Swami asks govt to clear debris at Kedarnath temple 
Tribune News Service/PTI

Haridwar, July 17
Jagad Guru Shankaracharya Swami Vasudevanand today asked the Uttarakhand government to clear the debris, corpses and flash flood leftover material in the holy Kedarnath shrine so as to pave the way for religious rituals and rites at the temple.

Shankaracharya Swami Vasudevanand was speaking at Divya Sewa Prem Mission, Chandighat.

He also referred to his visit to the Garhwal Himalayas.

Citing the immense loss of life in the natural fury, Shankaracharya Vasudevanand said this should be a wake-up call and people should understand that nature is supreme despite the progress we have made in science. He mentioned that there was pressure for commercial activities.

The guru said that debris and dead bodies lying in the Himalayan shrine need to be cleaned up quickly so that during this yatra, puja and rituals could be offered to Lord Shiva. He made it clear that there should be no politics or taking of credit during this course as proper Hindu rituals should be carefully done.

On the rituals being offered at Omkareshwar temple to Lord Kedarnath, Swami Vasudevanand said since during the winter abode, riutals are done for six months to Lord Kedarnath idol replica at that site, there is no harm if it was being done these days as the Kedarnath shrine has got affected due to the natural calamity. Puja was being done there in symbolic terms for the time being.

He also cited the ancient textures which depict the shifting of the Lord Badrinath shrine to Bhavishya Badri(future Badrinath shrine) with the Nar and Narayan mountains that surround the Badrinath shrine, getting united and blocking the route to the Badrinath shrine.

In future, the prayers, rituals and rites offered to Lord Vishnu at the Badrinath shrine will be done at the new site situated at Subhain village near Joshimath, beyond Tapovan.

At present, Bhavishya Badri has an image of Lord Narsinh, incarcation of Lord Vishnu.

Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had earlier said a long-term plan for infrastructural reconstruction of the char dhams was being prepared in consultation with the GSI and environmental experts and it would soon be submitted to the Centre.

Bad weather has been stalling debris clearance operations by a 61-member team at Kedarnath and construction of a pedestrian route from Rambada to the Himalayan shrine even as attempts were on to transport relief to calamity-hit areas in Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi.

However, the team despatched to Kedarnath has been able to build a temporary bridge over a canal between the helipad and the shrine.

"Debris removal at Kedarnath is stalled due to bad weather.Work on construction of a pedestrian route from Rambada to Kedarnath has also been stopped," Rudraprayag Superintendent of police V J Singh had said recently.

"Whenever the weather clears up amid intermittent rains in Kedar valley, relief material is despatched to the affected villages," he said..

 Fonia: Several NGOs distributing relief material
Says news published out of context
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 17
Uttarakhand Information Secretary Vinod Fonia in a rejoinder on the news item titled "Refrain from anti-dam talk, advice against tree felling, CM tells NGO's" said that the news was out of context and was based solely on a presumed statement by one S.David, and gives a negative connotation.

Fonia said that many NGOs were currently active in the distribution of relief materials, including foodstuff in the disaster-affected areas. There have been instances where relief material sent by well-meaning groups, societies and NGOs have been lying undistributed at road-heads because the contributors lack the capacity for delivery to the affected villages, and prior arrangements were not made with the district administration for the same. Duplicity of efforts because of lack of coordination has also resulted in relief material stockpiling in some cases.

The Chief Minister's meeting with NGOs on the forenoon of July 15, 2013, was held to specifically address such issues of coordination. lt was a fruitful meeting and decisions were taken to establish nodal points/officers at the state and district levels to specifically

facilitate the disaster relief efforts of NGOs and dovetail their resources and efforts with that of the government machinery. 

 Mule owners stranded in Joshimath on fast
Want bridge on Alaknanda

Gopeshwar, July 17
Horse and mule owners, stranded here as roads were washed off during the floods in Uttarakhand, have been on fast for the past few days at Joshimath, demanding the construction of a bridge over the Alakanda river.

"Over 1000 animals with their 300 caretakers from Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh are stuck here due to the absence of a bridge. Even after a month, they haven't been rescued", said a member of the zila panchayat in Joshimath.

"Their sit-in will continue till the bridge is not made," he added.

They have been protesting since Sunday last.

The only pedestrian bridge between Gobind Ghat and Hemkunt over the Alaknanda in Chamoli district was washed away in the massive floods last month.

Administrative sources claim that instructions for their rescue have been given to the Public Welfare Department. Some private electricity companies are also being contacted for help.

Sources said a temporary bridge would be made soon. -- PTI 

  Govt failed to manage post-flood operations: Sushma

New Delhi, July 16
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, today accused the Uttarakhand government and the Centre of failing to manage post-flood operations and arrive at the correct figures of the dead and missing even after a month of the disaster.

"Even a month after the tragedy, the state and the central governments have not been able to arrive at the correct figure of those dead and missing," she said in a prayer meeting held at the Delhi BJP headquarters for those who died in the Uttarakhand floods a month ago.

Sushma said the government had "completely failed" in anticipating and managing this disaster at all levels.

"The Centre has not taken any efforts to determine the fate of the affected families," she said.

The BJP leader praised the Army for saving lakhs of people and paid tributes to the 20 airmen who died during the rescue operations.

BJP state chief Vijay Goel handed over Rs 45,59,213 to Swaraj for the flood victims. — PTI 

 Farmers demand relief for crops damaged in rains
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, July 17
As more than 90 acres of agricultural land has been damaged in the recent flash floods in the lower reaches of Lakshar, Roorkee and Khanpur, farmers are demanding appropriate compensation from the state government.

Under the aegis of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), farmers have warned of resorting to an agitation if the state government failed to fulfil their genuine demand.

Farmers are also demanding free medical treatment for their animals. The farmers said they had suffering huge losses due to damaged crops and property.

A delegation of the BKU also met Joint Magistrate Sonika Meena and apprised her of their demands.

District chief of the BKU Anuj Chaudhari demanded that the government should provide a compensation of Rs 3,000 for every bigha, suspend the process of extracting loan payment from farmers for time being, reconstruction of damaged roads and distribution of solar lights in villages.

 Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
The Tribune series on what needs to be done to rebuild state
Constitute a think tank for rebuilding work: Joshi
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 17
Dr BK Joshi is an eminent social scientist of Uttarakhand. He is at present the Director of the Doon Library and Research Centre. He is a former Vice-Chancellor of Kumaon University and consultant to a number of international organisations like UNICEF and Save the Children, UK.

Following the rain disaster in Uttarakhand, Dr Joshi underlines the need for the constitution of a think tank in the state which should include experts from all spheres of science and social sectors to ensure that Uttarakhand moves in the right direction in rebuilding and reconstruction activities. “You need experts in the field and not just those with administrative powers,” he said while pointing out to the significance of experts in the policy making of the state.

He takes the creation of livelihood opportunities as the foremost priority in the aftermath of the disaster. “While relief works are under progress, how long can the affected people depend on relief for the survival. Finally, they need to have livelihood opportunities,” said Dr Joshi. Otherwise, people will be forced to leave the hills and the migration from hills to plains may increase. He said locals have lost their mules, dabhas and other sources of income and thus the state authorities must create livelihood opportunities at the earliest.

Stating that the state has failed to come up with a development strategy, Dr Joshi asserted that without it, Uttarakhand stands directionless. "Since its creation, Uttarakhand has not come up with any development strategy and that is affecting our policies and programmes. We need to devise a development strategy to make our goals clearer,” he said. “A lot is being talked about sustainable development. But we take sustainable development as a mere slogan and do not know as to what version of sustainable development we need,” he said, adding that that this can only be done if we have a development strategy.

Admitting that policy formulation in the state was weak, Dr Joshi said it looks as if the state planning commission was in a deep coma. “It is unfortunate that we lack planning. Some agency has to be created which provides policy and research that goes into planning for a state”, he said.

Dr Joshi also acknowledged that irrespective of political parties, the governance system in the state must be improved. “It is strange that despite norms, unauthorised constructions come up near river banks and no action is taken due to lack of political will,” he said.

Stating that lot of roads and bridges have to be constructed as large parts have been destroyed in the rains, Dr Joshi said the assistance of experts like geologists, seismologists, environmentalists and other scientists must be taken while going for re-construction these important linkages. He said concepts like green road construction have come up which takes geological factors into consideration. He reminded that most of the roads in Uttarakhand are along rivers and, their alignment needs to be reviewed as roads near river banks are vulnerable to disasters.

Referring to the proposed ropeway for Kedarnath following the destruction of the trek route, Dr Joshi said while the ropeway was environment friendly, one needed to have a continuous power supply to make it feasible. “And then for power, you need projects and there are issues of environment attached to these projects, which need to be debated”, he said.

Stating that disasters do happen, Dr BK Joshi said the Disaster Management mechanism in the state was certainly found wanting in case of Kedarnath catastrophe. “Uttarakhand does not have its own resources to deal with Kedarnath type of disasters. Disasters do happen and will continue to happen. We have seen earthquakes and landslides in the past and we have to create our own resources”, he said. Dr Joshi lauded the Army and paramilitary forces like the Indo-Tibetan Border Police for ensuring timely evacuation of stranded pilgrims and villagers.

On the char dham yatra, Dr Joshi said while the yatra will continue to be a matter of religious sentiment, regulating the flow of pilgrims was very important. “You can’t allow pilgrims in thousands at a time in Kedarnath or Gangotri on any other char dham shrine. Regulating flow of pilgrims is very important,” Dr Joshi said.

 Send relief to areas where demanded, orders DM
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 17
District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam yesterday visited the relief supply centre at Raipur and directed officials there to send material only to those areas where it was being demanded. He told them to note down the contact number and the vehicle number before they leave for the affected area with relief material supply. Then send the information to the respective District Magistrates through SMS while also confirming the arrival of the vehicles, he added.

Purushottam directed in charge of the relief supply centre Ranjana Verma to give him a report by tomorrow about the quantity of relief material received so far and the destinations it had been sent to. He gave instructions for keeping at least 1,500 kits of relief material ready all the time. Each relief kit consists of 15 kg of flour, 15 kg of rice, 4 kg of pulses, 2 kg of sugar, one litre of cooking oil, 150 gm of turmeric, 250 gram of red chilli power, one pack of salt, 500 gram of tea, one milk packet, two matchboxes and one tent.

Ranjana apprised the District Magistrate that there was demand for blankets in affected areas of Pithoragarh. The District Magistrate directed her to send 8,000 blankets to Pithoragarh, 5,000 to Bageshwar and 3,000 blankets each to other affected districts.

He said officials should contact NGOs and other philanthropists for providing more solar lights and tents to people in the affected areas.

 Villagers build helipad in Darma valley area
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, July 17
Residents of seven villages of the Gori river basin in Darma valley have developed a helipad near Chirkila village. According to them, choppers dropping ration in Drama valley could not reach there area till date in the absence of a helipad, which has led to starvation-like situation in these villages.

“Due to bad weather and damaged motor roads at Dobat, villagers of Rathi, Jumma, Jammu, Syakuri, Gargua, Khet, Khela and Chirkila situated in the Gori basin of Darma valley are not getting ration," said Mohan Singh, Gram Pradhan, Jamku village.

He said even after covering a distance of 16 km on foot daily for the past 15 days, villagers were not getting ration. Congress MLA Harish Dhami said these villages would soon be linked to the main road and essential supplies would be made available to them. “At present, the focus of the administration in on rescuing the stranded people.” said the MLA.

According to the latest figures released by the district administration, 21 persons from the district are missing while six deaths have been confirmed. “We have distributed 800 quintals of ration among the affected families in the district till date, which include 20 kg of flour, 25 kg of rice, fried gram, sugar, milk powder, blankets, chairs and mats and utensils,” said Neeraj Khairwal, District Magistrate.

 Mule stranded in Sonprayag for a month rescued
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, July 17
A mule, which was stranded on rocks in the Mandakini river in disaster-hit Sonprayag for over a month, was rescued yesterday.

Officials of the Animal Welfare Board and the People for Animals on Tuesday rescue a mule that remained stranded on rocks in the Mandakini river at Sonprayag after the natural disaster. A Tribune photograph

Officials of the Uttarakhand Animal Welfare Board and the People for Animals, Dehradun, along with pilots from Sumit Aviation carried out the rescue operation and saved the mule from certain death. Following the rain-triggered disaster in Kedarnath and surrounding regions, a large number of mules and their owners were buried under debris while many were swept away by the swirling waters of the Mandakini.

A mule that managed to save its life from the raging waters of the Mandakini by standing on rocks caught the attention of the media and animal rights activists. Thus efforts to save it began.

Captain Angad and Captain Bhupendra from Sumit Aviation flew a chopper over the mule and pulled it up. It was safely landed at the Nala helipad. Several animal rights organisations had expressed their willingness to adopt the mule. However, the owner of this mule is still to be identified. Member of the Animal Welfare Board Kamna Pandey, PFA team member Pankaj Pokhriyal and Dr Akhilesh were other members of the rescue team.

  Heavy rains lash Chamoli, 60 families shifted to safe place

Dehradun, July 17
Over 60 families were today shifted to safer places in Chamoli district after heavy rains lashed many areas, triggering landslides, even as the authorities said 1,710 of the 2,092 roads damaged in last month's flash floods have been reopened to traffic.

The families were moved out of six villages in Chamoli district on the direction of District Magistrate V Sahnmugam, officials said.

Meanwhile, former state Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had a narrow escape when a landslide hit the Netali Maneri Marg in Uttarkashi district where he was on a tour to assess the situation, according to District Magistrate Pankaj Pandey.

BJP sources said Nishank, along with his supporters, was on foot as roads in the area had suffered extensive damage in the floods.

An Uttarakhand government press note said 1,710 roads out of 2,092 damaged in the devastating floods had been reopened to traffic.

A total of 3,729 villages, out of 4,200 which were cut off, have been connected by roads, it said. The authorities were working on a war footing to restore road connectivity to 471 villages, besides repairing 382 damaged roads.

The Centre has earmarked Rs 300 crore for the Border Road Organisation (BRO) for the reconstruction of roads.

Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan, who was on a day-long visit here, said that a local office of the Ministry of Environment and Forests will be opened in Dehradun for expeditious transfer of land of up to five hectares for rebuilding of damaged infrastructure. — PTI 

 Sustainable development need of the hour: Reddy
Ajay Banerjee/TNS

New Delhi, July 17
A challenge in rebuilding flood ravaged Uttarakhand will be to look at all developmental activities and to ensure they are sustainable and maintain harmony with nature and ecological balance, says M Shashidhar Reddy, Vice-Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Reddy is one of the three special invitees to a cabinet sub-committee set up to give ‘broad guidance or re-construction and rehabilitation efforts in Uttarakhand’. The committee was set up on July 10 and is headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), a force under the NDMA, earned praise for the rescue and relief work it did alongside the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

Talking to the Tribune, Reddy said: “The extent of damage means we will have to look at all developmental activities. The Uttarakhand Government has taken a decision to keep a minimum gap between construction and the river. We will need to look at development controls, building byelaws and flood plain zoning”.

The state leadership will have to play an important role in sending a message down to all levels of administration, Reddy suggested.

Reddy said: “It is time now that there is a change in the way we think about disaster management, be it the political leadership, the administrative hierarchy, the community and the common man. Everybody has to start thinking differently.”

The time has come to make it mandatory to introduce disaster risk reduction and to check what building codes are being followed. “This is precisely what the NDMA is doing.” Reddy said the Planning Commission is looking at various schemes. “The NDMA can is suggest a check list and the Planning Commission can then ensure that all do’s and dont’s are put in”, he said.

The Planning Commission is looking to approve the scheme, not just for Uttarakhand but all states can then follow the check list. “In the context of Uttarakhand, these have become even more relevant,” he said. The Finance Ministry is looking to have self-certification for government buildings saying they comply with disaster risk.

On being asked about the NDMA, he said: “A lot of people have asked me if the NDMA is lacking teeth? Well we are not an enforcing agency. We are not an elected government body. It is not our job to enforce. It is for the states to enforce. We do not want the NDMA to be like that”.

Reddy suggested some long-term measures saying for all states the time has come to create a State Disaster Response Force. “We can train them and money will be available from 13th Finance Commission grant for equipment.”

The ideal, he said, would be to train the armed police reserves in every state. Just like the NDRF draws its man power from paramilitary, the states could send in their armed police reserves. “Each state can take a call on the size of the force depending upon vulnerability to natural disasters”, he said while pointing out that the North-Eastern states, Delhi and Maharashtra have already having some arrangement.