M A I N   N E W S

Threat of debris looms large over Uttarkashi town
Swati Vashishtha
Tribune News Service

Dehra Dun, July 15
With load s of debris on Varunavrat Mountain ready to roll any time, threat looms large on residents of Masjid Mohalla in Uttarkashi. About 30,000 cubic metre of debris suspended on trees in the region is posing a serious threat to residents of this area. District officials and Mr J.K. Tyagi, Deputy General Manager of the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation, confirmed that the debris was a direct threat to the residents.

With rain lashing the region, rocks have begun slipping and the administration has sounded an alert. As a precautionary measure, a part of the Collectorate has been converted into a shelter for residents of the buffer zone.

According to district officials, the treatment plan for the area needs certain alteration. As per the Rs 250-crore treatment plan three platforms were to be constructed on Varunavrat Mountain to tackle the problem of landslides. While two platforms have been constructed, work is under way on the third one. After the platforms are constructed, the administration plans to shift the debris to the nearby Ramlila ground.

Meanwhile, the affected residents have defused to vacate their houses and shops without getting compensation from the administration.

Flood toll 115, food riots in Darbhanga

Kolkata, July 15
Floods continued to wreak havoc in Bihar and Assam with the toll mounting to 115 today, even as the situation improved in North Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh.

In Bihar, where the toll jumped to 64, fresh breaches were reported in river embankments, while an Army chopper supplying relief material met with an accident in Darbhanga.

Meanwhile, according to reports, a food riot has broken out in the worst-hit Darbhanga district in Bihar where angry residents looted relief material from government godowns. — PTI

Sowing hit

New Delhi, July 15
Sowing of kharif crops, which has lagged behind due to deficient rainfall, is unlikely to pick in the coming day with the Met Department non-committal on the arrival of “revived” monsoon in the north-western parts of the country.

The Crop Weather Watch Group said the 10 per cent below normal cumulative rainfall so far in the country has hit sowing operations of most crops. — TNS