Dehradun, July 19
Under pressure from the party central high command to decentralise the powers enjoyed by him, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank did a minor reshuffle of the portfolios of his ministers last night.

He shed 10 of his portfolios. It was believed that the reshuffle was forced upon the Chief Minister by the party high command following complaints of a total centralisation of powers in the hands of the Chief Minister by the ministers and his detractors in the party.

With the Assembly elections approaching fast, the BJP central leadership wanted to placate two former Chief Ministers and senior-most party leaders namely Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and BC Khanduri who were unhappy with Nishank. Both the senior leaders wanted a change in the leadership, but the party high command refused to oblige them. However, keeping in view the coming Assembly elections, the high command decided to force the Chief Minister to take everybody along.

Already Nitin Gadkari, national BJP president, had announced that all the three leaders namely Nishank, Koshiyari and Khanduri would lead the party in the coming Assembly poll.

In the reshuffle, the Chief Minister, while shedding 10 ministries, kept Higher Education Department for himself. Matbar Singh Kandari, a senior minister who was holding the portfolios of Irrigation, Flood Control, Minor Irrigation, Khadi and Gramodyog, Social Welfare and Handicapped Welfare, has been given the portfolio of Languages. Another senior minister Parkash Pant, who was holding the charge of Water Resources, Labour, Elections, Parliamentary Affairs, Planning and Externally Aided Schemes, has been given the Department of Protocol.

Banshi Dhar Bhagat, Minister of Transport and Industrial Development, has been given the portfolio of Medical, Health and Family Welfare, Ayush and Ayush Education.

Madan Kaushik, Minister of Tourism, Excise, Urban Development and Sugarcane Development and Sugar Industry, has been given the additional department of Sanskrit Education. Kaushik belongs to Haridwar.

Trivendra Singh Rawat, Minister of Agriculture, Agriculture Education, Animal Husbandry, Milk Development, Fisheries and Horticulture, has been given the charge of Disaster Management that was earlier looked after by Khazan Dass.

Khazan Dass, Minister of Youth, Sports and Watershed Development, has been given the charge of School Education (Primary and Secondary Education) and Technical Education.

Vijaya Bharathwal, Minister of Rural Development, Women Empowerment and Child Welfare and Culture, has been given the charge of Religious Affairs. Govind Singh Bisht, Minister of Adult education has been given the important portfolios of Forest and Wildlife, Environment, Justice and Rural Engineering Departments.

Balwant Singh Bhouriyal, Minister of Medical Education, Information Technology and Secretariat Administration has been given the portfolio of Cooperatives Department. Diwakar Bhatt, Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, Revenue and Soldier Welfare who is a leader of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Diwakar faction), an ally of the government, and Rajinder Bhandari, Minister of Panchayati Raj, Civil Defence, Home Guards, Jails, Alternate Energy Resources and Census remained unaffected in the reshuffle. 

Haridwar, July 19
Despite being a renowned place, the city doesn’t have a modern bus station which causes problems to lakhs of pilgrims and local residents. It is a constant headache for the administration when it comes to managing bus traffic during fairs such as Maha Kumbh, Ardh Kumbh, Kanwar Mela, etc.

The present bus station, situated in the congested market area, is unable to handle a large number of vehicles plying round the clock. During fairs, the bus stand has been shifted to the Rishikul College ground to avoid massive traffic jams.

During the Kanwar Mela, the Haridwar Municipal Corporation has taken over the ground for vehicular parking as well as plying of some state buses from here only. Just before the commencement of the fair, the corporation gave away the parking lot contract to a private contractor for Rs 4.50 lakh.

But when ground owners of the Rishikul Vidyapeeth Brahamcharya Ashram sought their share from the corporation for using it for parking purposes on commercial base, the corporation authorities refused it. This has infuriated the ashram authorities.

The Principal of the Rishikul Vidyapeeth Brahamacharya Ashram, founded by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya in early 19th century, said the Municipal Corporation authorities first took their property for parking purpose, but now, as legal holders of the land, when they are demanding their share, no one is ready to listen to them.

“We were not given dues by the Transport Department when they had shifted bus station on the Rishikul ground for four months from January-April 2010. Occasionally we gave on rent the ground to meet expenses of the vidyappeth, students’ food, office material, books, bills etc, but now we are unable to do this too as the administration is behaving like autocrat”, stated Shastri.

BL Arya, executive officer, Municipal Corporation, refuted the claims being made by the Rishikul management saying that as the whole amount earned from the parking lot contract would be spent on the Kanwar fair facilities, so money could not be given to them as the ground was being used for a social cause only. 

Pithoragarh, July 19
After the first spell of monsoon rain, remote villages in the border subdivision of the district are now facing waterborne disease.

More than 300 villagers in three villages of Munsiyari subdivision of the district have been affected by the diarrhoea due to the use of contaminated water, according to Pithoragarh Chief Medical Officer (CMO) here today.

A team of doctors from the Community Health Centre, Munsiyari, led by Dr Hemant Martolia and Dr Kailash Brizwal, visited and checked more than 250 villagers, including children in the villages of Beru Mahar, Sainrathi and Sarmoli on Monday and distributed essential medicines among them.

“The situation is under control and the villagers are being treated and there is no need so far to admit anyone to the hospital,” said Dr Hemant Martolia, in charge of the team who visited the villages.

Last week, a 13-year-old boy studying in a government school for poor tribal boys, died in the same area due to the consumption of contaminated water.

According to the CMO, the diarrhoea spread in these villages after the villagers used the water of open source which become contaminated after the rain water got mixed in it.

“The drinking water became polluted as there is no system of chlorination of the contaminated water in the villages,” said Dr Hemant Martolia.

According to the district administration, the village panchayats are responsible for the chlorination of open potable water sources under villages’ sanitation programme. “Every Gram Panchayat in the district has been given a sum of Rs 10,000 under this sanitation programme. The chlorination of traditional drinking water sources was part of this sanitation programme,” said MC Joshi, District Magistrate, Pithoragarh.

Nainital, July 19
The Lake City, which is known as a popular tourist destination, is facing a major crisis in the form of the dog menace. There is no way that the residents can get over the fear of being bitten by stray dogs whose number is increasing at an alarming rate. Things have come to a pass that even stepping out of the house has become dangerous as one comes across as many as 10 or 15 dogs sprawling right in the middle of the narrow paths leading to residential colonies.

The most vulnerable sections to the dog menace happen to be the schoolchildren and women. Rag pickers and sanitation workers can been seen being chased away by ferocious dogs. Even the job of the postman has become a precarious one.

Local residents have been complaining of the terror caused by these stray dogs that turn ferocious during the mating season. Several cases of dog bites are being reported in the town.

Hospital officials say while the injections for rabies are being administered free of cost at the government hospitals, the cost of administering these to a patient can run up to Rs 1,500 in the private sector.

Another nuisance caused by the stray dogs is the littering of the roads and a pervasive odour. Local ASHA workers, who recently conducted the pulse polio drive, also complained of the dog menace. “The mornings are particularly bad because the dogs practically take over the street. It is hard to walk in Bara Bazar without stepping on them and risking being bitten,” they said. The Tallital bus stand is also ‘seized’ by stray dogs, causing inconvenience to travellers waiting for their respective buses.

Anup Sah, a well-known environmentalist and wildlife photographer residing in Nainital, says even the poisoning of stray dogs as was done some years back was no solution to the problem as other animals eat away the carcass and get poisoned in turn. “The correct method would be to release these stray dogs in a forest,” he feels.

Chairman of the Nainital Municipal Council, Mukesh Joshi, when questioned replied evasively saying, “We have been receiving complaints about the menace caused by stray dogs all over the town. But, it is hard to contact non-governmental organisations (NGOs), which are willing to tackle the problem. We are trying our best. Recently when the hospital ran out of anti-rabies injections we gave them Rs 40,000 for replenishing their stock.”

Recently, some attempts at sterilisation of dogs were also made but somehow the menace not only persists but is on the increase.

Nainital, July 19
The Udham Singh Nagar administration is seeking land from the Forest Department for the extension of the Pantnagar Airport. According to sources, the administration would be giving land around the Tanakpur dam to the Forest Department in exchange for the forest land required for the extension of the airport.

It is learnt that the businessmen and industrialists from the region that has seen a massive industrial growth over the past 10 years held a meeting with the District Magistrate, Dr BVRC Purshottam, on Sunday evening where it was pointed out that the airport had tremendous potential in terms of traffic. At present there is one flight service from Delhi four days a week. This service was eventually started after a wait of three years last month. It was pointed out that the airport needed an extension so that larger planes could fly out and land at the 
airport daily.

According to sources, the runway needs to be extended in both length and breadth. In addition to this a boundary wall is to be constructed around the facility for which land is required. There are other issues pertaining to the removal of illegal constructions and extension of roads in the area that are prerequisites for a successful operation of an airport.

Earlier, in January this year the administration in Udham Singh Nagar had initiated steps for the extension of the Pantnagar Airport. At a meeting held at Rudrapur in mid-January, Dr Purshottam had asked Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) DS Martoliya to survey land near the Gularbhoj dam and the other dams which could be given to the Forest Department in exchange for the forest land required for the extension of the airport.

The choice is reportedly zeroing in on the Tanakpur dam area. The administration is keen on 15.9 hectares of the forest land adjoining the airport for the extension purposes. Dr Purshottam had asked his subordinate Hemant Verma to take up the matter of transfer of the forest land with the state administration and write on his behalf to the Chief Secretary and the Secretary, Revenue.

He had also ordered that a report be submitted to him after a field survey regarding the felling of trees that has to be done at the airport and in the adjoining area.

Dr Purshottam had told the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Vir Singh Budhiyal, officials of the Forest Department and the Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology authorities to survey the residential colonies coming up in the area and submit a report to him at the earliest. The SDM was told to warn the people not to go in for construction of pucca houses in the area.

Haridwar, July 19
Apart from wearing shirts depicting ‘Om’, ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and the pictures of Lord Shiva and goddess Parvati, Kanwariyas are opting for tattoos.

At the Kanwar market in Pantdeep, tattoo artists could be seen surrounded by Kanwariyas waiting patently for their turn. Owing to a shortage of tattoo artists, more than 12 artists have arrived here from Rajasthan with their “desi” tools.

Kaushal, an artist from Udaipur (Rajasthan), who is making tattoos on the bodies of hundreds of Kanwariyas on a daily basis, said earlier, this craze was missing. But in this modern era, young Kanwariyas wanted to look different and were opting for tattoos to attract the public’s attention.

“Our equipment may look ordinary, but we are into this art for decades. Such is the craze among Kanwariyas this year that we had to call more artists from Rajasthan,” said Kaushal, who has come here along with members of his family.

Besides this, Kanwariyas could be seen thronging shops where names are carved on rings as per the customer’s choice.

Ankur, Ballu and Bhupendra Singh, Kanwariyas from Sona (Haryana), say the tattoos of Lord Shiva arouse a spiritual feeling among them. 

Dehradun, July 19
Uttarakhand Food and Civil Supplies Minister Diwakar Bhatt today said the state government would not accept any complacency in effective implementation of Public Distribution System (PDS) and asserted that his department had identified hurdles in the smooth conduct of PDS in the state.

Addressing a press conference at his Vidhan Sabha office, Diwakar Bhatt said Patwari, Food Inspector, Panchayat Secretary and village head were four key functionaries in the PDS chain who could not be held liable directly for any inconvenience caused to the consumers.

“The government has now decided to hold these officials responsible in case of any discrepancy in the Public Distribution System. Any disclosure of irregularity will result in direct suspension of the officials”, Bhatt said.

He also announced a minimum of Rs 3000 as commission for small fair price shop dealers pointing out that a little commission for small dealers often led to wrong practices.

Bhatt disclosed that the state government would shortly start a re-survey of BPL families in Tehri, Champawat and Chamoli districts as per instructions of the Justice Wadhva Commission. He said the Justice Wadhva commission had identified 58 backward districts in the country, which included three Uttarakhand districts and recommended re-survey of BPL families in these districts.

Bhatt said the re-survey would benefit the three districts in a big way as a large number of families would be get the BPL status in the process

Nainital, July 19
A childless couple consumed a pesticide on Sunday. While Kiran (32) died of poisoning, the condition of her husband, Vinay (36), is stated to be critical.

According to information, the couple had returned to their house in Fatehpur locality, Haldwani, from Delhi in March this year after Vinay had quit his private job. They were once again planning to go to Delhi on Monday.

Sources said the couple had been married for almost 12 years, but was childless. They consulted many doctors, but all efforts proved to be futile.

On Sunday night, the couple had dinner with Vinay’s parental family and after watching television they went to their room where both of them consumed a pesticide. The couple was rushed to a hospital where Kiran died. Vinay was referred to Sushila Tewari Memorial Hospital, where he is struggling for his life.

Prima facie, the matter is being treated as a suicide attempt.