Rawat’s public meeting a huge draw in Haldwani
Manages to garner support of ex-servicemen
Rajeev Khanna

Nainital, September 3
Having showed his strength in Srinagar (Garhwal) on August 27, the convener of the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha (URM), Lt-Gen TPS Rawat (retd), came up with yet another impressive show of strength during a public meeting in Haldwani on Friday.

For the former Lok Sabha member who has recently been ousted by the BJP, this was his first show of strength in the Kumaon region and response that he got was overwhelming, much to the “discomfort” of the BJP. Rawat has been able to garner support of ex-servicemen, a core constituency of the BJP.

The URM’s meeting on Friday was marked with Rawat lambasting the state government on the issue of corruption. He said his outfit had ability to offer a viable political alternative to the two mainstream political parties, the Congress and the BJP.

The meeting was attended by people from all walks of life with ex-servicemen dominating those present. Observers said if the URM decided to contest the forthcoming poll, it would be causing a major dent to the poll prospects of the BJP which had always taken ex-servicemen to be its core voter base. It is evident that ex-servicemen are unhappy over the “treatment” meted out to both Rawat and former Chief Minister BC Khanduri by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who has “sidelined” them.

Khanduri has also expressed unhappiness with the functioning of the Nishank government and there have been rumours at repeated intervals of his leaving the party. The presence of ex-servicemen at the helm of affairs in the state has always worked to the advantage for the BJP when it comes to wooing the electorate in the category of ex-servicemen. The presence of Khanduri as the CM and Rawat as one of the Lok Sabha members has helped the BJP in the past. Ex-servicemen feel that the party does give them due representation in the parliamentary democracy. However, there are smaller parties in the state that have been accusing the BJP of promoting “Bonapartism” by fielding former defence officers in the poll.

The ex-servicemen constitute a major part of the electorate and over the past two decades, they have constituted a major part of the BJP’s voter share. Even serving defence personnel have played a role in the BJP’s electoral success in the state. Votes cast by them through the postal ballot had played the decisive role in Rawat’s victory in the Pauri byelections in 2007.

There are at least 1 lakh ex-servicemen voters in Almora and Pithoragarh, more than 1.25 lakh in the Pauri Lok Sabha constituency, over 50,000 in the Tehri constituency and more than 50,000 in Udham Singh Nagar and adjoining areas. The number of such voters is well spread in other parts of the state as well.

Worship of Goddess Nanda Devi
Villagers set for Hiramani glacier to collect Brahma Kamal
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, September 3
More than 160 people from various villages situated at the Himalayan foothill villages of Talla Johar, have set for the high-altitude Himalayan meadows to collect the sacred flower of Brahma Kamal (Saussurea Obvallata) to offer it to Goddess Nanda Devi, as the Nanda Devi worship festival grips the region.

According to a belief, the Himalayan Goddess, Nanda Devi, only accepts Brahma Kamal from devotees in worship. The Brahma Kamal is also the state flower of Uttarakhand.

“In our tradition, only Brahma Kamal, which blooms at a height of 13,000 feet in the Himalayan meadows, can be offered to the Goddess Nanda, as she is the daughter of King Himalaya,” said Dharma Prakash Dwivedi, a priest, accompanying devotees to the Himalayan meadows to collect the flower.

The villagers will reach the Hiramani glacier from where they will collect the flower on the second day, after staying in some Himalayan caves and after taking a bath in the sacred Nanda Kund, situated at a height of 13,000 feet. They will then return to the temple of Goddess Nanda Devi in their respective villages. “We offer the sacred Himalayan flower to the Goddess on Asthami Day, which falls on September 5,” said the priest.

According to the information given by the villagers, a lot of people from Girgaon, Samkot, Bala, Birthi, Querijimia, Suring, Ranthi, Bui, Hokra, Namik and Sainrathi villages, all situated in the Himalayan foothill of the Talla Johar area, have gone to collect the flower.

According to regional historians, the tradition of Nanda worship in the area has come from Garhwal region, as these villagers have migrated from there centuries ago. “Most of them have established the temples of the Goddess in their respective villages and have the Nanda temples at Bala, Birthi, Girgaon Gaula and Hokra villages where the people from adjoining villages will gather on Asthami day on September 5 to worship the Goddess with the sacred Himalayan flower,” said Dr Dev Raj Singh Pangti, a scholar of the local history and culture .

Pangti said the villagers in the Johar area in Pithoragarh district and those living in the villages at the Himalayan foothill or in Chamoli district only worshipped Goddess Nanda, by offering this flower. In other parts of Kumoan and Garhwal regions, the Goddess was worshipped with local flowers. “This is the original form of the Nanda worship as the devotees have to take a bath in the Himalayan ponds, situated on more than 11,000 feet high meadows, as well,” said Dr Pangti.

Brahma Kamal (Saussurea Obvallata) is a sacred flower, which blooms at a height of 13,000 feet, on the Himalayan meadows. According to a belief, the Himalayan Goddess, Nanda Devi, the daughter of King Himalaya only accepts Brahma Kamal from devotees in worship. The Brahma Kamal is also the state flower of Uttarakhand.

Kumaon varsity teachers, students go on strike
Tribune News Service

Nainital, September 3
Academic and other activities at Kumaon University have come to a standstill with both students and teachers going on a strike, although for different reasons.

Teachers affiliated to the Kumaon University Teachers Association (KUTA) were the first ones to go on a strike on the issue of a delay in the payment of arrears to them. They are seeking the early payment of arrears pertaining to the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. They have been on indefinite fast since Thursday after staging dharnas during the past fortnight of August.

Attempts by the government through the office of the Vice-Chancellor, Dr VPS Arora, and Registrar Kamal Pande to persuade the teachers to end their protest have proved futile till now. The government has promised to release the first instalment of the arrears to the teachers, but the latter insist on knowing when the remaining arrears would be paid and when they can expect the payment of the first instalment in their accounts. Above all, the government’s move to pay the amount in instalments has been criticised since the payment has been due for long.

Peeved at the scenario that is prevailing, students have launched a protest stating various other activities are suffering on account of a stand-off between KUTA and the government. Students said sportsmen were missing out on various events owing to a delay in admissions and even the declaration of results in certain cases. They said just when the academic session had started, the teachers went on strike. There are certain other demands that are being aired by the students.

They are demanding an increase in the number of seats in certain postgraduate courses. The agitating students are also seeking the withdrawal of fee hike in some postgraduate courses. They said the entire procedure of reforms in the university had resulted in the introduction of the semester system in most of the courses.

The students have a nine-point demand charter. They have also threatened to intensify their agitation if their demands were not met at the earliest.

Land Use
Twice displaced, Tehri Dam oustees overcharged by govt
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 3
As if it was not enough that 19 Tehri Dam families rehabilitated at Athoorwala were once again uprooted and moved to Lalpani and Doodhpani in Rishikesh, the insensitive Uttarakhand Government compounded their misery further by overcharging them through the provision of development charges of the land.

The cup of woes of the 19 Tehri Dam oustee families was already full when they were asked to give way for the expansion of the Jolly Grant airport as their land fell in the vicinity of the airport. But the government rubbed salt on their wounds when they were asked to deposit Rs 6 lakh each as development charges. The money was utilised for making the land allotted to them suitable for settlement at Lalpani and Doodhpani.

The families deposited the money four years ago in treasury account number 183 but they soon discovered that they were overcharged. The collective protest by the families forced the tehsildar to refix the development charge at Rs 3.54 lakh/ family for five bigha land. Earlier, each family was given one acre of land for settlement purpose at Doodhpani and Lalpani.

“When we asked the tehsildar to return the remaining amount with interest, we were flatly refused, he told us that the money was deposited in treasury account where no interest rate was charged,” said Chandermani Belwal,

an affected member who sought information through the Right to Information Act.

Though the tehsildar agreed to return the amount, he put a condition on the villagers to forgo the interest on the amount and also give him in writing that they would not approach the courts.

The aggrieved members then approached the State Information Commission where it came to light that the Revenue Commissioner and Principal Secretary Civil Aviation PC Sharma had issued an order directing that the Athoorwala residents would not get any interest on the amount deposited by them as development charges in 2011. Significantly, earlier the tehsildar had maintained that the decision regarding this particular account was taken at a high-level meeting held in 2008.

At the behest of Information Commissioner Vinod Nautiyal, the tehsildar has been asked to pay Rs 61,500 within 10 days to three brothers who filed their plea.

However, the issue of non-payment of interest remains unsolved as the family members were given the amount after they gave in writing that no demand would be made on the payment of interest.

2 state artistes fail to get US visa
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 3
Two prominent Dhol and Damau artistes of Uttarakhand, Sohan Lal and Sukaru Das, have failed to get the US visa to attend the annual convention of the Uttarakhand Association of North America (UANA) to be held at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey (USA).

President of the UANA Vijay Sharma said today that the artistes had failed to clear the interview at the US Embassy and this was the reason that they had been denied the opportunity to visit the US.

He said the annual convention of the UANA would be attended by over 500 delegates from the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia and India. Former state Chief Minister BS Koshiyari would be the chief guest this year.

Top Uttarakhand Congress leaders Pradeep Tamta, Dhirendra Pratap, Ranjeet Rawat, Karan Mehra and Pushpesh Tripathi have had the opportunity to attend these conventions. Famous Garhwali historian Shekhar Pathak, famous Garhwali Singer Narendra Singh Negi, Preetam Bhartwan, the late poet and reformist Girish Tiwari Girda had also participated in the conventions.

Khanduri urged to leave BJP
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 3
Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) today appealed former Chief Minister Maj-Gen BC Khanduri (retired) to leave the BJP and explore the possibility of joining the third front.

The UKD Dehradun president, NK Gusain, today said the former Chief Minister in his September 2 public statement at the Martyrs Memorial in Dehradun had admitted that corruption was rampant in the state and pledged to continue his fight against it.

“The former Chief Minister must quit the BJP and join forces in the state that want to fight corruption,” Gusain said.

He said when the nation was today witnessing a glimmer of hope in the fight against corruption, Khanduri must join the third front. Gusain also welcomed the Constitution of the Raksha Morcha, led by Lt-Gen (retired) TPS Rawat. He said the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal was working hard to ensure an end to corruption in the state.

Ambedkar Chaupal programme schedule released
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 3
Chanar Ram, spokesperson for the Ambedkar Chaupal programme, yesterday asked all officials of various departments to reach programme venues in order to solve all the problems at the spot.

While convening the meeting with the nodal officials he said the programme would be organised from September 5 to 15.

Ram stated that the programme would start at the panchayat ghar, Jhajra, on September 6 at the Municipal Corporation office at Rajpur and a school in Indresh Nagar, on September 7 in a school at Clement Town, on September 8 in Chandreshwar temple in Rishikesh, on September 9 in the Aasharam Vaidik Centre at Vikas Nagar, on September 10 in Winhaar at Junior High School Taui, on September 12 at Dhanpau, on September 13 at panchayat ghar Thaina, on September 14 at Maletha and on September 15 at Lavadi.

SDMs given instructions on polling booths
Tribune News Service

Nainital, September 3
The district administration in Udham Singh Nagar has started streamlining the arrangements for the forthcoming assembly polls with regards to polling booths.

At a meeting held in Rudrapur under the chairmanship of the District Election Officer, Dr BVRC Purshottam, the Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) have been ordered to see that there are not more than two polling booths in a single building in rural areas as per the norms of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The officials have been asked to make alternative arrangements if there are more than two booths in a single government building.

The officials have also been asked to make proposals for establishing polling booths in alternate buildings if the buildings housing the existing ones are in a dilapidated state or have been devastated by disaster or are located at a distance of more than two kilometres.

The SDMs have been asked to submit the proposals within the next two days.

Purshottam revealed that there should not be more than two polling booths in a single building in the rural areas and not more than four booths in a single building in the urban areas. If this norm was not being followed, an alternative arrangement for setting up of polling booths was required to be made.

He told the official machinery that if there was no building available for the purpose, a certificate regarding the same should be furnished before his office.

He asked the SDMs and tehsildars to personally inspect and verify various polling stations. In addition to this, instructions had been issued for the booth-level officers to visit the polling stations so that there was no problem on the actual day of the polling.

MP: Rain caused extensive damage to infrastructure
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 3
Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj said incessant rain had caused a widespread destruction in the hills with as many as 80 persons losing their lives so far.

In a statement issued today, Satpal Maharaj said while five bridges had been demolished in Uttarkashi district, one bridge had got dismantled in Tehri district. Similar destruction had taken place in Pithorgarh, Chamoli, Pauri and Champawat districts.

He said the roads to Yamunotri, Badrinath, Gangotri and Kedarnath get frequently blocked due to rain.

Chukum, Maldhan Chaur and Sundarkhal localities in the Ramnagar area of Nainital district had also faced destruction due to rain. Satpal suggested the construction of an underground water channel from Pholtal to the Kosi to protect the Bharpuri and Pampapuri areas from getting inundated.

He said due to the destruction of the connecting roads, food scarcity was being witnessed in the Berokhal development block of Pauri. He added that a total of 1,171 roads in the state were still closed, affecting the connectivity.

He said the number of villages in the Pauri region required immediate shifting.

Satpal said he had even raised the issue in the Lok Sabha and urged the Centre for arranging a helicopter for relief and rescue operations.

Demand to rehabilitate landslide-hit families
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, September 3
The Scheduled Castes\Scheduled Tribe Federation and Congress Sewa Dal workers today took up the cudgels on behalf of Dalit families in Pithoragarh and Champawat districts who had become homeless after the recent landslides in their respective villages.

Congress Sewa Dal workers today staged a dharna before the office of the Pithoragarh District Magistrate demanding immediate rehabilitation of the 20 Schedule Caste families who had become homeless due to landslide at Nachni on Thursday. “The administration has fulfilled a formality by sending some tents but how they are surviving in the tents it has not been checked by the administration,” said Chandrabhanu Joshi, district organising secretary of the Congress Sewa Dal. According to Congress workers, who had returned after visiting the affected village.

The Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes Forum in Champawat district has demanded immediate rehabilitation of 30 families of Khanolia, Mallagaon of the Ladhia valley in the district which have been rendered homeless due to landslides caused by incessant rain last week.

“These villagers have not only lost their houses but also their fertile land in the catastrophe and gone homeless,” said Naveen Arya, vice-president of the federation in Champawat district .

According to district administration sources, the flash flood in the Ladhia and Ratia rivers due to heavy rain and landslides last week have not only damaged the houses of these villagers but also junior high school of Machyar and primary schools at Chaura Mehta and Tanda in Champawat District. “The schools have been shifted to Panchayat Ghar by the administration but villagers are still awaiting to be rehabilitated,” said Arya, who demanded immediate rehabilitation of the Dalit families.

St Joseph’s reaches semifinals
Tribune News Service

Dehradun September 3
Pranay scored a brace to send St Joseph’s Academy into the semifinal over Summer Valley School 3-0, in the ongoing Senior Boys Council Football Tournament here today.

He struck two goals in the 18th and 20th minute while the third goal was made by Devanshu in the 28th minute.

In the second match, Mussoorie International School beat Carman School Dalanwala by 2-1. Rohan (10th), Tenzin (40th) were the scorers of the winning team while Manish of Carman school made only one goal in the 30th minute.

In the third match, International Presidency School had a draw with Cambrian Hall by 1-1.

However, Cambrian Hall won in the penalty shoot out by 3-2.

Meanwhile, Colonel Brown School beat Carman School, Prem Nagar by 4-0 in the last match. Sunny made the first goal in the 40th minute, Surasek made a second goal in the 48th minute, Sunny made a third goal in the 52nd minute and Naveen made a fourth goal in the 60th minute.

Akranta Club thrash Adhoiwala Boys
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 3
Satbir scored two goals in the 2-1 win of the Akranta Club over Adhoiwala Boys, in the ongoing Lala Nemi Dass Memorial Dehradun Football League played on the Pavilion ground, here today.

He struck in the 7th and 19th minute to contribute in the score count of the winning team while Ashu of Adhoiwala boys could only score a single goal in the 35th minute.

In another match played today, the CTM got the better of the Doon Star by 2-1. Mohit Thapa (18th) and Nayar (45th) scored for the CTM while Raju (37th) netted a goal for the Doon Star in a tough battle.

RIMC Soccer Cup begins in Doon
24 teams are participating
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 3
The Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) Soccer Cup began here today. The opening ceremony was presided over by state Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

A total of 24 teams are participating in the tournament. All teams took part in a march past that was followed by a wonderful display by the IMA band. After the march past, the captains of all schools took an oath to play in a fair manner.

Addressing the gathering, Nishank said he was grateful to be a part of this annual prestigious soccer cup. He said he was proud of the RIMC and its achievements.

The Chief Minister also thanked the Commandant (RIMC), Col Pankaj Kumaria, for making him a part of this tournament. He also wished all teams good luck.

Colonel Kumaria also thanked the Chief Minister for attending the event.

The following 24 schools are taking part in the tournament. Assam Valley School, Assam, Woodstock School, Mussoorie, St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun, Welham Boys School, Dehradun, Selaqui World School, Dehradun, Scholars Home, Dehradun, Moravian Institute, Dehradun, Doon Valley School, Dehradun, Doon International School, Dehradun, The Doon School, Dehradun, Tibetan Nehru Memorial School, Dehradun, Sriram International School, Gurgaon, Vasant Valley School, New Delhi, Birla Vidya Niketan, New Delhi, Wynberg Allen School, Mussoorie, Carman School, Dehradun, The Asian School, Dehradun, St George’s College, Mussoorie, Mussoorie Modern School, Mussoorie, Indian Public School, Dehradun, Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Dehradun, CRPF School, New Delhi, Vasant Valley Public School, New Delhi and the RIMC, Dehradun.

The results of the matches conducted on the first day are the following.

RIMC vs Selaqui International School: RIMC won 4-0

Cadet Akshat: 2, Cadet Nelson: 1 and Cadet Ayush: 1

Assam Valley School vs Mussoorie Modern School: Assam Valley School won 3-0

Score: A Hussain: 1, Permi: 1 and NM Panium: 1

Tibetan Nehru Memorial School vs Scholars Home: TNMS won 4-1

Tenzing Sonam: 2 and N Dorjee: 2

T Namgyal scored for Scholars Home

Welham Boys School vs Wynberg Allen School: WBS won 2-1

Rana and Chaudhary scored for WBS and Yadav for WAS.

The coordinators of the tournament were Lt-Col A Tiwary, Wg Cdr SK Thapliyal, and Brijesh Chauhan.