RUDRAPUR/NAINITAL: Bad weather conditions prevented PM Narendra Modi from addressing a public rally at Rudrapur on Thursday, leaving thousands of people who had gathered for the event, disappointed. The Prime Minister however addressed the gathering through CM Trivendra Singh Rawat’s mobile and offered his apologies for not being able to make it to the venue. “I had reached Uttarakhand in the morning itself but was stopped from being amongst all of you due to inclement weather. I can hear your voices and know that you are present in large numbers,” the PM said. He added that “soon, there will be more employment options for the youth of Uttarakhand.” “People have been benefited by schemes like 'Ayushman Bharat’, 'Jandhan Yojana', 'Ujjwala Gas Yojana' and 'Kisan Fasal Beema Yojana' run by the central government. We are also launching a comprehensive development programme for Uttarakhand today,” Modi said, while declaring the commencement of the Deendayal Upadhyaya Co-operative Farmer Welfare Scheme in the state. The scheme aims to give a boost to the co-operative, farming and allied sectors, and check forced migration from the hills.Earlier, at around 7.15 am, the Prime Minister arrived at Jolly Grant airport in Dehradun where he was forced to wait for around four hours since overcast conditions and intermittent rain prevented his onward travel to Kumaon. He finally left Dehradun around 11.30 am on a MI-17 chopper, reaching Kalagarh near the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) around 12 noon. The PM attended a meeting of Global Tiger Forum and then took a boat to cross the Ramganga river to reach the Dhikala zone of the reserve.Providing details of the PM’s visit, director of CTR, Rahul (who uses only his first name). said, “The Prime Minister discussed with us the challenges in the field of conservation as well as human-wildlife conflict. He also enquired about the issues faced by the forest department regarding conservation of environment and wildlife.The PM was scheduled to reach Rudrapur after his Corbett visit but when the weather did not clear till late evening, his plans were cancelled.Meanwhile, thousands of people from across the state who had gathered at the rally venue — the grounds of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) — were disappointed when it became evident around 5 pm that the PM would not be coming. An octogenarian, Ram Kumar Pal, from Rampura colony in Rudrapur, blamed the organisers for “choosing a day when rain had been predicted by meteorologists.” “I kept waiting for the PM for more than six hours. The arrangements at the venue were bad. BJP leaders could have announced the cancellation of the programme on time but they continued with their speeches. I find myself cheated,” Pal said.The Rudrapur district administration had chosen 13 persons and organisations to be awarded loans under the Integrated Co-operative Development Project (ICDP) of the National Co-operative Development Corporation (NCDC) which is going to provide a loan of Rs 3,632 crore to the Uttarakhand government. The beneficiaries also expressed disappointment that they were not able to interact with the PM.

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