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Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Nishank may fight Lok Sabha elections from Haridwar
Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank is welcomed by party activists on way to Doiwala in Haridwar on Monday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur |
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Short stay homes for women in distress
Ministry: No pollution threat to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath dhams
Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister of State for Environment and Forests
Villagers suffer losses as heavy rains damage Yarsa Gumba
GMVN rest houses in urgent need of repairs
Govt has failed to tackle natural disaster: BJP
Aged person found dead in Mussoorie
Relief work to continue in Darma, Johar valleys
Students want HC order on age challenged
Students belonging to the Aryan group of DAV PG College hold a dharna in Dehradun on Monday in support of their demand for raising the upper age limit for government jobs. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir
THDC gives Rs 36.9 lakh for
disaster relief
Babita nominated Lioness district chairperson
Babita Agarwal who has been nominated as District Chairperson of the Lioness Club during the installation ceremony in Dehradun on
Sunday. A Tribune photograph Part-time teachers launch indefinite stir MNREGS staff continues
with dharna
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Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Ruskin Bond, author of books for children, while extending his condolence to the people who lost their lives in the disaster, said that the has not witnessed such a disaster in the region in the 50 years of his stay here. Rebuilding from the disaster is not an easy task, but the political class should keep aside its political bickerings and work towards rebuilding the state through constructive means and acts, said Ruskin Bond. Speaking on the challenges ahead, Ruskin Bond was of the view that the hill people are resilient. That many opt for the armed forces is testimony to the fact, but they require the support of not only the government but also other organisations so that they can bounce back and bring their lives to normalcy. Speaking about the affect of the disaster on the children, he said that the children are the major sufferers during any disaster and the government should focus on helping them to come out from the trauma and heal the emotional scars which they might be suffering post the devastation. “I hear that many children have lost their parents and have nowhere to go. Such children should be on the priority list of the government which should make an extra effort to provide safe dwellings where they can recover without any difficulty,” added Bond. Being critical of the indifference shown by various governments towards the issues related to children, he said the condition of the government schools is already pathetic, with most of them being ill-equipped and this should change as the children are the future of the country. The government should focus on ensuring that the school buildings are not constructed on the banks of rivers as on a number of occasions, it has been seen that the government instead of taking the safety aspect in consideration constructs the school on the panchayat land which is of the most unproductive nature and usually besides the rivers or a stream in the hills. The other thing which everyone can do is avoid rampant construction on the banks of the rivers and if done, the rivers are capable of removing the encroachment itself. He also says that government should show respect for the environment while contemplating any development project in the hills and last, but not the least, the government should focus on the well-being of children. The way forward to avert any disaster is to follow the old boy Scout motto -- that is “Be Prepared”, said Ruskin Bond.
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Nishank may fight Lok Sabha elections from Haridwar
Haridwar, August 12 Nishank, a six-time legislator, has made several rounds of the district, met party workers, attended public programmes and held press conferences in the past few months. He had earlier denied that he could fight the Lok Sabha elections from Haridwar, but now he was giving enough indications of his intention to contest the elections from the constituency. Nishank, who returned from Roorkee after attending several functions, told The Tribune during a brief stopover here today that it was for the BJP high command to decide on the ticket issue. If given a chance to fight the Lok Sabha elections from Haridwar, he would ensure the victory of the BJP. Nishank is at present the legislator from Doiwala, which falls in the Haridwar parliamentary constituency. “Whether Madan Kaushik or any other candidate fights the elections on the party ticket, it is sure that the people of Haridwar will vote for the victory of the BJP. Congress parliamentarian Harish Rawat has lost the faith of the people of Haridwar as he has done little development works in the constituency,” said Nishank. He added Rawat, who is also Union Water Resources Minister, had earned the ire of the people, his party and the Uttarakhand government due to his devious activities. “He is not functioning like a seasoned parliamentarian and reminds me of a leader who is on the verge of losing his political career. The people of Haridwar, who voted him to Parliament after 18 years, now realise that why the people of Almora did not vote for him in four Lok Sabha elections,” said Nishank. Meanwhile, his supporters raised slogans of “Ladega bhai ladega, Jeetega bhai jeetega, Nishank jeetega” (Nishank will not only contest but also win from Haridwar). The former Chief Minister also blamed Rawat for the controversy about the inaugural function of the Ban Ganga bridge involving Lakshar BJP legislator Sanjay Gupta. He said Rawat inaugurated the bridge a day earlier even though the function was scheduled for next day. This showed that he wanted to take credit for the bridge but instead he was exposed before the public. BJP district president Kuldeep Gupta and former BJP district chief Om Prakash Jamdagni said the BJP would win the Haridwar seat if Nishank is given the ticket. “If Nishank contests from Haridwar this time, it will be his maiden foray into the parliamentary elections. He had been a legislator from the Karanprayag, Thailisain and Doiwala segments. Before becoming the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, he had served in various capacities in the state and the Uttar Pradesh governments.
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Short stay homes for women in distress
Dehradun, August 12 Sensing the need to provide assistance to the women, some of whom may now not even have a roof over their heads, the Department of Social Welfare has submitted a proposal of Rs 1.5 crore for setting up short stay homes and crèches-cum-counselling centres in the districts of Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Tehri to the Ministry of Woman Empowerment and Child Development . “We have envisaged setting up of nine units under the short stay homes in the affected districts for women who may have no one to take care of them. These women can stay in the homes for a period of one year. During their stay in the homes, vocational training would be provided so that they become fit to earn their own living. One unit would be able to accommodate at least 30 women and these units would be taken on rent,” said S. Raju, Principal Secretary, Department of Social Welfare. The natural calamity in which husbands of several women have either gone missing or are dead has forced the Department of Social Welfare to pay attention towards providing temporary accommodation to women who have
lost everything in the calamity. “The cost of financing one unit has been pegged at Rs 10 lakh per year. The expenditure on food and lodging for inmates is included in the programme,” said S.Raju, Principal Secretary, Department of Social Welfare. Along with short stay homes, the Department of Social Welfare has also envisaged setting up crèches and family counselling centres to be set in the affected districts. “The counselling centres comprising 141 units at a total cost of Rs 61 lakh would also be funded by the Central Government,” said S. Raju. Besides, the Department of Social Welfare has also announced pension scheme for women whose husbands have gone missing. “Around 500-1000 women would benefit from the scheme to be funded by the state government. The women would receive a monthly amount of Rs 400,” said
Raju.
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Ministry: No pollution threat to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath dhams
Dehradun, August 12 She held that a pilot study conducted on impact of hydropower in Bhagirathi valley by Gobind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development has indicated that the water quality parameters of the river are within the permissible limit. Further, a survey of the water quality of Yamuna and Bhagirathi rivers at Yamunotri and Gangotri undertaken by the Central Pollution Control Board from 2009 to 2011 reveals that the water quality at both the studied locations are meeting the required criteria of Class ‘B,’ thus revealing that water was fit for organised outdoor bathing except in the year 2009. “This violation of 'total coliforms' may be due to rains leading to surface run-off or due to high number of pilgrims at the studied locations,” the minister said in her written reply. The minister further stated considering the ecological sensitivity of the region, several steps had been initiated by the Union Government to protect the ecology of Indian Himalayan region, including the mission on sustaining Himalayan ecosystem under National Action Plan on Climate Change. She disclosed that the Ministry of Environment and Forests and G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED) had jointly prepared the document “Governance for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem- Guidelines and Best practises.” The document contains background information about the Himalayan Region in the country, guidelines and best practises covering a wide variety of issues, namely sustainable urbanisation, regulated tourism, water scarcity, environmental awareness, forests zone management, monitoring infrastructure development and specific guidelines for regulating tourists and pilgrims for the Himalayan region.
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Villagers suffer losses as heavy rains damage Yarsa Gumba
Pithoragarh, August 12 Villagers, who have returned from high valleys, said, “The quality of caterpillar fungus, which goes into making this wonder drug, has been damaged due to incessant rains this year.” More than Rs 200 crore of Yarsa Gumba is collected in this part of the Himalayas every year. “Over 150 villages in the Johar, Darma, Byans and Chaundas valleys in Dharchula subdivision of Pithoragarh district collect worth over Rs 200 crore of Yarsa Gumba every year from high Chiplakot, Panchuli meadows, Milam and Ralam glacier areas and Garbyans slopes of the Himalayas,” said Chandra Singh Negi, an assistant professor of zoology in a local college and researcher on the drug. “Villagers may have suffered losses as grass that have grown due to rains in early June concealed Yarsa Gumba,” said Negi. But the villagers, who have returned from high meadows, say this is not the only reason for a poor collection of Yarsa Gumba this time. Besides excessive rains, Yarsa Gumba was damaged as it could not get the required sunshine and shadow. “Yarsa Gumba collected by these villagers from the Panchuli and Chiplakot areas became black as it did not get enough sunshine and shade due to continuous rains in this area June onwards,” said Ram Singh Rokaya, a villager from the Chaundas valley, who went to Chiplakedar meadow to collect Yarsa Gumba. Rokaya said the business this year was 40 per cent compared to the trade last year. While the fungus was damaged, clients also could not reach high meadows to purchase the collected Yarsa Gumba from the villagers due to damaged routes. “Villagers are still being evacuated by Army helicopters from these meadows where they were trapped after regular track routes were washed away in heavy rains. We had a damaged collection of Yarsa Gumba this time, giving the traders a chance to bargain,” said Rokaya. Villagers of the Darma valley say over two quintals of Yarsa Gumba collected from the high meadows every year fetch them over Rs 30 to Rs 40 crore. “This time the trade of Yarsa Gumba was about 40 per cent of the business registered last year as the collection could not be delivered to traders from Nepal in time,” said Ram Singh Phirmal, another villager who collected the drug from Philam village of the Darma valley.
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GMVN rest houses in urgent need of repairs
Dehradun, August 12 Especially in last two days, as the rest house showed 90 per cent booking with heavy tourist influx. The department needs to put its act together to make most of the changed situation. Most of the doors of the rooms of the rest houses have got damaged in this rainy season. The walls are full of widespread patches of seepage. The white-wash has chipped off because of seepage. The floor, too, is wet. With stiff competition on with numerous other hotels and resorts providing best of facilities here, this government rest house can also end up being a loss-making entity like other rest houses of the department if sufficient attention is not paid towards amending the basic amenities. Manager of Garhwal Terrace Pradeep Negi said: '' The showers come inside through various outlets into the rest house and drench the doors and floors throughout the prolonged season of monsoons. Owing to this, the floors remain wet and slippery. However, the doors regain their original shape after the end of the monsoon season but this condition prevails for over two months.” However, Managing Director, GMVN, Rajesh Kumar, took a serious note of the matter and reprimanded the manager, asking him to take care of minor expenses himself. For seepage, he gave directions to treat the cause and also ordered for 12 new LCD TVs in the rest house, which otherwise had old models of TVs.
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Govt has failed to tackle natural disaster: BJP
Pithoragarh, August 12 Talking to mediapersons at Nachni town after concluding his visit of disaster-hit villages of Munsiyari and Dharchula subdivisions, Gaunwasi said that the government was tackling the problem with a casual mindset. “It will be a challenge for the government to give relief to disaster-hit villagers and keep corruption away from this work,” he said. He said the government machinery today has no answer to when the people living in tents at various relief camps across the state will get permanent shelters and how their routine economic activities will be managed. “The government needs to train the lower level government machinery in long-term relief management, and gradual settling down of people in relief camps in permanent economically viable shelters and localities," he addded. He accused the state government of not using the information network in the interest of disaster-hit villagers and said the condition of food and health in remote villages was not good.
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Aged person found dead in Mussoorie
Mussoorie, August 12 According to the police, villagers of the area noticed the body and informed it. Investigating officer Rajiv Semwal told mediapersons that prima facie it seemed that the person aged around 60 to 65 years had slipped and fell into a gorge near the Lambhidhar road. Semwal said the person seemed to belong to the Van Gujjar community and was on his way home after spending the summer in high mountains. He suffered extensive injuries on his back and head due to the fall, he added. The police has begun investigation. No one has identified the body so far.
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Relief work to continue in Darma, Johar valleys
Pithoragarh, August 12 Pithoragarh District Magistrate Neeraj Khairwal said this here today. Khairwal said seven helicopters, including two of the IAF, had been in service since June 19 and dropped 2886.52 MT of ration at various places. They also helped rescue 3,633 stranded persons in 634 sorties. Khairwal said the rescue and ration dropping work was, however, badly affected due to adverse weather conditions. He added two choppers of the IAF that had developed a technical fault had been sent for repair. As soon as the weather clears in the region, one of the IAF choppers would be pressed into service again to drop ration.
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Students want HC order on age challenged
Dehradun, August 12 Members of the student union group said the government decision to allow persons belonging to Uttarakhand to take up state government jobs up to the age of 40 was appreciable. They also showed disappointment over the high court decision to stay the governement decision. Ravindra Jugran, former president of DAV PG College, Deepak Negi, president of the Aryan Group, and Pradeep Bist, student union leader of DAV PG College, were present during the protest march held here today.
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THDC gives Rs 36.9 lakh for
disaster relief
Dehradun, August 12 Officials of Aptara Ltd also presented the Chief Minister a cheque for Rs 11,75,000. The representatives of the company present on the occasion included DGM Rajeev Sharma, Gautam Dagra and Abhinav Thapar. The Doon Timber Merchant Welfare Society also presented the CM a cheque for Rs 2,14,700 as disaster relief. Members of the society Mahesh Kumar Garg, Surendra Kumar Jain, Anil Kumar Jain, Om Prakash Bansal, Surjeet Singh and Manjeet Singh presented the cheque. The Higher Education Directorate also presented the CM a cheque for Rs 6,03,300.
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Babita nominated Lioness district chairperson
Mussoorie, August 12 The chief guest on the occasion of the installation ceremony was state Minister for Bharat Rajya Vikas Parishad Savita Kapoor. Savita Kapoor administered the oath of office to the nominated chairperson Babita Agarwal. Babita Agarwal reiterated her resolve to work in the larger interest of the club members. She said she would work towards the social cause and for the needy people during her tenure.
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Haridwar, August 12
The Union Environment and Forests Ministry has ruled out any major pollution threat to
Gangotri, Yamunotri and Badrinath dhams in Uttarakhand. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today, Jayanthi
Natarajan, Minister of State (Independent charge) for Environment and Forests, ruled out any scientific report relating to ecological degradation in the famous
Gangotri, Yamunotri and Badrinath dhams due to environmental change and pollution.
The Aryan Group of DAV PG College has demanded that the Uttarakhand Government must challenge the recent verdict of the High Court in the Supreme Court in which it had stayed the government decision to increase the eligibility age in state services from 35 to 40 years.
Mussoorie, August 12
Mussoorie, August 12