Dehradun, July 13
Uttarakhand Congress Vice-President Suryakant Dhasmana has stressed on ensuring road connectivity to the disaster hit villages in the state.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun today, Suryakant Dhasmana said he was part of the Congress team leaders led by State Congress President Yashpal Arya. The team toured the disaster hit districts of Uttarakhand and asserted that there was a connectivity problem to many disaster hit villages in Rudraprayag region.

Suryakant Dhasmana said large number of roads had been washed away completely, disrupting the connectivity which was causing inconvenience to the people.

“The affected villagers are anxiously awaiting for connectivity because they know that they cannot depend on air-lift relief for long," he pointed out.

Suryakant Dhasmana also called for long term rehabilitation policy.

Dehradun, July 13
Four JCBs yesterday cleared the road leading to the trenching ground to the extent that vehicles carrying garbage could enter the facility.

Earlier a large mound of garbage was blocking the vehicles from entering the trenching ground. Mayor Vinod Chamoli and later Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (MNA) Ashok Kumar visited the site along with Additional Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Harsh Vardhan Mishra and Senior Health Officer of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation Gurpal Singh.

Director, Dehradun Valley Waste Management, Sidharth Jain, explained to the Mayor and Mishra that a spell of heavy rain could spoil the day-night work of clearing garbage from the road.

He suggested to them that road building material (RBM) be laid on this 700-metre road. He said, “The layer of mud and residue left over the road will get slippery with rain. Hence, it must be made concrete with a thick RBM coating.”

Jain said the entire work would be futile if the RBM was not used immediately before fresh rains. He complained that the file relating to this work was lying in the MNA office for the past two days. Jain is spearheading door-to-door garbage collection arrangement in the city.

The MNA, however, denied he had got any file suggesting the use of RBM.

Meanwhile, the people living in the vicinity of the trenching ground felt relieved with the clearance of the garbage to a large extent. The people living in flats, independent houses and the faculty of a nearby school came to meet the officials and thanked them for the work done by them. They urged the MC officials not to neglect the area as it could lead to serious health problems.

The area residents also demanded proper sprinkling of lime power and disinfectants in order to curb infections and foul stench emanating from the trenching ground.

Pithoragarh, July 13
National Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC) powerhouse in Banbasa and Tanakpur sub-division of Champawat district could not resume electricity generation on fifth consecutive day today. The presence of excess silt in Sharda River prohibited the engineers to run the turbines, NHPC sources informed.

“The presence of silt in the river water was more than 10,000 PPM on Friday," said a NHPC engineer.

According to the sources related to NHPC, the powerhouse had to be closed by the engineers on Monday night, after heavy silt was witnessed in the river water.

“Out of a capacity of 94.2 MW, we were generating more than 60 MW of electricity from the project, before heavy silting stopped the generation,” said an engineer of the power house.

According to SDO of Sharda headwork, the electricity generation from another power house situated in Lohiahead near Banbasa owned by state government, was also stopped due to the presence of heavy silt in the river water.

“The electricity generation will be permitted only after the presence of silt reduces,” said RP Yadav, in charge of Sharda headwork. 

Dehradun, July 13
Aspirants of a beauty pageant contest to be held in Dehradun have accused the event management company for befooling them.

Addressing a press conference today, Anuradha Sachdeva, Sonia Sharma and Sunita Nirmohi alleged that Sarin Model Makers had cheated them in the name of hosting Mrs Uttarakhand Princess.

The trio alleged that they had applied with the company for participating in the contest in the first week of May.

“We had applied for participating in the event in May, but the event got postponed repeatedly. We later came to know that title of Mrs Uttarakhand Princess never belonged to Sarin Model Makers and that they cannot hold this contest," Anuradha Sachdeva pointed out.

She said Sarin Model Makers knew from the beginning that Mrs Uttarakhand Princess title was not with them, still they befooled them.

“We are married ladies and can only participate in Mrs Uttarakhand Princess contest," she added.

Sonia Sharma said they even paid few thousand rupees to Sarin Model Makers as participation fee.

“Sarin Model Makers said they were organising a beauty pageant for the first time in Uttarakhand which was meant exclusively for married ladies. They even assured us that they are permitted to hold the event," Sharma pointed out.

She said they met Senior Superintendent of Police Kewal Khurana and sought action against the company. 

Dehradun, July 13
The Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), KG Balakrishanan, today said instead of passing strictures against the Uttarakhand government on the relief and rescue operations undertaken so far, the commission would be interested in offering suggestions to it keeping in mind the interests of the local people.

Balakrishanan said this while speaking to mediapersons in Dehradun in view of an NHRC team's visit on July 16. The former Chief Justice of India, who was here to participate in a meeting of the SC and ST Employees Federation, said, "The commission will offer suggestions after discussing the issue with its state arm."

Meanwhile, a team headed by DG (Investigation, NHRC) Kanwaljeet Deol, Registrar, Law, AK Garg and Joint Registrar AK Prashar would meet government representatives and NGOs and itself see the ground situation in the disaster-affected parts of the state.

Haridwar, July 13
With just 10 days to go for the mega Kanwar pilgrimage in Haridwar, the preparations and facilities are not upto the standard as claimed by the mela administration.

A look at the Kanwar stretch (popularly known as Kanwar patri), exposes the tall claims of the administration.

The Tribune team inspected the Kanwar stretch from Haridwar city till Bahadrabad and found the stretch in a woeful condition.

District Magistrate Nidhi Pandey inspected the Kanwar stretch from Mohammedpur Jhal till Jwalapur today. She gave stern directions to the concerned department officers. Apprising Joint Magistrate, Roorkee, Sonika, of laxity by Public Works Department, Power Corporation and Jal Sansthan, Nidhi said carpeting of the road must be done in a week time.

Irrigation Department officials were also given stern directives to carry out patch work at the sidewalls of the Kanwar stretch.

DM Nidhi Pandey also ordered installation of hand pumps and temporary toilets for kanwariya’s.

ADM administration Anand Shrivastava, ADM finance Alok Pandey, Joint Magistrate Sonika Meena, SDM DP Singh, excutive engineer Power Corporation Rakesh Kumar, executive officer Irrigation Department Purushottam, executive officer Jal Sansthan PK Gupta and executive officer Irrigation Department of Uttar Pradesh SS Yadav accompanied the DM.

Haridwar, July 13
The district administration has so far distributed more than Rs 1.50 crore to the flood-affected persons.

District Magistrate Nidhi Pandey said the worst-affected villages in Lakshar, Khanpur, Bhagwanpur and Landaura areas were being given special emphasis with round-the- clock relief shelters.

Nidhi said villages of Gangdaspur, Maharajpur Khurd, Maharajpur Kalan, Habibpur Kundi, Majra Punditpuri, Rayasi Majra, Nandpur, Raghu Nathpur, Balawali Majra, Dummanpuri, Kalasiya, Jogowala, Majra Dabki, Kheda, Dallawala, Chandrapur Bangar, Chandrapur Khadar, Sherpur Bela, Kubulpoor Majra, Bhikapur Jeetpur and Khanpur were also being provided with relief aid on mass scale.

The Dera Sacha Sauda also provided with 10 truckload of ration and dry fodder for animals to the district administration.

Union Minister for Water Resources and Haridwar parliamentarian Harish Rawat flagged off three trucks of relief ration to Maharajpur Khurd village. Two trucks of relief ration was sent by district judge Haridwar, eight trucks by Congress activists, Shantikunj Gayatri Parivar provided food material and solar lanterns by Sahara Parivar. Khanpur legislator Kunwar Pranav Singh provided ration for 1,200 families, city legislator Madan Kaushik provided ration for 100 families, saris and utensils. All the materials were sent to the flood-affected areas today.

Around 36 roads that were blocked due to floods, have now been opened.

Five relief teams from Shantikunj family moved towards Tehri, Rudraprayag, Munsiyari, Rishikesh and Dehradun. The members in the team are experts in disaster management. Shantikunj chief Pranav Pandya said small scale industry training would be provided to the local youths of Uttarakhand.

Dehradun, July 13
Employees of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) with 37 laboratories of national importance has decided to contribute one day's salary to disaster-hit of the state.

Dehradun’s Indian Institute of Petroleum has been made the nodal agency for organising the relief and rehabilitation campaign.

Dr MO Garg, is leading these operations from the front.

A remarkable feature of this campaign is that various research institutes have made contributions by way of donating their respective products.

For instance, the Central Food and Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, have sent three tonnes of its high energy drinks and substantial quantities of ready to serve poha.

It has also contributed one tonne each of bisekeli bath (kichdi), high energy kurkure, ORS drink, high energy biscuits besides 10 tonnes of mathri and rusk.

Its Central Health Research Institute has provided 2,000 pairs of non-leather floaters (sandals), NEERI Nagpur has sent 200 NEERI JARS and IMMT (Indian Minerals and Metal Technology Institute, Bhubaneswar) 500 ‘TERRAFIL’ water filters while National Chemical Laboratory, Pune (NCL) has donated 20 hand pumps.

The other contributions in kind have come from Hyderabad’s Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (kits for identifying DNA of dead bodies) and Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee (temporary shelters).

The Central Board Research Institute, have provided technology for rebuilding the destroyed roads.

MO Garg Director IIP himself with a team of his staffers has been visiting several affected villages much beyond Mussoorie.

A score of volunteers from Yusuf Meherally Centre headed by Manju Mohan have also extended their help in identifying the victims and their needs.

Dehradun, July 13
Subharti Group of Education contributed Rs 12 lakh cheque to CM's relief fund. The management members of the institute met Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Friday and handed him the cheque.

Subharti Group Trustee Dr Atul Krishna Bhatnagar and Director Yashvardhan said the contribution was part of the corporate social responsibility.

Yashvardhan said all the employees had given one day’s salary which led to the collection of Rs 12 lakh. He also expressed condolences to the bereaved family members of the victims.

The Chief Minister expressed gratitude to the Subharti Group for assistance to the disaster struck state. 

Dehradun, July 13
The first stage of Frank Anthony Memorial All-India Inter School Debate continued for the first and second categories here today.

The St Joseph's Academy senior team participants Utsav Thapliyal and Jahnavi Shrivastava participated in the competition at Heritage School. They debated on the topic "A disciplined man is a lonesome person in this lawless world."

The team emerged winners and qualified for the next round.Jahnavi was declared the best speaker, while Utsav was adjudged first runner-up speaker.

The SJA junior team comprised Kanishk Kakkar and Dhananjay Khanna.The team debated on the topic "A disciplined mind is a free mind" at the Modern School, Rishikesh.

The team stood the runner-up, thus also qualifying for the next round. Dhananjay Khanna was awarded the first runner-up speaker.

The first stage of the competition 2013 was held in St Josephs’ Academy here yesterday.

The event witnessed participation from the top debating teams of elite schools, including Modern School, Rishikesh, St Joseph’s College, All Saints’ College, Nainital, St George’s College, Wynberg-Allen School, Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School, Mussoorie International School, Mussoorie Public School, Mussoorie, The Aryan School, Cambrian Hall, Marshall School and Seven Oaks School, Dehradun.

The topic under fire was "A disciplined mind is a free mind." The competition was judged by Hilton's School Principal David Hilton, PYDS Learning Academy Principal Harwant Singh Ahluwalia, and North Point Children’s Academy Principal SS Rautela. The moderator for the competition was Dr P Satish John.

The debate was in the extempore format. Each speaker spoke with an immaculate precision, aplomb, conviction and passion. Telling points and scathing rebuttal were the order of the day.

With their rebut-proof arguments and excellent delivery, The Aryan School, Dehradun, was adjudged the best team followed by St George’s College, Mussoorie, as the runner-up team. Oas Tandon of The Aryan School was adjudged the best speaker and Havishita Malik of All Saints’ School, Nainital, was ranked the 1st runner-up speaker.

St Josephs' Academy Principal Bro AJ George proposed a vote of thanks. He complimented the students for their extraordinary oratorical skill.

The event was conducted by Yasmin and Navneet Ganguly. Vice-Principal Bro Dennis and Senior Coordinators S Sridhar and S Gupta were present on the occasion.

Haridwar, July 13
The district police busted a three-member gang of bike and mobile phone thieves today that used to carry out thefts in a planned manner.

SP, City, Jagdesh Singh Bhandari said the police had launched a manhunt for the three thieves since June 6 when they looted Dev Raj, a resident of Pathri.

As Dev Raj slipped from his motorcycle, the trio beat him up, stole his mobile phone and drove away his vehicle.

Similar incidents had taken place in the nearby areas in the recent past and the police was desperate to burst the gang.

On a tip-off, a Pathri police station team led by Circle Officer Chandra Mohan carried out a search operation today. At a railway crossing near Chandok Nangal, the police team noticed Devendra, Munna and Anil Kumar, all residents of Mandawar in Bijnore, riding a motorcycle. The culprits tried to flee when they saw the police but were nabbed.

The motorcycle (bearing number UK-08 W3983) and a mobile phone belonging to Dev Raj were recovered from them. They had changed the plate number of the motorcycle to escape being noticed by the police.

They have been booked under Sections 411, 420 and 394 of the IPC. They are drug addicts and used to buy narcotics by selling stolen goods.

The local police is trying to ascertain their involvement in similar theft cases. It is in touch with the Bijnore police to know about their crime record.