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Foreigners caught camping in Raja Ji
Admn gears up for Baisakhi snan
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Dantewada martyrs cremated with police honours
Cong moots alternative to Pancheshwar Dam
Cong seeks probe into utilisation of funds
Man dies in accident; relatives block road
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Foreigners caught camping in Raja Ji
Haridwar, April 8 About 4,000 sq m has been allotted by the Kumbh mela administration to these hippies and sadhus, who, after getting caught yesterday by the police, have been demanding for a special Kumbh camp land in lieu of their evacuation from the park area. Though the land has been allotted to them, they seem to be getting exempted from any legal action as all of them were found having necessary documents. Besides, with some sadhus from akhadas also accompanying them, an easier way has been opted by the mela administration to ensure a smooth conduct of the ongoing Maha Kumbh. Kumbh SSP Ajay Rautella told The Tribune that all foreigners were found having necessary travel and visa documents so no legal action could be taken against them. But, the Raja Ji Park authorities are not in a mood to let these foreigners go without punitive action. Park Director Paramjit Singh said while mela land had been allotted to them, yet they had illegally entered the park area, habituated without permission in a prohibited area and misled the park authorities. Adequate action would be taken, he added. One of the sadhus, belonging to Aahwan Akhada, who was part of the troupe, operates a site called rainbow.com wherein they invite foreigners for the Kumbh mela. Notably, for the past fortnight the issue of foreigners illegally living in prohibited park area had come to light, to the surprise of not only the park authorities, but also the local administration and intelligence agencies. Around 150-odd foreigners, comprising 50 women and 10 children, had been been settled in the park. They were mainly occupying the Duggada area falling in the Chila forest range. The foreigners used to play musical instruments and enjoy tobacco and drugs in the park area. Utensils, packaged food, beverages, tobacco products and drug packets were found littered there, violating the forest laws. Besides, the illegal occupants caused damage to the flora and fauna of the park. When Tribune talked to several of these foreigners, they tried to justify their stay in the park saying they want peace and solace and they got that kind of environment at the park. They are nationals of Russia, Spain, Zambia and the US. Most of them said they had come to the Maha Kumbh to see the religious-spiritual diversity of India and wanted to be close to nature, that’s why they opted for the park range spot. Forest officer SB Lal said they had only got the information of the illegal stay of the foreigners in the park two days ago and instantly informed the authorities concerned about the matter. They used to buy food and other items from shops, implying that they didn’t have fear of the park authorities either. “Whether it is illegal felling of trees or these foreigners staying in the park, the Forest Department have always been found wanting. Had the incident not came to light through the media, the foreigners would have surely stayed there for a longer time,” remarked Sohan Singh,
Raiwala-based social activist. |
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Admn gears up for Baisakhi snan
Haridwar, April 8 It is estimated that in this biggest of the four royal baths of the Haridwar Maha Kumbh, more than a crore people are expected to throng Ganga ghats on April 14. This bath is the biggest test for the mela administration, and while the mela administration has been taking normal festive baths as preparatory ones for the first three Shahi Snans, in hindsight these previous royal baths were taken as preparatory ones for the April 14 Shahi Snan. In this context, with the akhadas as usual playing a major role in royal baths, the mela administration held a meeting with the Akhada Parishad at the Mela Control Tower late yesterday and dwelt on various issues related with the royal bath. Mela Officer In Charge Anand Vardhan thanked the Akhada Parishad for their cooperation and guidance in the previous festive baths and was optimistic that the same would be replicated in the upcoming Shahi Snan which would be catching the world’s attention. The mela administration has sought discussion with all akhadas ranging from timing details of all akhadas from their camps towards Har-Ki-Pauri to minute details such as preventive steps to evade fire incidents and security checking of followers and devotees of ashrams- akhadas. Religious procession heads have been asked to curtail the number of vehicles and strict implementation of the allotted time of shahi processions and bathing time at Har-Ki-Pauri. Informing about the security setup for the royal bath, the Mela Police In Charge Alok Sharma said the mela police personnel would be maximum for the April 14 bath and intense security checkups were in place. Conveying support, Akhada Parishad chief Mahant Gyan Das said by the blessing of Mata Gana all would unitedly cooperate to ensure unhindered completion of the mega royal bath. Assuring the mela administration of strict and timely implementation of royal procession timings and bathing time, national general secretary of the Parishad Mahant Hari Giri Ji Maharaj said the mela administrative had done a commendable job and had fully cooperated with akhadas during all Shahi Snans till date. OSD DD Sharma informed that the mela administration was totally geared up for the royal bath and preparations were being made in view of pilgrims crossing 10.5 million mark. |
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NRI to promote pilgrimage tourism
Dehradun, April 8
He said he already had plans to open pilgrim-centric hotels in Rajkot, Varanasi, Bodh Gaya, Puri, Dharamshala and Rishikesh. He said he would also support activities aimed to enrich the local art and culture. The Madhwani Group is already working in sectors of tourism, steel, tea and insurance in countries like Uganda and East Africa. Dr Nishank on his part said the state government was working hard to promote industrialisation in the state. He said the government had come up with the integrated Industrial Development Policy for the hills, which was in consent to environment up in the hills. Dr Nishank said TATA, Hinduja and Ambani had already made huge investments in Uttarakhand. He also informed Madhwani of the Sparsh Ganga Programme meant to clean the Ganga and requested him to join the campaign. |
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Dantewada martyrs cremated with police honours
Nainital, April 8 The bodies of Brijanand and Rajendra Singh Rana were cremated at their native villages in Sitarganj on Udham Singh Nagar with a large number of people coming to pay their last respects to them. Representatives of the government and the administration were present on the occasion. Brijanand was married four months back and had recently visited his family on Holi. He had joined the CRPF in 2005. Rana too had visited his family last month. He has two daughters. The body of Manoj Naugai was received at his native village of Sangudi near Bhimtal this morning. He was cremated at the Chitrashila Ghats at Ranibagh near Kathgodam. A large number of residents of the area bid him a tearful adieu. Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG) Ramesh Chandra, who had come as a part of the CRPF contingent, paid the last respects. He said, “Naugai was an excellent human being and a valuable asset for the force. We are with the
family in this hour of grief and will always be available to them”. Naugai’s octogenarian grandfather Bhairon Dutt, who is an ex-serviceman from the Kumaon Regiment, recalled that Naugai had called him up last week promising to take him for his eye check-up whenever he came home next. “He had always wanted to be a part of the forces,”
he said. Naugai’s father Bhuvan Chandra had died eight years back. Twentyfive-year-old Naugai had been married last year only. |
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Doon needs police commissioner: Ex-DGP
Dehradun, April 8 Prakash Singh, a distinguished police officer who was also the DGP of Uttar Pradesh, was here today to deliver a lecture “Uttarakhand Police 2020: Challenges and Opportunities” organised by the Uttarakhand police on the last day of the police week here today. “In about 60 per cent area of the state, policing is being done by revenue officials. There is no place for such policing in the modern system. There should be one police in the entire state of Uttarakhand and there cannot be another parallel authority to He stated that the directives of the Supreme Court were not being properly followed in some police units like the police compliant authority. A 1959 batch IPS officer who was conferred the Padma Shri in 1991 for his exemplary work in flushing out militants from Punjab Prakash Singh advocated the need for police commissioner in Dehradun. He opined that considering the increase in population, development of infrastructure and several prominent institutions in Dehradun, there was a need for a police commissioner system. Contrary to the Centre’s perception that Naxalists were a bigger problem than terrorism in India, the former DGP of Uttar Pradesh and Assam termed terrorism as the biggest problem in the country. “Naxalism is our internal matter and is a problem of our people. Naxals don’t want to divide the country. They just want to have power to change the system. This problem can be solved with better governance and by providing basic amenities including primary hospitals and schools,” he said. “In contrast, terrorists want to destroy the country and several militant organisations have openly claimed that their aim was to annihilate the Hindus and to hoist their flag in Delhi,” said the former DGP. “Lashkar-e-Taiba has three enemies - Israel, India and the USA. They have their units in about 25 countries. The terrorism, which has been nurtured by Pakistan, will destroy the country in two years and terrorists will reign there,” Prakash said. He blamed poor intelligence for the massacre of 73 CRPF jawans by naxalites on Tuesday. “It is unbelievable that the movement of 1,000 naxals went unnoticed by villagers and the intelligence agencies. They should have provided inputs to the police,” he said. Prakash Singh, a former DGP of the Border Security Force (BSF) who was in the state capital today during a police week programme, had three suggestions for the Uttarakhand police to improve policing in the state. Prakash Singh commented on the registration of crime, police behaviour and corruption in the department. It is the common perception that one has to make several rounds of police stations in order to get their FIR registered as the police didn’t want that the number of registered cases to go up in their respective areas. In this regard, the former DGP said even ministers didn’t want that number of registered cases to go up and the police is sometimes under pressure due to this. He opined that the police should do a fair job and ask for more police stations and resources, if it lacked them. Secondly, he said the cops should be people-friendly and people should not be scared of approaching them. Police personnel should be polite with the complainants. This was a common observation of people that they didn’t have problems talking to IPS officers, but had problems while talking to the police station in charges. On corruption, Prakash Singh opined that most problems would remain unsolved till corruption was present. He said the element of corruption was in all areas and needed to be rooted out. To remove corruption from the Police Department, he said that good impression of the senior police officers was mandatory because ultimately that was what got passed on to the lower-ranked police personnel. Praising the Uttarakhand police, the former DGP of Uttar Pradesh and Assam said the state police looked better than its UP counterparts and even had a better cadre of senior police officers than the neighbouring state. He termed the present DGP of the state, Subhash Joshi, the ablest DGP of all who worked under him during his tenure. |
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Cong moots alternative to Pancheshwar Dam
Pitthoragarh, April 8 Following the announcement of the proposed rail link between Tanakpur and Bageshwar in the Rail Budget a debate has erupted over the issue of Pancheshwar Dam or the rail link in Kumoan. Many believe that the Indo-Nepal joint venture of the Pancheshwar hydro-electric project on the Kali river will jeopardise the rail link as the proposed railway track will be submerged in the reservoir of the 6,000 MW project. Mahendra Singh Mahra, former Uttarakhand minister and the Congress MLA from Lohaghat, has come with a solution. He argued that if a multi-purpose dam on the Saryu river at Chamgar could be built, then both projects could be pursued. “This project which is totally in the Indian territory was surveyed in 1977 by the Irrigation Department of Uttar Pradesh, according to the Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared that time the 400 MW project had a cost of Rs 586 crore,” said Mahra, former agriculture minister and MLA from Lohaghat. “If this project, which was surveyed as an alternative to Pancheshwar Dam and which has been facing opposition from Nepal, comes into existence it will have only 10 per cent rehabilitation problem compare to that of Pancheshwar Dam,” said Mahra. According to the DPR, the dam at Chamgar, which is 11.50 km upward on the Saryu river from Pancheshwar, only 800 families of 76 villages will be rehabilitated and 3,750 hectare land will be submerged under dam water. “Even the area of forest land under the dam water at Chamgar will only be 1,350 hectare while 1,000 hectare agriculture land and 400 hectare barren land (now under forest) will be submerged,” said Mahra. According to the information received from the Irrigation Department of Uttarakhand, the 1977 survey of Chamgar Dam had already cost a sum of Rs 50 lakh. Mahra said if government of Uttarakhand pursued the case to construct a dam on the Saryu on Chamgar at the border of Pitthoragarh-Champawat districts it could provide irrigation to more than 4 lakh hectare of land in the Terai area. The 230-metre-high dam at Chamgar on the Saryu will have a
3,586-sq-m reservoir. “The most beneficial point of this once surveyed as an alternative to multinational Pancheshwar project is that it can not only generate 400 MW of electricity for India but also could pave way for the railway line to Bageswar and Jauljibi, besides a motor road which is also proposed from Jauljibi to Tanakpur,” said Mahra who plans to start an agitation to pursue this demand. Mahra argued that there is lot of opposition to Pancheshwar Dam within Nepal and India should not go into the joint project. |
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Cong seeks probe into utilisation of funds
Nainital, April 8 Talking on behalf of his party men, legislator from Almora, Manoj Tewari told The Tribune, “We have ample proof to substantiate that the money received by the district under the Disaster Management Fund has been diverted and used elsewhere at the behest of the members of the ruling party”. Tewari said the district had received an amount of Rs 5 crore for the last financial year. He charged that the money was spent in projects that have nothing to do with disaster management on any point. “It would still be acceptable if a part of it was spent in mitigating the acute water crises being faced by the people. But in this case the fund has been used for absurd purposes like putting up fences in the forests,” he said. He further pointed that large parts of the district are prone to disasters like landslides and the road network in these parts is in shambles. He demanded that the money should have been used for addressing such concerns. “It is clear that the members of the ruling party are behind the diversion of the funds and it is the common public that continues to be at the receiving end,” said Tewari. He said along with Ranjit Singh Rawat of Salt, Karan Mehra of Ranikhet and Govind Singh Kunjwal of Jageshwar have written to the District Administration to initiate a thorough probe into the matter. The Congressmen have charged that in Ranikhet alone 21 schemes have been denied benefits from the said fund. The legislators have also aired their resentment at the failure of the government
for giving clearance to a pumping scheme at Saryu Seraghat. |
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Pradhan Sangathan continues stir
Dehradun, April 8 Gulfam Ali, president of the association, said, “Whenever an RTI application is filed we are bound to specify details to the requester, but the process of collecting data and information costs us around Rs 2,000. The state government doesn’t provide us with any contingency funds or grants and in that case, it’s difficult for us to abide by the notification”. “The government needs to look into the matter soon, then only the stature of the state can be build and its development can be attained,” he added. However, the issues of the protest comprised pressurising the government for framing the new Panchayati Raj Act in the state and increasing the honorarium of the gram pradhans from Rs 600 to the respectable amount. And also requested to remove the RTI Act from the activities of the zilla panchayats and district plan committees. |
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Man dies in accident; relatives block road
Nainital, April 8 Accusing the police of trying to save the driver of the car, a large number of people, including relatives of the deceased, gathered at the Base Hospital where the post-mortem of the body was being done and later blocked the road by keeping the corpse on the road. They were agitated over the fact that the police had failed to arrest the driver of the car despite being provided with the registration number of the vehicle. The blockade was lifted following assurances of action by senior police officials. It is learnt that the driver of the car identified as Prithviraj was arrested late at night from Bazpur. |
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