Haridwar, June 10
The municipal board meeting of the Haridwar municipal committee will take place tomorrow.

This will be the first board meeting in a long while as no meetings were conducted during the period the model code of conduct was in force during the general election.

With only one board meeting held under the chairmanship of Kamal Johra in its more than one year tenure, this board meeting is not only crucial for the chairman and ward members, but also for the halted developmental works in the city.

The earlier meeting had witnessed ruckus and pandemonium with furniture being thrown around.

After that, no consensus could be arrived at between the ward members. The meeting had to be postponed five times.

On March 6, the last time the meeting was called, it had to be cancelled as the model code had come into effect.

The feud in the BJP and the stern opposition by ward members on the Usha ropeway fare could put tomorrow’s meeting also into jeopardy.

Though ward members today asserted that development was their priority, they added that the issue of the Mansa Devi ropeway is also on the top of the agenda.

Usha Breko Ropeway operates and manages the ropeway at the holy Mata Mansa Devi temple as per an agreement between the municipality and the company.

Opposition ward members want the lowering of fare from Rs 62 to Rs 48. They allege that the palika administration, and the chairman in particular, are favouring the company which already has to pay back crores of rupees to the palika.

On March 25, ward members sat on an agitation on the issue. On April 2, the condition of a ward member deteriorated and he had to be admitted to hospital.

The ward members then forcefully took EO Harshwardhan Mishra along and forced him to close the ropeway operations.

Then, the municipal employees, on seeing the misbehaviour of the protesters with their executive officer, had boycotted work.

Pitthoragarh, June 10
The first batch of pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar today crossed into Tibet from the 17,500-ft high Lipulekh Pass in Pitthoragarh district. As many as 47 members are there in the batch.

“The first batch entered Tibet at 7.30 am today as the weather was pleasant at the pass,” said Ashok Joshi, general manager (tourism) of Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam, a state government undertaking which supervises the yatra.

The second batch of 47 pilgrims today reached the trek-route camp at Gala, he added.

The first batch will stay in the Chinese territory of Tibet for the next 12 days during which they will traverse through Taklakot, Darchin, Deraphu, Zongrebu, Hore, and Quju-Zaidi and finally reach Kailash Mansarovar parikrama.

The first batch of pilgrims will return to Lipulekh pass on June 22, said Joshi.

“We made the pilgrims get up at 2 am and prepared them for the 7-km-long trek from Nabhidhang to Lipulekh pass and to cross the 300m-long pass before sunrise.

“After the sun rises, the heat melts the snow and creates problems in crossing the snow-clad pass,” said DK Sharma, an officer of the KMVN.

“After staying for two days at Taklakot to fulfil the visa formalities of the Chinese authorities, the pilgrims are divided into two groups at Darchin, which is 140 km from Taklakot.

“While one group goes for Kailash parikarma which starts at Darchin, the other group starts for Mansarovar parikarma. After both batches complete their pilgrimage of Kailash and Mansarovar, they come back to Taklakot.

“From there, they go to Khochar Gompa where images of Bodhisattva, Manjughosha, Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani are placed on big lotuses,” said DK Sharma.

This year, an extra day will be spent by pilgrims as one more camp has been made on the trek route at Pangla.

“The first batch will return to Dharchula base camp on June 26 and will reach New Delhi on June 28,” said Ashok Joshi.

—The writer is a freelance journalist from Pitthoragarh

Dehradun, June 10
The eight-week-long drama, pertaining to the resignation of Urban Development and Food and Supplies Minister Diwakar Bhatt of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), today came to an end with Bhatt attending the cabinet meeting held under the headship of Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) today.

While stating that the Chief Minister has not accepted his resignation, a visibly elated Bhatt attended the cabinet meeting at the Civil Secretariat.

“On Tuesday, the CM sent a letter asking me to continue as minister and I couldn’t say no to him,” said Bhatt.

Notably, the UKD is alliance partner of the BJP and Bhatt is the lone UKD legislator who was inducted as a cabinet minister in the Khanduri government.

In 2008, Bhatt resigned from the cabinet but a few days later, he withdrew his resignation.

This year, just one month before the Lok Sabha elections, Bhatt again tendered his resignation on April 17.

Bhatt had accused the saffron party of failing to stand up to coalition dharma. Bhatt had categorically stated that his party maintained the sanctity of coalition dharma but BJP repeatedly failed to stand up to it.

Interestingly, speculations were already rife that after the general election, Bhatt will take back his resignation.

Even the Chief Minister did not accept his resignation for almost eight weeks.

Some UKD activists feel that Bhatt has an understanding with the CM and his resignation was a mere drama, just to befool the UKD rank and file that he is committed to the party interests.

“If CM had to reject Bhatt’s resignation, why did he take so much time?” said a senior UKD leader preferring anonymity.

Haridwar, June 10
Farmers today staged a massive protest at Devpura on the issue of setting up of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and SIDCUL industrial area on their land.

Under the banner of the Kisan Sangarsh Samiti (KSS), the displaced farmers took out a rally on station road and gathered at the city magistrate office.

The farmers alleged that despite protests for the past two years, nothing concrete has been done except assurances.

KSS leaders alleged that they were promised employment in BHEL units but even after so many years, they were still getting promises.

Masoom Ali Gada, convener of KSS, said that 1,500 acre of unused land at BHEL was to be returned to them but the district administration has failed to take any steps in this regard.

“Employment in BHEL, return of non-usable land and distribution of a part of the money to farmers from the sale of land to SIDCUL were the promises made by the authorities but nothing has been done on any count. This is the reason for our agitation,” said Masoom Ali.

Balwant Singh Chauhan, president, KSS, said that in the written agreement between the KSS, BHEL and the district administration on January 12, 2008, it was agreed in the meeting that a group of BHEL and KSS members will be formed to look into the employment aspect for the youths of displaced families but BHEL is showing no interest in this matter.

“We are displaced and have no other employment avenue. We helped the administration and industrial units but we are totally being neglected,” remarked Chauhan.

The farmers are also demanding that encroachments be removed immediately from BHEL land.

They charge that Delhi Public School has encroached upon the land. Land mafias are unlawfully using the vacant land which raises questions on the credibility of the administration and the nexus between them.

The farmers are also demanding employment to family members of farmers who were displaced due to the construction of SIDCUL.

The samiti members submitted a memorandum to city magistrate Archana Greahawar. The city magistrate assured them that their demands would be conveyed to the administration.

Haridwar, June 10
The Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) here has decided to increase its production in view of the increase in demand.

To meet this requirement, an additional investment to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore is being made.

DK Mody, executive director, Heavy Electrical Equipment Plant (HEEP), Haridwar said that apart from the modernisation of the plant, the augmentation plan of HEEP was in full swing.

Recently, executive officers of the Rajasthan Vidyut Utpadhan Nigam Limited (VUNL) visited the BHEL unit here and lauded the work environment and the high standards of production practiced in the unit. “The capacity of plant is being enhanced from 5,750 MW/annum to 10,020 MW per annum and it will be done by the end of the year with an investment of around Rs 1,000 crore,” said Modi.

Under this capacity enhancement programme, new set-ups are being installed in the unit.

In the pipeline is a new turbine shop, one additional block for new blade shop, a state-of-the-art TG testing facility for 800 MW generators, extension of TG shop and a TG rotor coil manufacturing shop. Most of these are already in the advanced stage of construction.

With this augmentation, BHEL Haridwar will be able to manufacture higher-rating sets of 600 MW, 660 MW and 800MW and also sets operating at super-critical parameters.

Dehradun, June 10
The Uttarakhand government is set to start the disbursement of pensions and scholarships under social security schemes through core banking solution (CBS) system to facilitate their faster delivery to lakhs of beneficiaries in the state.

The decision to change the mode of disbursement has been taken on the feedback provided by the district magistrates (DMs).

According to them, the department of posts and telegraph was found wanting in smooth and time-bound disbursement.

Accordingly, it was suggested that banks be roped in because faster disbursement can be facilitated through electronic benefit transfer (EBT) mode.

Though the government has been negotiating with the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Baroda (BoB), but sources said that the SBI was likely to get the nod.

It is the leading bank in the nine out of 13 districts of the state.

Its 321 branches are connected through CBS as compared to 152 of the PNB and 52 of the BoB.

Another advantage that the State Bank of India has is its network of 93 consumer service points (CSP) operating in remote hill areas through the Business Correspondent (BC) model.

The regional rural banks as well as cooperative banks are out of reckoning because they do not have CBS facility

“We have received formal approval from our head office. It might take a couple of months to start working as the MoU is yet to be signed with the government,” said a senior official of the SBI.

“We will be asking our BC to open more CSPs to expand the network so that beneficiaries in remote villages can avail the quicker disbursement. The government will pay us commission for providing this service,” he said.

Presently, pensions and scholarships to various categories are disbursed through post offices, regional rural banks and cooperative banks across the state.

The agreement for disbursal through post offices was made last year.

About eight lakh students are given scholarships to the tune of Rs 90 crore while 3.5 lakh pensioners account for Rs 165 crore annually.

Dehradun, June 10
The Uttarakhand government today constituted a cabinet sub-committee under health minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to study the recommendations of the Tripathi Commission pertaining to the demands of employees of various corporations and local bodies for benefits under the Sixth Pay Commission.

After a cabinet meeting held today, Uttarakhand chief secretary Indu Kumar Pandey said the sub-committee would have tourism minister Parkash Pant and agriculture minister Trivendra Singh Rawat as members.

“The panel will study the recommendations of the Tripathi Commission and may hold talks with employees’ organisations,” Pandey said. He said there was no time-frame for submitting the report, “but the committee has been asked to furnish the same as soon as possible.”

To lodge their protest for denying them benefits under the pay Sixth Pay Commission, employees of various corporations and local bodies had resorted to an agitation last year. Thereafter, the government had instructed the Tripathi Commission to submit a report in this regard.

Meanwhile, in another significant decision, the cabinet has decided that the Dixit Committee report on permanent capital for the hill state will be tabled in the assembly. The chief secretary, however, did not specify if the report is to be tabled in the coming Budget session or the subsequent one. It took the Dixit Committee seven years to prepare the report. Since the past few months, the Communists had been building pressure on the government to make the report public.

Dehradun, June 10
The daily demand of power in the state has outgrown the generation. As such there is no way except resorting to power cuts to prevent the situation from turning worse.

The emergency built up due to low frequency condition has only added to the woes of consumers in the ongoing peak demands season.

According to the officials of Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), the daily demand in the state has increased to 25 million units (MU) while the total generation from all the hydro power stations is 15 MU.

Even if the supply of 9.5 MU from central sector power generating centers is taken into account, the total availability is less than the demand.

The power borrowed from other states during the recent parliamentary polls is being returned at the rate of 1.5 MU daily.

In effect, the prevailing situation is taking a heavy toll of the power requirements of people across the state especially in view of persistently soaring daily temperature over the last few days.

The city today recorded 38.1 degree Celsius. The fluctuations in supply, which have become order of the day, are causing problems in electrical gadgets. Their repair is burning holes in the pocket of the people.

The prevailing situation provides an interesting contrast with the situation in last winter when the shortfall between November and February forced the UPCL to access power from unallocated central quota. Against total availability of around 17.5 MU from all resources, including the central generating stations (CGS) in February, the demand had increased to 21 MU.

“The situation this time is likely to continue even as we are trying our best to source power from outside the state,” said senior officials of the UPCL.

Another serious dimension of the prevailing situation is the public anger spilling over the streets.

Fed up with recurring cuts, residents in some areas have resorted to highhandedness making the employees and officials of the UPCL target of their anger.

A couple of days back, a DGM of UPCL was locked inside his office situated at the EC Road. Before that, the residents of some village in Dehradun meted out the same treatment to a Xen in Dharampur. The protestors relented after the police was called.

Dehradun, June 10
A woman was injured today in a leopard attack in Kosi Range of Ramanagar Forest Division.

Kamla Devi, wife of late Mohan Chandra Joshi, resident of Teda road along with other womenfolk had gone to the forest area to collect firewood within Kosi Range.

A prowling tiger that was hiding in bushed alongside a dried water source attacked the group. While there was a general commotion among the women, the tiger pounced upon Kamla Devi who was grievously injured in the scuffle. With the help of other women, Kamla managed to free herself from the clutches from the leopard.

DFO Ramanagar Forest Division Ravindra Juyal and WWF representative in Uttarakhand Dr Hem Singh Gehlot reached the site and took the injured women for immediate medical help. The officers assured all possible financial assistance to the injured woman.

Dehradun, June 10
Vidharbha lifted the 17th Junior National Tennis Ball tournament trophy in boys’ category, whereas Chhattisgarh lifted the trophy in girls’ category, here today.

Mukesh was declared Boy of the Tournament and Usha was declared Girl of the Tournament.

In boys it was a convincing victory of Vidharbha team over Goa. Batting first, Vidharbha team scored 89 runs in allotted ten overs.

Kishor was the highest scorer for Vidharbha team. He hit brisk 36 runs for his team. Anil supported him well on the other end to play a useful knock of 25 runs. For Goa team Amay was the lead wicket taker with 2 wickets.

Chasing the victory target of 90 runs, Goa fell short by 23 runs. Suraj was the highest scorer for Gao with 22 runs, whereas Saiesh hit useful 15 runs. For Vidharbha team Anil was the lead wicket taker with three wickets.

In girls final, Chhattisgarh team won the match with ease. Batting first Chhattisgarh piled a modest total of 54 runs in allotted 8 overs.

Dehradun, June 10
DAV team registered a thumping 131 runs victory over Uttarakhand Youth Cricket Association (UYCA) at the ongoing u-15 Krishan Devi Garg Memorial Cricket tournament at Survey Stadium, here today.

Batting first, DAV piled a mammoth total of 208 runs in allotted 25 overs.

It was scintillating innings of 50 runs of Jai Kishor that helped DAV pile such a huge total.

None of the bowlers could stop Jai from playing his favourite shots

Avinash supported him well on the other end to hit 27 runs.

Chasing the victory target of 209 runs. UYCA team was all out for 77 runs.

Thus, in the end it was convincing victory of DAV team over UYCA.

Earlier in the day president of the Uttarakhand T-20 Cricket Association Dr DK Sharma inaugurated the tournament.