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Embankments not up to standards: Report
Team surveys gutted Collectorate building
Quarrel Over Car Parking |
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Clock Tower: Activists term demolition as ‘murder’
Kaushik clarifies on aid for damaged houses
Memorable World Eyesight Day for Laxmi
Autumn Fest: Dept told to take action against guilty
Bring transparency in work, officials told
UKD for better communication in disaster-hit areas
HIV patients not accessing ART
Staff crunch at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital
World Standards Day observed
People asked to contribute in TB eradication
Dandiya night to create AIDS awareness
School uniforms given to poor students
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Embankments not up to standards: Report
Dehradun, October 14 Embankments are very old and not constructed according to the Flood Control Act, said DD Dalakoti, Executive Engineer, Irrigation Department. He said from Jainpur to Mathana the height of the embankment on the 8-km stretch could control 60,000 cusec of water, therefore it couldn’t control water at a high-flowing speed, whereas the recent floods after 40 hours of continuous rains which was eight times more than the normal level. Dalakoti and his team of experts suggested that to save the 40 villages and the agriculture land from such devastating floods in the future, the embankment must be constructed according to the Flood Control Act and must broaden the embankment and increase its height so that the flow of water remained straight and control the level of the fast-gushing water into habitat areas. The Executive Engineer mentioned that the estimate of constructing embankment in the Laksar region were between Rs 22 crore and “The Jainpur-Mathana embankment was constructed somewhere 1970 keeping in view those days of standards, whereas today the scenario is different and need to upgrade with today’s standard and requirement,” he said. He also said since then there had been no repair carried out on these embankments and now this must be done on the priority basis to avoid damage in future. Recently the floods have caused heavy damage to agricultural land at Laksar and have left the farmers in a quandary. There are many houses in the interiors of this region which were totally damaged. It must be mentioned that the Laskar area produces best quality of sugarcane in the state. NIH Director RD Singh also suggested the government as well the local administration must introduce the Flood Control Act to safeguard life and property. He emphasised that the population living near the banks of the Ganga and the Solani must be rehabilitated to a safer place. Awareness must be created amongst the masses to avoid construction of houses and for commercial purposes too.
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Team surveys gutted Collectorate building
Nainital, October 14 The team comprises Dr SK Negi, Dr Sudhir Singh and Dr SK Singh and is in Nainital on a request from District Magistrate Shailsh Bagauli who has been taking a proactive stance to get the building restored at the earliest. The team surveyed the building and carried out a detailed a post-fire investigation. The survey focused on whatever remains of the basics of the building like the walls, floor, roof and base, etc. Dr Negi said the building needed to be restored to its original form. The team was looking at all old photographs of the building along with the information that The restoration works are learnt to have been entrusted to the Indian National Trust For Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). Plans to the tune of more than Rs 2.96 crore had been drawn out for its restoration. |
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Quarrel Over Car Parking
Dehradun, October 14 Victim Shyam Agarwal had on Tuesday complained to the police alleging that councillor Manmohan Malla, Vijay Pratap and their friends had beaten him up and his father Shiv Agarwal when they objected to the wrong parking of the councillor’s car. Agarwal added in his complaint that the councillor and his friends had warned them of dire consequences. Besides beating, they also broke property and abused them. The complainant, along with locals, reached the Kotwali police station last night and made pressure on the police to lodge a complaint. Sources said under the influence of BJP members, who were accompanying the complainant, last night the cops registered the case under Sections 323, 504, 506, 452, 427 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code. For this, Congress members met the SSP to urge him to revert the sections charged against the councillor. Lal Chand Sharma, a Congress leader, said they met the SSP for conducting a fair probe and not levelling any false charges against the councillor.
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Clock Tower: Activists term demolition as ‘murder’
Mussoorie, October 14 Social worker and Parvatiya Bigul Sanstha president Pradeep Bhandari, along with several trade union activists, submitted a complaint citing that the historic building had been demolished by the Nagar Palika president with a fistful of individuals. The demolition of the Clock Tower was equivalent to murder, as it had hurt the sentiments of many in the town. Bhandari said because of the illegal demolition of the building with the intention to provide benefit to one individual and without seeking permission from the state government or the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), as was evident from the investigation report done by the SDM, an FIR should be registered against the named perpetrators to reveal the other persons involved in it. The police station in charge accepted the complaint, but refused to file the FIR against the Palika President suggesting that a magisterial inquiry was on. The complainants argued that a public property had been destroyed and a complaint should be registered against it. Bhandari, later speaking to mediapersons, said the government was hesitating from taking any punitive action against the Palika despite the investigation indicating irregularities. Hence, they had to act and file an FIR against the perpetrators of the Clock Tower.
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Kaushik clarifies on aid for damaged houses
Nainital, October 14 He also promised them that being the in charge of the district, he would hold a grievance addressal camp at Betalghat next months where the problems of disaster-hit people would be taken up in detail. He has asked the officials concerned to ensure that alternative potable water supply arrangements are made in the areas where water supply projects have been devastated. He has ordered that the link roads which continue to be blocked because of landslides and fallen boulders must be opened at the earliest so that the farmers can sell their cash crops at reasonable prices. Kaushik has said the works for opening of roads be carried out on a war footing. He has asked the district authorities to tabulate the losses and send the details to the state government for further relief measures at the earliest. He went around the disaster-hit villages and also disbursed relief cheques to some of the victims.
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Memorable World Eyesight Day for Laxmi
Dehradun, October 14 The restored vision has helped Laxmi gain independence as well. She was also operated upon for cataract today and lenses have been implanted in her eyes by Dr BC Ramola, senior eye surgeon, Doon Hospital. Acutely aware of her lifetime dependence on family, Laxmi had previously resisted attempts for medical intervention. “However, this time round her family members prevailed and she has come to us. Laxmi is also mentally challenged, but the restoration of eyesight is expected to put her life on the recovery path,” said Dr Ramola. “I am happy caring for her, but it has been a torture to see my sister fend for herself with great difficulty. But now since she has her eyesight back, she will soon be independent,” said her brother. “Blindness due to trauma and diabetes is now quite common in India, though incidents of blindness are less than 1 per cent in Uttarakhand. If adequate precautions are not taken, diabetic patients are more susceptible to eye-related ailments,” Dr Ramola concluded.
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Autumn Fest: Dept told to take action against guilty
Mussoorie, October 14 The government taking the cognisance of the investigation done by the District Magistrate, Dehradun, Assistant Secretary Subash Chandra has directed the Urban Development Department to act against then Executive Officer RP Semwal for misleading and entering into irregularities over the tender process initiated organising the festival. According to complainant Pradeep Bahndari, in a copy received on Tuesday it is clearly mentioned that the then Executive Officer acted at the behest of certain ward members and keeping all procedures away, sided with unlawful nomination ward member Jasvir Kaur. Not only that, the Executive Officer remained mum in the whole controversy and his role was questionable. The report also says that the awarding of the tender to certain private party was done carelessly and keeping all procedures at bay, hence immediate action should be taken on the perpetrators. The letter dated October 6 clearly states that the Urban Development Director should take immediate action and punish the guilty in the whole controversy. This correspondent had raised the scam earlier in which it had reported that some sort of favouritism had undergone in providing tenders to a private party without following the government procedures. Bhandari said this was a victory for all those who were fighting against the rampant corruption in the Palika, but the other perpetrators like Palika President OP Uniyal and ward members were also guilty with the Executive Officer and the Urban Development Department should take strict action against them.
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Bring transparency in work, officials told
Dehradun, October 14 The DM told the officials that it was their duty to use the sanctioned budget for various schemes well He told them that he should not receive any complaint from any department regarding the development works. The DM also asked Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, Mulayam Singh Rathore to complete the widening of all roundabouts and their beautification that came under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission within a month. Rathore informed the DM that they had already started work on six roundabouts and also on the one that was on Tehsil Chowk as they had been allotted the space. The DM also asked the Jal Nigam about the money that had been disbursed under the JNNURM and the construction of 44 overhead tanks. Answering the same, the Executive Engineer said 19 tanks had been constructed till now.
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UKD for better communication in disaster-hit areas
Pitthoragarh, October 14 Briefing the media here after touring disaster-hit villages of Pitthoragarh and Bageshwar districts, the UKD leader said the government should submit a proposal to the Central government to hand over the land of disaster-hit villages to the Ministry of Forest and Environment in exchange of forest land to rehabilitate them. “All 250 villages which the government wants to rehabilitate can get shelter near their villages if the Uttarakhand government can peruse this formula,” said Airy The UKD leader said out of 65 per cent of forest land in Uttarakhand, the real forests consisted only on 33 per cent land. “The rest 30 per cent land in the hill state is in the form of barren land which can be used to rehabilitate these villages,” said Airy According to the UKD leader, if the Uttarakhnd government could have strong political will, it can manage land from the Terai region of the state. “When the state was created, we put a limit of 12.25 hectares ceiling, but for the past 10 year, the respective governments in Uttarakhand could not vacate the illegally captured land of Terai which would have been sufficient to rehabilitate all disaster-hit villages of the hill region”. The UKD leader also demanded from the government that all disaster-hit villages and sensitive ones should be linked with telephone sets and every movement around the village during all month of year be noticed and informed to the control room. “Wherever we visited the remote villages, we found neither the telephone link there nor any volunteer assigned to inform to any authority in the time of a calamity,” said Airy, adding that the Uttarakhad government has not even done basic work in the direction of disaster mitigation.
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Max India health camp ends
Dehradun, October 14 Mohini Daljeet Singh, Head, Max India Foundation said, “ The foundation hopes to build a beneficial partnership with the centre for future medical services and care for its residents to help inculcate in them the value of a healthy environment. Air Marshal BD Jayal (retd), Chairman, Raphael, expressed his gratitude to the foundation for the partnership and their support. He said, “I hope this partnership will grow and make a difference in the lives of not only the residents of the centre, but also the neighbouring areas”. The centre is a multi-faceted charitable organisation with the mission to provide relief to over 250 adults and children on a daily basis. The foundation is the corporate social responsibility arm of Max India Limited, which provides health care and endeavours to spread health awareness among the needy and deserving.
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HIV patients not accessing ART
Dehradun, October 14 Of the total of 3,084 positive patients who registered and were counselled at the ICTC centres, only 1,560 (August-2010) HIV positive patients actually turned up for ART treatment. This was revealed on Tuesday during the evaluation meeting of National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) functionaries comprising Dr BB Rewari, National Programme Officer, ART, and Geetanjali Kumari, Regional Coordinator. “We have been specifically asked to locate patients who do not come for ART treatment or stop the treatment midway,” said Dr PC Kapri, Additional Director, Uttarakhand State AIDS Control Society (USACS). Worried at the non-participation of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHAs) in the counselling sessions, Geetanjali stressed on strengthening of counselling at the level of the ICTC and ART with the active support of PLHAs. Officers from NACO said to prevent tuberculosis patients falling prey to HIV/AIDS as opportunistic virus, better coordination was required.
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Staff crunch at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital
Dehradun, October 14 Out of the 31 posts lying vacant at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Coronation Hospital for a year, only eight posts of matrons were filled. Recently, the government had selected 187 doctors against the 250 posts advertised through the Public Service Commission. But of these selected doctors, only 20 reported for work forcing the government to extend the deadline for a few more days. The lack of staff is affecting services at the hospital which is being promoted as another hospital set to ease pressure off from the Doon District Hospital. “Though there are plans to develop the hospital as a speciality centre, the general services at the hospital were streamlined to counter the rush being faced at the Doon Hospital, but unless we have adequate staff, we will not be able to cater to patients,” said Dr AS Rawat, CMS, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital. Out of the sanctioned nine posts of Specialist (Grade 1), only two are presently filled. There are 15 sanctioned posts for Medical Officer out of which three are vacant. The hospital has no paramedical staff. Posts of three Chief Pharmacist and one Matron/Assistant Matron are yet to get filled. Four posts of ministerial employees and ward boys are also awaiting suitable candidates. “The non-availability of a microbiologist too is hampering the laboratory set-up at the hospital as several tests cannot be undertaken on a regular basis. The pay scale being offered in government hospitals is not attractive enough for young doctors and even microbiologists, no wonder, there is shortage of staff,” maintained Dr Rawat. The OPD attracted 47,966 patients this year, while the bed occupancy rate is 113.87 per cent. Recently, a nephrology centre also started functioning at the hospital and a cardiology unit is awaited.
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World Standards Day observed
Dehradun, October 14 Chief guest KP Tripathi, Chairman, Institution of Engineers, said, “The contribution and effects of standardisation make the world accessible to all. International standards facilitate access to products, structures and services, including safety considerations, ergonomics and harmonised test methods, which increase accessibility”. KK Chowdhary, Director and Head, Dehradun branch, said, “The aim of World Standards Day is creating awareness regarding the value of global standardisation in the global economy”. Sudheer Bishnoi, Joint Director, BIS, read out the joint message of the presidents of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Deepto Mitra, office in charge, National Institute of Orthopaedically Handicapped, and Manish Pandey from the Dehradun Institute of Technology and Latika Rai Foundation participated in the technical sessions. BK Shreevastava, Director, BIS gave a vote of thanks.
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People asked to contribute in TB eradication
Dehradun, October 14 “The hidden tuberculosis cases continue to pose a problem with the detection rate wavering between 50-52 per cent. Unless we cover this section of population, 100 per cent eradication of TB will not be possible,” said Dr AP Mamgai, Director, National Programme, State Tuberculosis Programme. He was speaking on Tuesday at a formal launch of the partnership programme for implementing the project, “Civil Society Initiative in Strengthening TB Care and Control in India” Dr Mamgai said the success of the polio programme should be repeated and support of civil society was important. “We failed to contain TB as multiple efforts were not concentrated,” said Mamgai. Dr Subash Yadav, representative, Tuberculosis Union, New Delhi, said though the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) achieved a cure rate of around 80 per cent, largescale control of disease continued to pose a problem and efforts for it’s full control needed to be sustained on a long-term basis. “We now need to empower civil society to decrease morbidity and mortality to drug resistant TB (DR-TB) in India,” said Dr Yadav. To improve access to quality core 43 culture and Drug Susceptibility Testing (DST) laboratories would be located in 23 states, including Uttarakhand. “Besides mobilising communities, community radio and mobile telephony will be used for spreading awareness campaign on a pilot project basis in Tamil Nadu,” said Dr Yadav. Dr Rajen Arora, State TB Medical Officer, said to broaden the reach of the RNTCP programme, the focus was now on slum areas. “The urban areas continue to be neglected areas and now we are starting an out-reach area programme where NGOS would be encouraged to adopt slum areas,” he said. Chief Functionary of Mamta Samajik Sansthan JM Singh said the visibility of RNTCP programmes have to increased through mass media so that awareness was generated among the masses about the DOTS programme.
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Dandiya night to create AIDS awareness
Dehradun, October 14 He said the evening would start with the play titled “Chhoti Si Zindagi”. The main motto for presenting the play was making people aware of AIDS. Vohra said singer Manu Vandana and Rock and Raga musical group would be performing during the event. The programme was basically for members of the ONGC Officers Club and their families. “We have been organising this event for the past 10 years and hope it will be a success this time too,” he stated. |
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School uniforms given to poor students
Mussoorie, October 14 The organisation has also distributed uniforms in the Bhagwant Pur Nyay Panchayat region a few days ago. Countering the allegations made by Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, Joshi said, “Gunsola will interfere time and again as serving the poor is my first priority”. Roop Singh Kathait, local BJP head and general secretary Kushal Singh Rana were also present.
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Cabinet Minister Madan Kaushik has promised the disaster-hit people of
Okhalkanda, Betalghat and Dhari blocks of the district that the houses which have been rendered non-livable by the recent rain-related incidents will be treated as totally damaged and compensation will be paid accordingly.
