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Hydro project that may spell doom for orchards, paddy fields
Cold wave intensifies in Himachal
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Power charges unlikely to go up sharply
Shimla, December 20 While the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board has proposed an increase of 23 per cent in its revenue for the year 2005-06, there is little possibility of the electricity charges going up significantly.
BJP members raise slogans
in Assembly
Not satisfied with reply, BJP stages walkout
Vashisht officiating Headmaster of Sanawar school
Kalam to visit Kufri potato farm
Kangana Ranaut makes her debut in Bollywood
Shanta asks HP Education Minister to resign
Minister defends use of vehicles on Monday
Students told to refrain from drug addiction
High Court dismisses Gautam’s poll petition
Himachal Pensioners show resentment
Reports on sale of girls exaggerated: CM
NHPC alert on Bagga dam
Kangra’s first woman bus conductor
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Hydro project that may spell doom for
Jagatsukh (Kulu), December 20 What is ironical is that the government is protecting and promoting Naggar as a heritage village, but Jagatsukh village and Prini village, where former Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee lives, about 5 km on the Manali-Naggar tourist circuit, would bear the brunt of the ecological disaster as the water which flows down irrigating the lush green valley would be diverted to produce just 40 MW of electricity, the villagers regretted. The state government after signing the MoU with the Bhilwara group, which is executing the project, has already paid compensation to the Prini villagers, but Jagatsukh villagers have formed a Sangharsh
Samiti, opposing the construction of the project on the Duhangan khud, the lifeblood that has made the village one the most prosperous ones in Kulu valley. The Jagatsukh villagers said that the project will destroy its sole drinking water source, starve over 2000 bighas of apple, paddy fields and vegetable crops to death and would destroy the green cover in the upper reaches, wreaking terror downstream as the place lies in the high seismic zone. “We would fight unto last, it is a matter of life and death for us”, said Mr Ghanshyam
Mahant, a member of Sangharsh Samiti, who owns an apple orchard at
Jagatsukh. “Duhangan river is sacred for us as it has given us prosperity and now a private company is snatching this ‘water goddess’ from us for just 40 MW of electricity. It is a big fraud on the simple villagers here as the project would have an adverse impact on the entire valley, he said. Dismissing the environment assessment report as big a fraud on them, the villagers rued that the company and the World Bank officials have not properly apprised the villagers about the damage and impact that the project would have on the ecology of the village. Citing the example of the Pandoh dam, which has no water downstream, the villagers said that the water would be diverted from the khud through the 4 km tunnel to link it to the Alian
khud, where the power house is being constructed, that would turn the lush green Jagatsukh into a barren land. Since the project lies in the high seismic zone, two storage water tanks in the upper areas of the village would push them under a permanent shadow of death, feared the villagers. “The road and the tunnel at the 2400 m altitude in the upper reaches of the village would pollute the water, trigger landslides, which are already there, resulting in soil erosion downstream”, said Mr Vidya Prakash
Bhardwaj, the spokesperson of the Jagatsukh Sangharsh Samiti. The project would destroy the age-old sanctity of the valley as the Duhagan khud is the sacred site for the villagers who worship it as a Damya
Ganga. The project would starve to death domestic cattle as it would destroy the grazing pasture forever as the muck and excavated material from the tunnel would be dumped in the lush green meadows where trekkers and nature lovers camp while making their way to the sacred Deo Tiba located in the upper reaches of the mountain, said the villagers. Over thousands tress of oak, deodar and the evergreen cover of the upper village valley are being cut to make the makeshift tents by the project authorities, turning this green valley into a barren waste land, they alleged, adding the simple villagers are being lured by the moneybags, rendering them landless refugees in their homeland. They cite examples how the blasting in the project site injured village women who had gone to collect firewood in the upper reaches of the village last year. Sub Divisional Magistrate,
Manali, Rameshwar Sharma, said that the company is ensuring that it would release the water through the khud continuously for irrigation and drinking purposes throughout the year. In Prini over 90 per cent of villagers have been paid compensation worth Rs 13 crore and the process is still on, he added. Though Mr P.
Chauhan, the project in charge, Bhilwara company, did not respond from his mobile phone from New Delhi, Mr
D.K. Singh, a Bhilwara company official, claimed that the company had clarified during the two public hearings for the villagers that it would release the required water for them. “We are ready to give written assurance to the villagers once they decide to sit and talk. The company would maintain the green cover as fears of the villagers are ill-funded”, he claimed. |
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Cold wave intensifies in Himachal
Shimla, December 20 The tribal valleys of Lahaul and Pangi were cut off from the rest of the state while the Rohtang Pass in Kulu, Dhauladhar ranges and the Kangra and Churdhar ranges in Sirmaur experienced intermittent heavy snowfall creating biting cold wave conditions in adjoining areas of the valley. While Manali town recorded 30 cm of fresh snow, the adjoining ski slopes at Solang were covered under 50 cm thick blanket of snow. The higher reaches of the upper Manali region, including
Kothi, Gulaba, Bhrighu slopes, Hampta and Chanderkhani Pass also experienced moderate to heavy snowfall. The higher reaches in tribal valleys of Lahaul and Spiti recorded 70 to 100 cm of snow and minimum temperature ranged between -8 and -13°C, forcing people to stay indoors. The Rohtang Pass has been closed down for vehicular traffic, following fresh snow in the Lahaul valley, today morning. About 100 cm of snow had been recorded at the Rohtang Pass, 60 cm at Koksar and 20 cm at Keylong, the district headquarter of Lahaul and
Spiti. The entire valley has come under the grip of severe cold wave with the temperature plummeting to -10°C at Keylong, today morning. “The Rohtang Pass has been closed and barring a few vehicles of the locals no other people or vehicles are stranded there,” said Mr Vinay Singh
Thakur, SDM, Keylong. He said regular flights for locals would begin from January
5. Kufri near Shimla also experienced fresh snowfall last night. CHAMBA:
The Pangi tribal valley in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh has also been cut off from the rest of the world following heavy snowfall since last night, according to reports reaching district headquarter town of Chamba today. The passes linking the valley have been closed due to heavy snowfall which was continuing till the filing of the story. The famous hill station of Dalhousie experienced fresh snowfall this morning heralding the advent of Christmas festivities and attracting a number of tourists from plains. Dalhousie recorded 5 cms of snow this evening. The Khajjiar lake in this distant alpine region has also experienced fresh heavy snowfall. It is raining in the low-lying areas of the region. HAMIRPUR:
Hamirpur had the first rain of the winter today. It started last night and was continuing till the filing of the report. The rain paralysed normal life in almost all parts of the district. Office-goers and students had to wait for hours as the movement of buses were erratic. Hundreds of passengers had to brave rain as there was a big jam on the Hamirpur-Shimla and Hamirpur-Dharamsala highways this morning. Vehicles were diverted via main bazaar as a result the normal functioning in the main bazaar was also badly hit. However, farmers of the region have welcomed the rain. They say it was beneficial for the further growth of the rabi crops. Those who have not yet sown their crops are hopeful that they will be able to get good yield this time.
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Power charges unlikely to go up sharply
Shimla, December 20 The board has projected the annual revenue requirement of Rs 1503.68 crore for the year, an increase of Rs 285.25 crore over the current year, in the tariff application filed before the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. The board had in the last tariff application sought an increase of Rs 359 crore in the revenue requirement for the year 2004-05 but the commission approved a hike of only Rs 167.86 crore. While the overall increase came to 16.67 per cent, the domestic consumers were spared as the government agreed to pay a subsidy of Rs 40 crore to the board to maintain the electricity tariff for the category at the level of November 2001. There was a substantial hike in the electricity charges for the current year as the board had not filed the tariff applications for the year 2002-03 and 2003-04. Further, there was a delay of three months in filing the tariff application for the current year as a result of which the revised tariff could come into force only from July 5, 2004. It is for the first time that the board has filed tariff application in December and as such the new tariff could come into force by April or May next. The board has projected an increase of Rs 40 crore in the employee cost for the next year. The commission, in its previous two tariff orders, had observed that the employee cost of Rs 1.32 per unit was the highest in the country and issued directions to the board to take steps to bring it down. It had pegged the employee cost for 2004-05 at Rs 394.77 crore as against Rs 458.80 crore projected by the board. Since the board has not taken any steps to reduce the employee cost, the commission, like the last tariff order, is not likely to allow any increase under this head. The employee cost in states like Andhra Pradesh is only 11 paise per unit and in the neighbouring Punjab 56 paise per unit. The board has projected 4,880 million units of energy sales for the year 2005-06 as against 4,302 million units for the current year. The officers of the board are hopeful of securing a 5 per cent increase in the tariff for non-domestic consumers. Under the Electricity Act 2003, the commission is allowed four months from the date of filing application for passing the tariff order. |
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10 shops, hotel gutted in McLeodganj
Dharamsala, December 20 “We have again become refugees, everything has been destroyed. Even the clothes I’m wearing have been given by friends. I had to jump out of the window after removing gas cylinders,” said Mr Lodoe
Sangpo, owner of Kailash Hotel. Nearly 12 families lost most of their belongings in the fire. The office of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress was also gutted. A spokesperson of the Tibetan Congress said valuable records of the organisation were among the things destroyed. Eyewitnesses say that the fire started at 3.30 am and could be brought under control only by 7 am. The cause of the fire is still not known. Officials of the district administration said since there was no power supply last night, a candle or a room heater left unattended could have sparked off the fire. Sources said a policeman who first spotted the fire could not contact the fire- brigade as its telephone was out of order. A police team was, therefore, rushed to fetch the fire tenders from Dharamsala. The district administration has announced an immediate relief of Rs 10,000 each to affected families. The McLeodganj Beopar Mandal in a meeting announced a relief of Rs 1 lakh to be distributed among affected businessmen. Mr Dinesh Kapoor, president of the mandal, said they had also booked rooms in a hotel for affected families. The shops and residences are a part of the main market. Most of the structures were wooden and built in early 1960s. Mr Krishan
Kapoor, senior BJP leader, urged both state government and the Tibetan Government-in-exile to offer financial relief to affected businessmen and their families. “The well-off Tibetans in other parts of the country and abroad should come to their help,” he said. Officials of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, including Pema Jugney, chairman of the Tibetan Parliament, visited the site and promised to help affected families. |
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BJP members raise slogans
in Assembly
Shimla, December 20 As soon as the House assembled Major Vijay Mankotia, Congress legislator, raised a query regarding his question pertaining to information about advocates appointed as legal counsels by the government and various boards and corporations and the fees paid to them. It was on the list of business but deleted at the eleventh hour. Responding to his query, the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, said the information was to be collected from various offices across the state that required time and also involved considerable expenditure. He maintained that the question could be listed again and a detailed reply would be given. At his point Mr Dhumal and other BJP members also wanted to speak but the Speaker, Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, ruled that issues could not be discussed during question hour. This angered the BJP members who started raising slogans. The Speaker proceeded ahead with question hour amidst ruckus. Mr Virbhadra Singh said it was a matter between the chair and the member and there was no occasion for BJP members to intervene. Order was restored after the Speaker allowed Mr Dhumal to speak on the issue. He said it was an important matter as the legal counsels were paid from the public funds. Replying to a question of Mr Ravinder Ravi, the Chief Minister said the government had issued directions to the departments concerned to prevent big contractors from giving subcontracts. He said the step had been taken to prevent “pooling” being resorted to by contractors to secure tenders at higher rates. He said the work for the widening and metalling of Dehra-Jawalmukhi road had not been awarded so far. Fresh tenders that had been invited following complaints by some contractors were under consideration of the Chief Engineer, North. The amount tendered was Rs 3.91 crore and the lowest bid received was Rs 5.27 crore. He said if required fresh tenders would be invited. |
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Not satisfied with reply, BJP stages walkout
Shimla, December 20 The leader of the BJP group, Mr P.K. Dhumal, raised a discussion on the issue under Rule 63. The BJP members wanted some clarification, while Mrs Asha Kumari was replying to the discussion. She said she would respond to the clarification of the members after finishing her reply. However, the BJP members persisted with their demand and when not allowed, they staged a walkout. Earlier, Mr Dhumal pointed out that the institutions were to become functional by September, 2004, but had not been opened so far. The promoters of the institutions, who had invested lakhs of rupees in creating the necessary infrastructure after receiving the letter of intent from the government, had been running from pillar to post to know the future of their ventures. The Directorate of Technical Education sold thousands of prospectus to students priced Rs 200 each. The fate of 36,000 students who applied for admission was also uncertain. He said, on one hand, the government had granted permission to a party of Haryana to open a Law College at Solan overnight, on the other, the opening of vocational institutes, which were being set up only by Himachalis, was being delayed without any rhyme or reason. |
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Vashisht officiating Headmaster of Sanawar school
Chandigarh, December 20 Mired in controversy for long after the previous headmaster, Dr Gautam Chatterjee, “fell out” with the old boys’ till the run up to his resignation last week, the school finally got a new lease of hope in him, given that he belongs to the old boys’ tribe of the school. And, Mr Vashisth, with academics and discipline high on his agenda, speaking to The Tribune from Sanawar, said that he was hoping he can rekindle the faith of the parents in the school and restore the lost glory on the institution. “It pained me a lot to see the school’s reputation take a drubbing. There is also bound to be some anxiety among the parents which is natural whenever there is a change at the topmost rung. I, however, want to assure them that the school will be back on the rails very soon and things will get back to normal,” he stated. Teaching for 12 years now and associated with the school in various capacities, Mr Vashisht said that before joining the school, he was a lawyer by profession. “After studying at St Stephen’s, I came to Chandigarh for practice and then moved to Zambia. While I was happy there, there was something tugging at my heart strings all the time. It’s then that I realised that my calling lay elsewhere and I headed back to India and to my school. Looking back today, I feel I made the right decision, one that has given me a lot of fulfilment,” Mr Vashisht maintained. Commenting on the problem between his predecessor and the old boys, Mr Vashisth stated that it was a little “exaggerated”. “The old boys’ don’t have an axe to grind. They are as much concerned about the school as any of us. As far as I know, none of the old boys’ has ever tried to unduly influence or arm-twist the authorities, he said. |
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Kalam to visit Kufri potato farm
Shimla, December 20 Though the institute came into being in 1949 at Patiala and was later shifted to Shimla in 1956, the farm at Kufri was set up in 1942. During the pre-Independence days it was known as the Potato Research and Trial Centre under the Indian Agriculture Research Institute, Delhi. The President on his arrival here on December 22 will drive straight from the Kalynai airport to the farm at 2.51 pm and will leave for Retreat after spending an hour with scientists. As the President doesn’t want to cause inconvenience to the public due to his movement within the town, the officials of the institute are trying to create the institute at the farm itself. As the institute is located in the heart of the town, it has been decided that the President be taken to the farm at Kufri which is close to his place of stay at Retreat. “We would have wanted Mr Kalam to see our museum and the institute in the main complex but now due to his travel by road being restricted to the minimum we are trying to create a mini-institute at the farm only,” said Dr K.R. Dhiman, Head of the Station at Kufri. Since its inception the farm has developed around 35 varieties of potato for different zones and climates of the country. “We are supplying seed potato to all hill states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya,” Dr Dhiman said. The farm is among the top potato-breeding centre of the country. A number of exchange programmes at the institute are being run with countries like Germany and the Netherlands, he said. “It is a matter of honour for us that the farm, from where potato varieties for every part of the country have been developed will have a guest like Dr Kalam,” feel the scientists and staff of the institute. |
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Kangana Ranaut makes her debut in Bollywood
Hamirpur, December 20 Talking to reporters here today, he said he would set up “Hillwood” on the pattern of Bollywood in the state of Himachal Pradesh. “I will give preference to Himachali artistes, both male and female, in my three forthcoming films. I have already selected one of them, Kangana Ranaut, from the Bhambla area of Mandi district. At present, she is working in a Pehlaz Nihlani film, “I Love You Boss”. He said he had set up an office at Hamirpur for launching a massive talent hunt. It would be supervised by famous film personalities from Mumbai. However, local people would also be involved in the hunt as the aim of AAR movies was to spot the best talent. He said there was no dearth of talent in Himachal Pradesh, but no sincere efforts had so far been made to spot it. He said those selected by his team would be taken to Mumbai and trained there to act in various films. In the beginning, they would be given second lead roles followed by lead roles, for men as well as women. These youngsters would be given all facilities by AAR films. Sharma, who hails from Jhaniari village of Hamirpur district and was here on annual vacation, said he was also interested in setting up a Film City in the state. He said the Kulu-Manali area was the most suitable for this purpose. He wants a good piece of land measuring about a 100 hectares and fiscal help from the state government on the Andhra Pradesh and Mumbai pattern. The film producer is hopeful that the day is not far when more youngsters from Himachal Pradesh will become heroes and heroines in various Bollywood films and thus earn name and fame for themselves and the state of Himachal Pradesh. The film producer also stressed the need for having at least two cinema halls each in every district of Himachal Pradesh. He was pained to say that Himachali people were not viewing films on the big screen and had to rely on CDs. |
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Shanta asks HP Education Minister to resign
Chamba, December 20 Addressing a press conference at the local Circuit House today, Mr Shanta Kumar asked the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to seek the resignation of the Education Minister, Ms Asha
Kumari, in the wake of her involvement in a much publicised land grab case. He said Himachal Pradesh was in the list of developing state because adequate funds used to flow during the previous NDA rule. But now the entire development had come to a standstill as the Congress government in the state was on the verge of bankruptcy, because it was not getting any additional fiscal assistance from the Centre, he said. He flayed the state government for its failure in putting Rs 10,000 crore ‘industrial package’ to good use. The package was cleared during NDA’s rule in the Centre. It was approved especially for Himachal Pradesh on the pattern of North-Eastern states and the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Shanta Kumar said. Non-implementation of this package had created uncertainty among the multinational industrial corporations hereby exoding the credibility of the state government Mr Shanta Kumar regretted, adding that mindset of the Congress about the
privatisation had not changed as yet and more to rescind the MoUs on hydropower projects signed during the Prem Kumar Dhumal’s government in the state were harmful for the state. Simultaneously, he demanded restoration of the package in the interest of state’s development. Since Himachal Pradesh was endowed with vast natural resources Mr Shanta Kumar advised the Chief Minister to take effective steps and draw up viable plans for harnessing tourism and hydro potentials. |
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Minister defends use of vehicles on Monday
Shimla, December 20 In a statement issued here today, he said prior permission had been taken from the competent authority for using government vehicles on
Monday at Sandhol village in the Dharampur area of Mandi district. He said the statement of Mr Mohinder Singh in this respect was wrong and misleading. “Such type of utterances by Mr Mohinder Singh are a clear sign of his frustration on being politically sidelined and disappointment seeing the huge crowds that had assembled at Sandhol and other places in the Dharampur area,” he remarked. He added that almost 250 applications were decided on the spot. |
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Students told to refrain from drug addiction
Hamirpur, December 20 He said this while presiding over a state-level speech competition on “nasha niwaran” function organised by the Department of Information-cum-Public relations. The Deputy Commissioner exhorted the students to prevent their parents from taking liquor as it was harming society a lot and was also responsible for breaking up of families. Students drawn from all the 12 districts of the state expressed their views on this occasion on the subjects allotted to them by the organisers. The results: senior category — Navjot Kaur, Sirmaur, 1, Akriti, Bilaspur, 2, and Shruti Chauhan and Shikha Pathania, 3; and junior category — Rohini Sharma, Kinnaur, 1, Munim, Sirmaur, 2, and Rajni Bala and Rahul Sharma, 3. The Deputy Commissioner gave away prizes to winners. |
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High Court dismisses Gautam’s poll petition
Shimla, December 20 In this petition Mr Gautam had challenged the election of Mr Sat Pal Singh on the grounds that 188 void votes were cast and counted in spite of the fact that all these votes were invalid on the margin of the votes between the defeated candidate and the returned candidate was only 51. Therefore, the result of the returned candidate had materially been affected. While rejecting the poll petition, Mr Justice Sood observed that the allegations made by the defeated candidate were vague, indefinite
breft of material facts. |
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Himachal Pensioners show resentment
Chandigarh, December 20 The president of the association, Mr D.R.Sood, said most of these demands had already been accepted by the Central and Punjab Governments, the pattern of which the HP Government follows. The issues included the acceptance of demands on the merger of 50 per cent of DA in the basic pay; increase in pension by 5 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, on attaining the age of 65 years. and 70 years, respectively; LTC benefit to the pensioners and enhancement of fixed medical allowance. It was decided to make a strong representation to the Government for the acceptance of these demands which were genuine and causing lot of undue resentment to the retirees, Mr Sood said. |
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Reports on sale of girls exaggerated: CM
Shimla, December 20 Major Vijay Mankotia, Congress legislator, raised the issue soon after question hour. Replying to his queries, the Chief Minister said the member had mostly relied on newspaper reports, which did not present a true picture. Stray instances had been generalised to create an impression that the sale of girls was a common feature in the area. He said the exaggerated reports in the media only sullied the name of Sirmaur and its people. It was an insult to the womenfolk of the region who boasted of very high cultural traditions. He said prompt action had been taken whenever an incident of this kind was brought to the notice of the government. |
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NHPC alert on Bagga dam
Chamba, December 20 In an official communique issued here today, Mr K.K. Joshi, Chief Engineer, Chamera Hydroelectric Project Stage-II, appealed to the public that the Ravi downstream Bagga reservoir of the project was in fact not a dry river. Therefore, the dam could be opened at any time without prior notice or warning signal and the water volume of the river could increase and flow into with heavy velocity, Mr Joshi added. Mr Joshi also urged the general public, living on the fringe of the river, not to graze their livestock alongside the riverbed and advised them not to go down for fishing, extracting sand, stone and gravel. |
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Kangra’s first woman bus conductor
Kangra, December 20 Mr Pathania, resident of Rajiana village, in her conductor suit told The Tribune at the local bus stand here that she had no difficulty in dealing with the job", but wished for a change in the behaviour of the passengers towards a woman conductor. She said for minor money transactions in the buses, the passengers create problems which she said was 'painful and disgraceful'.
— OC |
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Child killed by gunshot
Kangra, December 20 According to reports, Kuldeep Chand, a driver in the HRTC, had kept his licensed gun loaded in his room at Nehwa village falling under Haripur police station of Dehra subdivision. His son Satwinder, a Class VII student, pushed the trigger of the gun. The bullet hit Satwinder and he died on the spot.
— OC |
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