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Transporters on Char Dham route in financial straits
Jeeps and taxis which used to be on Char Dham routes in the Garhwal Himalayas stand idle in the Chandi Ghat area in Haridwar as the yatra has been called off. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur
MDDA chief: 8-storey building to come up in old Tehsil complex
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Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Car rally in Doon on August 15
to promote tourism in state
GMVN Managing Director Rajesh Kumar addresses a press conference in Dehradun on Monday.
Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir
Land inspected for Disaster Relief Force building
Dehradun District Magistrate R. Meenakshi Sundram along with DIG Police Sanjay Gunjial inspects the proposed site of the new Assembly building at Raipur in Dehradun on Monday. A Tribune photograph
Future of MPG College students hangs in balance
Mayor addresses problems of potholes, sewerage
BSF diverts Kaliganga waters
to save Kalimath temple
BSF jawans prepare a retaining wall to protect the Kalimath temple in
Garhwal. A Tribune photograph Three killed in landslides, wall collapse
Suggestions on sale of acid invited from public
FRI officials plant trees at vanmahotsav
Dr P.P. Bhojvaid, Director of Forest Research Institute, plants a sapling during the vanmahotsav function held at the institute in Dehradun on Monday. A Tribune photograph
Scientists to determine cause of floods
Singer Sonia Anand sings a bhajan in memory of flood victims at a function in Dehradun on Monday.
A Tribune photograph
Juna Akhada gives Rs 1.51 lakh for victims
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Transporters on Char Dham route in financial straits
Haridwar, July 29 In normal course of things, he would have been plying his tourist jeep on Char Dham route but such is the impact that he is working in a dhabba in Haridwar to earn his livelihood. To feed two young children, wife and his elderly parents, he is now sweating it out at the dhabba, though here, too, the impact of the natural fury is being
observed. Only local people are potential customers as National Highway 58 ,which used to be abuzz with pilgrim-tourist vehicles, is deserted
these days. Cataclysmic rain leading to massive landslides and caving in of large stretches of roads has severely affected the business and livelihood of the tour operators, who depend majorly on the six-month Char Dham yatra season to earn profits. Lack of pilgrims and tourists has affected the whole trade in Haridwar, which relies on the yatra and the festive bath held in the Ganga city. A majority of the people associated with tour-transport business in this pilgrim city rely on Char Dham-Hemkund Sahib pilgrimages which have this year got affected with flash flood, landslides, soil erosion and cloudbursts. With no pilgrims-tourists coming in, he has surrendered his vehicle at the Regional Transport Office to evade monthly tax. Similarly, Dev Kumar of Dev Rishi Travels, is sitting on agitation outside City Magistrate's office in
Haridwar, appealing to Uttarakhand government to provide compensation as his tourist vehicle got washed away
in the flash floods at Sonprayag. Luckily, neither the driver nor passengers were sitting in the vehicle when the flash floods in the mountainous terrain washed away the vehicle. Shiv Moorti intersection, Upper Road, roadways bus station,
Shravan Nath Nagar, which are jampacked with tour-transport operators, wear a deserted look these days. While during Char Dham yatra season availability of any bus or taxi is rare, these days their offices are empty and their vehicles stranded for over a month now. Be it big tour operators or mini vehicle operators, most of them have submitted
their vehicles to the Regional Transport Office. There are more than 250
registered tour operators in Haridwar alone. Sardar Harmohan Singh of Konark Travels, one of the two biggest transport bus providers for yatra route near Shiv Moorti Chowk, told TNS that their fleet of 50 luxury buses had been surrendered as they now could not bear to pay taxes. “Just for a month the Char Dham yatra comprising Shri Badrinath, Shri
Kedarnath, Gangotri-Yamunotri and Hemkund Sahib shrine pilgrimage went as expected, but the June 15-17 natural calamity has hit our finances. I have been in this business since 1979, but never have been such a low turnout of pilgrims.This is a natural disaster but had the government been well prepared, the loss of life and property could have been averted. More than 100 employees work in my transport company and all have got financial hit as there is no work,'' said Harmohan Singh, while reading newspaper stories on the Garhwal Himalayan natural fury. Similarly, Rakesh Kumar Goyal of Tri Moorti Travels, at Jassa Ram Road, is shocked over the
intense impact of the natural disaster on the transport business. His fleet of 35 vehicles is lined up at Bairagi camp ground since June 20, when all of his vehicles arrived from Garhwal Himalayan yatra route. “This is first time when in peak yatra season our fleet of buses is collectively lined up. Otherwise we used to get advance bookings months earlier and we used to say no to dozens of pilgrims and tourists
who enquired about availability of buses,” pointed out Goyal. Representatives of Yash
Travels, Uttarakhand, Shri Ram Travels, Gujarat Shri Nath Travels, Sri Dhar Travels and Shiv Moorti Travels stated that they had also refunded full amounts for all pre-bookings taken from pilgrims , whereas those who returned midway from pilgrim-affected shrines in Garhwal Himalayas were also compensated for the left-over days in the package. Notably, a complete Char Dham tour package of a luxury bus from Haridwar is anywhere between Rs 90,000 and Rs 100,000 for a 40-seater vehicle for four to five days. Whatever little profit we accrued in the first month of the season has now gone in maintenance of the vehicles alone, pointed out Satish Tiwari of Joint Commercial Vehicle Committee. Panchpuri Traveller Welfare Society has even demanded special concession for travel operators and vehicle drivers as many of them had taken huge loans to procure vehicles for the pilgrimage-tourist season purpose. As per Regional Transport Officer, Haridwar, Sunil Kumar Sharma, more than 300 tourist vehicles had been handed back by transport operators till date, as Char Dham yatra had been called off. He has a word of appreciation for the operators as during rescuing operations ,transporters offered their buses and taxis to the administration to ferry free of cost the rescued pilgrims from the affected places. Such is the impact of this lean period, that transport operators in Haridwar have now started an indefinite agitation to press for some compensation from the government, taking into account the sufferings they are facing owing to the natural fury. Haridwar Tour Travel Association, Haridwar Taxi Stand Association, Haridwar Tata Sumo Association, Mahindra Association, Panchpuri Taxi Association and bus operators have jointly started
this agitation. Arjun Saini of Haridwar Tour Travels Association says that due to the huge damage in Uttarakhand hill districts and floods in the Ganga catchment areas of Haridwar, their business is almost zero ,with not a single booking coming for Garhwal Himalayas or even tourist spots such as Mussoorie, Ranikhet, Almora, Nainital and
other places. “Vehicle owners, drivers, conductors and their families depend majorly on the yatra season for livelihood. We face this slowdown during winter months when portals of Char Dham-Hemkun Sahib shrines get closed, but this time we are again facing the same lean period in the very midst of the yatra season. Where do we go? We have families to feed, children’s fee has to be given and taxes have to be paid,'' said Balbir Singh Negi, chief of the Tata Sumo Union ,Haridwar. Tourism Minister, Uttarakhand government, Amrita Rawat told TNS that the government was looking into this aspect too and assured that soon some sort of package or waiver of tax will be provided to the transport industry associated with the yatra route in the state. “For past one month we didn’t get a single call but since the CM’s announcement, we are getting phone calls and as we get concrete directives from the government, we will once again open advance bookings and hope the remaining time of this yatra season changes our fortunes and business once again,” said an
optimistic-looking Harmohan Singh.
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MDDA chief: 8-storey building to come up in old Tehsil complex
Dehradun, July 29 The parking lot will serve the purpose for 600 vehicles. He said:'' Parking problem of the shopkeepers of Tehsil Crossing, Gandhi Road, Paltan Bazaar, Goshi Gali and surrounding areas will be solved with this new project.” “We have already provided parking space for 200 vehicles in Rajiv Gandhi complex, which is close by. Similar number of vehicles can be parked in another complex built by MDDA on Rajpur Road. Now with this new building, there will be sufficient space
to park vehicles,” Sundaram said. He said:'' The road would also be widened. The premises of District Supply Office and Consumer Forum will be dismantled. The employees of these offices will be shifted to fourth floor of Rajiv Gandhi Complex, which is getting ready rapidly.” “The surrounding walls of old Tehsil complex will
be pushed inside. All these steps in totality will create a lot of wide space and
the road will also get broadened.” Rather the entire passage from Gandhi Road to Tehsil Crossing will be smooth and without any bottleneck. The entry for vehicles would be facilitated through Gandhi Road only.'' Tehsil employees who had been shifted to Rajiv Gandhi complex have been protesting against construction of any building in the old Tehsil compound. They had shifted on the promise that only parking facility will be provided at old Tehsil compound. At this Sundaram said: ''MDDA is not bringing up this project to construct buildings for its own purpose. It is being done in
the interest of people. So Tehsil employees should cooperate in this project.''
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Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Dehradun, July 29 He said all other works of disaster management and mitigation came later till the affected victims get appropriate solace and a credible assurance for the future. He said most of the victims among the locals were young working men. Thus, there were now a large number of young widows. “With the death of the sole breadwinner, these young widows are now left with no livelihood source. The state government should take responsibility to settle them,” said Pande. “Similarly, in many cases, one or two members of a family have survived the ordeal. Such families need urgent psychological treatment that can only be done through state resources”, he said. He said it was strange that the governance was not taking the matter seriously. Many scientists and other environmentalists had been claiming that a tragedy like the Kedarnath catastrophe was foretold. He accused politicians and bureaucracy of being insensitive towards the plight of the disaster victims. Pande said any disaster management-linked policy or programme should be people- centric. While a large amount of Uttarakhand landmass falls under forests, it will be difficult to shift villages vulnerable to disasters. “You can’t shift these villages until you take some land outside the purview of forest laws and use it for shifting villages vulnerable to disasters”, he said. “Instead, land left by abandoned villages can be used for developing new forests. This way both purposes will be solved,” he said. Dr Pande said stern laws should be in place to check illegal construction in environment-fragile areas. It had been noticed that villagers were being removed in the name of wildlife conservation while resorts were being constructed in the protected areas. Dr Pande also questioned the intention of both political leaders and bureaucrats in distributing proper relief among the affected. He said it was generally seen that relief works in the aftermath of any disaster were plagued by corruption and large-scale irregularities. He said no rehabilitation and re-construction process could be completed until there was a sense of honesty and sincerity among those who were behind the entire process. At present, Dr Lalit Pande is Director, Uttarakhand Seva Nidhi Paryavaran Shiksha Sansthan. The organisation prominently undertakes locale-specific environmental education programmes both in rural schools and villages in the hill districts of Uttarakhand. Dr Pandey received his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, and was honoured with Padma Shri in 2007 for his contribution to environment education. His father, the late BD Pande, has remained the Governor of West Bengal and Punjab. WHAT TO DO
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Car rally in Doon on August 15
to promote tourism in state
Dehradun, July 29 Travel agents/tour operators will be given 10 to 15 per cent commission over arranging a package tour, 15 per cent discount on transport and 25 per cent discount in accommodation for children. Managing Director,
GMVN, HD Pandey, said an amount of Rs 10 lakh of advance booking had already been refunded to the tourists. ''With regard to refund of Rs 1.25 crore, we have offered tourists to avail any package tour 25 per cent costlier than their deposited amount for the next one year, while those living in overseas could do so for the next two years. They are also allowed to bring in one person extra as well,'' he added. Rajesh Kumar hoped that by September end, all the roads leading to three
dhams, Yamunotri, Gangotri and Badrinath would become motorable. He said, "The tourist spots such as
Dehradun, Mussoorie, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Lensdown, Tehri, Muni-ki-Reti,
Chamba, Gopeshwar, Badkot, Hanol, Purola, Har-ki-dun, Saskari and Osla, which surround affected regions are, absolutely safe." He added that the department was planning to organise yoga festival in October. The tour operators whom the video of yoga festival held in March this year was shown left a tremendous impact on them and they got ready to send package tours for the festival, he said. For those employees who were working in the rest houses, which got damaged in the disaster, he said:'' The department would provide training to 3040 youngsters, including our own employees who lost work under scheme of the
Centre, Hunar se rozgar tak." The department has already imparted training to 1150 unemployed youngsters in the age group of 18- 28 with the monthly stipend of Rs 3,000 . ''Besides this, we have also demanded absorption of these skilled employees in State Disaster Relief Force as well,'' he added. He said he would take help of District Magistrates of the respective districts to spread the word about the training programme so that more and more youngsters could associate with this training
programme. Regarding Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra, HD Pandey said four rest houses of
GMVN, which dot the yatra route, had sustained some damage in the disaster. These rest houses are situated at
Noti, Gwaldam and Ban.
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Land inspected for Disaster Relief Force building
Dehradun, July 29 Subdivisional Magistrate, Sadar, informed the officials that land around 160 acres came under reserve forest. Permission would have to sought from forests as well as Ministry of Forests and Environment before carrying out
any construction on the land. The road connecting to police stations and Bhaniawala Road from Raipur was also inspected to see the condition of roads and to get an assessment whether any problem could arise in future to create a link with Jolly Grant Airport through a flyover. There is 30-acre land near Jolly Grant Airport which was also seen as another alternative land to build SDRF centre. The third piece of land which was inspected was 40-acre land at Markham Grant at Doiwala which is to be given to ITBP and CRPF to construct their buildings. The DM directed SDM, Sadar, to prepare digital map of the land shortly. DIG Sanjay Gunjiyal said: “ If Vidhan Sabha premises is built in Raipur, then there would be massive encroachments on roads. Separate link roads will have to be built. Besides this, another road from Sahastardhara to Suokholi will have to be built. Mussorrie will be just 13-14 km from here. However, the villages adjacent to this road will get populated. A lot of land on this road which comes under Reserve Forest can be acquired with the permission of Government of India.”
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Future of MPG College students hangs in balance
Mussoorie, July 29 The future of the students from MPG College which was also affiliated to HN Bahuguna Garhwal University earlier is in jeopardy as the new Central University formed a few years back has refused the affiliation of the MPG College and is refusing to conduct the exams. When contacted the Acting Principal of MPG college Sudhir Gairola said that the ambiguity over affiliation persists, which does not augur well for the
students. Gairola said that MPG College is being caught in between the two universities, HN Bahuguna University to which it was affiliated earlier, and the newly formed Sridev Suman University with its headquarter in
Dehradun. “Presently HN Bahuguna University has been converted into Central University and the newly formed Sri Dev Suman University has not started working as yet, leaving the future of the students in jeopardy,” added
Gairola. He further said that this ambiguity over which the university would be in control of the MPG College also means that the posts for the lecturers that have remained vacant would not be filled till the university under which college is affiliated is not known.
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Mayor addresses problems of potholes, sewerage
Dehradun July 29 When the ADB project director informed him that the area did not come under Phase II plan covered by them, the Mayor asked them to include it in Phase III and resolve the problems of the area. He directed PWD officials to repair the roads urgently after the monsoon season. He said the broken roads and wide potholes were causing linconvenience for the commuters there. Mayor Vinod Chamoli also instructed the construction of a drain at the Patharibagh crossing to prevent water logging. A consensus evolved on building two link roads -- one connecting Haridwar byapss with Brahmanwala on Saharanpur Road and another one from bypass Patel Nagar to Pathari
Bagh. The Mayor also directed them to prepare a plan to widen the road near Indresh Hospital which got jammed with traffic.
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BSF diverts Kaliganga waters
to save Kalimath temple
Dehradun, July 29 The BSF personnel worked as a team and even risked their lives to divert the water channel manually from the base of the shrine. They placed iron stone cages along with the base in the river channel. The troops worked day and night and used a generator for lighting purposes for three days. Resultantly, the the water channel got diverted and now no further erosion would take place near the temple. The BSF is planning to build a proper embankment with more iron cages. BSF relief and rehabilitation teams are deployed in the adopted villages, besides other areas of the Kalimath valley since July 9 and providing medical aid, community kitchens, temporary shelters and improvised small bridges for the locals.
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Three killed in landslides, wall collapse
Dehradun, July 29 Relief work, which was hampered by bad weather, resumed in the course of the day with the rains giving a pause. Reconstruction of damaged roads in Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh districts were also on, officials said. Rains claimed three lives, including that of a policeman and a child, in the state during past 24 hours in Uttarkashi, Dehradun and Pithoragarh districts. Twenty-two-year-old police constable Gambhir Singh, on duty in Bhatwari area of Uttarkashi district, was killed yesterday after a boulder rolling down a hill hit him. He died while being flown to Dehradun for treatment. In Sahaspur area of Uttarkashi, a six-year-old boy was killed and two others were injured in a wall collapse last evening. In another rain-related incident, a 28-year-old woman was killed in Samkot village of Pithoragarh after being hit by a huge rock that rolled down from a nearby hill.
— PTI
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Suggestions on sale of acid invited from public
Dehradun, July 29 The government intends to enact the Uttarakhand Regulation and Control of Sale and Use of Acid Bill. Suggestions have been asked from the general public and NGOs before it is tabled in the Uttarakhamd Legislative Assembly. The Supreme Court, in its judgments delivered in 2011 and 2012, had observed that the state governments make appropriate provisions for the regulation of the sale of acid so that it is not easily or readily available to offenders. The government has also announced the creation of a fund for providing relief and rehabilitation to the victims of sexual assault and acid attack. SC verdict The Supreme Court, in its judgments delivered in 2011 and 2012, had observed that the state governments make appropriate provisions for the regulation of the sale of acid so that it is not easily or readily available to
offenders. |
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FRI officials plant trees at vanmahotsav
Dehradun, July 29 Dr Bhojvaid said the Uttarakhand hills are fragile and any development activity should be in consonant with the environment. He said afforestration was the only solution to minimising the effects of climate change. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education Deputy Director-General SD Gupta and a large number of ICFRE and FRI employees were present on the occasion. A total of 500 trees were planted on the FRI campus.
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Scientists to determine cause of floods
Dehradun, July 29 So far, there have been conflicting reports about the reasons behind the sudden deluge. Some attribute it to the sudden melting of a glacier while others say it was due to the bursting of the Chorabari glacier. "As soon as the weather improves in Kedarnath, the team will go there and study reasons behind the deluge and submit the report to the government. They will be there for three days or more depending on the weather conditions," said Subash Kumar, Chief Secretary,
Uttarakhand.
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Shradhanjali for flood victims
Dehradun, July 29 "Unhindered and indiscriminate construction of multi-storeyed buildings in Dehradun and Mussoorie is an invitation to a similar disaster," he said. Earlier, DS Mann, council senior vice-president, said it was a national calamity as thousands of people from across the country had lost their lives in it. He appealed to the gathering to contribute generously for helping the affected people.
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Ajay Singh, a taxi driver, resident of Bahadrabad village, is in a dilemma as the Char Dham and Hemkund Sahib pilgrimage has been stopped since the natural catastrophe struck the Garhwal Himalayan districts on June 15-17.
Padma Shri and a scholar in environmental education, Dr Lalit Pande, has said that immediate measure are needed to be undertaken by the state authorities to provide succour to the disaster-hit families that are in a state of trauma and shock.
Talking to The Tribune here, Dr Pande said the very first step required to be undertaken by the state authorities was to assess people’s personal losses and try to stand with them in this hour of crisis.
He said all other works of disaster management and mitigation came later till the affected victims get appropriate solace and a credible assurance for the future.
The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) will hold a car rally in Dehradun on August 15 to promote tourism in the state. While addressing a press conference, Managing Director Rajesh Kumar said he recently held a meeting with the tour operators of North India region and convinced them about the safety of most of the tourism destinations in the state. For this, he also offered heavy discounts as well.
Dehradun, July 29
Border Security Force (BSF) troops at Kalimath in Garhwal have prevented further damage to the holy shrine of
Kalimath, which was damaged by the initial heavy flooding in June, by diverting the flood waters of Kaliganga river at the base.
The BSF personnel worked as a team and even risked their lives to divert the water channel manually from the base of the shrine. They placed iron stone cages along with the base in the river channel.
Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, today organised its 64th vanmahotsav today.
At a function held at the institute, FRI Director PP Bhojvaid planted a tree. He appealed to the people to plant more and more trees during the ongoing monsoon season. He also asked them to ensure that the trees planted by them are adequately protected at an early stage.
