Pitthoragarh, August 11
Villagers of Lah and Jhekla in Munsiyari subdivision where 43 persons were buried alive in a cloudburst on the night of August 8 continue to live in fear of raingods.

Twentythree families, including 18 of Malla La Daba, Jhakra and Berumahar located adjacent to Lah village are worried about their safety and want to be shifted.

“My entire family of six was killed
in the cloudburst,” said a
shattered Balwant Singh, who
works in New Delhi.

“The catastrophe occurred when
the water came down gushing,
bringing with it boulders and
trees,” said NS Negi, Pitthoragarh
district magistrate, quoting Rajiv
Shukla of the Geological Survey
of India, who visited the site
and took samples of the land formation there.

Eyewitnesses say the cloudburst at Bonudhunga swept away five family members of Hanumant Singh, including his three children, who where asleep.

The flood waters created by the cloudburst then reached Jhekla village, killing 12 persons. It travelled to Lah village burying 26 persons, including seven kids.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP) personnel led by Dipti Singh, SDM, Didihat, were the first to reach the site of the tragedy. “We found most inhabitants who had escaped the nature’s fury under shock,” said Dipti Singh.

“We have distributed relief announced by government. Grocery items, 20 temporary fibre huts provided by the National Thermal Power Corporation and relief from some good samaritans have been given to 25 families rehabilitated at Dor,” said Negi.

He said two battalions of the ITBP searching for survivors had been replaced by 70 personnel of the Sahastra Seema Bal SSB) and the police.

Though villagers of Lah, Jhekla and Daba have faced the catastrophe for the first time in the last 70 years, cloud- bursts are common inn the Himalayan region.

Families of Balwant Singh, Ganga Singh, Jay Singh , Bhagwan Singh and Shyam Singh were wiped out in the calamity.

“In my 75 years of life, I saw a calamity of this magnitude for the first time in Lah and Jhekla areas which were earlier considered safe for habitation,” said Uday Singh, a resident of nearby Kweti village.

“Residents of Chachra, Raspata and Gini now get panicky whenever they see dark clouds gathering in the area,” said Bhagirathi Devi, gram pradhan of Raspata.

Not only the upper Himalayan villages in the Dharchula and Munisiyari valleys but
those near Ukhimath, Joshimath, Hilang, Pathi, Garur Ganga and the Urgam Valley
in Chamoli district, Agastmuni and Sursal area in Rudraprayag district, Kanoriagad
in Uttarkashi, Bal Ganga near Tehri and Song Bharari and Pindar in Bageshwar are
prone to natural disasters, say officials of the Disaster Management and Mitigation
Centre, Uttarakhand.

“Villagers complain that no rehabilitation package has been announced by the Chief Minister for the 18 families of Lah, Raspata and Gumiadoli who fear any more rain and they are doomed,” said Radhika Devi of Dafa village.

“Besides announcing relief, the Chief Minister during his visit to villages affected by the tragedy did not do anything for the people. The administration did not send relief material for the remaining villagers or give monetary aid for cremation of the dead,” alleged MD Joshi, Congress spokesperson.

The Pitthoragarh SDM was suspended on charges of dereliction of duty after the massive landslides triggered by the cloudburst.

Devmurti Yadav, also the protocol officer, was suspended after it was found during the Chief Minister's visit that his performance was not up to the mark.

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand government has urged the Planning Commission to formulate a natural disaster policy for the hills and sought a special package in the wake of the Pitthoragarh cloudburst.

At a meeting with Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Sunday, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank drew his attention to the destruction caused by the cloudburst.

He argued that a separate natural disaster policy be formulated for the hills in view of their vulnerability to vagaries of weather so that relief and rescue work can be launched more effectively.

The Chief Minister also sought a special package for the state to deal with natural calamities like cloudbursts, landslides and earthquakes.

Rajya Sabha MP Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and state BJP chief Bachi Singh Rawat are among those to have visited the affected areas. About 100 villages in Uttarakhand are prone to natural disasters.

A report by the state's Disaster Management and Mitigation Centre (DMMC) says 35 villages have been found unsafe in Chamoli district whereas in Pithoragarh 23 villages are prone to natural disasters like landslides and earthquakes. Both Chamoli and Pithoragarh districts are seismically sensitive and fall in Zone-V.

Haridwar, August 11
The per capita power consumption of India is less than one-third of the world average and onus lies on power sector companies to make India a power-full nation.

This was the opinion of executives at a one-day meeting of vendor delegates of various companies across the country.

The meet was organised by BHEL Haridwar at the Computer Centre Auditorium. Revealing BHEL’s success mantra, its HEEP plant director DK Mody pointed out that growth came from sound strategies and their strict implementation.

Lauding the role of vendors in their success, Modi said: “We have always trusted the capabilities of our vendors and we keep throwing them challenges which motivates them to perform better.”

Various presentations were made on different systems like product material directories, B2B portal and consequente-transactions between BHEL and its vendors apart from vendor registration and evaluation system.

More than 100 participants at the meet shared issues of mutual interest and prepared an action plan for growing together.

Ashok Gupta, GM, fabrication and materials management, said: “BHEL has always considered its vendors as partners in growth and the idea behind such meetings is to strengthen the spirit of partnership, besides sharing experience.”

BHEL’s business policy is for continuously increasing positive economic value addition with appropriate and effective vendor partnership. During the technical session, presentations were made on requirements of various products and groups such as material management, quality and finance.

It is important to mention that BHEL’s on-line vendor registration system gives a user-friendly option to vendors who wish to either get registered or update their profile with respect to addition in new PMD categories.

The performance of vendors is evaluated through a well- established system with weightage for quality, delivery and service.

Babu Ram Chhetri

Dehradun, August 11
Rain or sunshine, Babu Ram Chhetri is on duty at the Windlass Shopping Complex parking lot, darting from one corner to the other with agility of a 15-year-old.

He implores a visitor to park his vehicle at the available space one minute and the next guides another car owner to a vacant slot.

Short-statured, Chhetri has turned a mundane job interesting. His uniform, a mix of Army and civilian attire that only Chhetri can flaunt, attracts the children and the elderly alike.

Bobbing up down the tarmac with a baton pressed under his arm ready to crackle orders, he is a delight to watch.

“When people see me in uniform, they begin to take me seriously. I left the Army long ago, but the hangover continues.

“The uniform sets you apart. I try to imbibe the behaviour and mannerism of officers that I worked for,” says a rather pleased Chhetri.

Style conscious, Chhetri gets his uniform stitched from M Anwar of Men’s Tailor who has made his uniform flamboyant and extravagant. Chhetri spends a princely sum of Rs 2,200 on his uniform.

“He has a set of eight uniforms, all exceedingly stylish in black, blue and moss green,” says Anwar. Chhettri’s hats are equally interesting.

“I purchased a cowboy hat from the nearby Tibetan market and recently an admirer gifted me a Pee cap; they are all part of my wardrobe,” he said.

The knee-length boots add a few inches to his height. These too are sourced from a local manufacturer. They last him a year.

Never shy of the camera, Chhetri is ever ready to be clicked and is ever ready to oblige bubbly young girls.

When an American filmed him at the parking lot recently, it was the happiest moment of his life.

“It is not as if Hindi film directors have not captured me in their films. You can see me in ‘Karma’ in which playing gate boy at Hotel Madhuban. I have also shot for a Garhwali film,” says a confident Chhetri.

It has been a long journey for Chhetri who left Gangtok at the tender age of eight travelling to Japaiguri in Assam working at the Zurrantee Tea Garden for a British company as a waiter for 18 years.

After that he joined the Alpha 99 Madras company as an orderly at Sikkim but then decided to quit.

He worked with the Weston television company in Dehradun from 1974-1994 and then joined Windlass in 19 96.

Now, the Windlass complex is his field of action. Nearing 76, Chhetri has a plan ready for retirement.

“I have a 16- year-old son. Once he settles down, I will sell my house at Balbir Road and head for Varanasi,” he says with finality.

Dehradun, August 11
Players at the ongoing ninth District Badminton Championship are dissatisfied over the lack of facilities at the multipurpose hall at the Parade Ground here.

Most players are worried over the poor lighting provided at the hall that is affecting their performance in a big way.

Bhuvesh Kumar, a participant, said, “It is difficult to play under these lights. On most occasions, one loses a point during a match as he fails to anticipate the direction of the shuttle.

“Especially while playing a smash, the lights turn out to be a big problem. As a result of insufficient light, players get less time to react to smashes.” He added that no generator was available to take care of a power cut.

Another participant Nishant Jain said, “Apart from poor lighting, the seating arrangement in the hall is not up to the mark.”

Sources revealed that the District Sports Office had refused to provide chairs for the tournament despite repeated pleas for reasons best known to the office. Surely, this is no way to treat a sport.

Dehradun, August 11
Ordinary televisions are passé now and the era of LCDs (Liquid Crystal Display) screen televisions has set in, as is evident from the growing popularity of the latter in Doon markets.

Stylish and affordable, LCDs can be seen all around Doon - gyms, coffee houses and offices, in addition to the private ones.

The around 40 per cent dip in the rates of LCDs has also made it a great hit with Doonites. “Last Diwali, the LCD that was priced at Rs 85,000 is now selling at Rs 65,000 today. This dip in prices has made them a big hit,” said Sunil Pratap, manager of LG store here.

“Due to affordability of LCD screens, I recently purchased a 26-inch set. I am pretty satisfied with its performance,” said Swati, a Doonite resident.

Earlier, 19-inch screen was preferred by most middle-income groups, but now there is growing demand for 22 to 36 inch LCD screens due to picture and sound quality.

“The 19-inch screen is hardly in demand now, and bigger screens are being preferred,” added Pratap. Sony, a high-end brand, with its Bravia series of LCDs is also a great hit in Doon.

“The Sony range of LCDs are priced between Rs 16,000 to Rs 2 lakh. “There is certainly a spurt in in the demand fro LCDa here,” said Sumit Behl, owner of the Sony outlet in Doon.