Century-old prayers at Kedarnath disrupted
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 22
Prayers and rituals at the Kedarnath temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Rudraprayag district during the Char Dham yatra were never interrupted for more than 100 years but these were discontinued after flash floods devastated the temple area.

Though the ancient temple lies intact, bodies of dead pilgrims, who had sought shelter in the vicinity of the temple, have not been removed so far. The political leadership has started talks with the religious heads of the temple to remove them.

“We will hold consultations with the Shankaracharya and the temple committee members for restating rituals and prayers at the Kedarnath temple. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) too will be asked to assess the damage,” said Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.

Efforts were started at the political level yesterday when the Rawal of the Kedarnath temple, Bhima Shankar Lingacharya, was taken to Rudraprayag and discussions were held with him about the future course of action. “For all intent and purposes the Char Dham Yatra has ended abruptly and the religious heads have to decide whether the ‘Doli’ of Panch Kedar should be carried to some other place of worship,” said Shaila Rani Rawat, MLA, Rudraprayag.

According to the traditions followed at the Kedarnath dham, during the winter sojourn the ‘Doli’ of Panch Kedar that also contains an image of Lord Kedarnath is carried to the Omkeshwar temple at Ukhimath and the portals of the Kedarnath shrine are closed to the public. But with the opening of the portals of the temple during the summer, the ‘Doli’ of Panch Kedar is again brought back to the temple.

“Rituals like the lightning of the Akhand Jyoti, Rudraabhishekh, Sayam Aarti are done by the temple priests. In the last 100 years this tradition was faithfully followed until now,” said Rawat.

Interestingly, the Rawals of the Kedarnath temple belonging to the Veerassahiva community from Karnataka do not perform the pooja directly. The assistant of the Rawals on his instructions performs the pooja. However, at the Badrinath temple the pooja is performed by the Rawal or the head priest.

UTC deploys 200 buses, 300 taxis to ferry victims
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 22
Uttarakhand Secretary for Transport Uma Kant Panwar today said that the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC) had deployed around 200 private buses and 300 small private taxis for ferrying stranded pilgrims in disaster-hit Uttarakhand.

“Around 100 buses would be pressed into service again tomorrow for ferrying the tourists and pilgrims,” said Uma Kant Panwar.

These buses and taxis are proving to be a big help in ferrying stranded pilgrims who were today moved from Ghangariya and other places by road.

Further, around seven trucks carrying relief material were also sent from Dehradun .

Taxi operators offer help

Satpal Maharaj, Lok Sabha MP from Pauri Garhwal, has said the Swarag Ashram Laxman Jhoola Taxi Operators Union had decided to send 150 taxis to the disaster-affected areas to bring back stranded pilgrims and tourists. Maharaj informed that Devender Singh Rana, president of taxi union, said 150 maxi cabs would be sent as a humanitarian gesture.

Nepalese officials arrive in Doon
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 22
Officials of the Nepalese Embassy arrived in Dehradun to look for several pilgrims and workers who have been missing since the floods struck Uttarakhand.

Than Prasad Sharma, Third Secretary (Consular) of Embassy of Nepal, who was in Dehradun today, said they had been running from pillar to post to look for the stranded pilgrims and workers in the absence of centralised information.

''Our workers are employed as daily wagers with power project companies and construction companies. We have not received any help in tracing them,'' Than Prasad Sharma said.

Than Prasad Sharma said pilgrims usually hired buses and came in groups; as such it was difficult to ascertain their numbers. 

Gujarat CM Modi extends all help to Uttarakhand
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, June 22
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi after taking an aerial survey of the natural disaster-hit regions of Garhwal has termed the situation as alarming. He extended help to Uttarakhand government.

Narendra Modi, who arrived at Shanti Kunj Gayatri Peeth in Haridwar today in the evening, while drawing his experience from aerial visuals said apart from pilgrims, local people of the affected region were also suffering a lot.

He pointed that local residents had been offering help to the stranded pilgrims, but now they too were running out of ration and courage, owing to the severe impact of the natural calamity.

Saluting the local people of the hill state for helping the affected pilgrims despite suffering a lot, Modi said relief aid should be distributed keep in mind the local people.

Referring to his previous year's visit to Pauri Garhwal,Tehri,Uttarkashi ,Rudraprayag and Chamoli as part of religious and political visits, Modi said rescue operations needed to be increased as still thousands were stranded in various parts of the region.

"It's quite hard to imagine that many are braving the odds without sufficient food and water for the past six to seven days. Gujarat government is with the people of Uttarakhand and the pilgrims affected for the past week," said Modi.

Modi also appreciated the relief aid being provided by 1500 Akhil Bharatiya Gayatri Parivar and Shantikunj volunteers and the Rs 1 crore worth of food and other essential commodities sent by the organisation to the disaster-hit areas.

Residents, admn need to cooperate to restore Nainital's beauty: Qureshi
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 22
Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi has said residents of Nainital will have to cooperate with the district administration to restore the beauty and glory of the city.

“Responsible residents must constitute a committee and monitor activities which are harming the existence of the city,” said the Governor at a meeting held last evening with residents and district administration officials at Raj Bhavan in Nainital.

He said he was concerned about the dangers lurking over the city. He added illegal constructions in the green belt and on ‘nullahs’ must be demolished immediately.

The meeting, held at the Governor’s initiative, discussed issues like pollution, garbage, illegal construction and uncontrolled traffic. Representatives of various organisations, enlightened residents and senior administration officials were invited to the meeting so that an effective action plan could be prepared to deal with these pressures.

Many important suggestions were given at the meeting. The drying up of natural water sources due to illegal constructions in the catchment area of the lake, improvement needed in the drainage system, traffic and parking problems and the treatment of the Balia nullah, which is a big threat to the city, were discussed.

The Governor obtained information about the implementation of decisions taken at the meeting held last year. District Magistrate, Nainital, AS Hayanki said efforts were being made to control traffic, check construction, strengthen Nagar Palika, clean the lake, revive Sukhatal and for the treatment of the Balia nullah.

The meeting agreed that the Nagar Palika should be strengthened. It was opined that the Lake Development Authority had not succeeded in achieving its objectives. The suggestions given were about the reconstitution of the Hill Site Safety Committee, revival of Sukhatal, banning of new constructions in the green belt and other parts of the city, constitution of a monitoring committee for keeping an eye on illegal constructions in the garb of renovation and repair work and preparing an action plan for parking arrangements. The residents said the city could not take any more pressure now.

MLA Sarita Arya, former MP MS Pal, historian Prof Ajay Rawat, Padmashri Ranjit Bhargava, Nagar Palika chairman Shyam Narayan, Vyapar Mandal president GC Joshi, DSA secretary GP Sah, Madhavanand, Praveen Sharma, Marut Sah, Sudarshan Sah, the SSP, Secretary of the Lake Development Authority and forester GS Pandey were present at the meeting. A two-minute silence was observed for the disaster affected people.

Doon admn functioning comes to a standstill
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 22
The work in the entire district administration has come to a standstill.

Both District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam and Additional District Magistrate (Revenue) Jharna Kamthan have been stationed at Jolly Grant Airport, while ADM (E) Harak Singh Rawat has been sent to Rudraprayag.

Purushottam deputed Secretary, Mussoorrie, Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), Banshi Dhar Tiwari, as in charge in place of Rawat.

Similarly, Vice-Chairman, MDDA, RM Sundaram, too, has been sent to Guptkashi to inspect the relief work. The officials of other departments such as tourism, too, have been deputed on disaster-stricken places.

With no officials of the district administration sitting in the office throughout the day, the premises remained vacant with some people came to enquire about the relief work.

Social worker Jagmohan Mehndiratta complained that he arranged a truck-load full of relief material but the authorities present on Jolly Grant Airport refused to take. He was anguished that if people or NGOs wanted to provide help, these kinds of problems were coming in their way. Purushottam clarified that all the relief material must be sent through district administration so that it could be sent without any hurdle or communication gap.

Meanwhile, officials in Dehradun Municipal Corporation who remained absorbed in attending meetings at Rajpur office over issues other than disaster too were seen in office today.

Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Ashok Kumar said he had sent teams to clear drains and garbage from the roads in the city. He said the teams were also engaged in removing encroachments over the drains as well. However, that drive was slower as most of them were engaged in cleaning activity.

121 villages in Pithoragarh hit by flash floods caused by heavy rains
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, June 22
The district disaster management authorities have revealed the latest figure of losses due to the rain fury. They said 121 villages had been affected by the disaster in the district.

“The most affected areas are Malla, Talla and Darma villages and the banks of the Gori and the Kali and the Johar valley where 137 houses and 45 roads, besides more than 12 bridges have been damaged,” said the district information officer.