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Pure Politics

 AMAN SH ARMANEW DELHI

 A bnormally high amount of rain, risingtemperatures in May and June that madeglaciers melt and “haphazard human in-

tervention” through rampant construction inareas which have been geodynamically activeespecially since the 1999 earthquake made aconducive environment for the catastrophe inUttarakhand, a government report has nowconfirmed.

The report prepared by the National Instituteof Disaster Management (NIDM) under the ae-gis of the Union Home Ministry has now recom-mended a detailed study to be conducted to iden-tify the lessons to be learnt from the disaster, apolicy be formed to discourage improper con-structions and drawing up of guidelines for pil-grimage places. “The hazard turned into a ma-

 jor disaster when people along with theirproperties and infrastructure occupied such ar-eas without adequate information, knowledge,awareness and preparedness against the poten-tial disaster. A huge crowd was present in thevalley as tourists, pilgrims and trekkers besidesthe local population, businessmen, tour/guesthouse operators. When the water in the riverstarted growing, these people could not under-stand what is likely to happen next. By the time,they realized the event, they were alreadytrapped into it and could not find ways to es-cape,” the NIDM report has pointed out.

NIDM’s associate professor Dr Surya Prakashtravelled for over a 1,000 kilometers in these ar-eas to prepare this report. Abnormally highamount of rain on June 16 and 17, to the tune of 400% more than expected, triggered the disas-ter, his report says. “Heavy (64.5mm - 124.4mm)to very heavy rains (124.5mm – 244.4mm) on 16and 17 June in several parts of the State has beenattributed to the fusion of westerlies with themonsoonal cloud system,” the report says,pointing out that the worst-affected Devprayag

area alone received nearly 300 mm of rain on thetwo days. Heavy rain was however not the onlycause for the swelling of the Alaknanda riverand its tributary, Mandakini . “Besides the rainwater, a huge quantity of water was probably re-leased from melting of ice and glaciers due tohigh temperatures during the month of Mayand June. The water not only filled up the lakesand rivers that overflowed but also may havecaused breaching of moraine dammed lakes inthe upper reaches, particularly during the lateevening on 16 June,” the NIDM report mentions.

The breaching of the moraine dammed lake – Gandhi Sarovar – made Mandikini change itscourse, an event which exposed the rampantconstructions in this area. “The Alaknanda andits tributary Mandakini occupied their flood

ways and started flowing alongthe old courses (west side)where human habitation hadcome up with passage of time.Most of hotels, shops and guesthouses / lodges were located onthis side and got washed by thefurious river,” the report says.

The rivers were destructive asthey were loaded with sedi-ments, stones and rocks due to

increased surface flow and rise of river bed dueto disposal of debris into the rivers from the con-struction activity. “The area has been denuded toa great extent due to deforestation and tree cut-ting for road construction, building construc-tion, mining and hydel projects. The sedimentloaded river eroded whatever came in its way,”the report says. The massive earthquake in 1999had made the area geodynamically active. “Geo-logically, the rocks in this area are found highlydeformed, degraded and dissected by structuraldiscontinuities and drainages. Seismo-tectoni-cally, the area is traversed by several lineaments,faults and thrusts…the 1999 earthquake causedloosening of rock masses, ground cracks andlandslides,” the NIDM report says.

Haphazard ConstructionsReason for Disaster: Report

OUR POLITICAL BUREAULUCKNOW

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has said that de-spite a High Court ban onholding caste-based rallies,her party would continue toorganize as they were meantfor bringing all castes togeth-er and not divisive in nature.

She said that the courtshould instead consider ban-ning religious organisationslike the Vishwa Hindu Par-ishad (VHP), RashtriyaSwayam Sewak Sangh (RSS)and Bajranj Dal, who governa politica l party like the BJP.

Speaking to the press onSunday, Mayawati said thatthe High Court had recentlybanned caste-based rallies inthe state. “But we must bearin mind that our society isstill based on caste structur-es. Some castes like SC/STOBC’s have been suppressedfor ages and are now trying tocome up. The rallies that theBSP organised recently arenot for creating a division oncaste lines but bringing sev-eral castes together. Thisshould be seen positively. Forthe BSP social upliftment of suppressed castes comes firstand politics later. We will con-tinue to organise ‘Sarva Sa-maj’ rallies, which are meantfor a broader society”.

She said that the rallieswould be under the rightspirit of the constitution andif some parties would haveobjection BSP would makesmall changes. Mayawatisaid that the Courts shouldinstead ban organisationslike the RSS, VHP and Baj-rang Dal which are religiousin nature.

She said that not only arethese three organisations af-

filiated to the BJP but also de-cide its Prime Ministerialcandidate, an oblique refer-ence to Narendra Modi beingmade the campaign commit-tee chief of the BJP.

She said that the Gujaratchief minister recent com-ments related to 2002 killingsin the Gujarat riots to thedeath of an animal were de-plorable and she condemnedit. She said that the GujaratCM should study the consti-tution which is not based onHindutva and does not allowfor divisive politics.

She said that the recent Su-preme Court order regard-ing convicted leaders wouldbe liable for much misuseand, the Centre should ap-peal against it.

CASTE CALCULATIONS

Rallies Unite, notDivide: Mayawati

PRESS TRUST OF INDIAPUDUCHERRY

The controversy-hit Kudanku-lam Nuclear Power Project(KNPP) will start its initialproduction of 400 mw electric-ity within 20 days, Union Min-ister V Narayanasamy said onSunday.

“Yesterday, they started thecritical ity. The production of electricity will be started innext 20 days,” Narayanasamysaid. He said initially 400 mwof electricity will be generatedfrom the plant.

“After another 15 days, theproduction of 1,000 mw of elec-tricity will be started,” theMinister said.

The coun-try's first 1,000mw pressur-ised water re-actor had lastnight attainedcriticality, set-ting the stagefor power gen-eration.

“All parameters are workingwell and everything is safe inthe plant,” said Narayanasa-my, Minister of State in thePrime Minister's Office.

He said the allegations raisedby non-government organisa-tions over the safety of theplant are “not borne out of anytruth”. “Scientists had saidthere were no security threats.There are seven layers of secu-rity system. The plant is verysafe,” the Minister added.

The project in Tamil Nadu'sTirunelveli district was hit bydelays since December last fol-lowing protests by locals rais-ing safety concerns.

It was given a go-ahead by theSupreme Cour t in May.

KudankulamNuclear Plantto Startin 20 Days

India’s first1,000 mw

pressurisedwater reactorhad last nightattainedcriticality

MOMENTS FROM DISASTER Abnormally high rain, high temperatures in May and June, “haphazard human

intervention” through rampant construction and 1999 earthquake all became the causes for destruction

What Led toDisaster?

 ABNORMALLY HIGH RAIN

Heavy (64.5mm—124.4mm)to very heavy rains(124.5mm – 244.4mm)on 16 and 17 June 2013.

CAUSE OFHIGH RAIN

Fusion of westerlieswith the monsoon

cloud system

HIGH TEMPERATURE: Besides the rain water,a huge quantity of water wasreleased from melting of ice andglaciers due to high temperaturesduring May and June

RIVERS SWELLEDAlaknanda and its tributary

Mandakini started flowing alongthe old courses where humanhabitation had come up with

passage of time

400%Rise in

Rainfall

HAPHAZARD HUMAN INTERVENTION

Area was already denuded to a greatextent due to deforestation for construc-tion of roads, mining, hydel projects

OLD BAGGAGE: Earthquake on 29 March1999 of 6.8 on Richter scale in this areacaused loosening of rock masses, groundcracks and landslides. The area had becomegeodynamically active

RESULTIncreased surface flow and riseof river bed due to disposal of

debris into the rivers

BAN RELIGIOUS GROUPS

The Court shouldconsider banningreligious organisa-tions like the VHP,RSS and Bajranj Dal

MASOOD HUSSAINSRINAGAR

The engineering feat to extendtrain service to Banihal hastriggered a situation that rail-way officials see nothing shortof a nightmare. As crowds govisiting the 11-km tunnel, theofficials are finding it hard tomanage the crowd that is dou-ble than the available c apacity.

Last week, the confrontationbetween the railway officials andthe commuters reached a levelthat the last train from Banihalwas cancelled. Officials said itwas filled beyond the capacityand the commuters refused toget down and lessen the load.

It’s not picnickers alone.Thousands of people includingstudents, labour force and of-fice goers, who otherwise hadto stay in Srinagar, are shut-tling between home and thework place. “It’s damn cheap – .̀ 15 between Srinagar and Bani-hal,” said Reyaz Khan, whose

Problem ofPlenty forBanihal Rail

NIDM reportrecommendspolicy todiscourage

improperconstructionsand rules forpilgrimages

NEW DELHI The thoughtful construction style of the Kedarnath templesaved the 11th century structure from any serious damage during lastmonth's devastating floods, says an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) of-ficial, adding that a barrier would be constructed to protect the shrine from

any future calamity. “The safety of the structure despite this calamity is because of itsorientation and style of construction. The domes of the temple are interlocked witheach other using iron clamps; that is why they are intact. Only loose and cracked stonesof the temple have come out," BR Mani, ASI additional director generalsaid.—IANS

Thoughtful Construction Saved Kedarnath Temple

Product: ETNEWDelhiBS PubDate: 15-07-2013 Zone: DelhiUpcountry Edition: 1 Page: ETDUPECO User: jjain3010 Time: 07-14-2013 20:50 Color: CMYK

family works in Kashmir formost of the year. “If you stay inSrinagar, it costs .̀ 5,000 perhead per month and now youhave a facility that you can behome daily.” As people save ontime and costs, the rail is mas-sively popular.

Rahul Rai, the stations man-ager at Banihal said there wasno day when less than 3,500 pas-sengers boarded the train toKashmir.