For many a month the NH 74 Compensation Scam of Uttarakhand has been grabbing headlines. In a fresh update, today Trivendra Singh Rawat run State Government suspended two senior IAS officers Pankaj Pandey and Chandresh Kumar Yadav, whose names had crept up during the investigations.

Initial investigation revealed that land-use had been changed many a time to pay compensation at inflated rates. During the preliminary investigation carried out at the Commissioner Level, eight PCS officials had been named as the first accused out of which seven officers were suspended and one had retired.

The investigation was then handed over to the SIT, which submitted a report to the government, highlighting the involvement of two IAS officers in the scam. Both Pankaj Kumar Pandey IAS and Chandresh Yadav IAS were District Magistrates of Udham Singh Nagar during the period under the scanner. They were Arbitrators during their respective tenures.

The arbitrator’s recommendation is important for compensation. After the SIT report, the government wrote to the DOPT seeking permission to investigate the above-mentioned officers, and to demand an explanation from them. Today the Trivendra Singh Rawat Government suspended them on finding that their explanations unsatisfactory.

Heavy irregularities arose in land acquisition for the widening of National Highway 74, at that time of Harish Rawat headed Congress government.

The BJP had raised this issue amid much heat and dust in the last Assembly Elections. They had promised to get to the bottom of this murky affair if they came back to power. True to their word, after the BJP government formation, the scam was investigate at a break neck pace, first at the Commissioner level and then by setting up a SIT.

Meanwhile the government had sought and obtained approval from the Central Personnel and Training Department (DOPT) to be able to take action against these two IAS officers without any further delay.

Dehradun, Helping out in the Kerala floods is a team of volunteers from the Doon Buddhist Committee in the valley which has been holding medical camps and restoring Buddhist Stupas in the region.

Headed under the able-hands of Tenzin Luding, his wife Dr. Diki Bhutia from Sikkim , Nawang Chhogial and Lucky Gaikwad the team has been working on war footing from the very first day they landed in Gods Own Country.

On the 3rd of September,  the day, the team arrived in Kerala, they held three medical camps until the the 8th of September. They visited areas which were worse affected and could only be accessed by boats such as the villages in Kuttanadu, Kavalam and Allapuza District.  The team also distributed books and stationery amongst teachers and students of the flood affected area.

Along with this, they got in touch with members of Abhayaloka Buddhist Community Kerala and Kerala Buddhist Council in Karumadikuttan, Ambalapuzzha, a small village near Allapuzha (Alleppey). Famous for its Black Granite Idol of Lord Buddha, it is also known as Karumadikuttan, as it is enclosed in a Pagoda like structure, and dates back to the 9th and 10th Century. Located on the banks of the Punnamada Lake in Alleppey, this temple is the living symbol of an ancient civilization and belief that flourished in the State.

When disaster struck, the  ancient Stupa was submerged entirely in the flood waters. The team painstakingly restored, painted and cleaned up the historical stupa giving it a new lease of life.

Talking to Newpost, Tenzin Luding tells us, “There is so much to do and so much that we have accomplished. It is heart breaking to see what devastation that the floods brought but it is also endearing to see the spirit of humanity and compassion amongst the people here.“