Effective community policing need of the hour: Experts
Dehradun, September 11
The two back-to-back murders in broad-daylight in the past five days in Dehradun have once again highlighted the need of effective community policing in the state capital, which is absent in the present policing system of the city.

Haridwar September 11
The Uttarakhand Irrigation Department is at loggerheads with its UP counterpart over the issue of the Ganga canal expansion.

Despite over 12 years of the formation of Uttarakhand, which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh, the latter is yet to hand over the control of the Ganga canal that falls in Uttarakhand.

Every now and then a dispute erupts between the two states over the operation and management of Ganga canal resources, property and water.

Now the UP Irrigation Department, which looks after the affairs of the Ganga canal in Haridwar too, has started digging land belonging to the Uttarakhand Irrigation Department for the expansion of the canal.

It has started work on the Mayapur link channel adjacent to NH-58 near Shankaracharya chowk-Damkoti Bridge.

The Uttarakhand Irrigation Department claims that the land on which the digging work is under way belongs to it. It has also written a letter to top officials of its UP counterpart, in which it has stated that the department is violating the 2000 court directives stating that UP has no right to hold possession or carry out any work on land belonging to the Uttarakhand Irrigation Department.

Executive engineer, Uttarakhand Irrigation Department, Purushottam Kumar said on numerous occasions, their UP counterpart violated the agreement clause and the court directives.

He said every year before the festival of Divali, the UP department orders the closure of the canal, hurting the sentiments of pilgrims, tourists, locals and teerth purohits.

On the other hand, subdivisional officer of the UP Irrigation Department Veer Veerendra Singh Yadav told TNS that before starting the project, they had sought special orders from the court, which would be handed over to Uttarakhand.

He said the project was for the betterment of the people only as it would increase the capacity of the Ganga canal from 10,500 cusecs to 13,500 cusecs. Thus, this would help make available potable water for Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Meanwhile, renowned saint Swami Chinmayanand has objected to logging being carried out by the UP Irrigation Department to expand the Ganga canal.

He said thousands of trees had already been cut for the expansion work on NH-58.

Dehradun, September 11
The 200 sacked policemen started an indefinite agitation here today in support of their demand of reinstating them immediately. They raised slogans against the government and blamed it for doing injustice with them. It is to be noted that the government in 2012 terminated the services of 200 policemen after it was found that they filed their job application forms from more than one place.

They are also blaming the government of favouritism in terminating the services of police constables. ''We have the list of persons who also filed their application forms from more than one place and still their services were not terminated because they had high contacts in the government,'' said one of the aggrieved candidates.

Bhirendra Panwar told The Tribune:''I joined Uttarakhand police after clearing the exam in 2010 and underwent 9 months' training at police training center in Narendra Nagar and then I got posted at Rudraprayag. But after two years of my service I was terminated for filing application froms from two places.''

They are now saying that on the call of the Chief Minister they ended their agitation last month but no decision has been made even after the promise made by the Chief Minister in their case.

Dehradun, September 11
The two back-to-back murders in broad-daylight in the past five days in Dehradun have once again highlighted the need of effective community policing in the state capital, which is absent in the present policing system of the city.

In both the murder cases, intruders broke into the house in broad-daylight and murdered the lone member present in the house and nobody, including immediate neighbours, got to know about it. The police is still clueless regarding the mystery behind the murders.

Now experts are once again calling for introducing community policing in the city, which will bring better and regular coordination between the police and area welfare associations through members of designated area committees.

According to Brig (retd) KG Behl, former president of Dalanwala Residents' Welfare Association, ''the police should take initiative on this front as it is a fact that through community policing crimes happening in the city could be controlled.''

It started off well in 2009 with regular meetings happening between police and residents' association representatives but after a few months of functioning, the programme stopped, said KG Behl.

Notably, in 2009 the then DGP, Subhash Joshi, stressed on community policing and directed the police to promote such policing to bridge the gap between citizens and policemen. Even setting up of a separate wing for community policing was considered. But over a period of time, it saw its implementation waning away gradually.

It is an established fact that through community policing, the police can bring the community closer to it and can find better ways to handle law and order in society.

Ideally, the community involves beat patrolling, formation of a committee comprising local people and advisory committee consisting of senior police officers to review its progress. Representatives of residents' welfare association meet once a month and remain in regular touch with the beat patrolling staff to ensure that there is effective vigil in the area.

Few cities in the country have controlled crime through community policing. Delhi is one example where its ''neighborhood watch scheme,'' a community policing initiative, enhanced coordination between the close-knit communities and the law-enforcement agencies.

Even DIG, Garhwal, Amit Sinha, who was SSP, Dehradun, when the community policing initiative was introduced, believes that community policing can be an effective tool to control crime in society.

''In community policing, society members act as eyes and ears of the police and regular meetings take place.The community's involvement in reducing crimes, improving community spirit in crime prevention and increasing police-community relations are ensured,'' Amit Sinha told The Tribune. 

Mussoorie, September 11
The ongoing drama over determining the presidential candidate of MPG College finally ended with a toss of coin in the college premises, resulting in the announcement of ABVP candidate as the clear winner today.

The two presidential candidates Jaipal Rawat from ABVP and Neeraj Sajwaan from NSUI Megh Singh Group were tied at 329 votes each after the polls in MPG college, which resulted in violent and chaotic scenes in the college forcing the police to resort to lathi-charge and book some miscreants for stone pelting five days ago. The college administration, in the wake of the tension among the students, held the results for five days and acted only after receiving the guidelines from the parent university, which suggested staging a toss in case of tie between the two candidates during the polls for student body elections. Following that the college administration called the two presidential candidates for toss today at around 12 noon.

The CO, Mussoorie, Jaya Baloni, tossed the coin which fell in favour of Jaipal Rawat much to the delight of the ABVP supporters who cheered in front of the college after the announcement of the decision in their favour.

The opponent, Neeraj Sajwan, accepting his defeat after the toss shook hands with the newly elected presidential candidate Jaipal Rawat and taking the decision in his stride said that he would support the union in its future endeavour’s wherever possible.

With this the whole panel from ABVP has been declared as the winner for the students' council body here.

The newly elected president Jaipal Rawat said that all the bickering was now over and he would take all students along with him and work in their interest during his tenure as president.

Later the newly elected candidates, Jaipal Rawat for the post of president, Pradeep Kumar for the post of vice-president, Sandeep Singh for the post of general secretary, Sanjana Sharma for the post of treasurer and Priyanka for the post of joint secretary were administered the oath of office by Principal of the college Sudhir Gairola in the presence of the staff and students.

The Principal complementing the newly elected members of the students' council said that they should do their best towards the interest of the college and try to create an atmosphere conducive for learning.

The police was deployed in large numbers in and around the college to avoid any untoward incident.

With this the impasse created during the college elections finally ended on a peaceful note.

However, the police is still on lookout for the miscreants who pelted stones and created nuisance that led to lathi charge in the college on the polling day five days ago.

Many regular students blamed party politics for vitiating the atmosphere of the college and were of the opinion that the student wings from the national parties should be kept away from the college to avoid tension in the college.

Haridwar, September 11
Beautifully decorated pandals of deity Ganesha, are being flocked by devotees in large number in this pilgrim city.

Devotees are offering prayers to the God of good fortune and removal of all evils-obstacles also known by 108 names. At ancient Shri Daksh Maha Dev temple in Kankhal, ‘Shiv Darbar’ has been put up, where devotees are offering worship.

Lord Shiva and Ganesha idols have been put up at Rishikul Maidan drawing a large number of people.

Similarly, at Shravan Nath Math temple and other places Ganpati Mahotsava is being observed, which will continue till Ganesh Chaturthi festive.

Dharam Jagriti Sanga, at Kumar Sabha Kankhal, Imli Mohalla based Shiv temple,Nirmal Ganpati Sangh, Mayapur and many other religious organisations are holding Ganesh Utsav festival in the city.

Dehradun, September 11
More than 24 hours after a 40-year-old woman was murdered at her house on the Teg Bahadur Road, the police is yet to find a headway in the case.

The police is limiting its investigation to labourers working at a nearby construction site, who were taken into custody for interrogation on Tuesday and some "known criminals" of that area.

Neeru Saini was killed on Tuesday afternoon when she was alone at her house. Her husband SK Saini, who is a class-I contractor in the electricity department, was reportedly at his hometown Baghwanpur in Roorkee for some work when the incident took place.

"The murder does not seem to be an outcome of an attempted robbery as valuables in the house had not even been touched and the almirahs and lockers were intact. The investigation team is trying to unfold the mystery," a senior police officer told The Tribune.

The Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police formed teams consisting of personnel from the special operation group to crack the case but till now, they are yet to find any lead in the case.

When contacted, Circle Officer of Dalanwala MS Farswan said, "We are investigating from all possible angles and have interrogated a few people. We are hopeful that case will be cracked very soon."

Dehradun, September 11
The St Joseph's Academy team entered the semifinal of the Inter-School Senior Council Football Tournament after defeating Indian Public School 5-2 in a quarterfinal match played here today.

Arya scored three goals and Mridul and Apporv contributed one goal each for the St Joseph team.

For Indian Public School, Dorzee scored two goals in in 11th and 46th minutes of the match.

In the second quarterfinal, Colonel Brown School beat SelaQui International School 3-0. 

Dehradun, September 11
Akranta continued its brilliant form and won yet another match after defeating JA Boys by 2-0 in the ongoing Drona College 70th Nemidas Memorial District Football League here today. Pankaj Rana opened the score in the 27th minute and Promod made it 2-0 after converting a penalty shot into a goal in the 55th minute of the game.

In another match played in the league today, Bala Ji Boys played a 1-1 draw with Yankies. With Vipin’s goal in the 5th minute, Bala Ji was ahead in the match but Yankies’ Gaurav Thapa brought his team back into the match after scoring the equaliser in the 29th minute. Doon Star defeated Vikasnagar Boys by 2-1 with Ganjendra and Dinesh scoring for the winning team in the 20th and 59th minute respectively. Sohail scored the lone goal for Vikasnagar in the match. 

Dehradun, September 11
Chandragupta section returned to winning ways by lifting the RIMC Inter Section Soccer Trophy 2013 here today. The tournament lasted 4 days, starting from September 8 till 11. A total of 24 matches were played in the tournament in four different categories, junior, middle, senior and rabbits.

The tournament had been played on a league basis and involved the participation of the cadets in all forms, from participants to the referees and linesmen.

In the junior category, Cadet Aryan Ahluwalia was adjudged the most promising player of the tournament with Cadet Sameer Ansari winning the best player award. Cadet Abhay Mishra won best goalkeeper award.

In the middle category, Cadet Devesh Rathore won the best player award and the best goalkeeper award was won by Cadet Punit Jatran. In the senior category, Cadet Sohail Islam won the best player award and Cadet Pavitra Ojha won the best goalkeeper award.

In the overall standing, Chandragupta won the tournament followed by Pratap coming second and Shivaji section remaining on the third position.