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305 persons from 39 countries suspected to have gone missing in calamity
IFAD to give livelihood opportunities to villagers
Panchayat head’s certificate valid, students told
Protests against jawans’ killing continue
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Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Rains cause landslips in Mussoorie areas
Notification on Askot sanctuary abandons musk deer cause
US students keen to know about Indian culture, values
Shantikunj head Pranav Pandya at a recent discussion on Indian spirituality and culture with students in Texas, USA.
CM to meet Chidambaram on relief guidelines
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305 persons from 39 countries suspected to have gone missing in calamity
Dehradun, August 8 “We have only received enquiries about two persons from the American Embassy and they could either be NRI or American nationals,” said Ajay Pradyot, Secretary and in charge of the missing cell. So far there is data on the number of foreign nationals or NRIs suspected to have gone missing during the calamity. According to the missing cell, out of the 305 persons suspected to be missing, the majority of them belong to United States of America, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom. During the rescue mission mounted by the armed forces, several foreign nationals who had either gone on trek to Munsiyari and Uttarkashi were rescued. However, Chief Secretary Subash Kumar said that he had no information on the issue of enquires being made by the officials of the American Embassy about missing persons. So far the state government has managed to disburse ex-gratia amount to the next of kin of persons hailing from Uttarakahnd, who may have either died or may have gone missing during the mid-June calamity. “The non-availability of missing persons' list by governments of five states is proving to be a big hindrance in the disbursement of ex-gratia amount. We have not been able to disburse the relief to the persons hailing from other states due to this reason,” said Subash Kumar, Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand. Out of the 19 states from where persons had gone missing in the Uttarakhand calamity, the governments of five states comprising Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are yet to provide the list of missing persons. However, the Chief Secretary said that he had written to the Government of India and governments of these states to provide the list by August 15 so that the ex-gratia amount could be disbursed. As of now the Uttarakhand government is pegging the list of missing persons at 5000. |
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IFAD to give livelihood opportunities to villagers
Dehradun, August 8 In the first phase, Rs 20 crore have been sanctioned. This will help in the purchase of livestock, mules and milch animals, as well as seeds according to the requirement of the season. A meeting in this regard was held between Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar and members of the International Fund for Agriculture Development at the Secretariat yesterday. It was decided during the meeting that in order to speed up implementation work of the programme, a steering committee under BP Pandey, commissioner, Forest and Development, would be formed. Vinod Fonia, secretary, Rural Development, will be the vice-chairman of the committee. The objective of the project is to improve the conditions of economically weaker sections in the hilly areas. The project will be first started in nine hill districts and 38 blocks. The preparations for the project will conclude by September. Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Sharma asserted that while making the DPR of the project, it had to be ensured that benefits would be given on priority to the affected people of disaster-hit areas. They would get aid in buying livestock and mules. He directed the officers concerned to work with sincerity and dedication and the required staff should be appointed on priority basis. Planning is also being done to increase the income of villages through dairying, crop production, vegetables, spices, fruits, poultry, as well as tourism activities. Among the others present were Principal Secretary S Raju, Ranveer Singh and IFAD mission leader Edward Matthew amongst other officials. |
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Panchayat head’s certificate valid, students told
Dehradun, August 8 She said that it had been decided to allow income certificates certified by the district panchayat head as valid. The students were finding it difficult to take admission in colleges after the government decided to make certification by tehsildars/ SDMs mandatory for the issuance of income certificates. Their demand that only the caste certificate was enough for admission had aslo been met. District vice-president of SFI Vipin Joshi, said their main demand of making MLAs' certification valid had not yet been met by the government. |
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Protests against jawans’ killing continue
Haridwar, August 8 The protesters also resented the mild response of the UPA government to the killings and demanded the Defence Minister’s resignation. BJP divisional unit president Vikas Tiwari led a protest march. Party activists demanded the minister’s resignation, alleging that he tried to shield the role of the Pakistan soldiers by describing their ambush of Indian jawans as an act of militants. Tiwari said Antony was now backtracking from his remarks. Protests were also held in Roorkee where BJP youth wing activists burnt the effigies of Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and demanded that relations with Pakistan be stalled. Former legislator Suresh Chand Jain said the government should take up the issue with the UN. |
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Uttarakhand the challenge ahead
Talking to The Tribune, Prof Valdiya said a survey of flooding of each and every river in Uttarakhand was necessary before any infrastructure exercise was done in the vicinity of a river. “A survey of flooding for a river is important as most of death and destruction is caused along side rivers due to the absence of any floodway data for that particular river,” he said. He said a floodway survey would caution about any upcoming infrastructure and help in adopting other necessary precautions.
Valdiya also advocated river regulations. He said the tendency of putting all the debris into rivers, particularly in the works of road construction, results in diversion of the river flow, leading to flooding and subsequent destruction. He said the disposal of debris by road construction should be done in a proper manner. He said what happened in the Kedarnath area was on expected lines as possibility of excessive rainfall in shorter durations in limited areas have been quite high in recent years. He pointed out that even the Met Department of the state had forecast heavy rainfall in the Kedarnath region and stressed for the state to augment its disaster management preparedness strategy. He said both the political leadership and bureaucracy must have the will to implement the recommendations of scientists. “I have chaired various expert committees and have come up with reports but the implementation of the recommendations has been found wanting,” he said. Valdiya said disasters had been part anof the lives of hill people. He added there was a need to sensitise society and schoolgoing children in particular about natural disasters and the follow-up mitigation measures so that society was well informed anout the mitigation measures to be adopted. Strongly advocating limiting the number of pilgrims to the hill shrines in Uttarakhand, Prof Valdiya argued that Uttarakhand had just a population of over 1 crore and pilgrims numbering in lakhs come to Uttarakhand for Char Dham Yatra that is conducted within a span of some months, and that, too, was restricted to a few of valleys where these shrines were located, thus far exceeding their carrying capacity. “One should not allow more pilgrims under any circumstances if it exceeds the carrying capacity,” he said, referring to adoption of a policy of limiting the pilgrims in Amarnath Yatra and controlling of crowds in Vashno Devi in Jammu and Kashmir. He said there should be at least 10 km of walking distance up to the shrine. He said pilgrimage was a matter of faith but today it was more of just tourists, who come to Uttarakhand in the garb of pilgrims. “We are ourself the culprits and ourself the victims,” Prof Valdiya said. Septuagenarian Valdiya, whose book on environmental geology, being published by Tata McGraw Hill, is to be released shortly, said the book that dwelt on all aspects of geology vis-à-vis ecology, resources, hydropower projects and road construction could be a blueprint of re-construction for Uttarakhand. Valdiya categorically held that while he was not against development but he certainly was for ensuring proper geological survey for every infrastructure project. He said roads needed to be properly aligned, ensuring that hydropower projects were not constructed in areas with active faults. “Each and every project in Himalayas must begin after proper geological study and, mind you, the study should not be done by captive experts but third party experts who do not have any stakes in the project,” he observed. Geologist Kharak Singh Valdiya belongs to Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand. He served at Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, in various senior capacities. He has also been Vice Chancellor of Kumaon University. He was awarded the Padmashree in 2007. He is currently honorary professor with Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore.
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Rains cause landslips in Mussoorie areas
Mussoorie, August 8 The residents are demanding immediate treatment of the sidewalls as the damaged area has become to dangerous for school going children who could fall in the landslip, especially during the night. The landslip just above the house of Sama Devi, a widow and senior citizen, is also posing a threat to life and property and has forced her to live with the neighbours due to the fear of more mud debris falling on the house if the rain persists. Apart from this, 4-5 houses nearby are also threatened and could result in more damage if the administration does not act soon. The villagers from Khetwala also said that the link road to Mussoorie has also been damaged at several places due to landslides and have demanded immediate work of clearing the road so that the sick and old people can be taken to hospital without any hindrance. |
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Notification on Askot sanctuary abandons musk deer cause
Pithoragarh, August 8 According to sources in the Forest Department, the state government has issued the same notification that the Uttar Pradesh Government had announced in year 1986 by exercising its power under the Forest Act. “The final notification on the sanctuary falls under the preview of the central empowered committee of the Supreme Court. We are still to send a copy of the final notification to the Supreme Court,” said RBS Rawat, Chief Conservator of Forests. Asked if the real purpose of the sanctuary to preserve the endangered musk deer has been given up, Rawat said, “The original purpose has been abandoned in lower areas as musk deer is found at higher altitude pasturelands of the Himalayas. Musk deer is not found in the lower valleys of the sanctuary area though they reach these areas during the winter to escape the chilling cold of higher valley meadows,” he said. The Uttar Pradesh government, using its powers under Section 18 of the Wildlife Protection Act, had in 1986 notified a musk deer sanctuary in the Askot range of the divisional forest of Pithoragarh district. The decision was based on reports that the number of musk deer was dwindling due to poaching and encroachment on its habitation in the higher Himalayan reaches. The sanctuary has its boundary from river valleys of the Gori, the Kali and the Dhauli to highest Himalayan peaks in this part of the Himalayas in the state. The Uttarakhand government, using its powers under Section 26 A (1) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, had altered the purpose the sanctuary. “The purpose of the notification was to preserve the core as well as the buffer area of the musk deer habitat,” said Lalit Pant, a wildlife activist in the district. According to the final notification, the emphasis has now changed from musk deer preservation to wildlife preservation. The notification says that the announcement has been made for the purpose of protecting and prorogating wildlife and environment in the sanctuary as the area has adequate ecological fauna and flora, eco-morphological nature and zoological significance. “Thus the final notification has changed the basic purpose of preservation of musk deer,” said Pant. |
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US students keen to know about Indian culture, values
Haridwar, August 8 Led by president of the Akhil Bharatiya Gayatri Vishwa Family Dr Pranav Pandya, a large number of students have also enrolled themselves in these camps being held in various cities of the USA. The American students are being given an insight into the Indian culture, values, diversity, ancient texts, vedas, scriptures, ayurveda, yoga, spirituality and other aspects at these camps. Hemant Sahu, spokesperson for Shantikunj, said various schools and universities of America had expressed their willingness to organise similar camps on their premises too. He said Pandya had found that American students were interested in yoga and spirituality. “American students are also quite impressed with the success of Indians abroad and the talent pool of engineers, doctors, administrators, scientists, software engineers that Indian possesses,” he added. The Shantikunj team comprises Sonika Patel, Gowari Ram Nath, OP Sharma, Kalicharan Sharma, VP Tripathi and Raj Kumar Vaishnav, who are experts in different fields. |
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CM to meet Chidambaram on relief guidelines
Dehradun, August 8 According to a government press release, this will allow the issuance of certificates so that the families could access bank accounts and take insurance claims. Out of the 924 missing persons, monetary relief has been given to the families of 700. The government has a list of 1,920 persons from Uttar Pradesh, which the latter is yet to verify. Bahuguna said he had talked to his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Akhilesh Yadav and requested him to direct his officials to verify the list of the missing persons from his state. He added the state governments had been asked to complete formalities and verify the lists from their states, so that relief money could be handed over to the victims’ families. The Chief Minister said the rehabilitation work was being carried on a war footing and the state would also take help from global agencies for reconstruction work. He said the state was getting help from all ministries at the Centre. The state has also accepted the request made by the Kedarnath Temple Committee and local purohits to conduct religious proceedings on the temple premises on September 11. He said efforts were being made to ensure complete arrangements for the same. Material for the construction of steel bridges for Kedarnath and Rambarha had already reached Guptkashi, he added. |
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Though developed countries have made a lot of progress in the field of technology, India still scores on the spiritual and cultural front. This is reflected in the inclination and interest being shown by a large number of American students, who are attending youth camps being organised by Shantikunj in that country.
Dehradun, August 8