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Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Ganga flows above danger mark
Farmers take to agitation route
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Dismiss Central Govt, demands ABVP
Plan spending slow due to natural disaster, says Agarwal
Doon traders want online tax submission system to go
All branches of UCB to be linked with CBS system
Corporation Bank gives Rs 1 crore for disaster relief
NGO provides aid, job opportunities
Traders oppose new rules of filing tax returns
CPI(ML) charge
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Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Dehradun, August 13 He called upon scientific institutions and scientists to adopt a proactive approach towards natural disasters. “We at present are reactionary in our approach, which is not proper. There is no point holding seminars and workshops after a tragedy has taken place. This should have been done before to ensure necessary mitigation measures,” he said. On the sorry state of disaster management affairs in Uttarakhand, Juyal said either the voice of scientists was not being heard or the scientists themselves were not competent. “It can be one or the both,” he quipped. He said there was no dearth of knowledge and its proper compliance was all that was needed. Juyal has been long associated with eminent environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt. He said he along with Chandi Prasad Bhatt had way back in 1981-82 warned the government of disastrous consequences linked to the Vishnuprayag barrage access. “Our advice was not heeded to at that time but it later proved correct,” he added. He yet again reiterated the long standing demand of a comprehensive study on the status of watershed between higher and lesser Himalayas and also a status report on the terrain. Juyal stressed on society-centric researches and said it was strange that while statements of scientists were getting much importance these days, their scientific researches that need to be highlighted were being ignored. “While fundamental research has its importance, researches that have societal implications should get much of the importance,” he said. The geologist referred to the recent rain disaster in the state and said the Kedarnath deluge had broken 1,000 years’ record of floods in the region. The cause of this sudden increase in floodwaters, though there was no exceptional or unusual rainfall, needs to be investigated. Juyal said most of the destruction in the natural disaster was caused due to toe erosion. He added the Department of Science and Technology had entrusted them with the task of finding out reasons of the catastrophe of such a magnitude. A high rate of deforestation in hills had contributed to the degradation of the environment. He said Uttarakhand had already suffered a lot because of the exploitation of forests. It was only through the efforts of local people that the lost natural resources in the region could be replenished. Juyal expressed apprehension of a large scale migration from hills in the aftermath of the rain-caused disaster. He said already people of Uttarakhand were combating various forms of natural calamities. “Their resources are fast dwindling, Exodus is already common as survival has become exceedingly difficult,” he said stressing the need for creating livelihood opportunities for the local people. On hydropower projects, he said there was a need for a joint study involving the locals and NGOs along with government experts to generate a socially acceptable, economically viable and environmentally friendly environment Impact assessment of these projects. He added local needs should not be ignored in the haste of generating power for broader interest. Juyal, who belongs to Uttarakhand, is an alumnus of DBS (PG) College,
Dehradun |
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Ganga flows above danger mark
Haridwar, August 13 The Haridwar district administration has issued a high alert in Haridwar-Laksar-Roorkee river belt and catchment areas. Haridwar district magistrate Nidhi Pandey is monitoring the situation even as the water level in the Ganga passed the danger level of 294 metre in the evening. The Central Water Commission Hydrology Observatory has that noted the water level in Ganga was above danger level mark at 294-15metre at Neel Dhara at 7 pm. As a result, the river embankment areas face flood threat. The administration has already shifted a dozen-odd families from the area to safer places. Administration officials said about 450-odd families had been shifted to relief camps in Laksar due to the floods last month. District Nodal Disaster Management Officer Naresh Chaudhari said that National Disaster Response Force had been mobilized and the special Jal Police wing of the Uttarakhand police put on alert. “As continuous rain has lashed the upper Garhwal division, we are monitoring the water level and we have already evacuated a few villages and habitats falling on the river bed area,” said Chaudhari. The Provincial Armed Constabulary has also been deputed in the flood-prone areas, with its special water force wing safely evacuating half a dozen people who were engulfed in the spate of water in Gangdaspur village. A rescue motor boat, a doctors' team and an ambulance have been deputed at flood prone villages. Pandey said the villages which had been most affected due to heavy rain during the June-July flash floodhad been put on high alert. |
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Farmers take to agitation route
Hardiwar, August 13 They are protesting against the non-fulfilment of their genuine demands which included the payment for their sugarcane produce, flood relief, medical treatment for the cattle and waving tax on the usage of power and water for agricultural purpose. The agitating farmers also accused District Magistrate Nidhi Pandey and Joint Magistrate Sonika Meena of not paying heed to their demands. They have threatened to launch an indefinite agitation if the state government failed to accept their demands. A delegation of the BKU also submitted a memorandum at the Joint Magistrate's office. Chief of the BKU (Garhwal division) Sanjay Chaudhari said the state had witnessed floods for the third consecutive year this time, which had hit the farmers hard and they were facing financial hardship. Chaudhari demanded that the government should provide compensation for every bigha of land, suspend the process of extracting loan payment from farmers, should release the payment for the sugarcane produce, repair damaged roads immediately and distribute solar lights in villages. |
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Dismiss Central Govt, demands ABVP
Dehradun, August 13 The money running into several crores stashed by these ministers in foreign banks must be retrieved and declared national property. In order to stop the illegal business of counterfeit currency, the notes of Rs 500 and Besides this, to bring in holistic transformation in the system, elaborate reforms in the field of education, administration, judiciary and police must be devised and implemented.” While giving his suggestions with regard to these reforms, he said the Election Commission of India must take the expenditure and arrangements regarding election campaigns in its hands so that all the political parties could get
equal opportunities of publicity. On the issue of administration, he favoured e-governance to encourage transparency and accountancy in the administration, which he said would also do away with centralisation. About judiciary, he demanded the system to be more simple and transparent with fixed duration for judgments to be delivered in cases. He suggested to change ancient laws enforced in the Police Department since the British era with pragmatic ones as per the requirements of a free India. |
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Plan spending slow due to natural disaster, says Agarwal
Dehradun, August 13 “The slackness in spending the annual plan money has been mainly due to the natural calamity. The spending will gain momentum in the coming months as the relief work nears completion. We will be able to achieve our targets in the coming months,” he said while speaking with mediapersons here today. The minister said funds would be allocated for the storm drainage project for Dehradun city under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM-II). “Due to shortage of funds, the plan could not materialise last year but we have decided to make fund allocation under JNNURM-II this year. We will be requiring around Rs 450 crore for the implementation of the plan,” he added. Agarwal said the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) had agreed to foot the bill of the New Delhi-based consultancy agency that had prepared the storm drainage plan. A presentation of the plan is also planned around August 16. Meanwhile, Agarwal along with Minister for Medical Education Harak Singh Rawat has been invited to the fund-raising event, Saath Hain Hum Uttarakhand, to be held in Mumbai on August 15. “The effort of the galaxy of stars, who have agreed to come in support of Uttarakhand, is laudable,” he said. |
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Doon traders want online tax submission system to go
Dehradun, August 13 In a memorandum submitted to the Commercial Tax Commissioner Dehradun, Pranteeya Udhyog Vyapar Mandal Uttarakhand president Anil Goyal said that the department instead of simplifying the commercial tax submission procedure was making the process more cumbersome. He said there were a lot of flaws in the online submission system. Goyal said the state today was facing a natural disaster and the traders, too, had suffered heavy losses. He said it was important that all traders in the disaster-hit areas got commercial tax concession for at least one year. Surendra Prabhakar, Vipin Nagalia, Akhil Bhatia and Anuj Jain were prominent signatories to the memorandum. |
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All branches of UCB to be linked with CBS system
Pithoragarh, August 13 Sanjiv Arya of Congress along with Manvendra Singh were elected as chairman and deputy chairman of Uttarakhand Cooperative Bank unanimously in the election which took place at Haldwani today. Besides Arya and Manvendra Singh, 14 directors for the state body were also elected. Out of these 14 directors, only one, Hayat Singh Mahra, is from BJP. The other 13 directors belong to the Congress. “Hayat Singh Mahra is director from Pithoragarh Zila Sahkari Bank,” said a source from the state cooperative bank body. Talking to mediapersons after being elected unanimously as chairman of the bank, Sanjiv Arya said that his bank will give a sum of Rs 5 lakh to the disaster fund of the Chief Minister. ''We have also decided to open main branches of cooperative banks in Champawat and Bageshwar districts as these districts are attached with the banks of their paternal districts,'' said the newly elected chairman of Uttarakhand Cooperative Bank.
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Corporation Bank gives Rs 1 crore for disaster relief
Dehradun, August 13 Meanwhile, Director, BSM Educational Institute, Manoharlal Sharma also met Bahuguna and presented a cheque for Rs 2.21 lakh to him. President of the Kaushalya Sangharsh Vahini Sushila Dhyani also gave a cheque for Rs 18,000 to him. |
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NGO provides aid, job opportunities
Dehradun, August 13 “As a child lives in a unit comprising a family, our financial and other interventions are all aimed at ensuring the well-being of the children. From next week we will start unconditional and conditional cash transfer scheme for the affected people calculated at Rs 142 per day for 50 days from for the affected families. For handicapped and old persons the transfer is unconditional, while for the abled men and women, jobs would be selected so that they could be suitably employed,'' said Pradeep Kumar, team leader, for relief work in Uttarakhand Save the Children, while speaking with mediapersons yesterday. Further, in order to ensure the children in the affected districts continue with their education, the NGO is also extending educational support in collaboration with the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). “Our Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) with toilets where children can be taught have found favour with the affected people. In these tents children are being taught and are also being given psycho-social support. We intend to set up such tents in villages of Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Tehri,”' said Kumar. The organisation that has been working since June has provided relief kits and held health camps covering 2016 children and adults. |
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Traders oppose new rules of filing tax returns
Pithoragarh, August 13 Addressing a meeting of traders gathered from across the district, traders' leaders said that after making it compulsory for a trader to make online all the records, the department had now made it compulsory to make the receipts of all transactions online which is not viable for small traders of rural areas. “We have demanded that the traders of the hill district be exempt from business tax for five years as the natural disaster has hit them," said Pawan joshi, district president of the traders' body. They said hill district traders faced problems of communication connectivity in remote areas and were not in a position to accept the decision of department and wanted the old method back. “We should be exempt from these new rules or we will have to leave the profession," said Basant Joshi, a businessmen from Nachni town of Munsiyari subdivision. The traders in Tanakpur town of Champawat district also held a protest in the town and shouted slogans against the new rules near the sales tax office. “Small traders are not in a position to make all their transactions and documents online or hire the services of chartered accountants and legal advisers,” said Pawan Mittal, district vice-president of the Udyog Vyapar Mandal, a body of traders in Champawat district. |
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CPI(ML) charge
Dehradun, August 13 He said the CPI (ML) workers were holding a demonstration on a public issue on August 2, when they were attacked by Congress and BJP-backed students' organisations, but cases were slapped on party workers. —
TNS
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With incessant rain lashing the upper reaches of Garhwal division, the lower lying areas of Haridwar, Roorkee and Laksar have been put on high alert in view of the flood-like situation.
Farmers, under the aegis of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikhait), staged a demonstration at the Joint Magistration's office for the second consecutive day today.
Uttarakhand Minister for Planning, Information Technology, Sports and Youth Affairs Dinesh Agarwal today said the annual plan spending had been slow due to the natural calamity. The departments had so far managed to spend about 35 to 36 per cent of the budget allocations so far.
The Pranteeya Udhyog Vyapar Mandal, Uttarakhand, has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the online quarterly submission of commercial tax details as imposed by the State Commercial Tax Department.
Executive Director, Corporation Bank, BK Shrivastav today presented a cheque for Rs 1 crore to Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna for the CM’s Disaster Relief Fund.
Agricultural Minister Harak Singh Rawat, DGM (marketing), Corporation Bank, Dr
Kureen, zonal manager Suraj Prakash Bakshi, Rajendra Kumar, Rajeev Verma, Nand Kishor Arya and Mohan Singh Dugriyal were present on the occasion.
