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Shoppers light up the city
Dehradun, October 27 There is a return of buoyancy in the markets at Paltan Bazar and Rajpur Road, which is a fair indicator that this spirit will triumph over shattered economics marked by cash and credit crunch. An old-timer, Surender Singh Rana of Karanpur, is hopeful the cityscape will thunder with cracker explosions as usual. His optimism does not seem misplaced going by the sale of crackers, which has picked since yesterday. Cracker stalls have sprung up in all parts of the city. Multi-shot rockets priced as high as Rs 9,000 have also been put up for sale. “We are sure to find buyers for them,” said Neelu, who has set up his stall on the Rajpur Road. To the delight of shopkeepers, long queues were seen at withdrawal counters of banks as well as at ATMs. But not for shopping only, the cash is needed for gambling as well, which is a widely prevalent practice! Even the government as well as private sector employees have received this month’s salary in advance. “It would have been foolish not to save money for the festival for which people plan months in advance. Moreover, getting salary a day before is going to help,” said Manver Bisht, an accountant with a private firm. He has spared about Rs 3,000 for crackers alone. It is expected that the sales of sweets, gifts, designer lights, jewellery etc would further pick up tomorrow. “Although schools and colleges are already closed, my husband had to attend office. So we have plans to go for shopping with the whole family tomorrow,” said Nandini Vashisht, a housewife from Sharda Vihar locality.
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Doggone good
Dehradun, October 27 Having 17 times more hearing power than humans, the high noise levels have an adverse effect on dogs. “Dogs are very sensitive to high decibels of sound and are extremely terrified from high noises caused by crackers on the Diwali day,” says veterinarian K.S. Negi. “In case of bigger animals like cows, such high sounds could be fatal. There are cases where pregnant cows have had a miscarriage due to sound pollution,” he adds. While People For Animals (PFA) across the country has issued appeals for ensuring cracker-less Diwali in larger interests of animals, its members in Dehradun have decided to provide sedatives to stray dogs in order to minimise their Diwali sufferings. “We will be providing sedative Dizepan, which will act as sleeping pills and lessen their Diwali ordeal,” says Puja Bahukhundi who is a member of the state branch of PFA. As far as wild bats and owls are concerned, the demand for them is high among ‘tantriks’ as many invoke blessing of gods through sacrificing them. However, wildlife department officials have been put on alert to check any poaching. “Despite Diwali holidays, our staff is on duty and extra caution is being observed to check any attempts to capture owls and bats,” says I. Upadhyaya, an Uttarakhand wildlife department official.
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Bend it like Raksha
Dehradun, October 27 Being the only girl from Uttarakhand who represented the state in the under-13 football team of India at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) u-13 girls Football Festival held at Vietnam in June 2008, Raksha is now eyeing a place in the national girls under-15 team. “My father Deepak Pawar played for men’s national football team. I used to watch him playing in tournaments and my interest developed in the game. At the age of 12, I decided to train myself in football,” says Raksha, whose father trains her for at least four hours a day. Raksha, who plays for Cantt Blues Club here, started her career, when she was selected for the under-13 girls team of Uttarakhand. She played in the under-13 national football festival held in 2007 at Bhubaneshwar and performed brilliantly by scoring four goals in the tournament. Subsequently, she was picked up for the India camp held at Bhopal this year. “I was selected as vice-captain in the national under-13 team that participated in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) u-13 girls Football Festival 2008,” says Raksha. The Indian team stood second and outclassed the teams from Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Singapore and hosts Vitenam. Raksha says she is proud to be the only girl from the state to have secured a place in the national team. “After my satisfactory performance in the tournament, even senior players started giving me immense respect,” she adds. Replying to a query about the prospects of girls in the game, Raksha says if provided proper infrastructure and coaching girls can do very well. She feels that the government should lay emphasis on providing good infrastructure to sportspersons. “The secretary of Uttarakhand Football Association Syed Akhtar Ali helped me a lot, but so far the government has not recognised my achievements,” she rues.
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Special occasion at Raphael
Dehradun, October 27 “Despite the fact that some children leave home to celebrate Diwali with their parents, the many who stay here celebrate the festival with much fervour,” Brig (retd) A.A.S Sinha, director of Raphael, Ryder Cheshire International Centre, Dehradun, said. “Fireworks that do not upset these mentally challenged inmates are also made available to them,” he added. The Centre houses as many as 200 inmates. Residents of the nearby Leper Colony also joined the celebrations at the Cheshire Centre today. Ritualistic distribution of sweets was a part of the rejoicing.
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Air & sound levels to be checked
Dehradun, October 27 A staff of eight persons, mostly from the scientific cadre, would be checking air pollution levels apart from registering the rising decibels. Air quality would be judged by the levels of sulpur-dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and suspended particulate matter. In addition, two mobile vans fixed with sound-level meters have been pressed into service to record the noise levels within different locations of the city. The vehicles would be monitoring sound levels in Race Course MLA hostel as Residential area, Doon Hospital as silence zone, Clock Tower commercial area and Survey Chowk as commercial area. “Our staff will be on toes for three continuous days, beginning today, and the findings would be very important from the environment point of view,” said P.K. Joshi, regional officer, Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board. The board would submit the findings to the Central Pollution Control Board.
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Letters
Apropos the Dehradun Plus article on ‘Eco Divali’ (October 27), I have decided to take the plunge and not buy any crackers this time. Though persuading my son would be difficult, I will try to appease him with some toys.
It is really difficult to breathe on the night of Divali and the next morning. I hope my fellow citizens in Haridwar also go the eco-way. The administration should also do its bit and ban high-decibel crackers and strictly punish the defaulters. There should also be a time limit till when crackers could be burst. Many people start very late and disturb their neighbours who may have to go to work early next morning. — Prabhakar,
Haridwar Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words at dehradunplus@tribunemail.com or write in at: Letters, Dehradun Plus, Sector 29, Chandigarh – 160 030
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