The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tubewell work put on hold till polls
Raju William
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 8
Work on installing four more tube wells to augment drinking water supply in the city will be taken up after the parliamentary elections. Though, land has become available but further formalities are on hold as officials are busy in election duty.

Hurdles have been cleared for availability of land. Work on tubewell sites will start after elections. — Prabhat Raj, Xen, Peyjal Nigam

Peyjal Nigam, Doon division has been allotted 30 tube wells to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 70 crore under Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) project. Of these, 6 have been commissioned while 4 are in the process. Boring is being done in other three.

Prabhat Raj, Xen, Doon division, informed that hurdles have been cleared for availability of land in four more cases. “Work on these four sites will start after elections,” he said. As of now, identification of land for remaining 13 tube wells is in process.

All the 30 tube wells will help augment water supply by 34.56 million litres per day. Water supply by tube wells accounts for about 77 per cent of the total availability in the state capital. The supply usually runs short during the summer. The tourists rush also contributes to this.

Mainly, the shortage is reported in the upper zone due to non-conducive terrain. Water supply requirement in this zone is fulfilled through surface water. It includes upstream areas starting from Clock Tower. Tube wells are not successful in upper areas of Sahastradhara Road.

The major hitch in installing new tube wells is availability of land. Though, there is no problem in the case of the government land but persuading institutions and private owners is a tough task.

District Magistrate, Amit Singh Negi, has been holding regular meetings to monitor the progress regarding availability of land.

He has issued order to use the available space on old jail premises for the purpose. He has sent a proposal to secretary irrigation to spare land in Yamuna Colony.

NCC aims to increase female enrollment
Tribune news service

Dehradun, May 8
To discuss the core issues of National Cadet Corps (NCC) in the state Lt General RK Karwal, director general NCC inaugurated NCC Bhawan at Nanurkhera, here today.

Addressing the gathering he said, “The ongoing issues of terrorism is definitely a matter of concern, and therefore, its imperative for children to be educated, disciplined and honest to generate feelings of patriotism and brotherhood in return to understand that hostility is not the key solution.”

At the Bhawan, Brig PPS Pahwa, NCC directorate Uttarakhand, briefed about the activities, which would be conducted by cadets in the bhawan.

Further he said, “NCC wanted to aware the youth here about the prospects of joining NCC. Our aim is not just to produce soldiers, but also to encourage and enroll the cadets in various social, cultural activities with classes on career counseling and personality development so that they are confident about their career plans.”

With a demand for introducing NCC in large number of schools, NCC at a national level has decided that from 13 lakhs the numbers of cadets would be increased to 15 lakhs with special preference being given to female candidates.

To enroll more number of cadets NCC syllabus has been updated and the tenure of the training has been increased from two to three years.

Prior to the function, Lt General RK Karwal also visited NCC units from May 3 to May 7, during which he interacted with the officers, ANO, PI staff and cadets at Gopeshwar and Pauri. He appreciated both the units at Pauri and Gopsehwar who has got hard working cadets performing well for the sake of the nation.

As far as future plans are concerned he added, “The layout of the bhawan and construction is fine as it can accommodate NCC group headquarter of Dehradun with dormitory facilities and even various courses to be taught to them.

The plan for the construction of an NCC academy is almost final and very soon it would be established in the capital with enrollment of NCC air squadron in Pantnagar, Kumaon Zone also.”

SP harps on hill-plain divide
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh(L) and Bhojpuri actor Manoj Tiwari address an election rally in Haridwar on Friday. A Tribune photograph

Haridwar, May 8
Albeit people gathered in huge numbers at the BHEL, Sector 4, ground to attend the rally of SP general secretary Amar Singh and popular Bhojpuri filmstar Manoj Tiwari, here today, they had to wait for more than four hours in the simmering heat before the duo finally arrived in a helicopter from Rishikesh.

Apologising for arriving late due to unspecified reasons, both Amar Singh and Manoj Tiwari seemed to compliment each other. While Amar Singh was taking special care of the actor, Tiwari too was in close conference with him several times.

Amar Singh said the hill plain issue has cropped up due to indifferent behaviour of the Congress and BJP, and should be immediately tackled by resolving domicile certificate and caste certificate issue.

"Applying different policies for the people living in the same state is gross injustice, and though I am against the very word of hill-plain divide yet it is imperative to get rid of this discrimination. Samajwadi party is the only unit that can cater to both hill and plain parts of Uttarakhand," said Singh. He lashed out at the Bahujan Samaj Party and Bharatiya Janata Party for their role in sowing seeds of division by using Dalits and Hindus as merely a vote bank.

He also said the third and fourth fronts are only in papers and if non-secular forces are to be kept at bay, then SP might give outside support to UPA. Party candidate from Gorakhpur constituency Manoj Tiwari, urged the people to vote for Samajwadi Party. He also sang a Bhojpuri song urging voters to support their party.

Pollpot
Ex-servicemen divided on support
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 8
The BJP and the Congress in Uttarakhand are both trying to outdo each other in garnering ex-servicemen’s votes. The war of words among various ex-servicemen associations owing affiliation to these parties has become acerbic with the May 13 poll drawing near.

An appeal by “Ex-Servicemen Movement” to back the BJP in the coming elections has not gone well with the Uttarakhand Poorva Sainik Evam Ardh Sainik Sangathan, with the latter questioning the former’s credibility.@@Lt Col (retd) Ganga Singh Rawat, who heads the Sangathan described the Uttarakhand Ex-servicemen League as a mere group of officers owing allegiance to the BJP. The Indian Ex-servicemen Movement had yesterday announced support for the BJP, highlighting the party’s promise on “one rank, one pension”, tax exemption and restructuring of pay scales. @@The appeal was issued on behalf of senior officers considered close to the ruling party, including Lt Gen (retd) HB Kala, Lt Gen (retd) Jagmohan Rawat and Lt Gen (retd) Mahendra Singh Gusain. Maj Gen Chander Nandwani (retd), who spoke to mediapersons today, claimed the Congress had done nothing for the welfare of ex-servicemen. @@There are almost one lakh votes of ex-servicemen in Uttarakhand, while a large number of youth from the state are in defence services across the country.

Bahuguna to press for Himalayan Development Authority
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 8
Sitting MP and Congress candidate from Tehri constituency Vijay Bahuguna today said if he retains the seat, his first priority would be to push for formulation of Himalayan Development Authority (HDA) for sustained and proper development of Tehri.

Asserting that he had earlier also taken up the matter in the Parliament, Bahuguna said constitution of HDA is extremely important for betterment of the economy and development of areas in the Himalayan belt.

"I will try to generate a consensus on the issue by seeking support from MPs representing the hill states and make efforts to take the matter to a logical conclusion," claimed Bahuguna, in an exclusive interview with The Tribune.

He said HAD, under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, is a must because hill states do not have funds and need Central assistance for development purposes.

Bahuguna, who is son of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister late Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, said for sustained development, there is need for coordinated efforts by the state and Central governments.

"During the ND Tiwari regime, Uttarakhand witnessed immense development because there was great coordination between UPA and state government. But after BJP-led government came to power, wheels of development got derailed," he claimed.

Interestingly, CM BC Khanduri is the son of the elder sister of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna.

Substantiating his claims, Bahuguna said non-utilisation of funds provided by the Central government itself speaks of the poor performance of the BJP government. "The state government has miserably failed on all fronts. Health sector, tourism, irrigation - everything is in a shambles," he claimed.

While stating that Tehri is still backward and underdeveloped, Bahuguna said during his two-year tenure as MP he took several initiatives for the overall development of the constituency.

"In 2008, I got additional funds amounting to Rs 149 crore for the development of the area, but implementing authorities failed to utilise them for the development of Tehri," he rued.

Listing his priorities, Bahuguna said if elected, he would make sure that problem of traffic congestion in Dehradun is sorted out once and for ever. "In fact, under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) funds to the tune of Rs 700 crore were sanctioned for facelift of Dehradun, but again state government and the administration seems least interested in utilising them," he said.

Commenting on his prospects in the elections, Bahuguna said the main fight is between Congress and BJP. He also said BSP candidate Munna Singh Chauhan won't succeed in eating into Congress vote share.

"In the polls, people cast their vote for parties that are capable of forming the government at the Centre. Hence, BSP is more of a non-entity in Tehri region," he said

"When BJP is finding it difficult to run the state, how can anyone expect them to run the nation," he added.

550 Rakshak Dals on election duty
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 8
At least 550 Prantiya Rakshak Dals (PRD) would be deployed for election duties alongside the police force at different polling booths here. As of now, there are 654 members of the dal in the district.

At least 2 PRD jawans would be giving duty alongside the police personnel at all the polling booths when the state goes to polls on May 13.

“The youth who are energetic and participate in extracurricular activities are given preference. The main criteria is unemployment and in the age group of 18 to 45 years. One can say that the outfit (PRD) is more like home guards,” said Shakti Singh, Youth Welfare officer.

Along with men, 50 women are also members of PRD. But they would not be deployed for election duties.

Significantly, a group of 15 women are already giving duty at the Secretariat.

“During their deployment the PRD receives an honorarium of Rs 120 per person per day and are also eligible for uniform,” said Singh.

The youths are selected by the Kshetriya Yuva Kalyan Evam Rakshak Dal Adhikari who are appointed in each blocks of different districts. In Dehradun they are appointed in six blocks and are entrusted with the responsibility of selecting the youth for the dal.

Once the selection is made the members are given training in handling of weapons, tackling crowd and maintaining law and order in emergency situations.

The Prantiya Rakshak Dal was created in 1952 in order to engage the youth in nation building activities, as and when there are vacancies in the police, the dal members get preference at the time of interviews.

Unison World, Welham’s set for title clash
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 8
Unison World School will meet Welham’s Girls School for the title clash at the DDCSA Senior Girls Hockey Tournament that will be played at Welham’s Girls School. In the second semifinal match Unison school outclassed Hope Town School by 2-0.

Hope Town team started on a strong note in the match earning a penalty corner in the fifth minute of the first half. But the team failed to take advantage of the situation as Unison World put up a strong defense.

The initial 10 minutes of the game Hope Town School dominated the proceeding as most of the game was played in the Unison World School’s half.

In the 12th minute of the match Unison World managed to make a counter attack that paid. Unison World managed to scored their first goal through their forward Pragati. She made and excellent solo run to Hope Town goalpost to take a cracking shot to earn her team a goal making the score 1-0.

Hope Town made constant attempts to find an equaliser in the first half but failed.

In the second half Unison World scored its second goal through Vaishali to make the score 2-0. Despite showing a strong ground game, Hope Town failed to score any goal in the match due to bad finishing. The match ended with scoring line 2-0 in favour of Unison School.

Security up for bigwigs’ visit
Tribune News Service

Roorkee, May 8
The local administration as well as the police is geared up for the May 10 visit of political bigwigs, including Rahul Gandhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Shivraj Singh Chauhan, to Roorkee area.

“Definitely, the day will be a big challenge for us, as providing protection to VVIPs and security cover at all the rallies on a single day will be a tough task,” said SP (Rural) Ajay Joshi.

However, he said his team was fully prepared for the challenge.

“As Rahul Gandhi’s security is managed by the Special Protection Group (SPG), guidelines by their officers will be followed. They are already here to take stock of the situation,” said the SP. About the preparations, Joshi said a mock drill would be held soon. Apart from that, all the hotels, inns and guesthouses would be checked thoroughly to verify the identity of visitors.

“Special squads, including bomb disposal and dog squads will be deputed at all the venues,” he said.

While Rahul and Mulayam Singh are scheduled address rallies at Roorkee, the programmes of Hooda and Chauhan will be held at Narsan and Bahadrabad, respectively. On May 11, the last day of campaigning, BSP supremo Mayawati is scheduled hold a rally in Haridwar.

Haridwar leads in u-18 basketball
Tribune News Service

A player aims at the basket at the Welham Boys' School in Dehradun, on Friday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Dehradun, May 8
Haridwar won its matches in boys and girls category at the ongoing 9th Aspen Crew Uttarakhand State Junior (u-18) Basketball Championship at Welham’s Boys School, here today.

Results

Boys:

In the first match Haridwar team outclassed Udham Singh Nagar by 20 points. Haridwar team scored 34 points against Udham Singh Nagar, which scored 14 points only. Deepak was the top scorer for the team with 18 points.

In the second match, Mussoorie defeated Haldwani by 19-15. Dasakhiat was the top scorer for Mussoorie with 8 points.

In the third match, Dehradun beat Nainital by a convincing margin of 33 points.

Dehradun scored 49 points, whereas Nainital team could only score 16 points. Ravi was the top scorer for the team with 16 points.

The fourth match saw Haridwar beat Haldwani by 34-23 points. In the fifth match, Mussoorie team outclassed Rishikesh by 29-16. In the sixth match Haridwar defeated Tehri team by 22-13.

Girls:

Haridwar outplayed Rishikesh by 33-2. Shelly was the top scorer for the team, she scored 10 points. In another match played between Nainital and Rishikesh team, Nainital won the match by 20-8.