Rain gear l l l l l A couple with their child caught in intermittent rain in Dehradun on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Efforts nullah-fied
Roorkee, July 15
Resident of Adarsh Nagar, Solani Puram and nearby villages-Pathanpura, Jalalpur and Khanjarpur are living under constant threat of an epidemic. Reason: the dirty, stinky polluted nullah passing through of these localities. Heaps of garbage lies everywhere along the banks of the nullah. The population of these newly built localities and villages is around 10,000.

Supply suspended as impurities found in water
Dehradun, July 15
The water supplied to upper zone through Galogi water source has been stopped by the water works department for the time being due to high concentration of turbidity.

Retired staff seek revised pension 
Dehradun, July 15
All-India Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and the Department of Telecom (BSNL/DOT) Pensioners Association members are crying foul over the discriminatory policy of the centre that has denied them revised pension.

 

Pitthoragarh, July 15
The failure of the monsoon has not only adversely affected the crops in the hills that are dependent on rains but also the water availability in the rivers that feed the irrigation canals of the plains.

The rain in Uttarakhand are important not only for the rain-fed crops but for the entire region because rain water in the rivers is used for irrigation through canals in western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

On July 8, the water in the states’ reservoirs had fallen to 16,003 billion cubic metres from 37,301 billion cubic metres last year.

Anand Sharma, Director of the Meteorological Department, Uttarakhand, agree that in the first week of July, Uttarakhand received 65 per cent less rain. “There is no likelihood that it will be compensated as June also witnessed deficient rains,” he said.

The deficiency of rain during monsoon has started showing its impact on the kharif crop in the hills.

As almost the entire agriculture of the hill districts of the state is rain-fed, 60 per cent of kharif crop has been damaged there.

Madan Lal, Director of Agriculture, Uttarakhand, said that the kharif crop requires 250.49 mm rain from April to June but, this year, it was only 146.07mm. This was 41 per cent less than required.

“The uplands in Tehri, Pauri, Almora and Chamoli districts have been badly affected by deficient rain that have caused more than 50 per cent losses in the kharif crop,” he said.

All hill districts witnessed 62.14 per cent less rains in June, 17 per cent less rain in May and 12.57 per cent less rain in the first week of the July. “The initial growth of the kharif crop has been hindered as June is the time of growth in plants,” said Madan Lal.

“Paddy cultivation in 1,000 acres in 164 villages in Garur valley in Bageshwar district has been delayed by two months because of insufficient rain,” said Keshav Bhatt, a farmer in Garur valley.

“The saplings that we had seeded for transplantation have also been destroyed as the Gomati river from where we pump water has gone dry,” added Bhatt.

The same story is being repeated in other areas of the district where farmers are witnessing 45 per cent damage to the crop. According to some farmers in Pauri district, deficient rains have led to little fodder for cattle.

In Pauri, the historic canal of Maletha has gone dry and the Nayar river is too fast drying up. In Champawat district, it rained only 83 mm in the first week of July and June was totally dry.

“Chalthi, Belkhat, Panar, Ghat belts have witnessed deficiency not only in production of the kharif crop but also in fruits and potato production,” said Dhan Singh Rawal, a farmer at Bautari in Ghat area of Champawat district.

“In Pitthoragarh district, the paddy-growing areas of Nachani, Munakot, Thal and some parts of Kalika in Dharchula sub-division have witnessed 15 per cent crop destruction till the first week of July,” said NS Bisht, Agriculture Officer, Pitthoragarh.

The fruit-producing belts at Ramnagar, Chaubitiya, Dhari, Champawat, Dol, Joshimath and Tyuni have also witnessed deficiency in fruit formation.

“The size of the fruit, its sweetness, yield and lustre has witnessed a decline,” said IA Khan, senior scientist at Horticulture Research Centre, Choubatiya, Ranikhat, Almora district.

Roorkee, July 15
Resident of Adarsh Nagar, Solani Puram and nearby villages-Pathanpura, Jalalpur and Khanjarpur are living under constant threat of an epidemic.

Reason: the dirty, stinky polluted nullah passing through of these localities.

Heaps of garbage lies everywhere along the banks of the nullah. The population of these newly built localities and villages is around 10,000.

The 6-km-long canal, which once was the source of irrigation for farmers here, has turned into a dirty nullah with the spronging of several residential colonies along its banks. All drains in these colonies end in the nullah. To make things worse, most residentschose to dump garbage into the nullah.

“We are living in hell,” says Ramesh Chander Joshi, a resident of Solani Puram and a Congress worker. To draw the

attention of the authorities towards the menace, Joshi climbed atop a70-ft-high mobile tower on Independence Day last year. He came down only after the state irrigation minister had assured him of taking necessary action in this direction.

“Despite that, nothing has been done so far,” says Joshi, who was sent to a lockup for a day after the tower incident. “Filthy conditions, polluted waters and the stench makes the nullah a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other insects. This can lead to the outbreak of malaria and dengue.

“The nullah is home to several poisonous reptiles, which can be seen roaming around,” says resident Ramanand Pant while pointing out that the foundation of houses located along the banks have been rendered weake due to seepage.”

Residents claim that they have approached the authorities several times but in vain. “Each time we get assurances alone,” say the residents, adding that the cleaning operations by the local municipal board or irrigation department are a mere formality. “Inder the pretext of cleaning the nullah, the departments concerned send a few persons who cut some plants and weed and walk away,” says Joshi.

The nullah, which starts from Pathanpura falls into the Solani river near Jalalpur.

Dehradun, July 15
The water supplied to upper zone through Galogi water source has been stopped by the water works department for the time being due to high concentration of turbidity.

As a result large number of areas are facing water shortage. The areas, including Arya Nagar, Saket Colony, Aman Vihar, Kandoli, Rajeev Nagar, Rajpur, Salawala, Chanderlok Colony.

The water from Galgoi reaches waterworks from where it is routed to Hathi badkala, Kalidas road and New Cantt Road.

In the absence of a water softening plant, the water supply of Galogi source that is located in Mussoorie has to be monitored during summers as it has high calcium content.

“During routine testing of water, when ever the hardness level is detected to be more than 300 PPM, the supply is stopped. But these days along with calcium carbonate content there were reports of muddy water, so the water supply has been stopped for the time being”, said Xen VK Sethi, waterworks.

The high contents of calcium carbonate in Galgoi water source are mainly due to its location at a higher altitude.

As the water filtration plant is an costly affair, the other compounds used for removing turbidity in water are bleaching powder and alum.

“We undertake routine sampling of water for bacteriological tests. Chlorine hypo-chlorite gas is added in water to remove bacterial impurities, which even makes water soft but due to rains the turbidity content too has to be monitored,” said Virender Negi, chemist, waterworks department.