Pithoragarh, July 2
The ongoing 6th batch of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra has been diverted from Almora via Seraghat towards Didihat on its way to the base camp Dharchula as the road from Almora to Pithoragarh remained blocked at Makrau on the third day today.

“The 55-member batch will have lunch at Chaukori instead of Pithoragarh,” said Dinesh Gururani, in charge of the Pithoragarh Tourist Reception Centre of the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam, the nodal agency for the yatra.

According to the district disaster management unit, one person died in Bajeti village near this town on Friday after he was hit by a big boulder. He was rearing his goats. Later, the victim, Hoshiyar Ram, (55) died in a hospital where he was admitted.

According to the local office of meteorology, the total rainfall in the past 24 hours has been 55.4 mm in the district resulting in the swelling of the main rivers of the district - Kali, Gori, Saryau and Ram Ganga.

“We have advised villagers not to go on the bank of the Kali as the Chir Kila dam of the Dhauliganga project of the National Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC) is being cleared of silt tomorrow,” said S Kalgaonkar, project officer of the Dhauliganga project in Dharchula.

According to information received from the Sharda river barrage on the Sharda river in Tanakpur, the level of the river has started rising from June 21 as the rain continued in the hilly areas from where it originates. “We have declared a red alert and closed the plying of vehicles on the Sharda bridge yesterday after the water level of the river rose from 1 lakh to 1.7 lakh cusec litres,” said Jadish Srivastava, spokesman at the Sharda barrage at Tanakpur. 

Nainital, July 2
The CBI has started the probe into the alleged scam regarding allotment of a toll tax barrier in Nainital a year back. Over the last two days, the sleuths of the premier central investigating agency have been recording statements of the functionaries of the local Municipal Council (Nagar Palika Parishad).

Sources say statements of the officials of the Municipal Council were recorded on Friday. This was followed by recording of statements of the functionaries of the political wing of the municipal body.

The probe into the matter by the CBI was ordered by the Uttarakhand High Court recently following a legal battle initiated by one of the persons who had participated in the bidding for getting the contract for the toll tax on the Lake Bridge located at the entry of the town.

According to the information available, one Navbahar Ali of Roorkee had filled a tender at the price of Rs 2.10 crore on March 17, 2010. This had been followed by the tender being accepted by the Municipal Council but no formal orders were given because of which Ali did not deposit the next instalment of the earnest money.

According to Ali, he had offered to deposit 50 per cent of the amount on April 3 and had asked for permission to take over the functioning at the barrier. However, the Municipal Council floated a new tender and gave the contract to someone else on April 5.

According to reports, the earnest money was not returned to Ali following which he approached the high court. Following the legal proceedings, the high court had reportedly directed the Municipal Council in May this year to return the earnest money of Rs 10 lakh to Ali along with the interest applicable on it. The Court had also ordered a CBI probe into the matter.

Reports say that the municipal body got some respite in the form of Supreme Court waiving interest to be paid on the earnest money.

Dehradun, July 2
A domestic help who stole an ATM card and withdrew Rs 60,000 from different states of the country today landed in the police net. He had stolen the card from the house of a DG (Health) here.

Shweta Choubey, Circle Officer (CO), informed that the accused has been identified as Ravi, a resident of Himachal Pradesh. He had taken away the card from the daughter of the DG (Health) from the house where he was working.

The CO told he withdrew money from different ATMs.

He first took out the money from the ATMs situated at Shastradhara Road. He later made a transaction from Zirakpur in Punjab and finally at his hometown at Hamirpur in Himachal. As per the CO, in every ATM his photo was identified through CCTV cameras.

He was later tracked and was arrested from Hamirpur. The police has registered a case of theft at Rajpur Road police station. The police is yet to initiate a probe and find out whether he was involved in any such activities in the past also.

Nainital, July 2
The state government has decided to give reservation benefits to one of the dependants of the women victims of the Muzaffarnagar incident of October 2, 1994, on the lines of the benefits given to other statehood activists. The benefits announced would encapsulate all the victims who had received relief bonds. An order in this regard has been issued by the Home Department.

According to a government spokesperson, ”the matter was taken up with Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank by vice-chairman of the State Media Advisory Committee Ajendra Ajay, who had also formally written to him.”

“A proposal had also been prepared by the Home Department that was approved by the Chief Minister and a formal order was issued in this regard last evening by the Home Department, the spokesperson added. 

Dehradun, July 2
With the primary objective of motivating the youth of the region to join the Indian Army, a six-day cycling expedition today left for Yamunotri on the 45th Raising Day of the 72 Field Regiment, a part of Pine Artillery Brigade and Pine Division. The expedition was flagged off by Major Gen Ranbir Yadav.

The 13-member expedition team led by Captain Praveen Thakur starting from Dehradun will cover 170-km uphill route through remote areas of Uttarakhand to reach the final destination Yamunotri.

Through the expedition, an effort is being made to apprise the masses of the high ethos and culture of the Army. Besides, the expedition aims at motivating the youth of the region to the join the force.

The team will also undertake the task of enlightening ex-servicemen in the remote areas about the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS). Along with this, the team will spread knowledge among the local population about the importance of Ecological Conservation and will plant saplings en route to Yamunotri during the journey.

“Activities like these are the age-old methods of raising the spirit of leadership and team work,” said Col Vinayak Mishra, Commanding Officer of the 72 Field Regiment. Such endeavours not only instill sense of adventure in troops but also go a long way in promoting excellent work being carried out by the Army for the nation, he added.

This expedition will traverse through the rough terrain of Kempty, Damta, Barkot and Hanuman Chatti before reaching its destination.

The enthusiastic members of the cycling expedition said this is the first time they are holding this voyage from here and are keen to complete it.

Ram Kumar Walia, a party leader, said the DSO office had failed to provide ration cards to many families. He said, “Despite the fact that all formalities had been completed, officials are provide them ration cards. Moreover, they ask for a bribe to get their work done.” The DSO said they would look into the matter if they got any complaint regarding a particular person or the area. — TNS

Dehradun , July 2
Shrikant Verma of Van Gujjar Kalyan Samiti and Munni Lal of National Forum of Forest Dwellers have alleged that the officials of the Rajaji National Park are harassing the tribal Van Gujjars residing in the park area.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Shri Kant Verma and Munni Lal said that there have been numerous instances in the past three years when the innocent Van Gujjars living in park area were mercilessly beaten up, harassed and even false police cases registered against them.

They alleged that the latest incident took place on June 24 when three Van Gujjars, namely Noor Jamal, Zahoor and Irshad, were beaten up by officers and employees of Rajaji park.

False police cases registered against them at Biharaigarh police station in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.

They said that if the park administration failed to look into the problems faced by Van Gujjars and other forest dwellers, then they would be forced to launch an agitation. 

Dehradun, July 2
The Uttarakhand Power Corporation has set a target to reduce losses from 27 per cent to 20 per cent by 2012. It has also prepared a working plan in this regard.

Under this plan, the current meters will be converted into current transformers connected meters according to the approved voltage for small units or industries such as plastic that use maximum electricity. It has also planned to change all IDF meters.

The department has also fixed a target of installing 1,50,000 meters outside houses. Till now, only 25,000 meters have been installed. In the regions known for power thefts, meters will be installed on distribution transfers, which will help in energy audit up to 11 kV.

The department has also decided to rotate divisional and subdivisional officers after every six months.

As far as the billing category is concerned, it has been decided to increase billing capacity from 78.50 per cent to 83 per cent by 2011-12 and to bring down the number of non-billing cases from 9 per cent to 3 per cent 

Dehradun, July 2
A team of Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) today removed illegal shops at Dharampur Sabzi Mandi. The MC personnel demolished around 12 structures constructed at the chowk.

Later, they visited Hathi Barkala State to demolish the structures but had to return back without bulldozing any of it as councillor Babita Satori and MLA Ganesh Joshi reached the spot and protested. They did not let the team work.

Additional Executive Engineer H.R.Rawat stated that the structures were razed following the orders passed by the High court and Lok Aayukt and would ensure that they do not come up again. — TNS

Dehradun, July 2
Willis Youth Club blanked Doon Challengers 5-0 here during the 60th Lala Nemi Dass Memorial District Football League at Pavilion football ground today.

Mohit Thapa scored a brace in the easy win. Thapa scored in the 11th and 50th minutes. Arpan Thapa (21st), Vineet Chetri (22nd) and Abhijit (58th) also scored a goal each.

Doon Challengers failed to score any goal.

In another match Gypsy Club got past Akranta 1-0. This was the goal of Abhishek in the 33rd minute which showed his side the winning way.

Tomorrow, Dehra XI will face Doon United, Chandramani will meet XI Star and Sunderwala will take on Bajrang Club.