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Tremors cease in Garhwal

Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow

After days of terror, the residents of Uttar Pradesh's Garhwal had some respite.

Last night, for the first time since the Chamoli quake, they stopped waiting for their world to come crashing down around them -- the incessant tremors, plaguing them since March 29, ceased.

Meanwhile, with two more of the injured succumbing to injuries in Chamoli late Wednesday night, the death toll has gone up to 103. Superintendent of Police Sridhar Pathak said there was no loss of life or property in the second major quake that rocked the district in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Officials in Lucknow, however, who had maintained the toll at 101 until Wednesday morning, reverted to 96 by evening. Explaining this, Chief Secretary Yogendra Narain told Rediff On The NeT, "Apparently there was an error in the initial headcount. Five deaths reported from the neighbouring Tehri district had been wrongly added to the Chamoli toll."

"The total toll as of now remains at 98, which includes 58 in Chamoli, 34 in Rudraprayag and 6 in Tohri," he added.

He said an area of about 1000 square kilometres was hit by the first quake measuring 6.8 on the Ritcher scale. However, owing to the area's scattered population and the 30 km depth of the epicentre, the damage was not as grave as it was in the 1991 quake in Uttarkashi. Then, as many as 493 human lives were lost.

Referring to the breakdown of water supply in Chamoli where the main pipeline was cut off from the natural spring that is its only source of drinking water, the chief secretary said, "We have made special arrangements to ensure water from districts as far as Dehradun," he said.

The electric supply had been restored and breaches on the main roads repaired, he added.

Meanwhile, State Chief Minister Kalyan Singh suspended Garhwal Civil Divisional Commissioner B M Vohra for "gross negligence and dereliction of duty in handling the disaster."

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