Docs, medical staff go on strike, OPD services hit
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, June 7
Out Patient Department (OPD) and other services remained paralysed at the district hospital on the second day of the strike of doctors and other medical staff today. The doctors and other staff went on a 3-day strike yesterday in support of their demand for security at the hospital.

An angry mob had ransacked the hospital and manhandled the staff, including two doctors, after a 22-year-old youth died there on Wednesday.

According to the striking medical staff, Dr VK Mishra and Dr RC Punera were manhandled by the mob. “Dr Punera has lodged a written complaint at the local police station about the incident,” they said.

“We will wait for 72 hours for the district administration to take necessary steps to give justice and security to the hospital staff. Thereafter, we may decide to go on an indefinite strike if the district administration fails to provide permanent security to the doctors and other hospital staff,” said Dr NS Gunjyal, convener of the committee for striking staff.

Dr Gunjiyal said they wanted a permanent police post with two armed guards at the hospital. According to hospital sources, more than 800 patients from rural areas and neighbouring Nepal are suffering due to closure of the OPD services at the hospital. “We are still keeping the emergency services functional,” said the agitators.

“We have the support of all organisations of the hospital, including the nurses’ association, the diploma pharmacists’ association, X-ray technicians, the drivers’ association and contractual staff and ministerial associations,” claimed Dr Gunjiyal.

District Magistrate, Pithoragarh, Dr Neeraj Khairwal has assured the striking doctors that the persons responsible for the incident would be arrested soon. He would also recommend to the higher authorities for financial assistance to the next of kin of the deceased youth. “We have also decided to lodge a complaint with the police against those responsible for the incident at the hospital,” said the DM.

Parking contractors, hoteliers fleece tourists in Mussoorie
Our Correspondent

A traffic jam at Company Garden inconveniences tourists in Mussoorie

Mussoorie, June 7
With the tourist season in Mussoorie at its peak, large crowds are coming to the town to beat summer heat and relax in cool climes. This has led to utter chaos and mismanagement on various fronts which is not only causing problems for the tourists but also tarnishing the image of the hill town.

The administration, the Tourism Department and the hoteliers along with other bodies affiliated with the tourism industry have failed to address the concerns that have been raised on numerous occasions in the past. The fleecing of the tourists continues unabated here.

To begin with there is no rational fare for the shared or fully hired taxis starting from the Dehradun to Mussoorie. Most of the taxi owners are charging according to the rush at the stands. Hotels, eating joints are fleecing tourists by charging more than double the rent for rooms and exorbitant prices for food items. The visitors also had harrowing experience as they had to face unending traffic jams at both Library Chowk and Picture Palace due to the lethargic police arrangements today.

The parking contractors are having a field day as they indulge in overcharging the tourists for parking their vehicles at various sites being run by municipal council. Ranveer Singh from Patiala showing the parking slip of Rs 100 said he was forced to pay more for parking the vehicle for only few minutes at Company Garden. Another tourist Shivani from Delhi said at Town Hall parking she had to cough out Rs 200 for parking her vehicle which was much above the parking charges at any other tourist destination. Sahranpur Naseem Ahmed, another tourist said this was his last visit to Mussoorie as the fleecing of the tourists started right at the Kholukhet barrier mid-way to Mussoorie with municipal council charging minimum eco fee of Rs 50 per vehicle, which was followed by entry fee of Rs 100 at Mall Road and then again payment for the parking fee once inside. “The fleecing does not end here as they have to pay exorbitant prices for the rooms in the hotels,” said Naseem.

It is learnt that most of the paying guest houses in the town are charging Rs 1200 for double bed instead of Rs 500, thus violating the norms.

Tourism officials said most of the paying guest houses had been given the license only on the condition that they would charge in accordance to the guidelines laid by the department.

MC tax superintendent, SS Prasad, said the council had authorised the contractors to charge only Rs 50 for the small vehicles and Rs 100 for heavy vehicles such as buses. If the contractors are charging more, punitive action would be taken after thorough investigation.

MC president Manmohan Singh Mall showing his ignorance assured to look into the matter and rectify the anomalies without any delay. He said he would ensure that the rate list was displayed at every parking site for the convenience of visitors.

SDM, Mussoorie, NS Dangi, said he had directed his subordinates to look into the matter on priority basis.

Last year many scuffles were witnessed between the tourists and the parking contractors on the overcharging issue. If such fleecing continues, it could result in endangering lives of many tourists coming here.

Left joins protest against Coca Cola plant
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 7
The CPI, the CPM, the Janwadi Mahila Manch and the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party organised a joint protest today against setting up of Coca Cola bottling plant at Chharba village in Sahaspur area of the state. The protest rally which began at Gandhi Park passed through Clock Tower, Rajpur Road and ended at Secretariat, where SDM-level official received the memorandum from agitators.

CPI national council member Samar Bhandari said: “Coca Cola company is going to set up its plant on 350 bighas in Chharba village which will require removal of 50,000 green trees to clear the land. Out of total water consumption of 10 lakh litre on daily basis by the plant, half of the water will go waste in the bottling process. The entire project will create a huge water scarcity in the area and prove to be a big set back for the growth of agriculture.”

He said the company had to cancel its plans to set up plants in Kerala and Varanasi after strong protest by local people. He also slammed Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna for signing MoU with the company without taking people of the area into confidence.

He said the Chief Minister should have consulted other parties and organisations concerned before taking such a big decision. The local people had the first right over the natural resources, he added. He rued that the state government was striking a deal with corporate sector for the disposal of natural resources in order to earn profits without bothering about the environment or people. He cautioned Bahuguna for taking the perilous road to privatisation on a large scale. Bhandari said he would start a statewide agitation against the setting up of bottling plant soon.

Mussoorie vendors oppose anti-polythene drive
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, June 7
The local municipal council (MC) organised a drive against the use of polythene bags on the Mall Road here yesterday. A team of MC officials, however, had to face opposition from street vendors who use polythene bags for selling their goods. The officials took a stern stand and confiscated a large number of polythene bags from the vendors. The whole exercise was led by the MC Tax superintendent, SS Prasad, from Library Bazaar to Picture Palace where the officials directed the shopkeepers to completely refrain from using the polythene bags.

The team had to face stiff opposition from the street vendors at Jhoola Ghar who rued that the MC was trying to ruin their business by confiscating the polythene bags which they use to sell their goods thus affecting their livelihood. The team also removed the plastic tarpaulin used by the shopkeepers to cover their temporary shops.

The vehicles parked illegally on the Mall Road were also removed during the drive.

Pre-monsoon showers improve prospects of litchi 
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 7
Pre-monsoon showers in the months of May and June have improved the prospects of the litchi fruit, which was under the risk of developing diseases due to a hot spell in April and early May.

The fruit begins to crack and drop in case there is a prolonged hot spell during the maturity period in April and early May. But the rain spell in May and now in June has acted as a deterrent for diseases.

“Litchis have begun swarming the local markets. These are not only juicy but are of good size,” said Dr Amar Singh, district horticulture officer.

Farmers, who had to face anxious moments due to the hot weather, have heaved a sigh of relief after pre-monsoon showers in the last week of May and now in early June.

In Dehradun, litchi orchards cover 3,807 hectares and three varieties of the fruit are grown here.

Though Ramnagar litchis are the first to arrive in the market, it is the local rose scented variety that is eagerly awaited by the residents of Doon.

“The well-being of the fruit depends on pre-monsoon showers. But the way the temperature had been rising in Dehradun, farmers had feared the onset of diseases," said an orchard owner.

After the rose scented varieties, the Calcutta variety and shahi variety of litchis would begin arriving in the market in July. At the local market, litchis are being sold between Rs 50 and Rs 60 kg. The price is expected to come down in the coming days.

Last year, the total output of litchis was 8,642 MT and the Department of Horticulture is hoping to exceed this target. This year, too, farmers are expected to make good profit. “For better output next year, I would advise the orchard owners to undertake proper pruning of the litchi trees, especially from the back, so that there is extensive flowering next time around,” said Dr Amar Singh.

Unfortunately, the prospects of good mango crop this year have been marred by the cold conditions that prevailed in the months of January and February.

Notified forest area status on website soon
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, June 7
There is good news for the Mussoorie residents who had yearned all these years to construct residential houses for themselves but were unable to do so due to the undefined status of the forest area in the town so far.

Officials from the Mussoorie Forest Division, the Survey of India and the Mussoorie-Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) at a meeting held at the Forest Department here on Tuesday decided to upload all information about the area falling under the forest in various estates of the town on the respective websites of their departments as soon as the survey is completed.

The officials said the survey to demarcate forest land in the town was nearing completion. It would go a long way in removing the ambiguity about which areas can be used for construction in the town. The estate owners have also been directed to install pillars for clear demarcation of their lands which include the private forest too. Divisonal Forest Officer Dheeraj Kumar Pandey while presiding over meeting said around 90 estates had been surveyed so far and the work on 75 estates was still pending. Officials also discussed the modalities to be adopted for the survey of remaining estates.

MDDA vice-president Meenakshi Sundaram, Bansidhar Tivari, Manmohan Singh Mall, RM Ghildyal, JS Ghildyal and others were also present on the occasion.

U'khand has less power tariff: CM
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 7
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said today that power tariff in Uttarakhand in the areas of domestic, commercial and industries was far less than Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and New Delhi.

In Uttarakhand, the tariff rate for domestic consumers is Rs 2.94 per unit, whereas in Himachal Pradesh, it is Rs 3.91 per unit. In Uttar Pradesh, it is Rs 4.63 per unit and in New Delhi, it is Rs 5.02 per unit. The commercial rate for power in the state is Rs 4.86 per unit, in Uttar Pradesh, it's Rs 6.5 per unit and in Himachal Pradesh, it is Rs 5.73 per unit. In Delhi, it is Rs 8.53 per unit.

Similarly, the tariff plan for industries in Uttarakhand is Rs 4.59 per unit, Uttar Pradesh Rs 7.05, Himachal Pradesh Rs 5.18 and in Delhi Rs 7.30 per unit.

The Chief Minister said against the annual plan of Rs 8,500 crore sanctioned for this financial year, a total of Rs 1971 crore have been sanctioned till June. “In comparison to the last year till June, against the annual plan of Rs 8200 crore (2012-2013), only Rs 630 crore were sanctioned,” he said.

Bahuguna honours teacher posthumously
She drowned in river while saving life of two students

Dehradun, June 7
In the backdrop of Union Government conferring Jeewan Raksha Padak posthumous on Sangeeta Aggarwal, a teacher, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today handed over an award to the late teacher’s husband Sanjeev Agarwal in Dehradun today.

A medal, a citation and a cash award of Rs 1 lakh was handed over by the Chief Minister.

A teacher at Primary School, Halduwala in Dehradun, Late Sangeeta Aggarwal lost her life on September 19, 2011, while trying to save her students Rajkumar (11) and Saurabh (10) from getting washed away from the flooded Nun river. While trying to rescue the students, Sangeeta herself got drowned in the river.

Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi and Dehradun District Magistrate BVRC Purshottam were prominent present on the occasion. — TNS

Punjabi food fest begins
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, June 7
The tourists arriving in large numbers to spend vacations in the town were greeted with mouth-watering dishes from the Punjabi food festival “Sher-e-Punjab” which kick started at hotel Jaypee Residency here yesterday.

General manager of the hotel Manor Anil Sharma said Punjabi cuisine had an immense and diverse range of dishes. The food is like the Punjabis - robust and hearty - with no unnecessary frills or exotic accompaniments.

Sharma said the tourists would be served sumptuous Punjabi dishes prepared specially for the occasion by master chef Sweaty Singh of “Kaki di Hatti” fame for three days at the hotel. He said the tourists would get a rare opportunity to enjoy the cuisine not only from the Punjab on the Indian side, but also from the Pakistani part of Punjab.

Sharma said: “The emphasis has traditionally been on robust food, grains and vegetables in their basic form, prepared with the simplest of ingredients and basic techniques with a premium on quality and purity.”

The master chef Sweaty Singh said: “The Punjabi style of cooking uses spices in a special way which imparts food a significant flavour. Delicacies such as makki di rotti, baigan da bhartha, aloo Amritsari wadiyan, pindi cholae, maa cholaeyan di dal, gobhi muttar pulao, achari pudiana paratha, Amritsari kulchae, khameera nan, tandoori roti, gajjar da halwa, jaleibiyaan garama garam, balu shahi etc will be served to satiate the palatable desire of tourists.”

Chufal seeks privilege notice against Pithoragarh DM
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, June 7
BJP MLA from Didihat Bishan Singh Chufal has written a letter to the state Assembly Speaker demanding a privilege notice against the Pithoragarh District Magistrate for allegedly misbehaving with BJP leaders, who were staging a dharna in front of the DM's office recently.

The District Magistrate had reportedly asked the agitating BJP leaders not to use a loudspeaker to address a gathering in front of his office.

“The District Magistrate not only shouted at me but also used an abusive language. He asked me not to use the loudspeaker. We had already informed the district administration about our protest," said Chufal, a former BJP state chief.

BJP leaders said they had gathered in front the District Magistrate’s office to stage a peaceful dharna against the slow pace of the construction of roads in the district. However, when they started playing the loudspeaker to address the gathering, the District Magistrate stopped them from doing so and allegedly shouted at BJP leaders from inside his office.

“We have urged the Assembly Speaker to punish the DM according to the set laws of the violation of privilege of any member of the state Assembly,” said Prakash Pant, state Vice-President of the party.

‘Need to develop telemedicine in Uttarakhand’

Dehradun, June 7
Member of Planning Commission K Kasturirangan today met Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna at the Secretariat and stressed the need for developing telemedicine and teleeducation in the state.

He said there was a need for using new communication techniques in health and education. All districts can be connected to big hospitals of the country through telemedicine. He said the help of ISRO would be taken to map Uttarakhand. He said the Planning Commission would help in providing a radar for the state, keeping in mind the damage caused by natural calamities every year.

Among the others present at the meeting were Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar, PS Rakesh Sharma and other officials. — TNS

Health awareness drive flagged off
Tribune News Service

Health Minister Surender Singh Negi flags off a publicity-cum-awareness van on AIDS and TB in Dehradun on friday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Dehradun, June 7
To spread awareness on prevention against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and voluntary blood donation, Uttarakhand Health and Family Welfare Minister Surinder Singh Negi today flagged off a tempo traveller van laden with information material.

The tempo traveller will travel in different parts of the state. The minister said since large numbers of tourists are coming to the state, it is the right time to spread awareness about general health and deadly diseases.

In the first phase, two tempo traveller vans will cover Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Pauri districts, respectively. "We have earmarked 120 places, where these vans would stop and present exhibition, distribute posters and banners," said Uma Prakash, joint director, Information Education and Communication, Uttarakhand State Aids Control Society (USACS).

For monitoring the entire progress of the campaign, a support team has been created at the district level in which district tuberculosis officer, representatives of NGOs and project managers are members. Auxillary Nurses and Midwives (ANMS) and other health workers will monitor the campaign. The second phase of the programme will be launched in September.

Mussoorie MC chief, members felicitated
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, June 7
The Punjabi Mahasabha felicitated Municipal Council (MC) president Manmohan Singh Mall and ward members at a function in Mussoorie today.

The members of the Punjabi Mahasabha, Mussoorie, presented shawls to the newly elected MC president and members. They also extended their wholehearted support to the MC. They also discussed the problems being faced by the town people with the MC president and its members.

Manmohan thanked the mahasabha and assured it that he would work diligently to resolve the pending development issues. He said the problems of parking and traffic congestion were on his priority list.

President of the mahasabha MPS Khurana, members JS Manchanda, Subodh Kapoor, Sandeep Sahni and Ramkumar Goyal along with ward members Anuj Gupta, Beena Panwar and others were present on the occasion.