Haridwar, January 24
With the flow the Bhagirathi restricted owing to the repairs at a tunnel of the Koteshwar dam in Garhwal, the water level in the Ganga at the world-famous Brahm Kund at Har-ki-Pauri is quite low. A low level of the holy river has hit the religious sentiments of the devotees who visit the pilgrim city.

For more than a month the level in the Ganga at Har-ki-Pauri has remained just a few inches. People visiting the city to take a holy dip are not able to do so at Har-ki-Pauri and adjacent Ganga ghats. The local people, devotees, teerth purohits and the Ganga Sabha have showed concern over the low water level in the river.

As the pious Hindu month of Magh is going on, pilgrims are coming to Haridwar in large numbers to take a holy dip as part of the Magh rituals.

The Ganga Sabha has registered its protest with the authorities concerned against low water level in the Ganga during the ongoing pious occasion of Makar Sankranti. About five lakh devotees take holy dip at the Ganga ghats in Haridwar during this period of year. The water level in the river is so low that devotees have to sit on the riverbed to take a holy bath.

Today, under the aegis of the Teerth Maryada Samiti, social activists held a protest on the Alaknanda ghat. They accused the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation, Uttar Pradesh, and the Uttarakhand Government of not taking the issue seriously.

Pointing out that small islands have surfaced in the river due to a low water level, samiti’s convener Sanjay Chopra said the authorities concerned should address the woes of the devotees who were coming to Haridwar in large numbers daily to take a holy dip in the auspicious month of Magh.

“We won’t allow interference with nature like this stopping of the flow of the holy Bhagirathi for repairs at the Koteshwar tunnel. There are many dams being constructed on the Ganga. Bhagirath brought the Bhagirathi river on the earth after a long worship but due to the profit-oriented policies of the government, the river has been reduced to reservoirs,” said Tej Prakash Sahu, a social activist.

General Manager of the Koteshwar Dam Project AK Shirvastava said a few cusecs of water was being released daily from a diversion tunnel of the dam. Though he accepted that the release of a few cusecs was inadequate to maintain a good flow in the holy river, he said the damage to the Koteshwar tunnel was such that it could not be repaired unless the flow of the river was stopped to that level.

Meanwhile, the officials of the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Irrigation Departments said as soon as the work at the tunnel got completed, adequate water would be released into the Bhagirathi from the Tehri reservoir. However, it all depends on the dam authorities, they added.

Notably, a landslide had struck the 400-MW Koteshwar hydro-power project, which is part of the second phase of mega 2400-MW project of the THDC, spread over 22 km. The tunnel, which is located close to the dam, suffered major damage.

Dehradun, January 24
More and more medical and pre-medical students from Europe, Canada and the United States of America are flocking to India and making Dehradun their destination for undergoing practical training.

This year, two students from Michigan University (USA) are busy training at the District Doon Hospital and getting exposed to various diagnostic tools adopted by medical officers.

Western countries have managed to get rid of several diseases, but in India the incidence of gastroenteritis and other water-borne disease continues to be high. A training at Indian hospitals provides the medical interns the much-needed practical exposure.

Laura Vanpelt from Grand Valley State University Grand Rapids Michigan, USA, who is a physician assistant and in the last leg of her seven-year medical course, will begin working by April next year. She said, “Most of us undertake loans and pay for our studies that cost around $ 1,10,000 (US).

“Coming to Dehradun was a natural choice, mainly because of the weather and the exposure we would get here. Though diseases like cancer and AIDS continue to be high in the USA, we usually get very few cases of water-borne diseases, viral fever and even cases related to eyes, nose and throat,” said Laura.

Keenly observing Dr BC Ramola, senior eye surgeon of Doon Hospital, examine patients coming from different walks of life was a novel exposure for Laura today as she made copious notes, listening carefully to the observations made by him. “They have come Dehradun for gaining hands down experience, they have good theoretical knowledge but to widen their horizon American students have begun undertaking a part of their training at Asian hospitals,” said Dr Ramola.

On the other hand, case of Allana White, University of Oregon, Oregon, USA, is slightly different. She will be taking entry in a medical college shortly after clearing the medical test. “I am here to equip myself for the hard grind ahead and four weeks of training will prove useful,” said Allana.

The students are sponsored by the Child Family Health International and it’s a local firm based in India. Not only students gain academically as the practical training is included in the over-all report card, but also learn about different cultures.

During the four-week stay in Dehradun, the two Americans will undergo a one-week training at Pata, a remote village near Mussoorie.

Dehradun, January 24
Concerned over the large-scale defacement of public places with hoardings, banners and posters, the Directorate of Urban Development has asked for the strict enforcement of the State Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act, 2003.

Taking cognizance of the large-scale defacement of the city, Additional Secretary and Director, Urban Development Department, Nidhi Mani Tripathi has asked the local bodies and district authorities to issue notices to persons defacing the city.

“The city is plastered with posters and these have to be removed immediately. I have asked the authorities to clean the place before the Republic Day parade. Local bodies officials have been asked to issue notices and take action against the printer, publisher and beneficiaries such publicity material,” said Tripathi.

Usually citizens’ attention towards defacement of public and private property is drawn during the polls, when aspiring candidates plaster the city with posters and banners, but of late, election or no election, buildings and traffic sign boards continue to be defaced. “Why should we wake up only during the elections? The local bodies and district administration should be in a position to punish violators and ensure strict enforcement of the Act,” said Vijay Bisht, a local resident.

In fact, the condition of traffic sign boards leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the time these are defaced by posters, hiding the message communicated. The Act defines defacement as impairing or interfering with the appearance or beauty, damaging, disfiguring, spoiling or injuring any property, including buildings, huts, structures, walls, trees, fence posts or poles.

Despite the Act in place, blatant violation and defacement of public places in Dehradun take place with walls permanently etched with writing.

Senior officials of the Municipal Corporation have been asked to remove posters, banners and hoardings, while the prosecution will be initiated by the police.

Almost every roundabout, market place, road, park and flyover has been flooded with publicity material. “Even wall writings continue to be used by politicians and student union leaders. The authorities did not take any action to remove the hoardings and election material plastered during the last college election, indicating the laxity on the part of the authorities concerned. No one is willing to take any action against politicians,” said a top official.

Nainital, January 24
The District Magistrate (DM) of Udham Singh Nagar, Dr BVRC Purshottam, has asked officials of the Health and Education Departments to maintain a monthly roster for health checkups of children studying in Muskan centres.

At a meeting held at Rudrapur today, he asked programme officer of the Muskan project Akhilesh Mishra to prepare proposals for setting up 12 new anganwari centres within a week and send the same to the state administration.

He also expressed his displeasure at the improper implementation of the Mid-Day Meal programme at the Muskan centres in the district.

Reviewing the Muskan project, which has been aimed at providing education to the children of migrant labourers who work primarily at brick-kilns and mining zones, Dr Purshottam asked the officials to ensure that the children studying at these centres are provided all the facilities given to the children in normal schools. He has also asked the representatives of the non-government organisations (NGOs) involved in implementation of the programme and the officials of the Education Department to rectify the shortcomings in the Mid-Day Meal scheme within a week.

The representatives of the NGOs have also been asked to take steps to save the children from cold and the dust besides arranging for clean water for them.

The officials have also been asked to erect tin sheds for the children at various centres within a week.

According to information, there are 29 Muskan centres being run in the district out of which nine are being run by the Education Department. A total of 2,751 children are being provided education by 76 teachers at these centres.

Dehradun, January 24
To discuss the role of non-government organisations (NGOs) in regulating the Right to Education (RTE) in the state as well as society, members of the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Uttarakahnd, held a state-level convention at Hindi Bhawan here yesterday.

A large number of patrons and members had gathered to participate in the convention. The speakers asserted that implementing the RTE all over India was quite challenging for the Education Department.

“The Act came into existence a long time back, but lacks in its execution. It’s our responsibility to struggle for the Right of Education of the children and we will struggle for it,” Rakesh Gairola, president of the committee.

He also urged self-help organisations and NGOs to come and join hands with the committee for the noble cause.

Dehradun, January 24
A day-long convention of the National Service Scheme (NSS) held at Graphic Era University here yesterday.

The chief guest of the occasion Dr Anand Singh Uniyal spoke about the achievements and terminologies of the NSS. He acquainted the gathering with the efforts of NSS workers in the past for the development of the society.

The programme began with the lighting up of the ceremonial lamp followed by presenting a bouquet of flowers to the chief guests by the organising committee.

Dehradun, January 24
Taking lessons from the paucity of power which Uttrakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) had to tackle each year, it has wisely made arrangement for power purchase from outside sources for the next one year.

According to the sources from UPCL, the department has purchased 75 MW for May from Tata Power Traders at Rs 4.57/minute. For subsequent months, corporation has bought power from Sri Cement Power Company for 50 MW for the month for June, 50 MW for October,100 MW for November, 150 MW for December, 200 MW each for January and February 2012 and 50 MW for March at 4.21/minute. The corporation is spending 120 crore on the power purchase.

Six bidders namely, PTC, JSW Power Lt, Adani Power Limited, Sri cement, Reliance Energy India and TATA Power Traders came forward for the biddings on October 12 but finally it was TATA Power Traders and Sri Cement which were selected for the lowest biddings.

For the intervening months of July, August, September, and October, the department is not purchasing power as it remains in a good position during these months. The hydro- power projects, on which it depends for power generation, do well to churn enough electricity in the monsoon period to meet its demand.

One month, which remain problematic is April for which UPCL had not been able do anything due to high rates. To sort out the problem, the corporation is targeting on two fronts. At one end, it is still in talks with few states for power banking and, second option is to show industries a way to purchase electricity through Open Access Regulation (OAR), so that the corporation can save the electricity which was to spend on them for consumers. The industries will certainly have no way out than to buy the electricity through OAR where UPCL will first give them grant to buy electricity which will further be facilitated by State Load Dispatch Centre, a government agency to distribute and transfer electricity, and after that, the interested industries will be able to enter into an agreement with the probable sellers in next 24 hours and can buy it the very next day.

The corporation is somewhat hopeful that it may be able to strike a deal with some of the states for the April.

Dehradun, January 24
The Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA) is fast working on the Jawaharlal Lal Nehru National Solar Mission (JLNNSM) project, which aims to achieve parity with the grid power tariff by 2022 and establish India as a global solar leader.

Chief project officer, UREDA, AK Tyagi spoke of enhancing the capacity of the grid-connected solar power generation to 1,000 MW in the next three years. After the first phase, 2009-13, the capacity would be further enhanced. He said, “An 800-MW on-grid solar power generation has already started and will be completed by March”.

Similarly, 200-MW off-grid power generation for personal use and 51 MW to be generated by private operators would also be complete around this time only.

According to the mission, the emphasis was on to promote the off-grid system to serve the population without access to commercial energy and develop the capacity addition in the grid-based systems.

To create favourable conditions for the solar manufacturing capabilities, solar thermal for indigenous production was being promoted. The Centre has been giving approval to overall proposed targets for various activities covered under the JLNNSM.

“In the category of off-grid, 80,000 solar lanterns will be distributed in the villages that are still struggling to have proper electricity. These lanterns attached with a CFC bulb runs for six to seven hours every day. The Centre is funding 90 per cent of this Rs 25-crore project, and the state government will manage the rest. The tender process has already started and from April onwards the lanterns will be sent to the districts to be distributed further in the villages,” he said.

Hundred-MW capacity of solar roof tops and small-grid connected solar power plant will be connected to LT/11-KV grid of the distribution utility and the solar power purchased as per the norms fixed for it.

According to Tyagi, under the category of the solar-thermal, a solar water heater system was also being provided at much cheaper rates. He said, “The water heating system has become very affordable, as the Government of India gives 60 per cent subsidy to Uttarakhand for falling into special category status. This 100-litre container, costing Rs 20,000 comes under the flat plate system on which the consumers get a highly lucrative subsidy of Rs 13,200. Similarly, for the Evacuated Tube System, the subsidy is reduced to Rs 9,000. Not only this, a rebate of Rs 75 is given on 100 litre system in the electricity bill”.

Dehradun, January 24
For the fifth time in a row, hosts Little Masters Cricket Club won the 25th Late Banke Lal Shah Memorial Cricket Tournament played on the Rangers College grounds here today.

In today’s final, the host team defeated Kanpur by 19 runs to win the championship. Subhal (37), Amit (26), Sourav (21) and Chetan (11) were the main scorers for the batting side. The team scored 138 runs in 20 overs. Shubham Saini of Kanpur took three wickets while Arun Sharma and Dev Sagar got two wickets each.

While chasing the victory target, all the batsmen of the Kanpur team were bowled out for 119 runs in 19 overs. Aman (23), Arun (18), Mohmmad Faizanwan (14) and Dev Sagar (14) were main scorers for the losing side. This was Talif who scalped six wickets to dismantle the Kanpur batting side. Shubham Negi got two wickets while Dikshant and Sourav pocketed a wicket each.

Meanwhile, the players were given away prizes at the prize-distribution ceremony. The players, who were adjudged the best in different categories, were given Super Max mobile phones as prize.

Talif of the Little Masters Club was declared the Man of the Match, Aman of Kanpur the best batsman, Arun of Kanpur the best bowler, Shubham Rana of the Little Masters Club the best fielder, Vividh of the Little Masters Club the best wicket keeper and Sourav Daka was adjudged the best player of the series. National player Sneha Rana was also honoured.

Dehradun, January 24
The Uttarakhand State Football Association (USFA) “doesn’t know” and has perhaps not decided yet which is the real and registered body out of the two district football associations, which have been battling it out to prove their authenticity for quite some time.

The two district football associations in Doon elected their respective office-bearers in separate elections this month. Under such circumstances, the USFA must decide which is the affiliated body.

However, the state football association seemed to be evading the issue and it could not tell which of the associations is genuine. When The Tribune contacted secretary of the USFA Syed Akhtar Ali, he said: “I don’t know what is going on between the two district football associations in Dehradun and how many of them exist. You should yourself find it out.”

However, when this correspondent insisted, he finally said: “I remember we had the District Football Association of Dehradun registered with us which has Devender Singh Bisht as its secretary.” He couldn’t explain the present status of the association.

Yesterday, one of the two associations organised a meeting to elect its officer-bearers.

Jagmohan Singh Rawat and Devender Singh Bisht were made acting president and secretary, respectively, of this association.

Earlier on January 16, the other district association had elected its office-bearers. Joginder Singh Pundir was made its president. Gopal Bhardwaj and Gajender Dabral were given the charge of vice-presidents while Tejpal Singh Rawat was given the responsibility of secretary.

It may be recalled that when the two associations were united, its secretary Devender Singh Bisht and other members had resigned from their posts in the association over reported differences with its president Joginder Singh Pundir.

Following their resignations, Pundir and his supporters elected their own office-bearers at a meeting while the Bisht camp also elected its own office-bearers. The two associations enjoy almost equal number of support from the district football clubs.

Dehradun January 24
The entire faculty and students celebrated the 114th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at SN Memorial Public School, Bhauwala Rajawala, here today. His immortal slogans of true patriotism were remembered during the celebration that captivated the environment as well as prospective teachers of the Faculty of Education, ICFAI University.

The programme was conducted under the banner of School Relationship and Community Empowerment programme of the Teachers Training College and School to pay tributes to one of India’s towering and fearless leaders of the struggle when our motherland underwent against the British anarchy.

In the welcome speech, the Vice-Principal of SN Memorial School and an alumnus of the ICFAI University told that the school is an upcoming institution imparting quality education to the rural children with affordable fees.

The programme started with lighting of ceremonial lamp by the chief guest followed by speech narrating on the glimpses of Netaji’s contribution to attain freedom by a student of class VIII.

The programme culminated with a vote of thanks delivered by Neelam Thapa, science teacher of the school.

Haridwar, January 24
Appreciating the efforts of the Uttaranchal State Badminton Association in successfully hosting the All-India Prize Money Badminton Tournament last year, the hosting rights of this year’s edition have again been given to Uttarakhand. DIG Sanjay Gunjiyal, who is acting as chairman of the national-level tournament, stated this here today.

Gunjiyal urged all the people associated with the upcoming tournament to work hard to make the tournament highly successful. He said, “It is a matter of pride for the state that a pan-India badminton tournament will be organised on the banks of the holy river Ganga. We have to provide them best of the facilities and a sporty environment, so that the participating players want to come again to Haridwar.”

In the preparatory meeting of the organising committee, Uttaranchal State Badminton Association chief IGP Ashok Kumar’s message was also read out, who due to some commitments could not attend the committee meeting. In his message, Ashok Kumar assured that the outer-state players would be provided with best of the facilities available in the city with invitation being also given to the international players to participate in the tournament.

With the Ganga Dham Organisation giving its full support to the organising committee, the tournament would be known as the Shri Ganga Dham All-India Junior Ranking Prize Money Badminton Tournament from this year, which would be played in two categories- under 16 and Under 19.

Informing about the events, chairman Dr Naresh Chaudhari stated that in all 1,000 entries have been received from across the country, including many Indian and international shutlers.