|
|
|
|
Pancheswar Dam Project
Utilisation of Funds
Maoists’ bandh: Vigil stepped up on Indo-Nepal border
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Bairagi camp area dwellers seek rehabilitation
Award for woman who popularised mandua
Family welfare sub-centres
|
|
Pancheswar Dam Project
Pitthoragarh, December 21 “The Uttarakhand government wants its representation should be in the joint meeting likely to be held in the first week of January, 2010, between India and Nepal as most of the area that will be submerged in the reservoir of the project will be in Uttarakhand,” said Prakash Pant, Uttarakhand Planning Minister. He said the state government had already written a letter to the Prime Minister to seek a representation of the state government in the joint authority. After India and Nepal agreed to form a joint authority to work on the construction of the Pancheswar Dam on the Kali river, one of the biggest hydroelectric projects, the fear of submergence of a large area on the Indian side looms large on villagers concerned. This project has been in the pipeline since decades. “I have seen in 1979, the marks erected along the villages situated close to the Kali river to indicate the submergence area for the proposed Pancheswar Dam,” said Padama Dutt Pant, a resident of a village situated close to the river. The proposed dam, which will be constructed at the place called Pancheswar on the confluence of Kali and Ram Ganga, about 30 km from Pitthoragarh, on Indo-Nepal border, will be 315 metre high and after completion it will generate 6,480 MW of electricity. The dam will be situated 430 metre above the sea level and after completion will submerge the area adjoining the Kali and Saryu rivers up to a height of 3,000 feet above the sea level. More than 20 villages on the Indian side having 14,000 families and nearly 100 villages of Nepal beginning from the dam site up to Dharchula in Kali Seraghat along the Saryu river and up to Thal town along the Ram Ganga will submerge. At present, the cost of the project has gone up more than Rs 40,000 crore. If completed it will employ more than 10,000 people. However, the project is yet to be ratified by Nepalese Parliament which seems unlikely since Communist parties are opposed to the project. |
|
|
Utilisation of Funds
Dehradun, December 21 The fund utilisation of MPs for the period between 1993 and 2009 is 93 per cent. During the period, 30 MPs received a total of Rs 201.35 crore from the central government, of this Rs 185.70 crore was utilised. Of the 16,319 works proposed, 14,613
were completed. However, MP from the Almora constituency Pradip Tamta has not utilised Rs 100 lakh allocated by the central government for 2009. MP from the Tehri constituency Vijay Bahuguna has completed 84 works and spent a total of Rs 25.90 crore since 2007. Similarly, MP from the Nainital constituency KC Singh Baba has spent a total of Rs 24.67 crore since 2004 from a total of Rs 26.5 crore amount that he had received for the period 2004-2009. Rajya Sabha MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi has completed a total of 1,853 works
from 2006 to 2009 spending a total of Rs 35.6 crore from the allocated sum of Rs 41.6 crore. The expenditure for the works to be undertaken by the MPs is released through the Rural Development Department and the District Magistrate is the nodal officer for the MPLAD schemes. Along with dismal utilisation of funds the MLAs are believed to be nominating the project implementing agencies of their choice, the responsibility of which rests on the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA). Most of them have nominated block development officers for carrying out work in their areas. |
|
|
Maoists’ bandh: Vigil stepped up on Indo-Nepal border
Nainital, December 21 Talking to The Tribune, IG (Kumaon Range) Jeevan Chand Pande said: “We have taken appropriate security steps on our side of the border and a constant vigil is being maintained on the situation round the clock”. It is learnt that personnel of the Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) are also conducting a regular combing of the border. Barring people in the Banbasa area, who keep on crossing the border on foot for their routine works, the authorities have asked the Indian tourists to avoid crossing the border. According to the reports, the Maoists had called for a three-day Bandh in the twin districts of Mahendranagar and Bhramadev in support of the demand for payment of appropriate compensation to the kin of the two Young Communist League activists who had died in a recent incident of police firing. Their other demands include declaring Nepal a eepublic and their opposition to the removal of the former Army Chief. The areas around Tanakpur that are located on the border wore a deserted look and the regular activity was totally hampered by the bandh. There are reports of a resident of Tanakpur being manhandled by Maoists on Sunday evening when he had crossed over to make some purchases. |
|
|
Officer caught accepting bribe
Dehradun, December 21 According to Vigilance officials, Puran Singh, a resident of Chakhuwala, had approached them on December 19 alleging that a regional employment officer had demanded Rs 15,000 from him to release his payment for repairing computers at his office. Singh had said in his complaint to the officials that he had repaired computers at employment office two years ago and after satisfactory work, the department had prepared a bill of Rs 59,956. The advance cheque was sent to the regional employment officer. But when the complainant reached the office, the regional officer allegedly demanded Rs 15,000 as a service charge from him to release his payment. At last, Rs 10,000 was agreed to be paid in advance, while Rs 5,000 was to be paid after the cheques were released. However, he brought the matter to the notice of Vigilance officers who after the permission of senior officers laid a trap and caught Rawat at his office while accepting the bribe. Brijender Juyal, in charge of Vigilance, said Vigilance Director Vijay Ragav Pant had made an announcement of a reward of Rs 5,000 to the trap team. |
|
|
Two held with five leopard skins in Haridwar
Haridwar, December 21 On a tip-off from an informer, the Kotwali police got to know of four persons who possessed leopard skins and were trying to supply and sell these in the market. The police laid a trap and arrested red-handed Somwari Lal of Dharasu village and Jot Singh Pawar of Banor village in Uttarkashi with leopard skins.Two other accused succeeded in fleeing away from the spot. SSP Sanjay Gunjiyal said of the five leopard skins recovered, one is of a cub, which must have been barely two or three months. According to the arrested persons, they were in this trade for quite some time and had bought the skins from unknown persons at Uttarkashi itself. Meanwhile, the police is conducting raids to arrest the two absconders and has increased vigil in view of this incident. 2 smugglers arrested
Dehradun: The Dehradun police had an encounter with liquor smugglers near Vikasnagar today. While the police managed to arrest two residents of Shimla, the other two managed to escape after firing at the police party. The police recovered 250 boxes of liquor bottles worth Rs 10 lakh, besides two live cartridges and two country-made pistol from the possession of the arrested persons. The incident happened about 12:15 pm when on a tip-off, police laid a trap. The four were coming in a truck (UA-0-10-0492), which bore a wrong number plate number. When the police stopped them near a chowk and asked to show them their possessions, they tried to flee and fired at the police party. The police also fired at them. While two of them, namely Anil and Surat Ram, were held, the two others Nitu and Naresh managed to escape. |
|
|
Bairagi camp area dwellers seek rehabilitation
Haridwar, December 21 While last week, despite stiff resistance, the mela administration had carried out the anti-encroachment drive, now villagers are resorting to Gandhigiri after seeing the power and force of the administration. Hundreds of villagers today sat at the Bairagi camp demanding either land availability or accommodation for their families. As many have been living in the area for decades, they are citing that in the past Kumbh melas they were not affected, but now they have been displaced. Notably, several of the families in the area have been living here for the past 20 to 30 years. They allege that this is the first time that such a drive has been carried out and blamed the ruling state government for turning a blind eye towards their plight. Ram Gopal, representative of the Sangarsh Samiti, showed voter identity cards. Water and electricity bills too prove that they have been living here for the past few decades. They termed the anti-encroachment drive as undemocratic and inhumane. The protestors are now opting for Gandhigiri and say that they will protest non-violently till they get guaranteed accommodation or specific allotted land. “No one is having sympathy towards us or our children who are living in the open in this month of December. Is this the way the administration behaves with its citizens?” remarked a women agitator while others raised slogans. Dwellers also seemed quite angry at the politicians. They said that till date they were used as vote banks and assured of legalising them, but now not a single politician of either the ruling party or the opposition has come to hear their plight. There are more than 500 families that have been living here in the Bairagi camp area and in every election they had a major role with every political outfit vying for their votes. Earlier this year too, when there was encroachment drive being carried out by the administration, it was stalled by local legislator and state cabinet minister Madan Kaushik. But now with the pressure of hosting Maha Kumbh successfully and Kaushik being the Urban Development Minister, the drive has been carried out unhindered. Meanwhile, a heavy deployment of police was done in the camp area in view of violence, but the non-violent protest by people made the protest a peaceful one. |
|
Elephant scare in Ramnagar area
Nainital, December 21 Farmers of these villages have demanded appropriate compensation for the losses suffered by hem and have demanded that boundary walls be constructed around their fields so that the elephants are not able to crash into their farms and destroy the standing crop repeatedly. Meanwhile, an elephant created mayhem after entering a residential locality in Lalkuan on Saturday evening. According to the reports, the animal ventured into the residential area located next to the Terai Central Forest Department’s workshop and destroyed whatever came in its way. All attempts of people to drive away the animal proved futile and it only left in the early hours of the day. The villagers have complained that the animal destroyed their kitchen gardens and also two fields located near the residential complex. They have demanded that the administration should take appropriate steps to check the menace. |
|
|
Award for woman who popularised mandua
Pitthoragarh, December 21 Pitthoragarh district industry officer Sadam Lal Arya said here today that the national productivity awards were given every year by the National Productivity Council of India, which is an organ of Union Ministry of Commerce. Devki will be awarded in Dehradun between December 25 and 27. The national productivity award has been divided in three categories which are agro based food processing, pharmaceuticals and ancillary. Devki has been given first category in agro based food processing award. Her Kumaon Namkeen Udhyog is the only unit in the hilly region of the state to be awarded this award. “My mission in life is to get a living by making popular the traditional coarse grain of Uttarakhand like mandua, ramdana, soyabean, which hill farmers are abandoning. By value addition to these varieties of coarse grain, farmers would be encouraged to grow these traditional crops,” said Devki. |
|
|
School kids enjoy carols
Dehradun, December 21 The main attraction of the celebration was the arrival of Santa Claus. Children were mesmerised with the entry of Santa Claus, who distributed sweets and gifts among the students. Children grooved to the tunes of Christmas carols and other Bollywood songs. Principal Sarika Mohan Bembey and teachers Neena Sharma, Charu Nauriyal, Seema Thapa and many others were present at the celebration. |
|
Family welfare sub-centres
Dehradun, December 21 In a written reply to a question that was put up by MLA Sher Singh Gadiya in the
Assembly today, the House was informed that the government planned to open 10 sub-centres at Uttarkashi, three in Chamoli, 34 in Dehradun, 10 in Rudraprayag, 29 in Nainital, four in Bageshwar, 41 in Haridwar and 14 in Udham Singh Nagar.
— TNS |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Classified | Suggestion | E-mail | |
