High demand for ‘Gangajal’ delivery
The Uttarakhand postal department, which has been delivering the Gangajal across the country since July 2016, has supplied more than 1 lakh packaged holy water bottles last month. Sunil Kumar Rai, director of postal services, Uttarakhand circle, said: “Till last year, more than 12 lakh holy water bottles were delivered at the doorstep of devotees across India for just `30.” The services have become more important since the state government suspended the Kedarnath Yatra due to Covid-19 pandemic. The holy water has
been supplied to around 3,000 post offices across 22 postal circles in the country.
Special offer in hotels for recovered Covid patients
In a unique proposal to boost tourism in the state, the Uttarakhand Hotel Industry Association has proposed up to 50 per cent discount for the people and their families who have recovered from the Covid-19 infection. Sandeep Sahni, president of the Uttarakhand Hotel Industry Association said: “The state government should take steps to encourage tourism which is the backbone of Uttrakhand generating 30 per cent of the GDP. The government should take some encouraging steps to revive tourism. One of this can be providing concession in GST by the state government which is up to 9 per cent.” According to an estimate, over 2.5 lakh people are dependent directly or indirectly on the tourism sector in the state for their livelihood.
‘Ghar Wapsi’ for expelled BJP Roorkee mayor
A year after being expelled from the BJP, Roorkee mayor Gaurav Goel rejoined the saffron party on Sunday in the presence of CM Trivendra Singh Rawat and party state president Bansidhar Bhagat. Besides Goel, from the mayor, 12 other councillors joined the BJP. Political experts are seeing this as a major ‘Ghar Wapsi’ move, which would benefit the BJP in the 2022 state Assembly elections. At present, the ruling party has six mayoral seats — Dehrdaun, Haldwani, Rudrapur, Rishikesh, Kashipur and Roorkee — among the eight municipal corporations in Uttarakhand.
Solar panels to be installed in colleges
Uttarakhand universities and degree college will soon install solar panels to meet their power requirements. The decision came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a 750-megawatts solar plant in Rewa of Madhya Pradesh sprawling across 1,590 acres, Asia’s biggest. State Higher Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat said: “Solar panels will be installed at higher education institutions. The step is being taken in conjunction with the prime minister’s vision of clean energy. Sun is a continuous and eternal source of life and energy. We must utilise this blessing.”
vineet upadhyay
Our correspondent in Dehradun
vineet.upadhyay@newindianexpress.com