IIT-Roorkee students among 249 rescued; over 300 still stranded
Shimla, Sep 25 : A group of 40-45 students of IIT-Roorkee, five residents of Kolkata and two German trekkers were among 249 persons rescued on Tuesday from the icy heights of Himachal Pradesh in a joint operation by the district administration and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), officials said.
Over 300 people are still stuck, sources said.
A majority of the rescued are stranded in Sissu in the Lahaul Valley as landslides triggered by heavy snow damaged the road links to Manali, official sources said.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) will start airlifting the stranded people, comprising locals and tourists, believed to be around 300, on Wednesday morning. They will be brought to Manali and Kullu towns.
They have been stranded for the past two-three days at various locations in and around district headquarters Keylong after the onset of heavy snow that hampered road links. All are safe and have been provided accommodation and eatables, officials said.
"Nearly 45 students of IIT-Roorkee were taken to an Army base camp at Sissu from where they were brought to Manali via Rohtang tunnel," an official told IANS over phone from Manali.
He said most of the stranded people were brought to Keylong, some 121 km from Manali, and from there would be either airlifted by the IAF or brought to Manali by road on Wednesday.
"The priority in airlifting will be given to old, sick and women," he added.
A government spokesperson here advised tourists not to venture into remote areas of the state as chances of snow were still high.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur visited Kullu town to take stock of the rehabilitation and rescue operations being undertaken by the state government.
He also took an aerial survey of the Lahaul Valley up to Chandertal to access the damage caused by untimely snow.
Thakur said the state has suffered a loss of over Rs 1,230 crore in the last four days. He said the state has urged the Union government to provide liberal assistance to the state.
The Chief Minister said he spoke to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman regarding the natural calamity.
He said three IAF helicopters have been provided to evacuate the tourists.
Earlier, an official statement said 200 people have been stranded at Koksar and about 300 in Baralacha Pass.
Traffic to picturesque Himachal tourist resort Manali was restored partially on Tuesday, a day after all major road links snapped after landslides triggered by heavy rains, officials said.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
