Dehradun, October 3
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank unveiled the Mukhya Mantri Shilp Vikas Yojana at the ongoing Saras Mela on the Parade Ground here today.

The main aim of the programme is to encourage and strengthen artisans hailing from BPL families who are not beneficiaries of state and Central government schemes.

It also aims at upgrading skills of artisans through industrial exposure and training.

The Uttarakhand Rural Development Department has been entrusted with the task of providing training to the artists.

The programme entails providing aid to trained members of BPL families in the form of implements, raw material and financial assistance in setting up unit.

Under the scheme, members of the General Category will be given Rs 7,500,and artisans from SC and ST communities Rs 10,000.

They will also be provided distribution facilities.

The Chief Development officer will oversee the implementation of the scheme at each district during the mela.

Haridwar, October 3
Terming a noted environmentalist, Prof GD Aggarwal, a traitor for his movement of opposing hydroelectric projects on the holy Ganga in hill districts of Uttarakhand, state Cabinet Minister Diwakar Bhatt has said Professor Aggarwal’s stance was totally anti-development, anti-state, anti-national and it seemed that foreign hands were behind their Save Ganga movement.

The reaction of Bhatt, who is a local resident, invited varied reactions as it was also in Haridwar that Professor Aggarwal supported by Magsaysay award-winner Rajendra Singh, Matra Sadan saints and other religious bodies had carried out a month-long fast-unto-death which made the Central government scrap the multi-crore Lohari Nagpala hydroelectric project in Uttarkashi.

Notably, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank from the state government side and Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh had participated in a function to call off the agitation of Professor Aggarwal at Matra Sadan.

Speaking to mediapersons, Bhatt championed the cause of hydro-electric projects terming these as viable sources of income for the hill state.

“It may be that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US or Pakistan’s Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) are behind these so-called anti-hydro projects in Uttarakhand, as by doing so they are hampering development of the state and ultimately of India. So by that way they are traitors and should be opposed by people too,” said Bhatt who is legislator from the hill area of Devprayag.

Warning Rajendra Singh, who is planning to launch Ganga Panchayat in Uttarakhand, Bhatt, a firebrand leader of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), stated the party workers would not let the so-called saviour of water carry out his programme in the Uttarakhand territory.

“First these activists should see their home areas where the Ganga river is being made unholy. In hill districts, the Ganga is flowing cleanly. It’s only when it starts reaching plain areas that it gets polluted. He (Professor Aggarwal) should himself see in his backyard (Kanpur) where industrial effluents make the Ganga one of the most polluted rivers in the whole of India, then start the cleaning movement in the other parts of Uttarakhand,” said Bhatt.

When he was questioned that the state of the Ganga in Rishikesh-Haridwar is also not the same as in hill regions of Garhwal, Bhatt in a defensive mode stated that the government was working on a Ganga Water Plan particularly focusing in these twin pilgrim cities, further adding that this was comparatively not a fraction of polluted stretch when compared to the Kanpur stretch of the river.

Meanwhile, environmentalists and saints have condemned comparisons made by the state cabinet minister regarding Professor Aggarwal’s campaign. Rajendra Singh has said he is working for the cause of the Ganga and people of the state only, so no one can stop him from moving in any part of the country. Several environmentalists, saints too have expressed resentment on the comparisons made by the state minister.

Dehradun, October 3
With the rescue of a cobra and a rat snake in Dehradun, the total number of snakes rescued in the capital city has reached 47 this monsoon.

The latest rescue was from Ajabpur. A movement of a 6-ft-long cobra was noticed at the Ashok Vihar, Ajabpur-situated house of Milan Negi.

Forest officials who were informed of the cobra brought the matter to the notice of members of EFFECT, an NGO working for the rescue of snakes. The members of EFFECT, led by Abhishek Singh, rescued the cobra and later left it in Lachiwala jungles.

Another rat snake was rescued from the Rajpur road area. The rat snake, around 3-ft-long, was found in one of the storerooms in the house of one Sarita, near Eyclaptus-Rajpur road-crossing.

A total of 47 snakes have been rescued in Dehradun this monsoon by EFFECT volunteers. According to them, five out of these 47 snakes were venomous cobras. A 12-ft-long python was also rescued during one of these operations.

These snake-rescue operations have taken place mostly in areas on the outskirts of Dehradun and adjoining forests. Abhishek, a dentist by profession and founder of EFFECT, said the team members acted promptly whenever they were informed of the emergence of any snake in residential localities of Dehradun.

Dehradun, October 3
Seeking prompt redressal of grievances for people of Dehradun, the Congress party will launch a protest campaign in the city from October 5.

This was stated by senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana at a public meeting at Premnagar here today.

The leader said an agitation would be launched in Dehradun from October 5 to highlight the plight of the city’s residents who had to put up with poor civic amenities.

He said the basic amenities in Dehradun city, particularly in the Cantt region, were pathetic and called for immediate attention.

Potable water arrangements, roads and other civic amenities are in a disarray in Dehradun cantt and the state government is making the least efforts to improve them, Dhasmana pointed out.

He said the Post Office area of Premnagar was all waterlogged and could anytime lead to outbreak of a disease. People residing in a stretch between IMA reservour and Wing No. 7 of Premnagar had suffered losses to the tune of lakhs of rupees.

He also pointed out that the pressure of population in Dehradun had grown manifold in the past decade, particularly after Dehradun was made capital of Uttarakhand. But the capital’s infrastructure had not increased to that extent. He said the administration had no sanitation plan for Dehradun city.

Cantt Congress president Anil Grovar present at the meeting assured support to the Congress leader in his public protests. Krishna Chetri, Rajiv Punj, Diwan Singh Bisht, BP Khantwal, Deepak Kumar and Jitendra Taneja were other prominent speakers on the occasion.

Haridwar, October 3
Affected first due to an anti-encroachment drive and then incessant rains, floods and landslides in Haridwar, one can imagine the plight of people who are living in makeshift tents or carrying their trade as hawkers. Further aggravating their woes is the apathy of the administration. While those traders who were assured of allocation of a separate traders zone during the anti-encroachment drive have got no response from the municipality yet, those who were running shops for almost 15 years are forced to roam in the city to sell their goods.

The traders and vendors affected by the anti-encroachment drive and flood-hit people came under the banner of the Rashtriya Krantikari Manch (RKM) to press their demands here today. The manch, headed by former legislator Ambrish Kumar, warned the administration of an intense agitation in this regard if the plight of both encroachment and flood-affected people was not taken care of.

A meeting was organised in this regard at the Pandit Gobind Ballabh Pant Park in Devpura.

Lashing out at the administration for working on the directions of BJP leaders, Ambrish Kumar said while on one hand all small and poor traders’ shops were pulled down in the anti-encroachment drive allegedly in a biased manner, on the other when the turn of BJP’s big traders having huge commercial establishments in the city came, the encroachment drive was halted.

“People’s faith in the state government has suffered a blow due to a biased and corrupt working of its ministers and those given official portfolios. We demand the allocation of permanent shops to the anti-encroachment drive-affected traders as well as appropriate compensation and rehabilitation of the flood-affected people in the city,” said Ambrish.

Referring to state Urban Minister Madan Kaushik, who is local legislator, senior leader of the RKM Dharam Pal Thekedhar said due to inner party politics being played by Kaushik, the municipality working was in disarray as he was only seeing his political interests and not sufferings of the people affected by the municipality’s style of working.

People from Bajri Wala, Labour Colony, Brahampuri, Indira Basti, New basti, Khadkhadi, Rajeev Colony, Lodhi Mandi, Dudhiya Badh, Bairagi Camp, Sonia Gandhi Colony, Ahbabnagar, Canal stretch, Jwalapur and other areas participated in the meeting.

Nainital, October 3
Cynicism from all corners has marked the relief handling by the Bharatiya Janata Party government led by Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. The question being asked is that how did the government arrive at the “golden figure” of Rs 21,000 crore worth of losses when a large number of villages continue to be inaccessible and there is no accounting for the losses in a large number of areas. Over the past few days, voices and concerns have been raised about the parameter on the basis of which the losses have been calculated.

Sources in the administration have told The Tribune that there has been emphasis from the top levels to present inflated figures to the visiting Central teams. The irony of the entire relief operations has been that the various political groups and even the civil organisations are not much interested in how much money is being given by the Centre but the concern is on monitoring of the utilisation of whatever funds that are coming. It clearly points towards the people not having faith in the manner the government wants to utilise the funds.

Talking to The Tribune, leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Raja Bahuguna asserts: “Besides the question of the parameter adopted for calculating losses, the issue that remains is that victims of the rain-related disaster have not got relief in several areas till now. It has been our experience that whenever a disaster has struck Uttarakhand, it has turned out to be an opportunity for a particular set of politicians and officials to make a quick buck. It appears that disasters come as hitting success in a lottery for this set of people.”

The Congress has been the most vocal in demanding accountability of the utilisation of funds. State Congress president Yash Pal Arya, while attacking Nishank and his cabinet colleagues for politicising the relief efforts, has been demanding that the state government must give an account of the the utilisation of Rs 600 crore provided by the Centre. “The state government had initially sought an aid of Rs 5,000 crore and just after three days the demand went up to Rs 21,000 crore. We just want to know what made them reach the golden figure of Rs 21,000. What was the survey or analysis that the officials did,” he said while talking to The Tribune from Ramnagar recently.

The Uttarakhand Parivartan Party (UPP) too has been demanding that committees comprising representatives from political and social organisations be constituted to supervise relief efforts across the state.

Even Lok Sabha member from the Nainital seat KC Singh Baba says: “I have asked for collection of accurate figure of losses right from the Patwari level and the office of the Sub Division Magistrates (SDMs). I would ask all other parliamentarians to do the same”.

Haridwar, October 3
Staff of industrial units falling under SIDCUL in the city, apart from corporates and employees working in Integrated Industrial Estate venture in the area, live under fear of snakes.

As this season witnessed extended monsoonal rains, a large number of reptile species are spotted in this industrial area located on the outskirts of the city near the forest area. From cobras, craits, red snakes, vipers, russel vipers, water snakes to pythons, it seems the SIDCUL-Shivalik Nagar-BHEL area is the best hideout for the reptiles.

In the past month, more than six snakes and even pythons were spotted in industrial units here. Though members of the SIDCUL Industrial Association have brought this issue to the notice of the Forest Department, industry people accept it as a natural occurrence and don’t want to put onus on the department.

Several companies have issued precautionary guidelines to make sure any employee is not bitten by snakes and at the same time no snake is killed unnecessarily. Like the SIDCUL Industrial Association of Haridwar is making sure every precautionary guidelines are adhered to by employees and labourers while commuting and working in and around the premises. Instead of ringing up the Forest Department every time they spot a snake, the employees keep away from these deadly reptiles.

Secretary general of the association Sudhir Mehta is playing a pivotal role in minimising man-snake conflict. He is an avid snake lover and has expertise in handling them. Mehta, apart from carrying out his executive duties at the Kirby company, is quite busy these days in taking care of snakes. Mehta has taken care of at least 100 snakes found in residential and commercial areas in the past few years. He catches the snakes as per wildlife norms safely and leaves them in the nearby Raja Ji National Park forest area.

Mehta says: “Most of the snakes are not poisonous. Even python is a non-poisonous reptile. We urge employees to inform us and never try to hurt or kill any snake. A little bit of caution and carefully putting away the snake in nearby jungles is better than killing or hurting them out of fear”.

Employees ring up Mehta whenever they spot snakes in the area. Wildlife scientists saidincidents of snake sighting in this region will be more as after monsoonal rain humidity will be higher forcing the reptiles to come out of their holes.

Noted wildlife scientist Ritesh Joshi says owing to the region being part of a moist and deciduous forest area, these species are found here in abundance. He elaborates that not all snakes are poisonous like red snake, python and viper, but one has to be alert if it’s cobra or crait.

Mussoorie, October 3
Nagar Palika ward members and local BJP unit members have come face to face with allegations and counter allegations on the corruption issue in development work in Mussoorie.

Irked by charges of embezzlement and corruption on the installation of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s statue at the Landour Bazar by some senior BJP leaders, 11 ward members of the Nagar Palika refuted the allegation, and counter-alleged that certain sections of the BJP office-bearers were targeting the Palika at the behest of Rajpur MLA Ganesh Joshi with false claims.

The elected members, including the Jharipani ward member belonging to the BJP, gathered at Mount Rose and countering all charges, said the local BJP unit was applying unnecessary political pressure on the Palika and stalling development works without any rhyme or reason. All elected members alleged that the BJP did not have single elected member in the board, but was indulging in pressure tactics via Palika President OP Uniyal, who belonged to the BJP, by creating unnecessary bottlenecks and filing false complaints against the Palika.

The Palika members, opposing the inquiry set up on various development works being carried out in the town by the Palika President at the behest of the local BJP unit, said it was an insult to people who had voted them to power.

Landour ward member Sushil Kumar warned the Palika President that if he created disruption in the development works, they would be forced to take to the streets.

On the other hand BJP unit president Roop Singh Kathait said he was unaware of any press conference and said he would respond after knowing all facts.

It is important to mention that Jharipani ward member, who fought on an independent ticket and joined the BJP later, was also supporting the Palika members on this issue and said the BJP unit was acting in an autocratic manner without knowing all facts.

The whole controversy began after a news was published in The Tribune titled “BJP leaders allege embezzlement” on October 1, in which senior BJP leaders demanded an inquiry on the exorbitant price that had been quoted for 2.5-ft statue of late Deen Dayal Upadhyay erected at the Landour Bazar.

Dehradun, October 3
The Surbhi Parivar Foundation, an organisation committed to the cause of population control, decided to observe 2010 as Population Control Year.

President of the organisation Dinesh Talwar, who came to meet Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, said his activists had already sent a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh through the office of the District Magistrate of Meerut and requested him to take immediate and effective steps to control the burgeoning population.

He said under this campaign, they were engaged in spreading awareness throughout the country; first they covered UP, then Delhi, where they contacted political parties, and now they had come to Uttarakhand.

He added that it was because of the lack of political will, the population of the country had increased from 33 crore to 115 crore and in 2015, it would reach to 165 crore, as every day, 42,434 children were born in the country.

He informed, “The country, which is struggling to provide adequate food, water, electricity and housing to the citizens, is under tremendous pressure to meet the enormous demand. About 44 pc households still do not have electricity and 25 pc people still cover 500-metre distance to fetch water. A large population sleeps hungry at night. We have done 28 protests at Jantar Mantar and 5,000 programmes to draw attention towards this grave problem, but the governments have been doing nothing for the past 15 years”.

Dehradun, October 3
Poor and aged patients availed free services at the week-long 29th free eye camp organised by the Doon Sikh Welfare Society. A total of 118 patients underwent cataract operations performed by eye surgeons Amit Singh and RN Singh.

Director-General, Health, Dr HC Bhatt was the chief guest and Rajender Singh Rana guest-of-honour.

Besides, 500 pairs of spectacles were distributed to the patients donated by Directors of the society, Gurcharan Singh Khurana and Subash Khurana. A similar eye camp was also held at Doiwala in which 40 patients were operated upon.

Shedding light on the foundation of the Doon Sikh Welfare Society, founder president Sardar Kripal Singh Chawla said the society came up in 1980 and had 28 board members and 720 life members. PRO Amarjeet Singh Bhatia said the society continued to organise eye and health camps from time to time for poor patients. The society also presented awards to Shewta Talwar, Panzy Charles and Satinder Pal Singh for their exemplary services.