Ministerial staff in no mood to relent
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 30
With ministerial employees of Uttarakhand staying away from official work, their strike is posing problems for the people.

Work was affected in the Collectorate, the departments of Medical, Rural Development, Irrigation, Panchayati Raj, Sugarcane, Forest, Social Welfare, Agriculture and Transport and Rishikul-Gurukul Ayurvedic colleges.

The ministerial employees have been on agitation since December 27 for their demands.

Under the aegis of the Uttaranchal Federation of Ministerial Services Association, the district Haridwar unit has also extended its support to the statewide strike.

People can be seen waiting outside the offices owing to pending works, with many enquiring about the chances of taking back the strike from the employees itself.

District chief of the UFMSA Jata Shankar Shrivastava said this strike was the final option, as in the past too they had resorted to strike but only assurances were given.

“Nothing in reality was done by the government. They just fooled us opting by giving assurance and delaying tactics. But this time, we are not going to retreat without our demands being met,” said Shrivastava.

Citing the step taken by Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, which has given amended grade pay from March 2011 itself, Gita Kiran, an employee, urged Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to follow suit.

She added that the employees din’t want strike too, but the government’s apathy made them to do so.

Rishipal Singh, Sant Lal Shah, VD Raturi, Saeed Hussai, Suman Lata, Saroj Dwivedi, Rakesh Vajpayi, Mohammed Ahsaan, Rakesh Kumar and UD Bhatt among others were present at the agitation venue in the Collectorate.

Police on high alert on New Year eve
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 30
The city police has been put on high alert to deal with any untoward incident on the New Year eve. Expecting hooliganism in the city in the name of celebrations, SSP Kewal Khurana said the police was going to be very strict with people taking to drunken driving.

For this, the police situated on main crossings/ T-points has been provided alco-meters. The celebrations in hotels or other joints will be allowed only up to 1.30 at night.

The SSP said to streamline traffic on road at night time, the police force along with women police and dog squad would be deputed throughout the city to check overspeed and rash driving as well.

The barriers had been installed on Rajpur Road, Saharanpur Road and Haridwar Road. The police would also appeal to public to maintain peace through mobile vehicles.

The routes in the city have been diverted in this way. The traffic which goes toward Mussorrie from Haridwar/Rishikesh has been diverted towards Jogiwala. Similarly, the traffic from Mussoorie to Haridwar has now been diverted toward Jogiwala to Haridwar via Old Rajpur Road Saibaba temple to Ring Road.

Youths held

The Rajpur police arrested Gopal Ajay Kumar, Rahul Sharma and Gopal for intimidating a hotel owner on the Mussoorie road with fire shots in the air on Saturday night. They were pressuring the hotel owner to start music on DJ after 11 at night whereas the owner refused to do so saying that the police had prohibited DJ after 10 pm. At this, the accused began fighting with him. Gopal, a builder, fired in the air. The police arrested all of them and confiscated their cars and revolver. The Rajpur police has also written to the SSP and the DM to cancel the licence of the revolver.

Sikh welfare society holds installation ceremony
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 30
The Doon Sikh Welfare Society held its 32nd installation ceremony for the new executive board for 2013 here today.

President of the society Amarjeet Singh Bhatia and his team members were sworn in amid a large gathering.

The chief guest on the occasion, Dr S Farooq, an industrialist, lauded the role of the Doon Sikh Welfare Society in charity works. He said the society had been holding health camps for the past three decades which had benefited thousands of people. He said distribution of clothes and blankets to the poor every winter, distribution of books to poor schoolchildren and honouring senior citizens of the society were some of the important regular activities undertaken by the society.

President of the Shri Guru Singh Sabha Rajendra Singh Rajan also expressed happiness over the charitable activities being carried out by the society. Doon Club president Devendra Singh Mann said there was no greater worship than serving the poor and said the society was doing exactly the same.

Founder president of the society Kirpal Singh Chawla said the Doon Sikh Welfare Society that started with a few members and today it had 768 life members. He said 33 new life members had been enrolled in the society this year. He said in the eye camp held in October, 117 eye operations were performed and 500 specs were distributed to the needy.

In his address, president Amarjeet Singh Bhatia reiterated his commitment to carry forward the traditions and values of the society. He said the society today had members irrespective of class, creed and religion.

Among those honoured included social worker Anil Verma, who was honoured for donating blood on as many as 90 occasions. Human Rights activist Pushpa Mehta was also honoured.

Apart from president Bhatia, AD Bharadwaj was installed secretary, HS Sachdev as treasurer, SL Pahwa, Satinder Pal Singh, K S Kambo and GS Jassal as vice-presidents, DK Shukla and VK Vohra joint secretaries, Shevata Rai Talwar as public relations officer and Pradeep Kukreti as legal advisor of the society.

Garhwal mourns Delhi gang rape victim's death
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 30
Huge processions were today held at Kotdwar, Pauri, Srinagar and small villages of the Garhwal region to mourn the death of the Delhi gang-rape victim.

On a call given by Sumangala Sanghs, hundreds of girls took out a march at Kotdwara and raised slogans. Businessmen, political activists, students and local people also joined them. They demanded stern punishment to culprits.

At Srinagar, students of Garhwal University took out a procession to express their anguish over the incident.

They also undertook a candle march in the evening in memory of the rape victim. At the district headquarters of Pauri, people and theatre artistes gathered at the main bazaar and paid tributes to the brave girl.

Govt at receiving end over natural disasters, infighting in party
SMA Kazmi
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 30
The year 2012 brought in a mixed bag of results for the state of Uttarakhand where a new Congress-led government took over from the BJP after the state Assembly poll held in the month of January this year raising expectations of better governance for the common man in the coming 2013.

However, natural disasters in the shape of floods, cloudburst and landslides in the hills also brought havoc claiming the lives of more than 100 persons and massive destruction of private as well as public property in Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi districts of Garhwal.

The year started with high-pitched electoral battle for the third Assembly poll which resulted in a hung Assembly. The Congress managed to emerge as the largest party by a single seat claiming 32 seats compared to 31 won by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Congress by getting the support of three independents, three members of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and a lone Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Panwar) faction legislator managed to cobble up a majority to form the government.

But the selection of Vijay Bahuguna, Lok Sabha MP from Tehri Garhwal, as Chief Minister by the Congress high command resulted in near revolt by Union Minister Harish Rawat and his loyalist legislators. The party high command intervened to pacify Harish Rawat and paved the way for the formation of the Vijay Bahuguna ministry in March this year.

Vijay Bahuguna consolidated his position by winning over Sitarganj BJP legislator Kiran Mandal who quit his seat. Vijay Bahuguna won the Sitarganj Assembly byelection by a big margin to reduce the number of BJP legislators to 30 seats in the state Assembly and increased the Congress tally to 33 in July this year.

The monsoon season witnessed a series of natural disasters in the shape of cloudbursts, floods and landslides in August and September 2012 in Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag districts of Garhwal. More than a hundred persons lost their lives as hundreds of houses and buildings both private and public were razed to the ground.

Hundreds were left homeless as houses and buildings collapsed in flash floods in Uttarkashi and Chamoli districts. A dozen bridges were washed away and debris from landslips blocked most roads, including national highways leading to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath and Hemkunt Sahib.

The Uttarakhand government had to suspend the Char Dham Yatra and initiated steps for the return of the over 1,500 stranded pilgrims.

A little over a month, thereafter, on September 13, a series of cloudbursts struck Uttarakhand triggering landslides and flash floods that left over 70 dead, 35 missing and several injured in parts of the hill state.

Ukhimath in Rudraprayag district was the worst hit as a cloudburst in the early hours flattened dozens of homes in eight villages killing at least 29 people in their sleep. Over 35 people went missing in the disaster and 15 were injured. The death toll finally reached more than 60 after search and rescue operations that lasted two weeks.

The state government did try to mitigate the suffering by giving compensation and requesting the Union Government to provide economic package for the disaster affected people. The Central Government gave an interim package of Rs 500 crore for the relief efforts. There were resentment amongst the people against the delay in the grant of relief.

On the political front, the ruling Congress suffered a major reverse in the Tehri parliamentary byelection. The Tehri Lok Sabha seat was vacated by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna but his son Saket Bahuguna, who was Congress candidate, lost to BJP's Mala Raj Laxmi Shah of the Tehri royal family. A host of issues, including the withdrawal of subsidy on LPG cylinders, non-performance of the state government and alleged scandals involving the Central Government led to the defeat of the Congress candidate. The defeat of the son of the Chief Minister was a personal setback for the Chief Minister Bahuguna.

The setback by the ruling Congress forced the party leadership to rethink about their strategy for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election scheduled to be held in May 2014. The Chief Minister Bahuguna in a move to win over the confidence of the people of the hills decided to hold a Cabinet meeting at Gairsain in Chamoli district of Garhwal in November this year.

Gairsain being a central place geographically in the state was termed as the future capital of the state during the statehood agitation. The regional parties, including the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), had been demanding to make Gairsain as the permanent capital of the state.

Bahuguna during the historic Cabinet meeting announced to make a Vidhan Sabha building at Gairsain. The move raised the hopes of the hill people that Gairsain would finally be made the permanent capital of the state. However, there was no official word by the state government on the controversial issue.

As the year 2012 came to an end, Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal announced that a new assembly building would be constructed in Dehradun also. This meant that while Gairsain will have an Assembly building and at least one Assembly session would be held there every year, Dehradun, the provisional capital, will also have a new Assembly building. The Congress by having two Assembly buildings in a clever move tried to placate the people of the hills as well as Terai region.

In the industrial sector, Chief Minister Bahuguna in a bid to give fillip to industrial activity inaugurated the second phase of industrial area at Sitarganj, his own Assembly constituency. He has been trying hard to bring in industrial investment for the SIDCUL phase two at Sitarganj.

The state government also got the sanction for the Kishau Dam and Lakhwar Vysai hydro-power projects from the Central Government. The state government also plan to tap the hydro-power potential of smaller projects. An adventure sports academy was also opened at Tehri Lake to give a boost to tourism activities in and around 42 km long Tehri lake.

The state government also initiated to give unemployment allowance as promised in the election manifesto.The state Congress government would be trying hard to perform better in the civic polls scheduled to be held in March-April this year before the final electoral battle of Lok Sabha poll in 2014.

The Highlights
The Congress took charge in the state. Clash between Bahuguna and Harish Rawat followed.
Cloudbursts struck Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag, triggering landslides and flash floods that left over 70 dead and 35 missing.
Vijay Bahuguna won the Sitarganj bypoll
Assembly building at Gairsain announced
CM inaugurated industrial area phase II at Sitarganj

Demonstrations for speedy conduct of relief operations
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 30
As part of the DAV (PG) College's week-long NSS annual training camp being held on the Sahastradhara road, volunteers today held demonstrations on the conduct of relief and rescue operations in case of disasters.

Anil Verma, incident control officer, civil defence, informed the volunteers about relief and rescue operations in case of disasters. He said time was a crucial factor while undertaking rescue operations and stressed on the speedy conduct of such operations.

Verma also spoke on the basic civil defence techniques to safeguard civilians in case of disasters. He said preparedness was very important to minimise human losses.

Harish Rawat visits Shri Panchayati Akhada
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 30
Union Minister for Water Resources Harish Rawat today visited Shri Panchayati Akhada Nirmala, Satighat, at Kankhal here today.

The minister offered floral tributes to the late Shri Mahant Mitra Prakash Singh Kothari and described him as a true saint, who always worked for the cause of society and saints.

A meeting and mass food was also organised at Shri Panchayati Akhada Nirmala, where a large number of devotees, akhada followers, saints and other people were present.

Harish Rawat said for more than four decades, Shri Mahant Prakash Singh Kothari remained attached with the akhada and worked actively during Maha Kumbh and Ardh Kumbh in Haridwar, Allahabad and Ujjain.

Shri Mahant Prakash Singh Kothari had been associated with Shri Panchayati Nirmal Akhada for the past 36 years and was given Kothari status on January 5,1990.

Development only on paper
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 30
The year too has set to pass like many other years without registering any commendable feat in tourism. Many new schemes were announced which are being funded by the state, the Centre and international agencies, but not a single one got completed.

The department failed to develop any destination as tourism destination on its own.

When it comes to new plans, tourism projects worth Rs 2,617 lakh at the district level, worth Rs 6,685 lakh at the state level, Rs 4,500 lakh at the Centre level and Rs 5,000 lakh by international agencies had been approved. These include development of water sports and eco-tourism, wayside amenities circuit, mega project of infrastructure at the Tehri lake, rural cluster and fairs and festivals along with carnivals.

The destinations which are being promoted with the development of infrastructure in and around these are Nainital, Mussoorie, Rishikesh and Char Dham destinations.

With regard to Char Dham destination, proposals of Rs 212 crore were prepared in 2002, of which Badri Dham circuit (Rs 702 lakh), Gangotri Dham circuit (Rs 481 lakh), Kedarnath Dham (Rs 453 lakh), Yamunotri Dham (448 lakh), Panchprayag circuit (Rs 772 lakh) and Nirmal Gangotri Mega Project (Rs 5000 lakh) had been cleared.

Surprisingly, no development seem to be taking place around Char dham destinations. The government tourist rest houses continue to look drab and lack quality services as compared to private hotel/accommodations. The roads, parking space, wayside amenities on these destinations do not reflect even the scant impression of massive development going around there. When officials are asked about the implementation of the action plan, they refer to the process of documentation in this regard. Surprisingly so much is going on in the documents but nothing is seen on the ground.

All futuristic hopes are pinned upon developing infrastructure around the existing tourist spots to cash in on their popularity. The state still continues to bank heavily upon religious tourism. In the past 12 years, it could not develop a single new destination and make it popular like the existing ones such as Mussoorie and Naintal developed by British long ago. Tehri lake plan is on anvil. Much is being talked about launching water sports and other adventure activities.

Similarly, the huge funds spent on developing infrastructure and in training of villagers with regard to rural tourism failed to yield any tangible results. No follow up is being done as to what happen of those schemes launched in the rural sector. Thrust is being laid on lapping up new projects and funds coming from them.

The tall claims of improving infrastructure and giving the sick units of tourist rest houses of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) on the public private partnership mode are far from facts. Owing to this, the GMVN has not been able to become a profitable entity in all these years.

Its huge workforce of more than 2000 employees has become a liability for the department.

The much-talked about international mountain biking expedition, which the GMVN was to undertake with a Delhi-based firm, in the month of November fizzled out at the last minute despite all the arrangements made for it.

The trust deficit between the GMVN and agency emerged as the reason for the cancellation. It proved a major setback in terms of growth of tourism and international exposure.

The tourism department also failed in turning the unique cultural identity of the state to its advantage. Unlike Rajasthan, where national as well as international tourists come to enjoy and participate in state fairs and festivals which are organised at grand level, the Tourism Department in Uttarakhand failed drastically in doing so.

The state government is, however, talking highly of promoting Nanda Devi Raj Yatra, which happens after every 12 years and is scheduled for next year in the state.

Wildlife menace, water crisis plagued Kumaon
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, December 30
Wildlife menace, damage to crops due to untimely rain, drinking water shortage and natural disasters were major adversities the Kumoan region had to face in 2012.

However, a ban on animal sacrifice in the wake the HC order was one of the achievements of the region. More than 10 temples bid adieu to the tradition practise of animal sacrifice this year.

The year began with a dry month, damaging the rabi crop due to the lack of moisture. It led to a further increase in migration from interior villages and more than 50 villages witnessed desertion. Residents of Ganai, Berinag, Tamli, Talladesh and the interior village of Namik also held agitations to draw the attention of the authorities towards their problems, said Mohan Singh Rawat, a senior member of the Pithoragarh Lok Manch.

He said one of the main causes of migration was increasing wild animal attacks on the crops. Farmers of Munsiyari, Champawat, Baram and Khetikhan lost most of their crops to animals.

The residents of the region also faced the perennial problem of water shortage this year. Due to natural disasters, most of the drinking water schemes damaged in the rural areas of the region. " Even Pithoragarh, Champawat and Almora towns could get only half of their required water," said Navin Bisht, a social worker.

The year also witnessed the incidents of man-animal conflict. "Most of the deaths due to animal attacks were reported from the Corbett Tiger Reserve and the Lamgara area of Almora," said a source in the Wildlife Protection Society, Haldwani.

Natural disasters also claimed 148 lives and rendered 977 families homeless in Bageshwar, Pithoragarh and Almora districts of the region. "Out of 163 highly sensitive villages of Kumaon region, no village was rehabilitated this year," said Devendra Singh Deva, a resident of Quire Zimia village of Munsiyari.

He said the government's failure in commencing a pre-disaster management policy and the lack of state disaster response force were the reasons due to which the damage by these natural disasters could not be minimised in these areas.

Bodybuilder Harshwardhan brings laurels to state
Wins silver medal in national c'ship in Rajasthan
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 30
The adage that talent needs no boundary goes well with Harshwardhan Sharma, hailing from Kankhal in Haridwar.

Harshwardhan, fondly called Himanshu by his near ones, bagged silver medal in the North India National Body Building Championship held at Boondi, Rajasthan, recently.

There were eight participants from Uttarakhand in the championship of whom only Harshwardhan made it to the podium.

The championship witnessed participation of 275 participants from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. In fact, this is a maiden national-level medal in a national championship by any participant hailing from Uttarakhand.

Belonging to a medium-class family, Harshwardhan got enchanted with bodybuilding seeing photos of former Mr Universe Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bollywood stars like Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty and Hrithik Roshan.

Despite less exposure to this healthy sport in Haridwar, Himanshu was encouraged by his father, Pramod Kumar Sharma, who motivated him to take up this sport professionally.

Talking to TNS, an elated Pramod Kumar said seeing the dedication and hard work of his son, he knew that he would make it big in the sport, bringing laurels to the state.

Harshwardhan, prior to this silver medal, has also won district, city and college-level championships.

Besides bodybuilding, Harshwardhan has been academically sound. He is a graduate of SD Inter College, Satighat, Kankhal. He did his intermediate from Gurukul Kangri University and received science degree from Chinmaya College of Science, Haridwar.

Sports Minister Dinesh Agarwal, in his message, said Harshwardhan had made his people proud. The minister said youngsters needed to take inspiration from the young lad.

The minister also assured of motivating youngsters of the state to take up bodybuilding as a profession.

District Olympic Union Secretary Mahesh Joshi also congratulated Harshwardhan for bagging the maiden medal in a national championship.

Harshwardhan is now eying for the Senior National Body Building Championship to be held in Pune, Maharashtra, in March.

Doon United beat Shivalik 2-1 in football tourney
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 30
In the 7th Abhishek Dabral Memorial Football Tournament being played on the Survey Ground, Dehradun, Doon United beat Shivalik 2-1.

For Doon United, Amit and Sumit scored the first and second goal in the 37th and 50th minute of the match.

Surender scored the goal for Shivalik in the 58th minute of the match.

Balaji will take on Gorkha Ranger in tomorrow's match.

Khalsa (A) team, Everest Cricket Club win
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 30
The Khalsa (A) team narrowly won by 1 run beating the KCA team in closely contested match played in the 61st District Cricket League 2012-13 at Col Brown School, Dehradun.

Batting first, the Khalsa (A) team piled up a total of 159 runs losing all its wickets in process. Tejasvi scored highest 45 runs. Sonu, Neeraj and Babu of the KCA team took 2 wickets each.

Chasing the target score, the KCA team were all out at a score of 158 runs in the very last over of their innings, thus, ensuring 1 run win for the Khalsa (A) team. Himanshu scored the highest 16 runs for the KCA team. Vipin took 3 wickets for the Khalsa (B) team.

In another match, Everest Cricket Club won by 200 runs against the Urja Bhawan team.

Batting first, Everest Cricket Club scored 303 runs losing just 2 wickets. Agrim scored highest 86 runs. Batting next, Urja Bhawan team was all out at a score of 103 runs, thereby ensuring a massive 200 win for Everest Cricket Club.

Three of family held with Rs 5.80 lakh in fake currency
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, December 30
Three persons of a family were arrested in Kashipur after counterfeit currency notes worth Rs 5.80 lakh were seized from their possession.

According to the police, the arrested family members, who had picked the consignment from the Malda district of West Bengal, were to carry the bundles of the fake currency notes to New Delhi at some contact.

“The police had received a tip-off that the culprits will assemble near a railway godown at Kashipur. Following this, the police arrested Vikram Jatav along with his wife and son last evening,” said AS Takwale, SSP, Udham Singh Nagar.

According to the police, the recovered consignment of fake currency notes was the third by the party in the past six months.

“The culprits have revealed that they had given one consignment of fake currency notes at Delhi and another at Kashipur for which they were rewarded with good price,” said the SSP.

5 nabbed for gambling in Doon
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 30
People have begun indulging in gambling a day before the New Year celebrations.

Sub-Inspector Shankar Singh Bisht today apprehended Sagar, Paras, Vikki, Deepak Arora and Raju Thapa from Ansari Marg at Mannuganj with Rs l.8 lakh.

They have been sent to jail. Further investigations are on into the matter.