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Rohtang Tunnel
Rohtang tunnel Vajpayee’s gift to HP: Dhumal
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Power corpn opts for EPC to prevent cost overrun
DC orders magisterial probe into wall collapse case
Heli taxi service from July: Minister
Kangra medico couple to present paper in US
Anti-drug day observed
‘Role of parents, teachers vital’
Environment protection global challenge: CM
Virbhadra assails Dhumal
Green light to Manali highway
More staff for transport corpn
Fashion institute launched
Thieves loot temple, six houses
Drama marks Gaiety’s anniversary
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Rohtang Tunnel
Kaza (Spiti valley), June 26 The foundation for heralding a socio-economic revolution has already been laid as plans are afoot to have complete tourism infrastructure in place by the time the Rohtang tunnel is completed in 2015. Kaza, headquarters of Spiti, has several outsiders, especially from more affluent apple belts of the adjoining Kinnaur district, scanning for prime land, so that they could construct hotels and run tourism activities once the area is better linked. The intrusion by outsiders, even if they happen to be fellow tribals from Kinnaur, is being abhorred. “We have already brought to the notice of the chief minister and others not to allow outsiders, even if they are from Kinnaur, to purchase land here, as we will be rendered landless by the time the tunnel is completed,” says Rajender Bodh, a local and member of the State Tribal Advisory Committee. Interestingly, though the existing tribal laws bar non-tribals from purchase of land in the area, with people of Kinnaur too enjoying tribal status, they are legally entitled to buy land. Bodh, however, has a different opinion as he says Kinnauras too are outsiders and it was during the time of previous Congress regime that, in special cases, a few influential persons bought land here. Several locals like Palzo say that price of a biswa of land has escalated from Rs 15,000 to almost Rs 50,000, which could spell trouble for locals in the long run. “With hardly any cash crops besides potato and peas, we have meagre income and arrival of outsiders, including those from Kinnaur, will deny us the right to benefit from tourism promotion,” he says. Meanwhile, locals are hoping that tourist season in Spiti Valley would be prolonged even though construction of the Rohtang tunnel would still deprive them of all-weather road connectivity. The government, on its part, is preparing a road map which will enable regulated and planned development of the area. In fact, a vision document has been prepared by Deputy Commissioner Ritetsh Chauhan. “In anticipation of the development that the district is likely to witness, we plan to have shopping malls, marketing yards, haat for handicraft products, parking areas, parks and other facilities, which can cope with the influx of tourists,” he says. With several ancient monasteries like the Tabo, Key and Kaza being located here, there is immense potential for cultural tourism. As such, there are also plans to undertake beautification and facelift of these seats of Buddhist cultures, highly revered by locals. |
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Rohtang tunnel Vajpayee’s gift to HP: Dhumal
Kaza (Spiti valley), June 26 Addressing a colourful rally attended by locals attired in traditional
costumes here today, he recalled the interest taken by Vajpayee in getting the project through. “I vividly remember that day of June 3, 2000, when I, along with local MLA Ram Lal Markanday, requested the PM to give the nod to the project with a close friend of his Arjun
Gopal persisting with the demand, to which he finally acceded, laying foundation stone for the access in May, 2002,” said Dhumal. Dhumal said when it came to development there should be no politics as the interest of the people must be uppermost. “It is most unfortunate that the Congress was trying to take credit for a project which is Vajpayee’s gift to Himachal and as far as the BJP is concerned, there are no parameters like region or political party as all must get benefit of development,” he said. The Chief Minister said people in the Spiti valley must plant apple trees the way it had been done in Lahaul valley. “Seeing the success of the fruit in the higher reaches, there are plans to plant 1.51 lakh plants this year which
will definitely strengthen the economy of the area,” he said. Reacting to demand of the locals for relaxation in inner line area where permits are to be taken for access, he said though there was need to keep up vigil in view of close proximity of Tibet border but tourism would not suffer on this account. He assured that a road would be constructed from Kinnaur to the Pin valley which would benefit the entire district. He laid the foundation stone of a model village at Kaza at a cost of Rs 1.25 crore and later paid a visit to the ancient Kee monastery. |
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Power corpn opts for EPC to prevent cost overrun
Shimla, June 26 It is for the first time in the state that an EPC contract has been awarded under which the contractor will be responsible for all components of the project, right from designing, planning, procurement of materials, construction and installation. The Rs 430 crore contract has been bagged by Hindustan Construction Company in open bids in which three other companies, Larson and Tubro, Patel Engineering and Marti-Gammon Joint Venture also participated The Rs 750 crore project involves construction of a 100-m-long and 24.5-m-high diversion barrage on the Sainj river at Nihari village, a 6.3 km head race tunnel and an underground power house, to utilise 400 m head for generating power. The two generating units of 50 MW each will produce over 400 million units of power annually. The generation cost is likely to be around Rs 4.25 per unit. “The biggest advantage of the EPC mode is that there is no room for delay on account of non-finalisation of design and drawings, the major bottlenecks in speedy execution of works, as the contractor has to carry out all the jobs,” says Tarun Kapoor, managing director of the corporation. Further, payments are not made on basis of actual measurements of works executed but on set milestones to be achieved within a stipulated period, he explains. Successful implementation of the project will go a long way in expeditious exploitation of the vast hydropower potential as the corporation itself has 10 projects in hand. Time and cost overrun have been a common feature of hydroelectric projects and, till date, no project, except for the 86MW Malana-I which was commissioned ahead of schedule, in the state has been executed within the stipulated timeframe. In fact, all major projects executed by the state power utility as a bundled entity have been delayed by four to eight years. The 126 MW Larji was completed at more than double the estimated cost, making it the costliest till date at Rs 12.5 crore per MW. |
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CPM protest over petro price hike
Shimla, June 26 Secretary of the committee Rakesh Singha said the increase in price of petrol by Rs 3.50 , diesel by Rs 2, cooking gas by Rs 35 and kerosene by Rs 3 was too severe and it would set off an acute inflationary trend creating problems for the poor. Already, the rate of inflation in respect of food items had reached 17 per cent which was now bound to cross 20 per cent. He said the government must explain to the people what forced it to deregulate the petroleum product prices. It was unwarranted and against the interests of the poor as prices of oil were not determined on the basis of cost of production but future and forward trading. It would only help the multinational companies to earn huge profits. At current rates a litre of crude oil costs Rs 22.61 and conversion to petrol costs 40 to 50 paise per litre. It was obvious that the central and the state governments were generating revenue to the tune of Rs 32 per litre by fleecing the common man which was shocking. |
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DC orders magisterial probe into wall collapse case
Solan, June 26 Nahan ADC Lokender Chauhan has been entrusted the task to submit a report within one week. Chauhan said he would examine various aspects, including safety, fixing accountability and measures, which could have taken to avert the mishap. He added that since eight lives had been lost, it was a serious matter where responsibility should be fixed so as to ensure effective compliance of laid norms. The Paonta police today arrested Vishal Bansal and Girish Sabharwal, directors of Vasu Chemicals and Himalayan Chemicals, respectively. Paonta Sahib SDPO Virender Thakur said samples of wall had been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Junga, to know if the construction material was substandard or not. It is, however, worth mentioning that the wall was constructed to withstand a particular weight and it was the excess weight thrust upon it by limestone that it gave way. Interestingly, shrugging the onus of enforcing Labour Laws the Labour Department was now passing the buck on the Mining Department. Officials of the Labour Department hesitated to comment on their role in enforcing the laws but conveniently termed the activity in the erring industrial units as mining. Mining officer Sanjiv Sharma, however, refuted the claim and observed that a wall collapse could no way be related to mining and, moreover, no mining activity took place within a unit premises. The limestone stacked at Vasu Chemicals at village Sataun was procured from a mining site located 8 km away and that was the sole authorised mining area. The unit management had approached the Labour Department only a few days ago to register their employees. Though the state government had made it mandatory to provide identity cards to all employees, no such norm was followed. |
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Heli taxi service from July: Minister
Dharamsala, June 26 Minister for Irrigation and Public Health Ravinder Ravi gave this information after presiding over a meeting of district officials over the implementation of 20-point programme. He said the state had attained first position in the implementation of the 20-point programme. It was a matter of pride for the state. Under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Kangra district, during 2009-10 Rs 145 crore had been disbursed. Under the self-employment scheme Rs 9 crore had been distributed among 3,024 beneficiary families. Under the Indira Awas scheme 1,803 houses and under Atal Awas scheme 1,421 houses were constructed for the poor
in the state. He also ordered district officials to review the working of various schemes every month so that the progress could be checked. The poly house scheme should be implemented in a time-bound manner and publicised so that maximum people could take its
benefits. |
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Kangra medico couple to present paper in US
Dharamsala, June 26 Dr Nikhil Gupta has worked extensively on measles and rubella virus in the state. Having conducted analytical studies to estimate the measles vaccine efficiency he has recommended the second dose for measles/measles at the age of 18 to 24 months. Presently, just one dose is administered at nine months of age to children under Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) in Himachal Pradesh. Stressing the need for the second dose of measles vaccination in the state to eliminate measles outbreak, Dr Nikhil said Delhi state had higher vaccine coverage since it had taken initiative of the two dose schedule of measles and measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) at nine months and at 15 months, respectively. Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh achieved coverage of more than 70 per cent. Dr Naresh Mehta, co-author in research and Deputy Director, Shimla, said measles was mainly responsible for childhood morbidity and mortality and it was the fifth major killer among children under five years of age group in the world. In Himachal Pradesh, there is gradual rise in measles immunisation coverage over the years while it satisfactorily ranges from 71 pc to 89 pc to 86.3 pc as per three surveys. Dr Naveen Gupta said in Himachal Pradesh, the vaccination coverage exceeded 95 pc. The first dose of measles vaccination is only 85 pc protective. |
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Anti-drug day observed
Mandi, June 26 After the rally, the DGP chaired the meeting of police officials on law and order situation. He then inspected the SP office and the police lines and appreciated welfare schemes initiated by the SP in the district in his bid to make Mandi as a model for other districts. Meanwhile, deputy commissioner, Mandi, Amandeep Garg, gave away prizes to winners of the slogan writing and painting competitions. The similar rallies were held in Sundernagar and other towns also. BILASPUR: Youths have changed history and destiny of their country and a determined group of youth have always shown the true path to misguided races. This was stated by district youth coordinator Som Dutt Zard while presiding over daylong district-level “International Day against Drug Abuse” organised by the Nehru Yuvak Kendra at Government Senior Secondary School, Kothipura, about 15 km from here
on Saturday. He said drugs were the greatest enemy of any youth and it was the duty of every individual to ensure that this menace was fought on all fronts. This addiction was nothing but a sign of cowardice and weakness which must be deserted, he added. Students present on the occasion took oath to shun drugs and also to guide any unfortunate addict to get rid of this menace with firm determination. A seminar on “Role of Youth in Control of Drug Abuse” was held in which more than 25 students from Yuvak Madals, Mahila Mandals and others participated. Slogan writing and poetry recitation competitions were also organised. A number of speakers addressed the seminar. |
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‘Role of parents, teachers vital’
Shimla, June 26 Delivering the keynote address at open-house discussion on “Increasing Drug Abuse by Schoolchildren”, organised by a local non-government organisation (NGO) Youth Enlightening the Society (YES), he said studies-related stress was one of the major pre-disposing factors for drug addiction among students and there was an urgent need for parents and teachers to have a more understanding attitude. Responsibility of parents did not end by sending children to schools for education and providing for their material needs. They, along with the teachers, must also act as counsellors to help relieve stress and guide them properly, he said. The fact that a large number of teenage students were becoming victims of drug abuse was an unmistakable pointer to “indifferent” and “insensitive” attitude of parents towards their children, he added. Justice Kurian said every section of society, including the police, judiciary and administration, had a role to play in curbing drug menace. “We fight for our rights very seriously but adopt an indifferent attitude towards our duties. The moment we start paying attention towards our duties, civic sense in us alone will start guiding us,” he stated. The debate was also attended by Manish Garg, director, Social Justice and Empowerment Department, ID Bhandari, Additional Director General of Police, CID, Rakesh Kanwar, Additional Health Director and Ravi C Sharma, head of Psychiatry Department, IGMC, besides principals and students of various schools in the city. |
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Environment protection global challenge: CM
Palampur, June 26 Dhumal said the state government had decided to sensitise students by making pledge of environment protection a part of their morning prayers. He complimented the samiti for supplementing initiatives of the state towards environment protection and making it polythene-free. The CM also honoured former MLA Dr Shiv Kumar for outstanding social services rendered by him. |
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Virbhadra assails Dhumal
Mandi, June 26 Talking to the media persons here today, Virbhadra Singh said, “Dhumal never ever took the issue of industrial package extension with me to build pressure on the Centre which faces counter pressure from Punjab and Haryana, not to give the extension,” he added. He claimed that Dhumal was misleading the public for hiding his failure on all fronts blaming the Centre for every failure. He said Dhumal was approaching wrong persons like LK Advani and Nitin Gadkari for pressuring the Centre to extend the package. |
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Green light to Manali highway
Bilaspur, June 26 He said he had earlier met the Central Road and Surface Transport Minister at Delhi and had drawn his attention towards heavy vehicular traffic on this road. The minister has ordered upgradation of this road in three phases - from Kiratpur Sahib to Bilaspur town, from Bilaspur town to Ner Chowk and from there to Manali. |
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More staff for transport corpn
Sundernagar, June 26 He was today addressing a gathering at the bus stand here after laying a foundation stone of Rs 2.5 crore building of workshop-cum-office of the regional manager at the BBMB Colony here. He said a budget of Rs 22 crore would be spent to open a driving school in Mandi district. Local MLA Roop Singh also spoke on the occasion. |
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Fashion institute launched
Hamirpur, June 26 Sameer Aggarwal, managing director, and Raman Sharma, director, PIFT, while addressing a press conference on the launching of the centre here today, said, “The centre is being launched at Hamirpur after gathering feedback through a survey, keeping in view vast potential of fashion technology in this region. Courses will be industry oriented since we have good forward linkages with leading designer houses for internships and placements.” The admission process has already begun and the teaching session would start from mid-August. Initially, the PIFT would offer three years BSc course in fashion design, interior decoration, two-year MSc, MBA and diploma courses, they added.
— TNS |
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Thieves loot temple, six houses
Palampur, June 26 According to the police, a gang of burglars entered the village, broke open locks of over six houses and fled away with valuables, including cash, jewellery, electronic goods and household items. Babli Devi, a widow, lost everything. Other victims included Suresh, Satish, Sarup Chand, Banwari Lal and
Harbans. — OC |
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Drama marks Gaiety’s anniversary
Shimla, June 26 It was restored at a cost of Rs 12 crore and the painstaking effort to create its original ambience took more than five years. The restoration of the theatre has also revived artistic activities in the city in a big way. |
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