UTTARAKHAND

The Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun has carried out a study on the incidents of landslides in the vicinity of hydro projects and has prepared a report on landslide studies in commissioned / under construction hydro projects utilising remote sensing and GIS technology.The study revealed that landslide activities around hydropower projects are not related to the construction activity of the project while the topography, geological conditions and rainfall have been found to be the major causative/ triggering factors of landslide activities.

According to official sources, the IIRS carried out the study in nine NHPC power stations/ projects which include Dhauliganga in Uttarakhand, Subansiri Lower in Arunachal Pradesh, Teesta-V and Rangit in , Salal, Dulhasti and Uri-II in Jammu and Kashmir, Chamera-I and Parbat-II in Himachal Pradesh. The study undertook preparation of landslide inventory maps 10 years before the start of construction of the project upto the current status of the project/ power station. The report highlights that in most of the cases, the landslide area decreased considerably in comparison to the landslide area observed before construction of the project. According to the report, it appears from the temporal statistics that in most of the cases, the construction of hydropower projects and related activities and post commissioning hydrological condition might have helped in stabilising the area. Further, the size of hydropower projects, size of reservoir, local geology, Soil and land cover conditions (especially vegetation cover) seem to play some slope stabilisation role for mitigating landslides in the project areas.

The report has been prepared with the help of satellite image-based interpretation, subject to resolution and availability of satellite image.

Additional chief secretary Radha Raturi chaired a meeting with hoteliers, tour operators and Teerth Purohits along with officials concerned regarding the Char Dham Yatra slated to start next month. She said that this year more pilgrims are expected to undertake the Yatra compared to the previous year. Considering this, the government is reviewing preparations at all levels.

She directed officials to ensure that the power and water supply is proper before the portals of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri are opened.The online registration process should be simplified further. She appealed to representatives of various fraternities concerned asking for collective efforts to send a positive message regarding the Yatra.

With the Met department predicting a hot and dry summer this year, theUttarakhandgovernment has decided — with the onset of the wildfire season in the state — that the players involved in making chir pine needle products will be given a whopping 70% relaxation inGSTfor five years.

Moreover, the forest department will create a “special corpus” to make payments to all the NGOs involved in the collection of pine needles from forests. Also, the transit fee for the transportation of pine needles would be reduced. The meeting was chaired by chief secretary SS Sandhu and attended by senior forest officials. The clearance of pine needles from the forest floor is important, because an Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) study during lockdown had established that a staggering 70% of the forest fires are related to anthropogenic activities. Pine needles (leaves of pine trees) are highly combustible and often, a carelessly-tossed beedi or matchstick in a chir pine forest is known to have triggered a major wildfire in the hills. According to forest department, Chir pine forests are spread across around 3.94 lakh hectares of total forest area in the state and the trees shed at least 15 lakh metric tonnes of pine needles annually, leading to highly inflammable conditions in forests, especially during summer.
Incidentally, out of 13 different types of trees classified by the forest department here, chir pine has the highest area — almost 15.25% of the total 25,86,318 hectares.

TheUttarakhandState Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) and Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to “strengthen and densify theweather forecastingnetwork in the state.”

As per the MoU, the IMD will identify places in the hills where compact radars, automatic weather systems, snow gauges and more rain gauges would be installed for pin-pointed weather forecasts.

With the crucial assembly round the corner, the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has intensified his visits to different parts of the state. In the short period of the time the young CM has left a mark with his hard work, diligence and has shown the ability to understand the pulse of the people. Showing flexibility he has not hesitated to undertake a roll back on the issues such as Devasthanam Board.

The economy of the state is stable and whatever announcements are being made by me are done after necessary financial clearance. These announcements are being followed by the government orders.

In a major decision, the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has directed that themeetings of the State Cabinet should be held in the villages.

The government would also launch the Mukhyamantri Paryavaran Mitra scheme in Uttarakhand in an attempt to encourage sanitation and cleanliness in the villages. Under the scheme, one sanitation worker would be deployed in every village of the State. Dhami gave the above directives during his meeting with the officers of department in the State secretariat on Thursday. He said that the Mukhyamantri Chaupal scheme would be launched under which he would take part and stay in the village during night. He directed that the foundation day programmes of the Gram Sabhas should be organised in the villages.

He said that the officers and the public representatives would take part in the Chaupals and for it a village wise roster would be made. Dhami said that a plan for development of the village would be prepared on the basis of the suggestions received in the Chaupals. He said that the real India resides in villages and special emphasis on the development of the villages should be done for the all round development of the State. He said that the officers should focus on setting up model villages in the State and for it a master plan should be prepared. The CM opined that short term and long term targets should be set up for rural development. He suggested that the best practices of other States should be studied and implemented if found suitable.

The Panchayati Raj minister Satpal Maharaj said that effective efforts should be made to strengthen the economy of the villages. He said that the village Pradhans should be given Rs 10,000 as disaster fund.

Uttarakhands biggestbiodiversity parkwill be set up at Garhwals Muni Ki Reti. Dubbed the Shiwalik Park (SBP) and spread across 50 hectares of land, its aim is to conserve the natural landscape of the area. The park is expected to bring in around 5 lakh tourists who visit Rishikesh every year. It will have 33 types of conservation concepts, all developed at the cost of Rs 65 crore. The project will be executed in three phases over the next five years. Interestingly, the park is expected to generate EMPLOYMENT for at least 7,000 people, according to preliminary estimates by forest authorities.

Objectives behind building the park include Biodiversity conservation, promotion of natural products (testing, processing, value addition, Marketing, and quality control), livelihood enhancement, eco-restoration of degraded forests, nature Education, promoting responsible visits to the Himalayan natural treasures, and TEACHING the importance of various types of Ecosystems. The SBP is divided into two parts, the Herbal Eco-Par, spread across 6.32 hectares, and Nature Park Area, across 43.05 hectares.

The biodiversity park will also have miniature replicas of iconic sites in Uttarakhand such as the Char Dham shrines. It will have a valley of flowers with a water body, a nature Learning centre, butterfly conservatory, open-air aviary, a theme-based Light and Sound show called ‘Conservation of the Maa Ganga River’, a natural herbal haat, a conservation park, some livelihood-based activities, five nature trails, and a Sanskriti Gram.

The biodiversity park would have a Shivalik transition zone, a rich ecotone, hillside grasslands, gentle active plains, tropical deciduous forests, bushlands, and upper Bhabar landscapes. These different landscapes would be interconnected by nature trails and would support more than 1,000 species of Plants. The park is surrounded by the main Char Dham roads, NH-58 and NH-94, which is why the department is expecting a handsome income generation through the set-up.

Continuing the trend of following up on announcements made by chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the has issued a government order regarding approval for Rs 22.24 crore aimed at facilitating self reliance of Yuvak Mangal Dals and Mahila Mangal Dals under the Prantiya Rakshad Dal (PRD) in the state. The amount approved as per the government order will be utilised to provide financial assistance to Yuvak Mangal Dals and Mahila Mangal Dals for a period of six months.

It is pertinent to mention here that the chief minister had announced earlier that considering the appreciable work done by the Yuvak Mangal Dals and Mahila Mangal Dals during the Covid pandemic, financial assistance will be provided to them for a period of six months.