Backing SSPs my top priority, says new DIG Amit Sinha
Dehradun, February 5
New Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Dehradun Range, Amit Sinha, today said his first and foremost priority would be to strengthen the hands of the three Senior Superintendents of Police working in his range. The SSPs of Dehradun, Haridwar and Uttarkashi directly report to the DIG, Dehradun. He further added that he would take up crime cases of complicated nature on a priority basis in order to solve them.

Tusker kills one more on Dehradun-Rishikesh road
Dehradun, February 5
Death toll in elephant encounters continue to rise on the Dehradun-Rishikesh road. A tusker killed one more person at Satmod last evening, taking the death toll on the Dehradun-Rishikesh road to three in the past one week.

Dehradun, February 5
The Gangotri and Yamunotri National Highways were closed due to heavy snowfall in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand today. The Rishikesh-Kedarnath road was also blocked due a landslide triggered by heavy rain.

Executive Director, Dehradun Meteorological Centre, Dr Anand Sharma said moderate to heavy rain and snowfall would occur at most of the places in the state in the next 24 hours. He added foggy conditions were likely to prevail in the plains on subsequent days. He did not rule out further dip in the mercury.

Severe cold conditions prevailed in Dehradun as rain continued throughout the day today. Most of the people remained indoors and offices too recorded a thin attendance.

Meanwhile, Tehri received the maximum rainfall of 61.8 mm, followed by Dehradun and Mussoorie which received 43.2 mm and 30 mm of rain, respectively.

Dehradun, February 5
New Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Dehradun Range, Amit Sinha, today said his first and foremost priority would be to strengthen the hands of the three Senior Superintendents of Police working in his range. The SSPs of Dehradun, Haridwar and Uttarkashi directly report to the DIG, Dehradun. He further added that he would take up crime cases of complicated nature on a priority basis in order to solve them.

He appreciated the novel measures taken by the city police to improve traffic and stressed on the need to maintain the system.

The one aspect which he emphasised was to guide the SSPs about picking the right men for the right job. He said: “ I have long experience of working as SSP for eight-and-a half-years. I also appointed some 1200 constables as well and, hence, have developed the knack to identify the capability of each one. It is of paramount important to decipher as to who can handle a particular police post/station known for it's peculiarities.”

In such times, when several police personnel are being punished with suspensions or attachment to police lines on account of negligence of various degrees, it can become difficult to retain the selected police personnel for particular posts, explained by Sinha.

He said: “The random punishment, indeed, makes matters difficult. Hence, it is equally important to judge the person and the situation alike, while reprimanding any one. Those who have a history of reiterating acts of negligence can be punished but discretion has to be exercised for the first timers or those with good record. This kind of judgment comes with experience.”

He clarified that at times punishment to the erring policemen in quick succession in the very beginning of taking charge of the position could be to send out a message of meaning business.

But a steady approach must be adopted afterwards.

Suspension during service can no longer be taken lightly by higher-ups, especially after a fresh incident which shook the entire state where a constable, facing inquiry relating to his suspension, ended his life out of humiliation and depression. Sinha admitted that it was a tough rope walk for a police official to perform his duty well as well as maintain the morale of the police force working under him. At times he has to grope in the dark and take a few decisions and wait for their outcome.”

Dehradun, February 5
Death toll in elephant encounters continue to rise on the Dehradun-Rishikesh road. A tusker killed one more person at Satmod last evening, taking the death toll on the Dehradun-Rishikesh road to three in the past one week.

Satyadev, along with other friends, was coming to Dehradun in his car after attending a marriage ceremony in Haridwar. He took the Haridwar-Rishikesh-Dehradun route and by the time he reached Satmod, it was already dark and they had a chance encounter with a tusker. Satyadev, who was on the driving seat, fearing that the tusker would crush the car, tried to flee but the tusker trampled him on the spot.

Expressing concern over the incident, Dehradun Divisional Forest Officer Sushant Patnaik asserted that the Dehradun-Rishikesh road had already been closed from 6 pm to 6 am but still there were people who were taking to this route, making themselves vulnerable to elephant attack.

On January 31, Chaman Lal, a truck driver, resident of Roorkee, was killed by an elephant when after parking his truck he had gone to relieve himself in forests. Similarly, on February 3, a young couple was attacked by an elephant near Bhadrakali leading to the death of woman.

Meanwhile, the forest authorities have deployed three additional patrolling teams on the affected stretch as a precaution. — TNS

Dehradun, February 5
The local NGO Waste Warriors has been declared one of the winners of the Mahindras’ "Spark the Rise" contest organised for NGOs from all over the country and was based on jury evaluation and public voting. It will receive monthly grants for smooth execution of its projects. Waste Warriors’ Jodie Underhill will be representing the organisation and be flown to Mumbai for a two-day workshop on February 19, 20 for a presentation to the jury and national media.

The Waste Warriors has been working relentlessly towards making Dehradun garbage and plastic-free and its walls, poster-free and received support from the people of Dehradun and also the administration, including District Magistrate Dr BVRC Purushottam and City Magistrate Harak Singh Rawat.

Waste Warriors president Shanti Varma, former principal of Welham Girls’ School, said, "I am proud to be associated with the Waste Warriors and agreed to be its president because the young volunteers involved in it, led by Jodie Underhill, are an enthusiastic and optimistic work force, believing strongly in their aims, deeply committed to continuing with their work on an ongoing basis and confident that they will make a difference. They have in fact already succeeded in disseminating information and in energising stake-holder communities to participate in the clean-up operations. I have no doubt whatsoever that the Waste Warriors will continue to fill a real need and will succeed in its endeavours to provide a cleaner, more 
hygienic India."

Vice-president Sujata Paul Maliah, educationist and social activist, said, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our friends in the media who have supported us through the wide reach they have. Without their support, it would be an impossible task to spread the message about our efforts to clean Dehradun. We would also like to thank all those who have supported the Waste Warriors by voting for us and/or supporting the cause as active or passive volunteers. We will continue to endeavour to make Dehradun plastic, garbage and poster-free. We hope to create an environment where the citizens of Doon will be active participants in our movement because only then can cleanliness be enforced in our city. In this regard, we would also like to commend DM Dr Purushottam for his "Clean Doon Clean Campus" programme initiated in this direction.”

Jodie Underhill said, “We are delighted to be the winners of the Mahindras competition. We knew all along that we had a project worthy of success and thanks to the hard work of our volunteers and supporters our dream of winning came true. We would like to thank everyone who voted for us and helped us to succeed. Winning this funding brings us one step closer not just to a cleaner Dehradun but to a cleaner India too!”

Haridwar, February 5
About 1,200 delegates from 12 states of the country participated in the five-day empowerment workshop at Shanti Kunj. The workshop that concluded here today saw the delegates dwelling on changes in society, need to bring moral and spiritual reforms and conscience building in today’s scenario.

Addressing the concluding session, coordinator of Shanti Kunj, Gauri Shankar Sharma said, “What we do in various ways comes back to us. Hence, working without greed brings us the desired fruits.”

Gauri Shankar added we need to follow the ideals of the founder of Shanti Kunj, Pt Shri Ram Sharma Acharya, who had worked for the poor, suppressed and downtrodden people throughout his life.

“Those who live a simple life have contentment but those who are greedy remain in search of more. Hence, the latter have no peace of mind and they can’t focus on humanitarian values and issues. “Shri Ram Sharma taught his followers the mantra of life which is simple living and working for the needy. We need to replicate this today,” said Gauri Shankar.

Young delegates were given specific training to hone their hidden talent, skills, personality and the moral and spiritual moorings at the workshop.

Veteran Shanti Kunj ideologue Kesari Kapil emphasised on the need for having spiritual consciousness while Veereshwar Upadhyay stressed on concentrating one’s efforts in the right way to have God’s blessings.

Dehradun, February 5
Failure in implementation of polythene ban in the district has become a bone of contention for the district administration.

District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam passed the buck to Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) for the ban not becoming effective. He said: "It is primarily the duty of the DMC to seize polythene bags from shopkeepers which they are not doing at all. The district administration has several other important things to do."

These were the shocking remarks of the DM who until now treated the polythene ban as the most important subject and spearheaded the "Clean Doon Clean Campus" drive throughout the city and formed committees to pursue the matter on monthly basis in future.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli reacted sharply to the DM's assertion, saying: " If it was the duty of DMC officials to take action with regard to polythene ban, then why did the DM convene a meeting over the issue. He wants to have easy publicity on one hand and wash his hands off the responsibility to carry out the task on the other hand." He said the DMC did not require

directions of the DM in this regard. It is not the first time that the drive against polythene had been started. Earlier, on several occasions, we conducted such drives and also collected polythene in Gandhi Park as well." He said the drive by the district administration was bound to fail drastically. "It is only after state government announces prohibition on use of polythene as is done by Himachal Pardesh government and collective action taken by the concerned departments that such a gigantic move can become successful. A flimsy and abrupt decision taken by the district administration to ban all sorts of polythene will never become successful."

Haridwar, February 5
An Excise Department team confiscated Rs 1.5 lakh worth of country-made liquor, which was being brought from Haryana, from a Maruti van and arrested the driver of the vehicle. The seized consignment included 1,104 quarters of country-made liquor and 720 bottles of whiskies.

This consignment was meant to be carried to Rishikesh and the upper areas of the Garhwal division.

Excise official Prabha Shankar Mishra told The Tribune that on a tip-off an excise team led by him intercepted the Maruti van and seized caskets of illegal liquor being brought from Sonepat in Haryana, near the Vishwakarma Ganga ghat, in Hardiwar in the wee hours today. On seeing the excise team the buyers of the liquor fled but the driver of the van was nabbed.

The arrested person was identified as Gaurav, a resident of Jahangirpuri in Delhi, who was driving the van. During interrogation Gaurav admitted to bringing consignments of illegal liquor from Haryana in the past too.

A case has been registered against the arrested person under the Excise Act.

The excise team comprised of Bakhtawar Singh, Dharam Pal Singh Rawat, Jagmohan Sethi, Dinesh Rawat, Chandra Prakash Bhatt and Tribhuwan.

The excise inspector said the liquor mafia becomes more active and smuggle liquor from Haryana to Uttarakhand during the cold conditions in the region.

“As a precautionary measure, we are conducting raids and checking and have mobilised informers,” added Mishra.

Illegal liquor is easily available in the area despite a ban on the consumption and sale of liquor within the limits of the Municipal Corporation and 5 km of the city periphery.