Villagers in high Himalayan valleys go out of ration
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, July 8
Villagers living in higher Himalayan valleys are struggling to get two square meals as the district administration has failed to deliver ration to them by helicopters for the last five days due to continuous rains.

According to sources close to the district administration, ration dropped by Army helicopters in Sepu, Marcha, Tidang, Daharkar, Filam, Bon Baling and Bon villages of the Darma valley on July 4 is almost finished, forcing the villagers on the verge of starvation.

The ration the villagers get through government ration shops has been dumped in godowns due to lack of road connectivity.

“These villages were facing a shortage of ration even before July 1 when they were last delivered the stock. The ration we managed to supply them by helicopters was enough only for seven days. It is obvious that these villagers might have gone out of ration by now,” said Lal Singh Bonal, a social worker whom the district administration had sent to the Darma valley to take stock of the situation.

Bonal said the disaster not only destroyed human settlements but also killed thousands of animals in the Darma valley where people depend wholly on these animals for livelihood. “Several milch and other animals were killed in the Darma valley, severely affecting the source of livelihood of the villagers who were dependent on them for their earnings,” he said.

Meanwhile, relief material is still pouring in from all corners of the country but in the absence of daily distribution these are being dumped at various places in the district.

“We have stored all material at three places as two godowns were insufficient to store the relief reaching the district every day,” said a district administration source.

The direction of the district administration that private organisations bringing relief material must distribute it through its channel has annoyed affected villagers. The villagers allege that the administration has dumped the relief material that was being given to them directly. Neither employees of the administration nor the NGOs are distributing the material.

“Earlier we were receiving regular supply of ration from NGOs, but after the administration stopped them from delivering material we started suffering,” said Padam Singh at the Chori Bagar camp in the Madlot area of Dharchula subdivision. 

Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
The Tribune series on what needs to be done to rebuild state
Himalayan development authority needed: Khanduri
SMA Kazmi
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 8
Former Chief Minister BC Khanduri believes that a central Himalayan development authority is the need of the hour to regulate development in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region of the country. “The recent natural catastrophe has given us a warning sign and has forced us to sit and discuss the issues of development and conservation of environment in the entire Himalayan region,” said the former CM.

Khanduri, who was also the Union Minister of Surface Transport during the NDA regime at the Centre, strongly feels that a central Himalayan authority should be set up at the earliest. “There are so many issues concerning the development in the Himalayas that need scientific and earnest focus. These issues cannot be ignored now,” he said.

The issue of development in its entire gambit, be it roads, buildings, infrastructure or homes, needed to be dealt with uniformly and scientifically in the Himalayan region, said Khanduri.

“The idea of having an authority should be discussed by the Centre as well as the Himalayan states. A decision in this regard should be taken at the earliest. There is no scientific planning in building infrastructure in any of the Himalayan states and the entire issue of development is handled in a haphazard manner,” opined Khanduri.

“When I was the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, I had banned construction activities at the Char Dham pilgrimage centres. However, before my tenure and even after I had quit, a lot of construction work was carried out in the areas situated in the high Himalayan region,” he commented.

On the illegal construction on and near river banks, he said rules and regulations, particularly those pertaining to the safety aspects, were being flouted.

Talking about the recent disaster that claimed many lives, Khanduri said the preliminary judgement of the state government about the enormity of the disaster was incorrect and it had completely failed to handle the situation.

He said even after 21 days, the state government had been finding it difficult to recover the dead bodies for cremation.

There had been lack of preparedness in the hill states about natural disasters, as no early warning system was available to know about calamities before hand. He said, “I believe early warning systems do not cost much and are effective in saving lives in face of natural calamities in developed countries like the United States and even underdeveloped countries like Bangladesh. Why cannot we have such early warning systems in the vulnerable Himalayan states?”

On the aspect of reconstruction of the state after the disaster, Khanduri said early repair of roads should be the priority, as they were the lifeline of the state. “There has been a massive damage to roads in the state and it will require a gigantic effort to rebuild these. But I doubt the Centre has the will and determination to look after these roads, which are important even for national security,” he charged.

Khanduri said even before the calamity, most of the roads, particularly national highways maintained by the Border Roads Organisation, were in bad condition. “I had travelled on the Badrinath highway before the disaster and after it. It was in pathetic condition and it was found that out of Rs 220 crore asked by the engineers for the road repair, the Centre had allocated only Rs 20 crore. This was before the disaster struck the state,” he alleged.

On the issue of hydropower projects, Khanduri said there should be a rethink on the bigger dams, as the state was getting only 12 per cent of the power from such projects.

He said construction of roads should be the priority for the reconstruction of the state, as all the rehabilitation and relief efforts depended on road connectivity. “The damage has been immense and every effort is required to rebuild the lives of the affected people. The victims are in need of liberal financial help,” he contended.

Feeling dissatisfied with the relief and rehabilitation work, he said the state government was carrying out the work in utterly chaotic and confusing manner. “We need comprehensive planning for the sustainable development of the state that should not be dictated by the real estate builders and mafias,” he added. 

Causes of catastrophe

• No scientific planning in building infrastructure
• Excessive construction work in the high Himalayan region
• Lack of preparedness on natural disasters
• Rules of construction on and near river banks flouted, particularly those pertaining to the safety aspects
• A rethink on the bigger dams needed as the state was getting only 12 per cent of the power from such projects

There has been a massive damage to roads due to the calamity. But I doubt the Centre has a will and determination to look after these roads. I had travelled on the Badrinath highway before the disaster and after it. It was in pathetic condition and it was found that out of Rs 220 crore asked by BRO engineers for the road repair, the Centre had allocated only Rs 20 crore. This was before the disaster..
— BC Khanduri, Former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand

Overflowing Alaknanda threatens to submerge Garhwal University
Tribune News Service

Pauri Garhwal, July 8
The overflowing Alaknanda is threatening to submerge Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University at Srinagar. The Chauras area where the university campus is based is in danger due to perpetual land erosion by a heavy flow of the Alaknanda.

Land erosion is happening at a rapid pace at Chauras with the Alaknanda eroding several metres of land near the Chauras educational and sports premises.

The river has almost reached the main gate of the university and the university administration has removed the gate in fear that it may get washed away. Seven hostels and more than 200 houses of the university administration are also in danger due to continuous land erosion. The Chauras stadium is also on the verge of getting submerged as the river in spate is flowing only a few metres from the stadium boundary.

The Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) stadium and its main building were damaged in the flash floods on June 17 and a similar situation could happen again. Vice-Chancellor of the university SK Singh said the district administration had been informed about the situation and the guest house had been vacated as a precautionary measure. A team from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, today inspected the Chauras area and its recommendations were awaited.

Meanwhile, residents of Srinagar under the banner of the Srinagar Bachao Sangarsh Samiti has urged Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to construct an RCC shield wall from Pancpeepal till Sharda Ghat on the Alaknanda. "We are under constant threat of getting washed away. Srinagar, which was once the capital of the Garhwal dynasty, had faced floods in the past too. Its imperative that a strong wall be constructed to ensure that flash floods and land erosion caused by the Alaknanda do not pose a threat to the nearby areas of this town,” said Prem Dutt, chief of the Sangarsh Samiti.

Badrinath pilgrimage may resume by Sept as BRO repairing roads
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Pauri Garhwal, July 8
If everything falls in place, particularly conducive weather conditions, the Shri Badrinath shrine pilgrimage may be resumed within two months as the damaged portions of the Badrinath-Rishikesh highway are being constructed on a war footing.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which maintains the roads in this part of the Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand, says that the damaged road portions will be repaired by September. It added that new stretches were also being made by cutting the hills.

In the June 15-17 heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand, the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway of more than 5 km stretch got washed away, leaving thousands of pilgrims and local people getting stranded for days.

Since July 5, this highway has been opened till Gobind Ghat and the BRO is confident that it will make it open fully till the Badrinath shrine and the pilgrimage can once again get started. It was called off after June 17 rains.

Now, from Rishikesh to Pinola-Gobind Ghat-Joshimath, normal traffic has been resumed. It has paved the way for accelerated relief aid work in the nearby areas. But from Joshimath to the Badrinath shrine, whole portions of road had caved in at numerous places during the flash floods and it is the main challenge for the BRO.

Hill cutting on a mass scale is being done on the Lambagad-Bainakul stretch with latest machines that were ordered recently by the BRO, informed the command officer, Major Rahul Shrivastava.

He said that as Alaknanda river had changed its course near Lambagad, several kilometres of the highway had got washed away. He said BRO staff has been deployed in strength at this stretch to connect it with the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway.

The Lambagar-Vainakuli bridge will soon be remade with latest technical inputs being taken by BRO. But for the mean time, a crossing bridge will be constructed with huge pipes to make sure that the Badrinath Dham yatra resumes soon.

Meanwhile, local residents of Uttarkashi have resented the slow pace of work of the BRO at Gangotri national highway.

Residents say that for the past three weeks, the Gangotri valley has been cut off from the country, but the BRO has not paced up the construction work of damged roads. A protest was held at the bus stand led by block chief Vineeta Rawat.

Perturbed villagers said that despite tall claims by state government and BRO, more than 80 villages were disconnected due to damaged roads.

Vineeta added that neither relief aid nor any district administrative officials had reached the affected villages like Upla Taknaur, Taknaur, Ongi, Syaba, Salu, Saura, Bhatwadi, Bhenkali and Badahad Patti.

The Gangotri-Rishikesh national highway is routinely being closed at Singoti and Badethi Chungi.

Due to heavy landslides in these two areas, the national highway traffic has remained affected for hours for the past two days as rain is continuously pouring in.

BRO officials cite the incessant rain as the major reason for not fully connecting this highway as due to rains, landslides are occurring regularly.

Badrinath, Gangotri, Yamunotri yatras to start by Sept 30: CM
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 8
The yatra to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Hemkunt Sahib would restart by September 30.

A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the Badri-Kedar Temple Committee and Hemkunt Sahib Trust with Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, here today.

For Kedarnath, a base camp at Garudchatti would be established for relief supplies.

It was decided that the help of the Army, Air force, ITBP, NDRF, BRO, state police and PWD would be taken. The Chief Minister said that Army would take an alternative route for Kedarnath.

He further said that teams of the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), Temple Committee and Geological Survey of India would be sent as soon as the weather improved at the Kedarnath shrine.

Chief Minister Bahuguna said the Geological Survey of India (GSI) team would assess the damage between Gobind Ghat and Ghagria on the Hemkunt Sahib route and give its report within 15 days.

He said that reconstruction work on the route would then be started.

He announced that the yatra for Badrinath, Gangotri an Yamunotri would start by September 30.

Rescued border inhabitants still camping in tents
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, July 8
A total of 1016 persons have been evacuated till date by the Army and the Indian Air Force choppers from the villages situated close to Indo-China border,but more than 800 villagers are still living in relief camps in the district. One of these camps have been set up inside government schools in lower area of Dharchula and Munsiyari sub- divisions while another relief camp has been set in tents at Nai Basti in Dharchula for the rescued villagers of Sipu village.

According to a district administration press release, a total sum of Rs 3.50 crore has so far been distributed among the victims in the district, out of which the amount given as house subsidy is highest at Rs 2,86,98,850. “We have also distributed 2270 LPG cylinders in disaster-hit areas Dharchula and Munsiyari today and have sent four teams of veterinary doctors at disaster-hit interior villages of Dharchula and Munsiyari sub-divisions, to vaccinate live animals and take post mortem on the dead ones,” said Pithoragarh District Magistrate Dr Neeraj Khairwal.

“ Over 73 village roads out of 110 closed in the district, have been reopened by the PWD engineers by today and work to open rest of the roads is on,” said the District Magistrate.

Bhatwari residents irked over reilef, detain officials
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 8
People of Bhatwari town in Uttarakashi district protested by detaining three state government officials in a forest guest office, today.

According to information, the local residents annoyed by the slow place of the relief and rehabilitation efforts, detained the Block Development Officer, a supply officer and a tourism officer in a forest guest house.

The local residents alleged that they are not getting enough relief supplies and there is no effort to open the closed Gangotri highway. Senior district officials were trying to mediate with the agitating local residents to release the detained officials.

Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims stranded at Gunji
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, July 8
The 51 Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims of the first batch are stranded at Gunji for the last four days due to the damaged track route towards Bundi on their return journey, after crossing into the Indian land from Tibet after completing their pilgrimage.

They will preceed towards the Bundi camp on foot if the weather does not permit helicopters to land in Gunji, Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) sources said.

"Keeping the continued bad weather conditions at Gunji in mind, we have decided to move the batch up to the Bundi camp as the route up to this camp is not so bad. But if the weather does not permit helicopters to land at Bundi, it will be difficult to proceed further from Bundi," said DK Sharma, a KMVN officer who is in charge of the pilgrimage.

Sharma said priority would be given to airlift the batch from Gunji to the base camp at Dharchula. "All the pilgrims are hail and hearty and being taken care of by the KMVN staff at Gunji camp," said the officer.

Snow cover in Uttarakhand increases after flash floods
Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 8
There has been an increase in the snow cover in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand in the aftermath of heavy rains and snow that resulted in unprecedented floods and extensive damage in the state last month.

According to the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), this extreme weather phenomenon not only resulted in heavy rains in this part of the Himalayas, but also heavy snowfall in the catchment areas of the Sutlej, Bhagirathi, Alaknanda and Yamuna river basins as observed from the latest images from the Resourcesat-2 satellite.

The satellite imagery from the Resourcesat-2 shows that in the Sutlej basin, the snow cover after the inclement weather conditions prevailing from mid-June has doubled as compared to the snow cover in that area on June 1.

On the other hand, satellite pictures show that during the same period the snow cover has reduced in the basins of the Chenab and the Beas, indicating normal snowmelt occurrence that is expected during June.

The area in and around Kedarnath had witnessed a large scale occurrence of flood and landslides on June 16 and 17 due to a cloudburst and incessant rains upstream of the Mandakini river and its tributaries. A landslide inventory being carried out for the affected area by the NRSC has so far identified 992 landslides along the river valleys of the Mandakini, the Mandani, the Kali and the Madhyamaheshwar and towards the lower reaches of the Mandakini till Rudraprayag. The major towns in this area are Kedarnath, Sonprayag, Gaurikund, Ukhimath, Guptkashi, Mansuna, Phata, Agastmuni and Rudraprayag.

The landslides, besides damaging buildings have also washed away large tracts of roads, severely affecting communication.

So extensive is the damage in places that patches of about 30 kilometres on highways alone have to be laid afresh, besides reconstruction of arteries, link roads and smaller tracts. Many bridges also need to be rebuilt.

Power generation down
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 8
The hydro power generation plummeted considerably to 9.38 million units (MU) yesterday. Maneri Bhalli I and II projects continue to remain closed while the Chila power house has not been functioning since 11 in the morning.

The Northern Regional Load Dispatch Centre gave directions to lessen the load in Meeruth-Muzzafarnagar power line as the line was getting overloaded and could trip the grid.

Power cuts of five hours had to be imposed on rural areas of Haridwar and two hours in Roorkie to lessen the load. Rudrapur and Kashipur too suffered cuts for 2.30 hours.

PO to deliver relief packets free of cost
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 8
As a gesture to help the disaster-affected people of Uttarakhand, the Postal Department will deliver parcels with relief material up to 35 kg free of cost.

Chief Post Master-General of Uttarakhand Circle M.S. Ramanujan said this facility would remain in force till July 20 at all Head Post Offices.

The relief parcels would be handed over to the District Relief Material Collection Centre set up by the Uttarakhand Government. Information in this regard can be had from the phone numbers 0135-2655141 or 9412967119 or website www.upost.gov.in.