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Over 30,000 people remain displaced in Pithoragarh
SJVNL gives Rs 50 lakh for Uttarkashi victims Gadarpur Cooperative Sugar Mill to be shut
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Land for Doon medical college, hostel cleared
Guv takes stock of relief work by Red Cross Society
UKD protests HC order on original residents of state
Dry spell, silt, calamities hit power output
Govt may rename Atal Adarsh Gram Yojana
1 killed as wall of bridge collapses
Power corp satisfied with supply
Councillor, colony residents gherao irrigation officer
Councillor Sachin Gupta with residents of Yamuna Colony at the office of the Chief Engineer of PWD in Dehradun on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir Bahuguna pays courtesy call on Nishank
Janmanch heading for a split
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Over 30,000 people remain displaced in Pithoragarh
Pithoragarh, August 22 Meanwhile, 32 families of Saner village in Munsiyari have reportedly shifted to their relatives' places as the portion of the hill on which the village is situated is sliding gradually since last night. " The portion of the hill adjoining Tyangti village has started sliding, posing a threat to the lives of the villagers. Keeping the seriousness of the incident, the villagers have started shifting from their houses," said Parvati Devi, a resident of Saner village. The Subdivisional Magistrate of Munsiyari, Anil Shukla, said that a team led by Pan Singh Karki, tehsildar of Munsiyari, had been sent to the village to assess the damage. "Recommendations for the relief will be made after the situation gets clear," said the SDM. According to sources at the district headquarters, so far 933 people of 157 families in 19 villages of the district have been declared affected with the natural calamity this year. "A sum of Rs 19 lakh has been distributed among the disaster-affected in the district this season," said RS Rana, district disaster management officer. "Only this week, we received 360 mm of rainfall in the district, out of which Dharchula alone received more than 600 mm rainfall," said the disaster management officer. According to the sources, most of the roads closed are in Munsiyari subdivision of the district where more than 10 local roads are blocked for the last one month. "The villages beyond these roads have been kept in link through trans-shipment system," said Rana. According to disaster management office sources, out of 167 houses damaged in this monsoon due to natural disasters, 29 have been damaged fully, while 78 houses have developed cracks and 61 houses have been damaged on a minor scale. " The district has lost 380 domestic animals and more than 4 hectares of cultivable land in the last month's disasters, "said Rana. "The disaster-affected people have shifted to their relatives' places in all 64 villages declared unsafe to live. The rehabilitation proposals, sent by the district administration to the government, are still to get approval, " said the officer. |
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SJVNL gives Rs 50 lakh for Uttarkashi victims
Dehradun, August 22
He said the SJVNL would extend all possible help to the state government to provide relief to the Uttarkashi cloudburst victims. Bahuguna said the government was making all efforts to provide relief to the victims. He appreciated the SJVNL for its social gesture and expressed hope that it would work in the field of power to make the state self-sufficient. He said the government believed in constructing hydropower projects balancing both development process and preservation of the environment. RP Singh told the Chief Minister that the SJVNL had undertaken construction works of 252 MW Devsari Hydropower Project, 60 MW Natwar-Mori Hydropower Project at Uttarkashi and 51 MW Jakhol-Sankhri Hydropower Project. He said the corporation was also engaged in hydropower projects in Manipur, Himachal Pradesh and even in Nepal and Bhutan. Director (Civil) RN Mish, Director (Finance) AS Bindra and Director (Personnel) Nandlal Sharma were also present. Later, Managing Director of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited GP Patel visited the Chief Minister along with Secretary (Energy) SS Sandhu and discussed about the present condition of power in the state. Stating that there was a shortage of power production in the state, Bahuguna laid emphasis on expediting underconstruction hydropower projects. He said the Centre would be approached for projects delayed due to the Forest Act. He said the state government would extend all possible assistance to agencies working in the field of power production. The UJVNL MD said owing to the Uttarkashi cloudburst, there was shortage in power production in the state. Nevertheless, he said, the UJVNL had produced 5261.825 MU as against the set target of 4760 MU in 2011-12, which was the highest in the corporation history since the inception of the state. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna flagged off a truck carrying life-saving medicines for the Uttarkashi victims from his residence today. Anil Kala, a representative of Sharon Bio-medicine Limited, donated life-saving medicines worth Rs 10 lakh in the Chief Minister Relief Fund. ICFRE staff donate
Rs 3.99 lakh
Dehradun: A delegation of the Indian Council of Forestry Research Education (ICFRE) led by Director General Dr VK Bahuguna today presented a cheque for Rs 3,99,414 to Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna at latter's residence in Dehradun for the disaster-hit people of Uttarkashi. VK Bahuguna said such natural calamities occurred because of choking of the drainage system in the hills due to unsustainable practices. He added increasing climate change would lead to more such occurrences and we should prepare ourselves for such eventualities by augmenting our capabilities in disaster
management. The Chief Minister appreciated the concern shown by the ICFRE employees for the Uttarkashi cloudburst victims. All employees of the ICFRE and the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, collected the amount by contributing one day salary to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
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Gadarpur Cooperative Sugar Mill to be shut
Dehradun, August 22 Chief Secretary Alok Jain yesterday said due to the losses incurred by the sugar mills and on the recommendations of a diagnostic study conducted by the National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories, the government had decided to close down the Gadarpur mill and run the remaining mills under the PPP mode. “After the creation of the state, the area under the Gadarpur sugar mill had drastically reduced and the only option was to shut the mill. The land assets will be redeployed for industrial development. The revenue earned will go towards the payment of pending arrears to the farmers. As many as 600 workers of the mill will be redeployed in other sugar mills. They will also have the option of voluntary retirement,” said Jain. The four mills that will be run under the PPP mode are located in Doiwala, Sitarganj, Kiccha and Nadehi. In another significant decision, the age limit for government jobs (allied/PCS and all government jobs) for the general category has been raised from 35 to 40 years and for the reserved category 40 to 45 years. The Cabinet has also given nod to run the Tanakpur- Poornagiri and the Jankichatti - Yamnotri ropeways under the PPP mode. It also approved the Uttarakhand Flood Plain Zoning Bill (2012). “The bill aimed at regulating building activities in flood plain areas,” said Jain. Registration fee under the Hindu Marriage Registration Act has been increased from Rs 4 to Rs 100. Since 1973, the fee had not
been raised.
Other Approvals * Nod to Uttarakhand Flood Plain Zoning Bill (2012) |
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Land for Doon medical college, hostel cleared
Dehradun, August 22 The 4.6860-hectare land would be used for the construction of medical college and hostel. With this the problem of shortage of land is likely to be addressed. The Medical Education department is already in possession of 7 acres of land at the old jail premises on Haridwar Road but after the Law Department refused to transfer around 3 acres of land for the medical college, the department again started looking for the remaining land. Now with the transfer of land the medical college project is expected to pick up. Already the Medical Council of India (MCI) has given concessions to hill states to establish Besides, the government also announced 2.880 hectare of land for establishing a state nursing college in Kanda village in Tehri. This land has been allocated to the
Education Department. In Bhatwari tehsil of Uttarkashi, 0.040 hectare of land for the construction of rajkiya prathmik vidyalya has been allocated to the Education Department. In village Saraya (Haridwar) district, 26.2490 hectares of land for establishing a battalion for National Disaster Response Force has been allocated to the Department of Disaster Management free of cost. Further, for establishing headquarters of SSB Battalion, 10 hectares of land in Markaham Grant has been allocated on a lease basis.
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Guv takes stock of relief work by Red Cross Society
Dehradun, August 22 The Governor took this information in his capacity as the head of the branch. He told the general secretary that each unit of the society in the state must be motivated to help the affected people. Dr Pal told the Governor that on August 25, a large quantity of relief material would be sent to the victims .Meanwhile, Maj General Ranvir Yadav, Dehradun sub-area GoC, made a courtesy call on the Governor today.
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UKD protests HC order on original residents of state
Dehradun, August 22 Acting vice-president of the UKD-D DR Shaktishail Kaparwan said the verdict of the high court reflected that the state government deliberately did not argue the case pertaining to original inhabitants who had been living for many generations in the state. The decision was a blow to the financial, social, cultural and political interests of these people. Kaparwan said the state government must file a review petition in the high court or move the Supreme Court against the decision. He added if the state government did not do so, the state would have to face serious consequences.
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Dry spell, silt, calamities hit power output
Dehradun, August 22 There has been a significant downfall in the power generation in comparison to the previous year. In the entire month of July, Nigam had a bountiful power generation of 626.359 MU last year, whereas in July this year, the figures fell down to 557.062 MU. Similarly, the power generation from August 1 till August 20 this month has been 281.247 MU, whereas last year the power generation for the same time period was recorded as 337.641 MU. The power generation, which would give 20-22 million units every day last year, has plummeted to 2-10 million units this year. The excitement of repeating history of record power generation in this monsoon has fallen flat. The officials are worried about the continuous spell of disrupted power generation. Managing Director, UJVNL, GP Patel, said, “The incidents of cloudburst and landslides had also taken place last year in the state but not in those places where our hydropower houses are situated. This is the reason we could reap the benefits of good and prolonged rainfall last time. Contrary to it, this year the calamity has hit our main hydropower projects, such as Maneri Bhali 1 and II.” He said the Maneri Bhali 1 (90 MW) had been closed down since August 2. Due to massive deposition of silt, which had also damaged some of the parts of the machines, the operation in the power house could not be resumed afterwards. The situation is not good at Maneri Bhali II (304 MW). This power house, too, had been operating only for a few hours every day last fortnight. Even before that, it had to be shut down quite frequently. Only three turbines are working in this power house at present. “Maneri Bhali I and II are very important projects for us. Since the power generation has remained disrupted, we are having scant generation,” he said. Executive Engineer, UJVNL, AE Dimri, explained the status of other power houses. Of these, Chilla (90 MW) power house is also giving staggering generation. Dhakrani (33.75 MW), Dhalipur (51 MW), Khatima (22MW), Pathri (8 MW) and Mohammadpur (4.5 MW) are yielding one-fourth generation of their capacity. Dimri said: “The pattern of rain was more evenly spread out last year. This monsoon, it is raining suddenly and heavily
and bringing devastation in some regions of the state. This pattern is certainly not good for power houses as well.” |
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Govt may rename Atal Adarsh Gram Yojana
Dehradun, August 22 In the coming days, the Congress government is expected to rechristen the Atal Adarsh Gram Yojana, the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya 108 Emergency Service, Deen Dayal Upadhayaya Coronation Hospital (Dehradun), Deen Dayal Upadhayay Gramin Awas Yojana, Deen Dayal Upadhayay MDDA Park in Dehradun and similar parks in other districts of the state. The exercise has already angered the BJP leaders. “As soon as the Bhauguna government came to power, it made attempts to disband the Atal Khadyan Yojana (cheap food grain scheme for BPL and APL card holders in the state). But after we protested it relented. Now, attempts are being made to fail the scheme and dump it. In the coming days, the scheme will be reinvented and renamed. The Atal Khadyan Yojana was introduced during the BJP rule and it was within its rights to name it after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,” said BS Chufal, Uttarakhand BJP chief. Besides, attempts to reverse several decisions taken by the previous government have also upset BJP leaders. “The attempts of the Congress government to confine the achievements of the BJP to the background will not succeed. After coming to power the Congress has reversed several decisions taken by the BJP government in the interest of the people like the Transfer Policy. Look at the mess the government has created. When the BJP was in power in the state we did not resort to such tactics,” said Ajay Bhatt, Leader of the Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha. On the other hand, Congress leaders said the BJP government too had renamed Jawaharlal Navodyaya Vidyalya and had hijacked the 108 Emergency Ambulance Service that was conceptualized during the tenure of former Chief Minister ND Tiwari.
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1 killed as wall of bridge collapses
Dehradun, August 22 The district administration said a total of 85 villages comprising 1,159 families had been affected in the Uttarkashi cloudburst. As many as 38 hectares of agriculture land had washed away in the waters of the Bhagirathi and the
Asi Ganga. According to an estimate, 131 concrete houses have completely destroyed and 173 partially damaged. District Magistrate, Uttarkashi, Rajesh Kumar said four relief camps had been set up in the region. A total of 578 persons had taken shelter in the camps. Food, potable water, power and other arrangements had also been made. Out of the 117 blocked roads, 81 had been opened. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister, Vijay Bahuguna, has given powers to the Uttarkashi District Magistrate to utilise Rs 3
crore from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for providing additional compensation to the Uttarkashi cloudburst victims. Principal Secretary Om Prakash said the District Magistrate would provide Rs 1 lakh for fully damaged houses, Rs 50,000 for partially damaged houses and Rs 1 lakh for commercial establishments such as hotels and others that were destroyed in the tragedy. Those who had lost their houses would be getting Rs 2,000 per month for a period of six months. |
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Power corp satisfied with supply
Dehradun, August 22 Non-continuous industries had power cuts for just half an hour and furnace industries for two hours. Power Corporation claimed that the whole state got uninterrupted power supply till 12.30 in the afternoon. Rakesh Gupta, industrialist from Bhagwanpur, said the power situation had improved a bit after the incident of Northern Grid failure, but he complained that the industries were not getting regular power supply. — TNS
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Councillor, colony residents gherao irrigation officer
Dehradun, August 22 Gupta said Yamuna Colony, which is the VVIP area of the city, was in a dire condition. The boundary wall of the colony fell when the area was flooded due to heavy rain a couple of days ago. It happened because of a faulty drainage system in the area. Besides, the houses of the employees of the Irrigation Department were in a bad condition. They had developed cracks and were leaking. They must be repaired or renovated at the earliest. Tamta assured Gupta that he would call a meeting on the issue soon and his views would also be taken. Gupta gave him 15 days to take resolve the issue and threatened that if he failed to do so they would hold a protest in front of the house of the Irrigation Minister.
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Bahuguna pays courtesy call on Nishank
Dehradun, August 22 The Chief Minister met the former Chief Minister for 40 minutes and also discussed other issues pertaining to the state. This was the second visit by Bahuguna since he took over as Chief Minister of the state. A few days back former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal had also paid a courtesy call on former Chief Minister B.C. Khanduri. Both have been at variance with each other after the 2012 Assembly elections in which Khanduri had lost the election from Kotdawar.
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Janmanch heading for a split
Dehradun, August 22 Ashok Bahukundi, officiating president of Uttarakhand Janmanch, today issued a show-cause notice to Rajan Todariya, general secretary of the Janmanch, accusing him of acting unilaterally. Todariya has been asked by the Janmanch to reply to the notice within 15 days. The notice has allegedly questioned Todariya's autocratic style of functioning. Bahukundi has alleged that Todariya has been taking decisions on his own without consulting other office-bearers of Janmanch. On other hand, Rajan Todariya said Ashok Bahukundi had already been expelled from the Janmanch as he had sided with the BJP during the recent Assembly elections, against the wishes of the
Janmanch.
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Dehradun, August 22
The rechristening of erstwhile Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Affiliating University and five Navodyaya Vidyalayas named after Shyama Prasad Mukherjee is just the beginning of a long drawn plan of the state government to remove any traces of the erstwhile rule of the BJP government in the state. Expect more changes and renaming of welfare schemes, universities, parks and cross-sections in the state. And this is bound to infuriate the
BJP.
Dehradun, August 22
