U’khand floods: Army, ITBP & NDRF rescue about 56,000 people; Around 63,000 stranded

Jun 21,  7:41 PM In Uttarakhand, Army, Indian Tibet Borer Police and National Disaster Response Force teams have rescued about 56 thousand pilgrims and tourists from disaster affected areas till now. They have been rescued mostly from Kedar valley region in Rudraprayag district and Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Tehri and Pithoragarh districts. AIR correspondent reports from Dehradun that Army successfully landed its helicopters in the remote areas of Jangalchatti in Kedar valley and evacuation of stranded pilgrims has begun from Garudchatti and Gaurikund areas. About 63 thousand are still stranded in different districts. IAF have deployed its heavy helicopters having capacity to carry people in good numbers. Army, ITBP and NDRF have also dropped their commandos to help pilgrims and tourists stranded in remote areas in Kedar Valley and developing landing facilities for helicopters. A team of Indian Navy has also reached today to support the rescue operation. NDRF has deployed its three teams at Guptkashi base camp in Kedar valley. They are also in process of movement to higher locations of areas. One of them is to carry out search and rescue operations between Gaurikund and Rambada area in the valley. Army Commander of Lucknow based Central Command Lt Gen Anil Chait today reviewed relief arrangements made by the army in disaster hit areas. He also met the state Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna at Dehradun. He said opening of damaged roads and identification of shelter places in high reaches are top priority of army rescue teams. He said trained commandos from army have been deputed in the operation. Two special Trains have already started running from Haridwar. They were run to Lucknow and Delhi respectively. Railways have set up helplines. Hardwar’s helpline numbers are 9760534054/09760534055, Dehradun numbers is 01352-622131 and Rishikesh helpline number is 01352-434167. State government has sanctioned additional 103 crore rupees for rescue and relief operations. ITBP has deployed its 1,000 men in relief work in the state. It has said that the worst affected Kedarnath temple area has been evacuated of people and there could still be about 400-500 people in the upper reaches. ITBP spokesperson has said that they were not in a position to give the complete death toll figure in the disaster unless bodies are recovered. The Boarder Road Organisation BRO and Army have opened several roads affected in landslide in Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Tehri, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh districts Vehicle’s movement has begun on NH-94 between Dharasu and Rishikesh and road linking Sitapur- Guptkashi- Mayali- Ghansali has been opened. In Badrinath region several roads in Chamoli district have also been opened to move stranded pilgrims and tourists by road transport. Communication nodes have been established at Gaucher, Harsil, Joshimath and Rudraprayag by the Army to enable people to contact their families. Meanwhile state government has confirmed 207 causalities and about 400 hundred persons have been given medical assistance. In Haridwar 48 dead bodies were recovered from river Ganga. They have been kept at District hospital Haridwar. One of them has been identified as Dinesh Kumar Singh from Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh on the basis of an identity card recovered from the body. The state government has set up control rooms in all districts. CCEA approves sale of 100 lakh tonnes of wheat under open market sale scheme Jun 21,  4:40 PM The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA, has approved sale of 100 lakh tonnes of wheat under open market sale scheme. The decision was taken at the CCEA meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh today. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that out of the 100 lakh tonnes, 3 to 9 lakh tonnes will be reserved for sale to small buyers and the remaining for bulk purchasers. Meanwhile, Food Minister Prof. K V Thomas told reporters that the sale price of wheat will be 1,500 rupees per quintal ex-godown from Punjab excluding freight charges. He said, five lakh tonnes of rice has also been allocated to States. Prof. Thomas said that the Food Ministry will send a separate note to the Cabinet for export of two million tonnes of wheat from government stocks next week. The CCEA also approved 5 per cent disinvestment in the public sector company, Neyveli Lignite Corporation. The government currently holds 93.56 per cent stake in it. This will help garner around 466 crore rupees to the public exchequer. The Finance Minister told reporters that the decision to disinvest five per cent equity sale has been taken to make the Navratna company compliant with Securities and Exchange Board of India, SEBI, norms. Referring to the objections raised by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr Chidambaram said that the Prime Minister has already given a detailed reply to the Chief Minister's letter. The CCEA in another decision approved import of coal by Coal India Limited, CIL, to meet the shortfall in the domestic coal requirement of the thermal power plants. Mr Chidambaram said that CIL will sign Fuel Supply Agreements, FSA, with power companies for installed power generation capacity of 78,000 Mega Watt which are likely to be commissioned by 31st March 2015. He said that taking into account the overall domestic availability and actual requirements, CIL will sign FSAs for domestic coal supply of 65 per cent of annual contracted quantity each for 2013-14 and 2014-15, 67 per cent for 2015-16 and 75 per cent for 2016-17. To meet the remaining obligations, the CIL can import coal and supply it to willing power plants on cost plus basis. The plants can also import coal on their own. Replying to a question, Mr Chidambaram said with this arrangement, power tariff price will result in marginal increase. He said it is better to have power slightly costly than having no power. The CCEA also gave its nod to a proposal for substituting concessionaire in stalled National Highways projects to expedite implementation of road and infrastructure in the country. The proposal will require consent of lending banks and also National Highways Authority of India. In case of default by the substituted concessionaire, the original concessionaire will be subjected to penalty. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also approved continuation of Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme in the 12th Plan. Initially 50 thousand crore rupees will be provided as a loan from the Centre and financial institutions. The Finance Minister said the total grant from the Centre is estimated at 31,577 crore rupees. He said the loan amount will be later converted into grant if the States succeed in achieving the targets. Thane building collapse toll rises to ten Jun 21,  2:11 PM The death toll in Mumbra building collapse has risen to 10 while 14 persons are reported to be injured in the incident that took place in the wee hours of today in Thane district of Maharashtra. The deceased include a two-month old infant. The three storey building, situated at Bazarpeth in Mumbra area of Thane district, collapsed at around 2 am when the residents were fast asleep. Confirming the death toll, Thane police control officials said that rescue and relief operations are going on at a massive scale even as more people are feared trapped in the debris of the building. The injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals. Thane Municipal Corporation, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation as well as a team of National Disaster Response Force are assisting the fire brigade officials in the rescue operations. Special BSNL towers erected to ensure connectivity for Amarnath yatris Jun 21 For the convenience of pilgrims undertaking the Amarnath Yatra which commences on 28th June, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd has erected special towers at Baltal, Domel, Brarimarg, Holy Cave, Panjtarni, Sheshnag and Chandanwari to ensure that telecom connectivity is available to the visiting Yatris. For all those Yatris who do not possess BSNL connections and those who possess mobiles with pre-paid cards which do not work in Jammu & Kashmir, the Telecom Department has given permission to private operators, in addition to BSNL, to provide interested Yatris pre-paid sim cards with a four-day validity. This arrangement has materialized after J&K Governor N.N.Vohra, who is also Chairman of the Amarnath Shrine Board, took up the matter with the Union Communication Ministry. Providing details, Chief Executive Officer of the shrine board Navin K. Choudhary said that such sim cards will be made available only to registered Yatris at special counters being set up at the Nunwan and Baltal Yatra Base Camps. These cards will be operative only for four days, to cover the pilgrim journey to the Shrine, from either route, and will automatically deactivate thereafter. Yatris who are interested in obtaining the pre-paid connection, must produce the counterfoil of the Yatra Registration Slip as well as proof of identity, address and UID card at the special counters. Centre appoints former Union Home Secy V K Duggal as nodal officer for relief & rescue operations in U’khand Jun 21 The Centre today appointed the former Union Home Secretary V K Duggal as the nodal officer for relief and rescue operations in rain-ravaged Uttarakhand. After an hour-long review meeting on relief and rescue operations, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said there is an impression that lack of coordination among different agencies involved in the relief and rescue operations is hampering the government's mitigation efforts. Mr Shinde said, Duggal will operate from Dehradun from tomorrow. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Mr Shinde said, 34 thousand people have been evacuated in the flood-hit state. The Home Minister said, more than 49 thousand are still stranded and 207 people confirmed dead in the disaster. He said, 44 helicopters are currently deployed in the affected areas for relief and rescue operations. Mr Shinde added that more troops can be deployed if needed in the state. AIR correspondent reports, the review meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministries of Home, Defence, Food, Surface Transport and National Disater Management Authority which decided that all-out efforts will be made to give relief to the affected people by making available all infrastructure and materials. The Home Minister will visit Uttarakhand tomorrow to oversee the relief and rescue operations. Azad: No shortage of tuberculosis drugs Jun 21 Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today said there is no shortage of tuberculosis drugs in the country and the Ministry has already placed orders for new stocks which will arrive within a month. Talking to reporters after inaugurating the private ward at LRS Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases in New Delhi, Mr. Azad said his Ministry always keeps adequate stock for tuberculosis drugs. He, however, acknowledged that despite socio-economic development and advances in medical science, tuberculosis still remains a major public health concern globally.