The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Monday, December 9, 2002, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H

Dhumal has lost partymen’s trust: Stokes
Shimla, December 8
Mrs Vidya Stokes, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief, has ridiculed Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Himachal Chief Minister, for holding vishwas yatra in the state at a time when he has lost credibility even among his own partymen.

SPG team reaches Shilaroo
Thakur, Panatu join Congress

Traffic blocked over toll row
Bilaspur, December 8
Hundreds of people of this district today blocked vehicular traffic on National Highway No. 21 at Suharghat, 40 km from here, after a quarrel between toll tax barrier owners and vehicle owners coming from Nainadevi. The barrier owners insisted that the vehicle owners must pay the toll tax before crossing to Bilaspur town.

Bus operators’ strike called off
Shimla, December 8
Private buses were back on the roads of Himachal Pradesh today with operators calling off their three-day stir unconditionally following talks with Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal last night, officials said.

“Priority” project fails to take off
Parwanoo
About four years ago, a signboard was put up on the Kalka-Shimla highway here pointing towards the site of the proposed railway station at Kamli village to serve the industrial town of Parwanoo.

Parwanoo barrier to have hi-tech cameras
Parwanoo, December 8
Hi-tech cameras will be installed at the Parwanoo barrier to record the vehicles passing through it. According to sources, this is being done as part of a project of the state government under which all important barriers in the state will be developed as model barriers.

REGIONAL BRIEFS

YOUR TOWN

Bilaspur
Chamba
Hamirpur
Dharamsala
Shimla

EARLIER STORIES

	BJP wants high command to defuse crisis December 8, 2002
	Infighting in Himachal BJP December 7, 2002
	Private buses remain off road December 6, 2002
	Next winter session at Dharamsala: CM December 5, 2002
	Sonia’s Shimla rally on Dec 11 December 4, 2002
	Task force to check pollution December 3, 2002
	Meeting to review draft proposals December 2, 2002
	Delimitation panel showing undue haste? December 1, 2002
	CBI probe sought into health purchase scam November 30, 2002
	Solan village to have national heritage park November 29, 2002
	Aggressive Shanta fuels differences November 28, 2002

Dhumal has lost partymen’s trust: Stokes
Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 8
Mrs Vidya Stokes, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief, has ridiculed Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Himachal Chief Minister, for holding vishwas yatra in the state at a time when he has lost credibility even among his own partymen.

Addressing a press conference, here today, she said the politics of rolling back decisions and coming out with gimmicks like the creation of new districts had not helped the Dhumal government win the confidence of the people over the past four years. The credibility hit the nadir when Mr Shanta Kumar, Union Minister for Rural Development, accused Mr Dhumal of a conspiracy to finish him politically. Going around the state on vishwas yatra in such a situation would hardly do any good to Mr Dhumal or his party.

Refusing to comment on Mr Shanta Kumar’s charge that the draft delimitation proposals were manipulated by the government, she agreed that the commission had not prepared the proposals in accordance with the Delimitation Act. The parameters like balancing the population equally and ensuring that contiguous seats were not reserved were ignored while framing draft proposals. She said she was the first person to urge the commission not to carry out the exercise in such haste before the elections, as it would create problems for everyone.

She denied the charge of the Kangra BJP leaders that she adopted an anti-Kangra stance as an associate member of the commission and asserted that she pleaded the case of the state as a whole and not on parochial basis. She urged the BJP leaders not to drag the Congress or its leaders into the dispute over delimitation, which was an outcome of the factional fight going on within the ruling party.

The issue of reducing one seat in the Kangra district was also settled among the BJP leaders as Mr Shanta Kumar opposed it and Mr Maheshwar Singh, MP, supported it and wanted that a seat be increased in Kulu district instead.

Mrs Stokes maintained that there was no dispute in the party over the venue of Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s rally at Shilaroo on December 11 and said the decision had been taken by the party much earlier at a meeting presided over by Ms Krishna Tirath, a national secretary of the party. As such there was no question of her misleading the party high command on the venue as alleged by Mr Virbhadra Singh, Congress Legislative Party leader. She said it was a considered decision to organise the rally in an interior rural area to enable the people of far-flung areas like Kinnaur, Chopal, Ani and Sirmaur to attend it in large numbers.

She denied that there was any leadership tussle in the party and advised newsmen to focus on the happenings in the ruling BJP in the wake of Mr Shanta Kumar’s outbursts against the Dhumal camp. The BJP was already in a hopeless position and intensification of faction fight in the party would only ensure disaster at the hustings.

Traffic blocked over toll row
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, December 8
Hundreds of people of this district today blocked vehicular traffic on National Highway No. 21 at Suharghat, 40 km from here, after a quarrel between toll tax barrier owners and vehicle owners coming from Nainadevi. The barrier owners insisted that the vehicle owners must pay the toll tax before crossing to Bilaspur town.

This resulted in a huge traffic jam which lasted for more than an hour as hundreds of vehicles were stranded along both sides of the highway and later some Congress leaders, including District Congress Committee President Hoshiyarsingh Thakur and local MLA and former Health Minister Ramlal Thakur joined the demonstrators.

They condemned the state government for setting up this barrier here illegally and not on Punjab and Himachal border at Garamera, thus harassing hundreds of local residents.

According to rules no fee could be charged from vehicles of the local residents within the district they said.

They also alleged that since a top BJP leader was a ‘partner” in this contract, the government was looting money from people.

They also said the state government had no authority, under the law, to put up a barrier on this highway as all national highways were constructed and maintained by the Central Government.

Bus operators’ strike called off

Shimla, December 8
Private buses were back on the roads of Himachal Pradesh today with operators calling off their three-day stir unconditionally following talks with Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal last night, officials said.

Mr Dhumal assured them that their demands for a hike in bus fares, increase in number of off-road days for the calculation of Road Tax and further reduction in Special Road Tax, would be considered sympathetically on merit and appropriate action taken, they said.

The striking transporters earlier held two rounds of talks with the Transport Secretary before the final round with Mr Dhumal.

The strike had its maximum impact in Hamirpur and Kangra districts. PTI

	“Priority” project fails to take off M.M. Bhandari Parwanoo About four years ago, a signboard was put up on the Kalka-Shimla highway here pointing towards the site of the proposed railway station at Kamli village to serve the industrial town of Parwanoo. The foundation stone of the project was laid by the then Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, in the presence of the Himachal Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, and a number of senior state government and railway officials. The project of extending the broad gauge railway line from Kalka to Parwanoo had generated a lot of interest among industrialists and residents of the area. They had, for a long time, been demanding this link. Mr Nitish Kumar assured them at the stone laying ceremony that the project would be given priority. The function was held about four years ago, but no work has been done on this “priority” project except putting up the board on the highway. The foundation stone at the site has started chipping off and the brickwork has also been damaged. According to sources the Railways has not earmarked any funds for the project even this year. One reason for the delay could be that there might have been second thoughts in the Railways about the utility of the project. There apparently is a section, which thinks the project may not benefit passengers or industrialists. The residents of the area expressed the view that the project would benefit neither the masses nor industrialists of the area and added that spending crores of rupees on the project would also not bring any gain to the Railways. They suggested that the government should instead extend the railway line from Kalka to Bhartgarh via Barotiwala, Baddi and Nalagarh for the benefit of people as well as the industrialists of the area. This would provide a link between Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and would foster the development of the area around the Kalka region. Bhartgarh railway line would also provide a shorter route to Jammu and Kashmir and will give employment to the youth of the area. The residents of Kamli village are also happy with the proposed project, they say they do not have surplus land to give for the extension of the railway line from Kalka to Parwanoo. Apple growers of the Shimla region say that it will not be convenient for them to send their produce to other states from Parwanoo railway station as it will involve loading and unloading at various places and, thus delay the movement. Apple being a perishable commodity, the consignments will rot due to the delay.
	Parwanoo barrier to have hi-tech cameras Our Correspondent Parwanoo, December 8 Hi-tech cameras will be installed at the Parwanoo barrier to record the vehicles passing through it. According to sources, this is being done as part of a project of the state government under which all important barriers in the state will be developed as model barriers. Under this project, a four-lane road will be constructed at the barrier and all old buildings in which tax offices have been housed will be converted into new ones. The sources said a remote video monitoring system would be installed at the barrier, which would be connected with the district headquarters at Solan. The source added that the project report in this regard had already been prepared and sent to the government for approval. The project would cost around Rs 50 lakh and work was likely to start in the next two months.
	Dalhousie cries for care Balkrishan Prashar Dalhousie The present situation in the famous Dalhousie hill station reveals that the government has put this hill resort on a rather low priority, as there is no master plan for the promotion of tourism. Consequently, the hill station day by day is becoming a sleepy town. The hill station has been persistently neglected for far too long. Local residents recall that the decline of Dalhousie almost coincided with the reorganisation of Punjab when this town was transferred to Himachal Pradesh in November 1966. Hardly anything worth mentioning has been done here by way of development. Except that lifesize statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has been installed and a memorial built in the memory of Sardar Ajit Singh, a revolutionary during India’s Independence struggle and an uncle of Sardar Bhagat Singh, who died in Dalhousie soon after the country attained independence. The proposal for the construction of an airport at Banikhet, near here, is still in the doldrums. The old buildings are decaying. Many buildings that house government offices are in a dilapidated condition. The roads in and around here are full of potholes. There was a time when the roads and streets were kept clean, hotels and other eating-houses regularly inspected, stray dogs and animals kept away and vehicles seldom used on The Mall. But, today, the entire system has collapsed. In the light of mounting pressure of vehicles revolution, the hill station needs sufficient parking-lots to facilitate tourists accommodating their vehicles. Officials of the Municipal Council say that since the entry and toll taxes have been abolished, the council is starved of funds and development works are lagging behind. It even has to manage funds for the salaries of the staff. Established in 1854, Dalhousie celebrated its centenary in 1954 when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru attended the celebration. The first settlers were members of Lord Dalhousie’s staff and later it became a British Cantonment. Even today, Dalhousie has a large population of Army and Air Force personnel besides the local population. Built on and around five hills, Dalhousie, once a popular summer retreat, has lost its charm. Named after Lord Dalhousie, a British Viceroy, this “Queen of Hills” is now a picture of neglect. A number of concrete structures have sprung up in a haphazard manner all around. Situated at a height ranging between 1525 and 2500 metres in dense deodar forests, Dalhousie has its own share of history. Rabindra Nath Tagore visited this hill resort in 1873 along with his father. The natural surroundings of Snowdon in Upper Bakrota, where he stayed, are believed to have inspired him to write his first poem. Later, in 1925, Subhash Chandra Bose stayed at Kynance, near the General Post Office (GPO). Another revolutionary, Sardar Ajit Singh died in Dalhousie. For the purpose of boosting tourism industry in this hill station, a separate development plan is required to be drawn to make Dalhousie attractive to the tourists coming from home and abroad and needs to be implemented wholeheartedly.
	School lecturers’ rally on Dec 19 Our Correspondent Hamirpur, December 8 The Association of School Lecturers of Himachal Pradesh has decided to organise a state-level rally here on December 19 in protest against the “anti-lecturer” stance of the state government. An effigy of the Education Minister will also be burnt on the occasion, according to Mr B.K. Sharma, press secretary of the association. He said here today that the Education Minister was not implementing the agreement reached between association and the state government. He demanded the implementation of the accepted demands. The school lecturers have been demanding two increments for higher qualification, immediate release of confirmation list grant of practical allowance on the pattern of science teachers and reservation of all posts of principal in schools for lecturers.