The second meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority’s inter-Ministerial group in Delhi on Tuesday could not make much headway on the contentious issue of the under-construction hydro-electric project on the Alaknanda at Srinagar in Uttarakhand.

The group, headed by Planning Commission Member B. K. Chaturvedi, heard the builders of the project and the campaigners for the protection of the Dhari Devi temple on the river, but there appeared to be no convergence.

Sudhir Vasudeva, CMD of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), on Tuesday launched the ‘Save the House Sparrow’ campaign to mark the 57th ONGC Day at Tel Bhavan here.

The campaign, initiated by ONGC in association with Action and Research for Conservation in Himalayas (ARCH), a local NGO, aims at the conservation of the dangerously dwindling house sparrow population in the locality and the surrounding region.

Nearly 402 families have been uprooted; rescue operations on with the help of the army and paramiltary forces; prime minister, UPA chairperson assures of all possible help

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought a relief package of Rs 600-crore for the flood-hit state. Bahuguna, along with Union minister Harish Rawat and some of the MPs from the state called on the prime minister in New Delhi and apprised him of the situation arising from the recent devastation caused by flash floods.

The Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) group and Volkswagen—the two auto major groups—have evinced interests in setting up new manufacturing facilities in Uttarakhand, claimed a government official from the hill state.

“We have received two proposals from the two auto companies (M&M and Volkswagen) for setting up new manufacturing facilities in the hill state,” said the official. The state-owned State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (Sidcul), which is the nodal agency for industrialisation in the hill state, has promised the two companies it can provide land at Sitarganj where it is planning to develop a new industrial estate.

In one of the first signs of an industrial strife, street protests have begun in the key industrial estate of Haridwar in Uttarakhand which has been plagued by heavy power cuts in the past few days.

After the two-days blackout as a result of grid collapse on July 30-31, the government has resorted to heavy rostering in the industrial areas, a move which is being seen as a measure to avoid its heavy dependency on the northern grid. A group of industrialists at Haridwar held a protest demonstration to highlight their anger against what they termed “complete power breakdown.”

Heart-wrenching scenes witnessed in Gangori, which bore the brunt of nature’s fury

Thirty one people were killed in the flash floods in Uttarakhand on Saturday and at least six missing from Gangori, which bore the brunt of nature’s fury. Heart-wrenching scenes were witnessed at Gangori, where the maximum number of deaths were reported, with relatives and villagers crying for help. Efforts were on to move about 700 Char Dham pilgrims stranded at various places to safer spots on foot, as the roads were completely damaged and the hostile weather was not allowing airlifting of the people.

Ten people were killed and 38 others went missing as incessant rains battered Uttarakhand today triggering landslides, cloud bursts and flash floods which flattened homes and stranded hundreds of pilgrims with the Chardham Yatra coming to a grinding halt.

The Garhwal region bore the brunt of the natural calamity. The state government has sounded a high alert after the MET department’s warned of very heavy rains and sought the help of the army to mitigate the sufferings of the people.

The state-run power generation company Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam (UJVN) has decided to renew a loan of Euro 103 million from KFW, a German financial institution, for modernisation and renovation of six old hydel projects.

The terms and conditions of the loan had expired in 2010, company officials told Business Standard. “Our chairman Subhash Kumar held talks with the Union power secretary P Uma Shanker to renew the loan from KFW,” said UJVN Director (Operation) B C K Mishra.

The Planning Commission on Monday approved a Rs.8,200-crore Annual Plan for Uttarakhand for 2012-13 which is Rs.400 crore more than last year.

“The Commission is fully aware of the infrastructure deficit in the State and its constraint in meeting the cost of infrastructure development…We will try to give Uttarakhand all help and assistance to ensure its overall growth and development,” said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia after meeting Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.

Hundreds of pro-dam activists left Srinagar (Garhwal) in buses on Monday to take part in a one-day dharna by Uttarakhand Minister for Drinking Water & Education Mantri Prasad Naithani at Jantar