People are now hoping that the advent of the President’s Rule in the State would prove a windfall as far as Governmental actions on serious issues like illegal mining, encroachment of footpaths and sanitation woes are concerned.  They are basing their hope of better days ahead on the Governor having ordered the district magistrates of Haridwar and Dehradun to wipe out the menace illegal mining through relentless raids.

Besides, the Governor asking the officers to do things while keeping people’s welfare in view has struck chords among the men on the streets.

Illegal mining activities going on in full swing along the riverbeds despite the previous dispensation repeatedly vowing to end it left the people angry. The common refrain running among them was that things continued unabated because of the unscrupulous politicians having their fingers in the pie.  They say people are losing lives on the roads being crushed under the wheels of the mineral-laden trucks.

“The drivers drive rash as they fear being caught by police,” said Ramesh Uniyal, a student    of DBS (PG) College.

“Both  BJP and Congress taking turns to  rule the State have left us disillusioned with the rule of the politicians. They tend to serve their own interests-amassing wealth and flaunting power-while giving our developmental aspirations short shrift.  We now hope that things would turn for the better with the Governor being given the task to run the State. We are happy with things happening during the initial days of the President’s Rule with the Governor playing a pro-active and pro-people role,” Uniyal further said.

Sohan lal, resident of Rajpur, said that Dehradun once known as a clean city is now history. “Things are filthy now with no sanitation roadmap being firmed up. The drives taken by the civic bodies are erratic. Garbage keep piling up, throwing stench that poses health hazards for the people. The drains overflow during the monsoon. We hope that the Governor who is an administration with impeccable reputation would engage himself to free the city of the garbage pileup,” he said.

Rampant encroachment of the footpaths is another problem that has turned into an anathema for the pedestrians and others.  True, joint teams of Municipal Corporation, district administration and police conduct drives against encroachment of roads from time to time. 

However, what happens is that once the law- enforcers turn their backs the encroachers come back.  Anuradha Rawat, a resident of the city, said the political executives lacking the right motivation are letting the problem recur. “We are pinning hopes on the Governor as he is known as a person who is adept in having things done with focus on public welfare,” she said. 

Notably, a PIl had been filed in the High Court by a Dehradun resident on the matter acting on which the court had directed Dehradun administration to free the footpaths from encroachments.

As things did not progress much High Court had appointed then DBA president Rajiv Sharma as commissioner last year. The court had directed Sharma to submit report with video footages or photographs on the state of encroached footpaths after conducting inspection in the city.

Traffic congestion is another ordeal the people have been facing for days on end. Things are particularly grim in areas around the Clock Tower because of the political rallies being staged almost daily. To stem the tide, Garhwal division commissioner CS Napalchyal had directed the district officers to ensure that no agitator reached 500 metres periphery of the Clock Tower.

However, the order remains unexecuted on the ground.   “We hope that the administration under the President’s Rule, free from political interference, would take initiatives to stop rallies from inconveniencing the students and the officer goers among others,” said Ramesh, another resident of the city.