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‘I could be the last Dalai Lama’
Bijli bachat yojna launched in Kullu
Parbati-I project refused permission
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Waste management plant to be inaugurated today
Road projects eating into green cover
Govt fails to take up road repair work
NHPC spending Rs 40 crore on widening of roads
Rescue posts set up at Marhi, Koksar
Stone of Ambedkar Bhawan laid
Target to attract Rs 5,000-cr investment
Farmers to launch stir today
Plea to ban fund collection by employee bodies
No let-up in drug trafficking
Friends murder man
Red Cross fair ends
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‘I could be the last Dalai Lama’
Dharamsala, November 23 He said this while addressing a press conference at his main temple at McLeodganj. He said though most of the participants had supported his middle-way approach during the conclave, some youth organisations had called for complete freedom. “If the youth do not have faith in it, I can be last Dalai Lama. The institution of Dalai Lama can be discontinued,” he added. Earlier, the Dalai Lama had indicated that he could name the next Dalai Lama within his life time or he could be elected. The reaction of the Dalai Lama seems to have come after certain youth organisations of Tibetans living in exile opined that the Tibetans-in-exile should come forward to take decisions, rather than playing a passive role. The Dalai Lama said, “I have been fighting for the restoration of democracy in Tibet ever since I regained conscience. Since I strongly believe in the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, I have advocated the middle-way approach.” He, however, admitted that the middle-way approach had not yielded any result due to which the youth were getting frustrated. He said the Tibetan people could even elect a woman as the Dalai Lama. “Any society can progress only if it gives equal rights to women. So, the Tibetan society can also have a female Dalai Lama,” he added. “I am already 73-year-old and my role is limited to a senior adviser to the Tibetans,” he added. Reacting to rejection of the memorandum of autonomy for Tibet by China in the eighth round of talks held early this month, he said the issue of Tibet was related to peace in Asia. He thanked Indians for empathy with Tibetans living in exile. He said peace between India and China was also related to Tibet as it was the buffer zone. “I have tried hard for autonomy for Tibet under the Chinese sovereignty treading the path of peace. However, it is unfortunate that it has not yielded any result,” he said. Responding to a question from a Chinese journalist, the Dalai Lama said he was in favour of democracy in China. “I can go to any extent for restoration of democracy in Tibet,” he added. When asked if the Dalai Lama would send his envoys to Tibet, he said anything regarding the matter could only be said after about a month. After the recent conclave, another meeting of friendly countries of Tibet could be held in which some concrete proposals could come forward. The movement for the rights of Tibetans would continue. The Prime Minister of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile and other Tibetan functionaries were present on the occasion. |
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Bijli bachat yojna launched in Kullu
Kullu, November 23 Dhumal emphasised that the scheme was important for the fragile Himalayan region. The government had spent Rs 80 crore on compact florescent lamps (CFLs) which would be given free of cost to the domestic consumers in the state. Dhumal announced 7 per cent DA instalment to the government employees, including HPSEB employees, with effect from July 1, 2008. He said his government had given 23 per cent DA instalments during the past 10 months. He said his government considered government employees as “back bone” of the state and would always provide better facilities to them. Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated the second phase building constructed at a cost of Rs 9 crore of the Regional Hospital at Dhalpur. He said additional infrastructure had been created and now additional staff of 10 doctors and other paramedical staff would be provided soon. The government had already appointed 200 doctors and 232 staff nurses during the past 10 months and process for recruitment of 550 other paramedical staff was underway. He further revealed that 496 promotions were also given to the Health Department. Dhumal announced Rs 40 lakh for the inside infrastructure of the hospital. He also inaugurated the 5 MW mini hydroelectricity project constructed by a private company Sai Engineering Foundation at Tosh village in the Parbati valley of this district. Dhumal lauded the gesture of the company, which had announced to provide free electricity to the villagers of Tosh. Dhumal said the companies, which were unable to start construction of the allocated power projects would be given time limit or the agreements would be cancelled. We would not accept sub-letting of the allocated power projects, he added. The Chief Minister announced upgrading of the Government High School at Barsheni to Senior Secondary School and to open a new primary school at Bagiyanda village in the Parbati valley. Those present on the occasion included health minister Rajeev Bindal, Deputy Speaker Khimi Ram, Kullu MLA Govind Thakur, MLA Aani Kishori Lal, Chief Secretary Asha Swaroop, former BJP MP Maheshwar Singh, chairman of the State Women Commission Ambica Sood, former MLA Chander Sen Thakur, secretary HPSEB M.P. Sood among others. |
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Parbati-I project refused permission
Shimla, November 23 The National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC), which is executing the project, had sent the proposal to the ministry for the third time, but it declined environmental clearance as a part of the project was falling in the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP). The ministry had made known its decision long back, but the government has been planning and allowing mini hydel projects downstream Tos Nullah, the discharge of which was to be utilised for the Parbati-I project. Now that the stage-I has been dropped, ample discharge will be available in Tos Nullah for setting up a big project having capacity between 80 MW and 100 MW. The diversion structure for the Parbati-I project was to come up at an elevation of 3,600 m and as such the project would have spilled over into the GNHP. According to engineers of the board, a big project can now be set up by tapping the discharge at the confluence of Tos Nullah and Tichu Nullah, which is located far away from the park at an elevation of 2,950 m. The combined discharge of the nullahs ranges from 15 to 25 cumecs (cubic metre per second) that can generate around 90 MW of power. A big project instead of two or three mini-hydroelectric projects is a far better proposition not only economically, but also environmentally as much less construction activity will take place on the ground. Only one powerhouse and one diversion structure will have to be constructed. Further, smaller projects are not only expensive, but these also complicate the transmission system as more lines are required for evacuation. As minimum distance has to be maintained between two projects on the same stream, precious head is lost in the process. More importantly, engineers point out, fragmentation of large hydro projects into smaller ones is desirable only if more tributaries join the river, making much higher discharge available downstream which is not the case with Tos Nullah. In such a scenario, smaller projects only help the IPPs (independent power producers) to corner huge subsidies from the Centre at the cost of state’s interests. A reduction of 20 MW to 25 MW in the installed capacity due to fragmentation will deprive the state of 90 to 95 million units annually, which at the current rates of power mean a revenue loss of Rs 40 crore to Rs 45 crore. The best course will be to conduct a fresh hydrological study and plan a big project accordingly to prevent perpetual financial loss to the state rather than allowing a number of small projects to benefit the IPPs. |
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Waste management plant to be inaugurated today
Solan, November 23 The plant has been set up after the apex court directed all states to have a site for safe disposal of hazardous waste being generated by industrial units in their respective areas. The state government has provided 171 bighas of land at a nominal lease of Re 1 for the plant at Dhabota for its first phase and procedure is on for its second phase where 91 bighas of land will be required. The plant will safely dump the noxious waste emanating from various water polluting industries, including pharmaceutical, pesticide, chemical and paper units. It would be run by a society with 49 per cent share in the form of equity lying with the industries and the remaining 51 per cent belonging to the operating agency, United Phosphorus Limited (UPL). The UPL is a known company running such plants in various parts of the country, including Ankleshwar. Each user will be liable to pay charges at the rate of Rs 950 per tonne of their hazardous waste that will be safely stored in pits. Having a capacity of about 50,000 MT, a number of pits will be constructed in the plant and it will be ensured that there is no leakage of any liquid or gaseous substance. As per initial estimates, the about 36,000 tonnes of waste will be scientifically disposed on annual basis. Each user has been directed to make individual arrangement for transportation of waste to the site. Earlier, each unit used to store such waste on its own and land worth several crore had been bought for the purpose. The initiation of the plant will help units vacate that land with the waste getting transferred to this site. A society has been constituted by the BBN Industries Association to run the plant. |
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Road projects eating into green cover
Shimla, November 23 More and more forest area is being swallowed by roads every year and the already depleted green cover is the main casualty. The massive scale at which the forests are being lost can be judged from the fact that out of the total 1,140 hectare of forestland diverted to the Public Works Department for roads since 1980, when the Forest Conservation Act came into force, as much as 610 hectare (more than 50 per cent) has been transferred during the past three years. On average, about 20 hectare of forestland was diverted annually for construction of roads until 2004-05. However, with the launch of the road development programme, diversion of forests has been taking place on a large scale. In 2005-06, 150 hectare forestland was diverted, followed by 238 hectare in 2006-07 and 222 hectare in 2007-08. As most of the diversion is taking place for widening of roads, mostly fully grown trees are being axed. Over the past three years, more forest area has been diverted for road projects in the state than for hydroelectric projects. The three major road widening projects on which work has already commenced involve felling of over 7,500 trees standing on 46 hectare area of the diverted forestland. The maximum number of (2,700) trees, mostly deodar, fir and oak, are being axed on the Theog-Kotkhai-Hatkoti section in Shimla district for which 15 hectare of forests has been diverted. The environmental costs will be high as the road passes through ecologically sensitive hill ranges. As many as 2,533 trees are being felled for upgrading the Mehatpur-Una-Amb road and another 2,166 trees for widening the Una-Badsar-Jahu-Ner Chowk road. As per norms, trees have to be planted on double the forest area diverted for non-forestry purpose and the user agency is made to pay the cost of compensatory afforestation to be carried out. However, in high hill areas, where slow growing conifer species like deodar, fir and spruce are felled, replacement of felled forests could take up to 50 years. Besides felling of trees, the cutting of hill slopes for widening of road causes landslides and debris generated in the process, which is mostly dumped on slopes, also causes damage to the environment. The government has now decided to take steps to ensure proper disposal of debris, but the impact is yet to be seen on the
field. |
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Govt fails to take up road repair work
Palampur, November 23 According to detailed information gathered by The Tribune from PWD offices in the district, it was learnt that the HP Public Works Department had been facing serious financial crisis, as it had no funds for the state works. Most of the PWD godowns do not have cement and bitumen, the two major components required for the repair of roads. Official sources said earlier there was a regular practice that after the rainy season was over, the state government had been releasing funds under the head “rain damages” for the repair of roads, but this year no such funds were released. In the past six months the PWD had invited major tenders only for the execution of those roads or works, which were funded by the Union Government under the Paradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojna or under World Bank-aided projects. There is no budget for the state roads with the PWD as such no tenders were called. Even the PWD had no funds to complete the buildings under construction for the past three-four years. The situation of the Palampur-Hamirpur highway is worst as at several places big potholes have come up, making it difficult to drive. A 10-km portion of the road between Sujanpur and Chabutra needs immediate repair, but the PWD authorities were not concerned with the situation. However, this road was funded under the Government of India sponsored project, yet nothing had been done by the PWD
so far. Another inter-state road linking Kangra with Punjab is also in a bad shape. The Ranital-Dehara-Gopipur section of road was under repair for the past three years. The contractor had already fled leaving the road half completed, but the PWD was helpless to complete the road or initiate action against the defaulters. The sources added that the PWD had given 80 per cent payments to the contractor in advance. The Amb-Una section of the road also needed immediate attention of the authorities as it links Kangra with Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab. It was also learnt that most of the road contracts had been allotted on political consideration and the contractors had high political links, therefore officers of the PWD were helpless to initiate any action against them. |
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NHPC spending Rs 40 crore on widening of roads
Dalhousie, November 23 The adjoining areas of the projects in the district are being immensely benefited due to construction of bridges and widening of roads, which are the lifeline of this alpine region where several interior villages remain cut off due to inaccessibility. Stating this here today Nain Singh, executive director of the NHPC Region-II, disclosed that widening of 46 km long Jarangala to Kharamukh tribal highway was in full swing for which Rs 16.04 crore had already been funded to the state Public Works Department (PWD), besides commissioning of a half kilometre-long tunnel aligned with the Chamba-Bharmour highway, near Kharamukh, leading to the famous sacred pilgrimage centre of Manimahesh saddled in mountainous region of the district. A sum of Rs 8 crore was also being funded to the state PWD in a phased manner for the widening of a 30 km portion of the Chamba-Pathankot highway from Goli to Chamba so that accident-prone narrow road could be widened for smooth driving and comfortable journey of pilgrims and tourists, Singh stated. |
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Rescue posts set up at Marhi, Koksar
Manali, November 23 According to the deputy director of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports, the rescue posts will help monitor the safety of pedestrians crossing the 13,050 ft high Rohtang Pass, and to meet any eventuality due to bad weather. The people crossing over the Rohtang Pass on foot are requested to register themselves with the rescue posts to take maximum benefit of the scheme, the deputy director added. According to S.K. Doon, Commander of the 38 Task Force, (GREF), keeping in view the dry weather conditions in the region the Manali-Keylong road up to Darcha will be kept open till heavy snowfall on the Rohtang Pass. He said due to early snowfall in September and October the border roads organisation (BRO) were busy in re-opening the Manali-Leh highway and could not complete the widening and surfacing work on the road. He further added that now the widening and surfacing work between Marhi and Koksar is in full swing to achieve the target. According to the Himachal Road Transport Corporation sources, all buses plying between Manali-Keylong have been stopped since the last four days and there will be no bus services between Manali-Keylong due to icing on the road. However, light vehicles are still plying between Manali-Keylong. However, the 51 km long Manali-Rohtang road was still open for light vehicles and hundreds of tourists are visiting to see snow on the Rohtang Pass. |
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Stone of Ambedkar Bhawan laid
Hamirpur, November 23 He said this while addressing a public meeting at Dhamrol after laying the foundation stone of this building today. The minister said Rs 50 lakh would be spent on the construction of the Naltu-Manoh road, which would also be completed in a year. He said Rs 10 lakh have been sanctioned for the Jol-Kota link road and remaining 1 km road would be completed soon. Dhiman termed Ambedkar as a true son of India and said the barriers of upper and lower castes can only be eradicated through education. Dhiman said keeping this in mind the state government had increased the current budget on education and 16 per cent of total budget would be spent on this sector. The minister also announced to grant Rs 3 lakh for carrying repairs in the Government High School at Dhamrol and Rs 2 lakh for development of playground. |
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Target to attract Rs 5,000-cr investment
Shimla, November 23 Stating this while inaugurating the Himachal Day function at India international trade fair in Delhi, Himachal health minister Rajeev Bindal said an industrial investment of Rs 1,000 crore had been made in the state during the six months of the BJP regime. In all, Rs 7,025 crore had been invested in 35,000 industrial units under the package and 30,000 people had been provided employment. Projects involving an investment of Rs 7,136 crore were cleared under state-level single-window system from January to September 2008, which would provide direct employment to 18,000 persons, he said. The government had created a land bank of 6,000 bighas in six districts for new industrial units. A commercial centre was being set up at Baddi at a cost of Rs 10.80 crore to promote exports. |
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Farmers to launch stir today
Dharamsala, November 23 State president of the sabha Tikendar Singh Panwar gave this information while addressing a press conference here. He said the state government and the Centre had failed to redress the problems being faced by farmers. They were being forced to buy fertilisers from black marketers. Sowing of rabbi crops had got delayed due to shortage of fertilisers. However, the state government was not making any effort to redress the problem, he alleged. Due to lack of adequate marketing infrastructure, the farmers who had made investments in diversification of crops had suffered losses. “The condition of the farmers can be gauged from the fact that three farmers of Bilaspur district have moved applications before magistrates to allow them to commit suicide,” he added. “The farmers in Himachal are also not being given compensation for damage to crops due to natural calamities. The government has also failed to provide irrigation facilities to the farmers and they are totally dependent on rain and nature. As per data available from government records, the irrigated area in the state has gone down from 17 per cent to around 9 per cent. The farmers of lower Himachal, including those residing in Una, Kangra and Harmirpur, are the worst sufferers due to failure of the government to develop irrigation facilities,” farmer leaders alleged. They alleged while the area under agriculture was increasing in other states, it has reduced by 1 lakh acres in Himachal. The reason was that farmers had given up agriculture as occupation as it was becoming a loss-making proposition, they alleged. They would also oppose the proposed SEZ in Una district as it would affect farmers, seek support price of Rs 20 per litre for milk and a potato-processing plant in Kangra district. |
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Plea to ban fund collection by employee bodies
Shimla, November 23 General secretary of the confederation Vinod Kumar said the practice was prevalent during the Congress regime and had become a big issue as allegations of corruption were levelled against employee leaders who invariably failed to maintain accounts of the funds
so collected. The BJP had also made it an issue, but the practice was continuing under its rule and ministers were presiding over such conferences. He said since there was no single body that could claim to be the only representative of non-gazetted employees, the government should nominate office-bearers of all major bodies to the joint consultative committee. He also urged the Chief Minister to give justice to the employee leaders victimised by the previous Congress regime. He drew his attention to the fact that a senior leader of the confederation O.P. Goyal had not been
reinstated so far. The policy to regularise the services of daily-wage earners after eight years of service was not being implemented in letter and spirit. In many departments eligible daily-waged staff was awaiting regularisation, he added. |
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NCC cadets run for fun
Shimla, November 23 Amit Sharma stood first in the event for junior division of NCC, while Chander Sharma stood second. In the senior division, Mahesh Krishna bagged the top position, followed by Sanjeev Negi. In the girls’ senior section, Jyoti Mehta and Monica got the first and the second position, respectively. Lieut-Col P.S. Sekhon said during the weeklong celebrations, the cadets were also trained in regulating traffic by making them perform duty along with policemen. They also visited orphanage at Tuti Kandi and spent a day in the company of inmates. A rally was also organised to create awareness among people about the harmful effects of smoking and drugs on health. He said six cadets of the company had been selected for the Republic Day function. They would represent the state in the events featuring NCC. |
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No let-up in drug trafficking
Chamba, November 23 The fact is apparent from the past one-month’s incidents of seizing charas and apprehending the culprits of drug trafficking in this region. According to information given by Chamba SP Chander Shekhar Pandit to mediapersons, a private vehicle carrying 1.4 kg of heroin was intercepted at the Drada police post located on the Chamba-Pathankot highway recently. In this episode, four persons belonging to Jammu and Kashmir were arrested and the vehicle impounded. Prior to this, 4 kg of charas was recovered from Chamba-Amritsar bus and one person was arrested at Sarol. Similarly, 1.8 kg of charas was recovered at Baroh barrier on the Chamba-Tissa highway. In the fourth incident, 3.5 kg of charas was recovered from a Nepalese near Bhalei in the district, the SP further said. |
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Friends murder man
Shimla, November 23 He was inflicted deep injuries on the head that resulted in his death. His body was found lying in a pool of blood in a house this morning. According to the police, the crime was the result of an altercation that took place while the victim was having drinks with three other persons at a house in Tikker. The accused ran away after the incident. The police later arrested one of the accused, Narinder, a government employee. Two others persons involved in the crime, Harpal and Vijay, are still absconding. Superintendent of police R.M. Sharma said the victim was hit on the head with an empty liquor bottle repeatedly. The body had been sent for a post-mortem examination and a case registered. |
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Red Cross fair ends
Sundernagar, November 23 While addressing gathering on this occasion he said that the Red Cross was doing good job by helping needy persons at all levels. He congratulated the subdivisional Red Cross Committee (RCC), which had collected an amount of Rs 4 lakh through this fair. He appealed the public to take part in activities launched by the RCC. |
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