Nihi Sharma
Nihi Sharma is a Principal Correspondent based in Dehradun. She has been working with Hindustan Times since 2008. Her focus areas are wildlife and environment. Besides, she also covers politics, health and education.
Articles by Nihi Sharma
Uttarakhand to hold first phase of urban local body elections on November 18
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON OCT 16, 2018 03:25 PM IST
There are 92 urban local bodies in Uttarakhand. In the first phase, elections will be held in 7 municipal corporations, 39 municipal councils and 38 town panchayats.
Clean Ganga activist GD Agarwal dies after fasting for 111 days, Centre says most demands met
Hindustan Times, Haridwar | By Nihi Sharma and Sandeep Rawat
UPDATED ON OCT 11, 2018 10:54 PM IST
GD Agarwal, a former Indian Institute of Technoloy (IIT) professor popularly known as Swami Gyanswarup Sanand, died in a Rishikesh hospital on Thursday, the 112th day of a hunger strike demanding a law to save the Ganga.
Denied access to burial ground, SCs in Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh threaten to change religion
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON OCT 07, 2018 02:03 PM IST
The families have alleged that members of the so-called upper castes are objecting to providing a route, and the ground.
Wildlife Institute of India creates rhino DNA database to nab poachers
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
PUBLISHED ON OCT 05, 2018 08:32 AM IST
The Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has, for the first time, successfully created a DNA database of almost 200 rhinos from Assam, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Uttarakhand BJP to replicate Gujarat’s ‘panna pramukh’ model in 2019 polls
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON OCT 04, 2018 03:00 PM IST
Uttarakhand BJP president Ajay Bhatt told HT that the ‘panna pramukh’ model used by the BJP in the Gujarat elections proved “successful” for the party and so they have decided to replicate that model in the state next year.
Uttarakhand woman on a mission to protect Ganga, one village at a time
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
PUBLISHED ON OCT 03, 2018 03:27 PM IST
Though a graduate, Radhika Chauhan isn’t interested in landing a traditional day job. Instead, she wants to work as a ‘prahari’ (protector) of river Ganga, as part of a group of self-motivated volunteers whose mission is to keep the river clean.
13 years on, few takers for Sanskrit courses in Uttarakhand varsity
Hindustan Times, Haridwar | By Nihi Sharma
PUBLISHED ON OCT 03, 2018 02:57 PM IST
The undergraduate and postgraduate courses at Uttarakhand Sanskrit University get barely 12-15 students every year as they gives less job opportunities.
Uttarakhand strives to move beyond religious, wildlife tourism
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
PUBLISHED ON SEP 27, 2018 04:49 AM IST
Uttarakhand government has moved ahead to promote the hill state in areas of adventure, wellness, history and heritage, and rural tourism
Dehradun, Haridwar ULBs flout waste disposal rules, says CAG
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON SEP 21, 2018 11:50 PM IST
Report says collected waste was dumped in trenching grounds without segregation or processing.
Girl allegedly raped by schoolmates in Dehradun is not pregnant, says police
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON SEP 21, 2018 09:15 AM IST
Nivedita Kukreti, SSP Dehradun, said the medical report has revealed that the minor girl is not pregnant. School authorities had given her ‘local remedies’ to induce abortion, she added.
Climate change, migration hit farming of 30 crops in Uttarakhand
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON SEP 17, 2018 05:50 AM IST
A study conducted by Dehradun based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) shows that farming of 30 traditional crops has been abandoned in Pithoragarh district in last one decade due to climate change and migration.
Was deserted by the govt, says wife of murdered Uttarakhand doc awarded Rs 1.99cr by court
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
PUBLISHED ON SEP 14, 2018 12:30 AM IST
Dr Sunil Kumar, a paediatrician, was shot dead on April 20, 2016, while discharging his duties in the Community Health Centre of Jaspur in Uttarakhand’s US Nagar district.
Uttarakhand schools’ body to move high court for RTE dues
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
PUBLISHED ON SEP 13, 2018 11:53 PM IST
Approximately Rs 90 crore is to be paid to over 4,000 private schools in Uttarakhand under RTE. In Dehradun alone, Rs 50 lakh was distributed in July and August, while nearly Rs 7 crore is still pending.
Uttarakhand high court raps aviation ministry over Udan scheme delay
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON SEP 08, 2018 12:57 AM IST
Udan is a central government scheme aiming at achieving better connectivity and providing affordable flights to people.
Remove encroachments from archaeological sites, Uttarakhand high court tells state govt
Hindustan Times | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON SEP 08, 2018 12:52 AM IST
The court also directed that heritage by-laws be framed through director general Archaeological Survey of India in consultation with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage for each protected monument within six months.
Haridwar district magistrate will be held responsible for sale of plastic on Ganga ghats: HC
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON SEP 07, 2018 12:41 AM IST
The administration recently floated a tender of Rs 13 crore for manning all public ghats to ensure plastic ban and check violations.
Uttarkashi bus accident: Lone survivor critical, battling for life
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON SEP 05, 2018 02:18 PM IST
The lone survivor, 14-year-old Meenakshi, sustained multiple injuries in spinal cord, liver and brain and is being treated in a private hospital in Dehradun.
Uttarakhand HC orders CBI probe into ‘role of officials’ in poaching cases
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
PUBLISHED ON SEP 05, 2018 01:36 PM IST
The court ordered the probe after hearing an NGO’s petition regarding the seizure of tiger skins in Haridwar in March 2016. The tigers were reportedly from the Corbett Tiger Reserve and adjoining areas.
180 tourists rescued from Mussoorie’s Kempty Falls after heavy rain
Hindustan Times | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON SEP 05, 2018 12:34 AM IST
The water from the 40-foot falls spilled onto the main road after debris from landslides accumulated at its origin.
180 tourists rescued at Mussourie’s Kempty Falls after heavy rains
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON SEP 03, 2018 02:23 PM IST
The 40-feet waterfall in Mussoorie was closed in July as well during another bout of rainfall in the state.
Abysmal 14% doctors, 25% hospitals registered in Uttarakhand
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON AUG 25, 2018 01:55 AM IST
Against over 7,400 doctors, including those in government hospitals, 1,068 are registered with the state health department, official data shows. Of the registered doctors, 910 are associated with private clinics and 158 with government hospitals.
Uttarakhand govt to challenge high court order on bugyal restrictions
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
PUBLISHED ON AUG 24, 2018 12:48 AM IST
The Uttarakhand high court had ordered removal of permanent structures at high-altitude meadows, banned night stays, and limited the number of tourists visiting the meadows to 200. The government said such steps would give a blow to tourism.
Jolt to major road project as Centre, others tell NGT core tiger habitat should not be touched
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
PUBLISHED ON AUG 21, 2018 01:53 AM IST
In a major jolt to Uttarakhand chief minister TS Rawat’s ambitious Kandi Road project that aims to connect Garhwal and Kumaon regions, an affidavit submitted by the central government and other agencies concerned before the National Green tribunal (NGT) has specifically mentioned that core or critical tiger habitat should be kept inviolate for tiger conservation.
Missing Khunti shelter home girls traced to Uttarakhand
Hindustan Times, Ranchi/Dehradun | By Sanjoy Dey & Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON AUG 17, 2018 10:12 AM IST
An 11-year-old and another 13-year-old girl fled a government-aided shelter home in Sahyog village on the night of August 5 using a ladder.
Tourism dept to frame guidelines for the adoption of heritage sites
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
PUBLISHED ON AUG 11, 2018 09:58 PM IST
The state tourism department is going to frame rules to ensure private companies’ adoption of its nine heritage sites listed under ‘Adopt a Heritage’ project -- an initiative of the union tourism ministry
NGT tells Centre to take note of animal deaths on highway in Uttarakhand
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma/Neeraj Santoshi
PUBLISHED ON AUG 10, 2018 09:30 PM IST
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday directed the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) and National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) to take cognisance of deaths of wild animals along Bareilly-Haridwar national highway due to vehicular traffic
U’khand govt to seek Interpol help to track 3 farmers wanted in NH-74 scam
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON AUG 07, 2018 09:56 PM IST
The farmers, allegedly involved in the scam, have reportedly fled to Canada
Sightings in Corbett Tiger Reserve raise hopes on conservation of endangered vultures
Hindustan Times | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON AUG 06, 2018 10:35 PM IST
No violation of norms in vehicle entry into Corbett: Forest officials
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
UPDATED ON AUG 04, 2018 10:05 PM IST
Uttarakhand high court on Friday restricted the entry of tourist vehicles to ‘not more than 100 per day’ after it was apprised that there was no restriction on the number of vehicles plying in Ramnagar forest
BJP MLA claims Rohingyas settling in Haridwar, CM denies
Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Nihi Sharma
PUBLISHED ON AUG 03, 2018 10:21 PM IST
Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion, the BJP MLA from Khanpur assembly seat in Haridwar, raised the issue at a meeting with Rawat and also alerted the state home department. He said he will soon raise the issue with Union home minister Rajnath Singh