Bahuguna assures all help for hill rail project
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 19
The last field survey for the much awaited rail link between Rishikesh and Karnprayag will be completed in coming two months and the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited will open tenders for the same soon.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has assured all possible support from the state government for the ambitious rail project in the hills. He said that the proposed railway project would bring in prosperity in the hill areas and generate employment opportunities for the people.

Bahuguna issued direction to constitute a committee to be chaired by Chief Secretary, and Secretary Transport, Secretary, Revenue, and Secretary, Forests, as its members. The committee would maintain coordination between the state government and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited; the Railway Corporation would be entrusted with the work.

Chief Minister Bahuguna, chairing a meeting of Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail link here today, described the project a dream project for the hill region of Uttarakhand and said that it would be completed very soon. He directed the officers concerned to make available the blueprint of the project from officers of Railway Department and asked them about their expectations from the state government.

The Director General of RVNL, Satish Agnihotri, said that the estimated budget of the 125.09 km-long Rishikesh-Karnprayag Project was Rs. 4295.3 crore. He said that experienced and capable persons had been included in this mega project and modern technologies and methods would be used. He revealed that very high resolution stereo satellite imagery has been purchased from National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad.

Agnihotri further said that the this project would pass through Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri and Chamoli districts and main railway stations would be at Rishikesh, Karnprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag and Devprayag. There would be total 128 bridges, including 45 large and 83 small ones, while the total number of tunnels would be 81.

Agnihotri said that local talent would be given preference, for which a campus interview would be conducted.

Also present at the meeting were MLA Nav Prabhat, Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister DK Kotia, Secretary, Transport Umakan Panwar, Secretary, Forests, Om Prakash, Director, Rishikesh-Karnprayag Railway Project Vijay Anand, Director, Personnel, Geeta Mishra, Adviser SK Budlakoti, Executive Director JS Mehrok and Chief Project Manager Bhanu Prakash.

Closure of hydroelectric projects
RLEK holds state govt, saints responsible
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 19
Rural litigation and Entitlement Kendra, a voluntary organisation spearheading the agitation against the closure of hydroelectric projects, has blamed the state government, Centre, saints and foreign-funded agencies for the closure of hydropower projects in the state leading to severe power shortage.

Avdhash Kaushal, chairpersons of the RLEK, in a statement said it was a well-known fact that electricity and water were interrelated and it was not only a problem of the state but a problem of entire North India. “The acute water and power shortage being faced by the region is due to pressure created by sadhus for the stalling of these projects by the agencies that are funded by US and UK,” he said.

“Due to unscientific facts and superstitious beliefs propogated by a few people, the work on Palamaneri (480 MW) and Baironghati (381 MW) and the Centre-owned Lohari Nagpala (600 MW) had been ceased, which otherwise would have started producing electricity by 2012. Similarly, Lakhwad (300 MW) and Biyasi (120 MW) hydel power projects are being obstructed. The Srinagar hydel power project (330 MW), which is 80 per cent complete, also faces closure and this project would start producing electricity in 2012-13. In total, these hydel power projects would have produced more than 2441 MW of electricity and people of the state and Delhi would not have faced such hardships without electricity, he added.

Warning the MPs from state, Kaushal said two MPs and two former Chief Ministers were responsible for this severe shortage of electricity and water and the closure of power projects. “We shall expose the anti-state and anti-development activities of these MPs, who are opposing the projects for their own selfish motives. Of all the alternatives, hydel power is the most environment friendly option available,” he said.

MC meeting marred by unruly scenes
Civic body chief Uniyal has a heated exchange with councillor
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, June 19
The monthly meeting of the Mussoroie Municipal Council (MC) was marred by noisy scenes today, leading to an altercation between councillor Virendar Rawat and MC president OP Uniyal on the charge that parking contracts were being allotted on party lines.

Uniyal and Rawat had a heated exchange and they nearly came to blows. However, other councillors and officials present intervened and pacified the duo.

The altercation began when Rawat objected to the allotment of a parking lot at Town Hall to some BJP workers on a temporary basis. He alleged that Uniyal, who also belongs to the BJP, was giving undue advantage to a few contractors who owed allegiance to his party.

Rawat, who belongs to the Congress, also said the affairs of the MC were not being conducted according to the guidelines and it suffered from several anomalies. He added several unauthorised works were being done in the MC at the behest of Uniyal and Executive Officer Rohitash Sharma and when he tried to raise the issue, he was threatened with dire consequences.

On the other hand, Uniyal refuted all charges saying Rawat was making false allegations against him. He said though the majority of the members belonged to the Congress, only Rawat raised the issue and that betrayed his dubious intentions. Uniyal countered the allegation saying as the next MC election was a few months away Rawat was trying to secure a few brownie points to brighten his electoral prospects.

Rawat later told mediapersons that he would raise the issue at the highest level and disclose publicly all misdeeds of the MC president and the Executive Officer so that the people could judge the situation themselves.

However, councillors Sushil Agarwal, Jasvir Kaur and others came out openly in Uniyal’s support and presented a resolution condemning Rawat’s unruly behaviour at the meeting.

It is worth mentioning that besides the scheduled MC meeting, another meeting that was postponed on May 29 was also held today.

At both meetings several proposals like transferring land to the Sports Ministry for the construction of a skating rink hall, reviewing the tender process for the eco-fee collection centre once again and taking back a parking space at Library Bazaar from the MDDA by paying it the required amount were also passed.

Councillor Santosh Arya raised the issue that MC officials were showing no interest in completing pending works in her ward. She said if the tendering process was not started soon, she would take up the matter at the highest level in the government.

Fleecing of tourists at parking lots continues
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, June 19
The incidents of tourists being fleeced by parking contractors continue unabated in Mussoorie despite clear instructions from the Chief Minister with regard to ensure their safety at tourist spots.

It seems that Municipal Council officials have failed to learn any lesson from the recent incident, where tourists were allegedly beaten up by the parking staff at Company Garden over the issue of overcharging.

While showing a receipt mentioning parking rates from Rs 100-250 to mediapersons, tourists said the parking staff were demanding exorbitant prices to park their vehicles at Town Hall, Bakery Hill and Landour Bazaar parking lots. These parking lots are owned by the Municipal Council.

The parking rate list is available at only a few parking lots like Company Garden while at other sites there was so such list.

Municipal Council executive officer Rohitash Sharma said they would probe the matter and action would be taken if the reports were found to be true.

MC president OP Uniyal said officials had been directed to issue only those parking tickets on which rates were mentioned and were duly signed by the department concerned. Mussoorie Hotel Association secretary Ajay Bhargav said the Municipal Council should ensure that parking tariff signboards were installed at all parking lots to avoid brawls with tourists.

Ayurvedic medicines, too, come under warranty
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 19
In order to prevent ayurvedic medicines that are past their shelf life from reaching the market, the Drug Controller (Ayurveda) has issued guidelines for manufactures to display information about warranty period on all products.

After firms making ayurvedic medicines began combining modern medicines and selling the ayurvedic medicines in capsule forms, the Central government has issued guidelines for compliance and Uttarakhand, too, has accepted these guidelines.

“The sale promos of ayurvedic medicines need regulation. There are several companies that do not carry the expiry date on the products beings sold as it is usually assumed that the ayurvedic medicines do not require such information, which is a misnomer,” said Dr YS Rawat, Assistant Drug Controller.

According to the 2010 guidelines, the products prepared according to the traditional method (Rasa Shastar) such as Rasa, Bhasams and Ashwarishta that usually get better with the passage of time have been exempted from displaying information about expiry dates on their products.

However, warranty for Awalah Chawanprash is three years, for Googlu the warranty is for five years, for Ghrit 10 years and herbal oil two years.

So also for churan and kwath, the warranty period is two years from the year of manufacturing.

Along with enforcing the display of manufacturing and expiry date on products, the Ayurved Directorate has also made mandatory upon all manufacturing units to procure Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certificates.

There are 186 ayurvedic medicine manufacturing units in Uttarakhand and 153 good manufacturing certificates had been issued last year, while licenses of 78 companies were cancelled for violating good manufacturing practices.

In 2011-12, so far 21 have licenses have been cancelled. It has become mandatory to get GMP certification since July 2008.

Divya Yog Pharmacy, Hans Pharmacy and Gurkul Pharmacy are some of the top ayurvedic medicine manufacturing companies in the state.

Call to increase livelihood opportunities for artisans
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 17
As part of the National Bamboo Mission, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun, has organised a five-day training programme on bamboo cottage industry. Artisans from Bageshwar, Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Udham Singh Nagar districts are participating in the programme.

Director-General, ICFRE, Dr VK Bahuguna said the council planned to hold more such programmes for artisans.

He called for increasing livelihood opportunities for artisans residing in the hilly areas. He said an enhanced training programme would also be organised for artisans, who emerge as master trainers from the present programme.

Senior Uttarakhand Forest Officer SPS Leptcha said bamboo could be a means to ensure prosperity in the remote hilly villages of Uttarakhand.

The chief trainer at the programme and designer at Natural Resources Crafts Centre, Assam, Neera Sarma, said forest products like bamboo and fibers could be used to manufacture home decoration products apart from daily usage items.

‘Need for improvement in management of Haj’
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 19
Governor Aziz Qureshi today participated in a national seminar on "Improvements required for Haj Yatra" held in New Delhi.

During the seminar, Qureshi said Haj was the most important event in any Muslim’s life and the discussions at the seminar would go a long way in initiating improvements in the arrangements for Haj.

The seminar was organised by the Forum for Haj Pilgrimage Management in India to deliberate on various issues related to Haj management.

The seminar discussed the effect of the discontinuation of the government subsidy for Haj and insisted upon the need for a strong institutional network for mitigating this effect.

It was also suggested that a system of haj, free from government support, be developed. The idea of having a Haj Fund was also discussed. Islamic Development Bank Chairperson Ahmed Mohammad Ali and officials from Malaysia’s “Tabung Haji” participated in the seminar.

FHMI’s organising committee chairman and former Deputy Chairman of the Raj Sabha K. Rahman Khan said India had the second largest population of Muslims in the world and more than 80,000 Muslims go for Haj from India every year. He stressed the need for improvement in the management of the pilgrimage.

Union Minister Salman Khurshid, State Minister E. Ahamed, several Union ministers, senior officials of the Finance and External Affairs Ministries, parliamentarians, Ulemas and intellectuals were present at the seminar.

Rural Employment Scheme
Champawat admn told not to use heavy machines
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, June 19
The Champawat district administration has been instructed not to use heavy machines in projects under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) scheme in the district as an excessive use of these machines is depriving the rural poor of employment days. Pradeep Tamta, MP from Almora, said this while addressing mediapersons after chairing a meeting in Champawat today.

“As the scheme is labour intensive and demand oriented, it should be able to create more labour days in villages rather than complete works under it with the help of machines,” said Tamta.

According to information given at the meeting, 19,872 villagers were provided employment in 378 projects running in the district under the scheme in the district last year. “A total of 37,563 job cards have been made under the scheme in the district," said district statistical officer DS Nagarkoti.

The Almora MP informed the meeting that funds under the MNREGA would be used to construct new drinking schemes in rural areas of the district so that villagers could get rid of the problem.

NCP not to contest bypoll

Dehradun June 19
The Nationalist Congress Party has decided not to field any candidate against Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna in Sitarganj byelection.

State party president Divy Nautiyal said the national president of the party and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and national general secretary Govind Rao Adhik had conveyed to them that the party would not contest the byelection against Bahuguna and would rather support him by holding and addressing public gatherings in his favour.

He said Kumaon in charge general secretary Ramesh Chand had been entrusted with the responsibility of garnering the support for Bahuguna and he himself would also participate in such endeavours. — TNS

Honour for scientist K.Vasudevan
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 19
Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India’s senior scientist Karthikeyan Vasudevan has been appointed as Regional Chair of the Amphibian Specialist Group for South Asia.

Amphibian Specialist Group of IUCN Species Survival Commission held that Dr Vasudevan will play a role in promoting amphibian conservation and research activities in the region for the period 2012-2016.

He has been involved in research on reptiles and amphibians in the country since 1995. He has been actively involved in WII in teaching herpetology, behavioural ecology, community ecology and conservation biology. He has a specialisation in community ecology, behavioural ecology, conservation biology and evolution of South Asian amphibians and reptiles.

Ameen assn members call off stir

Dehradun, June 19
Members of the Uttarakhand Revenue Ameen Association today called off their indefinite strike after District Magistrate, Dehradun, Ravinath Raman gave them an assurance that their main demands, promotion benefit and the regularisation of the services of seasonal employees, have been accepted. He said an acceptance letter would be issued to them within a week.

President of the association Suresh Semwal said they had been demanding promotion benefits, which became due after the intervals of 10, 19 and 26 years of service, since 2008. Their other demand regarding the regularisation of the services of seasonal workers was also pending for long. Though 37 new posts had been created to adjust them, a government order in this regard had not been released so far.

Semwal said however, they had begun getting the benefit of the rule of “same work, same pay”.

He further said the District Magistrate had given them an assurance that the acceptance letter would be given to them within a week. Earlier, the association had boycotted work on June 13 as a warning. However, when the officials concerned did not pay any heed to their demands, they went on an indefinite strike from Saturday. — TNS

‘Rahul Gandhi pursuing his father’s approach’
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, June 19
Former Home Minister of Maharashtra Kripa Shankar has said Rahul Gandhi has an approach that shows he is following in the footsteps of his father Rajiv Gandhi.

Kripa Shankar said Rahul had all qualities to emerge as an able Prime Minister whenever the Congress was in a position to offer him the post.

Kripa Shankar, who along with his family members was in Haridwar today, took a holy bath in the Ganga and later visited temples in the city, including those of Maya Devi, Mata Mansa Devi, Chandi Devi and Lord Shiva temple of Daksh Prajapati in Kankhal.

He said the country needed policies favouring the poor and the youth and Rahul had shown a pro-development approach.

As soon as the news about Kripa Shankar, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president, spread party activists in a large number gathered to meet him.

Asked about charges of corruption and amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income, he refused to comment saying the matter was sub judice and he had full faith in the judiciary.

Seminar on rehabilitation policy
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 19
A seminar on state rehabilitation policy was organised by Shri Bhuwneshwari Mahila Ashram here today.

The experts said rehabilitation was more of a compulsion rather than a choice for the people living in disaster-prone villages of the state. “Nobody wants to leave his house but in Uttarakhand, people living in disaster-prone areas are being forced to move as they have no alternative,” said Piyush Rautela, Executive Director, Department of Disaster Management.

“There is no suitable land to rehabilitate people hit by disasters, though the policy even suggests that the gram sabha can come with a proposal for rehabilitating people in areas of their choice but there is a very thin chance that there proposals will be accepted,” said Rautela.

On the other hand, Bhuvan Pathak of the ashram said very few people in villages knew about the rehabilitation policy and how they could benefit from it. “Out of the 233 villages that have been earmarked by the government requiring rehabilitation, we have surveyed some 200 villages and are carrying out detail survey of the damages being incurred during the natural disasters,” said Pathak.

700 securitymen to be deployed for Sitarganj bypoll
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, June 19
The IG, Kumaon, Ram Singh Meena, said today that more than 700 security personnel and four companies of the PAC would be deployed in Sitarganj on the polling day.

Out of a total of 69 polling booths, nine have been declared highly sensitive and 18 sensitive.

IG Meena said besides 700 security personnel, 22 police officials, five inspectors, 63 sub-inspectors and 48 head constables would be deployed on the polling day.

“The borders with UP will remain closed on that day to check the movement of anti-social elements,” IG said.

Man killed in accident on Rajpur Road
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 19
A man was killed in an accident on Rajpur Road near Sai temple yesterday. The deceased has been identified as Roshan Joshi, who worked at a restaurant on Rajpur Road.

A passerby spotted him lying on the road in an injured condition with his motorcycle by his side. He called up the 108 ambulance service. However, Joshi succumbed to his injuries.

A case has been registered in the incident.