Uttarakhand

New Delhi, Mar 9 (PTI) With the BJP mulling a change of leadership in Uttarakhand, state minister Dhan Singh Rawat has emerged as a frontrunner to replace Trivendra Singh Rawat as the chief minister.

Ajay Bhatt and Anil Baluni, two senior leaders from the state who are members of Parliament, are being seen as two other strong probables for the top post.

Sources said the party may also bring in a deputy chief minister, who will be from the Kumaon region.

Pushkar Singh Dhami is likely to be the deputy chief minister, they added.

Dehradun, Feb 19 (PTI) Haridwar Kumbh will be held from April 1 and it has been decided to limit its duration to 28 days in view of the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat told reporters here on Friday.

The ascetics of Haridwar were taken into confidence before taking the decision, he said.

RAINI CHAK LATA, India (Reuters) - For three days, Sushma Rana waited at a makeshift dirt helipad in the Indian Himalayas to return to her village and look for her missing brother-in-law.

Yashpal Rana was herding goats when a flash flood swept down a remote valley on Sunday, smashing everything in its path including two hydroelectric power stations.

More than 200 people are feared killed, although most of those are still missing.

The wall of water also swept several bridges into the valley, home to more than a thousand people spread over 13 villages.

Tapovan (U'khand), Feb 12 (PTI) Rescue teams battled on against various odds for the sixth consecutive day on Friday to get to the over 30 people trapped inside the sludge-choked Tapovan tunnel amid fading hopes of their survival.

Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar, in Dehradun, said sludge clearing and drilling operations are simultaneously underway at the tunnel to reach the smaller tunnel underneath where they may be trapped.

Joshimath/ Dehradun, Feb 9 (PTI) The death toll from the Uttarakhand glacier disaster rose to 28 with the recovery of two more bodies, even as a multi-agency operation to rescue around 30 workers feared trapped inside a swamped tunnel at the Tapovan power project in Chamoli district continued on Tuesday, officials said.

Around 170 people are still missing after the Sunday's disaster apparently caused by a glacier burst, according to the latest data.

Dehradun, Feb 8 (PTI) IAF teams left for the avalanche-hit areas of Uttarakhand's Chamoli district early on Monday to ramp up relief efforts, while rescuers pulled out three more bodies of the people missing in the glacier burst taking the toll to 10.

Uttarakahnd DGP Ashok Kumar said 143 people are still missing, a day after the glacier burst triggered a massive avalanche and floods in the Alaknanda river system

Dehradun/New Delhi, Feb 7 (PTI) A glacier broke off at Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Sunday, leading to a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and causing large-scale devastation in the upper reaches of the ecologically fragile Himalayas.

More than 150 labourers working in a power project are missing, officials said.

Haridwar, Jan 19 (PTI) Four youths allegedly shot dead a tantrik (witch-doctor) here after they failed to win the attention of the girls they loved using his technique, police said on Tuesday.

The youths identified as Rahul, Vishal, Gaurav and Akash have been arrested for the tantrik's murder which took place in Rampur village under Gang Nahar police station area three days ago, Haridwar SSP Senthil Avudai Krishna Raj said.

A pistol has also been recovered from their possession, he said.

Dehradun, Jan 18 (PTI) The number of work days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Uttarakhand will be increased from 100 to 150, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said on Monday.

Making the announcement at a meeting held here to review the state employment guarantee council, Rawat said additional money for this will be arranged out of state funds.

Dehradun, Jan 11 (PTI) Amid an avian influenza scare in several states, nearly 200 birds, mostly crows, have been found dead in Uttarakhand's Dehradun and Rishikesh, officials said on Monday.

A total of 165 birds were found dead in different parts of Dehradun on Sunday, including 121 crows in the Bhandari Bagh area only.

There were 162 crows, two pigeons and an eagle among the dead birds found in Dehradun, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Rajiv Dhiman said.