28 May 2009, Dehradun (PTI)

An estimated 50 to 55 per cent of nearly 51044 voters on Thursday exercised their franchise in the by-poll to the Kapkot assembly seat to decide the fate of eight candidates including ruling BJP’s Sher Singh Garhia and Congress’ Chamu Singh Gasyal.

By the end of polling 50 to 55 per cent voter turnout was recorded in Kapkot, election officials here said.

The Kapkot by-poll is considered crucial for the BJP which was drubbed in all the five five Lok Sabha seats in the hill state in the just-concluded general election.

The contest also assumes significance for the ruling BJP which is one short majority in the State Assembly with an effective strength of 68.

Three Uttarakhand Kranti Dal legislators are supporting the party which, at present, has 34 MLAs.

The by-poll, in which BJP’s Sher Singh Garhia and Chamu Singh Gasyal of the Congress are crossing swords, arose after BJP leader Bhagat Singh Koshiyari quit the seat following his election to the Rajya Sabha.

Mr. Koshiyari had defeated Mr. Gasyal in the seat in the 2007 assembly elections which saw the BJP storming to power in Uttarakhand.

News Source: The Hindu

23 May 2009

Uttarakhand�s Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri who had been facing the possibility of being replaced, has managed a survival.

BJP’s Parliamentary board meeting held today decided that B.C. Khanduri will continue as the CM of Uttarakhand.

Sources in the BJP told The Indian Express,� The two member committee that had come to take the views of the legislators on the issue of Khanduri�s survival, just read their report at the meeting of the Central Parliamentary Board of the party held in Delhi on Saturday evening. There was no discussion on his replacement. This simply means that he continues.�

It is learnt that health minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and irrigation minister Matbar Singh Kandari along with three other legislators had rushed to Delhi on Saturday morning to further lobby for Khanduri.

The issue that had started as an exercise to locate a possible successor of Khanduri following the latter taking the moral responsibility for the party�s dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls and asking the Central Parliamentary Board to take a decision on his future, had gradually turned into a power struggle based on supportive numbers of the legislators between the two rival groups led by Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Khanduri.

News Source: Indian Express

22 May 2009, Dehradun (PTI)

A change of guard appears imminent in Uttarakhand with BJP central observers visiting the state tomorrow to elicit views of party MLAs for choice of a new Chief Minister.

The central observers are expected to meet all the 34 party MLAs separately and take the majority view, sources in the party here said on Thursday.

BJP is facing a precarious situation in Uttarakhand where it is one-short of majority in the 70-member assembly having an effective strength of 68.

Former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, who led BJP to victory in 2007 assembly elections, is seen as the front-runner for the post, the sources said.

However, Chief Minister B C Khanduri, who quit in the wake of BJP’s failure to win any of the five Lok Sabha seats in the state, has suggested the name of Health Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank and opposed the candidature of Koshiyari.

Although, Nishank claims that he is not into any group politics, party sources said he is close to Khanduri.

The race for the top post is now mainly between Nishank and Koshiyari, who had opposed Khanduri candidature when he became the Chief Minister in 2007.

News Source: The Hindu

उत्तरकाशी जिले के ठिकोली गांव पर एक समय प्रकृति की भरपूर कृपा थी। कल-कल बहती भगीरथी (गंगा को देवप्रयाग से पहले भगीरथी कहते हैं) नदी, जरूरत भर अनाज पैदा करने वाले सुंदर सीढ़ीदार खेत, पशुओं के लिए चारागाह व प्राकृतिक जल-स्त्रोत। पर जब इस गांव में मनेरी भाली पनबिजली परियोजना के दूसरे चरण का कार्य प्रारंभ हुआ तब से गांव की यह सुंदरता और आत्म-निर्भरता बुरी तरह तहस-नहस हो गई।

इस परियोजना पर काम शुरू होने से आसपास के कई मकानों में इतनी अधिक दरारें पड़ गईं कि वहां रहना खतरे से खाली नहीं था। लोगों को कर्ज लेकर नए आवास बनाने पड़े। उनकी अधिकांश कृषि भूमि बहुत कम मुआवजा देकर परियोजना हेतु ले ली गई। जल-स्त्रोत सूख गया। नदी में पानी पहले से बहुत कम रहने लगा। स्वास्थ्य समस्याएं बढ़ गई व परियोजना में नौकरी देने का वादा पूरा नहीं किया गया। नौकरी के लिए शांतिपूर्ण विरोध-प्रदर्शन कर रहे अनेक युवाओं को एक महीने के लिए जेल भेज दिया गया। उन पर मुकदमे अभी तक चल रहे हैं।

इस परियोजना से प्रभावित आसपास के कुछ गांवों की महिलाओं ने बताया कि पर्व-त्योहार पर गंगाजी में स्नान करना कठिन है क्योंकि कभी भी बैराज से पानी छोड़ा जा सकता है। शकुंतला ने बताया कि वह हाल ही में बहते-बहते बची। कुछ लोग तो बहकर मर चुके हैं। जंगली जानवर पानी कम मिलने पर सूखती नदी को आसानी से पार कर लेते हैं और गांव पर हमला करते हैं। सर्दियों में नदी में पानी बहुत कम हो जाता है व दुर्गंध आने लगती है। मछलियां बड़ी संख्या में मर चुकी हैं।

लोहारीनाग बांध परियोजना से प्रभावित तीहर गांव में मुआवजा तो बेहतर मिला है, पर स्वास्थ्य समस्याएं इतनी बढ़ गई हैं कि मुआवजे का अधिकांश पैसा इलाज में ही खर्च हो रहा है। यहां के बुजुर्ग व्यक्तियों ने कहा कि अचानक पैसा हाथ में आ जाने पर जुए व शराब जैसी आदतें भी बढ़ती हैं, पर दीर्घकालीन दृष्टि से देखें तो खेत, चारागाह व वन उजड़ने से भावी पीढ़ी का भविष्य अंधकारमय हो गया है। पाला गांव के लोगों ने बताया कि टेस्टिंग सुरंग के निर्माण के बाद गांव में भूस्खलन का खतरा भी पैदा हो गया है।

News Source: NavbharatTimes

New Delhi, 8 May 2009

The Supreme Court has endorsed inclusion of Haridwar in Uttarakhand, a state that was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000.

A bench of Justices S.B. Sinha and Cyriac Joseph put the seal of legality over inclusion of Haridwar in Uttarakhand, ruling that parliament, under Article 3 of Constitution, is supposed to merely consult the assemblies of the affected states and need not concur with their views or opposition to the alteration of their boundaries or reduction in their territory.

The bench gave its ruling Tuesday, dismissing a lawsuit by a group of Haridwar residents who had challenged Section 3 of the Uttar Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2000, which provided for inclusion of Haridwar town and the entire district in the new Uttaranchal state, later named Uttarakhand, ignoring an Uttar Pradesh assembly resolution to the contrary.

The apex court ruled: �The power to introduce the bill (to create a new state) is with parliament. Consultation with the (affected) state legislature, though is mandatory, its recommendations are not binding on parliament.�

Haridwar residents had said that when former president K.R. Narayanan had referred the proposed law to create a new state to the Uttar Pradesh assembly to elicit its views, the central government, albeit due to a legislative goof-up, had forgotten to include the name of Haridwar town or district in the new state.

Later in March 2000, partly rectifying the error, the government issued a notification saying that Haridwar town too will be included in the new state. It further asked the state assembly to apprise the union government of its views by early April 2000.

The state assembly eventually took up the central government�s bill for a discussion April 6, 2000, and resolved that no part of Haridwar district should be included in the new state.

Haridwar residents contended that the union government, however, later not just ignored the Uttar Pradesh assembly resolution but breached its own proposal, which said that only Haridwar town would be included in the new state.

They said parliament instead enacted a law which included entire Haridwar district in Uttaranchal.

Dismissing the Haridwar residents� contentions, the apex court ruled that parliament was well within its power to amend the proposed law and enact it in the amended form.

It did not need to send the amended bill for fresh discussion by the state assembly, the apex court ruled.

News Source: IANS (Indo Asian News Service)