H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Dhumal: govt callous over
drought-like situation
Nurpur, February 5
Former Chief Minister and leader of the opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Prem Kumar Dhumal has blasted the Virbhadra Singh government for keeping silence over the severe drought-like situation prevailing in the state due to the prolonged dry spell.

Govt gives nod to sterilise monkeys
Shimla, February 5
The expert committee set up by the National Animal Welfare Board has endorsed the action plan formulated by the state wildlife department to tackle the monkey menace and suggested that female monkeys should also be brought under the proposed mass sterilisation programme to make it more effective.

British era buildings on heritage plan
Shimla, February 5
Important buildings of the British era, including churches and cemeteries, along with natural features have been included in the plan to preserve the heritage of the famous hill resort of Dalhousie in the Chamba district.

Dalits send back anti-encroachment team
Temple built on government land
Palampur, February 5
A team of the Revenue Department and a police party, which had gone to remove encroachments from government land in Banuri village, 5 km from here, had to come back the villagers, mostly Dalits, did not allow them to remove a temple built on the government land.

Malana project shut down for a month
Jari (Kulu), February 5
The 86 MW Malana hydropower project, run by Malana Power Company has been shut down for a month as the rockslide inside the mountain has blocked the 3.3 km-long tunnel of the project.

Five houses gutted in Mandi
Mandi, February 5
Five houses were completely gutted in two different incidents of fire in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh last night, destroying property estimated to be over Rs 11 lakh, the police today said.

9 SDO-level officers transferred
Shimla, February 5
The Himachal government yesterday shifted nine sub division-level officers.

Online booking at youth hostel
Dalhousie, February 5
The youth hostel here is the first youth hostel of the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in the country to have an international online booking network facility.

MC tells Air Force to repair septic tank
Dalhousie, February 5
The Municipal Council of Dalhousie has asked the Air Force authorities to repair the septic tank located at Moti Tibba, top of the hill town of Dalhousie.

Power shutdown ends after 10 days
Chamba, February 5
The official power shutdown in at least six wards, out of 11 wards, of the Municipal Council here, that covered more than half of the town, ended today after 10 days.

CPM supports truck operators’ demand
Shimla, February 5
The state unit of the CPM has supported the demand of truck operators for a hike in freight charges of carriage of cement from the Ambuja plant at Darlaghat.

CAG move criticised
Shimla, February 5
The state Civil Accounts Association of the Deputy Accountant General office, here, has opposed the attitude of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, New Delhi who, it alleged, was bent upon abolishing vacant posts and out-sourcing the work carried out by the different of categories of staff.

Dhumal: govt callous over drought-like situation
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, February 5
Former Chief Minister and leader of the opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Prem Kumar Dhumal has blasted the Virbhadra Singh government for keeping silence over the severe drought-like situation prevailing in the state due to the prolonged dry spell.

Addressing a public meeting at Surajpur in Gangath Assembly constituency in this subdivision this afternoon, Mr Dhumal alleged that the state government was callous over the severe drought likely to hit the state and added that it had failed to formulate any strategy to cope with the situation notwithstanding the Opposition had raised the issue in the Assembly session held at Dharamsala recently.

The meeting was organised by the BJP to accord him civic reception. Mr Dhumal criticised the Chief Minister to inaugurate only those development projects completed and sanctioned by the previous government and added that the present government had failed to launch any new project. He said the government was indifferent towards the problems of the people of the state. “The rising prices of all essential commodities have gone up which has made the life of the common man miserable”, he added.

He claimed that the results of the panchyati raj institutions in the state had reflected the erosion of the mass support of the present government and it was sure that the people of the state had made their mind to uproot the misrule of the Virbhadra government.

Chiding the UPA government for its failure to control spiralling prices, Mr Dhumal said during the NDA government, the prices of food items were under control and even wheat was exported but now the wheat was being imported to meet the requirement of the consumers in the country. He also lauded the food policies of former Union Minister Shanta Kumar.

Govt gives nod to sterilise monkeys
Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 5
The expert committee set up by the National Animal Welfare Board has endorsed the action plan formulated by the state wildlife department to tackle the monkey menace and suggested that female monkeys should also be brought under the proposed mass sterilisation programme to make it more effective.

A committee, headed by Dr S.M. Mohnot, Director of the Primate Research Centre, Jodhpur, which visited the state in December to assess the gravity of the problem, agreed with the department’s view that the population of the simians had increased beyond acceptable limits and to contain it, various measures, including mass sterilisation, were required.

The committee has, in its report, pointed out that covering only the male monkeys under the sterilisation programme will not help, female simians should also be given the surgical treatment to get the desired result.

It has appreciated the steps like ban on feeding of monkeys in public places, planting of fruit trees and creation of water holes in the forest areas and campaign to educate the people and seek their active cooperation in dealing with the menace.

It has suggested some other measures and changes to make the plan holistic for which the department had been asked to give more information.

Mr K.K. Gupta, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, said with the stamp of approval by the expert committee on the action plan, the state government had decided to go ahead with its implementation with its own funds. Earlier, it had sought funds from the Centre for the purpose but a PIL filed in the Supreme Court opposed it on the plea that handling such problems was the responsibility of the state.

He said the government has agreed to give funds for purchase of two laser machines for carrying out mass sterilisation of monkeys. One of the machine would be used as mobile unit for carrying out sterilisations across the state.

To begin with, male monkeys will be sterilised using laser technology in and around Shimla, Rampur and along the Shimla-Kalka national highway where the problem is acute. Earlier, the department had trapped and translocated over 3,400 monkeys into deep forest from these locations but it provided only temporary relief to the people from monkey menace.

British era buildings on heritage plan
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 5
Important buildings of the British era, including churches and cemeteries, along with natural features have been included in the plan to preserve the heritage of the famous hill resort of Dalhousie in the Chamba district.

The heritage plan notified by the Town and Country Planning Department takes care of both built up and natural heritage of the area falling within the municipal limits. The cantonment area has been kept out of the plan.

The circular Mall Road along with the GPO, Gandhi Chowk and the Sadar Bazar will be part of the heritage zone which also includes green municipal forest areas. No changes will be allowed in the buildings and other structures falling in the heritage zone and renovation or reconstruction will have to be carried out on old lines.

The heritage buildings will also be preserved in the same manner. The elegant St Francis Church which was the first to be constructed after the British set up the town in 1860 tops the list of heritage structures. The St John’s Church which came up in 1894 and the Baloon cemetery where the first burial took place in 1862 also figure prominently on the heritage list.

Other built up features include the Laxmi Narain temple, believed to be more than 150 years old, and the Kali top building which stands out for its unique architecture, particularly chimneys, and old bungalows built by the British. The Sacred Heart School Building which came up in 1902 and tourist spots like Subhash Bowli and memorial of Ajit Singh have also been included in the heritage plan.

The heritage plan will be integrated with development plan for the town currently in force after disposing of the objections, if any, by local people to the plan. The department has also urged the government to provide framework by way of building rules to encourage people to adopt the old design of roofs, doors, windows, chimneys and other architectural features in new constructions to propagate the hill architecture which blends well with the local environment. Similar plans have already been framed for Chamba and Mandi.

Dalits send back anti-encroachment team
Temple built on government land
Our Correspondent

Palampur, February 5
A team of the Revenue Department and a police party, which had gone to remove encroachments from government land in Banuri village, 5 km from here, had to come back the villagers, mostly Dalits, did not allow them to remove a temple built on the government land.

Sources said here today that as per instructions from the government, some encroachments from forest land had to be removed today. A special team, headed by local Tehsildar Netar Singh Jaswal was constituted to remove unauthorised construction from the government land.

But as soon as the police party and revenue officials reached Banuri village, hundreds of Dalits assembled on the site where they had constructed a temple and community center. They did not allow the police and revenue officials to start the JCB machine to demolish the temple and community center. Dut to this law order problem the revenue officials postponed their operation and returned.

When this reporter visited the village today, Dalits were up in arms against the government. They had formed a committee to plead their case to the government. Talking to mediapersons panchayat president Rajinder Mohan Sharma said the piece of land, which had reportedly been encroached upon by the Dalits, had been allotted for the construction of a health center but Dalits had instead constructed a temple and community center on this land. There was no health center in the village. The Sarpanch favoured the removal of the encroachment so that a health center could come up in the village.

But the Dalits were adamant not to allow the authorities to remove encroachments. Mr Balbir Singh, a Dalit leader, said that they had decided to take up the matter with Chief Minister Vir Bhadra Singh during his visit to the town on February 10. They would request the Chief Minister to allot this land for the construction of temple.

A senior officer of the Revenue Department told The Tribune that the action to remove the encroachment was initiated after this issue was raised in the state Assembly by the local MLA, Capt Atma Ram.

Thereafter, the state government had ordered to remove the unauthorised construction.

Malana project shut down for a month
Tribune News Service

Jari (Kulu), February 5
The 86 MW Malana hydropower project, run by Malana Power Company (MPC) has been shut down for a month as the rockslide inside the mountain has blocked the 3.3 km-long tunnel of the project. This blockade has exposed chinks in engineering just after four years of the commissioning of the project, besides causing a loss of 2 lakh units of electricity every day.

The blockade came to light a few days back when the MPC called experts to inspect the tunnel. The engineers had detected leakage in the tunnel a few months ago, but the MPC ignored it, revealed the sources.

Though the MPC has blamed it on the tremor triggered in the Manikaran valley in October last year, the experts blamed the company for not “observing the earthquake-proof norms in the design. The General Manager, MPC, Mr B.D. Bhatia, said the blockade was caused by a tremor in October last year. The rocks have caved in inside the tunnel and blocked it, he added.

“The MPC had been shutting down the project for repairs since January 20. It will take a minimum of one month to repair the tunnel,” he added.

The company had pressed into service 17 workers early this week to do what the MPC claims the repair work of the tunnel. But 12 workers experienced breathlessness, fainted inside the tunnel and were rushed to the regional hospital, Kulu.

As per the agreement, the MPC sells Rs 2 per unit of electricity to Haryana and gives 15 per cent free power to Himachal Pradesh, revealed the company officials. The loss during the peak generation could be more than Rs 4 lakh per day, they added.

Five houses gutted in Mandi

Mandi, February 5
Five houses were completely gutted in two different incidents of fire in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh last night, destroying property estimated to be over Rs 11 lakh, the police today said.

The police said 50 deodar sleepers stored in the house were also burnt in the incident, adding that cases have been registered and investigations were on. — UNI

9 SDO-level officers transferred
Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 5
The Himachal government yesterday shifted nine sub division-level officers.

Mr J.C. Patyal, Assistant Commissioner to Deputy Commissioner Shimla, has been posted subdivisional officer, Jaisinghpur, vice Mr Rattan Gautam who takes over as subdivisional officer, Jogindernagar, replacing Mr P.C. Akela who goes as subdivisional officer, Banjar.

Ms Sudha Devi (IAS) at present working as Block Development Officer, Nurpur, has been posted subdivisional officer, Kangra, vice Mr H.S. Pundir, who has been promoted and posted additional District Magistrate, Kangra, at Dharamsala.

Mr Rohit Jamwal who has been awaiting posting takes over Subdivisional Officer Arki, in place of Mr Man Singh, who has been posted as additional director, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla.

Online booking at youth hostel
Our Correspondent

Dalhousie, February 5
The youth hostel here is the first youth hostel of the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in the country to have an international online booking network facility.

In an official communique issued here on Thursday, Mr Ashok Thakur, Principal Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Youth Services and Sports, said as per the latest statistical research of a booking network, China made up 28 per cent of the total tourist market in the world.

Information about the Youth Hostel in Dalhousie would be translated and made available in Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages, besides English, he said, adding that marketing would be done through television, radio, outdoor and print advertising in these countries.

The youth hostel here had already been listed in The Lonely Planet, an international guidebook for tourism, and hostelling international brochures. The warden of the hostel, Mr S. Samuel, said they had been conducting trekking programmes and other activities throughout the year for students.

MC tells Air Force to repair septic tank

Dalhousie, February 5
The Municipal Council of Dalhousie has asked the Air Force authorities to repair the septic tank located at Moti Tibba, top of the hill town of Dalhousie.

In a communication to the Station Commander, AF, the Executive Officer of the Municipal Council pointed out that information about the leakage from the septic tank of the Air Force Station, which flows to civilian houses, had been brought to the notice of the council by the civilians living around the Ring Road feeling apprehension of insanitary conditions in the vicinity.

The Moti Tibba is located on the top of a wooded hill in Dalhousie hill station and the leakage of the septic tank, which emanates fetid smell polluting the atmosphere in the adjoining vicinity thereby posing health hazard to the population residing beneath the hill as the leakage in septic tank could lead to outbreak of any epidemic. — OC

Power shutdown ends after 10 days

Chamba, February 5
The official power shutdown in at least six wards, out of 11 wards, of the Municipal Council here, that covered more than half of the town, ended today after 10 days. These wards included Jansali, Chauntra, Bangotu, Surara, Sapri, and Julakri wards of the town where the work of commercial and official establishments was affected from January 27 to February 5 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

In a press note issued to the media 10 days ago, Mr V.K. Mehta, Executive Engineer, local Electrical Division, Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board, said the power shutdown was required for the restoration of decaying transmission lines. — OC

CPM supports truck operators’ demand
Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 5
The state unit of the CPM has supported the demand of truck operators for a hike in freight charges of carriage of cement from the Ambuja plant at Darlaghat.

The party termed the strike by the truck operators as “legitimate” and asked the management of the cement company to raise the freight charges and accept other demands. It pointed out that after the orders of the Supreme Court, trucks carrying cement were not allowed to overload. As a result, the truck operators were incurring heavy losses. There was a strong case for revision of the freight charges and the management should consider the demand.

It also criticised the government for not taking any initiative to end the strike. It was shocking that despite the direction of the high court, the high-level committee had failed to submit its report on the freight hike within the stipulated period.

CAG move criticised
Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 5
The state Civil Accounts Association of the Deputy Accountant General office, here, has opposed the attitude of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, New Delhi who, it alleged, was bent upon abolishing vacant posts and out-sourcing the work carried out by the different of categories of staff. The association said at present the office was facing shortage of 97 personnel in various cadres. But the management planned to outsource the jobs performed by group “D” staff instead of filling vacant posts. It was a violation of the 1992 agreement wherein it was assured that there would be no reduction in manpower.