CM asks traders to help in rehab work
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 23
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has asked industrialists to assist in reconstruction and rehabilitation works in the disaster-hit areas of the state.

Bahuguna asked them to think about the comprehensive development of the state and urged them to set up industries in areas other than Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar. He expressed confidence that they would assist the government in rebuilding the devastated state.

Bahuguna was speaking at a seminar on “Rebuilding infrastructure in Uttarakhand — opportunities and challenges”, organised by the PHD Chambers of Commerce & Industry here today.

Addressing the gathering, he said, “We shall identify new tourist destinations in the state. Fifty helidromes will be constructed in the state for better connectivity. Efforts will be made to revive tourism in the state as it was before the disaster. Separate routes for entry and exit will be made for all five dhams. The new Kedarnath will be constructed scientifically and new routes constructed. I want industrialists to give their suggestions on better rehabilitation.”

“All programmes to be designed for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of infrastructure will be implemented after taking suggestions from scientists and other experts. Our objective is to develop the state on a sustainable basis. Suggestions will also be taken from the Geological Survey of India and the Archaeological Survey of India in this regard. Work will be done keeping a balance between the environment and economic development. A high-level committee has also been set up for the approval of rehabilitation work,” said Bahuguna.

He said Uttarakhand had been facing the challenge of global warming which was a matter of concern for the entire Himalayan region. The state had taken an initiative in this direction and a meeting of the Chief Ministers of the Himalayan states and representatives from the Himalayan countries would be held to address the issue.

Dr RK Pachauri of Tata Energy Research Institute and Dr Anil Joshi of HESCO will also participate, besides other eminent environmentalists and scientists.

Bahuguna said development programmes in a large numbers of villages had been hit, along with houses, drinking water projects etc, which had suffered great losses due to the disaster. Comprehensive work and not patch work repair would be taken up. He said this would definitely take time but work would be carried out speedily with the assistance of experts and scientists. There was also need to build tunnels in the landslide zones.

He said most of the roads were along rivers. Since gravel and sand were deposited in the rivers, they were causing damage to roads.

Bahuguna said the state was working at a rapid pace on providing relief despite limitation of human resources.

Chairman, PHD Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Ashish Mohan Wig, who was also present on the occasion, promised all possible help to the state.

Sale of acid continues in Uttarakhand

Dehradun, August 23
Days after the state government put in place the Victim Compensation policy to provide monetary relief to acid attack victims, no effort has been made to regulate the sale of acid in the state.

After persistent efforts by the SC, all states, including Uttarakhand, was forced to take note of the acid attack against women and devise ways to curb its sale along with providing succour to the aggrieved women.

The Department of Home Affairs came up with the policy that had also been approved by the Cabinet. But in the absence of strong regulations that forbid the sale of the acid, the problem is not solved completely. In view of the SC order for the controlled sale of acids, the UP Government has framed guidelines to restrict the sale of acid, prohibiting its sale to persons below 18 years and also making mandatory for shopkeepers to seek permission for the sale of acid and keep records of the transactions. However the response of Uttarakhand has not been swift. — TNS

Demand for withdrawal of BRAI Bill gains momentum
Ajay Ramola
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, August 23
The demand for the withdrawal of the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill as proposed by the government at the Centre that would allow entry of genetically modified (GM) crops and result in destroying the marginal farmers is gaining momentum in the state.

Social activist Suresh Bhai, the head of Nadi Bachao Andolan of Uttarakhand, who is working towards providing basic rights to the farmers for past several decades, opined: “The government through this Bill only wants to help foreign corporations, like Monsanto, and dump genetically modified (GM) seeds on our farmers and ultimately GM food on our plate.”

He said the government only wanted to create a BRAI Bill that will approve GM crops, without even considering the opinion of the stakeholders, in this case the marginal farmers, the consumers, thus resulting in decimating the organic farming practises being done in the hill state of Uttarakhand. With the passing of the Bill the marginal farmers would be rendered landless, thus triggering large-scale migration. He said the government, instead of implementing the BRAI Bill, should work towards preserving the treasure trove of traditional seeds available in the hills and strengthen marginal farmers so that they can earn their livelihood with dignity, without having any adverse affect on the traditional agriculture economy.

Eminent environmentalist, Vipin Kumar said the government before introducing the Bill should weigh the pros and cons and only after safeguarding the interests of the traditional farmers of the state should act on the Bill.

Neha Saigal, sustainable agriculture campaigner, Greenpeace India, said that her organisation had been carrying out a campaign for the withdrawal of the Bill. She further informed The Tribune that currently, the BRAI Bill was being reviewed by a standing committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, and once the committee submits its report, the government will be eager to present the BRAI Bill in Parliament.

“As the deadline for public feedback on the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India BRAI Bill closes on the August 25, a delegation from the coalition for a GM-free India and Greenpeace India, delivered petitions to Dr T Subbarami Reddy, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science & Technology, Environment & Forests, at his residence for the withdrawal of BRAI Bill,” added Neha Saigal.

She said the standing committee was currently reviewing the controversial BRAI Bill, 2013, which was introduced by the Ministry of Science & Technology despite opposition from both inside and outside Parliament. Receiving the petitions, Dr Reddy assured the delegation that the standing committee will keep these public concerns in mind while deliberating on this controversial Bill.

“The BRAI Bill, 2013, proposes to set up a single window clearance mechanism for contentious GM crops in the country,” said Renu Singh, a member of the coalition for a GM Free India.

She added, “It is designed to lower the regulatory bar to give a free hand to biotech giants like Monsanto to push in their GM crops and take control of our seeds, farming and food. It is nothing but a Monsanto Protection and Promotion Act.”

The BRAI proposal has been facing strong opposition from all quarters due to its centralised, biased, unscientific and non-transparent nature in dealing with regulation of GM crops. This comes at a time when there is mounting scientific evidences on their adverse impact on human health, environment and farm livelihoods.

“This Bill is an attempt to circumvent public opposition to GM crops in the country,” said Deb Kumar Chattopadhyay, a Greenpeace India activist. He further stated: “While the government failed us, we have great hopes that the parliamentary standing committee comprising MPs from various political parties will pay heed to the voice of citizens.”

State CPI general secretary Samar Bhandari said they opposed the Bill as it would benefit only the private players and multinational companies and not the ignorant farmers who have no inkling about the Bill as yet.

The activists demanded that the standing committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests, recommend the withdrawal of the BRAI Bill in larger interests of the farmers of the country and the state.

BJP councillors gherao District Supply Officer
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 23
BJP councilllors today gheraoed District Supply Officer (DSO) Shyam Arya for allegedly not issuing APL and BPL cards to residents of their wards to avail of the food security scheme. Residents of the Brahmpuri ward also joined the protest.

Arya assured the protesters of starting the process for issuing BPL and APL cards in the next 20 days.

Councillor Bhupender Singh Kathait said, “The DSO office is discriminating in issuing APL and BPL cards. It has come to light that the department is favouring only those whose names have been recommended by MLAs. The councilors, who are public representatives, have been ignored altogether. We will not let this happen any further.”

Satish Kashyap, councillor of Ward No. 44, said a large number of residents of his ward belonged to the BPL category. They had been making rounds of the DSO’s office every day to get the cards made so that they could avail of the benefits of the food security scheme, but in vain. Officials of the department did not issue BPL cards to them on one pretext or the other, he added.

Rajrani, a resident of Brahmpuri colony, showed documents declaring her as a member of the BPL category. She had been carrying the documents to the department but had not been issued a BPL card.

Kathait suggested to Arya to paint the BPL status outside each house belonging to the category, a method successfully adopted in Punjab. This, he said, would help in identifying such families and BPL cards could be issued without delay. He added on the day when the Chief Minister inaugurated the scheme, around 150 persons were randomly issued APL cards on the recommendations of the MLAs.

However, Arya said even these 150 persons too had not been issued APL cards till date as the process was yet to start. He assured the protesters that all formalities in this regard would be completed in the next 20 days and the BPL and APL cards would be issued thereafter.

Tourists hesitant to visit state after natural disaster

New Delhi, August 23
In the wake of the natural disaster in Uttarakhand, domestic and foreign tourists are hesitant to undertake the Char Dham Yatra and visit Nainital and Mussoorie, Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi said yesterday.

“The state government has informed that it is yet to be established that there is 85 per cent downfall in the tourism sector but employment has been adversely affected,” he said replying to a question in Rajya Sabha.

“According to the Uttarakhand Government, due to the natural calamity, domestic and foreign tourists are hesitating to come for the Char Dham Yatra and visit Nainital and Mussoorie,” he said.

The government has also said that the livelihood of the people involved in tourism has been adversely affected due to the calamity.

“Since a large number of people in Uttarakhand are employed in the tourism industry, there is a possibility that the affected lower-level employed segment may have moved to other states in search of employment,” he said.

The Uttarakhand Government has proposed revival plans of Rs 1,101 crore. The tourism ministry has announced an additional financial package of Rs 100 crore for rebuilding damaged government tourism assets.

The ministry has already sanctioned Central financial assistance of Rs 95 crore for various tourism infrastructure projects. — PTI

Areas not hit by disaster being neglected: Villagers
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, August 23
Villagers have alleged that the areas not hit by disaster have been neglected by the administration, while priority has been given for supplying goods to the disaster-hit areas. The villagers are now facing shortage of essential goods.

They have demanded to open the routes connecting the lower parts of Johar valley of Munsiyari sub division. Parvati Bachami, block pramukh of Munsiyari block, today, handed over a memorandum to the Pithoragarh District Magistrate.

Bachami said the supplies were being taken by helicopters in the villages of the upper valleys. Therefore, the villages situated at lower parts of Johar valley have started suffering from shortage of various essential goods.

“Over 20 villages of lower parts of Johar valley are facing shortage as the ration under the Public Distribution System (PDS) is not reaching them due to the closed routes connecting the villages," added Bachami.

“We are being neglected. The entire administrative machinery is attending only the disaster hit villages from last 65 days,” said Bachami.

On the other hand, the district administration today claimed that it had dropped 118.50 quintals of food grains in the upper parts of Johar valley that are still not connected with the routes.

“The army helicopters have dropped ration in the higher situated areas that would be sufficient till October,” said the District Magistrate.

In Champawat district, hundreds of villagers in remote areas, are suffering from shortage of essential goods as five main roads that link these villages are yet to be made workable.

“The villagers of Sukhidhank, Bapru, Amori and Thuligar villages are also not getting PDS ration from last one month as the roads are still closed in the district,” said Prema Pandey, chairperson of Champawat Zila Panchayat.

Efforts on to resume prayers at Kedarnath shrine

New Delhi, August 23
Over two months after the Kedarnath shrine was ravaged by floods in Uttarakhand, efforts are in full swing to ensure that prayers resume by September 11 as planned, even as priests say that much will depend on weather conditions.

“Preparations are going on. There is a meeting on August 25 in Dehradun to take a final call on whether the prayers can begin on the proposed date as we have to consider the weather conditions also. Everyone wants that prayers begin as early as possible,” Rawal Bhimshankar Ling, chief priest of Kedarnath, told PTI from Devangere, Karnataka.

Earlier this month, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had announced that prayers would resume from September 11. A 40-member team comprising PWD and Revenue Department officials reached Kedarnath this week to expedite the debris removal exercise and complete other arrangements, even as most places across the state were lashed by light to moderate rains.

“Prayers will be held with all rituals. We will perform a purification prayer first which will include a havan. After that the traditional prayer will begin under the guidance of priests," said the priest who is in Kanavkuppi math in Devangere, Karnataka, for ‘shravan rudrabhishek’, which is dedicated to those who died in the Kedarnath tragedy this year.

“Many people want to see the prayers but we have to keep the weather conditions and arrangements in mind. Once the prayers get resumed, Bagesh Ling, the present priest of the Kedarnath temple, and other staff will remain there till the doors get closed on November 5,” he said.

Bagesh Ling, who was inside the temple on the fateful day, is in Ukhimath now and waiting for the prayers to get resumed. “We are collecting all necessary stuff for purification and traditional puja,” Bagesh said.

“Prayers will be offered to Kaal Bhairav first. Then we will offer Balbhog to Kedarnath. After that there will be ‘abhishek’ and ‘shingar’ of the God and we will offer mahabhog. There will be a sampoorna arti in the evening. This is the tradition and will be followed till the doors are closed for the winters months,” he said.

He said all idols brought to Ukhimath after the floods would be taken back to Kedarnath. “We had brought the movable idols of Ganesh, Parvati, Shankar, Kaal Bhairav and Shaligram to Ukhimath. But now we will take them back to Kedarnath. After offering bhog to them, the prayers can resume,” he said. — PTI

Haldwani MC to seek Rs 250 cr for facilities
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, August 23
All councillors of the Haldwani Municipal Corporation (MC) today agreed to send a proposal of Rs 250 crore for the construction, upgrade and renovation of urban infrastructure to the Union Urban Development Ministry through the state government. The newly formed MC lacks financial resources of its own to provide urban facilities to local residents.

The councillors from across party lines agreed at a meeting held here today to send the proposal to the state Urban Development Ministry for forwarding to the Union Urban Development Ministry. “The Union government is granting money to all states for the development of basic facilities in areas under the jurisdiction of urban bodies. The Haldwani Nagar Nigam has also been enlisted under the scheme for the grant of funds for urban development and the state government has sought proposals from it,” said Neeraj Joshi, Assistant Town Development Officer of the corporation.

Joshi said the sanctioned funds would be spent on various projects, including construction of roads in every ward and a new bus station, installation of traffic signals in all parts of the town and the repair of water passages in the town. “The highest amount will be spent on strengthening the drainage system in the town and the construction of a 37 MLD sewage treatment plant at a cost Rs 153 crore,” he added.

He said Rs 63 lakh had been demanded for strengthening the drinking water supply line in Haldwani town while Rs 1.96 crore would be spent on the construction of two electric crematoriums in the Ranibagh and Rajpura localities.

Pranav: Give field officers, UFDC staff priority in mining activity
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 23
The Chairman of Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation (UFDC), Kunwar Pranav Singh, has expressed his apprehensions regarding blatant privatisation of micro-mineral mining in the state after the implementation of Government Order (GO) which was released on March 22 . While addressing a press conference, he said, “This is the right time to bring attention to this issue as the tender process for mining will be held next month and lots will be allotted a month after that.”

He said the state government must announce a new GO wherein, the field officers and employees of the UFDC should be given priority in the mining activity as per Indian Forest Act,1927. He said this provision would assist in controlling illegal mining. The state government must also declare the officers and employees of the UFDC as “Forest Officer” in accordance with the provision of Indian Forest, Uttaranchal Amendment Act-2001. He also demanded rivers to be divided into lots (sections) of 200 hectares for the auction purpose. He said this methodology would help in scientific processing of collection of micro-minerals, easy management of auction, generation of revenue and participation of locals.

He said the right of inviting tenders for mining should be restored with the UFDC as usual and not reposed with District Magistrate or at any government level. He said the guidelines stipulated in Forest Conservation Act and Environment Conservation Act with regard to depth

of rivers at which the mining of minor minerals was considered appropriate must be adhered to. The same must be applied on extraction time which had been permitted from sunrise to sunset till date because after that, many insidious and covert activities could take place near rivers, he added.

He also emphasised on the adoption of some stringent criterions to shortlist the bidders and also the methods to ensure transparency in the entire operation of mining such as usage of weighting bridges, computerisation or e-governance etc.

As chairman of the UFDC, he gave attention to the interests of the corporation, which are likely to get severely affected with the implementation of the GO. He said, “UFDC is the only corporation in the state which had been a profit making entity. Any tempering with the existing system of mining rights reserved with the UFDC will certainly hamper the interests of the corporation. A huge workforce of 3200 persons associated with it will become unemployed.”

Haridwar BJP youth wing faction ridden
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, August 23
The district youth wing of the BJP is faction ridden. While one group is being supported by heavyweight legislator Madan Kaushik, the other has the blessings of district BJP chief Kuldeep Gupta.

Factionalism is so stark that Kuldeep Gupta and divisional BJP chief Vikas Tiwari have announced two names for the post of city youth wing president.

While Gupta has named Ashish Sharma as the city chief of the youth wing, Tiwari has appointed Kishan Bajaj to the post. This has created confusion among the party cadre.

Tiwari said it was illegal to announce Sharma’s name as veteran party leaders, legislators and activists were not consulted in this regard.

He added he had appointed Bajaj after consulting MLA Kaushik, Mayor Manoj Garg and other senior party activists. But district chief of the BJP Youth wing Harjeet Singh said Sharma had been appointed the city youth wing president according to the party’s constitution. He had been awarded for actively participating in various programmes of the party.

Harjeet also announced the members of the working executive committee of the youth wing. The members are Ravish Saini, Vikas Kumar, Atul Chauhan, Ashu Chaudhari, Reshu Chauhan, Jolly Prajapti, Karan Singh, Anya Gupta, Chandan Singh and Arvind Malo.

Meanwhile, Ranipur-BHEL legislator Aadesh Chauhan said two factions in the youth wing did not augur well for the prospectus of the party in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. He had raised the issue with the party leaders, he added.

Gupta said he was being targeted for not yielding to the faction patronised by Madan Kaushik.