Villagers invite MLAs to function for raising their demand
Ajay Ramola

Villagers raise their demands in front of MLAs

Mussoorie, December 2
Villagers from Khattapani, Jhinsi, Tuneta, Kolti and Mawana, barely a few kilometres from Mussoorie, who are living under misery due to the absence of a motorable road even after 65 years, found a novel way to raise their demand to the concerned officials today.

The villagers organised a function to welcome political dignitaries, including two MLAs from Dhanaulti and Mussoorie, in a large function attended by the affected villagers at Khattapani and raised their demand in front of them vociferously.

The president of the welcome committee, Pooran Singh Raunchela, welcomed the two MLAs and said that it was really unfortunate that the villagers were waiting for a motorable road even after 65 years. He appealed to both Dhanaulti MLA Mahavir Singh Rangad and MLA, Mussoorie, Ganesh Joshi, to initiate the road construction as soon as possible so that the villagers can lead a normal life.

Bhoora Singh, aged 70, the villager from Kolti village, said that they had to walk a long distance from their village to Mussoorie for small kinds of purchases during rain and snow. The sick patients had to be carried on a bathtub to the hospital in Mussoorie on a number of occasions, much to inconvenience of all here.

Due to absence of the road, the villages were not able to receive basic facilities, and the schemes proposed by the government proved useless for them as no officials wanted to walk down to their villages in any condition, added Bhoora Singh.

Birendar Singh Rana, another resident of the affected village, said that there was only one government school till class VII, and the students either had to walk up to Mussoorie or leave education due to the absence of road.

The villagers requested the two MLAs from Dhanaulti and Mussoorie to initiate the work of constructing the road from Khattapani to Mussoorie so that they could visit the town for all needs without any inconvenience.

He also said that the files of road construction were hanging between the state and Central governments due to the forest land falling in between the proposed area.

MLA, Mussoorie, Ganesh Joshi, and MLA, Dhanaulti, Mahavir Singh Rangad, addressing the villagers said that they would work to remove the stumbling blocks coming in between the proposed project at all levels to provide relief to the villagers in the near future. The vice president, Cantt Board, CP Baloni, extending his support also said that if some area of Landour Cantt Board was coming in between the proposed project, he would initiate the matter at his level in the board meeting. Municipal Council president OP Uniyal also extended his support for the project on the occasion.

It is worth mentioning that the boundary of the villages affected due to the absence of the road falls jointly in the purview of the Mussoorie Municipal Council and Assembly areas of Dhanaulti, Mussoorie and Landour Cantt Board, making it difficult for the villagers to initiate the project on their own.

Friction between INTUC leaders comes to the fore
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 2
The cold war between Heera Singh Bisht and Dinesh Sunderiyal, both of whom claim to be the president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), has become public with Bisht serving a legal notice on Sunderiyal over the matter.

Addressing a press conference, Sunderiyal said, “Heera Singh Bisht never created problems after national president Ambati Krishna Murti appointed me the president of the INTUC two years ago. Former INTUC national president Sanjiv Reddy challenged the appointment of Krishna Murti in Delhi High Court in 2010. However, he could not get stay over Murti’s appointment, as he could not substantiate his arguments.”

He said ever since he held an impressive convention in the honour of Krishna Murti in the city on November 20, Bisht was shaken. He said Bisht, who was no longer an MLA or a minister, became apprehensive to see the members of 372 labour unions under the INTUC shifting away from him in the convention. He said Bisht, who had been a president of the organisation for more than two decades, was not able to grapple with the changed reality. He also charged him of misusing the INTUC quota given by Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC).

He also complained that the notice was deliberately sent on a wrong address and was given to him by some mediapersons in Roorkee.

In his clarification, Bisht said he did not send any notice but it was the civil court that served Sunderiyal with the legal order to explain as to why he was using the name and office of the INTUC as the state president. He rebuffed the claim of Sunderiyal of being the state president and objected his addressing media over the district court’s notice. The hearing is scheduled to be held on December 5.

63 stone mines of Ponty face probe
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, December 2
The Bageshwar District Magistrate has ordered a probe into irregularities in 63 soft stone mines in the district owned by the Ponty Chadha group.

"After receiving the DM's order, we have impounded a trolley owned by the Chadha group in Bhairu Chobatta village. It was being used without taking a no-objection certificate from the departments concerned," said Bageshwar mines officer Rajpal Legha.

Legha said the district had 57 commercial mines. The 63 soft stone mines owned by the Chadha group were spread in 800 hectares in the district. "During the probe, all documents needed for the mining business, the violation of the mining laws and the use of trolleys without taking an NOC from the departments concerned will be looked into," said Legha.

He further said the trolley that had been impounded was being used over the Pungar river and that too without taking permission from the Revenue and Forest Departments.

Kunao villagers call off protest for week
To chart out future course of action
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 2
Chandramohan Singh Negi, convener of the dharna undertaken by Kunao villagers in Rishikesh seeking the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, has announced to suspend the protest from tomorrow for at least one week to chart out the future course of action.

"For the past 32 days, we have been staging a dharna. However, it seems our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Therefore, we have decided to suspend the dharna for at least one week to chart out the future course of the agitation," he said.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Gandhian Amarnath Bhai reached the site of the dharna and assured of all support to the protesters. He said it was strange that while many states in the country had taken an initiative towards the implementation of the Act, Uttarakhand had been lagging behind in this respect.

Roshani Aswal, Santosh Devi, Lata Devi, Rajendra Singh and Sumanlata Devi participated in today's dharna.

Rock-cut sculpture gets facelift but residents call it shoddy
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, May 3
Finally, the rock-cut sculpture of a lion near Vasu Cinema on the Mall Road in Mussoorie, that has been an important landmark for tourists and had remained neglected for a long time, has received a facelift but has saddened the residents for the shoddy work done by the Municipal Council.

However, many residents are not happy at the work done by the painters and have demanded it's repaint so that the original colours of the lion sculpture are clearly visible.

The lion sculpture had been a favourite among the tourists, especially children, as they stood in front of the sculpture to pose for pictures, but lately the paint from the lion sculpture had worn out completely and was infested with weeds, giving an ugly look much to the disgust of residents and tourists alike.

The Tribune had raised the issue a number of times earlier, as a result the Mussoorie Municipal Council finally decided to give a complete makeover to the lion sculpture here.

However, the residents of the area are unhappy at the new colour of the lion, which is completely different form the earlier one that was much more original.

They also alleged that the Municipal Council instead of giving the painting work to some professional artist had assigned the task to some door painters, who have ruined the originality of the whole structure.

The bright yellow paint with some strokes of black used by painters on the lion sculpture instead of attracting the tourists has become a sore to the eyes, added 
the residents.

Rajendar Singh, a tourist from Dehradun, said that the lion looks bright and colourful and the weeds that were growing on the lion earlier had been removed but the originality was missing due to shoddy paint work.

OP Uniyal, president of the Municipal Council of Mussoorie, also said that he was not happy with the upgradation work of the sculpture and had directed his officials to re-do the paint work again so that the original look of the lion was clearly visible.

The rock-cut lion sculpture was given shape by eminent sculptor C Roy from West Bengal, who was on a maiden visit to Mussoorie in 1960.

The protruding rock caught his imagination and the artiste, after seeking permission from the MC, picked up his chisel, hammers and carved out the rock intricately, converting it into an artistic beauty for everyone to cherish.

Save farm land in state: Virbhadra
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, December 2
Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Virbhadra Singh today advised the state government to toe the line of Himachal of saving agricultural land in the state by implementing Section 18 of the Revenue Act.

“If the state wants to save its agricultural land for future generations, it should toe the line of the Himachal government which implemented the law with its coming into existence as a separate state on January 25, 1971. The Act prohibited any one from purchasing agricultural land in the state, thus making it available for horticulture and off-season agricultural works,” Virbhadra told mediapersons in Nainital.

The Congress leader from Himachal Pradesh said he had advised first Chief Minister of the state Nityanand Swami to enact this law but he did not pay much heed to his advice. “Uttarakhand is prosperous in natural resources. If these resources are used in right direction, the state can become prosperous and self-sufficient as well,” he added.

dehradun Diary
Rift in Cong over distribution of posts in corporations

THE recently concluded meeting of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) generated a lot of heat and brought out the contradictions within the state government as well as the state Congress party organisation.

The PCC meeting was attended by party general secretary in charge of Uttarakhand party affairs Birender Singh, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, state Congress chief Yahpal Arya, ministers and senior party leaders.

At the outset, the differences between the state government and party organisation on the issue of distribution of ranks of various corporations and government bodies came to the fore.

Yashpal Arya, the state party chief who was known to be meek state party chief, probably realising that it could be his last PCC meeting as state party head, took the government and the party to task for ignoring the claims of party workers and leaders. He said the party could not ignore the workers who fought for five years in the streets.

He forcefully advocated that senior party workers should be adequately compensated and honoured by giving them government positions. He further complained that it had been eight months since the Congress government came to power but the party workers had not been given any positions.

Birender Singh toeing his line also advocated that senior party workers should be honoured and given these positions.

He went a step further and criticised senior ministers who had occupied the post of chairperson of various corporations under their ministry. He told them categorically to choose between ministership or chairperson of corporation.

Interestingly, he was pointing towards Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat, who is known for his aggression and running his ministry in a roughshod manner.

He is one who has occupied the position of a chairperson of a corporation in his ministry. Birender Singh again hit out against Harak Singh Rawat by stating that the directorates of various departments should remain in the state capital. A controversy has arisen following a move by Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat to shift the office of the Agriculture Directorate to Pauri Garhwal from Dehradun.

This was resented by the employees as well the legislators hailing from Dehradun and Haridwar districts. The differences between Bahuguna and Harish Rawat factions were also evident when Sports Minister Dinesh Aggarwal, a loyalist of Union Minister Harish Rawat, commented on the distribution of various positions by the state government. This brought an angry response from state Congress chief and even the Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.

Primarily, it was only party legislators who had been given such responsibilities till now. There was not much seriousness in planning the future strategy of the party for the fast approaching Lok Sabha elections in 2014 or to strengthen the party base following the defeat of the party nominee Saket Bahuguna, son of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, in the Tehri parliamentary byelection in October.

The sincerity and seriousness of party affairs could be gauged from the fact that while senior minister Indira Haridyesh was speaking, Birender Singh left the meeting. Soon, the meeting was over, leaving behind disgruntled partymen.

— SMA Kazmi

Speaker meets top officials for Assembly session

Dehradun, December 2
Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal today presided over a meeting to look into security arrangements for the Assembly session beginning December 5.

Kunjwal directed the police for deployment of police personnel at watch towers and also entry and exit gates to ensure fool-proof security arrangements. He directed the officials of power, potable water and health departments to make all necessary arrangements for the session.

Kunjwal said those who would enter the Assembly building with the passes should also keep their departmental identity card with themselves. He said this would check the entry of unauthorised persons inside the Assembly building.

He also directed for ensuring the closure of mobile phones for all those sitting in the press and visitors galleries en course the Assembly session proceedings.

The Speaker also directed for keeping all guards of ministers and legislators outside the main gate of the Assembly building. — TNS

Agitators start padyatra for road construction
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 2
Members of the Uttarakhand Bachao Sangharsh Samiti started padyatra from Haridwar to Dehradun for agitation in front of the Uttarakhand Assembly on the first day of the session on December 5 to demand the immediate construction of the Kotdwar-Ramnagar road.

It had been the demand of the people of Garhwal as well as Kumaon region to construct the Ramnagar-Kotdwar road since the formation of the state as it would reduce the distance between Garhwal and Kumoan regions by 100 kilometres.

The people of the Kotdwar region led by former legislator Shailnder Rawat had been demanding this road. It was in November 2010 when the then Chief Minister had ordered the construction of the road and sanctioned Rs. 8 crore for the first phase.

The construction of the first phase of the Kandi road between Laldhang and Chillarkhal was completed but till then the construction had been stopped due to objections of the Forest Department.

The Uttarakhand Bachao Sangarsh Samiti members got the support from the residents of the Laldhang area who also participated in the padyatra.

Forest officials inspect construction work
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, December 2
The officials from the Forest Department led by the SDO, forest division, Mussoorie, carried out an inspection drive to determine the construction in the notified and de-notified estates in Mussoorie yesterday.

According to the SDO, forest division, Mussoorie, Devi Prasad Baloni, acting on the files sent to their office for further investigation carried out the inspection drive at 12 residential complexes where the construction work was going on under different estates here.

He further said that the inspection drive was being carried out to collect the information about the de-notified and notified areas under forests in the town to ease the problem of the residents who were interested in renovating or constructing residential houses here.

Later, speaking to the media, he said that Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, under the Forest Conservation Act had formulated a policy in which the permission of the ministry was mandatory for any construction work being undertaken in notified areas. Some residential complexes that had come to notice of the Forest Department here were built before the year 1980 and if the owners wanted to carry out any constructive activity, they would have to seek a no-objection permission from the ministry.

He further informed that for the de-notified areas, the people interested in construction in de-notified areas will have to seek permission for the state Forest Department only.

Devi Prasad Baloni further said that the survey to determine the notified and de-notified areas in Mussoorie was in progress in which two estates have been surveyed till now and the work for other areas will begin soon. After the completion of the survey here the ambiguity prevailing in determining the notified and de-notified areas will be removed permanently, added Baloni.