News from Uttarakhand: June 2011

Controversy over land allotment to Patanjali Trust

A Dehra Dun-based NGO on Thursday asked Uttarakhand government to disclose the rate and type of land allotted to Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and said it would file a contempt of court case if it fails to provide information within three months. Chairperson of Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), Avdhash Kaushal, claimed that the current BJP and previous Congress government, both allotted 261.468 hectare of irrigated agriculture land for non-agriculture use at throwaway prices to Baba Ramdev and his Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust between 2005 to 2010.

The land allotted to Baba Ramdev also includes the Gram Sabha land of Aurangabad, Shivdaspur, Teriwala, Shantarshah, Bahadrapur and Mustafabad in Haridwar district, he claimed. Uttarakhand government should disclose facts in this regard like at what rate the land was provided to him and his trust, whether the land was irrigated agriculture land and whether the land belonged to Gram Sabha, he told reporters.

Kaushal said if the government does not furnish information within three months, his NGO would move the apex court and file a contempt of court case. He also criticised Yoga Guru's announcement of raising a force for self-defence. "Yoga Guru should be immediately detained under National Security Act as he is posing threat for national security and communal harmony," he said.

Did Balkrishna provide forged documents for passport?

The Centre is likely to ask the Uttarakhand government to order an inquiry into the allegation that Acharya Balkrishna, a key aide of yoga guru Ramdev, is a Nepali citizen and that he procured Indian passport after providing forged documents related to his place of birth. Government sources said it was necessary to find out whether Balkrishna was actully born in India or not and whether he procured his Indian passport by submitting forged documents about the his place of birth.

"Since such an inquiry has to be conducted by the local police, we may ask the Uttarakhand government to order a probe into it," an official said. Balkrishna has claimed that he was born in Haridwar and was an Indian citizen though his parents were from Nepal. He also claimed that he had completed his education in the temple town. The yoga guru's aide got his passport from the Bareilly passport office. The Centre also may ask the state government whether Balkrishna was indeed given arms licences to procure guns and if so on what basis. Balkrishna has allegedly procured a licenced gun for his personal protection.

Army engineers scale Mount Kamet

A team of engineers from Army has successfully scaled the 7,756-metre Mount Kamet in Uttarakhand as part of an adventure expedition. Major Vishal Ahlawat and his team comprising one JCO, 10 other ranks from the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and four sherpas successfully scaled Mt Kamet on Tuesday. The team will now commence the second leg of the multi- dimensional expedition on June 10 by cycling the "treacherous" Garhwal mountains from Niti village to Rudraprayag, covering 238 km, followed by whitewater rafting over a 158-km stretch from Rudraprayag to Rishikesh. The expedition was flagged off in April this year.

Insect threat to sugarcane crop

Sugarcane crop in major producing regions of northern India has come under attack of a dreaded insect and if insecticide is not administered timely, it could substantially damage the crop. "The sugarcane crop in subtropical regions of northern India has come under attack of dreaded top borer insect," Bakshi Ram Yadav, head of Sugarcane Breeding Institute Regional Centre (SBIRC), Karnal told PTI. The institute is an arm of ICAR (Indian Council of Agriculture Research). Prevalence of the insecticide has been noticed in the sugarcane crop in main producing regions of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Northeastern states, the scientist said.

The insect eats up the apex body of the stem thus preventing its further growth and development, he said. It (insect) could also result in loss of yield, he added. Yadav suggested administration of insecticide "Furadon" by the end of June and July's first week to stem the damage. "The insecticide must be used at the base of sugarcane plant along the line between last week of June and first week of July to protect the crop from the damage," he added.

The plant scientist advised administration of 13 kg of furadon insecticide per acre.

Sugarcane is an annual crop. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana accounts for over 60 per cent of the acreage of the crop in the country.

Tigress found dead in Corbett

A tigress was on Tuesday found dead in Kalagharh range of Corbett National Park in Nainital district of Uttarakhand. "A five-year-old tigress was found dead in Kalagharh range and injury marks were visible on the body of the animal," a forest official said. The body has been sent for post-mortem, he said.

120 schools to be tobacco-free

Aiming at restricting youth's access to tobacco products, Uttarakhand directorate of school has asked officials of 6 districts of the hill state to identify a total of 120 schools to be declared as "tobacco- free" zones. In a letter to district education officers of Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Nainital, Udhamsingh Nagar, Haridwar and Pithoragarh, Director of school Education C S Gwal has directed them to identify 20 schools per district for the purpose so that they can be declared as "tobacco free" zones. The government has issued directions on the initiative of Health Related Information Dissemination Among Youths (HRIDAY), a vouluntary organisation engaged in advocacy, awareness, education and research related to tobacco control and Academy of Management Studies (AMS), a management consulting company. Earlier, the two bodies had urged the school directorate to declare schools in Uttarakhand as tobacco-free zones and comply with the Central Board of Secondary Education guidelines which mandates that all schools and should be notified as tobacco-free.

Rishikesh-Badrinath road blocked

Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway was blocked on Tuesday for traffic after a landslide near Sirobgarh in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand. Rocks, stones and soil in large quantities came down to the road this morning due to rainfall in the region, official sources said. Nearly 700 vehicles carrying nearly thousands of tourists were stranded on both sides of the highway, they said. Border Roads Organisation is trying to clear the landslide, they said.

Board results for 10th and 12th class

Uttarakhand School Education Board on Monday declared the results for Class 12th and 10th students. While 75.80 per cent students cleared the board exams of class 12th, 68.14 per cent students were declared pass in class 10th, officials said. A total of 3,00,081 students had taken the exams for Uttarakhand board this year. Nishant Kaushik, a student of Saraswati School of Kashipur topped the 10th class with 94.60 per cent marks, while Neelam Bist of Vivekanand Inter College in Almora was declared topper among girls with 94.40 per cent marks. In 12th class, Kanchak Kumar Kandpal of Bharti Shahid Sainik Nainital topped the board exams with 95.20 per cent marks, while Ankita Bora of Saraswati Vidya Mandir of Kotdwar remained topper among girls.

BABA RE BABA!

P.S. Chauhan

Though there was an upsurge of instant and spontaneous support for Anna Hajare's India Against Corruption and his demand for a comprehensive and effective Lokpal Bill, the Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev has not elicited such warm response to his satyagrah against corruption and black money in his home district. People in general and the younger generation in particular find it difficult to connect with the movement launched by the saffron clad Baba from the holy city.

After staging a big show in the Ramlila Grounds in Delhi, from where he and his followers were evicted in a police action, the Baba started his fast unto death at his own home turf in the Patanjali Yoga Peeth Bahadrabad on the Haridwar- Delhi National Highway. On the very first day of his fast on June 4, the Baba made a dramatic appearance before the media and his followers, dressed in a woman's salwar, kurta and chunni.

"I do not approve of a sanyasi escaping stealthily in woman's clothes, leaving behind his followers at the mercy of the police. A true sanyasi does not give up saffron clothes in his life time and a true satyagrahi will court arrest rather than run away from the police", says Gaurav Sharma, a B.Com student and president of the students' union in SMJN College, the biggest college in the district.

From day one the Baba's crusade against black money and other issues got mired in controversies due to his past background. "Baba Ramdev talked about his political aspirations in the past and formed Bharat Swabhiman Trust with a view to raising a huge brigade of volunteers believing in aggressive nationalism. I somehow smell a rat in his on-going movement which seems to be politically motivated", remarks Purshottam Sharma Gandhiwadi of Shivpura Kankhal.

Says Anurag Gupta of Ranipur crossing, "I find it difficult to connect with the Baba's demand to discontinue the notes of Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 denominations and direct election of the Prime Minister by the public. The outcry against black money by a person who owns trusts with vast fortunes also does not carry conviction".

Baba's agitation against black money stashed in the foreign banks and other issues has started losing steam here. Hardly a thousand people, and these too mostly from his commercial establishments here, are seen at the spot of Baba Ramdev's fast, though the big guns of the BJP and the VHP, like the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, the state chief minister, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, the VHP supremo Ashok Singhal and Uma Bharti, have come here to meet him and lend support to his mission. The movement which could have been a public movement against corruption has been vitiated by political implications, with the result that the common people have stayed away from it.

Says Ambrish Kumar, the president of the Krantikari Manch and a former MLA from Haridwar city, "Every movement , whether against corruption or any other issue should start from one's own home. The state government has been in the dock on many issues and the CAG has pointed out the misuse of Rs. 216 crores in the last Kumbh in Haridwar. However, the Baba did not utter a single word against it. I am also against corruption. But we should be impartial while talking about such vital issues and should not adopt partisan attitude".

However, Mahant Rajendra Das, a prominent sant of Haridwar fully supports the Baba. "Yog guru Ramdev has brought about Yoga revolution in the country. Now he is carrying on a relentless crusade against corruption. We are solidly with him in this great mission", says the mahant.

The fast of the Baba may or may not yield the desired result, but he has definitely given an opportunity to his detractors to target him with allegations regarding his assets and many other issues, including those about his close associates, all under scanner these days.

(At the time of filing this report, he was shifted to Jolly Grant Himalayan Institute, on account of his falling health)

Road connectivity for villages along China border by 2013

Authorities engaged in road construction work in border areas have been asked to ensure that all villages in Pithoragarh, which lies along the border with China, are connected through roads by 2013. With almost Rs 600 crore invested in road construction activity in this area, Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar today said he was optimistic that the border villages would soon get road connectivity.

Kumar travelled to a few villages in Pithoragarh and held discussions with residents of Bundi area to understand their problems, according to a government press release. He also spoke to road construction officials and officers of the Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP). Citing swift infrastructure development as a solution to migration from border towns, Kumar urged state government officials to quicken the pace of road construction in these areas.

Kumar visited Gunji, Kalapani, Nabidhaang, Lipupas, Napalchyu, Naavi and Bundi areas on the border. He will also inspect the Dhauliganga Hydro Electric Power Project during his visit.

Rajaji Park closed for visitors

The RajajiNational Park, famous for its elephants, which spreads over parts of Haridwar, Pauri and Dehradun districts, has been closed for visitors. After remaining closed for about 5 months, the park will reopen on November 15. Since during the Monsoon season the roads in the park gets damaged and due to luxuriant growth of trees and vegetation it is not safe to move through the park at this time of the season, the park is closed every year for tourists during these months. Annual cleaning and repair of roads is carried out by the park personnel during this period. The director of the park, S.S. Rasaily, said that during the last season the park earned the revenue of Rs. 43.43 lakhs from the tourists who visited the park to see the rich wildlife in the park.

"The different ranges of the park were visited by 1045 domestic tourists and 1870 foreign tourist", informed the director. During the rainy season the wildlife mafia and the timber smugglers increase their activities in the park. So the park personnel have been instructed to intensify patrolling in the park, specially in the sensitive areas. The director of the park told that every effort was being made to develop the park as a hub of eco tourism and wildlife tourism. However, our main objective is to protect the wild life in the park and no tourism exercise can be permitted at the cost of the flora and fauna of the park", said the director.

Rishikesh the new getawayfor adventure seekers

Not so long ago Rishikesh, set in the foothills of the lower Himalayas and a site which witnesses the entry of the holy Ganga into the plains, used to be a city of the pilgrims. Now adventure trips are the reason why young enthusiasts from Delhi and nearby areas are flocking to this holy town for their weekends. "We are so much occupied in our lives that we hardly get time for ourselves. Amid studies and competition, one feels quite saturated. You feel the need to break free from all the pressure and stress," Himanshu Dubey, 21, a recent first-timer to Rishikesh, told.

Rafting in the Ganga, jumping from a 20-foot-high cliff into the flowing river, scaling the mountains and rappelling - all this while you are camping in tents right in the middle of a forest! According to adventure tourism companies, Rishikesh, an ancient pilgrim town in Uttarakhand, is becoming a popular spot for white water rafting enthusiasts from India and abroad. Recently experts from New Zealand have opened India's first and only bungee jumping camp here. Travel and tourism companies such as Adventure Tourism India, Snow Leopard Adventures, Fear Factor Adventures, and Mercury Himalayan Explorations have opened more than 70 camps in Rishikesh over the years. Around 6,500 footfalls are recorded by each of the camps during the camping season. Ladakh, another emerging destination for camping, is located in northern Jammu and Kashmir. Set amidst the world's two highest mountain ranges - the Great Himalayas and the Karakoram - Ladakh boasts of as many as 30 camp sites. "These camps started operating in the late 1980s when the first rafting expeditions were approved by the Indian government. But only in the last 4-5 years, a huge number of young boys and girls from nearby places like Delhi, have been coming over for short vacations and indulging in adventure sports," Rakesh Kumar of White Water Adventures told IANS. "We have the maximum visitors from October to May, which is the ideal camping season. The rest of the time the river's flow is very unpredictable due to the rains; so we have to close the camp," said Anuj Shah of Adventure Tourism India's Camp GangaRiviera, located 40 km uphill from Rishikesh. While the camps in Rishikesh operate from October to June, Ladakh witnesses camping in July and August. "Urban youth in the age group of 20 to 35 years opt for these adventure trips the most. The rents of the camps start from around Rs.1,800 for one night to Rs.3,200 for a two-night stay," Vivek Awasthi, managing director of Hamara Holidays Pvt Ltd, told IANS. Emerging in the circuit of travellers are adventure biking trips which last for 20 to 25 days and are held in Ladakh, according to Awasthi. "Biking trips take place in the months of July and August every year. We charge around Rs.40,000 per person for a trip," he said. It is not just the men who seek adventure in the adrenaline-rush trips as women also club in with adventure groups. "Parents are getting freer in letting their daughters out on such adventure trips," said ace adventurer Ajeet Bajaj, who accompanied his 17-year old daughter on one such expedition. Apart from young people coming with their friends, parents from nuclear families with their kids also join these trips. "Adventure is an instant relief from work stress. After one adventure visit itself, you return to work with fresh enthusiasm and refreshed exuberance," said P.K. Sahoo, who visited Ladakh last year with his wife and eight-year-old son.

135-km stretch along Bhagirathi eco-sensitive

The Centre has decided to declare 135-km stretch between Gomukh and Uttarkashi along river Bhagirathi as an "eco-sensitive" zone, prohibiting Uttarakhand Government from setting up any power plant with capacity of more than 25 MW and carrying out mining there. Noting that a number of hydro power projects have been commissioned, proposed or are under implementation on the sensitive river stretch, Union Environment Ministry sent a draft notification to state government inviting its comments and suggestion on the issue of declaring the ecosensitive zone.

The said eco-sensitive zone is the area covering 135 km stretch from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi and upto one hundred metres from both banks of the river. The eco-sensitive zone will be notified under Section 3(2) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986," said a statement. According to the draft notification, "it is likely that there will be an impact on the ecology, flow and character" of Bhagirathi because of the power plants. Meanwhile, the Centre has also asked the state government to prepare a zonal master plan for eco-sensitive area within one year. The master plan should be a reference document for the state-level monitoring committee for any decision to be taken by them for various developmental projects including hydroelectric power projects, the draft said.

June 2011 Uttarakhand News

U'khand taking part in JK Police Martyrs' Memorial Football

As many as 48 teams are participating in the 13th edition of the Jammu and Kashmir Police Martyrs' Memorial football tournament to be played in Srinagar from June 22- July 6. "For the 13th edition of the police martyrs' memorial tournament, we have a record number of 48 teams participating this year," state's Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda said.

He said Railway Coach Factory Kapurthala, West Bengal, Punjab Police, Uttarakhand Police and CRPF XI are among the prominent teams from outside the state taking part in the tournament this year. Jammu and Kashmir Bank, JK Police, Food and Supplies and Forest XI are the leading teams from the state taking part in the annual tournament, Khoda said. He said the tournament will be played on knock out basis at two prominent venues of the valley -- the Pologround and Bakshi Stadium. The DGP said the tournament will provide an opportunity to budding players to showcase their talent. "We will be looking out for outstanding young talent during the tournament and sponsor their training at a reputed coaching centre outside the state," he said. The tournament, which was started in 1998 in memory of Inspector Musthaq Ahmad, who was killed in a militant attack at Regal Chowk in the city. Later, it was dedicated to all police martyrs. "This tournament is dedicated to the memory of all those brave police officers and jawans who laid down their life to integrity and security of the country," Khoda said.

Top official treks state areas bordering China

It was an official tour with a difference when a top bureaucrat of Uttarakhand took to trekking to visit the "strategically sensitive" areas of state bordering China. Uttarakhand chief secretary Subhash Kumar, who embarked on the official tour this week, told PTI that "This is my endeavour to ascertain the ground realities as well as difficulties of the people in general and that of our forces who are guarding the borders."

Kumar has already visited the tough terrains of Gunji, Raunkag, Nabi, Napalchu, Nabidhang, Lipulekh, Kalapani, Garbyag and Boondi in Pithoragarh district bordering China. Kumar yesterday visited Garbyag region where he took note of public-grievances and also monitored the progress of various developmental-works being run in the region.

"It is for the first time that some Chief Secretary has toured these border areas of the state. Being border areas, these regions are strategically sensitive in terms of the security of the state as well as of the country," an official spokesman said. But Kumar used to trek when he held the post of the Garhwal Commissioner. "When I was Garhwal Commissioner in 2006-07, I had trekked in border areas of Chamoli district bordering China like Barahoti and Rimkhim," he said.

In Boondi, he held discussions with Indo-Tibetan Border Police officers and also monitored the developmental works. Kumar said the construction work of border roads has been undertaken with a cost of Rs 600 crore which would shortly be completed. The Chief Secretary said that the state government was committed towards the development of the border areas of the state and has fixed the target of connecting all the villages of Pithoragarh district by road by 2013.

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Centre to aid states for police modernisation

Union Minister of State for Home Gurudas Kamat on Tuesday said the Centre will provide all assistance for modernisation of police forces across all the states in view of the challenges before them. Addressing the 41st All India Police Science Congress at Forest Research Institute Campus in Dehradun, Kamat said the crime-scenario in the present age was changing rapidly and the police is facing the multi-dimensional challenges of combating the non-conventional high-tech cyber crimes to economic crimes to terrorism. "So, the modernisation of police is very important and the Centre would provide all assistance to states in this regard," the minister said adding that there is also a need to incorporate human values in the personnel. Earlier, inaugurating the three-day Congress, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank stressed the need for strengthening the security-system in the border districts of the state and said it is important for the internal security of the country also. Nishank also demanded for immediate initiation of National Identity Card Scheme in the border areas of Uttarakhand adjacent to China and Nepal.

The Congress was hosted by the Uttarakhand police for the first time and Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai and police officials from various states took part in the deliberations during the three-day event that ended on June 23.

24-hour power supply promised

Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has directed the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) to make arrangements to provide uninterrupted power supply to its consumers in the state. "We have made all arrangements for providing 24 hours electricity to our consumers," Managing Director of UPCL Anil Jain said, adding, the Chief Minister had issued clear instructions to the power distribution company to ensure uninterrupted power supply in the state. There is surplus power in the state these days as the availability of electricity is 31.0250 million units against the demand of 28.9378 million units, Jain said. In this regard, he said the state is carrying out energy banking with Punjab and Haryana by giving 100 MW of power to each of them. When the electricity production will be less and its demand will increase from September onwards, the same amount of energy will be taken back from them, he said. Besides, Jain said, UPCL has also entered into a power purchase agreement with a Haridwar-based cement company for 50 MW of power. Jain, however, admitted that the consumer services in the hilly areas are poor because the transmission lines trips easily. He said the UPCL is working on a project of using insulated wires to overcome the problems of tripping in the hilly areas.

53 IPS officers yet to file IPR in Uttarakhand

Only 1,628 of the total 3,243 Indian Police Service officers in the country have filed details of their immovable property returns (IPR), as per the Home Ministry website. From Uttarakhand 53 officers have yet not filed these returns. Only 1,628 of the total 3,243 Indian Police Service officers in the country have filed details of their immovable property returns (IPR), as per the Home Ministry website.

Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 324 defaulters. The state has 335 of which only 11 officers have filed the immovable property returns (IPR) details, according to the website. Tamil Nadu is next with 195 defaulters (of the total 203 officers). The third spot is occupied by Madhya Pradesh with 185 defaulters (of the total 214 officers). In Jharkhand, Kamal Nayan Chobey is the only officer of the total 98 officers to file the IPR. On the positive side, Andhra Pradesh tops the list of the maximum number of officers to have filed the IPR. Of the total 185 officers, 180 officers have filed their returns. The number of defaulters in the other states are Assam - 33 , Bihar - 145, Chhattisgarh -10, Gujarat- 22, Haryana - 85, Himachal Pradesh - 16, Jammu and Kashmir - 29 (109), Karnataka - 45, Kerala - 86, Maharashtra - 120, Manipur - 42, Nagaland - 6, Orissa - 36, Punjab - 11, Rajasthan - 16, Sikkim - 9, Uttarakhand - 53 and West Bengal - 22. The joint cadre of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and UnionTerritories (AMGU cadre) has 37 defaulters. According to the website, Tamil Nadu cadre has 203 officers and only eight have filed details of their immovable property returns. The Home Ministry in a circular to all Chief Secretaries on May 5 had set a deadline of May 15 for the IPS officers to file details of their immovable property returns for the year 2010. It had stated that it would "deny vigilance clearance and will not consider these officers for promotion," if they fail to submit their returns.

53 IPS officers yet to file IPR in Uttarakhand

Only 1,628 of the total 3,243 Indian Police Service officers in the country have filed details of their immovable property returns (IPR), as per the Home Ministry website. From Uttarakhand 53 officers have yet not filed these returns. Only 1,628 of the total 3,243 Indian Police Service officers in the country have filed details of their immovable property returns (IPR), as per the Home Ministry website.

Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 324 defaulters. The state has 335 of which only 11 officers have filed the immovable property returns (IPR) details, according to the website. Tamil Nadu is next with 195 defaulters (of the total 203 officers). The third spot is occupied by Madhya Pradesh with 185 defaulters (of the total 214 officers). In Jharkhand, Kamal Nayan Chobey is the only officer of the total 98 officers to file the IPR. On the positive side, Andhra Pradesh tops the list of the maximum number of officers to have filed the IPR. Of the total 185 officers, 180 officers have filed their returns. The number of defaulters in the other states are Assam - 33 , Bihar - 145, Chhattisgarh -10, Gujarat- 22, Haryana - 85, Himachal Pradesh - 16, Jammu and Kashmir - 29 (109), Karnataka - 45, Kerala - 86, Maharashtra - 120, Manipur - 42, Nagaland - 6, Orissa - 36, Punjab - 11, Rajasthan - 16, Sikkim - 9, Uttarakhand - 53 and West Bengal - 22. The joint cadre of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and UnionTerritories (AMGU cadre) has 37 defaulters. According to the website, Tamil Nadu cadre has 203 officers and only eight have filed details of their immovable property returns. The Home Ministry in a circular to all Chief Secretaries on May 5 had set a deadline of May 15 for the IPS officers to file details of their immovable property returns for the year 2010. It had stated that it would "deny vigilance clearance and will not consider these officers for promotion," if they fail to submit their returns.

Police should be people friendly

Say the dignitaries present at the 41st Police Science Congress held in doon recently:

The three-day 41st All India Police Science Congress (AIPSC) was held in the city recently at Forest Research Institute (FRI). Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishak' inaugurated the opening ceremony and Union Minister of State, Home Affairs/Information Technology, Government of India, Gurudas Kamat, was the guest of honour on the occasion. J.S. Pandey, DGP, Uttarakhand, delivered the welcome address welcoming the distinguished delegates, social scientists and professionals who had gathered on the occasion.

Kamat addressing the inaugural session said that for the multidimensional problems that the police is facing such conferences like AIPSC need to be organized on a regular basis so that the police becomes 'People Friendly'.

The Chief Minister also addressed the inaugural session and expressed his happiness about this was being organized in Uttarakhand. He said that police has an important role to play even in social development, and occasions such as Kumbh Mela 2010 that was peacefully conducted due to the outstanding conduct of Uttarakhand Police.Vikram Srivastva, DG, BPR&D, delivered introductory address on the occasion. A souvenir of 41st AIPSC was released on the occasion.

The Congress unanimously resolved that integrity of the highest order was needed and it was the responsibility of higher echelons to empower all ranks of police in this regard. Implementation of police reforms in accordance with the Supreme Court decision in Sh. Prakash Singh cases would be a definitive step in this direction.

'Ensure better facilities enroute Chardham Yatra'

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Tuesday expressed discontent over the arrangements made for the ongoing Chardham Yatra, and directed officials to ensure better basic amenities along the routes. He expressed displeasure on the lack of drinking water tanks and shades for protection from rain on the trek leading to Yamunotri shrine. During a review meeting, Nishank said since the pilgrimage comprising the four Himalayan shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri attract lakhs of pilgrims from home and abroad, the yatra arrangements should be upto the mark, said an official release. Saying that there is no dearth of funds, Nishank asked the officials to verify the arrangements by visiting the routes rather than reviewing their status sitting in their offices.

He also expressed his displeasure over non-availability of sufficient doctors on yatra routes. He directed the Secretary, Health to make Oxygen cylinders available in sufficient numbers and also arrange for imparting training to the concerned persons for their usage.

Mining in the Ganga

Despite the martyrdom of Swami Nigamanand, illegal quarrying is going on unabated in the ganga and other rives, reports P.S. Chauhan:

Despite the martyrdom of Swami Nigamanand of Matri Sadan, Kankhal, Haridwar, illegal mining goes on in the Ganga and other rivers in the region, obviously due to an unholy nexus between the mining mafia and the law enforcing agencies. Swami Nigamanand (34) died after a fast of 115 days, demanding ban on quarrying of sub minerals, such as stones, boulders and sand, from the bed of the Ganga in the Kumbh mela area and the shifting of the Himalayan Stone Crusher, one of the biggest in the country, from the Kumbh mela area. Though the fast of the Swami did not elicit required response from the state government, the administration and the society as a whole, the state High Court on May 27 banned quarrying from the Ganga river bed and also ordered shifting of the Himalayan Stone Crusher out of the Kumbh Mela area. Swami Nigamanand's sacrifice for a noble cause is the first martyrdom in the country for banning illegal mining and quarrying from the river beds. The young saint tried to draw the attention of the society and the government towards the disastrous impact of unplanned and unscientific quarrying on the ecology in general and the purity and flow of the rivers in particular.

In Haridwar and adjoining districts the quarrying of sub minerals from the river beds in the Shivalik range, such as from the Ganga, Ratmau and Solani has assumed alarming proportions. The mining of the sub minerals is carried out by Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) in Garhwal division and the Kumaun Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) in Kumaun division and by the forests corporation in the forest lots. The mining policy of the union ministry of forests and environment and that of the state government lays dawn certain norms. "As per norms, mining activities are to be carried out from dawn to dusk and quarrying from the rivers is permissible only at least beyond 25 mtrs. from the river banks and digging only upto 1.5 meter deep in the river bed is allowed. Entry of vehicles, such as trucks and tracter trolleys, in the rivers is also banned," says D.M. Dhondiyal, the district coordinator of the GMVN. "However, all these norms are followed more in violation than in observance. Trucks and tractor trolleys can be openly seen wading through the Ganga and polluting the waters. JCBs are being used to dig up the river beds and deep pits have been dug up in the river. The mining mafia carries on its operations clandestinely mostly during nights", says Vijendra Chauhan, a social activist of Missarpur, a village on the Ganga bank. A few days ago, three children died after they fell into a deep and big pit, near the village Kathiavar, which was dug by quarrying mafia.

The union minister of state for agriculture and food processing and M.P. from Haridwar, Harish Rawat, who visited the village, was dumb struck to see that pits upto 30ft. deep have been dug up in the river bed near the village by the mining mafia. The extracted sub minerals are crushed in the stone crushers and the crushed material is supplied in the state and the adjoining region for constructing roads and buildings. "Due to spurt in construction activities, the demand of the crushed stones, pebbles, sand etc. has spiralled. The result is that quarrying has become a highly flourishing industry for the mining mafia and the stone crushers. Since most of the stone crushers are near the river banks, illegal mining is very easy", says Dr. Vijay Verma, an environmentalist associated with the Matri Sadan.

Officially there can be no mining activity in the rivers during the monsoon season. The court has imposed a ban on mining in the Ganga within the Kumbh Mela area. However, inspite of the ban by the court, mining goes on, which itself speaks of the high connections of the mining mafia in the corridors of power. According to reliable sources the illegal trade fetches Rs.200 crores per year in the region, though officially the administration earns the revenue of Rs.10-15 crores per year from the legal licences. In most cases the operators of the trade carry on their activities without paying royalty to the GMVN and the forest corporation. Thus the operators of illegal trade are defrauding the state exchequer in a big way on the one hand, while they are plundering the rivers and damaging the ecology on the other hand. By digging up from very near the banks of the river, the mining mafia has dented the river banks, causing soil erosion. The 14 km. embankment, built along the bank of the river to protect the villages from floods, has been broken at many places by the quarrying mafia to carry on their illegal activities, rendering the adjoining villages highly prone to recurrent floods.

The district magistrate, R. Meenakshi Sundaram says that he has directed the officials to conduct raids and seize the vehicles used in illegal mining and impose penalty. However, the claims of the administration are belied by mining which goes on unabated in the region. Taking serious note of the mining activities in the Ganga, the union minister of forests and environment, Jai Ram Ramesh has written a strong letter to the state government to crack the whip on the mining mafia which is playing havoc with the rivers and with the safety of human habitation along side of the rivers. Will the state government wake up!

A path breaking journey

A new route to Kailash Mansarovar Yatra is being planned from Demchok in south-east Ladakh through Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand. This is going to be the safest, shortest and more economical route:

Ashwini Shrivastava

Jammu and Kashmir Government may open Kailash Mansarovar Yatra via Demchok near Leh to make the pilgrimage through the "easiest, safest and shortest" route. Officials privy to the development said that a proposal has already been made and sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs and External Affairs Ministry for their approval and to take up the matter with their Chinese and Tibetan counterparts for necessary action. "We have decided to open a new route to Kailash Mansarovar Yatra from Demchok in south-east Ladakh through Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand. If this route is opened, age will not be a restriction (for pilgrims).

It will be the safest, shortest and more economical way to undertake the Yatra," Leh Deputy Commissioner Tsering Angchok said. However, the proposal is awaiting nod from both the Indian and Chinese governments. "Ministry of Home Affairs and External Affairs Ministry are taking up the matter with the Chinese government," he said. The MEA organises the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra every year during June and September. People from all walks of life participate in the Yatra which leads to the holy sites of Mount Kailash and Mansarovar lake in Tibet, through the traditional route followed by saints and pilgrims since ancient times. The 644-km-long pilgrimage, which includes a 574-km motor journey from New Delhi up to the Dharchula base camp, passes through five camps - Sirkha, Gala, Bundi, Gunji and Nabhidhang - before crossing the Lipulekh Pass to reach Tibet.

Getting ready for Kanwar mela 2011

P.S. Chauhan

The state and the district administration have started gearing up for the mammoth Kanwar Teerth Yatra also called as Kanwar mela. The yatra, the biggest one in north India, formally begins on Guru Purnima of the month of Aashadh of the Hindu calendar which this years falls on July 15 and will reach its crescendo on July 29, the auspicious day of Shivratri.

Since the holding of the Kanwar mela is a Herculean task, the administration has already pulled up its socks for the smooth conduct of the mega cultural event. A special mela cell, headed by the SP (city), K.L. Shah, has been set up at the central control room (CCR) near Har Ki Pauri and the officials of the district civil and the police administration have held several rounds of interactive meetings with the representatives of Vyapar Mandal, Dharamshalas Association, the Hotels Association, the transport operators and the sant community to invite their suggestions and enlist their co-operation. Since large religious gatherings are soft targets for the terrorist outfits, the police are making full proof security arrangements. The SSP, Kewal Khurana has denied any specific report of the threat of terrorist attack during the Kanwar yatra. However, as per secret agencies, the yatra is vulnerable to terror threat. The SP (City) told Haridwar Plus that bomb disposal squads would be deployed at the sensitive points in the mela area and secret police personnel, dressed in saffron clothes, will mingle with the kawanrias to keep strict vigil on anti-social elements. The SP (Dehat), R.L. Sharma informed that divers of the army and the Jal Police would be deployed at the demarcated points to avert mishaps of drowning in the Ganga and the Ganga canal in the Mela area. Besides the security aspects, an important problem for the administration is setting up of the Kanwar bazaar where the kanwarias stay for a few days. Last year the bazaar was shifted from near Har-ki-pauri to Pant Dweep near the Haridwar-Dehradun national highway. Due to shifting of Kanwar bazaar to Pant Dweep the normal life in the city was not paralyzed. However, it created unending traffic jams on the national highway. This year the administration is contemplating to shift the bazaar to Bairagi camp which has ample space but is at some distance from the main city. The business community is opposing this move of the administration to shift the Kanwar bazaar to Bairagi camp. The state administration has called a top level inter-district and inter-state meeting of the civil and the police officials of the adjoining districts of Uttarakhand, UP, Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in the first week of July

Turning dreams into reality

Ankesh Nagar, a student of UPES has applied for a patent for his concept of an Offshore Nuclear Desalination Platform:

Neha Bhatia

'Bold ideas are like pawns in a game of chess they might be killed in the beginning but make an opening for a winning move'. The words above clearly define Ankesh Nagar's innovation of an Offshore Nuclear Desalination Platform. Explaining more about the concept, Nagar shares, "The project is a concept for reusing an oil/gas offshore platform with its existing infrastructure and modifications to generate much needed drinking water and electricity for the industrial developments of regions lacking power by nuclear energy. With India signing the Nuclear Deal new vistas have opened up for peaceful use of Nuclear Energy."

Presently in his third year, Nagar is pursuing a dual degree five-year course of B.Tech (Applied Petroleum Engineering, Upstream) with MBA (Oil & Gas Management) from University of Petroleum & Energy Studies, Dehradun. Son of an Armed Forces surgeon in Indian Navy, he is a product of Kendriya Vidyalaya Colaba, Mumbai and a bright student since his early school days. Besides academics his interest were equally balanced in games and co-curricular activities. Despite his selection for software engineering he chose petroleum engineering as a career. A keen nature lover he believes in conserving ecosystem and using green energy for harvesting hydrocarbons required for regional development and growth of any country. His broad based reading and applications crystallized the idea of the Offshore Nuclear Desalination Platform (ONDP). The idea was conceived in January 2009 and after crystallizing the concept Nagar obtained the view and opinion of Dr PK Tiwari, Head Desalination Division at BARC & Chairman of International Nuclear Desalination Advisory Group (INDAG) of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna who encouraged him to present it in the international conference. Nagar says, "I first presented this concept at 'International Desalination Conference' INDACON 2010 at Chennai. The paper was well appreciated by scientists present there from any countries." For this paper Nagar was awarded a special cash research award by the university and by the Governor of Uttaranchal, Margaret Alwa in 2010. "To make the concept concrete I have applied for a patent for the same and the application has been published by Indian Patent Office in March 2010," added Nagar.

The concept was established by Nagar foreseeing the huge demand for water. Talking more about it, he says, "'Oil rich' nations are 'water poor'. The ONDP will enable oil companies to sustain these oil platforms, recover oil to the hilt and gradually transform an oil platform to a simple desalination platform marketing electricity and water. The minimizing of 'carbon footprint' and 'carbon offsetting' by the oil company will add to its offers."

Nagar further shares how his concept will help India and other developing countries in the long run. "India has a long coastline and has underdeveloped regions all along; the population of these regions can survive, thrive and industrialize if drinking water and power is made available cheap. In the world, especially for the oil rich WANA (West Asia & North Africa) region which is fighting hard to provide water to its population, ONDP is the 'Silver Bullet'. Offshore located nuclear desalination platform will save money on pumping water to shore, chemical treatment of water, maintenance of membranes due to fouling, brine disposal and multiple offshore uses like EOR and Gas Hydrate extraction in petroleum industry." A budding petrocrat Ankesh is proud to be a student of University of Petroleum & Energy Studies Dehradun that gave him encouragement and fertile ground to be what he is today and will be tomorrow.

A burning issue

Administration has failed to resolve the issue of cooking gas shortage, P.S chauhan reports:

Every summer as the yatra season starts, the holy city starts reeling under a crisis of shortage of domestic gas cylinders. The crisis is mainly triggered by a heavy influx of tourists and pilgrims in the district in this season, causing an increase in the demand of gas cylinders in the hotels, dhabas, sweets shops, dharmshalas, ashrams etc. The problem becomes more acute during the mela days, which continues for weeks together.

"We have to wait for about 2-3 weeks from the date of booking to get a cylinder and stand in long queues for hours to book the gas," complains Shusheel Rana. Says Nisha Gupta, a housewife of Rajghat Kankhal, "Though there is difficulty in procuring a cylinder in routine manner, the cylinders are easily available in the market, if you are willing to pay Rs. 500/- -600/- instead of the fixed rate. The district supply officer, D.S. Pangti says that there are more than 2 lakh domestic gas connections. "However, the supply of the companies falls short by about 30k cylinders per month." The obvious reason of the shortage is that the gas companies do not want to incur losses since the domestic gas cylinders are heavily subsidized. Another reason is the wide use of domestic gas cylinders for commercial purposes. "Since commercial cylinders are not subsidized, there is a big difference in the cost of the domestic and the commercial LPG cylinders. The cost of a commercial cylinder at this time is about Rs. 1200/-, whereas that of a domestic LPG cylinder is only about Rs. 400/-. The use of domestic cylinders for commercial purposes further adds to the shortage," says Naeem Qureshi of Jwalapur. The situation has become still more grim due to spurt in the population of the district as a result of the setting up of hundreds of vast industrial units. Though two new gas agencies have been given licence this year and some new domestic connections have also been issued, yet it is not in proportion to the spiralling population. A racket was busted at Jwalapur, which used to refill the small cylinders of 5kg. with the gas taken out from the LPG cylinders. There have also been complaints of under weight cylinders. The officials in the civil supply department say that they have issued instructions to the food and civil supply inspectors to conduct raids if there is any complaint. To ease the situation a plan has been mooted to increase the capacity of the bottling plant of the Indian Oil corporation at Bahadrabad near Haridwar. However, the plan has been hanging fire for the last many years.

MLA evicted from bungalow

Describing the Congress' protests as "wrong", the Uttarakhand government on Wednesday said the eviction of MLA Kishore Upadhyay from his official residence was done after completing legal proceedings. In a statement, state media advisory committee chairman Devendra Bhasin said Upadhyay was illegally occupying for the last four years the bungalow allotted to him when he was a minister in the previous Congress government. When BJP government came to power in 2007, Upadhyay was allotted a house in MLA transit hostel and was requested to vacate the house at Yamuna Colony, Bhasin said. Later, the government also sent several letters to the Congress MLA but no response was received from his side, he added.

Last year, a case was registered against him by the state estates department in a Dehradun court which ordered Upadhyay to immediately vacate the house and pay Rs 8,750 per month as rent from March 13, 2007 till he vacates the house, Bhasin said. Bhasin said the bungalow has now been allotted to state Disaster Management Minister Khajan Das. However, this illegal occupant of the bungalow, Upadhyay accused the the Uttarakhand government of deliberately harassing him. He alleged that chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and several other BJP MLAs were also illegally occupying official premises and wondered as to why similar action is not initiated against them. He charged the government with adopting different standards for MLAs belonging to BJP and those belonging to Congress. He said there should be a proper policy in place in this regard.

The state estates department team along with police broke open the doors of Upadhyay's bungalow and shifted his belongings to an MLA transit hostel on June 26.

BHEL adds one more feather

P.S. Chauhan

The BHEL Haridwar, a leading unit of the Navratna public sector undertakings of the country, has added another glorious feather in its already plumed cap. The unit has successfully dispatched the country's first indigenously manufactured 600 MW turbo generator to the North Chennai Thermal Power Project of Tamil Nadu Electricity Boad. The state of art-generator set was flagged off by the executive director of the BHEL, D.K. Mody.

"These new series of generators shall also cater to the requirements of super critical thermal power stations with turbines of 660 & 700 MW ratings," said Mody. The additional general manager Rajiv Bhatnagar said that with the successful dispatch of the generator, a new benchmark has been set up by the BHEL, Haridwar with respect to indigenous manufacture of thermal sets with supercritical parameters. "Several such sets of 600, 660, 700 and 800 MW ratings are presently under various stages of manufacture at the BHEL Haridwar. The facility for assembly and testing of this series of generators upto the capacity of 1000 MW rating has been designed and engineered in-house at the BHEL's Haridwar plant," informed Bhatnagar. Meanwhile, in another development, Varinder Pandhi who joined the BHEL in 1975 and rendered yeoman's service to the top company of the country in several units and various prestigious assignments, has taken over charge as the new executive director of the BHEL Haridwar. The outgoing executive director, D.K. Mody is due for superannuation in July 2011. Pandhi told Haridwar Plus that the BHEL has enhanced its manufacturing capacity to 15,000 MW per annum & would augment it upto 20,000 MW per annum by March 2012. "In coming years, our country expects a lot from the BHEL for its power agenda & it will be our best endeavour to come upto the expectations of the country," averred Pandhi.

BHEL adds one more feather

P.S. Chauhan

The BHEL Haridwar, a leading unit of the Navratna public sector undertakings of the country, has added another glorious feather in its already plumed cap. The unit has successfully dispatched the country's first indigenously manufactured 600 MW turbo generator to the North Chennai Thermal Power Project of Tamil Nadu Electricity Boad. The state of art-generator set was flagged off by the executive director of the BHEL, D.K. Mody.

"These new series of generators shall also cater to the requirements of super critical thermal power stations with turbines of 660 & 700 MW ratings," said Mody. The additional general manager Rajiv Bhatnagar said that with the successful dispatch of the generator, a new benchmark has been set up by the BHEL, Haridwar with respect to indigenous manufacture of thermal sets with supercritical parameters. "Several such sets of 600, 660, 700 and 800 MW ratings are presently under various stages of manufacture at the BHEL Haridwar. The facility for assembly and testing of this series of generators upto the capacity of 1000 MW rating has been designed and engineered in-house at the BHEL's Haridwar plant," informed Bhatnagar. Meanwhile, in another development, Varinder Pandhi who joined the BHEL in 1975 and rendered yeoman's service to the top company of the country in several units and various prestigious assignments, has taken over charge as the new executive director of the BHEL Haridwar. The outgoing executive director, D.K. Mody is due for superannuation in July 2011. Pandhi told Haridwar Plus that the BHEL has enhanced its manufacturing capacity to 15,000 MW per annum & would augment it upto 20,000 MW per annum by March 2012. "In coming years, our country expects a lot from the BHEL for its power agenda & it will be our best endeavour to come upto the expectations of the country," averred Pandhi.

Uttarakhand waives VAT on kerosene

States are taking steps to soften the impact of the fuel and LPG hike on common man. They are decreasing their prices after reducing VAT and other levies. Uttarkhand announced to waive VAT on kerosene, and would not charge the tax on the amount increased for diesel and LPG after the hike. With the hike last Friday generally coming in for sharp criticism, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee wrote to all chief ministers asking them to reduce state levies on diesel, kerosene and LPG in line with the duty cuts undertaken by the Centre to provide some relief to the common man. The states cutting across party lines which have taken the decision have sacrificed revenue by reducing Value Added Tax (VAT) and other levies on petroleum products. WB and Haryana have already reduced prices of some petroleum products since the fuel hike last Friday. LPG cylinders in Delhi will cost Rs 40 less for BPL and Antyodaya families and diesel 37 paise less per litre for all. Kerala brought down diesel price by 75 paise per litre. Himachal Pradesh exempted kerosene oil from VAT and reduced the tax on diesel to 9.70 per cent from the present 14 per cent. Besides, there would be 'zero' VAT on kerosene oil, a relief of 13.5 per cent while reduction in VAT on diesel would be 4.30 per cent. Similarly, Punjab exempted VAT on the hiked amount of diesel and LPG, making make diesel cheaper by 25 paise/ litre and LPG by Rs 2.50.

CM walks barefooted to protest petrol price hike

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today led a march of BJP activists, protesting against the recent hike in prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas. The Chief Minister walked barefooted through out the 4km-long march, which began from his residence and culminated near the state secretariat. Senior BJP leaders, including state party president Bishan Singh Chufal along with scores of party workers attended the march. The party also demanded an immediate roll back of the increase in prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas.

Weekly news July 2011

Two new medical colleges soon

Two new government medical colleges will soon be set up in Uttarakhand. These will be set up in Dehradun and Almora. This announcement was made by the chief minister while inaugurating the office buildings of the Director General of Medical Health and Family Welfare and Director General of Ayush in Dehradun. This building has been built at a cost of Rs.15 crore. The chief minister said his government was taking various steps to strengthen medical services in the state. At present there are two medical colleges at Srinagar in Pauri district and Haldwani in Nainital district.

New rural solar power project launched

Aiming to improve access to electricity in rural areas, a new programme to take solar power to villages across the country was launched on Wednesday. Launched by NGO Krishi Bikash Shilpa Kendra (KBSK), the programme will be implemented in the national capital region, the north-eastern region, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Jammu and Kashmir. The programme will initially be launched in 50 villages across India. "Solar energy is sustainable energy and the best method to provide electricity. It is eco-friendly and our efforts are to tap this renewable source of energy," said Prosenjit Bose, managing director of KBSK. As per KSBK, the project will create job opportunities for about 50,000 unemployed youth across the country. "This is a very good initiative taken up by KSBK. Through this, poor people in the remote areas of India will also be able to lead a life with electricity and this will solve their problems," said Rajya Sabha member Oscar Fernandes.

Maneater leopard shot dead

A maneater leopard, which killed three persons in Diali Gamri area of Uttarkashi district, was shot dead by Uttarakhand forest department. The 13-year-old male leopard was shot dead at Kumrara village of the area by hunter Lakhpat Singh on Tuesday evening when it returned to its kill, said Divisional Forest Officer of Uttarkashi, I.P. Singh. The length of the leopard was 2.30 meter and height 85cm, he said. The leopard killed a woman of Kumrara village on Monday, prompting the locals to demand that the animal be declared as maneater and kill it. The leopard had earlier killed two more people of the area on May 2 and May 18 this year.

Two women washed away in flash flood

Two women were washed away in a flash flood following heavy rains at Bagi village of Dunda tehsil of Uttarkashi district, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place when a group of six women were crossing Jalkur river and were caught in the flood following heavy rains in the area. Hearing their scream, the people standing on the bank of the river rushed to their help and brought them out, they said. They were taken to a nearby hospital where they were declared brought dead. The condition of the other women is stated to be out of danger.

Smuggler held

On Thursday Uttarakhand forest department recovered three live star tortoises and arrested two smugglers, including one from Delhi, police said. Following a tip-off from state anti-poaching cell, a forest department team stopped the accused near the Wadia Institute of Himalayn Geology and recovered live three star tortoises from them, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Meenakshi Joshi said. The star tortoise is an endangered species of tortoise, she added. The accused have been identified as Shivram, a resident of Delhi, and Subodh Chhilwal, belonging to Almora. They have been booked under Wildlife Protection Act.

HCC-Alstom JV bags Tehri order

The joint venture of construction major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) and Alstom has been awarded a contract worth Rs.1,843 crore to construct Tehri pumped storage plant in Uttarakhand. "This is an engineering, procurement and construction contract wherein HCC's share is Rs.701 crore," the company said in a regulatory filing. The project for the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation India Ltd is to be completed in 54 months. Under the project, the company has to construct head race tunnel, surge shaft, penstocks, underground powerhouse, ventilation system gallery, bus bar gallery and cavern, drainage gallery, access adits and tail race tunnel. The Tehri pump storage project (PSP) comprises of four reversible pump turbine units of 250 MW each. The operation of Tehri PSP is based on the concept of recycling of water discharged between upper reservoir and lower reservoir. The Tehri Dam reservoir will function as the upper reservoir and Koteshwar reservoir as the lower balancing reservoir.

Junior National Basketball

Uttarakhand is sending two teams of boys and girls for the 62nd Junior National Basketball Championship scheduled to be held in New Delhi from July 5-12th. In all there are 26 boys and 25 girls under-18 teams which have confirmed entry into the championship which is being organised by the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) in association with the Delhi Basketball Association (DBA), at the Thyagaraj Indoor Stadium. Players born on or after 01.01.1993 are eligible to participate. Age verification of all the players will be done one day before the tournament at the venue. The Technical Commission will conduct the Referees' Clinic. Punjab (boys) and Kerala (girls) had triumphed in the last edition, which was held in Vashi, Maharashtra. Participating teams: Boys: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Orissa, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal. Girls: Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Orissa, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.

CBI questions Balakrishna

The CBI has quizzed Balakrishna, in connection with alleged furnishing of wrong information for getting passport even as police said that two birth certificates with varied information were issued to him by district authorities. A CBI team reached Haridwar and questioned Balkrishna. The team also went to Haridwar Municipal Council and searched records of the office of birth-death registrar. A Local Intelligence Unit Inspector Sanjay Bishnoi said that preliminary investigations conducted by the police revealed that Balkrishna has only one passport and it was renewed on February 7, 2007. He, however, said there are doubts about his nationality as discrepancy has been found in two birth certificates issued by Haridwar Municipal Council. While in one of the certificates, the nationality of Balakrishna's parents is mentioned as Indian, in the other it is Nepalese. Officials are tight-lipped on the issue.

Red alert issued in Uttarakhand due to landslides

The Uttarakhand government tonight issued a red alert following heavy rains in the state that left 10 people dead and triggered a series of landslides. CM has also directed the district administration in these areas to stop leaves of all the officers of police, power, drinking water and medical and hospital staff members.

Hundreds of pilgrims to three Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri have been stranded following closure of roads due to landslides even as ten persons died in several rain-related incidents across Uttarakhand in the last fortnight. Ten persons have so far died in various rain-related incidents like flashfloods, landslides and boulders during the past fortnight, officials today said. Landslides triggered by heavy rains continued to hit several places, blocking vehicular traffic on various roads including national highways leading to the three shrines. However, Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway, which was blocked after a glacier hit the road just two kms away from Badrinath shrine, has been reopened for vehicular traffic.

Rishikesh-Kedarnath national highway has also been blocked at Sirobagad due to intermittent landslides. Long queues of vehicles are seen on both sides of the road and efforts are on to clear the debris to reopen it for traffic.

The vehicular traffic on Rishikesh-Gangotri national highway between Dharasu and Nalupani could not be resumed on the fourth consecutive day today as landslides continued to hit the area. Rishikesh-Yamunotri national highway was also closed at Feri in Uttarkashi district due to landslides. BRO personnel along with police personnel are trying to clear the debris and reopen the road for vehicular traffic. Meanwhile, several areas of the hill state received moderate to heavy rains during the past 24 hours.

Chamoli experienced 84.0 mm of rainfall followed by Nainital 64.6 mm, Rudraprayag 59.0 mm, Uttarkashi 55.0 mm, Lansedowne 54 mm, Rishikesh 50.0 mm and Dehra Dun 38.8 mm. The Met office has predicted that several areas of the hill state will continue to receive rains for another day and some areas like Nainital, Almora and Champawat might receive rather heavy to heavy rains.

Traffic disruptions

It is monsoon time and road traffic disruption time. Like every year, several roads in Uttarakhand. Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway was blocked just two km away from Badrinath shrine following landslides caused by heavy rains. Hundreds of pilgrims were stranded in the area. After every landslide efforts are made to remove the debris from the road and for this personnel of Border Road Organisation (BRO) are deployed to clear the roadblock and open the road for vehicular traffic. In some areas PWD personnel are deployed to restore traffic. This time Rishikesh-Kedarnath national highway has also been blocked at Sirobagad due to landslides. Sometime traffic remains disrupted for days. For example this year on Rishikesh-Gangotri national highway between Dharasu and Nalupani traffic could not be resumed on the third consecutive day on Tuesday as landslides continued to hit the area. Every time there is a landslide leading to a blockade, long queues of vehicles are seen on both sides of the road. So if you are still busy planning Char Dham yatra, think twice. The season of landslides has begun and you must factor in this unforeseen development into your itinerary to avoid last minute disappointment due to landslides.

Vir ras of Doon

As the accolades for his film Delhi Belly continue, comedian and actor Vir Das is readying for the release of his first serious film Raakh. Vir, who has acted in a handful of Bollywood films, including Badmaash Company and Mumbai Salsa, will be seen opposite Raima Sen in this Tanuja Chandra directed movie.

"Raakh is a small film set in a rural Bhopal. It is my first serious role; I don't think I have smiled in the entire movie. We have wrapped shooting recently," reveals the actor, who was born in Dehradun. Despite being a comedian, Vir has decided not to play funny roles in movies. According to him, even though Delhi Belly is an adult comedy, his character is quite a sad one. The Aamir Khan production has Vir playing one of the three young men in north Delhi who go through three horrible days.

"My role is of a sad person. Horrible things happen to my character in the course of the movie - he is unhappy with his job and is dumped by his girlfriend. I don't act funny in the film, the comedy happens in spite of it," he says.

Everybody is talking about the good camaraderie among the three main characters played by Vir, Imran Khan and Kunal Roy Kapoor. "I have never had so much fun while working on any movie, which entirely hinges upon the chemistry between the three boys, so we worked hard at becoming friends," he states.

Meanwhile, though his solo number Jaa chudail from Delhi Belly is topping chartbusters, shooting for it was difficult for the actor as he had to groove wearing five-and-a-half inch platform heels. The song is a tribute to the dancing style of yesteryear actor Mithun Chakroborty with influences from the style of great American singer Elvis Presley.

For the 32-year-old, dancing doesn't come very easily; hence he was petrified when he got to know that a senior choreographer like Farah Khan would be choreographing the song composed by Ram Sampath.

"I was terrified because she is a senior and I had heard that she is quite a task master. The rehearsals were pretty intense since I was a newcomer. I rehearsed for 14 days to get the steps right," recalls Vir, who watched videos to get the style right.

He saw more Elvis videos than Mithun videos because "I have grown up watching Mithun; so I know those moves," he adds. "Shooting solo for a Bollywood song was a big high for me and a great deal of fun. It was a crazy dance number; but the most difficult part was that I had to dance in five-and-a-half inch platform heels, which was nothing less than a nightmare. The outfit was made of pure latex, so there was no ventilation. But overall I had fun. Farah is amazing to work with," he smiles as he jokes, "I'm an item girl now."

"But I didn't really realize till now the power Hindi film songs have and I never understood what a solo song can do for you. Now I know. I heard people calling me Chudail on the road. I was disturbed and flattered at the same time," Vir told in an interview.

Joshi takes additional charge of Uttarakhand

Uttar Pradesh Governor B L Joshi has taken additional charge of Uttarakhand as incumbent Margaret Alva has gone on a month-long leave. Joshi was administered the oath of office of Governor by Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court Barin Ghosh at a simple ceremony at Raj Bhavan here. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank along with his cabinet colleagues, besides prominent personalities were also present during the ceremony. Joshi had held the post of the state Governor from October 2007 to August 2009 also.

Baba is back!

After June 4th, traumatic night at Delhi, Swami Ramdev organised his yoga camp at Haridwar and this time there is no participation fee

P.S. Chauhan

After the traumatic incident of the night of June 4 at the Ramlila Ground in Delhi and his 8-day fast against corruption and black money, Swami Ramdev took a few days rest before organizing his week-long yoga shivir at Patanjali Yoga Peeth here.

It was for the first time, after his meteoric rise as yog guru, that he organized a free yoga camp and free boardings and lodging facilities were also provided to the yoga learners. So far, attending the yoga camp of Baba Ramdev used to be a pocket taxing exercise. The move to organize a free yoga camp was obviously a bid to provide a philanthropic touch to his activities at a time when the baba is the butt of criticism for his commercial and industrial projects and is being targeted by a section of political parties and social outfits.

Though the baba tried to put up a brave face in the yoga sessions of the camp, his entire bearing betrayed the impact of the recent developments and of his being under the scanner of the intelligence agencies. On the first day of the camp the baba strictly confined himself to the various nuances of the yoga. However, as the camp progressed, the baba came back in his real form and started mixing yoga with religion and politics.

While teaching yoga, the baba told the yoga enthusiasts that yoga led to holistic health and is a panacea for curing serious ailments such as hypertension, diabetes and heart diseases. In his speeches he openly attacked the central government and charged that the government wanted to eliminate him during the midnight crackdown on his camp in Delhi. "Since he has not been eliminated, he will now eliminate the existing system," he asserted. Buoyed up by the judgement of the Supreme Court, he told the press that his stand has been vindicated. "The setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) by the Apex Court on the issue of the black money is a big slap on the face of the central government. The country is thankful to the Apex Court. Had the government accepted his demands, it would not have to face this humiliation. If the black money, stashed in the foreign banks, is brought back in the country, we shall become super power economically and militarily," said the baba. Referring to the treasure trove of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple Trust, he said that the government had no right to take over the money of the trusts and the Hindu shrines.

The baba is now planning to hold a 2nd free yoga camp at Patanjali Yoga Peeth here from July 25. Obviously the baba is trying to retrieve some of his lost grounds and dilute the allegations.

Char Dhaam 2011

Police On alert::

Deepam Seth, DIG, Garhwal Range, has put the entire police department on alert on Char Dhaam route keeping in view the fact that the monsoon can play spoilsports any time. He has asked the entire police department to make certain that the police officers concerned personally visit the 34 Disaster Relief Centres located along the Char Dham route and weigh up the situation on and make appropriate arrangements and take the required decisions with regard to availability to equipment and ascertain their fitness and suitability.

He has also asked the disaster teams from the police department to synchronize with other disaster management teams from other forces such as the ITBP, SSB and the BRO.

Senior police officers have been instructed to detect police personnel trained in disaster management so that their services can be used in case of emergency. For this they must be deputed close to police chowkis and thanas located in vulnerable areas. The police diving teams, too, have been put on high alert.

The police thanas have been asked to remain in continuous touch with the district magistrates in sensitive areas, as well as with the 108 Ambulance service and be on high alert to help stranded passengers. They have been also asked to remain abreast with alternative routes in case there is requirement of diversion of traffic flow. The DIG has further asked the SPs and SSPs to instruct their subordinates accordingly and delegate responsibility. Mock drills have been ordered to check preparedness of various rescue teams. He anticipates that all the teams work to the best of their ability and act promptly when called to do so.

UEPPCB becomes tech savvy

Anjali Nauriyal

The Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB) has got tech-savvy. In a first of its kind endeavour to attain transparency and speed, UEPPCB has now begun processing applications online. It has put in place an initiative called Ganga XGN and made use of SMART (self monitoring, analysis, and reporting technology) governance by implementing IT-enabled Consent Management System.

Gone are the piles of applications stacked in its office that remained pending not for days or months, sometimes even for years. But now there's a smart computer handling all applications evidently date-wise.

Elated about the new setup, Ajay Gairola, Member Secretary, states, "Permissions sought from the board are of two kinds - to establish an industry and operate one. After any project is set up, the entrepreneur is required to apply every successive year for permission and this was getting very tedious. Now sitting on one's desk, the status of applications can be checked and that has made everyone's work easier, totally transparent and almost immediate."

The results obviously are prompt in sharp contrast to some years ago when applications gathered dust in the UEPPCB office endlessly.

"When I joined UEPPCB in 2009, I was given applications dated 2005 which was appalling," informs Gairola. "Sequentially I was required to reject applications and that's when I realized that something was amiss. Everything seemed to be dependent on the good will of the staff. It was thanks to the vision encouragement of the Chief Minister that the board became proactive and a website was launched. And now all our applications have become time bound. Standardization is expected to come into place all levels. Physical file movement has become bare minimum. RTI related queries and replies, too, can now be done through Ganga XGN in completeness," he informs.

UEPPCB can now even get indicators on the website on areas of improvement. Interestingly as many as five states, including Goa, Uttarakhand, MP, HP and Gujarat, are now connected and simultaneous monitoring is possible.

After the success of this experimentation, the next agenda of UEPPCB is online sensors through networks in all areas, including surface water, ground water, air and soil. "We would also urge the industry to put up their own sensors and do a bit of self-monitoring," Gairola concldues.

Uttarakhand News July 2011

Teenage Haryana girl gangraped at Haridwar

A teenage girl who ran away from her home at Sonepat district of Haryana, was allegedly gangraped in Haridwar town, police said. On the girl's complaint, police arrested a youth Anuj Sharma of Bijnor district in the neighbouring state Uttar Pradesh. The girl after running away from her house went to Noida first and then last week came to Haridwar, police said. When the girl was in Haridwar, a youth took her to a hotel feigning interest in showing her a rented accommodation. The youth was soon joined by his two friends, who together allegedly raped the girl. After the medical examination, the police arrested Sharma. The hunt is on to trace two other culprits -- Vipin Chaudhary and Krishna Rathore.

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Chardham yatra routes clear for traffic

With the reopening of disrupted Rishikesh-Gangotri national highway, the routes to all the four Himalayan shrines have been cleared for vehicular traffic, officials said.

The landslides that hit Narendranagar area on Rishikesh-Gangotri national highway due to rains, have been cleared and the road was reopened for the vehicular traffic, Disaster Management and Mitigation Centre sources said. The routes leading to the Badrinath, Kedarnath and Yamunotri are already clear for the traffic. Meanwhile, the weather improved in most parts of the hill state this morning.

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Three held for selling leopard skin

Three persons were arrested for allegedly possessing leopard skin in Muni Ki Reti area of Tehri district, forest officials said here. Arvind Pant, Vishal and Navin Bansal were arrested by forest department officials from a hotel here after getting a tip-off. After getting the cue, the officials reached the hotel and posed as potential customers of the skin the trio were selling they said, adding that, after the transaction they were arrested. They have been booked under the wildlife protection act, they said.

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Three held with aphrodisiac herb

Three men were arrested for allegedly indulging in smuggling of Yartsa Gambu, an aphrodisiac herb, at Joshimath town of Chamoli district, police said. Acting on a tip-off, the police raided a place in the town and arrested them along with 500 gm of Yartsa Gambu, they said. There is a great demand of Yartsa Gambu in China and other Asian countries owing to its high medicinal value and its use as aphrodisiac.

The herb is found in higher Himalayan region in Pithoragarh and Chamoli during monsoons and only some forest panchayats of the area are authorised for their extraction, they said.

Delhi tourist drowned

A 33-year-old man, hailing from Delhi, drowned in river Yamuna near the Kempty Fall in the hill resort of Mussoorie, police said. The incident happened when Kapil Verma and his friend Naresh, aged 36 years, were taking bath in the fast-flowing river. Kapil met his watery grave while Naresh was saved by passers-by, police said adding the body had been sent for post mortem.

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Police clueless about missing IIM faculty member

After remaining clueless about the IIM-Ahmedabad faculty ember, who went missing under mysterious circumstances four days days ago, the Tehri police have now provided his sketch to the police of neighbouring districts. "Sketch of Prathap Uburai (42), a marketing faculty member of IIM-Ahmedabad, has been provided to the police of neighbouring districts," they said adding that rafts have also been pressed into service in the Devprayag area, the confluence of Alaknanda and Bhagirathi rivers to trace him. "We are presuming that he has either become a sanyasi or jumped into the Ganga," said a police official, who is investigating the matter. The official said just couple of hours before Uburai went missing, he had tried to commit suicide by trying to jump into the Ganga at Devprayag. However, on the intervention of his two nephews, Uburai did not jump but kept talking about taking sanyas. Uburai, a father of two, has also served as director of the national insurance academy at Pune.

Rs 466 lakh for Corbett park

Rs 466 lakh have been sanctioned for platinum jubilee celebration of Jim Corbett National park, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has said.

Presiding over a meeting in this regard recently, Nishank asked the state forest secretary to coordinate with officials of forests and wildlife departments so that the funds could be utilised timely, said an official release here. He also directed the officials to make good arrangements for the platinum jubilee celebration of Corbett park, a home to tigers and several other magnificent wild animals.

Nishank said heads of the states, ambassadors of various nations and other prominent people should be invited for the occasion. Since lakhs of tourists and wildlife lovers are expected to arrive during the celebration, Nishank said, hoardings and boards displaying various information about the state should be put up at various places. He also asked the officials to arrange free of cost visits to the park for schoolchildren and media persons besides organising workshops on tigers at national and international level.

During the meeting, Forest secretary M H Khan said invitation to several prominent personalities including the Indian cricket team captain M S Dhoni, who is a honorary wildlife warden of Corbett park, has already been sent.

Kanwar Yatra 2011

To host Kanwar yatra 2011 peacefully is a real challenge for the administration:

By P.S. Chauhan

Kanwar Mela, the biggest religious gathering in north India, only next to the Kumbh, is giving sleepless nights to the police and the civil officials. The mela, also known as the Kanwar Teerth Yatra, begins on the first day of the month of Savan of the Hindu calendar, which this year falls on July 16. During the mela duration lakhs of saffron clad kanwarias wend their way to Haridwar to take the holy Ganga jal in vessels kept in decorated bamboo structures called 'kanwars'. Last year, nearly 90 lakh kanwarias, mostly from Uttarakhand, western U.P., Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, congregated in Haridwar on the holy mission. This year the number of the kanwarias coming to the city is likely to cross the 1 crore mark.

The hosting of the such colossal event has always been a formidable challenge. For the hosting of the Kumbh, the state and the central governments make huge budgetary allocations to create adequate infrastructure and for security arrangements. However, the preparations for the Kanwar Mela are not backed up by such sufficient financial assistance and the district administration has to manage the mega cultural event with its own meagre resources.

"Security of mammoth gatherings of the kanwarias is the foremost concern of the administration," says the SSP, Kewal Khurana. The commissioner of Garhwal division, Ajay Nambyal held a meeting of the top civil and police officials of the adjoining districts of Uttarakhand, western U.P., Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to chalk out a strategy for the smooth conduct of the teerth yatra. The officials of all the five states, through which the Kanwar Yatra passes, emphasized on better co-ordination between the different departments and the different states and also on sharing of intelligence inputs to thwart all sorts of violence during the yatra.

Major part of the police force from all the districts of the state is to be requisitioned for the Kanwar Mela. "Besides this, 12 companies of the P.A.C., Rapid Action Force, The bomb disposal squads, units of divers and sniffer dogs are also being deployed in the mela area", says the S.S.P.. Though as yet there is no intelligence input about any terror threat in the Kanwar Mela, the police administration is taking no chance and is fully vigilant that no terrorist, in the garb of a kanwaria, infiltrates in the teerth yatra. For the first time this year CCTV cameras will be installed at 10 sensitive points on the Kanwar route in the district. Also for the first time, the administration is putting in place public address system, as is used in the Kumbh, and loud speakers are being installed at 50 demarcated places on the Kanwar route from Har-Ki-Pauri to Manglaur to flash any necessary information for the public, the kanwarias and the police. For management of the mela, the entire mela area has been divided into 4 super zones, 19 zones and 75 sectors.

The administration has also decided to take the Kanwar yatra along the road on the bank of the Ganga canal upto Muzaffarnagar so that the Haridwar Delhi National highway in this region remains open for the normal traffic for most of the yatra days.

K.L. Shah, the SP city and in-charge of the Kanwar Mela cell says that it has been decided not to allow the kanwarias to fit DJs and high volume music systems in their vehicles and that the kanwarias will also not be allowed to carry sticks, baseballs and bats etc. The administration has also taken steps to ban the sale of narcotics, liquor and non vegetarian foods on the yatra route. The city magistrate, Arvind Pandey told Haridwar Plus that the shopkeepers , the hoteliers and the proprietors of the dhabas have been instructed to display rate list of various commodities to avoid clashes between the business community and the kanwarias. "We have also instructed the hoteliers and the proprietors of the dhabas that all the food items should be neat and clean and their quality should be maintained", said the city magistrate. "To provide primary medical services to the kanwarias primary medical centers are being set up at 19 identified places", says Suresh Aggarwal, the deputy C.M.O. and Kanwar mela incharge for the health services.

This year the kanwarias will not be allowed to go upto Gomukh, the origin of the Ganga, since the 135 km. stretch from Gomukh to Uttarkashi has been declared an eco sensitive zone by the union ministry of forests and environment. The acting district magistrate, Harish Chand Semwal said that their main objective was to ensure a safe & smooth yatra & to provide maximum facilities to the kanwarias with least inconvenience to the locals.