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Rain chaos: MC claims fall flat
Bypoll: Harish Rawat’s nominations filed in absentia from Dharchula
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Uncertainty over state’s annual plan
BJP nominates Joshi from Dharchula
Power generation up in state
CM: Don’t politicise my letter to PM
53,527 hectares farmland diverted for other purposes
MDDA staff flay suspension of JEs
CBI to probe charges against former MC chief
UKD (Airy) to support CM in Dharchula bypoll
DVWM to extend services for a month
Debt-ridden man commits suicide
Union Ministry team in Chamba
transfer against norms
Demand for cut in CSD liquor prices
US trekker falls to death
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Rain chaos: MC claims fall flat
Dehradun, July 2 Areas such as Survey Chowk, Dilaram Bazaar, Cantt Road, Haridwar Road, Prince Chowk, Majra, ISBT, Turner Road, Morowala and Bell Road were inundated, causing a lot of discomfort to the public. The poor condition of these areas is an indicator of the MC’s lackadaisical attitude. When contacted, Mayor Vinod Chamoli apparently had a picture far removed from reality. He said they had taken necessary steps to prevent waterlogging and a flood-like situation in the city during the monsoons. “The entire city has been divided into four zones comprising 15 wards each. Two teams of five officials each would be monitoring the situation in each zone and report any incident of waterlogging or overflowing drains. Further, sanitation workers have been made available in the control room and would be immediately dispatched in case of any emergency. Arrangements for a sufficient number of vehicles and pumps have been made for areas where a lot of water has gathered,” he said. DMC Health Inspector Dr RK Singh said they had increased the number of workers in naala gang, a group formed to clean drains. “Earlier, there were 50 workers to cater to the entire city, especially during the monsoons. During the peak rainy season, solving waterlogging problems become difficult. Though the team works round the year to clear drains, it is tough to work with limited men during the monsoons. Last year, 100 complaints were registered during the monsoons,” said Singh. Meanwhile, the DMC has set up a special control room where officials and sanitation staff would be present. Apart from the manpower, the control room has been equipped with machinery to tackle waterlogging and floods. Officials have been instructed to keep their mobile phones on always and attend to any emergency immediately. In case of waterlogging, members of the general public can call control room number 01352652571 or toll-free number 18001804153 to lodge their complaint. |
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Bypoll: Harish Rawat’s nominations filed in absentia from Dharchula
Pithoragarh, July 2 A large number of Congress workers from across the region from Dharchula and Munsiyari subdivisions of the Assembly seat, besides Harish Rawat’s wife Renuka Rawat, Revenue Minister Yashpal Arya, former Almora MP Pradeep Tamta, Congress Rajya Sabha member Mahendra Singh Mahara, and former Dharchula MLA Harish Dhami were present on the occasion. “Two sets of nomination papers were presented on behalf of Harish Rawat. While Harish Dhami presented one set of papers, Pradiman Singh Garbiyal presented the other set, which were accepted for scrutiny. The Congress workers marched in a big procession around the Dharchula market before filing of the nomination papers. They raised slogans in Chief Minister’s favour and later a public meeting was held at Gandhi Chowk in Dharchula. “The nomination papers were presented by the proposers of the candidate according to the election rules. The affidavit by the candidate to be read by the proposers before the returning officer should be attested by the Medical Superintendent of AIIMS where the candidate is at present under treatment,” said Pramod Kumar, SDM, Dharchula, and Assistant Returning Officer for the election. The Dharchula seat fell vacant after Harish Dhami resigned as MLA on June 10 paving the way for the Chief Minister to contest from there. “The seat is considered a stronghold of the Congress as it was only Assembly segment where the impact the Narendra Modi wave in the parliamentary elections last month was not visible and the Congress took over 2,900-vote lead,” said MD Joshi, a Congress spokesperson from Dehradun. Dehradun: Congress candidate Hira Singh Bisht filed his nomination papers from the Doiwala seat for the Assembly byelection here today. Bisht filed the nomination papers at the Doiwala tehsil office and hoped that he would win the byelection by a good margin. Co-in charge of the party affairs in Uttarakhand Sanjay Kapoor, Health Minister Surendra Singh Negi, who is the Congress observer for the Doiwala Assembly seat, accompanied Bisht. Sports Minister Dinesh Aggarwal and MLA Rajkumar were also present. Bisht was also joined by a large number of supporters outside the tehsil office who held a rally seeking people’s support for him. They raised slogans in Bisht’s support. Addressing the gathering, Bisht said his victory from Doiwala would strengthen the Congress-led state government and ensure all round development of the region. He said the people of the state had understood the designs of the BJP, which misled them in the recent Lok sabha elections to clinch power at the Centre. The Central government had completely failed to check price rise in the country, he added. “People will no more be befooled and they will teach the BJP a lesson in the byelections,” Bisht said. On the other hand, Congress candidate from Someshwar Rekha Arya accompanied by Finance Minister Indira Hridayesh also filed her nomination papers today. Hridayesh said the Congress would win all three Assembly seats with a big margin. She added while the Congress candidates had filed their nomination papers, the BJP was yet to formally announce its candidates, thus giving her party an edge in the byelections.
— TNS |
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Uncertainty over state’s annual plan
Dehradun, July 2 This comes as the new BJP government at the Centre is seemingly rethinking the
Planning Commission’s utility. At this time of the year, all government departments have formulated plans for accessing the Central budgets and made every effort to ensure that a hefty plan allocation for the state is approved. The Chief Minister, armed with the plan, visited the Yojana Bhavan for seeking approval. But now, with the
BJP government keen to sideline the Planning Commission, the method of allocating federal funds to states is expected
to undergo a change. “At this time of the year, as is the wont, we were busy drafting the plan for getting it approved by the Planning Commission. But the new dispensation at the Centre will
be presenting the annual budget first. It is likely that the allocations for the states too would
be approved at the same time. We are awaiting instructions from the Centre,” said state Finance Minister Indira Hriyadesh. The Department of Planning has already
begun the exercise of drafting the plan. “It looks like the deliberations on the annual plan would be undertaken in August. Accordingly, we have begun our preparations. Our proposal is expected to be Rs 1000 crore more than last year,” said an official in the Department of Planning. For the financial year 2013-2014, the Planning Commission had sanctioned Rs 8,500 crore
for the annual plan for Uttarakhand. For the financial year 2012-2013, Uttarakhand was sanctioned Rs 8,200 crore under the
annual plan. According to officials in the Department of Planning, the Uttarakhand government has incurred an expenditure of Rs 6,428.03 crore till March 31, out of a total outlay of Rs 8,500 crore for the year. “Despite the disaster, we spent 76 per cent of the annual plan allocation. In 2012-2013, it was 73 per cent,” said Principal Secretary S Ramaswamy, Department of Planning. |
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BJP nominates Joshi from Dharchula
Dehradun, July 2 Rumours continued to swirl the whole day today about BJP finally nominating Trivender Singh Rawat as the party candidate from Doiwala, but the Uttarakhand BJP chief Teerath Singh Rawat continued to maintain that the party was awaiting a green signal from the Central leadership in Delhi and had not decided on his candidature. Fissures had erupted in the party after the former chief ministers BC Khanduri and Ramesh Pokhriyal had objected to the candidature of Trivender Singh Rawat, who is also the national general secretary of the BJP. However, his candidature is being supported by BS Koshiyari, MP from Nainital. With July 4, as the last date of filing of nominations fast approaching and Congress party candidates filing their nominations today, it was expected that the BJP high command would break
the impasse. But it was not to be. However, the party announced the names of candidates for Someshwar and Dharchula seats. “Mohan Ram Arya, the BJP candidate from Someshwar, will be filing his nominations tomorrow and BD Joshi, BJP party candidate from Dharchula, will be filing his nomination papers tomorrow,” said Teerath Singh Rawat, BJP chief. Meanwhile, exacerbating matters further, the candidates eyeing the Doiwala state supported by their respective camps have gone ahead and bought nomination papers, indicating that they were not willing to give up their claims. |
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Power generation up in state
Dehradun, July 2 GP Patel, MD, UJVNL, said since the deposition of silt in rivers could damage the turbines of hydropower projects, their maintenance was being conducted on a regular basis. On the other hand, officials have also expressed their concern that power generation may affect if the state witnessed heavy downpour in the coming days. Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) officials said they had been procuring electricity from other sources as well to bridge the gap between demand and availability
of power. — TNS |
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CM: Don’t politicise my letter to PM
Dehradun, July 2 He, in his letter to the PM had requested him to grant national importance to the several projects being undertaken in the state owing to environment-related issues. The state BJP leaders had termed his letter as politics. The CM has clarified that he had released this letter to the Prime Minister seeing his enthusiasm and emotional connect with the state. He has expressed confidence in support from the Central Government keeping in mind the danger to national security due to migration of people from border areas. The CM has requested to keep state welfare issues separate from politics.
— TNS |
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53,527 hectares farmland diverted for other purposes
Pithoragarh, July 2 According to information, over 7,300 hectares of cultivable land has depleted in Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts in the last 14 years. These districts are worst hit by this land conversion. “The real reason behind the rapid decrease in cultivable land is defying of norms set by the government while letting land be used for purposes other than agriculture. The authorities have flouted norms set by committees having experts from Pantnagar University, SIDCUL and government agencies, which would have recommended land use change after properly inspecting it and being rest assured that the land had less cultivable value,” said Gurinder Singh Chadda, an RTI activist based at Haldwani. According to Chadda, not only was land given for purposes other than agriculture abruptly but also pollution norms were flouted by the builders later. “In place of allocation of 4.5 inches of boring of tubewells, the builders bored over 15 inches into the ground. They channeled polluted water inside, polluting ground water in Terai region up to Bilaspur area,” said Chadda. Chadda, quoting RTI information, said the total land area under cultivation at the time of organisation of the state was 7,76,191 hectares, which is 7,23,164 hectares at present. “The rest of the land has either been converted into industrial one or has been allotted to real estate developers for construction of residential colonies,” he said. |
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Students rue poor infrastructure facilities at DAV College
Dehradun, July 2 The students raised important issues, including lack of infrastructure, absence of women washrooms and lack of clean drinking water in the college. “We have submitted a number of memorandums to the college management regarding our issues, but no action has been taken to upgrade facilities in the college,” said Anshul Chawla, former president, DAV PG College Students’ Union. Student leaders said the college management had been claiming that 18 new classrooms would be constructed in the college, but the construction work was yet to begin. The college principal, Devendra Bhasin, said that the construction work would begin soon as the college management had sanctioned funds for the purpose. |
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Kandi villagers migrate in absence of basic amenities
Mussoorie, July 2 Around 35 families which used to reside in Kandi village have now migrated in their quest for greener pastures in absence of basic facilities such as school and health services. Kandi resident Vikram Singh said with no development activities initiated by the government in Kandi, they decided to migrate 60 kilometres away to Damta market on the Yamunotri highway in the lookout for better avenues several years ago. As the Damta market developed further with all the basic facilities such as schools and health centres in place, the villagers found no reason to return to their village. They have abandoned it completely ever since, said Vikram Singh. “We fondly remember our village, but with no basic facilities in place and lack of employment opportunities, no one wants to return to the village,” said resident Savita Devi. Social activists Bitto Kavi from Kahirad village is of the view that if the fruits of development do not reach far-flung villages in the district, more villagers could follow the same path, leaving behind deserted villages. Yamunotri MLA Pritam Panwar said the village was abandoned several decades ago and the situation has changed since. The government is working on a priority basis to stop migration by initiating various development programmes for the remote villages, he added. |
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MDDA staff flay suspension of JEs
Dehradun, July 2 At a meeting held here today, the union members discussed various problems being faced by the MDDA employees. Later they decided that a delegation of union members would meet the senior authorities and demand the reinstatement of the suspended JEs. It may be mentioned here that following allegations that they gave clearance for the illegal construction of a car showroom, JEs Vinod Chauhan and Vinit Rastogi were suspended on the orders of Urban Development Minister Pritam Singh Panwar. While orders were passed for sealing the car showroom around six months ago, the two JEs gave clearance for its construction. Subhash Chandra Sharma, Ravinder Singh Rawat, Anupam Sharma, Amba Dutt, PN Bahuguna, Rajender Bahuguna and Shashipal Singh Chauhan were present at the meeting. Govt urged to solve issues of statehood activists
Activists of the Uttarakhand Kaushalya Sangarsh Vahini said on Wednesday the state government should take effective steps to address grievances of statehood activists. They threatened to intensify their agitation if the government did not take steps to meet their demands. Patron of the organisation Sushila Dhyan, said the government was neglecting the next of kin of those statehood activists who had sacrificed their lives for the state’s creation. She said the government should sanction pension to statehood activists. Gyan Devi Kundaliya, Laxmi Bisht, Laxmi Negi, Sarojini Rawat, Pushpa Barthwal, Jayanti Naudiyal and Manju Kaintura were present. |
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CBI to probe charges against former MC chief
The team comprising four members from the CBI, headed by DSP (CBI) Akhil Kaushik, arrived at the MC office here to probe into the alleged graft charges levelled by petitioner Vinod Prakash Thapliyal through public interest litigation (PIL) filed in the state High Court (HC). The CBI team went through all important documents and took them into their custody for further investigation. DSP (CBI) Akhil Kaushik said the CBI, Dehradun, was entrusted with an inquiry against former MC president OP Uniyal. He said the stay in this regard, which had been passed by the Supreme Court, has been vacated. He said the team had received full cooperation from MC officials in the investigation. The High Court Bench comprising Chief Justice Baren Gosh and Justice UC Dhyani, in its December 14 judgment, had ordered a CBI probe against Mussoorie Municipal Council president OP Uniyal, other officials and ward members in response to the PIL filed by petitioner Vinod Prakash Thapliyal. Charges of financial embezzlement, nepotism and rampant corruption were levelled against the council and its president. On the same day, the High Court had also passed a restraining order against the MC from exercising its financial powers, except day-to-day work until six more months. Subsequently, OP Uniyal approached the Supreme Court against the High Court decision and pleaded that day-to-day activity of the council was being affected. Therefore, the Supreme Court should intervene and provide some sort of relief. Supreme Court Double Bench comprising Justice DK Jain and Justice Anil R Dave after hearing the plea of the council on January 30, 2012, passed an order and stayed the HC decision saying; “In the meantime, the operation of the judgment shall remain stayed,” thus, granting temporary relief. The CBI will probe charges of corruption and nepotism against Palika, including awarding advance tenders and benefiting his own brother-in-law. Sources said the CBI went through documents related to demolition of Clock Tower and its re-construction along with an arbitrary increase in prices of ropeway ticket, construction of food court at the company garden, increase in prices of tickets at Jawahar aquarium, leading to loss of revenue to the council. Municipal Council president Manmohan Singh Mall said the CBI was here to investigate the irregularities committed during the tenure of OP Uniyal as the Municipal Council president and council employees had been directed to cooperate with the CBI in this matter. He said development works had come to a standstill due to the probe as the CBI had taken most of the files in their custody. Vinod Prakash Uniyal welcomed the move and demanded a speedy investigation into the matter. He said the High Court order of restraining the MC from exercising its financial powers, except day-to-day work till further notice stands still and if violated, could result in contempt of the court. Former MC president OP Uniyal said they were baseless as board members of the council and government officials in duty gave a green signal to most of the decision during the period. He said most of the charges were false and with mala fide intentions. He said people involved in maligning his image belonged to one political party and a probe against them should be conducted.
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UKD (Airy) to support CM in Dharchula bypoll
Dehradun, July 2 He said UKD (Airy) support to Harish Rawat has come after state Congress president Kishore Updhayaya sought his party’s support for Congress candidate Harish Rawat in Dharchula Assembly byelection. Airy, however, said his party would contest both Someshwar and Doiwala Assembly seats for which byelections are also to be held and has already announced the candidates for the two seats. He said while DK Pal is contesting Doiwala Assembly seat, Bhai Puran is contesting the Someshwar Assembly seat. He said while DK Pal will be filing his nominations for Doiwala seat today, Bhai Puran will be filing his nominations for Someshwar seat on July 4. Responding to queries, he said it was not for the first time that UKD (Airy) has extended support to a chief minister who is contesting byelections to enter the state Assembly. “We supported ND Tiwari in Ramnagar seat in 2002 byelections, BC Khanduri in Dhumakot in 2007 byelections and Vijay Bahuguna in Sitarganj Assembly seat 2012 byelections”, Kashi Singh Airy pointed out. He also said he was hopeful that Chief Minister Harish Rawat will work for development in backward hill districts of the state on priority. He further held that BD Raturi has been made observer for Doiwala Assembly seat while Pushpesh Tripathy has been made observer for Someshwar Assembly seat. He said the two leaders will be looking into all the canvassing works of the party in the two seats. |
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Roadways employees’ protest continues
Dehradun, July 2 Led by their president Prem Singh Rawat, the roadways employees who staged dharna outside the office pointed out that they have been demanding immediate payment of pending arrears for long but their concern is yet to be redressed. He said further the demands linked to DA and gratuity are also not being taken into consideration by the state government. While addressing the agitating employees, Prem Singh Rawat threatened that they will continue with their agitation till their demands are met by the government. Ramchandra Raturi, Dinesh Gusain, Dinesh Pant, Anurag Nautiyal and Narendra Luthra were prominent among the protesters. |
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DVWM to extend services for a month
Dehradun, July 2 At present, DVWM is looking after 10 wards in the city. A month ago they had served a notice to the DMC regarding the discontinuation of work in case the tipping fees was not increased. Speaking to The Tribune, Siddharth Jain, CEO, DVWM, said that they received a letter from DMC on Monday evening. “In the letter, the officiating Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Banshidhar Tiwari requested us to give them a month’s time for the clearance of the dues and increment of the tipping fee. But this month is final and in case our demands are not met, we will discontinue the services permanently,” he said. Elaborating on the demands, Jain said that apart from the demand of raising the tipping fees to Rs 525 per metric tonne they also want the clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) on the land earmarked for landfill site and transfer station. Meanwhile, when contacted, officiating Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Banshidhar Tiwari said that they have taken up the case with the state government. “We are hopeful that the problems and various issues with the company would be resolved within few days,” he added. |
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Debt-ridden man commits suicide
Dehradun, July 2 However, the police did not find any suicide note from his house and sent his body for a post-mortem examination. Meanwhile, family members of the deceased created ruckus at the Kotwali police station, claiming that few persons were harassing Mathura Prasad for the past few days. They urged police officials to register a case of provoking to commit suicide against those persons. On the other hand, police officials assured family members of taking required actions after full investigation was carried out in the case. |
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BJP protests frequent power cuts
Dehradun, July 2 The protesters have threatened to intensify their agitation if the department failed to take effective steps to improve power supply. Among the worst-affected areas were Kaulagarh, Kishan Nagar, Rajendra Nagar, Mitra Lok Colony, Deep Lok Colony, Akashdeep, Ballupur and their adjoining areas. The protesters said the supply of potable water had also affected due to this. Sharda Gupta, Seema Bhatia, Nandini Sharma, Jyoti Juyal, Sushma,
Pooja Kapoor, and Manish Dixit were present on the occasion. |
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Union Ministry team in Chamba
Mussoorie, July 2 The NLM team of RN Ojha and Rajvir Singh visited Dandsali and Saundkoti villages in Chamba block under Tehri district today. The team perused documents related to development schemes being run under MNREGA, Social Development Department and pension programmes here.
— TNS |
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Commercial tax staff stage dharna
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, July 2 Addressing protesters, Jagmohan Singh Negi said the transfers of the employees were done against norms. “The department should rectify the error and recall the transferred employees or else we would stage a massive demonstration,” he added. Those part of the demonstration included Harish Chandra Rathore, Dhyan Singh Rawat, Rishab Uniyal, Jaipal Singh Sharma, Kamal Gusain, Jawahar Singh and Shoorvir along with several others.
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Demand for cut in CSD liquor prices
Dehradun, July 2 However, to check the menace of smuggling, the state government increased the excise duty on CSD liquor.” He said the issue was also taken up with Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Dehradun. He urged the state government to rollback the hike. |
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US trekker falls to death
Pithoragarh, July 2 “A 16-member trekking team of four Indians and 12 US trekkers was on its way back from Namik glacier to Bageshwar district headquarters, when Kerry slipped near Kimu village as the route was slippery. He died after some time on the spot as there was no medical help available,” Kapkot SDM Kailash Singh Martolia said. According to the SDM, the police and rescuers’ team, which had been sent for, had not reached the spot yet. “The remaining trekkers are stranded at the spot and the rescuing parties have been dispatched from Kapkot and Bageshwar,” he said. |
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Yamuna Football Club defeat Doon Tigers 2-1
Dehradun, July 2 Two matches would be played on Thursday. The first match will be played between Nagar Nigam and Gypsy Football Club while the second would be between Doon Challengers and Exodus. 3 Uttarakhand taekwondo players selected
Three Uttarakhand taikwondo players have been selected to take part in the First International Taikwondo Championship to be organised in Bhutan on July 5 and 6. The selected players are Mohammad Umar, Vipal Anant and Akash Chinyali. The secretary of the Uttarakhand Sports Taikwondo Association, Javed Khan, informed mediapersons that a number of other nations would also be participating in the championship. |
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Mussoorie, July
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