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CM calls for lifting ban on stalled power projects
NIM members, ITBP restore walking paths in Gangotri areas
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CS directs Garhwal Commissioner to set up camp at Uttarkashi
Threat
of landslides
DM wants clear-cut policy on the issue of caste certificates
Villagers of Kunawala refuse to take cheques
of compensation
GMVN earns Rs 5 cr profit in 3 months
Kumaon hill slopes prone to cloudburst, says geologist
CROSS-COUNTRY EVENT AT RIMC
Rs 3.39 crore for playfield maintenance
30 teams take part in Carbery memorial football tournament
150 rare tortoises seized, 2 held
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CM calls for lifting ban on stalled power projects
Dehradun, August 6 Speaking at the conference of Chief Ministers of North Indian states called by the Union government in the wake of the Northern Grid failure at New Delhi today, Chief minister Vijay Bahuguna said all states with the potential of producing hydropower should be encouraged to tap these resources. He further said the incident of Northen Grid failure, when some of the states overdrew power from the grid, has brought a bad name for the country. He stated that all states should adhere to the prescribed limits on the withdrawal of power from the Northern Grid. He said the entire country had been facing shortage of power. Bahuguna also said Uttarakhand had a potential of 27,000 MW of power but at present is was producing only 3,400 MW only. He said the Centre had stalled some of the ongoing projects which had led to severe shortage of power in the new state. He said the union power and environment ministries had given all necessary permission to these projects on which work was started. He said, “It is ironic that when the state should be earning from its hydropower potential, it has is paying from its pocket to purchase power from outside.” Bahuguna requested the Centre that all states having a potential of hydropower should be encouraged to tap these resources so that country could become self-sufficient in power production. Union minister V Moily cautioned the states against any recurrence of grid failure situation. He appealed to the states to set their own limits on overdrawal of power from the Northern Grid. Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Power ministers of Punjab, Haryana and representative of Chandigarh were also present at the conference. |
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NIM members, ITBP restore walking paths in Gangotri areas
Dehradun, August 6 Members from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM-Uttarkashi) with the help of the ITBP today managed to restore walking paths in Gangotri areas. Efforts are on to reconstruct the Burma bridge in the Gangori area. "The Border Road Organisation will try to put up trolleys once we are successful in reconstructing the Burma bridge," said Urban Development Minister Pritam Singh Panwar. Personnel from the ITBP stationed at Malti (Uttarkashi) have also been brought in for relief work. "The Bhagirathi is flowing at 119,90 m below the danger mark but if it rains, there are chances of the river surging again. On August 4, the water level in the Asi Ganga, Swari Gaad and Bhagirathi in Uttarkashi had reached the 1,127 m mark, 4 m above the danger mark that had resulted in flooding," said Om Prakash, Principal Secretary, Disaster
Management. He said relief camps had been set up at Gangotri, Naitala, Rajkiya Mahila Inter- College (Uttarkashi), CDO office, Uttarkashi, Mahrishi Vidya Mandir Joshiyara, Uttarkashi, Kailash Ashram, Ujeli, GMVN Guest House (Uttarkashi), and Birla Dharamshala (Uttarkashi), where a total of 402 families had been accommodated. Char Dham pilgrims stranded on the NH have also been accommodated. "In Yamnotri, 95 tourists are staying at Kali Kamali Dharamshala while 17 pilgrims have been accommodated at Hanuman Chatti, 35 at Sayan Chatti, 120 at Bhatwari and 395 at Gangotri. As of now, our priority is to restore the routes," said Om Prakash. A total of 36 deaths have been confirmed by the State Emergency Operation Centre (Department of Disaster Management) while six persons are still
missing. A total of 33 houses have partially damaged and 38 fully in Uttarkashi. A total of 92 animals also died in the calamity. The Uttarakhand Government has put the damage due to floods at Rs 500 crore and is seeking assistance from the Central Government. Besides this, Rs 20 crore from the disaster mitigation fund for immediate relief work has already been released. |
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Form disaster rescue force in state, says Dhasmana
Dehradun, August 6 Addressing mediapersons here today, Dhasmana said a delegation of senior Congress leaders has urged the Chief Minister to form such a force in the wake of frequent disasters in the state. He said since Uttarakhand was a Himalayan state, it was most prone to natural disasters which affected the life and property of its residents. He said the Disaster Rescue Force should be trained and well equipped having its own helicopters to deal with any kind of disaster. Regarding the ongoing disaster in Uttarkashi district and other places due to cloudbursts and heavy rains, Dhasmana said the state government had been fully active in the rescue and relief operations with senior ministers visiting the affected areas. Pritam Singh Panwar, state Urban Development Minister, has been camping in the area since the first day of the natural calamity. He said the Uttarakhand Disaster Management Minister and state Congress Chief Yashpal Arya also tried to reach Uttarkashi by helicopter but could not fly due to inclement weather conditions. Dhasmana said more than 400 families had been affected and the number of affected families could increase as there were many areas which could not be reached even two days. He said Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had gone to New Delhi to apprise the Prime Minister of the disaster and seek Central help in providing succour to the victims. |
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CS directs Garhwal Commissioner to set up camp at Uttarkashi
Dehradun, August 6 The Commissioner, Garhwal, region, will
start monitoring the works from Tuesday onwards. He has also been asked to prepare the blueprint of rehabilitation and reconstruction works, conduct physical assessment of damage and inform the government about the estimated cost. Chief Secretary Jain asked the BSNL senior officers on Monday
to restore phone connectivity at Uttarkhashi, which had been done by BSNL. He also asked BRO
Chief Engineer Razdan to expedite the repair work of roads. Razdan informed him that the repair works
were being carried out on a war-footing. He said that engineers were pressed in to
construct a bridge at Gangori. Jain also contacted Sub Area Commandant Ranvir Yadav, who assured him to provide human resources wherever needed at Uttarkashi. Jain revealed that the toll which had reached to 32 in Uttarkashi now stood at 28 as four persons missing in the incident were traced alive. He said that the weather was normal and water level had reduced in the river. The power supply had been restored in several places, while the supply was being given through generators in many other places. Flood lights had been arranged in flood-affected areas and an alternative foot bridge
had been constructed at Gangori. |
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Threat
of landslides
Pithoragarh, August 6 “A new chronic zone on this sensitive highway surfaced on August 4 as a 200-metre mound, which was considered safe, started sliding suddenly,” said NS Nabiyal, SDM, Almora. The SDM said the work to install warning signboards at 10 sensitive places between Chhara and Qurav on the highway was in progress and if the rain continued for the next couple of days, traffic from Haldwani to Almora would be diverted. “In case of heavy rain and due to impending danger of landslides on this busy highway, vehicular traffic will be diverted via Bhawali and Ramgarh, which takes 40 km extra from both ends of Almora and Haldwani,” said Nabiyal. According to information, nearly 30 mm of average rain in parts of Pithoragarh district has blocked the Munsiyari to Milam route where some villagers remained stranded for more than 24 hours. The news about more landslides and damage to roads and small bridges in these localities is pouring in. The NHPC power house at Banbasa remained shut for nine hours yesterday as due to high density of mud in the water of the Sharda river engineers had to halt water supply to the power channel of the project. “After halting operations, the water supply to the power channel could be restored at 3 pm yesterday and the power generation was resumed,” said NC Pant, an engineer working at the Sharda headwork.
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DM wants clear-cut policy on the issue of caste certificates
Dehradun, August 6 Raman said the issue must be dealt by the state government on a priority basis and the policy with regard to the issue must be made crystal clear. He also stated that the public was suffering whereas the lower staff in the administration taking advantage of the situation. The higher officials were helpless to do anything about it. Raman pointed this out when a group of people came to him to complain about the inordinate delay in obtaining caste certificates. SDM, Sadar, Girish Chander, admitted that the issue became complex as the state was newly formed 11 years ago and was divided between people of plains and hills. He said: “The administration is adhering by the Supreme Court ruling where those who had been permanent residents of a state since 1950 are held eligible for caste certificates. This yardstick has been fixed for SC/ST category but there is no cut-off date for OBCs. Most of the time, we go by the land related documents or any evidence produced by the admissible authority of a village/block etc to affirm that the person lives in that particular area since the fifties and is landless.” He also confessed that since the cut-off date was in the fifties, so most of the time land documents were not available with the applicants, especially those who never bought land in hills or plains or shifted elsewhere. The references given by the village authorities were vague at times. So, in such a situation, the staff had to work on their common sense and work experience to admit a case for issue of caste certificates. The situation, indeed, left a lot of room for manipulation. Chander said the matter was taken to the High Court, which made it clear in it's verdict in September last year that this issue must not be connected with land. The verdict was later challenged in the Supreme Court, which has imposed a stay on the High Court order. |
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Villagers of Kunawala refuse to take cheques
of compensation
Dehradun, August 6 The villagers demanded more compensation.
People from other villages such as Harrawala and Miyawala, who are also to be compensated, also lodged their
protest. The District Magistrate has constituted a committee of four officials to prepare a detailed report about the grievances and demands of the villagers on this issue. A total 10.5 metre of
land is to be acquired from Raiwala to Mohkampur to widen the four-lane National Highway-72. Gram pradhan,
Harrawala, Moolchand, said the compensation amount was fixed on the basis of minimum
rate of the sale deed of the related land in the past three years. He said it should
have rather been based on circle rates. He also accused the authority of giving 10 per cent
extra amount to the villagers of some villages who had already accepted the money, while denying the extra money to others. Most of the 17
villages have been distributed money in lieu of their land under this project. Sanjay Thakur, panchayat member,
Harrawala, also contended that as per the policy, the land owners must also be given alternative options of land of the same measurement at some other location and additional amount so that they could build their houses or shops, which came in the way of
widening. |
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GMVN earns Rs 5 cr profit in 3 months
Dehradun, August 6 Managing Director, GMVN, Dr Pankaj Pandey gave the credit for the increased profit to the delayed monsoon and advance preparations by the nigam. He said, “In comparison to last year when the monsoon began in early May and reports about landslides and pilgrims getting stranded halted the inflow of pilgrims, it hardly rained before June this year. Hence, the pilgrims continued to throng the Char Dham temples till June end.” Pandey appreciated concerted efforts of the GMVN and its staff in churning out good revenue during the three months. He said, “Many tourist rest houses, which are visited by pilgrims during the season, have been spruced up according to requirement. Though big repair or renovation work has not been taken up due to lack of funds, minor repair like fixing the seepage problem or addition of warm water facility has been taken care of.” He said the winter season would kick-start from October and he had already begun the exercise to further increase amenities at the rest houses. Managers of these rest houses were being consulted in this regard. Pandey gave an assurance that religious tourism, which somewhat slackened during the winter due to shifting of deities of Char Dham, would also bring more revenue this year. |
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Conserve existing power resources: Expert
Haridwar, August 6 The workshop was held at Bal Bhawan, sector 1, Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited, and science teachers from across the state attended it. Speaking as the chief guest, the vice-chairperson of the state Academic Committee, Dr P P Pathak said conservation of power was not a specific matter of government but it was for each of us to make efforts to conserve and save it. Pathak said due to rapid development, power requirements were growing. He said besides generating more power, saving the existing resources was also important. Principal of Bal Mandir Secondary School KN Pandey cited various ways through which energy could be conserved. Eminent literati Shiv Kumar Sharma laid stress on pilferage of electricity and said it needed to be controlled. Emphasis was laid on having run of the river hydroprojects and on natural low-cost sources such as solar energy. The NCSC has also decided to generate awareness among youths. Project coordinator Subash Chand Sharma laid stress on developing scientific approach in youth. Umesh Bahuguna, Tej Pal Singh, KD Mitra, Amit Kumar, Sneh Lata, Rajni, Sunita, Kuldeep Saini, Rajesh and Sangeeta Bijalwan were present at the workshop.
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Kumaon hill slopes prone to cloudburst, says geologist
Pithoragarh, August 6 According to Dr Kotalia, when clouds remain stationary at a place for a long time, the extra moisture from the land helps gather more clouds, and when these water drops fall down in heavy showers at a definite place, it is called cloudburst. The Himalayan hills in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and J & K experience occasional cloudbursts, said Kotalia. He said Munsiyari and Dharchula in Pithoragarh district, Jyolokote, Dogaon, Aam Parav, Suryajala and Chalari villages and the entire Almora-Haldwani belt from Quarav to Garampani in Nainital district, Someswar Takula, Kosi Bhanoli, Bageshwar and Kapkot areas in Bageshwar district and Chalthi, Bastia and Banlekh areas of Champawat district are prone to cloudbursts.
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CROSS-COUNTRY EVENT AT RIMC
Dehradun, August 6 The event witnessed tremendous grit and determination among the cadets. The cross-country route for junior cadets was of 4 km. There was a special category for the new entrants and the cadets of the second term. In this category, cadet Sahil Yadav won the first position and cadets Kushagra Mishra and Vaibhav Chouhan won the second and third positions, respectively. In the junior category, cadet Prateek Jadhav stood first and cadets Akshat Raj and Vijay won the second and third positions, respectively. The Pratap section remained the first among four sections with 728 points followed by Chandragupta, Ranjit and Shivaji sections with 704, 640 and 592 points, respectively. The Commandant, Col Pankaj Kumaria, appreciated the cadets for their hard work and perseverance. |
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Rs 3.39 crore for playfield maintenance
Dehradun, August 6 In Uttarakhand, the scheme is being implemented through the State Youth Welfare Board. A sum of Rs 28.33 crore was provided to the board up to March 31, 2012, (for the years 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11) for development and maintenance of 2,250 village panchayats and 29 block panchayats under the PYKKA. The PYKKA aims at development and maintenance of playfields in village and block panchayats across the country and organising annual sports competitions from block to national levels is implemented through the state government/UTs. Under the PYKKA, which was introduced in 2008-09, playfields are developed and maintained in villages and block panchayats across the country in a phased manner and competitions are conducted annually at block, district, state and national level. The scheme aims at creating basics sports infrastructure in 2.50 lakh village panchayats and 6,400 block panchayats in a phased manner over a period of 10 years. The scheme also provide for 100 per cent Central assistance to state/UTs for holding annual rural sports competitions at the block, district, state and national levels as also financial support for conducting National Women Championships and North East Games. A total of 51,759 village panchayats and 1,538 block panchayats have been covered under the PYKKA scheme during the last four years (2008-09 to 2011-12) for the development and maintenance of playfields. |
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30 teams take part in Carbery memorial football tournament
Dehradun, August 6 Oak Grove School (Mussoorie) won their respective matches. A total of 30 teams are participating in the event. The scores are Kasiga beat Doon Valley Public School 1-0, Aryan School beat St Jude's School 4-2, Moravian School beat Hilton School 1-0, Col Brown School beat Sambodha Tibetan School 4-1, St George's beat Cambrian Hall 2-1, Grace Academy beat Nasiba Hill 4-0, Heritage School beat Carman School 4-3, St Joseph Academy beat Raja Ram Mohan Roy 2-0, Hilton School beat Doon International 4-0 and Oak grove beat Gautam International School 5-0.
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150 rare tortoises seized, 2 held
Pithoragarh, August 6 According to Forest Department sources, these tortoises known as Indian tent tortoise are the Schedule 1 category animals and categorised as an endangered variety of wildlife. These reptiles, which are mainly found in Himalayan rivers, develop a hump like a camel and grow to the size of a football weighing nearly 1.5 kg. They have been placed in the Schedule 1 of the endangered varieties of the Himalayan wildlife. According to information, the reptiles were recovered after an NGO working for animal protection came to know that an aquarium near a temple often sold tortoises of rare varieties. The NGO people in association with the special operation group of the Forest Department posed themselves as clients and recovered the tortoises. They also arrested two persons involved in the illegal trade of turtles, said Dr Abhishek Singh, head of the NGO. The shopkeeper, who sold the tortoises, and his servant had been arrested under Sections 2, 9, 29, 50 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act, said Pramod Chandra Tripathi, a forest officer. In another incident, a forest ranger of the Chakhata range in the Terai region arrested four wildlife smugglers and recovered horns of a Sambhar and skin of a wild cat yesterday. The arrested persons belong to a tribal community. They are being interrogated for their involvement in smuggling of organs of wild animals, said Ramesh Chandra Harbola, range officer of the Chakrata forest range.
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