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Row over water under the bridge
Easter festivities light up city
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No Act, paramedical institutes have a free run
No impact of recession on laptop market
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Row over water under the bridge
Haridwar, April 12 In October last year, the flow of the Ganga at Har-ki-Pauri was stopped for cleaning of the river. At that time also, there was confrontation and intense opposition from the Ganga Sabha and priests following the stoppage during Diwali. The department has asked the state government in a letter to stop the flow to construct a bridge at state guest house, Damkothi, in view of the forthcoming Maha Kumbh in 2010 in Haridwar. In the letter, it is mentioned that from April 15, the flow at Har-ki-Pauri has to be stopped so that the work on the bridge could start as it would not be feasible to carry out the work with the flow. But this proposal is being resented by locals, traders and ‘teerth-purohits’. Traders opine that with no flow of the Ganga at the area, the number of pilgrims and tourists would go down. Hence, their trade would be severely affected. With the ‘Char Dham Yatra’ starting in April-end, they fear that it will deal a severe blow to their livelihood. Another reason for their protest is the effect on ‘Ganga Arti’ at the Har-ki-Pauri attended by thousands daily. With no water, the ‘arti’ will have to be stopped. Haridwar traders president Suresh Gulati termed the move as a blow for traders who are already affected by recession. “Pilgrims and tourists come to bathe, see and enjoy the ambience of Har-ki-Pauri and adjacent ghats. If there is no water in the area, there is bound to be a drastic decrease in the number of pilgrims. This will affect our earnings,” said Gulati. The custodian of the area, Ganga Sabha, has termed the proposed decision of the irrigation authorities as being against tradition. Ganga Sabha president Ram Kumar Mishra said that they have received a letter in this regard. Though the sabha acknowledged the construction of bridge as reason for the proposal yet it had reservations on the move. “We maintain that Har-ki-Pauri and Kankhal ghats should not be without water, irrespective of the amount, as it is related to the religious sentiment of crores of people” said Ram Mishra. He added that last October, when the proposal to clean the river was put up, the sabha had protested against the total closure of water at the area. A dry river bed at Har-ki-Pauri would hinder the performance of rituals the ghats. The locals were also against the time chosen for the closure. Teerth Purohits said, “Closing the flow twice in six months and that too on festive occasions is ridiculous. It seems they have no concern for Hindu traditions,” said a purohit at Nai Sota ghat. SDO Ganga canal KP Singh said that it was imperative to stop the flow of water for the timely and quality construction of Kumbh Mela projects. The proposed bridge is vital for Maha Kumbh preparations where crores of people are expected to participate, he said. Meanwhile, irrigation officials maintain that if the flow of the Ganga is temporarily stopped at Haridwar, its repercussions would be felt in New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh too. Water for drinking and irrigation is sent to both states. The residents of Delhi who get water supply via Sonia Vihar may be slightly affected as there will be less flow and pressure of water at the plant if the Ganga canal is closed. Despite nine years of the creation of Uttarakhand, several irrigation properties and canals are managed by the Uttar Pradesh government and despite several round of talks between ministers and officers of both states, UP is not willing to give up its claim on several properties in Uttarakhand mostly of the irrigation department. The Uttarakhand government has no control over them. DD Dalakoti, executive engineer, Uttarakhand Irrigation Department, stated that the state could not do anything as most of the canals in the district including head works of the canals are controlled by the Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department. Noticeably, the Bhimgoda barrage, now renamed as Chaudhari Charan Singh Bhimgoda Barrage, VIP ghat and 13,000 hectares of irrigation land and 42 canals originating or falling in Uttarakhand are under the UP Irrigation Department. It seems quite illogical that on the Uttarakhand’s land and river, the Uttar Pradesh government is operating the barrages and controlling water flow and controversies regarding Ganga water flow arise every now and then causing ripples in Uttarakhand and particularly in Haridwar.
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Easter festivities light up city
Dehradun, April 12 It finally ends with Easter when people get together and take pleasure in eating and donating eatables to the downtrodden. Early Sunday morning, people offered prayers in various churches of the city. “Easter is celebrated all over the world to celebrate the rising of Jesus Christ after his death on Good Friday. “Today it is one of the biggest religious feasts in Christian Liturgical Year,” said Father Bernard of St Francis Church. Non-vegetarian food is strictly avoided during the period of Lent but eating with near and dear ones holds lot of importance on Easter. “My sister came from Roorkee on Easter. We made biryani, cakes and puddings so that we get to celebrate in midst of togetherness and even spread message of love and peace,” said Shabnam, a housewife. “The idea behind the day is to spread the message of love and peace. We sing songs, read Bible and help the needy. “Starting from today, we visit around 500 houses in 20 days to spread the message of peace and harmony,” said Father Bernard. Meanwhile, city bakeries have made Easter eggs and cross buns for the celebrations. “We made Easter eggs and cross buns. Since Wednesday, people have been purchasing them in bulk. “Where Easter eggs are the main sweet dish, cross buns are mostly taken by people while they offer prayers,” said Sushil Uniyal, manager Ellora bakery.
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No Act, paramedical institutes have a free run
Dehradun, April 12 The Uttarakhand Para Medical Council Bill, 2007, already drafted by the government, was expected to streamline the state of affairs. However the government has so far failed to introduce the Bill in the assembly. “There are very few states in the country that have this provision, actually there was very late realisation about the potential of paramedical education in the country. “Since the setting up of the first such institution in Dehradun in the late 80s, there has been tremendous response in this field,” said Dr Rakesh Kumar, secretary, medical education. The delay in implementation of the proposed Act has resulted lack of uniformity in the quality of education unjustified fee hike. “Every year there is an increase in fee. We do not mind paying, but there is no qualitative change in the education being imparted,” said Pawan Kaul, a parent. Actually, paramedics are not accorded a status equivalent to a doctor and are usually viewed as assistants to the main doctors, but this has much to do with the lacuna existing at the level of planners, who did not accord priority to paramedical education. In Dehradun, there are as many as 14 private paramedical colleges, attracting students from far and wide, despite the fact that several colleges have opened up in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, “It is the climate and peaceful environment of the city that is attracting hordes of students,” said Chief Patron, Sardar Bhagwan Singh Post Graduate Institute of Biomedical Science. However, due to lack of an Act, some of these institutions are functioning from campuses as small as three to four rooms. Some institutions have not been able to build campuses due to lack of land and cumbersome procedures associated with setting them up.
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No impact of recession on laptop market
Dehradun, April 12 Addressing the media persons at the Geo-Expansion Computer Carnival here today, Uttarakhand franchisee of Strategic Information Technologies, Vikas Dewan said, “The sale of the laptops has gone down by 50 per cent due to this meltdown but the situation is not same with the domestic consumer market where the meltdown had little effect.” He further said in recent years the general public inclination has shifted from desktops to the laptops. “Few years back there was a 70% of the market of computers belonged to desktop whereas laptops was just 30%. But now the trend has changed as 60% people prefer laptop in comparison to 40% of the buyers who would still go for desktops”, Dewan added. “It is a platform where we reach out to the general public to make them experience products which were only restricted to people of metros and big cities but also for the middle class. We are offering these products at special carnival pricing bundled with hosts of free gifts which are useful for the whole family”. At the two-day carnival, computer ranging from latest multimedia, touch screen laptops, small form factor, power saver desktops and ultra mini netbooks are being displayed.
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Dehradun, April 12
