Pray, why has Uttarakhand govt halted relief work? Monday, Sep 2, 2013, 6:53 IST | Place: Kedarnath | Agency: DNA Eighty days after the Uttarakhand floods, dna finds the relief operations have been stopped. The state government is now using men & machinery to get Kedarnath ready for the Sept 11 pooja Nothing has changed in Uttarakhand two months after the cloud burst and floods. Not just roads, even relief material has not reached many Nothing has changed in Uttarakhand two months after the cloud burst and floods. Not just roads, even relief material has not reached many Two months after a cloud burst and subsequent floods devastated large parts of Uttarakhand in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, the state government has called off relief operations even as 272 villages remain cut off and 248 roads are not fully functional. Instead, the government has decided to resurrect the Kedarnath temple with a pooja on September 11, and is using most of its ‘men and material’ to get Kedanath ready for the pooja. “We have stationed 500 men at the temple, who are landscaping the place. A private firm has been employed to clear debris,” said Bhaskaran Joshi, disaster management cell secretary, Uttarakhand. Regular helicopter sorties one sortie costs Rs4-5 lakh carry officials for inspection and sometimes transport construction material. The government is planning to engage another MI-26 helicopter from the IAF to carry material for construction around the temple. A visit to some villages in Rudraprayag and Chamoli district, where the disaster claimed many lives and caused widespread devastation, belies the government’s claims of having settled all the claims of the affected people. The lives of villagers in cut-off areas like Gorigaon, Rambara, Chomasi and Kotma show that the government has done very little to eradicate their daily problems after the disaster. Locals in these villages allege that the government should now take care of people on the way to Kedarnath, instead of concentrating on the temple itself.”I travel 18km on foot almost every day to get eatables. As for relief material, I have to travel the same distance to get it, if at all,” says Purshotam Semwal, a resident of Chomasi village, who lost three relatives in the floods and was blinded in one eye. His village is in the Kalimath area, located on the banks of the Mandakini river. A rope, which carries locals on a trolley managed by the Border Security Force, connects it with the other bank.Not just roads, even relief material has not reached many, as there is no way to access their villages. The goods were dumped on the nearest motorable road, dozens of kilometres away; and in rare cases, dropped by chopper once or twice. “I managed to get kerosene after 45 days on August 20 from Gupt Kashi,” said Sunil, 25, a resident of Gorigoan village, perched on a mountaintop on the way to Kedarnath. The state government, which does not allow outsiders to go beyond Phata, 10km from Guptkashi, has an explanation for everything. “Crossing the river by rope may be alien for people in Delhi, but it is a routine here. And we have given relief to each and every person affected that will last for more than two months,” said Joshi. He claimed that they could restart the operation, if needed. dnaindia/india/1883020/report-dna-exclusive-pray-why-has-uttarakhand-govt-halted-relief-work
Posted on: Tue, 03 Sep 2013 05:19:46 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015