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Skiing contest in Auli from 26 February 2019

Snow throws life out of gear in Mussoorie, footfall dips

Gangotri, Yamunotri highways blocked

2 years after launch, city�s lone art gallery yet to get curator

Doon �Pithoragarh-Pantnagar flight cancelled till February 28

Skiing contest in Auli from 26 February 2019

Uttarakhand is all set to host a national alpine skiing contest at Auli from February 26 to 28. The event will see participants competing in Nordic skiing, cross country skiing, alpine skiing and snowboard parallel giant slalom.

State tourism minister Satpal Maharaj said, "Uttarakhand has ideal conditions to become an adventure sports hub. Tourism department organizes such events with the purpose of promoting tourism in the state." Maharaj also said that such events would help local youth find employment.

Secretary tourism department, Dilip Jawalkar said that the skiing competition to be held in Auli will be hosted by Uttarakhand tourism development council in association with Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam. The event will be organized by Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board.

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Snow throws life out of gear in Mussoorie, footfall dips

A strong hailstorm followed by snowfall on Tuesday threw life out of gear for residents of Mussoorie. This is the fourth recorded snowfall in the hill station this winter.

Shalabh Garg, a local resident, said, "Usually, snowfall is followed by bright sunshine and clear weather but this winter continues to be gloomy and cold. Hoteliers have also attributed a dip in tourist numbers to the hill station to the gloomy weather". Sandeep Sahni, president of hotels and restaurants association of Uttarakhand, said, "During the first few spells of snowfall, hotels were booked to capacity. However, prolonged cold has led to a decline in footfall. Over the past week, several hotels have reported only 10 % bookings."

The Met office also predicted that isolated places in Dehradun, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Nainital, Pauri, Champawat and Pithoragarh districts are likely to be lashed by hailstorm between Wednesday and Thursday night. An alert of heavy to very heavy snowfall has also been issued for the higher reaches of Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh districts of Uttarakhand for 24 hours starting from the night of February 20.

Bikram Singh, director of the regional meteorological centre, said, "Places located at an altitude of 3,000 metres and above would receive snowfall. The foothills are likely to be lashed by hailstorm."

Some places recorded rainfall on Monday night including joshimath, Purola, Dharchula, Mussoorie, Munsiyari, Jakholi, Ukhimath and Uttarkashi. The maximum temperatures remained below normal to normal in both plains and hills of Uttarakhand.

Dehradun recorded maximum temperature at 18.8 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal, while minimum settled at 9.6 degrees Celsius. The mercury is likely to surge as the weather starts improving after February 22.

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Gangotri, Yamunotri highways blocked

A fresh spell of snowfall on Tuesday obstructed traffic movement on half a dozen roads including Gangotri and Yamunotri national highways in Uttarkashi district while eight villages of Mori region were left reeling in darkness.

According to the disaster management department, Gangotri highway was blocked ahead of Songad, while traffic movement at Yamunotri highway was disrupted ahead of Phoolchatti area. Harsil-Mukhba, Pyara-Jhala, Kunwa-Kafnaul and Hanumanchatti-Kharsali link roads were also blocked following an overnight spell of snowfall.

District disaster management officer, Devendra Patwal, said, "Border Roads Organization has cleared Gangotri highway up to Jhala village while NHAI has restored traffic up to Hanumanchatti on Yamunotri highway. Link roads have also been restored in small patches. Traffic movement will be restored by Tuesday night."

Meanwhile, cattle breeders in Uttarkashi district said that continuous snow since January 21 has destroyed grass which is fed to their livestock. Lack of a nutritious diet has affected milk production, residents claimed. Mohan Singh Rana, a resident of Sukhi village, said, "Meadows, forests and other pastures are covered with snow due to which we are not able to graze cattle. This has affected their health and milk productivity."

Meanwhile, chief veterinarian of the district animal husbandry department De Pralayankar Nath, said, �Taking note of the situation, we have stocked compact feed at all veterinary centers in the district where cattle owners can purchase feed for their cattle. We have also directed veterinarians to conduct medical and awareness camps in their respective areas.

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2 years after launch, city�s lone art gallery yet to get curator

Uttara Museum of Contemporary Arts, the state�s first art gallery was inaugurated in September 2017 by CM Trivendra Singh Rawat at MDDA complex in Dehradun. A Jaipur- based renowned artist Surendra Pal Joshi had taken the initiative to open a public art gallery for artists and the project was excecuted by Mussoorie Dheradun Development Authority (MDDA).

It's been almost two years that the gallery was opened, but it is yet to get a curator. As a result, one can see tiles falling apart and leaking roofs of the gallery. Meanwhile, the culture department claimed that it has recently got the charge to maintain the gallery and they have already received applications for the post of curator.

Residents and art lovers alleged that within two years of its inauguration, the museum has lost its luster. A resident said, "Tiles on the walls of the museum are falling apart and rain water is also seeping inside the gallery. Either the MDDA did a shoddy work with its construction or they didn�t maintain it properly. It is the city�s lone art gallery and it should be taken care of."

According to MDDA sources, the gallery has an estimated budget of approximate Rs 2 crore and is divided into two parts � the museum and the gallery. A cafeteria for visitors was also proposed but work for it is yet to take off. Till date, the gallery has appointed only two people � a receptionist and another man who looks after the entire museum on a temporary basic. However, the most important person in an art gallery or the curator who knows about the paintings and the handicrafts and explains the same to visitors is missing in the city�s lone art museum.

Beena Bhatt, director of state culture department said that the museum � cum � gallery was initially under MDDA and later, it was handed over to the culture department. We are equally concerned about the gallery and have already started receiving applications for the post of art curator. We will employee the curator at the earliest."

When asked the poor condition of the gallery, she said, "We have already started the process to renovate parts of the gallery. We are also planning to put up the gallery on rent to hold frequent exhibitions. We will encourage local artists and painters to display their work to draw crowd."

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Doon �Pithoragarh-Pantnagar flight cancelled till February 28

The Doon-Pithoragarh-Pantnagar flight which was suspended for a few days after its door allegedly opened in mid-air as alleged by passengers, has now been cancelled till February 28.

The ATR-9 plane operated by Heritage Aviation was forced to make an emergency landing at Pantnagar airport minutes after take-off on February 9. Following the incident, the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) initiated a probe into the incident, and locals and activists also demanded that the 9-seater aircraft should be replaced with a better one. "The flights have been canceled since the plane will undergo repair work and hopefully it will start operating from March1," said Mohit Negi, operational in-charge of Heritage Aviation, Pantnagar.

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