NEW DELHI: If reports of people looting money in Uttarakhand or misbehaving with women en-route were not disturbing enough, here is more. The Indian Air Force has complained to Delhi Police about fraudulent websites and Facebook pages in its name asking for donations to helpflood victims.The Archaeological Survey of India will restore the Kedarnath temple, which was damaged in floods and landslides last month, union culture minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch has announced.She said a seven-member team of experts, led by ASI additional director general Dr BR Mani, travelled to Dehradun last week, but due to bad weather it was unable to go up to Kedarnath to make a first-hand assessment of the damage.
It is not yet clear how much and how long it would take to restore the temple.
However, she said, the ministry would seek funds from the Centre and the state government for the project, and possibly also invite “public participation”.
The rebuilding of Kedarnath temple has taken a political turn after Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi offered to rebuild the temple, an offer that his Uttarakhand counterpart Vijay Bahuguna turned down on Tuesday.
Speaking to dna, ASI additional director general Dr BR Mani said that right now it is impossible to gauge the exact extent of damage to the temple, but photographs showed that “the main temple at least had not suffered much damage. Some stones have been dislodged in the eastern part of the porch or mandapa which dates back to the 12th century, and also in the door, which was a later, probably 18th century addition”.
The temple was probably built in the seventh or eighth century, although there are inscriptions dating to 11th century which reveal that it was built by the Parmar rulers of Malwa.
“The western door has also been damaged and there is no trace of the small temple in the northeastern corner, known as the Ishaan temple. The platform on which the temple has been built has suffered some loss and the boundaries have been damaged. The debris now comes up to the level of the nandi sculpture in the courtyard,” he explained.
For the ASI, which has worked restoring the Mahabalipuram temples after the tsunami, Kedarnath will pose a different kind of challenge because the site, said Mani, is located at a height of 11,000 ft and the time available for carrying out the work is limited.
Kedarnath, despite its antiquity, is not protected by the ASI. There was a proposal in 2004 to bring it under the ASI, revealed P Srivastava, ASI director general, but it came to naught because it was a living temple and its owners, the Shri Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee, did not give consent.
The IAF said these websites have used IAF logos to look authentic and have put up bank account numbers where people can make their donations.
In his complaint, Wing Commander Tejveer Singh, has reportedly also given details of two account numbers being circulated online. Police suspect that both the accounts belong to the same person as they have both been opened under the same first name—'Aditya', an officer said. The police and the IAF have urged people to be wary of such websites.
On July 1, the owner and moderator of a webpage on Facebook, a social networking site, posted a message asking people to make donations for the Uttarakhand flood victims. The message read—"Team IAF FB will be making a donation towards the Uttarakhand flood relief, if you are willing to make a contribution do transfer your desired contribution to either of the following bank accounts".
The IAF has also taken offence of the illegal use of its logos and other identification signs which causing the public to believe these websites are genuinely owned by the IAF. The IAF personnel have requested the police to block the pages at the earliest.
A case under Section 420 (cheating) and Information Technology Acts (66 C & D) has been filed, a source said. The police are also trying to track the IPC address of the computer used to circulate the message online. Police suspect the involvement of a gang of cyber experts in the crime.
Police are also trying to identify the accused using documents submitted to the banks. "It is possible that the documents used may have been forged," a source said.
The first wave of floods in Assam has claimed one life, affected nearly 68,000 people, submerged rhino habitats at Kaziranga and Pobitora and overrun vast tracks of human habitation and farm land.
A 12-year old boy was dragged away by the high current of the Brahmaputra at Jengpuri village in Morigaon district yesterday and his body was recovered today, official sources said.
The surging waters of the Brahmaputra on its northern side and the Kopili and Kolong rivers on the southern part have overrun 60 per cent of the 38.80-sq km Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary in the district.
Rhinos, deer, pygmy hog, wild buffaloes and other animals from the Sanctuary, which has the highest density of one-horn Great Indian Rhinoceros population, were taking shelter on the high platforms built for their succour, the sources said.
The elite Assam Forest Protection Force commandos have been put on 24-hour vigil duty to curb poaching there.
In Kaziranga National Park the flood waters have also forced the animals to take shelter on highlands and in the Karbi Anglong hills outside the 430-sq km Park by crossing National Highway 37, they said.
The Park authorities are on alert to protect the wildlife from deluge and poachers by undertaking day-night vigil and patrolling on boats through the flooded park.
Meanwhile, the flood situation in the state has turned critical with more districts, including Morigaon and Sibsagar, coming under water besides Dhemaji, Golaghat, Jorhat, Kamrup, Karimganj, Lakhimpur and Tinsukia already affected.
Floods and erosion have devastated human habitation and crop fields in Morigaon's Bhuragaon and Mayong revenue circles affecting about 2000 people, the sources said.
Officials say all pilgrims have been evacuated from the temple town of Badrinath
The last of the pilgrims stranded after the recent floods in the Indian state of Uttarakhand have been evacuated, bringing to an end one of the world's largest air rescue operations.
More than 100,000 people have been rescued from the Himalayan mountains after floods and landslides that left more than 800 dead.
At least 3,500 people have been officially confirmed as missing.
But authorities say the exact number of deaths may never be known.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said more than 11,000 were feared missing.
"The number of missing stands at 3,500 to 3,700 but a report prepared by a UN agency along with some NGO pegs the figure in excess of 11,000," vice-chairman Shashidhar Reddy said.
Army evacuations
This year's early monsoon rains in the Uttarakhand region are believed to be the heaviest in 80 years.
Swollen rivers have swept away entire villages in the state, where there were many travellers in what is peak tourist season.
Some 4,200 villages are thought to have been affected by the rains and floods, according to the NDMA.
The last pilgrim stranded in the temple town of Badrinath has been brought down safely, bringing to an end the rescue operation, Indian army spokesman Brigadier Uma Maheshwar told the BBC.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly tourists and Hindu pilgrims, have been evacuated by military helicopters in the last 17 days.
One Indian air force rescue helicopter crashed during the operation, killing all 20 people on board.
Officials say many bodies may have been washed away or remain buried under debris. Some of the bodies were recovered in rivers downstream from the flood zone.
Distraught relatives clutching photographs of missing family members have been waiting for days in the state capital, Dehradun, hoping for news.
Meanwhile, the administration is struggling to provide relief to the local communities in remote areas where thousands who have lost their homes are living in temporary camps.
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