09022021-TTB-01.qxd 2/8/2021 11:43 PM Page 1 13 MYANMAR ARMY VOWS FAIR POLLS WORLD /thetribunechd chandigarh | gurugram | jalandhar | bathinda | vol.141 no.39 | 12 pages | ~5.00 | regd.no.chd/0006/2021-2023 established in 1881 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com tuesday | 9 february 2021 Give agri laws a chance: Modi Reaching out to farmers, says Manmohan too favoured common market Shubhadeep Choudhury Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 8 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday appealed to agitating farmers to give the new farm laws a chance. “If there is any drawback in the laws, it will be corrected. If there is a loose end, it will be tightened. Our doors are open for suggestions,” the PM said. Replying to a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on a motion thanking the President for his address to Parliament at the start of the Budget session, Modi asserted that the system of minimum support price (MSP) for crops would HAILS SIKH COMMUNITY TIKAIT: HE IS TRYING TO CONFUSE THE PEOPLE We never said anything about MSP getting withdrawn. It is an attempt to confuse people. Our demand is that the govt brings a law on MSP with a guarantee on procurement. “The Sikhs have done so much for the nation... Language used by some for them and bid to mislead them will never benefit the nation,” PM Modi said. ❝ AMENDMENTS REJECTED Cong’s Deepender Hooda moved two amendments to the motion thanking President’s Address — repeal of farm laws & obituary reference to farmers who have died during the stir. Both were rejected. continue. “The MSP was there, is there and is going to be there in future,” Modi said, adding that mandis would be Rakesh Tikait, BKU modernised and there was also no question of abolition of distribution of ration through the PDS. Modi appealed to the farmers protesting on the outskirts of continued on page 9 edit: PM’s outreach Multi-agency rescue op underway; at least 30 feared trapped in tunnel 26 bodies recovered,171 still missing Mukesh Ranjan Tribune News Service Joshimath, February 8 Twentysix bodies have been recovered while 171 persons were still missing as a multiagency rescue operation was underway at the NTPC hydel project site in Chamoli that was ravaged by a flashflood in the Rishi Ganga, possibly after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off on Sunday. The glacier burst appeared to have triggered an avalanche and a deluge that ripped through the Alaknanda river system — the Rishi Ganga is its part. The 171 reported missing, mostly from Uttarakhand, UP and Bihar, include those working at hydel power project sites and villagers whose homes nearby were washed away with the force of the raging waters, officials said. Two power projects — NTPC’s 480-MW Tapovan-Vishnugad project and the 13.2-MW Rishiganga hydel project — were extensively damaged ITBP personnel during the rescue operation at Tapovan tunnel in Chamoli on Monday. PTI READY TO HELP IN RELIEF OP: UN ROCKFALL LIKELY TRIGGER: EXPERT The United Nations stands ready to contribute to the ongoing rescue and assistance efforts in Uttarakhand, if necessary, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said as the global organisation expressed sadness over the loss of life and damage due to the glacier burst and flooding. PTI Kalachand Sain, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, says rockfall on accumulated snow in the higher Himalayan reaches of Chamoli may have caused a glacial breach. He pointed out that of the 1,000 glaciers in U’khand, scientists are able to monitor only 7. INTERVIEW BACK PAGE with scores of labourers caught in tunnels as the waters came gushing in. Thirteen villages are cut off. The disaster manage- ment teams were working to rescue 30 to 35 workers learnt to be stuck inside the Tapovan tunnel, said officials. Sniffer dogs and Maha Govt to probe celebs’ tweets on stir MUMBAI: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has said the state intelligence wing will conduct a probe into allegations that some celebrities were pressured to tweet on farmers’ stir. — PTI NEW DELHI:The Ministry of Elec- tronics and Information Technology has asked Twitter to block or suspend nearly 1,200 accounts. These “were flagged by security agencies as accounts of Khalistan sympathisers or backed by Pakistan”. — TNS Azad may seek RS berth from Kerala THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Specu- lation is rife that Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of Opposition in the RS, may contest from Kerala when three members from the state retire in April. — PTI ISHANT 3RD INDIAN PACER TO TAKE 300 TEST WKTS Ishant Sharma becomes the 3rd pacer from the country to take 300 wickets in Test cricket Kapil Dev (434) and Zaheer Khan (311) are other Indian pacers to reach this landmark. INSIDE heavy mechanical equipment, including bulldozers and JCBs, were deployed. continued on page 9 edit: himalayan tragedy Army: No impact on LAC access IN BRIEF Twitter told to block 1,200 accounts Family members of trapped workers wait outside Tapovan tunnel. PTI Slush, screams, darkness: Survivors recount horror Mukesh Ranjan Tribune News Service Joshimath, February 8 Away from the anxieties dotting the flashflood-ravaged sites in Chamoli where rescue operation is underway, the ITBP’s base hospital at Joshimath in Uttarakhand presents a picture of hope. Recuperating at this facility are 12 workers of the NTPC’s Tapovan hydel project, devastated by Sunday’s Nanda Devi glacier burst that left at least 26 dead while ITBP men prove a godsend to many over 171 are missing. In shock, the rescued workers recount their brush with death and how they held on to life trapped in a slushfilled tunnel for over five hours on Sunday until ITBP teams arrived and pulled them out using ropes. “I was working in the tunnel when alarm bells suddenly went off. continued on page 9 New Delhi: Flashflood in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand has not affected the Army’s readiness to maintain its supply lines to Barahoti, 80 sq km of “contested” area along the LAC with China. The flood has impacted one of the major routes to Barahoti and Niti pass, which lies 100 km from Joshimath on the north-eastern axis. “An alternative route is open,” Army officials said. The Pithoragarh-Darchula-Lipulekh road was not impacted. — TNS Glacier burst or avalanche? New Delhi: While some environmentalists question the “glacier burst” claim, others point to massive construction activity and hydropower projects in eco-sensitive zones. “Was it a glaciar burst or an avalanche,” asked Himanshu Thakkar of South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People. There are 98 dams in Uttarakhand. BACK PAGE 17+ve, HP college a containment zone Palampur, February 8 The district administration today declared Netaji Subhash College of Nursing as containment zone after its 17 students tested positive for Covid-19 last night. Passing the order to this effect, Palampur SDM Dharmesh Ramotra said Sec- WILL JOIN ACTIVE POLITICS: SASIKALA BACK PAGE Over 100 students residing in hostel to undergo Covid test tion 144 of the CrPC had been promulgated to avoid crowding. The entire college complex, DMC Hospital and a part of Ward 13 of the Palampur Municipal Corporation has been declared containment zone till further orders. The SDM said arrangements had been made to test over 100 students of the nursing college who were residing in hostels. continued on page 9