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State govt asks for Rs 5,000 crore Central aid
Soon, flood-control division at Sitarganj |
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Ganga water flows near danger-level mark
The water level of the Ganga near the danger mark in Haridwar on Saturday.
A Tribune photograph
Now, politics in relief fund distribution
Kumaon varsity gives nod to UGC regulations
BEd cut-off list on Garhwal varsity website
Girls in action at a basketball match during the KV Regional Sports Meet-2010 in Dehradun on Saturday.
A Tribune photograph
A batsman faces a delivery during the KV Regional Sports Meet-2010 in Dehradun
on Saturday. A Tribune photograph
A volleyball match in progress at the KV Regional Sports Meet-2010 in Dehradun
on Saturday. A Tribune photograph
Prayers held in memory of Leh, U’khand disaster victims
The Tibetan community prays for the victims of Leh and Uttarakhand disasters at a Buddha temple in Mussoorie on Saturday.
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State govt asks for Rs 5,000 crore Central aid
Dehradun, August 21 Back after surveying the affected villages, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said extensive damage had been caused to the infrastructure in the state. “Preliminary estimates suggest that Rs 5,000 crore will be required for resettling villagers and my office has already dispatched a letter to the government for speedy aid,” said Dr Nishank. He made these observations at a press conference here today. Dr Nishank said taking into consideration the geographical fragility of the region, there were certain areas that were prone to landslide and earthquake. “We need to rehabilitate 101 villages with a population of 15,372 to a suitable place and as land availability is scarce for their rehabilitation even forest land will have to be considered and in this the cooperation of the Ministry of Environment will also be sought. Besides, we will require funds to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore towards the rehabilitation of these villages,” he said. The Chief Minister said landslides had created havoc in Uttarkashi, Pitthoragarh, Chamoli and Rudraprayag. He said in these areas the District Magistrate had been asked to give immediate cash under Rule 24 to affected people. The roads had been completely washed away, pipelines and irrigation canals had been damaged. Around 881 water schemes might have been damaged. “We will require Rs 1,000 crore to repair water pipes and canals. Besides, a geographical and scientific survey of the disaster-prone areas extending from Pitthoragarh, Bageshwar, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, and Chamoli is also being carried,” said Dr Nishank. The Chief Minister said the disaster management infrastructure would be strengthened in the state. “We will now have to create cells at the village level by involving ex-servicemen and youth. To strengthen the operations, the government has already allocated Rs 1 crore for strengthening the disaster management cells at the district level,” the Chief Minister said. Saying that the incidents of cloud burst occur suddenly, the Chief Minister said it would be prudent to install radars for warning purpose. “We will ask the Central government to provide us with radars, that can forewarn cloud bursts in advance. BJP leader and former Union Minister of State for Science and Technology during the tenure of the Vajpayee government had asked for installation of radars that could give warning about cloud bursts an hour in advance. These are required urgently. At least then we will be able to shift people and save lives,” said Nishank. Dismissing suggestions that the Char Dham Yatra be stopped in view of the inclement weather, Dr Nishank said the government had managed to open the Badrinath, Gangotri, Yamnotri and Munsiyari routes within three days temporarily, so as that yatra could resume and no inconvenience was caused to the yatris. “The yatra will go on and assistance of the ITBP and the Border Road Organisation for clearing up the routes and reappearing damaged roads,” said the Chief Minister. He also said besides shifting of schools to safer areas, a memorial and a park would be built in the memory of 18 schoolchildren at Sumgarh (Kapkote) who lost their lives in the cloud burst.
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Soon, flood-control division at Sitarganj
Nainital, August 21 He went around various affected areas in Sitarganj and Shakti Farm promising the people that the government would provide them all possible assistance. He has also ordered relocation of five endangered villages in Bageshwar district. He ordered the District Magistrate to make a proposal at the earliest for setting up the division that would prepare plans to deal with flood-like situations in the future and ensure the safety of the embankments along the rivers. More than 800 people in the district have been transported to safer places by the district administration. Meanwhile, there was no respite from incessant rain in the region for the fifth consecutive day. Vehicular movement in several parts was disrupted on both the national and the state highways. The movement on other routes was worse. More than 100 buses could not reportedly ply on the roads yesterday. Large number of localities, in the Terai in particular, continued to grapple with water logging. The supply of essentials to the far-flung areas in the hills remained erratic. Moving around the region and taking stock of the situation, the Chief Minister has sought details about the tracts of land that have been washed away at several places. He has also constituted a committee under the Minister of State for Disaster Management Khajan Dass to conduct a survey of endangered buildings and settlements around Sumgadh region in Bageshwar. He said that the people residing in the sensitive zones would be rehabilitated at safer places and orders have been given to trace adequate forest land for the purpose. He said that the government would ensure that there is a planned development in high-seismic zones in the state. Meanwhile, the Haldwani-Nainital road remained open for traffic today. The situation has improved in areas where the intensity of rains has decreased. However, problems continue to persist. Among the worst affected in terms of water supply has been the most populated town of Haldwani. The supply has been badly hit in the town on account of heavy silt in the Gaula river that has led to the closure of the water treatment plant at Sheesh Mahal. Yesterday, water was supplied with the help of tankers. The water scarcity has been accompanied by unscheduled power cuts which have added to the problems. Water supply lines and several small projects have been badly damaged throughout the region.
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Ganga water flows near danger-level mark
Haridwar, August 21 Solani and Dholia rivers are also flowing way above the normal level. A few days back in the Solani river, five women were caught in the river flow and were rescued with the help of Army personnel. Several villages have reported of water getting into their agro fields. The administration is keeping a tab on the situation with almost an alert-like situation. About 600 cusescs of water is being released from the Tehri Dam reservoir to avoid the water flow going beyond 820 RML at the Tehri reservoir. With silt water coming into the river, water barrages are also being cleaned up as the silt is getting accumulated within these.
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Now, politics in relief fund distribution
Mussoorie, August 21 Gunsola stated that the Central government was funding the disaster relief being provided by the state government through the District Magistrate and it was the responsibility of the administrative officials, be it the SDM or the Niab Tehsildar, to distribute the financial assistance. The Rajpur MLA had breached the privilege by distributing the disaster relief in Mussoorie as it was not the job of one individual, but a collective responsibility of the government of the day. Gunsola also said Joshi was violating the ethics and encroaching on others’ constituency with dubious intentions. He said this matter was serious and would be raised in the Vidhan Sabha. He also demanded immediate action on this act committed by Joshi so that it was not repeated in future. Gunsola also lamented the fact that the amount being given as disaster relief was insufficient and should be raised so that victims could sustain on it for a longer period. Joshi had distributed cheques to disaster victims as relief in Mussoorie on Friday which did not go well with him. Joshi is also preparing to contest from Mussoorie in the next elections as most part of Rajpur has been included in the Mussoorie constituency. However, residents of the town are of the view that both the parties instead of playing politics on the victims dead body, should divert their attention towards immediate disaster relief in the state or the Centre.
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Kumaon varsity gives nod to UGC regulations
Nainital, August 21 Talking to The Tribune, Vice-Chancellor Dr VPS Arora said, “We have adopted the UGC Regulations and approved adoption of those that are to be cleared at the level of the state administration”. The Vice-Chancellor said amongst the adopted regulations were the ones pertaining to the functioning of the teaching and administrative staff of the university and the code of conduct to be implemented with regards to their dealing with the student-related issues. He said the regulations would now be added to the Act and statutes of Kumaon University. Under the adopted regulations, the Vice-Chancellor would now have a say in the appointment of the selection committee for appointments, teachers would have to teach a specified number of hours every week, a salary scheme approved by the UGC would be implemented and the career advancement scheme for the teachers would be put in place. Similarly, the university would now be able to bring in retired academicians as guest faculty who would be re-employed at places where there was a dearth. Dr Arora said amongst the regulations that had to be dealt with at the level of the state administration were the increasing of the retirement age of the university teachers to 65 years and the provision of special pay. The council has also approved grant of affiliation of 25 private institutions to the university and appointment of 10 new faculty members. The Vice-Chancellor added the university authorities had taken some other important decisions like signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) at Nainital and the Foot and Mouth Disease Institute at Mukteshwar for research and teaching. Meanwhile, the university has decided to set up smart classrooms in all departments that will be well-equipped with the latest teaching aids like LCD projector, computers, etc. to promote interactive teaching. These classrooms are to be set up at a cost of Rs 2 lakh each. Dr Arora further said the university had decided to have at least one examination online for its students. “Although this examination will have no weightage, it will help students who intend taking entrance examinations to the Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) that are being held online. Replying to a query pertaining to the probe into the recent alleged software scam to the tune of Rs 15 lakh, he said a disciplinary committee had been constituted to look into the matter and suggest action following a suggestion from the state government that had probed the matter after an initial probe at the university level. The alleged scam pertained to procurement of software aimed at making university functioning with respect to admissions, results, etc. online. He said, “If there is any involvement of a former Vice-Chancellor that the committee comes across, the matter would be referred to the Chancellor”. The committee is expected to come up with its recommendations before the next meeting of the council due to be held after a couple of months.
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BEd cut-off list on Garhwal varsity website
Dehradun, August 21 Following the directives of the high court, the admission for the BEd courses will be done through merit by colleges themselves and not by the university from this session. “BEd admissions of all private and self-aided colleges of Garhwal University will be done on the basis of merit only from this year onwards. Except for Pauri, Srinagar and Tehri, the admission will be done through counselling by the university,” added the secretary. The merit list of all BEd colleges has been posted on the univeristy’s websites and the same will be declared in the advertisement in the newspapers soon, he further added. Clearing the air over taking admission in the 20 colleges which have been asked to complete the mandatory regulations, Agarwal said, “There is no problem taking admission in these colleges. Students can take admission there and whatsoever descrepanices were there like shortage of faculty will be worked out”.
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KV Haldwani, KV Roorkee to clash for title today
Dehradun, August 21 In today's first semifinal, KV Haldwani (second shift) defeated KV OFD to register the final berth. Sunita top scored with four points for the winning team. Whereas KV Hathibarkala put up a tough competiton to KV Roorkee in the second semifinal however, the latter managed to prevail over the former 16-13. Neha with six points helped Roorkee to win
the game. The final and the match for the third place will be played in the morning.
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KV GLA Bareilly cruise into final
Dehradun, August 21 Batting first, GLA posted a total of 75 runs in 12 overs at a loss of three wickets. Rishabh once again shone bright for the side scoring important 17 runs while Pankaj top scored with 20 runs. Kanhiya of Hathibarkala claimed three wickets to emerge as the top wickets taker for his side. Replying with bat, Hathibarkala was bowled all out on 58 runs. Devender (21) was the top scorer for the batting side. While Ankit took two wickets for the winning team.
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KV NHPC and KV Barbasa Cantt in final
Dehradun, August 21 KV NHPC beat NER Bareilly 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-11 in the first semifinal of the day. Both the sides had a neck-to-neck competition throughout the match. After losing first two sets by a whisker NER won the third by 25-23 but lost the next by big margin of 25-11 that cost it dear later. In the second semifinal, KV Barbasa Cantt got the better of KV Hathibarkala 24-16, 25-13, 25-11, 25-19. The losing side could win only the first set 24-16 while kept losing its grip in all other sets. The final between the two winning sides is scheduled to start at 9:30 am.
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Prayers held in memory of Leh, U’khand disaster victims
Mussoorie, August 21 The community gathered at the temple and lit candles in memory of the victims. The president of the association said on the occasion that the Tibetan community was grieved over the loss of so many lives in Uttarakhand and Leh and prayed for them and extended full support at this juncture in their lives. The Tibetan students also said they stood beside the families of the victims and were ready to provide any kind of support to the government if desired.
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With heavy rains lashing the state for the past few days, the water level of the Ganga river is touching alarming heights, thereby posing danger to riverside area inhabitants. In Haridwar for the past week monsoonal rains have been occurring, upping the flow of the water level, and with the Tehri Dam also witnessing a higher level of water, additional water is being released into the river.
