October 3, 2003	Friday	Sha’aban 6, 1424

DEHRADUN, Oct 2: Another 300 people were evacuated on Thursday from the northern Indian tourist spot of Uttar Kashi, where mountain boulders tumbled down for a ninth day, officials said.

More than 4,000 families had already been taken out of the town to escape the collapsing Varunavat mountain, which has so far wiped out 150 residential buildings and four hotels, officials said.

Town administrator Kamlesh Pant said the tumbling rocks had shut down the popular 65-kilometre trekking route to the Himalayan glacier of Gomukh, the source of the Ganges River.

“We are now looking for alternate routes,” Pant said.

Officials have warned that the topography of Uttar Kashi, located 1,158 metres above sea level, could be permanently altered if the landslide does not stop.

Narayan Dutt Tiwary, chief minister of Uttaranchal state of which Dehradun is the capital, has sought one billion rupees (21.7 million dollars) from the federal government in emergency funds to tackle the calamity.—AFP