Mandi, December 16
Waking up to haphazard development along the Mandi-Sundernagar stretch of the national highway-21, the state government has constituted the Special Area Development Authority (SADA), Ner Chowk, restricting “all sale and purchase of land in this area with immediate effect from November this year. Now all transfer of land and property will be cleared by the SADA, Ner Chowk under the Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning (HPTCP) Act, 1977.

According to the notification, which came into force here since November 7, all registration of the transfer of land and property and construction would be cleared by the SADA, Ner Chowk. This area in the SADA, Ner Chowk is already witnessing fast development. But nothing has been done to improve the civic amenities, health and hygiene and environment of the area between Sundernagar and Mandi, where farmers are under pressure to sell farm land, revealed a survey by the HPTCP.

The car show rooms-cum-service stations show-rooms, the industrial units, hospitals, spare parts’ shops and petrol stations and multi-storeyed houses and the private teaching shops have already pushed this stretch along the NH-21 to brink, generating annual economic activity worth Rs 600 crore, the surveyed pointed out.

“But these do not pay a penny to improve the ecology and basic amenities for the residents, who are facing unplanned development over the years,” noted the survey. “This is so because this area used to be under gram panchayat,” it added. Before things worsen in this area, the state government has constituted the SADA, Ner Chowk, covering 1200 square kilometre area from Dadaur near Sundernagar to Rani Ki Boyi, near Mandi town, revealed senior officials.

All transaction of land and property in the revenue mohals of Ota, Gutkar, Chaloh, Bagla, Dohandi, Nagchala, Majhetal, Tawan, Dadaur, Sihuli, Ratti, Dhangu, Ner and Bhangrotu will be approved by SADA, Ner Chowk. These revenue mohals fall in six panchayats of Ner Chowk, Nagchala, Chalah, Dadaur and Bhangrotu.

The member-secretary, SADA, Ner Chowk Mr A.N. Gautam, said that the traders panchayat pardhans and panches were being sensitized about the idea behind the SADA. “The SADA is generating its own sources from the residents and owners of the business which will be used to ensure planned development houses, proper sewerage and wastage management system, streetlights and the green open spaces and other better amenities,” he added.

The officials said that panchayat pardhans, farmers and traders and government agencies would pool their resources to develop the SADA area.

Palampur, December 16
Veterinary Surgeons and farm scientists at the Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar (CSK) Agriculture University have locked horns over the grant of non-practising allowance (NPA). Veterinary surgeons are demanding upward revision of the NPA on the pattern of the state government veterinary surgeon, the agriculture scientists have demanded that they should also be paid non-consultancy allowance.

The issue reached a flash-point yesterday at a meeting of the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Teachers’ Association (HPATA) where it was revealed that veterinary surgeons had decided to part ways with the teachers’ main body viz HPATA.

The veterinary surgeons have also threatened to boycott forthcoming examinations in case the revised NPA was not notified.

Dr R.L. Bhardwaj, president of the Veterinary and Animal Science Teachers’ Association, said all veterinary surgeons who were members of the HPATA had submitted their resignations in view of the farm scientists’ objection to their demand of 25 per cent NPA on basic pay.

A letter signed by over 150 faculty members from the Colleges of Agriculture, Basic Sciences and Home Science, objecting to the move by a select group of veterinary surgeons to get the NPA ’ has fuelled the bitter fight between the two warring factions of faculty.

The signatories, some of whom occupy senior statutory positions in the varsity, say that the letter is either fake or tampered with “Such a campaign was launched nearly three years back when there was a move to pay the NPA to veterinary surgeons out of the self-financing schemes and the letter in question seems to have been taken from the records,” said a farm scientist.

The farm scientists were, however, vocal at the HPATA general house yesterday. Some of them pointed out that since the faculty at the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences was involved in teaching and not treatment, they had no right to claim the NPA in the first place, what to talk of an upward revision.

Farm scientists have demanded that they should also be given non-consultancy allowance and all arrears be released.

Dr B.C.Sood, HPATA president, denied that the farm scientists had circulated any such letter. “Although the HPATA has no objection to the grant of the NPA to veterinary surgeons, the issue came up at the general house in view of certain remarks by them on our demand of non-consultancy allowance,” he said.

Dr Bhardwaj said the faculty of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences was getting the NPA to the tune of Rs 450-600 but now the state government had hiked it to 25 per cent of the basic pay and the varsity, which otherwise is an autonomous body, should issue a notification to adopt the new scale.

‘This entire controversy is part of the delay tactics of the authorities. When the farm scientists got three increments for PhD, even though a candidate is supposed to be PhD before appointment, we never objected to it. Now, why should they be allowed to scuttle what is due to us,” he said.

Asked if the university had taken cognizance of the ‘tampered’ letter, Dr D.S. Rathore, Vice-Chancellor, said it had been sent to the Chancellor (HP Governor) and they were waiting for a reply. “In any case, since the Veterinarians are already getting the NPA, the allowance cannot be withdrawn, he said.

Shimla, December 16
More than 25,000 state government employees who have been deputed on election duty will not be able to cast their vote during the panchayat and local body elections.

Unlike Parliament and Assembly elections, where employees who are doing poll duty can cast their vote through postal ballot, this facility is not extended during the panchayat elections. The maximum number of employees who have been assigned election duty are from the Education Department.

Being on poll duty, these employees can never exercise their franchise. An official of the Panchayati Raj Department said the facility of postal ballot has never been extended to employees on poll duty during the panchayati raj and local body elections.

A total of 41.32 lakh voters will cast their vote for the gram panchayat, panchayat samiti, Zila Parishad and Municipal Council elections to be held in three phases on December 18, 20 and 22. The state has a total of 3,243 gram panchayats, 75 panchayat samitis and 12 Zila Parishads, 20 nagar councils and 28 nagar panchayats.

Solan, December 16
Acting on a writ petition filed by Baddi-based Dev Resins Private Limited, the state High Court has stayed the short-term auction of rasin by the Forest Corporation which was to be held tomorrow at Nahan. The petition was listed before the High Court yesterday.

The court has also ordered a stay on the recovery of pending bills of Rs 12,65,122 of December 6, 2005, which pertain to the resin lifted by the unit in October. The corporation had fixed the rate of this resin as per its November auction price which far exceeded its earlier price. The corporation had introduced the system of monthly auction of resin and turpentine in November.

While the first auction had fetched revenue worth crores it had spell the deathknell for the local units who were then directed to purchase resin as per the auctioned rates. This had led the local units to shut their operations for nearly a month now. The investors rued that having exhausted all channels they had no option but to turn to court.

The corporation had to face a flak at the second auction when a lone bidder had come forth to bid. Not only this the Forest Corporation has been unable to sell as much as 1.5 lakh litres of oil.

The limited storage facilities to stock this highly inflammable oil further compounded the problem of the corporation. The Managing Director (MD) of the corporation, Mr Krishan Dass, when contacted, agreed that the corporation faced the problem of stacking the excess oil. 

Solan, December 16
An interior road in Ward No. 2 here, connecting various government offices, railway station, bus stand and an industrial training institute, has caved in due to reckless digging carried out below by a petrol pump since past fortnight.

The road, where heavy vehicles of the electricity board used to pass through, has been reduced to a mere half-a-feet road.

The PWD Department was now exploring to survey the area and work out the estimate of repair as it belonged to a politically-connected person of the ruling Congress. A notice had been served to the Solan Filling Station to construct the walls from the base to the nearly 200-foot high road.

A visit to the site by this correspondent revealed that the people, including small children continued to use the damaged road. The people living in the vicinity informed that the road was in a good shape earlier and it was after reckless digging undertaken by the petrol pump labourers that it caved in. Amit Sharma, owner of the filling station, while clarifying his position, said the road had given way due to water leakage and not due to digging.

The XEN, PWD, Mr D.K.Nayyar, when contacted, confirmed that the road was severely damaged due to digging. He said since the slope was as high as 90 degree, the straight cutting had led to the colossal damage.

He added that an alternate road had been constructed by the PWD which made people traverse an additional 2 km to reach their destinations. He said the owner had been directed to initiate erection of walls soon. 

Shimla, December 16
The local Municipal Corporation (MC) was forced to suspend the demolition drive launched to remove encroachments on forest land, following a Supreme Court order today.

The Supreme Court, while dismissing the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by owners of the unauthorised structures (dharas), ordered that the remaining houses should not be demolished for the next two months. The court directed the authorities to maintain status quo with regard to structures which had not yet been demolished for the next two months.

The MC, which has already removed over 125 illegal “dharas” in the town during the last two days, was forced to suspend its demolition drive. The owners of these illegal structures have got two months’ time before they will have to once again face the MC action.

Meanwhile, a large number of “dhara” owners held a demonstration outside the office of the Mayor and the Municipal Commissioner. While raising anti-government slogans they demanded action against the officials who used force against them yesterday.

The demonstrators demanded that the demolition drive be suspended till the winters were over. They demanded that it was the responsibility of the government to provide alternative place for the “dhara” owners.

The police had yesterday used force to control the “dhara” owners who had gathered at the demolition site in Kaithu. The demonstrators today demanded that action be taken against the official who had ordered use of force against them.

It is on the directions of the High Court that the MC has launched demolition drive against people who have encroached on forest, PWD and revenue land. The “dhara” owners had got a month’s time when they had approached the High Court last month.

There are almost 5,000 encroachments within the municipal limits, which include 916 on forest land alone. The MC has time and again served notices to the encroachers to vacate the encroached land.

Chamba, December 16
Members of the state federation of the selected JBT candidates, who met the Chamba Deputy Commissioner, Mr Pushpendra Rajput, here yesterday have postponed their agitation.

A meeting of the federation was also held separately under the chairmanship of its state president, Mr Uttam Chand, who announced to put off their agitation.

A group of four JBT candidates, Shashi, Jalam, Manjeet and Ankuksh, who had been on an indefinite fast in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner since December 5 and were hospitalised in the Zonal Hospital, Chamba, on the sixth day of their fast on December 10 were relieved.

The fast by these JBT candidates was part of their protest against the state government’s attitude for not commencing their training course.

Chamba, December 16
The electronic voting machines (EVMs) would not be used for holding the elections to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and civic bodies; and the elections would be conducted through the old system of casting votes by ballot papers, the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Pushpendra Rajput, who is the District Election Officer, said here today.

The DC said the elections to the PRIs would be held in three phases on December 18, 20 and 22 and for civic bodies on December 24. The counting of votes would start on the same day immediately. — OC