News Analysis India

Tag: Uttarakhand

  • Ex-captain of India’s wheelchair cricket team Rajendra Dhami turns coach for para-athletes in Uttarakhand

    Express News Service

    DEHRADUN: After years of languishing in poverty, unemployment and working as a daily wager, ‘Acche Din’ finally arrived for Rajendra Singh Dhami (35) former captain of wheelchair cricket team of India and current captain of Uttarakhand team after newly joined district magistrate intervened. 

    Pithoragarh district administration has decided to employ him as a coach to train para-athletes in his home district only. 

    Ashish Chauhan, District Magistrate of Pithoragarh, came to know about Dhami just after he joined in the district last month said, “We as a country have done well in Olympics as well as Paralympics. People like Dhami ji are a hub of talent, experience, resolve and resilience, the ingredients needed to make a winning athlete. He will train para athletes in the district. It will help nurture young talent for future prospects.”

    Dhami, a resident of Raikot village in Pithoragarh district, resorted to breaking stones under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. 

    The captain of Uttarakhand’s wheelchair cricket team, who qualified provincial services exams (PCS) of year 2012 for Uttarakhand, has urged the state government to provide him a job suiting to his qualification. He holds a masters degree in History and bachelors degree in education (BEd). 

    Sanjay Pauri, district sports officer of Pithoragarh said, “The paperwork is almost complete and soon we will issue an appointment letter for Rajendra Singh Dhami to work as a coach.”

    Commenting in the development, Dhami said, “I am really grateful to the DM Sir who personally took stock of my situation. There are no words in which I can express my gratitude. I will perform my duties as a coach to best of my abilities.”

    He has already been training atleast 19 specially abled teenagers in various aspects of cricket including batting, bowling, fielding and others.

    After TNIE reported about the ex-captain of Indian Wheelchair Cricket team working as manual laborer last year and then in February this year too, Indian Olympic Association came forward to support him and provided monetary help of Rs 50,000 while the district magistrate’s office of Pithoragarh district provided Rs 20,000. 

    Refusing to take his own life despite facing adversities, Dhami in absence of any help from the state government resorted to manual labor for his livelihood while he builds his own team. 

    Dhami’s family income does not exceed Rs 3000 at the moment. He and his 65-year-old father have taken to manual labor work to tend to theirs and family’s daily needs.

  • Submit ‘factual report’ over illegal construction in Corbett Tiger Reserve: NTCA to Uttarakhand forest dept

    Express News Service

    DEHRADUN: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has sent a reminder to Uttarakhand state forest department after it failed to submit factual status report about allegations of construction of bridges and walls inside Corbett Tiger Reserve. 

    The reminder dated on September 6, 2021 addessed to the chief wildlife warden of Uttarakhand said, “The factual status report in the matter has not been received yet. Kindly ensure the submission of factual status report so that action can be taken in the matter.”

    Earlier on August 12, 2021, the NTCA issued notice to the chief wildlife warden of the state asking to submit factual status report in the matter after a legal notice was sent by a lawyer to the NTCA pertaining the issue. 

    Bansal in his notice dated on August 11, 2021 to the member secretary of the NTCA in which he has also attached the pictures alleged that all the material needed for the said construction except cement is being sourced from the Corbett National Park – Uttarakhand itself, “resulting into illegal mining of the natural resources and the same is causing irreparable & irreversible loss and damage to the rich biological diversity of the Corbett landscape.” 

    The notice states that illegal construction of bridges, walls is happening in the tiger reserve which shall not only disturb whole ecology of the reserve but is also against the provisions of Wildlife Protection Act and Forest Conservation Act.

    The notice further added, “That said illegal construction of BRIDGES and WALL by way of felling the trees and shrubs within the Corbett Tiger Reserve by Uttarakhand Forest Department is nothing but unsustainable use of Corbett Landscape which is not only capable of damaging the ecology of the Tiger Reserve but shall also cause harm to the pristine biological diversity of the Corbett National Park.”

    The alleged construction of four bridges and ‘high wall’ is within Kalagarh and Pakhro area of the reserve near Kalagarh Forest Rest House.

    On August 23, 2021 the Delhi High Court also directed NTCA to take action in respect of illegal construction of bridges and walls within critical tiger habitat as expeditiously as possible and practicable. 

    Chief Wildlife Warden of Uttarakhand, when contacted refused to comment on the matter. 

  • Uttarakhand: Chandrabhaga river in spate after heavy rains, 90 families moved to safety

    By PTI

    RISHIKESH: Around ninety families living along the banks of Chandrabhaga were moved to safe locations after the river went into spate following heavy rains over the past few days here, officials said on Thursday.

    They were moved to safety on Wednesday night as their homes faced the threat of being inundated by the waters of Chandrabhaga any moment, the officials said.

    Dehradun District Magistrate R Rajesh Kumar On Thursday visited the flooded areas and spoke to officials.

    He asked Rishikesh SDM Apoorva Singh to identify the land and prepare a detailed plan for the relocation of the ninety families whose houses have been inundated by the rain-fed river.

    Information is being gathered to assess the extent of erosion caused to agricultural land by the rivers that are flooded on an annual basis, Kumar said.

  • Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami launches Sputnik V COVID vaccine in state

    By PTI

    DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday launched anti-COVID Sputnik V vaccine in the state. On the first day, 100 people got the dose of the Russia-manufactured vaccine.

    Before launching the vaccine at a medical college here, the CM and cabinet ministers observed a two-minute silence as a tribute to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh, who passed away after prolonged illness at a Lucknow hospital on Saturday.

    Speaking at the launch of the vaccine, Dhami said by December this year, the state government will achieve its target of 100 per cent vaccination. The state is getting all help from the Centre to achieve the goal, he said, adding that it has already received 17 lakh vaccines from the Centre and camps have been set up in the remotest areas.

    The state government is fully prepared to deal with the third wave of the pandemic if it comes and efforts continue to further strengthen health facilities, he said.

  • BJP won’t be allowed to hijack the word ‘Hindu’: Former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat

    By PTI

    DEHRADUN: Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat has said he would not let the BJP hijack the word “Hindu”.

    “The BJP has emptied Hinduism of its vital elements and reduced it to Hindutva. We are Hindus in our values. We believe in Sanatan Dharma. We won’t let it hijack the word Hindu,” Rawat told reporters here on Saturday.

    “Being Hindus, we believe in Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam (entire earth is one family), Sarva Dharma Sambhav (equality of religions) but the BJP believes in Sarva Dharma Jhagda Bhav (quarrelling with all religions) ” the AICC general secretary and the party’s campaign committee head for Uttarakhand said.

    Rawat announced that the party will launch a Parivartan Yatra next month to acquaint people of the state with the “failures” of the BJP governments both in the state and the Centre.

    The Parivartan Yatra is aimed at convincing people why a change of government is necessary in the state to strengthen it economically and keep “Uttarakhandiyat” — the all-encompassing nature of its cultural identity alive, he said.

    Accusing the state government of undoing all reforms introduced in education and health sectors during his tenure, Rawat said all of them will be revived if Congress is voted back to power. “We will keep the flag of Uttarakhandiyat flying high and create a welfare state which takes care of the common people, the poor and the deprived sections of society,” Rawat said.

  • Uttarakhand officials did not move a finger to stop fake testing: Report

    By Express News Service

    DEHRADUN:  An investigation report into fake Covid testing in Haridwar said health officials of the district were aware of the irregularities, but chose not to act. Had the officials acted on time, they could have stopped the fake testing, the report says.  

    “Various irregularities by the pathology labs surfaced (during the investigation), such as the filing of expression of interest documents in January and affidavits related to it in April. Why such a long delay? Later, the labs were not uploading data in regular fashion,” said an official on condition of anonymity. 

    The investigation report was submitted to the district magistrate last week. The DM will submit the report to senior officials of the state government. The report also pointed to a ‘conspiracy’ behind conducting more than 1 lakh fake tests. 

    Officials privy to the development said district health officials as well as mela health officials have been fired as the report indicates their complicity. The main report consists of 120-pages and annexures run over 2400-pages. 

    The inquiry was ordered on June 10, 2021 by the Haridwar district administration. The DM had directed the probe agency to complete the inquiry within 15 days. However, multiple extensions were granted on requests made by the officials. On June 18, Haridwar district police formed special investigation team (SIT) to probe fake Kumbh testing matter.

    In July 2021, the SIT added Section 467 (Forgery of valuable security, will, etc) in the already registered FIR against a firm and two pathology laboratories accused of irregularities in Covid 19 testing in Kumbh in Haridwar. 

     Case was registered last month under sections of Epidemic Act, 1897, Disaster Management Act, 2005, IPC 420 (forgery), 468 (forgery), 471 (fraudulently using as genuine any document or electronic record), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 188 (punishment for disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant), 269 and 270 (likely to spread infection).

    During Kumbh Mela, the Uttarakhand government had teamed up with several private diagnosistic firms to conduct Covid-19 tests. One of the labs ­ Max Corporate Service (MCS)  in turn hired two other private laboratories, Delhi-based Lal Chandani Lab and Hissar-based Nalwa lab, to carry out the tests. More than 1 lakh samples tested by these labs are under scanner.

  • Efforts on for safe return of people from Uttarakhand stranded in Afghanistan: CM Dhami

    By PTI

    DEHRADUN: Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said all efforts are being made by the Uttarakhand government to ensure the safe return of people from the state stranded in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover of that country.

    “People from Uttarakhand stranded in Afghanistan will soon return to their homes safely,” Dhami said.

    He also spoke to the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday requesting it to take all necessary steps in this regard, according to an official release.

    “We are in constant touch with the Centre. It is taking all steps to ensure that each Indian stranded in Afghanistan comes back home safely,” the Uttarakhand chief minister said.

    A large number of people from Uttarakhand who had gone to Afghanistan to earn a livelihood are likely to be stranded there. 

  • Congress has given message by making me campaign committee chief: Harish Rawat on Uttarakhand CM face issue

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Friday said a message has been given by the party on the issue of chief ministerial face in the state by making him the head of the campaign committee ahead of the assembly polls next year.

    Rawat also asserted that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would not pose a challenge in the Uttarakhand assembly polls due early next year and alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party was a “sharp shooter” for the BJP which takes “contracts” to target the Congress and its allies.

    In an interview to PTI, Rawat also hit out at Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami over his announcements related to jobs and some other issues, saying that if he keeps on making such announcements, he will soon become a laughing stock as none of them were realistic.

    After assuming the post of chief minister, Dhami gave instructions to fill about 22,000 vacant posts in various departments and announced the creation of a large number of jobs in the future.

    Along with this, he also decided to constitute a high-level committee over the demands of pilgrimage priests regarding the ‘Char Dham Devasthanam Board’.

    He has also announced several other projects.

    On the BJP appointing three chief ministers in Uttarakhand in a span of four-and-a-half years, Rawat said, “There cannot be a bigger insult to Uttarakhand than that the BJP giving three chief ministers in four-and-a-half years. We always gave one chief minister. Vijay Bahuguna failed in the Kedarnath tragedy, so he was punished by being removed. But the BJP should tell what crime Trivendra Rawat and Tirath Rawat had committed, why were they punished?” Rawat also said the next year’s assembly elections will not be his last.

    He emphasised that the party has given a message about the chief ministerial face by making him the head of the election campaign committee and the public had understood this.

    Asked whether the Congress has indirectly projected him as the chief ministerial face by making him the election campaign committee chairman, Rawat said, “I am grateful to the party for giving a message by making me the campaign committee chairman.”

    To a question whether this message has gone to the public, he answered in the affirmative.

    “We are old workers of the party, we have no option, we follow orders. Whatever the order of the party, I will obey,” he added.

    Asked if the 2022 election would be his last election, he said, “Age has no limit. Man should have courage and I have courage now. When courage will not be there, we’ll see.”

    On factionalism in the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress, Rawat said, “Our party is a lively party and different voices are raised. But the only thing in the mind of every worker is that to save Uttarakhand, we have to form the government. In this spirit, we are all working unitedly.”

    On the BJP bringing a ‘young vs old chief minister’ argument in the election discourse, Rawat said he was ready to compete even with a 20-22-year-old youth in the “race for development”.

    The Congress last month appointed Ganesh Godiyal resident of the Pradesh Congress Committee in Uttarakhand, replacing Pritam Singh who has been made the new Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader.

    Former chief minister Rawat was made the Campaign Committee chief for Uttarakhand, where assembly elections will be held early next year.

  • Uttarakhand: Survey shows more than 50% sanitizer samples in market fail to meet standard

    By Express News Service

    DEHRADUN: In a survey conducted by a private agency in Uttarakhand over 50% samples of sanitizers in the market failed. 

    The survey was done by Dehradun based Society Of Pollution And Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) which picked up 1050 samples from all 13 districts of the hill state out of which 578 were not found up to the mark. 

    Brij Mohan Sharma, secretary of the SPECS said, “According to the prescribed norms, alcohol content in sanitizer should be 60-70% but more than half did not have that much concentration. Hydrogen per Oxide was found over 0.5% in 112 samples which is above the prescribed norms.”

    The chemical composition of the sanitizers was also found in violation of norms such as methanol content above prescribed limits.

    Dr NS Bisht, senior physician based in Dehradun commenting on the issue said, “Medical Council of India has set the norms for ingredient/chemical composition for sanitizer to be used in these pandemic times. Sub-standard quality of sanitizer is damaging for individual as well as collective society.”

    Maximum number of sanitizer samples failed in Champawat and Chamoli districts with 64% failure followed by Rudraprayag (60%), Tehri (58%), Almora, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar with 56% each, Pauri (54%), 52% each in Haridwar, Uttarkashi and 49% in Pithoragarh district.

    Officials from the state health department said measures are in place for quality check.

    “The mechanisms for quality check and prevent sub-standard manufacturing is already in place. This will be looked into, ” said an official from the state health department. 

  • Uttarakhand: Increasing jumbo population poses challenges for human-elephant conflict

    By Express News Service

    DEHRADUN: With the elephant population in Uttarakhand having increased over 10% from the year 2017, wildlife enthusiasts applauded the conservation efforts but warned about human-elephant conflict.

    AG Ansari, Ramnagar based conservationist commenting on the issue said, “The need is to maintain the habitat of elephants and protect, conserve the elephant corridors. At present, the state has total 11 corridors. Disturbances in the corridors have serious consequences in terms of human-wildlife conflict.”

    According to the data of the last census in 2020 by the state forest department, the state has 2026 adult elephants in comparison to the 2017 census when the numbers stood at 1839. 

    In 2001 census, the number of elephants stood 1507 which increased to 1582 in 2003, 1510 in 2005, 1346 in 2007, 1559 in 2012 and 1797 in 2015 census. 

    Rajiv Bhartari, State Forest Chief, Principal Chief Conservator of forests, Uttarakhand said, “We are aware of the challenge of maintaining quality habitat for the elephants in the state. Mechanisms are being implemented throughout the state to minimize conflict and maintain the quality of the habitat including corridors.”

    This year till date total of 10 elephants and 4 human beings have died in conflict incidents. 

    In conflict incidents with elephants total of 184 human lives were lost in the last 21 years while 181 were left injured.

    The department lists four animals which are top of the list pertaining to human-wildlife conflict which includes leopard, elephant, Himalayan Black bear, and tiger. 

    With human-animal conflict raging in Uttarakhand, the state forest department has come up with a 4-point formula to tackle the issue. 

    This includes management of garbage disposal to deter dogs and other animals which act as easy prey for the predator animals such as leopards, maintenance and installation of solar light and fencing, lantana grass field management which acts as a shelter for the predatory animals, and enough availability and use to toilets in the area as which are in the vicinity of forests to prevent people venturing out in the open.

    This year from January till July 2021 total of 29 people have died in the state while 66 were left injured. Apart from this 62 leopards, 10 elephants, and 5 tigers too have died in this duration in the state.