Haridwar, May 1
Hundreds of temporary houses were gutted and property worth crores was destroyed in a massive incident of fire at Chandi Ghat area, here today. Several persons were injured in the incident, which is being attributed to a short-circuit.

Albeit the fire brigade, aided by locals, managed to control the flames, it was not before 90% of the houses were destroyed. The flames started spreading at about 11 am in Rajiv Gandhi Nagar Basti, near Chandi Ghat area, and soon engulfed the whole colony. It also spread to the nearby Jhajhra colony.

Fire officer SK Sharma said they received information about the incident at around 11:30 am and instantly three fire brigades were pressed into service. “The fire was extensive and due to the dry hot weather things got worse. Fire fighters had to face a tough time,” said Sharma.

The intensity of the fire was such that additional fire brigades from SIDCUL had to be called. Fire officer SIDCUL AK Aghri said two additional fire brigades were immediatelt sent to the spot. After nearly three hours, the fire was finally controlled.

Notably, there are several eating joints in the area, besides many residents who mainly depend on firewood for kitchen purposes: this aggravated the fire further.

Meanwhile, chaotic scenes were witnessed at the spot. People were seen evacuating their household items from the flames, during which many of them got injured. “Fire has engulfed our shelters. We have no place to go in this summer with our small children,” said a crying woman while pointing to her child.

A team of doctors, who were organising a medical camp at the colony area, helped in the rescue work and provided medical aid to the injured.

A major tragedy was averted when a LPG cylinder burst due to the flames, but no one was near the area. “It was quite dangerous, as flames were massive and temperature was touching 42 degrees. Fire-fighters and police personnel showed tremendous application and bravery,” said Sandeep Sharma a shopkeeper.

Superintendent of Police Asim Srivastava and CO City Navneet Singh also reached the spot and held in the evacuation process. The administration has also arranged temporarily shelters for the colony people.

Meanwhile, in another fire incident in a factory at Jwalapur industrial area, three employees were injured. They were later referred to the Jolly Grant hospital. Till the filing of this report the cause of the fire was not known, and the fire brigade were trying to extinguish the flames.

Bhogpur, May 1
As many as 50 huts were burnt at a village in Laksar region, around 40 kms from Roorkee, yesterday afternoon.

Flames, which broke out in a heap of garbage lying outside a hut, took no time to engulf the nearby houses belonging to labourers. However, no loss of life was reported in the incident.

A total of six fire tenders were pressed into service, which took over six hours to control the fire. According to villagers, the fire broke out at around 2.30 pm and spread due to strong winds.

A fire tender from Laksar Fire Station reached the spot at 3 pm. “Seeing the gravity of the situation, other tenders were rushed to the spot. We controlled the flames after over six hours of struggle,” said Shoorvir Singh Pawar, fire officer, Laksar.

SDM HC Kandpal said property worth several lakh rupees has been destroyed in the fire.

Mussoorie, May 1
Forest fires are raging inside the Benog Mountain Quail Wildlife Sanctuary near Mussoorie since the past one week. The situation has put the local flora and fauna in grave danger.

Located in an area of 11 sq kms, this sanctuary forms part of the Rajaji National Park and has been made famous by the fact that the now extinct Himalayan Bush Quail (Ophrysia superciliosa) was sighted here in 1876. In fact, the bird has only been recorded in Mussoorie and Nainital areas.

The sanctuary is located around the Benog hill, about 9 kms from Mussoorie, and is a popular destination for bird-watchers from across the country. After claims that the Bush Quail had been sighted near Nainital in 2003, ornithologists had expressed hope that bird species might still be surviving in the Benog sanctuary area. Therefore, this small wild habitat assumes greater significance for bird-watchers.

However, forest fires continue unabated in and around the sanctuary area and locals are blaming the forest department for its inability to control the situation.

Dehradun, May 1
For forest officers from Naxal-infested states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, who passed out from State Forest Services College, Naxalism does not stand as major challenge while putting issues of forest cover increase and people participation in forests high on their agenda.

Naxals are not the enemy of forests. They have concerns and can certainly be controlled, said Vikram Kesharee Pradhan passing out officer from Orissa. He pointing out that working for tribal communities and other forest dwelling communities was certainly high in his priority.

Sreeniwas Rao from AP too does not take the problem of Naxalism vis-a-vis forestry so seriously. He denies that foresters were safe targets for Naxals. “Ninty five per cent Naxal attacks target police and other administrative departments,” said Rao.

Another officer from Orissa Debpriya Kampa, however, described Naxals as more of an administrative problem than forestry. “It is basically that the Naxals find forest areas as safe hideout which brings it in confrontation with forestry,” he said. He also added that increased people’s participation in the forestry was leading to return of harmonious relationship between with man and forests.

He recalled the destruction of forests in Orissa due to Tsunami and aspired to work for increasing the state forest cover from existing 24 per cent of its landmass.

Another southern state of Tamil Nadu where Naxalism is limited to smaller pockets like Dharmapuri, the problem is not so serious. “Foresters in Tamil Nadu faced much of problem during the days of sandalwood smuggler Veerapan but as of now our energies are focused on increasing the forest cover that is presently 17.5 per cent of the total land mass of the state,” said TK Ashok Kumar the passing out officer from Tamil Nadu. He said Tamil Nadu was also working to bring more of its forests under protected areas.

For Jishwordy Dkhar from Meghalaya, insurgency was not an issue with the tiny hill state of North-East. He considers large-scale destruction of forests due to shifting cultivation and encroachments as a bigger problem of Meghalaya forest.

Dehradun, May 1
After campaigning in Narendranagar in Garhwal and various places in Kumaon, Bollywood actor Mahima Chaudhry today took out a roadshow in Dehradun in support of Congress candidate from Tehri Vijay Bahuguna.

The show started from Congress Bhawan at 5.30 in the evening. Flanked by senior Congress leaders in an open Jeep, Mahima waved to the people and appealed to them to vote for the Congress.

The cavalcade of around two-dozen four wheelers, along with Congress activists in large numbers, passed various city areas including Clock Tower, Prince Chowk, Saharanpur Chowk, Balliwala Chowk and Chakrata Road.

By the time of filing of this report, the roadshow was still on and Congress leaders disclosed that it would end at Garhi Cantt area at around 10 pm.

Roorkee, May 1
While playing the ‘bhaichara’ card, BSP leaders have been trying to allure voters in this region, especially the downtrodden classes.

“Our candidates are set to win, as we are sincerely trying to create ‘bhaichara’ among the people of all religions, castes, communities and classes. In fact, the party is getting superb response from all sections of society,” said BSP leader Jagpal Singh, MLA from Harora (Saharanpur) while addressing mediapersons, here today.

Jagpal, accompanied by Bhagwanpur MLA Surendra Rakesh, Nathu Singh, District president (Haridwar), and other local leaders of the party, termed the ‘social engineering’ mantra given by Mayawati, as the need of the hour.

Two Congress leaders Chaudhary Bhupinder Singh and Sanjiv Chaudhary joined the BJP today. Sanjiv, who has served the party as president of Youth Congress a few years back, was district secretary of the Congress while Bhupinder Singh was general secretary of the Congress Education Cell.

Haridwar, May 1
Labour Day was observed with wide participation by the employers and labour unions, here today.

With establishment of the SIDCUL, number of labours have increased manifold and so has unions and in this respect the day has assumed significance.

Various functions and rallies were organised in the city on the day.

Addressing the gathering DK Saxena state president of AITUC said that workers are the roots of industrialisation and emphasised on the benefits of having unions.

He said that it should be declared as a national holiday as observed in various other countries.

Kamlesh Saxena, BHEL unit chief of INTAC said Labour Day is the celebration of social and economic achievements of labour movement.

While at Alaknanda Ghat street vendors and street-side shopkeepers, celebrated the day by remembering martyrs who laid their life during the state movement and in fight against terrorism by lighting candles.

Present at the function were Mahendra Saini, Bhoopendra Rajput, Chotte Lal, Ashok Talwar, Khurshid Alam, Sandeep Gupta among others.

Dehradun, May 1
Doon Public School, Bhaniyawala won both its matches at the 14th Gardner Inter-School Indoor Cricket Tournament underway at St Thomas College, here today.

In the first match, Doon Public School beat Aryan School by five wickets.

Batting first, Aryans smashed 18 runs in allotted 12 overs. In reply, Doon Public School reached the target with five wickets in hand. In the second match, Doon Public School, Bhaniyawala defeated St Jude’s School by two wickets. St Jude’s scored 23 points. While chasing the target, Doon Public School reached the target with two wickets.

In the third match, St Jude’s defeated The Aryan School team by 5 runs. Batting first, St Jude’s made 27 runs. Chasing the target, Aryans was all out for 22 runs.

Hilton School team won the match by 14 runs against The Indian Public School. Hilton School made 60 runs, whereas Indian Public School was all out for 46 runs.

Dehradun, May 1
Welham’s Girls School ‘Blues’ has cruised into the final of the 3rd Welham’s Girls School All-India Golden Jubilee Basketball Tournament underway at Welham’s Girls School, here today.

Welham’s Girls School ‘Blues’ won the match against and Motilal Nehru School of Sports (MNSS), convincingly by 69-28.

In the first quarter, MNSS team gave some resistance to score seven points against Welham’s, which took a five points lead over MNSS team. Second quarter was a high scoring one with both teams scoring points frequently.

Welham’s managed to maintain its lead to make the score 30-19 at the end of the second quarter.

In the third quarter Welham’s was on the offensive right from the beginning and made some strategic moves to score 18 points, whereas MNSS could only manage to score two points in the quarter.

The final quarter was no different from the third as the Welham’s dominated the play scoring frequently through two and three pointers. Welham’s showed great co-ordination and ball control to win the match by 69-28.

Dehradun, May 1
Costly sports equipments and other infrastructure are keeping many budding sportspersons away from their favourite sport.

The game gets costlier once the child starts with his professional coaching. The expense of a coach as well as the day-to-day expenditure on the goods just keep mounting, which could not be afforded by many. Further, if a child moves to the next level, the touring and lodging are add-ons.

This could be gauged from the fact that a complete cricketing kit costs on an average of Rs 8,000. Therefore, very few go ahead to buy a complete kit, said Nitesh Bhatia, a proprietor of sports shop.

He further said an ordinary bat costs somewhere between Rs 300 to Rs 1500, which are purchased by the majority.

“Whereas, very few buy professional bats that could be in the range of Rs 2,000 to Rs 10,000.”

An ordinary badminton racket may cost Rs 55, whereas a professional one may cost between Rs 2000 to Rs 10,000. The monthly cost on shuttlecock falls around Rs 3,000 in addition to a coach fee.

The expense of lawn tennis is much higher. A good tennis racket may cost between Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000. Tennis academies here are charging Rs 3000 per month for using their facilities. Hiring a coach may prove a expensive job too.

Last year, parents of a tennis player here had made a plea in the media asking for government support.

Priyanka Rawat, who is the only girl tennis player from the state and was in news for making into the top 100 at the national circuit in the junior category. She was also ranked 1500 in the world junior ranking.

Priyanka said, “The monthly expenditure of my game is around 1.5 lakh, which include equipments, shoes, racket and the coach fee.

Vinod Rawat, Priyanka’s father said, “There is no dearth of talent in the state. But it is hard to sustain the expenses of in sports.

Dehradun, May 1
Uttarakhand Power Corporation limited (UPCL) organised a blood donation camp, here today.

As many as 83 officers and staff members of Uttarakhand Jal Vidut Nigam, Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand and UPCL participated in the camp.

The prominent members present at the blood donation camp were Jagmohan Lal, UPCL managing director, Shantanu Rath, director HR.