Dharamsala, August 28
The HP Board of School Education has decided not to set up examination centers in private schools in future. The existing examination centres in 128 private schools have been cancelled as part of the decision.

Board Chairman B.R. Rahi said besides private schools, examination centres in 11 government schools had also been cancelled in view of complaints of mass copying during the last annual examinations, leading to re-examination of certain papers. The board had also decided not more than 10 candidates of each class would be allotted the same examination centre to make sure that order was maintained during examinations and regular students did not get disturbed.

He said the decision was part of the anti-copying campaign launched by the board which was in keeping with the policy of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to provide quality education by maintaining sanctity of examinations.

The board had set up a total of 1,514 examination centres during the last examinations and a total of 4,919 cases of unfair means were registered. In 4,300 cases, the caught candidates had been penalized for cheating by the board.

Taking a dig at the previous government, Mr Rahi said during the BJP rule, as many as 18 private schools were made examination centers. These centres were cancelled after he took over.

Mr Rahi said though private schools would not be allotted examination centres in future, the decision was not a reflection on the functioning of all private schools. "There are certain schools in the private sector which have maintained standards of teaching and examinations," he said.

There were times when centres were allotted on recommendations from students, teachers or local panchayats, which said government schools were located too far.

He said the decision to cancel examination centres in the 139 schools, including 11 private, would come into force from March, 2007. More steps like this would be taken by the board in future and if need be the Anti-Cheating Act would be enforced to ensure fair play in examinations, he said.

Shimla, August 28
The issue of appointments of teachers through the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) led to uproarious scenes in the Vidhan Sabha prompting the Speaker, Mr G.R Musafir, to name Mr Virender Kanwar (BJP) for his conduct and admonish other party members.

The trouble arose when the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, while replying to a supplementary of Mr P.K Dhumal, leader of the BJP group, said the appointments through the PTA had been made to make up for the shortfall of teachers and the system would continue as long as vacancies existed.

This enraged the BJP leader who said it was an impossible condition as vacancies would continue to exist and as such backdoor appointments would also continue.

The PTA appointments would become more important as there was no transfer and the reservation roaster was also not followed.

Other BJP members were also on their feet protesting over the issue, which led to heated exchanges with the treasury benches. Some BJP members also started raising slogans.

When the appeals of Mr Musafir to maintain order failed Mr Virbhadra Singh urged him to name Mr Virender Kanwar for his conduct.

He said he had already named him and went on admonish the BJP members for their undignified conduct.

He said the House had set high traditions and the unsavoury happenings in some other Vidhan Sabhas should not take place here. It was the responsibility of members to uphold the traditions.

Earlier, while replying to a volley of questions on the issue the Chief Minister said the teachers had been appointed by the PTA purely as a stopgap arrangement against vacant posts. The government was giving grants for the purpose, as PTAs of schools in the interior areas of the state did not have enough funds to pay. The regular appointees would be posted in institutions which had no teachers to ensure that maximum teachers could be made available.

Replying to another question Mr Virbhadra Singh informed the House that seven ministers, 219 officers and nine employees had gone abroad on official tours from January 2003 to December 2005.

Besides, two ministers, 68 officers and 40 employees had made private visits to various countries.

He said the government was in favour of legislators undertaking foreign tours as it would help broaden their vision and outlook.

Reckong Peo, August 28
Private power sector giant, Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL), its associate companies, private contractors and the Public Works Department (PWD) have virtually turned the Sutlej and its tributaries and nullahs into a dump-yard right under the nose of the district administration.

JCB bulldozers can be seen throwing the debris from the worksites into the river with impunity polluting the water. Unfortunately, the JAL is yet to identify sites to dump the waste from the work of construction of a diversion tunnel on 1,000 MW Karcham-Wangtoo Hydropower Project even though the construction work began early this year.

Similarly, the PWD has also not identified any dumping site to dump the debris from the construction work on an alternative route along Hindustan-Tibet Road being constructed between Tapri and Reckong Peo. The same is the situation on the old Hindustan-Tibet Road beyond Reckong Peo where the PWD is carrying out intensive blasting and is dumping the debris into the Sutlej.

Hectic construction work going on along the Sutlej in the name of constructing diversion tunnels, repair of the Hindustan-Tibet Road and the cutting of rocks in the name of development in the already fragile mountainous region of Kinnaur calls for introspection as thousands and thousands of tonnes of debris is being thrown into the river on a daily basis, says Sushil Sana, a local environment activist.

It is a bitter fact that projects like the widening of the old Hindustan-Tibet road, repair of the new Hindustan-Tibet road and construction work on a number of hydropower projects that are coming up in the area, have made the region more prone to landslides.

During a recent tour along the Sutlej from Wangtoo to Khab in district Kinnaur, this correspondent observed that the span of the mighty river has decreased to a mere 10 ft to 15 ft at many places disturbing the current of the water.

The situation is the worst between Tapri and Karcham where the Jaypee group of companies is coming up with a 1000 MW Karcham-Wangtoo Hydropower Project and also widening the Hindustan Tibet road for the easy flow of heavy vehicles and machinery.

A diversion tunnel on the right bank and a run-through water reservoir in the Sutlej is being constructed for the project, besides, the widening of a 10 km stretch of the road along the river and all waste material and debris from this construction activity are being dumped into the river.

As a result of this, the height of the Sutlej river bed has increased and the span reduced with the settling down of huge boulders and rocks in the river. This is posing a danger to the very existence of the low lying inhabited areas due to toe-cutting of the banks of the river.

Intense blasting has made the rocks vulnerable to landslides. A massive landslide at Pangi near Reckong Peo earlier this month is an eye-opener for the local administration and the authorities concerned of the state government to rethink and look for alternate methods of rock cutting that are less dangerous for the fragile mountains in the region.

Sushil Sana is of the view that the tunnel boring machines and rock cutting machines that are eco-friendly and are being used extensively in European countries are the best solution to the deteriorating situation in Kinnaur.

A senior official of the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) has also alleged that presence of high quantity of silt in the Sutlej water is forcing them to frequently shut power generation in the 1500 MW Nathpa-Jhakri Hydropower Project and all this is coming from the debris callously dumped into the river. 

Chandigarh: After the Rewalsar and Renuka wetlands, the Himachal State Council for Science and Technology, Shimla, has prepared an action plan for rejuvenating the Khajjiar wetlands in Chamba district. The plan, involving an expenditure of more than Rs 22 lakh, has been submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests for approval.

Located 24 km from Dalhousie, Khajjiar is a small picturesque spot. It is also called mini Switzerland and attracts thousands of tourists every year.

At present, the lake is just a “malba” grave. A large cover of water has now shrunk to a small pit of slush.

Experts attribute its decline to man-made problems like pollution, siltation, construction activities and overgrowth of weeds.

Expressing concern over the deterioration of water quality due to siltation, pollution and other factors, a team that visited the area on January 21 had asked the council to prepare the project for protecting the wetlands from certain death.

Among others, the team comprised Dr S. Kaul from the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Mr R.K Sood, Joint Member-Secretary of the council.

The team recommended treatment of catchment area by taking vegetative and mechanical measures, clearing of streams, management of excreta of the livestock near the water body and awareness about wetlands’ multifunctional role.

Mr Deepak Sethi, Project Associate (Wetlands) of the council, says the Khajjiar wetlands are in the critical stage of eutrophication due to the heavy inflow of nutrients in the form of dung. A large part of the water body is covered with piles of biomass, which has led to prolific growth of weeds that have choked the lake over the years.

Septic tanks, constructed around the water body, are also putting a tremendous pressure on it. Most of the tanks don’t adhere to specific standards, resulting in the seepage of pollutants into the lake.

Similarly, rapid development activities in the area have also put tremendous pressure on the water body.

The removal of biomass, dredging of the water body, treatment of catchment area and management of dung are some of the recommendations of the action plan.

Describing the relocation of the population as complex and sensitive process, the plan recommends training of locals on managing cattle dung through vermicompost.

The plan recommends studies to document hydrological status, rate of sedimentation and biodiversity of the lake.

Hamirpur, August 28
A court here today sentenced former Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Board (HPSSSB) S.M. Katwal to three years' rigrous imprisonment in a case pertaining to irregularities in the selection of trained graduate teachers (TGTs) during the previous BJP regime.

Sessions-cum-special judge B.R. Chandel imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on him and also awarded two years' imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2,000 to him under some sections of the IPC in the same case.

The court also sentenced Katwal and another former member of the selection board, Vidya Nath, in a case relating to irregularities in the selection of physical education teachers and sentenced them to three years' imprisonment with a fine of Rs 5,000 each.

All the sentences would run concurrently. The court has given one month's time to Katwal and Nath to move the High Court if they wanted to appeal against the judgement.

The cases were instituted by the Enforcement Department which inquired into alleged irregularities in the selection of candidates for various jobs.

A youth, Madan Gopal, was also convicted in the TGT case and sentenced to three years' imprisonment for getting a job through "fraudulent" means allegedly with the help of the chairman.

When contacted, Katwal refused to comment on the judgement. — PTI

Kangra, August 28
Material worth thousands of rupees stolen from the IPH godown at Sunait in Dehra subdivision of this district has been recovered by the police at Chonta near Sujanpur Terra.

Five persons have been arrested and a vehicle used in the crime has been impounded, police said here today.

Mr D.C. Ranhotra, SHO Dehra Police Station, today told

The Tribune that material belonging to the IPH Department was stolen on Friday.

Sujhanpur Terra police, during a special drive, nabbed five persons and confiscated the stolen property worth thousands of rupees from their possession.

He said that the five were identified as Sikandhar Kumar, resident of Logni, Sunil Kumar, resident of Hariya, Ranjeet Singh of Reha and Ajeet Kumar of Bumpal Nadun, all from Hamirpur district. Fifth accused Sanjeev Kumar, resident of Badoli from Kangra district, had been arrested by the police.

They were remanded to police custody by the court up to August 30.

They would be shifted to Dehra for further interrogation.

He said that it was yet to be seen if some government official was involved in helping these people to drain out government property from the IPH godown.

The police has impounded vehicle used in the crime. A case under Sections 379 and 411 IPC has been registered and the investigation was on.