Mussoorie, June 28
Important files have gone missing from the record room of the Municipal Council office. It was revealed at a meeting of the Municipal Council Board held today.

President of the MC OP Uniyal directed the officials concerned to investigate the matter thoroughly and take punitive action against the culprits immediately. He said if need be an FIR should be lodged against those persons who were responsible for it.

A resolution to discontinue horse riding on the famous Mall Road here was passed by the meeting, much to the relief of residents and tourists as these horses create a lot of nuisance on the road. The earlier attempts to ban horse riding on the Mall Road had failed due to a strong opposition from the Mazdoor Sangh, but this time all the members are united to effect the ban.

In a letter submitted to Uniyal by a ward member, the latter requested him to rid the Mall Road of horse riding as it was becoming impossible for tourist to stroll freely on the road.

Uniyal said the MC was planning to relocate the owners of the licensed horses to an area away from the Mall Road, such as the Camel Back Road. He said the MC was serious on the issue and had directed the officials concerned to enforce the resolution strictly. “The absence of the horses from Mall Road will also lead to improvement in cleanliness of the town,” added Uniyal.

The meeting also approved the setting up of a separate hawker zone by extending the road near Hampton Court School so that the Mall Road becomes encroachment free. Uniyal informed the meeting that the identified hawkers would be given tokens and shifted to the new hawker zone.

Ward members Virendar Rawat and Ramesh Bhandari, in a heated debate over the installation of murals for the beatification of the town, alleged that the contractor was misleading the board and it could lead to immense loss to the MC. Rawat, showing the quotation rates for installing the murals, said the contractor had tendered different rates to the MC in comparison to those offered to other parties for the same work. He demanded that the contractor’s name be removed from the list of MC contractors permanently for his double standard.

Executive Officer Rohtash Sharma, while responding to the allegation, said at the moment only quotations had been invited and the work would be accorded only after a thorough investigation.

The board also discussed the construction of a museum near Jhoola Ghar where the heritage of the state and the history of Mussoorie will be exhibited. He directed the officials to look for an appropriate site and begin the process earnestly.

Dehradun, June 28
Protests and rallies are not only spoiling the beauty of the Gandhi Park but also causing traffic problems in the city. Motorists can be seen held up in traffic jams for hours everyday due to these protests.

Apart from these protests and rallies, the city witnesses numerous dharnas and effigy-burning protests at the Clock Tower and the Kwality Chowk. The problems of the commuters compound due to loose earth or unfilled trenches left by the personnel concerned after digging up roads for various purposes.

Yesterday, two marches, one by employees and the other by the Chief Minister, led to traffic jams on busy roads of the city for hours. The most affected roads included Rajpur Road, New Cantonment Road, Subhash Road and Eucalyptus Road.

The first march was led by a bare-footed Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank who was accompanied by his ministerial and party colleagues. The march started from Chief Minister’s newly built majestic residence near the Circuit House and moved towards the Secretariat, a distance of about 3 km.

As Nishank and his supporters moved towards the Secretariat, the march caused traffic jams for about two and a half hours on different roads. The “padyatra” was taken out in protest against the increase in the prices of petroleum products by the Central Government.

More than 12 government cars with police escorts lent the march a grand style, but motorists were not amused. “Why bring all the official cars if one has to undertake a ‘padyatra’,” wondered certain citizens caught up in a traffic jam.

The second march was that of the disgruntled state government employees. As the first procession reached the Secretariat, the second procession followed it to the same destination via Rajpur Road and Eucalyptus Road, causing traffic snarls en route. It took more than two hours for the city traffic to get normal after the protesters had reached the Secretariat. 

Mussoorie, June 28
The pushta (side wall) on South Road, a portion of which has caved in, will be reconstructed soon.

Responding to the news item published in The Tribune on June 21 highlighting the danger to the lives of people living on South Road, ward member Shushil Kumar has said the tenders for the widening of the road and the reconstruction of the pushta were approved at the previous board meeting but as a sewer line was being laid in the area the work on the pushta could not be initiated. The personnel of the agency awarded the work of laying the sewer line, after completing the job, had left a few trenches on the road unfilled, leading to a damage to the pushta.

He said the contractors concerned had been directed to begin work on the widening of the road and the reconstruction of the pushta on a priority basis.

Dehradun, June 28
The residents of the Shastradhara Road area and officials of the Municipal Corporation (MC) reportedly engaged in a scuffle on the premises of the MC office here today. Later, the situation was defused with the intervention of the police.

The dispute occurred due to an anti-encroachment drive carried out by a team of the MC. During the encroachment drive, the boundary wall of a temple on the Shastradhara Road was damaged. A member of the Shiv Sena reportedly slapped an officer of the MC. Members of the Bajrang Dal, the Shiv Sena and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad also reportedly joined the protesting residents.

The MC officials, however, said they had gone to remove an encroachment on the premises of a building but they didn’t intend to cause any harm to the property of the temple.

Dehradun, June 28
A leopard that killed a woman in the Chinyalisaun area of Uttarakashi district on Monday, was shot down on Tuesday. Hunter Lakhpat Singh killed the beast in the forest area of Uttarkashi during afternoon hours.

The leopard had killed 38-year-old Guddi Devi, wife of Shanti Lal, when she had gone to collect woods. The leopard, however, left the body and fled from the spot when the villagers reached the site.

The villagers later held a demonstration against the Forest Department, following which the forest authorities assigned Lakhpat Singh to kill the beast. 

Dehradun, June 28
Despite ban, protests and processions continue to be held at Gandhi Park affecting its beauty and peaceful environment. The park has become a victim of the “apathy” of the authorities, which has failed to do anything.

Recently, the police had banned protests at Gandhi Park and had suggested to the administration that such protests be held at Parade Ground. SSP Ganesh Singh Martolia said though they had asked political parties and different associations to use Parade Ground for their protests and not Gandhi Park, the trend continued.

A police official said though political parties agreed to the decision during a meeting, it failed to implement it. The officials said due to this attitude of political parties, others were also doing the same and using the place for holding protests.

The Nagar Nigam, Dehradun, which manages Gandhi Park, said it had written to the administration twice in this regard. Mayor Vinod Chamoli said: “This is the second time I have written to the administration, but to no avail.” District Magistrate Sachin Kurve could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Recently, the BSP had held its sabha at the park. It had put up tents and parked vehicles inside it against the norms, which caused resentment among the locals here.

People have started avoiding visiting Gandhi Park in the daytime due to the presence of a large of protesters everyday. Haphazardly parking, slogans and protests and common here. The place that should have been developed as a tourist destination is suffering badly. 

Dehradun, June 28
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today inaugurated the new office buildings of the Health and Family Welfare and Ayush Directorate at Danda Lakhond here.

The construction of these buildings that include separate blocks for allopathy, homoepathy and ayurveda had begun on May 2008.

Addressing the gathering, Nishank said the state was seeing rapid progress on both the allopathic and Ayush fronts. He said MBBS courses were already under way at the Srinagar and Haldwani government colleges.

New medical colleges were also slated to be opened at Srinagar and Haldwani.

He said specialist doctors would now be easily available in the state after permission for 27 seats in the MS and MD courses at the Haldwani medical college.

Nishank said the first nursing college of the state had started functioning in Dehradun and several more such institutions were in the pipeline.

He said steps were being taken for improving the health services as well as medical education. Government hospitals were being upgraded with the participation of the private sector. A fund of Rs 5 crore had been raised under the Vyadhi Nidhi Yojna.

Uttarakhand Secretary, Health, Umakant Panwar said trauma centres and blood banks had also been opened for improving the health facilities in the state. He said 141 ayurvedic doctors had been posted in allopathic hospitals as a stopgap arrangement in view of the shortage of doctors there.

Dehradun, June 28
The valedictory function of the skill development initiative under Affirmative Action launched by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Himalaya Drug Company, Dehradun unit, was held at Tasmia Academy here today.

MH Khan, Secretary (Social Welfare), Uttarakhand, while addressing a gathering, appreciated the initiative by the CII and the Himalaya Drug Company and said vocational courses could help underprivileged to empower themselves, which they rightly deserved. He also presented certificates to students who have successfully completed the courses.

Dr S Farooq, Chairman of the CII, Uttarakhand State Council, and Chairman, Bulk Manufacturing, of Himalayan Drug Company, shared that his company was one of the 16 signatories from Uttarakhand to sign the CII’s code of conduct on Affirmative Action. He apprised that code supports equal opportunities for the disadvantaged sections of society in employment and business.

Ramindri Manderwal, district protection officer, Dehradun, while speaking to students stressed on the importance of being good and responsible citizens.

As a part of its commitment to “Affirmative Action”, Himalaya Drug Company, facilitated by the CII, was running one-month free courses on computer DTP, spoken english and personality development. For girls, programmes on embroidery, cutting & tailoring, painting and mehndi were also offered. About 300 youth participated in these training programmes.

An exhibition displaying the work done by the participants was organised at the session. Also present on the occasion were students and the faculty members of the academy.

CII’s Affirmative Action initiative seeks to address the issue of unequal opportunities to socially backward. Under this initiative, the CII is targeting skill training and facilitating employment for 50,000 SC/ST youths across the country.

Mussoorie, June 28
The Rotary Club, Mussoorie, provided a water purifier and a lavatory to Saraswati Shishu Mandir School yesterday.

District president of the club DK Jain said the water purifier was provided to the school under their international project, “Sanitation and drinking water projects for schools”.

He said water purifiers would also be provided to two more schools, Sanatan Dharm Girls School and Mussoorie Girls Inter College, under the project.

Another member of the club, Shalendar Karnwal, said that the project was taken under the “matching grant’ scheme being run by the Rotary International.

OP Uniyal, chief of the Mussoorie Municipal Committee, was the chief guest on the occasion. He appreciated the efforts of the Rotary Club, Mussoorie, in this regard.

Dehradun, June 28
Yankies beat Doon Challengers 3-0 here today in the 60th Lala Nemi Dass Memorial District Football League held at the Pavilion ground.

Piyush (17th), Abhilash (55th) and Rahul (57th) scored the goals for the winning team. Doon Challengers throughout the match failed to score any goal and lost the battle 3-0.

In the second match, Garhwal Boys and Sarvodaya Club drew 2-0. Ashish (11th) and Akash (62nd) were the scorers for Garhwal Boys whereas Uday

scored a brace for Sarvodaya. He netted goals in the eighth and 69th minutes.

Tomorrow, Garhwal Sporting will take on Indira Club and Bajrang Club will have an encounter with Doon Valley.

Dehradun, June 28
The Strikers Sports Academy, Dehradun, organised a summer sports and talent camp at Sanatan Dharam Inter College (Banu School) from May 24 to June 26.

Several activities, including cricket, football, badminton, karate, art, craft, dance, clay modelling, yoga, English speaking and personality development, were organised during the camp for children.

A total of 150 students from 26 different schools of the region took part in the camp.