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Work stopped on power project
Water harvesting mandatory in urban areas
Protest forces CM to take another route
Viplove briefs Sonia on state party affairs
BJP to oppose demolitions
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Bihar poll verdict hailed
Drug inspector booked for assault
Viral infection among sheep goes unchecked
Plan to check stray cattle menace
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Work stopped on power project
Reckong Peo, November 22 The Jaypees started construction work on the project in the revenue area of Sapni village this morning after having acquired environmental clearance certificate from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests early this month. However, concerned about environmental hazards in already fragile mountainous area, the gram panchayat of Sapni village today met officiating District Magistrate JM Pathania and gave a memorandum to stop construction work on the project immediately. Sensing the situation, the officiating DM has asked the Jaypee Karcham Hydro Corporation to stop construction for the time being to avoid clash with villagers. Talking to The Tribune Mr Pathania said that he had called a joint meeting of the gram panchayat of Sapni village and of the Jaypee Karcham Hydro Corporation on coming November 29 to discuss the matter. For the time being, the administration feels that construction should be stopped to avoid untoward situation, he added. Gram panchayats of Karcham, Tapri, Sapni and other nearby villages have already denied permission to the Jaypee’s to set-up project in their territories. The amended ‘Himachal Pradesh Transfer of Land (Regulation) Act-1968’ makes it mandatory for the private investors to get consent of panchayats/gram sabhas concerned before seeking clearances from the Departments of state government to start work on the project. Legal hurdles created by gram panchayats seem to be coming heavily in the way of this project. Experts are also of the view that the clearances from the respective gram panchayats are mandatory. Considering this viewpoint, the NOC’s granted by the Union and the state governments are illegal and might invite legal hassles. Under this project, a 98-metre-high dam is proposed to be constructed across the Sutlej near Karcham village. The project sanctioned on a built-own-operate basis is likely to be commissioned by the end of 2009 but voice of local people is coming in the way of its execution. The company was awarded contract on built-own-operate basis in 1999. |
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Water harvesting mandatory in urban areas
Shimla, November 22 To begin with, it had decided to enforce the decision to make rainwater harvesting mandatory in towns and the areas covered under the state Town and Country Planning Act. Henceforth no building plan will be approved without a proper rainwater harvesting structure in these areas. The Department of Town and Country Planning has issued a circular directing the urban local bodies and the special area development authorities to ensure that no building plan be approved without a proper provision for rainwater harvesting. The size of the storage tank be determined on the basis of the number of inhabitants likely to occupy the building and the quantum of activities to be carried out therein. Further, it should be ascertained before issuing the completion certificate that rainwater structure has indeed been provided in the structure as per the approved building plan. The authorities will be required to send returns to the Superintending Engineer concerned of the Irrigation and Public Health Department and the Directorate of Town and Country Planning by the eighth day of every month to ensure compliance of the provisions in letter and spirit. Besides a completion certificate, a no-objection certificate for water supply and electricity connection for each structure will be issued only after ascertaining that provision for rainwater harvesting has been made. Simultaneously, steps are being taken to regulate the use of groundwater and put in place plans for recharging to arrest the declining water table. Rainwater harvesting and groundwater conservation are important components of the water policy approved by the government last month. |
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Water scheme inaugurated
Nahan, November 22 |
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Protest forces CM to take another route
Manali, November 22 The people, including Mahila Mandal members, stood on both sides of the road passing through Jagatsukh, holding black flags with securitymen keeping guard. The protesters dispersed after the Chief Minister went back to Bajaura from Prini, taking the Manali route. The agitated residents demanded that they be allowed to talk to the CM about their grievances on environment. The president of the Dhomya Ganga Sangharsh Samiti, Mr Sunder Mahant, alleged that 300 trees, some over 100 years of old, including 106 of the extinct species of wild oak, had been felled. There was a proposal to cut over 2,500 trees by classifying these as saplings “wrongly.” He said the people was against diverting the Duhangan nullah for hydel power generation elsewhere it was the main source of drinking water and irrigation for the village downstream. “We are not against the development, but we want that environment and bio-diversity should also be protected”, said Mr Vidya Prakash Bhardwaj, a spokesman of the samiti. The Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, however, said at a press conference after the foundation stone laying ceremony that “the matter is now settled and the government is satisfied”. |
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Viplove briefs Sonia on state party affairs
Shimla, November 22 She apprised Mrs Gandhi of the steps being taken by her to strengthen the party organisation and also gave her the feedback she gathered during the first phase of her constituency-wise interaction with workers. The meeting assumed significance in the wake of the controversy over the issue of declaration of assets by party leaders on which the PCC chief and the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, do not see eye to eye. While Mrs Thakur has been asserting that she had only carried out the direction of the Congress President, the Chief Minister maintains that ministers and legislators had been giving the details of their assets to the leader of the legislative group and as such there was no need for them to do so. Mrs Thakur extended an invitation to Mrs Gandhi to visit the state in February and also requested her to address a party rally. |
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BJP to oppose demolitions
Shimla, November 22 The party today constituted an action committee, which will take up the cause of the “dhara” owners with the administration and the government. The BJP has decided to hold a dharna against the demolition undertaken by the Municipal Corporation against encroachers within the municipal limits. The action committee lashed out at the authorities for failing to come up with a specific policy on encroachment and said that people were being harassed at the whim and fancy of the government. Those included in the action committee are Mr Ganesh Dutt, Mr Pradeep Kashyap, councillors, Mr Sanjeev Sharma and Mr Devender. |
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Bihar poll verdict hailed
Chandigarh, November 22 Mr Rana took strong exception to the grant of the ski project in Himachal to a single company without calling global tenders. Transparency demanded that the government should have given an equal opportunity to known companies to bid for the project. The decision on the project smacked. |
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Buta’s exit sought
Shimla, November 22 In a statement issued here today, he held the UPA government responsible for imposing President’s rule in Bihar after stalling the installation of Mr Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister. |
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Model Code of Conduct in force
Shimla, November 22 |
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Drug inspector booked for assault
Solan, November 22 The other bar partner, Amit Sharma, who also runs a private gym in the vicinity got into trouble with the Drug Inspector Mr Manish Thakur, who was accompanying Dr Ranjeet, in the parking area. Mr Thakur directed him to remove a parked vehicle, but Amit said he would look for the vehicle owner in the bar. The third bar owner, Prabhat Sharma, meanwhile, called Vinay Bhagnal for help after sensing trouble outside the bar. The Drug Inspector, who was in an inebriated state, allegedly ruffed up Amit and Prahbat while Dr Ranjeet brandished a screw driver from a car (HP-48-4273) and stabbed Vinay in the abdomen. The two then fled from the spot. They were reportedly going to drop another doctor who was sitting in the car, at his residence. The police has registered a case under Sections 341, 323, 506 and 34 of the IPC for wrongful restrain, causing hurt and criminal intimidation. The Additional Superintendent of Police Mr prem Thakur, said that a medical examination conducted at the Regional Hospital today confirmed that the drug inspector was in an inebriated state. Vinay Bhagnal had earlier alleged that the duo had got into a scuffle as they were in an inebriated state. Ranjeet could not be medically examined as he was on the run. The doctors at the regional hospital further confirmed that Vinay had received a simple injury in the left side of the abdominal and on the right arm. |
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Viral infection among sheep goes unchecked
Mandi, November 22 But the state Animal Husbandry Department has yet to tackle the problem. While the TPR infection kills over 15-20 animals on an average every year, sheep-lifters from surroundings areas steal five-10 heads of the stock every year, whenever the shepherds move up to higher pastures of the Kulu-Lahaul-Spiti region or come down to the lower Bilaspur-Nalagarh-Solan belt for the winter months. “I lost 15 heads of sheep to the mysterious disease last month at Malana Jyot”, said Tulsi Ram, a shepherd from Manikaran in Kulu district, who was taking his herd of 500 to Slaparh in Bilaspur. “No animal husbandry official comes for treatment and vaccination when we leave for higher pastures during April-May”, he added. “The animals this mansoon developed cramps, stopped grazing and then died in a day or two”, said Deepak Kapur, a shepherd from Palampur, who takes his stock to Chandratal in Lahaul-Spiti every summer. Every shepherd has a similar take to narrate. The Mandi police busted a gang of sheep-lifters last week from Goghardhar and arrested three persons- Paras Ram, Netra Singh, Bansi Lal — all butchers from Balh. It recovered 45 heads of stolen sheep. The Assistant Director, Animal Husbandry, Dr K.K. Kapur, said the disease was a viral infection that hit the herd every monsoon. “The only solution is vaccination. We send a team and ask shepherds to get the stocks vaccinated before they head for higher pastures”, he claimed. The shepherds were compensated for the loss from time to time, he added. |
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Plan to check stray cattle menace
Shimla, November 22 Keeping in view the menace of stray cattle, the government has decided to bring about this amendment. After the amendment in the Panchayati Raj Act, anybody whose cattle are found wandering would be penalised. The cattle would be given a tag with an identification number or a mark so that the owner could be penalised in case they were found to be stray. Interestingly, though there are a total of 20 cow shelter homes (“go sadans”) in the state, the number of cattle housed in these is merely 1,600. Meanwhile, the state government has sent a Rs 17-crore project to the Centre for approval to tackle the problem. If this project is approved, voluntary organisations will be given money to run cow shelter homes. |
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