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High-altitude villages may face ration crisis
Temples' management
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Admin steps up efforts to improve supply of basic facilities
MP: Build rail link between
Rishikesh, Karanprayag
Illegal construction in name of renovation
Power cuts continue across Kumaon
Farmers resent delay in wheat procurement
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High-altitude villages may face ration crisis
Pithoragarh, May 5 “We are afraid that we may face shortage of ration this summer as the sudden and frequent rain before the monsoon may block the routes to the higher Himalayan villages if ration supply to these godowns situated there begins late,” said Devendra Deva, president of Gram Pradhan Sanghathan, Munsiyari. Though the residents of these villages have returned to their homes for the summer, ration is not being stored in the godowns at Gunji, Ucheti, Sirdang, Dugtu and Burfu that are managed by the district supply office as thier buildings are incomplete. This has resulted in no supply of full ration of 200 tonnes for use during the summer when these villagers remain cut off from the mainland. District supply officer Tejbal Singh, on other side, agreed that the situation of uncertainty has arisen at Gunji and Burfu godowns in Byans valley as the building of godowns there are under construction but the ration store at Duktu has been handed over to the district supply officer by the construction agency. “We have responsibility to store in these godowns ration not only meant for the villagers but also for the Mansarovar pilgrims, a journey which is to begin from June 1,” said Tejbal Singh, DSO. The District Supply Officer also agreed that he could not deposit the rations at these stores in the prescribed time due to failure of the contractor, who has been assigned to supply the rations to these high Himalayan godowns. “We have called new tenders to supply required rations to these stores, and by the last of this month, we will complete the work of supply,” said the DSO. The supply officer has said that his department will issue full quota of rations to these consumers residing at high Himalayan villages as besides full quota under the BPL and the Antyodaya categories, the APL category consumers have also been assigned to get 10 kg of wheat and rice each unlike in other parts of the district where the APL rations have been curtailed. “Special provisions have been made only for the villagers living in higher Himalayan areas of the district as they remain there for six months,” said Tejbal. |
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Temples' management
Haridwar, May 5 As the Ganga Sabha is the legal managing authority for Ganga Sabha proceedings since 1916 as per legal agreement between Ganga Sabha committee and British government, its executive members and teerth purohits-pundits managing the temples in this world famous pilgrim place have put forth their reservations. Ganga Sabha members and pundits took part in a yagna praying for 'budhi sudhi' of the commission, court and state government. Teerth purhoits claimed that since ages their forefathers have been conducting religious rituals-rites at Brahma Kund-Har-ki-Pauri, which is Ganga Sabha' s private property. Pundits who manage the nearby temples' affairs claim that the proposal to appoint them and pay salaries is not right, which is hurting the centuries-old traditional system that has been carried by them
for generations. Ganga Sabha general secretary Shri Nikunj along with chief Ashok Tripathi are in touch with teerth purohits and legal experts on the Shrine board Act. Suraj Sukhola of the Ganga Sabha said that they will oppose this decision by bringing this to the notice of Uttarakhand Chief Minister as well as all the ministers, dignitaries who come to Har-ki-Pauri for religious purposes. Yuva Teerth Purohit Sabha has also come in the open against making of the Act regarding managing of Har-ki-Pauri affairs. A meeting was held of the Mahasabha where members expressed resentment over this episode. Ujjwal Pundit, chief of the Yuva Teerth Purohit Mahasabha, said that government should not make any attempt to look into the income of the Brahmins and if such a shrine board or any other Act is imposed, then they will have to face the massive opposition of the teerth purohits. Parag Chawla, Kanahiya, Kewadiya, Vipul Sharma, Rahul Sharma, Rajeev Chakravarti, Mohit Goswami, Babu Mitra, Sudhir Mishra, SP Jakhmola, Sachin, Ganesh Dutt Sharma, Nitin Pokhriya of Ganga Sabha and Yuva Teerth purohit also expressed their resentment on this issue. |
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Admin steps up efforts to improve supply of basic facilities
Nainital, May 5 Officials have started seizing LPG cylinders meant for domestic use but being used for commercial purposes. Reports of such seizures have come from across the district. In the past few days, the district witnessed a series of protests and road blockades against the shortage of LPG cylinders. The residents accused the authorities concerned of the mismanagement of supplies and indulging in black marketing. The authorities have started issuing notices to the suppliers of cooking gas at various places. There have also been complaints with regard to the suppliers not delivering the gas at home while charging for the same. Officials of the Power Department and the Vigilance Department have also become active in checking power theft. Hefty fines have been imposed on defaulters in Haldwani and adjoining areas. In a series of raids conducted in rural areas of Bhimtal, it was found that a party building a resort was stealing power from a cable that supplies electricity to the entire area. In another instance, it was found that the office of a swajal scheme was running on a domestic connection in the Khutani area. Meanwhile, officials of the Department of Food and Civil Supplies collected samples from eateries in Nainital today. |
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MP: Build rail link between Rishikesh, Karanprayag
Dehradun, May 5 Maharaj during Zero Hour had also raised the issue of a building for the IIM, Kashipur. He said the current IIM building belonged to the Cane Development Board that had been obtained on lease. Further, taking part in a debate on health and family welfare, Maharaj said Uttarakhand with extreme geographical conditions needed to be provided
with adequate medical facilities. He favoured the installation of MRI machines in Srinagar and Ramnagar. Similarly, supporting the budgetary demands on commerce, Maharaj said it was a matter of introspection that China was producing low cost products. |
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Students of fashion academy walk the ramp in Haridwar
Haridwar, May 5 Leading the ramp was city-based model Kanika Marwah who displayed outfits with oomph and style. From modified-draped saris, skirts, lehengas, salwaar suit, wedding attire and gown to office outfits, students blended their creativity with flair, keeping the basic outlook of the dresses intact. Faculty members Vaishali Kaushik and Dhvani Garg said despite limited opportunities in Uttarakhand, youngsters were opting for fashion designing. The government should also look fashion as a viable career-oriented industry. Marwah appreciated the creative works of the students and their confidence. “The state has a lot of talent but they need exposure, right opportunities and a change in mindset of people. Fashion-apparel industry is fast gaining industrial-sector status,” she said. Suman Lata Pal, head of of the IAFT, said many pass outs of the academy were working in metro cities with leading fashion houses and many had opened their own apparel sho rooms and
boutiques. |
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BJP workers seek withdrawal of case against Thukral
Nainital, May 5 In a demonstration held under the leadership of Vimal Sharma at Bazpur on Saturday, the BJP workers not only demanded the withdrawal of case against Thukral but also alleged that the harassment of BJP workers be stopped. The BJP leaders alleged that Thukral had been charged under a planned conspiracy. The BJP workers have sent across a memorandum to Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna through the local administration. Sharma charged that while the administration had failed to act against any of the accused over the last seven months, it has gone on to register a case against Thukral as a part of a political design. He said that if the demands of the BJP workers are not accepted, the party cadres would launch an agitation in the matter. Thukral, along with 18 others, had been booked in the case that was registered last weekend following directions from a local court. The BJP leadership has stepped in to defend its legislators and on Friday the party had held a demonstration in Rudrapur in which six legislators from Udham Singh Nagar and one from Ranikhet had participated. |
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Illegal construction in name of renovation
Nainital, May 5 In a memorandum submitted to her yesterday, Congress men, led by former state secretary, Youth Congress, Dheeraj Bisht, said the town was witnessing rampant encroachment by builders in the name of outhouse renovation. The memorandum states, “The Lake Development Authority had identified some dilapidated outhouses and had got their list published in local newspapers sometime ago. These outhouses were posing threat to the lives of those residing there. Till now, there has been no concrete action regarding these outhouses. Who will be responsible for any untoward incident that takes place in them?” The memorandum further states, “Outhouses in Nainital are being used for illegal construction and builders have encroached upon land in a planned manner. In the name of renovation, the maps are being got cleared by the LDA.” The Congress men have urged the Commissioner to issue orders for those outhouses that are in a dilapidated condition so that accidents and possible loss to human life and property could be averted. She has also been requested to get those elements identified who are resorting to illegal construction and expansion in the name of renovation and getting maps cleared as part of a broader conspiracy. |
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Power cuts continue across Kumaon
Nainital, May 5 The woefully poor infrastructure and the continuing power cuts across the Kumaon region are a pointer to the fact that the successive governments have failed to address the needs of the people on the power front. The latest example in this series was the incident of an outbreak of fire at the power station in Kathgodam yesterday that plunged the entire hilly terrain into darkness for almost five hours. The fire had started with a blast at the transformer at around 9 pm and soon it also engulfed the adjoining transformer. With the personnel of the fire brigade taking more than two hours to bring the fire under control, the supply to the entire hilly terrain was shut off as a precautionary measure. The power supply could only be resumed at around 2 am. Fire tenders from Lal Kuan and Rudrapur had to be pressed into service along with those from Haldwani and Kahthgodam. With even towns like Nainital and Ranikhet going without power for five hours and that too during the tourist season, the message that goes out can be well imagined. A little over a year back, the entire hilly terrain in the Kumaon region had been compelled to go without power for 37 hours, following the snapping off of a power cable at Bhimtal. The instances of areas going without power for several hours at a stretch are being reported on a daily basis. The main cause for these instances is the poor maintenance of transformers and the failure of the administration to improve upon the obsolete and dilapidated infrastructure. There is frequent burning down of transformers and it takes days for these transformers to be repaired. It also needs to be pointed out that in large parts of the hilly areas of the region, the power lines are still perched on wooden electricity poles instead of the metallic ones. The demand for changing these wooden poles has been aired time and again but the transformation process continues to be very slow. Recently, a similar demand had been aired by the public representatives of Champawat at the Zilla Panchayat meeting held last month. The people across the region, particularly those residing in the Terai region, have been complaining of unscheduled power cuts along with the voltage fluctuations. The officials have no clear explanation for these cuts and most of the times the efforts are on passing the buck. |
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Farmers resent delay in wheat procurement
Nainital, May 5 They have been forced to sell their produce to private parties, which is not in their interest. The farmers also staged a protest demonstration outside the Collectorate in Rudrapur on Thursday. The farmers said since they were being forced to sell even those crops that were otherwise to be used as seeds in future, there might be a problem in maintaining seed supply in the next season. They have demanded that a permanent managing director be appointed for the corporation and the infrastructure be improved. Meanwhile, commission agents affiliated to the Naveen Anaj Mandi Association have alleged that large-scale irregularities are taking place in the functioning of the mandi. At a meeting with mandi secretary Asha Goswami yesterday, the commission agents said the strike at the ongoing flour mills had added to their woes. The mandi authorities have also failed to address the issue that has been hanging fire for over a week. The commission agents further said the security staff posted at the market was inadequate and unable to check the pilferage of grains. They demanded that the sanitation facilities be improved on the mandi premises and proper drinking water arrangements be made. |
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Aspen Crew basketball championship
Dehradun, May 5 In the girls' section, Haldwani beat Mussoorie 11-7 and Nainital beat Haridwar 13-10. |
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