Mandi, October 27
With the threat of dreaded bird flu looming large over Dams and wetlands in the state, the Animal Husbandry and Wild Life Departments have asked the poultry farmers and hatchery owners in periphery of the wetlands to shift their birds at least 5 to 10 km away from the reservoirs.

The migratory birds from Russia, Siberia and probably China, where the infectious bird flu has sent ripples all around, have started making a beeline for the Renuka wild life sanctuary in Sirmaur, Bhakra in Bilaspur-Una, Sundernagar lake, Riwalsar lake, Pandoh Dam in Mandi district and Pong Dam in Kangra district, revealed top officials.

The Animal Husbandry Department has collected over 150 blood samples of the poultry birds, breeding in private and government-run farms and hatcheries around the water bodies, the winter resting places of the potential carriers of the bird flu vector.

The samples have been sent them for testing to the Bird Diseases Laboratory in Bhopal, the only lab where the bird flu can be detected among the poultry birds.

The Principal Chief Conservator, Wild Life, Himachal Pradesh, Mr K.K. Gupta said the poultry owners had been asked to restrict the movement of the poultry birds around the periphery of lakes and other water bodies.

“The bird flu virus enters the poultry through the medium of water and wind as well,” he added.

The bird flu threat looms over the hatcheries and broiler units, run by the Animal Husbandry Department and private farmers in the periphery of the Sundernagar lake of the Bhakra-Sutlej link project and Bhakra Dam in Bilaspur and Una district.

“We are educating the poultry farmers about the danger of bird flu”, said the Assistant Director, Animal Husbandry, Bilaspur, Dr G.R. Sharma.

“There is no cause to panic as hatcheries and poultry farmers are spraying disinfectants and resorting to other preventives measures.”

The report of the samples was awaited, added Dr K.K. Kapur, Assistant Director, Mandi.

The scientists said the samples need 2 ml of bird’s blood for serum analysis.

The droppings of the birds had been sent to the regional lab, Jalandhar, they revealed.

The threat of the bird flu also looms large over Bhakra, Pong and Renuka lake, where the migratory birds — the suspected carrier cormorants, wild geese, wild crows, wild crebe — arrive every winter months.

The experts said once the bird flu virus enters the poultry birds, it would spread into human, after mutation when they eat the infected bird.

Shimla, October 27
As a precautionary measure against avian influenza, the Health Department today directed the veterinary authorities to dispatch samples on a regular basis to the High Security Animal Diseases Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal.

A high-level meeting was chaired by the Principal Secretary, Mrs Harinder Hira, here to review the preparedness of the state to assess and check avian influenza in domestic birds and chicken.

She said that though there was no cause for panic as not even a single case had been so far reported in the country, but all concerned must take precautionary measures. She said precautionary measures were being taken since migratory water fowl were the natural reservoir for avian influenza virus, poultry farms in close proximity to bird sanctuaries like Gobindsagar in Bilaspur and Pong Dam in Kangra.

She said that vigil should be maintained on movement of birds and other produce from poultry farms. She said samples must be collected and sent to the HSADL on a regular basis. “Training camps, related to poultry diseases, especially avian influenza, must be organised so that there is awareness,” she suggested.

So far all the 120 samples of morbid material sent to the laboratory have tested negative.

Solan, October 27
The abrupt decision of the State Forest Corporation to suspend sale of rosin and turpentine, in the open market for 30 days with effect from October 16 has put on hold business operations of various units using these raw materials.

As the corporation has not given sufficient time to investors to make alternative arrangements, they contemplating to move court against this decision.

The Forest Minister, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, however, said the measure was aimed at bringing more transparency in their sale. He said instead of an open sale there would be an auction which would enable them to get more returns.

He said about 60 per cent of the product would be earmarked for the local units. The sale had been temporarily suspended to store these products to enable an auction, informed the Principal Conservator of Forests, Mr R.A. Singh.

While a unit at Baddi had to suspend its work in the absence of raw material since Saturday, another at Poanta Sahib too was facing the brunt of this sudden decision.

Various investors, while welcoming the decision of auctioning, said they should have been informed well in advance about non-availability of material for 30 days. 

Shimla, October 27
Officers of the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam and contractor responsible for the defective and substandard works, which led to the submergence of the underground powerhouse of the 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri project, may go scot free.

The flooding of the powerhouse cost the nigam over Rs 320 crore as generation had remained suspended for 45 days. However, no heads are likely to roll even though a five-member committee set up by the government to investigate the bursting of the labyrinth pipe of a generating units has pin-pointed the cause of the accident. The inquiry committee, headed by Mr R.K. Jain, chairperson of the Central Electricity Authority, concluded that the bursting of the labyrinth pipe was caused by the failure of the flange welding which led to the submergence of the powerhouse.

During inspection of the damaged powerhouse at Jhakri it found that most welding in the labyrinth system was substandard and not carried out in a proper manner.

The committee also found that instead of using a proper bends, pieces of pipe had been welded together which could not withstand pressure.

The Union Ministry of Power had asked the nigam to identify those responsible for the substandard works so that action could be taken against them. It also asked the nigam to carry out all welding works afresh to ensure that such an incident did not occur again. However, the exercise carried out by the nigam to identify those responsible for the substandard welding has not yielded any result as it was not included on the original inspection list and as such no record was available regarding the quality certification.

The items on the checklist are inspected by the quality assurance department and their quality is certified by it. Since the welding work does not figure on the checklist, it will not be possible to fix responsibility and those guilty will go scot free. Further, the powerhouse works were executed by a consortium of six companies. The work of assembling and ere cting the turbines and generators were carried out by BHEL, a public sector undertaking. However, the welding work of the labyrinth system was further assigned by the company to a party on subcontract.

Dalhousie, October 27
The “illegal occupation” of a rest house and the land in its periphery by the Punjab Government’s Public Works Department (PWD) at Katori on the fringe of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh is a big question mark hangs over the Himachal Government’s commitment to remove illegal and unauthorised encroachments.

According to a copy of the “jamabandi” of the Himachal Pradesh Revenue Department, the Punjab rest house at Katori is located in the Gram Panchayat of Taragarh, Mohal Samatar and Pargana Hobar in Bhattiyat tehsil of Chamba district.

Since the area of the rest house, which figures in the “jamabandi” of the Revenue Department, falls in Chamba district, it is not understood how and why the illegal occupation of the Punjab Government has been continuing for a long time.

The reasons of this “illegal occupation” are perhaps best known to the authorities concerned that how the rest house was constructed and owned by the Punjab Government’s PWD at Katori in the territory of Himachal Pradesh sometime in the seventies.

Revenue officials of Himachal Pradesh are reticent on this issue. However, they have issued the “jamabandi” pertaining to the rest house and its area.

Kangra, October 27
Three persons were killed when a scooter crashed into a tree at Kalu Di Hatti on the Pathankot-Mandi highway in the Palampur area of Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh late last night, the police said today.

They were returning home from a hospital after handing over a food packet to the mother of one of the victims when the accident occurred.

The three were identified as Vijay Kumar, Rakesh Kumar and Shashi Kumar.

The police said a case had been registered and investigations were on. — UNI

Shimla, October 27
To tide over the seasonality factor and have tourist arrivals all through the year, the Tourism Department will tie up with travel agents from the Middle East and other countries so that Himachal Pradesh can be marketed as an attractive destination.

The department has till now been offering special discounts and packages during the off season but it will be for the first time that it will have tie up with travel agents from the Middle East, offering them confidential tariff. The department today had a meeting with representatives from the travel and tourism industry from Muscat.

“We shall offer the travel agents a fixed number of rooms on confidential tariff as this will guarantee an assured amount to the department during the off season when the arrivals to the state dips,” said Mr Tarun Shridhar, Director, Tourism. This tie-up will be for the months of October and November when people in the Gulf have holidays and it is off season in Himachal.