Haridwar July 4
Thousands of taxi operators plying on Uttarakhand Himalayan routes have been affected due to the suspension of the Char Dham pilgrimage for an indefinite period in the aftermath of the natural disaster.

This has caused heavy losses to taxis owners most of whom had bought new vehicles keeping in mind the pilgrimage season and are now finding it difficult to pay loan instalments. They have requested the state government to waive commercial taxes on their vehicles.

The Taxi Owners-Drivers Association at a meeting has urged the Uttarakhand Transport Minister for exemption from taxes.

The association members said the taxi owners and drivers had suffered heavy losses due to the disruption of the Char Dham yatra after flash floods devastated the state.

Association president Dharampal Sharma said, according to the directives of the Regional Transport Office, they had carried out fitness and repair work on their vehicles at an additional cost before the beginning of the yatra. Now, their source of livelihood had been badly affected due to the suspension of the pilgrimage.

Dharmpal added that many of the association members were finding it difficult to pay loan instalments and if the government did not provide them relief in form of tax waiver, they would face more trouble.

The association has submitted a memorandum to Transport Minister Surendra Rakesh and is expecting some positive measures from him. Similarly, Pathri area taxi owners too have appealed to Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to direct banks to relax norms for repayment of instalments of loan taken by them to buy new vehicles for the Char Dham yatra.

Noor Alam, a representative of the association, said several vehicles were still stuck in the affected regions and till they were brought back banks should be directed to relax loan repayment norms.

Dehradun, July 4
Pegging the number of pilgrims missing after the recent natural calamity in Uttarakhand at more than 3,000, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said today that if they did not surface till July 15, they would be presumed dead.

"Considering the magnitude of the crisis, the state Cabinet has decided that if the missing persons are not found by July 15, we will presume that they are dead and the process of paying compensation to next of kin of the deceased will begin", he said.

The exact number of persons missing after the tragedy is 3,064 and the deadline for finding them is July 15, he said.

He said the process of the payment of compensation to the families of those killed in the disaster would hopefully be completed by July 30.

With the MET Department issuing a warning of heavy rains at places in the Kumaon region over the next two days, Bahuguna said for the next 50 hours, the administration needed to be highly vigilant.

As many as 250 National Disaster Response Force personnel had been deployed in areas where heavy rains were expected, official sources said.

According to the department, heavy rains are likely to hit the state on July 5 and 6, especially in areas in Nainital, Pithoragarh and Udham Singh Nagar. — PTI

Dehradun, July 4
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured all possible help from the Central Government to the disaster-affected people in Uttarakhand. The Prime Minister gave this assurance to Pauri Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj who met him to apprise him of the ground situation in New Delhi today.

Maharaj showed him some photographs of the devastation caused by the floods in the Garhwal region and urged him to help the state in this time of crisis. Maharaj requested the Prime Minister that some roads, including the Rudraprayag-Gaurikund, Badrinath-Joshimath, and Karanprayag-Narayanbagar roads needed to be built on a priority basis.

He also requested that the tele-communication network which was devastated should be restored. Maharaj said that those who lost their houses completely were being paid a compensation of Rs 2 lakh. He demanded that it be raised to at least Rs 5 lakh. Labourer who lost their mules should be paid a compensation of Rs 50,000, he added.

Maharaj also urged the Prime Minister that a JCB machine should be airlifted to Kedarnath and steps taken to restart the prayers at Kedarnath and Hemkunt Sahib.

He also demanded compensation for the victims of the Rudraprayag cloudburst of 2012.

Satpal Maharaj also met Union Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari and requested her to help in the restoration of Kedarnath temple.

The minister told him that a team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had already been sent and the ministry would bear the cost of restoration of the ancient temple.

Dehradun, July 4
Following flash floods that claimed thousands of lives in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand and left the authorities grappling to collect and collate information about the identity of the dead and the missing, the state government is reflecting on registering and regulating the number of devotees who visit the holy shrines.

Joint Director, Tourism, AK Dwivedi said according to estimates, 8-9 lakh tourists had visited the area in the week the tragedy took place. “With the registration process in place, we will be able to ascertain the exact number of persons proceeding to the holy places and also have ready information about their identities and approximate location,” he said.

“Also, we will be regulating the inflow of visitors in accordance with the infrastructure available,” he said.

The identities of many dead and missing persons have not been established so far. Relatives of missing people continue to search for them. Thousands have perished in the flash floods.

According to the Tourism Department, 20-22 lakh tourists had visited Uttaranchal last year and an increase of 10-12 per cent was being expected this year.

Dwivedi said tourist inflow in the state was already down by at least 50 per cent since the floods and heavy rains ravaged the state. There are some unaffected areas like Dehradun, Mussoorie, Haridwar, Nainital and the southern belt that are seeing some tourist activity. The rains and flood-affected nine districts with just four or so being spared the nature’s wrath.

Hotel occupancy across the state, earlier booked to capacity, is down to 20 per cent and in places in the vicinity of the flood- affected areas it is zero. No fresh bookings are being made. Some hotels situated along the river banks have also suffered damage.

Since tourism is a major source of income for people and revenue generation for the state, floods will have deep financial impact on the government as well as the local populace. The damage to the Tourism Department’s property has initially been estimated at Rs 40 crore. It is expected to take several years for rebuilding the damaged infrastructure to enable the tourist industry to prosper.

Dehradun, July 4
While Uttarakhand struggles for safe housing structures, a Mohali-based infrastructure company has come up with a double-storey earthquake-proof and weather-insulated house at the proposed BSF Battalion Campus, Doiwala, in just 10 days.

Synergy Thrislington, a Mohali-based infrastructure company, which recently created an unparallelled remarkable feat by constructing a 10-storey building in Chandigarh in 48 hours, claims that it can construct 10,000 such houses in six months and 1 lakh in one year.

Describing it as instant housing, chief (operations) Yashjeet Gupta said 70 per cent construction was done in their factory and only 30 per cent was done at the site.

He claimed that these houses could withstand a tremor of magnitude 5 and were thermally insulated, keeping them warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Gupta said such houses had a life of 100 years. The cost of the construction was equal to that of a house made of motor and brick.

Yashjeet Gupta said they had got an order for the construction of accommodation for the Border Security Force at Doiwala, Dehradun, in mid June.

"We successfully manufactured this house and commissioned at the site with complete fixtures and finishings in just 10 days from the receipt of work order," he said.

The Director (BSF) is slated to visit the site tomorrow.

Gupta said this recent innovation of fast-track construction technology could reduce construction span from years to days and could help in the rehabilitation of Uttarakhand at fast pace. The housing construction technology, first of its kind in India, is unique in many ways.

"Besides being an ultrafast technology to deliver concrete house in hours, this has got multiple advantages in terms of being cost-effective, earthquake resistant, fire resistant, sustainable and green," said Gupta.

Dehradun, July 4
Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (MNA) Ashok Kumar held a meeting with officials of Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) with regard to issues related to waterlogging in the city.

Kumar said an estimate of Rs 50.12 lakh had been sent to the District Magistrate to repair the

damaged embankment built by PWD and Irrigation Department. Besides this, estimate of Rs 89 lakh, too, had been sent for the repair of damaged roads, drains and small bridges under the funding of natural

calamity management.

Kumar said the way residents in various pockets threw construction material on the roads, it led to blockage of drains. Thus, water collected on the roads. The deposition of water damaged the roads as well as created inconvenience to the public. Kumar directed all the junior engineers to clear such blocked drains.

He directed sanitary supervisors to prepare a list of such people who threw construction material on roads in their wards so that DMC could take action against them.

Kumar was apprised that a retaining wall was required near Lalpul, close to Bindal river and burial ground at Niranjpur, and wiring around Saraswati Vihar, Ajabpur, was also needed.

Kumar asked them to prepare an estimate of construction and other required material which would then be sent to Disaster Management Department.

He said it had come to light that several areas did not have proper roads and drainage system.

Their water was collecting in vacant plots. From these plots, the water entered their houses.

He directed officials to prepare a list of such spots/areas so that the concerned departments could be contacted for planned construction of roads and drains in these areas to avoid a repeat of such a situation.

Chief Sanitary Inspector apprised the MNA about the sewerage fluid flowing out of the main sewer line at Prince Chowk.

Dehradun, July 4
The Dehradun police claims to have solved a case of murder of a cycle repair shop owner. Illicit relations have been found to be the reason for the murder.

A cycle repair shop owner at New Patelnagar Salim was shot dead yesterday in the Pithuwala region of Dehradun. The police was keeping a tab on Salim's friends. It nabbed Asif from ISBT Dehradun today while he was allegedly trying to flee.

Police sources said Asif was Salim's tenant and had illicit relations with his wife. Asif feared that Salim could know of his relationship and thus decided to kill him. He took Salim to Pithuwala on pretext of buying a second hand motor cycle and shot him dead near the forests.

During interrogation, Asif revealed that he had purchased a countrymade pistol from Saharanpur for Rs 5,000 for committing the crime. 

Dehradun, July 4
BJP and Congress councillors yesterday met Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (MNA) Ashok Kumar to apprise him of poor sanitary conditions in the city.

Vinay Kohli, a councillor, said there was no dustbin on the busy stretch from Survey Chowk up to Araghar. Shopkeepers throw garbage on roads in the absence of any bin.

Kohli said he took up the issue with the officials concerned several times, but to no avail.

Another councillor, Ajay Singhal, said dustbins on roadsides were not cleaned on a regular basis.

Councillor Jagdish Dhiman complained that sanitation employees did not visit wards alloted to them regularly.

On this, the MNA said there was a shortage of sanitation staff. He said since the disaster struck the state, two sanitation workers from each ward had been sent to Kedarnath to help in rescue and cremation of the dead.

The MNA said he was aware of the situation and had written to sanitation supervisors, who remained nonchalant.

He, however, asked the councillors to keep tabs on sanitation workers not reporting on duty everyday, so that action could be taken against them.

However, councillors said it was the duty of the administration to keep tabs on them.

Dehradun, July 4
Concerned about the disaster-affected people of the state, the Uttarakhand Governor, Dr Aziz Qureshi, today called the coordinators/principals of all prominent schools of Dehradun to Raj Bhavan and motivated them to voluntarily reach out to help these people.

He said it was necessary to kindle a new hope in the hearts of people who have lost their dear ones and property. These people should be made to feel that they have the support of the entire society.

The principals gave a commitment of all possible help and put forth proposals in this regard. Among the proposals were financial assistance, relief items for daily use and reconstruction of destroyed school buildings and roads.

The Governor said help should be planned on the basis of priorities. He said financial assistance should come in the first phase and other help (after assessing the damage) could come in the second phase.

The Governor said there was also need to think about the domesticated animals in the disaster-affected areas. Their food and shelter also had to be arranged.

He said rehabilitation of the affected people had begun on a war footing, besides the relief operations.

The Governor said the schools could play an important role in helping these people start life all over again with courage.

All present assured the Governor that once the schools reopened, all teachers, students and parents would involve themselves in the assistance work. Principals and coordinators of 35 prominent schools were present on the occasion.