Heat wave damages potato, phaphar crops
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, June16
The ‘phaphar’ crop that is grown during the summer by villagers of the high Himalayan valleys of Darma and Johar in Munsiyari and Dharchula subdivisions of the district has been damaged up to 33 to 50 per cent, as the temperature here has reached the record high of 30°C this week.

“Not only the high altitude crops of ‘phaphar’ and ‘palthi’ have been damaged, but also the Yarsa Gumba crop in higher pastures has disappointed its collectors who have returned almost empty-handed as due to lack of moisture this miracle caterpillar fungus of the high Himalayas could not take shape this year,” said KS Phirmal, a farmer of the Darma valley.

According to potato farmers of Munsiyari, the summer potato crop has been damaged up to 33 per cent due to hot weather conditions this month. “We have a soil in Munsiyari which requires moisture all the times and as the moisture concentration in the atmosphere has gone down due to heat wave, the potato crop has dried up and got damaged,” said Gulab Singh Pangti, a farmer in Munsiyari.

“The government potato farm at Balati in Munsiyari has also suffered 30 per cent loss to the potato crop this year due to high temperatures,” said Ram Singh, an official with the Potato Development Department. “The temperature at our farm in Munsiyari, where we grow potato for seed, has gone up to 30°C these days which is harmful for the crop,” he said.

“Tourists are evading Munsiyari due to scorching heat at this hill station, which till last year happened to be a popular destination of trekkers and tourists to watch the Panchchuli peak,” said Devendra Deva, an hotelier of Munsiyari town.

Scientists are attributing the rising temperature to forest fires, which are raging in every corner of the hill region nowadays. “The fire smoke and carbon concentration are adding 3°C to 4°C to the temperature in the hill region, as the carbon layer created by the smoke is blocking moisture from higher layers to come down to the earth’s atmosphere,” said HK Pandey, a scientist at the Defence Institute of Bio-energy Research at Haldwani in Nainital district.

In the Darma valley of Pithoragarh district, the Phaphar crop has been damaged up to 50 per cent this year. “Due to poor moisture concentration caused by lack of rain this year, the Phaphar seed even did not surface from beneath the ground. This caused a loss of nearly Rs 5 lakh to the farmers of the Darma valley, who grow this crop for commercial purpose,” said Kunwar Singh Phirmal (88), a resident of Philam village of the Darma valley.

VHP to discuss clean Ganga issue with saints
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, June 16
In a major boost to the clean Ganga drive, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has decided to take up the issue.

To involve various saint organisations, international chief of the VHP Ashok Singhal is in Haridwar discussing issues related with the Ganga with saint representatives.

From June 19, a two-day high-powered meeting of the core committee of the VHP is scheduled in Kankhal, Haridwar, where this issue will be discussed.

As the committee takes the major decisions for VHP, it's being deemed that the issue of Ganga cleaning is on top priority this time and as per directives of this committee meeting, the VHP will be taking this issue on the national level.

Ashok Singhal is also meeting various heads and office-bearers of the Akhada Parishad and Shankaracharya so that prior to their committee meeting, he gets a full picture of the opinion of the saint community before taking a major decision on the Ganga issue.

This move by the VHP is being seen as a decisive one as in 90s, it had taken the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi issue on a large scale and having a major say in the RSS and the BJP's internal matters. If the VHP takes the Ganga issue then these two saffron outfits too will have to side with it.

Though former Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Swami Chinmayanand said Ashok Singhal had talks on issues related with the Ganga and saints were not only looking at the VHP to take up the issue but are also discussing on becoming 
partners in saving the Ganga from pollution and imminent threat from hydro power projects being built on it.

5 hurt in brawl over water in Almora village
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, June16
Five persons, including one woman, were injured in a brawl over drinking water between two groups of villagers in Manbajuna village of Ranikhet subdivision in Almora district today, according to revenue police sources.

“We have arrested one person in this connection and looking for two persons involved in the clash,” said Gopal Ram, the revenue police sub-inspector.

According to the police, the brawl started at a water stand post in the village when two villagers Sobhan Singh and Dev Singh started fighting over water. “It resulted into a scuffle between two groups and later turned violent when Dev Singh reportedly attacked Shoban Singh and his sister-in-law Leela Devi,” said the revenue official.

In Pithoragarh, women from the Naini Saini area demonstrated at Jal Sansthan office and demanded disconnecting illegal water connections in the area, according to them, due to these illegal connections, the people of the area are not getting water.

“The lone drinking water scheme made for villages has gone dry as some people have secured illegal connections from it,” said Hemanti Dhami, one of the demonstrators.

In the Lohaghat area of Champawat district, drinking water problem worsened on Saturday as two more handpumps of the area had gone dry.

“After these handpumps went dry, the total number of dried hand pumps have gone from seven out of 18,” said a Jal Sansthan official.

The Champawat administration could collect only 38,000 liters of drinking water from all available sources against the demand of 1 lakh liters. The water crisis have gone worse in the villages of Barakot as the Salana river, which provides water to more than 100 villages of Barakot block, has gone dry.

Retired teachers seek payment of pension arrears
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 16
The Uttarakhand Degree College Retired Teachers Association has sought the immediate payment of pension arrears.

Briefing mediapersons in Dehradun today, Uttarakhand Degree College Retired Teachers Association president SN Sachan said teachers who had retired from degree colleges of the state before 2006 was yet to get their pension arrears.

He said the state government had in 2008 given the state employee status to these retired degree college teachers and even issued GO for providing them benefits in accordance with the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, but they were yet to get their pension arrears.

He said even the payment of gratuity to them was being done in instalments. Sachan reminded that gratuity was a reward for the hard work done by an employee during his service.

Harish Rawat assures Haridwar people of relief from power cuts
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, June 16
Union Minister of State for Agricultre and Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat has given assured the people of his constituency of relief from power cuts.

In view of the power crisis that is also leading to water shortage, Harish Rawat today took a review meeting of officials of the Power Corporation, the Jal Sansthan and the Irrigation Department here.

He made it clear that the assurance given by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna of making the pilgrim city power cut-free should not only be on papers and gave strict instructions to the officials.

A delegation of Congress workers led by city chief OP Chauhan and women cell chief Kiran Sharma also handed over a memorandum to Harish Rawat on power and water shortage in the district.

Later talking to media reports, Harish Rawat said he had also held talks in Dehradun with UPCL officers and in the coming days, there would be drastic improvement in the supply of power not only in Haridwar, but also in other parts of the state reeling under power crisis.

He also sanctioned tubewells and handpumps in various parts of the Haridwar constituency which are reeling under water shortage.

On Sitarganj byelection, Harish Rawat said people would vote for the Congress and CM Vijay Bahuguna will win the election.

He also made it clear that as per Pradesh Congress Committee directives or from insistence from the CM, he was available for campaigning in Sitarganj any time.

Haridwar to have museum housing rare info, scriptures on Ganga
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, June 16
Taking into consideration the immense faith, religious value and aspect of the Ganga, a museum will be set up in Haridwar which will showcase scriptures, ancient aspects, rare and varied information about the river.

This unique concept is being proposed by guru Shri Kanchi Kam Kothi Peeth Jagadguru Shankaracharya Swami Jayanendra Saraswati.

Naming this museum as “Ganga Mandapam”, Shankaracharya Swami Jayanendra Saraswati said this museum would be built on the lines of "Saraswati Mandapam" built in Kanchi University, Thiruvananthapuram.

Jagadguru Saraswati said at Saraswati Mandapam, all Jyotirlingams established by Jagadguru Shankaracharya and all ‘peeths’ were put up in one place. In the same way, “Ganga Mandapam” museum would have all information and related material available at one place in Haridwar.

With coming up of this museum, the city will have first of its kind museum in the world based on the Ganga and people will get to know the ancient history, inception, route, sub-tributaries and the religious-spiritual significance and people will be sensitized to make the Ganga clean.

The idea of having Ganga museum is being appreciated by the saint community as well as local people with many terming it as a future vital attraction for pilgrims and tourists worldwide in Haridwar.

Noted litterateur Dr Vishnu Dutt Rakesh, during a felicitation function at SD Girls Inter-College, Kankhal, appreciated the idea of having a museum for the Ganga. He said the Ganga was just not a river but was regarded as "mother".

Saints Shiv Chaitanya Puri, Mahant Kalyan Deo, while welcoming the move, said to make Ganga museum a big success, everyone should come forward with ideas or related information so that it catered to varied aspects related with the river.

Kumbh Mela Authority vice-chairperson Ashok Tripathi too termed the initiative as landmark and appreciative.

Cleanliness drive in full swing ahead of Kanwar fair
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, June 16
With just a fortnight to go for the monsoonal Kanwar fair in Haridwar, the district administration and the municipal corporation (MC) are geared up to provide the best facilities to kanwariyas.

As the main mela zone comprises Har-Ki-Pauri, adjacent Ganga ghats and the mela land in Rodi Belwala, Pant Deep and Laljiwala, the cleaning of the area began on a large scale today.

In the morning, District Magistrate, Haridwar, Sachin Kurwe inspected the area and chalked out a plan to clean it. He again visited the area in the evening to see the progress of the work.

Kurwe was angry with the MC officials for not paying heed to his instructions for cleaning the zone. That is why he visited the area again.

On finding heaps of garbage spread all over, Kurwe directed MC official Prahlad Singh Rawat to clean the zone in a week ahead of the Kanwar fair that was scheduled to begin next month.

The MC officials assured the DM of cleaning the area by the deadline and pressed into service earth removers, garbage collection trucks and trolleys. Rawat himself monitored the work along with City Health Officer Anil Tyagi.

Tyagi told The Tribune that temporary tin structures were being placed where all garbage would be collected before it was lifted for disposal by MC trucks so that it did not get littered.

“This will make it easier for employees of the sanitation wing of the MC to collect garbage from specific points. Vendors, traders, devotees and tourists can also dispose of garbage at these points,” said Tyagi while giving necessary instructions to the sanitation workers in the Rodi Belwala area.

In view of the cleanliness drive more sanitation workers have been requisitioned with contractual workers being deployed at these spots to ensure that the area is cleaned before the Kanwar fair.

Local residents have also welcomed the cleanliness drive, which will face-lift the area. A large number of kanwariyas put up camps and carry colourful kanwars on which they fetch Ganga water during the fair. “This year kanwariyas will feel good to camp here and take back good memories of the city, as they will find no garbage or filth littered,” said Bhoopendra Rajput, a local vendor.

Seminar on healthy soil today
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 16
As a part of the Combat Desertification World Day, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education will be organising a one-day seminar on ‘Healthy soil: Healthy life’ at ICFRE board room tomorrow.

Combat Desertification World Day is being observed since 1995 to promote public awareness relating to international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought and the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). This year, the day's slogan is ‘Healthy soil sustains your life: Let's go land-degradation neutral’.

According to DG, ICFRE, Dr VK Bahuguna, the main aim of the seminar is to highlight the role and importance of soil in securing water, energy and building resilience to climate change. This year's World Day to Combat Desertification will highlight the efforts required to secure the long-term sustainable land management. The United Nations General Assembly also suggested that zero-net land degradation could be achieved when over a given period of time, non-degraded land remains healthy and already degraded-land is restored. Such approach can ensure food security, alleviate rural poverty and hunger and build resistance to major environmental challenges. Successful practices for attaining the zero-net land degradation in dry lands could be then effectively adapted and adopted in non-dry lands. The outcome and discussion of the seminar will help formulate sustainable land management policies.

BMS Rathore, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi; Saibal Dasgupta, Deputy Director General (Extension), Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education; Dr Rekha Pai, Project Director, Watershed Management Directorate; and Dr M N Jha, former head, Forests Soil and Land Reclamation Division, FRI, will be among the prominent speakers. Senior foresters, representatives from Uttarakhand State Forest Department and senior scientists and researcher from the FRI and the ICFRE will also be present on the occasion.

Workshop on service tax practice ends
Tribune News Service

Speakers at a workshop on ‘Enabling service tax practice’ organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in Dehradun on Saturday

Dehradun, June 16
The two-day workshop on ‘Enabling service tax practice’, organised by the Indirect Taxes Committee of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and hosted by Dehradun Branch of the ICAI, concluded here today.

The second day of the workshop began with the welcome address of Ravi Maheshwari, Chairman of the Dehradun Branch of the ICAI, who enlightened members and CA students about the importance of topics and its practicalities.

The two main speakers on the occasion today were Kapil Vaish from Bareilly and Madhukar Hiregange from Bangalore.

Hiregange spoke on ‘Concept of negative list of services and exempted service and tax liability under reverse charge mechanism’.

Hirengange informed that a concept paper on the ‘Taxation of services based on a negative list’ was circulated on August 31, 2011, to get feedback from all stakeholders.

The last session by Kapil Vaish covered practical methods of dealing with departmental officers like drafting reply of show cause notice, preparation of evidences, handling of service tax audit, handling of service tax appeal etc.

Candle cottage industry forgery victims seek CM's intervention
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 16
Victims of candle cottage industry forgery in Dehradun have sought Chief Minister’s intervention to get justice for them.

The victims who held protest at district headquarters demanded a high-level probe into the entire candle cottage industry incident. They also submitted a memorandum to the district administration.

It is noteworthy that Nahid Rizvi, a resident of Nehru Colony, collected funds from women in the name of setting up a candle cottage industry on the lines of self-help groups. But the industry did not come up and the entire money was taken over by Nahid.