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| Monday, January 29, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Cement-concreting of
highway Increase import duties:
Stokes Shanta to give 10 lakh as relief ZP member under ‘pressure’ to vote for BJP
men Civic body poll
postponed |
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| HP
seeks WB aid for technical education SHIMLA, Jan 28 — The Himachal Pradesh Government has submitted a Rs 23.75 crore project to the Central Government for seeking assistance from the World Bank under vocational training programme (phase II). No plan to close
primary schools Cong rapped over
degree college Delay in purchase of
wool worries shepherds Plan for commercial
trout farming Increase in water
supply sought Sat Mahajan wants
meeting on drought Strategic bridge
incomplete even after 12 yrs Himachal plans to
harness fisheries Quake TV visuals
prove fatal Virbhadra lashes out
at Stokes Scribe dead
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Cement-concreting of
highway SHIMLA, Jan 28 — The Centre has turned down the state’s proposal to provide cement-concrete surfacing in place of the flexible bitumen-macadam paving on the newly upgraded Shimla-Kangra national highway (NH-88). Mr B.C. Khanduri, Union Minister of Surface Transport, has, through a letter informed Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal that it would not be possible to consider the proposal at this stage in view of the very high cost of cement-concrete pavement. Moreover, the road was declared a national highway only recently and improvement works would have to be first carried out in a phased manner to bring it to the standard of a national highway. The state had justified cement- concrete pavement in view of high rainfall, snow and wide variation in temperatures which took a heavy toll of the flexible bitumen-macadam road. As against a life cycle of four years for flexible roads in hills, a cement concrete road would not require any maintenance, for at least 30 years. Unlike bitumen-macadam road it will not require any fuel for heating. The initial high cost will be covered as there will be no recurring expenditure on maintenance. However, these arguments did not find favour with the ministry. While the cost of construction in case of a flexible pavement road comes to around Rs 16 lakh per kilometre. It is as high as Rs 1.90 crore per km for cement-concrete road, which was almost 12 times higher. Thus, an additional expenditure of about Rs 370 crore will have to be incurred on the 224-km-long highway for providing a cement- concrete surfacing. Another impediment in implementing the proposal, the engineers of the Public Works Department point out, was lack of experience in the country in design and construction of rigid pavements, particularly for the highway in hill areas. Besides expensive sophisticated heavy machinery like high capacity metal crushers, mechanical pavers and sand manufacturing equipment will have to be procured. There are practical difficulties too, as traffic may have to be diverted for cement concreting of the road and care has to be taken of underground cables and pipelines. In a high rainfall hilly area like Himachal Pradesh where the strata is unstable flexible bitumen-macadam roads are the most suitable. The type of pavement to be provided is indicated by factors like importance of road, traffic load, rainfall and availability of construction equipment. Generally, asphalt concrete is used where traffic is heavy and rainfall is also high. Normally it requires a few decades to develop a road to national highway standards. Work on the Shimla-Ambala highway, which considered as one of the best hill roads in the country, was started in the ’60s and it took three decades to stabilise if any road ever in the state is to be provided a cement-concrete pavement, it has to be the Shimla-Ambala highway. The proposal, engineers say, would have benefited the two cement factories. More than the fund-starved state itself if the Centre could spare Rs 370 crore for the state, which is raising loans to pay salaries, it could do better things with it. |
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Increase import
duties: Stokes UNA, Jan 28 — Faulty agriculture policies and lack of proper marketing facilities had resulted in a food glut leading to suicides by farmers in the region, said Pradesh Congress Committee president. Vidya Stokes while addressing a very well-attended kisan rally here at Una last evening. Expressing her views at a kisan sammelan organised by the District Congress Committee, Mrs Stokes said though it was the Narasimha Rao government, which was a signatory to the WTO agreement, the present central government should increase the import duties on agricultural products to safeguard the interests of farmers. She said the Congress had asked the BJP to increase the import duties on fruits from 25 to 75 per cent. Mrs Stokes said the present BJP-HVC government was not at all concerned about the problems of farmers in the state. She said even after a continued dry spell of four month in the state, which had damaged the rabi crop, the state government had not taken any initiative in declaring the state drought affected, which would have brought financial assistance from the Union Government. Mr Ram Lal, former Chief Minister, urged the state government to do away with its policy of undue taxation which involved electricity cess of 25 per cent, entry tax on vehicles and irrigation tax. He alleged while the central government had allowed the rotting of six lakh tonnes of foodgrains in its godowns, six crore people in India still slept hungry every day. A large number of Congress leaders including the state Youth Congress president, Mr Varinder Gautam, MLAs Kuldip Kumar and Viplove Thakur attended function. Earlier, Mrs Stokes was received at Bharwai, near Chintpurni, by the DCC president, Mr Varinder Dharmani, and others. Mrs Stokes and Mr Ram Lal later addressed the media at the local PWD rest house. Mrs Stokes said kisan rallies would be organised from the block level and kisan and Congress workers would be informed about problems being faced by the people, the state and the nation. She said the Congress party had given enough time to the BJP-HVC government without much criticism but now the time had come to inform the people of Himachal Pradesh about the misdeeds of the present government. Answering a question, she said after the party elections some differences were likely to crop up but they disappeared after sometime. Asked about her differences with CLP leader Virbhadra Singh, she denied any differences. Shanta to give
10 lakh as relief SHIMLA, Jan 28 — Mr Shanta Kumar, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, has decided to allocate Rs 10 lakh from the MPs Local Area Development Fund to provide relief to the victims of the earthquake in Gujarat. The minister has also made a personal donation of Rs 25,000, besides one month’s salary and allowance, to the relief fund. He said the Centre was giving all possible help to the state in dealing with the calamity. It was the duty of every citizen to provide whatever support and help was possible to the affected people, he added. The state unit of the BJP had expressed grief over the unprecedented devastation caused by the earthquake in Gujarat. Mr Jai Krishan Sharma, the state party chief, Mr Kripal Parmar and Mr Ram Swaroop Sharma, general secretaries, and Mr Ganesh Dutt, party spokesperson, in a joint statement here today called upon the people of the state to contribute liberally towards the relief fund. The Democractic Youth Federation of India has also decided to collect funds for the quake victims. The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has sent Rs 51 lakh for relief work in quake-hit areas of Gujarat. The Chief Minister and members of the Council of Ministers have also decided to contribute one month’s salary for the relief funds. The leader of the Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha, Mr V.B. Singh said the Congress MLAs would also donate their salary for the fund. |
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ZP member under ‘pressure’ to vote for BJP
men NURPUR, Jan 28 — Mr Rashpal Pathania, newly elected Kangra Zila Parishad member, in a written statement to mediapersons here today alleged that he was under government pressure to cast his vote in favour of the BJP-supported candidates for the posts of Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the parishad. He alleged a government official was instrumental in mounting pressure on him to support the BJP. He said his private bus had been impounded by the police on January 18. The same official had called him to a private house and offered “unconditional release” of the bus if he would cast his vote in favour of the BJP. Mr Pathania alleged that he was allured with “handsome relief” in clearing road tax arrears and a new route permit. He reiterated that such tactics would not deter him from exercising franchise in accordance with his conscience. The official concerned, when contacted, denied the allegations. Civic body poll
postponed BILASPUR, Jan 28 — The election for the posts of Chairman and vice-chairman of the Bilaspur Sadar Panchayat Samiti (Block Development Committee) could not be held here today as all members of the BJP absented themselves from the election meeting for the third time and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate postponed the election to February 7. Addressing mediapersons at Circuit House here today, former Health Minister Ramlal Thakur claimed that the “joint morcha” of the Congress and the CPI had got the support of 20 out of 36 members of the committee. HP seeks WB aid for technical education SHIMLA, Jan 28 (UNI) — The Himachal Pradesh Government has submitted a Rs 23.75 crore project to the Central Government for seeking assistance from the World Bank under vocational training programme (phase II). The project will help in strengthening technical education in the state, an official spokesman said here. A Rs 45.75 crore World Bank-assisted project for strengthening technical education in the state has already been completed, which led to the creation of infrastructure in polytechnic institutes. Under the World Bank-aided skill development project, machinery and equipments worth Rs 8.13 crore had been added to these technical institutes. The spokesman said technical institutions in the state were being equipped with the latest machines and equipments and new technical institutions with new disciplines were being opened. To modernise polytechnic institutes and to introduce information technology courses in them, 230 computers have been procured for the purpose. Fifty new computers are being installed in the
newly opened industrial training institutes. The spokesman said to provide trained teaching and supporting staff to these institutes the government had, during the past 34 months, filled up 51 posts of instructors in industrial training institutes and 55 posts of lecturers in polytechnic institutes. With a view to increasing the income of the technical institutes and to make them self-sustaining, a scheme has been prepared for generation of resources by them. During the past 34 months, the government has opened nine ITIs in the state, besides a polytechnic institute at Talwar in Kangra district. There are seven polytechnic institutes, 45 ITIs, including one for physically handicapped and 16 for women, and two ITIs in private sector functioning in the state. No plan to close
primary schools SHIMLA, Jan 28 — The Minister of State for Primary Education, Mr Karan Singh, yesterday failed to give a convincing reply on the intention of the government to close down those primary schools which had less than 20 students on its roll. In a statement issued here yesterday, Mr Singh said that there was no proposal to close the schools in the tribal areas where the strength of students was less than 20. He said a survey was being conducted to find out whether these schools would be useful in the larger interest for providing quality education or would put an unnecessary burden on the exchequer. It had been found that some of the schools where the number of students were less than 10 were opened in such areas where there was no likelihood of increasing the number of students in the near future. The Minister said that the matter would be examined on merit. The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, has already announced that in case of closure of such schools the government would provide scholarship to the students for studying in the nearby schools. |
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Cong rapped over
degree college CHAMBA, Jan 28 — Mr Mohan Lal, Minister of state for Ayurveda, has criticised some leaders of the Churah are in the district for their allegedly misleading remarks about the development made under the state government. Talking to newspersons here today, Mr Mohan Lal alleged that the Congress, which ruled the state for about 40 years, had failed to open a degree college and sub-judge court at Bhanjraru in Churah tehsils of the district. The Ayurveda Minister charged such leaders with misguiding the people to gain political mileage. Mr Mohal Lal said a number of schools and dispensaries had been opened and two helipads at Satrundi and Bhajraru had been constructed. Delay in purchase of
wool worries shepherds NAHAN, Jan 28 — Shepherds (gaddies) of the Kangra valley, Kinnaur, Shimla, Chamba and Lahaul and Spiti areas are in dock due to undue delay in the purchase of the wool by the Wool Federation of Himachal Pradesh. More than 50 tonnes of wool worth Rs 16 lakh are laying in the forests of Sirmour. More than 80 shepherds of these areas who comes down to Sirmour forests in the winter are facing economic hardship as wool was laying unsold in their “deras” in different jungles. Many shepherds said there was no other alternatives to earn bread except from the sale of wool. If the government does not purchase the wool they will be pushed in a state of starvation. The previous Congress government had set up a wool federation to yield good earning for the shepherds by selling the wool. It is for the first time that the federation failed to purchase the wool of October month from the shepherds of the Kangra valley. They have failed to purchase the wool from Kannaur, Kangra, Lahaul and Spiti, Dodrakwar of Shimla district and Chamba. Shepherds said previously the federation used to send wool cutting persons to collect it. Shepherds have appealed to Mr P.K. Dhumal, to ask the federation to purchase the wool on the prevailing market prices. A spokesperson of the federation said, old stocks had been sold. It has sought permission from the state government to purchase the fresh wool from the shepherds. He said despite the requests state government had not yet given permission in this regard. Plan for commercial trout
farming MANDI: A plan has been drawn up to launch commercial trout farming at the Trout Farm at Barot in the Uhl valley. Despite the fact that eggs of brown trout were transplanted in the cold waters of the Himalayas more than 90 years ago, commercial trout farming in this country has yet to make a beginning. The first attempt to propagate trout in the Himalayas was made by a Briton, J.F. Mitchell, way back in 1899. His efforts did not bear fruit as the entire consignment which was being brought by ship was destroyed due to high temperature. He made yet another attempt in 1905 and established the first hatchery in this country at Harwan in the Kashmir valley. From Harwan eggs were transplanted in the Mahili hatchery at Katrain in 1909.The number consequently increased in the streams of the Kulu valley. The Barot farm was established in 1916 by transporting eggs from the Kulu valley. Being a tourist resort, Barot attracted a large number of anglers, including Europeans. The Himachal Pradesh Government expanded the hatchery in 1959 and its augmentation continued. Mr N.S. Chaudhry, Assistant Director, Fisheries, Mandi and Kulu, says the Barot farm is being remodelled by using the latest Norwegian technology. A sum of Rs 6 lakh will be spent on modernising the farm. Two tanks have been added by drawing water from a Jalani source. ‘‘We will sell five quintals of brown trout to big hotels in the state during the year’’ he says. Mr Chaudhry says at present the number of tanks at the hatchery is nine. About 1.5 lakh fingerlings from the hatchery are released in the Uhl and surrounding streams. It takes about 10 months for a fingerling to develop into table-sized trout. Its weight ranges between 300 gm and 400 gm. Till the early 1950s trout was primarily considered game fish . Hardly any efforts were made for its large-scale commercial farming, probably due to the absence of reliable technology on trout farming. The total number of trout farms in the country is 12 — five in Himachal Pradesh, three in Kashmir and one each in UP, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The transfer of the latest commercial trout farm technology to India came in the wake of two international projects in Himachal and Kashmir. A pilot project was launched in the Kulu valley with the help of the Norwegian agency for international development in 1988. The Patlikulh hatchery has been expanded and remodelled under the project. A modern feed plant is also being set up near Patlikulh. The requisite training is being given in the latest technology to state fisheries officers. Similarly, the European Economic Commission launched commercial farming of rainbow trout in the Kashmir valley at the Achabal Trout Farm which pioneered the latest technology transfer to the country. Both foreign-aided projects contributed significantly to the modernising of trout farming. |
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Increase in water supply sought KASAULI, Jan 28 — A representation for augmentation of water supply was given to the Governor of Uttaranchal, Mr S.S. Barnala, by the Kasauli Welfare Committee. He was apprised of the water scarcity, particularly in the civil area, on his recent visit to the town. The representation said the MES provided nearly 50,000 gallons per day of water as per an agreement in the 1950s. The committee contented that the demand was a whopping 1,30,000 gallons per day in the civil area alone, let aside the Army and Central Research Institute’s supply. They demanded that the water supply be enhanced by constructing a tank for which the cantonment board had already been directed by the Ministry of Defence. They also demanded the IPH Department to supply water according to the earlier agreement. |
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Sat Mahajan wants
meeting on drought SHIMLA, Jan 28 — Mr Sat Mahajan, a senior Congress leader, has expressed concern over the prevailing drought in the state and urged the government to convene an all-party meeting to prepare a strategy to deal with the situation. In a statement here today, he said the prolonged dry spell had created an acute shortage of fodder in the state and the situation was the worst in the lower hill areas like Kangra where the price of dry fodder had shot up to Rs 4 per kg. He said the growth of wheat and other crops had been affected and in certain areas they had already started withering. The government must prepare a plan to deal with the situation, which was likely to worsen over the next two months, he said. Referring to the shifting of industries from Delhi, he said Himachal Pradesh should follow Haryana and give all possible incentives to owners of the displaced industries to settle in Himachal Pradesh. |
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Strategic bridge incomplete even after 12 yrs CHANDIGARH, Jan 28 — Frequent changes in design and technical specifications have resulted in a strategic bridge, being built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) ahead of Manali, remaining incomplete even 12 years after its construction was sanctioned. Besides, the delay has also led to inevitable, heavy cost overruns. Sanctioned in May, 1988, by the Ministry of Surface Transport at a cost of Rs 49.50 lakh, the revised cost of the bridge put forward by the BRO in May, 1999, was Rs 2.05 crore. Though the original schedule called for the bridge to be complete by 1995, the latest audit reports revealed that the construction of the bridge was still under way. The site of the bridge, being constructed under the BRO’s Project Deepak, is at Tandi, about 110 km up on the Manali-Sarchu road in Himachal Pradesh. The inordinate delay, besides negating the socio-economic purpose, also affected defence requirements. According to information available, the BRO designed the abutment foundation for the bridge inside the river bed, without addressing the constraints involved in dewatering. It was after the construction of the abutment was commenced that BRO engineers realised the dewatering problem. To overcome it, the span of the bridge was increased to 45 metres in 1989 from the original design of 33 metres so that the abutment could be outside the river bed. “This decision could have been taken at the designing stage itself, thereby avoiding delay,” official reports stated. The cost by then was revised to Rs 67.50 lakh. In 1992, when 24 per cent of the work had been completed, the Chief Engineer of Project Deepak proposed that the span of the bridge should be further increased to 60 metres, so that the abutments could be raised on dry land, well beyond the waterline. The proposal, however, was overruled by the BRO Director-General. Consequently, a coffer dam, at an additional cost of Rs 16 lakh, was constructed to overcome the dewatering problem. According to sources, the contract for the construction of the bridge’s super structure could be concluded only in 1997, by which time the cost of this structure had been revised to Rs 93 lakh. The sub-structure by that time was still under construction. The final estimate submitted for sanction by the BRO was Rs 2.05 crore. “Frequently changing the design and drawings has led to the prolonged execution of works, involving considerable time and cost overrun,” an official report prepared here stated. “The decision to construct the abutment inside the river bed instead of on dry land resulted in the prolonged execution of the sub-structure and attendant delay in the conclusion of the contract for the super structure,” the report added. Himachal plans to
harness fisheries MANDI, Jan 28 — Himachal Pradesh Industries and Fisheries Minister Kishori Lal Vaidya said here yesterday that vigorous efforts were being made to harness the vast potential of fisheries in the state. He said last year about 7,500 tonnes of fish worth Rs 4 crore was produced in the state. He said the state was endowed with 3,000 km of riverine resources and a network of lakes, where a large variety of fish, ranging from rare Trout fish to Golden Mahasheer, could be developed in a large scale. He said a Rs 4-crore Golden Mahasheer farm was being set up at Sidhpur in Sarkaghat subdivision of the district, for which Rs 2 crore would be given by the Centre. When asked that the Centre had sent Rs 1 crore about a year ago but the work was not being taken up, the minister said the work on the project would be taken up shortly. The fingerlings developed in the farm would be released in the lakes, rivers and streams of the state, he said. He said the project envisaged to produce Himalayan Golden Mahasheer on a large scale and make it popular not only in India but also abroad. Similarly, a plan had been drawn up for commercial Trout farming on a large scale. A pilot project of Trout farming is under progress in collaboration with a Norwegian agency for international development in Kulu valley. All Trout hatcheries in the state were being remodelled using the latest technology under the Norwegian project, he said. |
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SHIMLA, Jan 28 (PTI) — While Friday’s devastating earthquake claimed over 20,000 lives in Gujarat, it had its bearing in a village of Gharkhal in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh too. Satya Gupta a 70-year-old woman could not bear the shock after watching the visuals of the quake tragedy on TV and collapsed, her brother Madan Lal Gupta said. He said the visual which showed the sight of a woman buried under debris of a building was unbearable for his sister who died of the shock. |
| Virbhadra lashes
out at Stokes SHIMLA, Jan 28 — Mr Virbhadra Singh, Congress Legistative Party leader (CLP), yesterday alleged that the Kisan rallies being organised by the PCC chief, Mrs Vidya Stokes, were being utilised as a platform to “abuse” him. The CLP leader, while replying to questions of newsmen, said he was being criticised by those who were known turncoats in Himachal Pradesh politics. He said that he was not invited to the Congress rally at Una yesterday probably because Mrs Stokes did not want to share the platform with him. He came to know about the rally only from newspaper reports. Scribe dead SOLAN, Jan 28 — Veteran journalist Surinder Madhur died after prolonged illness here yesterday. He was 56 years and 15 survived by his wife, three daughters and one son. During his over 25-year-long stint as a part-time journalist, he worked for Veer Pratap, Dainik Tribune and Jansatta. He also practised law at Nalagarh and local bars for a long time. His cremation, which was performed here today, was largely attended. |
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