Haridwar, June 17
The sacrifice of Swami Nigmanand for the cause of the holy Ganga in Haridwar has assumed such a noble proportion that head of Dwarka Matth Sharda Peethadheeshwar Jagadguru Shankaracharya Saraswati Maharaj has visited Matra Sadan to pay tributes to him.

The Jagadguru Shankarcharya of the twin Dwarka-Sharda peeth said Nigmanand’s sacrifice would not go in vain and the people of the country would take his agitation to its zenith and continue it till the quarrying was stopped on the holy Ganga riverbed as well as on the riverbeds of its tributaries like the Alaknanda, Mandakini, Pindar and the Bhagirathi.

The revered guru, who is held in high esteem by the Hindus as well as the people of other religions and sects because of his philosophy of respect to all religions, said he was at Matra Sadan to extend support to the anti-quarrying agitation as well as to evoke a nationwide consciousness regarding the things affecting the holy Ganga river and local ecology.

He expressed disappointment at the state government and district administration not paying attention to the agitation launched by Swami Nigamanand.

The Shankaracharya condemned the preferential treatment given to yoga guru Swami Ramdev by the state government at Jolly Grant hospital as Swami Nigamanand battled for his life at the same hospital.

“Swami Ramdev fasted for just five days while Swami Nigmanand continued his fast for more than two months, but the focus of the whole media was on the high-profile agitation by the yoga guru. Even renowned spiritual orators visited Jolly Grant to meet the yoga guru but no one cared for Swami Nigmanand who has belittled the media savvy yoga guru by the dint of his determination,” remarked the Shankaracharya.

On the issue of bringing black money back to the country and declaring it a national asset, the Shankaracharya said declaring it a national asset only meant that it would be governmental property so the same corrupt politicians’ money would reach them in an indirect way, which Ramdev should explain to the people.

Making an appeal to the Central and state governments, the Dwarka Peeth Shankaracharya, who is also a freedom fighter, demanded a total ban on quarrying or mining on the Ganga riverbed and ousting the so-called quarrying mafia from Uttarakhand to preserve the sanctity of the holy Ganga and its tributaries.

The Magsaysay Award recipient and widely known as ‘Jal Purush’, Rajendra Singh, who was accompanying the Shankaracharya, termed Swami Nigmanand’s sacrifice as a noble act done by a true Ganga devotee.

Nainital, June 17
Training his guns on the state Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank and the BJP president Nitin Gadkari, senior politician Munna Singh Chauhan has accused them of ‘looting’ the state exchequer. Chauhan has sought an explanation from them saying that they should resign from the posts held by them on moral grounds.

Speaking to the mediapersons here, Chauhan pointed to the flood of advertisements issued by the Nishank government to various media houses in which the differentiating line between his party and his government has diminished. He pointed out that most of these advertisements were nothing but a message to welcome Gadkari to the state on his current visit.

“The government has no right to issue such advertisements and make payments from the state exchequer. This is yet another form of corruption that is being promoted in the state by the present government,” said Chauhan.

Observers here are of the opinion that Nishank has resorted to full-page advertisements in as he is finding himself on a sticky wicket. He is said to have been rattled by the fallout over the death of Swami Nigmanand and the Baba Ramdev affair. His critics have been suggesting that the entire episode was ‘fixed’ by the BJP.

Accusing the state government of resorting to ‘loot’ of the state exchequer, Chauhan sarcastically said, ”I would not be surprised if the BJP candidates went on to contest the next elections by making use of the money from the state exchequer.”

Chauhan has been critical of the Nishank government displaying certificates given by Gadkari on various controversial matters and the latter making statements in the past in the press that he has seen the papers and everything is in order.

Chauhan has been pointing, ”Who is Gadkari to decide upon things? Is he some sort of a Chartered Accountant of the state government who has been giving clean chits after scanning papers.”

Dehradun, June 18
Padma Bhushan Chandi Prasad Bhatt has outlined the need for making people-centric environment conservation programmes.Inaugurating the one-day workshop of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education on “Role of Forests in Dryland Areas” here, Bhatt said most of the environment-conservation programmes that took shape in the country were purely from the environment point of view while the inhabitants, who depended on forests heavily, got little importance in these programmes.

Referring to environmental imbalance in hilly areas of Uttarakhand, Bhatt said a fast-eroding forest cover had led to frequent landslides which could be amply gauged from the fact that staggering nine hundred hill roads in the state got closed due to landsides last year. However, on the contrary, the roads of Gopeshwar and Ukhimath proved to be an exception due to the presence of a dense tree cover which prevented occurrence of landslides.

Earlier, Dr VK Bahuguna, Director-General, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, welcomed the participants to the workshop. He said June 17 was being celebrated every year as World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought since 1994. He hoped that the workshop would lead to a knowledgeable outcome.

The Director, Forest Research Institute, Dr SS Negi, former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Rajasthan, Abhijit Ghosh, Director, National Institute Hydrology, Roorkee, Dr RD Singh, Director, Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute, Dehradun, Dr VN Sharda, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Prof Ravindra Nath and Dr Ajai of Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, were the other prominent participants in the workshop. Dr Dharmendra Verma, organising secretary of the workshop, coordinated the proceedings.

Dehradun, June 17
Uttarakhand Congress workers continue to protest the demise of Swami Nigmamand, who died after fasting for 115 days demanding stopping of quarrying on Ganga riverbed in the Kumbh Mela region of Haridwar.

Congress leaders in Dehradun took out a funeral process of the state BJP government which criss crossed the city before setting it ablaze at Ashley Hall here. They also raised anti-BJP Government slogans.

Addressing the gathering, Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat said he was strange that while Swami Nigmanand sacrificed his life for the Ganga, the BJP National President Nitin Gadkari along with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank were on a Char Dham yatra. He said after Nigmanand’s episode, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister should have tendered his resignation.

Former Dehradun Mahanagar Congress president Lalchand Sharma, Vijay Singh Chauhan and Devendra Singh Sethi were prominent participants in the protest.

Meanwhile, All India Women’s Congress national general secretary Manorama Dobriyal Sharma in a statement issued today has termed passing away of Swami Nigmanand, a martyrdom for river Ganga. She criticised both the BJP national president Nitin Gadkari and Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank for not expressing even a word of condolence for the deceased saint.

Dehradun, June 17
When the academic session restarts after summer vacation, children studying in government schools in Uttarakhand will have access to potable water within their the premises of their schools.

In compliance with the directives of the Supreme Court, the Jal Sansthan has begun work on providing potable water supply connections to 1,504 schools in Uttarakhand. According to a list provided by the Education Department, in Dehradun the number of schools that are without the facility of potable water is 57, Pauri 562, Chamoli 84, Rudraprayag 16, Tehri 228, Uttarkashi 141, Almora 113, Nainital 41, Bageshwar 71, Champawat 56, Pithoragarh 125 and Udham Singh Nagar 10. The Jal Sansthan will require about Rs 1096.24 lakh for setting up water supply connections in these schools.

A total of 13 schools in the Garhwal region and 15 in the Kumaon region are located in the areas that are bereft of natural water sources or water supply schemes.

“We hope to complete the work by the end this month and by June 20 we will be able to provide a complete picture of the work undertaken by us at these schools,” said DD Dimri, Chief General Manager (CGM), Jal Sanshtan.

Dehradun, June 17
Deputy General Manager, Material Management, Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) NK Joshi yesterday belied the news reports that around 400 transformers are defunct at various substations of the UPCL.

Joshi said these damaged transformers were collected by the staff of different units of the power distribution system and would be repaired/replaced at the respective workshops of the department as and when needed after due examination.

Till date, he claimed, the corporation had collected 2,502 damaged transformer, had 1,008 new transformers in the storehouse and sought 3,100 fresh transformers through tenders. He said the UPCL was determined to provide better facilities to its customers and wanted to ensure that the electricity supply was not disrupted, for the sheer reason of not replacing the damaged or old transformers with new or repaired ones.

Dehradun, June 17
The Uttarakhand unit of the All-India Scheduled Castes Yuwjan Samaj today staged a dharna at Gandhi Park here seeking the simplification of the process of issuing caste certificates.

Addressing the agitators, Vikas Chauhan, state president of the All-India Scheduled Castes Yuwjan Samaj, stressed the need for safeguarding the reservation being provided to the Dalits in the government jobs by the Constitution. He alleged that the incumbent Uttarakhand BJP government was depriving the Dalits of caste certificates on the pretext of the period of stay in the state.

Sushil Rathi sought the ownership rights for the dwellers of slums in the state. He said most of the inhabitants in these slums were Dalits. He also demanded regularisation of sanitary workers working on a contractual basis in various departments.

State vice-presidents of the All India Scheduled Castes Yuwjan Samaj Suresh Patel, Iqbal Siddiqui and Sumita Sharma Dhyani were prominent participants at the dharna. 

Dehradun, June 17
The Vice-Chairman of the Musssoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) held a compounding camp at office of the authority today where he allowed compounding of illegal constructions by 30 applicants. A total of about Rs 17.74 lakh was collected from the defaulters as penalty.

The Vice-Chairman said compounding of illegal constructions would continue in and more such camps would be held on July 18 and August 18 at the MDDA office. The applicants are supposed to carry documents related to the ownership of their properties, map of the building, copy of khatauni and the details of the part which was to be dismantled.