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Border Roads: China ahead of India by miles
Border traders lock customs office |
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Ganga cleaning drive only for the camera! Swami Ramdev during the Ganga Cleaning Mission in Haridwar on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph
U’khand emerge runners-up at volleyball meet
Basketball: Dehradun enter
semifinals
Mohit is best emerging cyclist
Bumpy start to block-level meet
Doon police comes up with
traffic plan for Diwali
Bring home luck with gold
on Dhanteras
Drive Against Food Adulteration
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Border Roads: China ahead of India by miles
Pitthoragarh, October 14 The mid-sector is the most neglected in terms of infrastructure. “The sector remained peaceful during India-China conflict in 1962. “Indian and Chinese forces came face to face with each other at the Barahoti border in Chamoli district but not a single fire was exchanged,” said Harish Chandola, a senior journalist and a resident of Joshimath in Chamoli district. He added that this fact might have led to the neglect of the sector. “In Barahoti sector, Indian troops are 30 km away from the border. On the other hand, the Chinese are much closer at the border village of Dapa. “The road from the last Chinese villages on the border comes up to the 16,000-feet-high Tungun-La, Marila, Sala-La passes,” said Lt-Gen MC Bhandari (retd). Not only is Barahoti not connected by any road but also are Johar, Darma and Vyas valleys in Pitthoragarh district on the border. “In Darma village, a 90-km road from Dar village to Dave and Bedang is awaiting clearance for the past 40 years. The temporary link to Darma valley is up to Dar village. “If a motor road from Dar, Duktu, Bon, Sipu to Bedang comes up, it will connect not only the security forces but also the villagers of Dar, Duktu, Bon, Sipu to Bedong,” said Shar Singh Duktal, who hails from Duktu village in Darma valley. He is now permanently settled in Pitthoragarh town for lack of motor road to his village. “While the Chinese army can reach Barahoti within hours, the infrastructure to take our troops there is nil,” said Lt Gen Mohan Chandra Bhandari (retd) who is also on the editorial board of ‘Defence Review’. Not only on the China border, but people on the India-Nepal border are also demanding roads to their native villages. The 46 villages in Pitthoragarh and 20 villages in Champwat district on the India-Nepal border are not linked by motor road despite the Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel guarding the ‘more than 200-km-long India-Nepal border’ in Uttarakhand. The SSB also faces difficulties in carrying out patrolling duties. “Due to the rugged terrain and lack of Tanakpur-Jauljibi motor road, the SSB finds it difficult to patrol the border. “If this 67-km-long road is constructed, the SSB will be able to effectively patrol it,” said S Bandhopadhaya, DIG, SSB (Kumaon region). The central government had sanctioned an infrastructure project for border areas in 2001 as Border Area Development Project aimed at providing infrastructure not only to valleys situated on the border but also to forces deployed on it. The five districts of Uttarakhand falling under this project are Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Pitthoragarh, Champawat and Udham Singh Nagar. The Bhatwari tehsil in Uttarkasi, Joshimath in Chamoli, Champawat and Lohaghat in Champawat district, Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar, and Dharchula, Munsiyari, Kanalichina, and Munakote in Pitthoragarh district are covered under this scheme. “By the funds provided by the union government under this scheme, we provide funds for educational, health and agricultural infrastructure to villages. The villages right on the border are given the highest priority,” said Narayan Singh Negi, District Magistrate, Pitthoragarh. From this year, the Government of India has increased the funds allotted under this scheme. “Though the villagers are getting benefit under this scheme, the bigger infrastructural needs like motor roads, electric lines, and drinking water scheme does not fall under it. This is the reason that the villagers on the India-Nepal border are demanding extra infrastructure in the form of motor roads and communication facilities,” said Negi. The 75-km-long motor road from Ghatiyabagar to Lipulekh pass had finally got the Supreme Court nod this year. After being entangled in forest laws for 10 years, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which is constructing the road, is hopeful that by 2012 they would finish work on it. The Centre has also given its nod to a motor road from Munsiyari to Milam that is 82-km long and 40 km away from the border. “If these roads are constructed in the next five years, it will be useful in strengthening the second line of defence i.e. the people living on the border,” said Lt-Gen Bhandari (retd). “Earlier, the Indian government and experts were of the opinion that if the border is fully linked by roads, it would be easy for the Chinese to enter into Indian territory during war. The opinion has changed now,” said Harish Chandola, a senior journalist based in Joshimath, Chamoli.
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Border traders lock customs office Pitthoragarh, October 14 The development comes in the wake of recently deployed Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel stopping the transition of goods to Nepal on the pretext of non-payment of duties on Sunday. After the intervention of the district administration, the dispute among the Indian traders and personnel of the Customs Department and the SSB was resolved. “The dispute has now been settled after the intervention of top officers of the SSB and the Customs Department. The transition of goods of daily use from the bridge on the Kali river to Nepal has been going on as usual. “We have been selling essential goods to Nepali citizens from across the Indian border for the past two centuries and the customs and SSB personnel deputed here often disturb this routine business,” said Dharmanand Nariyal, president of the Traders Association at
Jhulaghat. Jhulaghat is a non-custom area because commercial transition are banned from here. Only the Nepali Customs Department across the bridge collects nearly Rs 80,000 per day as duties on the goods of daily use being taken by Nepali citizens from India. “Our customs post only charges duty on cloth, pulses, sugar and other goods, which are in the custom list. The rest of essential items of daily use do not attract duty,” said a customs officer. The trading community in this border town is facing difficulties after most part of western districts of Nepal have been linked by roads, according to the traders. The trade here has reduced to one forth in the past 20 years, resulting in migration of hundreds of traders to other towns. “The rest of us are totally dependent on customers coming from Nepal. If this already dwindled flow of customers is disturbed, then we will fight for our existence,” said Nariyal. More than 75,000 Nepalese enter the India territory from this bridge every year. Most of them go back after earning for six months in India and do their purchasing from the Jhulaghat market. “The turnover of the market, which was nearly Rs 20 crore annually some 10 years back, has come down to Rs 6 crore annually, and is continuously decreasing,” added Nariyal. “The SSB personnel concerned have been sent back to their unit and top officials of the district administration and the Customs Department have promised us non-repeat of the incident. On this promise, we have withdrawn our agitation,” said
Nariyal.
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Ganga cleaning drive only for the camera! Haridwar, October 14 But this closure also provides a chance for cleaning of the river underbed. Today yoga guru Swami Ramdev carried out the Ganga cleaning mission and he did it with seriousness, but his personal security cover and the frenzy surrounding him restricted the cleaning effort centred around him only. Last week too, Mela Officer Anand Vardhan, gurus from various akharas, Irrigation Minister Matbar Kandari, muncipal chairman Kamal Johra, along with city BJP leaders and various other organisations carried out the cleanliness missions but due to lack of will and efforts most of them boiled down to mere show off. Though all can’t be classified in this category, many are quite serious about their tasks. Like the drive carried out by Dev Sanskriti University and Shanti Kunj where hundreds of students and activists participated. Har-Ki-Pauri bore white and saffron colour, as the students and activists wearing those colours were spread all over. Seeing the intensity of the students, the Russian delegation too participated in the drive. Similarly, the drive carried by girls of Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, Kankhal, though devoid of media attention carried out their task with seriousness at Sati Kundh. These two examples, along with a few others, showed that the cleaning drive needs will and honesty and merely being in the news doesn’t augur well for it. “This explains why even after spending Rs 9,000 crore in the Ganga action plan, the river in terms of pollution and cleanliness hasn’t been affected and it continues to be polluted as ever. Implementation and sincere efforts are needed and mere money and such drives will only add to the news, but nothing concrete will be done,” opined Jaya Adlakha, women’s college president. Though political parties, social organisations, NGOs, religious institutions, akharas and educational institutions every day are carrying out cleanliness campaign, yet their credibility and seriousness about their motive is questionable. A majority of the efforts by these organisations and people is only to grab media attention it seems. Be it political leaders, sadhus, religious leaders, social organisations and even mela administration, most of them seem to be cleaning till the shutterbugs and media are there. As soon as the clicking and interview session is over, the drive comes to a halt.
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U’khand emerge runners-up at volleyball meet
Roorkee, October 14 The team lost to Haryana in the final by a margin of one point (23-24). The local sports authorities gave a warm welcome to the team here. “We have made a history as this is the first team of the state which has made it to the final in national level,” said the elated coach Sushil Kumar. At the same time, he also maintained that the team could have finished as winners if the referees played fair. “Evidently, the referees were seemed on the side of Haryana team in the last minutes of the game for the reasons best known to them”, alleged the coach. “We were dominating the game and the score was 23-23 when we were not given a checkout. Immediately, the referee awarded a foul without any valid reason thus made the rivals to lift the trophy”, said Sushil. The team also lodged a protest to authorities in this regard, he said. However, the team got respite as two of its players, namely Nitin Kumar and Mohammad Ahsad won best player and best lifter awards, respectively. Nitin received Rs 6,000 and Ahsad got Rs 5,000 as cash awards. The team was felicitated by District Sports Coordinator Narinder Singh. A total of 26 teams had participated in the tourney. Names of the team member: Gaurav Kumar (Captain), Nitin Kumar, Lokesh Kumar, Ankit Baliyan, Piyush Rathi, Prashant Kumar, Ashwini Baluni, Arjun Kumar, Saurabh, Mohan and Ravi.
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Basketball: Dehradun enter semifinals
Dehradun, October 14 In the first quarterfinal match Dehradun team registered a 30-15 victory over and Udham Singh Nagar. The first quarter saw a neck-to-neck contest between both the teams. Both the teams were locked at 5-6, with Udham Singh Nagar taking a one-point lead in the match. It was the second set which turned the game around for Dehradun team. In the second set, Dehradun completely overshadowed Udham Singh Nagar and scored twelve baskets. Udham Singh Nagar found it tough to cover the huge lead given by Dehradun team in the match. In the third and final set Udham Singh Nagar spiker failed to outplay the skillful Dehradun team, thereby losing the match by 30-15. In the girls league matches of u-19, Nainital team defeated Udham Singh Nagar by 15-8, whereas in the u-17 matches of the boys Nainital won its match against Dehradun by 20-18. Carman School lift soccer trophy
Carman School lifted the 11th Col Shashi Memorial Inter-School Football Tournament for Senior Boys here today. Mohit of Hilton School won the best player award, whereas Carman School goalkeeper Padam Singh won the best goalkeeper award. There was not much action in the first half as both teams were locked at 0-0. In the second half both teams played aggressive football. The Hilton School team kept the ball possession most of the time and created some sharp chances in the match. It efforts paid in the 58th minute of the match when Bivesh scored for Hilton School, helping it to gain an upper hand in the match. Eleven minutes later the Carman School team got a penalty and Padam Singh converted it into a goal making it 1-1. In the penalty shootout, Carman School emerged winner.
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Mohit is best emerging cyclist The young cyclist from Dehradun won the Best Emerging Riders Award at the International Mountain Terrain Biking (MTB) Himachal Competition held recently. He prepared for the competition in just two months. He was the youngest cyclist at the competition that saw the participation of 64 cyclists that included Army men, Australians, Americans and Belgians. Mohit has been cycling for the past five years in Dehradun. His passion for cycling could be judged from that fact that he has cycled through the uphill-48-km stretch from Dehradun to Mussoorie 23 times in record time of one hour and 55 minutes. But it is not as easy as it looks. Mohit’s first attempt to cycle to Mussoorie took him four hours. But thereafter, he has been constantly working on his stamina to make the difficult task look easy. Mohit said, “I never thought of cycling for 700 km and neither did I know about this competition. My friend Siddharth persuaded me into participate in the meet.” He admitted that the competition was one of the most difficult task that he has ever done in his life. The very first stage was an eye opener for him. “The first stage was a 30-km rocky downhill stretch and many cyclists met with serious accidents that forced them to quit the race in the beginning. Balancing my cycle and riding safely was my main concern.” He did well and came second at this stage. His good run continued in the second stage where he secured the first spot. Although he could not hold on to the positions for long and ended at the fifth spot in the competition, his valiant effort earned him the Best Emerging Riders Award. Now, Mohit has his eyes set on next year’s MTB Himachal meet and aims to win the competition. But his dream of cycling does not end here. He wishes to participate at the world’s most popular cycling competition Tour de France that covers a distance of 4,000 km and witnesses the participation of cyclists from around the world. Mohit is presently doing his Class XII studies from the open board and is also working in an imported cycle shop where he keep dreaming about cycles and races.
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Bumpy start to block-level meet Roorkee, October 14 The ground of Government Inter-College, on which a block-level school sports competition started in the morning on Tuesday, is totally unfit for the purpose. The grass is uncut and the surface is uneven at the venue. Improper marking on the field has added to the woes of the athletes participating at the three-day event. The tracks have mounds and ditches and hence could cause serious injury to sportspersons. To add insult to injury, these uneven surfaces are covered with grass that renders these slippery. On the condition of anonymity, many participants said that they could not perform up to the mark due to these hindrances. “I was about to lose balance during the 800m race when my foot landed in a hole on the track. I not only lost the race but also twisted my ankle,” lamented a student of a local school. Another participant stated that the condition of the field showed that for the authorities, the competition was a mere formality. “Even the organisers did not bother to mark the field properly,” said some sportspersons. Over 2,000 sportspersons from more than 25 institutes, including primary schools, junior schools, high schools and inter-colleges, are participating in the event.
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Doon police comes up with
traffic plan for Diwali Dehradun, October 14 According to traffic officials, it would be implemented tomaorrow on Dhanteras and later on Diwali as the roads on these days are expected to be jam-packed like previous years. Besides this, the plan will be applied in the future if there is some event that can increase the volume of traffic. In events like mass marches and shobha yatras, it can be applied for a few hours to divert traffic. “The traffic scenario has worsened in recent times. We had been planning something like this for long time now. We had applied this plan for a few hours on October 10 for trial, but it didn’t work out well due to less number of personnel. But we are hopeful that it will be a success during the festival season as we will have additional forces at our disposal,” informed Virender Rawat, traffic inspector. According to the traffic police officials, 150 home guards and 120 traffic police personnel would be deployed during Diwali. They would be working in two shifts. On Diwali, prominent crossings like Clock Tower, Survey Chowk, Tehsil Chowk, Gandhi Road, Prince Road, Arhat Bazar, Chakrata Road, Dilaram Bazar, and Kamwali Road usually get congested. This has been going on for the past several years. Elaborating on the traffic plan, the traffic inspector said that all heavy vehicles would be diverted from Saharanpur road. Private vehicles would be allowed to go from Prince Chowk to Clock Tower and then park their vehicles at the assigned parking lots. “For Dhanteras tomorrow, we have made parking facilities at Parade Ground, Pavilion Ground, All Vikrams coming from ISBT will be diverted from Prince Chowk. Similarly, those coming from Saharanpur Road would also
be diverted from Prince Chowk. In addition, vehicles coming from Orient Cinema can go up till Kanak Chowk but not beyond. The movement towards Clock Tower will be restricted as it is a major bottleneck. However, traffic will continue to move unhindered on long routes from EC Road on to Haridwar road and beyond. There were mixed reactions to the plan among residents. Some felt that it would be a big hassle to go into an area in the city’s interior as they would have to park their vehicle some distance away and walk to their destination. Others said that it was good that something of this sort has been planned. “Though we will have to cover a longer distance to reach our destination but I am happy that at least, we will be safe from traffic jams,” said Rohini, a housewife and resident of Dalanwala. But a student of DAV College was not impressed with the traffic plan. “I don’t think it is a good idea. I cannot imagine taking a round of EC Road to enter Parade Ground and other nearby markets to shop during Diwali,” said Rohit Rawat.aTerming it a good move, the traffic inspector said, “It is better to cover longer distance on days like these than wasting time in traffic jams. We are sure this plan will work out well for now. In the coming years, some modifications to the plan may be required,” he added.
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Bring home luck with gold
on Dhanteras
Dehradun, October 14 “With regular items such as silver spoons, plates, Lakshmi-Ganesh idols this year, there’s a craze for 100 per cent 24-carat hallmark gold and silver coins, which has a money back guarantee and is must have in the Diwali puja,” said Vipin Jain, a jeweller. With Asmi, Nakshatra, D’damas and Gilli, there are trusted silver brands of the government of India like MMTC and Sanchi. “For past one week people are coming to our shop. These silver items are high in quality and from small silver item worth Rs 500, we have dinner sets, which costs Rs 4 lakh and above. A set weighs around 12 kg,” said Ishkripa Gupta, jeweller. However, along with silver and gold items, steel utensils also play a significant role on the day of Dhanteras. People purchase various items as per the custom. Sushil Departmental Store, a 50-year-old shop dealing in utensils, crockery and gift items, has got some of the finest quality brands this year. They have matt finish steel items by De-Stellar a known brand from Chennai, Bengani steel from Kolkata and Shakun, another famous brand in steel accessories from Chennai. Starting from mere Rs 10, there are items worth Rs 10,000. “We opened our shop early today as after 12 pm people start giving us orders for utensils. From silver spoons, cookers we have high-end non-stick wear as well Indian and imported quality cutlery from Spain, Korea and Japan. Gold-plated crockery is in demand and Tempo an American certified company has some of the latest designs in utensil wear,” said Mohammed Nasir Khan, manager of the store. Crystal crockery by the brand name of Cristal Darques, is another hit with people, who are looking for something exquisite in nature. “People are also purchasing dinner sets in crystals, which are a little expensive,” said Khan.
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Drive Against Food Adulteration Dehradun, October 14 The team of officials first began with araid at Goyal Sweet Shop located on Hanuman Chowk, picking up samples of sweets khoya and milk randomly from Anil Sweet Shop, Laxmi Sweet Shop, Ambika Sweet Shop and Jagdish Dairy. “We collected samples from for testing. Besides we had also seized food items from a car that contained khoya, milk and sweets and was coming from Muzaffarnagar,” said BS Jayara, zonal sanitary officer. In all, the team ,led by SDM, Mussoorie, Jharna Kapatwan, senior health officer Dr Gurpal Singh and BS Jayara, collected 20 samples that will be sent for testing. Yesterday, acting on reports about the proliferation of adulterated sweets in the market, the team conducted surprise checks at three prominent shops located on the posh Rajpur Road. The team experienced resistance when they entered Aandam Sweet Shop on Rajpur Road, the properitor of the shop prevented the team from collecting samples and called up office-bearers of the Vyapar Prakosht. Soon, office-bearers Vipin Nagalia and Umesh Agarwal arrived on the scene and asked the team to withdraw raids. “They should have taken prior permission from the Vyapar Prakosht before conducting raids,” said Agarwal. They even threatened to organise Doon bandh if the checks were not stopped. “We have been asked by the District Magistrate to monitor the quality of sweets in view of Diwali and we are carrying out routine inspection,” said SDM Jharna. The office-bearers of the Vyapar Prakosht created a ruckus outside the shops, demanding that they take prior permission before conducting raids. The samples will be sent for testing at the food-testing laboratory in Himachal Pradesh as Uttarakhand does not have this facility.
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Pitthoragarh, October 14
Haridwar, October 14
Roorkee, October 14
A match of the state-level Inter-School Basketball Girls Tournament in progress in Dehradun on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir
Dehradun, October 14