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Waste Management payment
issue
Paucity of funds, land hits rehabilitation process
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Dilapidated Kanwar stretch belies administration’s claims
Auditions for dance reality TV show from July 6
Kanwar Yatra: DGP for coordination
Congress workers protest price rise
Cong will win all three seats in Assembly
bypoll: Perpreet Brar
State to seek legal opinion on land purchase by DGP
Transfer of land rights in Lohaghat gets messy
Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti opens low-price shops
July 3 accounted for highest power generation since April
Naarsan BDO caught taking bribe
New MNA takes charge
Mild tremor felt in Johar valley
3 held for stabbing voter during panchayat poll
Mayor orders probe into mutation of property case
SSP takes stock of rankers’ SI exam preparations
Doon LPG agencies linked with Karnal depot Ex-servicemen seek exemption from house tax MDDA seals
4 complexes Bypoll: BJP candidate Joshi files papers Trivender Rawat files papers from Doiwala Thousands offer Namaaz CM thanks Airy for his support ASHA workers submit memo Congress appoints
coordinators
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Waste Management payment
issue
Dehradun, July 4 The state government following the termination of 15-year contract by the private company in the month of March formed the committee comprising the then Mukhya Nagar Adhikari BVRC Purshottam, Principal Secretary, Urban Development, Meenkashi Sundram, Secretary, MDDA, Banshidhar Tiwari, DVWM CEO Sidharth Jain and some councillors. The committee was to suggest a remedial measure for resolving the issue pertaining to tipping fees rates. As per the initial contract signed between the company, DMC and state government, the tipping fees being paid to DVWM was fixed at Rs 350 per metric tonne. The company was now demanding an increment of Rs 175 per metric tonne citing huge losses. Speaking to The Tribune, Tiwari said they have submitted a report to the state government. “Since the contract does not have a provision to increase the tipping fees being paid to the company, there is no way that we can fulfil their (DVWM) demand to pay Rs 525 per metric tonne. The report has clearly suggested that a re-tender for the project would be the only solution to resolve the crises,” he added. “We have examined all aspects. Also, it won’t be possible for the already cash strapped DMC to pay a huge amount as tipping fees. It is now up to the government to take the final call. Even if the company decides to leave the work, the DMC, already looking after 50 wards, would cover their work in the remaining 10 wards until some new provision is made,” said Tiwari. Meanwhile, Jain while terming the move as favorable for the company said that they are ready for the re-tender and would participate in the bidding once the tender is opened by the government. “However, in case of re-tender, the price quotes would be double of what we are demanding now. I think any company participating in the bid would be going for higher price or else will suffer massive losses. Until and unless the solid waste treatment plant is made functional, no company involved in the project would be able to earn profit,” said Jain. Commenting on the status of the recent termination notice served to the DMC, Jain said that they would continue till the time their pending payments are not cleared. “We will extend our full support to the DMC as we do not wish the public to suffer,” he added. The DVWM, hired under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), had earlier served a one-month termination notice to the DMC for ending its contract in the month of February. The demands put up by the company included the provision of the land at Bramhawala where a transfer station would be set up to bring in the garbage for segregation, revision of existing tipping fee paid by the DMC
from Rs 350 per metric tonne to Rs 525 and an immediate release of the Rs 6.5 crore received for the project from the Central Government. |
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Paucity of funds, land hits rehabilitation process
Dehradun, July 4 So far, the state government has managed to rehabilitate four families of Chhattikhal village (Rudraprayag), which were affected by repeated landslides. “These villagers were rehabilitated nearby and each family was provided Rs 3.25 lakh as ex-gratia relief according to the 2011 rehabilitation policy. But more than anything else, the rehabilitation process continues to be slow due to lack of finances and paucity of land,” said Bhaskaranand Joshi, Secretary, Department of Disaster Management. The Department of Disaster Management has shortlisted 337 villages for rehabilitation and relocation and the Harish Rawat government has given a list of 200 villages where people immediately required to be relocated elsewhere. It has demanded Rs 4,000 crore from the Centre as part of the restoration and rehabilitation package. Sources claim that if government is to rehabilitate all villagers at other places, it will require at least Rs 1,000 crore to complete the process but to meet the land requirement forests will have to be cleared, which is a difficult task. In most of these villages, the possibility of stabilisation treatment is also being looked into. Of the 337 villages the residents of which need to be rehabilitated, about 129 are in Pithoragarh, 61 in Chamoli, 42 in Bageshwar, 27 in Tehri, 26 in Pauri Garhwal and 16 in Rudraprayag. Repeated disasters have led to a rise in the number of total villages in dire need of rehabilitation every year after the monsoon. “Over the years the monsoon has been bringing bad news to the people of Uttarakhand. Every year some new village falls prey to landslides and in the coming years the number of disaster-hit villages where people are required to be relocated may cross the 1,000 mark,” said a senior official. Amid the talk of rehabilitation and relocation, the NGOs say the government also has to address the socio-cultural issues that plague villagers. “Relocation of villagers come at immense cost, as villagers are uprooted from their ancestral villages. Efforts have to be made to ensure that the villagers continue to have a source of livelihood. Unfortunately, this aspect has not been touched upon,” said Pooran Bartwal of the Peoples Science Institute.
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Dilapidated Kanwar stretch belies administration’s claims
Dehradun/Haridwar, July 4 The patri is used by thousands of Kanwariyas who throng the holy city every year. The stretch is maintained by three departments — the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department, Uttarakhand Irrigation Department and the Public Works Department. The ongoing Ganga canal expansion work has further aggravated the problem. Treading on the stretch is not less than a nightmare. Any major accident can occur as safety walls at many places are damaged due to the construction work. Naresh Chaudhari, nodal officer for the fair, said the matter had been brought to the notice of District Magistrate D Senthyl Pendiyan, who has sought an explanation from the department. Chaudhari said the UP Irrigation Department had started removing the debris and heaps of cement, pebbles and sand from the construction site near the Shankaracharya square-Damkoti stretch. The Uttarakhand Irrigation Department and the PWD were looking after the cleaning and patching work on the patri. Veer Virendra Singh Yadav, SDO, UP Irrigation Department, said before the commencement of the Kanwar fair, the patching work would be completed at the starting point of the patri. He, however, said due to the ongoing Ganga Canal expansion work, the department could not recarpet and renovate the entire Kanwar patri this year. Purushottam Kumar, Executive Engineer, Uttarakhand Irrigation Department, also gave an assurance that the Kanwar patri falling in their purview would be renovated and levelled by next week. Jal Sansthan and the Power Corporation would make arrangements for adequate drinking water and lightning on the stretch. CS Napalchiyal, Commissioner, Garhwal division, has directed the mela administration to not to allow Kanwariyas to use the stretch during night hours.
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Auditions for dance reality TV show from July 6
Haridwar, July 4 This is one of the first major dance reality show auditions being organised in the pilgrim city, which will present an opportunity to city based talented children and youths to excel at a pan India platform. As per Chief Executive Officer of Satya Online Productions Purushottam Sharma, Haridwar city is one among the 15 selected cities where the audition will take place this month. Sharma added that as Haridwar is worldwide famous more for religious-spiritual aspect, be it theatre or dance, there are few platforms available for the local children to hone or showcase their talent. “Keeping in mind this aspect we have scheduled an audition in Haridwar city ,while other cities are all metros, viz New Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Noida, Lucknow, Indore
etc. As a local I have closely watched such talented youths who are either not able to afford going for auditions to metro cities or don’t have any
know how about such platforms. We are focusing on solo dance, group dance and duet with
contemporary, western, classical and all forms included so that no talented aspirant is denied an
opportunity,” said Purushottam. To boost the morale of selected city based contestants, in coordination with the Himalayan Group of Professional Institute, a scholarship will be provided to them by Satya Online
Productions. Aspirants can register at MCS Bal Vidyapeeth from 8 am to 12 noon till tomorrow with categories bifurcated as follows: Sub junior 3-9 years, junior 10-14 years and senior category 15-30 years. Noted Bollywood item girl and Bhojpuri regional films actress Sambhavna Seth will also be a part of this reality show, which will be judged by ace choreographer Ragini Kulkarni, who has been mentored by renowned dancer-choreographer and actor
Prabhu Deva. Dolly Bist,a versatile teen dancer ,said that earlier she had to go to
Mumbai, Delhi and Chandigarh to give auditions for dance reality shows but this will be a good opportunity for local youths like her to give auditions in their home city, more so in front of their family members
and friends.
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Kanwar Yatra: DGP for coordination
Dehradun, July 4 In his inaugural address, the DGP briefed police officers of other states about the forthcoming Kanwar Yatra. He asked them to ensure better coordination among police officers during this year’s yatra. He asked the participating officers from Railways to ensure foolproof
security arrangements on railway station platforms during the Kanwar Yatra
in order to avoid any untoward incident. Issues like danger of left-wing extremism in Uttarakhand and neighbouring states and sharing of information among the security agencies for security of international borders in Uttarakhand were discussed. Issues such as smuggling of counterfeit currency into the states and chalking out of a strategy to nab inter-state criminals were also discussed. DGP BS Sidhu, Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Law and Order, Uttarakhand, Ram Singh Meena, Inspector General of Police (IG), Meerut Zone, Alok
Sharma, IG, SSB, Shyam Singh, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Ramakant Sharma, IG, Railway
Protection Force (RPF) and S Mayank along with many other senior police officers from different agencies were present at the meeting.
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Congress workers protest price rise
Haridwar, July 4 The protest march staged from Pt Gobind Ballabh Pant Park was led by Poonam
Bhagat, state president of Kissan Congress Committee, and Kiran Singh ,district working president of Women’s cell. In her address veteran party leader Dr Santosh Chauhan,a former state women’s commission chairperson,remarked that BJP prior to the 16th Lok Sabha elections had centered its poll campaign on rising inflation, but now is itself raising prices of essential
commodities. Chauhan said that be it hiking of diesel price by 50 paisa every month,Rs 1.69 hike on petrol or Rs 16.50 additional burden on non subsidised cylinder,the BJP govt had failed to implement any so called ‘’Gujarat model’ concept in tackling economic problems. Terming the Gujarat model as just a media hyped one
,Poonam Bhagat said that now Modi had realised that running a state is altogether different thing fro governing a country. Now the Rs 10,000 crore-funded election advertising campaign of BJP is getting exposed fully.Good days of BJP were just for a few days, she alleged. Now their real testing days have arrived,Poonam
added. Kiran Singh demanded a rollback of petro prices and rail fare hike and sought a stern foreign policy. “Narendra Modi used to call on neighbouring nations to beware of any skirmish or intrusion into India’s border.But now within 30 months of his coming into power, we have not heard any courageous remarks nor any action against the recent violations on our side,”said Singh. Meanwhile, Sewa Dal ,a frontal organisation of the Congress party, has expressed resentment over border violations being made by China on the Indian territory. A memorandum in this regard was handed out to District Magistrate D Senthyl Pendiyan at his camp office in Mayapur.District president of Sewa Dal Rajesh Rastogi pointed that Indian government should take stern measures against any such incidents. The foreign policy of the country needs to be given a major emphasis and any such skirmish or intrusion should be given a strong reply. “We urge Prime Minister , Defence Minister and Foreign Minister to raise this issue effectively with China and Pakistan,” said
Rastogi.
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Cong will win all three seats in Assembly
bypoll: Perpreet Brar
Mussoorie, July 4 Perpreet Brar was speaking to Mahila Congress workers during a brief visit to Mussoorie today. She said they should continue the work of roping in more members in the party fold to strengthen the Congress. Later speaking to
mediapersons, she said the focus of the Mahila Congress Morcha was towards women empowerment and a special drive to bring them in the party fold was on in the country. She added the Congress was working to frame such policies in the state that women could receive the benefits of employment generation. She said the women joining the Congress would be given prestigious posts right from panchayat to Vidhan Sabha level. She added the Mahila Congress would also demand introduction of women reservation Bill in Parliament without delay. Lambasting the Modi government, she said the good days as promised by Narendra Modi had not come but on the contrary the people were being burdened with rising prices of rail fare, domestic gas and petrol
etc. Brar, speaking on the question of providing relief to the women who lost their husbands in the natural disaster last year in
Kedarnath, said that the Congress was doing everything possible for them and has even raised pension for the widows. She said the Mahila Congress Morcha would try to provide additional relief to those rendered widow in the Kedarnath disaster in the near future too. State Mahila Congress Morcha president Sarojini
Kaintura, Mussoorie Mahila Congress Morcha president Jasvir Kaur, Municipal Council ward member Rami
Devi, Santosh Arya and others were present on the occasion.
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State to seek legal opinion on land purchase by DGP
Dehradun, July 4 The incumbent DGP had purchased a piece of land on Old Mussoorie Road in Dehradun which the Forest Department claims to be reserve forestland. After the Forest Department swung into action, a charge sheet was filed by the police in a local court against forest officials who were investigating the matter. Only few days back, the Nainital High Court ordered for a stay on the charge sheet filed by the police in the local court against forest department officials and also sought an explanation from the state government and police department on this issue. On the other hand, Finance Minister Indira Hridayesh said the government would first seek a legal opinion on the matter in the aftermath of High Court ruling. Meanwhile, CPI (ML) Garhwal secretary Indresh Maikhuri has sought immediate removal of DGP. “It is a matter of serious concern that a police officer of DGP stature had violated the Environment Act and was now trying to use his position to cover his wrong act,” Maikhuri pointed out. He also accused the state government of shielding the DGP and sought a CBI probe into the matter. Case history
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Transfer of land rights in Lohaghat gets messy
Pithoragarh, July 4 “Only 93.85 acres of total 166 acres available in Lohaghat town is government owned and the remaining is private land mentioned in the name of owners under various usage categories in the land settlement of 1964,” said Paritosh
Verma, SDM, Lohaghat. The new twist to the problem came last night when some social workers met the SDM and asked him to accelerate the process of granting ownership rights to those applicants who had deposited the regularisation fee to the tune of Rs 3.75 crore with the administration some years ago. “The fact came to light when we started acting on the government order to grant ownership rights to the applicants,” said the
SDM. In such a situation he had to take guidance from the state government, he added. Earlier it was thought that the entire land in Lohaghat town belonged to either the government or to kham (land allocated for expenditure of the British crown during the British rule in India). On this basis, the local administration had sent a report to the government that the land in Lohaghat town should be regularised in the names of those who actually held its possession. “The former sub-divisional officers had sought applications from the land holders who deposited Rs 3.75 crore as fee for the transfer of ownership,” said
Verma. He added 166 acres in Lohaghat town belonged to various people, including farmers, and orchard owners, besides was meant for forests, roads,
dharamshalas, post offices, cowsheds, schools, cemeteries and funeral grounds. “Over 11.5 acres belongs to a British citizen, late
Talak, who had died much earlier leaving no heir. We have to find out ways to get that land entered in government records before allocating it to some occupants,” said
Verma.
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Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti opens low-price shops
Dehradun, July 4 As many as ten retail counters were set up on the Mandi Parishad campus. The counters were opened for buyers between 7 am and 12 noon. They were reopened from 4 pm to 7 pm at Niranjanpur Mandi here today. According to Vijay
Thapliyal, secretary of Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti, the number of buyers is expected to increase soon. He said it had been made mandatory for buyers to bring jute bag to purchase onions and
potatoes. Thapliyal said the maximum limit for purchase of onions and potatoes is 5 kg each. He said a committee had been formed to monitor retailers who sell onions and potatoes at prices much higher than the actual cost. He said committee members had been asked to conduct raids at different places to check prices of onions and potatoes
in Dehradun. The wholesale price of onions is between Rs 1,200 and Rs 2,000 while that of potatoes is from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,600. Principal Secretary Radha Raturi has instructed officials of Food and Civil Supplies and the district administration to conduct surprise raids in
Dehradun. She said strict action would be taken against hoarders. She added that the department was working to regulate prices of onions and potatoes in the state’s retail markets.
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July 3 accounted for highest power generation since April
Dehradun, July 4 Officials said improved power generation would prove extremely beneficial for bridging the gap between demand and availability of electricity in the state. GP Patel, Managing Director of
UJVNL, said renovation, modernisation and upgrade of turbines were regular features in the department and were meant to ensure optimum power generation. He said strict instructions were regularly given to technical and maintenance staff for reduction of technical snags towards ensuring optimum power generation. The latest data compiled by the UJVNL states that 1,216.769 million units of electricity have so far been generated in the current financial year. Among all hydro-power projects, Maneri
Bhalli-II has topped the tally by generating 5.830 million units power. The electricity demand was for 37.47 million units while 36.83 million units power was available in the state. The department implemented an emergency power cut for an hour in rural areas of Haridwar purportedly to meet the electricity demand in
the state. |
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Naarsan BDO caught taking bribe
Dehradun, July 4 Notably, Prem Singh wrote a complaint letter to the Vigilance Department on July 1 that Block Development Office clerk Tularam has been demanding Rs 25,000 bribe for giving work completion certificate with regard to development works worth Rs 3,12,464 done in his village Nasirpur under
MNREGA. After finding truth in his complaint, Vigilance Department formed a team under Inspector Bhaskar Lal Shah and arrested Tularam after laying a
trap today. It is to be noted that Tularam demanded a bribe of Rs 25,000 in two
instalments, although he was arrested while accepting the first instalment of Rs 15,000 today. Director of Vigilance Department SK Bhagat applauded the efforts of vigilance department for nabbing a corrupt official. The case In his complaint to the Vigilance Department on July 1, one Prem Singh alleged Tularam, a clerk at the Block Development Office clerk, had been demanding Rs 25,000 as bribe for
issuing work completion certificate with regard to development works worth Rs 3.12 lakh
carried out at village Nasirpur under the MNREGA. |
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New MNA takes charge
Dehradun, July 4 Addressing the media after taking charge, Rawat said that he would make efforts to resolve the long-standing crisis between DMC and private waste management firm DVWM. “Proper collection and disposal of garbage is a major issue that has been adversely affected due to ongoing conflict between DMC and DVWM. I would try my best to resolve the issue as soon as possible. We would also focus on monsoon preparedness, speedy imposition of house tax and implementation of polythene ban in the city,” he added. It may be mentioned here that Rawat had earlier served as DMC’s Additional Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (AMNA) from December 2009 to May 2012.
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Mild tremor felt in Johar valley
Pithoragarh, July 4 “The tremor measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale had its epicenter 10 km deep somewhere between Milam and Bugdiyar villages. Its location was at 30.2° latitude north and 80.2° longitude east on the geographical scale, which falls between Milam and Bugdiyar villages of the Johar valley. However, no loss of life or property has been reported yet,” said RS
Rana, District Disaster Management Officer, Pithoragarh. He said the earthquake fell in the yellow category being more than 4 on the Richter scale, the disaster management unit in the district headquarters issued an alert to the nearby villages of
Burfu, Mapa Laspa and Milam, which are connected with the district disaster management centre through digital satellite terminal phones
(DSTP). “We have also sent a request to ITBP pickets in the Mapa and Milam areas of the Johar valley to remain alert during tremors, as these places are distant and cut off from the mainland,” said
Rana.
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3 held for stabbing voter during panchayat poll
Mussoorie, July 4 The SDM, Dhanaulti, Devanand Sharma, speaking to the media said that on June 28 around 14 persons, including the candidate for gram pradhan from Fedi Kimora
village, Rajendar Singh, on losing the elections, entered the house of Sitaram and physically assaulted him for not casting vote in their
favour. The accused in the case did not stop there. He also stabbed Sitaram allegedly who was rushed to the government hospital for treatment in Mussoorie on June 28. Subsequently, a case was registered against 14 other accused in the case by Dhanaulti revenue police, under IPC 324,452,504,506 and under SC/ST Acts, as the victim belonged to Dalit community, leading to the arrest of three persons today. The three accused were presented in the court from where they have been sent to jail. The
SDM, Dhanaulti, Devanand Sharma, further said that the investigations are also on against 11 other persons involved in the case and if found guilty, they will be apprehended without
any delay.
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Mayor orders probe into mutation of property case
Dehradun, July 4 On the second day, cases regarding mutation of properties were taken up. Around 29 objections were listed for hearing before the committee. The members resolved 15 cases and gave a fresh date for the remaining ones. In one of the property dispute cases between Mukesh Chandra Arora and Meva Ram, apart from the issues related to division, the parties also alleged the involvement of five DMC employees who were trying to mint money by favouring one of the parties. While ordering a probe into the case, Chamoli said the case would be decided only after submission of an enquiry report. “I have ordered a department probe into the procedure that was adopted in mutation of the said property in the past. Once the report is prepared, we can take a final decision in the case,” he added.
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SSP takes stock of rankers’ SI exam preparations
Dehradun, July 4 The SSP told police officers that CCTV cameras would be installed inside the examination halls to keep a close vigil on all activities inside the rooms. He asked the senior police officers and other police personnel to pull up their socks for the forthcoming examination and to make efforts to avoid any untoward incident. In the past, police officers allegedly committed irregularities in Rankers examination. This time, the police department is said to be taking precautions to reduce the possibility of any wrongdoing during the examination. Over 10,000 serving constables and head constables will be appearing in the examination that would be conducted across the state. |
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After failing to arrive at a solution regarding the payment issue with Doon Valley Waste Management, the four-member committee has submitted a report to the state government suggesting a re-tender for the contract.
Haridwar, July 4
Congress activists today took out a protest march against the BJP-led Narendra Modi government in protest against rising prices of essential commodities, including vegetables, rise in petrol and diesel prices and a weak foreign policy in the wake of the Iraq crisis and regular skirmishes on the China-India border.
The Congress Mahila Morcha national secretary and in-charge of Himachal and
Uttarakhand, Perpreet Brar, reiterated her claims that the Congress will win all three seats in the byelections to be held on July
21.
Officials of Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti, Dehradun have installed retail counters to sell onions and potatoes at a reasonable price in comparison to hiked prices of onions and potatoes in
Dehradun. As many as ten retail counters were set up on the Mandi Parishad campus. The counters were opened for buyers between 7 am and 12 noon. They were reopened from 4 pm to 7 pm at Niranjanpur Mandi here today.
Dehradun, July 4
Dehradun, July 4
SDM and ARO from Dharchula, said,” BD Joshi filed two sets of nomination papers, which have been accepted for scrutiny.”
Meanwhile, with the nomination filing process coming to an end today, the district election office has opened a control room at the district headquarters. “We have established 137 polling booths, which have been divided into six zones and 36 sectors,” said HC Semwal, District
Election Officer.
the wake of
the first Jumma Namaaz, elaborate security arrangements were in place,
with SSP Sadanand Date, SP (city) Surjeet Singh Pawar, SP (rural)
Parmendra Dobhal and CO Rajesh Bhatt monitoring the proceedings. In
evening, the markets were abuzz with sweet dishes available at Mohalla
Kassaban, Ghosiyan, Kotarvan, Paodhoi, Maidaniyan, Kharadiyan and
Chauhanan. — TNS
