Dehradun, July 20
The Uttarakhand Government has decided to have a separate organisation to look after the annual Char Dham yatra in the state. The Commissioner, Garhwal, will be the Chief Executive Officer of the organisation that will take care of the yatra arrangements. 

With a view to monitoring the arrangements for the ongoing Char Dham yatra, an empowered committee presided over by Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar will be constituted. A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary at the Secretariat here today.

Keeping the number of pilgrims who throng the Char Dhams during the summer in mind, it was decided at the meeting that an Additional Executive Officer and a Deputy Chief Executive Officer would take charge to ensure the foolproof movement of the yatra. Senior officers would be entrusted with the task of smooth conduct of the yatra besides the facilities for the pilgrims.

Subhash Kumar directed the officers concerned to ensure the smooth and comfortable movement of the yatra and keep a strict vigil on the facilities being provided to the pilgrims. He further said that after the completion of the yatra this year, the shortcomings and complaints in this connection should be reviewed so that the problems could be sorted out before the next yatra. He said the Disaster Management Department should also be linked with the yatra organisation.

Principal Secretary, Tourism, Rakesh Sharma said almost 12 lakh pilgrims had visited Uttarakhand so far during the ongoing Char Dham yatra. He said arrangements to restrict the flow of pilgrims at Rishikesh were being made so that they did not face any hurdle on their way up in the hills. Besides, online information was being provided to the pilgrims about the weather, road conditions and facilities on the yatra route.

Principal Secretary, Transport, M.Ramaswami said strict adherence to transport norms had ensured the smooth flow of vehicles, including buses, of the pilgrims. “No shortage of buses was reported and challans were issued to 940 erring vehicles. It was for the first time that the registration of buses with a payment of Rs 10,000 as security amount was also done,” he said.

Pithoragarh, July 20
Despite spending more than Rs 41 crore on the infrastructure destroyed during the monsoon last year, there are nearly 93 primary and secondary schools in the district that are awaiting repair.

The roofs of these schools are in a state of dilapidation and its very difficult to sit under them during rain.

There are 65 primary and 28 secondary schools in Gangolihat, Munsiyari and Didihat subdivisions. All of them are in poor condition. The roofs of the buildings leak during rain. “We have to shift students to nearby panchayat buildings during rain,” said Dr Mukul Sati, District Education Officer (DEO), Pithoragarh 
district.

The DEO further said some of the schools had never been released funds for regular repair works. “Generally, a school building needs repair after 10 years of its construction. But there are some schools in the remote areas of the district that have not been released funds for repair even after 40 years of their construction,” he added.

“During a natural disaster last year, 49 school buildings had been damaged. But only 14 buildings have been repaired so far out of the funds released by the Disaster Mitigation Department,” said the DEO.

He said: “The District Education Department has prepared a status report of all school buildings in the district and have written to the Disaster Mitigation Department, the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and the Directorate demanding the release of the funds for repair works.”

Dehradun July 20
Members of the Rajya Andolankari Manch were assured about the early resolution of their demands by the Chief Secretary when they went on a protest before the Secretariat for their long-pending demands on Wednesday.

The activists had a tough time during their demonstration as the police thrashed some of them and tried to stop them from entering the premises.

President Pradeep Kukreti said, “For a long time, we had been demanding issuance of an identity card and the status of the Rajya Nirman Sainani, extension of government order of 10 per cent reservation from August 2011 to 2020, extension of this reservation to family members in case the agitator crossed the age limit, equal pension without any prejudice to all and free transport and medical facilities to all statehood strugglers. In today’s meeting, the Chief Secretary said the state government had already extended the limit up to 2015 and they were considering other issues fervently also.

Dehradun, July 20
The district unit of the UKD (Panwar faction) today met the Deputy General Manager (Rural) and discussed power-related problems being faced by the people of Majri Maafi, Haripur Navada, Baddipur, the IDPL and Rishikesh.

District president of the UKD NK Gusain said they had been demanding 40 new electricity poles in Majri Maafi for long. He also demanded that residents be charged bills according to the domestic rate and not commercial. The DGM assured action within 15 days. He also assured to streamline all lines to Phase-3 and install two transformers in Maajri village. Shanti Bhatt, Mohan Singh, Narender Singh , DD Barthwal, JS Rawat and Shashi Panwar were also present.

Dehradun, July 20
Surajmal, who has been appointed state president of the BSP for the fourth time, said he would try to live to the party supremo’s expectations to register a remarkable victory in the forthcoming state Assembly elections.

Speaking at a function organised to welcome him in the city today, Surajmal said he would not tolerate rash behaviour from any member of the party. He made this comment following the removal of former party president Meghraj Zorawar allegedly for such an incident.

He said: “I have been with the party for long and expect my predecessor Meghraj Singh to support me.”

He appealed to the people to vote for the BSP. He further said both the Congress and the BJP had “failed” to fulfil their promises, including providing employment to the youth and stopping migration from the hills. He claimed that the BSP had provided jobs to 6,000 youths and had also contributed towards the development of UP and also maintaining law and order situation there. “We want to implement the same in Uttarakhand also,” he added.

Regarding an increase in the number of incidents of atrocities against women in UP, Surajmal said: “All these incidents are taking place in states that are being ruled by the Congress, be it Delhi or Haryana.”

Dehradun, July 20
Facing a surging crowd of Kanwariyas on the Gangotri-Gaumukh stretch in Uttarakhand, the Gangotri National Park authorities that manage Gaumukh have sought relaxation of limit in the entry of Kanwariyas in Gaumukh. They urged the state government to increase the entry limit from 150 pilgrims to 1,000 pilgrims per day.

Gaumukh holds much importance to the devotees of Lord Shiva. Kanwariyas in thousands from Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and other states go to Gaumukh during the month of Shravan to collect the holy Ganga water.

The forest authorities had put restrictions on the number of visitors to eco-fragile Gaumukh. But, the Gangotri National Park authorities are certainly finding it difficult to implement this restriction. Permitting only 150 persons a day for Gaumukh from Gangotri when over 4,000 are coming to Gangotri every day is a challenging task. Interestingly, as the matter is linked to religious sentiments, the Gangotri Park authorities have no option than to adopt soft approach towards Kanwariyas.

“Managing Kanwariyas is certainly a challenging task as they are quite reluctant to follow the norms on Gaumukh and we face a tough time convincing them to adhere to the norms”, disclosed IP Singh, Director, Gangotri National Park.

He said as the matter was linked to religious sentiments, the Gangotri Park authorities do not treat the Kanwariyas harshly. “We have now asked the government for allowing at least 1,000 pilgrims to Gaumukh on a single day.”

He said that the Gangotri Park authorities had successfully managed to make the entire trek to Gaumukh pollution-free. The Gangotri had already been made pollution-free zone. The Gangotri National Park authorities asserted that they had been able to sensitise the pilgrims, particularly Kanwariyas, about the fragile nature of Gangotri.

Earlier, the Kawariyas used to leave behind their clothes and other things on the Gangotri-Gaumukh stretch which was a big source of pollution. But now they had made Kanwariyas aware of the ecological damage that could be the result of rising problem in the region, IP Singh observed.

Haridwar, July 20
While it’s a pleasant sight to see teenaged Kanwariyas walking faithfully with colourful Kanwars to fetch the holy Ganga water, it’s almost shocking when they are seen smoking bidis, cigarettes and using “chillum” and other drugs.

At the Pantdeep Kanwar Mela market or on a Kanwar stretch, some young Kanwariyas can be seen along with aged ones filling empty cigarettes with ganja or charas.

Dressed in cowboy style, Raju, Shailesh, Tapash from Sohna town of Haryana, while filling “chillum”, said as their yatra was physically tough, they got relieved by taking such drugs.

Many more such young teenagers were seen singing “Dum Maro Dum” and religious songs based on popular Bollywood numbers.

The Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad too has put up signboards at various places urging Kanwariyas not to use drugs during the yatra.

Baba Hathyogi, national spokesperson of the Akhada Parishad, said if any Kanwariya found drinking alcohol or taking drugs, all religious benefits accruing from the Kanwar fair would go waste.

“Taking drugs in the Kanwar Yatra, which is a religious pilgrimage, is a matter of concern though ‘bhaang’ is permissible in the Indian culture, said psychiatrist Dr Achal Bhagat.

As Kanwariyas are thronging Haridwar in lakhs, the police can’t take any stringent action though police personnel urge Kanwariyas to refrain from drugs during the yatra. The Kanwar Police Cell in charge Dr Kiran Lal Shaw told TNS that an awareness drive was being carried out by the police to make sure that Kanwariyas didn’t take drugs, but if anyone was found taking drugs, he would be booked.

Meanwhile, the police has intensified vigil, checking of vehicles at all entry points as supply of these drugs get increased owing to large-scale consumption.

Haridwar, July 20
It seems that the entire responsibility of holding the peaceful Kanwar Mela lies with the police only. Thousands of police personnel are round the clock managing millions of Kanwariyas in Haridwar without basic facilities.

But this extra pressure seems to be taking a toll on the 12,000 policemen. More than 12 hours of duty braving rain, humidity, scorching heat, traffic congestion and regular scuffles with aggressive Kanwariyas, who violate laws as a matter of right, have started affecting their work efficiency.

A casualty has also been reported within the police force. Arun Kumar Badoni, a resident of Kotdwara town in Pauri Garhwal, who was on duty despite being sick, fell unconscious while performing duty at one of the Kanwar stretches in Roorkee and later died at the hospital. This incident again points towards the tough duty hours during such huge melas.

Most of the police camps where these jawans are lodged here lack basic facilities. The police personnel will stay here from July 16 to 29, the period of Kanwar Mela.

Such is the condition that at the Kanwar Mela Control Room near Har-Ki-Pauri police personnel can be seen sleeping on the floor as the temporary camps and lodging facilities provided by the department are not up to the mark.

Police constables from Pauri Garhwal, Tehri, Bageshwar, Champawat and Pithoragarh said for 12 hours, they have performing the field duty managing millions of Kanwariyas but still they don’t get full rest as lodging facilities are very shoddy and far away from their duty points.

“Many of us have made arrangements on our own in the dharamshalas and affordable hotels since due to lack of facilities they fear they could get sick. We have informed our seniors about the situation but to no avail. All this affects the morale of the force,” said a police personnel in the police control room office.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Nivedita Kukreti told TNS that all police personnel had been provided accommodation and some had even been put in the hotels, lodges and dharamshalas, so if anyone on his or her choice preferred private accommodation, it shouldn’t be the fault of the department.

But in reality in one room, 4-5 persons are being lodged with many having just one fan, so most prefer to either sleep on the floor in the control room and police stations.

Dehradun, July 20
Under the leadership of Vishal Dobhal, members of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee staged a dharna at the office of the Chief Executive Officer, Cantonment Board, Prem Nagar, today.

A large number of protesters gathered there to highlight their problems. They raised slogans to press for their demands.

The protesters also submitted a memorandum to the Chief Executive Officer.

Their demands included putting a check on the illegal occupancy of land, proper drainage system and the maintenance of public toilets in the Cantonment area of Prem Nagar.

The CEO has assured appropriate action in this regard. 

Dehradun, July 20
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today gave away prizes to the winners at a state-level science exhibition at Rajiv Gandhi Navodaya Vidayala here.

A total of 60 students from different parts of the state took part in the competition.

Dehradun’s Ayush Garg and his guide, Dinesh Dobriyal, stood first.

Uttarakashi’s Ashmita Uniyal and guide Sudhir Kumar,

Rudraprayag’s Devender and his guide, Mukesh Bhatt, Chamoli’s Prajval Dimri and guide AP Dimri and Chamoli’s Bhivani Negi and his guide, Pradeep Sati, stood second, third, fourth and fifth.