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Late evening rain adds to worries of Haridwar
Sonia undertakes aerial survey, seeks liberal Central package
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Rain holidays disrupt exam schedule
Kumaon counts its losses
Ramnagar admn sets an example at Chukam
Lull in rain, but Kumaon’s misery continues
4 choppers pressed into service
Fruits, veggies act pricey
Apples worth Rs 25 cr lost during rains in Uttarkashi
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Late evening rain adds to worries of Haridwar
Haridwar, September 21 Many people have been reported stuck in flood water, particularly in Gangdaspur, Panditpuri, Maharjpur Khurd, Gidowali, Raysi, Balawali and Kund where maximum flooding has been reported. Hundreds of dead animals are floating on flood water and people have been forced to spend the night on rooftops. Roshan Lal Sharma, SP, Rural, said that police personnel aided by the army, paramilitary forces such as BEG, ITBP, PAC and NDRF specialists, were providing relief with the help of local people. Localites said this monsoon reminded them of the 1978 flood fury in the region. Such is the condition at Habibur that the two streams - the Ganga and Ban Ganga - have merged for several miles. Rainfall late in the evening in Haridwar added the water in the Ganga which is still flowing above the danger mark of 292m. All catchment areas near the Ganga have been evacuated already. District Magistrate R Meenakshi Sundaram and SSP Sanjay Gunjiyal monitored the whole situation, particularly in the Lakshar region.
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Sonia undertakes aerial survey, seeks liberal Central package
Dehradun, September 21 She arrived at the Jolly Grant airport in the morning and later took off in an Indian Air Office chopper to undertake an aerial survey of flood-ravaged parts in Tehri, Haridwar, Haldwani, Nainital, Luxar and of Moradabad and Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. In the past two days, 67 persons have lost their lives taking the toll since the monsoon season began to 170 in the state. Meanwhile, state Congress leaders, including former Chief Minister ND Tiwari, waited in vain to meet the Congress chief who immediately left on the aerial survey. Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank too had undertaken an aerial survey of parts of the state hit by floods, landslides and cloudbursts. He had announced a relief of Rs 1 lakh to the next of kin of those killed in natural calamities. He also demanded a package of Rs 5,000 crore from the Centre to tackle the situation, an official statement said. New Delhi: After making an aerial survey of flood-affected areas of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today sought a liberal package from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for them to tackle the situation. Immediately after reaching Delhi, Sonia spoke to the Prime Minister on phone and requested him to have the damage caused by floods and cloudbursts in Uttarakhand and UP assessed immediately and ensure that a liberal package was made available to them through the National Calamity Relief Fund.
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Speed up relief work, Guv tells officials
Haridwar, September 21 “These should be the foremost priority of the administration. It should ensure that these are provided to every person affected by floods,” said Alva. Alva’s helicopter landed at 11 am at the Gurukul Kangri University helipad where she met flood-affected people and listened to their problems. On the spread of contagious diseases, the Governor said, “Every step will be taken to ensure that no epidemic spreads. What has happened was unfortunate, but what we can control we will,” Alva assured the affected people. When most affected people lamented about the lack of relief efforts as well as compensatory packages, Margaret Alva directed administrative officials to speed up the relief-distribution process. Informing the Governor about the efforts being done, ADM Haridwar Ranbir Singh Chauhan said that almost all affected villages had been provided relief. He added that as the water level was receding, only a few people were coming to relief camps. Many had returned to their homes, he said. SSP Dr Kiran L Shah apprised the Governor of the rescue operations being conducted by the police and paramilitary personnel jointly. After spending almost an hour, the Governor left the relief camp for an aerial survey of the other flooded-affected regions in the state.
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Rain holidays disrupt exam schedule
Dehradun, September 21 Despite the order of closure having been released in newspapers and news channels, many parents along with their wards reached schools to know when today’s examination would take place. “I called up the school at 7 am, but nobody was picking up the phone. So my daughter and I came to the school to get the new exam schedule,” said KN Sharma whose daughter is a student of the Convent of Jesus and Mary. Many schools are planning to reschedule the examination, while others have announced that they will conduct yesterday’s exam on September 23. “The school has announced that yesterday’s examination will be held on Thursday (September 23). September 23, which was earlier announced as a holiday, will remain open now. The new examination schedule will be given to the students on the same day,” said the gatekeeper of Brightland School. In spite of the order of the district administration, Doon Blossom School, Dalanwala, remained opened yesterday. On the condition of anonymity, a teacher at the school confirmed that the attendance of teachers for the day was not recorded and the school conducted exams on the sly.
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Kumaon counts its losses
Nainital, September 21 Till now, there have been 107 deaths in the region in rain-related incidents, while 68 persons have suffered injuries. More than 650 cattle heads have perished in the rain. According to Kumaon Commissioner Kunal Sharma, “A sum of approximately Rs 1.25 crore has been disbursed as assistance and relief under various heads to the affected people. More than 360 buildings have been destroyed and 4,445 have been partially damaged in various incidents in which more than one lakh people from 21,000 families have been adversely affected”. He said the maximum casualties had been in Almora district where 41 persons had died, while maximum number of buildings had been partially damaged in Udham Singh Nagar district with the figure standing at 1,329. In Nainital district, 79 residential buildings had been completely destroyed and 1,293 partially damaged. The Nainital administration had set up a disaster management control room to monitor the damage to life and property in the district. District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli has stated that two senior officials will be deputed in the control room from 10 am to 6 pm and they will be submitting status reports to the administration on a daily basis. Bagauli added that nodal officers had been appointed to take stock of the damage in all eight blocks and these officers would be apprising the control room of the daily status of relief operations, supply of essentials etc apart from major incidents of disaster. In Nainital district, 18 persons have died so far, while 76 cattle heads have perished across the district. The administration in various other districts has also got down to evaluate the losses incurred due to the rains and relief and rescue operations are being further enhanced.
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Ramnagar admn sets an example at Chukam
Nainital, September 21 Located at a distance of about 8 km from Mohaan, the village with its 200 families was completely at the mercy of nature. According to District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli, on Monday night, a team of revenue officials, led by Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Anup Nautiyal managed to reach the village via Kudkhet after crossing a hanging bridge on the Kosi river. The team took clothes, food packets, cooking oil, wheat, rice, salt, milk packets and sugar for the residents. The administration was otherwise making preparations to take essentials to the village by a helicopter. Nautiyal and his team have been praised at the top administrative level for setting an example in disaster management.
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Lull in rain, but Kumaon’s misery continues
Nainital, September 21 In parts of Terai in Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital, water levels in water-logged areas are gradually coming down, but there is no respite from the misery unleashed by the rain and subsequent floods over the past month. In addition to the problems emerging from the rain, these areas continue to face the onslaught of diseases. Almora continues to be the
worst-hit area as attempts to make vehicular movement to the district from the alternative route via Ramgarh were still continuing till the filing of this report. A resident of the town Yogesh Pachaulia, who is a practising lawyer in the Uttarakhand High Court, told this correspondent over telephone. “The town is experiencing a shortage of vegetables with onions and potatoes going out of stock. “Whatever is available is available at an exorbitant cost. We have not had drinking water supplies over the past four days, although the power supply has been restored.” He further pointed that if this
was the condition of the district headquarters, then one could very well imagine the conditions in
the villages. A resident of Ringal village in the district who sells vegetables in Nainital said, “I have been getting frantic calls from my family back in the village. They say that the entire field and orchards have been flattened. Trees have simply been washed off the face of the ground. I am desperate to reach them, but there is no way I can do so right now.” The administration has managed to maintain the flow of smaller vehicles to Nainital via Bhimtal and also from Kaladhungi, but these routes continue to experience temporary blockages. Nainital continues to face a shortage of petrol as there is no supply available in the two petrol pumps in the town. There have been media reports
suggesting that people in the region have had to shell out Rs 160 for a kg of onion and Rs 90 for a kg
of tomatoes. A large number of people were stranded at Haldwani as no bus service is available for mountainous districts. These passengers have had to spend their days at the bus stand and the railway station. Meanwhile, reports coming from Bageshwar said that people in rural areas continue to abandon their houses in the villages that have been damaged. It is learnt that 27 families have moved out of Mathro village while 13 families have moved out of Dudila village. A large number of residents at Jinkhola village have taken shelter in the Panchayat Ghar of the village. A common refrain of people across the region has been about the failure of officials to visit the worst-affected areas. This correspondent has been receiving calls from various parts, including Bhatraunjkhan, Okhalkanda and parts of Almora, about officials not turning up to take stock of the situation in some of the worst-affected areas and doing something to address these.
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ADM releases relief fund
Dehradun, September 21 He said the team had been deployed to take out water that entered houses located in Vasant Vihar and Raiwala who on the spot help the residents. There was no loss of life. The ADM said they had also sent the team of forest officials to clear the tree that has fallen on the wall of Milan Vihar resident.
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Rail services disrupted for third day
Dehradun, September 21 AK Singhal, Additional Divisional Railway Manager, Moradabad, went on an inspection of the Dehradun railway station today. He supervised the ongoing work of clearing of railway tracks at Haridwar to ensure resumption of rail services to Doon. Platforms at the Haridwar railway station were jam packed due to disruption of trains. Many passengers were compelled to come to Dehradun on taxis. The suspension of bus services for Delhi via Haridwar and Saharanpur added to their agony. Many persons queued up at the Dehradun railway station to claim refunds on their tickets in the cancelled trains.
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4 choppers pressed into service
Dehradun, September 21 The relief operation is getting affected as 1,200 roads have been damaged preventing the supply of foodgrains and other essential commodities by road. One MI-17 helicopter, along with a Chetak helicopter, has been stationed at the Jolly Grant airport, Dehradun, and another Chetak helicopter and MI-17 helicopter have been stationed at the Pant Nagar airport. “Our immediate focus is to rescue the 37 tourists stranded on the Kailash Mansarovar route at Gunji and the operation will be launched early in the morning. “For better coordination, the MI-17 helicopter will be stationed at Dharchula and the Chetak helicopter will be used to transport tourists to Haldwani. “Instead of air droppings, food material, potable water and vegetables will be transported to a particular spot and then transferred through Chetak helicopters to various tehsils,” said Dr Rakesh Kumar, Secretary, Disaster Management. He said all District Magistrates had been instructed to give their requirements to the Commissioners of Garhwal and Kumaon. “As the water will take some time to recede, our immediate attention is to take preventive measures and ensure that no epidemic breaks out. “Along with food, medicines too will be distributed through helicopters, and, if need be, patients in a serious condition in remote areas too will be ferried to nearby hospitals by helicopters,” added Dr Rakesh Kumar. Today, Uttarakhand saw heavy VIP traffic with Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi undertaking an aerial survey and later Governor Margaret Alva also using the services of the state Chetak helicopter to undertake an aerial survey of Tehri and Haridwar. Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Subash Kumar said electricity had been restored in flood-hit areas and efforts were on to repair 271 water schemes in the hills and restore telecommunication lines through the BSNL.
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Fruits, veggies act pricey
Dehradun, September 21 The price of some items has almost doubled, while others saw the hike of 10-20 per cent. The most-affected item on the kitchen shelf is the onion. It is now making people cry with its high price. Onions, which used to cost somewhere around Rs 20-25, is now available for around Rs 50-60 depending on the quality and size. Among fruits, it is pomegranate which has touched Rs 150 per kg. Sources said it had been three days that no truck carrying fruits or vegetables had reached the Niranjanpur grain market. This had caused panic among buyers. Mohammad Nausheed, who runs a fruit shop near the Collectorate, said pomegranate was actually affected by the rain and its rates had doubled. Rates of other fruits had just increased by Rs 10-20. Sandeep, who runs a vegetable shop at Dharampur, said due to the disruption in supply, the price of vegetables and fruits had gone up. Rahul, another shopkeeper at Dharampur, said, “Due to the shortage of fruits and vegetables in the mandi, the prices have shot up. We are not able to make any profits at these rates”. Apples that cost Rs 25-40 last week now cost Rs 50-80, bananas have gone up from Rs 20-30 to Rs 30-40. Guavas, which were priced at Rs 15-25, are selling at Rs 30-40 and papaya, which was for Rs 20-25, now costs Rs 25-30. Gourd, which was available at Rs 20 per kg earlier, is now available at Rs 30. Potatoes that used to cost Rs 8-10 now cost Rs 10-15. Geeta Sharma, a resident of Patel Nagar, said, “The rain this year has severely affected our pockets. Earlier, we used to have vegetables in two meals, but now, we take these only once a day”.
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Apples worth Rs 25 cr lost during rains in Uttarkashi
Pitthoragarh, September 21 “Horticulture farmers in the state have lost their crops, vegetables worth Rs 80 crore to Rs 100 crore which includes not only the apple crop of Uttarkashi, Ramgarh and some parts of Dehradun area, but also vegetables in special vegetable beds of Nainital, Tehri, Almora and Udham Singh Nagar where water logging has finished the crops in the fields,” said the Director. According to the Horticulture Department, so far they have information of losses of Rs 27.74 crore and reports concerning the losses are still pouring in. “We have also lost the horticulture infrastructure, especially in Hardwar district, worth Rs 7 crore which needs immediate repairing up,” said Nautiyal. According to him, the farmers who were making vegetable cultivation their occupation in the state have been badly demoralised by these unexpected prolonged rains. “Whereas the vegetables crop in valley areas have been fully washed away by river flows, the farmers in other areas were unable to reach markets nearby as the roads were blocked,” said the Director.
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Slums expected to increase, reports survey
Dehradun, September 21 At the first meeting of monitoring committee on slums yesterday, initial reports suggest that not only the population of urban poor and slums will see an upward jump, but industrial hubs in Rudrapur, Haldwani, Haridwar and Dehradun are newer destination for slums instead of the railway tracks and river beds. The survey being undertaken by the Himalayan Institute For Environment Ecology and Development (HIFEED), an NGO in the state, will give a concise data base, a precursor to the slum policy that will take shape in the state and also extend ownership rights and amenities to the poor. As per the data provided by the Urban Directorate for 2003, there are a total of 571 ‘malin bastis’ inhabited by 1,19,764 families, this is being used only as a base by the NGO. “There are problems in hilly areas where slums do not exist, so even two-three settlements will be considered as slums. Besides poor urban families living in settlements too will be included,” said Subash Gupta, Deputy Director, Urban Development Department (UDD). Representatives from the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), Urban Development Department (UDD) and the state and district-levels officials are members of the monitoring committee. The case of Rudraprayag was raised where no slum exists, and the practical difficulties being encountered while undertaking the survey in hilly areas. The poor maintenance of records by the ULBs also came to light, as the list given to the NGOs was old and family members recorded were dead long past. The NGO has been especially instructed to verify the families personally. “Most of the records with the ULBs regarding the number of poor urban families provided to the NGO are old, so we are insisting on-spot verification,” said Rajeev Pandey, Programme Officer, State Urban Development Authority. So, also the ULBs’ inability to free land from encroachments as a majority of the slums exist on encroached land.
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Bishti fashions Sunderwala Boys win
Dehradun, September 21 Bishti netted the first goal of the match as early as in the second minute of the match. While next goal came in the second half of the play in the ninth minute through Sunil. Bishti didn’t take much time to strike his second and team’s third goal in the 12th minute of the game. Manduwala couldn’t match up
to the performance of the rival team and failed to find target throughout the match. DMK also posted big 5-0 victory over Adomwala in another league match today. Two goals came in the first half in 15th and 20th minute of the match. While in 20th, 21st and 25th minutes in the second half other three goals came for DMK. Moravian beat NCF in a close contest by 3-2. Whereas earlier, the match between Sports Hostel and ZK ended in a goalless draw.
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Faraz Rawat in carrom quarters
Dehradun, September 21 While in doubles second round match, Deepak Kumar and Vishwajeet registered a facile win of 29-9 over Manmohan and Anil Gandhi. The strong pair of former team didn’t face much resistance from its rival in achieving the win. Whereas in another doubles second round match, pair of Surender Rana and Neeraj faced tough
challenge from duo of Anil Bahuguna and Sukesh. However, the former team managed to beat the
latter 29-28.
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Badminton: Ayushi clinches singles, doubles titles
Dehradun, September 21 In open singles final round, she beat Himansi of Stadium 21-10, 21-19. While in doubles, Ayushi paired Himansi to defeat pair of Anushtha and Shivangi, also of Stadium, 21-8, 21-12. Earlier in open doubles semifinal round, Ayushi and Himansi knocked out Katyayni and Deepti, also of Stadium. In under-19 girls singles semifinal round, Ayushi Rawat beat her Stadium mate Katyayni 21-8, 21-7. In second u-19 girls singles semifinal round, Ira Singh of Aryan beat Deepty 21-15, 21-6. In u-19 girls singles quarterfinals, Ira Singh of Aryan defeated Vanshikha of Welham Girls 21-19, 21-10.
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