Dehradun, February 23
Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik expressed annoyance at the tardy progress in the implementation of projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in Dehradun, Nainital and Haridwar.

Chairing a meeting today that was attended by officials from the Urban Department, the minister asked them to speed up the work while ensuring its quality.

He instructed them to speed up the programmes launched for the welfare of residents of malin bastis, construct houses earmarked for the economically weaker sections of the society and implement schemes for the welfare of employees of Nagar Palikas, panchayats and nigams.

The officials were also asked to study the programmes of solid waste management, rehabilitation of slums and the tender policy underway in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

The minister told them to take utmost care while laying sever and water pipe lines, so that the public was not inconvenienced.

During the meeting Principal Secretary S Raju said for the three mission cities for the period 2005-12, eight projects had been sanctioned, while a sum of Rs 24.60 crore had been sanctioned for solid waste management and Rs 29.43 crore for widening of chowks in Dehradun.

Dehradun, February 23
To augment rain-water harvesting in the country, the National Rainfed Agriculture Authority has sent a Rs 2,200-crore proposal to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for sixteen states, including Uttarakhand.

Taking to The Tribune on the sidelines of the inaugural session of the two-day conference on Landscape Restoration Processes - Challenges and Opportunities at the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, Dr VK Bahuguna, Union Planning Commission’s National Rainfed Agriculture Authority executive committee member and technical expert on forestry, said the new proposal would benefit Uttarakhand in a big way as it would encourage water-harvesting efforts both inside and outside forests by benefiting the villages in the periphery.

Bahuguna said the project would include measures to improve livelihood opportunities for the people, apart from other initiatives like contour farming and plantation improvement to conserve water. He also held that an ongoing mini-pilot project in Mussoorie had also been provided by the authority some years back.

Earlier, inaugurating the two-day workshop, Dr VK Bahuguna emphasised on the causes of landscape fragmentation attributing it to anthropogenic and development factors.

He said deliberations in the conference will bring new insights and ideas to mitigate the long-term consequences of landscape fragmentation on the loss of habitats and biodiversity.

Dr JS Parihar, Deputy Director, Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, said remote sensing could be used as a tool to help identify changes in the landscape.

Dr SS Negi, Director, Forest Research Institute, described landscape fragmentation as a growing problem across the country. He referred to various issues and challenges concerning the diverse processes of fragmentation and consequent ecological changes, habitat loss, socio-economic issues and its effects.

A total of 120 delegates from different research institutes, universities and corporate offices were present. Dr Prafulla Soni, organising secretary, expressed the vote of thanks.

Dehradun, February 23
Scientists of the local Forest Research Institute (FRI) have recently sprayed a micro-nutrient solution on the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, thus relieving the tree of ever-growing stress.

One of the members of a team of scientists from the FRI Subhash Nautiyal, a scientist and Head of Botany Division, disclosed that the Bodhi tree had shown stress symptoms,. A big temple structure at the backdrop of the tree emanating much heat was putting the tree under stress. He said the micronutrients that prominently included zinc, copper, cobalt, boron and other metals were sprayed on the tree. After the spray, signs of de-stressing were quite visible with the leaves that earlier had a shade of paleness turning into green. Nautiyal said such micronutrient spray enhanced metabolic activities in a tree.

Earlier, the institute in 2007 had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee for the upkeep of the tree. Since then the scientists from the FRI had been monitoring the health of the Bodhi tree regularly and giving suggestions to the committee about its upkeep from time to time.

Initially in 2007, off-season fall of leaves was a big problem with the tree. It was due to rising copper toxicity in the tree, but the disease was cured after the intervention of the scientists from the FRI.

On the suggestion of the FRI, the committee, some years back, also made the arrangements for burning incense sticks at a separate place and got the grills fixed around the tree removed.

The Bodhi tree in Gaya is considered sacred worldwide as the tree has grown from the original tree under which Lord Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment about 2,500 years ago.

Dehradun, February 23
Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) has chalked its future strategy to bring about power efficiency in the state. Its main thrust has been to constructing new 33/11 KV substations and increasing capacity of existing substations, including upgrade (re-conducting) of 33 KV lines. The laying of new 33 KV lines in main towns through overhead lines/underground cable is also on the agenda.

Similarly, the laying of new 11 KV lines will also be undertaken for the work of feeder separation. This work will be done through 11 KV underground cables or 11 KV aerial bunched cables (ABCs) conductor to be fixed on the existing poles.

The department will also start construction of new 11/0.4 KV substations. These substations will bifurcate the load and reduce the length of low-tension (LT) lines.

High voltage direct current in theft prone area is also considered under the future strategy.

“Along with the HVDC system, we will also replace 11 KV overhead lines with 11 KV (ABCs) in the dense forest areas and densely populated areas. This will drastically bring down the rate of tripping and breakdowns. Especially in the forest areas, the lines get snapped at many points due to wind, trees or other factors, which could now be avoided with applying a strong coating on the wires. Theft has been a major concern for the department and we are planning to replace the LT lines with the ABCs in the theft-prone areas. People will no longer be able to misuse the lines for illegal connections,” said an official of the UPCL.

The upgrade of the LT lines and conversion of single-phase and two-phase lines into 5-wire lines will be done to give a big relief to the consumers who are troubled because of the snapping of power supply due failure of phase. The construction of new LT circuits from the existing 11/0.4 KV substations will also reduce the LT current through overhead Lt lines/ABC on the existing support.

The replacement of electro-mechanical/non-tamper proof compatible meters with electronic meters (meter reading instrument compatible and tamper proof) and ultrasonically welded meters. The meter reading instrument transmits and receives information between meter and utility back office or to the host. Because utility companies require only a few minutes everyday to collect and transmit data, this can easily provide a highly effective system of data collection and its executive solution. Those who own substations or generators, can save whooping money by using MRI.

New labs to test electronic meters will be set up at Roorkee and Rudrapur.

Dehradun, February 23
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) extended its support to the rally taken out by hundreds of labourers. The CPM justified the questions put up by these labourers, which, it said, were relevant to the labour community of Uttarakhand as well.

Speaking on this matter, CPM general secretary Vijay Rawat said the issues raised by the labourers were also connected to the problems

faced by the public of this country which had no option, but to bear the negative effects of the so-called liberalisation policy of the Central government. He indicated towards the Left-ruled states, such as Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura, where he alleged that the interests of the labourers were safeguarded, something not witnessed in the rest of the country.

“The labourers and the public are under compulsion to live a hellish life. So the Central government must redress their grievances by reducing inflation and effectively enforcing labour policies and social security,” he said.

In the meeting, Surender Singh Sajvan, Lekhraj, Indu Naudiyual, Anant Akash, Kamruddin and Shiv Prasad Devli were also present.

Dehradun, February 23
On the third day of the dharna staged by employees of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN), the Rajya Nigam Karamchari Mahasangh (RNKM) too jumped into their fight by extending support to their demands of the regularisation of employees and the cancellation of 10 high-level appointments. The representatives, later in the day, met the Chief Secretary who once again assured them to look into the matter.

The representatives of nine employees associations of the RNKM, which included the Water Corporation, Forest Corporation and Transport Corporation, led by president Kishore Upadhyay, spoke in favour of the demands put up by GMVN employees and warned that if the state government did nothing on it within a few days, the unions of all nine corporations would also go on indefinite strike.

They faxed a letter to the Chief Secretary who immediately called them for a dialogue. In the meeting, he reiterated his assurance of sorting out the matter, something that the representatives did not find sufficient.

SP Pant, vice-president, Employees Association of GMVN, said they had got such assurances umpteen times. Therefore, it was high time the state government did something tangible about it.

Haridwar, February 23
While at the Central level Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh is casting doubts on the integrity of Swami Ramdev, at the local level Congress leaders are demanding declaration of assets of the yoga guru by himself or by a high-level probe into the national and internationally spread property.

Taking strong cognizance of Swami Ramdev’s taking digs at the Nehru-Gandhian family, Uttarakhand general secretary and former state Women Commission chief Santosh Chauhan condemned Ramdev for having double standards and not declaring his assets that ran into in thousands of crores.

Dr Chauhan even labelled the yoga guru as “salesman of yoga” rather than proponent of yoga as, according to her, “Swami Ramdev has commercialised yoga by raking in crores from people’s money which can be gauged by the fact that just a few decades back Ramdev used to paddle on a cycle and nowadays he has crores of property and travels in helicopters”.

Chauhan said several cases of labour laws violation were reported in Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth, Divya Pharmacy, Padartha Food Parks and Yog Gram wherein workers exploitation was such that the actual payment made to them was quite less, while the signed salary slips denoted higher amounts.

Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad national spokesperson Baba Hatyogi has again questioned the nationwide Bharat Swabhiman Yatra of Swami Ramdev as a shield to gain mass popularity.

Hatyogi even has questioned the credibility of yoga guru’s protégée Acharya Balakrishan saying one should ask him from where he had got his medical degree.

Baba Hatyogi said it was not proper that on the one hand he was demanding declaration of assets from others, and on the other failing to do so himself.

Reacting to these allegations Acharya Balakrishan, who is Chancellor of Patanjali Yogpeeth University, termed these as untrue. In a statement he specified that there was no question of black money being taken by any of the branches of the Patanjali Trust as every detail of transactions was available.

Support to Swami Ramdev has started pouring in from various sides with Akhil Bharatiya Sanatan Dharam Parishad chief Mahant Kalipeetha Dheeshwar terming the allegations on the yoga guru as baseless, remarking that Swami Ramdev had brought a revolution in the entire country through the art of yoga. It was only fear of his popularity that was making some people make such allegations, he added.

Mukteshwar, February 23
Experts from various fields have pointed out that the time is ripe for Uttarakhand to make its mark in the production of herbal and aromatic plants, which are in great demand across the world.

Participating in the inaugural session of a three-day programme on “Training and capacity building for farmers on medicinal and aromatic plants (tejpatta/bayleaf)”, Herbal Research and Development Institute (HRDI) Director RC Sundriyal laid emphasis on a systematic approach in developing the sector.

He said the sole purpose of intervention by the government and others in the sector was to ensure that farmers who had taken up cultivation of herbal plants got the benefits.

He said India and China together contributed 70 per cent of the raw material in the global market for herbs, but India’s contribution in the $120-billion finished goods market was a mere 1 per cent.

Giving an elaborate presentation at the programme, organised by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) at its facility in Leti Bunga, Dr Sundriyal pointed that Uttarakhand had immense potential to provide the market with the medicinal herbs sought by it.

He said 100 metric tonnes (MT) of herbs were being cultivated at present while 200 MT were being gathered by forests. “This amounts to 300 MT while the national demand is close to 1000 MT. There is a shortfall of 700 MT that cannot be filled immediately,” he stated.

The HRDI Director asserted that ‘bugyals’ and gardens in the state offered a large variety and quantity of herbs, which just need proper value addition and marketing.

He listed the steps taken by the government for the cultivation and promotion of these herbs. He disclosed that there were more than 19,000 registered farmers cultivating herbal and aromatic plants, calling for an increase in this number. He also said there were 241 pharmaceutical companies in the state using 300 types of plants.

Executive vice-president of a corporate group Navneet Kaur pointed out that the world was giving a lot of importance to herbal plants and lots could be done in the sector.

TERI Director Amit Kumar said, “This workshop will not only instil confidence in local farmers to undertake the cultivation of ‘tejpatta’ on a commercial basis, but will result in an additional source of revenue for them in the long run”.

TERI Director-General Dr RK Pachauri could not make it to the event. His recorded video message was played before the farmers, at least 100 in number, participating in the event.

Nainital, February 23
Pulling up officials of the Health and Education Departments for their irresponsible handling of jobs under the Pulse Polio campaign, District Magistrate of Udham Singh Nagar BVRC Purshottam, has underlined that convening of meetings for the sake of formality will not be tolerated.

At a meeting held at his office on Monday, Dr Purshottam expressed his displeasure at a mere 61 per cent target achievement under the programme in the district. The meeting was convened to chalk out the plans for the next Pulse Polio drive that is to be carried out in the district from February 27 to March 5 this year.

He pulled up officials of the Education Department for the failure of the groups that were supposed to encourage people to bring their children to the booths set up in various schools. He warned District Education Officer (DEO) RC Arya and Deputy District Education Officer (Basic) Ashok Kumar Singh that if there was no contribution from these groups, payment of their salaries would be stopped.

He expressed his surprise over the fact that despite the weather being good, the success rate at booths was a mere 61 per cent. Dr Purshottam has set a target of 90 per cent for the next drive. He stated that the booths would be monitored by senior officials, including himself, and any laxity from the officials would result in stringent action against them.

As an incentive to the gram sabhas and the municipal bodies, which will achieve the 90 per cent target, the District Magistrate has promised a sanction of construction works to them to the tune of Rs 5 lakh.

The Chief Medical Officer, Dr RS Aswal, said 1,197 booths had been set up for the forthcoming campaign in the district out of which 973 had been set up in rural areas.

Pithoragarh, February 23
To prevent cruelty against animals, the Pithoragarh district administration has constituted an anti-cruelty committee at the district level.

“The committee will look into the cases of animal cruelty in the district and promote a move against animal sacrifice,” said Pithoragarh District Magistrate NS Negi, while chairing a meeting.

Negi said, “According to existing laws, cruelty towards animals, if proved, invites a punishment of Rs 10-100 with three years of imprisonment”.

The District Magistrate ordered the Chief Veterinary Officer of the district to make sure animals were not carried in trucks in suffocating conditions without the permission of the competent officer.

“We will request the government to provide enough funds for opening an animal rehabilitation centre near the town, where the stray animals can be lodged,” said Negi.

Dehradun, February 23
A team of the Dehradun District Municipal Corporation (DMC) today collected food samples from shops located at the Hanuman Chowk, Araht Bazaar and Patel Nagar.

Senior Health Officer Kailash Joshi said they had taken samples of milk products, mava, besan, salt and curries from various shops.