Nainital, August 23
Having provided a temporary respite of a few hours, incessant rains resumed their lashing of the Kumaon region on Monday.The people are yet to get respite from the miseries heaped on them on account of the rains over the past six days. The worst affected are the regions in the Terai belt, particularly in the district of Udham Singh Nagar. 

Thousands of houses in towns and villages have been marooned and people have had to either be moved to safer locations or take shelter on their roof tops. The worst affected areas are Ranjit Nagar, Shakti Farm, Surendra Nagar, Mahendra Nagar, Pipaliya, Kusmoth, Jay Nagar and Thajurnagar.

The town of Haldwani continues to be among the worst affected areas. Heavy rains leading to water logging in several areas were recorded on Monday afternoon also making lives of the residents difficult. A bridge being built by the Public Works Department on the Gaula river suffered heavy damage as one of the pillars collapsed yesterday.

On Sunday evening, movement on the Almora-Pitthoragarh road was disrupted on account of a heavy landslide near Danya. Vehicular movement was also affected on the Almora-Bhanoli road.

Widespread rains continued in Bageshwar also. The worst affected areas continued to be Kapkot and Sumgadh where 18 children had been buried alive last week. According to media reports, people in Sumgadh are facing foodgrain shortage.

Meanwhile, the Haldwani-Chorgaliya road has been washed away at several places. Residents of the villages en route point out that despite repeated reminders to the authorities concerned about the danger of the road being washed away, nothing had been done.

Several roads in the region continued to be cut off on account of landslides and sinking of large portions. A large number of villages and urban residential colonies continued to face power and water problems. Several parts around Kaladhungi had reportedly been without power for almost two days. 

Haridwar, August 23
Acknowledging the life-saving act of district police personnel as well as Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel in saving more than 75 villagers at Shyampur village from drowning yesterday, the state police will be sending the names of these personnel for the Prime Minister Jeevan Raksha Padak.

It is to be noted that with the water level in the Ganga Peeli river flowing above the danger level, residents of Peeli village were caught in a flood-like situation. More than 75 villagers were surrounded by river water that seeped into the village, as half of them were in their huts, while others were busy in quarrying on the Ganga when the incident occurred.

With a sudden rise in the water level accompanied by heavy rain, the villagers and workers got stuck surrounded from all sides with water. But police personnel came as a life saver to these villagers as in quick time District Jal Police jawans accompanied by PAC personnel sprung into action carrying out rescue efforts on a massive scale.

The result of their Herculean efforts braving the speeding river water as well as heavy downpour bore fruits as within hours they rescued all villagers safely to the dry side. The way these rescuers executed the task was lauded by the villagers and the police high command.

In view of this, Inspector General of the Police Garhwal Range MA Ganapathy announced a reward of Rs 5,000, while their names have been recommended for the coveted Prime Minister Jeevan Raksha Padak.

Notably, the medal is awarded for courage and promptness in saving life under grave circumstances and comes under the Jeevan Raksha Padak series of awards instituted in 1961.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Haridwar, Sanjay Gunjiyal lauded the efforts put in by the joint team and said such acts brought honour to the name of the Police Department and set an example for others to put duty before self.

 “I am at a loss to know what the authorities are waiting for? Are they waiting us to die and get buried deep under the debris to drive them into quick action mode?” she questioned.

This is the same locality where 150 houses had got flooded during three days of continuous downpour. The district administration had swung into action that time, but only to flush water out of the houses, and afterwards they did not look back to see and respond to what devastating and cascading effects rain had left on their houses.

This locality too, like many others which were swept away in flood waters, has poor drainage as people had built houses all over, blocking the drainage. Poonam Chauhan complained: “The water flows down from the main drain built on high ground towards the houses built on the lower side. It gets clogged from all sides due to mushrooming of houses impeding its way”.

The neighbours are extending a solid support system to the ones who incurred the maximum damage. Manju Rawat said: “All of us have come here to raise voice against the lax administration which has been sleeping over our problems. We have already made four rounds of the office but only to return with empty assurances”.

Pitthoragarh, August 23
Record-breaking continuous rains in this border district not only disturbed the general life especially in the border subdivision of Dharchula and Munsiyari but also recorded first snowfall of the year on higher peaks. “The ongoing 14th batch of Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims will be lucky enough to witness fresh snow at Nabhidhang as slight snow fall has been recorded at the Lipulekh Pass, Nabhidhang, Jolingkong and Kuti areas,” said officials of the 7th Battalion of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

This snowfall, that occurred as a result of cold conditions due to continuing rains in these high valley areas, was slight and at some portions it just lasted two hours.

The continuous rains for the past 12 hours disturbed the trans-migration to Munsiyari at Jhekla village where big boulders blocked the route. “At Jhekla, we have sounded alert keeping last year’s landslides in mind and have ordered local officers to remain in vigil during monsoon time,” said NS Negi, District Magistrate, Pitthoragarh.

According to the Meteorological Department, the subdivision of Munsiyari, which is highly sensitive to the landslide point of view, witnessed the highest rainfall during the past 24 hours. “Munsiyari witnessed 35 mm rainfall while Gangolihat subdivision received 20 mm, Berinag 32.2 mm and Didihat 32.6 mm,” Kamal Panday, in charge of the local met unit, said.

Many disturbances were reported from across the district after the rains began 12 hours back. “Four houses in the Didihat and Munsiyari regions have been collapsed while the entire Kailash Mansarovar track route has been damaged at six places giving extra trouble to the pilgrims of the 14th and 12th batches of the yatra,” said officials of the district administration. 

Haridwar, August 23
Though the festival of Raksha Bandhan is one of the simplest festivals, as it symbolises the deep love of a sister for her brother in the tying of rakhi on the wrist, a unique traditional ritual-oriented Raksha Bandhan is observed in the pilgrim city.

In the city there is an added touch to this festival. This ritual is known as Shravani Upakram which is observed on Raksha Bandhan only and performed by teerth purohits of Haridwar.

They celebrate Raksha Bandhan by performing the Ganga prayer and other rituals. After performing the rituals, the teerth purohits jointly take a holy dip in the Brahm Kund at Har-ki-Pauri for not just a few minutes, but for full two hours!

It’s a rare sight seeing teerth purohits usually performing rituals accompanying pilgrims taking a holy dip in the Ganga in large numbers. This dip also has a special significance as after this the holy thread janeyu Brahmins usually wear on their body is offered to the river, while a new janeyu is worn on this occasion. Following this is the holy yagya at the hawan kund. Teerth purohits then eat five elements called panch tatva, cow dung, cow urine, curd, ghee and milk, which is considered holy food.

Meanwhile, though the Raksha Bandhan is elebrated throughout the day, one should make sure that the rakhi should not be worn before 9:23 am as the Bhadra Kaal has started from late evening and will continue till 9:22 am. After this, the auspicious time of the rakhi ritual continues for the whole day. But, the most auspicious time is 10:15 am, which according to astrologers, is the phase when the stars and celestial position is the best suited one.

A view of the funeral procession of poet Girda.

Nainital, August 23
The man of the masses, Girish Tewari, who was fondly known as Girda, was bid adieu by his relatives, friends and followers coming from all across the state and all walks of life this morning. Having lived a selfless life committed to the cause of the people, Girda had breathed his last at the Sushila Tewari Hospital in Haldwani yesterday.

A revolutionary and a rebel that he was, Girda was bid a farewell reserved for the revolutionaries. People from all walks of life accompanied the funeral procession and sang songs that were either written by Girda or were his favourite. As soon as his last journey began from his house in Kailakhan, the air reverberated with his songs that were sung by people with tears in their eyes. The songs were only interrupted with slogans like “Jankavi Girda amar rahe”. The people continued singing his songs all along the 3-km route to the cremation grounds in the Pines area.

The singing hit a crescendo when his pyre was lit by his son Tuhin and his mortal remains were consigned to the flames. The weather too had decided to remain calm during Girda’s last journey and when his friends, relatives and followers bid adieu to him.

Dehradun, August 23
The smiling faces have developed worry lines. The happiness over good monsoon has proved transient for officials of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL) who are now more perturbed over frequent closure of their hydro-power projects facing acute silt problems during heavy downpour. The UJVNL incurred a loss of Rs 70 lakh during these two days due to this.

Managing Director, UJVNL, RP Thapliyal felt somewhat relieved on Tuesday saying that their various hydro-power projects which remained closed for the past two days had resumed normal functioning on Monday after the clearing of silt. These were Chila power project built on the Ganges, Pashulok Bairaj, Chibro and Khodri projects on Ichari powerhouse built on the Tauns river, Dhalipur-Dhakrani-Kulhal built on Dak Pathar Pather Bairaj on the Yamuna river, Maneri Bhali-II at Dhrasu and Pathari Mohammadpur power house. Thapliyal was still not sure over the status of Dhalipur, Dhakrani and Kulhal, but he said these power houses too would resume normalcy in a few hours.

The Shakti river had to be closed in Chilla for a flashing process to clean the deposited silt for two days. Similarly, the Tauns river which had been flooded with 1,000 cusec water developed fault on Friday afternoon because of silt. It was due to less quantity of PPM (particile per million), the power houses could not be operated upon. In case of Dak Pathar power house, the silt deposition increased after water from both the Yamuna and the Tauns got mingled up. Dhalipur Dhakrani and Kulhal tried to pick up function, but had to be halted due to the same reason.

Thapliyal said the rain had brought in miseries all over the state. "The power houses too are not spared either. There is no way to deal with such a situation, except clearing the silt, for which the power houses have to be closed. We close these power houses when it rains heavily, and resume the operation when the rain slows down or stops. This is how we have been managing our work".

He said the power houses bore the brunt of development as the silt came flushed with the soil erupted from the roads under construction in these places.

He also admitted that many of the old power houses were not technically equipped to deal with the silt management so effectively as were new ones. "The old ones have silt ejecters, an old technology for silt clearance, and the new ones have sedimentation chambers which are quicker and faster. Maneri Bhali-I has a slower rate of 1,200 PPM and Maneri Bhali-II saddled with an accelerated rate of 3,000 PPM, all due to the difference of technology". He said the former projects had been provided with four chambers, whereas the latter had got 90.

He also ruled out the replacement of old technolgy mechanism with the new in the affected power houses saying, "Engineering does not allow such an overhaul of the mechanism in these big projects. There is no escape to it now".

The respite is short lived as Thapliyal said as per the weather forecast of heavy rainfall in the next 48 hours, the management was all set to engage in closing and starting the powerhouses for silt cleaning. 

Dehradun, August 23
The state quota for BEd aspirants has been withdrawn from all private BEd colleges affiliated to Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University. This was declared in a notification released by private BEd colleges, where it was clearly mentioned that there would be no seats for the state and the management quota from the session 2009-2010.

The declaration has raised several questions among the students who want to seek admission to the BEd course. They are in a dilemma that the colleges have not confined the reserved seats for state candidates which were active till previous sessions.

“I am so worried whether I’ll be shortlisted in the merit list or not. It would have been better if the college commences with its state and management quota,” said Varsha Upreti, a student who wants to get admission to the BEd course.

According to officials, the reservation has been withdrawn from the admission criteria of all private BEd colleges that were earlier affiliated to HNB Garhwal University, as the university has become centralised and will not conduct counselling from this session onwards.

“The entire disruption has sprouted due to the decision drawn by the court to uphold the admission criteria on merit basis. Earlier, the admission was done on the basis of counselling conducted by the university that has state and management quota for the students,” said Sunil Aggarwal, secretary of the Association of Self-Financed Institutes, Uttarakhand.

He also expressed happiness on the decision drawn by the court. He asserted, “It will surely bar the back-door entry of students, which helped in mushrooming of petty touts at several educational institutes”. 

Dehradun, August 23
The Joseph’s Academy organised the JLD’ Souza Memorial Inter School English Debate Competition here today. Nine schools, Mussorie International School, The Doon School, Carman School, Dalanwala, Welham Boys’ School, Hilton’s School, Convent of Jesus and Mary, St George’s College, Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) and St Joseph Academy participated in the contest.

The topic for the debate competition was “The concept of freedom is a force”. The speakers from different schools expressed their views on this significant issue. All teams enthusiastically participated and spoke for and against the motion of the given topic.

The audience was enthralled by the verve, wit and vivacity of the participants. Principal of St Joseph’s Academy Brother AJ Geroge and Vice-Principal Brother Antony also appreciated the efforts of the students as well as their teachers.

Welham Boys’ School bagged the first position. The trophy for the best rebuttal was shared by Devashish Upadhyaya (RIMC), Anuj Taparia (St George’s) and Rohan Pokhriyal (St Joseph’s). The best speaker award went to Rohan Pokhriyal (St Joseph) while the first runner up was Anuj Taparia (St George’s).

Rajen Brijnath, Ruth Isaacs and Kirti Chhabra were the judges of the competition.

Teachers and students of St Joseph were also present on the occasion.

The programme concluded with a vote of thanks by Brother George followed by congratulations to the winners as well appreciating the efforts of the school for organising the debates.

Dehradun, August 23
As a contribution to the relief fund for the victims of Kapkot, Bageshwar, tragedy, Avadesh Chaudhary, Chairman of The Heritage School, presented a cheque of Rs 1 lakh to Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank here today.

The cheque was given during the occasion of the inauguration of the state-of-the-art new Senior Computer Laboratory on the school campus. The new computer lab ably supported by fully equipped computers with TFT monitors of latest technical specification.

The school provides extensive global exposure to its students through hi-seed broadband link-up, while the entire campus is Wi-Fi enabled to provide students with technology and competency skills.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister complimented the institution and said young students, who learn through online sources, would find themselves comfortable in today’s ever increasing technologies workplace. 

Dehradun, August 23
Pravesh Sharma, who imparted training to several national and international players in hockey and swimming, was honoured by Harbans Kapoor, Vidhan Sahba Speaker, here today.Sharma has been the national team instructor in India and Pakistan (RIMC) match.

Addressing the gathering here today, he said there was a lot of talent in the players of the region but there was a need to identify it.

He added that all games should be given equal importance if we want to see sports growing. He thanked the gathering for honouring him.