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Parliamentary panel for Ganga cleaning as per action plan
Heavy rain lashes Mussoorie
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Teachers flay revised transfer policy
Governor inaugurates van mahotsav
Face of the week
Power cuts as demand exceeds supply
Tree plantation programme
40 kids get yellow belts in karate test
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Parliamentary panel for Ganga cleaning as per action plan
Haridwar, July 7 The meeting that was scheduled at the VIP ghat adjacent to the Ganga and later held at City Hotel here was attended by 11 members of the committee. The committee is looking into various aspects of the Ganga cleaning, pollution, hydropower projects, environment, government funds for Ganga cleaning and other related issues. Reddy told The Tribune that high level of pollution in the Ganga, particularly in lower reaches of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, was a matter of concern with untreated sewage pouring into it. On the issue of hydropower projects being built on the Ganga and its tributaries Alaknanda and Bhagirathi in Uttarakhand, Reddy said it was a sensitive issue that needed to be dealt with by taking into consideration both environment and development. “We are now contemplating to have a balanced approach as far as hydropower projects on the Ganga are concerned. Without environmental clearance, approval of the rehabilitation process for affected people and clearance from the review committee, power projects will not get sanction. But for development complete closure of hydropower projects or dams is not relevant as being demanded by some
organisations,” said Reddy. Committee member Rabi Narayan Mohapatra, an MP from Odissa, also rejected the demand of religious organisations that thermal, solar and nuclear energy should be used to generate power in the state. He said as these resources were limited “we can’t depend on them for total power requirement of the country. River water is the cheapest option for power generation”. The committee gave directions to the local municipal corporation for opening the closed electric crematorium in Haridwar as it thought cremating bodies on Ganga ghats or swaying them into the river was also polluting it. It also stressed on the need to ensuring a perennial, environment-friendly flow into the Ganga instead of just setting up huge sewage and industrial effluent treatment plants, which had failed to clean the river. The panel members agreed to the suggestion that the grant given by the Central government to Uttarakhand should be increased as the state had to maintain forests also which covered 60 per cent of its total area. They said the Centre had sanctioned projects worth Rs 2,600 crore to ensure that by 2020 no untreated sewage and industrial effluent flows into the Ganga. These projects would be supervised and implemented by the National Ganga River Basin Authority, popularly called
NGRB.
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Heavy rain lashes Mussoorie
Mussoorie, July 7 The downpour that lasted for several hours led to long traffic jams at Library Bazaar and Picture Palace in the town as fog reduced visibility to bare minimum. The bypass near Jharipani remained closed for several hours due to a landslide that occurred in morning. Several roads that were in a bad shape were further damaged with the formation of cesspools, thus inconveniencing tourists. As it was one of the last weekends of the tourist season here this year, the crowd swelled by the evening. The business community delighted at the number of tourists began fleecing them. Hoteliers were seen charging exorbitant rates for a night stay. Some tourists were seen stranded at Hawa Ghar, waiting for the
rain to stop.
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Eminent author Ganesh Saili's book hits the stands
Mussoorie, July 7 According to the author Ganesh Saili, the book is a spicy and saucy survey of a hill station, filled with lively anecdotes about the history, people, eccentrics and scandals, including everything that makes the place unique. “It is a wacky take-off about everyday things," says Saili, adding: "I am aware that humour isn’t the easiest thing to write. But living in a small town is like life lived in a fish-bowl. Almost anyone knows your business or at least claims to know; even things about you, you yourself don’t know.” Ganesh Saili, speaking in the context of the book, says that in small towns everybody thinks everybody else’s affairs to be more worth looking after than their own. “If you invite a friend to lunch, tea or dinner, the whole town is sure to know before noon the next day what was on your table and who said what. The reader of this very personal gupp and gossip is, therefore, warned,” added Ganesh Saili. Eminent author Stephen Alter, speaking about the book, says it is “easy prose at an easy pace.” Alter is of the view that after his previous book, “Mussoorie Medley,” "plenty of recent stories remained to be told to celebrate the colourful, contemporary characters and nobody is better equipped than Ganesh to record the innuendoes, whispered asides, unspoken truths and day-to-day falsehoods of a hill station’s life." Another eminent author Ruskin Bond, praising the book, opined that the book is both informative and entertaining with not a single dull moment or a dull page. Reading out the excerpts from the book, Saili narrates: “Within the hallowed precincts of the schools, all may seem calm, sort of under control with not a ripple, until one shakes it a bit and the bubbles of dormant desires blink on the surface. My friend, Patrick Corbett, who was a student here in the 1940s, tells me that on one occasion, the wise, grey-heads of a school conducted interviews for teachers. In their combined wisdom, they selected the best from a bevy of bright busy bodies. Having arrived in the insular world of the school, one of the new appointees, a stout matron, struck up what seemed like a very close friendship with one of the younger lady teachers. Soon the two were almost inseparable. 'Wonderful! Those two are so close,’ proclaimed Mr Know It All, the wise old chairman of the school, telling the others. ‘Good for the morale of the others!’ To encourage camaraderie, they were even allotted a set of rooms’ right next to each other on the first floor of the girls' dormitory. ‘It keeps discord at bay!’ said the principal, parroting Mr Know It All. Yes! It certainly appeared good for the morale of the others too! "Things worked perfectly well or you could say maybe just a bit too well! One windswept night, the lights blinked as the matron, the one with the rasping voice, made her way to the toilets at the end of the veranda (for that’s where they had those old thunder-boxes). Groping in the dark, she missed a step, lurched clean over the railings and plunged head first into the ravine down below. The sonic boom of her scream shattered the sound barrier, rattling the windowpanes of the boy’s hostel, arousing them from their dreams. "They took off down the corridors, lunged into the soporific darkness of the yawning cliff to discover a disheveled figure, lying spread-eagled on one of the bramble bushes that covered the hillsides. Under the glare of torchlight they turned her over. She looked like a fright! Now, it was their turn to be surprised. "Our matron turned out to be no ‘she’. The unflattering torch lit up the anatomy of a perfect male of the species. Our ‘she’ had all this time really been a ‘he’! Now that was definitely good for the morale." The book also contains several other anecdotes that will enthral the readers, specially those who have experienced life in small towns of the country. Ganesh Saili lives in Mussoorie and has written several books dealing with life of hills and Garhwal in
particular.
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Teachers flay revised transfer policy
Dehradun, July 7 According to the earlier provisions of the transfer policy, the 5 per cent quota was set aside for the concerned minister for undertaking transfers of teachers but with the new provision announced yesterday, the Chief Minister has given powers to have a final say on the matter. “The involvement of a minister and now Chief Minister would increase political interference and may further politicise the transfer issue,” said Prem Singh Guasin, state president of Uttarakhand School Education
Federation. He said the revised policy would benefit the teachers who have political connections and is not in the interest of the teachers. “As a mark of protest, we will hold a sit-in dharna on July 13 at the directorate,” said Gusain. The Transfer Act brought in by former Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri was to ensure the teachers did not shy away from transfers in the hills. “It would have been better if the Transfer Act with amendments was implemented in the state for removing corruption and encouraging
transparency. If the Act was implemented, a fixed amount in the form of incentive would have been given to the teachers. The other incentive included seniority while being considered for promotion to those teachers who were transferred in remote areas. Beside, it also had a provision for giving house rent to teachers who were forced to keep families in accessible areas once they were transferred to remote areas,” said Bhim Singh, president, Rajkiya Shikshak Sangh. The teachers are also not happy about with revised age limit for exempting them from taking being transfered to remote areas. “According to the Transfer Act, the female teachers reaching the age of 50 and male teachers reaching the age of 55 were exempted from transfer in the hills but this has now been changed in the revised transfer policy,” said Singh. Along with exempting teachers who had reached a certain age of seniority, teachers suffering from cancer, blood cancer, AIDS, HIV(positive), heart attack, surgery, kidney failure, acute Arthritis, SARS (third stage brain tumour), slip disc, TB, being physically challenged have also been exempted from remote area transfer. The last date for transfers has been extended from July 5
to August 15.
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Governor inaugurates van mahotsav
Dehradun, July 7 The van mahotsav was started in the first week of July in 1950 and the tradition is carrying on since then. On this occasion, the Governor gave the message of “one family ,one tree” as the slogan for the plantation campaign. He said each family should plant a tree and look after it in order to maintain greenery and sustain human life. The Governor inaugurated environment conservation events and van mahotsav by lighting the ceremonial lamp amid chanting of
Vedic hymns. The Governor, in his address, said that yagna was related to environment conservation. He appreciated the work being done by the Arya Samaj. He said true religion was working for the welfare of society, removing inequalities and eliminating injustice. Shri Madhavanand Mainali of Arya Samaj welcomed the guests. Acharya Ramchandra called upon people to work for conserving the environment. Arya Samaj head Subodh Kansal presented the Governor with a citation, a shawl, shriphal, books and the medicinal Timur plant.
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Face of the week
The first lady officer in many years, Joshi has been facing a challenging task towards maintaining greenery of Dehradun since taking over the charge in 2010, particularly in the city areas as rapid infrastructure expansion in the city has come up at the cost of greenery. But the Dehradun DFO has taken up the challenge head on and has been undertaking plantation drive in Dehradun to ensure that the new tree saplings are adequately planted in the city to make up for the necessary tree loses. Even this monsoon, Joshi has directed for ensuring plantation of at least 5,000 tree saplings in the city that has faced rampant tree felling due to widening of roads and crossings in the past few years. “We have specially taken up campuses of various institutions and the state police department to ensure that the saplings planted survive and are taken care off,” she pointed out. “It is generally seen that the tree saplings planted alongside roads often get uprooted due to ever growing infrastructure works and thus planting them inside the campuses was a safe bet,” she further stated. Thus, campuses of various police chowkies, police lines race course, Doon University, Kendriya Vidyalaya, ONGC and other government schools in Dehradun have been taken up for the plantation drive this year. It has also been during Joshi’s tenure that eco-tourism resort of Lachchiwala in Dehradun has got a facelift, which is turning out to be the most sought after tourist destination within Dehradun. Similarly, Malsi Deer Park that falls en route to Mussoorie has also undergone major improvements. Apart from installing better cages for the wildlife, amenities for tourists inside the park have also been spruced up.
Both Lachchiwala and Malsi Deer Park are forest and wildlife linked tourist destinations that are in close proximity of Dehradun.
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Power cuts as demand exceeds supply
Dehradun, July 7 According to a press release issued by Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited, as against the availability of 32.81 million units, the power requirements for the state yesterday stood at 33.19 million units. Thus to make up for the shortage between the demand and supply, power cuts had to be imposed in the rural areas of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts. While a three-hour power cut was imposed in Haridwar yesterday, a two-hour power cut was ensured in Udham Singh Nagar district. Further, a sudden power cut for 4.50 hours was imposed for steel furnaces in Kotdwar. Fortunately, today till 5 pm, no power cuts were imposed in the state.
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Tree plantation programme
Dehradun, July 7 According to the tree plantation plan announced by S. P. Singh, Chairman of SBSPGI, Balawala, on June 22 the students and staff planted trees on Gulmohar Marg of Balawala Gram Sabha from Malsi Pulia to Nathuwala Donali. Today, 250 saplings of various varieties, including gulmohar, jhakranda, kaner, jamun, rat ki rani were planted. A lot of saplings, mainly flowering and fruit plants, were also presented by the chairman to villagers and Government Inter College. The occasion was graced by Brigadier (Retired) P. P. S. Pahwa, Additional Director, Davender Chaudhari, member, BDC, Rajesh Bahuguna, Rajpal Singh Bisht, Bijender Bijlwan, Anup Bhatt, Sunil Ramola, Shivesh Rana and Ramesh Thapa and many others of Gadh Jagriti Lok Manch, Nathuwala.
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40 kids get yellow belts in karate test
Mussoorie, July 7
Instructor from the All-India Karate Federation Arvind Kotnala gave away the certificates and awards to the participants. Kotnala said there was immense talent among the kids in the town and there was need to hone it through proper training.
— OC
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Dehradun, July 7