Aadhaar cards unlikely to be issued in Assam

NEW DELHI, Jan 27 – The Aadhaar cards issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) are unlikely to be rolled out in Assam and other North Eastern States, barring Tripura and Sikkim.

A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India related issues (CC-UIDAI) chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh decided to limit the issue of Aadhaar cards to 60 crore population spread over 16 States and Union Territories. In the rest of the States, the national identity numbers would be issued on the basis of the National Population Register.

Briefing newsmen, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that in all cases the NPR data base would prevail. However, Aadhaar numbers would prevail in those States where it has been issued. And in rest of the States, the NPR exercise would continue.

The States where the Aadhar cards have been rolled out included Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Puducherry, Tripura and Rajasthan among others.

UIDAI uses information on five fields, while NPR seeks information on 15 fields. The entire exercise of issue of NPR is targeted for completion in 18 months by June 2013, said the Home Minister.

The Cabinet meeting called today to resolve the differences between the Home Ministry and the Planning Commission over the issue of Aadhaar cards and the national identity cards, worked out a compromise formula, under which the limit of the Aadhaar cards have been fixed. The Home Ministry has now been mandated to carry out the NPR project in rest of the States.

About the security concerns flagged by the Home Ministry, Chidambaram said that UIDAI has agreed to review all the information it has collected. At the moment they have agreed to review the entire process to address all the security concerns.

The security concerns included the possibility of the cards falling into the hands of the illegal migrants and subsequent misuse of the cards to avail of the government schemes. The infiltration prone North Eastern States including Assam, were particularly referred in this regard.

Govt plans 11 tunnels on Pak, China borders including Sikkim

Govt plans 11 tunnels on Pak, China borders

Dipak K Dash, TNN | Jan 6, 2012, 01.28AM IST


The Union government is planning to build 11 tunnels in the strategically important road stretches close to the Pakistan and China borders.NEW DELHI: The Union government is planning to build 11 tunnels in the strategically important road stretches close to the Pakistan and China borders. Two more tunnels will be built in Uttarakhand to improve connectivity in the hilly state. These all-weather tunnels, which will be built by the Border Road Organization (BRO), would cover about 89km. These tunnels are expected to help rapid mobilization of troops and equipments besides providing better connectivity to local residents, officials said.

At a recent review meeting about the progress of road projects implemented by BRO, the road construction wing of the Army told the highways ministry officials that the feasibility studies of three projects are under progress. Two of them - the 12km Zojila and the 6.5km Z Morh tunnels - fall in Jammu and Kashmir and are crucial for connectivity between Srinagar and Leh. These two regions often remain cut off during winter as snow covers the highway connecting the regions. The third project has been planned near Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand.

The BRO is likely to undertake the feasibility study of another nine tunnels in J&K, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. India had stopped the road building activities in regions close to China border after the 1962 war with a view that better road network could help the Chinese forces to spread in case of an invasion. But that doctrine has been changed and several road development works are being undertaken by the BRO, which are funded by the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH).

The BRO would take up construction of two tunnels, totaling 25.4km on Balipara-Charduar-Tawang road that would improve connectivity to Tawang region throughout the year. Supply of troops in Tawang region is being met by helicopters. Two more crucial tunnels have been planned in Sikkim, which are located only 19.3 and 24.6 km distance from the line of control (LoC).

Rangpo tunnel in Sikkim that will be only 800meter long, is also expected to be built soon.

Details available from a BRO presentation made to the highways ministry show that the completion of strategic roads has so far been unsatisfactory. Out of the 18 strategic roads totaling 1,693km, only four (102km) have been completed so far. Work on about 1,096 km is in progress. "The BRO officers have told us that they face hardship in mobilization of men and material and they execute the projects under tough conditions. But they are expediting the key road networks which are strategically important and would also bring economic prosperity to neglected regions," said a senior highway official.

Amendments in the Central List of OBCs in Sikkim and other 15 states

New Delhi: November 16, 2011

The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for notifying changes in the existing Central lists of OBCs.

The National Commission for Backward Classes advised the Central Government for amendment in the Central list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for Sikkim and other 15 states. States of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and West Bengal and Union Territories of Andaman & Nicobar, Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry also include other than Sikkim.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment would make amendments in the Central lists of OBCs in respect of these States and UTs. Inclusion of these castes/communities in the Central list of OBCs would enable them to avail the benefits of reservation in Central Government services and posts as well as admissions in the Central educational institutions, thus contributing to the goal of equity and inclusiveness

Promoter holding may have fallen: Gati

Press Trust of India / Hyderabad November 15,

Gati Managing Director Mahendra Agarwal today indicated that some part of promoter-holding in the company may have reduced after its shares, majority of which have been pledged to lenders, witnessed a bloodbath on the bourses for the past three days.



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Gati's promoters, led by Agarwal, have about 49.54% holding in the Rs 17.20 crore equity base of the company. However, about 90% of their holding was pledged by the promoters to meet the funding requirements for the Hydel power project in Sikkim.

"It is a fact that about 90% of our holding is pledged. When the (stock) prices have crashed so much, there will be some pressure and some selling of shares.


"We have not got any details but I am sure they (the lenders) must have done it (sold the shares). According to the agreement, whenever the prices fall they can sell," Agarwal said.


Gati's shares tumbled to an all-time low of Rs 28.85 on Monday against the weighted average of Rs 30.85, following some media reports that there is a concern among investors on whether the company would default on its FCCBs.


The scrip today closed at Rs 29.10, down 8.06% from its previous close on the BSE.


The downslide in the scrip has built margin pressures on the promoters and the pledgees too are selling off the stock in a hurry to minimise their losses.


Agarwal said the company's finances were not as bad as they were being portrayed. He said plans are afoot to demerge shipping division, which is dragging the financials down, into a separate subsidiary.


"We are also roping in a strategic partner for the express distribution business, the core activity of Gati, so that the company will be able to access global clients," he explained.


According to him, spinning off shipping division and roping in strategic partner for the express distribution business will be completed by June next year.


While Gati would hold a minority stake in the shipping business once it is hived off, it would continue to hold a majority stake in the parent company.


"Once the shipping business is hived off, we are hopeful of seeing a cash flow of Rs 20 crore every quarter and annualised cash flow would work out to Rs 100 crore," Agarwal said.


The company is also renewing the FCCBs with Goldman Sachs at a lower rate for $22 million.


"The fresh issuance of FCCBs will be for $22 million at Libor+ 500 basis points, which works out to about 5.5%. The existing FCCBs carry a rate of about 7.98%," he said.


Meanwhile, for the quarter ended September 2011, Gati reported a total income of Rs 236.32 crore and a net profit of Rs 3.83 crore.

GST, states and Sikkim

source:Sikkim Mail

Gangtok: October 18, 2011

Goods and services Tax (GST) was proposed to be introduced across states in India by 1st of April 2010. It was rescheduled to be introduced by 2012 tentatively.

Special Commissioner Commercial Tax Division, Government of Sikkim HB Rai informed that there exist numerous bottle neck problems in respect to introduction of GST across nation. The problem being faced by the empowered committee which includes all the states Finance Ministers across nation are the thresh holds limits to be charged under GST, limitations, fixing of rates and many more. The consensus from the entire states is yet to be build up in respect to the introduction of the GSTy.

Since long the state government was only authorized to levy taxes on goods whereas the services taxes were levied by the central authority across nation but once the GST is introduced the levying of service tax will also be authorized to the state government. But the authorization of levying service tax to the state will only be met after amending the constitution.

The other factor that obstructs the introduction of GST is the formation of ‘Dispute Settlement Authority’.

Mr. Rai said that the aim of introducing GST is to make the rates of commodities across nation uniform. The introduction of GST will ensure the time saving factor of the tax payers as the paying of taxes will come under one roof. When enquired about the levying of Value Added Tax (VAT) in Sugar Mr. Rai informed that the meeting held under the chairmanship of the current chairman, Empowered Committee (EC) Sushil Kumar Modi on October 14 has proposed a resolution of levying VAT on Sugar but the implementation of VAT on sugar will only take place after availing total consensus from the members of ECs.

Informing about the total collection of taxes in state under different taxes levied like Environmental Cess, VAT, Sales Tax on items like Liquor, Petroleum products, Central Service Tax (CST), Profession Tax and Sikkim Transport Infrastructure Development Fund (STIDF) he said that under the financial year 2010-11 a total of 22.59% annual increment growth has been met by the division which amounted to collection of Rs. 177 crores. Adding more he mentioned that commercial tax division is the highest revenue generating department in the state to

How they tracked Dzongu after quake


BIJOY GURUNG



The Teesta river flows through Namprikdang, the gateway to Dzongu. Picture by Prabin Khaling

Gangtok, Oct. 14: It would have meant endless sorties and waste of fuel for choppers but for the combined technology of GIS and GPS used by the forest department to map wildlife areas that gave the pilots the much-needed coordinates to carry out relief operations in the almost inaccessible Dzongu.

Crafted by the forest department to prepare maps meant for delineation, protection and management of wildlife areas, the Geographic Information System (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS) had been an immense help to both civilian and army helicopters. In aviation science, little can be done without co-ordinates, which enables every location on the surface of the earth to be specified by a set of numbers.


The picturesque village Lachen was inaccessible by road after the quake. But the army could identify it from the air because of the dual importance of security and tourism
More than a dozen villages scattered and hidden amid dense forests of Dzongu in North Sikkim, the worst hit in the September 18 quake, had been cut off from the rest of the state because of the innumerable landslides that followed. A remote destination, the protected Lepcha reserve of Dzongu had few landmarks to identify each village. Most of the hamlets in Dzongu have hardly a dozen houses.

Little information about the extent of damage in Dzongu had reached the government and North district administration at first, prompting the use of aerial reconnaissance by army choppers and Pawan Hans helicopters operating under the Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation (STDC). But the first stumbling block for pilots was lack of addresses, or co-ordinates, in terms of aviation language.

Chungthang town and the regions above, like Lachen and Lachung, were inaccessible by road, too, and more densely populated than Dzongu. But the areas could be identified by the army from the air because of three pre-existing helipads, presence of security forces and the dual importance of border security and tourism.

In comparison, Dzongu is relatively unknown as outsiders are not allowed in this protected reserve for the indigenous tribal Lepcha community. Hence, the absence of aviation knowledge to reach and air drop relief material.

“Our pilots were familiar with the Chungthang area because of established helipads in North Sikkim and so they had had no problem reaching relief material and evacuating people. But we did not have any co-ordinates for Dzongu. Without co-ordinates, pilots don’t know where to go,” said STDC manager (operations) Tejpal Pradhan.

“Co-ordinates are like heart of aviation. Once you have the exact co-ordinates, things become much simpler and choppers don’t have to hover around, searching for the places and wasting fuel and time in the process. We got the co-ordinates of Dzongu villages from the forest department and our pilots were the first to tell the state government about the damage in Bey village in Upper Dzongu,” said Pradhan.

Bey is some 35km from Mangan, the administrative headquarters of North Sikkim. Seven villagers were killed after four houses were buried under an avalanche of rocks from the hillside following the quake. Bey and nearby villages of Sakyong and Pentong along with Tholung monastery were inaccessible because of landslides from Lingzya onward.

The coordinates helped the Pawan Hans choppers drop Sikkim Armed Police jawans, a doctor and relief material at Sakyong on September 22 in three sorties, said the STDC official.

The forest department’s knowledge of GPS and its subsequent use in Dzongu region has an interesting link. A day after the quake, state forest secretary N.T. Bhutia had been dispatched by the government to North Sikkim to oversee the relief operations and assess the damage. That was when Bhutia realised that the choppers were without co-ordinates, something that his department had.

The GPS is a satellite-based navigation system that provides information on location and time in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth. On the other hand, the GIS is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyse, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data.

By the third day of the earthquake, coordinates arrived from the forest department, enabling helicopters to land at Sakyong for the first time.

“We were lucky to have the joint director Karma Legshey who knew about the GPS technology. He was in constant touch with the army and the STDC. He used to calculate the required co-ordinates and pass it on to the pilots. The co-ordinates enabled a helicopter to land at Sakyong for the first time with rescue workers and relief material which were provided to 60 villagers there,” said the forest secretary.

Once word got around that forest department was providing co-ordinates to the STDC choppers, the army also started asking for them.


The forest department had procured GPS (global positioning system) equipment and technology through a centrally sponsored Integrated Forest Protection Scheme. “Our staff also went to train at Forest Survey of India, Dehradun for two weeks on GPS technology. Selected forest staff members were sent to exposure trip at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu. Our primary objective was to use the GPS technology in forest management and protection. Nobody knew that it would be of such immense use in emergencies,” said Bhutia.

Joint director Karma Legshey explained that the forest department had used the GPS technology to map out the reserve forests and wildlife protected areas of Sikkim over the years.

“The reserve forests and wildlife protected areas of Sikkim have been delineated out in maps and have been digitised. Villages on the fringes of reserve forests were also marked during the process. This is an ongoing process. Our primary objective was to demarcate the forest boundaries and to manage and protect the forests along with its wildlife. The use of GPS helped settle boundary disputes and planting pillars along the forest border,” he said.

The isolated villages of Sakyong and Pentong are adjacent to the Kanchenjungha Biosphere reserve and had been marked out in the map. “From the map and the software, we can calculate its co-ordinates and also the aerial distance between two villages. All these data were provided to the relief teams and pilots,” said Legshey.

Co-ordinates provided by the forest department also enabled the central teams of experts who had come to assess the damage to land in Namprikdhang, the major gateway to Dzongu. From there, the central team made its way to Lingzya by road. Another central assessment team was dropped at Sakyong in a chopper.

Summing up his experience, Legshey said: “I believe that if this process is institutionalised and facilities like this put in place in the disaster management mechanism, then it will be of great help at the state and district levels. This has to be supported by reliable communication network,” he said

A perfect recipe for disaster

by Alpa Sheth, Hindustan Times

October 13, 2011First Published: 22:50 IST(13/10/2011)


The Sikkim administration is relieved that only 60 people (0.01% of its population) died in the September 19 earthquake. An excellent report card when compared to Gujarat, where over 13,800 people (0.03% of its population) died in the 2001 quake. However, it's perhaps for the first time in the earthquake history of India that government buildings have fared far more poorly than private buildings. I was in Sikkim recently on a damage-assessment trip and I saw scores of damaged government buildings in Gangtok and elsewhere. The most glaring example was the secretariat, which will now be razed to the ground. A pity since it can be retrofitted and reused for non-critical functions. The legislative assembly building, which had undergone expensive retrofitting just before the quake, also suffered widespread non-structural damage. The same is the state of the police headquarters and a hospital in Gangtok.

While the government may rejoice bec-ause of the low casualty, the extent of damage of the government buildings in this moderate intensity earthquake is unacceptable. The performance of these buildings needs to be reviewed because they, along with some hotels, industries and institutional buildings, are perhaps the only 'engineered' buildings in the state.

The state has been growing at a rate of over 8% annually. Almost 65% of its present stock of 13,000 buildings have mushroomed in the past 10 to 15 years and most of them are made of reinforced concrete. But there are only two private qualified structural engineers in Sikkim and so it's easy to see why most of the private buildings are usually non-engineered, reinforced concrete structures, one of the deadliest building typologies in an earthquake area.

And yet, to the surprise of many earthquake engineers, the apparent damage in Gangtok, the most populous city of Sikkim, is not as bad as it was feared. A majority of buildings have suffered some form of minor or significant non-structural damage which is reversible; few have suffered structural damages. Only three buildings collapsed, 57 have been put on notice for evacuation and 15 have been ordered full or partial demolition.

A layman constructing a multi-storey in Gangtok is not even aware of the need for a structural engineer. While granting permission to build a house, the relevant government department doesn't require the involvement of a structural engineer. So the homeowner, who has no clue about earthquake engineering or ductility requirements in a high seismic zone, constructs his house only with a grid of columns and beams.

Such houses with uniform stiffness and frames on regular grid behaved well in the moderate-intensity Sikkim earthquake, but they may not do so if the quake is a high-intensity one. Those buildings that had an open storey (floors where there were no partition walls causing a sudden change in stiffness of building) collapsed or had severe structural damage.

Sikkim's reinforced concrete homes face two challenges. Being on slopes, they are connected to the earth at numerous floors and are thus subject to shaking at multiple levels. This complicates a building's performance. The second is that they do not have access to machine-mixed concrete - almost all concrete used is hand-mixed, a complete no-no by engineering standards.

The performance of government buildings in the Sikkim earthquake and engineered buildings of Ahmedabad during the Bhuj earthquake have some lessons for us: first, there are problems with how we design and construct buildings; second, designers indulge architects and allow for a lot of things that they do not quite know how to handle; third, poor quality of materials and workmanship; and fourth, most engineers and developers seem to believe that an earthquake will never strike their area and, therefore, they don't follow proper building codes and earthquake designs.

The sad part is that despite having a huge repertoire of earthquake engineering knowledge, there is no will on the part of the engineering community or the stakeholders to implement these. The pressure for improved performance of engineered buildings during an earthquake must come from civil society.

Alpa Sheth is member of the Post-Earthquake Reconnaissance Team of the National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India. The views expressed by the author are personal.

We are doing our level best,’ says NDRF head DGP JKS Rawat

Posted on September 29, 2011
source: Sikkim Mail


The 400 rescuers of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were airlifted from Greater Nodia and Kolkata on 18th September when a violent earthquake rocked the state of Sikkim. The entire teams of NRDF had reached Bagdogra airport by early morning of 19th September whereas five teams of NDRF reached Gangtok by the same evening and were further deployed to North District of Sikkim, Mangan. Two teams of NRDF were also deployed at Chungthang and Lachung respectively. One team of NDRF was based at Gangtok focusing the city and, a standby team at Siliguri.

While speaking to media, NDRF head DIG JKS Rawat, told that their first tasked was to search out the dead’s and reach in the remote areas of Mangan and Chungthang. Similarly, to assess damage of houses, requirement of food, medicines, tents, to locate medical camps, extend assistance in loading and distribution of relief materials at Mangan Helipad.

Rawat mentioned that considering the execution of task, NDRF has divided rescuers in small teams consisting of 15 to 20 personnel and with the help of local guides climbed mountains terrain of north district of Mangan and reached Bring Bong, Saffu, Biha, Shipgyar, Bey, Lingzye, Manul, Thang, Ramam, Panan, Thung and Barakh. To ensure proper search NDRF teams remained in these areas for three days self contained in all respect and provided valuable information about the damages of houses, the requirement of tents, food and medicines which helped the district administration of Mangan to plan the distribution of relief material in an organised manner. He also said that during the rescue operation, one of the NRDF team was able to extricate a dead body of a lady and of a boy named, Subrata Ranjan Nath (68 yrs) residence of west Bengal from Shipgyer village. The dead bodies of Akhil Roy (45 yrs) of New Bugaigaon, Assam and Tapan Biswas (35 yrs) of west Bengal, from Moonlight School Chungthang was found. Furthermore the NRDF team at Gangtok retrieved one dead body of Ramakanta Singh (27 yrs) residence of Dzongue from a building that collapsed at Baluakhani near Vajra Cinema Hall.

NRDF organized Medical camps on 21st September at Manul and Mangan treated 721 patients with free medicines and provided 200 tents to DM Mangan on 22nd September for the earthquake victims. Further the NRDF also recovered five dead bodies from Chungthang, Bringbong, Shipgyer and Gangtok (from collapsed building). Likewise, on 27th September, NRDF rescuers along with local guides helped villagers of Tung area to reach Mangan safely. NRDF is also helping loading and unloading of relief materials at helipads. Governor of Sikkim, Balmiki Prasad Singh visited NRDF Medical Camp at Mangan and appreciated efforts of NRDF

Sikkim earthquake: Chinese threat making Sikkim suffer

source: The Economic Times

KOLKATA: Nearly a week after the September 18 earthquake in Sikkim, relief hasn't yet reached the interior areas of this tiny state. Reason: The state lacks infrastructure, particularly roads and airfields , which would have speeded up succour to the people of the state.

Advanced landing grounds and roads had not been developed as mandarins in Delhi feared such infrastructure would help the Chinese over-run the region in the event of a repetition of the 1962 border conflict.

The Air Force is still finding it difficult to move men and equipment to the worstaffected areas. Eastern Air Command sources said mobilization would have been faster had the IAF managed to land AN-32 or a similar large transport aircraft close to Mangan, Chungthang or Lachung.

"Delhi woke up from its slumber only recently to realize that infrastructure development is required in the northeast. This shift from its Pakistan-centric approach has led to development of facilities in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. It may take some more time for infrastructure to be built in north or east Sikkim," said a state government source.

The Union defence ministry was able to successfully reason that Sikkim should be left underdeveloped for "strategic" purposes. The fear was if China were to carry out a lightning strike across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in north Sikkim, it would be able to take the entire state by using the infrastructure built by the Union or the state government.

"The philosophy was that should such a strike take place and Indian forces be compelled to fall back, the Chinese should not get access to infrastructure that would help consolidate its position ," said the official.
"In reality, this was a ridiculous strategy. China is rapidly building infrastructure on the Tibet side and lack of infrastructure on our side won't deter them. It is a matter of concern that no ALGs exist in Sikkim," said another official.

The Army is now considering a Mountain Strike Corps and may station ultralight howitzers and light tanks along the LAC. Now, IAF might also consider ALGs in north and east Sikkim .

50 tremors in Sikkim after earthquake

A senior Met official said Sikkim suffered 50 tremors since Sunday's devastating earthquake. "Sikkim has shaken 50 times since Sunday, of which only eight were felt by inhabitants. The rest measured between one and three in magnitude," state Met office-in-charge Gopinath Rana said. On Thursday night, a mild tremor struck panic in the state.

On Friday evening, Gangtok's worst fears came true when two multi-storeyed buildings in the Baluwakhani area collapsed, trapping eight people. Seven of them were rescued but one worker was missing and is feared dead. A senior At 6.10pm, an eight-storey residential building owned by a former minister collapsed, bringing down an adjacent five-storey building owned by state sports secretary Karma Bhutia. Soccer star Bhaichung Bhutia had the office of his Sikkim United Football Club in the second building. It has been raining incessantly since the quake. The area had been declared unsafe and its inhabitants were evacuated on Thursday.

PM to visit Sikkim on Sept 27

PM to visit Sikkim on Sept 27

Amitava Banerjee, Hindustan Times
Darjeeling, September 24, 2011




Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit earthquake hit Sikkim on September 27. Sikkim’s information and public relations secretary Karma Tobgay said that Singh would be visiting the state on September 27 to take stock of the situation.
The state had been hit by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on September 18 causing extensive damage especially in North Sikkim. “The government of Sikkim will be handing him a detailed report on the damages caused by the killer quake” said Tobgay.

As rescue and relief operations continued in the incessant rain the official death toll hit the 77 mark. The injured are being treated in various government facilities and also referred to hospitals outside the state.

“There are 102 relief camps operational in the quake affected areas of the state. The Sikkim government employees have decided to contribute a day’s salary for relief. The state government has already handed over a sum of Rs 12 crore, 51 lakhs and 50 thousand to various departments for immediate relief and reconstruction” added the IPR secretary.

Heavy rains since Friday night have triggered anxiety of further damage. On Friday night a five-storied building collapsed in the Baluakhani area of Gangtok after a six storied building had tilted on it. Eight persons were injured in the incident

Nature soothes quake-ravaged

Arunangsu Roy Chwodhury

  

A rainbow brings cheer to Sikkimese amid pain and sorrow

A family is on its way back home at quake-ravaged Theng from Toong in North Sikkim district on Friday. — Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

 

On Friday morning, the road was cleared up to Toong from Mangan, headquarters of North Sikkim district. Five days after the massive earthquake that struck the region, it came as a big relief to local residents as well as the Army personnel who were engaged in the gargantuan task of clearing the roads.

From Toong, the road bifurcates towards two quake-ravaged destinations, Shipgyre and Chunghthang.

“The real fight starts from here though. What we have done so far will be nothing in comparison to the challenge that lies ahead,” Sanjay Sharma, Commanding Officer of 52 Engineer Regiment of the Army asserted.

Fresh jolt of earthquake

The fresh jolt of earthquake late on Thursday has left life here further vulnerable. Just when the residents of North Sikkim district were about to emerge from last Sunday's nightmare to start life afresh, the initiative got paused once again.

Ashok Subba was searching for remnants of his makeshift home at Toong amid rubbles. The house was flattened under tonnes of debris that rolled down the mountain side during the earthquake. One of his relatives was injured.

He suddenly found a packet full of photographs in the wreckage and began showing pictures of his injured relative.

Two girls, Dali Sherpa and Nagpa Diki, were busy loading their belongings on a lorry to shift to a safer place. Dali's mother, Sonu, was waiting for them in Voong Basti under Naga gram panchayat. They have shifted to a rented house here. Sonu was silent throughout. Grief visible in her eyes, she went about making their new home liveable.

Dali, a Class X student, was injured in a massive landslide and still feels pain at the back of her head. Her school closed down after the quake and none knows when it will reopen.

People from Chunghthang, Lachen, Paigong and Lachung continue trekking towards Mangan, braving the treacherous mountain and forest paths to reach to safer places.

Shering, who trekked down from Chunghthang to Toong this morning, said that the Teesta Urja project tunnel is in good shape and he had reached Chungthang by walking through the tunnel.

He went to Chunghthang on Thursday to find his friend who has not communicated since last Sunday.

Little happiness

It started raining while returning to Mangan from Toong. When the rains stopped, a middle-aged woman's happy voice drew my attention. She was calling her son to show the rainbow that had appeared on the horizon.

Maybe it was the first time that a rainbow was visible in North Sikkim after the quake hit the district as it immediately led people to forget all their fear and pain experienced over the past few days and become delighted.

And, needless to say that nature only can do it!

source; The Hindu

Personnel of the Indian Reserve Battalion, Sikkim Police and Sikkim Disaster Management Force work on a collapsed building at Vajra Hall near Gangtok. Photo: PTI

Centre gives Rs. 50-crore grant to Sikkim

Ananya Dutta

Source: The Hindu  

The Hindu It’s relief and smiles as evacuated children get down from an IAF chopper at Mangan in Sikkim. Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

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Low intensity quake in Sikkim again Sunday saved monks but reduced monastery to ruins Amid human misery, even the Kanchenjunga appears lifeless Shedding worries about faraway parents, school kids load relief supplies Chungthang remains cut off for fourth day Madhya Pradesh offers Rs. 5-crore assistance to Sikkim quake affected Himalayan mountains lose peace after the devastating earthquake Army intensifies quake rescue operation

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The Centre has allocated an immediate grant of Rs. 50 crore to the Sikkim government that will be followed by a detailed assessment to ensure the medium-term and long-term rehabilitation of the victims of the September 18 earthquake that devastated the region, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said in Gangtok on Thursday.

The death toll from the tragedy rose to 74 in Sikkim even as some areas remained inaccessible and relief material had to be airdropped, an official of the Sikkim government told The Hindu over telephone from Gangtok.

According to him, Mr. Chidambaram who conducted an aerial survey of some of the places affected reviewed the situation with Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling. He also visited some of the injured who have been admitted to a hospital in the Capital.

Mr. Chidambaram later said that both the immediate works that needed to be carried out as well as the financial position of the State in coping with the disaster were reviewed.

The Sikkim government was not short of funds and had been instructed to go ahead and spend the money for relief operations, he said. “Just to make sure that enough money is there to spend, with the approval of the Prime Minister, I have announced an immediate relief grant of Rs. 50 crores to the government of Sikkim,” Mr Chidambaram said.

He also said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted to visit Sikkim before he left for Washington, but there was no point as it was the second day of the tragedy and relief work would have been hampered. The Prime Minister would not have been able to visit the affected areas.

“He [Dr. Singh] has asked me to tell the government of Sikkim that he would visit the State first thing after his return from Washington,” Mr. Chidambaram added.

Meanwhile, the Sikkim government has been asked to prepare a memorandum on the losses suffered during the earthquake, he said.

“Without waiting for the memorandum, a Central team will come to Sikkim to make assessments. We will have two assessments ready and, based on that, long term and medium term rehabilitation programme will be drawn out,” Mr. Chidambaram said.

source: The Hindu

Ministry of Power asks NHPC to Assist Sikkim Government in Earthquake Rehabilitation

Ministry of Power has asked the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) to extend all possible assistance to State Government of Sikkim to bring normalcy to the earthquake affected areas near NHPC’s Teesta Hydel Power Station and Rangit Hydel Power Station in the State. Minister of State for Power Shri K.C. Venugopal held a review meeting in New Delhi today on the situation in the State and asked the NHPC to act on a war footing and spare its men & machinery for clearing the roads and other rehabilitation works.

The Minister also took stock of the post-earth quake situation at 510 MW Teesta Hydel Power Station and 60 MW Rangit Hydel Power Station. In the review meeting, it was decided to avail the services of seismic experts from IIT Roorkee to analyse the earthquake data and conduct the earthquake impact study at the dam sites of NHPC in the region and more specifically those in Sikkim. Apart from this, an Expert Team of Geologists, Engineers and senior executives of NHPC from its Headquarters in Delhi was also asked to visit the site and submit report to the Ministry. Power Supply position in Gangtok was also reviewed and Power Grid Corporation was instructed to expedite restoration of power. North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) was also asked to compile the seismic data collected from its power stations in North Eastern States for further analysis at IIT Roorkee.


…


MA/VN
(Release ID :76168)

SIKKIM Earthquake Update as at 5 P.M. Today

Earthquake Update as at 5 P.M. Today


Ø The Number of deaths as reported by the State Government of Sikkim is 71. This may increase further as rescue and release teams reach further into interior areas. The break-up of death toll is as follows- East District- 12, North District-54, West District -4 and South District-1. 58 persons are injured.


Ø Ten teams of NDRF consisting of 403 personnel along with necessary equipment have been deployed for search and rescue operations. Three teams of NDRF which were located at Gangtok have moved to Mangan and two teams already located at Mangan have been deployed for search and rescue operations in villages Ramam, Lingzya and Dzongu.


Ø Two teams of NDRF comprising 14 personnel and 16 personnel each have been deployed at Chungthan and Lachung respectively.


Ø The doctors of the NDRF team deployed at Mangan with medical detachment have set up a medial relief camp at Manul Mangan.


Ø 827 ITBP personnel are engaged in rescue operations and have also set up relief camps where rescued villagers have been given shelter.


Ø The State Govt. has opened relief camps in each district. 2700 and 550 people have been provided shelter into Army camps and ITBP camp (Pengong) respectively.


Ø A total of 5500 Army personnel located in Sikkim have been pressed into relief and rescue operations. Out of this, 94 Army columns (strength of columns varies from 15-40 personnel each) have been deployed for rescue operation. Rescue columns comprising 281 personnel deployed at Mangan have set up Integrated Command Centre.


Ø 94 villages have been physically covered by the team of Army jawans in their search and rescue operations.


Ø 21 Engineer columns have been deployed for restoration of communication on national highways in conjunction with BRO.


Ø A medical team comprising 19 doctors (Surgeon – 4, Orthopedician – 6, Anaesthesian – 5, Neuro Surgeon – 2, and medicine – 2) was deployed by the Ministry of Health, Government of India from Delhi on 19th September, 2011. A team of 10 doctors have reached Chungthan on 20th September 2011 and remaining 9 doctors have been deployed at STNM Hospital, Gangtok.


Ø 940 civilians have been treated at Military hospitals. 28 civilians evacuated by Army helicopters are currently under treatment at Military Hospitals.


Ø About 8000 food packets have been air-dropped in the northern part of North District.


Ø 15 helicopters of Army and Air Force have been pressed into relief work. For airdropping and reconnaissance, 100 sorties have been carried out so far.


Ø 2800 people have been provided shelter in 8 relief camps established at Darjeeling (01), Gangtok (04), Chungthan (02) and Pagong (01).


Ø In Chungthan ,about 2000 people have taken shelter at Gurudwara. Other temporary shelters are at Lingzya (20), Sakyong (30), Pentong (25), Ramam (30), Shipgyel (50), and Jongu/Saffo (30) in North District.


Ø One Joint Secretary from MHA has been deputed to Sikkim to coordinate the relief operations.


Ø The following roads have also been opened for traffic :


(i) National Highway 31-A from Siliguri to Gangtok
(ii) National Highway 55 - Darjeeling to Siliguri
(iii) Gangtok – Rangrang and Mangan
(iv) Mangan – Chugthan (upto 12 kms)
(v) Gangtok – Natu La. (56 km – 15 km open)
(vi) Damdim – Alagarh – Rishi – Pedong,
(vii) Kupup – Natu La


Ø The following roads are still blocked :
(i) Chungthang – Lachen (22 kns.)
(ii) Chungthan – Lachung (24 kms)
(iii) Pedong – Kupup (49 kms)
(iv) Rangpo – Rorathang.(10 kms.)


Ø Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and Army Engineers are working for restoration of different roads.


Ø Power supply is normal except in the northern part of North district.


Ø Landline and microwave links are operational. The present status of the operational mobile towers/BTS vis-à-vis total number is as follows, Vodafone-147(167), Reliance-41(54), Idea-42(42), Aircell-45(55), Airtel-65(69), BSNL-102(122).


Ø 3000 nos. of blankets, 400 nos. of tents, 200 stoves, 500 tarpaulin and 0 water purifier have been dispatched to the affected areas.


Ø The Union Home Minister visited Sikkim today to review the arrangements of rescue and relief post-earthquake. On behalf of the Prime Minister, the Home Minister announced a grant of Rs.50 crore for the purpose.


*****
OK/KS





(Release ID :76167)

Centre to give Rs. 50 crore grant to quake-hit Sikkim

PTI

The Centre would give Rs. 50 crore immediately as grant for relief and rehabilitation work in quake-ravaged Sikkim where nine villages are still cut off in the North district, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Thursday said.

After assessment of the situation, medium and long term rehabilitation programme would be drawn up in the state, he said, adding the Centre would work shoulder to shoulder with the state to restore normalcy.

“The Centre will immediately release Rs. 50 crore as grant for the relief and rehabilitation work in Sikkim though the state has enough funds”, Mr. Chidambaram told reporters after meeting state Chief Minister Pawan Chamling here.

He said the Prime Minister would visit Sikkim after his return to the country from abroad.

Mr. Chidambaram said relief work has started in most of the affected places but “nine villages in the North district are still cut off but the army assured me that they will be able to reach there soon“.

Around 6,000 people are sheltered in the relief camps and the immediate work was to send relief to them, he said, adding that food dropping was done in most of the affected areas.

Efforts were on to restore electricity and communication and soon the work would be completed, he said.

Earlier, Mr. Chidambaram who arrived at the Libing helipad here at 9.15 a.m., interacted with the quake victims at the STNM hospital here.

On day three, alternative road in Sikkim opened

by Sushanta Talukdar
The Hindu
PTI

On the third day after a devastating quake hit the northeast, including Sikkim, the 95-km-long alternative road from Gangtok to Mangan, the headquarters of North District of the State, was opened for vehicular traffic on Tuesday.

While almost all the buildings in the town have developed cracks due to the impact of the high intensity earthquake on Sunday (6.8 magnitude), the worst-hit Chungthang, about 28 km from here, and other areas such as Bay, Saffo, Pegong, still remain inaccessible.

The death toll in the State, according to official figures, has gone up to 50.

District Medical Superintendent P.K. Basnett told The Hindu that the so far bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. “I have received official intimation that a large number of bodies, which have been recovered from places like Chungthang and other worst hit areas, would be brought or post-mortem. I don't know how we are going to handle such a huge number,” she added.

News is doing the rounds among the local residents of Managan, that many bodies are still buried under the debris of a tunnel of a hydel power project that collapsed under construction at Chungthang on river Teetsa. However, Collector S.K. Pradhan and Senior Superintendent of Police B.K. Tamang are camping in Chungthang to oversee the rescue operations being conducted by 200 specially-trained personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Army troops. Hence, they could not be contacted for confirmation.

The entire town presents a horrifying picture of collapsed buildings or houses showing dangerous cracks. Most men, women, children, still haunted by the nightmarish quake, sleep outside their houses, some in the open spaces of the town. The Ringhim monastery and the Ambithang Church collapsed, killing one person.

Another rescue team of the NDRF that arrived in the evening in the town is scheduled to begin search and rescue operations in the worst-affected areas.

Over 3,000 people in Sikkim rescued

PTI

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The Hindu Army and ITBP personnel are engaged in road clearance work in Bitu village, 10 km away from Gangtok town on Tuesday. Rescue and relief operations are on in full swing for the third consecutive day in the areas of Sikkim. Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

Using helicopters, heavy lift transport aircraft and infantry troops, defence forces have rescued more than 3000 people in the quake-hit areas of Sikkim and efforts intensified to extricate people trapped under the debris of collapsed structures, senior officers said on Tuesday. An Army personnel died in a landslide during rescue operation.

Reports said Vijay Kumar (52), Junior Engineer, Civil of Junior Reserve Engineering Force, an engineering team under Army died on Sunday in a landslide. The Army personnel hailing from Uttarakhand rushed for the rescue operations, after the earthquake struck Sikkim.

IAF has airlifted more than 500 troops there, including the medical and engineering teams and is conducting sorties of heavy lift transport aircraft and choppers from Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Bagdogra to ferry troops and ensure supply of medicines and food.

“There are eight to 13 helicopters which have been pressed into service in conjunction with the Air Force. 35 heavy engineering plant equipments have been deployed to restore roads and communication lines,” Deputy Director General of Military Operations Brigadier Ranbir Singh said on Tuesday.

Rescue efforts covering 62 villages and 20 medical centres have been set wherein over 370 people have been treated and 8 relief centres have been established where over 2700 people have been provided shelter, Mr. Singh said.

On rescue efforts in Mangan -- epicentre of the quake which hit Sikkim on Sunday, he said, “281 troops have reached Mangan, including four medical and two engineering teams. A relief camp has been established there and communication teams are working to establish telephone lines.”

The aircraft deployed includes two newly inducted heavyweight C-130 J which airlifted more than 200 personnel of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to Kolkata.

Twenty medical centres have been set up in the quake-affected areas in Sikkim and 11 cook houses to provide relief.

“The air bases around Delhi and Bagdogra were activated within few hours of the tragedy. The first flight of C-130 J with about 100 NDRF personnel and five tonnes of equipment took off at around midnight and landed in Bagdogra at 0200 hours on Monday,” Principal Director Operation (Transport and Helicopters) Air Commodore A. Raghvendra said here.

The IL-76 heavy lift transport aircraft took off from Chandigarh to Kolkata and airlifted about 100 personnel with equipments and on 19th four Mi-17 and two Cheetah helicopters were activated for casualty evacuations, he said.

IAF has also flown sorties of AN-32 aircraft from Jorhat and Delhi to ferry medicines and have airlifted around 4.5 tonnes of medicines.

Brigadier Singh said that for next few days the operations would concentrate on opening other major roads in the state including Nathu La and in Gangtok which have been affected by landslides.

“So far we have conducted 16 sorties of transport aircraft, 18 helicopter sorties and have airlifted 23 tonnes of load and 500 personnel to Bagdogra,” Air Commodore Raghvendra Said.

SIKKIM Earthquake Update as at 1:00 P.M. Today

Earthquake Update as at 1:00 P.M. Today

 The road from Gangtok to Mangan is open.

 The road from Mangan to Chungthan is yet to be opened. The damage to the road is reported to be heavy.

 Two Rescue Teams of 30 personnel each from Jat Regiment were airdropped at Mangan and Chungthan yesterday for search and rescue. The team has started work.

 A team of 10 doctors from Delhi has reached Chungthan.

 The number of deaths as reported by the State Govt. of Sikkim is 50. This may increase further as rescue and relief teams reach into the interiors – The break-up is as follows: East Sikkim-12 (Rangpo – 1, Singtam – 2, Chubakola – 5, 15th Mile – 2, Sang – 1, Makha – 1); North District -33 (Mangan/Lachan – 10, Toong – 4, Chungthan – 10, Salimpokyel – 9) West District -4 (Mangalbaria -2, Geyzing -1, Kalukh-1); South District -1 (jorethang -1).

 The number of deaths in West Bengal (Darjeelling – 8, Jalpaigudi – 1, North West Dinajpur – 3) and Bihar (Nawada – 1, Nalanda – 1, Darbhanga -1, Shivhar -1 and Samastipur -2) are reported to be 12 and 6, respectively.

 5 teams of NDRF were placed at Gangtok yesterday. One team has left for Mangan at 7.15 a.m. today. Arrangements are being made to airlift another NDRF team to Chungthan.

 Two choppers are being pressed into service with the officials of NDRF and State Govt. for aerial surveillance of affected areas and to ascertain the damage and casualties.

 Food packets have been airdropped in the Northern areas of North District this morning.

 The State Govt. have informed that they have opened relief camps in each district.

 Senior Secretaries of the State Govt. have been deputed in each district.

 One Joint Secretary from MHA has been deputed to Sikkim to coordinate the relief operations.


*****


OK/KS
(Release ID :76098)

Living through earthquakes

Living through earthquakes

source: The Hindu
Comment (5) · print · T+ As a natural calamity, powerful earthquakes are in a class of their own, able to strike without warning and capable of creating widespread devastation. So it was with the magnitude 6.8 temblor that struck near the Sikkim-Nepal border on Sunday evening. At least 66 people have been killed and many more injured in India as well as in neighbouring Nepal and Tibet, China. Buildings and roads in Sikkim have been badly damaged. Reports from Tibet speak of landslides disrupting traffic, power, and water supplies. Rain and landslides have hampered relief efforts, and the central government has sent in military and paramilitary units, along with aircraft and helicopters, to help the civilian authorities. Tremors from the quake, which could be felt hundreds of kilometres away, caused panic in many cities, including Kolkata, Patna, and Lucknow. In Delhi, which experienced a magnitude 4.2 earthquake near the Haryana border earlier this month, the latest episode left many with jangled nerves.

This quake should serve as a wake-up call. Earthquakes don't kill people, buildings do, goes the old adage. But human-made structures — buildings, bridges, power plants and so forth — can be designed and constructed to withstand the sort of quakes that might hit a place. An earthquake quickly exposes failures in construction. Valuable infrastructure is destroyed and falling masonry can crush people to death. “In recent earthquakes, buildings have acted as weapons of mass destruction,” remarked one leading seismologist after the calamitous quake that hit the Caribbean island of Haiti in January 2010, killing tens of thousands of people. Poor quality construction on the island made the earthquake twice as lethal as any previous magnitude 7.0 event. As the crustal plate bearing India steadily pushes against the Eurasian plate, some experts fear that enough stress might have accumulated to unleash a great earthquake in parts of the Himalayas. Such a quake could have disastrous consequences across the highly populated Gangetic plain. Nor are places away from the plate boundary necessarily safe. The powerful quake at Bhuj in January 2001, for instance, claimed thousands of lives and caused havoc across a considerable area in Gujarat. Safety lies in ensuring quake-resistant construction. The Bureau of Indian Standards has laid out earthquake engineering codes for various structures. In addition, the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) and the Union Government's Building Materials & Technology Promotion Council have published guidelines and brochures on quake-safe construction. Turning a blind eye to such safety requirements will extract a heavy toll when an earthquake strikes.

Keywords: earthquake, natural calamity

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Comments:
It is no denying fact that earthquakes are not solely responsible for life and property destruction, but tells what lacked in the safety of various contructions whether it is a house or a bridge. What the BIS is doing is to set up certain construction norms which could hold the constructions during earthquakes and also there are initiatives from the government in this direction but the emphasis should be given from the common man while they construct houses in areas specifically that are in the chances of being hit by tremors. So we should take some resposibility on our own because our mistakes will affect not only us but our surroundings. Its a task ahead for engineers to take up the need of the hour and build strong and sustainable structures.

from: Md Nadeem
Posted on: Sep 20, 2011 at 01:32 IST
Everyone endures for safety and they rightly feel so in their home, but in reality we are not safe anywhere, anytime. Every natural calamity exposes we are at the mercy of the real indisputable, unconquered, invisible messiah. Be honest to yourself and to your countrymen, he is alongside you to shield you from every untoward incident. Every now and then it strike with such brutal force that every human achievements, science advancement, technology developed till date looks derisory. Nothing can be done to tame the unleashing havoc once the imaginary pious vessel is brimming with sin, it goanna spill mayhem some or other day like the previous day. But we optimistic humans will start afresh, cautious enough not to repeat the same mistake and will think they can withstand the calamitous force next time but we mortal tends to forget one thing. "To err is human".

from: kush
Posted on: Sep 20, 2011 at 01:47 IST
Earthquakes examine our tendency and immediate reaction to natural calamities.Since man is the son of mother nature, he seems to be puny when she is angry.Since quakes can't be prevented artificially , the only way out is spreading awareness regarding disaster management about earthquakes at district,state and national levels.

from: Saurabh Shubham
Posted on: Sep 20, 2011 at 07:10 IST
People don't follow guidelines because of two reasons: 1) Lack of proper auditing on the high rise buildings, Even if there are auditors they get bribed and they don't do their job properly. 2) The additional cost factor of the materials needed to make earthquake resistant buildings. The first one can be handled if we make stronger laws to punish those who indulge in these activities. The second factor can be overcome if there is more competition in the market leading to a drop in prices.

from: Arun
Posted on: Sep 20, 2011 at 07:20 IST
It's the need of the hour to understand the powerful nature.and make sure that what ever infrastructure we develop it must be kept in find about earth quake and tsunami

from: Gopal shah
Posted on: Sep 20, 2011 at 08:16 IST