Nainital, July 17
The road network in the Kumaon region has been the biggest casualty after the arrival of the monsoon this year. With the government having slept over the issue of repairing the roads that had been devastated in the rains last year, the situation has gone from bad to worse.

The rains over the past three days have hit the road connectivity in the region. Even the major roads like the Haldwani-Nainital highway and the Haldwani-Bhawali highway have been experiencing blockades on account of landslides occurring across the region. The failure of the administration to get the road, which had sunk at Bhujiaghat last year, repaired even 10 months after the incident and the fresh rock fall being reported near Do Gaon has led to the blocking of the Nainital-Haldwani road while the landslides at Saleri have caused blockades on the Bhawali-Haldwani road.

The road on the stretch between Bhawali and Almora remains a traveller’s nightmare. Large sections of the road that had been washed away during the last monsoon are yet to be repaired and a journey on this road is extremely dangerous for those planning to drive to Almora. Frequent warnings, orders and even suspension of officials for the laxity on work on this stretch have not resulted in anything positive.

Meanwhile, with the landslides taking place on several link roads in the region, a large number of villages have been cut off from the district headquarters in the region.

In Pithoragarh, the administration has sought the help of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) to deal with any sort of eventuality. The District Magistrate at Udham Singh Nagar, Dr BVRC Purshottam, has also sounded an alert in the district keeping in view the rising levels of the rivers. The district had seen the maximum devastation during the last monsoon with low-lying areas getting flooded and large tracts of agricultural land washed away.

Similar instructions have also been issued by the District Magistrate at Champawat, Dr Pankaj Kumar Pandey. He has asked the officials concerned to ensure that there is no shortage of essential commodities in the villages that are cut off from the district headquarters on account of the landslides. The traffic movement on the Purnagiri road has been stopped on account of the rising level of the Kirora Nullah in Tanakpur.

Almost all the rivers in the region have registered a considerable increase in the water levels. In Pithoragarh district, the movement of vehicles on the Thal-Munsiyari road and the Jauljibi-Madkot stretch has been stopped. The Tawaghat-Garwadhar road continues to remain closed for almost a month now.

According to reports, six residential structures have been devastated by water in low-lying areas of Sitarganj in Udham Singh Nagar district.

Dehradun, July 17
BJP National vice-president and Rajya Sabha MP Bhagat Singh Koshiyari has charged Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre with breaking all records of corruption.

Addressing a programme meant to induct a large number of people from the Raipur assembly constituency into the BJP, Koshiyari said the UPA government was one of the most corrupt governments in India. He said the UPA government had been in thick of corruption since it assumed power at the Centre. He said it was shameful that some of the UPA ministers were in jail due to their corrupt activities.

Welcoming new entrants to the party fold, Koshiyari said their entry into the BJP would give strength to the party. He also took an opportunity to criticise Congress leader Digvijay Singh for his statement linking the RSS with the recent Mumbai blasts.

Uttarakhand Agriculture Minister and local MLA Trivendra Singh Rawat hoped that the BJP would re-capture power in Uttarakhand in the coming assembly elections. Anupam Tyagi coordinated the proceedings.

A total of 700 people from the Raipur region took membership of the BJP.

Dehardun, July 17
The Irrigation Department is going to hand over its 22 out of a total 25 inspection houses to various agencies under the Public Private Partnership mode in the state. The department has decided on the name of two companies, Uttarakhand Infrastructure Project Company (UIPC) and Uttarakhand Infrastructure Development Company Limited (UIDCL) for the purpose.

Superintendent Engineer RC Saxena said three inspection houses had been left out as those had been occupied by administrative officials. The one near Tehsil Sitar Ganj, built in 1902-03, is the residence of the SDM, Sitarganj, and the other two situated near Mudiya Kalan and Ram Nagar in Nainital, both built during the British rule, house a revenue office and a police office respectively.

In case of the four other inspection houses situated at Koti Colony, Dakpathar, Dhalipur and Pashu Bairaj, the permission to bring them under the PPP mode will be taken from Uttarkahand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited as these premises were primarily built to facilitate the inspection of hydroelectric projects. Saxena said the permission was merely a formality and would be taken without hassle.

Ganga Project Chief Aditya Kumar Dinkar said the entire process would take less than a year. “We have already decided on the companies which would be entrusted with the task of the renovation and repairs of the inspection houses. Now, we just need to fix the modalities, as to how much area is to be developed for private purpose and how much to be retained by the Irrigation Department,” he said.

Dinkar said the move had been in the pipeline for long and it picked up momentum only after the UJVNL took back all its hydroelectric projects from the Irrigation Department. “Our inspection houses have now become the places of stay for politicians and other influential people, who do not bother to pay us. Therefore there was no need for us to spend on the maintenance of these inspection houses, which were getting neglected for the lack of required funds. With this move, we wish to hit two targets; the maintenance of the inspection houses and additional revenue for the Irrigation Department,” he added.

Dehradun, July 17
In the wake of the directive of the Nainital High Court for planting 25,000 saplings in Dehradun during the monsoon, the Uttarakhand Forest Department is finding it difficult to meet its greenery targets due to a lack of adequate land for the purpose.

Responding to the concern shown by the Doonites regarding the fast eroding greenery of the city, the Nainital High Court had some months ago ordered the authorities concerned to plant at least 25,000 saplings within the municipal limits of Dehradun during the monsoon to compensate for the rampant felling of trees in the city recently. The Dehradun Forest Division was entrusted with the task of plating at least 10,000 saplings.

But, finding appropriate land within the municipal limits for planting saplings has proved to be the most challenging task for the forest authorities. The High Court has also made it clear that apart from planting saplings, it would also be the responsibility of the agency concerned to take care of the planted saplings.

The Dehradun Forest Department has said that it will not undertake any plantation on the encroached land and has asked the municipal authorities to provide it land which is not embroiled in any controversy. “The survival of the saplings planted within the municipal limits can only be ensured if these are planted in the areas which are not encroached upon,” said Meenakshi Joshi, Dehradun Division Forest Officer. She said the forest authorities on their part were all prepared to conform to the High Court’s directive and it was for the Dehradun Municipal Corporation to provide them proper land for plantation.

Interestingly, most of the vacant land under the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) control has been encroached upon and it is certainly not easy for the corporation to provide land to the Forest Department for plantation.

The most potential area for plantation alongside the seasonal Bindal and Rispana rivers already has a large number of illegal settlements. Over 10,000 encroachments have been recorded along the Rispana river while around 6,000 along the Bindal river.

Apart from 10,000 saplings, the Dehradun forest authorities have also been given the target of planting 5,200 saplings in the city under the ambitious Mukhaymantri Harit Vikas Yojana. The scheme, initiated by the Chief Minister, has been aimed at restoring the greenery of Dehradun.

Dehradun, July 17
Amidst speculation of a reshuffle of portfolios of the Uttarakhand Council of Ministers, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today called on state Governor BL Joshi here.

The meeting lasted for an hour. It was believed that the Chief Minister discussed with the Governor the possible change of portfolios of some of his ministers. However, there was no official announcement on the issue. BL Joshi, Governor of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, is also officiating as Governor of Uttarakhand since Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva has been on leave.

Dehradun, July 17
Uttarakhand Media Advisory Committee Chairman Devendra Bhasin has condemned Leader of the Opposition Harak Singh Rawat’s remarks criticising the state government for the appointment of another information commissioner.

In a statement issued here today, Bhasin alleged that Rawat was into the habit of giving misleading statements. Rawat was invited thrice for the meeting that elected the new information commissioner but he failed to turn up at the meeting and was now accusing the state government of taking one-sided decisions, he added. “The meeting for the appointment of new information commissioner was initially scheduled for June 2, which had the consent of Leader of the Opposition Harak Singh Rawat. But, at the last moment, Rawat refused to attend the meeting on the scheduled date, thus it was rescheduled for June 30. On June 30, Rawat did not turn up for the meeting and it was again rescheduled for July 14. Finally, when Rawat did not attend even the July 14 meeting, it was decided to approve the appointment of new information commissioner.

Bhasin said the appointment of the new Information Commissioner was totally constitutional and there was no restriction on the number of information commissioners in the State Information Commission. — TNS

Dehradun, July 17
Announcing a campaign against the Congress leadership in Uttarakhand and leader of the Opposition Harak Singh Rawat in particular on the issue of illegal possession of land by Congress leaders in Dehradun, senior BJP leader and vice-president of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Raghunath Singh Negi yesterday accused the Congress leadership in the state of being hand in glove with the land mafia.

In a statement, Uttarakhand BJP leader Negi announced a campaign against Rawat accusing him of facilitating unlawful possession of 8.209 hectares of land in the Sahaspur area of Dehradun. He alleged that while 4.663 hectares of land was provided to Dipti Rawat, wife of Rawat, the rest of the 3.546 hectares was transferred in the name of Lakshmi Rana.

“This was done through fake power of attorney”, he pointed out. Raghunath Singh claimed that he had all proofs to substantiate his charge.

He said the BJP would take this issue before the people. He also held that BJP leaders in the state would shortly meet the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary and will seek a probe into the matter.

Raghunath Singh Negi also asked the Congress to take appropriate action against such dubious Congress leader at their party forum. 

Pithoragarh, July 17
The green festival of Harela was celebrated in the Kumaon region with the beginning of the holy month of Shrawan today. The Shrawani mela, the ancient tradition of devotion towards Lord Shiva, began at the Shiva Temple town of Jageshwar Dham near Almora.

The mela at Mahamritunjaya temple will continue till Raksha Bandhan,” said Sasthi Datt Bhatt, a priest. “All traditions of worshiping Lord Shiva at Jageshwar have been mentioned in Manas Khand of Skanda Puran,” he added.

He further said: “More than 1.50 lakh pilgrims visit Jageshwar from across the country every year. Rush of devotees is more on Mondays, the day of Lord Shiva.”

The district administration of Almora has made all arrangements for this month-long fair at Jageshwar. The Almora District Magistrate is the president of the Mela Committee. “All arrangements with regard to sanitation, proper lighting, medical facilities etc are in place. Cultural teams from across the country will also perform during the mela,” said Ganesh Datt Pandey, a social worker.

Besides the Mahamritunjay form of Lord Shiva, the local deity, Jagnath, is also worshiped in Jageshwar. “The name Jageshwar has been derived from the local deity, Jagnath, who is considered a progenitor of Katuri Kings who ruled this region from 2nd century to 9th century AD,” said Pandey. 

Nainital, July 17
There has been no respite from water and power crises besides other civic problems being faced by residents of Haldwani.

With the infrastructure in a shambles, people are having a tough time facing unscheduled power cuts and water scarcity on account of heavy silting in the Gaula river. Several tubewells have also been rendered useless on account of maintenance-related problems.

Cabinet minister Bansidhar Bhagat, who is a legislator from the area, was apprised of these issues at a meeting held at the Forest Training Institute last evening. Although he once again issued instructions, he also came out with details where the administration has faltered with regard to the planning of the town.

Bhagat said 16 overhead tanks had been proposed to be constructed above tubewells. He said Rs 18 crore had already been sanctioned for the purpose. He asked officials from the Jal Nigam, the Jal Sansthan and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to work in a close cooperation to execute the work.

The people of the town are of the view that there is no dearth of water in the area that has a high water table. They have been saying that all that is required is the construction of overhead tanks.

On the issue of there being supply of dirty water from the water treatment plant on the Gaula river, District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli, who was present at the meeting, said Jal Sansthan officials must carry out a routine inspection of the filter plant so that the silt did not get deposited there and it remained clean.

Bhagat also expressed his displeasure at the delay in the work related to the covering of the canal flowing through the heart of the town. This delay has led to the people facing difficulties as the areas where the work has been going on for close to a year have become accident-prone zones as the debris remains accumulated along the road.

Bhagat was also apprised of poor sanitation conditions in the town. He has ordered the constitution of sanitation committees comprising officials to supervise cleanliness operations in the town. 

Haridwar, July 17
Haridwar being a famous pilgrim city, the roadways depot has finally started airconditioned Volvo buses on the Delhi route, bringing respite to passengers. From today, the luxury bus service got started on the Delhi-Haridwar route.

Two buses will ply in morning and evening, first at 10 am and the other at 11pm. Though the morning bus will start from the Rishikesh bus station and will reach Haridwar at 10:45 am, the night bus service will operate from the Haridwar bus station only.

Informing TNS about the Volvo bus service, Assistant Regional Manager of the Haridwar transport depot Kranti Singh said the depot had no such service till date but now with induction of these two buses, passengers would avail the high-end service as demand for such a bus service had been made repeatedly on the Delhi route.

Kranti Singh further said with good response of these twin buses, more such buses would be demanded from the state Transport Department on other routes too as millions visited Haridwar.

“I have been regularly visiting to New Delhi for the entrance examination and now after selection in the Lady Shree Ram College of Commerce, it will be a regular weekend feature. So this Volvo service has come as a major respite, especially for women and girls like me,” voiced Chaya Gupta, a city resident.

Dehradun, July 17
Admissions for the new academic session and the annual students’ council elections of DAV (PG) College may get delayed this year due to a tussle between college students and HNB Garhwal University over the non-declaration of the results of 2,500 students. The students have given a call to close the college from tomorrow.

Anshul Chawla, president of the DAV Students’ Council, said: “To seek justice, the council had yesterday submitted a memorandum to the college Principal that was addressed to the Vice-Chancellor of the university. It was mentioned in the memorandum that the college will not reopen till the examination papers of the 2,500 students are checked.”

The college reopens in July and the elections are held after 42 days of the reopening of the college. However, the elections are likely to get delayed if steps were not taken to solve this tussle.