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HIMALAYAN TSUNAMI
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Pilot-couples of the IAF rescue team. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir
Armymen trek miles to feed flood-hit pilgrims
New Himalayan lakes pose strategic threat
The commander who always returned the compliment
Rahul meets flood-hit, promises all help
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi at Guptkashi on Tuesday. A Tribune photograph
Maharashtra plans tough laws to protect schoolchildren
Chiranjeevi’s son ‘involved’ in street brawl
Maharashtra chemists call off agitation 2 Naxal leaders convicted 11 held in bank cheating case
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Rescue mission Army laying steel bridge across Alaknanda to evacuate people from Badrinath Ajay Banerjee/TNS
Gauchar/Guptkashi, June 25 Mass cremations of the recovered bodies commenced on the worst affected Gaurikund-Kedarnath axis today. Despite rain, Army’s special forces continued to search for survivors in the mountain slopes of the Gaurikund-Kedarnath axis. “Now, there is no hope of finding any survivors in the zone our troopers are working,” a senior functionary of the Para Brigade told The Tribune. Heavy rain hampered the rescue operations this morning and IAF and Army Aviation helicopters could undertake flights only between 12.30 and 2.30 pm. Though the effort resumed around 5 pm, not many sorties could be undertaken thereafter. The IAF and Army Aviation helicopters today undertook their last rescue sorties for the Gaurikund-Kedranath axis to pick up survivors and some sadhus who had earlier wanted to stay back at the devastated temple site. “The temple structure is intact,” officials claimed. DIG of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Amit Prasad said, “We are de-inducting our men from the Kedarnath area.” The General Officer Commanding of Dehradun visited the site to verify rumours that some survivors were still stranded in the mountains. “People are confusing various operations. The operation at Kedarnath aimed at searching for survivors, who were without shelter, water and food. However, on the Badrinath axis, the pilgrims were just cut off from Joshimath due to the road getting washed away, but they have proper shelter, food and water supplies,” said any Army official. The last part of the operations aims at ensuing proper disposal of the bodies. The state has arranged for DNA sampling to ensure identification of the dead. Today, three Mi-17 heavy-lift helicopters, carried wood and other material for mass cremations and dropped these at various sites between Gaurikund and Kedarnath. The mass cremations commenced with full religious rites with pandits flown in along with teams of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF). At the Badrinath axis, Armymen have commenced construction of a steel footbridge across the Alaknanda at Lambagar in Badrinath Valley. The step aims at speeding up evacuation of stranded pilgrims.
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‘Flying couples’ maintain calm, save lives in tough terrain
Gauchar, June 25 Both the women pilots fly the smaller single-engines Cheetah/Cheetak while the men are pilots on the twin-engine Mi-17. In the tense and sensitive operations, they keep their cool and fly sorties rescuing the injured or dropping supplies, possibly forgetting that their own spouses are also on the same operations. The couples go on about their work in such a manner that even the watchful eyes of a bunch of reporters trawling the area could not pick their respective marital unions. As it was raining today and the pilots were relatively free, the media accidentally discovered the ‘flying couples’ in pilots’ dungarees going on about their work when requests started pouring in for pictures of the couples. “Great soft story,” a senior journalist said as he tried to convince an IAF official. Squadron Leader SK Pradhan, who hailed from Bhubaneshwar, told to the Tribune that his wife Squadron Leader Kushboo Gupta “is a better pilot than me”. The other couple is Squadron Leader Vikram Thiagaraman and his wife Flight Lieutenant Tanya Srinivas married for a year and posted on separate airbases -- some 800 km apart. “My wife will join me soon in the northern part of the country,” Squadron Leader Thiagaraman said. So how do these couples get over the anxiety about the safety of their working spouses? “We are imparted training not to get emotionally attached,” explains Squadron Leader Kushboo. Squadron leader Thiagaraman, who hails from Chennai, explained how he keeps his cool: “All IAF pilots can fly well. Just do not mix personal and professional life.”
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Armymen trek miles to feed flood-hit pilgrims
Harsil (Uttarakhand), June 25 A cloudburst at Dharali (located between Harsil and Gangotri) on the night of June 16 blocked a 75-km-long road from Gangotri to Uttarakashi. This left about 5,000 persons stranded in Gangotri. The next morning, the Army launched rescue operations at Dharali and Jhalla, located 6 km south of Harsil. Five persons were reportedly killed in the Harsil sector, said the Army. Presently, about 1,500 have been evacuated by air from Harsil and close to 1,000 have gone on foot to Uttarkashi. “On reaching Gangotri, we saw vehicles covered in mud. Small cars were completely submerged in it. There was a huge landslide there. We had to break the windshields of cars to get people out,” said a jawan who was part of the rescue operations. With no roads left, the pilgrims were brought on foot to the Army camp. The camp has a capacity of only 200 persons. The Army set up additional barracks and canteens to accommodate 2,000 flood victims. About 2,000 more victims were lodged at the Harsil Interschool located near the camp. “As people kept coming, we fell short of space. They were then lodged at Bageri, a village located in Harsil,” said an Army officer who is part of the rescue operation. “At the camp, we only store food for about 200 Army personnel. Due to the rush, we soon started falling short of food. So, we began eating only two meals a day. “We contacted the civil administration and requested them for rations. Our men had to trek on foot tracks - as the roads had been washed away - to Jhalla from where they brought back about two tonnes of rice and other food products in their backpacks. “We have started receiving rations only the past two days. These are being airlifted to us,” said the Army officer. The Army in Harsil started taking victims to Uttarakashi by helicopters on June 19. But with crowds - each one wanting to be evacuated first - thronging the helipad, chaos ensued. “People would break barriers leading to stampedes. We discussed the problem with the pilgrims and started a token system,” he said. The officer said youngsters were motivated to walk down to Uttarakashi from Harsil. “But when the victims who were travelling on foot saw the air evacuations, they returned to the Harsil camp. At present, 1,200 persons are still stuck at the camp and the numbers are not reducing due to this mentality,” said the officer.
Milk of human kindness
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New Himalayan lakes pose strategic threat
Chandigarh, June 25 While dozens of lakes have come up over the past decade in high-altitude areas, both in the western as well as north-eastern Himalayas, the Lhonak glacial lake in north Sikkim close to the India-China border has become the latest cause for concern. Covering over 3 sq km, its surface area has more than doubled over the past few years and a water channel has erupted from its southern walls. The site was inspected a month ago by a team comprising representatives from various Defence and civilian agencies. Scientists associated with the study of glaciers and snow say glacial lakes exert a lot of hydrostatic pressure on the “morainic” walls surrounding it, which are intrinsically weak and prone to eruption or demolition. “Morainic” walls are fragile barriers created by debris and slush left behind by a receding glacier. With colossal amounts of water accumulating in such lakes over the years, an eruption, natural or man-made, can cause heavy flooding in lower areas, washing away roads or habitations and causing general disruption of communication lines and day-to-day activity. Scientists say the size and water content of some of the lakes have assumed “alarming proportions” requiring urgent steps to carry out controlled breeches to prevent any calamity. In 2003, a landslide had blocked the flow of the Paree Chu rivulet in Tibet, resulting in the formation of a huge lake near the border with Himachal Pradesh. A recent Chinese study has claimed that the number of glacial lakes in the Himalayas has reduced in recent years, but their total area has increased. The study suggests that 1,680 glacial lakes exist on the Chinese side of the Himalayas, covering an area of 215 sq km. This is about 60 sq km more than three decades ago. The study states that while 294 lakes disappeared over the past 30 years, 224 new ones were formed. Global warming is the prime reason for receding glaciers and subsequent lake formation from the melt-off. It is an established fact that glaciers in the Himalayas, especially in the Sutlej basin, half of which lies in Tibet, and the Beas basin are receding at a rate higher than the global average. In river basins of the
Sutlej, Beas and Chenab, the inflow from glaciers is constantly reducing despite an increase in temperature and precipitation levels remaining about the same over the past decades. Loss of ice cover has also exposed more areas to solar radiation, which now gets absorbed by the land rather than being reflected back by the snow. The absorption of radiation has led to rise in temperature. Consequently, some pockets are seeing vegetation come up. While vegetation may be good in the localised context, enabling cultivation and enhancing oxygen levels, the overall phenomenon of ice melt can have adverse effects globally, say scientists.
Impending danger
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The commander who always returned the compliment
Gauchar, June 25 Castellino, who was piloting the big chopper in the Garhwal hills to rescue people, looked tired but enthusiastic yesterday when he was greeted at the ITBP camp where he was staying with one of his pilots. Tall and dark, Castellino was happy that he was getting to wear his dark green jumpsuit for a big operation to "bring in more and more live people" stranded and battered by heavy rains and flash floods for over a
week. Castellino was even complimented for his good work by ITBP DIG Amit Prasad while he was having dinner at the officers' mess.
"Arey sir aapke ladke bhee bahut zabardast kaam kar rahein haiin (Sir, your boys too are doing a great job)," he replied to the ITBP commander. With his comment, he proved his friends correct who said he always used to return a compliment. This is the first crash of the newly inducted Mi-17 V5. The flying machine which went down belonged to 157 Helicopter Base in
Barrackpore, West Bengal. — PTI
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Rahul meets flood-hit, promises all help
Dehradun, June 25 He said all efforts would be made to recover bodies buried under debris in the Kedarnath area. According to party sources, he wanted to go to
Kedarnath, but could not do so due to inclement weather. He returned to Gauchar in the afternoon.
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Maharashtra plans tough laws to protect schoolchildren
Mumbai, June 25 The state government has put up out its draft child policy which seeks to expand the provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act enacted by the Central government. “We are seeking comments from teachers, parents, educationists and members of the public,” Women and Child Development Minister Varsha Gaikwad said. Should the law be enacted as envisaged by the government, teachers who inflict corporal punishment on students would be liable for prosecution, including jail and fine. At present, complaints of assault on children are filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code by police acting on complaints of parents. The proposed law expands the ambit of child abuse to include physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, economical and social exploitation. The draft law also has special provisions to ensure that children from economically and socially backward classes are not discriminated against in the use of toilets, drinking water, playground, availing of mid-day meals, etc. These students will also not be made to clean the school premises or toilets. The law also expands the ambit of several other legal provisions pertaining to sale and distribution of nicotine and addictive substances to children. For instance, sale or distribution of tobacco products to children even outside school premises would be a violation of the proposed child act. The state government also plans to bring in the Child Labour Act under the provisions of the law.
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Chiranjeevi’s son ‘involved’ in street brawl
Hyderabad, June 25 The altercation took place in the middle of the busy road when the vehicle Teja was travelling in tried to overtake another car belonging to the techies, Phanish and Kalyan. When the local media played up the incident, the actor maintained he was not present at the place of the incident. He even went on to blame the media for “morphing” the pictures to show him in poor light. However, the police report pointed out that Teja stood there watching his guards thrash the techies, and that the photographic evidence was not morphed, as alleged by the actor. The two software engineers complained that Teja abused and ordered his bodyguards to beat them up. After the incident, the engineers went to the Banjara Hills police station and lodged a complaint. However, they later withdrew the complaint. Teja said it was the techies who misbehaved with him and later apologised. Subsequently, a local lawyer, Salim, filed a petition before the Human Rights Commission, seeking punishment for the erring hero.
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Dehradun, June 25
