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Damned by dam
Dehradun, November 16 The Nepal’s Prime Minister had come personally to look into the feasibility of such big dams in the Himalayan region.The Tehri project has started power generation and the Tehri reservoir is filled up to the level of 820 metres. But many problems persist. People residing in areas up to 835 metres were to be paid compensation. But two years ago it was found that this demarcation was faulty. Fresh demarcation resulted in 147 more families coming under the fully affected category. They had to leave their home and hearth with the water level rising in the past two monsoon seasons. " Their cases have yet to be decided and they are forced to take shelter elsewhere," Jot Singh Bisht, a former president of the Partap Nagar block said. The reservoir’s rising waters led to geological activity. Many villages above the 835 metre mark have been destabilised due to landslides. In Sayansu village in the Thauldhar block of Tehri district, 23 houses were declared “totally unsafe” by a study of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) undertaken in the wake of landslides in the region. These 23 families, though living above the 835 metres level have been affected. "We have given agriculture land in lieu of our land at Pathri in Haridwar district but have yet to get compensation ," said Balbir Singh, pardhan of Sayansu. Similarly, 200 families of Nakot and Raulakot villages of Partap Nagar situated above 835 metres are living in danger. On a petition filed by Tehri legislator Kishore Upadhaya, the Supreme Court had directed the project and the administration to rehabilitate them. Twelve SC families of Cham and Baneti villages who had their huts drowned in the rising waters of the Tehri lake still live in two tin-sheds in the village. Then there are problems of connectivity and accessibility. The entire Partap Nagar block and parts of the Dunda block of Uttarkashi districts were cut off following the rising waters in the reservoir. Many bridges were submerged. In the last three years, some of the bridges have been rebuilt but are not sufficient to cater to the needs of the people who have to take a de tour of 30 to 70 km from the district headquarters to reach their villages. Two light vehicle bridges with the capacity of only 30 quintals have come up at Sayansu and Pipaldali villages. The Sayansu bridge has not been opened to light vehicles due to inability of the state PWD to clear landslides on the approach road from Partap Nagar. The drowning of Chinyalisaur bridge has adversely affected the lives of people in several villages across the reservoir. The present BJP state government had sought a rehabilitation package of Rs 250 crore, complaining of the discriminatory attitude of the Union Government towards the state. But union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde announced a special rehabilitation package of Rs 149 crore in February this year during a meeting of the parliamentary consultative committee at Tehri. A sum of Rs 50 crore has been received by the state government for rehabilitation. Already, a sum of more than a thousand crores has been spent on rehabilitation of displaced persons-the costliest rehabilitation in the country so far. A committee headed by retired district judge Rameshwar Singh Pundir is still adjudicating the rehabilitation claim cases of 2,751 affected persons. A total of more than 700 cases have been decided. The process of rehabilitation is taken care by the state government while the union government provides the money. " We are not directly involved with the rehabilitation work but all pending and recurring issues will be sorted out," said R.P Nailwal, media adviser to the Tehri Hydro-electric Development Corporation (THDC) .
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Canadian machine for skating rink
Dehradun, November 16 “ About 65 per cent of the work has been completed. Our aim is to complete the remaining works by the first week of January,” said Subhash Sehni, engineer of Pine and Peak Developers, a Delhi company. A fund of Rs 60 crore has been allocated for these assets.The work is going on at a fast pace to get it done before the stipulated time period as the SAF Games are to be held in the first month of March. The ice rink will be inside a (80 mts x 40mts) multipurpose indoor stadium, where other indoor games like basketball, volleyball, table tennis, weightlighting, judo, wrestling, gymnastics etc will also be played. An international standard indoor swimming pool is also under construction. “ The skating rink will be a great asset for Dehradun,” said college principal D.S.Rautela. “ Though Pakistan has an ice skating rink, it is not of international standards. The one in Dehradun will provide i neighboring countries an opportunity to avail of international facilities at a less cost,” said a former bureaucrat and office-bearer of the State Winter Games Federation S.S.Panti. “ Games like roller-skating is very popular in Dehradun and Mussoorie and there is not much difference between roller and ice-skating. There is also a greater possibility of public school children taking advantage of these facilities,” said Panti. A team of Microsoft is installing a computer at the hall for the managing various activities here. Beautification around the ice hall and swimming pool will get under way soon.
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He too contributes to knowledge bank
Dehradun, November 16 Rakesh Sahai, has been a regular participant in Winter Bird Count project in the hill state and he ends up with some rare wild life pictures every season. Sahai has been into wild life photography for over 25 years with recognition coming at both national and international level. There has been growing recognition to wild life photography as importance of wild life conservation has increased manifold. Wild life photographers today bag most of the international photography awards. These photographers are contributors to knowledge banks of lesser-known facets of wild life. The upcoming generation has little knowledge of the country’s wild life. “The new generation’s ability to differentiate is limited to the lion, tiger and leopard,” says Sahai. Referring to the Uttarakhand Bird Count, he said counts are important as very little has been done on species and numerical count of birds. There can be no better place in the country for bird- watchers than Uttarakhand with the best of avi fauna. However, he believes that Uttarakhand’s richness in wild life is yet to be recognised in other parts of the country. Uttarakhand has immense potential to exploit its wild life beauty, and publicity is all that is needed. Sahai is here to participate in the Himalayan Bird Count that concludes on November 17.
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City stands defaced, but who cares?
Dehradun, November 16 Law says...
n No one can put up posters, banners, slogans etc without the written permission of the owner of the building, whether private or public. n The party, association, body or candidate concerned is liable to be prosecuted and proceeded against under the law and charged with causing willful damage to the other’s property
The problem has acquired such an alarming proportion in the state capital that one can spot posters in every nook and corner of the city. Not only private buildings, even government establishments have not been spared by overzealous advertisers and politicians. “The entire stretch of Rajpur Road from Clock Tower up to Mussoorie diversion has been defaced. Posters of politicians don the walls of houses, shops, government establishments.” says Abhey Ahuja, a student. A visit to several other areas, including Dalanwala, Chakrata Road, GMS Road, Subhash Road, Kalidas Road, Cross Road, EC Road and Paltan Bazaar shows that besides posters, the walls have been defaced with graffiti. “Slogans of the the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) scream from walls of public and private buildings in many areas, but unfortunately no action has been taken against the ABVP ”, points out Sanjay, who runs a bakery on Survey Road. A majority of city residents demand that the administration takes cognizance and initiates action against those spoiling the beauty of Dehradun. Though under the provisions of the Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, defacement of private property invites strict punishment, unhappy with the way the legal system works, most residents prefer to spend a little money to undo the defacement rather than lodge a complaint. Despite resentment against politicians for defacing the city walls, not many come forward to take them on. When contacted, Dehradun district magistrate Amit Singh Negi said it was the duty of the department concerned to lodge a complaint against the offender. “I will be issuing a circular to all departments to ensure that
action is initiated against those defacing government property,” he said.
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This school is on the move
Dehradun, November 16 A total of 350 students in the age group of 6-14 are being imparted education here. “This site was chosen to bring the children of migrant labourers under the ambit of education. With their parents moving frequently, uninterrupted education was a problem for them. “ So we thought of taking the school wherever they went so that formal learning did not stop midway,” informed Shailender Singh Negi, district coordinator, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), that is conducting the programme with the help of the forest department and the district administration. Similar schools function at Bindal and Nanda Ki Chowki sites of dry river-beds. The programme received a fillip after former district magistrate of Dehradun, Dr Rakesh Singh, showed personal interest in starting a learning programme for wards of labourers. “ It was owing to his initiative that we could set up makeshift camps near Song and Bindal rivers where sand filtration takes place,” informed Singh. A similar school was set up at Coronation Hospital in Dehradun where construction work was underway> as many as 31 children (6-14 years) took up studies during April - October. This unique learning experiment is attuned to the needs of the children whose conditions do not allow them regular school life. “These are unconventional methods that aim to spread the torch of literacy among the young,” informed Dr Shakti Prasad Semwal, who started Pehal in Udham Singh Nagar. Another programme that is aimed at school dropouts is the non-residential bridge Course (NRBC).
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Electronic barriers for Mussorie’s Mall
Mussoorie, November 16 The Palika has entered into an agreement with Xtravision Pvt. Ltd., a Delhi based company, for modernising the vehicle entry barrier on both sides of the Mall. According to O.P. Uniyal, Chairman of Nagar Palika, “ The total cost of the project is 65 lakhs and, the company would undertake the entire project without any cost to the Nagar Palika.” The project is expected to be completed by May next year. In return, the Nagar Palika would provide adequate space to the company for advertisement within the municipal limits. It must be noted that entry to the Mall road is restricted and vehicles have to pay entry fees at the barriers on both the entrances to the Mall. Presently the manual operated barriers are very slow to operate. Through these hi-tech barriers it is expected that the delays in allowing the entry of vehicles on the Mall road would be reduced thereby avoiding long queues of vehicles on both entrances of the mall which lead to frequent traffic jams during the peak tourist season here. Uniyal is upbeat about this agreement as he believes that this is a win-win situation for both Palika and the company. He also informed that the Nagar Palika is contemplating more public-private partnership models to help regulate traffic in the city. This has become a must.
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Only two BPL families, officially
Mussoorie, November 16 It is interesting to note that only two families in Mussoorie have been given the BPL status although it is another matter that there are a total of 6.23 lakh Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in the state. According to Nanak Chand, National Chairman of National Action Forum for Social Justice (NAFSJ), “There must be at least 600-700 deprived families in Mussoorie who should be accorded BPL status.” Nanak Chand accused the state government authorities of being completely apathetic and manipulative. "Surveys are done only on paper and actual identification of poor and deprived families have not been done since many years in Mussoorie," he said. "Since past four to five years, I have been running from pillar to post to get the BPL card but each time I am told to wait till the next survey," says Ram Singh (name changed). However, the question is not about the issuance of BPL cards but serious irregularities in the granting of ration to the BPL card holders have also been revealed in Mussoorie. The case of Meena Devi, one of the two BPL card holders from Mussoorie is pitiable. She is a 35-year-old widow having five daughters and a son. Her family lives in a small room, forming part of the staff quarters at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA). After much struggle Meena managed to get a BPL card which was issued to her in March this year. But only to realise that even getting the BPL card did not entitle her to get the subsidised rations. "I have only been issued sugar on this card and basic items like wheat and rice have never been issued to me," complaints Meena. She also added that every time she goes to the government ration shop she is told that the ration has come from the supply depot. With six children and a monthly income of about 1500 per month, Meena is finding it difficult to provide three square meals to her children. "This BPL card is merely a symbol of my poverty but it is of no help to me to fight poverty," Meena laments.
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Hans has crowds in ecstasy
Haridwar, November 16 Hans Raj Hans in his inimitable style with Sufiana touch enchanted the audience with a wide range of songs from romantic hits to soothing Sufiana kalam. The local Lions Club organised the show and the proceeds of the show will go for building of a medical hospital in the city. Born in Shafipur near Jalandhar, Hans Raj Hans showed glimpses of talent at an early age. As a student at Guru Nanak Dev, Amritsar, he won accolades for his singing talent for three years in a row. Apart from bagging the Punjab State Singer award, he was honoured with Padma Shri this year for his contribution to arts and music. His albums have been big hits and he has been a playback singer for Bollywood movioes. "I am blessed to perform in the holy city of Haridwar," he said. On numerous occasions the crowd went berserk and reached near the stage, disrupting the show. Hans Raj Hans told the crowd that he had thought that the city residents would be more disciplined in the land of yoga and meditation. It was all in jest. The singer is contesting as the SAD candidate from the Jalandhar reserved parliamentary constituency.
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