Dehradun, August 8
The state government has enhanced the gratuitous relief for the calamity-hit families of Uttarkashi from Rs 2,700 per family to Rs 5,400 per family.

“The relief would be disbursed among families who remained out of their homes for five or more days due to the disaster. The government order will be out by tomorrow,” said Om Prakash, Principal Secretary, Department of Disaster Management.

The government has pressed into service four Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and two MI17 helicopters. By tomorrow, all stranded pilgrims and tourists will be evacuated by helicopters. A total of 216 pilgrims stranded in Gangori have now been safely sent to Uttarkashi.

The evacuation plan through helicopters is being carried out from Harsil to Chinyalisaur. It is a 12-minute flight. At Chinayalisaur, three (42 seater) buses and 10 small taxis have been stationed to pick the stranded pilgrims. In the morning, an MI17 helicopter could not land due to inclement weather but in the evening, the helicopter took off.

From Yamnotri, 147 pilgrims were evacuated with the help of an Army helicopter and five ill tourists have been brought to Dehradun. Four pilgrims were evacuated from Harsil yesterday.

The total number of marooned families in Gangori, Sangamchatti and Bhatwari in Uttarkashi are 5,000. “These families are being supplied ration, medical and other facilities by the disaster mitigation teams and first responder teams. As the villages are completely cut off, alternative walk-over routes are being worked out. To prevent the outbreak of any disease, extensive chlorination has been done in the area,” said Om Prakash.

Today, 2.5 metric tonnes of ration was dispatched, taking the total quantity of ration dispatched in the past two days to four metric tonne.

A 50-member team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has already reached Uttarkashi and four team members from the National Institute Disaster Management (NIDM) would be reaching tomorrow.

Four portable inflatable emergency light and 10 search lights have been transported to Uttarkashi. Complete power has been restored there but the BSNL has not been successful in restoring telecom services.

Besides, the government has now revised the total death toll due to calamity to 28 with six persons still missing.

Dehradun, August 8
Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt today announced that the BJP MLAs would be donating a month’s salary for the victims of the Uttarkashi cloudburst. They would also seek permission from the Chief Minister for donating Rs 1 lakh from the Local Area Development Fund for the relief work. Bhatt stated this at a press conference here today.

He lashed out at the state government for failing to rise to the occasion in the face of the devastation wrought by the August 4 cloudburst.

“The disaster mitigation and relief operation of the state government took two days to respond and till date, none of the officials have managed to visit Gangotri, the site of the devastation. When the people of Uttarkashi were crying for help, some of the Congress government ministers left for London,” said Bhatt.

He criticised Health Minister Surinder Singh Negi for leaving the country when his presence was required in the state. “ The role of the Health Minister is very important but his absence has exposed his insensitivity towards the plight of the people,” said Bhatt. The leader of the Opposition, who returned from Uttarkashi yesterday, said the number of persons who have died in the calamity might be more than the official figures given by the government, “The situation in Uttarkashi is grim. The number of persons who have lost their lives would rise once the water of Bhagiriti river ebbs,” added Bhatt. — TNS

Dehradun, August 8
The Army and the Indian Air Force have begun a massive rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected areas of Uttarakhand. The Indian Air Force in coordination with the civil administration is facilitating the smooth evacuation of stranded pilgrims from Harshil and Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand.

Ten Army columns are involved in rescue operations in the Uttarkashi-Gangotri area. The Army is providing succour in the form of medical aid, food and other assistance to stranded pilgrims. Two Army aviation helicopters are operating in coordination with the civil administration. Two Air Force Advance Light Helicopters (ALH) and one IAF Mi-17 have already been deployed in Harshil/Uttarkashi and one more Mi-17 chopper is being added to augment the rescue and relief efforts.

The Army rendered great help to the Uttarkashi district administration following cloudburst and incessant heavy rain which caused flash floods in the Bhagirathi river leading to massive damage to public and private property.

The heavy rain also caused major landslides and the Gangotri highway was damaged at several places. The Army Commander, Central Command, Lt-Gen Anil Chait, spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahugana on August 4 and expressed condolences for the loss of lives and offered Army assistance towards the relief efforts.

Bahuguna requested the Army Commander to assist the civil administration in rescue and relief operations.

The Army did an initial recce in the Harsil area and it was found that road at several places to Uttarkashi suffered major damage due to several landslides. At several places, the road was completely washed away.

A concrete bridge on the highway at Soundh Gad was washed away, creating a gap of 70 metre. Approximately 450-500 tourists and Char Dham pilgrims were stranded at various places with 400 stranded at Gagnani. The Army started providing basic amenities to the stranded people.

On August 6, the Army asked the stranded people that if they were ready to leave their vehicles in the custody of the Army at Harsil, they could be evacuated. A makeshift bridge in Soundh Gad made by the Army for locals was made operational on August 7.

One Army medical team was sent to Gangotri while two teams were sent to Gagnani.

The Army also provided food to stranded pilgrims at Gagnani.

An Army team from Narendra Nagar reached Dharasu on August 5 evening after clearing the route of landslides.

Four refreshment and medical aid posts were established between Dharasu and Uttarkashi on August 8 for facilitating evacuation of pilgrims.

Army and Air Force helicopters are helping in the relief work, evacuating stranded pilgrims to safe places and supplying relief material, according to a press note of the Army.

Dehradun, August 8
It is for the first time that Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) has to purchase electricity for the entire monsoon season to meet the demand of the state.

Owing to an acute power shortage in the state, the corporation has also cancelled the power banking deal it had struck with its Delhi counterparts for a period of three months. Under this deal, the corporation was to lend 300 MW to outside sources to get it back during the lean period of the winter. The UPCL gave only 50 MW in July and cancelled the banking deal. The cancellation of the agreement would mean that the state government would now have to buy power at exorbitant rates during the winter also.

The purchasing spree which began early in August would continue till March end next year. Chief General Manager, UPCL, Anil Kumar said the corporation would not cross the limit of Rs 813 crore fixed by the Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC) for power purchase.

Chairman of the UERC Jagmohan Lal said he had allowed the UPCL to purchase power at Rs 4.20 per unit with an extended purchase limit of Rs 813 crore. He emphasised that the corporation was also required to enhance its revenue to contain further losses.

The UPCL had to revise its purchase plan in the wake of the current power situation in the state. Under the new plan, the UPCL would buy 150 MW during October, 250 MW during November, 325 MW during December, 450 MW during January, 400 MW during February and 200 MW during March.

Instead of borrowing power during the summer and returning it during the monsoon, the UPCL had experimented with ‘reverse banking’ this year, under which it was to first lend power and get it later.

The UPCL was lending 100 MW each for three months from July till September and getting it back in December, January and February with 5 per cent additional energy.

Anil Kumar said, "Instead of a normal increase of 8 to 10 per cent, the demand for power has increased by 12 per cent this year. The static hydropower generation has plummeted drastically. We will have to buy expensive power from outside.” 

Mussoorie, August 8
Former Disaster Management Minister Khazan Das has alleged that the government has failed to provide relief to the affected persons at Kempty and elsewhere in the state due to its shoddy approach.

He lamented the fact that the government had remembered about the disaster at Kempty after four days, which proves that it was not concerned about the wellbeing of the people of the state. He further said, “On the one hand, the state is reeling under a natural calamity and on the other, the ministers from the state government are enjoying in London on public money.”

Speaking on the disaster in Uttarkashi, he said the government had not been able to assess the damage to life and property as yet, thus showing its callous attitude. The pilgrims are still stranded with no availability of food and water which was really shameful.

However, he commended the efforts of UKD minister Pritam Singh Panwar for his role in assisting in the relief operations while he was critical of the Congress ministers in the state.

The state Congress organisation secretary Manmohan Singh Mall, while reacting to the remarks of Khazan Das, said he should look before he leaps. Mall lambasted Khazan Das and said the situation was really worse during his tenure where Rs 200 were distributed as the disaster relief.

He said the Chief Minister has received around Rs 150 crores for disaster relief operations. Mall also counter alleged that Khazan Das was only fueling the sentiments of the people in Uttarkashi during this hour of crisis in the state.

Dehradun, August 8
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in association with the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute will be exploring possibilities of geothermal energy in the Himalayan region of the country.

Kick starting the deliberations with the Norwegian institute here today, the Wadia institute’s Director, Prof Anil K Gupta described geothermal energy as clean sustainable energy source capable of providing heat round the year. He said the Geological Survey of India’s estimates have put the country’s potential of generating 10,000 MW of electricity from geothermal sources and asserted that at present no electricity power is produced from this resource.

Referring to the Himalayan region, Prof Gupta said the geothermal springs in the Himalaya had been utilised for domestic and medicinal purposes since time immemorial and many of the hot springs are centres of religious pilgrimage.

He said the north western Himalayas was the most promising area of development of geothermal resources as many hot springs were present in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The prominent among them are around Puga-Chumathang in Ladakh and in the Manikaran area of HP and at Badrinath and the Joshimath area of the state.

He said the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology has significant scientific potential to contribute to this project involving geological, geophysics and hydro geological investigation, and water chemistry analysis.

Taking part in the deliberations, Dr Roger Olsson of the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute gave a detailed presentation as to how Norway was utilising geothermal energy. He said a large scale geothermal energy was being used in hospital, schools and even Oslo airport.

He said he was very hopeful that India would be extremely benefited through Norwegian expertise on the subject. He further stated that the Earth was full of energy resource and the Himalaya in particular had tremendous potential of generating energy from water, wind and geothermal resources.

Dr Jiri Muller from the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Dr SK Bartarya of Wadia institute, Dr Santosh Kumar Rai, Dr Gautam Rawat, Dr Bhoop Singh and Dr Mani Ram Saran, Director National Geotechnical Facility (NGF), Dehradun, participated in the deliberations.Award winning author visits RIMC

Dehradun, August 8
National award winning author Aabid Surti visited Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) here today. He also interacted with cadets during a workshop organised on the occasion.

Surti has written 84 books and they have been translated into almost all Indian languages. As a screenwriter, he has been associated with renowned filmmakers of the like of Raj Khosla and Raj Kapoor. He is also an accomplished painter and also created the innovative technique ‘Mirror Collage’, which won him critical acclaim in Japan.

He has held 16 exhibitions in India and abroad. A famous cartoonist to boast, he is the creator of famous character Dabbujee. It is one of the longest running cartoon strips in the country and has been published without a break for the past 30 years. He was awarded the national award in 1993 by the Government of India. He runs an NGO named Drop Dead, which aims at saving water.

Surti told them about his early years when he lived in a place where there was a scarcity of water and how this motivated him to start his NGO. He explained the value of water and urged the cadets to save water wherever they could.

Dehradun, August 8
Chairman of the Sardar Bhagwan Singh Postgraduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Research, Balawala, SP Singh today distributed 550 fruit trees saplings to students of Government Primary School, Tunwala, Government Girls Junior School, Chaktunwala, Government Primary School, Tunwala, Government Girls Junior School, Shamshergarh, Government High School, Shamshergarh, Government Primary School, Nakronda, and Government Primary School, Gullar Ghati, here today.

As part of the save environment programme and plantation drive that began on June 22, saplings were also planted on the campuses of the schools.

On the occasion, SP Singh highlighted the importance of the environment protection and trees.

Shambhu Bhatt, former pradhan of the Gram Sabha, Balawala, lauded the efforts of SP Singh.