Against all odds

State’s first paraplegic rafter now becomes the first quad biker

P.S. Chauhan

With indomitable willpower, courage and determination all obstacles can be transcend. The same has been proved by Varun Jain, when he became the first paraplegic quad biker to cover 135 kms. In 2006 Varun was paralyzed in an accident and doctors told him that he would not be able to move his legs in future and will need help from others for the rest of his life. But Varun was determined to prove them wrong. He underwent rigorous physiotherapy and was able to move the upper parts of his body. Later, he obtained B.B.A. and M.B.A. degrees and worked for some time with Hero Honda at Haridwar. But he gave up his job and started assisting his sister in launching her apparel brand, Kylee-Fashion, which is now a successful venture in Rishikesh.

Encouraged by his parents, Varun used to read books about adventure sports. And as Rishikesh is a good spot for white water rafting and kayaking, so Varun decided to give it a try. Well, his efforts were vindicated when he braved foamy tides on 14 kms. stretch of the Ganga at Rishikesh on April 22 last year. Which made him first paraplegic in the country to accomplish this feat. His heroic achievement was recorded in the Limca Book of Records.

This time Varun added one more feather to his cap by covering 135 kms. terrain from Rishikesh to Mussoorie via Chamba and Dhanau on his quad bike. On May 16, he was flagged off at Triveni Ghat, Rishikesh, by local M.L.A., Prem Chand Aggarwal and facing all the rigors of the hilly terrain, he reached Mussoorie at 5 p.m., same day. He was received by Harbans Kapoor, the Speaker of the state assembly. "Varun is the role model not only for all the physically challenged but also for entire humanity. He has proved that with right attitude, grit and determination nothing is impossible. He may be a paraplegic, but he is a real hero," said Kapoor on congratulating the great achiever.

Varun told Haridwar Plus that the society should change its perception towards the physically challenged persons. "Disability is more of a psychological state than a physical one," says Varun. To create awareness among the physically challenged about what all they can do, he has also launched an N.G.O., Breaking Barriers Foundation. He spreads the message that physical disability is not the end of life, but the beginning of a new life. A life where doing great things may be difficult but not impossible.

Hopes watered down with current problems

P.S. Chauhan

It is really shocking that Uttarakhand from where rivers like the Ganga and the Yamuna originate is reeling under severe shortage of water and electricity. Like entire state, Haridwar is also facing water and electricity crisis. Perforced irate citizens are venting their rage by holding protests, demonstrations and burning the effigies of the officials of water and electricity supply departments, almost every day.

Haridwar city, with a permanent population of 2.5 lakh, requires about 70 mld water every day. The executive engineer of the Jal Sansthan in the city, Subodh Kumar says that there are 50 tubewells and 9 overhead water tanks of the Jal Sansthan, besides 16 tubewells. Also boring of six infiltration wells and construction 10 overhead water tanks have been done by the Nigam. "During normal days, we can cope with the demand of water but during summer season the problem arises," admits Subodh Kumar. One more reason of the problem is that so far some tubewells and overhead water tanks, constructed under the JNNURM scheme of the centre and also from the Kumbh budget have not become functional and in some parts of the city even pipelines have not yet been laid. The problem is further aggravated as there are only six generator sets for all the tubewells and if electricity supply is disrupted, water supply system also collapses. "The cost of one generator set is Rs.15 lakh and its maintenance cost is also high. It is impossible to maintain generator set for all the tubewells," says Subodh Kumar. The water supply department has only six mobile water tanks to supply water in the areas hit by scarcity of water.

"Water crisis is the result of gross mismanagement," says Ambrish Kumar, former M.L.A. from the city. Most of the time the pressure of water is so low that you cannot have water from taps without using motors. Poor people who cannot afford these power pumps suffer the most. "No body knows when would water supply be available. Sometimes we have to keep awake for the whole night, waiting for the water supply to resume," complains Nisha, a housewife, Hanuman Garhi, Kankhal. Long queues of women and children at the hand pumps and mobile water tanks is a common sight in the city as well.

The situation on the electricity front tells the same sorry tale. The sources in the state power corporation say that the state generates 11.55 million units of hydro electricity per day and gets 10.45 million units as its share from the central pool. Out of this two million units are being paid back to Gujarat and Delhi from where the state borrowed electricity during recent months. As against this availability of electricity, the requirement in the state is of 27.13 million units per day. The gap between demand and supply of electricity increases manifold during summer.

Anil Verma, the executive engineer of the electricity supply department at Haridwar says that there is power cut in the city from 12 noon to 4 p.m. and in the industrial area from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., but the duration of roasting may also be increased, depending on supply of electricity. "The time of roasting is much more than what is claimed by the officials of the electricity department. In most of the localities of the city it varies from 8 to 10 hours a day. Besides the prescribed time of roasting, no body knows when electricity supply may break down due to technical faults," says Naeem Qureshi, a social activist of Kassaban Mohalla, Jwalapur.

Harendra Garg, the chief commercial officer of