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Help from people sought for stranded pilgrims
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Heavy silt prevents power generation
Army copters take 45 tonnes relief material for villagers
Armed forces mount massive rescue, relief operations
Survivors at Doon Hospital feel lucky
MAD volunteers send 1,000 food packets to disaster-hit people
Govt to bear treatment cost of victims
Control room for power supply set up
Bahuguna, ministers face wrath of victims
Girl hurt as beam falls on her feet
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Help from people sought for stranded pilgrims
Pauri, June 20 The DM said local people could contact the teshil office, DM office and other administrative offices to lend their help for the affected
people.
HELPLINE NUMBERS
District Magistrate, Pauri: 8650922217 Sub-Divisional Magistrate,
Pauri: 8650922209 Chandresh Yadav, along with the SDM and other administrative officials, has been camping for the past five days in Srinagar Garhwal to look into the relief aid operations. Financial aid received from people and organisations would be instantly given to the workers involved in evacuating pilgrims, ferrying relief aid material,clearing roads and houses caught in the disaster. Directions have been given to all government departments to maintain a specific Natural Disaster Relief Fund' in
Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Pauri and Tehri districts so that the affected people could be provided relief aid and the data of financial aid could be maintained properly.
Subdivisional magistrate Raza Abbas said local people, traders, social organisations and NGOs were already extending their support to the administration. But more help was needed, considering the magnitude of the monsoon disaster that lashed
Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Tehri, the Badrinath-Rishikesh national highway and the shrine of
Kedarnath, in particular. Tehsildar, Srinagar, Kusum Chauhan said the water supply in Sringar and the adjacent region was being restored with tankers ferrying water for pilgrims and local people in the town round the clock. Jal Sansthan employees were also working in various teams to ensure that water supply was restored
fully. Bhaktiyana, Shakti Vihar, Alaknanda Vihar and the SSB premises are the worst affected colonies in Srinagar
Garhwal. Villagers of Uffalda have set up shelter camps for refugees at Primary School and Junior High School as well as in the Panchayat Ghar Community centre for the affected
people. Ramesh Rawat, former sarpanch of Ufalda village, said that more than 350 stranded pilgrims were given shelter in these make-shift camps. And with the opening of the Sringar-Rishikesh national highway, these pilgrims had moved forward in batches. The Pauri Nagar Palika chairman,Yashpal
Benam, told The Tribune that he had urged all the ward councilors and local representatives to donate for the relief fund. A delegation of traders led by Vijendra Singh Rawat has collected relief aid and submitted at tehsil to be provided to victims. A temporary shelter camp has also been set up at DAV School. Local hotels, guest houses and dharamshalas are also catering to the affected pilgrims, with lunch packets being distributed at Buwakhal and
Paubho-on the Pauri-Kotdwar route. Notably, more than 20,000 pilgrims have been diverted on this route from Srinagar in the past four days.
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Heavy silt prevents power generation
Pithoragarh, June 20 The powerhouse and dam of the project have come under a cover of heavy silt due to rains that lashed the area for 72 hours since June 15, project sources said. "We are losing 67 lakh units of electricity per day since June 16 and this loss might continue as the repair works cannot begin soon because the approach roads to our powerhouse and dam have been washed away,” said Sudheer Kumar
Jain, general manager of the project. He said the rains had totally destroyed eight residential blocks of the project at Tapovan near Dharchula where the Kali river swept away the buildings on June 16. “All belongings of 26 families of our employees in 56 quarters of eight blocks were swept away by the strong waves of the Kali on June 16 due to heavy rains,” said the general manager. He said an NHPC team would assess the losses. “It was the peak month for electricity generation as the water flow in the river is the maximum in these months. We have not only lost electricity generation for months, but also incurred heavy losses in our infrastructure,” said Sudheer Kumar
Jain, general manager of the project.
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Army copters take 45 tonnes relief material for villagers
Pithoragarh, June 20 Four Army helicopters took off from the Pithoragarh airstrip to survey the border area in pursuit of stranded tourists and jawans today. “We have airlifted nearly 70 tonnes of relief material to these camps set up in high altitude areas of the district where villagers are stranded in a large number,” said Dr Neeraj Khairwal, District Magistrate, Pithoragarh. He said some relief material was airlifted yesterday through a civilian helicopter, which took only one sortie due to lack of fuel. “We have demanded Army helicopters which could have airlifted the entire relief material, besides evacuated the stranded villagers and tourists yesterday. But they could reach us only today and were immediately pressed into service,” he added. The District Magistrate said some villagers and tourists evacuated by the ITBP were safe at the new Sobla camp with the ITBP and the Army while missing villagers were being searched. “Heavily damaged bridges are visible from helicopters in the Johar valley. The administration has been instructed to reach there and do a survey of the losses incurred when the weather clears,” he said. |
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Armed forces mount massive rescue, relief operations
Dehradun, June 20 The Air Force flew a recce mission over flood-affected areas in Dehradun-Uttarkashi, Kedarnath and Joshimath to track the critical areas in the region so as to assign priority to disaster relief operations and facilitate further relief operations. Approximately 1000 persons have been evacuated by helicopters which carried NDRF teams and dropped 9000 kg of relief material with the axis of IAF operations covering Phata, Guptkashi, Gaurikund and Kedarnath in Dehradun. A special task was also carried out by ALH based at Bareilly that rescued about 50 marooned villagers in the foothills using winch equipment. Four ALH helicopters of the Sarang Display Team are also deployed for relief operations. One AN-32 aircraft from Agra landed at Jolly Grant airfield yesterday carrying 10 NDRF personnel and three tonnes of load consisting of tents and other essential items. The Army put in place and commenced execution of ''Operation Surya Hope'' with the aim of providing succor, hope, humanitarian assistance and logistic needs in Badrinath, Hemkund and Kedarnath regions. In the first phase, Army teams carried out reconnaissance of the area and air evacuation of isolated pockets along Gobind Ghat-Badrinath road and Ghagriya-Hemkund track on June 19 and concentrated on isolated people at Badrinath and Ghagriya today. Focused air evacuation will then commence from both the places from June 21 onwards. In the second phase, Army will target Kedarnath region. Reconnaissance of the area has been undertaken and the troops will be concentrated at Sonprayag and Kedarnath. All isolated people will be concentrated at Sonprayag and Kedarnath on June 21 and air evacuation will commence from June 22 onwards In both Badrinath and Kedarnath sectors Army will be inducting soldiers using helicopters who will be stationed at every 2 km all along the roads to enable them to contact isolated people. The soldiers would be in place and provide leadership, succor, medical air and engineer effort, according to a press release of the Army. Army has so far inducted 12 medical teams and opened emergency medical helpline. Beside 600 stranded civilians have been given access to Army communications to facilitate them to contact their families. The Army so far has inducted 5600 personnel to carry out relief and rescue operations. Nine Army helicopters have been pressed into service and additional six helicopters would be operational shortly. Army so far evacuated 1610 civilians in Uttarkashi district and provided shelter, food and medical aid to 1300 people. In the Joshimath sector 3034 civilians have been evacuated to Joshimath so far and provided shelter, food and warm clothing to 1276 people. In Kedarnath region, Army has been able to establish contact and distribute food packets to 250 people at isolated places. As per latest reports, more than 2800 people are still stranded in Harsil-Gangotri area, and approximately 5500 in Kedarnath valley, 2500 on Hemkund axis and approximately 15,000 on Badrinath axis. Army today evacuated 1550 people from Gobind Ghat, inserted four more medical teams on Badrinath and Hemkund axis, distributed more than 5000 food packets in Gobind Ghat, Pandukeshwar, isolated locations in Badrinath and Kedarnath regions. Army doctors treated 300 people in Joshimath, 150 in Harsil, and 70 in Rudraprayag. Army teams repaired mini hydel project in Harsil and power is likely to be restored in the area soon. After clearing 8 landslide sites in the last few days, Army cleared the Narendranagar-Uttarkashi road up to 40 km south of Dharasu. Civilian helicopters yesterday evacuated 300 people from Ghagria on Hemkund axis. All of them were provided assistance by the Army. Lt Gen Anil Chait, Army Commander, Central Command, along with core team of officers are now located in the forward area of Uttarakhand to personally take stock of the situation, coordinate and ensure effective implementation of the plan with the sole aim of providing relief to the stranded population. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has diverted its resources, personnel and equipment, for projects such as Shivalik, Deepak and Hirak for clearing roads and to rescue the affected people. All bulldozers, JCBs, excavators, compressors and other platforms have been deployed for the rescue and restoration work. |
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Survivors at Doon Hospital feel lucky
Dehradun, June 20 While the couple managed to visit the Yamnotri shrine, their yatra was disrupted in Gangotri Dham. But the couple thank their stars for making good their escape from Uttarkashi where they were airlifted by a helicopter after Mangu Ram complained of high blood pressure. “We managed to catch the attention of the officials who brought us to Dehradun. My son is still in Uttarkashi. And we are safe in Dehradun,” said Padma Devi. Mangu Ram, who is convalescing in Doon Hospital, said, “We had started the yatra with the intention of paying obeisance at the Kedar Dham. But little did we know that it would end abruptly in this fashion. We were comfortably sitting in our hotel room on Sunday, when there was this noise of gushing water. And soon we could see the water reaching our window and before we could understand there was noise and people began rushing outside,” said Mangu Ram. Tears welled up in the eyes of Raj Kishore Trivedi as he recounted his tale of loss and sorrow. Not long ago, he was the proud owner of a photography studio in Kedarnath, but all that is thing of the past now. “The cloudburst on Sunday resulted in a flash flood. The waters came flooding from the nearby Wasu ki Tal and Gandhi Sarovar, completely submerging the Kedarnath Dham and my studio. I am lucky to be alive. Last year too, the rain-related disaster in Ukhimath had resulted in several deaths. We had barely recovered and now this tragedy has left us all battered and helpless,” he said. Raj Kishore said the death toll in Kedarnath was expected to be very high as the administration had not yet begun clearing bodies buried in the debris. In the winter months, his family migrates to the nearby Ukhimath and had come down to Kedarnath Dham for the Char Dham yatra. |
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MAD volunteers send 1,000 food packets to disaster-hit people
Dehradun, June 20 MAD volunteers handed over the packets to the Secretary for Youth Welfare Ajai Kumar Pradyot. These food packets will be distributed in the flood-hit areas via helicopter on Friday. “Many people on facebook joined us through the Dehradun facebook page. Some individuals made outstanding contributions of many packets like Shubham, Naveen, ONGC officers, Brightlands School teachers like Chhavi Mam, Ritu Mam and Deepali Mam. Without them, the figure 1000 would have remained a dream,” remarked Aakash Bhatia. A dedicated team of MAD volunteers went door to door for the collection and explored all possible avenues. Arnav Ramola, Sarang Godbole, Saksham Pradyot, Snigdha Kuriyal were all making special efforts to ensure the packets were made. Meanwhile, Abhijay Negi of MAD, who is currently in Nainital, is all set to take up the case of floods with the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand. “Our second instalment will to be sent on Sunday. We have appealed to the people for help. Please deposit your packs at Nanny's bakery or call Kartikeya Misra at 9897562613 to do your bit. You may save lives,” remarked Negi. |
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Govt to bear treatment cost of victims
Dehradun, June 20 Chairing a meeting yesterday, the minister said the government would bear the expenses of all treatment given to the patients. "We will bear the expenses even if the patients undergo treatment at Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust (HIHT), CMI, Synergie, Doon Hospital and Coronation,” said the minister. He also directed the chief medical officers to ensure that medicines were in adequate supply and teams of doctors in readiness at Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi and
Chamoli. |
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Control room for power supply set up
Dehradun, June 20 Yadav said with the control room officials would be able to receive complaints regarding damage to power infrastructure at one single place and pass on the information to the respective sub-stations in various parts of the state for further action.
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Bahuguna, ministers face wrath of victims
Dehradun, June 20 As
Bahuguna, along with his Cabinet colleagues, landed at Gulabrai, a large number of people gathered at the helipad and started raising slogans against the Chief Minister and the state government. The locals alleged that the government machinery had miserably failed to provide relief to the people affected by the natural disaster. The protesters said there was no one to look after those who had been rendered homeless and lost were without food for the past five days. |
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Girl hurt as beam falls on her feet
Mussoorie, June 20 The injured Muskan aged 13, daughter of Abdul Salam, who is presently working in Dubai, was rushed to the community hospital from where she was referred to Indresh Hospital, Dehradun, as she had incurred multiple fractures on her feet. The medical staff at Indresh Hospital has informed the family members that both feet of the girl have been damaged extensively and cannot be operated due to excessive flow of blood. The medical staff has also not ruled out the possibility of the girl losing both legs, said the family members. The father of the injured girl, informing the media on phone from Dubai, blamed the Landour Cantonment Board officials for the neglect shown to his complaint filed a few months back where he had cited the fact that the owner of the house on the first floor had laid down a concrete ceiling over the old concrete beam of his house despite his objections. The new concrete ceiling could not sustain the pressure of the additional concrete roof, thus resulting in the caving of the portion of the concrete beam that fell on his daughter, injuring her grievously. Abdul Salam further said that the brother-in-law of the owner Satey Singh Rana had rented the upper floor after laying down the concrete ceiling in place of the tin roof that existed earlier in connivance with Landour Cantt Board officials.The girl is now on the verge of losing her both limbs if not operated on time. Abdul Salam further said that his father was ailing and his wife would have to attend to the injured girl as he himself was serving in Dubai at the moment. Landour Cantonment officials said that they would initiate action after receiving a written complaint. The residents of the area said under anonymity that illegal construction was rampant inside the enclave. |
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The district administration today sent by an Army helicopter over 45 tonnes of relief material to about 3,000 stranded villagers in remote areas of
Sobla, Tejam, Jauljibi and Baram where relief camps had been set up. Six American and some Indian tourists were also evacuated from the Burfu camp of the ITBP in the Johar valley of Munsiyari subdivision.
Keen to fulfil their wish of undertaking the Char Dham yatra in their lifetime, Mangu Ram and his wife Padma left Surat in the middle of June, but little did they know that they would be surrounded by water all round in a hotel room of
Gangotri.
