Capital Chronicle
The Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat caught his detractors both within the saffron party and outside it on the wrong foot by declaring on state foundation day that a gargantuan sum of Rs 25000 Crore would be spent on infrastructural development of Gairsain located in the Chamoli district and nearby areas. He also announced that a road-map of ten years would be prepared for the summer capital of Uttarakhand. Politically speaking TSR has played up the Gairsain card very well up till now as it was he who had the gumption to declare the small sleepy town located at centre of the state amidst lofty Garhwal and Kumaon hills as the summer capital of the state. It is imperative that the CM wants to keep the momentum going on Gairsain which is associated with the aspiration of the statehood movement which culminated in creation of Uttarakhand out of Uttar Pradesh (UP). In coming months TSR could conjure up a separate district of Gairsain and even accord a permanent capital status to the existent summer capital ahead of the crucial assembly elections slated in early 2022 and stir up the sentiments associated with Gairsain for electoral gains.
Covid Challenge
The spurt in the number of Covid-19 patients in the state triggered by blatant flaying of social distancing norms by general public during the ongoing festival season is posing a serious threat to safety and is a major challenge for the authorities. To add to the woes of the state which in last one month was showing clear signs of flattening of the curve of the disease, the national capital region (NCR) of Delhi is amid third wave of the disease. The proximity of the state to NCR and large scale movement of people from their especially during the ongoing festival season makes Uttarakhand vulnerable. The Himalayan state which has limited resources at its disposal can ill afford to have a new wave of the disease at this juncture where the front-line health workers are undergoing severe fatigue for having worked constantly for months together. To make the matter worse, the health system of the state already reeling under severe shortage of manpower has made no provision for nurturing workforce which could act as the second line to replenish the accretion of front-line workers by fatigue and illness. In such a circumstance observing social distancing norms and wearing masks seem the only option available for the people to keep them safe.
Missing Babu
A Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) deployed in a small mountainous district of the Himalayan state is said to be so frightened with the prospect of working in the area where natural disasters are more of a norm than an exception that he has virtually vanished from last three months. The locals have interesting stories of his endeavor in the district in the initial days of his posting which narrate how he refused to cross a suspension bridge over a small rivulet on spate which was needed to visit a primary school damaged by incessant rains. He also took pains to visit a disaster affected village that was located only eight km from his office only on the eight day of the disaster and that too when the DM was scheduled to visit the area. It is learnt that the DM was contemplating action against him but the missing Babu’s fortune favoured him when the DM was unceremoniously removed from her post for entering late into a video conferencing session presided over by the CM.
Friday, 13 November 2020 | Gajendra Singh Negi | Dehradun
