Chhattisgarh defeated Uttarakhand in a Super Over in the Elite Group-C match of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament played at Reliance Stadium on Monday. This is Chhattisgarh’s first win in five matches and the team is at number six with four points. Uttarakhand has suffered a fourth defeat in five matches. Batting first, Uttarakhand scored 167 runs for eight wickets in 20 overs and in response, Chhattisgarh’s team could score the same score on nine wickets. After this, the match went into the super over. In the super over, Chhattisgarh scored 15 runs for one wicket and stopped Uttarakhand for three runs.
Tag: Uttarakhand
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EC data shows migration from hill side regions in Uttarakhand, makes way for more ‘ghost villages’
Express News Service
DEHRADUN: The latest voter list of Uttarakhand has revealed decline in voters of hilly areas of the state assembly constituencies while in plain areas voters continue to increase in numbers.So much so that now 12 hill side constituencies have less than 90,000 voters. The state has total 70 assembly constituencies.
Analysts say if the trend continues, political importance of the hill areas will weaken which may prompt further negligence of the remote hills of Uttarakhand inducing more migration than ever.
Shekhar Pathak, Padam Shri awardee activist, author from Uttarakhand, commenting on the matter said, “The data is indicator of recording population from hilly areas. The most important step needed here is including geographic criteria too in delimitation of constituency seats. Defining number of voters in hills can futher shift power balance in the favor of plains and lead to the neglection of hills thereby encouraging more migration. Efforts are needed to be put in to check the migration from the hills.”
PC Tiwari, Almora based activist and statehood agitator said, “Political parties have reaped dividends but have ignored concerns of Uttarakhand hills. The people of the state need to step up and oppose the agenda of political parties to destroy the Himalayas.”
Rohit Joshi, another activist based in Pithoragarh district who has filed a public interest litigation opposing Pancheswar dam project spanning three districts- Champawat, Almora and Pithoragarh claiming that it will affect an estimated population of around 55,000 in total 134 affected villages in districts Pithoragarh (87), Champawat (26) and Almora (21) most of whom were illiterate or semi-literate and had not been fully informed of the implications of the project, said, “The basis of the demand for a separate Uttarakhand state was the negligence of this area due to its specific geographical situation. But even after the formation of Uttarakhand, due to the population-based delimitation of the constituencies, the representation of the plain areas is increasing as compared to the hilly areas. It has many reasons like migration from the villages of the hills. So, the same threat is haunting again to the people of the state who fought for the separate state with a dream to develop Uttarakhand through a decentralized development model, which can address issues of the marginalized areas of the remote hills. In Uttarakhand, the area-based delimitation of the constituencies should be done, so that the remote hilly areas can also get adequate representation.”
On Friday, after the summary revision of the voter list the Election Commission of India issued a fresh confirming 78.15 lakh voters in Uttarakhand.
Out of total 78.15 lakh, 40.74 lakh voters are male, 37.40 lakh are female and 233 are included under ‘others’ category.
The state assembly constituencies with highest voter count include Dharampur constituenc with over 1.93 lakh followed by Raipur with 1.64 lakh.
Interestingly, Dharampur constituency in Dehradun district has more voters (1.93 lakh) than Rudraprayag district’s two constituencies combined which stand 1.88 lakh.
The constituencies from the hilly areas of the state with less than 90,000 voters include Purola constituency of Uttarkashi district with least number of voters across 70 constituencies of Uttarakhand- 71,341.
Purola constituency in ascending order is followed by Ranikhet with around 78000 voters followed by Tehri (80,000), Dhanolti (81000), Lansdowne (82000), Pratap Nagar (82000), Devprayag (82000), Gangotri (83000), Someshwar (85000), Kedarnath (87000), Narendra Nagar (87000), Chaubattakhal (89000) and Almora with around 89000 voters.
Commenting on the issue Dr Devendra Bhasin, spokesperson of the state Bhartiya Janta Party unit said, “The issue of migration is old one in the state and our government is making every effort to check migration. A commission has been formed by our honorable Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to adress the issue. Many schemes have been launched to provide employment and strengthen health, education facilities in the hills.”
Countering the claims of the ruling party, Indira Hridayesh, Indian National Congress MLA from Haldwani and leader of opposition in Uttarakhand legislative assembly said, “Issue of migration from the hills indicates that the BJP government has failed on every front be it upgradation of infrastructure or providing health, education and other basic facilities. This is not good for state as well as the country. Uttarakhand shares border with China and Nepal. The issue needs to be addressed diligently.”
The data by Uttarakhand State Rural Development and Migration Commission (SRDMC) points out psitive growth rate in the population in districts such as Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital and Haridwar while in the mountain districts of Pauri, Almora, Tehri, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh, there has been negative rate of decadal increase in the population.
According to the commission, set up by the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, the hill state has around 700 ghost villages. The data by the commission released in year 2018 also pointed out that more than 3.83 lakh people left their homes in the duration from year 2007-17.
Around 50% of them had left in search of livelihood, according to a report released by the SRDMC in May last year. Uttarakhand has around 16,500 villages, of which 734 have become ‘Ghost Villages’.
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Indian Railways refuses to slow down trains in Rajaji Tiger Reserve
By Express News Service
DEHRADUN: Turning down Rajaji Tiger Reserve (RTR) administration’s request to not raise the speed of trains passing through the reserve from 50 kmph to 100 kmph, the Indian Railways has stated that the demand is not ‘feasible.’DK Singh, director of the RTR said, “We have raised the request again with the Indian Railway officials and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) officials have also requested the railway ministry to slow down the trains while passing through the reserve.”
The officials of the RTR have written to the railways on Friday again.
Earlier, on January 7, the RTR administration had voiced its concerns on the railways’ decision to increase the speed of 18 pairs of trains plying between Haridwar and Dehradun on a 52-km track that passes through RTR.
Railway authorities have already agreed to keep the speed 35 kmph on an 18 km stretch which has been identified as sensitive by both the forest department and railways between 8 pm to 6 am.
The officials added that two areas within the 18-km patch- Motichur and Doiwala have witnessed death of around 12 elephants in last 20 years of duration.
Since the formation of Uttarakhand in November 18 elephants died in train accidents including two deaths in the year 2020.
Interestingly, Uttarakhand high court in year 2016 had directed to set up a monitoring cell to track the movement of elephants and other wild animals and to inform railway authorities, to establish coordination between the forest department and the railways and also the railways should ensure that the speed of trains should not be more than 30 Kms/hr while passing of the train through Jim Corbett National Park.
Responding to the queries, Tarun Prakash, divisional railway manager of Moradabad railways said, “We have not received their request yet. Reducing the speed will bring down the number of trains plied on the route contrary to state government’s request.
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Welcome 5G? Over 400 villages in Uttarakhand still without any mobile coverage
Express News Service
DEHRADUN: In an era when 5G is about to become part of our daily lives, 434 villages in Uttarakhand are still in the ‘dark zone’ sans any network coverage.According to data provided by the Information Technology Development Agency, out of a total of 15,745 villages in the hill state, 434 of them didn’t have network service availability till May 2020.
Amit Sinha, director of ITDA said, “We are working towards providing mobile network into these villages and soon the mission will be accomplished. Under Bharat Net scheme, plans are also being implemented to upgrade services in 3738 villages of the state.”
Of the deprived villages, 91 are from Pithoragarh district, followed by Chamoli (82), Bageshwar (61), Pauri (58), Uttarkashi (43), Almora (21), Champawat (21), Rudraprayag (20), Nainital (18), Dehradun (08), Tehri (05), Haridwar (05) and Udham Singh Nagar (3).
Amid border tensions with Nepal and China in 2020, the Uttarakhand state cabinet in an attempt to boost net connectivity had approved an incentive of up to Rs 40 lakh for companies who decided to set up mobile towers in remote areas of the state.
Border villages in the state in fact, are compelled to use Nepalese sim cards due to a dearth of services from Indian network providers, which include government-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).
Receding population along the Uttarakhand-Nepal-China border stretch has become a cause of concern for Indian security forces amid escalating tensions with neighbours.
According to reports of Uttarakhand Rural Development and Migration Commission, 14 villages have been completely deserted since 2011 while in many other parts, the population has declined by a significant margin.
In June 2020, residents of 49 villages in Pithoragarh district, which is along the border with China and Nepal, were equipped with satellite phones, post which there were complaints of inflated call rates of upto Rs 30 per minute.
Uttarakhand government officials had said that the call charges would be fixed at Rs 12 per minute and an SMS would also cost the same amount.
International calls have been fixed at Rs 260 per minute and the same for an SMS.
Locals, however, say that this is not sufficient and robust infrastructure is needed to combat the problem.
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Delivered! Bringing pahadi meat to doorstep
Express News Service
UTTARAKHAND: Rekha Devi, a resident of Chakrata in Uttarakhand, had little hope when officials from the Uttarakhand State Sheep Goat Farmers Co-operative Federation approached her to be part of ‘BAKRAW’ — a government initiative to home-deliver meat products from the state’s hilly areas and boost the economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic.Devi, however, had reluctantly signed up for the project, which has now turned out to be the best decision of her life. Devi, a goat rearer, supplies the animals to the federation, which then delivers their meat to the doorstep of customers under the initiative. Launched in October last year, the Himalayan goat meat service had received more than 50 orders within the first two days.
The brainchild of Meenakshi Sundaram, secretary of the animal husbandry in the Uttarakhand government, the initiative aims to provide a market for sheep/goat products and streamline income flow for the farmers. “We aim to transform the unorganised sheep and goat sector of Uttarakhand into a self-sustaining organised cooperative sector, resulting in substantial improvement in the livelihood of the farmers making them ‘Aatmanirbhar,” says Sundaram.
Till date, more than 13,596 farmers from various parts of 13 districts of Uttarakhand have enrolled themselves, of them 7,219 are women. According to officials, at present, over 1,500 goat rearers from six blocks of four districts — Rudraprayag, Almora, Bageshwar and Pauri — have started getting benefits from the scheme. Traditionally, the Himalayan goats rearing in the state is done by the women associated with cooperative societies.
The officials said the Himalayan goat meat is a world-class farm to fork modern meat hygiene systems by the Uttarakhand farmers’ cooperative federation. The branding of high-quality meat will consolidate the livelihood of the farmers and the state economy. “Now, we sell our products to the Uttarakhand Sheep and Wool Development Board directly on a higher rate than we used to get from local butchers,” says Sameena Qureshi, a goat rearer from Chakrata in Dehradun.
Avinash Anand, chief executive officer of the board, says: “We thought of creating a brand for our farmers and providing them with a big market. The scheme is a holistic approach to support the farmers and train them in breeding, nutrition, vaccination and deworming.” During a rally in Udham Singh Nagar district in February 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the release of Rs 100 crore funds for Uttarakhand, of which Rs 25 crore was given to the sheep and goat rearing project. According to Anand, more than 70% of the state population are non-vegetarian.
The state has many education hubs and renowned tourist places that provide a huge opportunity for goat rearers to expand their business. Shirish Shirsat, COO of the project, says: “This project is for a long run. The results will come with time and eventually change the quality of goat and sheep rearing.” Shirsat says earlier a goat would gain weight up to 70 grams per day. Now, it has gone up to 130-150 grams per day. “This shortened the period for the rearers to sell their products,” he adds.
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Uttarakhand to provide 20,000 litres free water per month to 18.5 lakh consumers
Express News Service
EHRADUN: Uttarakhand state government has decided to give 20000 liters of water per month free of cost to 18.5 lakh consumers in the state.Out of total consumers, 6.53 lakh are in urban areas while a majority of 12 lakh are based in rural areas of the hill state.
Nitesh Jha, secretary, Uttarakhand government said, “The tariff on the drinking water supply is to be done by sub committe. The final decision in the matter will be taken by the states cabinet.”
The sub committe headed by Uttarakhand state cabinet minister Madan Kaushik has funalised the draft. According to the draft upto 20,000 liters of water will be free for domestic use while for commercial establishments, the limit has been powered to 10,000 liters.
In case of usage of extra water by any of the consumers, whole bill will have to be paid even if a single litre of water is used more than the prescribed limit.
The move comes after many political parties including Aam Admi Party and Uttarakhand Kranti Dal have announced free power and water to the people of the state if they form a majority government in upcoming state assembly elections in year 2022.
Earlier in July 2020, in a move to provide respite to remote and rural areas of Uttarakhand, the state government had announced that rural household will be provided with water connections at Re 1 instead of earlier Rs 2350.
The sources in the state government said that Uttarakhand is probably the first country to provide water connection at such a nominal fee.
Till April 1, 2020 out of total 14,61,910 rural households in Uttarakhand state only 2,17,120 had water supply line according to the central government data.
The scheme was launched in August 2019 by Jal Shakti Ministry of the union government.
The union government has already allocated Rs 3.60 lakh Crore for the project. Out of total funding, Rs 2.08 lakh Crore will be provided by the Centre while Rs 1.52 lakh Crore will be be borne by the states.
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Uttarakhand HC directs state govt to complete restoration of Adi Shankaracharya ‘Samadhi’in 1 year
Express News Service
DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday while hearing a petition related of restoration of ‘Samadhi’ of Adi Shankaracharya in Kedarnath which was damaged in the 2013 natural disaster directed the state government to complete the restoration in one year.The court also granted liberty to Ajay Gautam, the petitioner in the matter to approach the court if the work is not completed in one year.
“The honorable court asked the state government the reason of the delay to which the state goverment replied that they need one more year. The court expressing dissatisfaction asked for blue print saying that how much time can this take. The state government also said that honorable Prime Minister of India is personally interested in the restoration of the ‘Samadhi’ to which the court said that then this must have been done within stipulated time period,” said Gautam.
The matter was heard in the division bench of Chief Justice RS Chauhan and Justice Manoj Tiwari.
Gautam also added that the state government in its affidavit also cited Covid-19 induced lockdown as the reason for the delay.
“I told the honorable court that between year 2013-2017 nothing was done. Even after the high court passed orders in year 2018 to complete the restoration within one year the work was not done. I requested the court to direct the state government to complete restoration in time bound manner,” added Gautam.
The state government on Thursday itself submitted affidavit citing reasons for delay in the reiteration work of the ‘Samadhi’ and requested the court to grant one year time to complete the work.
On December 30, 2020 the HC issued showcause notice to the state government in the matter.
The HC on October 10, 2018 while treating a letter written by Gautam Delhi as a public interest litigation about non-maintenance of samadhi of Adi Shankracharya, which was swept away in the Kedarnath tragedy in June, 2013 had directed the State government to restore the samadhi of Adi Shankracharya “positively within a period of one year from today at Kedarnath”.
Notably, the division bench of acting chief justice Rajiv Sharma and Manoj Kumar Tiwari had remarked in the order, ” He (Adi Shankaracharya) retired to Himalayas at the young age of 32 years and entered a cave near Kedarnath. Kedarnath is a Hindu pilgrimage site in the State of Uttarakhand. The Samadhi of Adi Shankaracharya was built near Kedarnath temple. Samadhi was also revered by the pilgrims visiting Kedarnath. Samadhi of Adi Shankracharya Ji swept away in the Kedarnath tragedy which took place in the month of June, 2013. Thereafter, it has not been repaired.”
“The District Administration is also directed to ensure that the local traditional hill architecture is taken into consideration while repairing/restoring the Samadhi of Adi Shankracharya Ji and also to ensure that the architecture merges with the surrounding landscape,” the court ordered.
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Uttarakhand: CM gives way after 19 Km-long human chain formed to demand road widening
Express News Service
DEHRADUN: Residents of 70 gram panchayats of Ghat block of Karnaprayag in Chamoli district came out on the road on Sunday to form a 19 km-long human chain along the narrow, pothole-ridden Gopeshwar-Nandprayag Ghat road.Their only demand was the widening of the Ghat road that connects Sidhpeeth Kurud to Nandprayag Ghat which is crucial to them.
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat took notice of the protest on Monday and instructed the public works department to widen the road.
The human chain, mostly comprised of women of the area, was formed by adhering to the norms of social distancing of six feet as per Covid safety norms. As the road flooded with people forming a human chain starting at around 11 am, district police and administration had to struggle to maintain the flow of traffic and clear congestion on the road.
Usha Rawat (52), a resident of Sera village, who decided to be the last of the human chain, said, “Road widening was our long lasting demand. The government is supposed to provide people with these basic facilities. If the government can’t even provide roads, water, power, and other basics what kind of government that would be?”
Locals said that at present the road is 3.85 meters wide and is full of potholes. “The road is so bad that accidents are frequent claiming lives. In 2014, 22 people lost thier lives in a bus accident. Besides, traffic on this stretch of the road has increased in the last few decades but the road is almost the same as it was built in 1962. Upgradation of the road is much needed,” said Bharat Singh Negi (68), a resident of Tenga village.
The road was laid in 1962 connecting a total of 70 village panchayats of the district.
The road also has religious significance as Nanda Rajjat Yatra of Uttarakhand, which takes place every 10-year, passes through this road. Kurud temple, one of the important seats of Goddess Nanda Devi, lies on the stretch of this road.
The protestors said that the government was planning to widen the road upto 7 meters while their demand is for 9 meters.
Four residents of the area have also been sitting on an indefinite fast since Saturday. Charan Singh Negi, one of them, who has been agitating for the last 36 days said, “The government is not paying any attention to what we are protesting for. This is just an empty promise. We are not going to accept this.”
Manoj Kathait, another protestor said, “If our demands are not met, we will increase the intensity of agitation. The government will be responsible for that.”
People of the area said that two years ago, the Chief Minister had promised the widening of the road but nothing happened.
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Uttarakhand deploys drones to keep an eye on migratory birds amidst bird flu scare
By Express News Service
DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand forest department has deployed drones to keep an eye on migratory birds that flock to the hill state from different parts of the world, including China, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and many other countries.JS Suhag, chief wildlife warden, Uttarakhand, “The drones are helping us in keeping an eye on spots which are important congregation for birds, especially migratory birds. Alert has been issued already to check the spread in the state.”
The drone force is keeping a watch on these avian family members across hotspots in the state including Baigul Dam, Dora Dam, and Sharda Sagar dam in the Terai East forest division of the Western Circle of Uttarakhand.
The live locations of the birds are being monitored by the drone force and their movement is also being tracked.
The state government’s animal husbandry department has formed rapid response teams (RRTs) across the state to ensure stop the spread of bird flu in around 15000 big, medium and small poultry establishments of the state.
The officials told that the control room has been set up in Dehradun and through email, fax or toll-free number (18001208862) people can inform if they suspect any case of bird flu anywhere in the state.
The government has also kept medical centers of the state including atleast 80 in Dehradun on high alert in case of spread.
Earlier last week, the state government had banned interstate export of poultry products and specimen from all the states affected by bird flu.
Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has warned and has urged to be cautious.
The states from where the transaction of any kind of poultry products has been temporarily halted include Himachal, Rajasthan, Haryana and many others.
With news pouring in from various stages such as Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and others, officials in Uttarakhand took the decision to deal with an outbreak, if any.
Around 2700 migratory birds have been found dead in the Pong Dam Lake in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district. The samples of the dead birds, mostly bar-headed geese, have tested positive for bird flu.
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Uttarakhand government to launch ‘Snow Leopard Tour’ in February 2021
By Express News Service
DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand government has planned to start ‘Snow Leopard Tour’ on the lines of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.Rajiv Bhartari, head of the first force (HoFF) said, “As a pilot project tour will be organized in Uttarkashi district of the state in February 2021 and depending on the response it will be extended to other regions of the state where the elusive cat is found.”
The aim of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) assisted tour is to develop ecotourism and spread awareness about the conservation of the species.
The state has already started snow leopard count estimation in November 2020 covering over 12800 square kilometers of area in 10 state forest divisions where the species is found. The results are expected in November 2021. At present, according to estimates, Uttarakhand has around 86 snow leopards.
The exercise, which is being termed as the first-ever in the country by experts’, got delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
In Uttarakhand, snow leopards are found in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Gangotri National Park, Askot Wildlife Sanctuary and other places of altitude between 3000-4500 meters. It covers in total geographical area of around 13,000 square kilometers. The animal is considered to be one of the most enigmatic wild cat species due to its reclusive nature which has earned it the title of ‘Ghost of the Mountains’.
Earlier, in October 2019, the first national protocol for snow leopard population assessment in five Himalayan states including Uttarakhand – Snow leopard Population Assessment in India (SPAI) – was released by the union environment ministry.
Keeping in view the reduction in the global population of the big cat estimated between 4000-6500, the first international steering committee meeting to step up conservation efforts for the animal was organized in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in March 2015 of which India is a signatory too.
This global snow leopard project seeks to identify at least 20 landscapes and secure them as protected areas for the species till year 2020. India has identified three such landscapes ranging around 47,000 sq km of area- Hemis-Spiti in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, Gangotri-Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand, and Kanchendzonga-Tawang in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.