Dehradun, April 17
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that hydro power projects which had already obtained clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment & Forest and other technical clearances should not be closed down for a mere perceived feelings of some people in Uttarakhand.

Chief Minister Bahuguna, speaking at a meeting of National Ganga River Basin Authority chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at New Delhi, asserted that the power projects were very essential for the development of the state and they played a pivotal role in improving the economy of the state.

However, no decision was taken on hydro electric projects at the authority meeting. “For Uttarakhand, river Ganga is very sacred as the livelihood of people depended on it. Uttarakhand had always made sacrifices for conservation of environment in the national interest and the people’s rights to improvement in their living standard could not be ignored,” he asserted.

Several hydro power projects were closed down owing to protests by Right wing saints, though clearance was obtained from the Union Ministry of Environment and other technical permissions were obtained. He rued that those projects were near completion and were shelved without any relevant reason and demanded that those projects be restarted.

Chief Minister Bahuguna disclosed to the Authority that the state Cabinet had passed a proposal in support of hydro power projects.

He said that the state government had, in a recently held meeting, reached a common consensus with the representatives of various political parties on the issue of hydro power projects. All of them had described power projects necessary, besides maintaining the sanctity of the river Ganga for the development of the state.

Bahuguna said that the aforesaid meeting was also attended by senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Bhagat Singh Koshyari. He said that other BJP Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay, who could not attend the meeting due to some unavoidable reason, too, had expressed his consent through a phone call. He said that no compensation would suffice the power generation in Uttarakhand. Chief Minister said that the experts should decide on the matters pertaining to discharged amount of water to maintain incessant flow of the river and meet requirements of local people.

He said that the National Ganga River Basin Authority could monitor this through its agency. Regarding the demands of religious saints about uninterrupted flow of Ganga during Kumbh, he said that power generation could be suspended temporarily on religious occasions but shelving almost complete projects forever on sentimental ground was not in the interest of the state. Looking into the global warming, hydro-projects are the best option for safety of environment, he said.

The CM also urged the Centre to restart Loharinagpala, Pala- Maneri and Bhaironghat projects on the river Bhagirathi that were shelved earlier.

Opposing the declaration of the 135-km-long area between Gaumukh and Uttarkashi as an eco-sensitive zone, he said that the current regulations were sufficient to regulate development in the area.

He observed that more then one lakh population residing in 118 villages in the area could not be deprived of their rights.

He said that unanimously passed resolution in this regard was forwarded to the Centre on March 29, 2012. Chief Minister Bahuguna urged the Centre to consider financial condition of the state and reduce the state’s contribution in all the National Ganga Development River Authority (NGDRA) projects from 70:30 to 90:10. He also urged to increase the duration of maintenance expenses support from 5 to 10 years.

Talking about a complete ban of mining, he said that only 4 per cent depression was carried in river Ganga.

He said that querying was conducted in the state only after environmental approval.

He said that total ban would not only result in increase in the costs of construction materials but also adversely affect the employment opportunities. He pointed out that in case of a ban on querying, the level of the river bed would drastically rise every year that would increase possibility of floods in Haridwar and Rishikesh areas.

Chief Minister Bahuguna said that he had great respect for the saint community and people connected to the service of the Ganga. 

Haridwar, April 17
The traffic police has started a drive to nail violators in view of the upcoming Char Dham Yatra of Shri Badrinath, Shri Kedarnath,Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines.

The Assistant Regional Transport Officer of Kotdwara, Pauri Garhwal, Anita Chamola is jointly supervising the traffic drive along with Superintendent of Police, Haridwar, Dr Kiran Lal Shaw.

A team conducted a checking on the New Delhi-Haridwar-Dehradun National Highway-72, particularly at those points where traffic congestion is quite dense.

Team members checked the papers of vehicles and also penalised the offenders for overloading and violation of traffic rules.

Talking to TNS, SP, Traffic, KL Shaw said the drive was being carried out in view of the upcoming Char Dham Yatra and tourist season.

"As most of the pilgrims and tourists first come to Haridwar and then move to the Garhwal hills, the traffic pressure on the city is heavy in comparison to any other city in the whole state. So this drive has been necessitated as numerous cases of traffic violations have been reported both in the city as well as on the Char Dham route" said Shaw. While Anita Chamola pointed out that traffic violators needed to be checked and penalised if necessary and by carrying out such drives, traffic violations would be checked. Shankaracharya Chowk, Chandi Ghat Chowk, CCR Tower-Deen Dayal Upadhyay multistorey parking and suburban Jwalapur regions were covered under this drive by the traffic police and ARTO team. For the next two days, this traffic drive will be carried out in various parts of the district to ensure the traffic laws are adhered to paving way for smooth traffic flow in the coming days when portals of the four revered shrines gets open in next few days.

Mussoorie, April 17
Residents of Barlowganj and Bala Hissar are forced to drink unhygienic water due to a faulty filtration chamber located near the Dhobi ghat from where filtered water is sent to storage tanks situated near the youth hostel and then supplied to people.

The callous attitude of the department can be gauged from the fact that anyone can contaminate water in the filtration tank after crossing the barbed wires erected for its safety near the Dhobi ghat, thus jeopardising the lives of the area residents. The tank itself is in a pathetic condition and has developed cracks at several places. Besides, the lid of the tank is missing and rainwater often enters it rendering the filtration exercise for which it was constructed, useless.

It is worth mentioning that water is drawn from a natural spring, which after being treated in the filtration tank is stored in a reservoir constructed near the youth hostel and then supplied for domestic and commercial consumption through pipelines to the designated areas of Bala Hissar and Barlowganj.

Executive Engineer, Jal Sansthan, GP Gairola said the department had deputed two operators for the upkeep and safety of the tank and as water was filtered, there was no question of undrinkable water being supplied.

Asked about seepage in the tank, Gairola said the department was aware of the problem and as repairs would be time consuming, the tank would be repaired once the peak tourist season was over.

However, the residents expressed dissatisfaction at the working of the Jal Sansthan.

Anil Godiyal, a resident of Barlowganj, rued the fact that the filtration unit installed in the tank could not filter the soapy contents of water emanating from the Dhobi ghat on a regular basis. He said garbage accumulated near the filtration tank was also giving them sleepless nights as they were forced to drink unsafe water. They had lodged several complaints with the department concerned but to no avail.

Godiyal said if the problem was not rectified soon and clean and safe drinking water supplied to the area residents, they would hold a protest. 

Dehradun, April 17
The GVK EMRI 108 Emergency Ambulance services will soon press into service the ergonomically designed palanquins replacing the traditional wooden palanquins that continue to be used in the interior areas of the state for ferrying critical patients to the nearest road.

State Health Minister Surinder Singh Negi today gave a send-off to a truck carrying a total of 500 palanquins to be deployed in the interior areas of Uttarkashi, Bageshwar, Champawat and Pithoragarh.

The palanquins were designed by German designers who collaborated with GVK EMRI, National Institute of Design and IIT Roorkee. “The old wooden and heavy palanquins are not safe. Usually the villagers carry patients in it to the nearest road head where the 108 ambulance is stationed. Now we use these light palanquins for carrying patients,” said Manish Tinku, head of operation, GVK EMRI (Uttarakhand).

Two designers from Hanover University Germany, who had undergone training at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, were roped in to improve the design of the palanquins. They were asked to enhance its aesthetic appeal, add comfort level for the patients and also reduce the burden of the palanquin bearers who have to cover several kilometres on foot.

Dehradun, April 17
Uttarakhand Health Minister Surinder Singh Negi today urged the people of the state to use the emergency call facility of theEMRI 108 Emergency Ambulance Service judiciously.

Speaking today at the launch of the palanquin service, the minister said out of a total of 80 lakh calls received by the emergency ambulance service, only 3 lakh calls were of emergency. “It is frustrating to hear that more than 60 per cent of the calls were from non-serious callers. I think we need to spread awareness about the nature of the service,” he said.

The minister also asked the managers of the service to rationalise the ambulance service according to the needs of the patient and availability of doctors. “There is no point rushing to a facility where specialists are not present. It is a drain on the patient,” he said.

For improving the health delivery system in the state, the minister called for greater coordination between the different arms of the health services existing in the private and government sector.

The minister also said the government was looking at several possibilities to tide over the shortage of doctors.

Latter, the Health Minister presided over a function to mark World Haemophilia Day today.

In his speech the minister said soon the Doon Hospital would start offering 24 hours services to Haemophilia patients. “The patients across the state would be provided free treatment, including injections,” he added.

Dehradun, April 17
Uttarakhand Public Works Department Minister Pritam Panwar has directed the officers to ensure that quality in the construction of roads is maintained at all costs.

Interacting with mediapersons after presiding over a meeting of PWD senior officers in Dehradun today, Uttarakhand PWD Minister Pritam Panwar said he has made it clear to all the PWD officers that there should be no compromise in the construction quality of the roads being made by PWD.

Panwar said he has also asked for speedy redressal of forest land transfer cases. “I have asked the officials to take up forest land transfer cases on priority with the state Forest Department so that there is no delay in the road construction works,” he said.

Referring to Char Dham Yatra season, he said PWD was all prepared to ensure smooth roads to the pilgrims in Uttarakhand. He said this year water sprinkling will also be undertaken at a number of yatra roads to ensure that there is no problem of spread of dust that is a source of irritation to the pilgrims.

He also announced that he had ordered for a probe into poor construction quality in stretches of newly constructed Dehradun-Uttarakashi road that is 75 km short from the presently used Dehradun-Chamba- Uttarakashi road route.

Dehradun, April 17
A total of 1,500 students of Graphic Era University were awarded degrees during the convocation ceremony here today. The university gave degrees to the passouts from management, information and technology.

The ceremony was conducted on the premises of the college where more than 50 meritorious students were awarded the medals while the renowned environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna was honoured with the Doctorate of Science.

Rajeev Sachdeva, vice-president, IBM Asia Pacific was the chief guest while Bahuguna chaired the convocation.

After the welcome of the chief guest, a convocation parade was held. Professor Kamal Ghansala, chairman of the university, conferred upon the candidates degrees while Sachdeva awarded the meritorious students with medals.

Addressing the students, Sachdeva asserted them to work hard. He said, “India has been the pioneer in the field of education and has a globally competitive image. But we must still aim at enhancing the education system in the country. We should emphasis more on raising the standards of excellence in the field of education so that we can emerge as skilled professionals.”

Terming the students as the nation builders, Sunderlal Bahuguna exhorted the students to work for the betterment of society and the nation and appealed to them to head towards village for the development of society.

The ceremony culminated with the vote of thanks delivered by Prof Ghansala. The ceremony witnessed a gathering of a large number of passout students, eminent academicians, social workers and others.

The toppers are

MCA 2008-11: Hena Gupta, Gurtesh Kaur Saini, Neha Arora; MBA 2009-11: Jyoti Kandpal, Ashwani Garoo, Raman Deep Dhang; M Sc IT: Saurabh Kumar Watsal, Rajdeep Kaur, Ashish Nautiyal; M Sc 2009-11: Payal Gupta, Kamlesh Raina, Ravi Kumar; B Sc Computer Science 2008-11: Tanu Sharma, Anisha, Namita Negi; B Sc IT 2008-11: Subhash Chandra Arora, Prerna Gupta and Bharti Arora; BCA 2008-11: Siddhartha Kumar, Manoj Singh Bhandari, Ishu Bansal; BBA 2008-11: Surabhi Gupta, Rohinaaz and Rupasur; M Tech Computer Science 2008-10: Priya Mata, Abhishek Jain, Ashwani Kumar Singh and Krishna Pal Sharma; M Tech IT 2008-10: Kantul Chaudhary, Sonika Kandari, Ashish Gupta; M Tech MMC 2008-10: Ragini Shukla, S Mohanty and Arjun Kumar; M Tech Computer Science 2009-11: Nisha Chandran and Neha Devdi.

Mussoorie, April 17
More than 17 teams from 13 schools from the country will contest for the trophy in the 12th Win Mumby All-India Basketball Tournament at Woodstock School in Mussoorie tomorrow.

The tournament is considered as one of the premier school basketball competitions in the northern India.

In all, a total of 17 teams, nine boys and eight girls teams, will take part in the tournament which will last till Saturday in the school's start-of-the-art Win Mumby gym.

This year the Woodstock boys' team will be defending their title, while Welham Girls' School will be defending their title in the female section.

Woodstock's head of sports Ajay Mark said the competition this year would be bigger and better than before.

"It will be a fantastic competition and we have been looking forward to the event for weeks. It's the top inter-school basketball competition in the region and we are sure the standard of basketball will be as high as ever," added Mark. The tournament will start with the traditional Pep Rally by the Woodstock School jazz band tomorrow at 4pm and the finals will take place on Saturday.

The schools participating this year are; Boys section: Welham Boys' Dehradun, Doon International School, Modern School, New Delhi, Yadavindra Public School, Patiala, The Shri Ram School, Delhi, Sherwood College, Naintal, Wynberg Allen School, Mussoorie, The Doon School, Dehradun, Woodstock School, Mussoorie, and in girl's section; Welham Girls' School, The Lawrence School, Sanawar, Modern School, New Delhi, The Shri Ram School, Delhi, Wynberg Allen School, Mussoorie, Tibetan Homes School, Mussoorie, Hopetown Girls School, Dehradun, Woodstock School, Mussoorie.

The competition is named after Win Mumby, a former student and inspirational PE teacher at Woodstock.