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Tuesday,
April 2, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Hoteliers rue ‘govt apathy’
Notice to Tourism Director in Wildflower case Panel pulls up power board for defying orders HP okays Balh irrigation
project Health institutions get
fillip |
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HVC to have no poll pact Virbhadra’s vow irks BJP Chamba, April 1 Circuit and rest houses in the district are being misused by locals as parking lots for their vehicles without any restriction and its telephones are also being allegedly misused by staff and locals.
Dalhousie spruced up
for tourists Jawan cremated with state
honours Refresher course in value
education 22 arrested under Excise Act Distt agro-panel chief resigns Leader gets 3-yr RI for felling
trees Workers of licensees clash at Nahan Stamp duty remitted Refresher course in value
education Distt
agro-panel chief resigns Woman
dies at 105 HPU staff hail
UGC decision
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Hoteliers rue ‘govt apathy’ Manali, April 1 Much to the relief of those associated with the tourism industry, the incidence of plague in Shimla and the outbreak of jaundice in Mandi, was over much before the season, which has already started picking
up. Even the past three months registered almost 15 per cent increase in the occupancy of hotels , as compared to the previous year. With stray incidents of communal violence still erupting, hoteliers are apprehensive that Gujaratis and Maharashtrians, who constitute a major chunk of the tourist influx into Himachal, could avoid venturing out of the confines of their homes. “I had personally visited our Ahmedabad office and our worst fears could turn out to be true as very few inquiries and bookings are being made this year,” revealed the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) Area Manager, Mr R.K. Sharma. The HPTDC, on its part, has focused more on publicity and marketing and now has Internet online booking and its own website for the convenience of those wanting to explore the picturesque destinations in Himachal. Naggar Castle Hotel, with its rustic and ancient splendour intact, has been renovated along with the Beas and Kunzum hotels, for the tourist season. Private hoteliers, however, rue that despite Kulu-Manali being the hot favourite with tourists , the government has done little to improve the condition of the roads, which were severely damaged during the 1995 floods. “Despite the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, giving a special grant of Rs 11 crore for improving the roads on the request of the Manali Hoteliers Association, the condition of the roads remains deplorable,” lamented the general secretary of the Hoteliers Association, Mr Madan Awasthy. Though additional parking slots have been created, but during the peak season even these fall short, leading to traffic congestion. The cleanliness of the town figures low on the priority list of the local authorities, as the entire garbage of the town is being dumped into the Beas near Rangari, polluting its waters. The dumping site near the Beas bridge is a big nuisance as the tourist lodges of the HPTDC are right next to it. The private hoteliers say that instead of developing new sites in and around Manali and Kulu to prolong the stay of the tourists, the HPTDC and the Tourism Department are focusing more on commercialisation by constructing new hotels. “ We already have more than 300 hotels in Manali, so instead of regulating the haphazard growth of the town and improving the basic civic amenities, the government has entered into competition with private hotels,” said Mr Awasthy. He said the issuance of licences to some locals to operate as hotel guides had only worsened the situation as the tourists were being put to a lot of inconvenience and harassment by the muscle tactics of these people. Appreciating the government move to depute the tourist protection police in Manali during the season, the locals say this will prevent the fleecing and harassment of the tourists, who have to suffer at times due to the stiff competition as a result of mushrooming of hotels all around. The Manali Hoteliers Association intends taking up the matter of expansion of Bhuntar airport to enable the landing of bigger planes and extension of the railway line up to Mandi with the Union Tourism Minister, Mr Jagmohan, in order to give a boost to tourism. |
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Notice to Tourism Director in Wildflower case Shimla, April 1 Issuing notices, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice W.A. Shishak and Mr Justice L.S. Panta directed the member secretary of the board not to modify and revoke the order of March 23, wherein the order of March 6 by which conditional consent was withdrawn, was kept in abeyance. The Mashobra Resort authorities alleged in the petition that the member secretary withdrew the conditional no-objection certificate from the resort for not supplying documents, including the project report, vetted by the Tourism Department. They also produced the copy of the order of the member secretary by which they had kept the order of March 6 in abeyance. TNS adds: The Company Law Board (CLB) today ordered continuation of status quo in the dispute between the Himachal Pradesh Government and East India Hotels Limited (EIH) which arose following the takeover of the Rs 100-crore Wildflower Hall resort by the former. The CLB adjourned the case till April 8 to allow more time to the two parties to work out some arrangement to run the hotel. The CLB had during the earlier hearing ordered that status quo be maintained in respect of the composition of the board of directors and immovable and movable assets of the property of Mashobra Resorts, which is running the hotel. The government took over the hotel on March 5 after the state Cabinet approved the termination of the joint venture agreement with the EIH. Since then, both the government and the EIH have been claiming that they were in control of the hotel. The government maintained that the EIH had violated the provisions of the agreement signed on October 30, 1995, by not making the hotel commercially operational with the stipulated period of six years, including the penal period of two years. Further, it was alleged that the company paid or appropriated large sums to associate companies and firms for technical assistance, which as per the accord, were to be provided by it free of cost and in any case were its responsibility. The government also claimed that the EIH increased the cost of project from Rs 40 crore to Rs 99 crore and unauthorisedly reduced the government equity from 35 per cent to 21 per cent. The EIH denies having reduced the equity ratio without obtaining permission of the government. |
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Panel pulls up power board for defying orders Shimla, April 1 The board not only contravened the orders of the commission but also unilaterally altered the targets as envisaged in the MoU signed between the government of India and the state government. The commission has served five separate show-cause notices to the board for contravention of various directions, including changes in the targets agreed upon in the MoU on which it heavily relied while pleading its case for a hike in power tariff. The board was to keep the commission informed about the progress of reforms on a quarterly basis. The commission observed in the show-cause notice that it accepted the target set out in the MoU which greatly influenced the process of determination of tariff and any unilateral changes were bound to betray the lack of commitment towards the reforms process and the interests of consumers. The board had agreed to install electronic meters for all connected load up to 20 KW by March, 2002, but now it proposes to do it by March, 2003. Similarly, the transmission and distribution losses were to be reduced from 25 per cent to 20 per cent by March, 2004, but the deadline has been extended to March, 2007. Electronic meters for 11KV transformers and LT transformers were to be provided by June, 2001. The deadline was extended to March, 2002, but even then the achievement is only 31 per cent. In the absence of electronic meters, an energy audit could not be carried out to evaluate the performance of the board. More importantly, the board was to achieve the break-even point for the distribution wing by March, 2003, but it now wants the deadline to be extended to March, 2005. The board was directed to submit a plan to introduce competitive conditions between various circles in the generation, transmission and distribution wings of the utility together with the implementation programme by December, 2001. However, the plan submitted by it by way of compliance did not have any benchmarks, mechanism and procedure for rewarding the best and discouraging the worst. The plan, the commission observed, had been prepared in an unprofessional manner without proper application of mind. Similarly, the instruction of the commission to prepare a material management policy was also not complied with in earnest. The plan submitted was nothing short of defiance of the Commission’s order, the notice said. The board has allegedly refused to get its assets physically verified by an independent agency and wants to carry out the job internally. During the public hearing on tariff application, the board stated that it did not have any unproductive assets and the commission had directed to file an affidavit to this effect. In the affidavit, the board made a U-turn and furnished a details of unproductive, unremunerative and idle assets. On perusal of the information, the commission detected huge inconsistencies and incongruities and found that even store items which did not form part of the fixed assets had been included. The board has been given a month’s time to file its reply to the notices. Under Section 45 of the state Electricity Regulatory Commission Act, the contravention of directions of the commission could attract a penalty up to Rs 1 lakh per contravention. In case of continuing contravention the commission could impose additional penalty at the rate of Rs 6,000 per day during the period of contravention. |
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HP okays Balh irrigation
project Mandi, April 1 Addressing a news conference, he said the irrigation project would be completed in five years and usher in an era of prosperity in the valley which was known as the granary of the district. Farmers of the valley were now growing off-season vegetables whereby their economic status had gone up, he said. He claimed that many development works held up for several years had been completed during the past four years in the Balh constituency, which he represented. With the installation of about 100 hand pumps and the
completion of a network of drinking water supply schemes, the problem of drinking water had virtually been solved. A Central assistance of Rs 5 crore for drinking water had also been utilised in the constituency, he said. Mr Chaudhary said 80 rooms had been constructed for primary schools under the newly launched Saraswati Bal Vidya Sankalp Yojna. The block headquarters had been shifted to the Balh valley, fulfilling a long-standing demand of the people, he said. He claimed that the Chakkar bridge, the foundation stone of which had been laid in 1979, had been completed last year with his efforts. Mr Chaudhary said a Rs 65-crore watershed project under a Centrally-sponsored scheme had been approved for Himachal Pradesh. Of this, about Rs 3 crore would be spent in the Balh constituency. The minister said the construction of roads in the valley was being taken up on a war-footing. A sum of Rs 5.5 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna and Rs 1.9 crore provided by Nabard was being spent. A network of link roads in the valley would help farmers carry their produce easily to the markets, he said. Under the food-for-work programme, 70 link roads had been constructed, he added. He said the Centre had provided Rs 10 crore for Himachal Pradesh for making concrete village paths. He said panchayats were being given more powers and these were being involved actively in monitoring the progress of ongoing works. Replying to a question, he admitted that serious cases of corruption against elected panchayat representatives had been detected. He said it was disgusting that on paper 8016 village toilets were shown to have been constructed even though these did not exist. Mr Chaudhary said the government was considering to modify the Panchayati Raj Act with the intention of incorporating provisions to unseat corrupt members and office-bearers of Panchayati Raj institutions. Of the 412 cases of corruption, action had been initiated against 202 and others were also being charge-sheeted, he said. |
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Health institutions get
fillip Sarol (Chamba), April 1 The minister informed that the state government had so far opened 187 health institutions, including 153 ayurvedic hospitals, in the state. He said seven district hospitals had been upgraded to the level of zonal hospitals. The minister said 829 doctors has been appointed to meet the shortage of doctors in health institutions in the state during the past four years. He said the intake capacity in Ayurvedic Medical College, Paprola, had been increased from 30 to 50. The minister further stated that the government had succeeded in getting recognition from the Medical Council of India for Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda, in Kangra district and Government Dental College, Shimla. Two dental colleges had also been opened in the state in the private sector, the Minister added. The minister said the work on Swami Vivekanand Hospital at Palampur which would have the standard and parameters of the PGI had also been stated. |
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HVC to have no poll pact Dharamsala, April 1 Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Joshi along with Rajya Sabha Member Anil Sharma and Minister for Animal Husbandry Ram Lal Markandy said his party would field its candidates from all the 68 Assembly segments. Mr Joshi, said his party was maintaining equal distance from both the BJP and Congress, and they were sure that all those who were feeling sidelined within their parties would join the HVC. Remaining non-committal on the issue of any understanding with the Congress, Mr Joshi said the majority of his partymen were not opposed to the Congress ideology, but had revolted against the autocratic style of functioning of its leaders. |
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Virbhadra’s vow irks BJP Shimla, April 1 Mr Ganesh Dutt, party spokesperson, said the promise was a crude ploy to woo the electorate, which would not work. He said Mr Virbhadra Singh held the office of Chief Minister for over 11 years but the idea of providing jobs did not enter his mind during that period. He said Mr Virbhadra Singh had no locus standi to criticise the present government for transferring employees, as he was the one who harassed them the most by ordering vindictive transfers. |
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Circuit houses or private parking lots? Chamba, April 1 Besides this, these places have become centres of political activities. Even the national and state political parties do not hesitate to hold meetings resulting in breaking of furniture, and crockery many a times. Since Chamba district falls on the borderland adjacent to militancy-infested region of Jammu and Kashmir, occurrence of any untoward and unpleasant incident in such places in the garb of such activities cannot be ruled out. Official sources told the correspondent that the orders prohibiting the parking of private vehicles and imposing restrictions on other undesirable activities has recently been issued and enforced in toto. |
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Jorhji mela begins from today
Kumarhatti, April 1
Residents have however, expressed their dismay over the failure of the government to tar the 10-km Patta-Jorhji road. |
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Dalhousie spruced up
for tourists Dalhousie, April 1 Restaurants and pubs are being refurbished. The Himachal Pradesh Department of Tourism has imparted training to a special security cell called the tourist police with a view to providing security and information to tourists. According to Mr Subhashish Panda, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, 30 trained contingents of the tourist police have been directed to guide the tourists. There are 121 hotels, 11 restaurants, 18 travel agencies and 46 outdoor photographers and tourist guides registered with the state Tourism Department. |
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Jawan cremated with state
honours Hamirpur, April 1 Ajay had joined 10 JAK rifles four years ago and lost his life fighting Pakistani militants in Jammu and Kashmir recently. Mr Ishwar Dass Dhiman, Education Minister, and other district officers who were present at the cremation offered flowers on the body. His brother lit the pyre. |
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Refresher course in value
education Shimla, April 1 Further preservation and perpetuation of cultural heritage was also a goal of education, he said. He said knowing the inner space was more important than the knowledge of space. He said it was a matter of concern that there had been a shift towards materialism which had degraded the basic human values. |
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22 arrested under Excise Act Solan, April
1 The Superintendent of Police, Mr
S.Z.H. Zaidi, told newsmen here today that he had ordered special vigil to check the illicit movement of liquor on the eve of the annual changeover of liquor contractors. They were “apprehending large-scale illicit transfer of liquor stocks from one vend to another or to some unauthorised storehouses,” he added. He said special checkposts were accordingly set up at kew points falling under various police posts and station throughout the district. Twelve persons were nabbed in and around Solan town, three at
Darlaghat, three near Nalagarh and one each at Kandaghat, Arki, Barotiwala and Dharampur. |
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Distt agro-panel chief resigns Solan, April, 1 Of late, Mr Thakur had been making discrete protests over, what he described as, undue interference of the state Marketing Board Chairman, who belongs to the town, in the day-to-day running of the district committee. He reportedly had strong reservations over the manner in which civil construction works, had been allotted on the basis of
favouritism. |
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Leader gets 3-yr RI for felling
trees Shimla, April 1 Mr C.R. Premi, the then Divisional Forest Officer of the Chopal area and two others have also been sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment. This case of illegal felling pertains to the period between 1975 and 1977 when a large number of standing green trees in the Chopal area were illegally felled by these persons. According to the prosecution, Mr Chauhan and five others were accused of illegally felling of green trees and the FIR was registered under Sections 41 and 42 of the Indian Forest Act.
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Workers of licensees clash at Nahan Shimla, April 1 As many as three persons were injured in the clash which took place at “kutcha tank” during the transfer of unsold stock of liquor from the old licensee to the new one. Kirpans and other sharp edged weapons were used in the clash. The police intervened and controlled the situation. The local liquor baron who had been dominating the trade for the past over 20 years was ousted by a new licencee from Punjab during auctions of liquor vends held yesterday. |
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Stamp duty remitted Shimla, April 1 According to a notification issued today, the stamp duty so exempted will be for only one house building loan for an employee in his career and subject to the maximum ceiling of Rs 10 lakh. |
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Refresher course in value
education Shimla, April 1 Further preservation and perpetuation of cultural heritage was also a goal of education, he said. He said knowing the inner space was more important than the knowledge of space. He said it was a matter of concern that there had been a shift towards materialism which had degraded the basic human values.
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Distt agro-panel
chief resigns Solan, April, 1 Of late, Mr Thakur had been making discrete protests over, what he described as, undue interference of the state Marketing Board Chairman, who belongs to the town, in the day-to-day running of the district committee. He reportedly had strong reservations over the manner in which civil construction works, had been allotted on the basis of
favouritism. |
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Woman dies
at 105 Shimla, April 1 She had been a source of inspiration for the villagers and had perfect vision and an impeccable memory even after crossing the 100-year mark. She headed a 137-member family and was the only surviving fourth-generation member in the region. |
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HPU staff hail
UGC decision Shimla, April 1 They gave credit to Dr S.D. Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, who took pains to get the centre for which over 100 universities were in the race. |
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