Arya appeals for calm
Uttarakhand Congress President Yashpal Arya has appealed to the public to maintain peace and amity over the Ayodhya issue.

A Maha Kumbh for  peace of souls of  Partition victims
Haridwar, September 23
Just after five months of the completion of the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar, now the city is all set to host another conglomeration of similar proportions, though it is relating to a particular community.

Dehradun, September 23
Ahead of verdict on the Ayodhya issue, members of the Punjabi Sangathan (Uttarakhand), along with people from other religions, today gathered to urge the public to be calm once the judgment is out.

All religious people from Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian communities gathered at the same platform to give the message of brotherhood.

Priest from the Tapkeshwar temple Digamber Krishan Giri said: “We should respect all religions and should show that we are one and thus not destroy any public property after the final decision comes, be it in the side of anyone”.

While Kazi Ahmad Kasmi said India was a democratic country and all are free to do anything. “Till now we always approached the higher court if we are not happy with the decision of a lower court and if anyone is unhappy with the verdict he must appeal in the Supreme Court instead of creating chaos among the public,” he mentioned.

President of the Punjabi Sangathan Devinder Singh Sethi and chief patron Vijay Singh Chauhan together affirmed that people of various religions were residing in the country and they were always ready to show that they were united especially in the time of crisis and this is the time they should accept the court’s decision peacefully.

Roorkee, September 23
A peace rally, “Hindu-Muslim Bhai Bhai”, was carried out in the town in view of much-awaited Ayodhya verdict which was to be declared tomorrow.

The rally started from the fish market and going round the town went up to the SDM’s office. The participants were raising slogans of brotherhood and unity in diversity as the group was a mix of Hindus and Muslims numbered almost 100.

Even the deferment of the verdict didn’t stop them as they wanted to deliver the message of brotherhood to the denizens of the city and neighbouring places, said Iqbal Khan .

The procession was under strict police vigilance and was appreciated by the general public for sharing the message of brotherhood at the regional level, which has the mix of both religions. It’s learnt that people involved in this rally were mainly Congress supporters.

In view of the Ayodhya verdict, several police meetings were held today at villages under the aegis of SP, Rural, RL Sharma, Additional District Magistrate Ranvir Singh Chauhan and CO Kamlesh Upadhaya.

Sharma said the Police Department had been engaged in different tasks involving updating anti-riot plans, identifying patrolling pickets, border checking and checking at railway stations, bus stands as well as hotels.

The local police has been well-equipped and the men have been briefed to tackle any kind of situation, said Upadhaya. She also mentioned that the police had also held a meeting with Hindu and Muslim religious leaders. She commented that the people of Roorkee were peace loving and followed the instructions or the guidelines shared with them by our department. “Public meetings have eradicated the differences between the two,” she said.

Chauhan went around the city meeting the general public and sharing the measures of confidence building and telling them to maintain peace and calm in any kind of disturbance.

Haridwar, September 23
Just after five months of the completion of the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar, now the city is all set to host another conglomeration of similar proportions, though it is relating to a particular community.

To be organised in the memory of those who died during the Partition of India in 1947, the conglomeration will pay homage to them. The Punjabi Maha Kumbh will commence from September 30 and continue till October 3.

The mega fair will be inaugurated by host state Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and people from Punjabi and Sikh communities from across the country will participate in the event, being held for the first time. Nishank will be bringing holy water from all five Prayags situated in Uttarakhand.

Akhil Bharatiya Panchnad Smarak Samiti founder Shrimad Jagadguru Ramanand Acharya Swami Hansvedacharya Maharaj said this Punjabi Maha Kumbh was being organised to pray for the peace of souls of our forefathers in the time of “shradh”.

He said the four-day affair will be dedicated to society and culture in which country’s top five Gurdwara Jathedars and granthis would pay tributes to those who laid down their lives for the freedom of the country.

Mahamandaleshwar Swami Dharamdev said during Partition thousands died untimely death and it was necessary that we prayed for the peace to their souls which would be given in this Punjabi Maha Kumbh by organising shradhanjali sabhas. He said in the ‘Dev Bhumi’ of Uttarakhand a unique example of national integrity would be set.

Shedding light on Partition days, Uttaranchal Punjabi Maha Sabha founder Ram Moorti Veer said thousands had to pay with their lives while both India and Pakistan got freedom. We fought together for a united India with colonial rule of the British but lost the way when we neared Independence.

Moorti, who is also Uttarakhand Labour Contractual Board Chairman, said by this event young generation would get to know of the trials and tribulations people from both sides went through post-Independence.

Various programmes covering religious, culture, social, spiritual fields will be held during the conglomeration to be hosted in the Pantdeep area. Political as well as film personalities will add dash to the programme.

Haridwar, September 23
Though the state government claims to have provided adequate relief and compensation packages to flood-affected people, on the ground level it is not reaching the beneficiaries. Hundreds of people in flood-affected areas of Bairagi Camp, Chandighat and other adjacent areas today protested against the delay in the allocation of compensation amount here today.

Many alleged negligence on the part of state ministers who didn’t even bother to visit their areas ravaged by the floods. Accusing local legislator and Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik of playing political cards by visiting only those colonies where the BJP got more votes in the previous elections, Lakad Basti and Chandighat Majra slum colony people held a protest in the Chandighat area.

Bairagi Camp, Indira Basti, Bengali Basti, Dudhiya Bandh and Mazra areas, which were the first colonies to be hit by floods affecting more than 200 families lamented that administrative officials were not visiting their areas saying that those were illegal. The agitating residents have warned of intensifying their agitating if the administration didn’t provide them with compensation.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Kranti Manch activists, accompanied by affected villagers, submitted a memorandum to the City Magistrate demanding instant payment of compensation to them.

Pointing out that thousands of people had been rendered homeless while many have lost their lives, JP Pandey, founder of the manch, sought unbiased assessment of damage in the flood-affected villages.

“The state government has its own funds. Besides, the Central government has allocated Rs 500 crore. So why is the delay in compensation package? Those affected are mostly poor people who now have no roof on their heads, no food and access to other amenities,” said Pandey.

Small traders and vendors have also expressed unhappiness over the delay in compensation package from the administration. Protesting by burning effigy of the Chief Minster and his Cabinet ministers, protesters accused Nishank of playing politics by putting onus on the Central government always. They pointed out it had been almost six days since the city was flooded.

Chaudhari Rajbir Singh Kamboj, city secretary of the Congress committee, feared that the Centre’s grant of Rs 500 crore might be misused by the BJP government as it was done in the case of the Maha Kumbh grant. “The UPA government has always provided the state as per its requirement but the BJP government always demands more. In reality the utilisation of that amount for the real purpose is not even 50 per cent,” remarked Kamboj.

Dehradun, September 23
The Uttarakhand Congress has welcomed the decision of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give an interim assistance of Rs 500 crore to the natural disaster-hit state. Yashpal Arya, state Congress President, in a statement said the decision was prompted by the initiative taken by Congress President Sonia Gandhi who requested the Prime Minister for help after her visit to assess the damage caused by the natural calamity.

Arya further hoped that the state government would utilise the amount for giving succour to the affected people and rebuilding the damaged infrastructure of roads and bridges in the state.

Meanwhile, Dhirendra Pratap, senior Congress leader, welcoming the decision of the Prime Minister expressed apprehension about the proper utilisation of the aid.

He demanded that a Central monitoring committee should be formed to monitor the spending of the amount by the state government. “The earlier experience of the Rs 400-crore Central assistance for the Maha Kumbh has not been happy as not much amount was spent on the ground,” he said.

He urged the Prime Minister to send a Central assessment team and give more assistance as promised.

Yogendra Khanduri, member of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), in a statement criticised the remark of the ruling BJP Rajya Sabha member Tarun Vijay in which he said Congress President Sonia Gandhi did not meet any of the victims of the natural disaster.

Khanduri said Sonia was prompt in requesting the Prime Minister to give immediate interim relief to people of Uttarakhand unlike BJP leaders who preferred to sit in their cosy homes in New Delhi.

Khanduri requested Tarun to advise the Uttarakhand Chief Minister to work for the proper relief and rehabilitation of the affected people by the money received from the Centre.

Dehradun, September 23
A Congress delegation met Governor Margaret Alva to apprise her about their welcoming gesture on getting Rs 500 crore Central relief for the disaster management. They also complained about the irresponsible behaviour of administrative officials, saying that the official machinery preferred to keep their phones switched off when the flood victims were suffering in the interior hill areas.

The delegation also informed her that no arrangements had been made to distribute essential commodities such as salt, sugar, power milk, wheat, rice, LPG, etc, to the victims who were living hand to mouth in such a grim situation. The PDS system was also not functioning.

There was an urgent need of doctors to take care of the affected people, they urged, emphasising that farmer loans, electricity bills and school fees of the past six months in the affected areas should be waived. They demanded that those people should be given Rs 10,000 besides other financial help to rebuild their homes and buy other essential items. Fair price shops should be created to help APL, BPL and Antyodaya families, they demanded.

Dehradun, September 23
Agitated members of the BEd/BPEd Prashikshit Berozgar Sangathan vented their grievances by burning an effigy of the state government in front of the Vidhan Sabha here today. They shouted slogans against the administration and continued to stage a dharna in favour of their pending demands.

President of the sangathan Baldev Singh Bhandari said the federation had given several memorandums to the Chief Minister, the Secretary (Education) and the Education Minister, but except fake assurances nothing had been materialised yet. In fact, the affected were facing such a financial crisis that their families were at the state of starving.

Bhandari also criticised the state government for taking no decision on trained teachers’ problems. “Instead of increasing the number of seats of unemployed trained BEd and BPEd teachers, the administration has failed to fill the existing seats,” added Bhandari.

The pending demands of these trained teachers include the opening of 8,000 vacancies for special BTC teachers and 5,000 for LT teachers. The protesters also observed an indefinite fast to press their demands on the administration, but nothing had been materialised yet.

“We request the state government to immediately take action in favour of our demands or else we will be compelled to take lethal ways of protest,” asserted Bhandari.

Sangathan vice-president Himanshu Rajput, state secretary Birpal Bisht, treasurer Rakesh Nautiyal, state coordianator Mahendra Chauhan and others were also present at the protest.

Dehradun, September 23
Despite enduring devastation wrought by two major earthquakes, several incidents of cloudbursts and landslides, the concept of hazard and risk vulnerability assessment and mitigation plan continues to be a neglected area in Uttarakhand.

Only the satellite mapping of the Char Dham Yatra routes in Uttarakashi and Chamoli have been undertaken and a similar exercise could not be undertaken in Kumaon due to resource crunch.

After the Malpa and Ukhimath tragedies in 1998, under the national mission a landslide hazard mitigation plan was drafted and the satellite mapping undertaken in parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in 2001. In Uttarakhand, landslide zonation mapping was done for the Char Dham Yatra route by the Indian Institute of Remote Science (IIRS) but neither were the maps used nor the mitigation plans put in place.

“The landslide zonation mapping, assessing susceptibility of the terrain for landslides, expressing the likelihood of landslide occurrence in the Pipalkoti and Chamoli areas is already with the state government,” said Dr Ishwar Chander Das, Scientist at Dehradun-based Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS).

Even the prospect maps prepared by the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing have not been used, nor of information exchanged regarding variations or accuracy of the areas predicted by the Jal Sansthan and Peyjal Nigam that are undertaking exploration of groundwater sources using IIRS maps.

Similarly, the IIRS had prepared maps of places, including that of the Varunavrat mountain area in Uttarkashi, as potential landslide area prior to the 2003 landslide there. “But, neither the government nor the administration took measures to stabilise the area. The warning helps as it gives information about the water saturations. But, the advanced warning systems being used do not measure intensity thereby it is difficult to predict cloudbursts. But, if the rainfall is severe it can act as warning for things to come,” said a top scientist from the IIRS.

No wonder a demand for more advanced a radar system that gives information about the cloudburst is being increasingly felt in the hills. Besides, the suggested landslide mitigation measures by the National 2001 Mission like afforestation, planned mining and planned slope modification, terracing drainage diversion and soil reinforcement were not carried out by the government.

Nainital, September 23
Galvanised into action, the administration is working round the clock to bring life back on track across Kumaon.

Top officials in various districts are visiting the worst disaster-hit areas and monitoring relief operations.

Things have started looking up a bit in the region with there being a lull in the rain. According to a spokesperson of the Almora administration, relief material was finally flown in by a helicopter on Thursday morning.

He said with the opening of the Garampani route to the district, 15 to 20 truckloads of supplies were on their way to provide essentials to the people of the district. The supply of drinking water has been restored to most parts of the town.

In Nainital district, Rs 6 crore has been released by the state administration for carrying out restoration works. District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli has asked officials of the Public Works Department (PWD), Irrigation Department, Power Department, Jal Nigam and Jal Sansthan to prepare proposals for repair and reconstruction works.

Till now, a sum of Rs 35.71 lakh has been disbursed to the disaster-affected population of the district. Bagauli toured the Garampani area of the district on Thursday afternoon and asked officials of the PWD and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to work on a war footing to clear the roads. At present, 97 roads are closed for vehicular movement in the district.

In view of extensive damage in Okhalkhanda, Kaushyakutaoli and Betalghat regions of the district, Bagauli has deputed three additional nodal officers for these areas. The district administration had earlier appointed eight nodal officers, one each for every block.

These officers have been entrusted with the task of evaluating the loss to life and infrastructure in their respective areas and report the same to the office of the Chief Development Officer (CDO) and the control room set up in the district headquarters.

Bagauli has ordered Divisional Forest Officers (DFOs) to depute personnel to assist the nodal officers.

Till now, 113 peesons have died in rain-related incidents across Kumaon. According to the office of Kumaon Commissioner Kunal Sharma, maximum deaths have been reported from Almora district with the figure standing at 43.

A total of 683 cattle heads have perished in the region and most of these deaths have been reported in Bageshwar district. As many as 519 residential buildings have been totally destroyed and 5,884 have suffered partial damage.

Dehradun, September 23
Showing their dominance, Guru Nanak Academy (GNA) registered a big 4-0 win in the final against Carman School, Premnagar, to win the Council Schools’ Junior Football Tournament that culminated at the Col Brown School today.

Abhishek Thapliyal scored a fine brace in GNA’s triumph. He found the target in the seventh and 47th minutes of play. Ayush Kolashri (45th) and Himanshu Mal (55th) contributed with a goal each.

Carman Premnagar had no answer to the powerful attack of the GNA that had also drubbed GRD, Niranjanpur, 5-0 in their semifinal. The winners have triumphed in most of their matches in the tournament with ease.

Meanwhile, Shanti Swaroop, Headmaster of Col Brown School, distributed the prizes. 

Dehradun, September 23
Mahadevi Kanya Pathshala (MKP) beat Government Girls Inter College (GGIC) in the u-16 category and GGIC beat MKP in the u-19 category at the District School Hockey Tournament here today.

In the under-19 match, GGIC scored a facile 3-0 win over MKP. GGIC dominated throughout the match. After initial attempts, GGIC got success in the 25th minute through Poonum. Her teammate Aarti (35th) struck the second goal for GGIC.

Nivedita added another goal to the tally of the GGIC in the 58th minute to finish the match on 3-0 in GGIC’s favour.

In the u-16 group, MKP registered an one-sided 4-0 win over GGIC. Kavita (3rd and 18th), Neena (38th) and Mamta Bhatt (55th) scored in MKP’s win. 

Dehradun, September 23
Doon Star rained goals on Manduwala to drub them 8-0 during the second Stephen Hishey Memorial Football Tournament here today at the Pavilion Ground.

After being inflicted with eight goals, the Manduwala captain ceded the match in the 42nd minute. Dharam Singh (18th, 30th, 34th, 35th), Balvinder Singh (22nd, 37th), Manish Khatri (38th) and Rajesh Chauhan (41st) scored the goals.

In the second match, Akranta beat Doiwala 6-0. Yaspal (8th), Manoj (24th), Yaspal (29th), Deepak (45th) and Ajit Negi (46th, 57th) scored for the winning team.

Dehradun, September 23
MKP got the better of St Agnes 3-0 during a hockey match organised under the Panchayat Yuva Krida and Khel Abhiyan on MKP ground here today.

MKP girls started building pressure on their opponents right from the word go. Varsha of the winning team drew first blood in the 20th minute. The first half didn’t see any other goal.

St Agnes couldn’t retaliate even in the second half while were inflicted with two more goals. Karishma (38th) and Mamta (56th) found the net to guide MKP to an easy 3-0 victory.

Mussoorie, September 23
In the sixth Alok Ranjan Memorial Soccer Tournament, Oak Grove School drew with Woodstock School 2-2 in their fixture today.

The two goals by Oak Grove were scored by Manish - one in the first half and the other in the second half. Woodstock School came back strongly to level the score. Only one match was played today. The referees for the tournament are Satish, Kailash Joshi, SP Joshi, BS Negi, Pramod and Hemant Juyal.

Dehradun, September 23
SC Gairola stormed into the singles quarterfinal of the Bar Association Carrom Tournament.

He defeated Vivek Jain 29-13 in a singles second round match to enter the last eight. Only one match was played today and the remaining matches will be held tomorrow, the organisers said.

As many as eight matches each in the singles and doubles categories were to be held. The duo of SC Gairola and Ram Singh Rawat have already booked the doubles final berth.