrialisation in hill areas and effort should be made to strike a balance between environment and development.

In his opening remarks, Justice Swatanter Kumar (retd) said the state’s responsibility with regard to environment protection had been laid down in Article 48-A of the Constitution and it is the fundamental duty of every citizen to protect the environment under Article 51-A. Article 21 of the Constitution has been given a very wide ambit so as to include, inter alia, rights concerning a healthy environment.

However, development and environment need to be seen as complimentary and not antagonistic terms as if there is no earth left, where development will take place. He added inclusive development would not be possible without environment protection.

Justice Swatanter Kumar said at present the world is facing the harmful consequences of global warming and the depletion of resources, environment conservation has become a topic of global significance and the matter of paramount importance to a developing economy like India. He said it was not about environment versus economy or not about trade-off between unemployment and pollution and certainly not about picking one over other, therefore the challenge was to create the condition so that both could thrive.

He also emphasised on environmental reforms such as putting a price on carbon, valuing natural capital and ending perverse subsides were all vital to take forward such reforms. He quoted Martin Luther King saying “for in the true nature of the things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver”.

Justice Swatanter Kumar also said to erode nature for development would only lead to extinction as nature would act with vengeance and erode humanity. Therefore, the need of the hour was to devise principles and propagate and implement the same in order to secure a balance.

He said the adoption of the best available technique (BAT) under the integrated pollution prevention regime was one way to combat environment pollution.

Justice Swatanter Kumar added he was against stopping of any project midway on environment grounds, which often leads to loss of revenue for states. He said once a project was cleared after a close impact environmental assessment it should not be stopped midway.

“We must endeavour to achieve the ultimate objective of proving and striking a balance between these two individual rights, especially when it concerns environmentally rich yet fragile areas, such as the hills, for achieving the higher purpose of the manifold aspect of human rights.

The Chief Minister said Uttarakhand had immense potential in the sector of hydropower but due to the sentiments attached with the rivers considered sacred the government was finding it difficult to harness this natural resource for growth. He added the state should be given Green Bonus for preserving the environment of Himalayas.

Bahuguna said the man-animal conflict had increased in the state, which needed speedy redress.

The hydropower projects which had been started should not be stopped in the name of environment as inordinate delays raised their cost, hindering the growth of the state, he added. The Chief Minister later speaking to mediapersons said the Congress was ready for about the local bodies’ elections and would win with a thumping margin.

President of the Uttarakhand High Court Bar association DK Sharma, senior advocate Ashok Gupta also addressed the gathering. 

Purnagiri fair begins, 50,000 have darshan on day one
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, March 29
The 60-day Purnagiri fair started here today with more than 50,000 pilgrims from various parts of north India and Nepal visiting the hilltop temple of Purnagiri Devi. Chairperson of the Champawat Zila Panchayat Prema Pandey inaugurated the fair.

SSP, Champawat, Karan Singh Nagnyal said 130 police personnel, besides three platoons of the PAC, including one women platoon, had been deployed in the three temporary police post areas demarcated for the fair. “We have also deputed bomb disposal squads and installed close-circuit cameras in the mela area to ensure fool-proof security, he said.

Sources in the Champawat Zila Panchayat said nearly 40 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the Purnagiri Devi temple during the mela last year. “The number of pilgrims is likely to increase this year,” said Prema Pandey.

750-gm tumour removed from newborn’s body
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 29
The paediatric surgeon of Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital has given a new lease of life to a newborn baby by removing a 750-gm tumour from his body.

The baby was suffering from “sacro-coccygeal teratoma”. After the operation, the baby is having a speedy recovery.

Dr Madhukar Maletha, a paediatric surgeon, said 10-day-old baby of Reena, a resident of Mussoorie, was suffering from "sacro-coccygeal teratoma". When she was pregnant for five months, doctors had expressed doubt in her ultrasound report that the baby to be born might be suffering from a tumour.

Generally, such tumours are found over the hips. But in this exceptional case, the extension of the tumour was up till the stomach. The tumour had become life-threatening as it was compressing the major vital organs of the abdomen.

The surgery lasted for four and a half hours in which first through the abdomen the tumour was detached from the vital parts of the body, including major blood vessels, intestines, kidneys and urinary bladder. After that, the tumour was completely removed from the body.

Before the operation, the total weight of the baby was 2.5kg. Due to the tumour, the baby’s intestines and kidneys were in extreme pressure. The baby has been discharged from the hospital. 

150 women participate in auction of wine shops
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, March 29
Over 150 women contenders took part in an auction for 25 wine shops in the district today. The auction process completed peacefully under heavy deployment of the police at the auction spot, a district information officer communiqué said.

The auction fetched Rs 30, 12, 29,190, including Rs 1, 143, 6000 from the license fee.

According to the communiqué, while 116 women contenders, besides 1881 men, took part in the auction for 13 shops of foreign liquor, 23 women contenders, along with 378 men, took part for the auction of 12 country liquor. “One woman, along with 43 male contenders, took part in the auction of one beer shop,” said the communiqué.

According to the district information officer, the auction of liquor fetched Rs 24, 05, 12,683 last year when 1,738 contenders had taken part in the auction.

Migratory birds returning to native countries

Pithoragarh, March 29
Migratory birds from Siberia and other countries across the Himalayas have started returning due to increase in the temperature here.

Sanjay Sodhi, a bird watcher from Kumaon, said nearly 200 migratory birds were spotted at various sites in the state during bird-watching camps organised by the eco-tourism department this year.

Sodhi said new species of birds were also spotted during the camps at the CTR and the adjoining Marchula forests, Choti Haldwani, Bour and Haripura water bodies. “650 species of birds were witnessed this year,” he said.

“After mountain quill, two other species of rare birds, Western tragophan pheasant and cheer pheasant, are on the verge of extinction due to unplanned development and encroachment,” said MK Bahukhandi, a wildlife patron at the Binsar sanctuary, Almora. — OC

SJ Cricket Academy beat Khalsa Academy
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 29
SJ Cricket Academy, Jaipur, defeated Khalsa Cricket Academy on better run average as the match was tied in the 5th All-India Uttarakhand Cricket Cup-2013 played at Rangers College here today.

Batting first after winning the toss, Khalsa Cricket Academy scored 170 runs all out in 34.2 overs. Gaurav was the top scorer with 44 runs while V Bishnoi scored 35 runs. Manish Sharma took four wickets for 27 runs.

In reply, SJ Cricket Academy also scored 170 all out in 40 overs. Jobanpreet was the top scorer with 75 runs to his credit. Mannu Kumar took four wickets for 25 runs. As the match was a tie, SJ Cricket Academy was declared winner on the better run rate.