Dehradun, April 11
Though Uttarakhand Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank announced to put Uttarakhand Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers to maximum use, he skipped giving any concrete assurance for the induction of IFS officers into general services here today. The Uttarakhand IFS has been for long seeking their utilisation for general administrative services like some of forest predominant states.

The Chief Minister was addressing the valedictory session of Uttarakhand IFS Officers Association. Reacting to the Uttarakhand IFS Officers Association’s demands put up at the convention, Nishank said his government was in favour of giving greater responsibility to IFS officers, but avoided making any commitment.

He, however, announced bringing in the watershed directorate under the purview of the Forest Department. “Watershed directorate will be brought under the purview of the state forest authorities,” Dr Nishank amidst round of applause. Dr Nishank asked the forest officials to link local villagers with forests.

Earlier, Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Dr RBS Rawat revealed that forest fires stood as a major challenge for the department. He said the forest officials work round the clock to meet forest fire exigencies.

Rawat said the department had even embarked upon a project that involved usage of pine needles (perul) for power generation. This, apart from usage of perul, would involve creating livelihood opportunities for local villagers.

Anil Baloni, Advisor Forest and Wildlife Committee, appreciated done by Uttarakhand Forest officers towards conservation of forest and wildlife.

President Uttarakhand IFS Officers Association Jairaj put before the Chief Minister the concerns of Uttarakhand cadre Indian Forest Service Officers.

General Secretary BP Gupta coordinated the proceedings where Vinod Singhal gave the vote of thanks. The three-day convention of the association had started on Friday with Uttarakhand Governor doing the inauguration. 

Dehradun, April 11
On the occasion of the 125th foundation day of the Congress, party workers organised a meeting at the Congress Bhawan here today.

The meeting was organised to make workers aware of history, policies and thoughts of the party. Laxman Chowk MLA Dinesh Agarwal said the history of the Congress was great and it was the only party that would develop the country and provide all facilities for the betterment of the society.

Praising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he said he was known for his honesty and intelligence. He was a world-famous economist and under his able guidance the Congress was progressing leaps and bounds.

Agarwal held the state government responsible for shortage of water and electricity in Uttarakhand. “Central government is never responsible for shortage of water and electricity. It is the state government that has to take the responsibility,” he said, while addressing the gathering.

Nainital, April 11
Aiming to derail the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre on the issue of extension of the industrial package for Uttarakhand, the Congress unit in the state is planning to have public meetings at the sub-division level across the state to dispute BJP’s claim.

Talking to The Tribune, Congress leader Mahesh Sharma said, “It has become a common norm for the BJP-led state government to blame the Centre for all ills in the state. It is nothing but an attempt to cover up its own failures on various fronts”.

He said the Congress would reveal the failure of the BJP to bring even a single industry to Uttarakhand over the past three years. “They have failed to attract even a single industry and are now raising a hue and cry over the issue of the industrial package. Their entire approach has been negative on this issue. It was the Congress government under the leadership on Narain Dutt Tiwari that not only implemented the industrial package given by the Centre in a proper way, but also went on to develop industrial belts in the state, something which the BJP has failed to carry forward,” he pointed.

The BJP under the leadership of Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank has been trying to garner public support on the issue of the industrial package. The package had initially been given till 2013 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, but it had been reduced till 2007 and then extended till 2010 by the UPA regime.

States, led by Punjab where the BJP is an ally of the ruling Akali Dal, have been alleging that on account of this package industry they have been fleeing to Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to get more incentives. Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal has been vociferously opposing the package saying it is against the principles of federalism and has threatened to get things right by approaching the Supreme Court on industry-related issues.

Sharma said the Congress party was striving hard to get the package extended for a reasonable period of time. On the other hand the BJP was now seeking a package till 2020. Some days back contingents led by Nishank and the Congress leadership from the state had called on Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh separately on this issue seeking an extension of the package.

Sharma said the Prime Minister had given a positive response on the issue and the package was expected to be extended for a reasonable period of time. “It is the BJP that should persuade Akali Dal on the issue. We are now going to take the issue before the masses over the next few days to call off their bluff,” he said.

The power crises in the state has added to the worries of thegovernment with entrepreneurs expressing unhappiness over the lack of power supply. Peeved over the unannounced cuts and frequent technical faults, a set of entrepreneurs in the Sitarganj area of Udham Singh Nagar have reportedly threatened to close shop if things are not sorted out soon.

Dehradun, April 11
A forest guard has been suspended while another forester served warning over the entry of foreigners inside the Rajaji National Park.

Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) RBS Rawat today informed mediapersons of the suspension of the forest guard to mediapersons on the sidelines of a meeting of IFS officers in Dehradun. He said the state Forest Department had taken a serious note of the incident.

When asked for the reason behind the delay in pushing out these foreigners from the park, Dr Rawat said with Kumbh in progress, any harsh decision could have spelt trouble and, thus, the forest authorities adopted a policy of restraint while asking the foreigners to leave the park. He said the sage leading these foreigners, Shivraj Giri, had already left the park hearing of disciplinary action against forest officials.

On the raging forest fires, the Uttarakhand PCCF denied that fires this year had been more alarming than ones occurred last year. “Fires had started from very month of February last year, while this summer fire incidents have been reported from April,” Dr Rawat said. He said the department this time had created master crew stations at every forest division to deal with forest fires. “DFO-level officials have also been asked to ensure their presence in their respective forest areas to deal with forest fires,” the PCCF added.

Meanwhile, the forest authorities claimed that they had sanitised the Rajaji Park area and most of the foreigners had left the park and the rest (20 to 25) would be leaving the park by Monday morning.

“Only 25 foreigners are left at the park. They too will leave latest by Monday morning,” said SB Lal, Warden, Haridwar. “Some among these 25 foreigners have reported diarrhoea and thus have been given some time by us,” Lal said. Foreigners have been allotted a land in the Kumbh mela area by the authorities.

It is noteworthy that presence of around 350 foreigners near Duggada waterfront between Chila and Gori ranges of the park has created a furore among forest authorities. The foreigners had been partying inside the protected area for long and their act went unnoticed on part of state forest authorities.

Sandeep Rawat adds from Haridwar: Most of the foreigners are now staying at the mela land at Pantdeep allocated by the Kumbh administration while others moved to various ashrams, dharamshalas and akhadas they were associated with.

The place in the Rajaji Park where these foreigners had been staying illegally presented a filthy look with garbage spread all over the area. Though a few foreigners were still there, they were there only to clean the garbage and fill the sanitary holes and level the land.

The peaceful exit of these foreigners has been termed as a welcome step and right policy of the state government by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. He said the peaceful retreat by the foreigners had resulted due to the nobility of the state government. He said government could have driven them out of the park within hours using force but it would have not been appropriate in view of the Indian and Kumbh culture.

It took more than four days to the government and administration to evacuate 150-odd foreigners from the park area, which is a reserved and protected area.

To ensure that in future no such incidents happened, the park employees have been strictly ordered to man the interiors of the park and report any movement of suspicious and unidentified persons immediately to the higher authorities.

Nainital, April 11
Eight tenements were burnt and a standing crop of wheat in an area said to be 60 acres was destroyed in a fire that broke out at Gaurikheda village near Sitarganj in Udham Singh Nagar district yesterday.

Haridwar, April 11
At the start of the New Year, just before the commencement of the first festive bath of Makar Sakranti, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had called a press conference in the Kumbh Media Centre wherein he had made tall claims about all projects related with the Kumbh and assured of their timely completion.

And today again, a CM’s press conference was organised at the same centre just before the last Shahi Snan of the Kumbh wherein Nishank again reiterated the same thing claiming the ongoing Kumbh as the best organised ever and wherein Kumbh works were not only mostly of permanent nature, but also historic.

But after reading out the detailed reports of the number of works completed and some works still being carried out in the Kumbh mela area, Nishank failed to satisfy queries regarding the quality of works and the difference between the works being carried on paper and in reality.

Nishank evaded questions on deficiencies relating to the organisation of a mass marriage. He said problems were bound to surface and it was not easy to satisfy everyone. “Even in our family marriages, we are not able to satisfy every relative and invitee. So is the case with this Maha Kumbh, which is a mass marriage wherein we are hosting people from all parts of the world,” stated Nishank.

Notably after assuming state’s premier mantle succeeding BC Khanduri, Nishank had carried out several impromptu inspections of Kumbh works in Haridwar and even suspended several nodal officers. Kumbh works had then gathered pace, but several works are still going on though just a fortnight is left for the completion of the Maha Kumbh 2010.

Earlier Nishank termed the Kumbh hosting as one of the highlights of his state government and claimed that the works done in the ongoing works were historic, of such magnitude and permanent nature.

Comparing the Ardh Kumbh 2004 and previous Maha Kumbhs of 1998 and 1986, Nishank said be it in terms of Kumbh funds, permanent nature scale works, number of working agencies, projects and pilgrim-oriented facilities the ongoing one is the best.

“The work itself speaks in Haridwar, while comparative data of the previous Maha Kumbh and Ardh Kumbh reveals that our government has left no stone unturned making the century’s and Uttarakhand’s first Kumbh a grand success,” voiced Nishank.

Dwelling on the new initiatives done for the first time in Kumbh history, the CM pointed out the linking-delinking facility at six places in Har-Ki-Pauri for continuous power supply, installing of insulated rubber wires on the 17-km-long Peshwayi procession routes, construction of ghats for physically challenged at the Bairagi camp, green ghats, nine compact sub-stations with HT-LT circuit breaker and construction of semi-permanent nature toilets, besides temporary lavatories over 10,000 in number.

Accompanying the Chief Minister were Principal Secretary NS Napalchiyal, Chief Secretary to CM Subash Kumar, Director-General of Uttarakhand Police Subash Joshi, Mela Officer Anand Vardhan, Mela DIG Anand Vardhan, Garhwal IG MA Ganapathy, DM Haridwar R Meenakshi Sundaram, SSP Sanjay Gunjiyal and several other administrative officers.

Dehradun, April 11
Dr Ravi Chopra, social activist and a member of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), said the lopsided policies of the state government were responsible for the current power crisis in the state.

The government encouraged heavy power consuming industries to set up shop in the state knowing fully well that such industries would be a drain on the power supply. “Without paying heed to the warnings by the Uttarakhand Power Corporation and assessing the power availability the government opened it’s arms to welcome heavy duty industries especially the steel mills,” said Dr Chopra.

While addressing a press conference today by the Citizens for Green Doon, Dr Chopra said 800 industries established in the Terai region consumed more than 50 per cent of the total electricity in the state and the Terai region accounted for more than 80 per cent of the total power consumed in the state while the mountainous regions received only 13 per cent of the total electricity.

“The Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission had informed three Chief Ministers of the state about rampant theft and misuse of electricity in the state, but no action was taken. In turn it is compounding power shortage in the state,” charged Chopra.

Dr Chopra rubbished claims made by the state government regarding the negative impact of the Central government decision to stop work on Bhaironghati and Pala Maneri hydroelectric projects. “The government’s plea is full of holes as these two dams exist only on paper,” he said.

Stressing that both dams in question were merely paper-dams, he said even the detail project report (DPR) for the Bhaironghati project had not been submitted to the ministry concerned and no clearance was received for its construction from either the Forest or Environment authorities.

Chopra said when the Central government announced its decision to stop work on construction of the Bhaironghati and Pala Maneri hydroelectric projects, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister and other politicians from the state criticised the decision with the state government demanding electricity and financial assistance amounting to Rs 1,000 crore from the Central government to compensate for the expected loss resulting from the decision.

Chopra said it was illogical to demand electricity as even if work on the construction of the two projects had continued, the regular generation of electricity could have taken at least 5-7 years for both projects. “Instead of begging the Central government for Rs 1,000 crore in compensation, the state should demand the same amount for eco-generation activities.

He called for a public debate and a comprehensive assessment of Uttarakhand’s electricity needs and its potential with an emphasis on equity, environmental sustainability and security of the lives and livelihood of the people.

Dr Nitin Pandey of CFGD said instead of focusing on large dams, the state government should facilitate generation of energy from alternative sources like wind and solar energy.

Dehradun, April 11
A large number of youths from various colleges of Dehradun today joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Inducting into the Bharatiya Janata Yuwa Mochra (BJYM) fold, Manohar Kant Dhyani, vice-chairman of the State Planning Commission, said the BJP always believed in politics of values and asserted that the new youths would provide strength to the party.

He called upon the youths to work for the success of the party in the 2012 Assembly elections. Dhyani said youths were strength of a party and asserted that the BJP was fast expanding its base among the youth of the country.

Vinod Kandari, BJYM state president, asserted that as many 200 youths joined the BJP today which was a welcome development.

Subhash Barathwal, vice-president of the Yuwa Kalyan Parishad, and Brijbhushan Gairola were other prominent speakers at the function.

Dehradun, April 11
Thirtythree persons took Amrit on the occasion of Khalsa Sajana Diwas in Gurdwara Shri Guru Singh Sabha, Arhat Bazar, in the city today. Five Panj Piyaras came from Amritsar to give Amrit to 33 persons following all rituals.

Shedding light on the Amrit, Head Granthi Gyani Bhupal Singh said Sikh Gurus had given a lesson of humanity, but there was need to take this lesson to every individual.

He said after taking Amrit, a person became real “adhikari” of serving Gurus and, therefore, after taking it one must devote his all life to follow Sikh religion’s rituals and rules. 

Haridwar, April 11
Today, the pilgrim city of Haridwar witnessed lakhs of devotee followers of renowned spiritual guru Satpal Maharaj, who took traffic and roads almost in their grip. Everywhere there were only the followers of Satpal Maharaj, who came to the pilgrim city to participate in the annual convention, Sadh Bhawna Sammellan.

The sammellan, which started today, will continue till the Baisakhi festival with sermons from the spiritual guru himself being the main attraction for the devotees. The royal procession took to Haridwar streets making people in awe of the sheer number of enrolled followers participating in the procession from various states.

Satpal Maharaj, who was on a chariot, was thronged by followers and crowds who watched with patience in the scorching heat, but felt blessed when they got a glimpse and blessings of the spiritual guru. The royal procession was dipped in Tricolours with followers holding flags having saffron, white and green colours.

“Such was the length of the procession that I watched from my terrace for more than two hours,” said Deepshikha Singh, a resident.