Dehradun, December 11
Resenting increase in taxes on private commercial vehicles, all public conveyance and transport vehicles kept off the roads in Uttarakhand today. The day-long call of stir was given by Uttarakhand Sanyukt Parivahan Mahasangh, a joint body of all commercial vehicle owners.

The private vehicle operators also marched up to the state Assembly but were prevented by a strong police force from moving ahead. The protesters gave a memorandum of their demands to the officials before dispersing.

Passengers faced a lot of inconvenience due to the stir as no public mode of transport was available in the region. People at the Inter State Bus Terminus and railway station in Dehradun were seen leaving for their destinations on foot. Parents had a tough time as Uttarakhand School Vans Association also took part in the strike. Few of the schools had even announced a holiday on account of the stir.

Describing the stir a success, Uttarakhand Sanyukt Parivahan Mahasangh’s president Uma Naresh Tiwari said the commercial vehicle owners were already suffering due to rising fuel prices in recent months and now the rise in taxes will be detrimental to their livelihood.

He said the annual tax on all categories of commercial vehicles has registered a phenomenal rise. He said the annual tax for Vikram, the cheapest mode of transport for general public, has been increased from Rs 2900 to Rs 13,200. “Similarly, the annual tax for autorickshaws has been increased from existing 1460 to Rs 3000. Further, for a 24-seater bus, the annual tax has been increased from Rs 2,226 to 37,800,” Tiwari pointed out. He said moreover taxes like Green Tax have also been introduced. Tiwari asserted the Uttarakhand Sanyukt Parivahan Mahasangh will not tolerate this rise in tax under any circumstances.

Nearly 5000 private public conveyance vehicles operate in Uttarakhand’s capital Dehradun.

Haridwar, December 11
Autorickshaw unions today observed a complete shutdown of services here to protest against the increase in tax on auto rickshaws.

The impact of the one-day strike can be gauged by the fact that no auto vikram was visible moving in the city. The commuters suffered as the result of the strike and had to travel by tongas and cycle rickshaws.

The strike was called on by the Panchpuri Auto Rickshaw Union, which was supported by the Haridwar Taxi-Maxi Joint Union, the Auto Rickshaw Chalak-Malik Kalyan Samiti, the Taxi Union, the Sumo Union and the Travel Agent Union.

Chief of Auto Rickshaw Chalak Kalyan Samiti Shankar Sharma said commercial vehicles were already perturbed at numerous taxes and now the state government’s move had exacerbated their problems.

Chief of the Sumo Union Balbir Negi lamented that state government, without taking into consideration the already high rate taxes and shoddy condition of roads, had taken the decision of increasing the tax rate in haste.

Panchpuri Auto Rickshaw Maha Sangh head Ravi Dutt said a mega agitation would be staged on December 16 if the state government did not roll back its decision in coming days.

A memorandum has forwarded to Governor Aziz Qureshi, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna via the Haridwar District Magistrate in this regard.

Haridwar, December 11
Owing to a one-day strike by the autorickshaw union and the absence of local transport service, commuters faced a tough time reaching their destinations here today.

Eliena Nastasia, a Russian tourist, expressed resentment over the government and the local administration's apathy to provide an alternative transport service for commuters.

Foreign tourists were surprised that despite Haridwar being a world renowned pilgrim and tourist city, there is no local bus service or mini mono rail service in place.

Taking advantage of the situation, rickshaw pullers and tongawalas charged exorbitant fares from pilgrims. On the other hand, local people avoided taking their services and instead preferred their own private vehicles to reach their working places.

Many factories situated in SIDCUL in Haridwar witnessed thin attendance as no bus service is available to this industrial hub in normal days too.

Industrial Association general secretary Sudhir Mehta said they had been demanding the public transport facility for long, but nothing had been done so far.

Dehradun, December 11
Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) officials were caught unawares by the biting cold spurred by continuous drizzling in the city today.

Officials made no arrangements of bonfires for poor people in the city today. Mayor Vinod Chamoli, however, said he had directed the officials to arrange for bonfires on main locations of the city.

Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (MNA), however, denied doing anything in this regard but assured that from tomorrow onwards the arrangements would be in place.

The callousness and insensitiveness on the part of DMC has starkly been exposed in this matter. The weather turned bitterly cold from the morning itself. The continuous spell of drizzle has further lowered the temperature. People could be seen wearing heavy pullovers, caps, gloves and resorting to means such as heater, bonfires etc to keep themselves warm. A section of the poor people who live on pavements and do not have proper warm clothing and resources to protect themselves had to depend on the help from outside sources.

The onus is on DMC to provide bonefires and blankets to poor people in the city each winter for which it also gets funding from the state government. But it has not taken any step in this regard till now. Even today, it did not feel necessary to provide bonfires at least a few important locations such as around Clock Tower, ISBT etc. It seems the officers are waiting for the weather to get sunny tomorrow and thus shirk away from doing anything about it. They will have a cozy sleep but the poor will have to freeze throughout night in the bitter cold.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli said DMC had been sanctioned Rs 10 lakh for purchase blankets for poor people. He said normally winters descended in the last days of December but this time, it set in suddenly today.

Haridwar, December 11
The city today witnessed the first winter rain, dipping the temperatures and residents resorting to various means to get a reprieve from the chilling weather conditions.

With the minimum temperature touching as low as 7 degree centigrade, residents, pilgrims and tourists faced a tough time today.

People were seen confined indoors. It was a busy day for tea, coffee vendors as people opted for these beverages in order to keep themselves warm on this chilling weather.

The city residents also witnessed power cuts, which added to their woes. In many colonies, owing to large duration of cuts, people have also expressed their discontentment against the power corporation for long cuts.

"Just as rain started, numerous power cuts also began affecting our household routine work. Hot water is not available for bathing, washing and we can't heat our rooms by room heater either. Power cuts were made in summer too, with power corporation citing overuse of electricity and now the same thing is being reasoned by department officers which is quite ironic", said Archana Ohri, a housewife at Shiv Moorti Chowk colony.

Dehradun, December 11
The employees’ association of the Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU) held a meeting in the city yesterday, where the members sought redressal of their demands from the state government.

They said if their demands were not met, they would go on strike. Their demands include wage revision, cancellation of new pension scheme, employment to dependents of those who died while serving the union and regularisation of daily wagers.

The members also flayed the alleged downsizing and outsourcing in the industries.

Lekhraj, Pitambar Lohani, Dilip Mukherjee, Dinesh Nautiyal and Purushottam Puri were among those who attended the meeting of the Centre of the Indian Trade Union.

Dehradun, December 11
The All-India Inter-Zonal Ordnance Factories Cricket Tournament was inaugurated by General Manager of the Opto Electronic Factory S Asthana here today.

Speaking on the occasion, R Rakshekhran, general manager of the Ordnance Factory, Dehradun, said it was for the second time that the national cricket tournament was being held in Dehradun. Earlier, it was in 2007 that the first cricket tournament was held here. Both the officials welcomed the players and officials from all over the country.

In the first match between Central Zone and North Zone, Central Zone, batting first, scored 189 runs in 20 overs at the loss of 4 wickets. Rohil Khan scored an unbeaten 59 runs while S Athar scored 55 runs. In reply, the North Zone team scored 52 runs at the loss of 5 wickets when it started to rain. Owing to the better run-rate, Central Zone was declared the winner of the match.

In the second match between East Zone and South Zone at Maharana Pratap Stadium, East Zone, batting first, scored 140 runs for 6 wickets in their stipulated 20 overs. The South Zone team could score only 10 runs in 3 over at the loss of 2 wickets when rain interrupted the play.

The toss of the coin decided the fate of the match and East Zone was declared the winner.

Dehradun, December 11
The Uttarakhand police, Haridwar and Roorkee teams in the men's section won their respective matches in the 3rd Uttarakhand State Basketball Championship for Men and Women being organised by Uttarakhand Basketball Association here yesterday.

Eighteen teams in both men's and women's categories from different organisations like ONGC, Uttarakhand police, universities, districts and sub-districts of Uttarakhand state are participating in the tournament.

The championship will be played on a league-cum-knockout system. The UBA will select probable players in the two sections during the championship for the 13-days pre-national coaching camp in preparation for the state team for participation in the 63rd National Basketball Championship to be held at Ludhiana from December 28, 2012, to January 4, 2013.

Results: Roorkee (men ) beat Nainital 52-31. Haridwar beat Pithoragarh 48-08. Uttarakhand police beat Graphic Era University 47-35.

In the women's section, Mussoorie defeated Graphic Era University 23-15.