51,000 aromatic plants distributed among residents
Dehradun, September 2
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said today that the way people had taken to the cultivation of aromatic plants and the sale of oil, he wouldn’t be surprised if the city acquired the sobriquet of fragrant Doon.

Haridwar, September 2
Keeping in mind the religious-spiritual aspect of Brahamkund and Har-ki-Pauri, which draw millions to the holy city of Haridwar every year, the administration has chalked out plans to enhance the beauty of the area by installing synchronised underwater lighting.

This underwater illumination project is a part of the ambitious project to make Har-ki-Pauri a world tourist site too. Already in night Har-ki-Pauri presents a soothing site with colourful lighting installed at the ghat.

The synchronised lighting will be aided by a state-of-the-art sound system which will play the world famous Ganga aarti. People living several kilometres away from Har-ki-Pauri will be able to listen to the aarti after the sound system becomes operational.

Additional Secretary (Tourism) Nitish Jha has inspected the site along with the officials of the district administration and inputs from experts, locals, the Ganga Sabha and teerth purohits will be taken into consideration while finalising the plans.

The members of the Ganga Sabha executive point out that the underwater lighting would add to the beauty of the ancient religious site.

District Magistrate of Haridwar R Meenakshi Sundaram said the project is in its initial stage but with the Additional Secretary visiting the site the project had gained momentum.

Meanwhile state Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik said traffic arrangements in the mela area would be enhanced. A meeting of the officials concerned was held in which the minister laid stress on better management and development of parking lots at important sites in the city. Municipal Corporation officer BL Arya said apart from the core mela zone, the sites such as railway station, bus stand and nearby areas also needed to have specific parking lots to ease pressure on the mela zone.

Dehradun, September 2
In order to preserve the heritage monuments in the capital city, Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli has decided to launch a Heritage Walk from September 13.

He said there is a policy to maintain legacy at the Center, but it is not implemented in the state and has urged the state government to uphold such a policy. The corporation would carry on the restoration work in association with the NGO INTACH, whom the government has asked to provide protection to the monuments that are not looked after by the ASI or other government agencies.

The Mayor stated that for publicising the same, the corporation would be providing Rs 5 lakh in the first phase and carry on working after receiving the response from the public. “We are planning to establish Chaatwali Gali as the food street where pavement would be constructed with blackstone. I have asked the NGO to prepare the same structure for all the rehris to be put there and all the hawkers need to adopt the same,” he said.

The corporation would launch the Heritage Walk on September 13, which would be started from the Gandhi Park with all the board members of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC). “We would then cover Mansa Ram Building, Clock Tower, Chaatwali Gali, Jangham Shivalya in Paltan Baazar, Hanuman Chowk, Darshani Gate, Jama Masjid, Mission School and Guru Ram Rai Durbar. In case we have time, we will visit other places too,” said the Mayor.

“On the second day, we would take all bureaucrats on the trip followed by owners, principals and senior staff of the educational institutions and the tourist companies on the third day so that they can spread a word about these places. Later on, trips would be arranged for school children as well,” he said.

“In future, we would require a guide and a coordinator to organise the walk. For the first four months the services would be free, but once it gains the momentum a small amount would be charged,” Chamoli mentioned and added, “We are just starting the concept and need to wait and see how it develops in the future.”

He said, “The Ashley Hall has been declared as a historical monument, but its beautification is in the hands of the MDDA, who have been asked many a times to work upon it without any response. Any particular monument would look beautiful only if the colour scheme is same just like in Jaipur that is coloured in pink. I have even suggested that the front portion of the corporation’s building should not be changed, as it is also valued as an historical building.”

Upper Nagar Adhikari Neeraj Pandey has been appointed as the nodal officer. 

Dehradun, September 2
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said today that the way people had taken to the cultivation of aromatic plants and the sale of oil, he wouldn’t be surprised if the city acquired the sobriquet of fragrant Doon.

He said the state had generated a total business of Rs 8 crore through the sale of aromatic plants and oil that was in great demand in the medicine industry.

Speaking at the aromatic plant-distribution function held at the Annexe on the Cantonment Road, the Chief Minister said: “Since the launch of the various programmes aimed at promoting the cultivation of aromatic plants, the area under it in the state has considerably increased. A total of 1,750 hectares is under cultivation and 10,000 farmers are involved in it. We hope to bring more farmers in the cultivation of aromatic plants in the next three years,” said Nishank.

To popularise the plantation of aromatic plants among the urban population, the Selaqui-based CAP today distributed 51,000 plants among 21,000 families.

Agriculture Minister Trivender Singh Rawat said barren land was suitable for growing aromatic plants. “We have effectively put into use barren land in the districts of Pauri and Dehradun for growing aromatic plants. In certain areas where there is menace of wild animals, aromatic plants can be grown alternately,” said Rawat.

Dr Sunil Sah, a scientist with the Centre for Aromatic Plant (CAP), said aromatic plants would also be grown around river-beds in Dehradun.

Nirpen Chauhan, Scientist In charge (CAP), said the government is offering minimum support price to farmers on the sale of 25 aromatic plants. “We have recently started the distillation of oil from roses which again would be quite useful for the farmers. From the cultivation of rose the farmers can get rosewater and oil,” he said. 

Mussoorie, September 2
The Uttarakhand Government has failed to upgrade and modernise police force despite the release of adequate funds by the Centre.

This was stated by Jitendar Singh, Union Minister of State for Home, who was here today to pay homage to the martyrs on the 17th anniversary of the police firing incident during the statehood agitation on September 2, 1994.

He said the Central Government was supplementing police force in the country under the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS), where more than 15,500 police stations would be connected online, thus improving intelligence-gathering mechanism.

However, despite the release of funds to the Uttarakhand Government, it had failed to upgrade its police force, the minister added.He said considering the need to meet emerging challenges to public order and internal security, the Central Government had been funding various projects to improve infrastructure. But the Uttarakhand Government, owing to its “callous” approach, had not accomplished the work as desired.

On the issue of the Lokpal Bill, the minister said the Congress was serious over the issue of curbing corruption and was committed towards bringing in a strong Lokpal. He further claimed that it was due to the efforts of the Central Government, especially UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, that the RTI Act came into being.

Earlier, he addressed Congress workers at Congress Bhavan, where he was felicitated by local party leaders, including Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, Heera Singh Bisht and Manmohan Singh Mall.

Meanwhile, he also visited the ITBP Academy here.

Dehradun , September 2
Delhi Public School, Dehradun, organised an inter-house music and dance competition here today. The children of fourth and fifth classes sang melodious patriotic songs which aroused patriotic feelings in all present there. The students of Tendulkar House in the costumes of the three armed forces bagged the first prize. Rehman house with their colourful costumes depicting “Unity in Diversity” won the second prize, while Teresa House stood at the third position.

Students of sixth to eighth classes performed lively and colourful dances of various states of India. The dance of the hills of Garhwal marking the home coming of Nanda Devi, reverberating Uttarakhand’s festivities, bagged the first position. Dandia “Raas” from Gujarat won the show with the sounds of their sticks and was awarded the second prize. The Panihari dance of Rajasthan performed by the students won the third prize. Last but not the least was Bengali dance in colourful costumes presenting the folk art of West Bengal.The dance programme ended with a huge round of applause and was concluded by the Principal’s speech. Principal Urmil Verma motivated the students and teachers for their efforts and advised them to be more enthusiastic in the forthcoming events. 

Dehradun, September 2
In the first quarterfinal match of the Senior Council Football Tournament played at St Joseph’s Academy, Summer Valley School defeated Seven Oaks 1-0 here today.

Yuvraj contributed to the winning account of Summer Valley by scoring one goal in the 18th minute of the match. However, the other team could not make any goal in the match.

In the second match, Colonel Brown School beat Doon School 4-0. Naveen scored the first goal in the 10th minute closely followed by Suvasek, who scored the second, third and fourth goals in the 15th, 20th and 25th minute, respectively.

In the third match, Carman School, Dalanwala, edged past The Presidency International School 4-1. The first gaol was scored by Pradeep in the 15th minute, Hemant, Joshva and Nitish scored the next goals. While Nitish of The Presidency International could only contribute one goal to the team’s score count in the 22nd minute.Meanwhile, in the fourth match Indian Public School beat Hilton School 2-1. From the winning team, Shubham scored the first goal in the 5th minute, while Omta scored the second goal in the 20th minute. From the other team, Sumit scored one goal in the 45th minute.

Tomorrow, the quarterfinal matches will be played between St Joseph’s Academy vs Summer Valley School, Mussoorie International School vs Carman School, Dalanwala, Cambrian Hall vs International Presidency School and Carman School Prem Nagar vs Colonel Brown School. 

Dehradun, September 2
The sports council of Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun, will organise a month-long third Inter-collegiate Games from September 15.

Addressing a press conference here, DS Chauhan, Vice-Chancellor of the university, said this time, they had themselves framed rules and regulation and the eligibility criteria for participants.

He said to participate in the games, interested colleges would have to submit the required documents to the organising secretary of the games. He said a total of 92 colleges would be participating.

Chauhan further said the Association of Indian Universities had entrusted the university with the task of holding the prestigious North Zone Cricket Tournament in Dehradun from November 10 to November 25. He said 20 teams had confirmed their participation in the tournament so far. 

Dehradun, September 2
Gypsy Young today defeated Wills Youth Club 2-0 during the Lala Nemi Dass Memorial District Football League here.

Vijay Rai opened the account for Gypsy Young by scoring a goal in the 46th minute followed by the second goal by Narender in the 54th minute.

In the second match, Garhwal Sporting drew with Cant Blue 1-1.

Naresh of Cant Blue made the first goal in the 11th minute while Gaurav of Garhwal Sporting gave a tough competition to their rival by making a goal for his team in the 15th minute.