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Over 700 dry deodar trees to be axed
Governor gives MLAs 6 weeks to file replies
49 pc govt share in hydel projects okayed
BJP alleges nepotism in civic bodies poll
ABVP opposes House session at Dharamsala
No check on illegal constructions
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War heroes honoured
Auckland tunnel to be widened
Two commit suicide
Asst returning officer suspended
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Over 700 dry deodar trees to be axed
Shimla, December 6 The municipal corporation has already written to the Forest Corporation to fell deodars which had dried. Though the felling of dry trees is a routine affair, it is for the first time that such a huge number of trees will be axed in one go. These trees will be cut in the 820 hectares forest land within the municipal limits. The Forest Corporation has been asked to cut the trees and auction them. It is following a study undertaken by the Himalayan Forest Research Institute (HFRI), that it had been recommended that all dried and decaying trees should be identified. The study had cautioned the authorities that in case immediate steps were not taken to remove the trees and treat the diseased ones, the entire deodar cover of the town could be under threat. “Besides cutting over 700 trees, we have started the treatment of some of the diseased trees which can be saved,” an official said. However, this exercise is so far being done only on a trial basis on a handful trees in Jakhu, Glen and Khalini. Depending on the results, the MC authorities will start the treatment of the trees at other places. MC officials said one of the major reasons cited by the HFRI for the drying up of the trees was the dumping of debris by people in forest areas. The MC has now earmarked three dumping sites on the bypass, near Bharari and Touu for dumping debris. “The MC staff is imposing fine on anybody who is found dumping debris outside the designated area”, said an official. The MC had also started settlement work before preparing the working plan for management of the forests in the town. The study had warned that thrust should be on regeneration as a majority of the deodars in the town had attained their full age. “Large number of trees in the town have developed flat tops, which is a clear indication that the trees have aged,” explained an official. |
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Governor gives MLAs 6 weeks to file replies
Shimla, December 6 Some of the legislators received the letter from the Governor last evening, giving them six weeks from December 5 onwards. They have been asked to file their reply within six weeks so that these can be forwarded to the Election Commission of India. All MLA’s have so far not received the letters from Raj Bhavan, because they are in their respective constituencies. The MLA’s from Shimla and Solan district were the first ones to receive the letters. The letters are being delivered personally by the Vidhan Sabha staff, who have been assigned the task. The BJP had filed a petition before the Governor seeking disqualification of all 12 legislators under Article 192 of the Constitution. The chief whip of the BJP, Mr Ravinder Ravi, along with senior party leader and legal expert Satpal Jain had personally handed over the petition to the Governor. It was in response to this petition that the Governor had issued notices to all 12 former Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Parliamentary Secretaries on November 20, asking them to file their reply with 10 days. However, the 12 MLA’s put in a request before the Governor on November 29, seeking three months time to file their replies, citing various reasons. The BJP’s contention is that since all 12 of them had held office of profit, they were liable for disqualification under Article 192 of the Constitution. All 12 had resigned after the High Court termed their appointment illegal. They had sought three months’ time for filing their reply on the plea that they were busy in their Assembly segments due to the panchayat elections. They had said since it was a contentious issue, they needed to seek the opinion of legal experts in Delhi and Chandigarh. |
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49 pc govt share in hydel projects okayed
Shimla, December 6 The policy to reserve the state’s right to have 49 per cent equity was approved by the state Cabinet which met under the chairmanship of Mr Virbhadra
Singh, Chief Minister, here yesterday. It was also decided that for projects ranging from 5 MW to 50 MW the independent power producer would be required to pay upfront money at the rate of Rs 1 lakh per MW. The Cabinet also approved the tourism and eco-tourism policies to with regard to national parks wildlife sanctuaries and other forest areas. The eco-tourism policy will be implemented by the Forest Department. Under the policy an apex eco-tourism society will be set up along with societies for individual national parks and nature park. The forest rest houses will be utilised to organise visits of tourists to nature parks, forest trails, wildlife sanctuaries in an organised manner. The new tourism policy aims to shift the focus away from the hotel industry. The tourism has over the years become synonymous with the hotel industry, which has reached a saturation point at major destinations like Shimla, Manali and Dharamsala. The main objective of the policy is to promote activity-based tourism by involving the private sector in a big way and make the hill state an all-weather destination. It will facilitate development of necessary infrastructure like health resorts, golf courses and market hubs at busy tourist places. Adventure sports and allied activities will provide further impetus. Health resorts are proposed at Craignano, near Shimla, and Jhatinglri in Mandi. A market hub will be set up near Shogi, a ropeway to link Dharamsala and McLeodganj has also been proposed. Golf courses have been proposed at Baddi in Solan and Baragraon in Kulu. All projects will be executed by private companies. A single-window clearance facility will be provided to ensure speedy approval of tourism projects on the pattern of industrial projects. The functioning of the state tourism development will be made more professionalised and services of private consultants will be hired for the purpose. Private expertise will be utilised to manage prime properties of the corporation. The overall concern of the policy is to promote eco-friendly tourism so that the ecologically fragile hill state is able to sustain tourism industry on long-term basis. To achieve this new destinations will be identified and developed. |
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BJP alleges nepotism in civic bodies poll
Solan, December 6 On the one hand an amendment in the existing PRA, 1994, provided that no candidate was permitted to contest an election if he or any of his immediate family members had encroached upon some government land unless a period of six years had elapsed since he had been ejected from the case. This amendment was among 16 notified in June this year. Since this acted as an obstacle in the way of some Congress-backed aspirants the Director and Special Secretary Panchayati Raj, was quick to clarify that the matter had been referred to the Law Department. Further, the clarification provided that a candidate could contest these elections after filing a fresh affidavit, stating that he had vacated the encroached. This clarification was not only circulated through respective Deputy Commissioners to Block Development Officers and SDMs, but to pradhans too who then filed their nominations. This was done in a selective manner to benefit the Congress-backed candidates alone. Moreover , the clarification was issued on December 1, when the filing of nominations was in process. Surprisingly, the Secretary State Election Commission, issued another notification the same day wherein it held this clarification issued by the state government contrary to the provisions. It stated that a government was supposed to consult the commission before issuing such clarifications. It further stated that the amendment had widened the scope of this provision rather than providing relief and hence the clarification was not held in consonance with the provisions of the PR Act. The BJP election cell convener, Mr H.N. Kashyap, and Mr Baldev Bhandhari, member, BJP state executive committee, alleging favouritism and nepotism by the ruling Congress, said the ensuing elections should be carried out in a fair and free manner. |
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ABVP opposes House session at Dharamsala
Dharamsala, December 6 Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Rakesh Sharma, member of the ABVP’s national executive, said they would not allow the government to turn the college campus into a political battleground. “We will gherao Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and other ministers in case they go
ahead with the decision. The session would cause disturbance to students coming to the college to appear for their postgraduate examinations,” he said. The decision, he added, had been taken with an eye on the forthcoming elections of urban and rural local bodies in the state. If there was no suitable place in Dharamsala to hold the session, the decision to hold it in Dharamsala should not have been taken in the first place. |
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No check on illegal constructions
Reckong Peo, December 6 The existing building bye-laws of the state permit construction of four-storeyed buildings only. However, in Reckong Peo many five and six-storeyed buildings, both residential and commercial, have come up during the past few years. Interestingly, neither the plans of these buildings have been made by the authorised qualified architects, nor any clearance has been taken from the Fire Department. The post of District Town Planner is lying vacant for the past many years. The Special Area Development Authority (SADA) of this township set up with the aim of formulating planned growth is approving the building plans and designs of residential and commercial buildings within its limits prepared by unqualified designers, thus violating the provisions of the Architects Act, 1972. Investigations by The Tribune reveal that there is no ‘architect’ on the panel of the SADA. Despite repeated warnings by the Council of architecture and letters by the Union Government to the state government, gross violations continue. The then Educational Adviser (Technical), Mr C.S. Jha, on behalf of the Union Government, had first written a letter dated February 19, 1982, to the Chief Secretaries of all states, asking them to enforce the Architects Act, 1972. |
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War heroes honoured
Shimla, December 6 Brig Arjun Menon, Commander of the Kasauli Brigade, presided. After the presentations, relatives of the war heroes presented their medals to Col Rajiv Kapoor, Commanding Officer of the battalion. The ceremony concluded with a presentation on the late Lt Samit Gulia who died in a road accident. His father, Mr Sumer Gulia, presented a silver trophy and a cheque for Rs 1 lakh for setting up a corpus for war widows.
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Auckland tunnel to be widened
Shimla, December 6 The tunnel, constructed during the British regime, already exists but since it is at a higher level than the cart road, it will have to be lowered so that it can be used for vehicular traffic. Besides lowering the tunnel, it will have to be double laned if it is to be used as a short cut to Sanjauli.
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Two commit suicide
Shimla, December 6 The victim, Mrinal Anand, was alone in the house as her husband was away to Delhi. She was found hanging under the staircase in the morning after the two maid servants left after finishing their work at 9 a.m. The police has reportedly found a suicide note in which she has not blamed anyone for her decision to end her life. The husband of the woman is a stock broker. In another incident a 67-year-old man, Ramanand, committed suicide by hanging himself. The police has registered a case of abetment to suicide as he has left a note naming some people for tampering with his land papers. |
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Asst returning officer suspended
Nahan, December 6 Official sources confirmed the suspension of the officer here and said that an alternative arrangement was made in the panchayat. The sources said the official did not report for election duty on December 1 in the Banaur panchayat in Paonta subdivision. |
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