|
|
|
|
|
Finally, relief arrives in Thatyur block villages of Tehri
Adventure sport rafting affected by flash floods
|
|
|
Rs 200 cr to rebuild houses damaged in disaster
Bad weather aggravates villagers’ woes
Pranav flays Rawat for not releasing funds for flood control
Inclement weather hampers cremations
IAS, PCS officers transferred
Couple ‘sells’ disputed property by forgery
|
|
Finally, relief arrives in Thatyur block villages of Tehri
Mussoorie, July 6 The joint in charge of the state Uttarakhand Congress Sanjay Kapoor left with two trucks loaded of relief material and distributed it to the affected villagers of Parodi, Chinand Gaon, Sunao, Bangar, Khera Papra, Bangsil, Bhyunsari, Mundri Kua, Aerishirs, Untad, Moldhar, Sinjal etc in Thatyur block today. Sanjay Kapoor was accompanied by the local Congress leaders of the region, who assisted him in the distribution of the relief material here. Sanjay Kapoor, while on his way to Thatyur, stopping for a brief moment in Mussoorie, spoke to the media. He said that till now the focus of the government was on rescuing the pilgrims stranded in Uttarkashi, Kedarnath and Badrinath but as the rescue work had been completed, stress was being laid to provide relief to the native villagers of the state, and he himself was overseeing the operation being conducted at the party level on the direction of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Sanjay Kapoor said that the main challenge being faced during the distribution of the relief material was the condition of the roads which were damaged at several places, making it difficult to reach the affected villages. However, the efforts were being made to send the relief material through mules and other means so that no persons were left out in the Thatyur block. Sanjay Kapoor also said that the party was planning to create a website where all the details of the relief work being done would be uploaded and the data base of all the affected villages will be stored for long-term development. He also said that the report of the relief work would be submitted to Rahul and Sonia who are keeping a close watch on the situation. The MLA, Mussoorie, Ganesh Joshi, also visited the affected villages in Thatyur block yesterday and distributed the relief material to the affected persons. Speaking to the media in Mussoorie today he said that the villages here had suffered immense damage and it would take a while to restore normalcy, but for now ration and blankets were being distributed from the BJP as an interim relief measure. Ganesh Joshi said that the construction of the road from Silla village to Sarona had been given clearance by the Ministry of Environment after which the distance from Suvakholi to Dehradun would reduce to around 30 km.He also said that Rs 10 lakh had been sanctioned for the renovation of famous Bhatta falls in Mussoorie and the concretisation of the road from Guniyal Gaon to Gulwadi village had also been sanctioned and the work would begin after the monsoon season ends here. Ganesh Joshi, speaking on the calamity in the villages of Thatyur block, said that the devastation had been unprecedented and all should work towards helping the poor villagers in this hour of
need.
However, the villagers from Parodi who have been affected the most rued the fact that due to the petty politics, the relief material meant for their village was being distributed to those villages which have not been affected. The villagers also alleged that some Congress leaders were indulging in cherry picking and were distributing the relief material to only those persons near and dear to them. “We were being summoned to come to Sirwa village to take the relief material, which is around 5 km from Parodi by the Congress Party workers involved in distributing the relief material, which was a cumbersome exercise due to unknown reasons,” said one of the affected villagers from Parodi. The minority community of the town has also come forward and is contributing towards the relief work for the victims of the natural disaster. The Congress in charge (Mussoorie Nagar Palika), Minority Cell, went to each house of R C Mission Compound, Barlowganj, Nirmala Colony, St. George’s College, Barlowganj ,Oak Grove, Senior Boys, Junior Boys and Girls School Jharipani, Tibetan Home, Jharipani, to collect the funds for those who lost everything and were very much in need of financial aid. Gavin George, Godin George, Ankush Johny, Ravinder, Rodrick Robinson, Annu Mark, Madhu Mathew, Sunita Mahesh and Mark Peter also assisted in the collection of funds, which will be sent to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
|
|
Adventure sport rafting affected by flash floods
Dehradun, July 6 The rafters lost around 20 to 30 tent accommodation each. The tents were projected as beach camps, which were equipped with proper furnishing and a kitchen. Despite massive damage to their business, the rafter community had voluntarily divided themselves with their crew for rescue work in affected villages of the state. They helped villagers in crossing the rivers by making bridges with ropes. They rescued 36 families in Chandrapuri. “Neither the state government nor the district administration informed us about the weather forecast or probable flooding in the region. When flash floods struck badly in Kedarnath and surrounding areas, the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam wing of Rishikesh informed us about the impending disaster and advised us to do the needful urgently. Had the warning not been given to us, many tourists and our employees would have been washed away in the torrential flow of the Ganges,” said Anirudh Rawat, a rafter. Another rafter, PP Saha, said it was not easy for them to wrap 20 to 30 huge tents in each camp within two to three hours. The rafters managed to bring most of the wrapped tents on the other side of the upward road. But the water reached that level too and washed away the stacked stuff. Sudhir, a local rafter said he had managed to buy two rafts with his saving of Rs 7 lakh. But in a few seconds, everything got damaged. He said he would not be able to avail himself of the loan again. He said the disaster pushed him to five years back when had he started with his business. The president of the rafting association, Kiran Bhatt, said the state government must waive tax over rafting and interest rate on loans. “This year particularly has
been bad for rafters as one after another, accidents kept happening. More than 5,000 people of different trades who were dependent on rafting have also been severely affected by the calamity. But the rafters will bounce back and resume the adventure sport,” Bhatt said. She said the state government must help in brisk marketing so that adventure lovers come during the winter season for white water rafting.
|
|
Rs 200 cr to rebuild houses damaged in disaster
D.S. Negi, Officer on Special Duty (JNNURM & RAY) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA), Government of India, said during a meeting with Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today, the Ministry of HUPA had offered an assistance of Rs 200 crore for the reconstruction of houses under RAY. “We have offered to build houses damaged in the natural calamity and construct 24 model houses in the identified places in the three affected districts of the state,” said Negi. Negi was accompanied by officers of Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (HUDCO) and Building Material and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC). The Government of India will sanction a special package of Rs 5 crore for skill development under the Swarn Jayanti Shahri Swarojgar Yojna. The ministry is also ready to provide a Rs 2,000-crore soft loan through HUDCO. A technical member from the Union Housing Ministry will be nominated in the proposed Uttarakhand Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Authority. He said all the affected municipalities and notified area councils in Uttarakhand could be covered under RAY as a special case to support the reconstruction and redevelopment of houses of the poor that have been devasted. Dr Girija Vyas, Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, has assured the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand that HUDCO would provide long-term soft loans of Rs 3,000 crore for 20 years duration for the construction of houses and reconstruction of infrastructure facilities. Under the Swarana Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY), the National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) will supplement training for livelihood, including assistance for self-employment in urban areas through the Ministry of Labour, Government of India.
|
|
Bad weather aggravates villagers’ woes
Pithoragarh, July 6 "Though the administration claims of delivering food packets but the reality is that it has not even delivered the relief near the roadsides." said UKD leader Kashi Singh Airy, who reached here after visiting disaster-hit areas of Dharchula and Munsiyari. "The villagers of New, Suva and Sobla villages in Pithoragarh, which have been washed away by rains last month, and the villagers of Bahali in Bageshwar district are still living in jungles with their children and facing the brunt of disaster as no relief has reached there till date," said the UKD leader. According to the UKD leader, these persons are further threatened by the forecasts of rains and find no way in getting the solution of the problem as the helping hand still eludes them. "The children are falling sick due to sleeping in mud grounds on mats, whereas their parents are facing problem of cooking as they have not been provided kerosene," he said. On the other side the administration has claimed that it has supplied food packets to each corner of the disaster-hit villages of the region. "We have been hindered by weather conditions in valleys. Had the weather been congenial, we would have done 18 days' work in five days," said Kumaon
Commissioner RK Sudhanshu. Worst hit are the school kids of Dharchula and Munsiyari and Kapkot region of the Pithoragarh and Bageswar districts, who are not in a position to go to schools as
the routes to their schools are still to be repaired. "At present, the schools are closed till July 9. When the schools reopen, our children will have to wait for long to reach the schools as the bridges have to be constructed on the rivers to reach the schools," said Aan Singh Rokaya, a zila panchayat member from Dharchula. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal leader demanded rehabilitation of these villagers as they will have to face same trouble in the coming years if they continue to live there. "If these villagers will not be shifted to safer places,the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal will start an agitation." said the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal leader.
|
|
Pranav flays Rawat for not releasing funds for flood control
Addressing a press conference here yesterday, he said Rawat was now proposing aid of Rs 130 crore, but the damage which could be averted had already been done. He said that Rawat, despite representing Haridwar as Member of Parliament, was not bothered about the people of this area. He praised the Chief Minister for announcing a relief of Rs 60 crore for the area. Singh said he had written several letters to Rawat since March 15, saying that these proposals had been approved by the Ganga Flood Coordination Commission and forwarded to his ministry for approval for funding. These proposals are for building a marginal bundh over Solani river from Mohammadpur Khaddar to Ayyapur for 8 km at the cost of Rs 7.73 crore. The second is for strengthening the bundh over Solani river from source point upto 8 km at a cost of Rs 5.45 crore. The third is for strengthening of the Khanpur marginal bundh towards the right side of the river at an expenditure of Rs 17.52 crore. He had sought fund under the Flood Management Scheme. He said he had also written a letter to the Chief Minister regarding plight of farmers in the Khadar area of district Haridwar. The sugarcane crop of farmers was damaged in the disaster. He said the state government was offering a compensation of only Rs 300 per bigha of sugarcane produce. He demanded that this compensation be increased to Rs 8,000.
|
|
Inclement weather hampers cremations
Dehradun, July 6 According to the Director General of Police, Satyavrat, the team was sent to dug out dead bodies and to cremate those after getting the DNA samples. He said bad weather had been hampering the cremation at Kedarnath and some of the team members had reportedly fallen sick. He said the Chief Minister had been apprised of the situation. Meanwhile, due to continuous rains in the hills, the relief operations being carried out by the helicopters have been stopped. Helicopters were being used to drop ration
and other essential commodities for the locals stranded at various places in Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts. A state government press release said the supplies to such villages were sent on mules. The state government had also alerted the
district administration about the warning of heavy rains.
|
|
IAS, PCS officers transferred
Dehradun, July 6 Further, Additional Secretary, Tourism, Sachin Kurve has been given additional charge of Additional Secretary, Disaster Management. Among the PCS officers, Narendra Singh, Deputy Director, Mandi Parishad Rudrapur has been transferredto the post of Deputy Secretary, Uttarakhand Information Commission. Additional District Magistrate, Udham Singh Nagar, Nidhi Yadav has been given additional charge of Deputy Director, Mandi Parishad
Rudrapur.
|
|
Couple ‘sells’ disputed property by forgery
Dehradun, July 6 After giving the money Rajkumar came to know that the house was a disputed property. He asked Sharmas to return the money but they refused. They allegedly threatened Rajkumar of dire consequences if he asked for the money. The police has registered a case.
Taxi driver
commits suicide
A taxi driver has committed suicide due to financial problems at Dandipur in Dehradun. According to police sources, Sanjeevan Maurya (42), a Dandipur resident, was facing financial problems for some time. He allegedly consumed a poisonous substance on Thursday night. Members of Sanjeevan’s family along with their neighbours rushed him to Max Hospital where he later died. The police also recovered a suicide note from his house in which he held himself responsible for the extreme step. The police has sent the body for a post-mortem.
Miscreants snatch woman's purse
A woman’s purse was snatched by two miscreants in old Dalanwala area late yesterday evening. According to the police sources, Kusumlata, a resident of old survey road, works as a cook with the Doon Club. She was returning home after her duties at around 11 pm. Two miscreants came on a scooty, snatched her purse and fled. Kusumlata lodged her complaint with Dalanwala Police today and disclosed that her purse contained an ATM card, a pass book and some cash. The police are further investigating the matter.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Dehradun, July 6
Dehradun, July
6