DM: No digging of roads without prior permission
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
Coming down heavily on the companies and departments for digging up roads, the District Magistrate, BVRC Purushottam, clearly stated that an FIR would be registered in case the work is done without prior permission from the authorities.

The action came days after residents of several localities staged a demonstration regarding the disruption of water supply due to the damage sustained by the pipeline while digging up the roads.

The decision was taken during a meeting held here to review the ongoing water crisis in the state capital. Addressing the officials from the Water Corporation, Jal Sansthan and Dehradun Municipal Corporation, Purushottam said that the officials should ensure a regular water supply in various areas of the city.

The District Magistrate told the officials of the Jal Sansthan to regularise the water supply in the areas facing the criss till May 5.

“Electricity, water and cleanliness are the basic necessities of public and they should not be deprived of the same. Provision of electricity should be made at the pump houses that are in-operational due to low voltage.”

“Apart from the Jal Sansthan, which has to repair the damaged water pipelines, no other department would be allowed to dig up roads without getting permission from the DM's office. The departments, including DMC, PWD, MDDA, telephone/mobile companies and Water Corporation would have to taken permission for laying cables or construction of drains,” he said.

Taking stock of the cleanliness drive in the city, the officiating Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Purushottam said that the vehicles involved in lifting the garbage should be in running condition and repaired immediately for any damage.

Those who were present in the meeting included HK Pandey, BC Purohit, Harshvardhan Mishra, Om Prakash Pant and Banshidhar Tewari along with several others.

Paddy farmers likely to get Rs 2,200 per quintal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
Paddy farmers in the state are likely to get Rs 2,200 per quintal for their produce in the forthcoming kharif season.

This forecast has been made by scientists of the department of agricultural economics, GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, under a research project, "Network project on market intelligence", of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

One of the objectives of the project is to make price forecast well in advance of the sowing of the selected agricultural commodities and during harvesting.

The project team under the supervision of Dr Anil Kumar, principle investigator, had conducted a market survey of the Rudrapur regulated market, a major market for fine paddy in Uttarakhand, and analysed the market price data that prevailed for the past 13 years.

The result of the econometric analysis showed that the market price of fine paddy such as Pusa 1121, Panjab-1, Sarbati etc in the Rudrapur market would be in the range of Rs 2,100 to Rs 2,200 per quintal in October to December. Scientists have advised farmers, who wish to take fine paddy cultivation this season, to decide the varieties and acreage under fine paddy crop considering the forecast price of fine paddy as well as other conditions.

The major paddy producing countries in the world are China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma and Bangladesh. India has the largest area under paddy in the world and ranks second in production after China. India exports about 7-8 lakh tonnes mostly to Saudi Arabia and other middle-east countries, Europe, and the USA. In Uttarakhand, the area under paddy was 2.80 lakh hectares and production was 5.93 lakh tonnes in 2010-12. Major paddy producing districts in Uttarakhand are Udham Singh Nagar, Dehradun and Haridwar.

Dalit leaders demand arrest of yog guru Ramdev
Plan hunger strike across Haridwar
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, May 2
While many cases have been lodged at various places against yog guru Swami Ramdev for his derogatory remarks on Dalit community, Dalit representatives have demanded immediate arrest of Swami Ramdev.

They have also warned that if within a couple of days arrest of the yog guru is not made, then they will be sitting on hunger strike across the district.

Dalit leader Satish Kumar stated that after May 7, when the polling for 16th Lok Sabha election gets over in Uttarakhand, he along with a number of Dalit representatives will sit on agitation if till then arrest of the yog guru is not made.

He added that already a number of protests have been carried out across the district against the alleged controversial comments by Swami Ramdev.

“Swami Ramdev’s apology is also not clear as he is also pointing that his remarks were twisted and taken in the wrong context, he added.

Vishwa Dalit Parivar representative Vidya Devi has also announced indefinite agitation by the VDP in Haridwar, with some Dalit senior persons deciding to sit on hunger strike.

Lashing out at Swami Ramdev, the Dalit woman leader said that words such as ‘picnic’, ‘honeymoon’ did not go down well with a saint and one who has lakhs of followers.

She urged Ramdev to not politicise his saint-cum-yoga acharya career, for which he has got global fame.

“Now Ramdevji seems more interested in politics. He is using yoga camps to promote BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Election Commission should take stringent note of this hidden agenda of promoting the saffron party,'' said Raj Mala,a young Dalit lactivist.

Several-effigy burning protests have been carried out in the past few days against Swami Ramdev’s remarks.

Cong going all out to woo Dalits
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, May 2
After yog guru Swami Ramdev’s controversial statement over the visit of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to Dalit houses, there has been quite a paradigm shift in the political scenario in Haridwar parliamentary constituency.

To cash in on the resentment among the Dalits, the Congress is trying to lure them who comprise around 25 per cent of the total population in the constituency. Chief Minister Harish Rawat, who is the sitting MP from the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat, is focusing on raking in maximum political advantage of Dalits' anger.

For the last three days, he has been specially visiting Dalit-dominated segments and even paying impromptu visits to some Dalit leaders' homes.

Besides, he is specially trying to convince Dalit leaders belonging to the BJP and the BSP to join the Congress. As many as 10 gram pradhans, Dalit women candidates contesting against Renuka Rawat, a former BSP Lok Sabha candidate, BSP youth wing leader and hundred-odd prominent Dalit workers have joined the Congress in the presence of Harish Rawat.

Veteran BSP leader Antriksh Saini, whom the BSP had given the ticket from Haridwar, expressed faith in the Congress ideology and joined the party today in the presence of Harish Rawat.

Noted social activist and Peace Party Lok Sabha candidate Rekha Valimiki also joined Congress, expressing solidarity and support to Congress candidate Renuka Rawat.

Induction of both these prominent leaders has boosted the electoral prospects of Renuka’s candidature as she is pitched against BJP stalwart Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

“It is a good sign that people from all segments of society are joining Congress as this is the only party which has catered to all segments of society, be it minority or Dalits.Valmiki and Antriksh hold good base in Haridwar ,who along with hundreds of supporters joined Congress today. It is a reflection of secular credentials of Congress and also negates the so-called Narendra Modi wave in Uttarakhand,'' said Harish Rawat at a Sidcul hotel.

Ranjeet Singh Rawat, relative and election manager of Renuka Rawat,accepted the fact that there is major focus on Dalit votes as they will turn the tables in Lok Sabha elections. So there is no denying that they are focusing extensively on the said community.

He said during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections Dalit community had voted one-sided for Harish Rawat, who then won with a record 1.27 lakh votes. During the whole five years he looked after Dalit issues and there was no denying that in his short span as Chief Minister, he has been giving special priority to this often neglected community.

Congress in this regard is also cornering Swami Ramdev and BJP candidate Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to get maximum mileage from this controversy.

Shilpi Arora, spokesperson for the Congress, has sought an apology from the yog guru ,while explanation from Nishank of his stance regarding the controversial comments has been sought.

Rekha Valimi said the Dalit vote would go to the Congress this time too as the BSP had lost its base in the constituency, while BJP had exposed its hidden agenda against Dalits through Ramdev.

Mobile puppet show to create voting awareness
Tribune News Service

Artistic Move: School girls watch a puppet show organised by the Election Commission to motivate people for voting in Dehradun on Friday. A Tribune photograph

Dehradun, May 2
A mobile puppet show was organised under the Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme in various parts of the district to motivate people to cast their votes as Uttarakhand goes to poll on May 7.

In the closing function held in the premises of the Dehradun Muncipal Corporation (DMC), District Magistrate-cum-District Election Officer BVRC Purshottam said the mobile puppet show was started from April 24.

“The involvement of folk artists, folk singers from Garhwal and Kumaon region and local poetry were appreciated by the voters,” he said.

“Based on the direction from the Election Commission of India the show was organised to create awareness among the voters. During the last general elections, the state had registered merely 53 per cent voting. By organising such awareness programmes before the elections, we tend to increase the total percentage to 70 per cent this time,” he added.

Purshottam said nearly five lakh people filled the ‘Sankalap Patra’ to cast their votes. Apart from this, the NSS volunteers and school children have also contributed in the awareness drive. Dr Vineet Bishnoi, PK Saklani, Saroj Tripathi and PD Pandey were also present on the occasion.

Polling booths set up in high-altitude areas of state
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
Despite geographical challenges, the Election Commission of India has set up polling booths in remote areas in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand to ensure that voters residing there could cast their votes. No wonder Gangi at 10,000 feet is the highest polling booth in the state, followed by Kharsali in Yamunotri at the height of 9800 feet falling under the Tehri parliamentary constituency where Lok Sabha polls would be held on May 7.

According to the Chief Electoral Office, after Gangi, Livadi in Purola Uttarkashi at the height of 8789 feet is the second highest, and Bona polling booth in Dharchula (Pithoragarh ) located at the height of 8333 feet is the third highest polling booth in the state.

Further, in Dehradun district too Dangutha (Chakrata) polling booth is located at a height opf 6600 feet. Whereas the Landour Mussoorie polling booth is at a height of 7000 feet above the sea level.

“These polling booths have remained the same since the 2009 General Election. We make advance arrangements for sending the EVMs and personnel to these booths,” said Subash Kumar, Chief Secretary.

Again, the polling booth with lowest number of voters is in Dharchula with a total of 993 voters (519 male and 474 female).

Then, in several areas the election personnel have to slug it out on foot to reach the polling booths. In all there are 15 polling booths where walking distance is more than 15 km and here there are 68 polling booths whose distance is more than 10 km but less than 15 km.

The highest number of polling booths where one has to walk 15 km are 9 in the Almora constituency, four in the Tehri seat and one in the Pauri constituency.

Further, there are a total of 10,111 polling booths and 7471 polling canters in the five parliamentary constituencies. Out of these 481 polling booths are hyper sensitive, 1079 polling centres are hyper sensitive, followed by 1208 polling centers that are sensitive and 1991 polling booths that are sensitive.

Gangolihat voters grill Tamtas on road, water, tourism issues
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, May 2
Over 93,039 voters in the Gangolihat Assembly segment of the Almora parliamentary constituency have asked Pradeep Tamta and Ajay Tamta, Congress and BJP candidates, respectively, as to how they will tackle the five main problems of Almora town, its adjoining villages and remote areas.

“We asked both Pradeep Tamta and Ajay Tamta when the building of a degree college pending for the last 13 years would be constructed; when the long pending 43-km road from Duni to Raiagar would be hot-mixed; when water from the Gangolihat group drinking water scheme would be commissioned and supplied to villages; when paramedical staff would be deployed at community health centres in villages in the Gangolihat Assembly segment; and what they proposed to do to attract tourists to the area,” said Jiwan Dhanik, organiser of a debate between the candidates.

He said while Ajay Tamata assured the voters of investigating the non-supply of drinking water to all villages from the Gangolihat drinking water scheme that was completed recently, Congress candidate Pradeep Tamta said the process of allocation of drinking water to all villages would begin after the elections. “On the question of constructing a degree college, Pradeep Tamta said land had already been identified at Simalkot village for the purpose, while Ajay Tamta blamed the Congress-led state government for the delay in the construction of the college building,” said Dhanik.

Jyoti Pant, another organiser of the debate, said while Pradeep Tamta assured the people of ascertaining the cause of delay in hot-mixing of the road between Duni and Raiagar, Ajay Tamta said the BJP after coming to power at the Centre would probe all works done during the Congress regime.

“On the question of a shortage of doctors and paramedical staff in community health centres in the area, Ajay Tamta said though the Congress-led state government had been making big claims of improving health services, it had failed on this front. Pradeep Tamta said the shortage of medical staff, which was continuing from the time of the BJP government, was being addressed.

“We also asked the candidates about their plans for attracting tourists to the area as several ancient caves were discovered recently. The Congress candidate assured us of making Gangolihat a tourist grid to attract people to ancient caves situated in the area, while the BJP candidate accused the state government of neglecting the caves in Gangolihat and doing nothing for tourism development in the area,” said Pant.

US type political debates among candidates good for India: Advani
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, May 2
Senior BJP leader LK Advani has said that if India is going to be a mature democracy than political discussions between main contenders of political parties should be held like American democratic system. " Instead of organising political rallies by different political parties, the Election Commission should come forward to organise discussions between main contenders for the post of Prime Minister," Advani said.

Addressing an election rally in favour of BJP candidate Ajay Tamta in Pithoragarh town today, the BJP leader said had this system adopted in the country right after the first general elections, the democracy in the country should have been strengthened. " This pattern would have also taken under focus that why the facilities created by former governments have been scrapped by later one," he said.

Advani said he was the only MP who had seen all elections in the country from 1951-52 to the present day. Pranab Mukherjee, President of India, was six months senior to h\im in Parliament. " Today I feel proud that I have seen all parts of the country either in the state of Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh or in Jharkhand,” he said.

Advani counted construction of the golden quadrangle road project and creation of three states of Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand as achievements of the NDA government under leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He said the vision of removing water crisis in the country by interlinking the rivers could not be followed by the UPA governments, resulting in the present water crisis in the country.” Besides thanking BJP workers, I want to thank the Congress for leading a corrupt government at the Centre in the last 10 years that people of the country are out to remove them,” he added.

Mayawati blames riots on SP, BJP to garner minority votes
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, May 2
Bahujan Samaj Party national president Mayawati has urged the minority community to vote for her party, as the recent riots in Muzaffarnagar and earlier in Godhra in Gujarat have exposed the real face of the Samajwadi Party and the BJP.

The BSP supremo was at Roorkee today to address an election rally in support of party’s Haridwar candidate Haji Islam at Litho Press Ground.

“Mulayam is a ‘Lallu’ (foolish child), he needs some introspection. His son’s fake magic has got eroded away in Muzaffarnagar riots and in the name of development, they just have free laptop distribution as their lone achievement. Without electricity how laptops will work and public will show them exit doors in the Lok Sabha elections,” said Mayawati.

On yoga guru Ramdev’s controversial comments, Mayawati said it was not Ramdev but infact ‘Ramdev Yadav’ referring to saint’s original caste before he took sainthood, who had insulted Dalit women, who offered food and shelter to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Mayawati also took strong cognisance of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, for not uttering a word on Ramdev’s anti-Dalit remarks.

She also sought explanation from BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for keeping mum on Ramdev's remarks. She termed Modi as a failed Chief Minister, as during the Gujarat riots he had failed to act effectively.

“How we can trust a person to be prime minister of India, when he has failed miserably at the state level. Gujarat riots were used by Modi to gain political mileage and who will clear the fears among minorities that such an act will not be repeated by him," stated Mayawati, who had contested from Haridwar constituency in 1989 and 91.

Suspended BSP legislators Surendra Rakesh ((Bhagwanpur Assembly) and Hari Das (Jhabreda) remained absent. Mayawati said these legislators would never get the party ticket as they had betrayed the voters who had elected them.

Mayawati said the Congress-led stae government had not been serious about welfare of Dalits and minority community in the state. She threatened to withdraw the support from the Harish Rawat government if steps were not taken to improve their condition.

She was unhappy with the poor attendance at the rally.

AAP’s Anoop Nautiyal holds roadshow
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate, Anoop Nautiyal, held a road show in different areas, here today. He campaigned from Tehsil Chowk to Prince Chowk. Nautiyal also requested the people to cast their votes in his favour.

He said he would make efforts for the overall development of the constituency, if he was voted to power in the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

He said the villagers had to walk several kilometers to fetch for their basic needs like water, medicines etc.

He said shortage of water would be addressed on priority and rebuilding of damaged infrastructure including the damaged roads would be repaired at the earliest.

BJP, Cong depending on charisma of personalities
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
If the purported Modi wave sweeping the state has dwarfed the BJP nominees, the moribund Congress, too, is banking on the charisma of Chief Minister Harish Rawat to turn the tide in favour of party candidates, as a result of which issues that strike a chord with the people have taken a back seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

So confident is Uttarakhand BJP about the prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s charisma helping it ace up the polls that the election strategists are happy to keep the party nominees in the background. “The message is clear. Modi wave is sweeping the state and would handsomely benefit the party. So where ever the BJP candidates are weak, keep them in the background. It is a prudent strategy,” said Teerath Singh Rawat, Uttarakhand BJP chief.

Ditto for the Congress Party that is battling anti-incumbency and so far has been campaigning in a lacklustre manner. With his prestige at stake, it is Chief Minister Harish Rawat who is fighting a battle of his life and the Congress candidates too are banking on him.

This reliance on personalities by both the parties has in a way pushed the development and other issues that strike a chord with the people to the back burner. “Whatever one may feel or say, the elections come at a time when the voters demand accountability from their representatives. But this time the way the election campaigning of both the parties is being played out, there is no place for even development issues. In a way both the parties have failed the people,” said RS Tolia, former IAS officer.

A few days back, Uttarakhand BJP had released a charge-sheet against the Congress government of the state and the Centre that predictably took the UPA government to task for the numerous scams and the state Congress government for the tardy relief work in the aftermath of the mid- June disaster last year.

However, the Uttarakhand BJP did not mention the Congress government’s lack of action on the Lokayukta Act in its chargesheet, clearly indicating its circumspection on the issue.

Resumption of Char Dham Yatra achievement: Cong
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
The resumption of the Char Dham Yatra in time-frame is an achievement of the Congress-led state government and people of Uttarakhand. Though infrastructure and roads along the yatra route were badly damaged due to the natural disaster last year, the Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines were opened on schedule.

Rajeev Mehrishi, spokesman for the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee, told mediapersons here today that the yatra could be resumed as the state government made serious efforts for re-building the damaged infrastructure.

He said senior party leaders and cine-stars would hold rallies in the Garhwal and Kumaon divisions for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. He added the BJP leaders should clear their stand on yoga guru Ramdev's anti-Dalit remarks.

Mehrishi said former Chief Minister ND Tiwari would also campaign for the Congress candidates. He claimed that all five Congress candidates would emerge victorious.

BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi should abstain from passing remarks on the soldiers who had made the supreme sacrifice for the motherland.

Ex-Army chief flays Cong on one-rank-one pension
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
To shore up the prospects of Mala Raja Laxmi Shah, BJP nominee from the Tehri Garhwal parliamentary seat, former Army chief and BJP leader VK Singh today held election meetings at Clement Town and Kingston School, Naugoan (Hathibarkala).

The former Army chief blasted the Congress government for “taking the ex-servicemen for a ride on the issue of implementation of one-rank one pension”.

“Their claim is full of holes, as no one has received the revised pension this month. I wonder if the government order has been issued at all. They have been making these claims all these years without actually implementing them,” said Singh.

The meetings were attended by a large number of ex-servicemen.

Earlier the Uttarakhand BJP leaders were trying to fix election meetings of VK Singh with prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi but now the fomer Army chief would not accompany Modi on his election campaig covering Srinagar, Almora, Roorkee and Rudrapur.

‘Govt has taken steps for uplift of farmers’
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, May 2
Ram Kumar Walia, an observer of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Farmers' Cell, has said the Congress is a pro-peasant party, which has taken numerous steps for their uplift in Uttarakhand in the past two years.

Walia addressed party workers at the election office at Devpura today and said former CM Vijay Bahuguna and present incumbent Harish Rawat had given due attention to farmers.

He referred to the “Parvatiya Krishi Ayog” (Hill Agriculture Commission) announced by Harish Rawat and said it would look into the issues of the farmers and was empowered to take legal action against those who exploited peasants.

The state government had also started a scheme to disburse loans to farmers on attaining 60 years of age while special subsidy was given to them for procuring agriculture equipment.

"The Congress alone has been looking after the farmers' interests while the previous BJP-led state government only watched the interests of corporates, builders, real estate magnates and property dealers,” he added.

Doctor on leave: Ultrasound patients face tough times
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
The ultrasound cases have begun to pile up at the Female Hospital here. A radiologist from the hospital have gone on leave thus bringing inconvenience to patients.

Two radiologists serve the hospital and one of them have gone on leave, the number of cases have began to 
pile up forcing the department to resort to waiting list.

"I have been given a date to come for ultrasound after five days, this will not serve my purpose. And now I have decided to approach a private hospital," said Prabha Devi, a patient from Jaunsar.

In order to rule out any complication related to pregnancy in it’s infancy, free ultrasound and check-ups are provided under the National Rural Health Mission programme for the pregnant women. This in turn has increased the load on doctors.

Due to heavy rush of patients, we have ensured that the radiologist who has gone on leave would be available for taking emergency cases,” said Dr Chandra Pant, the CMS of the hospital.

The OPD at the hospital comprises of around 400 cases and out of these around 150-175 cases pertain to pregnant women. In case, a single doctor goes on leave, the patients are bound suffer.

DMC cleanliness drive derails
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
After running successfully for few days, the cleanliness drive of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation has derailed once again as heaps of garbage is found on the roads and garbage bins.

Almost three months ago, after Doon Valley Waste Management (DVWM), terminated their 15-year contract with the DMC and the state government regarding the door-to-door collection of waste, the DMC had taken the reigns. In fact the poor sanitary conditions and the principal secretary (urban development) had to personally oversee lifting of the garbage, which proved to be heavy for the the then Mukhya Nagar Adhikari, Ashok Kumar.

With District Magistrate BVRC Purshottam being given the additional charge of MNA, the things appeared to get better, but only for a short duration.

Garbage bins placed in several areas including Rajpur Road, Canal Road, Old Survey Road, Chakrata Road, Ballupur Chowk, Vasant Vihar and several others, are overflowing with garbage. Reportedly, apart from the overflowing bins, the door-to-door collection vehicle is also not coming in several areas of the city.

A month ago, following a set of fresh talks, the DVWM was given back 10 wards of the city, comprising of 60 wards. The wards given to the company included Arya Nagar, Jakhan, Karanpur, DL road, Dalanwala (ward number 25, 26, 27), Clock Tower, Dhamawala and Sahastradhara.

Admitting that the vehicles were not regularly picking up the garbage, Additional Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Banshidhar Tewari, said: “Some vehicles have broken down and require repair. This is the reason why the door-to-door garbage collection is being hampered. Once the vehicles are repaired, the drive would be back on track.”

Portals of Gangotri, Yamunotri shrines thrown open to public
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
The portals of the Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines today reopened amid Vedic chants, heralding the onset of this year's Char Dham Yatra season.

The opening ceremonies were witnessed by hundreds of devotees.

The district administration claims necessary arrangements are in place to ensure a hassle-free pilgrimage this year.

Pilgrims from across the country have started coming to Uttarakhand.

The portals of the Kedarnath shrine in Rudraprayag and the Badrinath shrine in Chamoli will reopen on May 4 and 5, respectively.

The authorities have restricted the vehicular movement on Rishikesh-Kedarnath NH-109 till Munkatiya, 4 km ahead of Sonprayag in Rudraprayag.

According to the district administration, most of the yatra routes that were damaged in the natural disaster last year have been repaired.

However, the repair work on a few stretches is still underway.

Monkey trouble at Surkanda Devi temple irks devotees
Ajay Ramola
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, May 2
Devotees reaching the Surkanda Devi temple, around 30 km from Mussoorie, are agitated at the monkey menace that has made it difficult for them to offer prayers to the deity peacefully. They along with local residents are demanding prompt action from the administration to get rid of the daily trouble caused by the monkeys.

Ram Singh Rawat, on his return from the temple, said here today that the monkeys were now attacking devotees at the temple who carry offerings for the deity. "Children are more at risk as monkeys snatch eatables from their hands and sometimes even bite them. The simians have become so fearless that they even enter the sanctum sanatorium of the temple and flee with the offerings," said Nisha Mamgain, a devotee.

Local residents said the monkeys had created terror around Dhanaulti, Kaddookhal and the Surkhanda Devi temple for the past one month but the Forest Department had done nothing to correct the situation.

Villagers Prith Singh Dharwal, Sahab Singh Dharwal, and Vikram Singh Gusain said the monkeys had bitten several devotees who were later treated at the Chamba or Mussoorie hospitals due to absence of proper medical facilities in Dhanaulti or Kaddookhal. Besides terrorising devotees, the monkeys were also damaging crops around the region, they added.

The villagers demanded immediate action to capture or cage the monkeys and their release in shelters from where they could not return to the area.

However, environment experts said devotees were attracting monkeys by feeding them. They added due to their religious beliefs the devotees fed the monkeys, thus making the animals dependent on the easy food available at the temple. The hungry monkeys instead of foraging for food in forests were getting eatables easily at the temple. They attacked the devotees when the later refused to part with food items for them to relish.

Forest Ranger ML Rahi said a campaign to capture monkeys would be launched soon.

Investiture ceremony at St Jude’s School
Tribune News Desk

Dehradun, May 2
An investiture ceremony was held at St Jude’s School here today. Devyani Gupta, Romil Sharma and Prashant Mahipal were appointed as school captain respectively for 2014-15.

The newly elected prefects of St Jude’s School with staff members at the investiture ceremony in Dehradun on Friday. A Tribune photograph

Ifla Khan, Parul Sharma, Utkarsh Gupta and Somain Arora were appointed as prefects of the Gardner House.

Somya Arora, Prachi Jain, Siddharth Mishra and Hitesh Arora were appointed as the prefects of the Howard House.

Sushma Kumari Mahto, Tanuja Chauhan, Rohit Malik and Ayush Tyagi were appointed as the prefects of the Khanna House, whereas Ina Rayal, Apoorva Chauhan, Akash Thapliyal and Amulya Singh were appointed as the prefects of the Lyons House.

An oath was also administered to them. Coordinators, teachers and parents were also present on the occasion.

Carman School's plea turned down

Dehradun, May 2
The Nainital High Court has asked the Carman School authorities to appear before the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) in connection with a case pertaining to the alleged cruelty and mental torture inflicted on a student 
whose mother was unable to pay his school fee.

After receiving a complaint, the commission investigated the complaint under the Juvenile Justice Act and issued a notice to the school to appear before it. Despite the notice by the commission, the school authorities had refused to appear before the commission under the Child Rights Act. They said it was a minority institution and exempted from appearing before the commission.

Later, the commission again issued a notice on April 24, asking it to appear before the commission but the school authorities approached the Nainital High Court. The court turned down the school's plea."The school authorities informed us that the High Court has turned down the appeal, instead asking the school authorities to appear before the SCPCR. The school authorities have now asked for a new date to appear before the commission," apprised Ajay Setia, chairman of the SCPCR. — TNS

Two killed as jeep plunges into gorge
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, May 2
Two persons were killed and other 10 sustained serious injuries when their jeep fell into a deep gorge near Gaid village, Nianbagh tehsil, last night.

The victims were were on their way to Mundni village near Nainbagh from Jhangeri village when the driver lost control over the vehicle and it fell into a gorge. The deceased have been identified as Ram Singh and Vichetru. The injured are admitted to Landour Community Hospital, Mussoorie.

According to the revenue police, the vehicle was overloaded.

Elderly person attempts suicide
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 2
A septuagenarian was brought to government hospital after he tried to attempt suicide by shooting himself on his forehead with his licensed revolver here today.

A team of city police immediately reached at Patel Nagar and victim was immediately rushed to government hospital.

As per the information available, the victim, who has been identified as Jagmohan Bindra, tired to attempt suicide by shooting himself with his licensed revolver. The medical officers said that the condition of the victim was serious and he has been kept under observation.

Speaking to The Tribune, SHO of Patel Nagar police station, Inspector RS Aswal, informed that a team of cops is investigating into the matter and members of family would be interrogated.

sports
Manav Bharti win inaugural fixture in throwball c'ship
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, May 2
Manav Bharti International School won the opening fixture in an inter-school throwball championship that began here today.

The Manav Bharti girls defeated Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School 25-24 and 25-21 in the round-robin league tournament.

Earlier, Manjari Bakshi, Principal, Manav Bharti International School, inaugurated the championship.

In other fixtures, Mussoorie International Girls' School defeated Oak Grove 25-14 and 25-9 while in the senior girls' division, Mussoorie Public School beat Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School 25-15 and 25-23.

The last match of the day was won by Manav Bharti School, which defeated St Clares School 25-16 and 25-13. Seven schools are participating in the tournament.