Govt backtracks on Dharali debate, adjourns session: Congress

Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand assembly Yashpal Arya on Wednesday, 20 August, criticised the premature adjournment of the Monsoon session, calling it “unfortunate” that the House was dissolved despite the government earlier assuring that the Dharali disaster would be discussed.

The House was adjourned sine die before lunch on Wednesday, bringing the session to an abrupt end after just one and a half days.

Rejecting the ruling BJP’s allegation that the session ended due to Congress “disruptions,” Arya said he and Congress MLA Pritam Singh had resigned from the assembly’s Business Advisory Committee (BAC) in protest. “We had decided in the BAC meeting that the Dharali disaster and other issues would be taken up on Wednesday, but no meeting was held on 19 August. It was clear the government had already made up its mind to cut short the session,” he alleged.

Congress legislators have been staging protests over alleged rigging in the recent panchayat elections, law-and-order concerns, and the state government’s handling of the Dharali flood tragedy. On Tuesday night, they even spent the night inside the Assembly in protest.

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, however, blamed the Congress for repeated disruptions which, he said, stalled even the discussion on the Dharali disaster that killed several people.

Arya accused the BJP of misusing “money, muscle power and government machinery” in the panchayat polls, particularly in Nainital district, and alleged there was widespread violence. While the Congress demanded a House debate on the issue, the government maintained that the matter was sub-judice, as the Uttarakhand High Court is already hearing a related petition.

Turning to the flood-hit region, Arya said the plight of people in Dharali and surrounding villages remained unchanged. A flash flood in the Kheer Ganga river on 5 August had devastated nearly half of Dharali — a key stopover on the Gangotri route with several hotels and homestays. Neighbouring Harsil, where an Army camp was badly damaged, also suffered heavy losses.

According to officials, 69 people are still missing, including nine Army personnel, 25 Nepali nationals, 13 from Bihar, six from Uttar Pradesh, eight from Dharali, five from nearby Uttarkashi villages, two from Tehri and one from Rajasthan.

With PTI inputs