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Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Cloudburst-hit villagers seek resettlement at safer place
Residents for saving Nainital
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IITians seek suspension of work on all hydropower projects
Sulabh to give Rs
2,000 monthly to Deoli women
Corp chief takes up cudgels for forest officers
Govt accused of degrading quality of higher education
Students unable to take admission
Doctors miss medical board meeting
Rs 44 lakh contributed to CM’s fund
65 villages get power back after 20 days
Unison World holds investiture ceremony
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Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Talking to The Tribune here, Rohit Asthana said the USA has demarcated certain areas to be untouched, while it is exactly the opposite here. Despite the Himalayan shrines in Uttarakhand falling in highly fragile areas, human presence continues to grow there, with obvious negative impacts on the local environs. Referring to the framework of policies in Uttarakhand, he said there were a vacuum of policies as far environment sustainable development was concerned. “There is no water policy or even a state-specific land use policy in the state,” he said. Asthana said Uttarakhand continued to suffer under the burden of the age-old Indian Forest Act, 1927. He said there should be more people-centric policies and laws. Suggesting the regulation of mass tourism in Uttarakhand, Rohit said pilgrimage was totally different from commercial tourism. “In a fragile place like the Himalayas, mass tourism is unacceptable and needs to be regulated,” he said. He said the increasing anthropogenic pressure was leading to an adverse impact, particularly in the Himalayan region. He was in favour of compensating Himalayan states like Uttarakhand in lieu of their contribution to safeguarding environment. He said that while the state has the responsibility to safeguard the ecology of the Himalayan region, compensating it in some form or other would be appropriate. Expressing reservation over rampant construction of hydro-power projects in Uttarakhand, Asthana said a hill state like Uttarakhand needed to look for alternative sources of energy, rather than sticking to just hydro power. “Solar and wind energies must be explored to meet the energy needs,” he said. He asserted that the construction of hydro power projects did have an adverse impact on the environment of the Uttarakhand region. He also said that unplanned non-scientific works, like the use of dynamite in the construction of roads and other works in hills, should be banned. Seeking the proper implementation of the rehabilitation policy in Uttarakhand, Asthana supported the shifting of villages that fall in disaster-vulnerable zones. He said it was important to shift villages that are prone to frequent landslides. He said community-centred approaches should be taken in the rehabilitation and reconstruction-related programmes. “Local panchayats should be involved,” he said. He also sought the maintenance of strict transparency in the rehabilitation and reconstruction works, saying that often it had been found that in the aftermath of disaster, corruption took over the entire rehabilitation process. The Development Centre for Alternative Policies has its headquarters in Delhi and a regional office in Almora. It has been working in Uttarakhand to promote sustainable development and management of environmental resources through consensual strategies and processes since its establishment in 1987.
WHAT TO DO
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Cloudburst-hit villagers seek resettlement at safer place
Pithoragarh, August 1 “We have been living under constant fear of landslides since Sumgarh incident on August 18, 2010, that killed 18 school kids in a massive landslide. Sumgarh is at a stone’s throw from the village,” said Bhaguli Devi, a resident of village. The cloudburst last night demolished the house of Dharam Ram and killed four of his family members. “We had over 150 hectares of fertile land, in which we used to grow sufficient grains for our families, but as this entire patch of land has been washed away, we have nothing to survive on,” said Bahguli Devi. Kumaon Commissioner Awaninendra Singh Nayal, who reached the spot today, distributed rations, clothes and ex-gratia money of Rs 8,000 each to the affected families of Pratap Ram, Dham Ram, Mohan Ram, Lacham Ram, Bhaguli Devi and Shanjar Lal. “Our first priority is to retrieve the people under debris and give relief to the homeless and affected villagers,” said Nayal. According to District Magistrate BS Manral, four animals, including two goats, had been retrieved so far by the revenue team which was working at the spot with the help of JCB machines. The missing family members of Dharam Ram, including himself, were still to be traced. According to the villagers, the impending fear of landslides and disappeared fertile land have left nothing for livelihood, and about 100 people of 15 Dalit families of the village now want to be shifted from the spot and given land to run earn their livelihood for the rest of their lives. According to the district administration sources, out of 48 villages chosen for rehabilitation in the district, 33 were from this area of Kapkot block, which was at a distance of 26 km from Bageswar district headquarters. |
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Residents for saving Nainital
Pithoragarh, August 1 The residents, who have formed the Save Nainital Campaign, have decided to intensify the campaign to save the city from further deterioration by constructions at sensitive places and mismanagement by the government in disturbing the age-old drainage system of the lake city. "We can even go to submit an PIL in court against this uncontrolled construction in Nainital which has threatened the basic tenets of the fragile eco-system of the city," says Rajeev Lochan Shah, journalist and initiator of the campaign. "The base of campaign is the Brijendra Sahay committee report which had submitted its recommendations in 1994 and called for strict adherence to safety norms for the city, which were introduced by the British, and administered strictly by the first chairman of one of the oldest town bodies, Jashod Singh Bisht. These recommendations are now being flouted as the constructions are being allowed at hitherto restricted places. Also, the bearing capacity of The Mall is being neglected by the increasing traffic in the city," said Shah. He said the city of Nainital started settling in 1843 when William Trail reached the lake side with a boat taken from Bhimtal. He captured the lake from local landlord Nar Singh Thokdar by fraudulent means. "Present day Nainital, that had started settling under the instruction of Trail, saw the first massive landslide in 1880, in which 151 people had died and a number of building and other properties were destroyed," said Shah. Shah said the landslide alerted the British, who learnt about the fragility of the Nainital hill slopes and started taking special care of the city from construction and traffic points of view. Nainital Nagar Palika was formed under strict British laws and bylaws to save the town from further sliding. The British not only developed a network of 72 small and big drains to keep the lake pure and surviving, but also restricted the ridge beyond the upper mall area for construction, besides restricting vehicular traffic at The Mall. "Even after Independence, the laws remain strict until the new breed of short-sightedm self-centred politicians came on the scene," said Shah. He said the violation of eco-friendly rules started after Independence. Before that, Nainital was free from stench and unhygienic conditions. "The degradation of the lake city started in 1984, when tourists turned towards Nainital as Kashmir became unsafe due to militancy there and in Punjab." said Shah. He said the big flow of tourists to Nainital triggered the building of new hotels, malls and motels by flouting rules. "Before 1984, there was not any star hotel in Nainital. But today, out of the 500 hotels in the city, 60 per cent have been constructed in violation norms of construction that were formed by the British for the safety of city," alleged Shah. Shah said the real deterioration began in Nainital when the then government formed the Nainital development authority which allowed constructions at fragile places without updating the drainage system of the city. "Even the present ropeway in the city was opposed by some renowned geologists like of Dr KS Waldia on the grounds that it could not only put extra weight on the weak stretch of the land but also disturb the underground channel of waters and block the flow," said the campaigner to save the city. He said Nainital residents became afraid after the June 16 rain this year as the town witnessed 1,116 mm of rainfall on the day which was 40 per cent more than the total rain the town receives annually. "Some local youths led by Shruti Kher and Vinay Adhikari, made residents aware of the ecological condition of the city through a campaign around 18 months ago and activated them," said Shah.
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IITians seek suspension of work on all hydropower projects
Dehradun, August 1 “A high-level delegation of the IITians for the Holy Ganga met Natarajan on July 29 and appealed for reinstalling the idol of Dhari Devi at the previous rightful place to respect the beliefs and trust of the country men. Dhari Devi is believed to be the vital force holding the rocks of Kedar valley together,” said Yatinder Pal Singh Suri, president, IITians for the Ganga. “In view of the recent very unfortunate environmental disaster in the Himalayan basin of the Ganga, where hundreds of lives have been lost and thousands have been uprooted, there is an urgent need to re-examine the ongoing so called ‘developmental’ activities in the basin. Large-scale deforestation, blasting, tunneling, destruction of underground natural streams, submergence of forests, causing loss of biodiversity and loss of endangered and threatened species have resulted in this great tragedy. The entire region is highly eco-fragile and earthquake-prone. We urged the minister to set up a technical group to explore alternative ways to produce hydropower by not storing water on the river bed, but off the bed as topography of the area does not permit,” said Suri. “The existing and proposed hydropower projects on various rivers of the region have also contributed to the massive damage and are threatening the ecosystem. We urged the minister not to permit reconstruction of damaged dams/structure. The project proponents may be asked to make alterations in the design to ensure 50 per cent of minimum flow as uninterrupted flow in the natural river course of the Ganga,” he added. “IItians also urged the Union Government to levy a cess in the income tax as financial support from the entire nation to the people of Uttarakhand,” added Suri. “IItians welcomed the recent two actions of the Environment Ministry, one to notify the Bhagirathi region as eco-sensitive zone, and the other to issue a stern warning to the project developer of Srinagar HEP to adhere to the environmental conditions imposed on them,” he said. |
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Sulabh to give Rs
2,000 monthly to Deoli women
Dehradun, August 1 “Though the condition of these women is not similar to the women of Varanasi and Vrindavan, our experience over there helped us understand the problems of the women of Deoli gram sabha. We have decided to help them. Around 32 women, whose husbands have gone missing, will receive a monthly financial assistance of Rs 2,000 for five years. All efforts will be made to help these women become economically independent,” said Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International while speaking at the launch of the Sulabh-Help Programme for women and their families. In all, 155 persons will benefit from the programme and out of which 75 persons, who are either elderly or have no means of earning, will receive Rs 2,000. Besides, 48 children would receive a monthly assistance of Rs 1,000. The Minister for Women Empowerment and Child Development lauded the efforts of the organisation and said more such organisations should reach out to the villagers. “All kinds of questions have been raised about the use of organising a programme in Dehradun rather than at Ukhimath. It was done keeping in view the weather conditions,” she said.
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Corp chief takes up cudgels for forest officers
Dehradun, August 1 Addressing a press conference here, Champion said it was strange that IFS cadre vacancies in the state were not being filled. “This is a big discrepancy which should be immediately taken note of. Otherwise, it can lead to unrest amongst IFS personnel in the state,” he said. He said even IFS officers of the rank of Divisonal Forest Officer in Uttarakhand were not allowed to install beacon lights on their vehicle unlike other states. Similarly, despite working odd hours and in dangerous terrain, they were not issued service revolvers. He said he had also written to Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna about these issues as taking remedial measures was important to raise the morale of forest officers.
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Govt accused of degrading quality of higher education
Dehradun, August 1 He said government colleges at Thatyur, Nainbag and Thalisen were being run without proper affiliation, which showed the “callous” attitude to the state government towards higher education.
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Students unable to take admission
Dehradun, August 1 The Students Federation of India (SFI) demanded the immediate scrapping of this rule. The students claim that due to the new rule they are not able to take admission in colleges as most of the tehsildars and SDMs are busy in the post-disaster rehabilitation work and not sitting in their offices. The students asked for the continuation of the previous system in which the zila panchayat president and MLA were empowered to certify income certificates. Admissions in DAV PG College and DBS College will close on August 11 and, generally, it takes 15 days to make an income certificate. The district vice-president of the SFI, Vipin Joshi, said the decision of colleges to take full fees from students belonging to the SC/ST/OBC category was arbitrary and the college administration must charge only the nominal fees which is applicable for reserved category candidates. The Principal Secretary assured the students of raising their issue with the Secretary, Higher Education. |
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Doctors miss medical board meeting
Dehradun, August 1 At the outset, most of the doctors were unable to undergo diagnostic tests that had to be submitted at the meeting as there was a big rush at the Doon Hospital. In the absence of the tests, most of the doctors were unable to participate in the medical board held today at the CMO’s office here. Confusion prevailed as most of the doctors stood in long queues waiting for their turn in the Doon Hospital. As the diagnostic centres at the hospital close early, the doctors could not get the reports. The board is expected to reschedule the meeting next week.
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Rs 44 lakh contributed to CM’s fund
Dehradun, August 1 Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was also present on the occasion. The money has been contributed by the employees of the institute. |
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65 villages get power back after 20 days
Dehradun, August 1 Director, Operation, Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), Anil Kumar, said: “Nearly 65 out of 90 affected villages in Bhatwari section got electricity back after 20 days of blackout due to the combined efforts of TPDDL and UPCL. The hydropower plant at Maneri dam and its adjoining colony have also been electrified due to the concerted efforts of the teams. However, UPCL provided assistance to the TPDDL which led from the front in these difficult terrains.” TPDDL team successfully restored supply on 33 KV Tilot-Hina circuit (11 km) and 33 KV Hina-Bhatwari circuit (16 km). They also contributed in part restoration of 11 KV Bhatwari-Harsil circuit up to Nahuna (5 km) and helped in the repair work of 11 KV high tension ABC circuit in Uttarkashi city. Additionally, the team also inspected and tested 33 KV power transformers in
Bhatwari. |
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Unison World holds investiture ceremony
Dehradun, August 1 The office-bearers of the council led by Head Girl Anamika Pandey marched towards the stage. The student leaders of Unison World School have been selected to assume many responsibilities and take up an important leadership role. |
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Cloudburst-hit villagers of Khaibagar in the Kapkot block of Bageshwar district have demanded resettlement at a safer place as a cloudburst-generated landslide engulfed the entire patch of the cultivable land yesterday.
Dehradun, August 1
Dehradun, August 1
Dehradun, August 1
