Subhash Mishra, India Today
Lucknow, December 30, 2008

Gloom and desperation continues to engulf the small hilly state of Uttarakhand, created eight years back in 2000 as economic disparity and development continues to widen the rift between the hilly and plain regions of the state.

A number of Uttarakhand people sacrificed their lives, bore the brunt of the state and refused to compromise on their demand of having their own state away from Uttar Pradesh which has failed to address their problems and neglected the region since independence. [more]

Steve Keenan, Times Online
December 2, 2008

The last leg of my 12-hour car journey from Delhi co-incided with dusk as we climbed from the valley floor high into the forests of Binsar National Park.

We were in Uttarakhand, the newest Indian state created only in 2000 and then renamed last year, which is cradled in the elbow of Tibet and Nepal and dominated by the Himalaya rising 25,000ft along its border.

It’s an exhilarating location, made more special because of Village Ways, a project that - it is fair to say - has transformed the lives of villagers in Binsar. [more]

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The Telegraph, September 29, 2008

Lucknow, Sept. 28: A group representing farmers is planning a Chipko-like movement against the Uttarakhand government’s invitation to Tata Motors to set up a Nano plant in the state.

The company already runs a plant in Pantnagar, and chief minister B.C. Khanduri has offered it more land should it decide to shift the small-car project from Singur. [more]

The Kisan Kisani Abhiyaan, the group that is opposing the offer, said its protest would be modelled on the Chipko movement of the seventies and eighties when women embraced trees in the hill regions to prevent them from being felled for the construction of a dam. This time, the farmers will live on the land and embrace it. [more]

Shishir Prashant / Business Standard / Dehra Dun September 29, 2008, 0:08 IST

The Uttarakhand government’s move to allot 50 acres of agriculture land to Tata Motors for housing purposes has hit a rough patch with Agriculture Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat expressing opposition to the use of farm land for industrial or any other use.

“The agriculture land should be used only for agriculture purposes,” said Rawat expressing his strong opposition. Rawat said that a big chunk of land has fallen into the hands of land mafia in the state. [more]

Excerpted from Big Cats News
Business Standard - New Delhi September 28, 2008, 0:38 IST

The rampant poaching of leopards in the wilds of Uttarakhand is as alarming as the earlier revelation about vanishing tigers in protected areas, a development that forced the government to set up a special Tiger Task Force in 2005 for revamping the wildlife protection system. Some three dozen leopards are said to have been killed in Uttarakhand in the last few months. Elsewhere, too, leopards have been the target of animal hunters, as borne out by the recovery of 27 leopard skins from different parts of the country in the past two months. Some estimates place the total number of leopards annihilated in this period at as high as 120, with most incidents being reported from Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka. It seems to be the case that the increased attention given to guarding tigers has made poachers turn their focus to the leopard. [more]

TAPAS CHAKRABORTY, The Telegraph, September 22 , 2008

Dehra Dun, Sept. 21: People in one of India’s most earthquake-prone zones had mastered the art of building multi-level buildings resistant to seismic movement about a thousand years ago, an engineering study of the structures has revealed.

Researchers have found that ancient four-storey and five-storey buildings in Rajgarhi district of Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand reflect a distinct and elaborate style of architecture that allowed them to survive devastating quakes.

Scientists believe the Koti Banal architecture — named after a village in the district — relied on stone-filled solid platforms and judicious use of wood, which offered special advantages over other materials during earthquakes. [more]

The recent outrageous behaviour of ABVP-affiliated students at Garhwal and Kumaon Universities who ransacked their respective administrative offices has brought to the fore the growing lawlessness and impunity which the ruling party’s outfits are imposing on the state. The ABVP in this case are acting as stormtroopers for the government as it runs into tough opposition to its higher education policy that attempts to politicize the university administration with a direct attack on academic freedom. The Garhwal Post writes about this troubling trend in the following hard hitting editorial.

Lead Editorial
Garhwal Post, August 6, 2008

Anybody who has been confronted in the middle of the night by drunken cops, with their identification tags off, knows how difficult it is to deal with the situation. One can counter miscreants with maximum force and ‘extreme prejudice’ in such a situation, but one’s hands are bound when it comes to dealing with men in uniform.

Such is the authority and majesty of the uniform. However, in India, there is so much of corruption and such political misuse of the police force that the average citizen holds the cop in complete contempt. The cop is considered just someone who has to be got past; the most convenient way being exercise of influence or by greasing the palm. Politicians rise to power not through convincing argument but by a constant process of challenging the police force on various morchas. When the politician does come to power, the natural instinct remains that of hostility. Having braved the cop’s arrogance and lathi blows, the politician wants payback and on the street. [read more]

Movement continues in Reni village

By Our Staff Reporter
Garhwal Post, August 6, 2008

Joshimath, 5 Aug: Scene one: On 26 March 1974, Gaura Devi with other women of Reni village in Chamoli Garhwal hogged worldwide attention by adopting a noble non-violent method of saving trees by hugging them and saying, “First cut us, before cutting down our trees.”

Scene two: The forest that made Reni famous worldwide now faces the hard test of time. This time, a hydropower project has emerged as a threat to Reni village and its forests.

Reni villagers have launched a movement against the Rishi Ganga Hydel Power Project. They have been staging demonstrations against the project since 2006. They allege that the blasting done for the project has ruined their peace. The blasting has resulted in erosion and the historic place from where the Chipko Movement gained fame is now in total neglect.
Continue reading ‘From Gaura Devi to Rishi Ganga Hydel Project’

By Our Staff Reporter
Garhwal Post, August 4, 2008

Ramnagar, 3 Aug: The Uttarakhand Parivartan Abhiyan has held a two day political meeting in Ramnagar. The main aim of the meeting was to build a political alternative in the state.
The Central Convener of the Abhiyan, PC Tiwari, addressed the meeting and said that the Congress, BJP and UKD were responsible for the poor condition of the state. There existed, at the present, a political vacuum in the state. So, the Abhiyan would participate in the coming Panchayat elections and try to establish a government of the people.

Prabhat Dhyani said that the Abhiyan would struggle with the help of democratic powers to change the faulty system in the state. Convener Pratap Singh said that the Abhiyan would participate not just in the Panchayat but also the Parliamentary elections, thereby building a new political alternative in the state.

The Uttarakhand Parivartan Abhiyan has adopted proposals at the meeting such as participation in the elections with the slogan of ‘Panchayat Nahi Gram Sarkar Chahiye’, to stop the exploitation of social and political activists, stop the big hydel projects, decentralisation of government for the establishment of three tier democracy. It would also ask the BJP government to issue a white paper on crime and accidents in the state.

Govind Lal Verma, Raghu Tiwari, Sudama Sarkar, Hem Chandra Joshi, Prem Shankar, Devendra Kumar, Koshal Pant, Piyushkant Viswas, Diwan Singh Bisht, Bachi Singh Bisht, Mukesh Bahuguna, etc., were present at the meeting.

The following informed commentary by Devesh Pant on the government’s decision to privatise hydro plants throughout Uttarakhand should arouse concern and action to thwart the “colossal” sell out of Uttarakhand’s patrimony at fire-sale prices.

To the Editor, The Garhwal Post,

Sir,

Today’s front page news should arouse every Uttarakhandi. Selling off Uttarakhand’s Hydro-Power houses is putting a knife into our very hearts so to say. Cheap power was the gift which these Power Stations have presented to Uttarakhandis. These were the perpetual gold-mines, which have benefited Uttarakhandis because of their very low generation cost @ 29 Paise or so.

It is incredible that a sane Government can think of privatising them. Cheap power will dissappear the moment private parties grab these stations.

This smacks of Grand Larceny - a colossal conspiracy to steal our precious resources. A public-spirited drive to prevent this happening spearheaded by The Garhwal Post is URGENTLY called for. I am sure a PIL could be filed to prevent this and simultaneously the present Government must be brought to account.
Continue reading ‘Say No to the Fire-Sale of Uttarakhand’s Hydro Assets’