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Avoid Unnecessary Journeys: Dhami On Incessant Rainfall In U’khand

By LokMarg 12th July 2023

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday requested the people of the state and the pilgrims to avoid unnecessary journeys in view of continuous rainfall in the state.

“In view of continuous rains in all areas of the state, I request all the people of the state and pilgrims to avoid making unnecessary journeys. I’m overseeing the condition of roadways and rain from all the districts 24 hours a day from the State Disaster Control Room. The district administration and SDRF have been instructed to remain on high alert in all the districts”, CM Dhami shared in a tweet.
The chief minister further shared the disaster relief numbers issued by the state to help citizens stranded in different places including Himachal Pradesh due to the heavy rains and flash floods.

“Our government has issued disaster relief numbers to help the citizens of Uttarakhand stranded in different places of the state and Himachal Pradesh. For any help, you can contact on the following numbers – 9411112985, 01352717380, 01352712685. Apart from this, you can also message on WhatsApp number- 9411112780”, he said.

Meanwhile, the Central Flood Control Room in Dehradun informed that the water level of most of the rivers in the Garhwal and Kumaon divisions including Haridwar has touched the danger mark due to continuous heavy rains in the state. Further, they added that the water level in dams and reservoirs has reached almost close to the danger mark.

Further, Uttarakhand’s Chamoli Police informed that the Pokhri-Karnprayag road has been completely closed due to debris from the rain.

“The work of removing debris with the help of a JCB is in progress by the concerned executive body RGB. It may take more than 24 hours to open the road…Please be patient…”, the Chamoli police shared in a tweet.

Earlier today, a road in Dharali on the National Highway towards Gangotri was washed away due to the surge of Kheer Ganga. Uttarkashi district administration said that efforts are on to open the closed road for the last 12 hours amid heavy rains.

Also, in view of the alert of the Meteorological Department, the duty officer of the State Emergency Operation Center has asked the Tourism Development Council to take precautions for the safety of the passengers and on the pedestrian routes while operating the Char Dham Yatra.

Earlier the officials informed that the Kedarnath Yatra has been stopped at Uttarakhand’s Sonprayag and Gaurikund due to continuous heavy rains.

In view of the safety of the passengers, the district administration stopped the passengers at Sonprayag and Gaurikund due to continuous bad weather.

Due to rain, four state roads and 10 link roads are closed due to debris. Due to heavy rains, Mandakini and Alaknanda rivers are in spate, the officials said.

Amid the heavy rains in Uttarakhand, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for July 12 on Monday.

“Orange Alert: #Uttarakhand and adjoining areas of Western #UttarPradesh likely to get Heavy to Very heavy rainfall (115.6 to 204.4mm) on 12th July”, IMD shared in a tweet. (ANI)

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Delhi On High Alert As Yamuna Crosses Danger Mark

By LokMarg 11th July 2023

The water level in Yamuna River touched 206. 24 meters, slightly above the danger mark of 205.33 meteres, Central Water Commission said on Tuesday.

The oficials further informed that the high flood level is–207.49 meteres.
“The water level in Yamuna River crosses the danger mark of 205.33 mtr, touching 206.24 mtr; the high flood level is–207.49 mtr,” Central Water Commission said.

The Rail traffic over the old Yamuna bridge in Delhi has been temporarily suspended since 6.00 a.m, today till July 11, said Northern Railway.

Meanwhile, rise in water level in Yamuna was also seen at Vikasnagar, in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun due to continous rainfall.

Earlier, the water level of the Yamuna at the Old Railway Bridge was recorded at 206.04 mm at 11 pm on Monday.

The Yamuna River in Delhi, which was flowing above warning level for hours, crossed the danger mark of 205.33 metres at 5 pm on Monday, the latest data from the flood control department said.

The water level in Yamuna is rising continuously as Haryana released more water into the river from the Hathnikund barrage amid rains across northwest India including the national capital.

According to the Flood Control Department, around 2,15,677 cusecs water was discharged through the Hathnikund barrage at 3 pm on Monday.

A fresh spell of rainfall lashed the city on Monday afternoon.

The areas in the city continued to face water-logging due to incessant rains on Saturday and Sunday and a fresh spell of rainfall on Monday.

Earlier on Monday, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the government is in alert mode and that is fully prepared to control the situation.

“Delhi government is on full alert. As the water will go above 206 metres, we will start shifting people, living on the banks. The process of taking them safely to the relief camp will be started. Earlier we were feeling that the water level would cross 205 meters on July 11, but it has crossed 205 meters today itself because more water is being released from Haryana,” he told ANI.

Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that there is no flood threat in the city due to the rise in the water level of Yamuna, following two days of heavy rain in the national capital and adjoining areas.

The record rainfall in the national capital has impacted all sections, including the poor, the daily wagers and those commuting to reach their destinations. While families around the Yamuna living in hutments will have to shift in case water level rises further, rainwater also entered the homes of some civil servants.

The plight of locals across the societal divide has only served to reinforce the fact that the floods, this year, have hit the poor as well as the powerful.

As the rainwater inundated roads and led to long queues of vehicles stuck in the downpour, residents, including people living in the diplomatic enclave in Chanakyapuri, vented out their migivings over Delhi’s inadequate drainage system.

The diplomatic enclave housing foreign missions, in Chanakyapuri, as well as other areas housing VIPs were inundated.

Owing to the heavy rainfall and waterlogging, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) also advised senior bureaucrats residing on ground floors to relocate to safer places as a precautionary measure.

There were reports of house collapses and waterlogging in several residential colonies. Waterlogging woes were also observed in diplomatic enclaves such as Chanakyapuri, Kaka Nagar, Bharti Nagar, and other prominent roads and colonies in the jurisdiction of the NDMC. (ANI)

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Uttarakhand: Modi Speaks To Dhami; Assures All Possible Help

By LokMarg 10th July 2023

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday spoke to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and took stock of the situation due to excessive rainfall in the state.

The Prime Minister inquired about the loss of life and property, the condition of roads including the Char Dham Yatra, the condition of agriculture, farmers and crops and the conduct of the Kanwar Yatra.
The Chief Minister gave detailed information about the Char Dham Yatra and Kanwar Yatra along with the loss of public money and blocked roads at various places due to heavy rains.

The Chief Minister also informed about the condition of farmers and crops.

The Chief Minister said that the government, SDRF, police and administration are working in full alert mode. JCB machines have been deployed at various places so that the blocked roads can be opened immediately. Continuous monitoring is being done from the highest level.

The Prime Minister assured the Chief Minister of full cooperation from the Centre.

Earlier today, PM Modi spoke to Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and inquired about the extent of the damages caused to life and property due to heavy rains and floods in the state.

According to the release, Chief Minister informed him that the State has been severely affected by floods and heavy rainfall, leading to extensive damage and provided an update on the situation and sought liberal assistance from the Central Government to tackle this natural calamity.

The Chief Minister informed PM Modi that the State Government is closely monitoring the situation.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Jagat Prakash Nadda, also called the Chief Minster on the phone and took stock of the damages and about relief and rescue operations being carried out in the State. (ANI)

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38 NDRF Teams In Punjab, U’khand, Himachal Carry Out Rescue Op

By LokMarg 10th July 2023

A total of 38 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are deployed in Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh as relentless rain continued to lash these states for the third straight day in a row, putting normal life out of gear.

As the rain across the northern parts of the country has killed over 20 people, as well as caused landslides and flash floods in the region, the NDRF’s 15 teams are deployed in Punjab, 12 in Uttarakhand and 11 in Himachal Pradesh.
Some reserve teams of the NDRF are also ready to meet any challenge in an emergency situation in Delhi where the Yamuna river is flowing at 203.58 meters and is expected to reach 205.5 meters by tomorrow morning.

Speaking to ANI, NDRF DIG Mohsen Shahedi said that the reason behind heavy rains for the last three days is due to Western Disturbances.

“This situation often comes in monsoon. This caused heavy rains. Early warning and IMD (India Meteorological Department) prediction was given in advance regarding it,” Shahedi said.

Asked about the deployment of the NDRF, Shahedi said, a total of 15 teams are deployed in Punjab, 12 in Uttarakhand and 11 in Himachal Pradesh presently.

“Some more places may face problems as a few reservoirs will be opened tomorrow. NDRF will be deployed accordingly to deal with any challenge,” the DIG added.

As per the officer, some rescue operations have also been undertaken by the NDRF personnel in each of these three states– Punjab, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. “Rescue operations were conducted in almost each state, and it continued the whole night.”

“Relief materials have also been provided at many places. The relief materials have been provided to people stranded at some safe locations. These materials were provided to these people with the help of state administration and state agencies,” Shahedi told ANI.

The officer further said that the NDRF had received information from Central Water Commission (CWC) that the danger level of water in Delhi will touch by this noon. “If there is any emergency situation in Delhi, the NDRF teams in Delhi’s Dwarka and Ghaziabad are ready.

As per SSP Mandi, Soumya Sambasivan, there is a state of complete disaster in the Mandi district in Himachal Pradesh as many buildings, bridges and parking lots have been washed away.

Similar conditions are in Punjab and Uttarakhand as heavy rains triggered landslides and have left hundreds stranded as several roads — including National Highways– have been damaged due to landslides, adversely impacting vehicular movement in Himachal Pradesh.

As per IMD, it had given a warning for extremely heavy rainfall and issued red alerts in Himachal Pradesh. “Tomorrow onwards, rain is likely to decrease in Himachal Pradesh but in Uttarakhand, for the next 3 days, similar kind or a little lower intensity rain is likely to continue…Today, heavy rain expected in eastern Punjab, Haryana, West Uttar Pradesh and south Rajasthan…,” said the IMD. (ANI)

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Monsoon Fury: Uttarakhand Issues Red Alert Amid Landslides

By LokMarg 9th July 2023

As an intense spell of monsoon rain continued over the northwestern Himalayan region on Saturday and Sunday morning, numerous roads were blocked and several people were stuck due to landslides.

In Uttarakhand, Badrinath National Highway was closed due to a landslide near Chhinka and NH-9 was closed in the Kumaon division at Champawat.
In the Tehri district, five out of 11 passengers were rescued after a vehicle rolled downhill in Gular in the district while a search operation for six other passengers was underway.

As per the State Disaster Response Force, the accident occurred on the Srinagar-Badrinath Highway.

Badrinath Highway is continuously obstructed due to falling of debris and boulders from the hill near Chhinka.

“The highway is obstructed since Sunday morning due to continuous falling of debris from the hill, Badrinath National Highway has again been obstructed near Chhinka,” an official said.

Several parts of the northeast witnessed an intense spell of rain on Saturday.

Due to continuous heavy rains, the water level of the Bhagirathi River has increased in Uttarkashi. In Joshiada, part of the wall got damaged due to river erosion.

“Instructions have been given to the government departments to be vigilant and people have also been asked to be careful,” the officials said.

The rains also led to waterlogging and traffic jams, roadblocks in hilly areas and several road stretches getting damaged.

Meanwhile, waterlogging was seen across Haridwar town, which is currently seeing a heavy rush of kanwariyas coming to fetch Ganga water.

As the Indian Meteorological Department issued a red alert for Sunday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that all state officials have been asked to remain alert in view of a heavy rainfall alert for the state.

“All pilgrims should proceed on their yatra keeping the weather conditions in mind,” the CM told ANI.

The State Disaster Operation Center located in the State Secretariat is keeping an eye on the state in view of the alerts of the Meteorological Department. (ANI)

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Badrinath Highway Remains Blocked Due To Heavy Rainfall

By LokMarg 2nd July 2023

Following incessant rainfall in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, the Badrinath National Highway (NH-7) has been shut for the last 13 hours at Lambagad and Khachada drains, officials said on Sunday.

Amid the closure of the national highway, commuters are stuck.

According to the officials, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is working to open the highway. They said that due to the blockage of the highway, many passengers are stranded.

The work of opening the highway is going on continuously by the NHAI.

Earlier on Friday morning, Badrinath national highway was shut due to a landslide after it reopened for traffic.

Later on Saturday, vehicle movement on the highway had to be restricted again due to a rise in the water level in the Khachdu drain near Uttarakhand’s Lambagad.

Authorities closed the Badrinath National Highway 7 (NH 7) at Chhinka in the State’s Chamoli district leaving many commuters, including pilgrims and tourists travelling to and returning from the famed Badrinath shrine.

Earlier on Thursday, heavy rains triggered landslides and flash floods in Uttarakhand causing a landslide in the same place and blocking of Badrinath National Highway. A stretch of 100 meters of the highway was blocked due to a heavy landslide from a hill near Chhinka on Thursday morning due to rain. (ANI)

U’khand: Landslide In Chamoli Blocks Badrinath National Highway

By LokMarg 29th June 2023

Heavy rains have triggered landslides and flash floods in Uttarakhand. A landslide in Chhinka of Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Thursday blocked the Badrinath National Highway. The work for clearing the road is underway.

“The work of smoothening the blocked Badrinath National Highway in Chamoli, Chhinka is going on. About 100 meters of the highway has been blocked due to a heavy landslide from a hill near Chhinka on Thursday morning due to rain. To remove heavy debris from the highway, additional machines have been installed from both ends of the road,” District Magistrate Chamoli wrote on Twitter.
After about 100 meters of the highway were blocked due to a heavy landslide from a hill near Chhinka on Thursday morning due to rain, the work of clearing the route is underway.

Additional machines have been installed on both ends of the highway to remove heavy debris quickly.

On Monday, a landslide on the Chandigarh-Manali highway blocked the stretch between Mandi and Kullu and aerial shots of the area showed hundreds of commuters stranded on the roads.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for today and tomorrow in the state.

According to the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) around 83 roads and two national highways have been closed in Himachal Pradesh. A total of 35 roads have been blocked in Mandi alone, it said. (ANI)

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Char Dham Yatra Halted Due To Bad Weather

By LokMarg 26th June 2023

Char Dham Yatra has been stopped as a precautionary measure due to bad weather en route to Kedarnath and Badrinath, said officials here on Monday.

On Monday, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami issued instructions in view of rain and snowfall during the Char Dham Yatra and directed officials to be extra vigilant.
“The government has stopped the Char Dham Yatra due to bad weather conditions en route. snowfall, rains and landslides have occurred at various places and traffic has been disrupted because of the same. We appeal to the travellers coming for Char Dham Yatra to continue their journey once the weather clears up,” said Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Meanwhile, the meteorological centre on Monday predicted “heavy to very heavy rain” at isolated places in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun and Tehri Garhwal districts in the next 24 hours.

The forecast by the Met Centre stated, “Heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places in Dehradun and Tehri Garhwal districts of Uttarakhand in next 24 hours. Thunderstorms and lightning will accompany the rains”.

Notably, some districts in Uttarakhand have witnessed torrential rains in the past couple of days.

Following the same Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday made a surprise inspection of the State Disaster Management Control Room located at the Secretariat and got information regarding the situation of heavy rains in the state, a press release said.

CM Dhami obtained information from the Disaster Control Room about the present weather condition, rain situation, water-logging and damages caused due to rain in the state. Haridwar received 78 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours, followed by Dehradun (33.2) and Uttarkashi (27.7), as per the India Meteorological Department.

Instructing the officers, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the districts under the state where heavy rains are continuing and there is a possibility of heavy rains further.

“Maintain mutual communication and coordination with all those districts. So that emergency situations can be dealt with in time. He instructed the officers to always be in alert mode for disaster relief and rescue operations, CM Dhami said. (ANI)

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‘Hounding Uttarkashi Muslims Is An Attempt To Hide Govt Failure on Jobs, Joshimath, Other Fronts’

By LokMarg 16th June 2023

Rakesh Agrawal, a writer and activist based in Uttarakhand, says the planned marking of Muslim households in Uttarakhand brings back memories of Nazi era. His views

A section of Uttarakhand citizens are concerned and anguished over the recent attacks on Muslim households in Uttarkashi. The ‘marked attack’ on the shopkeepers, whereby their shops are marked, bring back bad memories of a similar phenomenon during the Nazi era in Germany and Europe. The disgraceful design is clear. It is meant to camouflage the failure of the current BJP government in the state, and at the Centre, on the economic and social front.

The Centre and state governments have failed to provide secured employment, health and education to the youth, and the ordinary folks in far-flung hill villages. There have been repeated leaks in the entrance exams, while young people have protested in Dehradun demanding a CBI probe into the recruitment scams in February, 2023. They were brutally attacked by the police. Now connect the dots.

Earlier, a teenage girl, Ankita Bhandari, was brutally murdered, after she refused to ‘comfort’ the wealthy guests at a resort in Haridwar, owned illegally by the brothers of a BJP minister. . Also, there is a case of a Dalit man who was first abducted, then killed by his in-laws for marrying their upper-caste daughter in Almora district; Jagdish Chandra (39), a Dalit political activist from Panuadhokhan village, was found dead in a car in Bhikiasain town in early September last year.

Then, in Haldwani, thousands of, deprived and disenfranchised people, mostly Muslims, and also poor Hindus, were given the order to vacate their homes. Consequently, the Supreme Court intervened and stayed it. In Joshimath, the entrance to Badrinath, one of the holiest char-dhams of the Hindus, thousands have been protesting since months, as hundreds of homes have developed cracks and sunk, thanks to the so-called top-heavy and corrupt development model, along with the many dams and hydro-electrify projects, including the 520 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad project.

Besides, hundreds of homes have developed cracks en-route to the Rishikesh-Karnprayag Railway Lines. Since this government has nothing positive to show, the time-tested communal card, while targeting the peaceful minorities, seems to be the preparation for 2024 elections, using the tried and tested Hindu-Muslim hate narrative. This also shows the desperation of the BJP, Uttarakhand being a small state, sending merely five MPs.

Is Uttarkhand a peaceful state? It may appear on the surface to a casual tourist, given its cool, green and serene atmosphere, but if you scratch the surface a bit, you can see a different picture. Uttarakhand is the only state in the country where upper caste Hindus are in the majority. Thakurs constitute 35 per cent of the total population, followed by Brahmins (25 per cent); together, they constitute over 60% of the population. Most of them stood solidly behind the BJP in the last assembly elections.

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The upper caste communities have been largely prejudiced, not against Muslims only, but also against Dalits and Adivasis, whom they call Shilpkars and Doms. It must be mentioned that the minor girl in Purola was a Dalit; she was having a consensual relationship with a Saini youngster, who was running a shop originally in Najibabad, UP.

Then, in every hill village, the hate campaign is silently going on since decades, where RSS-controlled Saraswati Shishu Mandirs are working and regular RSS shakhas are being held, brainwashing people, who may have never seen or met a Muslim, but are deeply prejudiced against them. So, the entire Muslim community is being targeted, though they are just about 1% of the population, as per the 2011 census. Hence, it seems a bit too desperate for the BJP!

Some forward-looking and peace-loving people have been protesting, including members of the Uttarakhand Insaniyat Manch. They submitted a memorandum against the hate campaign to the District Magistrate of Dehradun on June 7. A group of Supreme Court lawyers have written an open letter to Uttarakhand Governor, Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh, about the government’s inaction on repeated instances of hate speech in the state. A state-wide conference is being organised in Dehradun to oppose the hounding of Muslim citizens. The Left parties have been openly campaigning against it.

The CM is also organising a meeting on it on July 1 in Srinagar, Garhwal, a major hill town in Garhwal. But, the main opposition party, Congress, which is the only party which assumes power periodically, is maintaining a strategic silence. They are clearly scared of losing the Hindu votes, despite Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Mohabbat ka Caravan’!

The narrator, a doctorate in international relations from JNU, is an ecologist who writes for TerraGreen, Civil Society, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), Mainstream and the Indian Journal of Social Work brought out by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TSSS). He is the author of Voices from the Ground: Unsung Heroes of Uttarakhand, (Aakar Books), a novel, Elated Dreams (BFC Publication), and an anthology of poems, Luster of Love (KDP).

As told to Amit Sengupta

Strict Action Against ‘Love Jihad’ Cases: Uttarakhand CM Dhami

By LokMarg 9th June 2023

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday said that the State government has called for a strict probe and action against the ‘love jihad’ cases. Dhami also mentioned that he will be chairing a high-level meeting with the Director General of Police and other officials on the issue.

“We have called for strict probe and action against love jihad cases. Today we will chair a high-level meeting also with DGP and other officials,” Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said.
Uttarkashi town in the State recently witnessed tensions over an alleged abduction attempt on a 14-year-old girl by two men, including one from the minority community, last month, police said. Both men have been subsequently arrested.

Earlier this week BJP MP Sadhvi Paragya hit the headlines for saying that Hindu girls were being tricked by Muslim boys. “Hindu girls are being tricked under a conspiratorial mission. A minor girl was killed in Delhi. Girls need to be alert, their life is not safe. Hindus do not conspire against anyone.”

Last month, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that the State government took the issue of ‘love jihad’, ‘religious conversion’ and promotion of ‘terrorist activities’ seriously and will not allow such practices in the State.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had also stated last month that ‘Love Jihad’ is an agenda of “undeclared terrorism” against humanity. His remarks came after watching the special screening of ‘The Kerala Story’, a movie that stirred up a political storm in the country.

Adityanath had said, “The Kerala Story draws the attention of the entire nation to ‘Love Jihad’. The entire society must be made aware of this menace. A commendable and brave effort has been made in this regard by the film’s producer, director, and the entire team.” (ANI)