Dehradun, June 25
Participants from across the country who reached Dehradun today to practise at the ice-skating rink at Raipur will have to instead practise roller-skating at Summer Valley School as the ice could not be set at the Raipur-based rink yet.

The players who came with Russian coach Svetlana Akhmerova, along with the members of the Ice Skating Association of India to Dehradun were a disappointed lot.

“We have come from far off places on the invitation of the Winter Games Federation of India (WFGI), but now we have been told that it is not ready due to a technical fault,” said a player.

“The players now have to practise at the wooden skating rink of Summer Valley School,” said honorary president of the Ice Skating Association of India RK Gupta. “Had our children to practise roller skating on wooden rink, they could have done it back home as well. We came here to practise ice-skating, which is not available,” said a hassled parent of a player.

“We are very disappointed with the treatment meted out to us,” added another parent of a player. As per the Ice Skating Association, 10 selected players from different parts of the country have come to Doon.

“The WGFI had already informed the players that the training-cum-talent hunt at the Ice Skating Rink, Dehradun, has been postponed due to some technical fault and they will be intimated about the further programme as soon as the rink is ready. Despite being informed, the players have come to the city for practice. Hence, we are not responsible for it,” said WGFI president SS Patwal.

Dehradun, June 25
The state government is in a fix over the management and running of the artificial ice-skating rink that has been lying closed after the first South Asian Federation (SAF) Winter Games were held here in January this year.

The Centre had given Rs 110 crore and the state government had contributed 10 per cent in constructing the rink for the games. Though the sports director told The Tribune that the government had given the responsibility of holding a ice-skating carnival to the PHD Chamber of Commerce, in association with the Winter Games Federation of India (WGFI) and the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, but the ground reality is different. The ice could not be set at the rink, which has held several programmes on hold.

Uttarakhand convener of the PHD Chamber of Commerce expressed confidence that the rink would be ready soon and the carnival would be held in two to three weeks. However, the sports director, WGFI and the PHD Chamber have different dates of its completion.

Sources said an AC plant and a water pump were non-functional due to which the ice could not be set there. Three experts from Hungary have also been called for setting the ice, but nothing could be done so far.

Sports Director Ranjit Sinha said efforts were on to make the rink functional and hopefully something positive would come out by July 1. — TNS

Mussoorie, June 25
The Municipal Co]uncil, Mussoorie, in association with Hotel Jaypee Residency Manor reintroduced the 160-year-old tradition of live music at the historic Band Stand here by organising a live pop music show yesterday.

Recently, The Tribune had highlighted the apathy of the Municipal Council towards the historic Band Stand in Mussoorie.

It came as a surprise for tourists, who enjoyed singing and dancing along with Viceroy Band. A scintillating performance by Kapil, a lead vocalist, held the audience spellbound.

Jasvinder Singh, a tourist from Ludhiana, said: “The show helped us to relax and get into a holiday mood.”

The lead vocalist, Kapil, said it was a different experience for him. “We enjoyed with the audience, which showed affection to us,” he adds.

Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola and council president OP Uniyal were also present on the occasion. Uniyal thanked The Tribune for bringing the issue in the public domain

When asked about a poor condition of the historic Band Stand, he said it would be renovated and beautified soon.

The GM of the hotel, Anil Sharma, said as tourists were the mainstay of the economy, they thought of reintroducing the tradition of live music at the historic Band Stand in joint association with the Municipal Council. “We are planning to organise more such shows in October that will include Jazz shows and brass band presentations.”

Jai Prakash Uttarakhandi, a local historian, also welcomed the move but said a proper seating arrangement should be there for the audience to enjoy music in peace and a relaxed manner.

Dehradun, June 25
The state today witnessed protests over the hike in the prices of diesel, Kerosene and LPG. In Dehradun, the ruling BJP, the CPM, the Samajwadi Party and other political parties organised protests accusing the Centre of fuelling inflation in the country. The BJYM took out a funeral procession of the Central Government. They also burnt an effigy of the government at Clock Tower.

Addressing a gathering, BJYM general secretary Sunil Uniyal Gama said besides fuelling inflation by rising the prices of petrol and diesel, the government was resorting to a rampant corruption.

The CPM alleged that the Union Government was resorting to anti-people policies by promoting the rise in the prices of kerosene and diesel. The Samajawadi Party also brunt an effigy of the Prime Minister at Gandhi Park.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank termed the increase in the prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene as an unprecedented and undemocratic. Nishank said it would have been better had the Union Government taken some concrete steps to curb the rising prices and providing relief to the public.

HARIDWAR: Flaying the Union Government, opposition political parties today took to the streets in protest against the hike in the prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene.

Local people were also seen discussing the hike, fearing an increases in the prices of other products also. Sanjana Sharma of the Women’s Cell of the BJP termed the step as a sign of an insensitive governance as the profit of oil companies was taken into account, but not the losses of the poor who could not afford to buy domestic cylinders at such a high rate.

Mona Verma, a housewife, said with this decision, their house budget would get disturbed as an LPG cylinder would now cost nearly Rs 400. Farmers are also unhappy over this decision and termed it as an anti-farmer step. “With the hike in the price of diesel, they will have to suffer further,” said Prakash Saini, a farmer. Mass protests were organised by the BJP, the Samajwadi Party and the CPI separately, which flayed the Union Government for hiking the prices.

Dehradun, June 25
Dehradun-based doctor Nitin Pandey is on a mission with his initiative “Citizens for Green Doon”. He is a paediatrician and physician by profession and is also known for his ardent environmental activities.

He believes that it is the responsibility of every individual and institution to take steps to combat pollution and preserve the environment. He is trying to spread ecological and environmental awareness through his movement of maintaining the greenery of the Doon Valley.

Starting from an association of six members to 2,500 members, the Green Doon has become a well-known name in the city. They keep holding several awareness programmes and environment conservation activities in the city. “The social networking sites have really helped us to bring in more and more members,” said Pandey. The movement initiated by him is an online venture on one of the social networking site ‘facebook’ that enables volunteers associated with this drive to stay connected with each other.

His movement also celebrates ‘Annual Tree festival’ in Dehradun, which is one of its own kinds and is nowhere celebrated in India. On being asked, how the “Citizen for Green Doon” came into existence, he replied, “Once I was passing through the Parade Ground when six boys of sports college prevented trees from felling down. The enthusiasm and the concern of those boys prompted me to bring in more such activists from all walks of life to avert chopping of trees.”

Pandey has also served for five years in the Indian Air Force and is now practicing as doctor at the Rajpur Road, Dehradun, since 1992. He is a former student of the St Joseph Academy and has pursued MBBS from the Armed Forced Medical College (AFMC).

“I had grown up watching greenery in Dehradun, but it is quite disheartening to see the present scenario,” asserted the activist. “The capital of state should be the most beautiful place and the people should lay emphasis on planting trees to convert the city into greener land,” he added.

The “Citizen for Green Doon” has till now saved the forests of Nanoorkhera, trees on the road leading to Raipur from Jolly Grant, via Tharo village, to make highway for the SAF Winter Games and has conducted successful surveys for the environment conservation.

On being asked that how he balances his profession with his environment-protection related work, he quipped, “I do not call myself an environmentalist. I am just performing my responsibility towards my city and my country. I hope to enable myself to breathe in a healthy environment and for this I manage to devout few hours on the movement.”

Dr Nitin faced many challenges to seek support from the people and the state government. “Initially, I tried to convince people that how useful and important it is to maintain the ecological balance of the nature. Slowly and steadily our work got recognition and a lot of people showed interest in the drive,” he said.