Haridwar, September 26
In view of the High Court’s directive on the prohibition of commercial establishments falling in the 200m periphery of the Ganga, the hoteliers, builders and traders are now lobbying to escape the directive.

In Haridwar and Rishikesh, there are a number of hotels and lodges constructed adjacent to the Ganga and ghats. Traders are now coming up with various excuses to save their businesses.

A delegation of traders, comprising Congress and BJP-affiliated traders, also met Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna yesterday in Dehradun, urging him to give directions to the Haridwar Development Authority (HAD) to be lenient on the hotels based in the pilgrim cities.

City-based hotel owners, who usually charge anywhere between Rs 1,000-5,000 for regular rooms, are now saying that they provide rooms to pilgrims and tourists at nominal rates.

The Haridwar Development Authority has sought explanation from those owners hotels of whom fall in the 200-m Ganga ambit, or have been constructed by passing residential building map or are being operated without proper approval from the HDA.

Vice-chairperson of the HAD Dr Ranjit Sinha said it was a court’s directive and everyone had to adhere to it.

Sinha said the authorities were taking strong cognisance of those ashrams that were building flats on ashram land and using to for commercial purposes.

“We are identifying such ashrams and notices will be served to the defaulters,” said the HDA vice-chairperson.

Head of the Traders’ Association Ashutosh Sharma has urged the authority to announce a date for the regularisation of the buildings.

District chief of the association Om Prakash Jamdagni cites the natural ecology of Haridwar as an excuse to exempt hotels constructed near the Ganga river from the directive.

He said on one side of Haridwar are mountains and on the other, the Ganga. Therefore, it was not feasible to have a 200m impose the directive on the hotels.

Traders belonging to the BJP have even warned of submitting hotel keys to the HAD if any action was taken against them and have also said they would stage a dharna at the HDA office.

Congress-led traders’ faction leader and former Municipal chairperson Pradeep Chaudhary said when the trader’s delegation met Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, he called on Dr Ranjit Sinha on phone, “giving him directions to form a committee with the traders’ representatives to arrive at a amicable solution”.

Haridwar District Magistrate Nidhi Pandey said the administration would follow court’s directive and no unauthorised construction would be spared.

Meanwhile, district unit chief of the Aam Aadmi Party JP Baduni has warned of starting an agitation if the illegal structures owned by local politicians, quarrying mafia, builders and hoteliers, too, were not targeted.

Haridwar, September 26
Despite a ban on quarrying on the Ganga riverbed in the district, it is going on unabated.

While the district administration has on numerous occasions taken action against anti-quarrying activists like inmates of Matra Sadan, it has failed to deter those involved in the illegal activity.

Large scale quarrying on the Ganga riverbed can be witnessed at Bishanpur Kundi, Bhogpur, Lakshar, Khanpur, Chidiyapur, Lal Dangh and in the city periphery.

Heavy JCB machines, trolleys and trucks can be seen operating on the Ganga riverbed in violation of the ban particularly during early morning and late night hours.

The Matra Sadan inmates say the illegal activity is continuing due to a nexus between the sand mafia, politicians and administration officials.

SSP, Haridwar, Rajeev Swarup said the police was keeping a round-the-clock vigil in quarrying-prone areas. “We are holding a drive against illegal quarrying for the past fortnight. All circle officers and station house officers of respective police stations have been given the responsibility to check illegal quarrying,” he said.

The SSP added that he was also paying surprise visits to the areas where illegal quarrying was being reported. Notably, the SSP had last week suspended two SHOs and attached several personnel to police lines for negligence of duty in checking quarrying. The police seized a tractor being used for illegal quarrying at Pathri last night.

Former SSP, Haridwar, Arun Mohan Joshi, was transferred to the Provincial Armed Constabulary a few months ago when he had initiated a major drive against illegal quarrying in the district.

Joshi had suspended a circle officer and six police personnel but they were later let off by a department inquiry committee. Speculation was rife then that a Cabinet-ranked Minister, who had interest in quarrying, was behind Joshi’s transfer.

Dehradun, September 26
The premises of Dehradun Municipal Corporation turned into a battlefield today with an incident of alleged high-handedness involving some BJP councillors and Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Ashok Kumar in the beginning of the meeting itself. Enraged Congress councillors sat on dharna and began raising slogans against the Mayor and BJP councillors.

In response to that BJP councillors, too, began sloganeering. BJP councillors brought down a green metal shield raised outside MNA office. Meanwhile, some employees of DMC clashed with BJP councillors. Though a few policemen were deputed in the morning, they could not control the situation. Later several policemen and policewomen were sent for while senior police officials such as SP, City, CO, Sadar, and City reached there along with SHO Kotwali and police post in charge, Araghar, to defuse the situation.

BJP councillor Amita Singh intervened the proceedings of the board meeting by holding the mike and accusing the MNA of obstructing development works and misbehaving with councillors. When the MNA stood up to leave the room, the Mayor signalled him not to do so and BJP councillor Neeraj Sethi got up to the MNA’s dias along with some other councillors and held the MNA by the collar. Amid sloganeering, BJP councillors broke down the metal sheet erected outside the MNA’s office. Some employees roughed up BJP councillor Amita Singh.

BJP councilors said they would not hold the board meeting until the MNA resigned from the office.

Dehradun, September 26
Former BJP leader Pramod Gupta was sentenced to life-imprisonment by the additional district court here today for his involvement in a gang rape in a hotel on the Rajpur road in 2008.

Ashok, close aide of Pramod Gupta and co-accused in the case, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on the charges of conspiracy and kidnapping.

Both the accused were brought to the court of Additional District Judge Amit Kumar Sirohi amidst tight security arrangements in the morning. The judgment was pronounced in the afternoon.

A girl, who was a student of Class12, was gang raped by six persons after alluring her of a government job in secretariat. According to the police, Ashok, who knew the victim before, brought her to the Saharanpur road in Dehradun, where Pramod was waiting. Pramod was introduced as a secretariat officer and both of them drove the girl to one hotel on the Rajpur road, where she was gang raped.

After much controversy and increasing pressure from all quarters, the police arrested Pramod Gupta, Ashok and the hotel manager. The other three accused are still absconding. The court acquitted the hotel manager on Wednesday due to lack of evidence against him.

Few NGOs played a crucial role in this five-year fight. The victim received all-around support from the society and NGOs in her fight for justice.

Dehradun, September 26
Wildlife conservationists dealing with the Avifauna studies are not ruling out the changes in the habitat of riverine bird species following the recent catastrophic Kedarnath deluge.

Riverine bird species like kingfisher, wagtails and red stars are dependent on rivers for their habitats. This habitat that varies as per the altitude also depends on the spread of a particular river. Some riverine birds may prefer a narrow river valley as its habitat while others could go for wider river valleys. Some, on the other hand, may prefer narrow river gorges.

The recent Kedarnath floods have given a new dimension to a project of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, on the ‘Effects of climate change on riverine forests and indicator species along the Ganga in Uttarakhand’. The WII project was taken up this summer when a sudden turn of events at Kedarnath added significance to it.

Scientist at the WII and co-investigator to the project BS Adhikaris said the proposed study focused on the ecology of the riverine forests along the upper Ganga region within Uttarakhand with special focus on the changes in riverine habitats in the aftermath of the Kedarnath deluge. He said the study focused on the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers, two rivers that were in the thick of devastation in the recent tragedy. The alternation in the riverine habitats due to enormous deluge could bring a behavioural change among riverine birds vis-à-vis its choice of habitat and thus the study could make important revelations, he said.

On the aspects of study, Adhikari said climate was a key determinant of the structure and functioning of ecosystems, patterns of species distribution and dispersal. “The effects of climate variability and change are significant along the water course and the associated wildlife habitats. Riverine habitats, although occupy small proportion of the landscape, play a critical role in maintaining regional biological diversity,” he said.

The riverine bird study comes at the time when the Ganga is listed among the top 10 rivers at risk in the world because of over extraction of water resources and sharp vegetation changes in the recent years as a response to climatic and anthropogenic effects.

The study will assess the structural and functional attributes of vegetation along the selected climatic ecology, identify possible indicator, their distribution pattern, range shift and population response along the river and detect major drivers of landscape composition and configuration in space and time.

It is for the first time that an elaborated study on the entire riverine of the Ganga in the Garhwal hills has been taken up. Dr K Ramesh is the principal investigator for the three-year project.

Mussoorie, September 26
The newly appointed SDM of Mussoorie, Sonika Meena, at her first meeting with the officials today took stock of the progress of development works.

The SDM enquired from the officials about the progress of various projects being executed in the town. She directed them to gear up for the autumn tourist season so that the tourists did not face any inconvenience.

Meena also enquired about the progress of the sewage project being executed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Rural Management Project in Mussoorie. The Jal Nigam officials apprised her about the work on four sewage treatment plants and told her that the whole project would be completed next year.

The officials also informed the SDM that clearance for a STP plant from the Ministry of Environment was still awaited and efforts were being made to start the work on it soon. The SDM also directed the Jal Nigam and Forest Department officials to speed up the clearance work for the project on priority.

She showed concern towards rampant illegal construction going on in the town and the dubious role being played by the MDDA, which was biased towards the rich. She said she would meet the MDDA officials separately and after taking stock of the situation direct them to initiate action.

Meena also directed the Municipal Council officials to take steps to check the stray animal menace in the town and remove all encroachment from the Mall Road.

She discussed the traffic plan with Circle Officer, Mussoorie, Jaya Baloni under which the vehicular movement on the Mall Road would be totally banned during the prohibited period.

She also took stock of the project of underground electrification and directed the officials to speed up the work.

The officials from the Jal Sansthan, the Electricity Department and the Jal Nigam were present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, MC president Manmohan Singh Mall chaired a meeting held on the Municipal Council premises to discuss various contentious issues of the local residents. The traders’ association raised the issue of encroachment and vehicles plying above speed limits on the Mall Road even during the prohibited hours. The issue of banning movement of horses on the Mall Road was also discussed in detail. The MC president said the movement of horses on the Mall Road would be banned completely and horse owners would be given shops as an alternative source of livelihood.

Dehradun, September 26
President of Jan Sangharsh Morcha and former GMVN vice-president Raghunath Singh Negi has alleged irregularities in appointments on various posts in the office of the High Court Advocate General between 2001-04. He said these appointments were made without giving any advertisement in newspapers.

Negi said: “People were recruited against 38 vacancies in year 2001, 17 in year 2003 and four in year 2004 on different positions. There were clear instructions from state government that the vacancies will be filled with candidates who are surplus, on deputation or were to be redeployed. But none of these conditions were met while making the appointments.”

While showing the documents of the candidates, he said papers lacked basic details such as the address or qualification etc of the selected candidates. “The documents where details of age or qualifications are available show that fundamental yardsticks regarding age and qualifications have been compromised to clear these appointments,” he added.

Negi said these appointments were sanctioned on plain white papers instead of following a proper procedure. The department had no answer on the query on what basis or government order, these appointments were made. No outsourcing agency was contacted for these jobs. Candidates, who were temporary in the beginning, were made regular within six months of their appointment. Daily wagers/contractual employees in government departments were not being regularised for the past 20-30 years. These few chosen ones were regularised after six months of their appointment, he added.

Negi said, “Out of these candidates, around 23 daily wagers of third grade and 12 daily wagers of fourth grade were regularised within a period of six months, while others were regularised within one and half month of their appointment,” adding that promotions of these people too was done out of the way. He said, “It is evident that they were regularised by 2006. By May, 2007, they were promoted from junior clerk to the position of Assistant and within next two months they were further promoted as Assistant Superintendent.”

Negi said, it was disheartening to find the scam emerging from high court premises. He said, he would demand justice and action against these irregularities from high court.

Dehradun, September 26
A poster-making competition was organised at the Sardar Bhagwan Singh PG Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Research, Balawala, today.

The theme of the competition was based on blood donation.

A programme on blood donation will be organised on September 27 in association with the Indian Medical Association blood bank, Dehradun, Mahant Indresh Hospital and Rotract Club, SBSPGI, Balawala, Dehradun.

Mahant Indresh Hospital, Dehradun, had offered 10 per cent discount on all medical expenses incurred by the donor.

About 30 students participated in the competition. Loshita Roy (MM-I year) won the first prize, while the second place was shared by Swati Tyagi and Satakshi Gautam (BPT II year). Sudipta Majumdar (MSc biotech-II year) got the third position.

The winners will be given the certificate of appreciation and a cash prize of Rs. 1,200, Rs 1,000 and Rs 800 for the first, second and third positions, respectively, on September 27.

SP Singh, chairperson, SBSPGI, Director, Gauravdeep Singh, managing secretary, SBSPGI, Brig (retd) PPS Pahwa, Additional Director, SBSPGI, Dr MK Chakrborty, and other faculty members were present on the occasion.

Dehradun, September 26
The 6th Shri Rohitash Singh Memorial Inter-School Boys' Super-8 Cricket Tournament began at The Heritage School here today.

Twentyfour teams are participating in the tournament. Awadesh Chaudhary, president of the Volleyball Federation of India, was the chief guest, who declared the tournament open.

The inaugural match was played between Colonel Brown and Carmen School (Dalanwala), in which Colonel Brown was declared the winner.

Colonel Brown had a bad start and started losing wickets on a regular intervals and could score only 21 runs at the loss of 6 wickets in their 1st innings.

In the 2nd innings, Carman School could score only 19 runs whereas Colonel Brown managed to score 30 runs and won the match.

Abdul of Colonel Brown was adjudged the man of the match.

In the second match, St Thomas College beat Seven Oaks School by 14 runs. After winning the toss, Seven Oaks decided to bowl first.

St Thomas scored 27 runs in the 1st innings at the loss of 3 wickets and in reply, Seven Oaks scored 24 runs.

In the second innings, St Thomas managed to score 33 runs at the loss of just 1 wicket. In an attempt to chase down the target, Seven Oaks could score only 22 runs in the end and lost the match by 14 runs.

Mussoorie, September 26
Hari Bisht from Rama Devi Inter College emerged winner in the boys' sub junior division of the discuss throw event held under the 13th regional schools' athletic meet that began at Survey Ground in Mussoorie today.

In the same event, Suraj from St. Laurence School and Navin from Nirmala Inter College were declared second and third, respectively.

In 3000 metres long distance race of juniors' section, Praveen Singh from St. Lawrence, Shubham from Nirmala Inter College and Sanjiv Kshetri from St. Lawrence stood first second and third, respectively. In girls' section Radha Kumari from Nirmala Inter College,Monica Rana from St. Lawrence and Raina Negi, St. Lawrence, stood first, second and third, respectively.

In mini boys' section 800 metres race Ranjit, Deepak from Sansklrit Mahavidyalaya and Saurabh Nautiyal stood first second and third. In girls' section Radha from St. Lawrence, Pooja and Poonam from Sanatan Dharm emerged as winners in 800 metres race.

The event is for the government and partially government funded schools of the region with St. Lawrence being the host this year. The competitions will go on for four days.

Mussoorie, September 26
'Talent Hunt 2013', a cultural bonanza, was organised at Jay Pee Residency Hotel here yesterday to boost tourism.

Dressed in colourful attire, hotel staff showcased their talent in music, dance and other art forms, which held the audience spellbound.

Vandana, a hotel employee, performed on "Nimboda, Nimboda" while Dinesh mesmerised the audience with a Garhwali number.

Arjun and Nupur Kaintura, who were the chief guests on the occasion, said such programmes would help promote tourism which was reeling under the impact of the mid-June disaster.

Anil Sharma, GM of the hotel, said the programme was organised to promote tourism in the town and to convey a message to tourists that Mussoorie was safe from any disaster.

Dehradun, September 26
Four quarterfinal matches were played in the team event in the ongoing Ordnance Factory North Zone Badminton Tournament here today. In the first match, OFC defeated OPF 2-0 whereas OFD defeated OCF 2-0 in the second match.

In the third quarterfinal match, FGK trounced OFM 2-0. OLF won its quarterfinal match against OEF 2-0. — TNS