UTTARAKHAND

As fearful residents of Joshimath continue their protests over the town’s apparent sinking and appearance of cracks in their houses, Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority (USDMA) has ordered a detailed bearing capacity analysis of the border town, regarded as the gateway to Badrinath, Valley of Flowers and Auli, following cracks in almost 500 houses.
USDMA, in its latest meeting, minutes of which are with TOI, ordered the Irrigation department to “make a drainage plan and conduct ageological studyof the town”

The panel also pointed out that the damage wasn’t restricted to floors or walls of houses. It extended to ceilings, ran through houses, including courtyards and outdoor areas, and even dislocated beams, resulting in lopsided structures.

The state irrigation department has also been tasked to make a plan to stop ongoing land erosion by Alaknanda river which has been attributed as one of the primary reasons behind the ‘sinking’ by the panel.

It is ranked on 35th position amongst 56 cities in the country with a score 63.71. Interestingly Shimla which is the capital of neighbouring Himachal Pradesh (HP) is at the first position with 75.5 score .

The cities were given points on the basis of 14 sustainable goals like good Health and well being, no POVERTY, quality Education, affordable and green energy among others.

Among these sustainable goals, Dehradun has performed poorly in three categories- zero hunger, , innovation and Infrastructure, and Climate action with 45, 47 and 31 scores respectively.

The city scored 52 to 59 points in five categories- no poverty, good health and well being, decent work and economic Growth, reduced inequalities, and sustainable cities and communities.

Anaromatic garden, with over 140 fragrant plant species from all over India, like Chandan, Tulsi, Parijat, etc., planted across 3 acres of land, was opened in Lalkuan,Nainital. The garden is the countrys biggest such facility, forest officials claimed. The project has been developed by the research wing ofUttarakhand forest departmentwith Centre’s compensatory afforestation (CAMPA) funds.

The idea is to conserve, promote research of and create awareness around various aromatic species, officials said. The aroma has huge scope. Villagers can look forward to a promising livelihood from nurturing these Plants. Also, it will prevent these species from dying out. In the coming years, the garden will be spread to 113 acres, said Veena Rao, aroma plant consultant fromMaharashtra.

Work on the garden started in 2018, forest officials involved in the project said. They added that aromatic species from all over the country were brought to Nainital and conserved here, like Chandan from South India, Agarwood from North East, Kewada from coastal regions and Parijat from Terai zone.

The aromatic grass section has Java, Khas and Lemon plants while the aromatic bulbs section has Red Ginger (also called Pink Cone Ginger) and sand ginger plants. The aromatic roots section has Patharchur and Vach plants.

The House also passed the IMS Unison University (amendment) bill, the DIT university (amendment) bill and Uttarakhand Goods and Service Tax (GST) (amendment) bill 2020-21 on the day.

TheUttarakhandgovernment tabled the Economic Survey 2021-22 report in the state assembly on Friday. According to the provisional estimate for Growth rate in 2020-21, an increase of – 4.42 per cent has been estimated; while it is estimated to increase by 6.13 per cent in 2021-22.

In 2020-21, the state’s Gross Domestic Product has been estimated at Rs 2,34,660 crore at the prevailing prices of the provisional estimates. In comparison, it has been estimated to be Rs 2,53,832 crore in 2021-22. On the other hand, the per capita income (provisional) of the state in 2020-21 is estimated at Rs 1,82,698, and at Rs 1,96,282 in 2021-22. Gross Domestic Product (provisional) at constant prices (2011-12) has been estimated at Rs 1,78,912 crore in 2020-21, which has been estimated to increase to Rs 1,89,882 crore in 2021-22, which is 6.13 per cent of that of the previous year. Analysing the growth rate of the states GDP in 2021-22, lower growth rates have been seen in construction (11.61 per cent), transportation, storage, Communication and broadcasting Services (11.60 per cent), real estate, housing ownership and commercial services (10.50 per cent), other sectors (10.13 per cent), the financial sector (4 per cent) and electricity, gas, water and other utility services (2.98 per cent).

He said other Himalayan rivers flowing through the State like the Kali, Gaula and Rispana should also be treated as Gangas tributaries because all of them merge in it at one point or the other.

He said Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat responded positively to his suggestions and assured that the tributaries would be incorporated into future projects.

The Namami Gange programme is an integrated conservation mission, approved by the Union Government in June 2014, to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganga river.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off Uttarakhands first Vande Bharat Express connecting Dehradun with Delhi on Thursday.The Union RAILWAY minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami were also present at the inaugural ceremony of the trainin Dehradun.

The PM said in his address that Vande Bharatwill start a new era of comfortable travel experiences, especially for tourists travelling to the State, with world-class amenities.He said that travelling by train remains the first choice for those who are accompanied by their family members and the Vande Bharat is gradually becoming the go-to means of transportation.

He alsoemphasised the importance of connectivity in a mountain state where people from the villages migrate due to a lack of connectivity and added that the government wants to prevent that suffering for the coming generations.

Vande Bharat train is also going to help Uttarakhand to take full advantage of this opportunity”. Vaishnaw said on the launch that Railways used to receive a budget of only Rs 187 crore a decade ago for the development of Railways in Uttarakhand but the location rose under pm Modi upto Rs 5,000 crore for development.

Uttarakhand Police launched ‘Mission Housala’, which is a humanitarian initiative to help people in distress during the Covid second wave.

Under the initiative,policeare going beyond their call of duty and will conduct Home delivery of Oxygen cylinders, medicines as well as food for those who are infected with Covid-19 and unable to get any help.

Each police station will act as a nodal centre and action would be taken on each distress call received at the district control room or state level ‘112’ emergency number.

The forest department ofUttarakhandis planning to undertake a significant initiative to provide economic benefits to the high-altitude mountain communities by conducting satellite resource mapping and ground surveys of locations where the rare medicinal herb known as Keeda Jadi is found. Keeda jadi is harvested from April to June and is predominantly found in alpine pastures of the Himalayas.

Recognising that previous efforts in 2018 to regulate the collection, Marketing, and royalty of keeda jadi for the benefit of hill villagers were not very promising , the forest department has now taken the approach of estimating the total production and mapping the locations first.Subodh Uniyal, the forest minister of Uttarakhand, told media, “The villagers of the hills should be the primary beneficiaries since they live in challenging geographical areas under harsh climatic conditions.”

Keeda jadi, also known as the caterpillar fungus, is renowned worldwide for its alleged aphrodisiac properties and commands a high price of Rs 20 lakh per kilogram in the international market. However, there is still ambiguity regarding its production, collection and transportation, which is now being re-addressed after almost five years.

With 1,390 Covid deaths reported in just one and half weeks of May,Uttarakhandis now at the 9th spot across the country in the number of deaths per lakh Population and tops the list ofHimalayan statesin terms of fatalaties, as per Doon-based Social Development for Communities Foundation (SDCF), an organisation closely tracking theCovid-19pandemic in the Himalayan state.

As per the data collected from the official website of ministry of Health and family welfare, the state has reported 37 deaths in per lakh population while Delhi topped the list with 116 deaths in per lakh population followed by Goa with 112 and with 96.
According to the data collected by SDCF,Himachal Pradeshand Sikkim witnessed 28 deaths per lakh population each since the pandemic hit the country in February 2020.