The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	RECONNECTING UTTARAKHAND BRO gets Rs 300 cr to repair roads washed away by floods Forest clearance for up to 5 hectares waived Tribune News Service Dehradun, July 14 A sum of Rs 300 crore has been released to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for the repair and rebuilding of damaged roads in Uttarakhand following the natural disaster by the state government. Moreover, for re-building these damaged roads, there would be no requirement to take forest clearance from the Forest Department for up to five hectares of forest land. The nodal officer of the Union Environment Ministry would sit at Dehradun for speedy clearance of these cases. This was informed by Uttarakhand Disaster Management Minister and Congress chief Yashpal Arya after an all-party meeting organised by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna here today. Senior leaders of Congress, BJP, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) and Left parties participated in the meeting held to discuss the relief and rehabilitation work being done in the state after the natural disaster of June, 2013. Those who took part in the meeting included Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, former chief ministers B.C.Khanduri, Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Ajay Bhatt, Pradeep Tamta, Tarun Vijay and Mahendra Singh Mahra, BJP state president Teerath Singh Rawat, Haridass of the BSP, Vinod Bharatwal of the Samajwadi Party and Samar Bhandari of the CPI. Leaders of the Opposition parties criticised the government for slackness in the distribution of relief material and rehabilitation efforts. Bahuguna asked the Opposition leaders to give their suggestions on relief and rehabilitation efforts. He said the state government had worked earnestly to rescue more than the one lakh stranded pilgrims with the help of the Army, Air Force and para-military forces. He further said all efforts were being done to restore the damaged roads, power lines and water supply schemes. He said relaxation in the relief norms had been made. The Chief Minister informed that a team of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) had been sent and it had informed that there was no danger from the Santopanth glacier and a watch was being kept. Arya told mediapersons that a proposal to get financial help from the Central Government would be sent for strengthening river banks. He said all suggestions given by the leaders would be considered.
	Chain pulley across Kali for entry of Nepalese sought Our Correspondent Pithoragarh, July 14 Residents of Jauljibi Market, situated by the Kali river on the Indo-Nepal border, 90 km from the district headquarters, have demanded immediate installation of a chain pulley across the Kali to facilitate daily entry of clients from Nepal as the market has gone dead in the absence of these clients since the bridge across the river was washed away by the strong currents of the swollen river on June 17 this year. “More than 80 per cent shopkeepers of the Jauljibi Market depended on clients from the villages of Nepal, across the Kali. Since the bridge was broken and washed away by the river on June 17, the 100-odd shopkeepers are facing a crisis of existence,” said Leela Bangyal, a social worker in the Jauljibi area. Bangyal said besides the daily base clients from Nepal, more than 300 students also used to study in the educational institutions of India -- from primary school at Jauljibi to PG College in Pithoragarh town. “Some of these students who used to visit their homes on a weekly basis to bring goods from their homes are now crossing 30-km span via Baluakot Bridge and coming on foot from there,” said Bangyal. He said that besides the around 100 shopkeepers of Jauljibi town and over two dozen villages of the area, over 35 villages of Nepal depend totally on the market. “As the construction of concrete or suspension bridge over the river will take time, the residents cannot wait till then and are demanding the erection of a chain pulley, for the local business could be started to save the town from being deserted,” said Leela Bangyal.
	Uttarakhand the challenge ahead The Tribune series on what needs to be done to rebuild state Separate policy to deal with Himalayas needed: Bahuguna SMA Kazmi Tribune News Service Dehradun, July 14 Sunder Lal Bahuguna, a Padma Vibhushan awardee and a pioneer of the Chipko Movement, is one of the seniormost activists in the country who has devoted his life for the protection of forests, propagating conservation efforts and fighting against any attempt to denude the Himalayas of the forest cover. The recent disaster in Uttarakhand has again brought to focus the issues which Sunder Lal Bahuguna has been propagating for the past four decades. He is perturbed by the large-scale death and destruction caused by the flash floods in the state last month. "The Himalayas are like a young child: when scolded, it starts crying bitterly," he said at the outset on his reaction to the Himalayan tragedy. Bahuguna said that for the past more than 40 years, he has been trying to reason with every authority in the state or at the central government level to deal with the Himalayas differently. "The mad race of development without any concern for the fragility of the Himalayas and building bigger projects which Himalayas cannot sustain would only bring destruction and misery to the people," he commented. A committed environmentalist and Gandhian, Bahuguna fought single-handedly against the construction of the Tehri hydro-electric project on the Bhagirathi and was also jailed several times. After the Chipko Movement of the seventies, Bahuguna opposed the construction of bigger dams in the Himalayas and of the Tehri Dam. He walked the entire length and breadth of Himalayas on foot from Kashmir to Kohima from 1981 to 83 to highlight the plight of the Himalayas. In 1991, he underwent another padyatra from Ganga Sagar to Gaumukh to highlight the issue of dangers of bigger projects in the Himalayas. Asked about the disaster and the steps needed to be taken, Bahuguna said he would like to go back to pre-Independence era when the British indulged in wanton cutting of forests to meet their need of wood for various purposes and encouraged the planting of pine trees in the Himalayas without bothering about its ill-effects. "It was like 'farming of trees' on the slopes of the Himalayas. Massive forest fires and the drying of water sources are to be blamed on these species, besides other reasons in the hills," he said. Bahuguna said he had met almost all Prime Ministers of the country, demanding a separate policy that would deal with the Himalayas exclusively, but to no avail. "We need to have a different policy and planning for the entire Himalayan region. The Himalayas cannot take bigger projects and the ill-effects of such projects and long tunnels in the hills are seen. The entire land use pattern of the Himalayas needs to be changed. We are dealing with the Himalayas as if we are dealing with any other geographic location, which is wrong," he commented. He was of the view that horticulture should be the mainstay of the economy of the Himalayas with domination of nut trees. On the large-scale destruction caused by frequent landslides, Bahuguna said big hydro-electric projects and unbridled road construction activity with the use of dynamites has shaken the fragile ecology of the region. "There should be a complete ban on road construction activity and ropeways should be developed as a mode of transportation of men and goods," he opined. He said roads have brought destruction in the hills and the emission of carbon dioxide has increased with people moving up and down in their vehicles in every place, raising the overall temperatures and resulting in the melting of the glaciers and changing weather patterns. The policy planners at the Centre and the respective state governments of the Himalayan states should come forward to effectively plan for the development of the Himalayas. "The lopsided development in the Himalayan region has left denuded hills. Also, large-scale migrations from Uttarakhand have been going on unabated which is also not conducive for the security of the country in a border state," he added. "We should have an economy that can sustain the local population and give employment to the locals without disturbing the flora and fauna of the Himalayas," said Bahuguna. Bahuguna felt that there should be an effective check on the cutting of trees. "There should be alternatives to look after the fuel needs of the people living in the vicinity of the forests and the need for wood-based products in the towns and cities of the country. In the Himalayas, efforts should be to take water to the top of the hills, plant mixed fruit trees on the slopes and make electricity in the valleys. Only this approach would save the people of the Himalayas as they would produce fruits, preserve water and produce electricity to run their horticulture-based units. This would also help save the water and preserve the Himalayas from denudation," he said. WHAT TO DO Stop all road construction in the Himalayas Stop big projects, including hydro-electric ones Start ropeways for the transportation of men and material Make a separate policy for the Himalayas Plant fruit trees on the slopes of hills to sustain local population Horticulture should be the mainstay of economy
	Kedarnath tragedy should be a wake-up call: Joshi Tribune News Service Dehradun, July 14 Padamshree Dr Anil Joshi has termed Kedarnath catastrophe as a warning for the humankind which was taking the nature for granted. Addressing a day-long workshop "Uttarakhand 2013 Disaster Learnings : Way ahead" organised by Indian Media Centre in Dehradun today, Padamshree Dr Anil Joshi said one needs to understand the laws of nature. “We are playing with nature and the nature along with God retaliated, this time”, he said referring to Kedarnath tragedy. He reminded that Uttarakhand Himalayas are a Devbhumi and was not meant for five-star culture. Dr Joshi said it was unfortunate that most of the policy making decision related to environment were taken in cities and not in villages, whereas the latter were close to the nature. He said, while residents of urban areas manage to get water connections by mounting pressure on government, voice of those in villages, who cry for drying of the natural water resources in the hills, was least heard. He said the first 48-hour of the disaster were very crucial and it was an established fact that rescue operations never begins within these 48 hours, and thus only a common man in the village, is the first to help the victims. He stressed, on training and equipping the common man, to meet the natural disaster challenges. The Uttarakhand Council of Science and Technology’s Director General, Dr Rajendra Dobhal, emphasised on full proof mitigation measures to minimise human causalities. He underlined the need of having effective early warning system to meet the natural disaster challenges like excessive rains and cloudburst. He said natural disasters do take place in European countries, but human casualties there are minimum. He also expressed fear psychosis being created for the Uttarakhand in the aftermath of Kedranath tragedy. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited’s Head of Corporate Communication Madhulika Burman said ONGC had always been at forefront in providing relief in cases of natural disaster, across the country. She said even in case of Uttarakhand, ONGC provided its chopper for relief and rescue operations and also sent a team of doctors to the affected areas. She said ONGC had also promised to provide 900 solar lanterns to villages. Pankaj Gupta from Industries Association of Uttarakhand said rapid industrial progress in the state in the recent past had stopped migration from hills to an extent, but the rain disaster will yet again force people to move out from the hills. Earlier, Chairman Indian Media Centre (IMC) Uttarakhand Chaptor Anoop Nautiyal welcomed the speakers. He referred to the aims and activities of India Media Centre in Uttarakhand. Organising Secretary IMC Anil Sati, Senior Vice-Chairman IMC RBS Rawat, Coordinator IMC Mangesh Kumar and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.
	Dehradun diary Disaster leaves a trail of destruction in state The natural disaster that struck Uttarakhand recently has paralysed life in various areas of the state, particularly the worst-hit districts of Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi in Garhwal and Pithoragarh of Kumaon. Most of the villages in the higher valleys of these districts are cut off as roads have been damaged and bridges washed away. Despite claims by the state government that most of the roads have been repaired, people in the high mountainous region are living a tough life and finding it difficult to survive. Residents of several villages that have been completely cut off due to the cutting of roads, bridges and landslides have to walk in the dangerous forest areas for miles to reach block or district headquarters to get ration. With nearly a month after the disaster, villagers are running around to get necessary ration to survive. The state machinery has failed to reach out to these villages despite the fact that huge quantities of relief material have been dispatched by the Uttarakhand Government, voluntary organisations and various state governments. The victims of the natural calamity are facing problems of food, shelter, schooling for their children and health-related problems. The death and destruction in the Kedarnath valley has led to stench pervading the entire valley and people are suffering from water-borne diseases. A large number of doctors from the Centre and the state government have been deputed to look after the health needs of the local population but still the connectivity with cut off villages remain the biggest hurdle in reaching out to the affected population. Some of the voluntary groups of doctors, particularly of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI), have spread out in the affected areas to provide basic medical care to the people in Rudraprayag district. Schoolchildren who used to trek miles to reach their schools are finding it more difficult to reach their schools due to washing away of bridges and roads in the affected areas. Some of the school buildings have also been damaged in the natural calamity. It is feared that with the monsoon season still in full swing, heavy rains could hamper the work on the rebuilding of the road network, power lines and water supply schemes. Officials said it would take years to build the damaged infrastructure in the affected areas. — S.M.A. Kazmi
	ITBP develops new Munsiyari-Milam track Our Correspondent Pithoragarh, July 14 The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has developed an alternative route on the 55-km track from Munsiyari to Milam as the track along the Gori river has been damaged. “Though the two new short routes from Lilam to Bugdiyar and Lilam to Ralam in the Johar valley on the Milam route, which have been developed towards a hill, named as Nain Singh Heights after the great nineteenth century explorer Pt Nain Singh, require 15 km more to reach Milam, the routes will be safe from damages by the river,” said Ranvir Singh, an ITBP Commandant. Local villagers of Munsiyari say that this route was used by tribal traders who used to go to Tibet for trade before 1962, when the Indo-Tibet trade was open for all. The new route to Milam from the hillside will take six camps on way to Milam instead of four at present. “This was the old route for tribal traders, which was abandoned after the developers found space near Gori river to develop the shortest route some 50 years ago, which has now gone risky," said Devendra Singh, a resident of Munsiyari town. “Gori, which itself had given space for the route some 50 years ago, making the distance to Milam less, snatched this facility on June 17 by washing away the route. Keeping that in mind, we have recommended developing of that old route which is safe from flash flood point of view,” said AS Bisht, an engineer of PWD who has recommended the route.
	Border area traders want to be airlifted to Gunji Our Correspondent Pithoragarh, July 14 Indo -Tibetan border traders have demanded that they should be airlifted from Dharchula to Gunji, for they could come down to various camps where they have dumped the goods for the trade before the disaster. “As the route from Gunji to Malpa downwards is worth tracking, we can reach at our temporary godowns and take the remaining goods to the main camp of Gunji for storage,” said Jeewan Singh Rokali, president of Bharata Tibet Vyapar Samiti, a traders’ body based at Dharchula. According to the samiti president, the goods are stuck at Malpa, Bundi Garbyang, Chankan camps on the route towards Tawaghat. These camps have no approach from Tawaghat onwards as road portions and bridges have collapsed in last months disaster, said Rokali. According to Rokali, the number of traders is over 50 and the cost of the material they have dumped is worth cores of rupees. “After last month’s disaster and continued rains thereafter, some of our goods like sugar candy, salt and jaggery might have started decaying as we have not expected such a disaster after we dumped the goods like we do every year,” said Diwan Singh Garbyal, general secretary of the Samiti. Pithoragarh District Magistrate Neeraj Khairwal has turned down the plea of the traders on the grounds that the government has not given any instruction to him on the subject. “First of all, we have the priority of rescuing the stranded villagers, then dropping ration to needy villages ,after that if the government will give any instruction, they could be airlifted,” he said.