Cong headless in DMC House
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 8
A month has passed since the new House of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) was constituted but the councillors from the Congress have not been able to select the Leader of the Opposition. This has led to unrest among the contenders for the post and new councillors who desire to seek directions over issues pertaining to problems and overall development in their respective wards. The front-runners for the post of the Leader of the Opposition are Jagdish Dhiman, Vinay Kohli and Dr Vijender Pal Singh.

The absence of any leader to lead the Congress in the DMC has aggravated the problem. The councillors could not pursue the issue of the dismantling of the cabin of the Leader of the Opposition in the DMC. Initially, the issue was raised vociferously by the councillors but it could not be taken up further as a few councillors tried to exploit the issue to exhibit their prowess before new councillors. Due to this new cabin has not been constructed till date for the leader of the opposition. Even on the contentious issue of the election of sanitation workers association, the Congress councillors did not play effective role of opposition until the party vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana came forward. Dhasmana was also kept in the forefront when other Congress councillors went to meet Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (MNA) to put forth their demands.

However, the lead taken by Jagdish Dhiman in conceiving the idea of taking the delegation of Congress councillors to the MNA did not go down well with other contenders. Reacting on the matter, Dr Vijender Pal Singh called Dhiman to be over-ambitious. He said Dhiman was taking initiatives in order to become the leader of the opposition. He said the matter was pending as other three Congress MLAs Rajkumar, Umesh Sharma Kao and Dinesh Aggarwal, who would play a decisive role in selecting the leader of the opposition, were not paying much attention.

Another councillor Vinay Kohli said the issue was kept at abeyance because there was no city president in the state Congress party. He said the Congress did not appoint anyone on this position after removal of Harish Varmani from this post due to indiscipline. The party was embroiled in controversies and conflicts and had no time to sort the issue of appointment of leader of opposition in the DMC, he added.

He also stressed that the entire opposition was directionless. New councillors were clueless whom to approach for guidance and raise their issues in the absence of any leader among them. Dhiman too emphasised that the Congress councillors were not able to play the role of active and strong opposition without having a leader among them.

IAS officers transferred
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 8
Principal Secretary Ranvir Singh has been relieved of the Departments of Minor and Medium Industries, Khadi Gramudhyog, Labour and Employment, Animal Husbandry and given the charge of the Department of Agriculture and Agriculture Education. Principal Secretary Om Prakash has been relieved of the Department of Agriculture and given charge of the Departments of Irrigation, Minor Irrigation and Flood Control.

Principal Secretary Radha Raturi has been relieved of the Department of Excise. Secretary MH Khan has been relieved of the Department of Minority Welfare and Managing Director, Minority Welfare Corporation.

District Magistrate, Tehri, NK Jha, has been given the additional charge of Director, Rehabilitation, Tehri. Secretary Ajay Kumar Pradhyot has been made in charge secretary for Minor and Medium Industries, Khadi Gramudhyog, Minority Welfare, Managing Director, Minority Welfare Corporation and officiating Director, Khadi Gramudhyog.

Almora DM tells PWD to finish bridge
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, June 8
District Magistrate, Almora, Akshat Gupta today reviewed the preparations for the forthcoming Nanda Devi Rajjat Yatra scheduled to begin on August 29. He warned engineers of the Public Works Department (PWD) that if the proposed bridge at Mala village on the route of the yatra was not completed by August 10, the district administration would file a criminal case against the department.

“The PWD has not yet constructed the bridge, which falls at a key place on the route of the Nanda Devi Rajjat Yatra in the Kumaon region despite an allocation of Rs 7.74 crore for the purpose. This is a criminal offence,” said Gupta.

He said all preparations for the yatra in the Kumaon region should be completed by August 10. These include the construction of bridges, repair of routes, roads and tracks and the arrangement of essential facilities like electricity and water at the camps on the yatra routes in the Kumaon region.

Meanwhile, SP, Almora, Sunil Kumar Meena has ordered the police to keep a vigil on traffic on the routes of the Nanda Devi Rajjat and the Char Dham yatras, which pass through the region.

Meena chaired a monthly crime review meeting of police officers of the district. He said the police would keep a vigil on the yatra routes and would form teams to keep an eye on vehicles and criminals during the Nanda Devi Rajjat Yatra. “We have also decided to keep a check on the violations of the NDPS Act, the Excise Act and the Prevention of Cruelty against Animals Act during the yatra,” he said.

Youth take part in marathon to mark NGO’s anniversary
Tribune News service

Dehradun, June 8
Making a Difference by being the Difference (MAD), a voluntary organisation of city youngsters, celebrated its second anniversary in a different way here today.

MAD volunteers conducted a marathon - “MAD-A-THON” - in which hundreds of city youth enthusiastically participated.

Many elder persons also took part in the activity aimed at sensitising the youth about ecological and cleanliness concerns.

As many as 804 youth participated in the marathon. It was flagged off from the Gandhi park early this morning and participants, after covering a distance of over five kilometers, reached the final destination of Summer Valley School.

Anand Maurya of DBS School stood first while Faisal Ashrafi from Mumbai stood second. Neeraj Rawat stood third in the boys’ category. In the girls’ category, Vijayshree, an alumni of St Thomas College, stood first, Deepti from Graphic Era Hill University stood second and Prachi Miyan bagged the third position.

Special awards for the event were also presented to 74-year-old PC Kapoor, Jasveer Singh (68), and Rajendra Sharma, a 60-year-old retired Army officer, for completing the race.

For being the youngest participants, Prince Kapoor (7) and Abhishek (7) were also felicitated.

While addressing participants, Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat commended the voluntary work done by youngsters for the good of the city and its environment.

Rawat spoke about the value of saving water at the micro level rather than only focusing on massive macro level plans which remain on paper and hence, ineffective. He offered the organisation half of his salary for the purpose of reviving streams.

He was willing to explore MAD’s long-standing request of forming a high-powered committee on the revival of city streams.

During the past two years of its inception, MAD has carried out a large number of activities from plantation to garbage cleaning to feeding the poor. MAD has conducted over 100 activities in the past one year. But the main issue which they were raised was of the dying and dwindling streams of the city.

During the past two weeks, on every Sunday MAD volunteers cleaned garbage from the Tamsa stream, near the Tapkeshwar temple.

Repair Joshimath highway, Maharaj urges Centre
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 8
Uttarakhand Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj has demanded immediate repair of the Rishikesh-Joshimath-Mana National Highway 7.

In a statement issued yesterday, Satpal Maharaj said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) that looks after the upkeep of this national highway had already sent a proposal to the Union Ministry of Roads and National Highways for necessary repairs. He appealed to the Union Ministry of Roads and National Highways to immediately accept the BRO’s proposal so that timely repair of the Rishikesh-Joshimath-Mana highway could be done.

He said a large number of pilgrims from various parts of the country and abroad come to the shrines of Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib and the bad condition of the national highway would cause great inconvenience to them.

Maharaj also reminded that the famous Nanda Devi Rajjaat Yatra was being held in Garhwal after 12 years in August and thus repairing the Rishikesh-Joshimath-Mana National Highway should be high on priority. He said the bad condition of the highway also portrayed Uttarakhand in a poor light. 

42 units of blood donated at Indresh Hospital camp
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 8
Members of the Uttarakhand GVK EMRI 108 Ambulance team donated 42 units of blood at a camp organised by the Mahant Indresh Hospital Trust at Chander Nagar yesterday. Manish Tinku, state head of GVK EMRI 108 Ambulance service, inaugurated the camp.

Dr Sanjay Kaushik, head of the Mahant Indresh Hospital Blood Bank, congratulated the members of GVK EMRI for actively participating in the blood camp. He said voluntary blood donation was the best way to collect blood.

Dr Kaushik said voluntary blood donation was being powered by the youth but during the summer and winter vacation when students usually go out less blood units were collected.

“But the enthusiasm shown by the members of GVK EMRI has helped us collect 42 units of blood,” he said.

On the other hand, Tinku said the 108 ambulance service was committed to the service of humanity and occasions like blood donations usually witnessed active participation by GVK EMRI members. 

Qureshi releases postal cover on Tyabji’s death anniversary
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 8
The Department of Posts has issued a special cover on the occasion of the 77th death anniversary of freedom fighter Abbas Tyabji. Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi and Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna released the cover at Raj Bhavan here today.

The Governor said Tyabji was a great man who dedicated his life to the nation and the youth of today need to be familiarised with his life. The Chief Minister said following Tyabji’s ideals would be the best tribute to him. He assured the members of the Tyabji Trust that the state government would give all support to it.

Tyabji played an important role in the Dandi March in 1930. He died in Mussoorie on June 9, 1936. MLAs Ganesh Joshi and Raj Kumar, former MP Paripoornanand Painuly and Chief Post Master General MS Ramanujan were present on the occasion.

Ram Lal uses puppetry to make classroom learning interesting
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 25
When it comes to imparting education about keeping the environment clean or exhorting the young and the old alike to exercise their voting rights, Ram Lal has been effortlessly doing it through the art of puppetry.

In fact in recognition of his contribution, Ram Lal was also honoured by the Election Commission, which recognised his efforts in imparting education about the need to select the right candidate during the previous Assembly elections held in the state.

However, Ram Lal rues that “while other countries are appreciative of our art form, we fail to value our traditions that have been handed down to us.”

“Through the Jan Sanchar, I have been visiting schools in Dehradun introducing children to the world of puppets but there are a few schools that would take the risk of using puppetry as part of their classroom learning,” said Ram Lal, a puppeteer from Rajasthan who has made Dehradun his home.

When Lal’s puppets ‘Boodhi Chachi’ and ‘Zokhim Chacha’ take centre stage, they command the audiences’ riveting attention. He uses these to make classroom learning an interesting experience for children.

“With the help of puppets, the eye and hand coordination movement can considerably improve and children should be introduced to this art form early in life,” said Lal.

He uses all kinds of puppets to interact with his audience, including rod puppets, mask puppets, glove puppets and some other forms of puppets discovered by him.

Along with the Dehradun-based Himalayan Trust, Ram Lal has been also organising workshops in disaster-prone areas of Uttarakhand and making them aware about emergency steps that could be taken in the event of natural disasters through his art.

“We have used puppets for several social causes. In the hills, these have been useful in the anti-liquor campaign,” said the puppeteer.

Disappointed at the lack of initiative by the government to promote puppetry in the state, he said there was a general misconception that puppetry was linked to entertainment alone.

“It is a misnomer that the puppet theatre is only about the tales of kings and queens and as such they have little relevance in the modern world. I think, it is time the government use the same as a tool in education,” he added.

Traffic rule violators fined
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 8
As part of a campaign against offenders of traffic rules, the Dehradun Police today impounded 15 vehicles and imposed a fine on 140 drivers.

According to police sources, two vehicles were seized and eight drivers were imposed a fine for rash driving. Further for triple riding, five vehicles were impounded and 14 perosns fined.

Moreover, eight vehicles were impounded and 140 drivers penalized for other traffic rules violations. The police also questioned 75 persons who were found moving under suspicious conditions.