Roorkee, September 24
Torrential rains in Uttarakhand have cut off large parts of the Himalayan state and caused heavy damage to life and property.

Residents of Uttarakhand heaved a sigh of relief with little or no rain in most places during the past 72 hours.

Since yesterday, water levels have started receding. This has resumed connectivity to previously submerged villages of Laksar tehsil.

Haridwar District Magistrate R Meenakshi Sundram said over the phone that the Ganga is now flowing 1m below the danger level.

Water level has receded in almost all villages of Laksar tehsil making way for tractors to ply and so far, more than 8,000 persons have been shifted to safer places by teams of the Army, NDRF and the local administration.

As there are no submerged villages in Laksar tehsil, the civil administration has de-requisitioned the Army. The situation is under control and can be managed by the local administration, the DM added.

He emphasised that the priority was to restore road links and infrastructure which have been severely damaged. Food is being provided to humans and animals, he said.

He mentioned that the administration would start a vaccination programme for humans as well as domestic animals soon to prevent an epidemic.

Bleaching powder will be sprinkled in affected areas. Carcasses of animals and cattle are being gathered and would be buried in pits with chemicals and salt, he said. He added that NREGA funds were being utilised in this regard.

The DM also mentioned that teams were conducting damage survey around the clock.

Persons, who were stuck on rooftops, came down and took stock of their homes and belongings.

Sushil Kumar, kanungo of Khanpur block, Laksar tehsil, said that so far, they had removed 24 dead animals from Dallawala and Jogiwala villages.

He said that out of the 170 villages in Laksar, 25 to 30 villages have been severely hit.

Haridwar, September 24
Despite administrative claims, there are many villages in Haridwar district that are still almost cut off from the outside world. In these areas help from the administration is not as much as it is from nearby villagers who are helping flood-hit people to their best.

One such area in Laksar is Gangdaspur where Ganga water is still flowing cutting the twin villages of Gangdaspur Chota and Gangdapur Bada from the outside world. Villagers are themselves taking out their sugar cane crops from flood waters so as to feed themselves and their animals.

The Ganga has inundated their fields with sugarcane and other paddy crops nearly destroyed.

Village head of Gangdaspur Sulekh Chand said for the past six days they had not slept with fear of rainwater playing havoc in the area. Thanking the nearby villagers who are coming on tractors to provide them with food, cloth and fuel like wood and dry cow dung pieces, Sulekh Chand said still they were waiting for administrative relief to come by, forget any compensation.

When a The Tribune team visited these areas there was a deep silence everywhere as most of the villagers have taken shelter in nearby villages. Hectares of fields with standing crops have been damaged and there are no signs of roads.

Locals rely on tractors as it’s still not possible for any other vehicle to pass through submerged areas. Though some respite from weather has given confidence to these affected people as water level is receding.

Local residents resent a lack of administrative efforts to give them relief. Anil Kumar Saini, social activist from Maharajpur Kalan, says: “Today, we received last week newspapers and were shocked that just recently the Chief Minister allocated cabinet berths to four cabinet ministers, including Disaster Management Minister Khajan Das. What sort of good work has the disaster management ministry done in these areas that they are being awarded. Had the Chief Minister or for that matter Khajan Das inspected these areas then we would have shown them the real disaster which has left us hapless,” said Saini.

Local legislator Kunwar Pranav admits that still in several areas floodwater has not receded, hampering the relief efforts. The state government should not delay further in providing relief to the flood-affected people as their crops and property have been devastated, he added.

Many social organisations and volunteers are pitching in to provide relief to these villagers. The Rashtriya Sewak Sangh has opened a food store in Rayasi from where packaged food items are being provided to the nearby villagers, besides food prepared on the spot.

A group comprising 25-odd members from the Harchanpur area, that falls in Mangalor tehsil, provided ration, cloths and fuel brought on three tractors to the villagers of Gangdaspur, Sahaspur Bela, Maharajpur, Nandpur, Kalassia, Giddowali and other areas.

“We are doing whatever we can. It’s a matter of bonhomie between our villages. Our areas didn’t get affected much with floods so we who can help these villagers. The government may be doing its bit, but we thought that we can also extend a helping hand as we know these areas much better,” said village head of Harchanpur, who lead the relief team.

What was most touching the villagers who haven’t eaten cooked food for two days offered us part of their food. That sums up the spirit of these villagers who have been fighting the nature as well as the government laxity for the past six days.

Nainital, September 24
Amid continuing rains, Kumaon is tabulating the damages it has suffered over the past 40 days. New instances of devastation continue to be reported daily from across the districts of the region even as the administration has gone all out to provide relief to the masses.

A large number of roads, including highways, continue to be blocked making transportation of essential supplies a tedious task for the administration. The primary focus of the administrative machinery at present is to push in the essential commodities and relief material to the worst affected area of the region.

The vehicular movement in the Kumaon region continues to be severely interrupted even after the intensity of the rains has come down considerably over the past couple of days. A majority of roads, including highways like Nainital-Haldwani and Bhawali-Almora, are still blocked.

There are no chances of these roads being opened for weeks to come. As of now vehicles are plying through alternative routes that are longer in terms of distance and are not capable of handling too much of heavy traffic. For example, people coming from Haldwani to Nainital are now coming via Bhimtal covering an additional distance of about 10 km. They are being forced to shell out extra money on commuting. Similarly, people going towards Almora are forced to take the route via Ranikhet.

A large number of vehicles continue to be trapped on stretches that have been rendered inaccessible by landslides, falling boulders and sinking of roads.

The number of houses that have been totally damaged has gone up to 624 across the region. Most of these houses are in Almora district with their figure standing at 171. The number of partially damaged residential buildings has gone up to 6,373 with Udham Singh Nagar accounting for 2,294 of these.

According to the office of Kumaon Commissioner Kunal Sharma, the total number of people adversely affected in the rain-related incidents stands at 118,030. While the loss to human lives stands at 113, the number of cattle head that have perished has gone up to 695. The region continues to reel under a severe power crisis. According to reports, the crisis has been aggravated with the shut down of six power houses across the state. Reports say that as many as 326 villages in Kumaon have been going without power for the past fortnight.

The prices of vegetables continue to spiral across the region. With capsicum costing more than Rs 100 per kg in Haldwani, it can be well imagined what the situation would be in remote settlements. The supply of vegetables from the Gaula Par region, which is a production hub, has been severely affected.

Meanwhile, keeping in mind the proposed visit of an assessment team from the Centre to the district on Sunday, District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli has ordered that all officers of the state government would remain open for the day.

Dehradun, September 24
The Akhil Garhwal Sabha will not organise Kothigi Fair slated for October in view of the natural calamity in the state.

At a meeting chaired by TS Aswal, president of the sabha, it was decided to cancel Kothigi, scheduled to be held from October 25 to 31, and the light-and-sound show titled “Ganga Avtaran” in memory of those who had lost their lives in the floods.

“We were already in the midst of preparations, but now, we are thinking of holding a charity show. Collections from the show will go towards relief operations, the details of which are yet to be worked out,” said Roshan Dhasmana, General Secretary, Akhil Garhwal Sabha.

Members of the sabha aim to collect Rs 1 lakh for the flood victims.

Dehradun, September 24
Annoyed members of the Garhwal University Teachers Association (GRUTA) at DAV PG College vented their grievances on the varsity for decreasing Teachers Welfare Fund from 30 per cent to 25 per cent here today. The association has announced to boycott the forthcoming back paper examinations.

While addressing the media at a press conference held the college today, Dr DK Tyagi, general secretary, GRUTA, said the varsity had not abided by the recommendations of the government for maintaining fixed teachers welfare funds. “We (association) unanimously refuse the decision of the varsity that has decreased teachers welfare funds from 30 per cent to 25 per cent and would not assist any examination in the college till our demands are met,” asserted Tyagi.

An earlier strike of non-teaching staff at DAV PG College had already delayed the process of back paper examinations while the decision of boycotting the examination by GRUTA would surely paralyse the normal functioning of the college administration.

Dehradun, September 24
On the occasion of World Girls Day, the Uttaranchal Mahila Association (UMA) held a programme, Meri Ladli, here today.

The programme initiated with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by chief guest Shweta Chaube, Circle Officer, Uttarakhand Police. Devrani Singh and Sadhna Sharma accompanied Chaube.

Girls from Doon Blossoms, Kiddy Land, Doon Kids, Wonder Years and other schools participated in the programme. Colourful dance performances spellbound the audience and won them awards in various competitions. Apart from this, little damsels clad in fancy dresses presented folk songs, dances and poems.

Addressing the programme, Sadhna Sharma, president of the association, said: “The decreasing number of girl child in India has given us the reason to celebrate this occasion today. Through the celebration of this occasion, we (UMA) would like to create awareness among people that girls are no more burdens on their parents.”

“We must discourage people who think girls are bane and participate in eradication of the social evil of girl foeticide and girl infanticides. Girls are equivalent to boys and are making their parents proud with jobs as well as social achievements equally,” she added.

Dehradun, September 24
Cadets of the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) put up an excellent show at the ninth Uttarakhand State Shooting Championship held at the Jaspal Rana Shooting Range, Poondha.

The cadets brought home a jaw-dropping total of 31 gold, 14 silver and 12 bronze medals.

Cadet Kumar Vikram stole the show by winning gold in all six events he participated in and also put up the highest score in the championship.

His events included peep sight air rifle junior men, .22 prone rifle junior men and senior men category.

The cadets also won all team gold medals. In the peep sight air rifle event for sub-junior men, cadet Akash Yadav won the gold medal. Cadet Abhimanyu and cadet Supreet bagged the silver and bronze medals respectively in the same category.

In the open sight air rifle category for sub-junior men, cadet Prakhar Kaushik won gold followed closely by cadet Shivtej and cadet Puneet who won silver and bronze medals respectively.

In open sight air rifle for junior men, cadet Avnish Singh won gold followed by cadet Krishnapal Singh and cadet Prince Krishnamurty who won silver and bronze medals respectively.

Cadet Prathamesh Kohale won a bronze medal in the air pistol event for sub-junior men. Cadet Rajat Tripathi bagged a silver in the .22 peep sight air rifle prone for senior men.

The RIMC team was escorted by Kushi Ram and the coach Hav Rana Pratap.

Chief guest Margaret Alva, Governor of Uttarakhand, appreciated the hard work of the cadets. Officiating Commandant Lt Colonel Rajesh Nathawat applauded the cadets for their excellent performance.

Dehradun, September 24
MKP and St Agnes won titles in the girls and boys categories, respectively, during the hockey finals of the Panchayat Yuva Krida and Khel Abhiyan here today.

Kavita Bisht made the lone goal effort to show MKP the way. She struck in the 25th minute to lead her side to a 1-0 win over GGIC. Talented striker Mamta Bhatt was declared Woman of the Tournament.

In the boys final, St Agnes got the better of Guru Nanak Inter College, Chukhuwala 2-1. Rohit (22nd) and Ankit Joshi (45th) scored for the winning team while Pradeep Chauhan (30th) struck the lone goal for GNIC.

Dehradun, September 24
Host Guru Nanak Academy (GNA) scored 1-0 victory over Carman School, Premnagar, in a match of the Council School Sub-Junior Boys Football Tournament here today.

Naizil Thapa struck this decisive goal in the 41st minute of the play. Two sides put up excellent performance but the host team managed to have the edge.

In the second match, Doon Public School, Bhaniawala, defeated Sanskar International School 2-0. Abhinav (17th) and Vivek (32nd) were the scorers for Doon Public School.

Col Brown School also registered 2-0 victory over Carman School, Dalanwala. Gaurav Deswal (16th and 25th) became star after scoring two important goals.

Whereas in the last encounter, St Jude’s School thrashed The Heritage School 4-0. Tenjin broke the backbone of The Heritage School three goals (10th, 21st and 32nd). Hardik (45th) also netted a goal.

Dehradun, September 24
Sports Hostel defeated ZK 2-1 in the second Stephen Hishey Memorial Football Tournament here today at the Pavilion Ground.

Ashish (36th) and Ashish Joshi (56th) were the scorers for Sports Hostel. Only one match was played today in the tournament.