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BJP leaders meet PM, seek Prez rule in state
Bihar making list of calamity victims
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Governor flags off relief material
Red Cross instals water purifiers in disaster-hit districts
U’khand to soon get indigenous
water purifiers
Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Tent dealers seek permission to adopt devastated village
DM asked to raise relief for home guards in disaster-affected areas
Relief work in Darma, Johar valleys nearing completion
Heavy rains damage school in Munsiyari
Mule owners go on indefinite fast
Focus to be on long-term solution: Minister
Work on to connect 571 villages
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BJP leaders meet PM, seek Prez rule in state
New Delhi, July 15 The delegation was led by former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and comprised Tehri Garhwal MP Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah, among others. It met the Prime Minister for 30 minutes and apprised him of the situation on the ground in the flood-hit state. "We informed the Prime Minister that the government in Uttarakhand had completely failed to deliver during the crisis in the state. We demanded that since the government had failed, President's rule should be imposed till rescue and relief operations are completed," Pokhriyal said. The delegation alleged that ministers and the Chief Minister were not present in the affected areas to help the stranded people. The BJP has also demanded a white paper on how many people have died in the disaster, how many are still missing, the number of animals that had died and the loss of property. Pokhriyal said the Prime Minister had asked him to meet him to discuss the issue. The delegation also suggested that a a unit of the National Disaster Management Authority be stationed in the state on a permanent basis, Doppler radars be installated to get prior warning of cloudbursts and a Himalaya Development Authority be formed for the region. The former Chief Minister said he had broached the issue of declaring the disaster a national calamity, but the Prime Minister assured him that all steps were being taken and there would be no shortcomings. "He said he has formed a committee specifically to deal with the crisis and there will be no shortage of funds for relief and rehabilitation," Pokhriyal said. The BJP leaders also demanded that homes should be provided to the displaced people and adequate arrangements should be made for taking care of orphans. "Uttarakhand is a border state and the government should ensure that migration from the state does not take place," Pokhriyal said. PTI |
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Bihar making list of calamity victims
Patna, July 15 The state government will invite declaration from families whose members are missing in Uttarakhand and Rs 2 lakh compensation, Rs 1 lakh from the state government and a matching sum from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, would be paid to the victims of the devastation in Uttarakhand. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said it would, however, have been better had the July 15 deadline set by the Uttarakhand government for finding the missing persons was raised by 15-20 days. A total of 5,748 persons were missing till date since torrential rains and floods pounded large parts of the mountain state about a month ago, it's Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said in Dehradun during the day. --- PTI |
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Governor flags off relief material
Dehradun, July 15 The material which comprises bedding sets, solar lanterns, water purifiers, blankets, torches, and hygiene items would be distributed at multiple relief camps reaching out to about 300 families in the Jakholi tehsil of Rudraprayag and Narayanbagar and nearby villages in Chamoli district. A seven member CII team is organising these camps with the help of the district administration. These camps would be followed by camps reaching out to the affected people in Rudraprayag tehsil and Ukhimath of Rudraprayag district. Three loaders had already been made available at Rudraprayag for road repair and reconstruction work.The CII is in the process of tying up more construction equipment for the rehabilitation work. Earlier a CII team had surveyed these areas to make an assessment of the requirements. The CII Foundation’s relief and rehabilitation initiative is a national project focusing on Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts. Senior office bearers of CII Uttarakhand State Council present on the occasion included Manu Kochhar, Vice Chairman, Dr S Farooq, Lovelena Mody, Rakesh Oberai and Rajiv Berry, all former chairpersons of the CII Uttarakhand State Council. |
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Red Cross instals water purifiers in disaster-hit districts
Dehradun, July 15 “One purifier has been installed at the Uttarkashi relief camp, one at Guptkashi and another at Fata. At Balwakot and Dharchula in Pithoragarh districts, small purifiers have been installed,” said Dr IS Pal, general secretary of the Uttarakhand chapter of the Indian Red Cross Society. Over 100 trained Red Cross volunteers have responded to the needs of disaster-hit by providing first aid, navigation assistance, emergency shelter, clothing and blankets to them.
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U’khand to soon get indigenous water purifiers
Ahmedabad, July 15 Around 23 water purifying units, operating on hollow fibre membrane ultrafiltration technology developed by the Central Salt Marine & Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI) here, would soon be installed in the Himalayan state. "One of our representatives will soon be installing 23 water purifying units in Uttarakhand, capable of dispensing 5,000 to 7,000 litres of potable water per hour," CSMCRI Director Pushpito Ghosh said. "To be installed in Tehri and Rudraprayag, these units will have a combined safe water dispensing capacity of 1.5 to 2 lakh litres per day, adequate to cover around 50,000 households," he said. CSMCRI had licensed its ultrafiltration technology to a Pune-based private company, a few years back. The company, in association with an NGO, will begin installing the purifiers in Uttarakhand soon. "They are likely to be installed in next few weeks," Ghosh said, adding that the ultrafiltration technology gets rid of turbidity, bacteria, viruses and objectionable odour. "More such units can be installed there if the situation demands so," he said. The highlight of these units is that by taking advantage of the terrain (in getting a natural pressure head), they can operate without electricity and do not require a pressure pump. Earlier, after the flash floods, the CSMCRI, a laboratory of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), had installed a mobile water purification unit in Rishikesh having a built-in reverse osmosis (RO) plant of 6,000 litres per hour capacity. The institute had also installed an ultrafiltration plant at the H N Bahuguna base hospital in Srinagar of Uttarakhand, and another one at a nearby teaching institute of the hospital, to meet the initial drinking water supply requirements there. "One of the units has been recalled and we are in the process of sending them another simpler water purification unit in place of it," Ghosh said. The average drinking water need in Srinagar is around 5 to 10 lakh litres per day. PTI |
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Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Dehradun, July 15 "The state needs to use geosynthetic material rather than traditional boulders to treat the landslide-affected slopes in the state. Geosynthetic material, due to its polymer content, has a great binding energy with a high tensile strength. It mixes well with slopes, thus negating any possible recurrence of landslides. The traditional method of putting boulders is obsolete and has been least successful in checking the recurrence of landslides. Geosynthetic material also supports greenery, which is not possible in the case of boulders," said Joshi. Joshi at present heads the civil engineering department of Tehri Hydro Development Corporation's Institute of Hydropower Engineering and Technology, Tehri. He said the state needs to first remove all debris and look for alternative routes in places where removal of debris is not possible as any construction over debris could be fatal in future. He reminded that debris that resulted after last year's devastation in Uttarkashi due to flooding was still to be removed which was a matter of concern. He said debris and boulders if not removed in time could force rivers to change their course which will be a threat to inhabitated areas. He called for a blanket ban on the construction of houses close to the banks of rivers. An authority on earthquake engineering, Dr Girish Chandra Joshi expresses remorse that almost all constructions done in hills are without the advice of engineering experts. He said no house or commercial place has been designed by an engineer. Thus, the buildings are vulnerable to a collapse. He disclosed that Uttarakhand already falls in the seismic zones 4 and 5 and any construction in the state must be done under the guidance of experts. Apart from innovative techniques, light materials must be used, particularly for roofs. And local material must be used scientifically as our forefathers were intelligent enough to go for houses that were safe from disasters like earthquakes and landslides. He also suggested a complete ban on the construction of houses on slopes that have more than thirty degrees slope gradient. He said most of habitations in Uttarakhand fall on all the three zones -- Main Central Thurst, Main Frontal Thrust and Main Boundary -- making the state most vulnerable to quakes. He said the economy of locals in hills revolves around road heads and the most of road alignment in the state is along rivers. Thus, constructions along roads need to be fool-proof. He said the state was not new to disasters. Catastrophic Uttarakashi and Chamoli earthquakes and frequent landslides are some of the natural disasters that have struck the region in the past. He calls for strict construction guidelines to be monitored by the State Disaster Management Authority. The authority should be given teeth and also held accountable. It should be manned by the finest engineers and geologists of the country. Further, its units should also be set up at district level to make it more effective on ground. He also suggests measures for augmenting the state's preparedness to meet such disasters. He said efforts should be made to ensure timely conduct of relief and rescue operations. He admits that the Uttarakhand needs to learn a lesson from Kedarnath-like tragedies and go for effective measures or else Uttarakhand could be identified as a disaster state of the country.
WHAT TO DO
Need to remove debris before any construction as it could force river to change its course Local construction materials must be used scientifically State Disaster Management Authority needs to have teeth and be made accountable Environment friendly construction guidelines in hill areas must be ensured |
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Tent dealers seek permission to adopt devastated village
Haridwar, July 15 The organisation has also sought permission from the state government and the district administration to adopt a completely devastated village. A meeting in this regard was held at Geet Gobind here today, which was attended by members of affiliated units of the organisation. At the meeting, members decided that they would adopt a village that had at least 40 families. Earthquake-proof structures with solar facility would be constructed in the village, they added. Ration and other amenities would also be provided to the affected families. National chief of the organisation Mahendra Seth said first their team would inspect the affected areas of Garhwal and later, future course of action would be chalked out to assist the affected people. Mukesh Aggarwal, city representative of the tent association, said so far, Rs 20 lakh had been collected by the organisation. The Delhi Tent Association has donated Rs 1, the Uttar Pradesh Tent Association Rs 5 lakh, the Dehradun Tent Association Rs 3 lakh, the Haryana Tent Association Rs 2.5 lakh, the Rishikesh Tent Association Rs 2 lakh and the Haridwar Tent Association Rs 1 lakh. Kartar Singh Kochar, Ripu Daman Singh, Sundar Lal, Jagdeesh Pahwa, Harjeet Singh Kochar, Harjeet Singh, Manohar Gulati and Harbhajan Singh Anand were present at the meeting. |
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DM asked to raise relief for home guards in disaster-affected areas
Dehradun, July 15 In his official letter to the DM, the Commandant said the amount released for each home guard sent in disaster -struck hill pockets was only Rs 250 per day. The home guards had to arrange for food on their own most of the time. A number of home guards had been sent to disaster-hit pockets such as Bhatwadi, Chinyalisaur, Badkot, Jakholi, Ukhimath, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Guptkashi, Thrali, Pithoragarh and Munisyari. Though their working hours are limited to just eight hours, he said they were stuck in the vehicles for 24 hours. Their duty came to an end when they come back to sports college at Raipur with their vehicles from the affected hill terrains. Owing to the given situation, these home guards were facing tough times. Home guards had to stay in vehicles at night on the way because of restrictions imposed on plying of vehicles at night time. Landslides and blocked roads or traffic jam on narrow and broken hill roads also hold them back on the roads for longer durations while travelling towards the disaster-hit area or returning from there. Since the loading and off-loading process of relief supplies at the designated places remained quite long, they had to wait for hours together for their turn to come. In the letter, it is mentioned that due to overstretching of their working hours, the ration supply, which they carry, usually fell short. They had to buy it from outside, which is quite expensive in the affected pockets of the state. This way they had to continuously be on duty for 4 to 5 days at a stretch. He demanded significant raise in the daily allowance released by the district administration, keeping all these aspects in mind. |
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Relief work in Darma, Johar valleys nearing completion
Pithoragarh, July 15 An ITBP officer said besides linking 30 villages to the main area, a 186-km stretch and mule tracks in the cut off villages of Drama and Johar valleys had been repaired. Twentyone log bridges in both valleys had been restored. “Our 183 teams have distributed over 1,000 kg of ration among the victims and provided shelter to 321 disaster-hit, who were stranded in the interior regions of
Tidang, Baling and Milam villages,” said Ranvir Singh, an ITBP commandant. He said they had been asked only to give information about disaster-affected villages to the District Magistrate, but the force, on humanitarian ground, had also done other works. “Besides developing track routes at Chal and Sela villages in Darma valley, we have completed all work to connect the valleys to other areas, so that the victims could get free ration being distributed by the state government,” he said. “Our personnel are also helping evacuating 100 villagers from Darma valley, besides dropping ration at the Gunji and Narayan ashram areas of Darma and Vyans valleys. If weather gets clear, we, with the help of the Air force, the Army and the district administration, would be able to finish the work in a day or two,” said the ITBP officer. |
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Heavy rains damage school in Munsiyari
Pithoragarh July 15 The overflowing Gori river threatened to wash away 33 houses at Bhadeli and Dheelam villages in Munsiyari, forcing families to leave their homes and move to safe places, sources in the Disaster Management Department said here today. Residents of two colonies situated on the banks of the Sharda river in Tanakpur plains of Champawat district were shifted after the river witnessed more than 1 lakh cusecs of water. “We had to close a barrage across the overflowing river, hampering transportation between India and Nepal,” said JS Rathod, SDM, Tanakpur. “We have sent a four-member police team to rescue people after getting information that houses are in danger of being washed away by the Gori river. We have also sent a Revenue Department team to assess losses caused due to heavy rains and the overflowing river,” said D Kumar, an officer deputed at
Baram. |
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Mule owners go on indefinite fast
Dehradun, July 15 The mule owners said about 700 to 800 mules were stranded across the Alaknanda on the Hemkund Sahib route after a bridge on the river at Gobindghat was washed away in flash floods. They said though it had been one month since heavy rains and flash floods devastated the state, the government had made no efforts to rescue their stranded animals. “Many of these animals have died of starvation,” they added. Indresh Maikhuri, secretary of the CPI (ML), said members of his party supported the agitating mule owners. He added the mule owners, some of them belonging to Uttar Pradesh, faced an uncertain future following the natural disaster. The mule owners from the neighbouring state had even written a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to intervene in the matter. Maikhuri said local PWD officials had earlier agreed to build a makeshift bridge to rescue the animals but later refused to do so. This going back on promise by the PWD officials forced the mule owners to go on an indefinite fast. |
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Focus to be on long-term solution: Minister
Dehradun, July 15 “The Prime Minister has constituted a subcommittee for overseeing reconstruction and rehabilitation activities in the aftermath of the rain-related disaster. The relief and rehabilitation work will get over in 15 days. After that, the focus would be on long-term planning towards building roads, re-establishing tourism and rehabilitating villages,” said Shukla. Talking to mediapersons today, he allayed fears regarding the probable lake burst near the Santopanth glacier and posing danger to Badrinath and the downstream villages. “The experts from the GSI, Wadia Institute and the ITBP have submitted the report. There is no stagnation of water and, hence, no danger from the lake,” he said. |
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Work on to connect 571 villages
Dehradun, July 15 According to the government data, around 4,200 villages went out of link since roads broke down a month back. Though 3,729 roads have been re-constructed and reconnected, work is on to connect 571 villages. In this work, 385 dozers/JCB are being used and more than 5800 workers have been employed. As of now in Tehri district, Chamba-Rishikesh, Chamba-Mussoorrie, Mayali-Tilwara, Guptkash-Mayali-Chirbatiya-Tihri, Ghansali-Tipri-New Tehri and Ghansali,Tipri-Devprayag roads are open for transportation. In Uttarkashi district Rishikesh-Gangotri NH is open till Gangori, Dharasu- Badkot- Damta- Dehradun, Devidhar- Dhohtri- Kotdhaar- Lambgaon between Uttarkashi and Dharasu, Chinyalisaud- Suwakholi- Mussoorie, Badkot-Vikas Nagar, Lambgaon- Pipaldali- Tehri and Uttarkashi- Chinyalisaud motor roads are open for transportation. Rishikesh-Yamunotri National Highway is obstructed at Vadia due to debris. In Chamoli district Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway is obstructed at Kameda (Gauchar), Joshimath, Pagalnala and Tangni. Also the Gopeshwar-Pokhri motor road in Hafla and Tharali-Narayanbagad motor road is obstructed due to debris. Ukhimath- Chopta, Karnaprayag- Ranikhet-Kathgoadam, Nandprayag- Ghaat and Simli- Narayanbagad motor roads are open for transportation. In Rudraprayag district Rishikesh-Kedarnath National Highway is open till Tilwara. Rishikesh- Guptkashi ( Via Mayali) and Gopeshwar- Chopta motor road is blocked.
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Uttarakhand today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded the imposition of President's rule in the flood-ravaged state on the grounds that the Congress government there had failed to deliver.
Governor Aziz Qureshi, today flagged off the relief material for the victims of disaster, donated by the CII Foundation, here today. Appreciating CII’s initiative, Qureshi speaking on the occasion said “I am pleased to see industry come forward with such an initiative providing relief and rehabilitation support to the people in distress.” Also present on the occasion was Subhash Kumar, Chief Secretary.
The All-India Tent Dealers and Welfare Organisation has so far collected Rs 20 lakh for the disaster-hit in the state.
The organisation has also sought permission from the state government and the district administration to adopt a completely devastated village.
Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minister of State for Planning Rajiv Shukla has said that after the relief work is complete, the focus of reconstruction and rehabilitation activity would be on finding a long-term solution in the rain-ravaged state.
Use geosynthetics material, instead of traditional boulders, to treat landslide-hit slopes