Dry spell hits rabi crop in Almora, Pithoragarh
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, December 27
The dry spell has hit rabi crop on 75,000 hectares in Almora and Pithoragarh districts. Rabi crop in these districts is completely dependent on rain as only 21 per cent agricultural land in Almora and 8 per cent agricultural land in Pithoragarh is under irrigation.

“Rabi crop needs 25 to 30 mm rain within 60 days of sowing of crop. In absence of rain, dry conditions are prevailing in the district,’ says Dr Abhay Saxena, Chief Agricultural Officer from Almora.

Wheat crop on 35,000 hectares, peas, barley and gram crops sown over 8,000 hectares of land are on the verge of drying as the rain has given a miss to the district for the past 75 days this season.” said Abhay Saxena.

In Pithoragarh, where rabi crop has been sown over 36,000 hectares of land, the weather condition is no different. The district produces over 3 lakh quintals of wheat every year.

According to experts, horticultural plants are also becoming a victim to the prolonged dry spell. Vegetables crops in the non-irrigated areas of the district are also drying out.

“Not only vegetable crops like cabbage, cauliflower and peas have started rotting, peach, apple and apricot are also reeling under the dry spell as these are not getting the required amount of water these days.” said Dr RK Singh, an agricultural expert from the district. 

State of affairs

• Dry spell has hit crop on 75,000 hectares in Almora, Pithoragarh
• Around 25 to 30 mm rain needed within 60 days of sowing of crop
• Only 21 per cent agricultural land in Almora and 8 per cent in Pithoragarh under irrigation

Winterline Carnival kicks off 
Cultural parade, folk songs by Basanti Bisht, play by Tom Alter remain centre of attraction
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, December 27
The Winterline Carnival began with A cultural parade by the folk artists from around nine states, who presented folk dances marked the beginning of the much awaited and publicised Winterline Carnival here today.

Dressed in their traditional attire, the artistes marched from Landour Bazaar till Library Chowk.

Sports and Planning Minister Dinesh Agarwal inaugurated the carnival by releasing balloons in the air at Library Chowk.

Agarwal welcomed the tourists on the occasion and commended the efforts of the administration for coming out with the idea of Winterline Carnival in order to restore the confidence in the tourists who were shying away from visiting the state after the mid-June natural disaster.

He said the Winterline Carnival will go a long way in promoting the hill town of Mussoorie and the state as a major tourist destination.

Basanti Bisht, an eminent folk singer and Jagar singer from Garhwal, enthralled the audience with her Jagar singing. Bollywood actor Tom Alter staged a play titled ‘Humrahee’ based on the words and vision of three great Indian icons from the Indian history, namely Mirza Ghalib, Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi.

He also sang a ghazal from the verses of eminent poet Mirza Ghalib. Uday Chandra and Sharmila Bhartari accompanied Tom Alter in the play. Famous drummer Shiv Mani, Runa, Ravi Chary, Stephen Devassy mesmerised the audience with their performance.

The tourists were elated to see the performances of the stalwarts of the Indian entertainment industry and said the carnival should be made an annual event.

Govt acting against interests of statehood agitators: UKD

Dehradun, December 27
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) has accused the state government of acting against the interests of statehood agitators. Addressing a press conference here yesterday, spokesperson for the UKD Manmohan Lakhera alleged the government had failed to protect the interests of the statehood agitators.

“Earlier, it had withdrawn the facility of 10 per cent horizontal reservation in state government jobs and now it has cut upper age limit for recruitment in government jobs from 40 years to 35 years," he said. Lakhera alleged the Congress-led state government had failed to take up the case of the statehood agitators in the Nainital High Court, following which they were still deprived of reservation benefits. — TNS

Awaiting relief, disaster-hit villagers sell puppies to make ends meet
Ajay Ramola
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, December 27
Villagers in the Joshimath region, the area worst hit by the mid-June cloudburst, are selling their pets to make ends meet.

Devendar, a resident of Malari village near Joshimath in Badrinath region, was seen selling Bhotia breed puppies on the Mall road in Mussoorie for a paltry sum in order to fend for his family back in the village.

Devendar said with the disaster striking the region in June and no relief in sight, life of Malari villagers who were dependent on earning a living from pilgrim tourists, had fallen apart. The closure of the shrine further had an adverse effect forcing them to look for alternative source of incomes. With five puppies on sale, three have been sold at a paltry sum ranging between Rs 3,500 to 4,000. In a normal situation, a single Bhotia breed puppy is sold between Rs 7,000 to 10,000.

Devendar said, “I thought of coming to Mussoorie as it sees regular tourists during the winter season. If I had stayed at Malari, these puppies would have died in the severe cold, where feeding them was also a liability.”

The condition of these villagers from Malari tells the tale of the situation in the region, which is yet to come to terms even after six months of the disaster.

The government has been making tall claims that they are doing a lot for the remote villagers in providing them relief following the disaster, but the ground realities are in stark contrast to the governments’ claims.

}I thought of coming to Mussoorie as it sees regular tourists during the winter season. If I had stayed at Malari, these puppies would have died in the severe cold, where feeding them was also a liability.~

Devendar, a resident of malari village

200 posts to be created under child protection scheme
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 27
The Department of Social Welfare has approved the creation of 200 district-level committee posts under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS).

The ICPS provides establishment of an institutional mechanism, including creation of district child protection committees (DCPCs), at the district level and state child protection committee (SCPC) at the state level. The plan is funded by the Centre.

"We have set into motion the process of filling the posts. The Ministry of Woman and Child Development (WCD) has already sanctioned Rs 6 crore for the implementation of ICPS," said S Raju, Principal Secretary, Dept of Social Welfare.

The department has also set up the State Child Protection Society and the District Child Protection Society in the state. The role and the responsibility of the District Child Protection Society includes identifying families and children at risk to prevent destitution of children and carrying out a situational analysis of them.

Challenging year for U’khand policemen
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 27
The year 2013 remained one of the most challenging years for the state police since the state came into existence in 2000. With the mid-June natural disaster in the Kedarnath valley and rescue operation aftermath of the deluge, undoubtedly tested the workmanship of the Police Department.

The first six months of the year remained easy for the police force throughout the state, but the second half remained action-packed with police making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Though the police personnel worked round the clock during the rescue operations and saved lives of thousands of people in the Kedarnath valley.

During the rescue operations, when the army and other paramilitary forces withdrew the work, the state police teams camped at the Kedarnath valley for the next couple of months and recovered dead bodies from the debris and cremated them. They received applause from every section of the society for their selfless work during the rescue operations.

But the land grabbing charges on the present Director General of Police (DGP) became a full-blown controversy putting the Police Department on the wrong side of the law. Though on crime statistics front, the year remained a mixed bag for the department.

The police successfully curbed number of chain snatching incidents in the state with 26 incidents reported this year compared to 58 in 2012. The number of murders in 2013 came down to 130 in comparison to 162 in 2012.

As far as the crime against women is concerned, the state police failed miserably and a number of cases of women kidnapping increased to 437 this year from 177 in 2012. On other hand, 173 rape cases had been reported this year in comparison to 118 cases in 2012.

The biggest jolts came for the Police Department in the last quarter of the year, with the police failing to resolve the sensational murder cases of 70-year-old Rajesh Kumar, and 40-year-old Neeru Saini. Both were murdered in broad daylight in Dehradun in October.

The police received severe criticism in the case of open gun firing shots at Cabinet Minister Harak Singh Rawat’s house on September 17 in Dehradun, allegedly done by congress MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh ‘Champion’. The police was blamed for saving the MLA who was seen firing shots during a dinner party.

The high-profile sexual assault case involving Additional Secretary JP Joshi made headlines throughout December and a special investigating team was set up to investigate the case. The impartial and righteous investigation in the case will surely help the Police Department in restoring the lost confidence.

Mixed bag

• 26 snatching cases reported this year as compared to 58 in 2012
• The number of murder cases came down to 130 from 162 in 2012.
• Spurt in crimes against women. 

CS reviews hydropower projects
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 27
Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar today reviewed progress on the Lakhwar and Vyasi hydropower projects.

Presiding over a review meeting, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar ordered the speedy construction of the 120 MW Vyasi Hydropower Project.

He also called for speedy forest clearance for the 300 MW Lakhwar Hydropower Project. The Lakhwar project is likely to generate 612.93 MU and irrigate 33,780 hectares of land, besides providing 78.83 million cubic meters of drinking water.

Apart from Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh will be benefited from the project. 

Cong wants consensus on Lokayukta
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 27
Vice-President of the state unit of the Congress Suryakant Dhasmana has appealed to all political parties to support the passage of the Lokayukta Bill in the state Assembly.

Following the Cabinet's decision to enact the Lokayukta Bill passed on the lines of the Lokpal Act passed by the Parliament, Dhasmana said all parties should unite in passing the Bill in the state.

A three-day session of the Uttarakhand Assembly will be held from January 13 to get the Bill passed.

Post protests, police drops new traffic plan
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 27
Dehradun residents had some relief when the police dropped its traffic regulation plan around Clock Tower after drawing flak from the Chief Secretary on Thursday.

Notably, the new one-way traffic plan drew criticism from all quarters with traders resorting to agitation and closing down their shops on Thursday.

The biggest jolt for the police initiative was from the ruling Congress party, which threatened to launch an agitation, if the police did not drop the idea of implementing the plan within 48 hours.

Notably, the new traffic plan, implemented by the Doon police on experimental basis, resulted in chaos on the city roads. Almost all commuters complained of confusion and anarchy in the city due to the new traffic plan.

According to the new traffic plan, a one-way system was introduced on Rajpur Road, from Orient Chowk to Clock Tower. Two-wheelers and four-wheelers going towards Clock Tower were diverted through Darshan Lal Chowk via Doon Club Road.

Moreover, the vehicular traffic at Darshal Lal Chowk, which used to get diverted to three roads-Gandhi Road, Cross Road and Clock Tower- was diverted towards Clock Tower only, resulting in traffic snarls.

Though the number of police personnels has been increased to streamline the traffic situation, it could not change the situation as the police have failed to control congestion on city roads.

Under pressure

The new one-way traffic plan drew criticism from all quarters with traders resorting to agitation and closing down their shops on Thursday. The biggest jolt for the police initiative was from the ruling Congress party, which threatened to launch an agitation, if the police did not drop the idea of implementing the plan within 48 hours. 

Governor tells J&K students to rise above religion, caste
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 27
A group of 23 students from Jammu and Kashmir met Governor Aziz Qureshi at Raj Bhavan yesterday.

The students are on a study tour organised by the Army under the aegis of Sadbhavna Yatra.

The Governor welcomed them and had informal interaction with them.

He asked the students about their interests and future plans.

The Governor also spoke to them about the social and educational environment of Jammu and Kashmir.

He discussed with them Article 370 of the Constitution and made them aware of special rights of Jammu and Kashmir through historical examples.

The Governor called upon the students to rise above religion, caste, language and region.

Govt accused of ignoring higher studies
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 27
The Association of Self-Financed Institutes today accused the state government of failing to promote higher education here.

“The state government has no clear vision about how to promote higher education in the state due to which the state is loosing its shine in the field of education, which was one of its strengths,” said Sunil Agarwal, president of the Association of Self Financed Institutes.

He said private BEd colleges were earlier affiliated to Uttarakhand Technical University. But later 25 private BEd colleges were affiliated to Sridev Suman University whereas, only three colleges got recognition and they had to approach the High Court for getting the recognition. 

Upset with MC, waste management firm threatens to end contract
Parwinder Sandhu
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 27
The ongoing cold war between the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) and the Doon Valley Waste Management (DVWM) has taken a new turn with the latter threatening to terminate its contract in January.

Irked over the alleged unresponsiveness and lackadaisical attitude of the state government, particularly the local bodies, the Doon Valley Waste Management, a private firm hired for door-to-door garbage collection, has written a letter to the DMC in this regard. Sidharth Jain, director of the SPML, which is running the project, said, “We sent the letter to the DMC on December 19.

We have given a one-month time to the DMC to take some concrete action. If it failed to act on our demands, we will withdraw the services from January 18 onwards.”

He said, “It has been almost four months since we started demanding a written clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) regarding the land where a waste treatment plant could be set up. However, the DMC has not paid any heed to our requests and is rather forcing us to go ahead with the construction at the site.” Jain said the company had already incurred a loss of Rs 4 crore ever since they signed the contract.

Meanwhile, Ashok Kumar, Mukhya Nagar Adhikari, has denied receiving any notice from the DVWM.

He said, “We have not received any letter from the DVWM authorities regarding the termination of the contract. As far as getting a written clearance from the MoEF is concerned, it is clearly mentioned in the contract that the company has to take it itself. They (DVWM) had asked for land to set up their plant and we have agreed to give it to them. How they seek the clearance is up to them.”

Unmoved by the turn of events, he said, “In case the DVWM wishes to terminate their contract, it is totally their decision and we have nothing to say in this matter. Before the DVWM arrived on the scene, the DMC was carrying out the sanitation 
work in the city”

Repair works delayed as WB officials on leave
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 27
The Department of Water Resources is yet to sign a memorandum for accessing aid pledged by World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) for carrying out repair works on pipelines and water resources damaged during the natural calamity this year.The process has been delayed because World Bank and Asian Development Bank officials are away on leave.

“We have not received any assistance as no memorandum has been signed so far between us and the officials of World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. The officials of the banks will be back next year,” said a senior official of the Jal Sansthan and Peyjal Nigam.

Bhojan Matas demand reinstatement of suspended colleagues
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 27
The Bhojan Mata Kaamgar Union took out a protest march to the Secretariat here today.

They are demanding the reinstatement of suspended Bhojan Matas and the fulfilment of their long-pending demands. The protesters also raised anti-government slogans.

They said Bhojan Matas should not be suspended in between the academic session. They also demanded minimum wages, bonus and the release of outstanding salaries.

Veerendra Bhandari, Lekhraj, Kamla Gurung, Roshni Bisht, Govindi Kunwar, Rekha Rana, Rameshwari Devi, Sulochna Devi and Santosh participated in the protest.

Cooked food scheme launched
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 27
State Planning Minister Dinesh Aggarwal inaugurated "Take Home Ration’, a cooked food scheme, under the child development project here today.

Addressing a gathering, Aggarwal said under the scheme, nutritious food would be distributed once in every month at anganwari centres.

Expectant mothers, elderly women and children in the age group of seven months to three years would be benefited under the scheme.

Vaishnava council constructs dharamshala at Haripur Kalan
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 27
The All-India Vaishnava Community Development Council and Trust has constructed a dharamshala at Haripur Kalan here.

It has spent Rs 3 crore on the project. The dharamshala will be inaugurated by Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Shri Ram Nareshacharya Maharaj on December 28.

The national general secretary of the community Das Vaishnav said during the mid-June disaster in Uttarakhand, the community had also contributed for the relief and rehabilitation works.

Arrival of NDRF team at Sarai village irks MC
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 27
Finally, the National Disaster Response Force personnel have arrived at Sarai village in Haridwar, the site where the NDRF battalion building is to be constructed. A team, including high-level NDRF officials, arrived at the proposed site and put up their tents. Meanwhile, the villagers seemed eager to know when the construction work would begin as they had sown crops on 26 hectares.

Haridwar Mayor Manoj Garg has asked the mukhya nagar adhikari to vacate the Sarai village land as the land belonged to the civic body and no consent was taken by the state government prior to handing it over to the NDRF. Manoj Garg said the meeting of the corporation board had been called in this regard tomorrow and a majority of the councillors were opposing the government's move.

"We had prepared a sewage disposal plant plan at the land. The decision on handing over the land to the NDRF was taken without our consent. We will agitate, if required," said Garg.

Three-time city legislator Madan Kaushik also expressed displeasure over the decision of the state government. District Magistrate Dr Nidhi Pandey said till the harvesting of crop, the NDRF would not begun the construction work though site mapping and other works would be carried by the NDRF authorities.

Meanwhile, BJP's Haridwar rural segment legislator Swami Yatishwaranand said the Mayor's stance over the issue was unwarranted as the NDRF would prove be quite handy during a flood-like situation in the region.Swami Yatishwaranand said not only Haridwar but several districts of adjoining would also be benefit from the NDRF battalion.

No resentment in Cong over leadership: Tamta
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, December 27
No attempt has been made by any state Congress leader for a change in the leadership of the state government, claimed Pradeep Tamta, Congress MP from Almora.

Tamta said the idea that some party leaders wanted change in the state leadership was conceived by a section of the press after the Congress president summoned some state leaders to New Delhi to know about preparations for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. “ As the Congress high command keeps on briefing state and national leaders on various national and local issues, it should not be taken as an indicator of resentment in the party, ” said Tamta. He said he had no information that any leader from the state met the Congress leadership in New Delhi on the issue.

“After Modi's rally on December 15 in Dehradun, it was obvious for the party high command to talk about the impact of the rally and to make a strategy to counter its impact, ” said Tamta.

“ These routine meetings should not be taken as an attempt to remove someone or install another as the Congress Party stands united to fight the Opposition in the forthcoming Parliamentary elections,” the MP said. 

UJVNL gets excellence award

Dehradun, December 27
Uttarakhand Jal Vidhyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL) has been honoured with the Indira Gandhi Excellence Award.

The Managing Director, UJVNL, JP Patel, received the award from former Assam Governor Bhishma Narain Singh at a function held in New Delhi recently. — TNS 

Core of Signal, 3 others secure semifinal berth
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 27
Eyeing another victory, the last year’s winner, Core of Signal, kept the audience glued to their seats and gave a tough time to its opponent, Central Secretariat Sports Club, Delhi, with its skillful hockey moves in a quarterfinal match played during the 82nd All-India Swami Shraddhanand Tournament here.

Trailing behind by a 2-0 deficit, Core of Signal took the Central club team by surprise in the second half, as it smashed four field goals to win the match.

The host and the crowd’s favourite, Gurukul Kangri University, also reached the semifinal by winning over Haryana Police 5-0.

The other two teams that made it to the semifinal knock-out stage are the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Punjab National Bank (PNB).

The FCI, Delhi, defeated Rampur Hostel 5-0 while PNB secured its place in the semifinal by winning over BSES, Rajdhani, 5-0.

Earlier in the day, the organising committee felicitated Uday Ram Semwal, general secretary, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, and Satpal Brahamchari for their contribution to social causes.

Semwal had rooted for a synthetic astroturf at Swami Shraddhanand stadium. He had taken up the matter with Sports Minister Dinesh Aggarwal and Cabinet minister Preetam Singh Pawar.

Dr SK Dagar, head of the organising committee, said two semifinal matches would be held on Saturday.

DPS (Ranipur) win math wizard contest

Haridwar, December 27
Delhi Public School, Ranipur, organised an inter-school mathematics wizard contest today. In the school section, Delhi Public School, Ranipur, emerged as the winner while DPS, Roorkee, was declared second.

In the individual section, Radhika Gupta of class VI (D), Vishwas Kumar class V(A) and Ananya Madan of class VIII (A) were declared first, second and third, respectively. School Principal KC Pandey urged parents to motivate their children to opt for mathematics.

Pandey said India had produced many math wizards. Meanwhile, a skit depicting the importance of education in one's life was staged by students of the junior wing. — TNS

Dipen's hat rick lift Vijay club to victory
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 27
Vijay Cant Football Club thrashed Shiwalik Football Club 5-0 in a match during the Swami Vivekananda Memorial District-Level Football Tournament here today. Dipen's hat rick helped the team to win the match. He scored the goals in the 37th, 47th and 50th minutes of the match.

For the winning team, Jatin Bedi and Arjun also contributed one goal each in the 24th and 45th minutes, respectively. In the second match of the day, JA Boys Football Club defeated Akranta Club 4-1 score. For JA Boys, Vikas, Divakar, Kuldeep and Anish scored the goals whereas for Akranta, Sushil Rawat scored the lone goal in the 9th minute of the match. 

Arpit win over Atul Rawat in boxing championship

Dehradun, December 27
A district-level boxing and baseball championship in the junior and senior categories was organised at the Parade Ground here today.

In the under-12 category, Arpit of Parade Ground Hostel defeated Atul Rawat of SGRR.

Anil from Parade Ground Hostel won the match against Abhishek Gautam from Boxing Club. Vipin Rawat of Police Line defeated Rohan of Parade Ground whereas Anshul of Parade Ground Hostel defeated Harsh in the bout.

In the under-14 category, Yashpal and Rakesh won their bouts after defeating Chandraprakash and Deepak Thapa respectively.

In the senior boxing competition, Ashish Raiwala defeated Anup of Army School in the 55-60 kg category. Shubham also won its match against Aditya of Army School in the same weight category.

In the 69-74 weight category, Akash of Parade Ground defeated Kapil from Army School and Shubhm Gautam of Boxing Club trounced Siddharth of Army School.

The baseball championship was won by the Stadium Trainees Parade ground after defeating PRD Stadium Tapovan in the final match by 3-1 here today.

For Stadium Trainees, Abhishek made 2 goals while Pritam made 1 goal. From Tapovan’s side, Ankit made only 1 goal. — TNS

Young basketball coach wants to train players from hill district

Haridwar, December 27
Despite lack of sporting facilities and infrastructure in Uttarakhand, Shivam Ahuja, who has been accredited with national-level coach one title, wants to train basketball players in the hill districts of the state.

Shivam Ahuja, 27, a resident of Haridwar, recently got second position in the Federation of International Basketball Association and Basketball Federation of India (FIBA-BFI) Accreditation Clinic held in New Delhi.

An enthused Shivam while talking to The Tribune, owed his success to the Almighty, his late father Kamal Ahuja and coach Sanjay Chauhan, who he termed as mentor in the field of basketball.

“At the FIBA-BFI Accreditation Clinic, I was the youngest coach but it’s not the age that matters but how much one knows the intricacies of the game and is versed in it counts for. Veteran basketball coach Nelson of FIBA also gave me tips on coaching which I will incorporate in the coming days,” he added.

Shivam began playing basketball when he was in Class VIII at Shiv Dale School.

Swami Sharadpuri, founder of Shiv Dale School, said Shivam had a passion for coaching and he had fulfilled it. He said it was a message for the other students to work hard to fulfill their passion rather than opting for mainstream career options forcefully.

Meenu Ahuja, Shivam’s mother, is proud of her son. She said her son had only dreamt and lived basketball for the past decade. — TNS