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Finally, Kumbh mela admn begins cleaning up
Students’ hard work pays off
Welham boys top international filmmakers’ fest
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DMC’s poor performance mars development projects
Secretariat, OFD play a draw
Two IMA expeditions flagged off
Drugs controlling authority faces staff crunch
Mountaineering team flagged off
Dehradun u-19 cricket team selected
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Finally, Kumbh mela admn begins cleaning up
Haridwar, May 19
Such is the gravity of the situation that health experts and doctors are stating that if steps are not taken immediately, an outbreak of some contagious disease may take the pilgrim city in its grip. The scenario is worse at the core mela zone ie Har-ki-Pauri and its adjacent ghats where the main Kumbh rituals and proceedings were held and where, throughout the year, pilgrims and devotees kept coming. When The Tribune team visited the Ganga ghats today, the stink and flies made it move away from most spots quickly. And, these were the same ghats where earlier one could not go without taking a dip. Even Minister of State in the Union Cabinet Harish Rawat, who is the parliamentarian from Haridwar, is perturbed by the state of sanitation in the city. Rawat inspected Har-ki-Pauri, Subash Ghat, Alaknanda Ghat, Sabzi Mandi, Gaughat, Kushawrat Ghat, Ram Ghat, Vishnu Ghat, Moti Bazar, Upper Road, Main Bazar and other areas of the city and was annoyed over the garbage and filth accumulated that had been lying here and there unattended for days.
When residents and pilgrims saw Rawat visiting the area on foot, they met him and pointed to the negligence of the authorities as well as the woeful condition of the city. “Is this the same city which hosted the Kumbh and for which Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank is seeking a Nobel Prize? If authorities at the Nobel foundation come here now, they will give a Nobel Prize to the state government for the multiple heaps of garbage,” remarked Rawat. After the huge public outcry and Haridwar parliamentarian conveying his anger to Mela Officer in charge Anand Vardhan, District Magistrate R Meenakshi Sundaram and the authorities concerned, the administration finally sprung into action. The cleaning up is now on at a war footing. Medicines and pesticides worth Rs 10 lakh have been sanctioned from the mela budget. Vardhan and Sundaram today inspected the temporary lavatories put up by the Sulabh International and directed the organisation to shut these temporary toilets and pits after full treatment. The whole city has been bifurcated into four zones and each zone is being handled by a zonal magistrate in line with Kumbh snans when sector zonal magistrates were appointed. Overseeing and ensuring cleanliness in the city from garbage and flies is the work of these magistrates and that is to be done before May 22. The City Magistrate, Haridwar, has been given the Haridwar zone, SDM has been given the Kankhal zone while tehsildar and sub-tehsildar have respectively been allocated Jwalapur and Mayapur zones. The overall control of this cleaning drive has been given to Additional District Magistrate Ranvir Singh Chauhan. Executive Officer BL Arya of Haridwar municipality said that the municipality had been given the order to recruit additional health-sanitary workers to deal with the situation. Meanwhile, city health officer Dr Anil Tyagi has failed to convince district authorities from going on leave from May 11 to 20 leaving the city’s sanitation system in the doldrums. The District Magistrate has ordered the Chief Medical Officer to cancel the leave of the Health Officer and directed EO BL Arya to file an FIR against the Health Officer. The Municipal Employees Union has also been pressing for the induction of 1,500 sanitation workers as per a committee report formed by the municipality besides filling of vacant safai nayak posts. The Health Officer’s negligence during this time of crisis has aggravated the sanitation system in the city and had even led temporary sanitation workers to dump garbage outside his residence due to the non-payment of wages for their Kumbh duty.
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Students’ hard work pays off
Dehradun, May 19
In ISC results, Shivani Singh of Welham Girls School made her school proud by scoring 97.25 per cent, the highest in science stream, while Rishika Bansal of Welham Girls and Manit Bandhini of Doon School have scored the highest (97.5 pc) in the commerce stream. Sadhika Vivek Shauq of Welham Girls topped by scoring In ICSE results, Swarnima Gupta from Brightland School topped scoring 97.4 per cent. Roopali Lakhotia of Welham Girls and Spardhan Aggarwal of Doon School were second (97.2 pc) and third (96.2 pc), respectively. Almost every school in town got a 100 per cent result. Students, parents and school authorities were very much delighted on the accomplishment of the students. Speaking to the media, Roopali Lakhotia of Welham Girls said, “I am delighted after scoring 97.2 pc. My parents are happy for me and are planning to come and meet me from Gangtok soon”. “I owe my achievement to my teachers and school authorities who helped me in completing the course on time. After that, regular unit tests helped us revise our course and remove our mistakes,” she said. Despite her tough study schedule, Roopali Lakhotia took out time for hobbies like music and games. She plans to study humanities in the future and aspires to become Secretary General of the United Nations.
“I stayed cool and focused on quality study in the final moments. Thorough revisions of lessons and, of course, the support of teachers led me and other meritorious students of the school to achieve good scores in the examinations,” said Swarnim Gupta of Brightland School. Results of other schools: St Joseph Academy class X: Science-Vidhushi Dobhal 95.8 per cent; Commerce-Jalaj Anand 91.2 pc. St Joseph Academy Class XII: Science-Karan Vohra 95.25 pc; Commerce- Aastha Garg and Kshitij Gupta 94 pc. St Thomas College: Class X: Garvit Arya 95.4 pc and Rishi Garg 95 pc. St Thomas College: Class XII: Commerce- Tanuj 94.25 pc; Science-Vaishali Gupta-93.25 pc. Marshall School: Class X: Sonam Kala 95 pc, Ayush Mehra and Aman Dahral 93 pc. Marshall School: Class XII: Science-Abhinav Shah 93 pc; Commerce-AR Rashi 85 pc. Bright Land School: Class X: Swarnima Gupta 97.4 pc, Parth Gairola 97.2 pc. Bright Land School: Class XII: Science-Swarit Kumar Aggarwal 97 pc; Commerce-Dhruv Bhatia 95.25 pc. Heritage School: Class X: Prakhar Jain 94 pc, Shivi Verma 92.2 pc and Baljeet Singh 89 pc. Heritage School: Class XII: Science- Paras Arora 96 pc; Commerce-Kuber Singh Bindra 94 pc. Brooklyn School: Class X: Garima Kandpal 92 pc, Kavita Chaurasia 90.4 pc and Anshul Nautiyal 90 pc. Brooklyn School: Class XII: Vaibhav Gupta 92 pc and Anshi Gupta 91.25 pc. Unison World School: Class X: Shevy Mittal scored above 92 pc and Ifraah Mumtaz Beg scored above 91 pc. Asian School: Class X: Tushar Goyal 95 per cent, Prachi Sharma 94 pc and Himadri Chand. Asian School: Class XII: Sonil Jain 94 pc, Vibhor Saxena 93 pc and Vitihka Joshi 92 pc.
Cent per cent result for GNFC, Wynberg Allen, St George’s School in Mussoorie Mussoorie, May 19 In Wynberg Allen School, Shubangi topped in science with 90.5 per cent marks, Vinith Kurien was second with 90 pc and Jasika Chugh was third with 89 pc. In commerce, Akarshan Verma was first with 93 pc, Yash Gupta second with 92 pc and Anchali Singh third with 89 pc. The results from other schools were not available till the filing of the report. GNFC Headmistress ND Sahni was extremely glad that her school had shown cent per cent passing result this year. Most schools have fared well this year in Mussoorie.
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Welham boys top international filmmakers’ fest
Dehradun, May 19 ‘Who Killed Rispana’ was the presentation produced entirely by boys of the school, depicting the present condition of the river Risapana that looks more like a drain yesterday. The film is an honest interpretation of the failure of the state government in keeping the water reservoir plastic and filth free. Around 52 schools from all over the world, including countries like Argentina, Thailand, Slovania, apart from India, took part in this film-making festival held at the National Science Centre, New Delhi. Eminent personalities such as Col Raj Jaskunwar Kohli and Meraj Khan represented Welham Boys School at the event. The film produced by the team, which also comprised Shriyam Gupta, Ayush Singh, Bhavuk Bansal, Satyenter Pal. The film will be officially released in the school on May 21 at a special function.
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DMC’s poor performance mars development projects
Dehradun, May 19 On the other hand, Mayor Vinod Chamoli has expressed helplessness on the matters which have got stuck in court cases. His fight with the MNA has also affected the pace. Work at Chakshah Slum Colony at a cost of Rs 860.20 lakh for the construction of 160 houses is yet to begin, whereas the first instalment of Rs 204.70 crore has been released by the Centre. In the case of Kath Bangla Slum Colony where 148 houses are to be built at a cost of Rs 622.93 lakh and the DMC got Rs 155.73 lakh as first instalment, the matter has got stuck in a legal wrangle after the alleged owner of the land claimed his rights over the property. Despite the order on December 18 last year, the work on the project has still not started. Similarly, at Khala Basti, where 80 houses for slum people are to be built at a cost of Rs 372.83 lakh, the first instalment of Rs 80 lakh has been released. Here also, many residents claimed rights over the property and stalled the work by moving court. Chamoli said he was in touch with the DM to ascertain the veracity of land allotment in these places. Councillor Ganesh Dandwal accused the Mayor for not doing his homework well while deciding about the land for the projects. He said, “The Mayor showed hurry in preparing the plan to be taken to the Central government for the approval of funds without looking into the records or checking if the place belonged to anybody or not. Now, when they started, people who own the land are moving court. The poor impression at the Centre will badly affect the other projects whose instalments are yet to be released from there. It may also not consider MC’s future projects also”. This is exactly what is happening. The Centre has not released even the first instalment of the other three projects: first is Brahmpuri Slum Colony-Phase 1, for which 240 houses are to be built; second is Phase II for 421 houses; and third is Ramnagar Slum Colony for 176 houses. Even those projects, which have exhausted their first instalment, the Centre has not released the second instalment to carry forward the work. These cases are Ram Mandir Kusht Ashram involving construction of 27 houses at a total budget of Rs 163.64 lakh and the Centre has not released the second instalment though the MC claims to have spent Rs 50 lakh on this project. Repeating the same story, the MC spent Rs 45 lakh for the construction of 28 houses for Shanti Kusht Ashram which has a total cost of Rs 137.20 lakh. The third instance of Rotary Kusht Ashram, target of building 34 premises at a total cost of Rs 163.34 lakh, the MC is waiting for the second instalment. In a nutshell, for the nine projects, which cost Rs 5,957.22 lakh for the construction of 1,314 buildings, the MC has got merely Rs 855.17 lakh till date. Its poor performances can mar its tall claims of ridding the city of slum colonies with the emergence of new well-equipped buildings.
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HCA beat Ghaziabad, annex title
Dehradun, May 19 Winning the toss, the HCA decided to bat first in a twenty-20 encounter. It scored 92 runs in 16 overs after losing all its wickets. Arvind (43 off 28) was the mainstay for HCA. With the lack of support from other end the team couldn’t muster a big total. Naushad captured four wickets of the HCA. Sobhit took three, Ayush and Faisal too chipped in with one wicket each. Chasing the target, Ghaziabad suffered early jolts and its batsmen surrendered before the bowlers of the HCA team. At the score of four runs it lost four batsmen in the fifth over. Man of the Match Manish took the most wickets, four, Keshav got three wickets. Vijay and Navnish got two and one wicket, respectively. Faisal (14), Mohit (13) and Sobhit (11) were the main scorers. Meanwhile, Vijay was adjudged man of the series. Atul Tyagi was selected as the best player and Sobhit walked away with the award of best bowler.
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Secretariat, OFD play a draw
Dehradun, May 19 Both of the goals came in the first half in a neck-to-neck competition. Charu of the Secretariat scored the first goal in the 10th minute of the match. The rival team retaliated in the 20th minute through RS Rautela. Whereas the second half remained goalless with the attempts of both the sides proving futile. Tomorrow, the Education Department team will take on the OLF team in another league match.
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Two IMA expeditions flagged off
Dehradun, May 19 The IMA is a premier training institute where Gentlemen Cadets (GC), representing diverse strata of society, are imparted pre-commissioning training. This training includes a number of adventure activities. Some mountaineering expeditions undertaken by GCs of the IMA include mountaineering expedition in June 2007 to Mt Bhagirathi-II which stands at an altitude of 21,364 ft, in June 2008 to Mt Black Peak (20,980 ft) and Mt Bandar Punch (20,831 ft) in June 2009. This is indeed a proud moment for the IMA as this is for the first time in recent history that a twin expedition of this nature is being undertaken since its platinum jubilee. Mt Jogin I (6,465m, located in the upper Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand region) will be scaled by a team of three officers, 12 GCs and four NCOs of the IMA. The team will be lead by Major SPS Chauhan who was deputy team leader in two previous mountaineering expeditions from the IMA. He will be assisted by Capt Sukinder Guleria, as deputy team leader and technical officer. Capt Manoj Shinde, who has done basic course at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, is going as Administrative Officer and Capt Anuj Vashishta as Medical Officer. The team has undertaken training under qualified instructors at NIM, Uttarkashi, during the last two-midterm adventure training breaks. The team will reach the road head at Gangotri on May 21. The team will attempt to reach the summit on June 2 or 3. The team will be conducting a drive all along the route, clearing all debris and non-biodegradable waste lying in the area. The white water rafting expedition from Rudraprayag to Shivpuri will be undertaken by a team of two officers, three NCOs and 30 GCs of the IMA. The team will be lead by Major Vipul Deswal and Capt Jitendra Sangwan will be team member. The team will start the expedition on May 24 from Rudraprayag and cover the 132 km stretch of the Ganga in four days. The team will encounter 47 rapids, which include seven rapids of class III and IV and require high expertise to negotiate. The River Rafting Club was started in January at the academy and is part of the Army Aqua Nodal Centre, Raiwala. The route undertaken is the same as the one the India-Bangladesh teams of the Army had taken.
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Drugs controlling authority faces staff crunch
Dehradun, May 19 As of now, the state Drugs Control Office, Dehradun, has only eight drug inspectors (two senior inspectors and six drug inspectors) and one drugs controller in charge of the authority. In view of the expected rush of pharmaceutical companies, the apparatus appears grossly inadequate. The strength of drug regulatory mechanism in the state becomes vital when one considers the state government’s efforts to invite more and more pharmaceutical companies to invest in Uttarakhand. “At the moment there is requirement of at least seven more staff members for which appointments have to be made through the state Public Service Commission. If you compare the structure with other states, we are acutely short of manpower. Still it has not affected our performance,” said DD Upreti, state drugs controller, who will be retiring on May 31. Interestingly, only Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar have district-level set ups of drugs control. In the remaining hill districts none exists. To meet the problem of under-staffing, the government has made a single drugs controller in charge of five districts. However, the authority maintained that the state drugs control machinery was nevertheless discharging it’s duties despite the shortage of manpower. The number of manufacturing licences issued to various MNCs are 350 and the retail 1,400 and 1,300 wholesale licences. Besides, there are six companies that have been issued restricted licences. Prior to the creation of the state there were only eight pharmaceutical companies. The number has considerably grown now in 2010.
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Mountaineering team flagged off
Pitthoragarh, May 19 “The mountaineering team, including three sherpas, will reach at base comp on May 22 (4,000 metre),” said Puran Pandey of the Uttaranchal Tour and Travels Association, agency which managed the expedition. “The peak is 63 km away from Munsyari town and the expedition is led by Rajshekhar Maiti, an ace mountaineer,” said Pandey.
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Dehradun u-19 cricket team selected
Dehradun, May 19 The team will be led by Vaibhav Pawar. Other members of the team are Sumit Srivastav, Sameer Sharma (wicket keeper), Keshav, Girish Raturi, Shiva Chaudhary, Gaurav Singh, Rahul Thapliyal, Akshay Puniya, Ajay Joshi, Manish Rautela, Varun Singh Negi, Amit Parasi, Ayush Jugraj, M Samad (wicket keeper) and Pavas Bhandari. On the inaugural day tomorrow, Jaipur and Jyoti Club, Lucknow, will play against each other on the Ranger’s College cricket ground. Gujral Academy, Haldwani, will face Dehradun XI in another match on the Survey Ground.
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Haridwar, May 19
A 16-member Dehradun cricket team of under-19 that will play in the All-India Invitational DSL Alovera Twenty-20 Cricket Tournament during the Summer Cricket Festival has been announced by the Uttarakhand Cricket Association.
