Dehradun, September 19
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today said his government had sought financial assistance to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore from the Central government as compensation for damages caused due to natural calamities in the state.

While chairing a meeting, the Chief Minister while seeking assistance asked the Central government to declare the state as calamity affected and depute a high-level team to take a tour of the state and gauge for itself the damage caused due to landslides and floods.

He said Rs 71 crore had been allocated to the districts to undertake relief operations and other necessary steps as part of relief operations in the affected districts.

Meanwhile, a core group comprising the Chief Medical Officer, the Chief Development Officer and the SSP will be formed in the districts for monitoring relief operations in the districts affected by flooding and landslides.

Giving directions to the District Magistrates, Dr Nishank said the core group would be responsible for coordinating relief operations and chalking out day-to-day plans in the district.

He asked the health officials to make arrangements for carrying out postmortem in the areas affected by landslides.

He also asked the District Magistrate of Almora to use helicopter services for relief operations in Almora and take direct help of the Army and paramilitary forces in view of the natural calamity. He also asked the District Magistrate of Nainital to immediately move 50-60 families stuck up at Srilanka Island on the Kosi river.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Subash Kumar said in the past two days, 60 persons had lost their lives and 1,200 roads had been damaged. Besides, 5,000 families had been shifted as a precautionary measure at temporary facilities, in the aftermath of the natural calamity.

Nainital, September 19
Braving the irate weather conditions, the people of Nainital turned up in their colourful best to bid adieu to the goddesses Nanda and Sunanda as the Nanda Devi Mahotsava came to an end this afternoon.

As soon as the palanquin carrying the idols of Nanda and Sunanda made from a banana tree was carried out of the Nanda Devi temple premises, thousands of hands rose to pay obeisance to the local deities with tearful eyes. The taking out of the palanquin also symbolises the departure of a daughter from her paternal home and, hence, the palanquin was taken out through the streets of the city with people lining the entire route showering the idols with rice grains, flowers and small coins. The march was led by a troupe of Chholia dancers performing to their best despite the heavy rains.

Even in the time of adversity unleashed by the continuous rains, people from all walks of life stood huddled together, sharing their umbrellas, along with their sorrows, with one another. The participants included people from all faiths and religions. Even the tourists participated in the event with zeal.

“Coming from Mumbai, I think I am lucky to witness this spectacle as I somehow managed to reach here. It is wonderful to see people turning out in such large numbers even on a day when the weather is so hostile,” said Shashi Kant, a tourist, as he stood clicking photographs of the procession.

“It is a bad time with such heavy rains, but still people have come out in thousands to demonstrate their faith in the goddesses,” said Lalit Tewari, who works in Kumaon University as a teacher.

The fair that accompanies the event has been a washout this year with the shopkeepers, who had taken stalls on lease to make some money, suffering heavy losses. Not only did the people turn out in lesser numbers to do shopping, a large number of their wares were also destroyed in the rains. “We are just trying to console ourselves by saying that maybe it was the will of the goddesses and their anger,” said a shopkeeper who had come from Moradabad to sell his wares.

The idols of the goddesses were to be later immersed in the Naini Lake after their tour of the entire city. The first three days of the event had seen the formal inauguration followed by the dispatching of a team to Aam Padav village for bringing the banana tree from which the idols were carved out. On the third day the goddesses were invoked and their idols placed at their designated places.

This fair is held across the Kumaon region. It is so said the two sisters of King Nand, named Nanda and Sunanda, were going to a temple. The sisters are believed to be incarnations of Goddess Parvati. On their way they came across a he-buffalo, which was actually a demon, who started troubling them. To escape the demon, the two sisters took shelter in a banana grove. The story goes that as the demon tried to enter the grove, Goddess Bhagwati appeared and slew him. It is on the basis of this event that the fair of Nanda and Sunanda is held every year. 

Dehradun, September 19
Today, passengers at the Dehradun railway station were left in quandary as none of the trains made its journey from the station. The railway traffic at the city’s railway station came to a halt today leaving all passengers distressed and in chaos. To enquire about the cancellation of their trains, passengers overcrowded the enquiry counter as well as the office of the Station Master.

Shirish Bhalla, from Amritsar, was deeply upset by the cancellation of his train. “I was here to take part in my friend’s engagement and have to join back my job tomorrow. But the situation is in the worst condition now and the other option of taking bus to Amritsar has also failed. The incessant rain has stopped bus services too. Now, I’ll leave tomorrow or day after whenever favourable condition prevails,” said Bhalla.

The continuous rain has added to the agony of passengers who managed to reach railway station in the murky weather from far-off places like Harbatpur, Vikas Nagar, Mussoorie etc. Several parts of the Doon valley remained submerged under knee-deep water. The damaged railway line due to mudslide near the Haridwar station added to the agony of many people.

Rashmi Vij, a student of Delhi University, was also among those affected passengers who could not return due to the cancellation of trains. “I’d come here for one-week holiday with my parents at Sahaspur, but was disappointed to see all trains being cancelled. Now, again I’ll have to go back many kilometres in this bad weather,” she rued.

Station Master of the Dehradun railway station OP Singh said, “All trains from Dehradun have been cancelled for today due to the mudslide and overflowing debris on the railway tracks near the tunnels at Haridwar. To avoid any sort of mishap, the railway services to other destinations have been disrupted”.

“The work of clearing up the tracks is still on, while restoring the traffic to Dehradun at Haridwar junction. The traffic was restored around 6 am today on the down line. The trains that were run on the affected route were restored at 7.30 am, along with the up-line traffic. The train, however, will remain cancelled from Dehradun,” asserted Singh.

Dehradun, September 19
Losing no opportunity, the state Congress leadership today attacked the Nishank government for failing to come to the aid of people reeling under the impact of natural calamities triggered by heavy rainfall.

“Instead of bracing up the poor disaster management in the state, the Nishank government found time to elevate its ministers to the cabinet ranks, a move aimed at shoring up the prospects of the BJP facing extreme dissidence,” said Surya Kant Dhasmana, senior Congress leader, in a statement.

He said the Nishank government needed to clear its priorities, “At a time when the entire cabinet should have been engaged in ameliorating the sufferings of people and making arrangements for compensating the aggrieved families, BJP leaders and ministers were engaged in a different exercise that was in poor light,” Dhasmana added.

Urging the government to issue directives to the District Magistrates to immediately rehabilitate the affected people, Dhasmana said they should be immediately compensated.

Leader of the Opposition Harak Singh Rawat said the state was going through the crisis of sorts, with people being forced to abandon their homes, the attention of the Nishank government should had been towards rehabilitating them instead the party was celebrating and the Chief Minister was busy promoting his ministers.

Meanwhile, Dinesh Agarwal, senior Congress leader and MLA from Laxman Chowk, today visited Mothrowala, Banjarwala, Brahampuri, Bypass, Majra, Kargi and the Turner Road areas that got flooded due to rains.

The parts of the Turner Road, Azad Colony, Kargi and Green Park were inundated flooding several houses. “The roads, embankments and several tonnes of food have been destroyed,” he said.

In Brahampuri (Green Park), around 62 houses were flooded when gushing water entered the houses. The MLA asked the District Administration to repair the local breaches and roads and immediately provide relief to the affected people. 

Haridwar, Septmber 19
With the issue of the construction of Gyan Godri Gurdwara at world-famous Har-ki-Pauri site getting controversial, owing to some Sikh frontal organisations being adamant on having the gurdwara at the same place, gauging the sensitiveness of the issue many Sikh organisations and people have agreed on having the gurdwara established somewhere else in Haridwar city.

The issue has gained national importance as in many newspapers a baseless report of demolishing the Gyan Godri Gurdwara has been published, while in truth in Haridwar no such gurdwara exists presently. Gyan Godri Gurdwara used to exist till the mid-70s and now the same site houses the Scout and Guides office.

Lashing at such media reports and many outside-state Sikh organisations behind this controversy, Gurdwara Gyan Godri Committee president Harjit Singh Duwa said Uttarakhand is the only state wherein all religion people live in harmony and no such attempt to dilute the peaceful atmosphere in Haridwar will be allowed.

Condemning a few Sikh organisations trying to fuel the issue, Harjit Singh said its only the outsiders who were creating a controversy to get political leverage from the issue which is a matter between the administration and the Gyan Godri Committee.

Uttarakhand Minority Commission chief Sukhdev Singh Namdhari too has condemned some Sikh organisations, mostly based in Punjab and Delhi, for trying to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of Haridwar.

Having a meeting on the gurdwara issue with committee members and local representatives, the commission chief said when the Uttarakhand state government and local Sikh people mutually agreed on the construction of the gurdwara elsewhere in Haridwar, why are outside-state Sikh organisations trying to deliberately create communal animosity.

“Uttarakhand is the first state wherein all religions sects are respected and no one has any problem living here. Some people trying to shine their politics via religious issue is improper and totally uncalled for.

“We (Uttarakhand-based Sikh community) do well know to seek and protect our rights. So thee is no need of outside-state organisations to intervene in our internal matters unnecessarily,” said the Uttarakhand Minority Commission chief.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has made an appeal to the Sikhs worldwide apprising them of the communal harmony that exists in the holy land of Uttarakhand hich is also known as “Dev Bhoomi”. Nishank has assured all that during his tenure as head of the government, no one from any religion or sect will have to take the agitational route to seek religious sovereignity and independence.

Haridwar, September 19
There is a good news for poor people belonging to the minority community as well as the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) as now they will be aligned with the developmental wheel paving way for their uplift which will be instrumental in upping their living as well as socio-educational standard.

The Central government-run Multi-Sectoral Development (MSD) Scheme focuses on the uplift of the minority and the SC/STs concentrated districts, basically the downtrodden section of these classes by providing them with various facilities and aids, be it providing education, health services and other such amenities which have been far from the reaches of this section of people.

Two districts, namely Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, have been chosen to implicate the scheme.

The main objective of the programme is to address the developmental deficits in such districts, particularly in the areas of education, livelihood support, housing, medical centres, sanitation and other related amenities.

Departmental officials point out that the multi-sectoral scheme run by the UPA government is an initiative keeping in mind the recommendations of the Sachar Committee report in respect of the special area development.

For this, in Haridwar district a total of Rs 35 crore will be allotted in a span of two years. Till date Rs 10 crore has been released in two instalments to the district administration.

District Social Welfare Officer Upma Shukla said various developmental works were to be carried under this scheme . “Poor students of these sections will be provided with new schools, libraries, boys’ hostels and also be given books free of cost. Besides, 300 anganbadi centres will be constructed while those in dilapidated conditions will be refurbished,” said Shukla.

She said medical health centres would also be opened while other infrastructural facilities like making of connecting roads, water lines and construction of hand pump’s would also be undertaken under this project.

The work on this scheme is being done on priority basis as till date a whopping 100 odd anganbadi centres have been constructed and according to monitoring agency, which in this case is the District Social Welfare Department, the total work envisaged will be completed by 2012.

The minority people are quite happy as this MSD scheme. “Our village school is being upgraded with new rooms, library is being upgraded, and boys’ hostel will be constructed, apart from connectivity of road and water lines. This is a dream-come-true for our children who want to study, but failed to do so owing to our weak economic and social conditions,” remarked S Nawaz, a resident of Iqbalpur.

Dehradun, September 19
Personal weapons like revolvers, pistols and rifles are no longer used by people merely as weapons to defend, but it has now become the latest fad and status symbol among the rich and famous of the state capital and nearby areas. It seems that not only men, but women too prefer to keep it as a status symbol and not merely as the safety instrument.

The Dehradun administration has issued as many as 1,622 arms licences in the past five years to 1,585 men and 37 women. The list also includes one eunuch.A visit to City Magistrate Meharban Singh Bisht’s office revealed that most of the people, including women, are seeking meeting with him to get their application regarding the arms licences cleared.

Corroborating the fact, Bisht said: “Every second person visiting his office comes for getting an arms licence”.

“The number of such persons varies from 40 to 50 every day, which means more than 5,000 persons seek licences every year,” the Magistrate said. These licence seekers come from every section of society, including businessmen, farmers, small-time politicians and even employees of big companies.

“Self-defence and threats are the reasons that most of the people have mentioned in their applications,” he said, adding that many of them wanted to procure the arms only to impress others. “Earlier, carrying arms while going out was considered as the status symbol for the people of elite class, but now even many from middle-class families also prefer to keep firearms. This seems to be the main reason behind the surge in the number of applications,” Bisht maintained.

He said the recommendations were made only after verifying the credentials of the applicant. The person needed to prove that he or she had a threat to life or the weapons were owned by their parents and the same needed to be transferred in their name. Other than this, it is very important to check their antecedents whether the person has some criminal background or not. “Previously, the person was allowed to carry the weapon all over the country but now it has been limited for three states only,” Bisht said.On being asked how they track the record of those who already had the licence or arms, he stated: “It is difficult to track the record as everything is done manually here but the system needs to be refined so that we could get to know about the same with just one click,” he said.

Mussoorie, September 19
A pet dog saved a family of eight at New Palace Cottage, near the CPWD Guest House, where a mudslide occurred in Mussoorie today. However, the dog, a pomeranian breed, couldn’t save itself. It got buried under the debris and could not be rescued in time.

Hari Prasad, along with his children, was getting ready for breakfast in the morning when suddenly boulders started falling on the tinned roof of their house. The pet dog, which was tied up inside a room, began to bark loudly. As soon as the family came out, the sidewall of the house caved in. It all happened so fast that the family didn’t have time to untie the dog.

Hari Prasad said four houses were completely damaged and one house was partially damaged in the mudslide. He said now he had nothing left. Cash and jewellery worth Rs 5 lakh that he had saved for her daughter’s wedding also got buried in the debris, along with the dog.

Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola visited the spot, along with the police and fire brigade personnel. He said the government should provide immediate relief to the victims of the disaster instead of blaming the Centre.