Scheme for mentally ill patients yet to be implemented
Dehradun, August 11
Despite the Central government making a sizeable allocation, the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP), a fully funded scheme by the Central government, has failed to take off two years after it was unveiled.

State may set up food processing units
Dehradun, August 11
The government is contemplating setting up food processing units in the state to bring in investment in agriculture that has been posting stunted growth in the last few years.

A road turns into a rivulet following heavy rain in Dehradun on Saturday evening.

80-year-old man’s body found
Dehradun, August 11
The body of Gobind Singh Bisht, 80, a resident of Nai Basti in Nehru Colony, was found floating in the Rispana river around 4 pm yesterday. Bisht lived with his son’s family and had left home after having lunch at 2 pm. Some passersby spotted the body floating in the gushing Rispana waters in the evening.

Seminar by Save Himalayas Movement today
Dehradun, August 11
Activists of the Save Himalayas Movement will hold a seminar on August 12 in New Tehri on the occasion of completion of two decades of the movement.

St George’s College win football tourney
Mussoorie, August 11
St George’s College emerged winner in the 41st Jackie Memorial Invitational Football Tournament held at St George’s grounds by defeating Manorite Sports Club in a tie-breaker 10-9 today.

The winners of the 41st Jackie Memorial Invitational Football Tournament in Mussoorie on Saturday.

Dehradun, August 11
The Finance Department is studying a proposal to levy an entry tax on vehicles, which have been registered outside the state, entering Uttarakhand from other states.

So far vehicles entering Uttarakhand have to pay no fee but the situation is expected to change once the finance and transport departments work out a plan to levy entry tax. “We will take into consideration the arrangements existing in other states. The entry tax varies with the type of vehicle and differs from one state to another. The purpose of the move is to levy an entry tax on vehicles which are purchased and registered outside Uttarakhand but are used in the state. This will also encourage the people to buy cars in the state,” said Radha Raturi, Finance Secretary.

It is also expected to impact the sale of cars in favour of the state as there has been a tendency to get vehicles registered outside the state to save on registration tax. However, experts say with the introduction of a uniform VAT, prices of cars across the country are more or less the same.

Check posts will be set up at Haridwar, Dehradun, Pauri and Udham Singh Nagar for charging entry tax on all kinds of vehicles. More than five points have been identified for the purpose. The tax will be imposed on all classes of automobiles, both private and commercial, not registered in the state. The measure is expected to increase the tax revenue annually. Once the proposal is cleared, the government will have to look at ways to bring a Bill on it.

Haridwar, August 11
Showing the presence of mind, the police rescued a three-year-old girl within 40 minutes of her abduction here today.

Sangeeta along with her mother. Tribune photos: Rameshwar Gaur

The incident took place at 2 pm when victim Sangeeta, along with her parents Krishan Kumar and Kanchan, was sleeping alongside the Ganga ghat at Har-ki-Pauri after paying obeisance at temples on Janmashtami. Accused Rajan Sharma, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, allegedly lifted the girl who was sleeping by her mother's side.

However, after a few minutes when Sangeeta's mother found her missing and raised the alarm, people gathered there and reported the matter to police personnel at the Har-ki-Pauri check post.

In no time, the news was flashed everywhere via the control room and two police personnel, Anurag Rawat and Yashwant Aswal, and 108 mobile ambulance driver Rajesh started searching for the girl at nearby ghats. Soon the trio noticed a man running fast holding a girl. They zeroed in on him near the Vishnu ghat and rescued the girl.

During interrogation, he confessed to the crime and said he had abducted the girl with the intention of molesting her. Investigating officials said the accused seemed to be a psycho.

Circle officer Ajay Singh said they were trying to gather more information if any other child was in his confinement.

Acknowledging the alertness of the two police personnel, Haridwar SSP Haridwar Arun Mohan Joshi rewarded them with a cash prize of Rs 2,500.

He also gave a letter of appreciation to the 108 ambulance driver who helped to rescue the girl.

In the wake of the incident, the police has tightened security at Brahamkund, Har-ki-Pauri, Ganga ghats and crowded places like the railway station, bus stations and at dharmshalas.

Dehradun, August 11
Lakshman Singh Negi has witnessed the pain and misery of his mother who was forced to trudge 6 km to fetch drinking water after the natural water sources in their village at Pilkhi in the Urgam valley in Chamoli dried up due to scanty rain.

The villagers had taken the natural water sources for granted, paying scant attention towards preserving the traditional water harvesting structures (kunds and chaals) built by their forefathers that could have helped them tide over the acute water scarcity, especially during the summer. Negi started efforts to revive the locally adapted water harvesting structures. “The village old-timers told us about the tradition of building chaals and kunds, which were used to store water. The practice was prevalent in the villages but was discontinued after the government provided water connections. Our forefathers had built elaborate locally-adapted water harvesting structures and thus began our quest for reviving these traditional bodies and building new structures,” said Negi.

Four years ago, Negi began reviving the traditional water bodies in his village at Pilkhi and then slowly took the movement to other villages. “Most of these structures were broken and needed immediate repairs. Rather than using cement we used local material to repair and build new structures and it provided rich dividends. We also planted oak trees near the water bodies to hold loose soil,” said Negi.

With the help of a dedicated band of volunteers, Negi has revived and also built chaals even in the neighbouring villages of Pilkhi. He believes the people who have 24 hours of water supply cannot comprehend the misery of families whose women folk have to trudge several kilometres to fetch water. “This is a painful reality for all of us living in the Urgum valley of Chamoli though Alaknanda drains parts of Chamoli along with other small rivers. The changing rain pattern has compounded the water woes of the area,” said Negi.

Significantly, besides conserving the water bodies, Negi has walked the length and breadth of the state as part of the Nadi Bachao Andolan. He is critical of the government policy that views water purely as a commercial commodity. “During the course of our padyatras we saw rivers dried up. As several small rivers flow only during the monsoon, the region experiences water scarcity during the summer,” said Negi.

Dehradun, August 11
Despite the Central government making a sizeable allocation, the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP), a fully funded scheme by the Central government, has failed to take off two years after it was unveiled.

The district mental health units, conceived under the DMHP, still remains non-existent in different districts, thanks to the laid-back attitude of the state government.

To tide over the shortage of qualified psychiatrists, a year back 13 medical officers were sent on a short training course in the psychiatry to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) and Mental Hospital, Agra.

Sources said the services of doctors, who were trained in psychiatry, had not been utilised because of the missing district mental health units. These units had to be set up at the district and then at the block level.

Dr JS Bisht, psychiatrist, State Mental Hospital (Selaqui), said the medical officers had already completed training but the units had not begun to function.

Official sources said the objective of setting up district mental units was to provide the basic psychiatric treatment to mentally ill people in their respective areas at the time of initiation of mental disorders, thus preventing them from becoming chronic patients.

“We have not been able to start the district units due to delay in the allocation of funds for setting up the units. These units have to be equipped with the staff and medications,” said Dr C.P Arya, officiating DG, Health and Family Welfare.

However, the sources pointed out that the inordinate delay was caused in drafting the proposal that ultimately led to the delay in the allocation of funds.

The proposal by the Health Department had made a provision of Rs 8 lakh for setting up the units, which was yet to be passed by the Central government. Besides, there is an acute shortage of psychiatrists in the state. As of now there is just one psychiatrist with a population of 1 crore (approx), according to the 2011 census.

Dehradun, August 11
The body of Gobind Singh Bisht, 80, a resident of Nai Basti in Nehru Colony, was found floating in the Rispana river around 4 pm yesterday. Bisht lived with his son’s family and had left home after having lunch at 2 pm. Some passersby spotted the body floating in the gushing Rispana waters in the evening.

It was fished out of the river. Some residents of Nai Basti identified Gobind.

The police has started investigation into the case. A postmortem was conducted later and the report was still awaited.

Dehradun, August 11
Activists of the Save Himalayas Movement will hold a seminar on August 12 in New Tehri on the occasion of completion of two decades of the movement.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun, Uttarakhand Mahila Manch convener Kamala Pant yesterday disclosed that the Save Himalayas Movement that made a beginning in the year 1992 had completed its two decades of existence and all activists associated with the movement had decided to conduct a seminar in New Tehri to mark the occasion.

Pant revealed that eminent environmentalist Sundarlal Bahaguna would be the chief guest at the seminar. Environment activists like Vijay Jardari and Dhoom Singh Negi would also take part.

She said the Save Himalayas Movement still held much relevance as the people were fighting for their rights over land, water and forests. She asserted that big hydropower projects had only displaced the local people and benefited a few capitalists from outside the state.

She said frequent landslides in the hills were the result of rampant exploitation of the hill areas by the so-called development agencies. Kamala Pant said the New Tehri seminar would be taking up all these issues.

Social activist Rajiv Nayan Bahuguna was also present at the news conference.

Mussoorie, August 11
St George’s College emerged winner in the 41st Jackie Memorial Invitational Football Tournament held at St George’s grounds by defeating Manorite Sports Club in a tie-breaker 10-9 today. Both the teams drew level 1-1 in the stipulated period, which resulted in the penalty shootout, leading to the victory for the home team.

The Manorite club with the help Kamal scored first in the second half, but the home team responded with a solitary goal and drew level in 70th minute of the game. Sharan scored for St. George's College.

No team was able to score in the extra time, leaving penalty shootout as the only option to determine the winner. St.George's College finally excelled in the shootouts and emerged winners 10-9 and lifted the coveted trophy.

The chief guest on the occasion, FIFA referee Pratap Singh Petwal, distributed cash prize and winning trophy on the occasion. Rafi Ansari from St. George's College was declared the best player of the tournament, while the promising team award went to St. George's College C team. Brother Christopher, speaking on the occasion, said that Jackie memorial tournament had become a premiere event in the district in which more than 20 teams participated with enthusiasm, and the school was thinking to make it even better in the coming years. Ramesh Chamoli, Lalit Verma and others were present on the occasion.