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Rain fury renders villagers homeless in Dhanaulti
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Situation grim; roads, bridges, power lines disappear
Schools closed for 3 days in Kumaon
DM tells officials to rush to accident sites
Landslide hits bus, five killed
Rains exposed govt claims on disaster management: Bhatt
Joshi blames Admn for deaths in house collapse
Sanitary workers hired by DMC to clean drains
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Rain fury renders villagers homeless in Dhanaulti
Mussoorie, June 17 The Aglar-Thatyur road has been swept away at several places due to the overnight heavy rains, making it difficult for the disaster management team to begin relief operations in the area.The daily supply of milk and other goods has also been hindered, making life difficult for the villagers here. More than a dozen houses were submerged under mud debris at Parodi village in the Thatyur block of the Dhanaulti assembly segment. The villagers have been forced to take shelter at the cowsheds at the top of the village and are living in fear. The village has been cut off from the world as all communication lines and electricity have remained shut for the past 60 hours. The villagers fear more loss to property and life if the rains continue in a similar fashion. A resident of Parodi village, Baijram Lekwar (82), said he had never seen such a disaster in his life where half the village had been damaged completely. “We were sleeping in our homes when the landslide occurred in our village yesterday, making us scamper for safety. We managed to save our lives in the nick of time,” said Baijram Lekhwar. At Chinad village, more than six houses were damaged completely and more than a dozen cattle head killed under the mud debris. Around three bridges on Aglar river are damged, making it difficult for the disaster and rescue teams to reach the site. The electricity powerhouse and four shops have been submerged under mud debris at Thatyur village, leading to a complete blackout in the area. Two bridges at Badri Gad were also swept away in the gushing river, leaving more than 2,000 pilgrims on their way to Yamnotri stranded without food and water. At Mogi village, near Nainbagh, the water burst from two perennial sources. It damaged more than 20 houses and submerged them under the debris. Megh Singh Kandari of Mogi village told The Tribune that the gushing water from both sides of the village had resulted in a whole mountain caving in at the rear of the village and damaging the fields and houses in the process. More than six houses at Chinad village, nine at Sinjal village, two at Dunda village, three at Domsi village and one house at Kahrak village in Thatyur block were damaged beyond repair today. Two shops were inundated at Marod village and more than a dozen water mills swept away at Takarna village due to the overnight cloudburst here. When contacted, SDM of Dhanaulti Santosh Pandey said the relief work would begin only after the roads and bridges were repaired. He said efforts were on to clear the roads off the debris. Senior Congress leader Jot Singh Bisht was stuck at the Aglar-Thatyur bridge near the Yamuna Bridge as it was completely damaged, stalling vehicular movement on the Mussoorie-Kempty-Yamnotri route. When contacted, he said that he had requested the SDM of Dhanaulti to deploy JCB machines so that roads were cleared at the earliest. The road from Kempty to Yamuna Bridge was blocked at nine places, making relief work difficult for the disaster management team here. Dhanaulti MLA Mahavir Singh Rangad was stuck near Saklana village as no vehicular movement was possible due to the blockade at several places on the Mussoorie-Dhanaulti road. Officials were seen removing the road blockade at Suvakholi near Mussoorie since last night. The hill town of Mussoorie also had to face the brunt of the heavy rain that has continued for the past 72 hours, resulting in damage to property at several places due to landslides and instilling fear among the residents of the town here. Meanwhile, the house and two vehicles of Swami Sundar Singh at Landour Cantonment area were partially submerged under the debris due to the mudslide that occurred last night in Mussoorie. Several uprooted trees fell over the houses near Library Bazaar and Company Garden, resulting in damage to property. The roads near Gurunanak Fifth Centenary School were also blocked due to the landslide that occurred last night. The SDM of Mussoorie, NS Dangi, along with the local MLA visited the affected sites and said that the administration was providing all the necessary help to the affected persons in the disaster. When the rain stopped briefly today, it provided some joy to the tourists who were embedded in their hotel rooms for the past 72 hours in Mussoorie. They came out in large numbers and walked down The Mall and were mesmerised by the view of Doon Valley from Mussoorie. Many pilgrims stuck in Mussoorie were seen posing for pictures in front of the murals of Kedar Nath Temple at The Mall as they were unable to move further for the yatra due to the damaged roads. Tourism has taken a major hit due to the disaster as many tourists have cut short their visit and are heading home. A pall of gloom has descended the business community that was banking on the tourist season in Mussoorie. Rain Pain
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Powerhouses fail due to deposition of silt, debris
Dehradun, June 17 Barring the Kalagarh hydro-powerhouse, no powerhouse could generate power due to heavy deposition of silt and debris. The Kalagarh powerhouse closed down at 4 in the afternoon for the same reason. The Power Department has incurred damage worth several crore. The department is preparing an estimate of the losses. The power supply has been disrupted in Badkot Purola due to damage to 33-KV substations. Four electricity poles got washed away at Joshiyada in Uttarkashi. Similarly, transformers in 33-KV substations of Tathuyun in Tehri got buried in the rubble caused by the downpour. The control room at Tathuyad was flooded in the rainwater. Power supply has also been disrupted in Chamoli due to washing away of electricity poles in Bagad Deval and Narayan Bagad. Power lines got damaged at the 33-KV Badrinath Gobind Ghat feeder and Lambagad, which snapped power at Badridham and Joshimath. In Rudraprayag, the 33 KV-Rudraprayag-Ukhimath line and 33-KV Kedarnath feeder at Gupt Kashi got damaged, due to which power supply was discontinued in Kedarnath and Ukhimath. The 33-KV feeder of Rudraprayag got washed away, snapping power supply in Rudraprayag town. Rainwater also seeped into the substation at Kirti Nagar in Pauri and transformers of 250 KV got damaged. About 2-km of the 22-KV Pauri power line has been submerged in water. In Dehradun, electricity poles were washed away at Mazra Balawala in Ajabpur and various places in Niranjanpur, due to which power supply has not been normal in the Dil Badripur Kuonwala feeder. The supply has also been affected in Haridwar due to damage to power lines in the 33-KV substations at Transport Nagar and Pathri Luxor. |
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Situation grim; roads, bridges, power lines disappear
Dehradun, June 17 “We are still counting the number of casualties as these areas have been completely cut-off. The Army, the ITBP and the BSF have been deployed for the rescue and relief operations. They will help in the rescue operations already started by the district administrations,” said Bahuguna. “Ground reports have just started coming in. The situation is quite grim. Scores of people have been rendered homeless while there are pilgrims who have to be sent back home,” he added. Bahuguna said the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) had been asked to look for alternative routes so that the road connectivity could be restored. “Relief supplies can only reach the people if some routes are made functional. Further helicopters can ferry relief material only when the weather clears,” he said. He said Agriculture Minister and in-charge of Rudraprayag Harak Singh Rawat would be shortly leaving for the district to access the situation. “It is an emergency-like situation. I have cancelled my foreign trip and all minister in-charges of the districts have been asked to monitor the situation. The officials, who were on leave, have been asked to join duty immediately,” said Bahuguna. The Chief Minister added all major rivers in the state were in spate and long-term measures with generous assistance from the Union Ministry of Water Resources were required. “We will seek help from Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat for putting in place flood control measures to tackle floods,” said Bahuguna. He said families living near the Pindar river between Tharali and Karnprayag had been shifted to safer places. The Rishikesh-Yamunotri and Rishikesh-Gangotri National Highways had been damaged at some places affecting vehicular traffic. Harbhajan Singh stranded
Dehradun: Cricketer Harbhajan Singh, who, along with members of his family, has gone to pay obeisance at Hemkunt Sahib is reportedly stranded at Joshimath in Chamoli district. According to sources, Harbhajan could not reach Hemkunt Sahib due to landslides and floods. The link roads to Hemkunt Sahib are blocked due to the washing away of a number of bridges and roads. |
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Schools closed for 3 days in Kumaon
Pithoragarh, June 17 The four major rivers - Ramganga, Kali, Saryu and Sharda - are flowing 5-ft above the danger mark. As many as 1,500 persons living in the low-lying areas of Jauljibi town have been shifted to safer areas as water entered their houses today. Forty houses situated on the banks of the Kali at Dharchula have damaged. More than 10 bridges have washed away in Pithoragarh district. Landslides have blocked several roads in Almora. Ten houses collapsed in the Someshwar area. The Tanakapur-Pithoragarh highway is also blocked in Champawat. Thousands of pilgrims are stranded at the Nainital-Haldwani road. The roads links to Darma, Jawar and Baram valleys are also inaccessible due to landslides. |
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DM tells officials to rush to accident sites
Dehradun, June 17 The District Magistrate also directed them to give him a report about the damage to the embankments around rivers or houses situated nearby. He also told them to install embankments and meshed barricading wherever it was necessary around the river area without seeking any permission. The expenses would be reimbursed from funds sanctioned for natural disaster. Purushottam gave directions for a survey to estimate losses around Bindal and Rispana rivers as well. Since only one phone in the disaster control room remained engaged, the District Magistrate directed the SDO, BSNL, to install three more telephones in the control room so that the victims did not face any difficulty in contacting it for help. He also forwarded a letter to the Director of the Jollygrant Airport to extend the time limit of the watch tower from 8 am to 9 pm. He said the relief material could be send through helicopters to the victims. |
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Landslide hits bus, five killed
Pithoragarh, June 17 According to information, a roadways bus on its way from Delhi to Gangolihat in Pithoragarh was hit by a massive landslide and boulders at Dhaulchinna and fell into a deep gorge. The bus buried under the debris. Local villagers immediately started rescue operations and were joined by police and administration teams. Later five bodies were taken out of the ill-fated bus. In another incident, a bus on its way from Delhi to Dharchula was hit by landslides and skidded off the road. However, passengers were saved by the timely help by the villagers. |
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Rains exposed govt claims on disaster management: Bhatt
Dehradun, June 17 Bhatt in a statement issued here yesterday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had given Rs 600 crore after the disaster triggered by a cloudburst in Uttarkashi in 2012 but the state government failed to do any disaster management works in the vulnerable areas. He said such works wherever done have washed away in the first heavy rain in the past 48 hours in the state. Bhatt alleged that 20,000 pilgrims and tourists were stranded in Gangotri, Dharasu and Sainz in Uttarkashi district. Similarly, people were also stranded on the Char Dham Yatra route. He accused the government of being engrossed in infighting and having no focus on the problems of the people of the state. Bhatt demanded that the Congress-led government should resign on moral grounds for its failure to provide succor to the people in the time of disaster. He alleged that while the entire state had been witnessing a disaster-like situation for the past two days, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna as usual was camping in New Delhi. |
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Joshi blames Admn for deaths in house collapse
Dehradun, June 17 He said Kanhiya was breathing when the roof caved in and could have been rescued if timely help had been provided by the district administration. 108 ambulance did not reach in time and precious time was lost in arranging for an alternative vehicle. Refuting the allegations, Additional District Magistrate Jharna Kamthan said that she herself had visited the spot and found it inaccessible by ambulance. "The road leading to the house was very narrow. The ambulance could not reach there. So it had to be stationed at a distance. It is wrong to say that it did not reach in time." She said the house was built at a very risky location, exactly under a hillock with rocks hanging out of it. The accident is supposed to have been trigged by the sliding of rocks due to incessant rain. |
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Need to conserve water to tide over shortage: Experts
Dehradun, June 17 Omkar Singh, Deputy Director General (Education), ICFRE, chaired the sessions. He stressed on the importance of sustainable water conservation for future generations. He thanked all speakers for sharing their valuable experiences. Saibal Dasgupta, Deputy Director General (Extension), mentioned the importance of freshwater. He said, “Fresh water is about 2.5 per cent of the total water available on earth and out of which less than 1 per cent is used to support the ecosystem and human life. Today, water scarcity is a major problem being faced by human beings. One of the major factors behind the scarcity is unwise use of water.” Dasgupta said, “The shortage of fresh water will increase in the coming years due to climate change and its overexploitation. It is high time that strategies are developed to make our peoples free from stochastic catastrophe. He added that the people must be aware of the threat and the deliberations during the seminar would help in bringing greater awareness among the people. Dr PP Bhojvaid, Director, Forest Research Institute (FRI), spoke about the role of forests in water conservation. He said natural forests should be maintained for the ecological security of the nation. Neena Grewal, Additional Director, Uttarakhand Watershed Management Directorate, highlighted important activities conducted by the directorate under a GEF-funded project on sustainable land, water and biodiversity conservation and management for improved livelihoods in the Uttarakhand watershed sector. Prof SP Singh, Chair of Excellence, FRI Deemed University, discussed the present status of stress on water reserves in the Himalayan ecosystem. Two flyers titled “Rainwater Harvesting and Augmentation of Water Resources for Sustainable Land and Ecosystem Management” and “Rejuvenation of Gharats (Water mills) for Sustainable Land and Ecosystem Management in Uttarakhand” were released during the seminar. World Day to Combat Desertification is being observed since 1995 to promote public awareness relating to international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought and the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). This year’s slogan “Don’t let our future dry up” calls for everyone to take action to promote preparedness and resilience to water scarcity, desertification and drought. The slogan embodies the message that all are responsible for water and land conservation and sustainable use and that there are solutions to these serious natural resource challenges. |
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Sanitary workers hired by DMC to clean drains
Dehradun, June 17 The department can hire
around 100 sanitary workers for this task. Gurpal Singh said, he had constituted four teams, each comprising of 10 sanitary workers to clean
up drains. They would first clear the big drains first and then would take up smaller ones. The project would be completed in three stages. Today Sahayak Mukhya Nagar Adhikari, Vichitra Kumar was handed over the responsibility of disaster control room of the DMC. City Engineer, DMC, AP Sundriyal will take over in his absence. |
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Khanduri gets Mother Teresa
award
