State in talks to bring in white tiger
Uttarakhand’s tourism department is in talks with the government of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh to bring in a white tiger for the soon-to-be-built tiger safari park near Corbett Tiger Reserve (pic). Tourism minister Satpal Maharaj said, “I am in talks with honorable Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan to bring a white tiger in Uttarakhand. The talks are on to bring a white tiger from Maharaja Martand Singh Judeo White Tiger Safari and Zoo located.
Sharp rise in crimes against women
Crimes against women in Uttarakhand during the first 10 months of 2020 have surpassed that of 2018 and 2019, according to state police department. Crimes against women including rape, murder, dowry killing, kidnapping and others stood at 2,359 in comparison to 2,273 recorded in 2019 and 2279 in 2018. Police department said the increase followed strict instructions to cops to not avoid registering cases on crimes against women.
The figures are likely to increase once the data for two pending months-November and December are released. A total of 452 cases of rape were registered till October 2020, in comparison to 450 in 2019 and 433 in 2018. There have been 30 cases of murder till October – a drop from 53 murders registered in 2019.
PIL on farmers
Amid ongoing farm protests, Uttarakhand High Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the state government while hearing a public interest litigation alleging nonimplementation of the ‘Uttarakhand Hills Consolidation of Holdings and Land Reforms Act, 2016’ despite persistent and prolong demand from the people. The government must respond to the notice within four weeks. weeks.
The PIL was filed by Kewalanand Tiwari ‘Fakeer’, a resident of the Almora district. The petition alleges that the inaction and apathy on the part of the respondents has put a large number of farmers, workers and youths in “a state of occupational desperation”. “Presently tens of thousands of landowners have left their villages in search of alternative livelihood,” it said.
Study on urban flood patterns in Dehradun
The Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA), in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), is planning to undertake the firstof- its-kind study of urban flood patterns in the state capital. Officials from the authority said it is the first time such a study is being undertaken in any city of Uttarakhand. Riddhim Agarwal, additional CEO, USDMA, said, “We have planned to use drones to develop high resolution maps of flood prone areas. This will enable us understand flow of water in and around river which will help in rectifying flood related issues.”
Our correspondent in Dehradun
vineet.upadhyay@ newindianexpress.com