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Friday,
June 15, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Forest
Ministry, not CMs, to blame Paonta
Cong in grave crisis
No factionalism in party: Stokes Hill areas
cry for development |
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HP
declares plus 2 exam results Rail
traffic on Kalka-Shimla route disrupted CM
‘discriminating’ against Mandi
1.19 crore sanctioned under food-for-work plan Tarring
of roads illegal: Cong Stone of
water project laid Traffic
hit on Kulu-Manali highway
Mandi DCC chief dead
First paperless post office in region
Phone exchange opened at Chopal
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Forest Ministry, not CMs, to blame Shimla, June 14 The Union Ministry of Forests and Environment has already rejected the site clearance case last month as the project involves 485 hectare of government and private forest land, of which 49 hectare form part of the Renuka Wildlife Sanctuary. There are over two lakh trees of various species on the 319 hectare of government forest alone. In fact, the ministry is bound by the orders of the Supreme Court dated November 13, 2000, which prohibits diversion or “dereservation” of wildlife sanctuary area. As such, despite the paramount importance of the project, the state or the Union Ministry can do little to get environmental clearance. Initially, the ministry had asked the state electricity board to
re-examine the proposal in view of the orders of the apex court, restraining the state government from removing dead, diseased and dying and fallen trees from national parks and wildlife sanctuary. Subsequently, the investigation division was asked to relocate the project to be set up upstream Dadahu on the
Giri. The ministry was, thus, left with no option but to reject the proposal. Senior officers of the board point out that the project could make a headway if the Delhi Government, the main beneficiary, moves the Supreme Court and seeks clearance as a special case in view of the acute shortage of water in the Capital. Instead of indulging in polemics and trying to score points over each other, the two Chief Ministers should make joint efforts for environmental clearance. The project, which has been hanging fire since the past 11 years, will help provide 23 cusecs (cubic metre per second) of water to Delhi nine months in a year. Himachal does not have much stake as the generation of 40 mw electricity is only incidental. While the cost of the project right from, investigation to construction, will be met by the Delhi Government, the state will have to spend about Rs 125 crore for setting up the penstock and powerhouse. So far the Delhi Government has released Rs 3.45 crore for the project. The board has, however, completed investigation using its own resources. It has also obtained the techno-economic clearance for the project. However, work can get underway only if legal initiative is taken to obtain environmental clearance from the Supreme Court. With the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment adopting a liberal attitude in granting approval to states for diversion of forest land, vast expanse of green areas, some even falling in wildlife sanctuaries, were put to non-forestry use in recent years. The apex court took serious note of it and restrained the state government from diverting sanctuary areas. |
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Paonta Cong in grave crisis Nahan, June 14 About two months ago, Mr Roshan Lal Mishra, elected president of the Paonta Congress Mandal, wrote to the state Congress President that he was surprised to see the acceptance letter of his resignation from the post signed by Mr G.S. Bali, General Secretary, Pradesh Congress Committee. The acceptance letter was produced at a meeting of Congress workers. He enclosed an affidavit with his letter, stating that he had been elected president of the Paonta Congress Mandal and had never resigned. Another group led by Mr Rattan Singh, Congress MLA from Paonta, claimed that the resignation letter was indeed submitted by Mr Roshan Lal which was duly accepted by the PCC President and Mr Sher Singh was appointed acting president of the mandal. Mr Roshan Lal, along with four former president of the Paonta block has met Ms Vidya Stokes, state president, Mr G.S. Bali, General Secretary and other state functionaries. Mr Roshan Lal has alleged in his representations that the resignation letter had been written by his opponents in the party and the matter should be inquired into. The issue was also raised at a DCC meeting recently where several members, including senior vice-president Desh Raj Sharma criticised the behaviour of certain Congress workers. Mr Rattan Singh MLA has said there is no going back on the issue as Mr Roshan Lal’s resignation has been already accepted by the PCC but most are of the view that the matter should be resolved at the earliest. According to senior and independent Congress workers of Paonta, the state high command has remained indifferent to the problem. Now in Paonta, a clear division has occurred with one group led by the Congress MLA and the other led by Mr Roshan Lal. The groups hold parallel meetings and often wage a war of words against each other. Allegations of serious nature are levelled by both groups. Some workers have been expelled from the party for issuing objectionable statements in the press against the Congress MLA while action against some others is in progress as per party sources. The fake resignation letter of MLA Rattan Singh recently has affected the image of the party with both groups trading charges. The state government has already ordered a CID inquiry into Mr Rattan Singh’s ‘fake’ resignation episode. A police team has
interrogated more than 60 persons. |
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No factionalism in party: Stokes Mandi, June 14 Ms Stokes stressed all Congressmen should rise above narrow considerations and make the party strong. She said she had been made the PCC President by Mrs Sonia Gandhi and would try to take all leaders into confidence. She said the party was poised to come back to power as people were disillusioned with the BJP-HVP rule in the state. The Congress leader came down heavily on the Dhumal government for its dismal failure on all fronts. She alleged that the government had failed to solve the problem of unemployment. The law and order situation had
worsened, crime against women had increased while drinking water problem had worsened. |
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Hill areas cry for development Kasauli The early ‘80s brought industrial activity to this area revolutionising the entire life here. The hitherto known barren and wasteland of the region changed into a gold mine of industries fetching job for the locals thus elevating their socio-economic status. Ties of hills with the plains have been an area of major concern from times immemorial. Both hills and plains being complementary to each other, their entire economy is interdependent. The development of hills is reflected by the level of linkages that they have with the plains. But the hill panchayat of Nalagarh and Doon falling in the Ramshahr areas present a deplorable plight. No development activity to link them to the better equipped industrial belt has been brought about. The farmers are battling with problems which have remained unsolved despite repeated assurances from various politicians. Time and again all development works have been focussed towards the industrial area by politicians, complain the residents of Ramshahr. Despite the hardships the farmers have brought glory to their region by growing vegetables which have a special demand in the neighbouring states. This has substantially brought prosperity here. But facilities like pucca road, proper transportation facilities, information bulletin regarding farming practices and assured irrigation can go a long way in helping the farmers. Nonetheless, the farmers manage producing a fair harvest of vegetables like tomato, peas, ginger, gimik and off-season cauliflower which are sold in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. People feel that if 13 hill panchayats of Nalagarh and 23 of Doon areas, which are geographically located in the Ramshahr area, are converted into a separate development block, it would go a long way in uplifting their status. A social worker of the area feels that
govt’s indifferent attitude towards this area can be gauged from the fact that even after more than five decades of independence, people have to trudge mountains to reach the far-flung villages, forget accessibility to other primary facilities like education and health care. Politicians have been promising development works each time around elections which have remained nothing more than a mere matter of ridicule. Even the average
illiterate village feels the difference between the developed plain regions and the ignored hill areas. The politicians are least interested in visiting the inaccessible mountainous tracks to see the hardships and carry out the needed development work. The government decision of making new development blocks had lit a ray of hope in the people here. But the people felt betrayed when no such change came forth despite announcements. It would have benefited as many as 56,000 voters in this less privileged belt. |
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HP declares plus 2 exam results Dharamsala, June 14 Rajat Dogra form DAV Senior Secondary School, Una, has topped the exams by securing 89 per cent marks, followed by Monika Angra, Vijender Thakur and Visharad Sharma from the same school. Munish Mahajan, a student of DAV College, Banikhet, has secured the fifth position following by Manoj Kumar and Icha Saini from DAV Senior Secondary School, Una. The eighth, ninth and tenth positions have been bagged by Anjana Kumari from Government School, Ghumarwin, Monika from Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Dharamsala, and Samriti Khullar of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Bilaspur. According to the Secretary of the board, Mr Vikas Labru, the pass percentage in the plus II (arts and commerce group this year stood at 40.41 per cent. Of the 76,828 students, 29,581 passed the exam, while 22,596 failed. A total of 19,463 students were placed under compartment. The result of the vocational course stood at 83 per cent with 676 students taking the exam. |
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Rail traffic on Kalka-Shimla route disrupted Kumarhatti, June 14 The boulder, 10 feet long and 6 feet broad blocked the track, railway sources confirmed. It damaged the track badly. Due to this the 255 up Himalayan Queen, 257 Up Holiday Special and down parcel train from Kalka to Shimla and 258 Dn Himalayan Quean from Shimla to Kalka were delayed for more than 2 hours. The boulder was seen by a vigilant driver of down parcel train which left Solan for Kalka at 12 noon. The driver of the train stopped the train as soon as he found the boulder on the track and immediately informed the nearby Barog railway station. The sectional engineer along with labourers rushed to the site and removed the boulder from the track. Around 2.30 p.m., the traffic was restored but further repair work of the track was still going on. Around 200 passengers of the 258 Dn Himalayan Queen had to face difficulty as the train was directly linked with the Kalka-New Delhi Himalayan Queen starting from Kalka. |
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CM ‘discriminating’ against Mandi Mandi, June 14 He said two years ago, Mr Dhumal had declared at an annual function of the local Government college that law classes would be started. He did not fulfil his promise. Now law classes had been started in Hamirpur, he added. Similarly a regional centre of Himachal Pradesh University had to be opened in Mandi which was the zonal headquarter. Mr Dhumal had opened it at Hamirpur despite the fact that a regional centre existed at Dharamsala. This had caused a lot of resentment among the people of Mandi, Kulu and Bilaspur, he said. Former Speaker said the Chief Minister had laid about 12 foundation stones in Mandi, but ironically work had started on none. He said work on various projects in the town had come to a half as funds were not being allocated. The building of the Regional Hospital and Town Hall were the two examples. Similarly, no funds were available for the augmentation of drinking water supply while the town was reeling under water crisis. He said
shortage of teachers and doctors in the district and elsewhere in the state had made the health and educational institutions virtually non-functional. The situation was worse in his constituency, Darang, which was one of the most backward segments in the state. |
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1.19 crore sanctioned under food-for-work plan Nahan, June 14 Presiding over a drought relief review meeting here, he said as many as 445 out of 800 water supply schemes had been affected in the district due to drought. The water-level fell by 75 per cent in 19 schemes, 50 per cent to 75 per cent in 61 schemes, 25 per cent to 50 per cent in 301 schemes and up to 25 per cent in 64 schemes. He said water management partially affected schemes by the Irrigation and Public health Department had largely improved the situation. In addition to this, 39 schemes were augmented and 25 handpumps installed at various places in the district to meet the shortage of water. Besides, water was being supplied through tankers and mules in some pockets. The Minister said 1,700 quintals of rice and wheat had been distributed to farmers and added that sufficient quantity of cattle feed was available to meet the requirement in the district. He asked the farmers to sue the cattle feed as per advice of animal husbandry doctors. The Minister asked the Deputy Commissioner to convene a meeting of Kandi project and irrigation and public health officials so that concerted efforts were made for development of certain areas. The Deputy commissioner, Mr Rakesh Kaushal, asked the public representative to send him schemes of development through panchayat, so that these could be sanctioned at the earliest under the food-for-work programme. |
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Tarring
of roads illegal: Cong Shimla, June 14 Mr Nand Kishore Mehta, general secretary of the unit, said the decision taken on political consideration was causing great hardships to the residents. The roads, which were dug up in October last, had not been repaired so far. He also took exception to the decision to exclude the merged areas from the corporation without taking the elected body into confidence. The corporation had over the past four years spent Rs 6 crore on the development of these areas. The government had not given any additional grant to the corporation for the purpose. Consequently, the development of the old corporation areas from which taxes were realised, suffered. He said now the areas had been taken out, it would be appropriate for the government to reimburse the amount to the corporation so that it could make up for the deficiency in the existing civic amenities. |
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Stone of water project laid Hamirpur, June 14 Addressing a rural gathering on the bank of the Beas near Jakhoo Jangel village, he said that he was proud to have been born in Hamirpur. “I have every right to fight for my own district and my constituency that has remained neglected since Independence during the successive Congress regimes.” The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of a lift water supply scheme for Tapaldhar, Khanauli, Uhal and Maheshkwal. It will cost about Rs 4.46 crore. He also dedicated to the people a Rs 6 lakh drinking water supply scheme for Khairi Ballah of the Bamsan area of the district. Three scattered villages of the area would benefit from this scheme. He justified with facts and figures that balanced development was going on in all parts of the state. He said that if 91 km of roads were constructed in the Bamsan Assembly segment of Hamirpur district, the Rohroo Assembly segment of the former Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh also got 56 km of new roads. The Chief Minister also blasted those who are raising the controversy of opening of a regional centre of HP University at Hamirpur. He said that no such centre had been opened. He clarified that only BIT and MIT classes would be started in the local college under the banner of the Hamir Institute of Information Technology and this centre would act as a regional centre of HP University only in field of information technology. The Chief Minister said if any one found that any person in their vicinity was without food, the matter should be brought to the notice of the BDO concerned so that he was given a job under the food-for-work programme. The HP Parliamentary Secretary, Mrs Urmila Thakur, on this occasion dwelt on various developmental schemes undertaken in the district during last three years of the BJP government. |
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Traffic
hit on Kulu-Manali highway Manali, June 14 Vehicles coming to Manali are being diverted from Patlikuhl to Naggar-Manali. According to the authorities, road-clearing equipment is being sent to the site of the landslide. Mr Karan Singh, Minister of State for Primary Education, visited the area and met the affected families cloudburst yesterday. |
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Mandi DCC chief dead Mandi, June 14 Thakur Sher Singh was returning from the Kamru Nag Fair. While returning to Sundernagar he had a massive heart attack near Ruhanda and died. He was elected MLA from the Sundernagar constituency in 1993 on Congress ticket. Former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Vidhan Sabha Speaker Thakur Kaul Singh expressed shock over the death of Thakur Sher Singh. |
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First paperless post office in region Shimla, June 14 The Chief Postmaster-General, Mr Vijay Bhushan, told newsmen here today that the post offices proposed to be fully computerised during the current year are at Kangra, Dehra, Dharamshala, Nahan, Hamirupr, Palampur, Chamba and Una. After Delhi, the GPO here was the only post office to have been completely computerised in the region. The saving bank operations were also being done on computers. As many as 40 post offices in the circle have been modernised and nine more at Chamba, Una, Palampur, Hamirpur, Nadaun, Theog, Sarkaghat and Dalhousie will be modernised during the current financial year. Mr Vijay Bhushan said that against the national average of a single post office catering to a population of 5,477, each post office in Himachal Pradesh was catering to 1,756 persons. Four hundred post offices in the state were running in loss. The state government had not released the assistance of Rs 6.50 crore for running such uneconomical post offices. Most of these post offices were in the tribal and remote areas. |
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Phone exchange opened at Chopal Shimla, June 14 Mr D.R. Shandil, MP, inaugurated the exchange. The Chief General Manager, Telecom, Mr N.S. Gill, said top priority was being given to the laying of optical fibre cable. About 2,000 km of optical fibre cable would be laid this year. Mr B.R. Kashyap, General Manager, Shimla telecom district, said new
exchanges would be installed at Pulbahl, Tharoach, Neol Tikri, Gumma and Sainj Khad in Chopal
tehsil. |
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