Pitthoragarh, May 15
No rain-like condition in the hilly region of the state this mid summer has caused drinking water shortage and crisis of electricity generation in those mini and micro hydro electric schemes which are aimed at provide electricity to villages which are difficult to be covered by electricity from big schemes.

This was stated by Uttarakhand State Renewable Energy Development Agency (Ureda) sources.

“We have 29 micro hydel schemes in the hilly district of the state. Out of these almost every scheme has come down to 15 to 40 per cent of its installed electricity generating capacity during this season,” said AK Tyagi, Chief Project Officer, Ureda, Uttarakhand. According to the officer out of 29 projects of 3.127 MW capacity under the agency, only one scheme is closed due to renovation work.

“The electricity generated by these schemes is not transmitted to grid and used locally,” said the project officer.

The micro hydro department of the state which runs eight micro schemes in the Kumaon region is facing fear of closing down all schemes. “Out of the eight micro electricity schemes, the 300 kw projects in Champawat and 200 kw in the Kotabag area of Nanital district have been completely shut down due to lack of water flow,” said Amit Kumar, an engineer with the department.

In Pithoragarh district, which is considered a hub of micro and mini hydro electric schemes, according to the department the flow in those rivulets on which these schemes depend, has gone down to 100 per cent in this month.

“Our scheme at Taleswar which has an installed capacity of 600 kw is generating only 200 kw, while the main schemes at Suringar and Charendev are generating only 10 per cent of their installed capacity of 800 kw and 400 kw, respectively,” said Amit.

The three micro electric schemes in Dharchula sub-division of Pithoragarh district on which the remote villages depend for electricity have also gone down from electricity generation point of view. “Out of these, three schemes of 3 MW capacity Kanchoti scheme is generating 13 kW, also three capacities Rilagar scheme generating 750 kW and two MW capacity Chirkila scheme in generating only 100 kW capacity of electricity this season, keeping some of remote villages in dark,” said PK Gangwar project officer Ureda Pithoragarh.

The engineers believe that until they assure at least 25 per cent of water on these rivulets, they don’t start the machines. “We receive sufficient water to run these schemes only between June and September. Ater October, 25 per cent water starts receding which comes at 50 per cent in January and almost 0 between February and May,” said Umesh Joshi, an engineer with micro hydel department in the state. 

Dehradun, May 15
The plan to tackle the problem of shortage of doctors in Uttarakhand, mooted two years ago, is gathering dust in some bureaucratic file. If the Diplomate to National Board (DNB) project was given a go-ahead, from the inception of the project, the state would have got five doctors in the first year, 10 doctors in the second year and 15 in the third year.

The project was pushed with vigour by former Principal Secretary Keshav Desi Raju and CMS of Doon Hospital Dr RK Pant. The plan could not move an inch as the Planning Department did not show any interest. The need to get the project going becomes all the more imperative, as the Doon Medical College project is yet to take off.

Considering the need to increase manpower, the Doon Hospital on getting a go-ahead from the regulatory body could have become a training centre for young medical graduates with aptitude for higher learning. The Doon Hospital is equipped to conduct training for pediatrics, general surgery, orthopedics and medicine,” said Dr RK Pant.

However, students will have to appear for theoretical exams for DNB at the selected centres in any part of the country. The National Board of Examinations is an autonomous organisation established by the government of India in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The prime objective of the Board is to conduct high uniform standard of postgraduate and post-doctoral examinations in various disciplines of modern medicine and allied sciences on an all-India basis for the award of Diplomate of National Board.

“The emphasis is on evaluating professional ability and practical application of sound theoretical knowledge in the practice of the speciality a candidate is certified in. “A private hospital at Herbertpur is already giving training in family medicine for the past five years in Dehradun district,” stressed Dr Pant.

Even the selected centres are first inspected by the regulatory body and then the centre has to pay an inspection fee of Rs 5,000. The Diplomate is equivalent to MD and MS courses.

Sources said if the government had passed this project the problem of hiring experts on contractual terms handling the ICU unit could have been solved. From the third year onwards, the hospital would have started getting 15 trained MDs every year.

Dehradun, May 15
Seeking a CBI probe into the hydro projects allotment issue, the Congress staged a dharna at the Gandhi Park here yesterday.

Led by Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Harak Singh Rawat, the Congress leaders iraised the issue of the hydro projects allotment. Rawat said it was strange that while people of the state were suffering due to power and water crises, the state government was busy resorting to acts of corruption.

Senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana accused the incumbent state government of doing little to address the issues concerning people. Mussoorie Congress MLA Joth Singh Gunsola said the BJP had failed on all fronts. He said the state government had stopped the recruitment process, which was adversely affecting the employment opportunities for the youth.

Nainital, May 15
The Socialist Janata Party (SJP) has announced that it will launch an agitation against encroachments on lands belonging to the Wakf Board across the state. Senior party leader Mohammad Akbar Khan said here today, “Land worth thousands of crores has been encroached upon by various commercial establishments and individuals. Illegal hotels, restaurants and even residential properties have come up on the Wakf properties right under the nose of the government and the administration”.

Khan also stated that his party would also take up the issue pertaining to domicile rights of the backward communities with regards to a controversial government order given that came on March 31 this year. “According to the order, no person belonging to the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) who does not have property registered before 1958 is eligible to get an OBC certificate or domicile rights. We are going to take up the matter in the High Court since it is a question of the livelihood of people from the OBCs who are also in the category of the poor”.

He said his party was gearing to contest all seats in the next elections.

Dehradun, May 15
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank inaugurated the Bharat Heart Institute, a super speciality heart-care centre, here today.

The facilities available are angiography coronary, peripheral, angioplasty and stenting, balloon vavlotomies, temporary and permanent pacemaker implantation, intensive coronary care unit, echo cardiography, treadmill test and heart checkup.

Dr Chetan Sharma, MD, Medicine (PGI, Chandigarh), DM, Cardiology (PGI, Chandigarh) and a former senior consultant, Apollo Hospital, Ludhiana, who will be heading the institute, said heart patients from Dehradun would now no longer have to rush to Delhi and Chandigarh for treatment from specialists.

“Even the cost of treatment is affordable than in Chandigarh and Delhi and we will try to keep it as minimal as possible,” said Dr Chetan. 

Haridwar, May 15
The Haridwar Municipality Committee (MC) today stalled the construction work being carried out in a primary school in the absence of a No Objection Certificate (NOC). The construction work was being carried out in Khadkhadi situated state primary school No. 43 that included the construction of a boundary wall, but locals and school staff alleged the involvement of a politician, residing next to the school building, behind stalling the construction.

The Rural Employment Scheme (RES) was the nodal agency carrying out the work, and despite repeated reminders from the municipality to the RES Department, the work was going on unabated.

A municipality team had to visit the spot today and stop the work. A notice had also been served to the RES executive officer regarding the matter, but EO Ramji Lal evaded the question.

Locals point out that a BJP politician doesn’t want the boundary wall to be constructed as it will make it difficult for the leader to park his vehicles inside the school premises.

“An NOC is of no use as it is the leader who has the objection to this construction and the municipal chairman has used his office to favour the politician,” said a local.

The ongoing work was being done at the cost of Rs 3.45 lakh. Earlier too, the Education Department had tried to build a boundary wall, but the work was stopped midway citing paucity of funds. The constructed part was destroyed in the night mysteriously.

Dehradun, May 15
DV Singh has taken over the charge of Director (Technical) of Tehri Hydro-electric Development Corporation India Limited (THDC).

A first class civil engineer with honours from NIT, Rourkela, DV Singh was selected in a campus interview by L&T in 1983.

He looked after the construction and planning of projects of the companies like NTPC, Indo-Gulf Fertilisers and SCOPE up till 1992 and contributed in a big way in the completion of the said projects.

He joined the THDC in 1992 and before taking over the responsibilities of the Director (Technical), he worked as Additional General Manager and was vested with special necessary powers to work as Chief Project Officer of the Koteshwar Hydro Electric Project (KHEP) (4X100 MW) since March 2007.

He took up the challenge to put on track the work of the ailing KHEP with additional powers for this special assignment, with the result that the project will be commissioned by December 2010. Prior to this, he worked as Deputy General Manager at the Tehri Power House for entire civil works from April 2004 to April 2007

He also contributed in construction and planning of power house and spillway of the Tehri project and its associated jobs like contracts, material management, construction of buildings and roads.

DV Singh was also chosen by the THDC to attend seminar on Hydro Vision 2008 at California (USA) and also attended an exhaustive training in designing dams, power houses and civil works conducted by Hydro Project Institute, Moscow, Russia.

Dehradun/Haridwar, May 15
Jewellers had a busy time today with the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya falling tomorrow. People, specially women, flocked jewellery shops to buy gold and diamond jewellery. Jewellers too had prepared various schemes and discounts to lure customers.

Akshaya Tritiya is considered pious and the best day to buy gold and gold jewellery in the Hindu tradition as it’s the birthday of Parshu Rama, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It marks the beginning of the Golden Age and, hence, it’s the onset of eternal prosperity for any venture or investment started today, specially gold.

According to Pt Bhupendra Sharma, an astrologer, Akshya Tritiya is the third day of the new moon of Vaisakh month (April-May) and one of the four days considered to be auspicious according to the Vedic calendar.

Jewellers in Dehradun and Haridwar put up hefty discounts, attractive schemes etc. Tanishq showrooms were offering 25 per cent discount on 22-karat gold jewellery and 10-15 per cent on diamond jewellery.

Some other showrooms were giving customers a certificate, in which the customers can either sell the bought item or change it at any of the company’s showroom outlet.

From diamond ring, pearl sets to even cars are on the anvil for lucky customers who shop these days, above a requisite limit.

Janata Jewellers at Kishan Nagar has put up free Janam Patri counsellors to the customers who come on the day, while Punjab Jewellers showroom at the Rajpur Road, apart from discount, provided portrait, sketch, mehndi and tattoo facility free for its women customers.

Indu Aswal, a sales executive at Tanishq showroom in Ranipur, said young girls and newly wed women had the craze of diamond and specially the replica of necklace which was worn by film star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the Hindi movie “Jodha Akbar” which cost about Rs 2.50 lakh.

Mayank Kampani Regional, branch executive of the Northern region of Tanishq, said, “The Indian jewellery market is one of its kind as gold and jewellery are inter-linked with our culture, tradition and festive occasions”.

Banks too tried to cash on the pious occasion. These had put up coins of 2, 4, 5.8 gm of gold and even gave a 1 per cent discount.

“These coins are quite chic and can be given as a gift or as a collector’s item,” remarked Sonia Narula, a young buyer.

Haridwar, May 15
The claim of the Punjab and Uttarakhand police of jointly nabbing a terrorist, Ahad Lone, belonging to the HUJI terror outfit doesn’t seem to be going down well as the police has failed to produce any evidence of him related to terror activities.

Further, the doubt has been gaining strengthen as the police authorities have been trying to evade the question as to whether the suspect is a terrorist and if so, why has he not been charged with terrorist-related acts.

During interrogation, neither any sensitive information was revealed nor any terror-related weapons were found from Lone, alias Baza Khan, a resident of Banwal village in Doda district, Jammu and Kashmir, who was arrested by a joint team from the Jwalapur sub-urban area in Haridwar district.

Insiders in the district police said that the theory of him being a terrorist seems overstretched and he has been tagged as such could be due to the fact that he comes from the terror-affected area of Jammu and Kashmir and is accused in a criminal case of murder in Punjab.

SSP, Haridwar, Sanjay Gunjiyal pointed out that the operation was carried out by the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) with a Punjab police team. As the murder case was lodged in Nawanshahr, the Punjab police took him into its custody.

He said that, if needed, the state police would take him into remand for further interrogation. When questioned on terrorism aspect, the SSP didn’t give a clear answer and said further interrogation by the Punjab police would clear up the situation.

The ATS officials had stated that the suspect had come to Haridwar to carry out terror attacks and the high security set up by the mela police thwarted his nefarious designs.

Meanwhile, Jwalapur police station officials said no case of terror-related activities had been registered against the suspect. However, they accepted that just on the basis of electronic surveillance, one could not assume that he was here to execute acts of terror.

Notably, Lone had been working for the HUJI for the past few years in Nawashahr. He had killed a co-worker there due to some personal dispute and fled from the city. Ever since, the Punjab police has been in search of him.

The Punjab police got a hint about his whereabouts as he was in constant touch with HUJI commanders and the police with the help of electronic surveillance found his location in Uttarakhand.

RB Chamola, ATS in charge, had stated that Lone had confessed to his involvement in terror acts. He had even admitted to having been associated with the Harkat-ul-Ansar outfit. But yesterday, Chamola didn’t answer his phone the whole day despite repeated attempts by mediapersons.

Nainital, May 15
The arrest of Tarlochan Singh, alias Locha, from Ramnagar by a team of the Punjab police on May 6 has led to turbulence in the area with the security agencies combing the region for his possible associates and for the seizure of arms and ammunition.

Locha is accused of being an activist of the Bhindranwale Tiger Force (BTF). For the past three days, a team of the Punjab police had brought him to various parts of Ramnagar and Udham Singh Nagar, where searches were carried out at various locations and several local residents were questioned in connection with Locha’s activities and his association with various anti-social elements.

It is learnt that searches were carried out in Bail Parav and Bandarjuda in Nainital district, along with Bazpur and Bannakhera in Udham Singh Nagar district.

Talking to The Tribune, Inspector-General (Kumaon) Jeevan Chandra Pandey said the Uttarakhand police had a limited role to play in the developments related to Locha. It was confined to being a facilitator for the Punjab police to carry 
out investigations.

“They had arrested him in connection with a case of murder in Punjab. We have been helping them in the investigations thereafter. He was kept in a lock-up for the night at Ramnagar on Wednesday,” he said.

However, he added that although Locha’s name had not figured in any case of heinous crime in Uttarakhand, the police was minutely analysing the possibility of his involvement in anti-social activities in the state.

Locha had been arrested in connection with the Lily murder case of Mansa in Punjab. Lily Kumar, a follower of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, had been murdered in Mansa in 2009. The murder had created a sensation in Punjab given the ongoing Sikh-Dera row.

At the time of his arrest, Locha had allegedly been residing at Dera Sant Nirmal Ashram in Bandarjuda as Mahant Ravi Sher Singh.

Besides his alleged involvement in the murder case, Locha is also said to be instrumental in grenade attacks at a hospital and a police station in Jammu.During the days of militancy in Punjab, the Terai region of Uttarakhand had also become a theatre of violence, where a large number of militants had taken refuge. Several of these had been influenced by the personality of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

The Punjab police is looking for a cache of arms which might have been hidden by Locha and some of his associates in the region.

Dehradun, May 15
The Dehradun police produced three persons, including a woman, who were caught yesterday in a connection with the murder of a cement trader, Naeem, before the media here today.

The blood-soaked body of Naeem was found in the fields near the ISBT on April 24 and a complaint of his missing had been filed at a police station in Saharanpur on April 21.

The police said five persons were involved in the murder. The cops have arrested Arshad and Naveen, both of Haridwar, and Sania of Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh. The police is on a lookout for other two, Akbar and Rashid of Muzzafarnagar.

A mobile of the deceased was recovered from them, while his motorcycle and cash is said to be with the other two who are still at large. The police termed several reasons for the murder, but maintained the primary motive was a dispute of borrowing and lending between Rashid and Naeem and the second of looting.

Sania, a divorcée and mother of two, was girlfriend of Arshad, who had convinced her to call Naeem to Dehradun on some pretext. She told the police that Arshad hadn’t told her that they would kill him.

Dehradun SSP Abhinav Kumar said Sania called up Naeem from a public call office at the ISBT on April 22 to come to Dehradun. Both hailed from the same place in Saharanpur and thus knew each other.

Naeem came to the ISBT on his motorcycle and both left towards bypass. Sania lied to him that she wanted to take some clothes from the house of one of her relatives. But after reaching 1 km from the ISBT she stopped him saying that she wanted to attend to a call of nature.

And just when he stopped his bike there, the four men, who were already waiting there for him, according to their plan pounced upon him. One of them took Sania back from there and other three attacked him with a stick on his head.

Naeem managed to stand and run towards the fields, but the trio chased him and strangled him. They hit his face with stones to ensure that he died.

The investigating team has been awarded Rs 5,000 from IG MA Ganpathy and Rs 2,500 from the SSP.