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Centre committed to looking after interests of Sikhs
Overnight showers damage NH from Guptkashi to Phata
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Kedarnath calamity man made: Experts
Pithoragarh, June 29 Geological experts and environmentalists in the Kumaon region have attributed the Kedarnath catastrophe to human interference in the ways of nature, and say that the natural course of the Himalayan rivers was being disturbed by this interference.
Leaders took helicopter trips, played to the gallery
Rescue work by state govt poor: RSS
Unable to trace her parents at Kedarnath, MP woman ends life
Geologists’ team to visit temple
Cong panels formed
Evacuation still on at Joshimath, Gaurikund
Hospitals charging disaster-hit people to be punished: DM
Almora Bhimtal Champawat Dehradun Two miscreants arrested:
The Dehradun police today arrested two miscreants and seized a laptop, a mobile and a camera from their possession. The two were identified as Moin and Zameer, residents of Keeratpur, Bijnaur, Uttar Pradesh. They had entered the hostel of Garphic Era University a week back and stolen a laptop, a mobile and a camera from one of the student's room. Acting on a tip-off, the police managed to arrest them from the Clement Town area on Saturday. Man jumps into well:
A mentally challenged person jumped into a well in Niranjpur area of Dehradun. Mohan Lal, 33, had a surgery in his brain and was not keeping mentally sound since then. On Saturday Mohal Lal jumped into a well. However, the police on getting information of the incident pulled out Mohan Lal from the well. Haldwani Nainital (Compiled by BD Kasniyal)
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Centre committed to looking after interests of Sikhs
Haridwar, June 29 Sahota said the Centre was committed to looking after the interests of the Sikh community and it was running various development-oriented schemes. He said under the Prime Minister's 15-Point Programme, Sikhs, Muslims, Jains, Christians, Buddhists and other minority communities were provided special aid. Lakhs of rupees were provided as grants under this programme for the minority communities. Children, after completing intermediate, were provided scholarships under this programme for higher studies in any government educational institution in the country. Parbandhak Samiti chief IJS Sandhu, secretary Sohan Singh, Gurdwara Gyan Godhri Sangharsh Samiti state chief Daljeet Singh and general
secretary Narayan Singh urged the Sikh people to take advantage of the various beneficiary schemes under the15-Point Programme. Sandhu said Guru Nanak Academy was providing education to 325 students of all religions and castes. Appeal to Sikhs
Parbandhak Samiti chief IJS Sandhu, secretary Sohan Singh, Gurdwara Gyan Godhri Sangharsh Samiti state chief Daljeet Singh and general secretary Narayan Singh urged the Sikh people to take advantage of the various beneficiary schemes under the15-Point Programme. |
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Overnight showers damage NH from Guptkashi to Phata
Phata, June 29 Substantial damage to the road is a common occurrence during monsoons in the hills of Rudraprayag district, but this time the troubles for locals here started before the beginning of the wet season. The cloudburst of June 15-16, as they point out, was a pre-monsoon phenomenon and it brought along disaster of such magnitude as has been never witnessed before. The importance of functional roads has now become of paramount importance to the efforts by civil society and government to reach out to stricken villages. "Just make sure these roads are working. In past years, we would be fully prepared to deal with blocked roads. We used to stock up on adequate rations which ensured that even if the highway was clogged for more than a day or two, there was no problem of food. "But this year we have nothing. Not only the NH, even village trails are washed away. People have to lug upto 15 kg in supplies on their backs for 20-25 km to reach their villages," a Phata resident, YP Tiwari said. At the first roadblock, where massive boulders had fallen on the road, was a team of three doctors from 'Doctors for You', an NGO. "We were headed to Phata and beyond to assess the needs of the people here. Apart from medical help, villagers also need psychological counselling, such has been the nature of this tragedy," said Dr Anurag Mishra, joint secretary of Doctors For You. They were preparing to cover the 7 km from
that point to Phata by foot. "The villages above Phata are completely cut off, there is no means to reach them other than by foot. In
such circumstances, relief work becomes a major challenge," Mishra added. — PTI |
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Kedarnath calamity man made: Experts
Pithoragarh, June 29 “Rivers are not to blame for devastating human settlements. Man has created this situation as he has blocked the ways of these rivers in the Himalayan region by constructing settlements on banks,” said KS Waldia, well-known Himalayan geologist, in an interview with The Tribune, today. According to Waldia, the rivers changed their ways often. “Flood ways”, as these areas abandoned by rivers are called, should be left alone. No houses should be constructed there. Rivers turned that way sooner or later in a period determined by the weather conditions, he said. “At Kedarnath, the Mandakini river had two flowing ways. As the river was flowing towards it's eastern way, the western dry way was covered by illegal constructions. It never occurred to colonisers that the river could return this way. Their assumption proved wrong. Mandakini did return, fast and furious, resulting in the catastrophe,” said Waldia. According to the expert, who is working as an honorary professor at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, rivers were bound to change their course. According to studies conducted recently, almost every river in the state witnessed floods or flash floods, said Waldia. Radha Behn, well-known Gandhian and coordinator of Uttarakhand Nadi Bachao Andolan, said that rains continuing for long periods was not new to Uttarakhand. At times it rained for seven continuous days. But that never brought such a catastrophe in the past as it did in Kedarnath this time. “The main cause behind it was the sludge brought by the swollen river water, which increased the volume of destruction hundred times over compared to the damage done by only water mass by these rivers. The cause of sludge is loose soil formed due to lost vegetation in the hills,” said Radha Behn. Shamsher Singh Bisht, convener of Uttarakhand Lok Vahini and an environmental activist, said that the catastrophe was the result of developmental policies of the governments, which were against the very nature of the Himalayas. “The Himalayas and several small mountainous regions could not withstand Tehri-like large dams and reservoir-based hydropower projects. From time to time these mountains have given a warning indication to man in the form of floods and landslides, which was ignored by planners and policy makers. This resulted in the recent calamity,” said
Bisht. |
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Mansarowar pilgrims reach Tibet
Pithoragarh, June 29 “After staying at Deraphu tonight, the batch will climb to Dolma Pass to reach the Jongrebu camp on Sunday, and thereafter the Indian pilgrims will proceed for the Parikrama path of the holy Mansarowar Lake. “All the pilgrims are hail and hearty and enjoying their Tibetan sojourn before reaching their destination of Kailash and Mansarowar.” said DK Sharma, a KMVN officer. |
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Leaders took helicopter trips, played to the gallery
Dehradun, June 29 State Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat had been coming here everyday after every helicopter sortie. He would munch food brought from home while talking to mediapersons sitting under tents surrounded by his supporters. He would show videos of the disaster-hit areas showing bodies lying in gut-wrenching conditions or stranded pilgrims queuing up and waiting for their turn and requesting him for evacuation. Rawat would share these videos through blue-tooth with mediapersons and others at the helipad. But his pretence of compassion did not impress the relatives of the stranded and missing pilgrims. They clashed with him and asked him that each time he returned from the affected areas why did he come alone. He could have evacuated their relatives according to the capacity of his helicopter. Rawat had also flown a journalist of a national television channel who had come to the Sahastardhara helipad to show him a video of the devastated Kedar valley. This filled the relatives with anguish and some complained that the ministers were having fun time in making helicopter sorties to the affected areas. They gave him a strong show of resentment, after which he was not seen yesterday. Ganesh Joshi, MLA, Mussoorie, who too was seen sitting in a camp of the BJP set up at the helipad deriding the Congress. He also had to face the wrath of the stranded pilgrims’ family members, who were desperate and frustrated on not finding their kith and kin. They wanted these leaders to feel their pain. Ever since then, Joshi too has not come here. Saket Bahuguna, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna’s son, who was present at the helipad, said he was well aware that some politicians indulged in self-praise and did not behave appropriately in this hour of immense pain and sorrow. But he expressed helplessness saying this was not the right time to take up such issues. An administrative official said they were tired of attending to VIPs at the helipad while their primary duty was to help rescued pilgrims reaching the helipad and provide all possible information to the family members of still stranded pilgrims. He said people’s anguish sorted out this messy situation and now they would be able to focus on their work. |
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Rescue work by state govt poor: RSS
Dehradun, June 29 Addressing a press conference here today, RSS assistant general secretary Krishna Gopal said the state government had failed to act promptly in the aftermath of the Kedarnath disaster.
He said it was ver clear within hours of the tragedy that Rambara had been completely wiped out in the rains, but the government was still not aware of the quantum of the tragedy. “The Uttarakhand
Government has not taken the disaster in all seriousness,” Krishan Gopal said. He added that rescue works had been very poor. He said after 14 days of the disaster, the state government was still to get the true figure
of causalities. Krishna Gopal said the RSS was holding relief camps at Joshimath, Badrinath, Pipalkoti, Fata, Srinagar and Chamba. Food arrangements, medicines and other assistance
were being provided in these camps. He said the RSS had sent 64 vehicles with relief materials on the yatra routes. He said infrastructure has been destroyed in the
disaster and it needed to be restored. Krishna Gopal said the people of Uttarakhand had always been helpful and this time, too, they had shown generosity in assisting the pilgrims
in distress. |
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Unable to trace her parents at Kedarnath, MP woman ends life
Gwalior, June 29 The dejected woman, Mamta Tripathi hung herself yesterday when her family could not find the whereabouts of father Nathuram Parashar (60), mother Kamla Devi (50), uncle Satish Parashar and aunt Vimla Devi, who had left for the pilgrim town on June 5, they said. Mamta's husband had also left for Haridwar on June 18 to search for his wife's parents. She had spoken to them for the last time on June 15 and since then there was no contact, police said. The woman had yesterday gone to Manshadevi temple to pray for the safety of her parents and on returning home, she cooked food for her family and after eating went to her room and took the extreme step. At least 3,000 people are still reported missing in the massive Uttarakhand floods and landslides after heavy rains pounded the hill state on June 15, leaving nearly 1,000 dead and scores stranded. Kedarnath is the worst-affected in the flood fury, and authorities are racing against time to minimise risks of an epidemic outbreak there.
— PTI |
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Geologists’ team to visit temple
Dehradun, June 29 The Chief Minister told the experts that they should offer their suggestions for the temple's renovation after a thorough review. He also told them that the ASI should suggest more concrete ways to minimising the damage caused by natural disasters. The Chief Minister said that geologists from scientists from Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology should also be consulted in renovation work. Dr BR Mani, Joint Director General and A,K, Sinha, Director, were part of the team. |
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Cong panels formed
Dehradun, June 29 In a statement issued today, State Congress general secretary Vijay Saraswat said the Garhwal committee includes Ramsharan Nautiyal, Narendra Singh Bhandari, Hira Singh Bisht, Matbar Singh Kandari, Suryakant Dhasmana and Shanti Juwanta, Matbar Singh Kandari, Rajpal Kharola, Sarojini Kaithora.
— TNS |
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Evacuation still on at Joshimath, Gaurikund
Dehradun, June 29 Some pilots who had not been passed any instructions could be seen waiting to get orders from higher-ups at the helipad. The sorties for the stranded pilgrims halting at the helipad had saddened the family members of those pilgrims who went missing from Kedar valley and Rambara. Ashwini Kumar, who came from Allahabad, Uttar Pardesh, to search for his parents, who remained untraceable from Rambara, said: “I was hoping that my parents would also land here one day like several others. But now I am told that the pilgrims would no longer be evacuated here. I was also hoping to get some information about my lost parents from those pilgrims who were landing here. All this would not be possible anymore now.” Many other family members of pilgrims expressed similar views. However, according to the authorities at Sahastardhara helipad, the disaster control room would continue to operate there. The list of the rescued pilgrims from other parts, too, would be maintained. A list of more than 4000 rescued pilgrims had been pasted on the walls. |
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Hospitals charging disaster-hit people to be punished: DM
Dehradun, June 29 He said the relief material reaching Dehradun was being collected at Maharana Pratap Sports College before being dispatched to Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Pithoragarh and Uttarkashi districts. Purshottam told mediapersons that trucks were being requisitioned to dispatch the relief material. He said region-specific demands were also being taken into consideration. “Some areas have sought raw foodgrains while others have demanded sleeping bags. We are also looking at the region-specific requirements and catering to them urgently,” he said. He said there had been cases where individuals or organisations had privately taken material on their own and got stranded midway. |
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