Nainital, December 20
Not accepting defeat on the issue of upgrading the local municipal bodies at Haldwani and Hardwar, the state government has once again approached the High Court against its order of restoring municipal boards at the two places that had been delivered on December 15. The state government has filed a special leave

petition (SLP) against the order of the single Bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia. The SLP was admitted by the High Court and taken up on Tuesday. A double bench comprising Chief Justice Barin Ghosh and

Justice UC Dhyani will be hearing the matter on Wednesday in continuation.

Meanwhile, the administration in both Nainital and Hardwar districts had given the charge to the local municipal boards in accordance with the order of the court that had been delivered on December 15. In

Haldwani, there had been protests against the delay in the handing over of the charge.

In a decision that had put the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government in the state on the backfoot,

the Uttarakhand High Court had ordered the reinstatement of the municipal boards in Haridwar and Haldwani while doing away with the government’s decision to convert the two into municipal corporations.

In its decision the Bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia had stated that the government’s move regarding the upgradation of the two boards was “unconstitutional.” It had ordered that the notification in the regard be struck down.

The decision had followed a series of legal and administrative procedures that were carried out for more than six months.

It was in the month of May that the government led by Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank had decided to convert the two boards into corporations. This had been opposed by the elected members of the two bodies, who had contested that the government could not do away with the elected bodies in such a manner, and that, too, without consultation with the elected representatives.

A petition in regard had been filed with a single Bench of the High Court cancelling the notification with regard to constitution of the municipal corporations on June 9 this year.

This was followed by the state government filing a special appeal in the matter that had led to a double Bench granting a 15-day stay on the initial order of the High Court, while upholding the same.

Meanwhile, the government had gone ahead on June 29 to hold a hearing of the public, the chairpersons of the boards and the members.

This had been contested once again by the petitioners while claiming that the government had no right to call a public hearing. It can only take into account the views of the elected members. The court, while

upholding the contentions of the petitioners, had done away with the government’s move of upgrading the two boards to corporations.

Haridwar, December 20
Bhajan singer Anup Jalota, known for his soulful rendition of super-hit bhajan like “Aisi laagi lagan...” and ghazal “La pila de saqiya…”, has termed music as his life and people’s love as his soul which motivate him to work on his songs with more devotion and training.

Anup Jalota, who was born in Nainital, was here today. He was deeply motivated by the spiritual-religious atmosphere of the pilgrim city and the beautiful natural environs of the Ganga river flowing close to the Shivalik Hills.

The revered vocalist, who has to his credit dozens of hit musical albums, including 1,500-odd recorded bhajans, said it’s love of the audiences that props him up, as whenever he sings ghazals audiences ask for bhajans too and vice versa.

On the Russian controversy over the Bhagwad Geeta, the sonorous singer, who is just on track to complete a devotional album on the epic, said they didn’t know our religion and the traits of the Bhagwad Geeta, so first they should understand it otherwise they would make such foolish comments only.

Anup Jalota, who is also on the verge of completing another religious album based on Shri Ram Charit Manas, didn’t rule out that he was distancing from the silver screen adding that a good project or musical piece is the must for him to take up any such project.

He explained that he had been Lord Shiva’s devotee and came to the banks of the holy Ganga to get blessings and peace of mind.

Giving a piece of advice to younger generation, he said they should concentrate on the basics of music and do “riyaz”. He accepted the fact that the youngsters are more inclined to cutting albums rather than doing riyaz.

Anup Jalota also performed religious rites at the famous temple Paras Shivlingam at Kankhal for improvement in health of his ailing wife Medha. As soon as the news of his arrival spread, his fans and the media thronged the temple.

The down-to-earth singer also didn’t let down any of his fans, obliging them with a smile and a camera click!

Dehradun December 20
The next round of the demolition operation will now take place after six days on December 26, which will cover shops up to RZM Plaza on both sides. The decision was taken at a meeting held by Chief Secretary

Subhash Kumar with vice-chairman, Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) , BVRC Purushottam, Secretary Yugal Kishore Pant and other officials of the MDDA, the PWD and the Dehradun Municipal Corporation at the secretariat today.

Since the stretch to be demolished encompasses more than 50 shops, Pant said the entire operation would not be covered in one day but would rather be a gradual process. He said the shopkeepers would not feel pressed as they had been given enough time to vacate. Rather, many of them had already started vacating their shops in bits and pieces.

During the day Purushottam had also convened a meeting with those shopkeepers whose shops were to be demolished and had given them a date after 20 days for the second demolition drive.

In the day, the owner of Sethi snack shop, Gurmeet Sethi, her husband and son created a scene at Clock Tower, blaming the MDDA for adopting a partisan policy in the allotment of shops at the new shopping complex.

They alleged that the shopkeepers were not given enough time to shift the articles from their shops. At the meeting held with Purushottam, Sethi was persuaded to accept the second shop against his demand for the first one in the new shopping complex.

Since the shops situated on the Chakrata road are of different sizes, the MDDA officials are facing problems in adjusting to that in face of shops allotted at the new shopping complex, which are of equal sizes. There are other factors, too, such as pillars erected with the walls of a few shops, which are coming in the way of assessment of the measurement.

Purushottam said they needed time to make the fresh measurements on both sides - shops on the Chakrata road and shops in the new complex. The officials seemed unprepared to deal with this complex issue in its entirety. It seemed they were in a hurry in the face of mounted pressure to produce quick results before the Assembly election.

The shopkeepers also raised the issue of short notice given to them to vacate their premises, which they said had created widespread panic among the fraternity. It was because of this that many shopkeepers had begun vacating their shops on Monday night itself without even waiting for the notice from the administration side in a bid to ensure safety of the things stored in their shops.

Dehradun, December 20
The Uttarakhand Forest Department proved its supremacy by standing first in the overall medal tally at the 19th All-India Forest Sports Meet that came to a close in Dehradun today.

Uttarakhand with 23 golds, 22 silvers and 8 bronzes ended with a total of 213 points, thus standing overall first in the medal tally of the meet. The state was closely followed by Chhattisgarh with 24 golds, 10 silvers and 20 bronzes and ending with a total of 205 points, 8 points behind Uttarakhand. Madhya Pradesh that bagged 21 golds, 17 silvers and 23 bronzes stood third, thereby securing 194 points for itself.

Tamil Nadu with 18 golds, 18 silvers and 17 bronzes had 183 points and was on the fourth position whereas Uttar Pradesh with 12 golds, 9 silvers and 8 bronzes got the fifth position and had 100 points.

Uttarakhand in the last All-India Forest Sports Meet that held at Bhopal stood at 15th position with just 2 gold, 4 silver and 8 bronze with a final point tally of 40 points. Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests RBS Rawat has some time back recruited young boys and girls under the sports quota and gave them rigorous training.

In the team events held on the last day, Haryana got the gold in the tug of war, Jammu and Kashmir won gold both in cricket and football, Tamil Nadu gold in hockey, Chhattisgarh gold in basketball whereas Himachal Pradesh clinched gold in the volleyball event.

The chief guest, Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva, who awarded the winners, described the sports meet as important for facilitating national integration. She recalled her role as Union Sports Minister in the promotion of sports activities in the country. Alva also congratulated the organising committee for successfully holding the Forest meet which had more than 3,000 persons participating in various events.

Mussoorie, December 20
The recent order of the Uttarakhand High Court directing the CBI to investigate into the Public Interest Litigation suit filed by Vinod Prakash Thapliyal, a resident of Mussoorie, alleging gross violation of by-laws, financial embezzlement, nepotism and other irregularities against Mussoorie Municipal Council and its BJP-supported president OP Uniyal, could result in more skeletons emanating out of the MC cupboard that could implicate the previous MC presidents, whose decisions dating as far as 20 years back could be questioned.

This fire of CBI investigations could reach at the doorsteps of previous MC presidents Jot Singh Gunsola and Manmohan Singh Mall, both from the Congress Party, especially in the matter of ropeway at Gunhill. Apart from other matters in which the CBI has ordered CBI investigation, the awarding the contract for running the ropeway owned by the Mussoorie Municipal Council in 2011 stands out.

The High Court on December 14, taking serious note of the way in which the Rrpeway ticket prices were raised from Rs 40 to Rs 80 and later reduced to Rs 62.50, within a spate of few days without any backing of the board members directed a CBI enquiry thereafter.

Mussoorie Municipal Council president OP Uniyal, responding to the decision of the court, said that he respected the decision of the court but was of the view that such change in the fare of the ropeway ticket was nothing new and had been done in the tenure of previous MC presidents dating back to around 22 years. He informed that the ropeway fare was raised from Rs 6 to Rs 9 on 12-12-1989 under the proposal UR-15/540 by then president of municipal council Jot Singh Gunsola, who is the sitting MLA of the Mussoorie Assembly at present. The fare was raised once again under the same board from Rs 9 to Rs 10 on 25-06-91. During the tenure of the administrator also the fare was raised from Rs 10 to Rs 15. Jot Singh Gunsola once again raised the fare from Rs 15 to Rs 30 on 10-03-2000 when he was reinstated as the president of the board under the proposal resolution No 171. Not only did the Congress support former municipal council president Manmohan Singh Mall, it also increased the fare from Rs 30 to Rs56 on 29-05-03 under the resolution no UR-15/95, added Uniyal. The increase in the fare was done after representations of those who filed tenders. They pleaded that the cost of running the ropeway had increased on all the occasions, added Uniyal.

When contacted former MC president Manmohan Singh Mall said that they had increased the prices of the ticket according to the laws of the land, and if they would have done anything wrong, the government would have set an enquiry against them. But OP Uniyal, against whom there are so many corruption charges, is only trying to save his skin by diverting the issue.