Haridwar, July 4
Taking cognisance of the news report carried in today’s edition of The Tribune highlighting the danger posed by a landslide to the Mata Mansa Devi shrine, higher administrative officials inspected the landslide-sensitive zone in the hilly terrain of the shrine today.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate Harbeer Singh, Superintendent of City Police Kiran Lal Shaw and Executive Engineer of the Public Works Department OP Singh inspected the landslide-hit path to the shrine, particularly the stairway linking the shrine to Jogia Mandi Colony and the upper road.

Inspected the damaged stairway, SDM Harbeer Singh directed the officials of the PWD to make sure that the concrete base is laid at the damaged portion within a day, as the safety of lakhs of pilgrims thronging to the holy shrine couldn’t be compromised.

Local people also apprised the administrative team of the condition of a link road, citing that poor quality material had been used in the construction of the road.

When a team of The Tribune pointed out threat to the holy shrine due to possible landslides on the bare mountainous terrain of the shrine, the SDM accepted that the work to be done was of large scale and needed a special planning. “There is certainly a major threat to the shrine and the pilgrims as landslides have weakened the mountain base but as the monsoon has set in much can’t be done. We will be sending a proposal to the government to protect this sensitive zone later but at present we will try to make sure that adequate steps are taken to minimise the effects of the possible landslides,” the SDM to The Tribune while inspecting one of the damaged pushtas on the path to the shrine.

Social activist Manoj Giri of Jogia Mandi Colony said the residents of the colony had submitted a memorandum to the City Magistrate to get the damaged stairway repaired, but in vain.

The Executive Engineer of the PWD said they were working round the clock to repair the stairway and it would be done by tomorrow but the main route work needed a separate budget proposal.

Meanwhile, despite the inspection by the administrative team, the local people are not satisfied with their concern to ensure the safety of the shrine as well as the devotees.

Dehradun, July 4
The owners of taxis and autorickshaws plying in the city charge fares as per their own whims and fancies. They do not follow any meter system either. The regional transport office (RTO) seems to have no control over their arbitrariness. The insiders allege connivance between RTO officials and illegal operators, which is why this malpractice is going on without any check.

Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO), Administration, Dinesh Chandra said the department had fixed guidelines regarding charges and carried out awareness campaigns on the fixed rate list from time to time in the city. If they get to know that certain taxi operators are flouting the rules regarding the rate list or licence, then they take appropriate action against them, he added.

The claim made by the officer has little bearing on the ground. President of the Dehradun Taxi Owners Association Raju Anand blamed the regional transport office for giving enough rope to the fake travel agencies to hire private taxis and charge fares as they desired.

He said: “The fake travel agencies, which have come up in every nook and corner of the city, hire private taxis at much cheaper rates to pick passengers from public spots such as the ISBT, railway station, etc. Not only this, they also make booking on the Internet even before the tourists have come to the city. It is hitting our business. First these private taxis are not authorised for commercial purposes. Second, they do not stick to the rules and regulations and third if such a vehicle meets with an accident then neither the driver nor the passengers ever get insurance claim.”

Anand said since the private taxi operators were also affecting their business, whenever they got any tip-off about them, they caught them red-handed and took them to the office but felt discouraged as never even once action was taken against them. Rather it was the union people who were chided by the officials for acting smart, he alleged.

Surprisingly, the ARTO, Enforcement, Shailash Tiwari denied having got any such complaint ever. He said: “I keep getting oral complaints and have nabbed many illegal taxi drivers on the information provided by certain people or during raids but never come across any written complaints.”

Given the hike in the prices of petrol and diesel more than 10 times in the past one year, the taxi unions have been increasing their fares, to which the office has been pretending to be oblivious. “The rate list is revised by the State Transport Authority, and it was lately revised in August, 2010. Other than these approved rates, the taxi owners can not increase fares on their own,” said Tiwari.

But, Anand said they had been demanding an increase in the fares in view of the rising prices of petrol and diesel from the office from time to time, but to no avail, which was why they had been increasing the fares. Just a fortnight ago, they increased Rs 50 in the fares for nearby cities of Mussoorie, Haridwar and Rishikesh.

Similar ‘adjustments’ in the fares have been made for different locations of the city as well.

Dehradun, July 4
The inquiry into the case of alleged attempt to rape and misbehavior with a woman by the Dhara police chowki in charge has been handed over to the Police Complaint Authority of the state. The probe was earlier being carried out by ASP Brenderjit Singh.

Police sources said the woman was not cooperating with the police and didn’t want to appear before the cops, apparently due to the treatment meted out to her earlier.

A member of the Police Complaint Authority, Brig VK Agarwal (retd), said the Director-General of Police today asked the authority to probe the matter. Agarwal further said the ASP would not carry out the inquiry as the woman was not cooperative with the police. Yesterday, Harpal Singh, the chowki in charge, was sent to the Police Lines after the allegations were levelled against him.

Meanwhile, the recording of a phone call made public by members of her family revealed that the chowki in charge had forced the girl on the phone to meet her at a hotel.

Mussoorie, July 5
A tourist drowned in the Yamuna, 28 km from here, while swimming yesterday.

According to the Kempty police, the incident took place last afternoon when nine tourists, all friends, arrived at the Yamuna bridge for a picnic. Two of them, Naresh and Kapil Verma (33), dived into the river for swimming. However, they were swept away by the strong current. Their friends raised the alarm following which locals gathered there. They managed to save Naresh, but Kapil Verma drowned in the river. Naresh was taken to a hospital.

Kapil Verma’s body has been sent for a post-mortem.

Dehradun, July 4
Resentment prevails among players and coaches following the administration’s decision of shifting protest site from Gandhi Park to the Parade Ground.

Coaches maintained that they would meet Sports Minister Khazan Das and urge him not to allow protests and dharnas at the Parade Ground.

“We will meet the minister. If the authorities cannot give us the entire ground, it should at least embark a part of it so that we can maintain it on our own,” said Ravinder Singh Negi, a cricket coach.

Neeraj Pal, a cricketer, said the condition of the ground is pathetic.“Potholes can be seen all over the ground where players practice daily. If the administration cannot give us facilities, it should at least not make it a circus ground,” he added.

Protests at the Parade Ground will not only spoil the its beauty, but also create several problems for players. “The administration must find some other place for protests,” players said.

Dehradun, July 4
Dr VK Bahuguna, Director-General, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE),announced several new programmes and initiatives to maximise the impact of research being done at the ICFRE in the forestry sector of the country.

These initiatives will ensure that innovative forestry research will be carried out in the institutes of the council and direct linkage of the ICFRE with foresters, communities dependent on forests for their livelihood, farmers, industry and other stakeholders. This will also help in the speedy dissemination of research findings and make research institutes useful in solving the field problems of the stakeholders.

A scheme, “Direct to Consumers,” for the immediate transfer of recently developed technologies to the consumers, i.e. forest departments, farmers , industries and other stakeholders, will be launched at the ICFRE on July 8. Suitable projects which have a direct bearing on the stakeholders will be identified and implemented. A committee for each such project headed by an IFS officer of the rank of Assistant Director-General will be constituted to implement the scheme for the transfer of knowledge.

Dr SS Negi, DDG, Research, and Dr Rabindra Kumar, DDG, Extension, will coordinate the implementation of the scheme.

A group is being formed, with the mandate to bring “innovative ideas and out-of-the-box solutions”, for solving contemporary problems in forest management in the country. This group will also work to reorient forestry scientists/research workers towards solving the problems of the rural poor and tribal and other marginal sections of society and to improve communication among scientists, research workers and consumer/stakeholders of research. The group will endeavour to increase awareness about the work done by the ICFRE, prepare strategies for technology transfer and develop an interactive paradigm with users of the ICFRE work.Concept notes will be prepared on technical/scientific matters of immediate national interest. Sandeep Tripathi, Director (Project and International Cooperation), ICFRE, will head this group and also act as technical adviser to the Director-General on this work.

Another expert group is being constituted to solve the problems of consumers on issues relating to the emerging challenges of forestry science and to prepare technical reports, bulletins, books,brochures and documents relating to forestry science/research/education/extension. Communication strategies for the ICFRE will be developed so as to ensure direct communication with the stakeholders. The convener of the group will be Sudhir Kumar, Scientist ‘F’, ICFRE.

This will help the ICFRE provide technology for poverty alleviation, adaptation to climate change and biodiversity conservation in the coming year.

Mussoorie, July 4
To ensure quality education in the state, the first phase of a 10-day training camp for teachers from government primary, junior high and secondary schools began at Ghanand Inter-College Auditorium here today.

The camp is being organised under the aegis of the Cluster Resource Centre, Mussoorie. More than 25 teachers are participating in it.

Nodal education officer SS Kehra said till teachers were given proper training, one could not expect them to deliver quality education to the children. The main objective of the camp was to make teachers aware of the needs of the students and ways to use innovative methods while teaching, he added.

The participating teachers rued that the services of government teachers were being used in other duties, thus hampering the studies.

The first phase will continue till July 13 and the second phase will begin from July 14, which will conclude on July 23.

Dehradun, July 4
Star of the day Gajender struck three goals to lead Doon Star to a 3-0 win over Garhwal Boys in the 60th Lala Nemi Dass Memorial District Football League held at the Pavilion ground here today.

Gajender struck in the 25th, 40th and 60th minutes during the match. The Garhwal Boys’ defence could not withstand the attack of the opposite side.

Uttarakhand Tigers also scored a 3-0 win in the first match. Ajay Chauhan (15th), Abhay Sharma (20th) and Rajender (45th) were the scorers for UK Tigers. Doon Challengers could not score during the whole match.

Tomorrow, XI Star will meet Indira Club and Thakurpur will lock horns with BC Milan.