Friday, 18 August 2023 | Gajendra Singh Negi | DEHRADUN
All-weather woes
The recent spell of heavy rains in different parts of the Himalayan State has exposed the vulnerability of the all-weather road connecting the famed and revered Char Dhams. The much-hyped Rs 12,000 crore mega project was designed to provide all -weather connectivity to Char Dhams and despite the warning given by the environmentalists, the project was bulldozed through the fragile Himalayan belt. Notwithstanding the tall claims on the use of state of the art technology in the construction of the roads, it has now become apparent that the project has failed to withstand the monsoon fury. Interestingly, as large portions of the all- weather road got washed away by incessant rains, the good old small link roads have suffered much less damage and they are being used by the stranded passengers to reach safer places. The failure of the all-weather road in the monsoon test has underlined the fact that the authorities should revisit the development model for the Himalayan States (if there is any) and create a sustainable, environmentally friendly and cost-effective plan of development for the highly sensitive Himalayas.
Unity in tatters
The bonhomie generated by enthusiastic statements given by the leaders of opposition parties in Uttarakhand on the cobbling up of the INDIA alliance by the major opposition parties of the country seems to have evaporated into thin air in its very first test in the Himalayan State. In the by-election in the Bageshwar Assembly constituency being held after the death of Chandan Ram Dass, the initiative of opposition unity has suffered a serious setback. The Congress party initiated the process of dismantling the edifice of opposition unity by poaching formidable Basant Kumar from the AAP to its fold. Kumar had contested the 2022 Assembly election on the AAP ticket and cornered an impressive 21 per cent of the popular vote. The left parties, SP and UKD- the partners of the Congress in the INDIA bloc- have also decided to field their candidates even though they have no stakes in this crucial by-election.
Bageshwar battle
Even as the top leadership of Uttarakhand Congress had congregated in Bageshwar to show solidarity with its candidate Basant Kumar at the time of filing of his nomination papers for the crucial by-poll, the former chief minister and party stalwart Harish Rawat was busy celebrating Ghee Sankrant at his residence in Dehradun. Party sources point out that Rawat was not happy with the choice of the candidate in Bageshwar who had defected from the AAP only a day before the declaration of the official candidate by the party. Interestingly, Rawat’s protégée who was Congress candidate in the 2022 Assembly election had joined the saffron party after he got a whiff of the party’s plan to induct Kumar. Party sympathisers opine that the top leaders of State Congress should sink their differences if the party wishes to put up a spirited fight in the crucial by-election and the Lok Sabha elections slated next year against BJP.
