Daring pilots land chopper safely at Gauchar
Dehradun, July 12
Frantic sound of warning whistles woke up the pilots resting in the ITBP mess at Gauchar last night. It was a landslide warning. Everyone was asked to vacate the area. The sound of stones rolling down the hill created a scary rumble. Pilots, who were doing duty under Director General, ITBP command, realised that their helicopter, an ALH MK I, was parked at the ITBP helipad, and was likely to get damaged by the landslide. The pilots would not leave their machine behind and the only alternative was to fly it out by night in the drizzle and poor weather.

Hajis from state told to pay charges by July 27
Dehradun, July 12
Uttarakhand State Haj Committee Chairman Rao Sher Mohammed said today that Hajis from Uttarakhand would have to deposit their charges latest by July 27.

Dehradun, July 12
The Badrinath National Highway was blocked at two places near Nandprayag and Gauchar due to the falling debris from the landslide triggered by overnight rain but today choppers flew to Kedarnath and other areas for relief work.

Today an NDRF team was sent to Kedarnath through choppers with heavy machines that would be used to cut the rocks for retrieving the bodies lying underneath, Principal Secretary, Home, Om Prakash said.

“In Kedarnath the Army has launched an exercise to build the 20-km alternate route to Kedarnath for ferrying the supplies,’’ said Om Prakash. With the 14-km trek route to Kedarnath totally washed away in the recent calamity in Uttarakhand, the Army has begun the exercise of building an alternative 20-km route to the Himalayan shrine.

The exercise was launched at the request of civil administration and NDRF to find out an alternative to the traditional route, an official note from the Army said today.

The new route is likely to follow the alignment from Sonprayag-Gomkar-Dev Vishnu- Dhungaj Giri- Kedarnath and will be about 20 km in length, passing over an altitude of over 13,000 ft, it said.

"Surya Command conducted a reconnaissance of the area and began work on opening a route to the shrine," it said.

After much difficulty the Central Command personnel succeeded in building a crossing over the Vasuki Ganga at Sonprayag.

Another team is now busy establishing a staging area in Gomkara beyond Sonprayag.

With the weather largely clear at most places in the worst hit Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Rudraprayag districts, choppers are transporting relief to affected areas, officials said.

Despite an alert sounded in Chamoli district following the formation of a lake by a melting glacier at Satopanth, about 30 km from the Himalayan shrine, officials said there was no cause for panic.

Water percolation through the nearly 500-metre lake was going on at a normal pace; so there is no cause for panic, an official said after a district administration team and ITBP personnel conducted an aerial survey of the area.

Most of the power supply lines snapped in the villages since the tragedy occurred have also been restored through alternative arrangements, officials said, adding total restoration of power in the countryside would not be possible before September 30.

Dehradun, July 12
Officials of the Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC) and the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIGH) have ruled out any threat to Badrinath, Karanprayag and other parts of the state from the formation of a lake at Satopanth in Chamoli district. They said the formation of the lake was a natural activity.

Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today convened a joint meeting with the officials of USAC and the WIGH to take stock of the situation. There were reports yesterday that a big lake formed at Satopanth in Chamoli district may burst in the near future posing danger to Badrinath, Karanprayag and other places.

The Chief Minister also asked both departments to submit their study reports linked to Uttarakhand glaciers and lakes to the state government. He also asked them to provide regular updates and monitoring on the glacial activity in the Himalayas to the state.

USAC Director Dr MM Kimothi said there was nothing to fear but there was need to monitor the development. He also held that the lake had little depth and hence would have little volume of water. Similarly, WIGH Director Anil Gupta too ruled out any threat from the lake. He termed the formation of the lake as a natural activity.

Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar and Principal Secretary Rakesh Sharma were present at the meeting.

Dehradun, July 12
Frantic sound of warning whistles woke up the pilots resting in the ITBP mess at Gauchar last night. It was a landslide warning. Everyone was asked to vacate the area. The sound of stones rolling down the hill created a scary rumble. Pilots, who were doing duty under Director General, ITBP command, realised that their helicopter, an ALH MK I, was parked at the ITBP helipad, and was likely to get damaged by the landslide. The pilots would not leave their machine behind and the only alternative was to fly it out by night in the drizzle and poor weather.

Although Gauchar landing ground was just 5-7 minutes flight, but there are no night aids, not even basic airfield lighting. Besides, rules do not permit night flying in the hills. Pilots then took advise from Task Force Commander, Air Commodore Rajesh Isser. After speaking to him the Task Force Commander was assured of the pilots’ confidence and ability to undertake the task. He briefed them for the mission and simultaneously activated other pilots and ATC at Gauchar to reach the ALG with torches and use vehicle lights to provide whatever assistance they could with the available resources. At 11.30 pm, the helicopter started in the dark valley, negotiated adverse conditions and successfully landed on the ground.

After having evacuated hundreds of pilgrims in the area it was now the turn of the chopper to be evacuated to safety. 

Haridwar, July 12
With the government already facing the wrath of people for not making the registration of pilgrims for the Char Dham Yatra and Hemkunt Sahib mandatory, which is creating problems in assessing the exact death toll in the disaster recently, the same story is being repeated in the upcoming Kanwar pilgrimage.

The state is all set to host the Kanwar pilgrimage in Haridwar later this month. However, the government is yet to make mandatory the registration of Kanwariyas who throng Haridwar every year. Last year, 1.10 crore Kanwariyas had come to Haridwar to fetch Ganga jal which they offer at Shivlings on Shravan Maha Shivratri. Every year, the state witnesses an increase in the number of Kanwariyas. According to sources, this year the number might touch 1.20-crore record mark.

Stampede and terror attacks are two threats that loom large over the Kanwar fair in Haridwar. In case of any untoward incident, the registration of Kanwariyas would help a lot. Otherwise, the same story will be repeated as in Kedarghati, Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi, where the identities of the victims of the natural disaster are still not known.

Several stampede incidents had been reported in temples and fairs on pious occasions. Haridwar had also witnessed stampedes during the 2010 Maha Kumbh and Kumbh hosted by Shantikunj in 2011. Many people had died in the incidents.

SP, Haridwar, Jagdeesh Bhandari says in the wake of serial blasts at Maha Bodhi temple in Gaya, Bihar, intelligence inputs and local intelligence unit reports are being considered while preparing a security plan for the Kanwar pilgrimage this time.

The Teerth Maryada Raksha Samiti, a socio-religious outfit, told Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna that the registration of Kanwariyas be made compulsory. The samiti chief said besides the registration process, a nominal fee could be charged from Kanwariyas, which would be spent on providing basic facilities and amenities on the Kanwar stretch.

Mayor Manoj Garg said earlier, the municipal committee would levy Rs 1 as tax on Char Dham pilgrims, which would be spent on providing better facilities to them. "The same is needed to be done statewide for Char Dham pilgrims and also for the Kanwar pilgrimage, " he said.

Dehradun, July 12
The Uttarakhand Minorities Commission has sent its report to the National Commission of Minorities regarding the loss of lives and property in the recent floods.

UKMC Chairman Narinderjit Singh Bindra said he had sent his report to the NCM. In the report, Bindra informed the NCM that 10 persons, including three Muslims, died in and around Gobind Ghat, the gateway to Hemkunt Sahib.

Two Sikhs died of heart attack at Ghagaria while the body of an unknown person was found in the valley of flowers, Bindra said in his report.

Four Sikhs died in Patal Ganga due to landslides and three members of the Muslim community were washed away by the river in Gobind Ghat.

The UKMC said the Alaknanda river had taken away as many as 127 two-wheelers, 51 four-wheelers and a helicopter in the Gobind Ghat area during the massive floods last month.

The loss of property, mainly of Gurdwara Gobind Ghat complex, was roughly to the tune of Rs 50 crore, Bindra said, adding that the loss of the local community was manifold.

Bindra, who is also the vice-chairman of the Shri Hemkunt Sahib Management Trust, demanded that the government should compensate the Trust which looked after the facilities at the base station at Gobind Ghat to rebuild the shrine's infrastructure damaged in the floods.

He said full insurance amount should be given to the owners of all vehicles which were washed away, even though many of them only had third party insurance. The NCM had recently asked the UKCM to submit its report so that it could give recommendations to the Central and state governments to compensate the victims.

Ajiab Singh, a member of NCM, had recently written a letter to Bindra in this regard. — PTI

Dehradun, July 12
District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam took charge as administrator of MKP PG college. The High Education Directorate had dismissed the management committee of the college recently.

Purushottam will hold the charge till a new committee is formed. The suspended principal of the college, Dr Indu Singh, also met the District Magistrate.

Dr Indu Singh was suspended by the management committee of the college pressing some serious charges against her, one and a half year ago. She moved High Court from where she was exonerated. The Vice-Chancellor of Garhwal University and the High Education Directorate had directed a committee to reinstate Dr Indu as college principal.

But the secretary of the committee did not follow the directions and sent salary bills of the staff and the employees to the Directorate, which the latter returned and insisted on reinstatement of Dr Indu as college principal first.

On not getting the salaries for the past two months, the employees union sat on a dharna one week ago and demanded dismissal of the committee and placement of an administrator.

Union representatives met the Principal Secretary, Manisha Panwar, and threatened to lock degree colleges. It was on Thursday evening, that Panwar dismissed the committee and made District Magistrate as administrator who would constitute new management committee of the college.

Purushottam assured Dr Indu that he would soon take a decision over her reinstatement and formation of a new management committee.

Dr Indu said it had been traumatic for her to face the problems as she had studied and later worked as a faculty member in the same college, before being promoted as principal for 35 years. She said in the 101-year-old history of college, not a single strike by employees ever took place. But the situation had worsened to such a level, that the employees had to resort to strike.

After her instatement, Dr Indu's first priority would be to provide salary to the staff and the employees, who had not been paid salary for the past two months. 

Dehradun, July 12
A little girl named Pari (3), undergoing treatment at Doon Hospital, has been identified as Jyoti by the residents of village Baghban of district Tehri. On the directions of District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam, Nayab

Tehsildar Surender Kumar brought three persons from village Baghban to identify the girl. The driver who dropped the girl in the city had given the information that she belonged to Baghban. The girl was unable to divulge any information on her own. These three persons, namely, shopkeepers Sarojini Devi and Ramchander and a mule owner Shurveer Singh Tadiyal met the girl in the presence of Additional District Magistrate Jharna Kamthan in the hospital.

They informed that the girl had no relative in the village. Her father was a sadhu who died in a truck accident. She was also travelling with her father at that time and sustained leg injuries in the accident. She is undergoing treatment at Doon Hospital.

Both the shopkeepers said the girl used to come to their shops and her name was Jyoti. 

Pithoragarh, July 12
Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Ajay Bhatt has demanded that the government should form local-level committees to keep tabs on rescue, relief and reconstruction work being carried out in the disaster-hit areas of the state.

He said it would help monitor work on a regular basis. "These committees should have members from opposition parties and social organisations," said Bhatt.

Talking to mediapersons after visiting disaster-hit villages of the Darma, Johar and Madkot areas, Bhatt described the rescue and relief operation by the government as an utter failure. "Over 30,000 people of the three valleys of Darma, Johar and Vyans are suffering as there villages are yet to be linked to the main road even after 25 days of the disaster," said the Leader of the Opposition.

He said 300 villagers were still stranded in the Milam and Chaudans areas and the government had failed to evacuate them to safer places. "The villagers are on the verge of starvation as they have no ration and relief from outside is yet to reach them," said Bhatt.

He alleged that the government had submitted a wrong affidavit in court claiming that ration had been delivered in all affected villages. "When mule tracks are yet to be repaired, how ration could reach these villages?" asked Bhatt.

Bhatt said 150 small villages in the Darma valley were still cut off from the mainstream and trek routes were yet to be repaired.

The Leader of the Opposition said the government should open horse tracks to the affected villages and the villages should be linked to the main markets of the respective regions.