Doon’s water bodies vanishing
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dharampur canal which has gone underground. A Tribune photograph

Dehradun, November 26
The British knew of Dehradun's rich water resources and, thus, laid one of the finest network of canals in the valley.

But with Dehradun becoming the state capital of Uttarakhand, these water bodies have become invisible. A decision has been taken by the state government to do the Raipur canal underground.

Brainchild of the then chief secretary Madhukar Gupta, work on having these canals underground started primarily on account of the traffic problems in the city.

But the move has changed the once known face of the Doon valley forever. With major portions of canals within the city now already done underground and more to follow, some arterial roads have indeed become spacious, but this has come at the cost of the city’s water environs.

These canals encompass a total distance of 52 km. Among the canals that have been done underground are the Dharampur Canal, starting from Nany’s Bakery till Bengali Kothi encompassing a distance of 6.29 km already done underground at a cost of Rs 366.18 lakh.

Similarly, the Kargi canal stretch from Haridwar Road to Tyagi Road that transverses a distance of 1.55 km has been done underground at a cost of Rs 70 lakh. Another key Rajpur feeder canal has been done underground from Haridwar Road till Jogiwala Mussoorie bypass road covering a distance of 2.756 km, at a cost of Rs 186.76 lakh.

Further, for Kanwali canal, the stretch starting from Garhi Cantonment thana to Transport Nagar entailing a distance of 8.667 km has been done underground at a cost of Rs 426.98 lakh.

Kaulagarh Canal from Garhi Cantonment Police station to the ONGC Helipad that involves a distance of .58 km was built at a cost of Rs 36.7 lakh.

The proposed stretches of canals in the process of being done underground, include the Kisanpur-Rajpur road stretch of Rajpur canal and the Bengali Kothi-Mothorowala stretch of the Dharampur canal that encompass a distance of 4.75 km and .90 km, respectively.

But residents of Doon are a perturbed lot. They claim that the city has lost its old charm and also one of its last symbols of identity. “ With canals going underground, Dehradun has lost one of its most credible cooling systems,” Naveen Juyal, a local reswident claimed.

“With fast-paced development in Dehradun, the city is witnessing rapid transformation but at a heavy cost,” says Suresh Nautiyal, a resident of Kaulagarh who sees the development quite disturbing.

Opposing canals going underground, Padamshri Dr Anil Joshi of HESCO, said the canal system was a true representative of the ecology of Dehradun. The canals had benefited the people of Dehradun. While these had helped the city maintain its temperature, the canals are also “living resources” for those residing alongside.

Significantly, the canals were why the watermills survived in the valley. But with these canals getting underground at a fast phase, the survival of the water -mills was under threat too.

These water channels were also used for rituals. These days it is difficult to find fresh flowing water within the city limits and performance of various rituals like immersion of idols and the conduct of Chatt have become difficult

The irrigation department argues that with canals underground it is not just the traffic movement that will get better. There will be others benefits too, the greatest being that these water bodies will be saved from getting polluted.

The open canals had become most accessible dumping sites for garbage for the residents, the department says.

Second, the water losses have been reduced. Also revenue worth lakhs spent every year in the cleaning of these canals has been saved.

“People often criticise us for disturbing the beauty of Dehradun by making these canals underground, but what they forgot is that it has also led to multiple benefits,” explains D. Rawat, XEN, irrigation.

Key arterial roads like GMS and EC roads today are among the widest in Dehradun, ensuring smooth flow of traffic in the city.

A joyous homecoming
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 26
Relief and tears of joy marked the homecoming of MT Stolt Valo"s captain Prabhat Goyal after 62 days of captivity at high sea. As he stepped out of his car with wife Seema, daughters Trishi, Ayushi and son Shivansh at his house at Guru Tegh Bahadur Road, at 4.30 pm, it seemed as if the entire city had descended there to have a glimpse of him.

Before entering the house, Prabhat’s father and mother performed aarti, reciting the Gayatri Mantra and showering flower petals on their son.

“Hifazat jin shafino ki usee manzoor hoti hai, toofan unhe khud sahil pe laake chorr dete hain”, said Goyal’s neighbourer R.P.Goswami, expressing his happiness, as he shook hands with Prabhat.

A visibly tired but elated Prabhat stepped inside his house, which glittered with lights. His aged parents would not have their eyes off him and hugged him time and again.

Capt Prabhat said: “It’s great to be back home after such a long ordeal. On October 5, I had abandoned all hope of being released and seeing my family again. But here I am and have no words to express my happiness.”

Capt Prabhat refused to divulge details about the money paid as ransom to the pirates. “ Only the company owner, the pirates and I know this secret and I won’t disclose it,” he said.

On the issue of dealing with the problem of piracy,he said the naval forces of different countries should form a joint force under the UN.

“We get combat training before commissioning. Hence, we must be provided with weapons on ship so that we can use these for self-defence”, he suggested.

It’s all dust and filth for Haridwar residents
Sandip Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, November 26
Slow progress in the laying of sewer lines in Haridwar city, especially in Jwalapur and Srinath Nagar, has been creating problems for commuters.

The exercise has been on for more than a month. The sewer lines are being laid in view of the Kumbh Mela scheduled for 2010, but the delay in completion of work has once again exposed the casual approach of government agencies.

The work is on at a snail’s pace. The issue invited the ire of commissioner Subash Kumar at a review meeting. He reportedly reprimanded the Ganga Pollution Control Board (GPCB) for inefficient work leading to unnecessary delay. What is more worrying is that after the laying of the pipes the roads will have to be laid again.

The plan was that after the laying of sewer pipes the roads would be laid temporarily and then after the monsoon season, these would be laid with tar by the public works department.

An official of the department said the delay on the part of the Ganga Pollution Control Board in laying the sewer lines had delayed the work on roads.

Mela officer Anand Vardhan has directed the board officers to speed up work as the residents were facing inconvenience and if the deadline was not met, it would hamper the execution of other projects too.

The other problem is that even after the pipes are laid, the surface area will not be covered fully. “The work on sewer lines is far from satisfactory,” said Sanjay Sharma, leader of the opposition in the municipal committee.

A sum of Rs 20 crore would be spent on the sewer lines. D.D Sharma, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), said most of the work would be completed by the year-end.

“I have placed a plastic curtain in front of my shop as the dust due to digging comes inside the shop. Can anyone tell me when will the work be completed as it is affecting my business,” said Ashish, a garment shop owner in Jawalapur.