Stampede at Gayatri Parivar Function
Unexpected rush of devotees proved fatal: Pandya
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, November 8
On Monday evening, Uttarakhand Chief Minister after performing yajna rituals at the yajnashala at Laljiwala, where a stampede occurred today, had lauded the management of the Shantikunj family in hosting such a well-managed festival on a grand scale.

But today, he was seeking details from Shantikunj head Dr Pranav Pandya and district administrative officials of the cause of the stampede that took a toll of 16 people, just outside the yajnashala.

The decision by the Shantikunj family of managing the grand centenary celebrations on the occasion of its founder Pt Shri Ram Sharma Acharya’s birth anniversary proved fatal.

The administrative help was sought only for getting permission regarding land venue, electricity, water and only VIP security.

But Shantikunj administrators forgot that Mahakumbh 2010 was hosted with the help of 22,000 mela police personnel and a separate mela administration which worked almost 2 years prior to the commencement of the mega fair.

Acknowledging that they had mistaken the number of people coming to attend the function, Dr Pandya said they had failed in their calculation of the number of people as they exceeded almost 10 lakh by today only. Dr Pandya had told mediapersons on October 11 that they had restricted the number of Akhil Bharatiya Gayatri Parivar activists to visit Haridwar by 8 lakh.

But as the festival began on November 6, Dr Pandya claimed that this festival would be attended by 50 lakh people, forgetting the repercussions that this crowd would have on the infrastructure.

District Magistrate of Haridwar D Senthyl Pendiyan also accepted this fact that due to the administration not being in the thick of things regarding the events, particulary yajnashala, was a major hindrance in providing timely relief to the stampede victims.

He said on his level, an ADM will probe this matter and will be submitting a report, after which only he will take any step. Similarly, SP Traffic Dr Kiran Lal Shaw last night pointed to the organisers of having a special monitoring of the yajnashala area at Laljiwala and also at the temporary bridge that led to the yajnashala, adjacent to the Dehradun-Haridwar national highway.

“This is a minor incident and during such big occasions, not much emphasis should be given to these. We have hosted such mass-scale yajnas at various other cities successfully, people are participating in thousands which point out that the incident was a minor”, remarked media spokesperson of the centenary festival Divyesh Vyas which itself reflects the way organizers tried to downplay the tragedy.

Functions cancelled

DEHRADUN: In view of the tragic incident of stampede at Haridwar in which 16 pilgrims were killed, the state government has cancelled all programmes and cultural functions to be organised on the state Foundation Day on November 9. According to a press release, only a book release programme would be held. All other cultural programmes have been cancelled. — TNS

CM announces Rs 2 lakh for kin of deceased
Tribune News Service

Dehadun, November 8
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri has expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death caused due to stampede and suffocation in Haridwar today. He expressed profound regret that such an incident occurred in the holy land of Haridwar in Uttarakhand. He announced the grant of financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. He also said the state government would bear the cost of treatment of all those who had been injured in the mishap.

Earlier in the morning, Khanduri set aside his scheduled programme to Srinagar Garhwal and immediately rushed to Haridwar upon learning of the incident. Upon arrival at Haridwar, he obtained full details of the incident from the officials. He also went to the mishap site and met the injured persons in local hospitals and enquired about the treatment being given to them.

The Chief Minister said in their hour of distress, all residents of the state had sympathy for the deceased. This was indeed the saddest moment that such an incident had happened in Uttarakhand. He said the congregation of devotees was an event organised by the Gayatri Parivar. The administration would take all precautionary measures in all such programmes to be organised in the future to avert any recurrence of such incidents, he said.

Rishikesh-Karanprayag Rly Line Stone-laying Today
Khanduri not invited to function
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 8
The BJP today criticised the Congress leadership for failing to extend invitation to Chief Minister BC Khanduri for the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway line tomorrow so as to take entire credit for the project.

“It seems the Congress is eager to take sole credit for the project and has even left out the Chief Minister from the function which will be attended by the Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi,” said Deepti Rawat, BJP spokesperson, at a press conference here today.

She said Khanduri, during his recent meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had even raised the issue with him demanding that the Central Government bore the entire expenditure incurred on the construction of the railway track. He had also asked for the construction of all-weather roads and airstrips in view of the geographical nature of the state,” said Rawat.

Rawat said for the past 60 years the Congress Government had failed to pass any railway project for Uttarakhand. “People of the region have been raising the demand for the Rishikesh-Karanprayag-Chamoli and Tanakpur-Bageshwar-Jauljibi railway lines for several decades but none of these projects were passed. The then Minister of State for Railway Satpal Maharaj had even laid the foundation stone of some of the projects but these failed to take off,” said Rawat.

She also condemned Union Minister for Agriculture and Food Processing Harish Rawat for terming the 2010 Maha Kumbh mela as a government show, even when it was attended by a large number of people.

Now, ex-MP claims credit for railway project
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, November 8
Former Member of Parliament from Garhwal Jagannath Sharma, clearing the air amid claims and counter claims over the issue Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway line project, said the demand for the project was put forth way back on March 28, 1979, in Parliament during a debate that was conducted on rail planning.

Showing a book containing the minutes of the discussion in Parliament, he said during the debate he had highlighted the need for such a railway line as it was necessary for a holistic development of the hilly region.

According to Sharma, he was the one who had suggested that a railway line connecting Rishikesh, Karanprayag, Ranikhet and Ramnagar should be built as it would go a long way in promoting tourism and catering to a wide section of the people residing in the far-flung regions of Garhwal and Kumaon.

He had also highlighted the importance of the proposed railway line in the hilly region of the state considering its closeness to China border, as it would speed up the movement of the defense forces in case of an emergency. Sharma said he was also the one who had advocated a separate policy and a special package for the hills of Garhwal in 1979.

Sharma, saddened by the politics going on over the issue of taking credit for the railway line project, said such vindictive politics was not at all good for the state and the politicians instead of calling names should devote their time on constructive activities.

Help eradicate graft, CM to residents
Tribune News service

Dehradun, November 8
Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri, in his message on the eve of the 11th Foundation Day of the state, has exhorted state residents to eradicate corruption and take the state ahead on the path of good governance.

He said building Uttarakhand in consonance with the dreams and aspirations of martyr statehood agitationists was possible with the cooperation and assistance of all sections of society. The government was working towards making the state move ahead on the path of all-round development, he claimed.

He said taking a major initiative to foster good governance in Uttarakhand, the state government got a strong Lokayukta Act passed in the Vidhan Sabha. Making strict provisions in this Act, the CM along with all public servants had been brought under its ambit. Uttarakhand was the first state in the entire country where such a strict Lokayukta Act had been introduced and Anna Hazare had also urged the Centre to consider the Act as a model for the proposed Lokpal Bill at the Centre, he said. He said to provide necessary public services unhindered to the people within a stipulated time frame, the Right to Service Act had been formulated.

Under this, different departments associated with the public for providing about 62 services had been identified and time limit had also been fixed for each. More number of services would be included in it. A provision had also been made for action against officials and employees who would not conform to service delivery within the prescribed time limit. This had also been brought under the purview of the Lokayukta, he said.

The Chief Minister said a new department of “Suraaj, Bhrashtachaar Unmulan and Jan Sewa” had been constituted in the state. All ministers, IAS and IPS officials of the state had already declared their assets. This had also been made public on the website. The state government had also formulated a strong Act for confiscation of wealth and property amassed by public servants through corrupt means and its utilisation for public welfare works.

Special courts would be constituted for hearing cases under this Act. Owing to hindrances caused in development works due to the Forest Conservation Act, the provision regarding declaring benaap land as reserve forest land which had been continuing since the British colonial era had also been scrapped. This would enable the availability of about 4 lakh hectares of land for the development works.

Unruffled BJP chief attends cultural festival near accident site
Sandeep Rawat/TNS

Haridwar, November 8
Despite 16 persons died in a stampede, shockingly just 200 metres away, a cultural festival continued at Kala Manch, Rodi belwala, here today. Showing no concern for the deceased and injured, the Shantikunj administration tried to downplay the tragic incident.

Even BJP leaders didn’t show any sympathy with the deceased, with BJP national president Nitin Gadkari being the chief guest at Kala Manch.

To the tunes of a musical group, Gadkari along with BJP Uttarakhand chief Bishan Singh Chufal was present on the dais and were given a warm welcome by organisers.

It seemed as if nothing had happened here or all had forgotten the tragedy and were happy in being part of this grand celebration.

When Dr Pranav Pandya, head of the Shantikunj, was asked about the tragedy initially, he declined any such incident occurring in the Laljiwala area. It was only after the media pressure that an official confirmation was made, which also tried to hide the number of victims. Their media spokesperson only said just five bodies had been found and everything was normal with people participating at yajnashala with enthusiasm.

Though later the Shantikunj administration cancelled the cultural and all other programmes with immediate effect and said tomorrow at yajnashala, prayers will be held for the peace to the departed souls of the deceased.

Assembly poll: Parties urged to release manifestos in local languages
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, November 8
To promote the local languages of Kumaoni, Garhwali and Jaunsari, state political parties have been urged to release their election manifestos for the coming Assembly elections in the local languages.

They have also been requested to incorporate these languages in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. This observation was made during a three-day Kumaoni Bhasha Sammelan held at the Kundan Lal Shah auditorium in Almora, which concluded here today.

“To protect our local languages from diminishing, we should issue our manifestos in them,” said PC Tiwari, president of the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party (UPP).

He added that: “Our party has decided to launch the election campaign in local languages along with Hindi.” A large number of writers and poets from across the region, including a well-known Hindi writer, Dr Laxman Singh Bisht Batrohi from Nainital, attended the sammelan.

Dr Savita Mohan, director of the Uttarakhand Bhasha Sansthan, said her institution had charted out a plan to train budding writers in local languages.

She said the sansthan that had taken an initiative to encourage writers in local languages. They had also decided to hold workshops on the usage of grammar, she added.

Alva greets people on eve of State Foundation Day
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 8
Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva has greeted all the people of the state on the occasion of the 11th State Foundation Day on November 9. In her message to the people of Uttarakhand on the eve of State Foundation Day, the Governor wished them a healthy, happy and prosperous life.

She said in her message: “On this important day, we should strengthen our resolve to build the hill state which the people of the region had aspired for and the martyrs of the Uttarakhand movement had dreamt of. We should link our development plans with the preservation of our traditions, culture and heritage, and ecological conservation. Every resident of the state has the right to live a respectable and safe life in which all the basic facilities are available to him. For that, we all will have to contribute to the development of the state and work towards making the government accountable to people”.

Stay on no-trust proceedings against block chief quashed
Tribune News Service

Nainital, November 8
In a setback to the local administration, the Uttarakhand High Court has quashed the stay put by the District Magistrate in Nainital on the no-confidence proceedings initiated against the Block Chairman of Haldwani. In an order given on Tuesday, the High Court has asked District Magistrate Nidhi Mani Tripathi to start proceedings with regards to the no-confidence motion within 24 hours of receiving the High Court order.

The final hearing in the case had taken place on Friday and the order had been reserved till Tuesday by the single bench of Justice Tarun Aggarwala.

It was on September 19 that 25 regional Panchayat members, led by Sandhya Dalakoti, had approached the District Magistrate with a proposal of no-confidence motion against Block President Shanti Bhatt.

After preliminary investigations into the matter by the District Panchayati Raj Officer (DPRO), October 18 had been fixed as the day of voting on the proposed no-confidence motion.

Meanwhile, Bhatt had submitted a letter to the officer of the DPRO on October 12 claiming the support of majority members. Investigations revealed that there were signatures of seven members on both the letter of the no-confidence motion as well as the one in favour of Bhatt. This had been followed by Tripathi having stalled the meeting scheduled for October 18 at the last moment and ordering a probe into the matter by the Chief Development Officer (CDO).

This decision of the District Magistrate had been challenged by at least 24 members of the regional Panchayat.