Cleaning of debris in Kedarnath after Dasehra

Dehradun, September 25
The cleaning up of debris and razing of the damaged buildings in the flood-affected Kedarnath area, which could not be started due to frequent rains in the monsoon season, will begin after Dasehra.

Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna announced this on Tuesday after his return from Delhi.

Bahuguna said a bailey bridge was being built at the shrine as part of the efforts to resume pilgrimage next month.

He said the Chief Secretary had taken stock of the preparations there and observed that some more repair work needed to be done before the resumption of the yatra.

Prayers at the Himalayan shrine had resumed earlier this month, but the area still wears a devastated look with tonnes of rubble still lying there.

The authorities had earlier made futile efforts to start the clean-up exercise as the work could not be taken up due to frequently changing weather and difficulty in transporting heavy stone cutting equipment.

The cleaning up of the debris in the area is going to be a challenging task for the authorities as the debris of more than 40 houses damaged in the deluge is lying their, with strong possibility of some bodies still being trapped under them.

Equipment like JCBs and bulldozers are needed for the operation and it may take months to transport them to the area, say official sources.

There are plans to dismantle big equipment and transport them with the help of IAF choppers. — PTI

All not well with community health centres
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 26
If patient satisfaction is the benchmark for evaluating success of an enterprise, the Uttarakhand Department of Health and Family Welfare may have several dissatisfied patients, especially at the Raipur Community Health Centre (CHC), that is being run under the Public Private mode (PP).

Still coming to terms with the new work culture, where the doctor at the Community Health Centre (CHC) immediately writes several diagnostic tests even for common cold and fever, it is quite a contrast from the way the government doctors dealt with the patients.

“Some of the tests that the doctors write are not available at the CHCs, so the patients either go to Doon Hospital or Coronation Hospital for the tests.At times the tests are uncalled for. There is no one to check the high-handedness of the doctors ,” said Malti Chauhan, a panchayat member and a patient . For that matter the government’s calculations of overcoming the clinical staff crunch by handing over the community health centres may have gone wry. The two private players selected to run the 16 CHCs, of which the Raipur CHC is one, are finding it exceedingly difficult to equip the centres with manpower.

In Raipur CHC the private partner Rajbhara Medicare has been unable to equip the CHC with the staff as mandated under the agreement. After more than a month, the private partner has been unable to deploy an ENT specialist and obstetrician.

According to the agreement, the private player has to provide for 12 clinical staff and 30 non-clinical staff in each of the community health centres. But these CHCs would remain under the supervision of Chief Medical Superintendent appointed by the government.

Further, between them, the two private players, Sheel Nursing Home, Bareilly, and Rajbhra Medicare, had successfully bid for the eight each CHCs (total 16) to be run on public private partnership.

While Sheel Nursing Home, Bareilly, signed the concessional agreement on May 14, 2013, after depositing Rs 60 lakh as performance security for the eight CHCs, Rajbhra Medicare that emerged successful bidder for Raipur, Sahiya, Naugaon and Thatyur CHCs delayed the deposit of security to early August for the four CHCs and has not deposited performance security for the remaining four CHCs. “During a meeting chaired by the Principal Secretary the private partners were asked to equip the CHCs with staff or face termination of the agreement,” said Dr Asha Singh, Additional Director, PP.

However, sources claim that the private partners are unable to retain doctors despite offering a monthly salary of Rs 90,000, which in turn is delaying the full implementation of the project. 

Primary education in Champawat district continues to suffer
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, September 26
Despite 1,069 teachers being on deputation, including 304 shiksha mitras, meaning one teacher on an average for 17 students in the district, primary education in Champawat district is suffering a lot as the distribution of teachers in schools is unfair.

At some schools it is at two teachers per three students, whereas in some other places one teacher is available for 270 students.

According to sources from the district education office, whereas the number of teachers is two in primary school, Purola, the number of students is 3 students. Contrary to this, only one teacher is available in primary school, Bhajanpur in Tanakpur subdivision, where the number of students is 270. “Out of 512 primary schools in the district, 58 are being run by a single teacher whereas other 111 schools have no teachers, according to the standard set by the government,” said the sources.

District Education Officer Anand Bharadwaj says that this is due to the reasons beyond his knowledge as he is not given powers to transfer or adjust the primary teachers according to the requirements.

“We hope we will be given adjusting rights at district level in the new transfer policy,” said the DEO of Champawat.

According to information, the junior-level education is also suffering in the district. According to the number of posted teachers in the district, some junior high schools have no teachers or have only one teacher for more than 100 students. “The junior high schools at Phagpur, Kanyura and Chirabans have a number of teachers far less than the standard,” said Education Department sources.

According to the people of the district, they were hoping the standard of primary and secondary education in the district would improve after Champawat was given the status of a separate district on September 15, 1997.

But despite the passage of 16 years, the district has not even got teachers for the schools for poor people situated in interior areas.

“Moreover, our poor primary and secondary students have become victims of politics of various organisations of teachers and the government's lacklustre attitude towards improvement of education in the district,'' said a social worker.

Contractual employees await regularisation
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 26
The Department of Health and Family Welfare has so far not conceded to the demand of regularisation raised by the 215 contractual employees of the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP).

The members, who had been protesting outside the office of the Director General for the last 16 days, have been unable to prevail upon the government to accept their demands.

“We have been working under the the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme for the past 11 years as contractual employees, but our demand for regularisation has been ignored,” said Rajesh Arya, general secretary of the Tuberculosis Control Employees Welfare Association.

He said Director General Medical, Health and Family Welfare had submitted a proposal for absorbing the contractual employees into the then Principal Secretary Health in 2012, but no action was taken.

“Even the Central government had issued the guidelines for absorbing the contractual employees but the state government did not pay any heed,” he said.

ABVP activists’ bid to burn SSP’s effigy foiled
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 26
The police today again foiled an attempt by members of the college students’ unions mainly belonging to the ABVP to burn an effigy of the Dehradun SSP.

Members of the student unions of three colleges led by ABVP leaders reportedly gathered at Gandhi Park here. They had planned to stage a march towards Clock Tower to burn an effigy of the SSP in protest against police action on college students during the union election at DAV Postgraduate College on September 6.

The attempt by a group of students from DAV PG College, DBS PG College and SGRR PG College to burn the effigy at Clock Tower was foiled by the police. Later the students tried to dodge the police and burn the effigy at Gandhi Park but policemen were already stationed there in mufti and they seized the effigy.

“The police did not allow us to burn the effigy of the SSP. Policemen manhandled us and tore our clothes to stop us from burning the effigy,” Anshul Chawla, ABVP leader and former president of the DAV PG College students’ union, told The Tribune.

District Magistrate reviews anti-polythene drive
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 26
District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam reviewed the anti-polythene drive here yesterday. He emphasised the need to intensify the drive and said the officials must continue with the drive to spread mass awareness.

Additional District Magistrate Harak Singh Rawat said the challans were issued to the defaulters and polythene stock dealers to the tune of Rs 500. Fine of Rs 5,000 was imposed on the defaulter if polythene was seized the second time.

The District Magistrate has divided the city of 60 sectors in four zones. The officials had been entrusted the responsibility of making the drive in each zone successful and directed them to hold regular meetings with their supervisors and social organisations.

Purushottam said prize money of Rs 10,000 would be given to those supervisors of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation who would issue maximum challans and actively lead the drive. However, he made it clear that the purpose of issuing challans was not to make money but to punish the defaulters and hence restrain them from using polythene.

Purushottam said the DMC must constitute a committee in each ward that would work in the direction of creating public awareness regarding the detrimental effects of polythene.

He was not happy on getting least cooperation from schools. He also directed the sub-divisional magistrates to contribute to the drive.

Field studies mark end of workshop

Dehradun, September 26
Stress was laid on field studies on the third and the last day of the international workshop on ‘Water and Forests-Beyond Traditional Forest Hydrology’ being organised at the Forest Research Institute here ton Thursday.

The participants visited the farm of the Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute at Selaqui in Dehradun. The farm is equipped with a modern field laboratory, a meteorological observatory and other infrastructure facilities.

The visit was meant to showcase the soil and water conservation technologies and how demonstration blocks were developed and maintained on the farm. The delegates took keen interest in various technologies related to water conservation.

In the afternoon, the delegates visited Mussoorie hills to get hands-on experience about the restoration of limestone mines. These mines once posed a serious threat to the ecosystem of Mussoorie areas.

During these visits the delegates discussed several technical issues related to soil and water conservation in mountains.

Besides from India, delegates from Bangladesh, China, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam attended the workshop.

Pre-fabricated houses come up in Kedarnath

Dehradun, September 26
With pilgrimage to Kedarnath likely to resume next month, pre-fabricated houses with power and water connectivity have been built at the Himalayan shrine to accommodate 100 persons.

Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar, who visited Kedarnath on Tuesday to take stock of the arrangements there, said pre-fabricated houses fitted with power and water facilities and a capacity to accommodate 100 persons were ready at the shrine.

Besides these, makeshift tents had also been pitched at the shrine to accommodate 150 persons, he said, adding that streetlights had been put up along the path leading to the temple.

The Chief Secretary, who traversed a distance of 20 km on foot in Kedar valley to assess the road restoration work in progress at Jankichatti, Rambara, Gaurikund and Sonprayag, said a 9-km stretch between Sonprayag and the shrine was fit for horses and mules to operate, but some more work needed to to be done at a few points, for which instructions had been issued to PWD personnel.

PWD engineers have been asked to repair the damaged portions of the roads, including a 1-km stretch between Rambara and Gaurikund expeditiously, so that the state government could achieve its target of resuming the journey in early October.

Prayers at the Kedarnath shrine, which was one of the worst hit in the mid-June flashfloods, were resumed on September 11. However, the yatra to the shrine, suspended since the calamity, could not be restarted with the condition of roads still not conducive for it.

However, a few days after the resumption of prayers at the shrine, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had said efforts were on to resume pilgrimage to Kedarnath on October 1 if all preparations are completed by that time.

Bahuguna will hold a meeting with officials of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Samiti and the district administration here on September 30 to take a final call on when to resume the yatra to the shrine, which becomes snowbound and inaccessible during the winter. — PTI

UKD flays ordinance on corruption
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 26
Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Panwar) has denounced the ordinance brought in to render the decision of apex court to hold the convicted members of Parliament and MLAs ineligible to participate in elections in any which way ineffective.

Spokesperson of the party Manmohan Singh Lakhera said: “The ordinance would encourage criminalisation of politics. Congress had always been working to give a boost to corruption and corrupt people. Congress which ruled the most in the country has given patronage to corruption to such an extent that it has become difficult to get rid of this problem.”

He, however, welcomed people of different parties who came in support of the apex court's decision reinstating that all was not dirty and corrupt in politics.

Lakhera also talked of the shooting episode which took place at Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat's residence. 

23 students from J&K visit IMA
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 26
As a part of Operation Sadbhavana, a group of 23 students and two teachers from Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir visited the IMA here yesterday.

The students were very impressed to see the training and administrative infrastructure at the IMA. They were shown a documentary, Making of a Warrior, which is based on the life of Gentlemen Cadets at the IMA. They also visited the historic Chetwode Building and the IMA Museum, where the students got an opportunity to interact with Lieutenant-General Manvender Singh, AVSM, VSM, Commandant, IMA, who gave a brief insight into how the children could join the institute as Gentlemen Cadets.

The Sadhbhavana tour is being conducted under the aegis of 48 Rashtriya Rifles under aegis of Romeo Force. During the eight-day tour, the students will be visiting various institutes and places of interest in all around Dehradun and Lansdowne.

‘Foolproof plan for emergencies needed’
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 26
Chairman, Disaster Management Advisory Committee, Lt Gen (retd) MC Badhani , has laid stress on coming up with an accommodation plan to deal with pilgrims' evacuation in emergencies as witnessed during the recent Kedarnath disaster.

Presiding over a workshop jointly organised by Uttarakhand Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre (DMMC) and Inter Agency Group in Dehradun yesterday, Lt Gen Badhani said the state needed to augment its preparedness to deal with Kedarnath-like disasters. He said while a large number of pilgrims got evacuated, lack of accommodation to deal with such high number of pilgrims proved to be a big hindrance.

He said Uttarakhand today faced a challenging task of rehabilitation and redevelopment, which it needs to accomplish efficiently and within a time frame.

Eminent social worker Cyril R Raphael said Uttarakhand needs to learn a lot from the recent rain disaster. He said Garhwal hills in recent years have experienced unprecedented rush of tourists. He said there were days when only buses were mode of transport in hills but today a large number of SUVs can be seen rushing on hilly roads, ultimately putting adverse effect on the region’s ecology. He said development that has no environmental basis will prove to be catastrophic as proved in case of Kedarnath disaster.

Society for Inclusive Development (SFID) president Anil Jaggi spoke on corporation social responsibility in works of disaster relief and rehabilitation. He said it was a matter of concern that large funds given by corporate sector for core relief work got channelised for subsidiary tasks. Jaggi disclosed that he himself had visited the disaster affected villages in Garhwal several times after the tragedy and was of the strong opinion that a lot of efforts needed to be done to provide relief to the remote and inaccessible disaster-torn villages.

Block committees to prepare proposals for development works
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 26
With an aim to ensure that the benefits of the Multi-Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP) reaches the minorities at the grassroots’ level, the block-level committees will now be given the responsibility of preparing proposals under the new guidelines that would come into effect from September 15.

The MSDP, which is a programme funded by the Centre, aims at improving the socio-economic conditions of the minorities and providing basic amenities to them and reducing imbalances in the identified minority concentration areas during the 12th Five Year Plan period. The committee would prepare the plan (comprising different projects needed on the basis of baseline survey) at the village level. The committee would then recommend the plan to the district-level committee for Prime Minister’s 15-Point Programme. For towns/cities, the proposal of the projects will be prepared by the local body and submitted at the district-level committees. The district-level committee will scrutinise the proposal and recommend it to the state-level committee for the 15-Point Programme.

Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar said the unit of planning for the implementation of the MSDP would be the block instead of the district. This would sharpen the focus of the programme in the minority concentration areas. "The projects to be taken under the MSDP will be related to the provision of better infrastructure for education, skill development, health, sanitation, pucca houses, roads, drinking water, besides schemes for creating income generating opportunities. In Uttarakhand, around 14 such blocks have been identified. However, out of these 14 blocks, forest villages in Haridwar, Garhwal (Pauri) and Vikasnagar (Dehradun) have also been identified,” he said.

India, Nepal officers to check land encroachment
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, September 26
Officers of border districts of India and Nepal today agreed to convene a meeting of the coordination committee twice a month to check encroachment on vacant land along the border in Tanakpur subdivision of Champawat district.

The officials of both countries decided to cooperate in checking wildlife crimes, fake currency racket, smuggling of toxic and explosives and human trafficking keeping in mind ISI activities across the border.

The meeting was led by chief district officer, Kanchanpur, Parashuram Ariyal from the Nepal side and Dipendra Kumar Chaudhary, District Magistrate, Champawat, from India.

JS Rathor, SDM, Tanakpur subdivision of Champawat district, said the officers from Nepal sought help from Indian officers for the Assembly election in border districts of their country on November 19.

Rathor said the Indian forest officers demanded relocation of residents of border Khalla village in Nepal, as it falls in the elephant corridor.

Hindi fortnight celebrations conclude
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 26
The Hindi fortnight celebrations at Instruments Research and Development Establishment (IRDE) came to an end here today.

At the closing day function held here, the Director of the IRDE, Dr AK Gupta, in his brief address, said the IRDE was promoting usage of Hindi at its office. Dr Gupta also gave the prizes to the winners of various contests held during the fortnight.

Employees at the IRDE also staged a Hindi drama, Pathar, which was greatly appreciated by the audience.

Hindi officer at the IRDE Maniram Binjola coordinated the programme. Senior scientists Dr SS Negi, SP Gaba and Durga Singh were prominent present on the occasion.

Woman’s body found on railway track
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 26
A body of an unidentified woman was found on the railway track in the Lakhibagh police chowki area here today.

The local’s informed the police about a body lying on the railway track.

The police took the body into custody though identification of the deceased could not be done.

The police said the woman’s body was found in a bad condition, which led to problems in her identification. The police is investigating the case keeping in view accident and suicide angle.

Surgical ward opened at Indiresh Hospital

Dehradun, September 26
A new surgical ward was opened today at the Surgery Department of the Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital on long-pending demand of patients.

The ward was inaugurated by SGRR Education Mission’s vice-chairman Prof SP Thapliyal, head of the Surgery Department Dr KK Sinha and SGRR PG College principal Prof VA Bourai by jointly cutting the ribbon. Hospital’s acting medical superintendent VK Bihari, doctors and staff members from the department were also present on the occasion. —TNS