News Analysis India

Tag: Rishikesh

  • Rains, fear of landslides halt Char Dham Yatra at Rishikesh

    Express News Service

    DEHRADUN:  The local administration has stopped all traffic going from Rishikesh towards Char Dham until further notice. After the Yatra routes connecting Kedarnath and Badrinath were closed due to bad weather and landslides, police alerted the pilgrims at the Brahmapuri check post and stopped them from proceeding further. 

    Meanwhile, the Badrinath highway was closed on Sunday morning due to heavy debris near Bajpul, Chada, Pinaula and Tayapul near Chamoli market. This caused a halt in yatra to Badrinath Dham. Vehicular traffic on this route has been temporarily diverted via the Nandprayag-Sekot-Kothialsen route. 

    “The work of clearing the debris at the places where the road has been blocked due to landslides is going on continuously and the traffic is expected to be smooth soon,” Joshimath Sub Divisional Magistrate Kumkum Joshi told this newspaper.

    According to administrative sources, “Pilgrims will now have to wait till May 3 to go on Kedarnath Yatra. On Sunday, pilgrims kept gathering information about the registration for Kedarnath at the registration counter throughout the day and later registered for the remaining three dhams — Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri.”  

    Chardham Yatra registration in-charge Premanand said that due to bad weather, the registration of Kedarnath Yatra was stopped from April 25 to 30 on the orders of the government. Due to the lack of clear weather, the government has extended this ban on registration till May 3.

    At the same time, the work of removing debris from the highway has been started, as a result of which traffic has been stopped at Badrinath Dham near Marwari Bridge.  Due to the disruption of the Yatra route, devotees had to wait on the road for hours and faced a lot of problems in arranging food and water.

    DEHRADUN:  The local administration has stopped all traffic going from Rishikesh towards Char Dham until further notice. After the Yatra routes connecting Kedarnath and Badrinath were closed due to bad weather and landslides, police alerted the pilgrims at the Brahmapuri check post and stopped them from proceeding further. 

    Meanwhile, the Badrinath highway was closed on Sunday morning due to heavy debris near Bajpul, Chada, Pinaula and Tayapul near Chamoli market. This caused a halt in yatra to Badrinath Dham. 
    Vehicular traffic on this route has been temporarily diverted via the Nandprayag-Sekot-Kothialsen route. 

    “The work of clearing the debris at the places where the road has been blocked due to landslides is going on continuously and the traffic is expected to be smooth soon,” Joshimath Sub Divisional Magistrate Kumkum Joshi told this newspaper.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    According to administrative sources, “Pilgrims will now have to wait till May 3 to go on Kedarnath Yatra. On Sunday, pilgrims kept gathering information about the registration for Kedarnath at the registration counter throughout the day and later registered for the remaining three dhams — Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri.”  

    Chardham Yatra registration in-charge Premanand said that due to bad weather, the registration of Kedarnath Yatra was stopped from April 25 to 30 on the orders of the government. Due to the lack of clear weather, the government has extended this ban on registration till May 3.

    At the same time, the work of removing debris from the highway has been started, as a result of which traffic has been stopped at Badrinath Dham near Marwari Bridge.  Due to the disruption of the Yatra route, devotees had to wait on the road for hours and faced a lot of problems in arranging food and water.

  • Dehradun Diary:  Uttarakhand to host two G-20 meetings in May

    Express News Service

    U’khand to host two G-20 meetings in MayUttarakhand has got an opportunity to host two meetings of G-20 countries. 200 delegates from G-20 group member countries will also participate in Ganga aarti in Rishikesh. The administration has intensified its preparations. At the same time, if Ramnagar is selected for the second meeting, then there may be jungle safari in Jim Corbett Park. Meetings and excursion programs will be held in Rishikesh from May 25 to 27. In Dehradun, Chief Secretary Dr SS Sandhu held a meeting with officials of Dehradun, Pauri Garhwal and Tehri Garhwal regarding  preparations.

    NGT issues notice to 322 hoteliers in stateAfter the NGT banned commercial use of Mussoorie lake water, the Pollution Control Board has now started issuing notices to 322 hotel operators in Mussoorie. The notice sought information about hotel rooms, source of water and consumption. The hotel traders have expressed their displeasure on the  notice issued by the Pollution Control Board, mentioning that after the already adverse circumstances including the Covid-19 pandemic, this order of the government will increase the difficulties of hotel owners in the state. 

    IIT-R & CIPET join hands to strengthen researchThe IIT-Roorkee and CIPET (Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology) signed an MoU to strengthen academic and research cooperation in the areas of petrochemicals, plastics, polymers, chemical engineering and science, and material science at IIT Roorkee. Prof Shishir Sinha, Director General, CIPET, said, “CIPET as an institute operates in the hub and spoke model with over 45 locations across the country with specialization in skill training, technical support, academics as well as research and the participation of CIPET experts in IIT Roorkee Programs will prove to be a symbiotic relation for the nation.”

    Narendra sethiOur correspondent in Uttarakhandnarendrasethi@ newindianexpress.com

    U’khand to host two G-20 meetings in May
    Uttarakhand has got an opportunity to host two meetings of G-20 countries. 200 delegates from G-20 group member countries will also participate in Ganga aarti in Rishikesh. The administration has intensified its preparations. At the same time, if Ramnagar is selected for the second meeting, then there may be jungle safari in Jim Corbett Park. Meetings and excursion programs will be held in Rishikesh from May 25 to 27. In Dehradun, Chief Secretary Dr SS Sandhu held a meeting with officials of Dehradun, Pauri Garhwal and Tehri Garhwal regarding  preparations.

    NGT issues notice to 322 hoteliers in state
    After the NGT banned commercial use of Mussoorie lake water, the Pollution Control Board has now started issuing notices to 322 hotel operators in Mussoorie. The notice sought information about hotel rooms, source of water and consumption. The hotel traders have expressed their displeasure on the  notice issued by the Pollution Control Board, mentioning that after the already adverse circumstances including the Covid-19 pandemic, this order of the government will increase the difficulties of hotel owners in the state. 

    IIT-R & CIPET join hands to strengthen research
    The IIT-Roorkee and CIPET (Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology) signed an MoU to strengthen academic and research cooperation in the areas of petrochemicals, plastics, polymers, chemical engineering and science, and material science at IIT Roorkee. Prof Shishir Sinha, Director General, CIPET, said, “CIPET as an institute operates in the hub and spoke model with over 45 locations across the country with specialization in skill training, technical support, academics as well as research and the participation of CIPET experts in IIT Roorkee Programs will prove to be a symbiotic relation for the nation.”

    Narendra sethi
    Our correspondent in Uttarakhand
    narendrasethi@ newindianexpress.com

  • COVID R-naught count in Uttarakhand, seven other states has crossed one: AIIMS Rishikesh director

    By PTI

    RISHIKESH: The R-naught count in Uttarakhand and seven other states has crossed one, a senior doctor said on Tuesday, citing the recent findings of the University of Michigan.

    Director of AIIMS, Rishikesh, Ravi Kant urged people to remain cautious and not lower their guard even after getting both doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

    “R-naught indicates virus prevalence and the speed at which it is spreading. It also shows how many people one COVID-19 patient can infect,” he said.

    “The R-naught count should not be more than one. The bigger the number, the faster the rate of spread of the disease among the population,” he added.

    Citing the recent findings of the University of Michigan, Kant said the R-naught count in eight Indian states has crossed 1.

    Mizoram tops the table with an R-naught count of 1.56, followed by 1.27 in Meghalaya, 1.26 in Sikkim, 1.17 in Uttarakhand, 1.13 in Himachal Pradesh, 1.08 in Manipur, 1.01 in Kerala and 1.02 in Delhi, he said.

    “People in Uttarakhand need to be more careful as tourists, devotees, yoga and adventure sports lovers from all over the country visit the state and often become unmindful of the Covid guidelines like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing in their excitement,” Kant said.

    He said more and more people should get themselves vaccinated against COVID-19 and not lower their guard even after getting both doses of the vaccine.

    The central government on Tuesday said that 37 districts across nine states, including 11 districts in Kerala and seven in Tamil Nadu, are showing a rising trend in the average daily new COVID-19 cases over the last two weeks even as the corresponding nationwide figure continues to register a decline.

    At a press briefing on the pandemic, officials said the reproduction number or R number that indicates the speed at which COVID-19 is spreading is more than 1 in five states — Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh — which remains a cause for concern.

    Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Nagaland have their reproduction number at 1, Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said.

    For India, it is around 1, he said.

    The Reproduction number or Rt refers to how many people an infected person infects on average.

    In other words, it can tell how efficiently a virus is spreading, Agarwal explained.

    He said, “37 districts across nine states — Kerala (11 districts), Tamil Nadu (7), Himachal Pradesh (6), Karnataka (5), Andhra Pradesh (2), Maharashtra (2), West Bengal (2), Meghalaya (1) and Mizoram (1) — are still showing rising trend in daily new COVID-19 cases during the last two weeks.”

    The increasing trend of reproduction number in some states is cause for concern, although there is stabilisation in COVID-19 cases in the country, NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul said, adding there are significant reasons to enforce pandemic control measures.

    “If we look at the overall picture, we are hovering with a reproduction number of around 1 and it is more than 1 in some states. An increasing trend is a cause for concern. So a profound word of caution: Himachal has R number of 1.3 and for Punjab it has been recorded at 1.3 and showing an increasing trend.”

    “Though there is a stabilisation in the overall number of cases we still have significant reasons to be concerned, reasons to be vigilant and significant reasons for us to enforce pandemic control measures in every possible way,” he said.

    Agarwal further said 44 districts across 11 states and union territories, including Kerala (10), Manipur (10), Mizoram (6) and Arunachal Pradesh (5), reported a weekly positivity rate of more than 10 per cent in the week ending August 9.

    However,districts with more than 100 daily cases have declined from 279 in week ending on June 1 to 48 in week ending on August 8, 2021, Agarwal informed.

    Only one state has more than 1 lakh active cases, eight states have active cases between 10,000 and 1 lakh, and 27 states and UTs have less than 10,000 active cases currently.

    “I would like to emphasise once again that this is no time to lower the guard. Staying vigilant, following Covid-appropriate behaviour, compliance with masks, avoiding crowds and not creating crowds even in close rooms, avoiding unnecessary travels, all these precautions continue to be very, very important for us,” Paul stated.

    Agarwal said Kerala reported 51.51 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases recorded in India in the past seven days.

    The southern state currently contributes 43.77 per cent of the total active cases in the country, followed by Maharashtra with 18.48 per cent cases.

    For Kerala, it is clear that containment measures must be paid more attention to.

    “We do not have to allow the spread and that is the policy of the government that we talk about containment not mitigation. We need to bring herd immunity with vaccines and not infection,” Paul said.

    “One more message is that Delta variant is ruling the nation, in fact ruling the world. Everywhere you can see the spread of Delta and because of it surge across many countries have been reported,” Paul stated.

    The government said Delta Plus variant of SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in 86 samples in India, including 34 in Maharashtra, as on August 9.

    On vaccination, Paul said the advantages of increasing coverage of vaccination is already being seen.

    “We must also see that how vaccines are helping in economic activities and bringing us towards normalcy. As the vaccination coverage is rising, we must also see how preferentially it helps the workforce and we encourage corporates in this direction. There is a clear need that our educational institutions run and taking that in mind we need to connect teachers with vaccination. Many teachers have been vaccinated and for the rest all efforts must be made,” he said.

    On vaccine availability, Paul said all vaccines have different terms of importing under different circumstances.

    Sputnik is being imported from outside and it is also being made here, Moderna has a different grant.

    “J&J (vaccine) is being made in the country so all situations are different and there are issues that need to be sorted and when you want to access these vaccines there are certain conditions clauses, MoUs agreed upon this takes time,” he said.

    He said that indemnity is not needed in the process followed for emergency use authorisation of Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccine.

    Zydus Cadila, Biological E, Covavax and mRNA vaccines might appear in this sequence but it is a dynamic situation and there is continuous progress, he said.

    India logged 28,204 new coronavirus infections, the lowest in 147 days, taking the total tally of cases to 3,19,98,158, while the active cases fell to 3,88,508, the lowest in 139 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

    The death toll has climbed to 4,28,682 with 373 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

  • Very high presence of pollutants in Ganga, reveals Doon University research 

    By Express News Service
    DEHRADUN: A study conducted by researchers from Doon University has indicated a ‘very high presence of pollutants’ in the urban stretches of river Ganga at Rishikesh and Haridwar.

    The study indicates that millions of pilgrims visiting the two cities, especially Haridwar, for the Kumbh festival will be ‘exposed to high concentration of water pollutants’. 

    Surindra Suthar, associate professor in Doon University who led the study said, “The pollutants include anti-inflammatory, caffeine, common antibiotics and anti-bacterial, among others. The overall concentration of PPCPs in the above stretch was found up to 1,104.84 nanograms per litre. Concentrations of anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics were higher in the winter season possibly because of decreased biodegradation associated with lower temperature and inadequate sunlight.”

    The researchers detected this during their study conducted over three seasons the occurrence of 15 different pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP) in the river stretch which flows along Rishikesh and Haridwar.

    The stretch of Ganga in Rishikesh and Haridwar is 16km and 40km, respectively. According to the study, revealed the study.

    According to the researchers, mass bathing, urban waste and effluent from sewage treatment could be a source of PPCPs in the two cities.

    The effluent produced from domestic sewage, discharge from hotels and ashrams eventually leads to the Ganga, causing additional contamination. 

    The researchers said that they analysed the water of the Ganga at its point of entry in the cities and also, at spots before it entered into a sewage treatment plant.