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Rs 230 cr damages slapped on construction
companies
Farmers stage dharna as potato
crop hit by late blight
Junagarh lions likely for Renuka Safari
Board was running only one unit of power project
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Avalanches damage 22 houses
MC facing financial crisis
Timber factory gutted; losses over 50 lakh Residential land being used for commercial purpose
Kokje, CM mourn Shastri’s death
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Rs 230 cr damages slapped on construction
companies
Shimla, April 17 It is for the first time in the country that such heavy damages have been imposed on erring construction companies by a public sector undertaking. Usually, the contractors gain from such delays as they manage to secure benefit of cost escalations with the connivance of the management. They seldom get penalised for time overruns. In such a situation it is hardly surprising that contractors develop a vested interest in delaying works. The landmark decision will, thus, go a long way in ensuring expeditious execution of mega projects. The provision of liquidity damages was inbuilt in the contracts whereby the nigam could impose damages up to a maximum of 10 per cent of the contract value. The nigam had sought legal opinion from several quarters before taking the decision. The unanimous view was that liquidity damages were pre-determined in the contract. The maximum damages of Rs 115 crore had been imposed on the Continental Foundation Joint Venture, which had two major contracts. The damages for a 35-month delay in the construction of the dam at Nathpa works came to Rs 63.5 crore and in the second contract pertaining to headrace tunnel and Sholding works they stood at Rs 51.5 crore. Similarly ,the delay in case of tunnelling work by the Nathpa Jhakri Joint Venture Company worked out to 10 months and accordingly liquidity damages of Rs 73 crore had been imposed. In the case of J.P. Industries, which constructed the underground powerhouse, liquidity damages of Rs 47 crore had been imposed for a delay of nine months. On the other hand, the nigam had been liberal in settling the time extension claims of these companies, which are to be adjusted against the huge advances given to them. The nigam gave advances amounting to Rs 126 crore to the companies way back in 1998-99 but never recovered them. The amount swelled to over Rs 450 crore along with interest. The nigam adjusted about Rs 130 crore, including the principal amount and interest, while settling the claims. However, with the imposition of liquidity damages the total recoverables from these companies had further gone up to over Rs 520 crore. The Central Vigilance Commission had also taken notice of the matter after it received a complaint. It had asked the nigam to fix responsibility and take action against the officers responsible for extending advances and not recovering them. A director of finance was sacked and another senior officer was suspended subsequently. |
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Farmers stage dharna as potato crop hit by late blight
Palampur, April 17 On a call given by the H.P. Kisan Sabha and the Janbadi Nojwan Sabha, farmers started assembling in the office of the Block Development Officer at Nagrota Bagwan in the early hours to stage a dharna. They also organised a rally where various speakers criticised the state government for not
initiating any action to check the disease which was in the knowledge of the authorities much earlier. Addressing farmers and potato growers, Mr Kapur Singh, vice president of the Kisan Sabha, said almost 70 per cent potato crop in the region had been infected by the late blight. He said if early measures had been adopted and the growers educated about spraying insecticides the crop could have been saved. He alleged despite repeated requests to the Agriculture Department authorities no one came forward to help them. This had resulted in total crop failure in the region. Mr Kapur Singh said almost every grower had raised loans from banks and cooperative societies for the purchase of seed and fertiliser but the failure of the crop had put them in a soup. They were not in position to return the loans. He urged the government to announce a financial package for the farmers so that they could repay the loans. Mr Manjit Dogra, district Secretary of the Janbadi Nojwan Sabha, said the government had an army of agriculture officers in the district, but no one was bothered about the problems being faced by farmers. He asked the Chief Minister to order a high level probe into the failure of agriculture officers to check the disease and fix their liability. He said officers of the Agriculture Department were among the highly paid officers of the state. Therefore, they should not be spared for the lapses committed. |
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Junagarh lions likely for Renuka Safari
Shimla, April 17 There are 16 lions , including eight males, seven females and a cub, in the safari but all of them come from a single family. Moreover, the animals are neither of pure Asiatic genetic stock nor of African stock. Preventive measures taken by the wildlife authorities like maintenance of hygienic environment and better diet had to an extent improved the situation but the existing stock will be finished over the next 10 to 12 years. The department proposes to bring animals from Gir National Park,
Junagarh, the last remaining home of Asiatic lions. A proposal will be sent to the Central Zoo Authority
(CZA) for seeking its approval. Incidentally, the problem of inbreeding was detected by a team of the CZA which investigated the reasons for the high mortality rate of lions in the safari where about eight animals had died prematurely over a short period. It recommended that immediate sterilisation of animals in the safari, besides induction of fresh blood from outside to check inbreeding. As a short-term measure the department is carrying out sterilisation of male lions in a phased manner to check further inbreeding. Out of the total 16 lions left in the safari two males have already been
sterilised. The department proposes to sterilise three more males later this month. The department is in touch with the veterinary college of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, in this regard. In addition two leopards will also be sterilised at the rescue home in Tuti Kandi, here. The problem of inbreeding was detected about four years ago. It was noticed that the animals had genetic defects. They grew weak without any apparent reason, developed partial paralysis of neck and hind legs and a swaying gait and ultimately died. The department will maintain a studbook to keep a complete record of the breeding history of animals in the safari to ensure that there is no problem of inbreeding in future. |
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Board was running only one unit of power project
Mandi, April 17 The HPSEB had been running only one generator of the three units of the Thirot project since 1998, as a part of the concrete water channel was washed away soon after the “project was hastily commissioned” by the then state government, sources said. Far from digging deeper to make way for the stable water supply to the power house, the HPSEB laid out pipes to bridge the breach on a “temporary basis” in the concrete channel, disclosed the sources. A portion of the concrete channel was washed away by the landslide on April 8, snapping water supply to the powerhouse permanently, reports said. “The project remained underutilised and the Lahaul people faced power cuts and blackouts from time to time before the entire valley plunged into darkness when the project was shut down indefinitely last week,” said a resident of Lahaul, who visited the project site after the breakdown. Meanwhile, a team of the HPSEB from Shimla was yet to reach the spot, but reports from Lahaul revealed that the Manali-Keylong highway would be opened to traffic in May-end or early June after the snow is cleared by the GREF, the army wing that maintains the highway. “There is a proposal to connect the power house through the tunnel throughout as it was envisioned earlier. The civil and electrical team would visit the site as soon as the helicopter starts its services next week or so,” a Chief Engineer of the HPSEB informed. |
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Avalanches damage 22 houses
Chamba, April 17 Giving this information here today, Mr Thakur Singh Bharmouri, MLA from Bharmour, disclosed that on his recent visit to this area he took stock of the situation and directed the revenue officials to assess the losses caused due to avalanches. However, Mr Bharmouri said that he had distributed an immediate relief of Rs 50,000 to these families. He said he would also request the Himachal Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to provide more relief to these avalanche-affected families. Meanwhile, in the wake of summer and the melting of snow, Mr Bharmouri advised the inhabitants living in the snow-bound areas of Bharmour and Pangi in Chamba district to beware of sliding of avalanches and glaciers.
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MC facing financial crisis
Palampur, April 17 The Municipal Council has rented out over 175 shops to different parties in the town but the tenants are not paying rent regularly. Official sources said here today that there were cases where some of the tenants had not paid rent for the past four years. Surprisingly no ejectment proceedings had been initiated against them. The arrears of houses tax have crossed Rs 10 lakh. Likewise the arrears of rent have also exceeded Rs 15 lakh. The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation is among the defaulters. The corporation owes Rs 4 lakh to the council. After the introduction of law for bringing financial discipline in the state, the Government had categorically told all the local self-bodies to generate their own resources as the state government would not be in a position to release grants to them. But the local council had neither initiated steps for the recovery of outstanding arrears nor it filed cases against the defaulters in the court of law. |
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Timber factory gutted; losses over 50 lakh Parwanoo, April 17 The fire was noticed at around 2.30 am. It could be completely controlled by 10 am. Over 50 fire engines
from Baddi, Nalagarh, Pinjore and Chandigarh were put into service to douse the fire. The factory was manufacturing ply and sunmica. Bhal Chand a security guard in factory was the first to notice the fire. Due to a short circuit a spark fell on the pine wood stock lying nearby those wire. On hearing the sparking noise Bhal Chand rushed
to spot and tried to douse the fire with the help of other workers. However, due to a stock of wood in the factory the fire soon spread to other areas. Mr Sapan Kumar Bansal, owner of factory, put the initial estimate of damage due to fire to over Rs 50 lakh. The losses maybe high as there was a major loss of machinery also,
he said.
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Residential land being used for commercial purpose Parwanoo, April 17 The Sector 1 of town was the worst affected where certain cases of illegal change in land came up in quite past time. The land meant for residential purpose was being used for commercial purpose without getting permission. The modus operandi was simple, construct an underground godown in basement and then stored the raw material and other goods in it. The construction map was being cleared and no attention was paid to check accuracy of the construction per plan. The parking of trucks for loading unloading of the materials during odd hours has come up a headache for residents nearby. The land earmarked for residential area was being used for commercial operations quite under the nose of MC where has failed to take any action against the defaulters, send affected residents. Out of the total six sectors of town most fall under the jurisdiction of the MC as far as no objection certificate (NOC) for any new construction are required. For area not falling under MC jurisdiction the Town and Country Planning department has to give NOC for new construction. There is procedure to seek the permission for change in land status. The MC fee for change in land status were almost double of what TCP charges for same purpose. The rise in change in land use cases was attributed to avoid the fees, pointed TCP officials. Admitting increase in change in land use cases Mr. Sushil Kumar Mittal, Executive Officer of MC has said that a survey to find out such cases was already on. After the completion of the survey violators would be penalised, he asserted.
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Kokje, CM mourn Shastri’s death
Shimla, April 17 In his condolence message, Mr Kokje said that in the death of Mr Shastri, the nation had lost a true statesman. Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, has also expressed grief over the death of Mr Shastri. He said that the services rendered by him to the state would always be remembered by the people. |
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CM lays stone of Jhakri bridge
Shimla, April 17 He said besides Rampur hydel project two more projects 465 mw Luhri and 450 mw Khab, had also been entrusted to the nigam. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the businessmen as well as the consumers would benefit from VAT. The government would maintain strict vigil over the prices of the commodities and abnormal hike would not be permitted. He warned traders of strict action in case higher rates were charged from the consumers. Referring to the Parchu flood threat the Chief Minister said the Government of India had sent a high level delegation to China to take stock of the situation. |
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Raw material worth Rs 3.50
lakh stolen
Baddi, April 17 Thieves broke upon the lock of the main gate of industry. The police arrested two rag pickers, who had purchased the stolen goods for Rs 17,000 yesterday after they were taking away the goods in their vehicle.
OC
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Fair concludes
Sundernagar, April 17 |
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