Mussoorie, July 21
In what can be termed as a security breach, Tehri Dam officials breaking all security norms allowed commuters to pass through a road built over the main dam, risking its safety for 3 or 4 hours today.

The opening of the main gate of the Tehri Dam for the commuters by the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) has raised serious security concern of the dam.

The safety of the dam was overlooked when overnight rain blocked the road near the Tehri Dam leading to Tipri village near Zero Point Bridge resulting long traffic queues from both sides early morning today.

The THDC officials immediately rushed to the spot with JCB and began clearing the debris and when the stranded commuters started raising hue and cry, the officials directed the commuters through another route that went through the main rockfill dam citing only option available to Tipri village.

The commuters in vehicles of all sizes had the opportunity to see the dam closely and some commuters were also seen clicking pictures on the top of the dam flouting the safety norms.

According to CISF officials, the main gate on the road leading to main dam was closed once again after 2.30 pm. When the commuters, who were directed to use the main gate road, questioned the

closure of the road once again, the officials cited the reason that the Zero point road had been cleared of the debris and opened for vehicular traffic once again.

General Manager, THDC, Govind Govil said he was not aware of the topography of the dam and when another officer Vijay Goyal from THDC was contacted he said he would look into the matter. 

Haridwar, July 21
Baditeep villagers falling in Haridwar district are in utter shock as a family in their village is suspect to have been inflicted with deadly dropsy virus. When a sample of the suspected family was taken, one of the members has shown signs of being affected with dropsy.

Buta Singh’s family members had been severely ill for the past few weeks but doctors have failed to diagnose the disease properly. Doctors suspect other members may be afflicted with the disease.

Chief Medical Officer of Haridwar Dr Yogesh Sharma said in initial tests, a family member had shown the signs of dropsy and as a precautionary measure Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Suresh Aggarwal was camping at the village.

Dr Suman Arya, Joint Director of the Uttarakhand Health Department, has directed that round-the-clock monitoring should be started and precautionary measure be taken in the village.

She told TNS that a preliminary check-up had been done while the final diagnosis was also being carried out to arrive at a final conclusion. The health record of the affected family was also being examined.

CMO Sharma said dropsy occurred when mustard oil was adulterated deliberately (as in most cases) or accidental contamination with argemone oil.

Notably, Buta Singh’s family has its own agricultural fields where they grow mustard seeds and then these take to local flour mixer who used to extract oil from the mustard seeds. Due to fear of being afflicted with dropsy, villagers have totally shunned the use of mustard oil.

Meanwhile, help is pouring in from various quarters to the affected family with many citizens and social organisations coming forward to help the affected family. The Health Department has also started taking out samples of mustard oils to see if adulteration is going on in the region.

Dehradun, July 21
The state units of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the CPI (Marxist) jointly submitted a memorandum to the District Magistrate today following their countrywide campaign against corruption.

Ashok Kandwal and Surender Singh Sajvan, state secretary of the CPI and the CPM, respectively, said keeping the inertia of the UPA government in consideration, they had listed five demands, including the approval to the Lok Pal Bill with the Prime Minister within its ambit, the constitution of a judiciary commission to check corruption at the judiciary level, strong action against the close nexus among big businessmen, politicians and bureaucrats giving way to corruption, control over the misuse of power and money in the elections and stringent action to unearthed the black money stashed in foreign banks, and its retrieval. It was mentioned in the memorandum that plunder of the government treasure has been taking place at a high level.

Dehradun, July 21
The boycott of timber auctions by timber merchants all over the state for the past fortnight against the sudden hike in the transit fee by the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh Government to the tune of 5 per cent of the purchase value has dealt a double blow to the Forest Corporation which is slated to lose close to Rs 15 crore a month due to this.

The corporation is already passing through a lean period due to periodic suspension of querying and wood collection activities from mid-June onward for four months. The timber merchants have also approached the High Court in this regard.

There is a small stretch of routes which falls in Uttar Pradesh through which the commuters have to pass through while going from Garhwal to Kumaon or vice-versa.

President, Doon Timber Merchant Welfare Society, Manjeet Singh Flora, said, “Even three years ago, the UP government hiked the transit fee from Rs 50 per truck to Rs 50 per cubic metre which would cost us to Rs 200 to 500. We did not oppose it that time but this time it will cost us from Rs 35,000 to Rs 50,000 per truck, as the timber cost is much higher and we cannot afford it.”

He further added, “There are hardly 10-15 km stretch which falls in UP, so it does not make sense to pay the whopping sum for that.”

Relief from the High Court is unlikely very soon. The crisis is bound to shake up the timber market further.

The ramification of the latest order is clearly being felt in the galleries of the Forest Corporation as well. Stung by the cancellation of auction at Tehri on Monday, Managing Director Anil Dutt said, “It is illogical to impose the transit tax in this case as it is levied only when the state government provides some kind of facilities on the road. The order will affect us badly. Our bids will go down as the buyers will try to balance the difference between the costs. Timber will also be more expensive. The common man will be hit the maximum,” said Dutt, but he does not see any solution in the near future.

Pithoragarh, July 21
Demanding roads linking all the 12 gram sabhas of the Chaudans valley and the exclusion of these villages from the Askot Wildlife Sanctuary, and to highlight the other problems of transport and communication faced by the residents, all the Gram Pradhans of the valley today travelled to the district headquarters and staged a dharna in front of the District Magistrate’s office. They submitted a memorandum to the District Magistrate.

“All the 12 villages in the area are facing isolation from the rest of the country as the villages are situated 70 km away from the sub-divisional headquarters of Dharchula and are without any basic facilities of roads, ration supply, transportation, health care and communication,” said Daulat Singh Patiyal, Chairman of the Chaudans Vikas Samiti.

According to the villagers, the valley has become the most backward area in the whole of Dharchula subdivision after the proposals to build three main roads were rejected following the inclusion of these villages in the Askot Wildlife Sanctuary in 1986. “We do not have any approach roads in the area,” said Patiyal.

“We are buying wheat flour at the rate of Rs 35 per kg because the government could not transport the ration quota for the monsoon in the godowns of the area due to the lack road connectivity in the area,” said Urmila Dabra, Gram Pradhan of Pangla village.

According to the villagers, the 14 primary schools and one intermediate college of the area have insufficient teaching staff for the past one year and despite erratic electricity supply residents are supposed to pay the bills for the whole year. “We have three hospitals at Sosa, Rung and Simkhola, but these have no doctors for the past 10 years,” said Urmila Dabra.

The apathy of the state government has also finished the local woollen trade as neither the sheep rearing has been promoted after the creation of the state nor the woollen factories or carding plants have been established by the government which has resulted in unemployment and subsequent migration of the youth from the 
villages.

Dehradun, July 21
The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has proposed to partner the Uttarakhand Government in setting up 13 new clusters in the state.

Interacting with mediapersons in Dehradun, Lalit Khaitan, Chairman, ASSOCHAM Northern Region Development Council, said each cluster would accommodate about 1,000 industrial units and provide direct and indirect employment to more than four lakh people.

“The total funds required to provide basic and essential infrastructure to these clusters is estimated around Rs 500 crore. Once functional, these will contribute an additional 10 per cent revenue per annum to the exchequer, help in inclusive growth and simultaneously lead to the upgrading of the existing clusters,” said Lalit Khaitan while also releasing an ASSOCHAM study,“Cluster Development Fuels Inclusive Growth in Uttarakhand,” along with secretary- general DS Rawat.

The clusters suggested by ASSOCHAM include Almora for agro-based, handicrafts and food-processing units; Bageshwar for rice mills and herbal products; Chamoli for agro-based and food-processing units; Dehradun for dairy farms, garments, rice and wheat production; Haridwar for herbal products, dairy farms and floriculture; Nainital for horticulture, pickle and sauce industries; Pauri Garhwal for agro-based and food-processing units; Pithoragarh for fish farming and poultry farming; Rudraprayag for agro-based, food processing and herbal product units; Tehri Garhwal for dairy farms and floriculture; Udham Singh Nagar for agro-based and food-processing units; Rajakkad for rice mills; and Uttarkashi for agro-based and food-processing units.

He also stressed the need for setting up a statutory body as a cluster development authority for the optimum utilisation of funds and to assist them in gearing up for further growth.

The state had tremendous potential for cluster development and could regain investment destination status in different segments of small and medium enterprises and acquire dual dimensional growth by increasing the size of clusters. Recognition of more clusters by the government would bring inclusive and balanced growth and promote unique cluster branding of Uttarakhand, Khaitan said.

Dehradun, July 21
The Samajwadi Party (SP) held a demonstration in front of the District Magistrate’s office today in protest against the state government’s failure to provide better governance and proper development to the people of the state.

State SP president Vinod Bharathwal said both the Congress and the BJP had failed to fulfil their promises. The state had become a comfort zone for BJP leaders and bureaucrats who were not willing to go to the hills, he said, blaming the state government for indulging in corruption in a big way.

He warned the BJP of a bitter lesson the public was all prepared to teach it in the coming Assembly elections next year. He advocated building a new Vidhan Sabha premises at Raipur.

District president Gulfam Ali highlighted the pathetic state of roads in the city. City president Subhash Panwar spoke in favour of a timely implementation of the recommendations of the Sachchar Committee and Rangnath Mishra Committee reports.

The party members who participated in the demonstration included Ravinder Negi, PS Malhotra, Som Chauhan, Suresh Yadav and Rajesh Rawat.

Haridwar, July 21
It is only determination, deep faith and dedication that drive Kanwariyas to tread hundreds of kilometres on foot braving odd weather conditions to finally reach Haridwar where they take a dip in the holy Ganga and fetch its water during the Hindu month of “Sawan”.

Like Sandeep Kumar, a physically challenged youth, who had come to the city from Gurgaon to fetch holy water. He had lost one of his legs in a road accident.

Though he will take longer time to accomplish the yatra compared to the time taken by his fellow Kanwariyas, his determination to be a part of the yatra is quite steely, which compelled his parents to allow him to go on this pilgrimage.

Talking to The Tribune, the 15-year-old Kanwariya said this is his second consecutive Kanwar Yatra and he will be taking part in the yatra in the future too.

Accompanied by his friends, he said never had he felt that the yatra was tough, as millions of Kanwariyas moved along the stretch earmarked for them day and night.

Though he laments: “I can’t carry a beautifully decorated Kanwar due to my disability but nevertheless my bag is with me.

My friends make me happy and comfortable as it will take almost seven days to reach my home in Gurgaon”.

Meanwhile, this 2011 Kanwar Mela is witnessing participation of a large number of women kanwariyas, further showcasing the extreme faith this pilgrimage holds among people.

Women are walking shoulders to shoulders with their male counterparts carrying Kanwars, with many dressed in saffron outfits, a dress code for Kanwariyas. Sarita and Anita Devi, two women from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, accompanied by their husbands and children, too are quite determined to observe the rituals associated with the yatra.

One of the Kanwariyas was seen carrying his parents in a palanquin.

Pithoragarh, July 21
Kargil Day, the day to remember the sacrifices of those brave soldiers who laid their lives for the country during the Kargil war with Pakistan in 1999, will be observed by the Pithoragarh district administration as Martyrs’ Day on July 26. Tributes will be paid to four Kargil martyrs from the district, according to Pithoragarh District Magistrate MC Joshi here today.

According to a programme charted out by the district administration at a meeting, the celebration will begin with paying homage to the martyrs in Maharaja Park of the 69th Mountain Brigade in the Army area where the family members of the Kargil martyrs will be felicitated.

“The Army, the police and NCC contingents will take part in a parade on the local DS Bisht ground and a seminar will also be organised in town hall where the gallantry awardees ex-soldiers will share their experiences of the Kargil war,” said Joshi.

To educate the new generation about the sacrifices of the Armed forces in the protection of country’s independence will be the topic of plays which will be organised in schools on the day,” said Joshi.