Nainital, June 30
Having failed to take any preventive action and to repair the infrastructure damaged during monsoon last year, the government now stares at the grim reality of disaster facing the Kumaon region once again.

The incessant rain over the past two days has brought life to a standstill in Kumaon with a large number of roads being blocked and several villages going without power.

To begin with, the road between Khairna and Almora and Khairna and Ranikhet remained blocked on Thursday. The former road had been devastated in the rains last year and although the administration had opened it to traffic, it is far from being fit for vehicular movement. This stretch continues to be a traveller’s nightmare and despite being pointed out on numerous occasions, the administration has been unable to repair it for almost 10 months after it was devastated. On Thursday, it was once again the stretch between Chamariya and Lohali that witnessed a series of land and rock slides that led to the closure of the road. The only link remaining between Bhawali and Almora is the route via Ramgarh and Kwarab which is also in a deplorable condition. There are also reports of Betalghat block being cut off from the rest of the Nainital district as both the roads approaching the block had remained cut off till the filing of this report.

Reports of a large number of landslides taking place across the districts of Almora, Champawat and Bageshwar are also being received. A large number of roads, particularly the roads linking the rural areas of these districts remained blocked. These roads have not witnessed any vehicular movement for the past 24 hours, putting the people residing in these areas to extreme hardships.

Meanwhile, there are reports of about 100 villages going without power in rural Nainital on Wednesday evening when a tree fell on a 33 KV feeder line which supplies power to these areas. At the time of the filing of this report, a large number of villages in the Padampuri, Dhari, Okhalkanda and Sat Tal areas of the district were without power.

On the other hand, the administration in Udham Singh Nagar has started an emergency control room in the Disaster Management Cell at the Collectorate. The District Magistrate, Dr BVRC Purshottam, has ordered that the centre would be functional round the clock and the people have been asked to call up on 05944-250719 in the event of any disaster taking place.

Purshottam has asked all the Sub-Divisional Magistrates and Tehsildars to activate all the flood control posts and centres. 

Dehradun, June 30
Rain disrupted The Char Dham yatra for another day today with a large number of pilgrims stranding at many places. Most of the hill roads were blocked by landslides.

According to sources, 10 persons have been killed in rain-linked incidents in Uttarkhand since the start of monsoon in the state. In the latest incident, two persons were killed at Ramangar, near the Dhaila river.

The Riskishesh-Badrinath road remained blocked at a number of places in Chamoli district while the Rishikesh-Gangotri route was blocked at Nalupani and Dharasu. Similarly, the Rishikesh-Kedarnath national highway has been blocked by landslides at Sirobagad. The Rishikesh-Yamunotri highway was the sole Char Dham Yatra route functioning normally.

Several of roads in the Bhilangana valley of Tehri Garhwal district were also blocked. Even Uttarakhand Disaster Management Minister Khazan Das, who is on a visit to Bhilangana, failed to reach Chajee village in Tehri due to a road blockade. The Ganshali Tilwara road in Tehri was opened to traffic after eight hours.

Meanwhile, weathermen have predicted heavy rain in isolated areas in Udham Singh Nagar, Champawat, Almora and Nainital districts of Uttarakhand during the next 24 hours.

Dehradun, June 30
The Dalit cell of the state Congress today staged a protest at the district headquarters. Led by Shravan Rajoria, state president of the cell, the protesters alleged that social activist Bhagmal had not been keeping well ever since he launched a fast at Gandhi Park in favour of Dalit issues. They alleged that the district administration was not paying any attention towards him.

Rajoria said Bhagmal was forcibly taken away to Coronation Hospital, Dehradun, and now the authorities wanted to go for force feeding.

He said the Congress would not tolerate this and threatened to launch a widespread agitation.

Pithoragarh, June 30
The residents of the “Atal Adarsh” villages in the district have complained of unavailability of basic facilities like potable water, motor roads, shortage of teachers in primary schools and insufficient ration quota at the fair price shops.

These villages have been declared as “Atal Adarsh” villages by the state government.

The villagers narrated their woes at the “Atal Chaupal” programme held by Dr Devi Dutt Dani, a member of the State Planning Commission.

“We are committed to providing 16 essential facilities to these villages which will a model for the future development of the state,” said Dr Dani. During the “Atal Chaupal” held at Daula village, near the district headquarters, the villagers complained that they were not getting sufficient quota of ration as prescribed by the government.

Besides sufficient potable water is not being supplied to them from the Thuligar drinking water scheme, they added.

“We have ordered the District Supplies Officer (DSO) to supply sufficient ration and the Executive Engineer of the Jal Sansthan to install a 350-litre water tank at Bhatkot. We have also asked the DSO to fulfil of the ration requirement of the villagers within three days. If the owners of the PDS shops do not comply with the rules their licenses would be cancelled,” said Dr Dani.

The residents of Gurna, Gankot and Naini villages said when they go to the fair price shops they are told that the government is not sending the required quota of ration to the shops.

“The shopkeepers express helplessness as they themselves are not being supplied the sufficient quota of ration,” said Kundal Singh, a villager of Naini “Atal Adarsh” village near the town. “We are aiming to make all the 670 Nyaya Panchayats of the state, including 64 from the district, a model of decentralise planning and later cover all the villages of the state on the pattern of the ‘Atal Adarsh’ villages provided with all essential facilities by 2020,” said Dr Dani, nodal authority for “Atal Adarsh” villages for Pithoragarh and Didihat sub- divisions. The residents of Gurna and Gankot villages demanded the primary school buildings and link roads be repaired and social welfare department schemes be implemented in their areas.

Haridwar, June 30
The public is coming out with newer ways to protest against the Union Government over the ever-increasing prices of basic commodities. Aided with utensils and kitchen tools, women protesters thronged the streets of Haridwar to register their protest against the rising prices of basic commodities and petro products. 

Led by the BJP women cell, the protesters demanded instant relief from the price rise from the Centre by way of subsidies. Women cell coordinator Sanjana Sharma cited the rising inflation for the past week standing at 9.13 per cent, which has aggravated the woes of the common man who is already burdened by an incessant rise in the prices of LPG gas, petrol and diesel. “The present economic condition is the worst despite acclaimed economist Manmohan Singh being at the helm of affairs of the Centre while Finance Minister P Chidambaram also being an economist. Poor are becoming poorer while it is the capitalists who are benefiting from the inflation,” Sanjana said.

The public will show them the door as resentment is creeping in against this capitalist-oriented UPA government,” said Sanjana amidst noise of beating of utensils being made by activists to draw attention to the people. Comparing the Congress-led regime with the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government, Anju Chaddha, chief of the city women BJP cell, said despite economic-technical sanctions imposed by developed countries on India post-Pokhran atom bomb tests, Indian economy was quite stable.

She referred to normal rate of inflation, fewer hikes in petro products and concern of the government towards the common man which is missing in the present UPA government’s regime, adding that “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has emerged as the weakest person to hold this post while the present government is also the most insensitive which can be compared only to the emergency period when Indira Gandhi tried to crush the voice of the people undemocratically.”

Meanwhile, the activists also took out a mass condemnation rally demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister on his failure to control the price rise. 

Dehradun, June 30
State Congress leaders, led by Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat, today met Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva and sought action against the BJP government over the issue of the eviction of Congress MLA Kishore Upadhyaya from his residence.

Rawat alleged that CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was specifically targeting Congress MLA from Tehri Kishore Upadhyaya.

He alleged that the government forcibly threw away the belongings of the MLA when he was not even in Dehradun.

“Upadhyaya was even maltreated when he had gone to Tehri to attend Tehri Mahotsava some time ago,” he added.

Lakshman Chowk MLA Dinesh Agarwal said the belongings of Upadhyaya were still missing.

They also submitted a memorandum to her. 

Nainital, June 30
An adaptation of a small poem by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin was brought live on stage by over 30 children from Nainital. The poem was presented in the form of a 30-minute play “Sone ki Machli” at the Chalet Hall last evening.

The performance was the result of a theatre workshop that was conducted over the past one month by the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi. The workshop was carried out by Sunita Juyal and Sudharshan Juyal.

Local cultural troupe Yugmanch and the prominent social organisation Sharda Sangh were the organisers of the workshop.

The event begun with a song by the cast about the pollution in Nainital and the simple ways in which residents can combat it. This was followed by rendition of one of the most famous poems of Girish Tewari, who is fondly remembered as Girda in which he had criticised the present day education system that is nothing but a cumbersome burden on the child. The children recited the poem, “Jahan na basta kandha tode, aisa ho school hamara?...”(Our school should be such where the satchel does not break our backs).

The poem was followed by the play which hit out at the human tendency of acquiring more and more wealth without ever being content and satisfied.

Directed by Sunita Juyal and Anil Kumar, the play follows the tale of a simple old fisherman who makes demand of a golden fish at the behest of his dominating wife.

The production incorporated simple language for the convenience of child artists and the actors were well trained in diction and clarity of speech.

The surprise element came in the form of a short dance on the popular Bollywood number “Paisa paisa” as a way of condemning greed.

The children made all the stage props themselves using waste material and paper. They were also taught how to dress themselves and do their make-up on the sets. The workshop focused on all aspects of theatre, making it a learning experience for all the participants.

In his short-closing speech, Sudharshan Juyal called the exercise a two-way learning process. “The energy shown by these young children is truly inspiring. We appreciate the support shown by their parents. Such cultural activities should be a regular feature, which will help them grow and learn a variety of new things,” he said.

Sunita also expressed pleasure over the success of the workshop, calling the experience as “wonderful”.

An interesting facet of the production was that one of the participants had been mentally disabled and yet he had come up with a display of being the perfect part of the team.