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Stage set for winter sans power cuts Govt policies invite flak at
CITU convention Satellite township in search of land
Army recruitment drive begins |
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ROLLA (GHNP): Conservation, environment, nature, ecology, preservation, ecosystem are words Chande Ram hates. He is struggling to retain his land notified as part of the Great Himalayan National Park
four years ago. Chande Ram (75) is not upset because he will lose his land but he feels the government will not fulfil its promise.
Nadaun (Hamirpur), November 28 When families are breaking up for minor reasons, 34 members of a family here living together. The patriarch Roshan Lal Jain, the eldest son of freedom fighter late Nagahiya Mull is 85. Mr Jain is still reads the newspapers without specs. He is the main newspaper seller in the town since 1971. Goods worth 5 lakh gutted in fire Property worth Rs 5 lakh was reduced to ashes in a fire that broke out in a residential colony near the Deputy Commissioner’s office here today. The house of Jai Ram, a ‘kanungo’ in the Deputy Commissioner’s office, was gutted and cash, jewellery, furniture, household articles and clothes were destroyed. 10-year RI for
possessing charas Dinesh Kumar, resident of Goa, and Dehal Singh resident of Manali, were convicted yesterday by Sessions Judge, Mandi, V.K. Ahuja for possessing 27.8 kg of charas worth Rs 3 crore. Restore timber rights, say residents The post-1939 settlers here have asked the Himachal Pradesh Government to restore their timber rights at the earliest. They were deprived of these rights 10 years back. 
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Stage set for winter sans power cuts Shimla, November 28 The availability of power has increased dramatically due to favourable weather conditions for hydroelectric generation throughout the year and commissioning of the 300 MW Baspa Project in the private sector in June. Moreover, one unit each from Nathpa Jhakri and the Chamera-II projects last month has also helped in bridging the gap between the requirement and the availability of electricity during the lean winter months when the hydel generation plunges to 25 per cent of the normal due to reduction of discharge in rivers. The total shortfall during the current season from November 2003 to March 2004 will be only 283 million units as against over 460 million units last year. The total generation was likely to be 1419 million units this year as compared to 1277 million units last year. With a higher generation during summer the state electricity board was able to supply 753 million units more than last season to Punjab under the banking system. As such it is in a position to draw more of the banked power during winter months. The Baspa Project has increased the daily availability from 13 to 15 lakh units and the state will be getting 3 to 4 lakh units as its 3 per cent share, being the state of the region, from the Nathpa-Jhakri project. The daily demand for power increases from 95 lakh units in November to 110 lakh units in January and the board has planned to utilise the banked power in such a manner that there will be no shortage, says Mr S.N. Kapoor, Chief Engineer, Systems and Planning. The state will get 40 million units every month as central allocation over the five-month period from November to March and it will draw 177 million units of banked power from Punjab during the period with a maximum of 62 million units in January, the leanest month. Keeping in view the increased availability of power the board did not impose any peak-hour restrictions on industries during October and November. |
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Govt policies
invite flak at CITU convention Kulu, November 28 Mr Rakesh Singha, Himachal Pradesh state unit president of CITU, hailed the announcement of the Chief Minister regarding the reviewing of all power projects being undertaken in the state for which the MoUs were signed by the previous BJP government. He added that the local people were not given employment by the private companies involved in the construction of the power projects. Singha further said because of the wrong policies of the NDA government more than six lakh small-scale industries in the country were facing closure, resulting in unemployment to crores. He stated that a national-level meeting would be organised on December 11 to chalk out the future course of action. Earlier, the CITU activists gathered at Ram Bagh, Akhara Bazar here, and took out a march from there to Dhalpur. Hundreds of workers, including women, participated in the march. |
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Satellite township in search of land Solan, November 28 A letter was received by the district administration from the housing board yesterday, seeking permission for acquiring 483.6 bighas at Mohal village and 1,003.18 bighas of private land at Vakna village. The fresh demand comes after a high-level meeting of the board officials with HUDCO where the earlier earmarked land of about 1,200 bighas was found to be inadequate. The government had proposed to set up a township for a population of 30,000 plus to ease congestion at Shimla and Solan. Revenue officials are now exploring the possibility of land transfer. The fact that much of this land falls in the common pool and villagers have been encroaching it for the past many decades is a major hurdle for getting it evicted. Besides, a part of this land is in the form of paths, water resources, etc., which can not be surrendered for the purpose. Earlier, at a joint inspection conducted by the district administration and the housing board officials it was found that 177.1 bighas of Manjhol village, which the housing board proposed to acquire, also belonged to the common pool which could not be granted for any other use as per the HP Village Land Act, 1972. Such type of land might not be made available at all here, opined officials in the Revenue Department. Moreover, land prices have suddenly soared here from a few thousands to lakhs with the execution of some land deals in the past few months. |
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Army recruitment drive begins Sujanpur Tihra (Hamirpur), November 28 Major R.Somsekara, Recruiting Medical Officer, told reporters at the Chaugan that the written test for the successful candidates would be conducted on December 28 at the same venue. He said in all 200 persons from the districts of Una, Hamirpur and Bilaspur would be recruited in the Indian Army on basis of the ongoing exercise. The recruiting officer was hopeful that nearly 8000 to 10000 youths from these three districts would take part in the tests to join the Indian Army as sepoys. Though the first day of the recruitment process passed off peacefully, yet the candidates who had come from the Una district had a horrible experience last night when they were made to sleep outside the shops and houses in the absence of sufficient accommodation. One of the candidates Raj Kumar said,” I fell ill due to the biting cold last night. I failed to run the race as I was not fit”. Virendra Singh, another candidate said,” I had never thought that facilities will not be available at Sujanpur Tihra for the night stay. It was too cold during the night and moreover I failed to get dinner due to the shortage of food with the hotel and dhabawalas”. The district administration of Hamirpur had made elaborate arrangements to maintain law and order during the recruitment process. Police personals were on guard to help the Army authorities to manage the crowd. |
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Fighting a losing battle ROLLA (GHNP): Conservation, environment, nature, ecology, preservation, ecosystem are words Chande Ram hates. He is struggling to retain his land notified as part of the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) four years ago. Chande Ram (75) is not upset because he will lose his land but he feels the government will not fulfil its promise. This is the second time that he is fighting a losing battle. Chande Ram recalls that when he was a child the British acquired five and a half bighas of land for a mere Rs 12 with the promise that they would provide a watchman’s job to his elder brother at the huts to be raised in the middle of the forest. The huts were built but the promised job eluded Chande’s brother, Lajja Ram, who is over 100 years old. “Despite taking away precious land for peanuts, the promised job never came. Now too, I know I have to give in to the government’s might but not before I can secure employment for my three sons — Moti Ram, Inder and Hari Ram — who are supposed to inherit the land the government is forcing me to vacate,” says Chande Ram who lives in the jungle along with his wife, Chattru (73). Fearing a forcible government takeover, his sons and their families have already moved to nearby Dhar village. Chattru says “the government has taken away all our rights in the GHNP like collecting wood, grazing animals, collecting herbs, etc. In return we are being offered a paltry sum of Rs 4.50 lakh for 18 bighas and seven biswas when one bigha of land in the adjoining areas like Banjar costs around Rs 5 lakh”. He claims his family has spent over Rs 5,000 in getting applications drafted and in travelling to Kulu to have them heard by the Deputy Commissioner. The couple claims to have an orchard of 300 apple trees that caters to the financial needs of the couple, their three sons and families. “I will not let the government fool us with false promises like it fooled my father,” he asserts. “I was born in this village (Rolla) and I will die here,” says this man, who has rarely travelled out of the forests in the Kulu valley in the western Himalayas. His only contact with humans is when some trekkers stop by his house more out of curiosity on seeing him, dressed in sheep skin and home-woven clothing looking every bit a jungle man. |
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An example of unity Nadaun (Hamirpur), November 28 Mr Jain has four sons and two daughters. All married. Three of his grandsons, out of nine, and three grand-daughters, out of five, are married in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. There are not many Jain families in the state. The family runs four shops of ‘karyana’ and ‘grocery’ in Nadaun ‘kaswa’. The accounts are maintained by Mr Jain. The youngest member of the family Agam is five months old. The six helps share the food with the family. The eldest female is Mrs Reshma Jain. Two women team up to cook by rotation. The menu for the next day is decided around dinner time. The family has vegetarian food, but garlic and onion is a big no. While there are bonds of affection among the family members, each has space of his own, says Mrs Jain. Mr ravinder Jain, the second eldest members of the family, says staying together has strengthened the business. There are flare-ups in the family, but they subside the same night by the ruling of Mr Jain. Three out of four brothers deal in ‘karyana’ goods. All purchases are made from same firms and rates are decided during the dinner. The young go to the main bus-stand early morning to sell newspapers and magazines. The collegiates sell dailies on their two-wheelers. The Jains came here from Malerkotla in Punjab 300 years ago. The family spread its business in Nadaun. The family watches TV soaps and has strong views on tele family beakers. The young persons wear pants and coats, but the old haven’t cast away kurta and pyjamas. Only Mohit had purchased a cellphone, but found it worthless in a month. |
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Goods worth 5 lakh gutted in fire
Mandi, November 28 The house of Jai Ram, a ‘kanungo’ in the Deputy Commissioner’s office, was gutted and cash, jewellery, furniture, household articles and clothes were destroyed. The fire was reportedly caused due to a short circuit but the exact cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained. The fire brigade controlled the fire and stopped it from spreading to other houses. There was no one in the house at the time of the incident. The ADC and other officers visited the spot and provided immediate relief to the family.
— PTI |
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10-year
RI for possessing charas Sundernagar, November 28 Both were sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1 lakh each in case of default in the payment of fine the convicts would have to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for four more years. The court further ordered that the Esteem car used for smuggling the contraband be confiscated. On October 10, 2002, the police on a tip-off that both were traveling in a Esteem car and were carrying huge quantity of charas. Stopped it at the Lalit chowk Sundernagar. On searching the car charas was seized. |
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Restore timber rights, say residents Chamba, November 28 The residents have persistently been asking the state government to rectify its “double-standard policy” formulated in 1994 with regard to forest rights. They say that a new policy on timber distribution is needed so that the post-1939 settlers may get timber at the same rate. Delay in its formulation would lead to smuggling, they added. According to officials of the Forest Department, in 1930 the then Raja of the erstwhile state of Chamba had decided to formalise the entitlement of forest rights. The decision was enforced by the Forest Department in April, 1994 after 55 years, though a new Constitution was adopted and implemented in 1950. |
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