Dehradun, February 8
The city wore a joyous look today as residents were in a festive mood to welcome the spring season on the occasion of Basant Panchami. The festival that connotes sprouting of new leaves, blossoming of flowers and colourful atmosphere also bids adieu to the winter season.

Puja at several places on the occasion of Basant Panchami were conducted where prayers were offered to Goddess Saraswati. Students and migrants also installed idols of the goddess at many places in the city to do the puja.

Like every year, devotees, including many Bengali families, assembled at the Bengali Mohalla’s Durga Badi Temple to celebrate Saraswati Puja with traditional fervour and gaiety. The devotees were seen offering prayers before the deity.

Maulli Mazumdar, a student, visited Durga Badi Mandir to pray for her upcoming Class XII examinations.

Kite flying is another attraction of this festival and is enjoyed by youth on the occasion. The trend of kite flying has taken a back seat in the valley. Unlike any part of India, fewer number of kites were seen soaring in the sky here.

When asked why the sport does not hold any significance for residents of the valley, wholesale dealer of kites in the city Mohammed Yaqub said, “Kite flying is primarily celebrated on Basant Panchami in most parts of the country, but the tradition varies here. The sport here is fervently performed on Raksha Bandhan, as people associate the festival of thread with kites”.

However, a few schools and colony committees in the city continued the tradition of kite flying on the occasion. “I have never done kite flying before, but my friends insisted that I participate in the competition. I thoroughly enjoyed the sport and have learnt tricks to cut the threads of others kites,” said Varun, student of Olympus High School.

Dehradun, February 8
Clouds of uncertainty dog the future of the Dhari Sidhpeeth Temple that is in danger of meeting a watery grave after GVK Company’s plan to lift the temple was quashed by local residents.

Submergence of the temple located on the banks of the Alaknanda will be imminent in the event of the lake formation as a consequence of the dam construction.

The issue is troubling the government that has now stopped the construction work as residents, along with politicians, are firm on the demand that the temple should not be removed from its original place.

As the Dhari Devi Temple is not an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected temple, the government has not sought their services. “Examples of such an exercise abound. The ASI has successfully transported the Nagarjuna Konda Temple that got buried in a lake in Andhra Pradesh. Elsewhere also such exercises have been undertaken. Once submerged in the Krishna Raja Sagar reservoir waters of the Cauvery, the magnificent 12th century Venugopalaswamy Temple, too, was relocated on the backwaters of the Hosakannabadi under a private initiative,” said Dr DN Dimri, Superintending Archaeologist, ASI (Dehradun Circle).

The transportation and relocation of the temple is done methodically with complete documentation and photographic evidence. “Each stone is first numbered and records maintained so that there is no violation in the original design and layout. The stones are then replaced in the exact position at a new location. On a previous occasion during a dam building exercise, National Thermal Power Corporation had undertaken chunk lifting of a temple at Tapovan near Joshimath. It was not done properly and lentil stone was replaced with RC ceiling,” Dimri added.

ASI experts say antiquity is not of much import here as much as the sentiments of the people. The idol can be consecrated in a new temple for the time being, if relocation and transportation work is undertaken.

“The temple is old and has undergone several renovations, but it has a special place in the hearts and minds of the people,” said Pauri District Magistrate Dilip Jawalkar.

Earlier, representative of GVK Company had said the temple, located at a height of 590 metres, would be further raised by 21 metres. “We had taken the help of IIT, Roorkee, while planning the alleviation of the temple. The plan involves chunking and later raising its height. There was no opposition to the plan by the locals when it was unveiled last year. Though we had raised the capacity of the dam from 200 MW to 330 MW, still the temple would have submerged. But certain elements from outside are now fishing in troubled waters,” said Santosh Reddy, Deputy Director, GVK company.

He said the temple would have submerged even if the capacity of the dam remained at 200 MW.

“People are unhappy with the company’s proposal and want the temple to remain as it is. For this, the company will have to lower the height of the dam then only the temple would be saved. We are awaiting the final report to be presented by the government,” said senior BJP leader Mohan Singh Gaonwasi.

Dehradun, February 8
Uttarakhand Food and Civil Supplies Minister Diwakar Bhatt has stressed on strengthening foodgrains availability in border areas of the state.

Addressing a press conference here today about his interactions with Union Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies KV Thomas, whom he met in Delhi yesterday, Diwakar said he had put forward the concerns of the state before the Union Minister vis-à-vis availability of foodgrains in the state.

He said the state shared its borders with Nepal and China and any shortage of foodgrains, particularly in the districts that fell in the border areas, could be disastrous.

“I have expressed my concern before the Union Minister as the scarcity of foodgrains in border areas can force inhabitants of these areas to take to unpatriotic activities,” said Bhatt.

The minister also said he had asked the Union Food and Civil Supplies Ministry for a fresh survey to identify the number of BPL families in the state. He said, while 1997 survey had identified 4,91,000 BPL families in the state, the figure presently stood at 12 lakh.

Responding to queries, Diwakar denied that his visit to Delhi was also to do with recognition of his faction of the UKD by the Election Commission. “My visit to Delhi was purely to attend a meeting of the Civil Supplies Ministers of the country and had nothing to do with party work,” he said.

Bhatt also said he had also submitted a letter to the Union Petroleum Ministry seeking permission of the ministry for opening up of more gas agencies in the state. He admitted that with a few gas agencies in the state, civil supplies officials were forced to take a lenient view at times, as any closure of the gas agency would cause innumerable harassment to the consumers.

Dehradun, February 8
Senior Congress leader and MP from Pauri Garhwal Satpal Maharaj has given a call to people to strengthen the hands of the Congress in their struggle in rooting out corruption in the state.

Addressing a rally at Dhumakot organised by local Congress leader Dhirendra Pratap, Satpal Maharaj termed the state government as being “anti-people and anti-poor” and asked people to unite in throwing out the government from power in the coming Assembly elections.

Maharaj, who was given a rousing reception on his arrival at Dhumakot, condemned the handling of natural calamity-related problems by the state government and charged it with using corrupt methods in dealing with problems of the public. He supported the demands of the constitution of smaller districts and said it would help in decentralising the powers.

The MP also demanded a high-level probe into the various scandals involving the state government and said it had brought down the pace of development of the state.

While addressing the meeting, Dhirendra Pratap criticised former Chief Minister BC Khanduri for ditching people and asked him to resign from his Assembly seat on moral grounds.

Nainedanda Block Congress president Jang Bahadur Singh Negi, Pauri Garhwal District Congress president Govind Singh Raat, Dhaneshwari Ghildiyal Youth Congress president Kuldeep Rawat and zila panchayat member Sushila Rawat also addressed the meeting. On the occasion over 100 memorandums were submitted to Satpal Maharaj.

Dehradun, February 8
Putting up a good show with both bat and ball, Doon XI scored a big win of 100 runs over Tanush Cricket Academy (TCA) in the Uttarakhand Twenty20 Cricket League Championship today on Mahindra Ground here.

Batting first, the winning team set a target of 163 runs for one wicket in 16 overs. Opening batsmen Naresh (88) and Ravinder (42) did the job for Doon XI. Ashish also contributed 21 runs.

Gaurav was the only successful bowler for TCA.

Other than opening batsmen Mandeep (21) and Ashish (21), no other batsmen reached double figures.

The team was bundled out for 62 runs in 13 overs. Harsh and Ravinder took three wickets each. Manoj took one.

Doon XI has become the first semifinalists of the competition winning all their league matches.

Dehradun, February 8
In a one-sided match, UPES beat Uttarakhand Power Sports Group (UPSG) by 121 runs in the 60th District Cricket League that was held at Survey of India stadium, Hathibarkala, on Tuesday.

UPSG won the toss and decided to field. UPES set a target of 214 runs in 30 overs at the loss of four wickets. Sachin (44), Nilesh (44), Siddhatn (42) and Vipul (32) contributed handsomely for the batting side.

In reply, UPSG was bowled all out in 93 runs in 18.1 overs. Devender (28) and Vijetra (21) were the main scorers of the team while rest all batsmen failed to spend sometime on the pitch.

Dehradun, February 8
The Taekwondo Academy of Dehradun has won five gold and four bronze medals in an inter-state competition held at Saharanpur earlier this month.

As per a press statement issued by the academy, about 400 participants from eight states took part in the championship. Mohit Bisht, Yogesh Joshi, Saksham Tomar, Satyam Shukla and RP Gupta won gold medal in the competition.

Shivam Bhute, Adarsh Kumar, Aman Thakur and Mohit Gupta got bronze. The team members had gone with chief coach Sandeep Saini. President Jagdish Rana and secretary Gagan Garg welcomed the players on their return.