UPNL employees climb atop water tank in protest
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
The city police cane-charged agitating employees of Uttarakhand Purva Sainik Nigam Limited (UPNL) here today. They were on their way to Chief Minister’s residence to register their protest in support of their year-long pending demands. The agitated five employees climbed atop the water tank after the incident. They have threatened to intensify agitation if the state government does not accede to their pending demands.

Police beat striking UPNL employees who tried to climb a water tank; UPNL employees at the top of a water tank in Dehradun on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

The agitators under the banner of UPNL Employees Association gathered at Raipur bus stand, took out a rally and raised anti-government slogans.

The police tried to stop them by placing barricades at the Survey Chowk while they were on their way to Chief Minister’s residence. The scuffle between agitators, and the police took place as agitators were trying to cross barricades.

The police cane-charged UPNL agitators to control them, while nearly 350 agitators were arrested and sent to the Police Lines. Scores of agitators received minor injuries during the incident and were rushed to the Government Hospital.

Annoyed over the incident, five agitators somehow managed to escape from the spot, and climbed atop the water tank at the Survey Chowk. They threatened to attempt suicide, if the state government did not take effective steps to address their grievances.

The agitators, who climbed atop water overhead tank were identified as Laxman Singh, Devendra Rautela, Dev Singh, Prithvipal Singh, and Vikram Singh.

Meanwhile, the district administration and the police had deployed additional force in the area to stop any untoward incident.

Administration officials tried to convince them to descend from the water tank, but they threatened to continue with their agitation till their demands were not met by the state government.

Bageshwar MLA, Chandan Ram Das visited the spot and demanded from the state government to take timely, and effective steps to fulfil their pending demands. Das condemned the incident and Congress-led state government for not addressing their grievances.

Bhawesh Jagudi, state president of UPNL Employees Association, said memorandum highlighting their demands was submitted many times to officials but the department was yet to take effective steps to address their grievances. He said that renewal of contract, timely promotion, pay anomaly etc. were the few pending demands of the association.

Jagudi said agitated employees were protesting for the last 25 days but the state government had failed to address their demands.

The agitators were remained atop the water overhead tank till late evening.

Sohan Singh Negi, Mahesh Bhatt, Akbar Rana, Kushalpal Singh, Ashudeep Sajjwan, Mohan Negi, Vishnu Prasad, Raghubeer Singh, Laxman Singh, Mukesh Thapliyal, Anil Jakhi, Amit Bharadwaj, and many more were present there.

Agitators descend after receiving assurance

The five agitators, who climbed atop the water tank had descended after receiving assurance in a meeting held with Surendra Kumar media in-charge to Chief Minister late evening here today.

Speaking to The Tribune, Mahesh Bhatt, state general secretary of UPNL Employee Association informed that a delegation of the association was slated to meet Chief Minister Harish Rawat tomorrow.

He hoped that the association’s year long-pending demand would be fulfilled in the proposed meeting. Bhatt cleared that members will withdraw their agitation only after their demands would be fulfilled by the state government.

Ruckus at Doon Hospital
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
The peace and quietude at Doon Hospital was shattered tod\ay after Anju Bisht, a ward member of Dehradun Municipal Corporation, accused a private helper deputed by senior cardiologist Dr KB Joshi at his OPD of misbehaving with her and slapping her. The allegations were refuted by the helper Rakesh Rawat.

Tempers flared as the ward member brought in her supporters and MLAs Harbans Kapoor and Ganesh Joshi. The issue was settled after the intervention of Principal Medical Superintendent (PMS) Dr RS Aswal and both parties were asked to apologise. No FIR was registered in the matter.

“The matter has been sorted out; the helper is not from the hospital. The situation could have been defused without political interference. The matter was brought to my notice late,” said Dr RS Aswal, PMS, Doon Hospital. He said he would also look into why a private helper was deployed by Dr Joshi. On the other hand, Dr Joshi said he was forced to seek private assistance as the hospital authorities had not given him the service.

In the morning, Anju Bisht had brought her mother for examination at the OPD, which was already full of patients. In the absence of the doctor who had gone to attend a call at the ICCU, his helper was taking the slips and assigning numbers to the patients. Bisht allegedly pushed aside several patients and wanted her mother to be attended to first. Rawat tried to prevent Bisht from pushing away other patients, which was resented by her and one thing led to another, with Bisht alleging that she was slapped and shoved by Rawat.

Soon, a police constable from the Hospital Chowki came in. Meanwhile, a huge crowd gathered inside the hospital, hurling abuses at Dr KB Joshi. An infuriated Joshi filed an FIR against unidentified persons who had threatened him with dire consequences. “The ward member was not willing to listen. She even accused me of being missing from duty when I was attending emergency duty at the ICCU. She was upset after being denied VIP treatment,” he said.

Preparations for Gandhi Jayanti celebrations discussed
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
A review meeting was held to discuss the ongoing preparations for Gandhi Jayanti to be observed on October 2. Additional District Magistrate Jharna Kamath chaired the meeting that included officials from various state government departments.

Addressing the officials, Kamath said the national flag would be unfurled on all government and non-government buildings at 8 am. “Later, busts of Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri would be inaugurated followed by address on lives of both the legends,” he added.

“A cross-country race would be held from Astley Hall till Mussoorie bypass at 8.15 am. The district sports officer, in collaboration with the district police, would arrange for a smooth conduct of the race. Arrangements for an ambulance and medical emergency would be made at various spots on the route. The Education Department would conduct a ‘prabhat pheri’ that would start at 7 am and culminate at Gandhi Park. Later, a public gathering would be organised at Gandhi Park, where a Prarthna Sabha, bhajans and spinning wheel activity would be organised,” said the ADM.

Three arrested for rape of minor
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
Pauri Garhwal district police has arrested three persons for alleged gang rape of a girl belonging to Scheduled Caste community seven months ago. The accused have been sent to jail and further investigations are on.

According to Circle Officer Runa Bharati, the mother of the victim, a resident of Sigaddi near Kotdwara, submitted a complaint to police about the rape of her daughter. According to the mother of the victim, around seven months back, her adolescent daughter was on her way to school when three persons, namely Chandramohan, Dinesh and Harish of the same village forcibly took her daughter in a tempo to a forest and raped her.

They allegedly threatened the girl with dire consequences if she informed her family members or police about the incident. The scared girl did not inform her family members about the incident. When she became pregnant and fell sick, she told her mother about the rape.

According to the complaint, when the accused came to know that their deed had been exposed, they started threatening the family members of the girl. They pressurised the family not to approach the police.

According to Aruna Bharati, police took the girl for medical examination and registered a case of gang rape. The police arrested Chandramohan, Dinesh and Harish from their houses and produced them before the court for police custody. 

Birju Maharaj’s disciple to perform in Doon 
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
SPIC MACAY, Dehradun, will be holding a series of Kathak concerts by Mahua Shankar from September 17 to 20. Mahua is a disciple of legendary Padma Vibhushan Pandit Birju Maharaj and an empanelled artiste of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi. The circuit will commence with her performance at Aacharyakum in Hardwar at 4 pm tomorrow.

Mahua will be performing at John Martyn Memorial School at 1 pm and Woodstock School at 7 pm on September 18. She is scheduled to perform at The Aryan School at 12 pm, Shigally Hills International Academy at 3.30 pm, and at ONGC Academy at 7 pm on September 19. The circuit will conclude on September 20 with performances at The Cambrian Hall School at 11 am and Unison World School at 2.15 pm.

Mahua has had the distinction of performing in Rashtrapati Bhavan before the then President, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. She has performed in major festivals in India and different parts of the world often accompanying Pandit Birju Maharaj. 

Special shradh for victims of Kedarnath, J&K flash floods
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, September 16
The rituals of Shradh Tarpan in memory of forefathers and ancestors are being performed by people on a daily basis in the pilgrim city during the ongoing phase of Krishna Paksh of Ashwin month of the Hindu calendar.

Shantikunj is also observing special shradh rites for peace to the departed souls of the persons who died during last year’s Kedarnath flash flood disaster and recently in the Jammu and Kashmir flood fury.

At sanctum sanctorum of Braham Kund,Har-ki-Pauri, and other Ganga ghats, rituals of shradh are being performed to ensure peace to the souls of the deceased.

At ancient Narayani Shila Temple, Devpura, too devotees in thousands are flocking to perform the rites. At Gayatri Teerth Shantikunj, mass rituals are being held.

On the call of spiritual ideologue Pranav Pandya, Shantikunj volunteers are observing shradh rites for Kedarnath valley and Jammu and Kashmir flash flood victims. Besides Shantikunj volunteers, people from across the country are taking part in these rituals.

Shantikunj provides free of cost the ritual material needed to perform yagna-havan and shradh rites.

Similarly, at all the shaktipeeths, pragyapeeths and pragya centres of Shantikunj spread across the country, mass shradh rituals are being performed.

“Shradh means devotion, devotion for our forefathers, due to whom we are in this world. One can observe rituals and also plant saplings on the occasion in their memory. Those who take pledge to plant green saplings, Shantikunj is providing free special ‘prasad’ and books of Shantikunj founder Shri Ram Sharma Acharya on discount. We are also generating awareness among the shradh observers about the cleaning aspect of the river Ganga,” said Pandya.

Artificial lake poses danger to villages
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, September 16
Villages situated downstream of the Ramganga river near Thal town face the threat of submergence from an about one km long artificial lake has been formed in the river at Rasiabagar due to heavy debris that fell into it from the Harari nullah on the Thal to Munsiyari road last night.

According to sources in the District Disaster Management Department, though the artificial lake is not flooded the Irrigation Department has been tasked with keeping a watch on its water level. “We are keeping a vigil on the artificial lake which started receding this morning,” said RS Rana, district disaster management officer.

They say if water from the artificial lake flows out suddenly, cultivated fields in Nachni, Phalyanti, and Ringulia villages and the Thal area will get damaged and houses situated near the riverbank will get submerged. “We will have to open the lake before its water level increases and the threat to nearby fields and houses become real,” said Dr Lekhraj, a geologist.

The landslide debris fell into the river and the artificial lake was formed due unlimited mining going on at the Harari nullah, which has been declared a landslide prone zone by the PWD. “Unabated landslides at Harari began last decade after the administration failed to stop illegal mining at the nullah,” said PC Joshi, engineer in charge of the Thal to Munsiyari road that passes through the nullah. 

Villagers seek resettlement, hold protest
Our correspondent

Pithoragarh, September 16
Residents of Buradhar and Khairkhet villages of Bhasiachana block in Almora district staged a protest at district headquarters here today. They demanded resettlement from relief camps where they have been living from last four years after a natural disaster in 2010 made them homeless.

“Around 53 families from two villages of Bhasiachana block of the district, including 10 Scheduled Caste families are living in pathetic conditions in junior high schools from last four years. The administration and government has not anything to resettle us,” said Jagat Singh Adhikari, Gram Pradhan of Gainar village.

As per the villagers, their cultivable land had been washed away and houses had developed cracks after the disaster. “No officer from the administration came to take stock of our plights in the last four years,” said the villagers.

The demonstrating villagers have threatened that if their demands were not met by September 25, they will block start indefinite hunger strike. 

Power generation picks up after silt level in rivers falls
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
The electricity generation in the state-run hydropower projects has started improving after silt in Himalayan rivers, and its tributaries had reduced. The power projects are generating 19.49 million units of electricity against demand of 35.04 million units per day in the state.

The electricity generation in the 198 megawatt Kalagarh and 42 megawatt Khatima hydropower projects was nil. Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) officials claimed that electricity generation in the hydropower projects has improved but it has become extremely difficult for the department to meet with daily demand of electricity in Uttarakhand.

It is worth mentioning that electricity generation was adversely affected after rains lashed higher parts of the state. Unable to cope up with shortfall of electricity in Uttarakhand, UPCL imposed two-hour power cut in the rural areas of Haridwar, and Udham Singh Nagar districts, while small towns of the state faced power cut for nearly one hour.

Speaking to The Tribune, Madhusudan, an official spokesman of UPCL, told that department was continuously procuring electricity in order to bridge the gap between demand and availability of electricity in the state.

He said that department would receive 2.5 million units of electricity from Himachal Pradesh, while 1.5 million units of additional electricity would be procured through energy exchange to meet the demand of electricity on Wednesday.

Madhusudan said strict instructions were issued to technical staff to remove technical snags at the earliest in order to avoid inconvenience to consumers in the state.

Several colonies in Dehradun faced power cut for nearly one hour due to maintenance works carried out by UPCL officials. Officials told that it had become mandatory to carry maintenance works after inclement weather to ensure disruption free electricity to domestic and commercial consumers.

Project risk management programme 
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
The Centre for Management Development in University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), in association with Project Management Institute (PMI), conducted a two-day Management Development Program (MDP) titled “Project Risk Management” with an objective to give impetus to the much-needed knowledge-sharing and enrichment in various areas of project management. The MDP designed for industry and academia was aimed at addressing a variety of project management concerns and issues through presentations by eminent project management professionals and practitioners.

The programme overview was shared by Dr Anirban Sengupta, Dean, College of Management & Economic Studies, in UPES.

Speaking at the opening session on “Overview of Project Life Cycle and Role of Stakeholders in Project Success”, Dr Neeraj Anand, Programme Director and Head of Department, Logistics and Supply Chain Management and Operation, highlighted the importance of planning and stakeholders in project management.

He shared case studies of Nord Stream Gas Pipeline, Cairn Energy pipeline and Tata Nano.

Supratik Sarkar, COO, Uttarakhand Infrastructure Development Company Ltd, at a session on “Financial Aspects of Project Feasibility”, explained the importance of PPP approach and elaborated on social impact assessment of infrastructure projects.

He shared details of the live case of Indira Market, Dehradun.

SM Roy, former CEO, Lanco Construction Ltd from Kolkata, spoke at several sessions which included those on “Building High Performing Project Teams”, “Controlling Costs in Projects” and “Making Risk Management Successful”.

He emphasised on the importance of trust among team members and internal customer orientation for success of projects and role of spiritual excellence. He shared specific illustrations from the corporate world to explain the concept of emotional excellence in achieving performance excellence.

Prof RK Mandan, in his session on “Process of Risk Management”, outlined the process of risk identification, analysis, response, monitor and control with application of various tools and techniques.

A panel discussion was held on “Regulatory Aspects in Project Management” by the panelists, who included Supratik Sarkar, SM Roy and Prof RK Mandan. Several presentations on “Project Risk Management” were made in groups by the participants.

The beneficiaries of the two-day programme on ‘Project Risk Management’ included officers from Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL), Mumbai, National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR), Vadodara, Indian Railways institute of Civil Engineering (IRICEN), Pune, Ministry of Railways, Indraprastha Gas Limited, New Delhi, Balkrishna Industries, Mumbai, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Dehradun, Uttaranchal Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) and Public Works Department, Uttarakhand.

Dr Neeraj Rawat, Associate Director in the Centre of Management Development in the UPES, shared that in the near future, more MDPS are scheduled on topics which include Business Leadership and Law, Leveraging People Skills for High Performance, Energy Trading and Risk Management.

Gautam International win 2-0 
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
Gautam International School won the inaugural match in the Dehradun District Inter-School Under-14 Boys Football Tournament defeating Stadium Trainees ‘Red’ 2-0 at Pavilion Ground here today. For Gautam International, Siddharth Rawat scored two goals in the 8th minute and 32nd minutes of the match. The Dehradun district sports office is organising the tournament and a number of school teams are participating.

North Zone inter-varsity TT from tomorrow

The North Zone Inter-University Table Tennis Tournament will be played at Multipurpose Sports Complex at Parade Ground from September 18 to 20. The tournament will be organised by Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU).

Addressing a press conference on the issue today, Professor RK Singh, Controller of Examination and president of Council for Sports and Cultural Activities (UTU), said almost 50 teams and over 500 participants from different universities of North Zone would participate in the tournament.

Participants from universities such as University of Jammu, University of Kashmir, GNDU Amritsar, Punjabi University, AMU Aligarh, University of Delhi and others have confirmed their participation in the tournament.

Chess player Sandeep honoured
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, September 16
Two major achievements were credited to city based Gurukul Kangri University Vice Chancellor Surendra Kumar and chess wizard Sandeep Arora.

While Vice Chancellor Surendra Kumar was given Uttarakhand Pride prize by Shri Dev Vimal Herbal Heritage Educational Society and Sandeep Arora, a chess player, won silver medal in the just held Uttarakhand State Deaf Chess Championship.

Earlier, Surendra Kumar was also bestowed with Uttarakhand Ratna Award by the All-India Conference of Intellectuals on April 20, 2014. Gurukul Vice Chancellor was honored with the Uttarakhand Pride award at a function recently held in Dehradun.

Dinesh Aggarwal, Sports Minister, Uttarakhand, awarded Sandeep Arora with the silver medal.

Social Awareness Forum members have also extended their wishes to Sandeep Arora, who is currently the president of this forum. 

BJP protests worsening law and order in Doon
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
Workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) city unit today held a protest at the SSP’s office. They gheraoed SSP Ajay Rautela over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state capital.

The protesters, led by BJP city unit president Neelam Sehgal, claimed that incidents of robbery had increased in Dehradun and its peripheral areas in the last few months. They said the police had failed to arrest the culprits in many cases. They said anti-social elements were freely committing crimes in the city without the fear of police.

“The police are still empty handed in the Balawala robbery case. Villagers are terrorised after the incident in which a young person was killed. Villagers have been protesting against the police’s inefficiency but the police are still clueless on the whereabouts of the robbers,” said Neelam Sehgal.

MC discusses earmarking of vending zones in Haridwar
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, September 16
The Municipal Corporation is holding meetings and discussions for earmarking of specific vending zones. The MC is also undertaking formation of a separate town vending committee.

A meeting in this regard was held at the Town Hall, where Mayor Manoj Garg, Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Vipra Trivedi, Circle Officer Police Chandra Mohan Singh and representatives of small scale traders as well as city traders were present.

For formation of trader vending committee, suggestions and inputs were sought from civic and trader representatives.

The Mayor said that for setting up vending zone, an impartial and transparent process would be adopted, wherein the trader vending committee would play a pivotal role.

Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Vipra Trivedi remarked that all the suggestions and names for their representatives in the committee have been taken, which would be analysed, and within a three-day span, the names of committee members would be announced.

A section of the traders’ fraternity protested against non-inclusion of Rodi Belwala mela land in the vending zone and opposed this move during the meeting, creating a ruckus in the Town Hall.

Rodi Belwala mela land is being given on lease to industries for beautification, renovation and setting up of multi-entertainment park.

This means dozens of small scale traders and vendors will have to be removed from this land.

City Magistrate KK Mishra and CO Chandra Mohan calmed the protesters, saying a decision in this regard would be taken only after formation of trader vending committee.

Small scale traders Harish and Rakesh said by inducting Rodi Belwala land in vending zone, dozens of traders will get space and shop for vending at the said place, but if it’s not included, park project would come up and they would be displaced by the administration, leaving them with no livelihood.

‘Identify statehood activists’
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
Raghunath Singh Negi, state president of Jan Sangharsh Morcha and former vice-president of Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, has demanded from state government effective steps to identify statehood activists. He has threatened to intensify agitation if the state government does not accede to their demands.

The activists performed a yagna in support of their demand. The agitators said a memorandum highlighting their demand had been submitted to officials many times, but the state government is yet to take steps to fulfil their demands. Akash Panwar, Dr OP Panwar, Vijay Sharma, Jayanti Patwal, Renu Baloodi, Veerandra Singh, Chetan Rawat, Darban Singh, Saleem, Munna Nautiyal, Sumitra Bhatt and others were present.

NABARD to give Rs 600 cr for infrastructure development 
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
CP Mohan, chief general manager, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), said the Uttarakhand chapter of the bank would provide nearly Rs 600 crore to the state government for development of infrastructure in rural areas under the Rural Infrastructural Fund till March 31, 2015.

He said additional Rs 600 crore would be sanctioned for the infrastructural development in other sectors.

“The state chapter of the bank has decided to offer loans at a rate of 7.85 per cent to cooperative banks and rural regional banks for the development of infrastructure in the agricultural sector,” he added.

He said it had been decided to sanction Rs 20 crore for the construction of small bridges while Rs 25 crore would be given for the construction of warehouses.Mohan ruled out any problem in the repayment of loans. He said special emphasis had been laid on providing medium and long-term loans.

SpicMacay takes stock of activities
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
A general body meeting of the SpicMacay chapter of Dehradun was organised at Welham Boys’ School. The meeting was chaired by Gunmeet Bindra, patron of SpicMacay, Dehradun chapter.

The meeting was attended by Lalit Mohan, chairperson, Dehradun Chapter, Vidya Vasan, secretary, and volunteers of the Dehradun Chapter.

Volunteers and representatives of the Dehradun chapter presented reports on the work done by them between April and September. A movie to showcase the presence of SpicMacay in the hills was also screened.

Donations for J&K disaster relief collected
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, September 16
The members of Lioness Club Mussoorie Hills carried out a drive of collecting donations for the Jammu and Kashmir natural disaster relief in Mussoorie that began yesterday evening and continued today.

The members of the club gathered at Anupam Chowk and marched all along the Mall Road with donation boxes in their hands and appealed to people to donate generously for the relief work being carried out in Jammu and Kashmir.

The secretary of the club Nimma Kant said that the people of Jammu and Kashmir were facing unprecedented disaster and it was the responsibility of every citizen of the country to help them at this hour of need. She further said that the amount collected here would be deposited in the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. The president of the club Monica Agarwal, Madhulika, Neelam, Veena and others were present on the occasion.

Freshers’ party at ICFAI law faculty

Dehradun, September 16
Second year students of faculty of law of ICFAI University organised a fresher’s party on Sunday. The theme for the party was ‘Apocalypse of Satan’ which means a cataclysm in which the forces of good permanently triumph over the forces of evil.

The Saraswati Vandana, was followed by a breathtaking violin performance by the first year students. The solo dance, group dances and singing performances thoroughly entertained the audiences. This was followed by excellent performances from the second year students, both in singing and dancing. Surbhi was adjudged Miss Fresher and Shubhankar Bijawat, Mr Fresher. — TNS

Shipping activity on Ganga at early stage: Uma Bharati
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 16
Union Minister for Water Resource, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharati today said the plan to resume shipping activity on the Ganga is still in the preliminary stage at the level of the shipping ministry and her ministry is aiming big at developing inland waterways in the country.

“From what I know, shipping activity on the Ganga, connecting to the Hooghly, existed in the past, but the proposal has not come up before us. It is the prerogative of the ministry of shipping. Instead, we are betting big on developing 31 inland waterways through inter-linking of rivers, which will prove to be economically viable,” said Uma Bharati, talking to mediapersons at the BJP headquarters today.

The minister said the project had been lying dormant and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given approval for developing 31 inland waterways. “Among the 31 waterways proposed for development including Kain-Betwa waterway, one would link Pancheshwar (Kumaon) located on the confluence of rivers Kali and Saryu with New Delhi through the Yamuna river. I think the development of inland waterways will spur the economy and would prove cheaper than other transportation systems,” she added.

On the defeat of her party candidate from the Charkhari Assembly seat in the bypolls, the results of which were announced today and from where Bharati had successfully contested during the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, she said, “The issue has been discussed with the party leaders and the details cannot be shared with the media.”

“Use expertise to restore ecology of Ganga”

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Uma Bharti has called upon the Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, to utilise its expertise towards restoring ecological and spiritual aspects of rejuvenation of the Ganga.

Bharti appreciated the FRI for its research activities with respect to the Himalayan eco system.

Referring to the challenges before the Himalayas and its people, Bharti emphasised on involving the rural masses to restore the eco system and clean the Ganga.

She stressed on the need for local community oriented development by planting medicinal and aromatic plants.

Bharti invited the FRI to play a significant role towards achieving the goal of restoration of Himalayan eco system and the quality of the Ganga.

She also visited the convocation hall, timber and non-wood forest products museums at the institute. She was impressed by the architecture of the institute and its facilities.

Earlier, Director General Indian Council of Forest Research and Education Dr Ashwani Kumar and FRI Director Dr PP Bhojvaid welcomed the minister.

They also spoke about various research activities underway at the FRI.

Waterlogging, choking of drains to be checked on priority
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, September 16
The problems of regular waterlogging and choking of drains during rains in Haridwar will be tackled on a priority basis under the Clean Ganga Project, initiated by Uttarakhand government.

In a meeting held in this regard by District Magistrate D Senthyl Pendiyan at CCR hall today, a three-phase plan of treating polluted water was discussed.

DM Pendiyan said that in the first phase Haridwar city, second suburban

townships and third rural areas will be covered under the comprehensive Ganga cleaning plan.

With Uttarakhand government releasing Rs 100 crore of initial amount under Ardh Kumbh mela budget yesterday only, waterlogging problem at

Bhagat Singh square and suburban township of Jwalapur will be treated on a priority basis from this fund.

Directing the officials of the concerned departments, Pendiyan said that by the next monsoon season this work should get completed.

In the industrial areas, the DM said that the capacity of water treatment plant needs to be increased so that no polluted water goes into the holy Ganga. The treated water from these plants would be utilised for agriculture and tree plantation purposes.

Further the Khadkhadi and Kankhal-based cremation ghats will be modified so that after cremation water of these ghats also gets treated and then only released in the main stream of Ganga canal.

“From Ardh Kumbh budget we will be doing major work related with water drainage system in Haridwar city, Roorkee city, Bhagwanpur, industrial estate of SIDCUL and other rural areas,” said the DM.

Pendiyan also made the Municipal Corporation as the nodal agency for disposal of waste and management of solid waste in Haridwar and Roorkee cities.

Workshop on making Mussoorie plastic free
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, September 16
A workshop on making Mussoorie plastic free was held under the aegis of “Save Mussoorie” at the Municipal Council premises here today. Students from more than a dozen schools stressed on the ill-effects of plastic for the environment and pledged to keep the hill town of Mussoorie free from it.

Several speakers said plastic can be removed from the town only when garbage is collected door-to-door.

They appealed to housewives to use hand-made bags instead of plastic bags while shopping in the market.

The need to segregate garbage at source was felt at the workshop held here.

It was decided at the meeting that an awareness programme would be undertaken, taking along the students of various schools against the plastic menace in the town soon.

A slogan competition was held and the winners were felicitated with citation and awards on the occasion.

MC president Manmohan Singh Mall, Traders Association president Rajat Agarwal, Congress resident Satish Daundhiyal and others were present on the occasion. 

Underground thrusts affecting geology: Study
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, September 16
The landslide that occurred at Balianala in Nainital recently is a result of thrusts which are at present underground and active, and are affecting geological activities at Gethia, Jyolikot Birbhatti and Bhumiadhar and Kailakhan areas. These areas have witnessed landslides in the last 20 years, geologists who studied the geological faults 10 years ago said.

According to the studies, the underground thrust from Shukhatal, Naini Lake to Jyolikot through Balianala area and associated activities created Naini Lake some 50,000 years ago. It is still active and is causing landslide in the area, the studies added. “Besides this thrust, the main boundary thrust is also passing through Balianala area,” said BS Kotlia, a geologist at Nainital.

Quoting studies done with the help of GPS, Dr Kotlia said due to presence of limestone in these mountains and their slope of 70 degree, the pace of landslides gets higher at Balianala and adjoining areas of Nainital town. “The government should stop construction of houses and start treatment of land at Gethia, Salari,Khuni Manora , Garampani Ramgarh and Suyalbari areas, adjoining Nainital town, as several active underground thrusts and faults are passing through these areas which are causing landslides and will continue in the coming days if the land is not protected from these slides,” said Dr Kotlia, who, along with LM Joshi, RK Dumka and K Kumar, studied the geological conditions of Nainital in 2003-04.