Incessant rain brings down mercury by 5°C in Haridwar
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 18
Incessant rain since last night brought down temperatures by 5°C in Haridwar today. Rain accompanied by cold wind affected normal life and people preferred to remain indoors.

Traffic was also disrupted as inner streets and the national highway passing through the city were waterlogged. Traffic moved at a slow pace on the National Highway-58 and 72 due to low visibility, affecting the arrival of pilgrims and tourists. Brahma Kund, Har-ki-Pauri, and adjacent ghats of Ubash, Birla, VIP, Alaknanda, Gau, Kushawrat, Rishikul, Luv Kush, Swami Vivkekanand, Gobind, Valmiki, Prem Nagar and Pull Jatwada were almost empty. The main markets like Har-ki-Pauri, Moti Bazaar, Upper Market, Chandracharya, Shankar Ashram, and suburban Jwalapur wore a deserted look.

Traffic jams were witnessed at the Bhagat Singh square, the entry point of the BHEL-SIDCUL township, and the busiest commercial intersection of the Ranipur Chandracharya square due to rain.

The claims of the Municipal Corporation of providing dry firewood proved wrong as there was no arrangement for bonfires at the railway station, the bus stand and other major points of the city.

Meanwhile, Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Vipra Trivedi claimed that she had directed civic body officials to ensure the availability of wood for bonfires. Slum-dwellers at the Rishikul ground were forced to shift their tents and huts to a higher area.

Heavy rain, snowfall lash Uttarakhand

Dehradun: The higher reaches of Uttarakhand received fresh snowfall on Saturday even as heavy rain accompanied by strong winds and hailstorms lashed the plains.

Dr Anand Sharma, Executive Director, Dehradun Meteorological Centre, said the hill resort of Mussoorie also witnessed heavy snowfall. He said the weather was likely to improve by tomorrow. Dr Sharma said today's rain would give a much-needed boost to the agriculture sector, particularly the wheat crop. He said they had already asked the farmers to discontinue irrigation as rain was expected from January 17 onwards.

Meanwhile, heavy rain and snowfall in the state is expected to bring cheer to hoteliers and those associated with the tourism industry.

The state's tourism industry had suffered huge losses in the wake of the last year's natural disaster and is still struggling hard to come back on track.

Two feet snow greets locals, tourists

Mussoorie: Residents and tourists were in for a pleasant surprise when they were greeted by a rich haul of snow in Mussoorie today.

It is after 20 years that the local residents are witnessing around two feet of snow in Mussoorie town, including Mall Road, Library Bazaar, and Kulri Bazaar while more than three feet of snow was recorded at Lal Tibba and nearby peaks of Dhanaulti.

The electricity supply remained disrupted for several hours in Mussoorie, Dhanaulti and adjoining areas due to heavy snowfall.

The snowfall in Mussoorie started overnight and continued till late evening today. However, the freezing temperature did not deter tourists, who made a beeline to Mussoorie, resulting in a traffic jam. The police had to pull down barriers at Kothal Gate on the way to Mussoorie as vehicles found it difficult to move due to the slippery conditions at Bhatta village, which also received heavy snowfall after a long time.

Nurses' protest
Health dept seeks help of private nursing colleges
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 18
Facing problems in running Doon Hospital and Female Hospital due to one-shift duties being discharged by nurses as part of their boycott call, the Department of Health, Medical and Family Welfare has written to private nursing colleges to send their students as interns to perform morning and night shifts.

Already, 24 MSc (final) nursing students of Government Nursing College have been deployed to perform morning and night shifts at Doon Hospital. The same number of nurses has been deployed at Female Hospital. However, the authorities are working to streamline the night shift.

“I have written to the Principals of private colleges to allow their students to work as interns in place of our nurses. As BSc nursing students of Government Nursing College have not responded favourably to our request, we are still manning the shift with the help of pharmacists, who work at sub-centres, and contractual nurses,” said Dr GS Joshi, Director (medical care).

Due to less load at Coronation Hospital, the situation continues to be under control. However, with the nurses' boycott exceeding more than 15 days, the authorities have also approached the local Army and ITBP units with their request of providing nurses. “We have sent our request for assistance to the local units but it would be processed only at the highest level,” said Dr Joshi.

While the protesting nurses are adamant that a government order with regard to their demands be first issued, the government has now said that they should first report back and then hold talks on the issue of the government order.

Meanwhile, class IV employees, too, have been boycotting two-hour duty between 9 am and 11 am in support of their demands.

Post-natural disaster, no power generation by existing projects
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, January 18
Electricity generation from existing projects and the construction of proposed hydropower projects in the district have been delayed. While the existing hydropower projects, which were damaged in flash floods in June last year, have not generated power even after seven months of the natural disaster, the proposed projects in the district are getting delayed due to damaged approach roads, some of which are under construction.

“We recently started using the approach road to the 280 MW Dhauliganga hydroelectric project, which was damaged due to the natural disaster in June last year and could not be repaired for the past six months,” said Manoj Kumar, an NHPC engineer.

Manoj said the damaged reservoir of the project was being repaired and power production was likely to start in four months from now. “We are losing Rs 1 crore daily as the damaged project was shut down after the approach road to the reservoir site was destroyed,” he said.

According to district administration sources, seven hydroelectric projects of over 1,000 MW capacity are proposed in the district. Some of these projects have been allocated to private companies like Reliance Industries and others have been granted to public sector undertakings like NHPC and NTPC. “Most of these power projects are proposed in Dharchula and Munsiyari regions, which were worst affected in the natural disaster,” they said.

The sources added while some of the proposed hydropower projects like the Rupasia Bagar scheme of 260 MW in Munsiyari subdivision had been delayed for the reason that they were violating environment laws, while others like the Urthig hydroelectric project being operated by Ambanis had been delayed due to lack of an approach road to the site in deep valleys of Dharchula Himalayas. “The construction of some other proposed schemes like the Dhauliganga phase-3, (120 mw) and the Goriganga phase-2, (55 mw) is not being started as these are situated in highly sensitive areas of the Baram valley from the landslide point of view,” said Harish Dhami, MLA from Dharchula and resident of Baram town. Dhami said all hydroelectric projects proposed in his constituency would be completed in the coming years as he had given priority to the construction of the basic infrastructure for the sites of these schemes.

“We have given priority to the construction of damaged roads to the sites of these power projects as we have constructed a 7 km-long road to Chirkila, the site of the Dhauliganga reservoir,” he added.

Repairs after natural disaster
Jal Sansthan prepares estimate of Rs 65 crore
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 18
Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan has prepared an estimate of Rs 65.48 crore for approval from the World Bank, for repairing and carrying out restoration work on broken water supply sources, water pipes and hand pumps that were damaged in the mid-June floods, last year.

Out of the estimated 1,087 damaged water supply points, 323 would be repaired in Dehradun, 48 in Rudraprayag, 185 in Chamoli, 134 in Pauri, 443 in Uttarkashi, 472 in Tehri, one in Haridwar, 125 in Nainital, 135 in Almora, 68 in Bageshwark, 61 in Pithoragarh and 64 in Champawat.

On the other hand, the water supply in the rural areas that is handled by the Gram Panchayats too was damaged in the floods. An estimate for 973 works has been made out of the 3,442 habitations. Soon after the natural calamity, the Jal Sansthan had received Rs 27 crore under the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) for undertaking immediate restoration works.

For carrying out the permanent restoration work, Jal Santhan officials are hoping for a speedy clearance from World Bank so that the work could start immediately.

DVWM withdraws ultimatum on garbage collection work
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 18
The ongoing tussle between the Dehradun Municipal Corporation and the Doon Valley Waste Management (DVWM) was resolved today after the DVWM agreed to take back its ultimatum on withdrawing its door-to-door garbage clearance work in the city from today. Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation has assured the DVWM of resolving its problems at the earliest.

The DVWM threatened to withdraw its garbage clearance operations in the city and protested against the non-transfer of the land where a waste processing plant was to be set up.

They also demanded revision of tipping cost, which at present stands at Rs 350 per ton of garbage disposal.

The decision of the company to continue its garbage disposal operation came as a relief for the residents of the city, who would have faced severe problems of filth and unhygienic conditions in case the company withdrew its operations.

A meeting was held between the Municipal Corporation officials and the DVWM officials on Friday, in which Mayor Vinod Chamoli asked the company to reconsider its decision within 15 days.

MH Khan, Principal Secretary, Urban Development Department, also held a meeting to solve the ongoing tussle between the Municipal Corporation and the DVWM.

He directed the officials of the Municipal Corporation to clear the outstanding amount of Rs 12 lakh.

He assured the DVWM that the tipping cost would be increased by Rs 112 soon.

Directive to frame rules according to Wakf Act
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 18
The state government has issued directives to the Directorate of Minority Affairs to frame rules and regulations according to the Wakf Act, 1995 and the Amendment Act 2013. The Union Ministry of Miniority Affairs had recently amended the Wakf Act. While political considerations have swayed over the constitution of state Wakf Board, efforts to make them efficient have been largely ignored. The framing of guidelines for the functioning of boards is expected to curtail political interference and make their functioning efficient.

“The guidelines would have to be framed in consonance with sections 109 and 110 of the Wakf Act 1995 and Amendment Act 2013. We have asked for feedback from the Directorate Minorities Affairs within 15 days,” said Dr Ajay Pradyot, Secretary, Minority Affairs.

Protesting students perform yajna
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 18
Students of various unions performed a yajna at DAV PG College here today against the college management. Students and the college management are at loggerheads over the implementation of the Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).

The protesters said the yajna had been performed to purify the mind of the college management so that it could drop the idea of converting the college into a private university.

Road safety week concludes

Dehradun, January 18
The Dehradun police initiated a week long ‘Road Safety Week’ in the city that concluded here on Friday. A large number of students, senior citizens and women participated in the closing ceremony which was held at the Police lines.

Road safety experts Divy Chaturvedi and Sunil Jain spoke to the students and other participants.

The victims of road negligence were also called to speak to the students and share their experiences.

Varun Jain, a road accident victim, shared his dreadful experience with the students. — TNS