Pitthoragarh, July 12
Sanjay Jagtav, a pilgrim of the fourth batch of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra returning from Tibet, was washed away by the strong current of the Kali river at Lamari, 60 km from the base camp of Dharchula, when he accidentally slipped from the narrow path and fell into the river.

“The body of the pilgrim is being searched by the rescue team which has been sent from the Dharchula base camp this morning,” said Navneet Pandey, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Dharchula.

“Jagtav (44), a resident of Pune in Maharashtra, might have slipped on the track alongside the Kali river which was in spate due to heavy rains in the area for the past 24 hours in this region,” said Pandey.

All other members of this batch have reached the Gala camp on their way to the Dharchula base camp. “The track route and motor road on the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is otherwise well except for some areas where there is a danger of shooting stones like Tintola and Chautaldhar,” said the SDM.

Dehradun, July 12
The two-week package of computer coaching programme to educate councillors in basic computer knowledge seems to have fizzled out on the very first day on the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) premises. Quite a few councillors came to attend the two-hour morning session, but only one councillor Deepa was seen chatting with Leader of the Opposition of the DMC Ashok Verma in the afternoon session.

The two computer trainers were sitting quietly in one corner as their students remained missing from the class.

The coaching classes were started at Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Indu Kumar Bodai’s behest when the councillors demanded laptops. Before ordering for laptops, he asked them to learn basic know-how to be able to work on laptops later on.

Seeing the cold enthusiasm of councillors, five computers, which otherwise are insufficient to cater to 60 councillors, seemed enough. Councillor Ganesh Dangwal said some councillors, who made it to the morning session, were most unlikely to return for the afternoon session.

Many justified their absence by saying that they were not informed of the beginning of the classes. Councillor Rajender Rawat said he got to know much later, which was why he could not attend the class. But he expressed a desire to attend regular classes from tomorrow onward.

It is yet to be seen how much rhetoric the councillors would translate into reality. Deepa said, “I want to learn the bare minimum and don’t feel the need to go into elaborate learning. Unlike the youth, at this age I don’t feel pull toward much computer learning”.

Verma quipped on the attitude of councillors saying what would they do with laptops if they knew nothing to handle these.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli, too, commented that the councillors should utilise the maximum benefit from the facility given to them on the premises itself.

Pitthoragarh, July 12
Taking a serious note of the death of a pilgrim from the fourth batch of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra after he fell into the Kali river this morning, the ITBP, the agency which manages this pilgrimage on the 79-km trek route, has decided that hereafter the pilgrims will not be allowed to travel alone on this route. “From next batches we will strictly advise the pilgrims to cross the area in groups of five or six and walk in a single file on the trek,” said APS Nimbadia, Commandant of 7th BN of the ITBP.

According to the Commandant, the fourth batch pilgrim Sanjay Jagtav slipped possibly while crossing the most sensitive trek route between Lakhanpur and Malpa. He was travelling along with his wife. “This 3.5-km trek route runs parallel to the Kali river and is without railings on the river side and needs to be tread in a single file track as the route is merely 2-ft wide at this place,” said Nimbadia.

“We are always briefing pilgrims at our camp in Mirthi (Didihat) to be alert while crossing the trek route, specially that between the Gala and Bundi camps which is highly slippery,” said the ITBP Commandant, adding that the ITBP had written to the authorities concerned umpteen times to take care of eight highly sensitive points that needed widening of trek.

Even the 3.5 km track with 4,000 steps, constructed by pilgrims way back, requires renovation and railings on both sides as it becomes difficult for pilgrims to cross these steps downward from Zipti. It was also observed that due to the proposed construction of the Ghatiabagar-Lipulekh road, the trek route is not properly looked after by state PWD officials.

“We have deputed members of the ITBP rescue team who brief the pilgrims at every camp to cross the route carefully, but sometimes due to negligence such accidents occur,” said Nimbadia.

Haridwar, July 12
With tens of thousands of fish found dead in the Shukratal situated in Muzaffarnagar district, the Muzaffarnagar and Haridwar administrations have started separate investigations into the matter. Several factories in Lakshar-situated industrial area are being blamed for the release of poisonous chemicals in the Ganga water that forms the Shukrataal. However, complete sample reports are being awaited to arrive at a conclusion over the matter.

The incident came to light yesterday when pilgrims visiting the renowned Shukratal to perform rituals on the occasion of Ashaad Amawasya found the dead fish floating in large numbers.

Haridwar District Magistrate R Meenakshi Sundaram said those found guilty would be strictly dealt with and the final report of samples was awaited.

Meanwhile, Lakshar administrative officials have conducted sampling at factories in the area and sent the samples for laboratory analysis. SDM Bhagat Singh Fonia and Cirlce Officer PK Roy monitored the whole process.

State Regional Officer, Environment Conservation and Pollution Control Board, PK Joshi stated apart from factory chemicals, samples are also being taken of the Ban Ganga river.

A drain from a sugar mill in Lakshar discharges effluents into the Ban Ganga, which merges with another river at Solani Sangam, the source of water for the Shukratal.

Dehradun, July 12
Unable to resolve the issue of land, uncertainty continues to dog the future of the Doon Hospital and Medical College project that may only take off by early next year. It will be the first government medical college of the city.

Despite the Chief Minister personally backing the project, it may take a while before the work begins on the upgrade of the District Doon Hospital, for expansion it would require around 10 or 15 acres more initially.

With several claimants for the Haridwar Road land that too would be utilised for the medical college project, the medical authorities have been forced to take a re-look into the process. In certain sections question marks are also being raised regarding the utility of a medical college when the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is coming up at Rishikesh.

The uncertainty has also put brakes on the expansion plan of the Doon Hospital, only rudimentary upgrade is being carried out there.

Though the government has initiated a formal procedure by submitting the token amount of Rs 3.5 lakh for the registration with the Medical Council of India (MCI) last year.

The project hit a road block when the red-faced Doon Hospital authorities could not furnish possession papers of the Doon Hospital during the last visit of members from the MCI.

The papers having been either lost or destroyed for good, efforts are on now to arrange them somehow. With the ushering of a new regime despite the tag of government hospital, there are several technical problems that have to be surmounted before work on the upgrade of the District Doon Hospital and District Women’s Hospital begins. The Deen Dyal Upadhyay Coronation Hospital will function as a speciality wing under the medical college.

“Reduction in land requirement from 25 acres to 20 acres for setting up a medical college in the country and in hilly areas this land can be in two parcels of 10 acres each encouraged the government to take the project forward,” said Dr Sudhanshu Bahuguna, Director (Hospitals).

The plan envisages amalgamation of existing Doon Hospital and Women’s Hospital premises and expanding further by acquiring the collectorate, treasury and other district offices functional on the Haridwar Road and a portion of land where the old jail existed, making the medical college and hospital one unit.

“As per the MCI guidelines, the medical college should be within 10-15 km area of the hospital. In addition it should have an Urban Health Centre and a Rural Health Centre within 50 km of the Medical College,” said Dr CP Arya, DG (Health).

Nainital, July 12
Expressing concern over the conventional system of higher education getting out of reach of a majority of the people, Governor Margaret Alva has reposed faith in the open university system to become a functional alternative.

Addressing a conclave of Vice-Chancellors of state open universities of the country and the traditional universities of Uttarakhand through video-conferencing from the Raj Bhawan in Dehradun, Alva said even though higher education was extremely important to ensure the socio economic development of the country, the size of the population and the territorial vastness had put the conventional system of higher education beyond the reach of most of those who sought it. The open university system seemed to be the only viable alternative.

The conclave, organised by Uttarakhand Open University, is being held at Bhimtal.

The Governor said the highly limiting nature of the conventional pattern of higher education had made it difficult to achieve the targets and objectives of inclusive education. “On the other hand, the open university system possesses a great potential and possibilities to extend the reach of higher education to the unreached with less investment, infrastructure and personnel,” she asserted.

Alva said with numerous Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools available with them, the open universities could also reach out to learners located in remote areas. The ICT tools could be utilised for delivery of study material, evaluation of assignment, teaching through audio-video systems, including video conferencing, and carrying out evaluation at a much lower cost. These tools also helped ensure transparency and minimise corruption.

The Governor said Uttarakhand Open University was trying to reach out to students in the inaccessible and remote hill areas to prepare employable graduates and technicians.

Quoting the lines of Robert Frost which were dear to late Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, she said the conference was only a small beginning and that there was a difficult road ahead to be traversed.

She expressed the hope that the conclave would discuss important issues related to higher education such as effective deployment and integration of ICT, meet challenges in the execution of plans, programmes and projects, evolve mechanism to share knowledge, expertise and skills and develop a road map using a collaborative and consultative approach for holistic participation.

Dehradun, July 12
Students of the Faculty of Science and Technology, ICFAI University, Dehradun, of the new batch 2010-14 were welcomed at a function held here today. Freshers accompanied by their guardians were pleased to find facilities provided by the university, particularly in the field of academics.

Prof GP Srivastava, Vice-Chancellor, in his welcome address specifically explained the innovative method of academic delivery being followed in the university. The highlight of the training involved a practical interaction with the industry, wherein students underwent an industrial training in their fourth year. He also highlighted the issue of corporate social responsibility wherein the students were exposed to working with NGOs for eight weeks in their IInd year.

The complete session of interaction was conducted in a homely atmosphere with assuring the students and their guardians the commitment of the university to impart valuable academic instruction so that they excelled in professional field ahead.

For the students, an opportunity was also given to them to improve their communication skills through a special language lab and also take part in other collective and individual activity, so as not only to make them excel in their professional areas, but also grow as good citizens of the country.

Pro SC Deorani welcomed the new students and exhorted them to strive and work hard so that they gained as much knowledge as possible during their tenure in the university.

Registrar Prof Loveraj Takru guided the students and the parents on their various administrative norms that the students would be required to follow.

On the issue of ragging, it was informed to all present that there would be no ragging on the campus.

Dean Dr RC Ramola gave an insight of various programmes being conducted in the university that encouraged independent thinking, holistic perception, strong domain knowledge, contemporary skills sets and a positive approach.

Haridwar, July 12
Contrary to the usual khaki outfit, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sanjay Gunjiyal donned the red-white striped football T-shirt with ease and performed remarkably on the football field.

As captain of the district administration team against the combined SIDCUL corporate team, Gunjiyal netted two winning goals.

The SSP made the most of the touch pass from Chief Development Officer BK Sant in the initial stages. The SIDCUL players then tried to rely on big passes and eventually succeeded in bridging the goal deficit with Anshuman utilising the defence loophole of the administrative team.

Gunjiyal again showed his dribbling skill and on counter attack, rallied through the SIDCUL defence netting the winner. Thus, the district administration emerged winner by a margin of 2-1.

Spectators were all praise for the administration team especially for district police chief. “He (Gunjiyal) looked like a professional player, dribbled the ball, headed nicely, gave deft passes and was energetic specially on the counter attacks. Such games reveal the other side of the administrative and corporate honchos and should be held regularly,” opined Umesh, a spectator.

Dehradun, July 12
Uttarakhand Police rained goals over Yankies to drub it 7-2 during a league match in the District Football League at the Police Lines here today. Himanshu (2nd and 32nd minutes), Narender (16th minute), Ashok (21st and 37th minutes), Amit (26th minute), Dhanveer (50th minute) netted goals for Uttarakhand Police to get it a one-sided win.

While for Yankies Manoj (56th and 58th minutes) was the lone fighter. He made some efforts to retaliate whereas his other teammates failed to click. Uttarakhand Police dominated throughout the match and scored the goals easily.

A good coordination and understanding among the teammates of the police team was witnessed. The opponent side could make a few goal attempts.

In another match, Cantt Blues and Gypsy played a 2-2 draw. Charchill (64th minute) and Arpan (50th minute) scored for former while Abhishek (20th minute) and Sunil (63rd minute) netted goals for the latter.

Players vie for the ball at the Lala Nemi Dass District Football League on Monday. A Tribune photo

The Sarvadaya Club and Sunderwala Boys registered 2-0 identical wins at the Lala Nemi Dass District Football League played on the Pavilion Ground here today.

The Sarvadaya Club blanked the Akranta Club 2-0 with Manoj Chamoli (16th minutes) and Mukesh Jugran (44th minutes) scoring a goal each.

Shubham scored a brace for Sunderwala Boys in beating the Roshni Club in the 50th and 61st minutes.