Nainital, June 16
Officials in Champawat district were taken to task by public representatives from the areas located around the district headquarters. The public representatives lambasted the officials for failing to deliver on the matters taken up by them at repeated intervals pertaining to important issues like health, education, transport etc. At a meeting held at Champawat on Wednesday afternoon, the public representatives took to task the officials from various departments.

 The most important issue taken up was the absence of teachers in several schools like those located in Sipti, Ramaila, Bakoda, Riyasi etc. The District Education Officer (DEO), PR Kohli, related that the process of appointing teachers had been completed and very soon 700 teachers would be recruited in the district.

The public representatives were also told that the Right to Education (RTE) was being implemented in the district and 25 per cent students from the marginalised sections of society would be able to avail of education in private schools.

The public representatives also took up the issue of construction and maintenance of various roads like the Jaigaon-Jaitoli, the Punave-Sipti, the Amori-Khatoli, the Champawat-Godi, the Senapani-Kafalta, etc. The officials of the PWD related that the administration was yet to provide money for the Jaigaon-Jaitoli stretch. Explanation was also given for the delays in other projects.

The matter of low-power voltage also came up for discussion in the Block Development Committee meeting. Matters pertaining to the improper billing system were also taken up. The officials of the Power Department related that very soon new transformers would be set up across the district, wherever required. It was also related that some more villages would soon be electrified while underground cables would be laid down in others.

The public representatives also raised the issue of shortage of doctors and were assured that fresh deployment of medical professionals would be done soon.

Matters pertaining to drinking water, implementation of schemes like the Indira Awas Yojana, etc were also taken up vociferously by the public representatives at the meeting. The officials were told to address these concerns at the earliest. 

Pithoragarh, June 16
Nearly 13-mm rainfall recorded during the pre-monsoon showers in the district in the past 24 hours has caused widespread damage to roads in the landslide-sensitive border sub-divisions of this district, resulting in inconvenience to villagers and security forces.

“The rain triggered major landslides on the road linking the town of Thal with Bageshwar and Almora district, at Lalmor near Thal town. A private construction company, which is engaged in road-widening work, tried to remove the debris, which led to a four-hour traffic jam on the road,” said Trilok Singh Bisht, Tehsildar of the Berinag area.

Heavy pre-monsoon rain also damaged the road between Baluakot and Paiyapauri in Dharchula subdivision. The people of the area have to walk 10 km to reach the nearest market.

“At one place more than one metre portion of the road has been washed away. Information regarding the damage to the road has been given to the officers of the PWD, who have promised the villagers that they will send an earthmover to repair the road. Till the road is repaired, the villagers will have to walk 10 km to reach the nearest market and their offices,” said Bansi Ram, social worker of the area.

Many minor link roads in the Dharchula and Munsiyari areas have also been damaged due to the rain. “The road, which links the Jumma and Rathi areas of the Talla Darma area with Tapovan in Dharchula has been damaged.

”The same is the condition of the road between Baram and Munsiyari. Despite the road having been opened to traffic after three days of repairs, two places still face the danger of landslide,” said AS Bisht, engineer working with the PWD. The pre-monsoon showers have indicated the things to come when monsoon will hit the region.

Dehradun, June 16
The Uttarakhand Mahanagar Mahila Congress Committee held a one-day dharna at Gandhi Park in protest against the death of Swami Nigmanand and demanded strict action against the culprits responsible for his death, here today.

All workers of the committee shouted slogans against the state government and staged a dharna at Gandhi Park. They held the state government responsible for the death of Swami Nigamanand. They demanded strict action against those found guilty. The workers raised anti-state government slogans, asking to address the burning issue. 

Dehradun, June 16
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Trivender Singh Panwar faction) has suspected the “role” of the state government behind the death of Swami Nigmanand.

Addressing a press conference at his party office today, MLA from Dwara Hatt (Almora) Pushpesh Tripathi indicated towards two ministers in the state government for being “involved” in quarrying at Haridwar, who were “unhappy” over Nigamanand’s protest.

Tripathi said: “It is being said that an unknown injection was given to Swami Nigmanand leading to further deterioration of his health and ultimately to the death. This looks like the handiwork of a quarrying mafia, which wanted to eliminate him. Two state ministers are also running the quarrying business at Haridwar. All this makes the role of state government dubious in the entire matter.”

Meanwhile, the MLA appeared buoyed over the beginning of the third phase of the Pol Khol Yatra at Mussoorie. The yatra will cover different parts of the state till June 26.

“The yatra which will be conducted in eight phases has successfully completed two stages and has received good response from the public. Now, the party has launched the third phase to expose the corrupt practices of both the Congress and the BJP during their terms in the state,” he added.

Dehradun, June 16
The district unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has decided to gherao the Chief Minister’s residence on June 29 to protest against corruption and express public grievances. The protest will be led by party leader Shiv Prasad Devli.

Expressing his views at a party meeting on Thursday, district secretary Surender Singh Sajvan said they were collecting a huge crowd for the gherao and for this they had already started mass awareness programmes through street plays, pamphlets, meetings, etc. He also said that the dramatic fasts observed by leaders of self-styled social organisations to rein in corruption had proved worthless. He held the state government

responsible for the death of Swami Nigmanand who launched an agitation against unscientific quarrying and the mafia engaged in the activity in the state.

Indu Naudiyal, Anant Akash, Virender Bhandari,

Kamruddin, Lekhraj, Rajender Purohit, Jyoti Thakuri and Kishan Guniyal were also present at the meeting. 

Dehradun, June 16
Chief Project Officer of the Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA) AK Tyagi said yesterday that once the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), which was launched in 2007, was implemented in the state, power consumption would decrease in Dehradun.

At a workshop organised by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation in association with the UREDA to discuss the solar city proposal as a part of the master plan, he said they had made a proposal related to energy conservation and would be sending it to the government this week. After getting the nod, the ECBC would be implemented. “The code will make compulsory the use of solar water heaters and other forms to conserve energy,” said.

He said the plan was ready and would be sent to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for its nod. “The master plan has been prepared by Gurgaon-based WINROCK International in one and a half years. The project related to the saving of energy proposed by the UREDA is worth Rs 171 crore,” said Tyagi.

He said the purpose of holding this workshop was to give details to all stakeholders how to reduce energy consumption by energy-efficiency measures and renewable energy sources like solar energy which could be used for street lightening, traffic lights, solar power cooker etc.

This would help reducing the demand for electricity by 10 per cent in the next five years. 

Dehradun, June 16
The famous Rajaji National Park has been closed for visitors and will reopen on November 15.

The park was closed yesterday.

According to the authorities, the closure is a part of routine exercise undertaken by the them during the monsoon.

A total of 13,585 tourists, including 1,935 foreigners, visited the park in 2010. The Rajaji park authorities are expecting more tourists this year.

Dehradun, June 16
State Agriculture Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said yesterday that Krishak Mahotsava programmes for the period of kharif crops had been highly successful in the state.

Addressing a press conference here, Rawat said over one lakh farmers benefited from these mahotsavas. He said a total of 73 krishak raths travelled in 670 panchayats across the state.

He said apart from disbursement of loans, farmers were provided with all assistance during these programmes.

Rawat said 161 representatives from various voluntary organisations and other experts participated in mahotsavas and reiterated the state government’s commitment to work for the benefit of farmers.

He said several initiatives had been taken by the government to increase the earnings of farmers.

He said there would be no dearth of funds for the implementation of horticulture schemes for the farmers.

He said a provision of Rs 12 crore had been kept for the promotion of the cultivation of vegetables in clusters, which included 50 per cent subsidy.

He further said the Animal Husbandry Department was in process to provide high milk yielding variety of cows to the farmers. 

Dehradun, June 16
The snatchers, who had become a problem for the Doon police for the past two months, today landed in its net. The police arrested five of them while two are missing. The police said it had recovered five gold chains and a motorcycle from their possession.

They had allegedly snatched chains at five different places -- Transport Nagar, Guru Road, Nehru Colony, Raipur and Basant Vihar. One of the snatchers allegedly got himself tonsured after a snatching incident in order not to get identified by the victim.

The five miscreants have been identified as Sandeep Bisht, alias Sandy, of Nathanpur, Rohit Chauhan, alias Takkal, Hemant Singh and Kailash of Mohakampur and Tushar Bhatt of Nehrugram, Nehru Colony. Deepak Chauhan and Lalu have fled.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ganesh Singh Martolia said they used to do snatching for drinking and splurge money. They are school dropouts and two of them are working at a hotel in Haridwar.

A police team led by Circle Officer Navneet Singh Bhullar arrested the suspects from near St Jude’s crossing after getting a tip-off. The CO said they used to borrow bikes of their friends on some pretext and indulge in snatchings.

The police is also thinking of registering a case against a Mohakampur-based jeweller to whom all of them sold the chains. The SSP said the jeweller was involved and to discourage such activities among jewellers, they would register a case.

Dehradun, June 16
Members of the families of five youths, who have been arrested for their alleged involvement in chain-snatching incidents, created ruckus at a press conference organised by the police here.

They did not allow the police to take away their wards to the police station. However, with the intervention of the police, they were later sent away from the spot.

Earlier, claiming their wards to be innocent, they alleged that the police had falsely implicated them in the case without any evidence.

They told media persons that all of them were arrested by the police last evening from near their houses and were kept at the police station for 24 hours.

Father of one of the accused, Tushar Bhatt, Anil Bhatt said the police had no proof against his son. He was standing outside his home when he was arrested.

The police, however, said Anil Bhatt was himself a terminated head constable from the PAC for his alleged criminal record.

Mussoorie, June 16
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) has alleged that the state government and the forest officials were trying to shield the bureaucrats who were involved in the illegal felling of trees in environmentally fragile Sankari in the Govind Pashu Vihar area of Uttarkashi district.

At a press conference held here yesterday, district president of the UKD NK Gusain said the UKD, acting on its call where the party had stated that if the government failed to take any punitive action against the erring bureaucrats then its members would go to Sankri and protest at the site on June 10, the workers of the party went to Sankri and met the Nayab Tehsildar and the Patwari. They came to know that Neeta Agarwal was getting a house constructed on about 25 nalis and had indulged in felling of 200 trees of rare species such as oak and kail. However, the authorities concerned have filed a case against unknown persons.

Gusain said it was also found that apart from illegal felling of trees, the senior bureaucrat was using a power generator in a prohibited area for cutting the trees into sleepers to be used in the construction of the house.

Gusain demanded that the administration should name the guilty in the case filed with the authorities concerned. He also said the UKD demanded an independent inquiry into the whole matter so that such activities in the state could be curbed.

Speaking on the issue of Swami Nigmanand’s death in Haridwar, Gusain said the state government was involved in the death of the swami who was protesting against the mining mafia in Haridwar. Gusain demanded a CBI inquiry into his death.

Meanwhile, the party began its third phase of Pol Khol Yatra from Mussoorie today. The party would try to identify the real andolankaris who struggled for a separate state of Uttarakhand and honour them on June 26 in Dehradun.

Dehradun, June 16
Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh will be in the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education tomorrow to attend a workshop on the role of forests in dry land areas.

According to Dr VK Bahuguna, Director-General, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, the workshop aimed at highlighting the role and importance of forests in dry land areas, in halting desertification, restoring water bodies and livelihoods in dry land areas.

He said it was expected that discussions during the workshop would help formulating sustainable land ecosystem management policies.

Padma Vibhushan Chandi Prasad Bhatt, representatives from NGOs, researchers, United Nations agencies like World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, senior officers from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, senior forest officers and scientists will also participate in this workshop.

Abhijit Ghosh, former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Rajasthan, RD Singh, Director, National Institute Hydrology, Roorkee, Dr VN Sharda, Director, Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Dehradun, Ravindra Nath and Dr Ajai of Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, will deliver key lectures.