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Tuesday,
May 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Remove encroachments,
CM tells Forest Dept Manali gears up to receive
PM Super-fast buses from Shimla to
dists HP truckers warn Punjab
Govt Rs 1 cr for each development
block HC wants list of vacant posts
in
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Panchayat seeks better water
supply Special chance
for HPU students Summer camp for patients of muscular dystrophy
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Remove encroachments,
CM tells Forest Dept Shimla, May 12 Inaugurating a two-day conference of forest officers on “Emerging challenges, opportunities and strategies in forestry sector” here today, he said the menace of encroachments had assumed serious proportions and the department had been reduced to a helpless spectator. In spite of the fact that the divisional forest officers had been vested with powers to remove encroachments nothing much had happened. He asked officers to act promptly and assured that the government would give them full support in the matter. He expressed his displeasure over the casual manner in which the cases of illicit fellings were pursued and noted that there had been instances where even officials of the department had resiled from their statements. In future, it must be ensured that physical position of the trees as recorded in the working plans should be reflected in damage reports and in serious cases FIR should be lodged giving full details of the trees. There could be no other foolproof method than this. Such working plans should also be prepared even for the trees falling within the purview of 10-year felling programme for private sale by charging a reasonable fee from the owner. The enumeration of trees should be jointly signed by the buyer, seller and the department. It would serve as deterrent to check illicit felling. Underlining the need to increase the green cover, he said as per the requirement of the national forest policy 66 per cent of the area in hills should be under trees. The forest cover in the state was only 26 per cent. He said with the population explosion, pressure on forests was bound to increase and hence the need to expand the green cover. The Chief Minister also noted that the real professional task of the department to prepare working plans and carry out silvicultural operations were being neglected. This laxity would be viewed seriously. He called for restructuring of the department at all levels to ensure optimum utilisation of the manpower. The financial and administrative powers should be delegated at all levels and senior officers should engage themselves in policy, planning, evaluation and monitoring. Mr Chander Kumar, Forest Minister, said environment had acquired global dimensions and special effort was required to be made to invite collaboration from international agencies to tackle problem areas. Mr J.P. Negi, Principal Secretary (Forests), in his keynote address said the department should be completely restructured to meet new challenges and ensure its effective functioning. He said only a professional approach would help in achieving the targets. Mr R.A. Singh, Principal Conservator (Forests), gave a detailed account of the functioning of the department. The Chief Minister also released the publication brought out by Himalayan Forest Research Institute, an organisation engaged in environmental activities. |
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Manali gears up to receive
PM Manali, May 12 Mr Vajpayee will stay at his farmhouse in Prini, 4 km from the town on the Manali-Naggar road. Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the visit. Roads on the left bank of the Beas leading to Prime Minister’s farmhouse are being tightly guarded. Additional police force has been requisitioned from all parts of the state for the purpose. Barricades have been put up at many places. Special protection group (SPG) personnel have already arrived here and are looking after the security arrangements. A large number of police personnel have been deployed at various strategic points en route the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) helipad to Prini village. Mr Vajpayee will land at the helipad at Bahang, 4 km from here on the Manali — Leh highway. He will then be escorted to his residence at Prini. According to Mr R.D. Nazeem, Deputy Commissioner, Kulu, Mr Vajpayee is not scheduled to address any public function during his stay here. SHIMLA: As the state gears up to welcome Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, expectations have been raised that the Prime Minister may oblige the fund-starved state with special central assistance. It will be his first visit under the Congress regime as prime minister. He has been more than generous in giving assistance to the state while it was under BJP rule over the past five years. Mr Vajpayee, who considers Himachal Pradesh as his second home, is expected to adopt the same attitude towards the state, even though the BJP is no longer in power. Mr Vajpayee has seldom disappointed the state in the past. He provided special assistance or some other benefit to Himachal on almost every visit. In all, the state benefited to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore as special assistance from his largesse during the five-year period. The six-day retreat will be entirely a private affair. However, Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, will definitely get an opportunity to discuss the problems of the state, particularly the financial crisis. The norms for the grant of central assistance do not provide much latitude for showering special favours on a state. The Dhumal government secured assistance under schemes like the Infrastructure Development Fund and the accelerated power development programme besides some project-specific grants. The Congress government is likely to pursue the same strategy. Much will, however, depend on the attitude of the Prime Minister. The Centre had, of late, linked the devolution of funds with reforms. Thus, the willingness of the state to pursue structural reforms also matters. |
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Super-fast buses from Shimla to
dists Shimla, May 12 Stating this here today Mr G.S. Bali, Transport Minister, said that the buses would start from various district headquarters early in the morning and reach Shimla before noon. They would start the return journey in the evening and reach the destination the same day. He said the main purpose was to ensure that people who had to visit the capital in connection with various works could return home the same day. He said the corporation would acquire about 50 new mini buses for this purpose. If the occupancy was high, bigger buses would be provided. The corporation had yesterday introduced a new bus services to connect the famous Devi temples of Hatkoti in Rohru and Chamunda in Kangra. The service would ply via Jwalamukhi, another famous pilgrim centre. Mr Bali said that efforts were on to streamline the local bus service in Shimla. He said during surprise checks conducted by him he found out that buses were deviating from the designated routes and not adhering to timings. He said to check this the Transport Department had proposed to introduce the system of numbered bus services. He warned the private bus operators that his drive against malpractices in
passengers transport services, particularly evasion of special road tax, would continue. He said he had only given breathing time to defaulters so that they could set their house in order. The department had taken a serious notice of the fact that some bus operators, who had secured permits for contract carriage were plying buses on only regular routes. He urged the passengers not to travel by such services as during checking they could be off loaded midway. |
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HP truckers warn Punjab
Govt Bilaspur, May 12 Addressing truck operators, Mr Ram Dass Thakur, president of the federation, served an ultimatum on the Punjab Government to meet their demands or face the agitation throughout the state from the morning of May 15. |
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Rs 1 cr for each development
block Nurpur, May 12 This was stated by Mr Sat Mahajan, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister, while addressing panchayat pradhans of the local development block here yesterday. Mr Mahajan alleged that the committees which had been packed with BJP activists during the rule of the Dhumal government had failed to deliver as per aspirations of the people. New committees would includes members from the zila parishad and the Block Development Committees (BDC), he said. The minister reiterated that the government had committed to the complete development of rural areas in the state and each development block would get Rs 1 crore. He said the Chairman of the BDC would prepare the annual confidential report of the BDO. A departmental committee had been set up to probe the irregularities committed in the rural development department, he added. The local association of panchayat pradhans submitted a memorandum to the minister demanding an increase in honorarium and the issuance of identity cards. |
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HC wants list of vacant posts
in schools Shimla, May 12 The Division Bench, comprising the Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and the Justice Arun Kumar Goel, directed the government to apprise the court of what steps it had taken to fill the vacancies till today. The court directed the respondents to file the reply till July 1. |
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Panchayat seeks better water
supply Kumarhatti, May 12 “At present, we are getting poor water supply on alternate days, lamented residents. “If the situation in May, what would happen in June? they asked. A panchayat member said that population of the town had increased manifold but the IPH had not done enough to meet the situation. The water storage facility and infrastructure to lift water from natural sources and the distribution network needed upgradation, he pointed. Meanwhile, a senior official of the IPH department said that water storage tank of 4-lakh litre capacity had been sanctioned for the town that would be installed soon. The town had been divided into two zones for water supply and each zone was getting supply on alternate days, he added. Denying any disparity in the supply, he said the office had maintained a register in which daily record of the supply and discharge was mentioned regularly, and this could be checked anytime. |
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Special chance
for HPU students Shimla, May 12 |
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Summer camp for patients of muscular dystrophy
Kumarhatti, May 12 Speaking at the concluding session yesterday, the Chief Minister’s wife, Mrs Pratibha Singh, who is president of the State Red Cross Society, said: “Those suffering from the disease should not give up. They should fight the disease. There is little doubt that with proper medical guidance and family assistance they can live like normal persons”. She gave away wheel-chairs to six children. On behalf of the Red Cross, she gave Rs 21,000 to the MD Association.
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