Kannur l monday l February 08, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 30 l city EDITION foreign plot brewing to defame indian tea, says modi riled by chai in thunberg toolkit? During his poll campaign rally in the tea producing state’s Dhekiajuli on Sunday, Modi was apparently referring to activist Greta Thunberg’s controversial ‘toolkit’, wherein one of the action points was to ‘disrupt yoga and chai image of India’. The other target perhaps was a Greenpeace study in 2014 that claimed Assam tea growers overused pesticides The prime minister says international forces are trying to attack India’s tea-based identity, but did not name anyone Centre Reaching out to farmers ■ ■ Assam’s happiness and progress are its tea gardens. Who knows the taste of Assam tea better than me? That’s why I always see the progress of tea workers with the progress of Assam, he said Reaching out to the tea workers, he said the Centre has alloted D1,000 crore for the sector in the budget to uplift their lot A584 crore given to 7.5 lakh by assam govt under a scheme for tea workers CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI At least 10 dead, up to 150 missing in Himalayan glacier break Five bridges washed away, 17 villages totally cut off after a portion of Nanda Devi glacier breaks off; flash floods destroy a couple of power plants in Uttarakhand V i neet U pad h yay @ Chamoli A glacier break that swept into the Rishiganga and Dhauliganga rivers in Reni and Tapovan villages, 26 km from Joshimath in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, triggered a massive flood and claimed at least 10 lives on Sunday The number . of casualties can rise because nearly 125-150 labourers working at a power project in TapovanReni are missing. Disaster struck around 10 am. A total of 17 villages got totally cut off as five bridges were washed away Residents of seven of these moved . to safer places. People of the 10 other villages are being provided help, said officials. Damages were reported at Tapovan dam on Alaknanda river, while the 13.2 megawatt Rishiganga hydropower project was completely swept away Around 176 . workers were working on these projects. Close to 250 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Indian Army and Indian Air Force joined the rescue work, said Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. The state government has announced `4 lakh each for the families of the deceased. “All our efforts are focused on reaching people and providing relief. Our brave forces are doing their job and we have support from the whole nation. Essential items, medicines, choppers of Indian Army, Air Force and state government are on standby the CM added. ,” The labourers missing are mostly from the state. Some are from Nepal and western UP ITBP . rescued 16 people trapped in a tunnel of a dam which is a part of the hydroproject. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Rawat Continued on: P9 and assured all help.  E X PRESS REA D Woman kills 6-yr-old son in Palakkad Palakkad: A woman slit the throat of her six-year-old son at their home in Pudupallytheruvu here on Sunday and told the police that she had sacrificed the child to propitiate the almighty. Shahidha, 32, of Pullakad, killed the youngest of her three children using a knife. P5 Won’t vacate Pala constituency: Kappan Kottayam: Pala is yet again on the boil with NCP leader Mani C Kappan on Sunday reiterating that he would contest from the constituency, throwing to the wind the so-called truce arrived at by his party and the LDF regarding the formula for the coming assembly elections. P4 Online ticket sale for Chepauk Test Chennai: Tickets for the second Test between India and England, to be played at MA Chidambaram Stadium from February 13 to 17, will go on sale from Monday, TNCA said. Around 15,000 tickets will be sold online. WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST YOUR LIFE COACH 30 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) Major natural disasters 1991 6.8 quake in undivided UP in October 1991 killed over 760 people, thousands of houses destroyed 1998 Malpa village in Pithoragarh district destroyed in landslide; 255 people, including 55 Kailash pilgrims, killed 1999 6.8 quake hit Chamoli district killing over 100 people. Rudraprayag district, too, affected 2013 Cloudbursts in June 2013 in Uttarakhand caused massive floods and landslides. 5,700+ killed; over 3 lakh pilgrims trapped for weeks Dhauliganga hydropower project in Chamoli district Chamoli calamity 1  Part of Nanda Devi glacier breaks off Uttarakhand india 2 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e In a worrying development, 187 students and 78 staff of Maranchery Government Higher Secondary School and Vannery Higher Secondary School in Perumbadappu panchayat in Malappuram tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday . According to the district health department, the tests were conducted among the students and teachers of these schools after a Class X student at Maranchery school tested positive for the disease on February 1. “After the student tested positive for the disease, three teachers at the school showed symptoms of the disease. Then, the health department collected samples from 582 students and 50 staff including teachers at the school last Friday Of them, . 148 students and 50 staff members tested positive,” the de- Raini Chak Lata 1,388 m 4  Dhauliganga River Record water level at 11 am in Joshimath area The 480 MW NTPC hydel project over Dhauliganga at Tapovan that was extensively damaged | PTI K e r a l a To u r i s m i s launching the MalanadMalabar River Cruise Project next week, rolling out the first of 11 types of boat rides that promise to provide individual thematic experiences and attract tourists to less-explored places in the state. The inaugural cruise boat will set sail on February 15 as part of the innovative project that aims to liven up waterways in the Rescuing of labourers from Tapovan tunnel Scary roar out of nowhere from the hills E x p r e s s ne w s Se r v i c e @ Dehradun At Reni village that is at the epicentre of the tragedy Sand, eep Nautiyal was lazing around on a bright and sunny Sunday when he heard a big roar from the hills. He looked around and spotted the horrible avalanche menacingly approaching at partment said in a press release. After this, the department also collected the samples of students and staff members of nearby Vannery Higher Secondary School. “Of the samples collected from 49 students at Vannery school, 39 tested positive and 39 employees were also found to be infected,” it added. District Medical Officer K Sakeena said the health department has taken measures to stop the virus spread in the two schools and surrounding areas. “Covid tests of the people who have come in contact with the infected persons in the schools will be conducted soon,” Sakeena said. The authorities of both schools said they had held classes following the Covid protocol. “Only a limited number of students were accommodated inside each classroom,” said ● More on P5 an official. backdoor appointments alleged in 2 more posts in Kalady sanskrit university northern districts of Kannur and Kasaragod. The first service will be on the route linking Parassinikkadavu and Pazhayangadi. The project will also help showcase Malabar region’s culture, complete with local legends and folk arts. The endeavour envisages 48 boat terminals and jetties Rishiganga merges with Dhauliganga river Rishiganga River least 5 km away . His first instinct was to rush out of his house and alert fellow villagers to flee, shouting ‘Bhago Bhago’. “Suddenly we heard a mix of a roar and a slight tremor. We saw this huge wave coming down the mountains washing off everything in its way said Nautiyal. ,” The village of 300-odd people Min warns health staff With over a lakh health workers yet to take the vaccination shot in phase I, Health Minister K K Shailaja has warned that those skipping appointment without intimation will miss the chance. The health department has taken measures to stop virus spread in the two schools and surrounding areas K Sakeena, DMO While rejected candidates for sociology dept post and Nadar Christian quota post in Malayalam dept say they have more marks or better qualification than selected persons, VC refutes charges | P4 Malanad-Malabar river cruise from Feb 15 @T’Puram Bridge across the mountains destroyed  3 livening up waterways E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Rishiganga power plant in Reni swept away  Chamoli disaster rings the global warming alarm bell E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Dehradun 265 in two Malappuram schools test Covid +ve @Malappuram  along seven rivers across Kannur and Kasaragod. Work on two terminals is over. Upholding the principles of Responsible Tourism, the project also ensures the participation of the local populace. “The project guarantees a better livelihood to people, including fisher folk, farmers, cab The project guarantees a better livelihood to people, including fisherfolk, farmers, autorickshaw drivers and handicraft and handloom labourers — Kadakampally Surendran and autorickshaw drivers, handicraft workers and handloom labourers,” said Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran. The Kerala Tourism Development Corporation will run the boats, six of which are being built in the first phase by the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation. The project is being implemented by the government’s Inland Navigation Department and state-owned KEL, with T V Madhukumar as ● More on P3 the architect.  located near the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve mostly has shepherds, farmers and workers. “Landslides during monsoon are common, but this avalanche in winter is shocking,” said Shankar Rana, another resident. At least five locals are feared missing and 180 sheep and goat were swept away by the flash floods. It was a glacial break alright, but the jury is still out on how and why it actually happened. However, the mismatch between the haste in commissioning projects in the ecologicallyfragile zone and the need to fortify mitigation mechanism suggests it was a disaster waiting to happen. Experts blame it on the lessons not learnt by successive governments, given Uttarakhand’s history of natural disasters. A former glaciologist at Dehradun’s Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, D P Dobhal, called for a detailed probe. “Lake formation must have happened, which breached today and caused the floods,” Dobhal said, adding that heavy sediments in the floodwater indicate an avalanche or glacial debris could have triggered the burst. “It will take time to ascertain the reasons as had happened with the 2013 disaster in Kedarnath. After investigation it was confirmed to be a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF),” said Dobhal. The possibility of the incident being GLOF has rung alarm bells among the glaciologists. Given that it occurred in winter, it would signal that global warming was a major contributing factor. The incident may come as a sad vindication for Ravi Chopra, the chairman of a Supreme Court-appointed high powered committee (HPC), which had recommended scrapping of 23 out of 24 hydel projects slated for construction above an altitude of 2,000 metres in the aftermath of the 2013 floods. “In 2014, we submitted a report war ning against constructing hydel projects at an altitude above 2,000 metres, noting various vulnerabilities which could result in a major disaster. Altitude above 2,000 metres is para glacial region, where heavy constructions should be avoided,” he said. P9