Jumbo Power
Elephants wreak havoc in Tanakpur
Nainital, April 21
A herd of elephants wreaked havoc in the forests of Tanakpur and went on to attack a Forest Department checkpost at Kakraligate Dewan on the night intervening Tuesday and Wednesday.

CM inaugurates Shaheedi Mela
Gabbar Singh Negi’s village to be connected with a road and his house conserved by the Culture Department
Dehradun, April 21
Inaugurating the Shaheedi Mela, which is organised in the memory of World War-I Victoria Cross winner Gabbar Singh Negi at Chamba, Tehri Garhwal, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank announced that the mela thereafter would be celebrated as a tourism mela every year.

Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank honours the widow of a martyred soldier at a mela organised in memory of Gabbar Singh Negi at Chamba in Tehri district on Thursday. 

Study of PanchayatI RAJ System
14 gram pradhans return from trip to Karnataka
Dehradun, April 21
After 10 years of formation of the state, Uttarakhand still cries for the enforcement of the Panchayati Raj Act that has kept a majority of the rural population away from education, health and employment.

Dehradun, April 21
The much-delayed bus terminus project in key areas of Kumaon and Garhwal is expected to kick off soon.

The project that had been hanging fire for the past three years has now taken off with the Uttarakhand Government ready to take a decision on the financial bids.

Four bus terminuses to be built in the public-private mode will come up at Ramnagar, Kashipur, Srinagar and Rudrapur. These are expected to be built at a cost of about Rs 25 crore. ”The initial calculations are that a terminus will attract peak traffic of 30 buses per hour,” said Principal Secretary, Transport, S Ramaswamy. The concept includes a terminus, a workshop, amenities for passengers and some commercial space. The project aims at enhancing public convenience and providing transport facilities that have been missing in the hills.

Two years ago six companies had qualified for the technical bids but the delay in calling for the financial bids resulted in certain companies losing interest. Now the government has to take a decision on awarding the project to the selected company.

This is the second project to come up since the creation of the state.The first Inter-State Bus Terminus in the Bypass area is already functioning.

Not only are passengers expected to gain from the project but investor confidence too is expected to be renewed in the government. The government has been dilly-dallying on key projects more so after the delay in the decision pertaining to the commercial complex under the Gandhi Road project.

It is believed that Nagarjuna Construction Company Private Ltd had applied for these projects as well but made a hasty retreat after the delay in the calling of financial bids on the part of the government . The company has already signed a contract for building the commercial complex on Gandhi Road.

The Uttarakhand State Transport Corporation has planned seven other bus terminuses at different locations in the state. 

Nainital, April 21
A herd of elephants wreaked havoc in the forests of Tanakpur and went on to attack a Forest Department checkpost at Kakraligate Dewan on the night intervening Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to the information available, the elephants not only smashed the walls of the checkpost but went on to destroy whatever was lying inside the post. The watchman deployed at the post along with his wife managed to save their lives by rushing to a turpentine depot nearby.

The herd then went on towards the forests on the Purnagiri side. It is learnt that more than two dozen elephants has been moving around. The watchman, Laxman Singh, and his wife, Basanti Devi, said the elephants went after whatever possessions the couple had. The elephants trampled upon the domestic articles possessed by them.

This is the second instance of the watchmen of the Forest Department being the target of rampaging elephants. Reports say that on April 11, a watchman had been trampled to death by an elephant in the Dodagi range of the forests near Haldwani.

Dehradun, April 21
Inaugurating the Shaheedi Mela, which is organised in the memory of World War-I Victoria Cross winner Gabbar Singh Negi at Chamba, Tehri Garhwal, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank announced that the mela thereafter would be celebrated as a tourism mela every year. He also announced that a grant of Rs 5 lakh will be allocated for the celebrations. Before inaugurating the mela, he also paid tributes to Gabbar Singh at his memorial.

Nishank said the Uttarakhand Government had launched many welfare-schemes for the soldiers. Under the Jai Jawan Awas Yojana, the state government had decided to give land free of cost for the houses to be built under this scheme in Dehradun, Haldwani and Kotdwar. Besides, an amount of Rs 50 lakh had been sanctioned for the construction of a hostel for the children of the soldiers in Dehradun. He said Uttarakhand was a land of warriors, where almost every family on an average had one member serving in the armed forces.

He said Majyud village, which is the native village of Gabbar Singh Negi, would be connected with a road and his house conserved by the Culture Department. He also announced that the Chamba Soldier Guest House would be named after Gabbar Singh.

The Chief Minister later met ex-servicemen and the members their families as well as the widows of martyrs.

He presented Rs 25,000 each to three widows of martyrs for the marriage of their daughters.

The Commanding Officer, Garhwal Rifles, Brig Sharadchand, Col PD Kudiyal, Chairman of the Zila Panchayat Ratan Singh Gunsola, state BJP vice-president Lakhiram Joshi, Tehri Garhwal District Magistrate Radhika Jha and many other dignitaries and local people were present on the occasion.

The gram pradhans and the gram panchayats in the South are backed by strong government schemes and a structured government body. We feel the Panchayati Raj Act should be enforced in Uttarakhand to help the rural population to have access to basic services.

— Radha Devi

The trip was informative and educative for us. We got the opportunity to know how the Panchayati Raj Act was being implemented in Karnataka.

— Meenu Chhetri

The system of managing the gram sabhas and the gram panchayats in Karnataka is independent and is run by the villagers themselves. The Karnataka Government does not intervene in their activities.

— Usha Devi

After coming back from the tour, we came to know what powers a gram pradhan should have and how they can work in the public interest.

— Saroj Gurung

Mussoorie, April 21
A team of Tibetan students from Dehradun and Himachal Pradesh, on the second leg of an Ecology Study Tour in Mussoorie, paid a visit to Tehri Dam, yesterday.

The dam is situated at around 100 km from Mussoorie and considered one of the highest rock-fill dams in the world. The students were awed at the marvel of engineering and massive infrastructure here.

The team leader and the trustee of Winterline Nature Trust, Shantanu Sarkar, said the project run by Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) was situated at Bhagirathi river. Initially, the project was commissioned by the Government of Uttar Pradesh (UP) but is now a joint venture of the Government of India and Government of Uttarakhand.

Shantanu Sarkar further said that the reservoir formed by the dam was being used to irrigate 2,70,000 hectares of land. However, he also made it clear that the students should always consider the positive and negative of large dams as the social and environmental fallouts were attached to it.

Sarkar said the constructed dam had submerged Tehri town completely and 23 villages, too, while 72 other villages had been submerged partially.

Nearly 5,200 hectares of fertile land had been lost to the reservoir. In addition, about 85,000 persons had been displaced by the dam and rehabilitated in the plains of Dehradun and New Tehri leading to problems of land alienation, destitution, inequality, abrupt and forced changes in agriculture pattern and break up of the joint family system.

Sunita Dutta, wildlife expert from the Wildlife Institute (WWI) of India, accompanying the team, said certain analysts were of the view that the economic life of the dam would not exceed 61.4 years.

With the hampering of the free-flow movement of the Bhagirathi (Ganga), some fish species such as “mahseer”, which return to mountain rivers for breeding, cannot reach due to the dam in between hence a drop in their numbers would also affect the environment adversely. 

Dehradun, April 21
Uttarakhand Revenue Minister Diwakar Bhatt today held long deliberations with the agitating Lekhpals (Revenue officials deployed in the plain areas of Uttarakhand), appealing to them to end their six-day-long stir in the interest of the people of the state.

Assuring Lekhpals of fulfilling most of their demands linked to pay and perks, Bhatt said the government understood the concerns of Lekhpals and they, too, should understand the problems being caused to the people due to the stir. However, the Lekhpal Association office-bearers, holding talks with the minister, alleged that there have been repeated assurances which have never been fulfilled. They asked the minister to give a time frame to fulfill their demands.

Later talking to mediapersons, Bhatt said while the travel and stationery allowances of Lekhpals had been increased, their demand for a change of designations had also been entertained. Bhatt said the long standing demand of reorganisation of the set up of Lekhpals

had also been accepted. He said the other demands were also under consideration. He said he was hopeful of an early end to the strike as the state government had accepted most of their demands. The Minister

also held that if still the strike persisted, he would have no option to go for alternative arrangements.

Meanwhile, Radhey Shyam Painuily, an office-bearer of the Uttarakhand Lekhpal Association, said the association had turned down the minister’s appeal and would continue with the strike till the government

notification on all their demands, including pay scale hike, were accepted. He said the Lekhapls would no more go by assurances and wanted a decisive action this time.

Haridwar, April 21
Demanding a CBI probe into the assets of renowned yoga Guru Swami Ramdev, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Panwar faction) chief Trivendra Singh Pawar has sought revelation of the name of the alleged state minister, who he accused of seeking bribe a few years back.

Pawar was here on his maiden visit, post bifurcation of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, dismissing Haridwar-based UKD leader and state Revenue Minister Diwakar Bhatt and was quite severe on both Swami Ramdev and Bhatt.

He asked Swami Ramdev to disclose the name of the Cabinet minister in the current BJP state government who had sought a bribe from him for allocation of land for Patanjali Yogpeeth, remarking that by shielding the name Swami Ramdev was hurting the fight against corruption, which he tried to support at Anna Hazare’s agitation in New Delhi.

Pawar sought a CBI probe into the assets of yoga Guru, pointing out that in almost a decade, his assets had gone up to hundreds of crores, which was a matter of concern. He also termed the yoga Guru as an “agent” of the BJP, pointing to his RSS links and close proximity with BJP leaders.

“It’s no hidden fact that the BJP-RSS leaders are much closer to Baba Ramdev with their visits being a normal occurrence, be it Nitin Gadkari or Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank,” said Pawar. The regional outfit which trigerred off the Uttarakhand separate movement in late 1980s will also be contesting all 70 Assembly segments in the state elections scheduled next year. 

Dehradun, April 21
Activists of the Anganwadi Karyakatri/Sevika Karamchari Union yesterday staged a protest at the Secretariat. The members of the union gathered at Gandhi Park first and then marched towards the Secretariat where they held the protest. They were led by general secretary of the union Janki Chauhan.

Speaking on the occasion, Janki said: “We have demanded promotions for the anganwadi workers, pension and other emoluments.”

Dehradun, April 21
Al Fateh Cricket Club defeated Himalayan Cricket Club (B) (HCA) by four wickets to enter the quarterfinals of the Beehive Twenty20 Cricket Tournament at Matawala Bagh here today.

Himalayan Cricket Club (B), while batting first, scored 145 runs losing five wickets in 20 overs. Ayush Jugran (67) and Anurag (29) were the main scorers. For Al Fateh, Harun took two wickets while Jahangir and Nadeem pocketed one wicket each.

Al Fateh had to face a tough challenge from its rivals while batting. However, it achieved the target in 19.1 overs at the loss of six wickets. Sonu (51) and Anand (29) were the mainstay of the batting side.

For HCA, SS Yadav bowled well and captured three wickets. Ayush and Kaminder pocketed one wicket each. Meanwhile, there will be no match tomorrow and the matches will restart from Saturday.