Shimla, July 30
Decks have been cleared for grant of ADB (Asian Development Bank) loans for execution of Rs 4,500 crore master transmission plan with the four-member team from the British Power International (BPI) fine-tuning the draft proposal in consultation with officers of the state, here today.

The team, headed by Jeoff Scott, made a detailed presentation, stressing the need to have high capacity lines for evacuation of power from all projects to come up in future and avoiding aesthetic degradation of hills, particularly the skyline, by high-rising transmission towers.

The team drew attention to the fact that in European countries the towers were not erected on hill tops as the huge structures marred the landscape.

Instead, lines were laid through the valleys. Also rather than high-rise steel frame structures, much smaller wooden and tubular poles were used depending on the site. They suggested a similar strategy for Himachal Pradesh.

BPI experts asserted that at least 400 kv line should be laid through Kullu side for evacuation of power from Lahaul region and an alternative line be provided through Jammu and Kashmir to Chamba as 3,000 to 3,500 MW power will have to be evacuated ultimately.

They also preferred ring system instead of radial pooling points for evacuation of power from various projects as it will make alternative routes available. They also familiarised officers with the latest technology which allowed all input and output lines to be channelled through single tower, drastically reducing requirement of space and also costs.

The ADB proposes to sanction a loan of $300 million in the first phase which will take care of transmission network for evacuation of over 10,000 MW of power from the Beas and Chenab basins and projects located upstream of the 300 MW Bhabha project in the Sutlej basin.

In the first phase, transmission lines will be laid for the projects scheduled for completion from 2010 to 2014 and the total cost was estimated to be Rs 2,260 crore.

The second phase, to be implemented subsequently, will seal the transmission network for the state with a capacity to evacuate the entire identified hydroelectric potential of 20,384 MW.

Shimla, July 30
The CID wing of the police will undertake a survey in all hydro power projects, cement plants and other major works being executed in Himachal to look into complaints of child labour and forced labour.

Most of the workforce at these big projects, be it in the hydro power sector or cement industry, are from outside states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Children engaged in these projects, even with the consent and approval of their parents, could invoke legal action.

“We intend undertaking a survey to check if there are any such cases where children are being made to work even though this could be with the consent of their parents,” said Punita Bhardwaj, SP (CID). She said depending on the feedback, the CID would initiate action to ensure that no such labour is taken from children.

There have been instances where it has come to the notice of the authorities that children are being made to work in projects, with not even bare minimum food and clothing being provided to them. “It has come to our knowledge that most of these children are unhappy as they are made to work from morning till late evening and their payment is made back home to their parents,” said an officer.

In fact, one such complaint has been received at the Bhabanagar police station near Rampur where several power projects are being executed.

According to sources, though instances of bonded labour are practically unheard of in Himachal, with labour being arranged by contractors, the aspect of exploitation cannot be ruled out.

As such, provisions of the Bonded Labour Abolition Act and Child Labour Act would be invoked against such crime.

A few voluntary organisations like the Himachal Pradesh Voluntary Health Association have been working to create awareness against child labour. They had also launched a child helpline and had associated the police, lawyers, labour and health departments and people from other walks of life.

In fact, coming up of big projects in Himachal has led to increase in crime rate in the industrial belt, sites of power projects and cement plants.

It is to check crime in this belt that a special police district has been created for the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial belt.

Solan, July 30
Caught in the official quagmire, fund-starved Himachal Pradesh State Co-operative Marketing and Consumers’ Federation (HIMFED) failed to get revolving fund of Rs 10 crore for purchasing fertilisers despite getting financial clearance and directions from the Chief Minister more than two months back.

This working capital was sanctioned in May this year by the Cabinet after HIMFED appealed to save itself from incurring undue interest liabilities of several crores per annum in lieu of loans taken to purchase fertilisers for the state.

This forced HIMFED to avail loans at the rate of 12 per cent making them liable to pay interest liability of more than Rs 40 lakh for the purchases made in the current fiscal. It had not only exhausted its cash credit limit of Rs 12 crore but also would fail to benefit from this exercise of purchasing fertilisers which merely fetched revenue of Rs 80 lakh annually. Since only part of fertilisers had been purchased the interest liability would further increase once all purchases were made.

Sources in HIMFED said it was lamentable that though as per the Cabinet decision the Agriculture Department was supposed to pay this amount to HIMFED, it had now shifted its responsibility to the Co-operatives Department without even intimating them in time. This had delayed the grant of working capital forcing HIMFED to avail loans to meet their requirements.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal said they would immediately make available requisite funds to HIMFED so that unnecessary expenditure in the form of interest was avoided.

It was worth mentioning that despite a lapse of more than two months the issue of grant of these funds remained unresolved and despite best efforts of HIMFED these funds had not been released. Even the reasons for its non-release were not being disclosed to its employees, the sources revealed. This had further delayed the purchase of fertilisers for farmers. In the last financial year alone, it paid interest of Rs 4.45 crore to financial institutions while an amount of Rs 2.38 crore and Rs 3.33 crore had been paid for the financial years 2007-08 and 2008-09, respectively. 

Shimla, July 30
Number of both indoor and outdoor patients at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) Hospital here has registered a sharp increase over the past 30 months.

Stating this while presiding over a meeting of Medical Education and Research Department here today, Health Minister Rajeev Bindal said the number of outdoor patients, which were 2,91,487 in 2007, had increased to 4,13,175 and indoor patients from 29,246 to 40,432.

It was possible due to various steps taken by the government, including filling of 131 posts of professor, assistant professor and associate professor and 657 posts of para-medical staff, he added.

He said an increase of 10 to 50 per cent was recorded in X-ray, CT scan, ultra sound, ECG, Caesarean sections, MRI, laboratory tests, major and minor operations. The improvement in quality of services, effected over the past two years, was bringing patients to the government health institutions, Bindal said.

He also expressed satisfaction over the functioning of Tanda Medical College which had also registered remarkable growth over the period.

The MBBS seats at the IGMC had been increased to 100 from 65 and postgraduate seats from 38 to 70.

Super-speciality services in gastroenterology had also been introduced and new departments of immune haematology and blood transfusion opened.

Besides, two trauma and emergency operation theatres were created along with emergency CCU at the IGMC. 

Dharamsala, July 30
While the Aman Kachroo case is making headlines across the country, the father of another victim of ragging death has been awaiting justice for the past seven years.

The recent judgement of the Himachal High Court in the case has rekindled hopes for the father of Amit Kumar who became a victim of ragging in 2003.

Ravinder Thakur, father of Amit Kumar, told newsmen that his son was a student of Palampur Government College. On August 20, 2003, he saw some senior students of the college ragging a junior. He tried to stop them. However, those involved in ragging allegedly stabbed Amit.

Amit was referred to a Ludhiana hospital where he died. The police registered a case of murder. The case has been going on for the past seven years. The accused in the case are out on bail.

Ravinder Thakur said since he was a poor person, he could not file an appeal against the bail granted to the accused. “Now that the high court has cancelled the bail of the accused in the Aman Kachroo case, it has rekindled hopes in me that I will also get justice”.

Ravinder Thakur has started contacting lawyers to pursue the case of his son. He has also appreciated the steps being taken by the government to curb the menace after the Aman Kachroo case.

States have been ignoring the Raghavan committee recommendations that were accepted by the Supreme Court in 2007. The major recommendation of the committee was that central regulatory bodies should take ragging situation as an important factor in accreditation of education institutions.

Shimla, July 30
Even though the police is yet to arrest Chopal Congress MLA Subhash Manglet in connection with the case registered against him by the Chopal SDM, the police is on the hunt for five Congress workers named in the complaint.

The Chopal police today undertook search at several places in and around Nerwa to arrest the five persons who were named in the FIR, along with the legislator, in connection with manhandling of the SDM at the site of bus accident near Nerwa. The SDM, in his complaint, had alleged that it was the MLA who had provoked the public to attack him.

“We are looking for the five persons so that they can be arrested and questioned about the charges levelled against them by the SDM and BJP workers,” said SSP RM Sharma.

It is unlikely that the police would at the moment arrest Manglet as this would give Congress an issue of political victimisation against the ruling BJP.

Moreover, with the Monsoon Session of the Assembly due next month, the government would not want to give the Congress an issue, as was the case during the Budget Session.

It was on the same issue of registering a case against Manglet by the SDM that the BJP and Congress legislators locked horns in the Assembly. In fact, Congress MLAs staged a walk out on the issue on several occasion.

The Chopal MLA had, in fact, given a notice for privilege against the SDM in the Aassembly who he alleged was found wanting in his duty each time there was an emergency in Chopal.

Counter cases have been registered by the SDM and supporters of Manglet at the Nerwa police station. While an FIR has been lodged on the complaint of the SDM and two BJP workers under Sections 353, 506, 147, 148, 149 and 323, which are non-bailable, a case has been registered on the complaint of Congress workers under Section 147 and 323.

Dharamsala, July 30
Another Congress MLA Neeraj Bharti today landed in trouble. Manoj Kumar of Fatehpur tehsil has filed a complaint against the MLA. The police has registered the complaint but not yet registered an FIR against the MLA.

Kangra SP Atul Fulzele said as per information, When Neeraj Bharti was returning home around 3.30 am today, Manoj Kumar, who had parked his motorcycle on the road, was creating an obstruction in traffic.

Neeraj Bharti stopped his vehicle and asked Manoj to remove his bike from the road. However, Manoj, who was drunk, entered into an altercation with Neeraj Bharti. The security guard of the MLA intervened and took Manoj to the nearest police station.

In the morning, the medical examination of Manoj Kumar was conducted and he was found drunk, the SP said.

Meanwhile, Manoj Kumar has filed a complaint against the MLA this morning. He alleged that the MLA and his security guard had thrashed him. The SP said though the complaint of Manoj Kumar had been registered, no case had yet been registered against the MLA. — TNS

Una, July 30
The Una court has sentenced Rashpal, a resident of Jankor village, to one-year imprisonment for selling adulterated milk. Besides, a fine of Rs 1,000 has also been imposed on him. Rashpal was caught by the district health authorities for allegedly selling adulterated milk in a drive launched by DC KR Bharti.

The laboratory reports found that the fat content in milk being sold by Rashpal was just 4.3 per cent and it was mixed with water.

Meanwhile, the decision has been welcomed by various quarters. The Una food inspector, in the recent past, had confiscated four samples of desi ghee of Gopi brand.

The test results at a food laboratory revealed that there was not even 1 per cent milk fat in the confiscated samples. It clearly proved that the ghee contained animal meat fat. A case against them has now been filed in Una court.

Besides desi ghee, four samples of arhar dal (cereal) were also seized. The laboratory reports suggested that the dal was laced with synthetic food colours that could have had an adverse affect on human health.

In another case, a sealed packet of Uncle Chips was found to be containing flies. Besides, the health authorities have also found adulteration in milk products as cheese, milk and open curd. The adulteration was found in the form of lesser fat.

Inquiries by The Tribune revealed that despite widespread reports regarding adulteration of food and harmful affects it could have on the health of people, the state, till date, has no super-specialty laboratory that can check the amount of pesticides in food items or presence of urea in milk. Most of the vegetables in lower areas of the state is supplied from Punjab. There have been reports regarding excessive use of pesticides in these vegetables.

Officials, while speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had sent certain items for checking the pesticide content at the Kandaghat laboratory. However, chemists there expressed their inability to conduct such tests.