Pauri Garhwal, October 21
Despite being a famous hill station, divisional headquarters and the home town of several national-level politicians, including three Chief Ministers, people of Pauri have been facing water shortage for decades.

Forget the time during the erstwhile Uttar Pradesh regime, nine years have elapsed since the Uttarakhand was formed, yet the water problem of this town has not been solved.

Such is the state of water supply in the region that water these days is supplied every alternate day, even as winter season has started. With temperature touching 11 degree Celsius, it was likely that the water supply would get normal.

However, there is no respite and people have to depend on natural water resources for their water requirements.

Sometimes, people have to live without water for two or three days a week.

The town of Pauri has a population of approximately 30,000 and its water requirement touches 6MLD. But, contrary to the requirement, the supply is only a meagre 2.5-3 MLD, which is quite insufficient.

This is the condition of water supply despite more than Rs 2 crore having been spent on the renovation and maintenance existing two water pumping schemes.

But, now, the state government has granted Rs 3 crore for the renovation and maintenance of these two pipelines.

A sum Rs 1 crore has already been released to the Water Department, which is soon to replace pumps of these two pipelines.

It will largely lessen the water problem in the municipal area.

At Srinagar, Massau and Chatkot, the pumping plants are to be replaced apart from changing of 2 km of the Srinagar-Pauri pipeline. Though the process is in a tender stage, it’s being envisioned that this will surely help in a regular supply of water to the area.

Notably, there are two pumping stations through which the city gets water supply, but both are unable to meet the daily need.

Every month, these two pumps get dysfunctional and water supply 
gets stopped.

A water project from Nanghat was started. More than two decades have passed, yet even half of the work has not been completed till date.

Executive Engineer of the department LK Adlakha says the solution of the water shortage in Pauri will be solved by the commissioning of the Nanghat project.

But, local people see it only as an attempt to pacify them. This summer, the situation got worsened when for days together there was no water supply in the town and people took to streets and held protests.

People from every section of society, irrespective of party affiliations and age, joined hands against the irregular water supply and apathy of the administration and the department towards their woes.

“We have to live in with this utter problem and despite Pauri being an epicentre of politics and core of Uttarakhand movement. What we get is water for half an hour in three days,” said Vijay Raturi, the leader of a college union, who sat on an indefinite fast this May against water problem.

The water shortage has put hospitality and related trade business in the area on the back foot.

With Pauri being a hill station and having exclusive panoramic view of Himalayas and British-era buildings, the owners of hotels, guest houses and restaurants are the most affected.

“We lag in providing best of facilities as there is always a water shortage for tourists and most of them don’t come back,” remarked the manager of Umesha Hotels.

Though Pauri has given three Chief Ministers, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna (UP), Major-Gen Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri (retd) and now Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, apart from union cabinet minister’s Satpal Maharaj, Brahm Dutt, the water problem seems to be an unending one.

People have resentment over political leaders for their not being able to solve this problem. This is a major issue in the city periphery and affects the election results here.

Though Nishank is quite serious about the problem, on his recent visit to his hometown, he had said he knew the problem very well as he had spent his major part of life in Pauri.

Now, all eyes are set on the assurances of their own Chief Minister. As people have patiently, yet painfully, coped the water shortage for decades in Pauri, they are still happy to give some more time for the resolution of this problem, which has been synonymous with this beautiful hilly station.

Dehradun, October 21
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) programme in Dehradun district continues to be unpopular among educated youth and has not been effective in curbing migration. But at the same time, it has proved to be a lifeline for farmers sustaining them in times of economic downturn.

In the urban area of Doiwala, Vikas Nagar, there is less demand for jobs among educated youth, who are not keen to take up manual labour as the job profiles under the NREGA scheme are labour-driven.

As it is demand-driven, jobs will be created only if the villagers demand it. In times of joblessness, in certain pockets, it has been a lifeline for some villagers.

In semi-urban areas, the popularity of NREGA is offset by competitive remuneration paid at construction sites.

“Uttarakhand is paying minimum daily wage of Rs 100, but in cities, a person can earn more than Rs 100 a day. Naturally, people will flock to these areas,” said Dr DS Pokhriya, district development officer.

The programme is being implemented in six blocks of Dehradun. So far 50,757 job cards have been provided for the period of 2009-2010, while the total expenditure for the same period is Rs 49.667 lakh with the Centre and state governments contributing.

A total number of 10,047 members from the SC community, 12,967 members from the ST community and 28,103 from the general category demanded jobs for the same period.

Sahaspur continues to lead as far as demand for jobs is concerned, while Kalsi and Chakrata continue to be troubled by poor performance.

“We are holding meetings at gram panchayats to inform people that a job can even be demanded from a gram pradhan. In Chakrata and Kalsi blocks, people have now started demanding jobs,” said Pokhriya.

In order to ensure the full participation of people, the District Rural Development Authority organises meetings at gram panchayats so that villagers become aware of the programme.

The total number of households that have benefited stands at 12,503 for the period 2009-2010.

In addition, the experts believe that the scheme is lacking in vigilance and monitoring.

The NREG Act mandates that district panchayats monitor all aspects of implementation, including registration, employment, payments, social audits and work, but a survey by NGOs have found out that the work sites are inspected very rarely and monitoring of work was also low.

The NREG Act mandates formation of vigilance and monitoring committees for carrying out social audit, but the audit has not taken place so far.

“We will be carrying out complete audit of the programme for which various agencies are already being looked into by the government,” said Pokhriya.

Dehradun, October 21
While the Himalayan quail has been eluding orthinologists in Uttarakhand for over a century now, the Union Environment Ministry’s latest directive asking the state government to work for the protection of Ophrysia Superciliosa, commonly known as Himalayan quail, has come as a surprise.

Describing it as a species on the verge of extinction, the Himalayan quail has found mention in the list of 15 animal species that have been notified by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests as endangered.

It has called for adequate measures on part of the Uttarakhand Biodiversity authorities towards conservation of this endangered avian species.

The ministry has directed that studies be initiated on all aspects for holistic understanding of the bird.

It has also specifically asked biodiversity authorities in the state to conduct awareness programmes and take steps like providing educational material on notified species like the Himalayan quail to the personnel of the Uttarakhand Forest Department, biodiversity management committees, eco-tourism programmes and even forest dwellers.

Popularly known as ‘pahari bater’ in Uttarakhand, the Himalayan quail has not been recorded with certainty since 1876, but there have been some claims on possible sightings in recent times.

One such putative sighting of the bird was recorded near Suwakholi in the Mussoorie hills in September 1984. Another set of possible sightings around Nainital was made in 2003.

Repeated attempts on part of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, and Uttarakhand Forest Department to trace the quail have also failed to yield desirable results.

Many orthinologists even admit that locating the ‘pahari bater’ now is a challenging task. “The Himalayan quail could be possibly extinct, but one cannot come to a certain conclusion till extensive and targeted surveys are done,” admitted Satyakumar, an avian scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India.

He, however, welcomed the protection alert for Himalayan quail pointing that it would strengthen the search for the bird.

The Bird Life International had, some years earlier, advocated a well-planned survey of the apparently suitable habitat for the Himalayan quail in the lower Himalayan ranges through the use of remote sensing and satellite data followed by ground surveys for tracking down the quail.

As the quail favours dense grass and displays reluctance to fly, the Wildlife Institute of India team had suggested the utilisation of the flushing technique through the means of trained dogs, as it would have helped in getting a clearer picture on the presence of the bird.

The suggestion was turned down by the state Wildlife authorities as, according to them, such an exercise would have adversely affected the rest of the wildlife. Flushing with trained dogs and grain-baited camera trap stations have not been employed as yet for the detection of the Himalayan quail.

However, the Union Environment and Forests Ministry’s recent protection alert for the quail will least give an impetus to another round of search for this elusive bird that is in the critically endangered category of the IUCN since 1994.

Uttarakhand, with 15 animal and 16 plant species alerts, stands second in the country for receiving alerts from the ministry. Kerala tops the list with 26 plant species and 13 animal species alerts under the Biological Diversity Act.

Dehradun, October 21
The recent Lok Sabha polls have seen the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) emerge as the third largest force in Uttarakhand and at the same time, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has been reduced to the status of an also-ran.

These are the findings of an elaborate academic exercise undertaken by the Doon Library and Research Centre (DLRC) which was released recently in the form of a report.

The study was done by BK Joshi who is the Director of DLRC and Amit Verma who is a Research Officer with the Finance Department of the Uttarakhand government.

The report states: “The BSP has done very well in four of the five constituencies where it had put up its candidates. In 2004, the party had contested only three of these seats viz. Garhwal, Nainital and Hardwar.

“Compared to 2004, this time, its share of votes went up by 4.42 percentage points in Garhwal and 10.82 percentage points in Nainital. The only exception was Haridwar where its share of votes went down by 1.6 percentage points.

“The conversion of Haridwar from a reserved to a general constituency may have something to do with this decline, since the BSP remains largely a Dalit-based party, notwithstanding its recent success with social engineering and creating a rainbow coalition that brought it rich dividends in the last Vidhan Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh”.

Joshi and Verma have pointed that the general perception about the BSP in Uttarakhand has been that its electoral base is concentrated in the two plain districts of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar.

This time too, the largest share of votes for the party came from these two places - 23 per cent in Hardwar and 19 per cent in Nainital.

“Yet, we should not lose sight of the fact that it has performed quite well in the mountain constituencies of Tehri and Almora where it put up candidates for the first time,” the report says while adding the party got 12.73 per cent votes in Tehri and 9.28 in Almora.

Referring to the SP, the report says that its vote share in the state has come down to a paltry 4.7 per cent which is a loss of a massive 27.68 percentage points since 2004. In Nainital, the only other seat contested by the party besides Hardwar, its share of votes was 2.7 per cent.

The party had won the Haridwar seat in 2004. The writers of the report have commented, “Though it may be a bit premature to write the obituary of the party in Uttarakhand, it will, nevertheless, have to make an extra effort to make a comeback even in areas of its erstwhile support viz. Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar.

“As in the case of the BSP, the results for the SP in Uttarakhand seem to reflect the pattern of Uttar Pradesh.”

The report also asserts that it was the BSP that had scripted the BJP’s loss and Congress’ victory in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttarakhand.

“As a result, any complacency on the part of the Congress regarding its electoral future will be ill-advised. For the BJP and the Congress, the real threat in future elections will be posed by the resurgent BSP.”

Another rider mentioned in the report is that considering the present trends, the BSP might not appear to be in a position to capture any parliamentary seat, but it can certainly prove to be a spoiler for the BJP and the Congress in all five seats. It is a greater threat to the Congress as both parties will be increasingly vying for the Scheduled Caste vote.

Dehradun, October 21
The malin bastis in the state will soon get a makeover. The effort has been further boosted with the allocation of Rs 76 crore for the first phase of the plan to be taken up in different parts of the state.

The central government’s policy response to the urban crisis came in the form of Basic Service for the Urban Poor (BSUP) part of the JNNURM programme being taken up only in 2007 BSUP project that is aimed at finding solution to the problems of cities, managing their urban mess by providing funds and helping the urban poor get houses that have basic facilities. For this purpose certain areas of selected cities of Dehradun, Nainital and Haridwar were earmarked for growth and renewal.

But now similar efforts will be carried out in Pauri and Srinagar, the city authorities have been asked to prepare DPRS in order to fast-track the programme. Under the Integrated Development of Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) Pauri and Srinagar will be taken as pilot projects, now other cities have been asked to prepare Detail Project Reports (DPRs).

In a unique sharing agreement, the Centre is expected to foot 80 per cent of the share, the state and the corporations 10 per cent and the remaining 10 per cent by the beneficiaries.

The slum and congested areas in Roorkee, Luxar, Haldwani, Ramnagar, Narendernagar, Chamba, Rudrapur and Kashipur have been selected and are expected to benefit. The houses are expected to cost Rs 76 crore and will be given to the poor people living in malin bastis.

One family will be given one house and it will cost around Rs 1.8 lakh.

“The construction will be undertaken by a government agency. All those places that have malin bastis have been asked to submit DPRs, the aim is to end slums in cities and to improve the living conditions of people,” said Rajeev Pandey, project officer, BSUP, Urban Development Directorate. 

Dehradun, October 21
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has said there has been a great scope for developing water sports in the state in a big way.

He was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the 21st National Kayaking and Canoeing Championship being held in Bhimtal Lake near Nainital today.

Dr Nishank said the youth and the water of the state have been doing a lot for the country.

There are 3,000 km rivers in Uttarakhand, he said, adding that water sports enthusiasts should explore the opportunities. He hoped that in the coming years, players from Uttarakhand would do well in the water sports.

The state government would provide all facilities for water sports activities. He announced that all arrangements for the SAF Winter Games at Auli and Dehradun had been completed. He exhorted the youth of the state to participate in the adventure sports activities.

A total of 29 teams from all over the country are participating in the national championship.

The participating teams presented a boat march past for the chief guest. Kedar Singh Phonia, president of the Uttarakhand Kayaking and Canoeing Association, in his address hoped that under the leadership of a young and dynamic Chief Minister, water sports would definitely get a boost in the state.

Raja Kamal Singh, president of the National Kayaking and Canoeing Association, said the pollution-free atmosphere of Uttarakhand was ideal for the water sports activities.

He thanked the Chief Minister for promising more encouragement for water sports.

The national tourney is being held in Uttarakhand for the second time. Teams from Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tripura, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, the Army, Navy and the AirForce, SSB and the Uttarakhand Police comprising more than 800 players are participating in the national meet to be on from October 21 to 25.

Dehradun, October 21
The response to the government advertisement published for the appointment of a doctor at Maharana Pratap Sports College has been poor. They are turning down job offer reportedly due to poor salary package.

It is important to mention that college lacks dispensary facility since it came up in 1993 and little was done by the college authorities to bring it up for the students benefits.

To make the matter worse, the college authorities never maintained any records of the students’ medical tests conducted in the college.

The poor condition of medical facilities at college came to light after Bhagwan Singh, a class XI student, lost his life at the college.

The sudden death of the student sent shock waves through the city.

The poor medical facilities came to the notice and generated a lot of rage among the student leaders and people. It raised parents’ concern too.

As a result, a magisterial inquiry was set in the student’s sudden death and a recommendation was made to appoint a doctor as soon as possible.

A doctor is said to have joined the college but left soon after. Sources said the doctor was unwilling to take up the job because the salary offered was not handsome enough.

On the other hand, the college administration has another story to tell. They claimed that the doctor left not because of the low salary, but due to his private practice.

Now, the college is looking forward to appointing another doctor for the students. But college students are not hopeful that any good doctor would prefer to stay long at the low salary being offered.

Dehradun, October 21
There is bleak chance that a world-class judo academy could be opened in the state but the government is taking little interest in the matter.

The proposal in this regard was placed before the Uttarakhand government more than a year back by the Judo Federation of India. But the government has not responded.

Now, there are chances that Uttarakhand may lose the opportunity of opening an academy to some other state.

The offer of opening the academy was placed before judo academies of India by a Japanese company. The company had proposed the setting up of two academies in India.

The first one has come up at Manipur where a Japanese coach has been appointed. The second one, which was to begin in Uttarakhand, is still stuck in files.

Judo fans in Uttarakhand had high hopes that the world-class academy would do them a lot of good. But their hopes seems to have dashed as the state government has taken no initiative to look at the project.

The state government had to make a one-time expenditure and provide a 18x18m hall for the academy. The rest of the expenditure was to be borne by the federation.

Satish Sharma, who is a judo coach at the Sports Authority of India, said, “It would have been a blessing for judo players of the state to have a world-class academy. Uttarakhand is doing well in sports at the national level. The players would have benefited immensely from the Japanese coach’s guidance.”

Satish Sharma has already met Uttarakhand Sport Secretary, Director Sports and others officers in the matter, but not much has come out of the meetings. Now, the fear is that Uttarakhand may lose the project to some other state.

Dehradun, October 21
The 58th BN Mullick All-Indian Police Football Championship, which is to begin from November 27 in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, will witness 32 police and paramilitary teams from various part of the country vying for top positions.

DIG Alok Sharma said 32 teams would be divided into eight pools. A majority of the matches would be played in Haridwar while the final and the semifinal matches would organised in Dehradun.

It is one of the biggest tournaments that Dehradun will play host to and teams like Punjab, Manipur, Sikkim and Assam Rifle will be a delight to watch playing.

The defending champions, the BSF is expected to give a tough competition to other teams. On the other hand, the Uttarakhand Police is looking to improve upon it previous performance, taking advantage of the home ground.

The Uttarakhand Police is high on confidence with the recent victory over 6/8 Gorkh Rifle in the District Football League. The team is at present under the guidance of renowned Indian players like Amar Bahadur Gurung. They also lifted the league trophy for the second consecutive time under his direction. Last year, Uttarakhand was knocked out in the pre-quarterfinal stage.

The wish of Dehradun fans to see big matches being played in Dehradun is being fulfilled to some extent with three of the important matches of the tournaments scheduled to be played in Dehradun.