H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Chamba to be rid of congestion
Chamba, January 20
The Housing and Animal Husbandry Minister, Mr Harsh Mahajan, has directed the district administration to enforce the fresh norms to regulate traffic with a view to avoiding congestion in the Chamba from February 1. He also directed the authorities to deal sternly with the offenders while removing their encroachments so that the greenery, scenery and grandeur of the town could be preserved.

One arrested in poster scandal
Chamba, January 20
The police has arrested Narender Kumar with regard to a much-talked about poster scandal in which a gang of certain anti-social elements was operating under suspicious circumstaces in the district. He alleged to have been involved in pasting anonymous communal and obscene posters.

Industrial body seeks better housing facilities
Baddi, January 20
Even as the Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Authority has auctioned its newly constructed plots at Bhatoli Kalan village, near here, the Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Industry Association has sought more efforts to enhance the housing facilities here.

Clean Kangra drive launched
Kangra, January 20
The local municipal committee has found a solution to the problem of garbage in the town due to lack of a proper dumping ground. A self-help scheme, involving door-to-door collection of garbage, has been launched to keep the streets clean.

Chamba to be rid of congestion
Our Correspondent

Chamba, January 20
The Housing and Animal Husbandry Minister, Mr Harsh Mahajan, has directed the district administration to enforce the fresh norms to regulate traffic with a view to avoiding congestion in the Chamba from February 1. He also directed the authorities to deal sternly with the offenders while removing their encroachments so that the greenery, scenery and grandeur of the town could be preserved.

Stating this here today, Mr Mahajan said that a committee to monitor such undesirable activities in the town had been formed under the chairmanship of the Subdivisional Magistrate, which would ensure implementation of traffic rules.

Mr Mahajan appealed to the shopkeepers and traders to ensure that their goods, boards and stairs should not encroach upon the municipal drains on both sides alongside the road. He said that the encroachers had been given the deadline of January 31 to remove their encroachments voluntarily.

Taking into account the exigency of parking in the town as the vehicles were increasing, Mr Mahajan stated that the Chowgan number-III had been proposed for a stopgap arrangement of parking until an underground parking lot was not constructed.

Mr Mahajan directed the departments concerned to draw up a comprehensive plan for car parking near the Lakhdata temple and Gandhi Gate and the State Urban Development Authority would be asked to develop these sites.

It would be obligatory for the rehriwalas to append their identity cards with their rehris and if they were found subletting their rehris to any other person their permit would be revoked, Mr Mahajan emphasised.

Regarding the loading and unloading problem, Mr Mahajan said that two spots had been earmarked for the purpose and specific timings had been fixed for carrying out the work of loading and unloading goods from the vehicles.

One arrested in poster scandal
Our Correspondent

Chamba, January 20
The police has arrested Narender Kumar with regard to a much-talked about poster scandal in which a gang of certain anti-social elements was operating under suspicious circumstaces in the district. He alleged to have been involved in pasting anonymous communal and obscene posters.

Disclosing this here today, Dr D.K. Choudhary, DSP, of Chamba, said the court had remanded him to police custody for three days, adding that enquiries were being conducted from the accused to find out further clues to the poster episode.

The DSP said this action was an outcome of an FIR registered under Sections 292-A, 228, 505 of the IPC by District Bar Association general secretary Tek Chand, alleging that on January 12 some unknown persons had pasted objectionable and offensive posters against the judiciary around the court complex in Chamba.

In the wake of this FIR, the police had also launched manhunt to nab the anti-social elements.

The gang was alleged to have been distributing and pasting handwritten or computerised obscene and communal posters on walls of private and government buildings in the town during midnight hours with a motive for creating “communal disharmony”.

Industrial body seeks better housing facilities
Our Correspondent

Baddi, January 20
Even as the Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) has auctioned its newly constructed plots at Bhatoli Kalan village, near here, the Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Industry Association (BBNIA) has sought more efforts to enhance the housing facilities here.

With an estimated population of about 1.25 lakh engaged in industries here, the lack of housing facilities has adversely affected the industrial growth. In a demand charter to the Chief Minister recently, the association has sought development of the town on the pattern of Chandigarh.

The association in the charter has pleaded that this was an opportunity for the state government to take up this project at this moment, as it would ensure overall development of this area. The private colonisers should be involved to ensure the development of physical and social infrastructure of town, besides the promotion of co-operative housing societies, the association pointed in the charter.

For this purpose the land transfer should be faster and even non-Himachali should be allowed to buy such flats, it said. The industrial employees were subject to face a greater hardship for securing rented accommodation for themselves and their families. They were forced to live at far places and to pay substantially high rent, the association pointed. Keeping in view the budget of average industrial employee, the government should construct an employee welfare society, the association suggested.

Clean Kangra drive launched
Tribune News Service

Kangra, January 20
The local municipal committee has found a solution to the problem of garbage in the town due to lack of a proper dumping ground. A self-help scheme, involving door-to-door collection of garbage, has been launched to keep the streets clean.

The Sub-divisional Magistrate, Mr R. Selvan, said volunteers had been deputed for collecting garbage at a fixed charge per month under the supervision of the municipal committee.