World Bank approves $250 Million for Uttarakhand Relief

The World Bank has approved USD 250 million assistance for Uttarakhand, which was hit hard in June by rains and landslides that killed 580 people, to help the state undertake rehabilitation work and strengthen its capacity for disaster management.

“In order to respond in a timely manner, the project was fast-tracked under the World Bank’s emergency procedures and was prepared within a 3-month period,” said a release.

India had sought assistance from multi-lateral agencies like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for undertaking rehabilitation work in Uttarakhand. ADB too is expected to finalise its assistance package soon.

“A team has been in Dehradun from the day the request for assistance was sent by the government. We all know winter is quite harsh in these parts and so it was important for us to get the project going and help shelter people before winter hits them”, World Bank’s country director in India Onno Ruhl said.

Earlier, a joint World Bank and ADB team conducted a Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (JRDNA) at the request of the Indian government to rebuild the state’s infrastructure and assets lost in the June disaster.
The JRDNA has estimated the physical damages across a range of sectors and calculated the cost of reconstruction at about $661 million. The sectors covered included housing and public infrastructure, roads and bridges, water supply and sanitation, livelihoods (in agriculture, fisheries and medium and small-scale enterprises), tourism, energy and environment.

“Disasters, like the one we witnessed in Uttarakhand, can roll back decades of development and are a fundamental threat to economic development and the fight against poverty,” Ruhl said, adding that this project will focus on both reconstruction and disaster preparedness.

“It will help the government of Uttarakhand with immediate relief efforts by building houses and public infrastructure including small roads and bridges. A very important part of the project will be to help the state be better prepared for the future,” he added.
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IAF Donates Rs 8.3 Crore in PM's Relief Fund for Uttarakhand

New Delhi: After having rescued over 23,000 people in disaster-hit Uttarakhand, the Indian Air Force has now contributed for their rehabilitation by donating Rs 8.33 crore in the Prime Minister's relief fund.

The amount was collected by IAF through donation of a day's salary by its over 1.7 lakh officers and men deployed across the country, Air Force officials said here.

The cheque was presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne at the Air Force Day reception at the IAF chief's residence on Tuesday.

In one of the largest relief operations in the country since Independence, IAF played a major role in Uttarakhand after floods caused by incessant rains struck large-scale devastation there beginning June 16 night.

The Air Force airlifted more than 23,000 people -- flying more than 2,140 sorties and dropping/landing a total of 3,82,400 kg of relief material and equipment.

At the peak of its operations in the hill state, IAF had deployed more than 50 aircraft and helicopters. The operations went on till the end of July.

The IAF choppers involved in the sorties included the Mi-26, Mi-17V5, Mi-17, ALH Dhruv besides their mainstay in the difficult terrain -- Cheetah and Chetak light helicopters.

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2,500 families in Uttarakhand to get prefabricated houses

Dehradun: Uttarakhand government will build prefabricated houses to rehabilitate 2,500 families rendered homeless by the mid-June calamity in the state.

This will be in addition to a compensation of Rs 2 lakh already given to each person who lost their house in the tragedy, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna told reporters in Dehradun on Thursday while announcing the state government’s rehabilitation policy framed in the wake of the calamity.

3,100 families were rendered homeless by the catastrophic floods, out of which 600 will be rehabilitated by corporate houses and NGOs and the rest by the state government, he said.

About a dozen villages have been identified in the worst-hit Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh districts where the prefabricated houses will come up, he said.

Each prefabricated house to be constructed at a cost of Rs 6 lakh and will have two rooms, a toilet and guaranteed durability of 30 years, Bahuguna said.

“Our effort is to finish the construction of these houses before the onset of peak winter months,” he said.

He said if a targeted beneficiary does not want to live in these houses, he will be given Rs 4 lakh in addition to the Rs 2 lakh already given to him as compensation, apart from a 1000 sq ft plot free of cost to help him resettle.

However, the Chief Minister clarified that the beneficiaries will be allowed to resettle and relocated only in areas adjacent to their original homes and not in the plain areas.

In case of a beneficiary choosing not to move into the prefabricated houses built for them, they will have to take the clearance of the District Magistrate concerned to settle in a location of their choice.

Noting that the state government has not yet been able to provide compensation to Kedarnath residents who lost their property in the tragedy, Bahuguna said he will hold a meeting with them on 11 October, listen to them and then ascertain the quantum of compensation to be given to them.

Yatra to the char dhams will be resumed with the commencement of the Navratras on 5 October when pilgrims will be allowed to visit Badrinath and Kedarnath.

However, for the first week, not more than 200 persons a day will be allowed to visit these Himalayan shrines considering the condition of the newly repaired roads.

The number may be increased later, he said.

Accusing main opposition BJP of doing politics over the June calamity, Bahuguna said it should play the role of a responsible opposition and desist from instigating disaster-hit people against the government.

“We welcome suggestions from them (BJP leaders) on how to improve the pace of rehabilitation and rebuilding efforts but their going from one place to another, holding public meetings and instigating people against the government is thoroughly unacceptable,” the Chief Minister said.

Instead of finding fault with the government, they should tell people what they did while in power for those affected by natural calamities which are an annual feature in the state, he said.

Bahuguna claimed that no government in Uttarakhand had tried to help the flood hit people of the state as generously as the government headed by him.

“We have relaxed several norms to widen the ambit of beneficiaries so that no one affected by the calamity is left out. It is something never done by any government in the state,” he said.

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Sources: Firstpost.com

Haldwani - 2 Minors Die of Viral Encephalitis

Haldwani (Uttarakhand), Aug.21 (ANI): Two minors have died from viral encephalitis in Uttarakhand's Haldwani District.

Authorities fear that the death toll could go up, as at least eight others are suffering from the fatal disease.

The eight patients, all minors, are admitted to government hospital.

Senior paediatrician Amit Arya blamed the changing weather for the spread of the disease.

He said four of the eight surviving patients are in a critical condition, while the other four are improving.

However, he warned that the mortality rate in this disease is quite high.

Mosquitoes that breed in stagnant water cause encephalitis. Therefore, hygiene becomes essential in preventing the disease from spreading.

Encephalitis symptoms include headache, fever, convulsions, drowsiness, fatigue and the inflammation of the brain.

The disease has affected people in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam.


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Uttarakhand government suspends 25 doctors

The Uttarakhand government on Saturday terminated the services of as many as 25 doctors posted in government hospitals of various districts in the state, citing their absence from duty as the reason.

The doctors who have been suspended were found to be absent from their duty for the last 10 to 11 years without any permission, officials said.

The suspended doctors posted in the hilly and far fetched areas of the Uttarakhand state did not report for duty after being appointed hence their services were terminated.

Uttarakhand raises power tariffs by 5%

Bringing the industry on a par with domestic consumers, the Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC) has announced new tariffs for the year 2011-12 with an average increase of five per cent across the state.

Under the new order, the UERC has fixed rates in such a way that all consumes, including domestic, non-domestic and industrial, would have to pay five per cent more in the current financial year despite the state government’s reluctance to go in for any hike in the election year.

In its annual revenue requirement, the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), the sole electricity distribution licensee in the state, had projected a gap of Rs 2,152 crore, considering the distribution loss of 18 per cent, and requested the commission to allow a raise of 31 per cent to meet its minimum cash requirement.

“We dismissed this request and instead fixed the power tariffs with an average increase of five percent across the board,” said Neeraj Sati, secretary UERC.

Unlike in previous occasions where UERC had followed the advice of the government, this year the Commission had issued new tariffs complying with the direction of the appellate tribunal for electricity which wanted no interference in determination of the new tariffs.

Tariffs for the first 100 units would be increased by Rs 0.05 per unit, for 100-200 units: Rs 0.1 per unit and for 201 and above units: Rs 0.2 per unit. The fixed charges for all three categories have been increased to Rs 25 from Rs 20.

The UERC has also introduced fixed charges of Rs 5 per month for below poverty line consumers in snowbound areas.

No extra burden has been put on the 10,155 industrial consumers in the hill state.

For low-tension industries, the fixed charges (upto 25 kW) have been increased to Rs 85 from 80 and energy charges from Rs 3.25 per kWh to Rs 3.35/kWh.

In high-tension category, the average increase is five per cent. Last year, UERC had fixed a nominal raise of three to five per cent for the industry.

Source: Business-standard.com

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