State without cancer care centre in govt sector
Patients forced to opt for costly treatment
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 22
After making a contribution of Rs 21 crore to Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust (HIHT) for setting up an oncology unit in 2006, the Government of Uttarakhand is in a bind over it's future course of action, whether to run the project on the basis of public private partnership or grant-in aid. This confusion has deprived patients of a cancer care centre in the government sector.

In the last three years the government has managed to set up a nephro dialysis unit and a cardiology unit on public private partnership at Coronation Hospital. But the setting up of a cancer unit has not figured in the list of the government. Cancer patients in the state are being forced to opt for costly treatment not available in Uttarakhand.

In the intervening years, HIHT also contributed Rs 10 crore towards increasing beds and equipment. All this while no memorandum of understanding was signed between the two parties for running the unit. "In these years no effort was made to find out if BPL patients were being treated free of cost. As the Government of Uttarakhand was the main contributor, these conditions should have been binding on HIHT," said a senior doctor.

It was in 2006 that former Chief Minister ND Tiwari had contributed Rs 21 crore as assistance for setting up an oncology unit at HIHT. The reason then given was lack of space for setting up of a cobalt unit in Doon Hospital, or any other hospital in the state.

"It would be difficult to run the unit on public private partnership mode as no tenders were called, nor any agreement signed between HIHT and the government for starting the oncology unit," said Piyush Singh, Additional Secretary, Health.

Now with the launch of National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) under the Twelfth Five Year Plan, Uttarakhand is expected to receive funds for setting up of chemotherapy units at all district hospitals. In case the state had set up an oncology unit at Doon Hospital or Coronation Hospital, it would have benefited immensely in terms of financial aid for strengthening the existing units.

However, as the Uttarakhand government has already invested Rs 21 crore with HIHT unit, sources say it should adopt the grant-in-aid model. But this means government hospitals in Dehradun would still be without a cancer care centre.

Health Minister denies promotion to senior doctor

Dehradun, January 22
In Uttarakhand, the Department of Health and Family Welfare has become a battle ground of sorts for the Uttarakhand Health Minister, who is fighting a proxy war on behalf of his own colleague in 
the Congress.

The pettiness has stoop to such a level that a seniormost doctor with 35 years of service and at the fag end of his career has been denied a promotion in violation of the High Court orders. A DPC meeting for appointing Director General of Health and Family Welfare was held on January 10. It recommended Dr RK Pant for the post of DG. The file was then moved for approval from Health Minister Surinder Singh Negi. But he refused to give his approval. Since January 14, the minister has been sitting on the file.

It has been a series of court battles for Dr RK Pant who was earlier the CMO of Dehradun district and CMS, Doon Hospital. He had earlier approached the high court for conducting a DPC meeting of Directors in which his seniority was overlooked. Again, he went to the court for conducting another DPC meeting. In both, the instances the court ruled in favour of Dr Pant.

All these battles temporarily affected the prospects of a senior doctor who is known to be close to a Cabinet minister and is being extended support by the present Health Minister.

“The politicians can stoop to any level and who knows the minister may just sign the file on the last day of Dr Pant’s retirement,” said a senior doctor. 

Employees stay away from offices, hold procession
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 22
As part of the ongoing strike by employees affiliated with the Uttarakhand Chaturtha Vargiya Rajya Karamchari Mahasangh (Health Service), the employees stayed away from their offices today.

The union members also held a procession from Devpura Chowk to Shiv Moorti Chowk and decided to stage a massive protest at Roshanabad.

The employees have been demanding implementation of the government notification regarding grade pay profit to all fourth class employees in the state from January 1, 2006.

General secretary of the union Dinesh Lakheda, while addressing employees at district women hospital, said the government seemed to be biased as despite their agitation entering the second week, no one from the government deemed fit to address their problems.

He added that despite the state government boasting of a pro-employee government, they were perturbed over the delay in getting benefits that were due on them.

"We will be gheraoing the CM house next month if our demands are not met and will register our protest with any state Cabinet Minister coming to the city," they said.

"Official work is getting affected due to the strike, but one should also look to our problems" said Girish Rawat, district chief of the union. Union leaders JN Pant, Ramesh Dubey, Aman Singh, Dev Anand, Rafik Ahmed, Manoj Kumar and Rekh Bahadur also expressed resentment over the state governments attitude towards lower grade employees.

Hyena is major tourist attraction in Rajaji park
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 22
Hyena, popularly known as lakkarbagga, is becoming a major attraction for tourists among wild animals, apart from elephants in the world-famous Rajaji National Park.

More famous for it's strong jaws and canines, hyena is an endangered species categorised under Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Hyena is a carnivorous mammal and it is mostly seen in groups. It is mostly observed in leopard’s territory as it feeds on the leftover remains of the hunted animals by leopards and tigers. Larger sub-species of the hyena are known to hunt as large as wild boar and can easily climb on a straight foothill.

The dens, formed mainly on rocky areas, of hyena are mostly in Chilla forest range, Khera forest and Luni forest range of the Rajaji National Park. It is found in many cases that the two dens of hyena are interlinked internally.

Rajaji Park, Haridwar Range Officer, MS Negi, told The Tribune that one of the prime reasons why the hyena was visible more these days was because reproduction among hyena occurs during the winters, and so a sudden increase in visibility of hyena movement in the park area is on the rise nowadays.

“Specially after the Gujjar rehabilitation programme, the movement of hyena has increased in the park area, which once again proves that when there is plenty of natural environment and less human interference, the particular zone becomes condusive for animals and birds,” asserted wildlife expert Ritesh Joshi.

An increase in their population is also attributed to steps taken by Rajaji National Park authorities in providing better facilities and less intrusion of human interference in the park, spread over 820 sq km of area in three districts of Pauri Garhwal, Haridwar and Dehradun.

Earlier, the park authorities used to focus on Asian elephants only, which are the USP of the national park, but now steps to conserve wild species found in the park region are being taken seriously, which bodes well for the park and tourists, remarked Joshi.

“We saw a striped hyena in dusk though it is also seen active during early hours of the morning before sunrise or late in the evenings. The hyena scrammed into bushes but appeared a few seconds later, and then again went away in quick time,” said Anushka, a botanical student, on her spotting the animal hyena at the Rajaji National Park.

The park administration is now contemplating on having a census done of hyenas so that the exact number of this species found in Rajaji park can be known.

Heavy snowfall makes life tough for locals, ITBP men
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, January 22
ITBP and SSB personnel, deputed on the Indo-China and Indo-Nepal borders, are facing a tough time these days as due to freezing of local rivulets and part of the Kali river, their transportation from one border outpost to another has become risky and challenging.

“Despite some parts of the region have become normal after the temperature has risen due to clear sun these days, upper regions of the Kali are still experiencing temperature below 5 degree Celsius, making it difficult for the border guarding forces,” said Kedar Singh Rawat, an ITBP officer.

According to sources, the region beyond Garbiyang to Kuti villages in the Vyans valley witnessed unexpected snowfall on Friday last week, making normal life tough for the villagers as well as for the security personnel at this part of border.

“The highest snowfall was witnessed at the Kuti camp where 165 cm of snow was recorded. After Kuti, the Garbyang, Kalapani and Gunji camps witnessed 120, 150 and 105 cm snow,” said the ITBP officer.

The SSB personnel are equally facing tough weather on the Indo-Nepal border due to heavy snowfall and freezing of local rivulets at Garbyang.

“As the rivulets are melting due to rising sun, we have to be cautious to trace the snowy routes because when the snow melts, water sources and trek routes are covered under the widespread water of melting snow,” said an SSB officer at the Kalapani post of the Indo-Nepal border.

Wildlife census yet to match concept of West, says conservationist
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 22
Wildlife census in India is still a long way to go vis-à-vis similar exercise done in the Western world, believes K Ullas Karanth, Director for Science Asia Wildlife Conservation Society.

Interacting with The Tribune on the sidelines of an international workshop on animal population analysis that concluded today at Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, eminent wildlife conservationist K Ullas Karanth said wildlife census in India was still a long way to go as the country was presently just getting out of bad methods. “India could be better among Asian countries but still has a long way to go to come at par with the West,” he argued.

Karanth said using term census for wildlife census was itself inappropriate. “Wildlife census was certainly not a census of human census. Till 2005, we took wildlife census just like human census exercise, where every individual is counted, which can never be done in case of wildlife. But after Wildlife Institute of India (WII) started the first All India Tiger Estimation exercise in 2005, we certainly moved a step ahead with introduction of sampling methods. The WII has already successfully accomplished three tiger estimation exercises and has now started the fourth tiger estimation exercise," he said.

While welcoming Wildlife Institute of India’s decision to leave more of responsibility with the stake holders for conduct of the fourth phase of tiger estimation exercise in the country, Ullas Karanth, however, sought compulsory involvement of scientists-backed NGOs in the four-phase of tiger estimation exercise.

“You cannot leave the entire tiger census exercise with the state forest departments and presence of scientists in such an exercise is very necessary. Assistance from scientists-backed wildlife conservation organisations must be taken,” Karanth pointed out. “Or else, the census may lose credibility and the final outcome could be like that of Kerala, where one such exercise by the State Forest Department came out with tiger figures which was quite more than even the fullest potential of that area,” he added.

Referring to good conservation decisions, he said making good conservation decisions came from the best of information available with the conservationist.

On new Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) collaborative initiatives with the Wildlife Institute of India, Karanth, himself in the governing council of the WII, said the WCS was certainly looking forward to more of wildlife conservation initiatives with the institute.

Describing WCS workshop on analysis and management of animal populations that concluded in the WII today as a big success, Karanth said the workshop was successful in bringing together 30 experts from Patuxent Wildlife Research Centre, United States, WCS-India, WII, Centre for Wildlife Studies and other wildlife research institutions.

47 villages in Kumaon still to be electrified
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, January 22
Forty-seven villages in the Kumaon region, including 32 in border areas of Pithoragarh district, are yet to be electrified as the work under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidhutikaran Yojana in the region has been discontinued, sources said.

Out of 6,947 hamlets to be electrified under the project, the work in 6,900 was done by 2010 when the project was ended. The responsibility to electrify the remaining 47 villages was given to the Uttarakhand Power Corporation and the UREDA, but due to lack of budget with these departments the villages could not be electrified, said Navin Tolia, an engineer who had worked on the project.

Tolia said, besides 32 villages in Pithoragarh district, eight in Bageshwar and seven villages in Almora district were yet to be electrified. 

Minister reviews works under Ganga basin area
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 22
Water Resource Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani today found the work under way in Rishikesh, Gopeshwar, Uttarakashi and Srinagar unsatisfactory and asked the department head to open new branches in Rishikesh and Gopeshwar. Chairing a meeting of the Department of Water Resource today, the minister said the officials were slow in taking up follow-up measures discussed at the last meeting.

“The new branches have not been opened at Rishikesh and Gopeshwar when it was required to implement the sanctioned projects in these areas,” said Naithani.

Reviewing the works under the National Ganga River Basin Area (NGRBA), the minister was told that a total of 15 works were under way totaling around Rs 155.60 crore. Till December 2012, a total of Rs 35.23 crore had been released. Out of which, Rs 26.50 crore has been spent.

Besides, the Peyjal Nigam had sanctioned Rs 811.18 crore for different projects against which Rs 640.54 crore has been spent till December 2012. The Minister found the works undertaken in Nainital, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Pauri, Almora, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar satisfactory.

Doon Hospital gets three-year ISO extension

Dehradun, January 22
Doon Hospital has got an extension for ISO certification for another three years. A team of ISO experts, led by Dr VP Gupta, examined the records of the hospital, visited the ICU, operation theatre, the departments of radiology and pathology, emergency etc and found things to their satisfaction.

According to medical experts, the ISO team during previous visits had made observations like non-confirmatory and given instructions for improvement.

During previous visits, the hospital authorities were instructed to check on the X-ray radiation that was being emitted from the machine placed near the window. The hospital had addressed the issue. Similarly, the hospital had also ensured that the operation theatre was bacteria free.

The ISO team is expected to visit the District Women’s Hospital on January 25. 

Forestry statistics released
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 22
Director General, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dr VK Bahuguna has released the "Forestry Statistics India-2011".This report has been prepared by the Division of Statistics, Directorate of Extension, ICFRE.

Releasing the report, Bahuguna said for the past many years, the ICFRE had been making efforts to collect primary and secondary statistics pertaining to the forestry sector, which had now come into a form of the statistics.

He said the present issue of this report "Forestry Statistics India-2011" was more comprehensive and different as compared to the previous issues, as it contained the data of four years collectively from 2006-07 to 2009-10.

This report highlights seven major sections of forestry which are forest resources, forest establishment, production, wildlife, socio-economic aspects, trade and silviculture. New features in this report have been added such as the graphical representation of data for better understanding of trends, pictorial presentation of activities of the forestry sector and a brief write-up in the beginning of each section reflecting the holistic picture of forestry statistics. The publication shall prove to be useful for researchers, forest managers, planners, administrators and other stakeholders.

Dr VK Bahuguna also lauded the support given by all state Forest Departments, national organisations like Central Statistical Organisation, Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics, Forest Survey of India, and others and scientists and officers of the ICFRE who have been associated with collection, compilation, validation of such a vast data and the publication of the same.

Rs 25,000 penalty for illegal quarrying
Tribune News Service

Haridwar January 22
District Magistrate, Haridwar, Sachin Kurwe today imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 each on those involved in illegal quarrying on the Ganga riverbed. He also directed subordinate officers to look into the racket of illegal quarrying.

Kurwe refuted the allegations of a nexus between the administration officials and the quarrying mafia levelled by the Matra Sadan and said he well knew what was happening.

Earlier the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) had found 12 persons involved in illegal quarrying. Taking cognizance of the report filed by the SDM, Kurwe today levied penalty on the violators as quarrying is banned on the Ganga riverbed.

Meanwhile, the Citizen Forum of Haridwar has welcomed the District Magistrate’s action. JP Baduni, a social activist, said it was a welcome step.