Mussoorie, June 20
Mussoorie seems to be bearing the brunt of the ongoing strike by workers of civic bodies particularly those of the Jal Sansthan.

The entire town has been plagued by water scarcity. The hoteliers have threatened to go on strike as the tourism industry has been the worst affected due to severe water scarcity in hotels.

Residents can be seen moving around with empty cans to collect some water from low-lying localities which are lucky to have limited water supply. Other residents are collecting water from water tankers.

“It appears like a village scene where all members of the family are spending 4-5 hours each day to carry water to their houses,” said Rajat Aggarwal, president of Mussoorie Traders Association (MTA).

Although the Jal Sansthan officials claim that they are supplying water on alternate days but only a few localities have been able to get water.

“Localities like ours, which are situated on hill tops, need water supply with a high pressure. Otherwise, water does not reach our houses,” lamented a senior citizen.

“We have not received a single drop of water even since the strike began and there is a complete chaos in our house due to the lack of water,” complained Varun Rawat, a resident.

Local traders and hoteliers are extremely angry and are blaming the administration for their failure in not being able to provide suitable alternatives.

“This is complete administrative failure. As the strike was announced well in advance, the administration could have made suitable arrangements,” said Aggarwal.

Meanwhile, all hotels in Mussoorie were full on Friday evening and the heavy influx of tourists has created a much greater demand for water.

“In the absence of water supply, we have been forced to get water by hiring private tankers. Due to heavy demand, even tankers are in short supply,” said a hotelier.

Hoteliers here are keeping awake the entire night to get water from water tankers. “I keep awake during the night to manage the water tankers while my father takes care of the hotel during the day,” said another hotelier.

“This strike has meant that the general public, particularly the hoteliers, are being held to ransom,” complained Ajay Bhargava, secretary of the Mussoorie Hotels Association (MHA).

During the past week, a period when tourism was at its peak in Mussoorie, the hotel industry has suffered significant losses.

“The tour operators and travel agents in Delhi know about the water crisis in Mussoorie and consequently, there has been a dip in hotel bookings,” said another hotelier who did not wish to be named.

The MHA has demanded compensation from the administration and has met DM Amit Negi in this regard.

“During the past week, the loss of a medium-sized hotel will be around Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per day while the losses of larger hotels could be much higher,” Bhargava stated. The MHA has decided to go on indefinite strike from June 22 if the situation does not improve.

Hoteliers have also decided that if they continue to suffer, they would not pay any taxes to the government.

“We will go on an indefinite strike from June 22. All hotels will stop paying taxes to the government if the administration does not improve the situation in the next two days,” Bhargava warned.

Rajat Aggarwal of the MTA is worried about the long-term impact of the strike. “The tourists, who have had to face difficulties during this period, might not come to Mussoorie again. Consequently, the entire economy of this tourist-dependent town will suffer for years to come,” Aggarwal said.

Gaurav Garg, vice-president of district youth Congress, has expressed hope that the situation would improve in a few days.

“I feel that after the widespread anger and agitation by the public, the administration is making greater efforts to rectify the situation,” Garg said.

However, it is being felt that the problem of water scarcity in Mussoorie has been caused due to the lack of technical knowledge among the temporary operators hired by the Jal Sansthan.

“The temporary staff does not have proper knowledge about the various water supply lines in the town and that is the reason why some localities have not received any water,” Garg added.

Dehradun, June 20
Three captains for the three versions of the game would be great for Indian cricket, feels Jayantilal Kenai, former Test cricketer who was part of the Indian team in 1971 that won a Test against West Indies in the Caribbean.

He was on a visit to Dehradun and at Abhimanyu Cricket Academy, he gave some cricketing tips to children.

Kenai has coached the Goa Ranji team for two terms and has been re-appointed as the Goa’s coach this year.

He said that over the years, the game has undergone a huge change. “Cricket nowadays has more to do with speed, stamina and concentration. Today, there is a great amount of stress on players.”

The stress on players has increased manifold with the advent of T20 cricket. This leaves players vulnerable to injury and fatigue at the topmost level.

“Having T20 tournaments twice a year could prove suicidal for Indian cricket as it will leave the players exhausted. The performance of players will dip at the international level,” he said.

Referring to teams like Australia and South Africa, he said that these countries give their players ample rest so that their performance remain unaffected.

Despite the poor show by the Indian team at the T20 World Cup, he considers Team India to be a well-balanced side that just needs to come together and perform as a team. He is hopeful that the Indian team will do well in the upcoming series in the West Indies.

Speaking about Ashish Nehra’s comeback to the team, he said, “Nehra is good mover of the ball but West Indies pitches may not turn out to be a good hunting ground for him as the ball does not do much there.”

“Cricket is fast spreading to other parts of the Asia. Countries like China, Malaysia will come up with good teams and give India competition,” said Kenai.

Dehradun, June 20
Narsingh Gurung, who fought the 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars as a soldier, is one of the great footballers of Dehradun.

He was part of the Gorkha Rifles team that won the Durand Cup in 1966 and in 1969. According to him, anyone, who is mentally alert and physically fit, could sail through all the challenges in life with ease.

Since his youth, Narsingh Gurung focused on making himself mentally tough and physically fit. Getting up early in the morning and going for a long run is what he sincerely follows even today when he has reached 70 years of age.

“I never thought that I will become a footballer. I just worked on increasing my stamina. My father was a football lover and he was a source of inspiration for me as well. We, at that time, were living in Pakistan and later migrated to Dehradun after Partition. Thereafter, I joined the Army and started playing football for 5 Gorkha Rifles,” said Gurung.

The early part of the Gurung’s Army life was mainly spent on shuttling between wars and football. In 1962, he went to fight the Chinese aggression at Arunachal Pradesh. The memories of the war are still fresh in his mind. “Our war against China was the toughest of all battles.”

After the war, his battalion came back to Dehradun and started playing football. The Gorkha Battalion got its first invitation from Nepal to play an exhibition match.

But in 1965, his battalion was again summoned to the border to fight the 1965 war against Pakistan.

Back from the war, Gorkha Rifles football team participated in the 1966 Durand Cup and brought the trophy to Dehradun for the first time.

In the tournament, they defeated teams like Leader Club Jalandhar, RAC Bikaner, Mohammadan Sporting Calcutta in their initial matches.

“In the semifinal, we thrashed Mohun Bagan 2-0 that included my 40-yard left-footer kick to make it to the final to clash with Sikh Regimental Centre.”

They defeated Sikh Regimental Centre by a solitary goal to win the title. In 1969, Gorkha Rifles bagged the Durand Cup for the second time.

After retiring from the Army in 1988, he started coaching the ITBP and helped the team reach the final of the Police Games.

Later, he coached the ONGC team for 10 years. Presently, he is coaching 2/3 Gorkha Rifle. Even at 70, his love for football is as strong as ever.

Dehradun, June 20
For the benefit of a large number of its employees, Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) has decided on important issues related to them, including staff structuring, regularisation of services, increase in emoluments of daily wagers and giving priority to its employees in recruitment of class 1 and II posts.

In deference to the long pending demand of its employees, the GMVN board of directors in its 98th meeting held recently decided to remove imbalances in staff requirements of its different wings.

Accordingly, a committee has been constituted to look into the matter. The whole exercise is likely to be completed within a month, informed GMVN chairman Umesh Aggarwal after the meeting.

After the exercise is over, the GMVN will be in a position to achieve optimum level of its performance. As of now, its under staffed wings are being run with the help of ad hoc workers who do not feel motivated to perform at optimum level especially due to lack of promotion chances.

For instance, the working of gas agencies being run by it is a case in point. Of the total 31 agencies, about 19 are being run by ad hoc staff. In line with this, the Board has decided to regularise services of about 450 temporary workers.

The proposal was sent earlier to the government to consider the workers on the staff of the GMVN up to 1996 for the purpose.

But sources said that on the insistence of the Chief Minister BC Khanduri, the workers serving up to 1998 were also considered eligible for this. “Hopefully, the issue will be clinched soon,” said Aggarwal.

At least 700 daily wagers in Class 3 and 4 categories will be the beneficiaries of another decision taken in the meeting. It has been decided to increase their salaries by Rs 600 and Rs 500 respectively.

The proposal was sent to the finance department earlier but it was again taken up for discussion today.

The decision is likely to be implemented soon as the finance department has given its consent on the condition that extra financial burden on this account would be borne by the GMVN.

In another significant decision, the Board decided to give relaxation in age to GMVN employees applying for the class 1 and II posts, for which direct recruitment has already been proposed.

They will also get priority on the basis of their experience. There are 25 vacant posts in both the categories.

The board decided to ask the government for an early decision on sending those GMVN employees who have been attached for long with Secretariat, back to it.

Since their salaries are being paid from the GMVN accounts, the government has also been asked to reimburse this amount estimated to be around Rs 2.25 crore.