Mussoorie, September 8
The monsoon is showing no signs of abating and continued to pester hapless residents in Mussoorie who continued to face mudslides and road cave-ins.

The rain that began overnight continued the whole day leading to several cases of mudslides, damage to houses and instilling fear among residents.

Incidents of water logging were reported from several places in the town, including the house of famous Garhwali folk singer Preetam Bhartwan near Cliff Cottage.

Schoolchildren and office goers had a harrowing time early morning due to the downpour. Two parked cars, belonging to Surendar Bhandari, at Harnam Singh Marg were buried under the debris of a mudslide.

Soil and huge boulders from a mudslide entered the house of Sudha Kala Devi shattering the door and windows of a room. No one was injured.

In another incident, the sidewalls of a house owned by Sohan Singh caved in and fell on the roof of Sabla at Indira Colony near the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration Road.

A mudslide damaged several rooms of Home Estate and the debris damaged the water tanks. According to the owner of the building Mohan Petwal, the mudslide began around 8.45 am.

Petwal added that danger still persisted as the Kingcraig-Mussoorie Road had developed several cracks and bricks from the sidewalls were falling intermittently.

He opined that a major part of the damage had occurred due to the faulty work done by the Peyjal Nigam. The nigam had been laying a sewage pipeline on the road under the JNNURM scheme.

The department had dug the road at several places, but failed to provide a route for the rain water to flow. The water had seeped down and damaged the road further.

Earlier, the Mussoorie-Dehradun highway was blocked near Kolhukhet and a PWD JCB was called to clear the debris.

The Mussoorie-Dhanaulti-Chamba-New Tehri Road was also blocked at several places due to mudslides.

It was for the first time that Kempty Falls witnessed such a huge amount of water. Tourists were advised to stay away from the falls as rocks were falling at speed along with the water.

Villagers at the banks of the Aglad river had to face the fury of the river as ‘gharats’, irrigation canals, cremation grounds and the Burari bridge near Kempty were washed away.

The Kempty-Chadogi village was also hit by a mudslide. Standing crops and fields have suffered irreparable damage.

According to Jhinsi gram pradhan Pooran Singh, the damage at Tuneta, Jhinsi, Burari, Kudaon, Bichu, Dwargad, Dabla and Tuneta villages amounted to several crores.

Pooran Singh lamented that no officials had visited the affected area. He added that the damage had occurred due to the ongoing Ryatt power project.

He opined that the construction debris along with the felled trees for the Ryatt power project on the Aglar river were the main reasons for the damage.

Power project officials had been alerted about it in the past, but no action was initiated leading to heavy damage.

Khajan Das, state Disaster Minister, was also informed in May, but he also turned the other cheek on the issue.

The 3 MW Ryatt power project on the Aglar had been opposed by the villagers, but the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the state government has given its clearance without considering ecological concerns.

State Minister Khajan Das was, however, of the view that the assessment of the damage is being done and patwaris and the Revenue Department of the area have been directed to finalise the report within 5-7 days and submit it to the administration.

When asked about the illegal felling of trees and debris in the Aglar, Khajan Das said that he would inspect the site before taking action.

Dehradun, September 8
Rain continues to play havoc in Uttarakhand with three deaths taking place in wall collapse incidents. The Char Dham Yatra was yet again disrupted due to landslides on the Badrinath Road and also on the roads leading to the Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines.

Two children were killed in Margaon in Tehri Garhwal while another person died in the Vikasnagar region. In Margaon, a wall of a house collapsed at around 7.30 am leading to the death of two children who got buried under the debris. A woman was critically injured in the mishap.

In another rain-linked death in Dehradun, victim Kamlesh Devi (50), a resident of Lakshmanpur in Dakhpathar, died in a house collapse at around 10.45 am.

The Char Dham yatra was disrupted due to blockage on roads to shrines of Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. Similarly, the road to Uttarkashi also caved in at Bhatwari. Srinagar too was witness to disruptions due to landslides.

Meanwhile, Meteorological officials at Dehradun have forecast another spell of rain in the state in the next 24 hours. Dr Anand Sharma, Director, Dehradun Meteorological Centre, said rain would continue in the next 24 hours across the state with Garhwal experiencing another spell of heavy rainfall.

Meanwhile, the rain that continued throughout the day in Dehradun disturbed normal life. Most people remained indoors while some struggled outside in the rain-drenched city.

So far, over eight rain-related deaths have taken place in Uttarakhand.

Dehradun, September 8
The administration remained engaged in providing help to rain-affected persons in various part of the city as rain continued to lash various parts of the district.

One person died, four houses were completely damaged while 11 got partially damaged and 53 houses were flooded due to rain over the past two days.

Vinod Suman, Additional Magistrate, Finance, informed about the damage and the relief measures being provided by the administration.

Many houses at Jamnipur Tapar village, Harbartpur tehsil, Vikasnagar district, got flooded. The SDM of Vikasnagar reached the site with his team to help the needy.

In Dakrani, 12 members of the Gujjar community, who got trapped in rising waters of the Yamuna, were rescued by the SDM, Vikasnagar.

In Katapathar and Devithla area of Vikasnagar, many persons, who had suffered agricultural damage due to soil erosion, were given emergency help.

A person died in Luxmanpur when a wall gave way due to water pressure after heavy rain. The debris has been removed from the site.

In Kalsi tehsil, many houses were flooded in Vyasanhari, Indira Colony and Haripur. As a result, four houses were completely damaged and eight were partially broken.

The Kalukhet turn on the Dehradun-Mussoorie motor passage, which had got obstructed due to accumulation of concrete debris, was removed by the PWD.

A landslide was reported at the Kikeg-Mesanik Loug motor road. The supporting wall of a commercial building at Kuldi fell down. A few houses around it also got damaged due to the fall.

Nainital, September 8
Along with incessant rains, patients showing symptoms of dengue and other water-borne diseases like diarrhoea continue to pour in at various hospitals in the region.

According to reports, 22 patients showing symptoms of dengue were admitted to various hospitals in Ramnagar and Haldwani by Tuesday night.

Health officials have started administering treatment to them and have collected their blood samples for further tests.

Meanwhile, a woman resident of Pitthoragarh, who was being treated at a hospital in Rudrapur for high fever, is learnt to have succumbed to the disease. Twentytwo-year-old Geeta was a resident of Bungli near Gangolihat.

Meanwhile, a high incidence of diarrhoea is being reported across Udham Singh Nagar. In Rudrapur, approximately 60 children showing symptoms of the disease are turning up at various hospitals for treatment on a daily basis. The entire region of Kumaon, including Nainital, is witnessing the spread of conjunctivitis also.

Health Department officials dealing in community medicine are visiting disease-prone areas conducting health check-ups and taking blood samples of persons showing symptoms of dengue.

The teams are generating awareness about preventive measures against the spread of water-borne diseases and are distributing free medicines wherever required.

In Ramnagar, a large number of students who are turning up at educational institutions in half pants and skirts, despite warnings not to do so, are being sent back home.

The incessant rain in the region continues to cause problems to the residents as a large number of link roads continue to be blocked on account of frequent landslides.

Rivers and streams, along with seasonal nullahs, are flowing in full spate. The supply of essential goods to settlements located in the remote interiors continues to be badly hit. Even in major towns, the cost of vegetables and fruits continue to spiral up.

Politicians from Opposition parties have started coming down heavily on the state government for its failure to address the problems of those affected during the rain and floods.

Congress leader Indira Hridayesh has criticised the government for failing to get the residents of huts along the Rakasiya Nullah, whose houses have been damaged and washed away, rehabilitated and has threatened to start a fast from September 17.

Members of the Bahujan Samaj Party too have been attacking the government for its approach towards the rehabilitation of flood-affected people in Udham Singh Nagar district. Minister of State for Disaster Management Khajan Das was scheduled to visit Haldwani today to take stock of the situation.

Dehradun, September 8
Members of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) gave a memorandum to District Magistrate Sachin Kurve regarding the heavy rainfall, subsequent landslides and damage on both sides of the Bindal river.

They demanded help and security for the affected.

Anant Akash, a member of the party secretary mandal, informed that Nuresha, secretary of the Janvadi Mahila Samiti, had also given a memorandum to the District Magistrate on the same issue.

Mussoorie, September 8
If suggestions of horticulturists are taken into account, the Queen of Hills is destined to get a face lift and will be transformed into an arboreal delight in the near future.

The Mussoorie Palika yesterday invited Harish Sharma and Vimal Sharma, the duo involved in maintaining the Company Garden for the Garden Welfare Association in the town, to discuss ways of beautifying Mussoorie right from Gandhi Chowk in Library Bazar to Landour Bazar.

The duo of landscaping architects were invited to the board meeting where they presented a detailed proposal for the beautification of the Mall Road.

Harish and Vimal also outlined and identified areas for beautification like the Band Stand at Gandhi Chowk, the retaining wall opposite the approach to Hotel Padmini Niwas on the Mall Road, the area between the approach road to Meedo Palace and Mall Road.

They discussed about cubicles on the Mall Road adjacent to Hakmans Grand Hotel with a provision of benches for tourist relaxation, the area next to Hotel Luxmount with a raised plinth and seating facilities, the area opposite Chick Chocolate, which at present, has a seating arrangement.

Also discussed were the concept of a water cascade below the police station near Jhoola Ghar.

The duo added that the Hawa Ghar at the Library-Camels Back Road in its present state is nothing, but a stink store and has been converted into a horse stand.

They proposed to demolish the structure and make a fountain-cum-florist shop to present an aesthetic reception for tourists visiting Mussoorie.

They also raised the issue of beautifying Mussoorie Lake which needs immediate attention. The parking area needs to be widened, the reception-cum-information centre should be computerised.

Beautification of the area along the pathway, including the construction of a gazebo and comfortable seating arrangements at appropriate locations, beautification of the waterfall area, paid public toilets, ‘jheel’ area, shifting of all encroachments from the periphery of the ‘jheel’ concrete area, to provide facilities for a cafeteria, feasibility of a cable car from the reception to the ‘jheel’ were also discussed.

They also proposed the beautification and development of a park site at the Camel’s Back Road below the Government Junior School for Boys near Hotel Nand Residency.

They were of the view that only if the whole project is implemented in a single phase and in totality will the palika’s objectives of providing tourists with facilities like joy rides, fast food counter, toilet, designer roof, attractive looking plants, be fulfilled and in turn, increase the revenue for the palika.

Dehradun, September 8
The Akhil Bhartiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) won the DAV (PG) College students’ union election here today. The party accumlated 3,335 votes in total surpassing its closest rival the NSUI. The winning party surpassed the NSUI with this big margin.

Anshul Chawla was elected president beating his close competitor Vijay Raturi (Monty) of the NSUI. Nitin Joshi was elected general secretary, Deepak Singh Kanwasi (Deepu) vice-president, Ravinder Singh Negi (Guru) treasurer, Alok Ramola university representative and Charu Srivastava joint secretary.

Under tight security, the counting of votes went off peacefully as no student of the college was allowed to enter the premises. The entire college administration, along with the police, barricaded the entrances of the college campus barring contesting candidates as well as their supporters from entering the campus till the counting of votes ended.

Supporters of the ABVP in a large number rejoiced at the victory of their party and danced to the tunes of the dhols (drums). They played colours, got drunk and created hooliganism on the roads. The party also took out rallies of triumph making areas of Karanpur, DL Road, EC Road and Survey Chowk, freeze due to traffic jam.

Later in the evening, scuffles and discrepancies were witnessed between police and the students injuring two of the deployed cops. Amid the hovering crowd, shopkeepers at Karanpur kept their shops closed for the entire day to avoid chaos by the college students. Later in the evening, the market reopened.

Rakesh Verma, chief election officer of DAV College, informed that 34 per cent votes had been cast for 11 posts of the college students’ council. "The total number of voters has come out to be 5,617 out of which 3,335 votes were accumulated by the ABVP and the rest by the NSUI and other independent parties," he said.

"The entire procedure of counting went off peacefully with no sign of ruckus or untowardenss inside the campus today," he added.

Dehradun, September 8
Students of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, met Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank at his residence here today.

The students were on an education trip in Dehradun. They praised Dehradun for being an educational hub and were invited by the Chief Minister to seek further studies.

Nishank made an appeal to the students to contribute to the education system of rural areas for the development of every individual as well as India. 

Dehradun, September 8
In the semifinals of the RIMC Soccer Cup, matches were held between the RIMC and AVS and the second match was played between Welham Boys and Tibetan Nehru Memorial School.

The first match between the RIMC and the AVS was very exciting in which the RIMC was leading over the AVS 2-1 till the half time, with cadet Ayush and cadet Rahul scoring for the RIMC and Dilun scoring for the latter.

In the 73rd minute, Nishant brought hopes back to the AVS after scoring an equaliser, thus leading the match to a penalty shootout.

The result of the second semifinal match also resulted in a penalty shoot out when both the teams failed to put the ball into the post.

The results of the matches are as follows:

1. RIMC Vs AVS. Result: AVS won 6-5. Scorers: Ayush - 2 (RIMC), Rahul - 1 (RIMC), Guninder-1 (RIMC), Nelson-1 (RIMC), Dilhun-2 (AVS), Nishant-2 (AVS), Ingti-1 (AVS)

Uday-1 (AVS).

2. WBS Vs TNM. Result: TNM won 3-2. Scorers: Sonam Tenzing-1 (TNM), Dhundup Namgyal-1 (TNM), Palden Phuntsok-1 (TNM), Kishlay-1 (WBS) and Tejaswi-1 (WBS). 

Dehrdaun, September 8
Col Brown School edged past Carman School, Dalanwala, 1-0 in the semifinal to enter the final of the Senior Council Football Tournament held at St Jospeh Academy here today.

This was the lone goal effort by Jiya Ahmed in the 58th minute that did the trick for Col Brown. The first half of the match went goalless, but the second half proved fruitful for Col Brown.

The second semifinal of the tournament will be played tomorrow between the host St Joseph and Cameron Hall.

Earlier in the day, quarterfinal was played between Cameron Hall and GRD Niranjanpur in which former managed to beat the latter 1-0. Amulaya (43rd) of Cameron Hall scored to goal to guide his team to semifinal.

Dehradun, September 8
The 16-member Uttarakhand paralympic team left for the National Paralympic Athletics Championship to be held at Panchkula in Haryana from September 8 to 12.

More than 20 states from all over the country are expected to participate in the championship. Events, including 100m, 400m, 800m, 1000m, long jump, high jump, shot put and discus throw, will be played, Prem Kumar, secretary of the State Paralympic Association said. "Shot put and discus throw are the events in which we have more chances of winning medals,” added the secretary.

Dehradun, September 8
The Uttarakhand badminton squad returned with a rich haul in the Smt Krishna Khaitan Memorial All-India Junior Ranking Prize Money Tournament that was held in Chandigarh from September 1 to 6.

Boys and girls from different states of the country participated in different age groups like u-13, u-16 and u-19. The state team gave the best performance in the u-13 singles and doubles events.

Uttarakhand's Lakshay Sen was adjudged the best player in the boys’ category and awarded with Rs 2,500, while his brother Chirag Sen in the boys’ u-13 final beat Rahul Yadav 17-21, 21-8, 21-19.

Also, he won the u-13 boys’ doubles championship pairing Rahul Yadav to defeat Shrish Verma and Kanishk 21-12, 21-17 in the final. Chirag has also won titles in Banglore and Kochin in June and July, respectively.

In the doubles final, Bodhit Joshi and Lakshay got the third place for the Uttarakhand state. Kuhu of the state finished second.

Brothers Lakshay Sen and Chirag Sen are given a scholarship of Rs 2,000 each every month by the Padukon Academy for their performance in August.

The Uttarakhand Players Welfare Association also presented a cheque of Rs 5,100 to Chirag Sen.