Sidcul's proposals in Uttarakhand for Gas-based Plants

Amid the sluggish growth of the hydropower sector in his state, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has tentatively approved plans by State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (Sidcul) to set up gas-based power plants in the state.

“I am not aware of such proposal but as and when such a proposal comes to me, I will give my approval,” said Nishank.

With natural gas all set to reach the hill state, the government-owned Sidcul has prepared plans to set up two 300 Mw gas-based plants at Kashipur and Haridwar areas in collaboration with GAIL. This is the first diversification move by the Sidcul which had set up several key industrial estates like Pantnagar and Haridwar in the hill state.

When contacted, a government official told that Sidcul would place the proposal on the gas-based plants in the next meeting of its Board. The meeting was to be held last month but was postponed due to unavailability of some top officials.

GAIL is constructing two pipelines to bring them to Kashipur and Haridwar areas in the hill state from Uttar Pradesh in one year’s time. Since the industries are currently facing the heat of the power crisis in the hill state, the Sidcul is taking the new initiative to provide gas-based energy to these industries which includes some of India’s big names like Nestle, Tata Motors and Hero Honda.

GAIL began constructions of these pipelines last year with the construction of Karanpur-Moradabad-Kashipur-Rudrapur pipeline in the first phase with a cost of Rs 250 crore. The pipeline will be 182 km in length. Similarly, the other pipeline is being brought from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh to Haridwar district of the state.

Besides this, the Sidcul has also evinced interest in the city-based gas distribution. With people in the hill state facing shortage of liquefied petroleum gas cylinders, Sidcul is also gearing up to prepare a blueprint for the city-based gas distribution in cities like Dehradun.

Source: www.business-standard.com

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Uttarakhand government to clear Ganga of corpses

Ganga won't have to bear the burden of unidentified corpses and carcasses anymore, at least in Rishikesh.

Garhwal commissioner Umakant Panwar has submitted an interim report to the Uttarakhand government, about the state irrigation department's illegal practice of dumping unidentified corpses and carcasses on the banks of the Ganga, a few kilometres downstream from Rishikesh.
Panwar has asked the police to maintain a record of the dead bodies, conduct post-mortem and perform their last rites.The inquiry began on March 3 and it was recently submitted to chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

It all started when Nishank took serious note of a MAIL TODAY report, (Illegal & undignified dumping of the dead' edition dated February 26) and ordered a commissioner- level inquiry.
Once the probe was announced, the police decided to become more active.From March 3, they began maintaining a register at the Laxman Jhula police station in Rishikesh.

Panwar said: " We have recommended proper disposal of the dead bodies. We want the state government to give additional funds to the police for cremating the unidentified bodies at Bir Bhadra Barrage. We cannot take action against the irrigation department staff for lack of evidence."

With this, an illegal practice that is more than three decades old, has ended. Till now, the irrigation department officials have been allegedly dumping the bodies in the river while cleaning the barrage.

The department has placed an iron fence at the barrage, three km from Rishikesh in Uttaranchal, to ' net' the bodies floating in the river. This is to ensure that waste- free water flows into the Chilla powerhouse, located 14 km away.

According to reports, two boatmen used to daily look for corpses at the barrage. They would tie a nylon rope on the bodies and fasten its other end to the boat.

The bodies would then be taken to Malwala Sroath, a cremation ground on the riverbank. But instead of cremating the bodies, the men would tie them to a tree on the riverbank - so that they can't float back to the barrage - and leave them to decay in the water.

The villagers living in and around the controversial dumping site are happy about the government's action.

Chander Mohan Singh Negi, a resident of the nearby Kunao village, said: "Malwala Sroath is being used as a cremation ground by the villagers here. Very often, we had to look for other cremation sites since bodies would be rotting in the river here. Government action has been long overdue."

Source: Indiatoday.com