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Stranded Mansarovar pilgrims airlifted to Dharchula
CM asks mobile firms to restore network in flood-hit areas
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3,800 still missing: Chief Secy
Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Bageshwar villagers refuse to shift to tehsil building
ABVP pays tributes to disaster-hit people
Army working on new Kedarnath route
HC rejects plea on Rawat’s expulsion
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Stranded Mansarovar pilgrims airlifted to Dharchula
Pithoragarh, July 9 “The batch, which has become late to reach New Delhi by five days, will have night stay at temple town of Jageshwar today and will reach New Delhi on July 10,” said an KMVN officer. The first batch, which crossed into India from Tibet on June 26, was stopped at Gunji camp, and was awaiting helicopters as the track route down towards Gunji was not good enough to cross. “We had requested to the Ministry of External Affairs to send helicopters to lift the stranded pilgrims, which in response lifted them today as the weather was not conducive to land helicopters.” said DK Sharma, a KMVN officer. |
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CM asks mobile firms to restore network in flood-hit areas
Dehradun, July 9 Bahuguna told them that in case they faced any problem, they could contact district officials and give their requirements in writing. The mobile phone providers complained of shortage of diesel in the areas which are cut off. The Chief Minister directed the officials to provide them adequate quantity of diesel to run their towers. He also asked the officials to make arrangements for sending these representatives in Kedarnath area to repair their mobile network. He also directed Managing Director of Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) Deepak Rawat to ensure that mobile telephone services were restored in Dharchula and Munsiyari areas of Pithoragarh. The meeting was attended by Disaster Management Minister Yashpal Arya, Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat, Panchayati Raj Minister Pritam Singh, Urban Development Minister Preetam Singh Panwar and senior civil officials. |
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WB, ADB to provide aid to state
Dehradun, July 9 A team of World Bank officials will visit the disaster-affected areas of the state to assess the damage on August 1, 2013.
These organisations will provide money to the state government which would be 90 per cent grant and 10 per cent loans. A meeting of World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) officials led by Joint Secretary, Economic Affairs of the Union Government, Nilay Mitash, was held with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna here today. Anno Ruhal and Hum Kum, country directors of World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), respectively, were also present in the meeting. Chief Minister Bahuguna gave a detailed description of the damage caused by the natural disaster to the basic infrastructure like roads, bridges, power lines, government buildings and water supply lines in the state. He expected the World Bank and Asian Development Bank officials to assess the damage and help the state in coping up with the tragedy. He said that the state government would provide all necessary help to World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) teams. He further said that the economy of the state was dependent on tourism which has received the maximum hit. Nilay Mitash said that the World Bank and Asian Development Bank teams would assess the damage between August 1 and 15 and extend help to the state. The World Bank and ADB officials assured the Chief Minister that all help would be given to the state. Besides, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, Disaster Management Minister Yashpal Arya, Panchayati Raj Minister Pritam Singh, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar and other senior officials attended the meeting. |
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3,800 still missing: Chief Secy
“This is a tentative figure, as the Uttarakhand government is still cross-checking with other states. The number could go up or reduce, as we are still awaiting the final list of the number of missing persons from Uttar Pradesh,” said the Chief Secretary told mediapersons. Water schemes
The Chief Secretary said the work to restore road connectivity, drinking water and power supply damaged in the natural disaster was being carried out on a war-footing. “Of the 968 totally damaged drinking water schemes, temporary restoration work has been done on 902 schemes. The work to restore drinking water schemes in about 66 villages in the affected districts of Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh and Uttarkashi will be completed by July 10,” he said. Roads reopened
Of the 1,976 roads damaged in the flash floods, about 1,575 are now open for traffic and 401 continue to be out of bounds. Similarly, the road connectivity to 3,440 villages has been restored but 706 villages still remain cut off in the affected districts. Mule tracks
“The Border Roads Organisation is also preparing a mule track between Hanuman Chatti and Govind Ghat to ease the discomfort of the mule owners by July 15. Similarly, mule tracks will also be constructed between Agustmuni and Guptkashi and Ganghori and Harsil,” the Chief Secretary said. He added the Rishikesh-Badrinath Highway would be ready for small vehicles by September 30 and heavy vehicles by October 30. |
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Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Kaushal, a Padma Shri recipient, had created history when on his petition, one of the first environment related judgements was delivered by the Supreme Court banning lime quarrying in Dehradun and Mussoorie areas which had resulted in the destruction of forest cover in the area in the eighties. He had fought vehemently for the rights of the Van Gujjars and strongly advocated the construction of hydro-electric projects in the state. On the need for post-disaster reconstruction and rehabilitation in the affected areas, Kaushals believe that there has to be a balanced approach towards the issues of development and environment in the state. “The first and foremost thing to be done is to stop hackneyed, obsolete and tired environment slogans against the development of Uttarakhand state. Gaura Devi, who started the Chipko Movement, did not do it to save environment or ecology, but to claim the ownership of trees which were under the axe. She acted to prevent the cutting of trees and reclaim their traditional forest rights that were threatened by the contractor system of the state Forest Department in the 1970s. Since then, there is a need to restore more access and control of the local communities over the natural resources. Thus, if need be, the Forest Act should be amended and the provisions regarding access and control of local communities be incorporated,” he said. On the natural calamity, Kaushal said such calamities would always happen, but what needed to be done is preparedness to face them. Commenting on the precarious situation created by the inability of the state government to cremate the bodies, he said there has been an urgent need to construct functional electric crematoria in hills like Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Karanprayag, Chamoli and Srinagar. “Last year also, hundreds of houses were damaged, animals and people lost lives in the cloudburst in Rudraprayag district and there was no wood available for their cremation. The villagers had no options but to rip off their wooden doors to give the departed decent funeral rites. Electric crematoria are needed in hills,” he said. He felt that to reconstruct the state, community kitchens equipped with gas cylinders and electric kitchen appliances needed to be set up. These would not only save the forests but also the eyes, lungs, skin and lives of the hill women because the use of traditional chullahs has wide-ranging health implications. “Eye and lung diseases caused by kitchen smoke are common, particularly among the women who spend long hours in close proximity to chullahs. Prolonged exposure to smoke emission and soot, especially from wood and biomass, aggravated by ill-designed chullahs and stoves, lack of cooking space, improper arrangements for the release of smoke, shortage of rooms and overcrowding, cause heart ailments and chronic bronchitis,” he opined. He said more than 10 requests from different villagers willing to donate land for setting up community kitchens had been received by his organisation. These community kitchens will prove quite successful in breaking caste discrimination as women from both upper and lower castes will have equal access to the facility, he said. On the issue of construction of hydro-electric projects, he said that all the stalled hydro power projects in Uttrakhand, which have completed more than 50 per cent work with all the required clearances should be immediately started. These include the Palamaneri (480 MW) and Bhaironghati (381 MW) and the Centre-owned Lohari Nagpala (600 MW) projects. “After spending so much of the state exchequers’ money, these hydel projects were stopped. Political parties, for their own petty self interests and short-term political gains, did not consider the development and growth of the state. The decisions to stall the projects are against the common interest of people of Uttarakhand,” he commented. Kaushal said the state government should immediately set up grain banks in each village panchayat, to provide safeguard against starvation during times of natural calamity or during the lean season by lending grains for stocking for an average of 40 families. “This will not only facilitate food security but also ensure emergency help in times of natural calamities,” he said. Kaushal felt that there was no need to set up government bodies like the Uttarakhand Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority, the one announced by the state government. “ Such authorities would heighten corruption, like all other authorities in the state, and cause an unnecessary burden on the already meagre resources of the state. Rather, all power should be invested in gram panchayats, block panchayats, zilla panchayats and municipal bodies as enshrined and mandated in our Constitution. They should be given all powers --- with funds, functions and functionaries," he said. Kaushal said that to stop the scourge of floods, the ban imposed on riverbed mining/picking should be revoked without delay. “Riverbed quarrying recharges groundwater. And it is common knowledge that minerals are non-renewable, but these forms of minerals naturally gets replenished from time to time in a given river system and the process is inter-related to the hydrological cycle in a river basin. The state government should approach the court that has imposed a ban on riverbed mining and get it to reconsider the decision,” he said. Kaushal said this would put an end to not only the flooding of villages but also plug bureaucratic and political corruption. “Construction materials such as sand, coarse and fine bajri, boulders etc shall then be available at reasonable rates to the masses,” he said. On the question of flouting of building laws with regard to the construction of buildings on rivers banks, he said the government should take the lead in dismantling its own buildings that are constructed in riverbeds, like the Vidhan Sabha, District Jail and Directorate of Education. It has been ordered by the high court, also. “The poor people who are mostly settled on river banks should be given safe alternative land for their houses and responsibility fixed on those responsible for settling them in such dangerous places," he said. All the villages of Uttarakhand, including those 40 per cent villages that do not even have kutcha road connectivity should have roads. The roads should be constructed without the use of detonators/blastings. This will also provide employment to the locals. He said that the gazette notification of the Central Government on the eco-sensitive zone in Uttarakashi should be opposed. “The National Ganga Basin Authority should be either scrapped or there should be proper representation of stakeholders. Till now, sadhus, saints and their representatives are misleading the Central government without any stake, ignoring the federal structure of our Constitution,” he concluded. WHAT TO DO
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Mules, other animals bear the brunt of natural disaster
Dehradun, July 9 The People For Animals (PFA), Uttarakhand, has demanded that at least one per cent of Rs 1,000 crore relief amount provided by the Centre to the state be spent on veterinary clinics and night shelters for the livestock in the hills. Member secretary of the PFA Gauri Maulekhi says the Uttarakhand government has so far shown least sensitivity towards the livestock, particularly mules, which are an important means of communication in Kedarnath, Badrinath and other higher reaches of the Garhwal hills. “On the day of the calamity there were more than 12,000 mules between Gaurikund and Kedarnath and according to the locals nearly 6,000 of them perished in the catastrophe,” she says. She adds 250 mules are still stuck in Rambada Bazaar, 350 at Ghingorpani, 10 in Kedarnath Bazaar, 600 in the Kedarnath valley, 50 at Gaurikund (trans-Mandakani) and five mules at Sonprayag. Similarly, in the Hemkunt area 1,135 animals, including mules, cows and buffaloes, are stuck because the Army had removed a 60-foot temporary bridge over the Alaknanda on June 29. Two more bridges measuring 30 and 20 feet long are required at Pulna and Ghangaria on the Hemkund track to rescue 300 mules. “Bridges are required more desperately than ever. With every passing day the chance of the survival of this precious livestock is getting bleak and the residents of Uttarakhand are losing the opportunity to get back on their feet,” she says. Maulekhi adds a PFA team with assistance from the Humane Society International has been undertaking relief and rescue work to evacuate animals stranded in the upper stretches of the Kedarnath route. “A thorough survey of the area and with the help from the locals we have been able to help in evacuation of thousands of animals by hiring local help to establish land routes. A crucial bridge was constructed at Sonprayag to evacuate mules from Gaurikund upon Maneka Gandhi’s intervention in the matter,” she points out. Many more are still waiting for help across the mighty rivers and active landslides, she says. The Kedarnath Dham, Hemkund Saheb and other pilgrim places in Uttarakhand have been accessible only through horses and mules for centuries. These working animals have relentlessly served the pilgrims and have been the economic backbone of the regions supporting tourism, maintaining supply chains in far off places and making life possible. These horses and mules are the source of livelihood of many people in the hills. |
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Bageshwar villagers refuse to shift to tehsil building
Pithoragarh, July 9 The 12 families, who are living in the forest land of Chiriya range, along with their cattle and kids from the past 15 days when the rains resulted landslide in their village compelling the villagers leave the village. “Our kids have fallen ill due to sleeping on muddy and wet land inside these tents and are to be bereft of schools as the schools have opened now.” said Rajan Ram, a villager who lives in tent with his 18 month- old-child. “The daily problem of fuel to cook the two times meal is also a problem as the administration could not give us kerosene to cook food and the woods we collect as fuel tend wet due to daily rains, “Said Rajan Ram. According to Bageswar district administration besides these villagers from Kanda sub- division, 150 villagers of Kapkot sub-division are also living with their relatives due to fear of land slides . “We have developed a system of alerting the villagers in sensitive areas at the time of high density rains.” said BS Manral, district magistrate of Bageshwar. “ Not only the members of our families but our cattle are also facing brunt of rains as we could not feed them properly from past 10 days as there is no arrangements for their fodder in this place.” said Vinay Joshi, Gram pradhan of Bahali village. The Gram Pradhan informed that some of the children barely escape from the claws of roaming leopards last night as the carnivores have started hounding the place. “We have told the administration that we cannot live here more and be shifted to a better place from where not only we could find a living for our family but our children also could get prpoer schooling.” said the Gram Pradhan, adding that if the administration will not listen them they will start agitation before the offices of district administration. A district administration report in Bageshwar said nearly 6,000 population of 48 villages in the district is living in landslide prone area at present and cannot be shifted due to lack of land for the purpose. “We can only alert these villagers if the weather department predicts if high rains.” said the district magistrate. |
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ABVP pays tributes to disaster-hit people
Dehradun, July 9 He said ABVP was running relief camps at Sonprayag and Gaurikund and plans to open such camps shortly. He also said ABVP was set up way back in 1949 to inculcate values within the student community of the country. Another speaker DK Shahi said the ABVP will shortly start a membership drive in the state. He said a separate wing for girls will also be created. |
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Army working on new Kedarnath route New Delhi, July 9 The civil administration had asked the Army to create a new route to the shrine. Army teams conducted a reconnaissance of the area and planned the route along a fresh alignment. The 20-km route is likely to follow the alignment from Sonprayag-Gomkar-Dev Vishnu-Dhungaj Giri-Kedarnath and pass over an altitude of 13,000 feet.
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HC rejects plea on Rawat’s expulsion
Pithoragarh, July 9 The Single Bench of Justice VK Bisht held that the minister had done no legal damage to the process of law as he had resigned from all posts of profit. The court held that the minister had already resigned as Chairman of the Seed Certification Agency and the Terai Development Corporation. The petitioner had alleged that by holding three posts of profit, the minister had violated Section 213 of the Constitution. |
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Two injured during shunting of train
Haridwar, July 9 This created panic among the passengers with a few of them standing at the coach doors falling due to the impact. Two persons, Ram Sundar Das and Netra Ram, sustained injuries. They were referred immediately to the district hospital. Station in charge Gopal Krishan Das said panic was created owing to the sudden impact of breaking of jammed buffers due to vaccum pressure. He added that fitted at the end of the vehicle frames, one at each corner, the buffers are projecting, shock-absorbing pads which, when the coaches are coupled, are brought into contact with those on the next vehicle. Later, as normalcy was restored, the train was given the green signal. Ram Sundar Das said while he was standing on the compartment door he felt the impact, with children crying and people trying to come out of the compartment door. This caused panic and many fell on each other and in this midst he suffered injuries. |
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Dehradun, July 9
Dehradun, July 9