Fires raging in Dharchula, Berinag forests
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, May 5
The fire fighting mechanism of the Forest Department seems to have failed as pine forests in the Berinag, Jhoolaghat and Dharchula forest ranges of the district are still burning after a fire erupted there five days ago, forest officials and villagers from the affected areas said.

“The forest of Kanari village, near Jhoolaghat town, is burning since Friday but no forest official has tried either to inform the higher authorities or extinguish the fire which is spreading day by day,” said Jagdish Chandra, a social worker from the area who reported the fire incident to the Forest Department.

According to information, besides the fear that the fire may spread to nearby villages, there is a danger that it may burn cables near roads. “The fire is spreading to nearby Banara, Kanari and Malli Kanari villages, but the department is not bothered,” said Jagdish.

Residents of Dharchula town were scared as the fire that broke out in a nearby forest spread to the border areas of the town today. “Jawans of the Signal Unit of the Army along with Forest Department workers rushed to the area and managed to control the fire after hours of labour,” said Muralidhar Bhatt, a forest officer in Dharchula.

All crew stations established in the Berinag forest range to control forest fires this season have been alerted following reports of fire raging in the range forests. “As no rain has taken place in the district for the past five days, fire incidents are happening frequently,” said a forest officer in the Berinag range.

State Cong leaders to meet central leaders in Delhi today
Debacle in civic bodies’ elections
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 5
Sheepish Uttarakhand Congress leaders will meet senior Central party leaders in New Delhi tomorrow to explain about party debacle in the civic bodies' elections held recently in the state.

The ruling Congress party has fared miserably in the local poll and failed to win even a single Municipal Corporation in the six cities across the state. All senior Congress leaders would be going to Delhi on May 6 to meet Central party leaders.

Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna is already in New Delhi since Saturday evening and would be looking forward to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of the declaration of both banks of the Bhagaritahi river from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi as an eco-sensitive zone, putting restrictions on development projects on 5 km on each bank in the 100-km stretch of the river.

The government has taken strong exception to the notification issued by the Central Government regarding the eco-sensitive zone and would request the Prime Minister to take it back or amend it.

On the other hand, Uttarakhand Congress chief Yashpal Arya would also be submitting his report on the civic poll debacle to the Central party leaders. Apart from giving his report on the party's performance, he would also be submitting his report on internal sabotage allegedly by senior party leaders, particularly in the Mayoral elections of Dehradun.

According to party sources, there are allegations that senior party leaders, including a minister, two legislators and a former minister, openly worked against the party's mayoral candidate from Dehradun. The posters and banners of the party's mayoral candidates were not displayed by party's ward candidates following pressure from these leaders who wanted to ensure the defeat of the mayoral candidate.

It was also charged that these leaders also canvassed for turning the Congress cadre votes to the BSP candidate.

Already complaint in this regard has been made to Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi who has special interest in Dehradun where he had his schooling.

Yashpal Arya also plans to meet Congress General Secretary and in charge of Uttarakhand affairs Birender Singh, Janardan Diwedi and senior leader Moti Lal Vohra.

Dehradun Diary
Cong failure in civic poll exposes chinks in party organisation

THE debacle of the ruling Congress in the recently concluded civic bodies' elections has further exposed chinks in the ruling Congress government as well as the party organisation in the state.

The poor performance of the party in the civic poll has reflected the anger of the masses towards "anti-poor" and "anti-people" policies of both the state government and the Central Government.

The people of Uttarakhand had given a slight edge to the Congress in the 2012 state Assembly election. The Congress had won 32 Assembly seats while the BJP was a close winner with 31 seats. The Congress with the help of three Independents and three members of the BSP formed the state government.

However, the people of the state who voted out the BJP and reposed faith in the Congress were soon disillusioned as squabbles started on the selection of the Chief Minister by the party high command. Union minister Harish Rawat and his supporter legislators revolted against the decision to make Tehri MP Vijay Bahuguna as the Chief Minister.

The party high command placated the Harish Rawat group by giving them positions as ministers, Rajya Sabha membership and the position of the Assembly Speaker.

However, the situation turned from bad to worse as there was no party discipline and the Harish Rawat group openly defied the Chief Minister. The situation got worse with rising inflation and a lackadaisical performance of the Congress-led state government. The final straw came in the form of the capping of LPG cylinders by the Central Government last year, which resulted in the defeat of Saket Bahuguna, son of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, in the Tehri byelection held in October last year.

The efforts of the Chief Minister to play the emotional issue of holding his Cabinet meeting and then deciding to construct another Assembly building at Gairsain in Chamoli district for political gains was cleverly sabotaged by the Harish Rawat group. The contradictory statements by Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal and Almora MP Pradeep Tamta, both close associates of Harish Rawat, demanding permanent capital status for Gairsain negated the political gains for the ruling party.

Instead, giving any political mileage to the Congress, the controversy further eroded the credibility of the ruling party. This was reflected in the result of the civic poll as the Congress was thoroughly beaten even in the Gairsain local body poll.

Open defiance by a section of the Congress leaders, contempt for rules and regulations and even morality by Congress ministers, controversial decisions like bringing in Coca Cola plant in Dehradun, the sale of industrial plots and above all various corruption scandals coming out of the closet of the Central Government with regular intervals eroded the faith of the common voters.

The efforts by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi to bring in accountability, discipline and transparency in party affairs during his visit to Dehradun and interaction with party leaders and workers in March this year has failed to have any effect on the leaders. Party leaders, including legislators and ministers, were so obstinate that they openly defied party discipline to work against party candidates at a number of places in the entire state.

The people of the state who were already fed up with the one year of the party in the state also reciprocated by rejecting the ruling party in the local elections. The writing is on the wall for the Congress for the Lok Sabha elections scheduled in May next year.

— SMA Kazmi

Mall pulls of MC officials for neglecting people’s issues
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, May 5
Newly elected president of the Municipal Council of Mussoorie Manmohan Singh Mall after taking the oath of office took the council officials to task for ignoring people's problems at the first meeting at the MC office yesterday. Manmohan sought information on the pending projects and the budget available for development works.

He said they should roll up their sleeves and start working towards resolving people's problems and expediting pending development works on priority.

Manmohan also sought information about the flow of funds generated through the eco fee during the tenure of OP Uniyal and asked officials to provide him complete details. He was enraged at the officials on the issue of stopping of mutation files of people for dubious reasons.

The MC president directed the tax officials to bring all files to him within two days and expedite the mutation issue on priority. He also directed them that instead of harassing people they should put their energy in solving their problems without delay.

Manmohan also took stock of the health and hygiene condition in the town. He said he would not tolerate any laxity in this regard and directed the officials concerned to keep Mall Road clean by removing plastic or other garbage daily. He also ordered that no vehicle should be allowed to move on Mall Road after 5 pm. The effect of the change of guard at the MC was clearly visible as after the meeting the employees of various MC departments were seen working diligently on Mall Road and other places.

Manmohan also sought suggestions on the development issues from the elected council members.

Tributes paid to Kaushalaya Dabral
Tribune News Service

Dehradun May 5
Members of the Kaushalaya Dabral Sangharsh Vahini paid homage to noted statehood agitator Kaushalaya Dabral on her 16th death anniversary at the Martry's Memorial here today. They also observed a two-minute silence in her remembrance.

The speakers stressed on the need to learn from the simplicity of Dabral, who, otherwise, had a towering personality. She got injured during the agitation when a policeman hit her with his shoe.

They were of the view that it was high time that the state government gave due respect and rights to the statehood agitators. Steps like the formulation of a concrete policy for the identification of statehood agitators, pension, employment to their kith and kin, checking their migration from the hills should be taken.

They said they would pressure the government to make a policy in this regard. On the occasion, chairperson of Vahini Sushila Dhyani, Ram Lal Khanduri, Vinod Aswal, Prabhat Dandriyal, Pavitra Bhatt, Rajeshwari Rawat and Shakuntala Khantwal were also present.

Lawyer questions exclusion of minority schools from RTE Act
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 5
Rajnish Jayal, a lawyer and educationist, has questioned the exclusion of English medium schools enjoying the minority status in Dehradun from the purview of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Jayal has filed an application under the Right to Information Act and asked the office of Uttarakhand Chief Secretary to provide details of English medium schools in Dehradun having the minority status that are run solely for profits.

He has asked the office of Chief Secretary to reveal the requirements for declaring an institution a minority institution under the Constitution and under what provision of the Constitution such schools are exempted from the provisions of the RTE Act.

In the 12-point questionnaire, Jayal has also sought information about any nodal agency working for such institutions in Uttarakhand. He has also demanded a list of students who have been provided fee concession by these institutions from 2002 to 2012.

It is noteworthy that there are a number of English medium schools in Dehradun like the St Joseph’s Academy, the Convent of Jesus and Mary and St. Thomas College that have got the minority institution status. These institutions charge hefty fees like any public school in the city but are exempted from the purview of the RTE Act due to their the minority status.

Guv: Need to focus on Char Dham yatra arrangements
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, May 5
With the Char Dham yatra scheduled to commence from May 13, Governor Aziz Qureshi emphasised on the needs of proper facilities and beautification of the four shrines. He was speaking at a seminar ‘Sarv Dharma Samelan’ organised by the Jain community at Rishikul auditorium, here today.

The Governor said the shrines of Shri Badri Nath, Shri Kedar Nath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri draw lakhs of devotees from across the country and foreign shores. So, it was their duty to provide better facilities to them.

On Sarabjit’s killing, Qureshi criticised the Pakistani government. He said the way Sarabjit was killed had shown the violent face of Pakistan to the world.

Terming Uttarakhand as an ideal example, where people of different religions and sects live peacefully, Governor Qureshi said it is a land of deities as the Char Dhams are situated here. The Hemkund Sahib, Piran Kaliyar shrines are a part of the state. The Jains and Buddhists also practise their religions with freedom and peace.

Addressing a gathering at the seminar, Uttarakhand Sanskrit University Vice-Chancellor Mahavir Aggarwal said Vedas and ancient Hindu texts are the best source of knowledge.

Chairpersons, members of 32 local bodies sworn in
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, May 5
Newly elected chairpersons and members of 32 local bodies in the Kumaon region took oath of office yesterday. The oath-taking ceremony at some places was marred by controversy as some newly elected members from opposition parties and senior leaders alleged violation of protocol at the ceremonies. “We boycotted the oath-taking ceremony at Rudrapur town as the BJP had made it into a party function and ignored the elected Congress leader in violation of protocol,” said Lalit Miglani, newly elected Congress councillor of the Rudrapur Nagar Nigam.

Not only Congress members but also BJP legislator Rajesh Shukla was angry as he was not given a seat at the dais during the oath-taking ceremony. “We have sought an explanation from the District Magistrate in this regard,” said a senior BJP leader in Rudrapur.

Former beauty queen Niharika to run for promoting tourism
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 5
Former Miss India Earth Niharika Singh will participate in a marathon, scheduled for May 25 and 26 in Rishikesh, to promote tourism and spread the message ‘Save the Ganges’ among the masses.

Addressing the mediapersons here today, District Tourism Officer YS Gangvar said, “The Tourism Department is organising a two-day marathon ‘Running and living adventure run’. On the first day, a 5-km stretch from Astha Path to Triveni Ghat and on the next day, a 21-km stretch from Shivpuri, Malakhunti to Kotlaganv will be covered.”

The registration for the event will continue till May 18 at Hotel Ganga Kinare and yatra office of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam.

Niharika Singh, addressing the media via video-conferencing, said she was excited about the event. She said It would be better than other usual marathons organised in metropolitan cities of the country.

Efforts should be made to promote tourism in the state.

BJP protests against Centre over corruption
Our Correspondent

BJP workers protest against the Central government on the issue of corruption in Mussoorie on Sunday.

Mussoorie, May 5
Members of the local BJP unit members sat on a one-hour dharna at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Park, Landour Bazaar, today in protest against the Central Government and its anti-people policies. They raised slogans against the Congress-led government and blamed it for corruption and price rise in the country.

Local BJP president Roop Singh Kathait said the recent case of corruption in the Railways had exposed the Congress. It showed that the main of aim the Congress was to mint money by any means as their chances to return to power were slim.

Mussoorie BJP general secretary Kushal Singh Rana said it was unfortunate that the Congress still protecting its ministers.

The BJP members demanded resignations from the Prime Minister and Minister of Railways on the issue in the wake of the ‘railgate’ and other scams.

Writing skills workshop for children in Doon
Tribune News Service

A student at an exhibition of handwritten books put up by Bal Prahari, a children’s magazine, in Dehradun on Sunday.

Dehradun, May 5
The Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti in association with Bal Prahri, a children's magazine published from Almora, organised a writing skills workshop and exhibition here today. Renu Aggarwal, a social worker, was the chief guest of the workshop. She said that children in today’s world preferred viewing television to reading and writing. This was a matter of concern. She stressed on making efforts towards promoting writing skills among children.

Secretary of the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti Vijay Bhatt said schoolchildren also needed to be given adequate opportunity to write their thoughts.

Udai Kirola from Bal Prahri and Dr Brijbhushan Sharma also addressed the gathering. An exhibition of books written by children was also held on the occasion. A large number of children attended the workshop.