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Mandi, April 18 Former Union Minister Sukh Ram claimed here today that the Congress would win all four Lok Sabha seats in Himachal Pradesh in the coming elections. He said prior the merger of the HVC in the Congress, the party could stake claim to only one seat in the state, but the situation had reversed now.
War of words between HP panel chief,
members
Despite ban, mining of sand, stone
continues
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Rise in mercury triggers forest fires
Unchecked entry of heavy vehicles causes traffic jams
Expert lauds effort on pheasant breeding
Dhumal alleges rise in crime
Widow claims misuse of pensionary
benefits
No development project started by Cong, says Shanta
BJP writes to EC on social functions
Tibetan delegation may visit
China
Miss Tibet contest in October
National highway stretch in poor condition
8 houses gutted
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Cong will win all seats, says Sukh
Ram
Mandi, April 18 He said prior the merger of the HVC in the Congress, the party could stake claim to only one seat in the state, but the situation had reversed now. He said while Mandi seat was the best bet, Shimla was the second stronghold of the Congress. Col Dhani Ram Shandil (retired), who had won on the HVC ticket earlier had also joined the Congress and his victory was sure, he said. He said with the merger of the HVC in the Congress, 60,000 additional votes were supposed to go in favour of the Congress in Hamirpur, leading to its victory notwithstanding the Dhumal factor there. With the rank and file on the HVC joining the Congress, BJP stalwart Shanta Kumar would find it tough to retain the Kangra seat, he said. In the last elections, three of the four seats in the state had been won by the BJP. While the HVC had won in Shimla. When asked if he had joined the Congress unconditionally, he said, “I did not seek any office for myself, but I did get an undertaking that the rank and file of the party would be adjusted in the cadre of the Congress with similar suitable berths”. His attention was drawn to a news item that he had been suspended by a faction of the HVC for not taking it into confidence before deciding on the marger with the Congress and that Desh Raj Sharma (retd SP) had been appointed acting president of the HVC. He said the so-called faction had nothing to do with the HVC. Desh Raj Sharma, who addressed mediapersons at Shimla yesterday, had been expelled from the party two years ago, he added. The leader, who is an MLA from Mandi, said he was not interested in becoming a minister. “I have now decided to serve the party as an ordinary member, because I had been a minister for a long time at the Centre and also in the state during my 45 years of political career”, he said. |
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War of words between HP panel chief,
members
Chandigarh, April 18 While the HPPSC Chairman and some Members were appointed by the previous state government, one Member is holding his job-courtesy the present government. Documents in possession of The Tribune say that the intra-commission tussle also finds mention in at least one writ petition in the Himachal Pradesh High Court. And, if just exchange of strong letters was not enough, one Member has even refused to be part of any future “dubious” selection process “until an independent inquiry clears the matter”. The matter that the Member refers to is the issue of appointment of six Assistant Engineers (Civil) in the Himachal Pradesh Irrigation and Public Health Department. A Member of the commission, Mr
V.K. Malik, who was also part of the selection panel that was given the task of selecting five candidates for the posts of AE (Civil), has accused the HPPSC Chairman and another Member of having “connived and conspired to favour non-deserving candidates on extraneous
ground. HPPSC Chairman Dev Raj Sharma, on his part, accuses the Congress government of trying to remove him and undermine the dignity of the autonomous body. The Chairman and Mr Malik have also accused each other of pushing their own candidates for the posts. Not to be left behind, two experts co-opted by the interview board for the purpose have also alleged irregularities in the selections. And, everything is on record. Signed affidavits of the Chairman and two HPPSC Members, submitted during the course of hearing in a writ petition filed by two candidates selected through the impugned process, show the HPPSC and the Congress government are at logger-heads. Arguing the case for the Himachal Government is former Punjab Advocate General Hardev Singh Mattewal. The current struggle started when Mr Malik wrote a “secret” letter to the Chairman to bring to his notice the fact that somebody had changed the entire result of the interview and prepared a false and fabricated result sheet. Mr Malik claims that when the changed list was brought to him by the HPPSC Secretary, he refused to sign it as well as the list of the proceedings of the interview. He also adds that meritorious candidates were missing from the list. In his letter to the Chairman, Mr Malik has accused him and another Member, Mr P.C.
Katoch, who was also part of the interview panel, of exerting pressure on him to sign the changed list. He also accuses the Chairman of approving the list and getting it published in newspaper without his concurrence. In his affidavit submitted in the case, HPPSC Chairman Dev Raj Sharma has accused the Congress government and Mr Malik of working in tandem to get rid of him. He also alleges that in order to put pressure on him, the government terminated the services of his daughter from a Class III post. On his part, another Member of
HPPSC, Mr PC Katoch, had also complained to the Chairman that Mr Malik had asked him to favour some particular candidates. It may be remembered that the Himachal Pradesh Government had stopped the appointment of the selected AEs and also ordered investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department of the state. The HPPSC Chairman had refused to handover record of the selections to the CID, alleging that it was part of the government effort to interfere in the working of the Commission. Meanwhile, the judgement in the writ filed by two selected candidates has been reserved by a Division Bench headed by the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court. |
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Despite ban, mining of sand, stone
continues
Sundernagar, April 18 According to Mining Department’s sources, no mining permits were issued for 22-km-long Suketi Khud and 6 km stretch of Kansa Khud as these are issued after completing all formalities after taking no objections from various departments. Also mining is not allowed from the agriculture fields. Illegal mining is increasing day by day in the Balh area and the Mining Department has been unable to check it. There are hundreds of spots from where the stone and sand is being extracted from the khuds and agricultural fields. Mining is going on in the area of Nagchala, Bagla, Dadaor, Kummi, Bhadiyal, Gagal Kansa chowk, and Dugrain. Even JCBs are being used to extract sand and stone. Mining damages the fields and at several places even adjoining land has been lowered from 6 feet to 10 feet. It has also lowered the water level in Suketi khud. The bed is dug more than 15 feet at various places due to which animals fall into these ditches. In February when the Chief Minister visited the Balh valley he saw illegal mining going on and ordered a ban on mining in the Balh area and a notification to this effect was issued on February 7. For a few days various departments launched a joint operation and tried to control mining but later when Mr Virbhadra Singh again visited Balh valley on March 14 he declared that controlled mining would be allowed. However, no mining would be done in the agricultural land. After this declaration illegal mining once again started. Although no permits of mining were granted even then the mining is continuing in the Suketi khud and Kansa khud. It was noticed that even trucks of the I.P.H. Department are used to transport sand from agricultural fields and JCBs are still being used at Nagchal village. The Mining officials were informed yesterday about it by the residents but still action was being awaited. According to residents of the valley the ban which was imposed on mining was lifted to oblige the mining mafia as Mrs Pratibha Singh, wife of Chief Minister, was a candidate for Lok Sabha elections. Environmentalists of the area termed this decision as violation of election code as the decision was taken after the implementation of Election Code of Conduct. From various parts of Balh valley reports were received that the instances of illegal mining have been increasing and no action was initiated. Residents of the area appealed the Election Commission to intervene and issue directions to stop illegal mining as according to them the ban was lifted to please the voters of the area. |
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Rise in mercury triggers forest fires
Shimla, April 18 Thick columns of smoke rising from the numerous raging fires in the middle and lower hill ranges have obscured the skyline. A pall of smoke and dust has enveloped the region. Incidents of fires have been reported from Shimla, Bilaspur, Mandi, Kangra, Hamirpur, Sirmaur and Solan districts. More than 100 incidents have been reported from all over the state. According to reports received here, fires are raging in Rohru and Chopal in the upper Shimla areas. Large areas of forests have been affected in Bashla, Tikker and Sawara ranges. Forests in and around the state capital have also been facing the fury of the fire god. Massive fires broke out in pine forests adjoining Kusumpti, Lower Kaithu and Tutu localities last night. Fire tenders were pressed into service to check the fire from spreading to residential areas. The firemen succeeded in containing the flames but the forests were smouldering till this afternoon. Precious forest wealth has been going up in flames every summer. The Forest Department has been taking preventive measures like the creation of fire lines and controlled burning of forests but these are far from adequate. The perennial shortage of funds has been a major handicap in fighting fires effectively. As per norms, controlled burning has to be carried out at least over one-third of the total forest area susceptible to forest fires. In all, over 8,267 sq km, 19 per cent of the total forest area of the state is prone to fire. The total area under pine forests, where controlled burning is required, is 1,46,000 hectares and as such preventive measures are to be carried out over 50,000 hectares. However, with the meagre funds available, the department has been carrying out controlled burning only over about 3,000 hectares. While controlled fires are considered beneficial for the growth of the high-risk pine forests, uncontrolled blazes cause severe damage to soil, water, wildlife and the environment as a whole. On an average, in a forest of normal density, pine trees shed over two tonnes of highly inflammable pine needles per hectare annually. Thus a thick layer of the inflammable material is accumulated on the forest floor. During peak summer, the pine forests are virtually transformed into a tinderbox. Controlled burning helps to destroy the inflammable material floor, reducing the fire hazard considerably. The department requires about Rs 5 crore for carrying out various control measures — Rs 3 crore from the Centre and Rs 2 crore from the state government to keep the fire risk at the minimum level. However, it has been receiving only Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore. It has been looking towards the rain gods for dousing the fires, which are extinguished only when the monsoon arrives in the region. |
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Unchecked entry of heavy vehicles causes traffic jams
PALAMPUR: The traffic situation in the town has gone from bad to worse over the past six months, thanks to the apathy of the local administration. Despite the fact that the Kalu Di Hatti-Holta bypass has become operational, still the major influx of traffic is coming via Palampur town, where the narrow Pathankot-Mandi national highway has become a major traffic hazard.
Earlier the SDM took keen interest to solve of traffic problem of the town and diverted all heavy vehicles via Kalu Di Hatti bypass but after his transfer no one bothered and today all heavy vehicles are again entering the town causing a major traffic hazard. Wrong parking of vehicles has become a common feature. Besides, heavy vehicles daily unload goods in front of the shops causing frequent traffic jams. Though a number of traffic constables are deployed at different places, they never bother to bring the offenders to book. There has been a manifold increase in the number of heavy and light vehicles in the town but the width of most of the roads is the same as it was 25 years back. In peak hours, vehicle owners have to wait for long periods as there is a traffic jam at one place or another. Increasing political interference in the functioning of the police has made the matter worse. Palampur town has witnessed allround development in the past 10 years. The population of the town has increased from 5,000 to 35,000 and a number of new housing colonies have come up in and around the town, but no new roads have been constructed. Though proposals were made many times for widening the roads, it remained confined to the official files. The local Municipal Council has badly failed to come up to the expectations of the local residents. Instead of constructing new parking lots, the council has converted many parking places into small markets causing great inconvenience to the common man. At present it has become quite difficult to move in the narrow markets. Many times the pedestrians are hit by vehicles. Despite the fact that crores of rupees has been incurred on their construction the bypass roads still are not fit for regular traffic. In one of the bypass roads the major portion has been encroached upon by people and therefore the Public Works Department was helpless to declare it fully operational. No efforts have been made in the past five years to remove the encroachments as most of the offenders enjoy political patronage. Even the Kalu Di Hatti bypass is in bad shape. There are deep potholes. Despite repeated requests, the PWD made no efforts to repair the road, causing inconvience to the vehicle owners. In the absence of notified parking lots, tourists are the worst affected as many times their vehicles are challaned or impounded by the police for wrong parking. In such a situation the traffic police finds a free hand to harass visitors. It may be recalled that over 200 vehicles are added to the town every month, if no serious measures were adopted, it would become difficult even to walk in the town. |
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Expert lauds effort on pheasant breeding
Shimla, April 18 “The department, over the past three years has done good work and its pheasant-breeding programme is progressing well. The success achieved in “parent rearing” of the highly endangered cheer pheasant in captivity at the Chail pheasantry is remarkable. India is only the second country after England to accomplish the feat,” said Mr Corder. He was in the state, along with a group of experts from the WPA, to see various projects”. Breeding pheasants in captivity was not easy. Very few countries had the requisite infrastructure, funds and trained manpower to carry out the programme successfully and in a sustained manner, he said. He was particularly excited over the captive breeding of western tragopan, being undertaken at the Sarhan pheasantry. The future of the species depends on the success of the programme as this pheasantry is the only place in the world to have the rare bird in captivity. It has three males and a female,” he said. According to Mr Corder the Rs 4.93-crore project sanctioned by the Central Zoo Authority will provide necessary fillip to the programme. He said during his current visit to Sarhan, he found visible improvement in the condition of the birds and he was confident that breeding would take place soon. Mr A.K. Gulati, Principal Chief Conservator, Wildlife, said the department had in consultation with Mr Corder decided to start conservation breeding programme for monal and red jungle fowl, along with the ongoing parent-rearing projects for western tragopan and cheer pheasants. The breeding of monal would be undertaken at the Kufri Nature Park and red jungle fowl at Kharyoom, near Chail. Given the importance of the species to be bred, the four programmes would enable the state to play a vital role in conservation of endangered species, he said. |
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Dhumal alleges rise in crime
Kumarhatti, April 18 Mr Hira Nand Kashyap assured all-round development of the area of voted to power. Former Horticulture Minister, Narinder
Bragata, Mr Rajiv Bindal party’s MLA from Solan, Mr Sri Kant president if Solan BJP and Mr Virender Kashyap a former chairman of HP Marketing Board were among the speakers. |
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Widow claims misuse of pensionary
benefits
Barog, April 18 Sepoy Khazan Chand of the EME Regiment died on July 21,1980, at 153, Army hospital, after sustaining multiple fractures in an accident while on duty. He had joined the Army on January 24, 1964. He was cremated with honours by the Army. After six days of his death two Army men from his unit along with his remains visited his native village at Khanni in Nurpur tehsil of Kangra district. The news was shocking for Vidya Devi, who became a widow at the age of 27. Mr Lal stated that his mother-in-law was deprived of pensionary benefits due to alleged connivance among officials of the Defence Pensioners Distributing Office (DPDO), Pathankot, and the State Bank of India, Jassur branch. She has not received any relief like postal life insurance and children education allowances, so far, he adds. Moreover, Rs 30,000 sent by the Army Group Insurance Directorate against Army group insurance benefits had been misappropriated, he alleged. “My mother-in-law only gets a monthly pension of Rs 145 since 1982,” he said. Her two children were given Rs 16 each as monthly pension that were stopped in 1997. Since 1982 no pension details have been provided despite repeated pleas to the authorities concerned, he pointed out. Interestingly, no pension pay orders have been provided to Vidya Devi. Big amounts were deposited in my mother-in-law’s bank account in SBI, Jassur, and withdrawn after a few days without any knowledge of the account holder, he added. Mr Lal further said that the sign of his mother-in-law had been forged on the Army group insurance benefit receipt. The sign on the receipt had been declared forged by a private forensic science consultant based in Chandigarh, he asserted. “My mother-in-law came to know of the misappropriation in 1984 but every time she visited bank or the DPDO office she was shown the door,” he lamented. “We will file a defamation case against Mr Sham Lal who has tried to bring a bad name to the SBI,” said Mr S.C. Gupta, Chief Manager of the SBI, Jassur branch. He termed the allegations of Mr Sham Lal as baseless. According to our bank records, Rs 30,000 were credited to Vidya Devi’s bank account on October 10, 1980, as part of insurance. It was subsequently withdrawn by her on November 3, 1980. Moreover, her signature on the receipt matched those in the records, he maintained. The entries which appeared without the knowledge of Vidya Devi were clerical mistakes and were rectified, he said. The case was rejected by the office of the bank ombudsman, Chandigarh, for lack of sufficient evidence, he added. Meanwhile, an FIR has been lodged against bank and DPDO officials at the Nurpur police station on February 1. To check the authenticity of the signature it has been sent to the government examiner of questionable documents in Shimla, Mr S.Z.H. Saidi, SP, Kangra, stated. |
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No development project started by Cong, says Shanta
Nurpur, April 18 He lashed out at Mr Virbhadra Singh for saying that the Centre had been
discriminating against Himachal Pradesh in the allocation of development funds. He said that the state government had failed to launch even a single development project since the Virbhadra government had come to power, as all
ongoing schemes were sponsored by the Government of India. |
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BJP writes to EC on social functions
Shimla, April 18 Expressing surprise over the commission’s move to issue notice to the BJP over the stampede at Lucknow during the birthday celebrations of Mr Lalji
Tandon, he said it was a personal affair and the party had nothing to do with it. The BJP was concerned over the loss of life but it maintained that the incident should not be linked to it. He defended Mr Tandon and said giving gifts on birthday was not a crime and the Congress was politicising the issue for electoral gains. |
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Tibetan delegation may visit
China
Dharamsala, April 18 In an interview to a news channel here today, Prof Samdhong Rinpoche said though there was no change in the situation since his last statement before the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies last March, he was hopeful of a positive communication within the next 2-3 weeks. He said if allowed to go, another member may be added to the team. Prof Samdong Rinpoche said the resolution against China by the USA before the 60th UN Commission for Human Rights could not influence the proposed visit as the Tibetan Government in exile had nothing to do with it. He said the meeting between the Dalai Lama and the Canadian Prime Minister, Mr Paul Martin, was due to the efforts of people in Canada. The Kalon Tripa appealed to the Tibetan Youth Congress activists sitting on hunger strike outside UN headquarters in New York to call off their protest. He said such efforts might focus attention on the cause but would not help in solving the problem. He said the Dalai Lama had also not approved of such hunger strikes. |
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Miss Tibet contest in October
Dharamsala, April 18 The person behind the organization of last two Miss Tibet contests, Mr. Lobsang Wangyal said that last year was disappointing as only one contestant arrived for the show but the function was held as he was not inclined to discontinue an event which was being organised despite opposition from many quarters. He said the beauty contest is according to the wishes of the young Tibetans living outside Tibet. He said this year he expected better response. Mr Wangyal said a film festival of films relating to Tibetans and their cause was being planned . He said many important films like We Are No Monks, “The Cup” and “Dreaming Lhasa” will be screened during the festival.
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National highway stretch in poor condition
Nurpur, April 18 The stretch is full of potholes but the authorities concerned have failed to repair it. Meanwhile, the reconstruction of the highway
passing through Nurpur sub-division is in the pipeline. The delay in the start of work in this direction has also caused resentment among people here. |
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8 houses gutted
Shimla, April 18 According to reports reaching here, the fire was suspected to be caused by an electric short circuit. The district administration has given Rs 10,000 as immediate relief to each affected family. |
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