Assembly at Gairsain to usher in development in hills: CM
Foundation stones of new House building, hostels of MLAs and officers laid
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 14
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Govind Singh Kunjwal laid the foundation stone of a new Assembly building at Bharadisain, near Gairsain in Chamoli district, today. The setting up of the Assembly building at Gairsain would usher in development in the hill region of the state, said the Chief Minister.

Bahuguna saluted the statehood agitators and said it is a day of joy and pride. He added keeping in mind the sentiments of statehood agitators and the development of the hill region the decision to establish the Assembly building at Gairsain was taken. National Building Construction Company would complete the construction in two years. Bahuguna said the issue of the permanent capital of the state should not be made controversial.

The Chief Minister and the Speaker also laid the foundation stones of an MLA transit hostel, an officers’ transit hostel and a staff transit hostel. Besides, foundation stones of a veterinary science college at Gauchar under GB Pant Agriculture and Technology University, Pantnagar, a horticulture and aromatic plants compound at Bharadisain were also laid.

The Chief Minister said a lot of had to be done in sectors like drinking water, education, road, health, industry, employment and agriculture. The state government was making all possible efforts to make it possible.

He underlined that the Plan outlay of state at the time of its inception was Rs 700 crore and it had swelled to Rs 8,200 crore now. He said a separate fund of Rs 50 crore had been made for the development of backward areas.

The Chief Minister said the women and the youth had played a stellar role in the formation of the state and the government would resolve their problems on priority. He added all promises made by the state government would be fulfilled. Funds for setting up of engineering colleges, polytechnics and ITIs had already been arranged.

Bahuguna described the decision of laying a railway line from Rishikesh to Karnaprayag as another historic move. He said the Union Defence Ministry would provide Rs 4,800 crore for the project. The state was heading towards development for which it was honoured by the President of India recently.

He welcomed suggestions from the people for the development of the state. He said all necessary arrangements had been made for the success of the Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra scheduled to take place this year. It would be an endeavor to give it an international outlook.

Bahuguna called upon the agitating ministerial employees to end their stir in public interest. He urged them to support the government in the development of the state. He said interests of government employees would be taken into consideration while taking any decision.

The Chief Minister also released the Annual Calendar of Agriculture on the occasion.

Kunjwal, while chairing the function, said Uttarakhand was formed after a long struggle and we collectively need to take it on the path of development. He added comprehensive development of the state would take place only when the hill areas were developed. “With the laying of the foundation stone of the Legislative Assembly building, one of the many dreams of the statehood agitators has been realised,” he said. The setting up of the Assembly building at Gairsain would bring a new dawn of development in the state,” he added.

Pauri Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj, Almora MP Pradeep Tamta, Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Ajay Bhatt, Cabinet ministers Harak Singh Rawat and Yashpal Arya also expressed their views. The programme was conducted by Deputy Speaker of the Assembly Dr Anusuiya Prasad Maikhuri.

Other Cabinet ministers Surendra Singh Negi, Amrita Rawat, Pritam Singh, Harish Durgapal, Mantri Prasad Naithani, Dinesh Agarwal and Preetam Singh Panwar were also present. Besides Vice-Chairman of the 20-point programme Rajendra Singh Bhandari, Chairman of the GMVN Dinesh Dhanai, Chairman of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee Ganesh Godiyal, MLAs Manoj Tiwari, Dr Jeetram, Lalit Farshwan, Karan Mehra, Shailarani Rawat, Subodh Uniyal and Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain and other dignitaries were also present.

The Chief Minister also paid tribute to Vir Chandra Singh Garhwali by garlanding his statue. 

UKD, statehood fighters term the occasion 'historic'
Activists distribute sweets
"Due recognition to Gairsain given"
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 14
With the foundation stone of the Assembly laid today at Gairsain on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sakranti in Gairsain town in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal activists and statehood fighters in Haridwar have hailed the occasion, terming it as historic.

Pro-Gairsain statehood fighters said that after 12 years of formation of separate Uttrakhand, finally the wish and dream of residents of Uttarakhand have been realised.

UKD activists distributed sweets and also took the credit of Gairsain being given due recognition, citing the stone-laying foundation and installation of the statue of renowned freedom fighter Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali at Gairsain way back in the summer of 1992.

A special function was held at the camp office of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal at Shiv Lok Colony, where activists celebrated the Assembly building coming up at Gairsain.

Central secretary, labour cell, Uday Ram Semwal, in his address said that Gairsain, being equidistant from Garhwal and Kumaon divisions of the state, development spree as well as all-round development of all the 13 districts of the state would now be easily possible.

“For separate Uttarakhand more than 17 statehood fighters laid their lives. They all favoured Gairsain or a hilly town as possible capital of the hill state.We are not against Dehradun but it is an interim capital made during formation of the state in 2000.Now the time has come to give Gairsain it's due credit, "said Semwal.

The youth wing city chief, Lalit Mamgain, said that it was the UKD which had been vociferous in demanding permanent capital of the state, owing to sentiments of the people and taking into account the geographical conditions of the state.

With today being the birthday of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal central chief Trivendra Singh Pawar, the party activists also celebrated the occasion, praying for his long life and recognising his contribution as statehood fighter.

Women wing cell chief Sarita Purohit remarked that Trivendra Singh Pawar, along with veteran Inder Mani Baduni, Diwakar Bhatt, Rana Ranbeer Singh and others had installed the statue of Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali in 1992 at Gairsain, participated in many an agitation for a separate Uttarakhand and restructured the regional outfit.

Shiv Dutt Joshi ad Vijay Mamgain, residents of Gairsain, highlighted the backwardness and woes of people of the hilly town, which they hoped will be addressed now after the coming up of the Assembly building.

A political gimmick: TPS Rawat
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 14
Lt Gen TPS Rawat (Retd), president of Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha, has termed the laying of the foundation stone of the new Assembly building at Gairsain in Chamoli district as a mere political gimmick by the state Congress government.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Lt Gen Rawat (Retd) alleged that the state Congress government only wanted to befool the people of the state with an eye on the Lok Sabha 2014 poll.

He asked about the outcome of the Dixit Commission report which was set up to choose a place for a permanent capital of the state.

Rawat said that the state Congress government, in a hurry to win brownie points, has laid the foundation stone of the new Assembly building at Gairsain. He said that Chief Minister Bahuguna remained non-committal on declaring Gairsain as permanent capital. “If Gairsain is to be the permanent capital, then why is the state government looking for a place for a new building at Dehradun,” he asked.

Rawat further charged that no master plan had been made for Gairsain and the state Congress government lacked the will and commitment to develop it as permanent capital. 

Credibility of govt at stake
Decisions taken after due deliberations being reversed
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 14
Lacking courage, the Congress government has fallen into a habit of reversing decisions taken after due consideration, severely denting the credibility of the government. In the last 10 months, there have been several flip-flops by the government that has bent backwards to please the Opposition. At times it has even succumbed to the lightest pressure exerted by MLAs of its own party.

An E-tendering process that was expected to usher in transparency has now been altered after some MLAs from the ruling party raised objections. Now, according to the latest orders, all the departments would manually tender the work orders in the range of Rs 25 lakh-Rs 1crore.

The adoption of E-tendering was one among the several measures being pushed by the Department of Good Governance and Corruption Eradication. However, sources claim with the MLAs from the ruling party felt the pinch as they would have then had limited role in awarding tenders. The government was forced to retrace it’s steps.

Under relentless pressure from the Opposition, the government went back on it’s decision to privatise loss-making sugar mills, though, before the Opposition demanded a rollback, the government had come up with facts and figures to support it’s case.

Earlier, the government had repealed the Transfer Act that was passed by the Khanduri government and till this day has not resolved the issue of transfer of teachers and doctors.

Despite the High Court ruling, the government went ahead and announced the creation of ex-cadre for SC and ST employees. It was later made to withdraw after stiff opposition from the employees at the height of the stir against reservations in promotions left it badly bruised. “There is growing disenchantment with the government as most of the time it has failed to come strong on policy matters. There is no point in announcing decisions if soon after their announcement a need is felt to roll them back. The credibility of the government would become zero,” said Harbans Kapoor, BJP leader.

For that matter, during the Tehri parliamentary election, the Chief Minister had announced that he would discuss the matter of increasing the cap on subsidised cylinders from six to 12 a year for the state, but efforts came a cropper after the Central Government did not relent immediately, and the matter is still pending. 

Moving moments at Shaheed Sthal
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, January 14
Emotions ran high as residents of Mussoorie gathered at Shaheed Sthal today in protest against the brutal killing of Army soldiers at the LOC on January 8. Local historian Gopal Bhardwaj, who is also a former roller- skating champion of international repute, put on roller skates and rolled on these from Shaheed Sthal to Library Bazaar and back carrying placards in support of the two martyred soldiers, who laid down their lives in line of duty for the country.

Gopal Bhardwaj, condemning the act of Pakistan, said that the beheading of the soldiers was not an individual insult but that of the country, and the Indian Government should take strong action in the wake of the gruesome act committed by the Pakistan Army.

Gopal Bhardwaj said it was due to a strong leader like Indira Gandhi that the country was able to defeat Pakistan in 1971, that led to the carving out of a new country Bangladesh. The present government should act on similar lines and send strong signals to Pakistan so that such incidents were not repeated again.

Shrinking fertile land in Terai worries farmers
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, January 14
The farming community has expressed it's concern over the shrinking farmland and agricultural land being used for non- agricultural purposes in Terai region of Udham Singh Nagar district.

“In the last two years, 669 farmers have sold their fertile agricultural land in Kiccha subdivision alone, by availing land use change under the prevalent laws of doing so,” said Ila Giri, SDM of Kiccha subdivision of Udham Singh Nagar.

“The farmers have been given the facility to change use pattern of their land from agricultural one to commercial, under Section 143 of UP Zamindari Abolition and Land Management act of 1950, provisions of which are applicable in the state of Uttarakhand. The farmers are selling their land as they are being given higher cost than the production on the land,” said a district level officer in US Nagar.

According to agricultural experts, the Terai land, which has ground water available at a mere 25-feet deep in almost every spot of the region, is a boon for farming as it can produce agricultural crops for the next 200 years continuously without any sort of fertilisers. “The villagers of Bhabhrola, Ram Nagar Shimala, Pistor, Rameswarpur and Kacchi Kamaria have sold their precious land in the two years to commercial developers or industrialists,” said Col (Retd) Pramod Sharma.

According to Sharma, after the establishment of SIDCUL on the precious agricultural land in the area, some farmers had sold their land to developers and industrialists. Others had to follow suit as industrial effluents are reducing fertility of neighbouring land of the area. “Neither the order of the Supreme Court on prohibition of setting up industries on agricultural land, nor the government was taking any step to save this land, resulting in speedy depletion of the fertile agricultural land from the region,” said Sharma.

“We need a strong law in our state, which could prevent unlawful wastage of fertile Terai land,” said Sharma.

Water level in Kali river at record low
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, January 14
Officers of the Central Water Commission (CWC) have expressed concern at the record low water level in the Kali river at the Pancheswar confluence this winter. The situation has affected several irrigation and power projects constructed on the river in the plains of the state.

“The water level in the Kali river, which is called Sharda in the plains, was 137.12 cubic metre per second on yesterday compared to 145 cubic metre per second during the same period last year,” said DS Mehta, regional engineer of the CWC, which monitors the water level in the river.

“Insufficient rain during the monsoon in the higher hill region coupled with unprecedented freezing of supplementary rivulets of the river this year has resulted in the record fall in the water level in the river,” said Mehta.

The CWC gauges the water level in the Kali at Pancheswar where the Saryu river from Bageshwar, the Ramganga river from Munsiyari and the Kali river from the Kalapani glacier merge and form a new river called the Sharda in the plains of the state. “Improper recharge of natural water sources of these rivers in the hill region during the monsoon last year has resulted in not only less water flow for irrigation purposes this year but also caused vast damage to agriculture land due to frost,” said MP Singh, an agricultural scientist in Champawat district. 

KVs to have permanent buildings
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 14
The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan is preparing a proposal to give permanent buildings to Kendriya Vidyalayas (KV) located in the hill districts and running from rented accommodation.

The new buildings are expected to come up at Gopeshwar, Srinagar, Pauri, Agustmuni, New Tehri, Bageshwar, Lohaghat, Gwaldam, Haldwani, Banbasa Cantt and Bhimtal.

According to the Kendriya Vidyalya Sangathan, around 48 KV schools are functioning under the Dehradoon region, out of which 45 KV are located in Uttarakhand.

"There are several KVs in Uttarakhand that are running from private buildings. Now we are planning to house them in government buildings with all the facilities. In the hills 4 acres of land would be required for constructing buildings for KV schools and around 15 acres of land in the plain areas," said NS Rana, Regional Deputy Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Dehradun.

These schools would have clean water supply, toilet, Internet and other facilties.

Celebrations at Doon Cong bhavan
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 14
Congress workers celebrated the laying of foundation stone of new Assembly building at Gairsain in Chamoli district here today.

As soon as the news reached Dehradun, Congress workers gathered at the state Congress bhawan and burst crackers to celebrate the occasion. They also distributed sweets.

Suryakant Dhasmana, vice-president of the Uttarakhand Congress, while welcoming the move, said it was a historic moment for the residents of the state. He further said the new Assembly building at Gairsain would open new avenues for the development of the backward hill regions during the Congress regime. He complimented Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna for the historic move and hoped that the development of the hill areas would be 
accelerated.

Ashok Verma, Congress leader of councillors in the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, also welcomed the move of the state government. Verma said it was a historic decision which would finally fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the statehood agitators. 

Female elephant killed after colliding with train
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 14
The injured elephant that was being searched by Rajaji National Park and Haridwar Forest Division officials was today found dead a few hundred metres away from the very spot at Motichur range, where yesterday the Jan Shatabdi Train had collided with a herd of elephants.

Informing about this, Tibdi Range officer of Raja Ji National Park Mahendra Singh Negi told The Tribune that a joint forest-park team found the female elephant bleeding profusely in the dense forest range of the park.

“The female elephant was found dead with many injuries sustained during the train collision. The elephant was pregnant for the past six months and it was quite a shock for wildlife in the park. Till the inquiry report comes out, we are taking precautionary steps at this sensitive Motichur-Kansrao belt through which railway track passes,” said Negi.

Wildlife scientist Ritesh Joshi demanded a detailed action plan for safety of elephants as well as other wild animals in this elephant corridor as already anthropogenic activities had affected the movement of elephants in Rajaji National Park.

Notably, yesterday morning, Delhi-bound Jan Shatabdi Express from Dehradun crashed into a herd of elephants, which was passing the railway track at Motichur range of Rajaji National Park. An elephant got crushed on the spot while this female elephant after sustaining injuries moved towards the nearby forest zone.

Since then officials of the park and the Forest Department and wildlife experts were in search of this jumbo to cure her.