Shimla, August 5
The agitation started by wholesale suppliers (ladanis) and commission agents (arhtias) of Azadpur market in Delhi on the issue of commission has added to the woes of apple growers who are already facing problems in marketing their bumper crop due to bad roads and shortage of trucks.

The one-day token strike by wholesale suppliers and commission agents today ensured that no trading took place as a result over 300 trucks of apple which had already reached Delhi could not be auctioned. Over 1,000 trucks that were already on way would create a glut in the market. The two have joined hands to thwart the implementation of the amended bylaws of the Delhi Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act as per which the 6 per cent commission would have to be paid by buyers instead of growers.

The wholesale suppliers maintained that amendment, if implemented, would lead to a situation where they have to pay commission twice. They were already charged 8 per cent commission on sales to various suppliers across the country. If they were forced to pay 6 per cent commission at the time of purchasing produce they would have to pay a total commission of 14 per cent, which was unjust. They have threatened to follow the one-day token strike with longer strikes if the amendment was not withdrawn. If this happened the ultimate sufferers would be the growers.

The growers were worried as agitation by wholesale suppliers during peak season had send the prices of apple crashing as the market was already flooded with fruit. Harvesting was at its peak and already 51.31 lakh boxes of apple have been sent to the market as against 33 lakh boxes in 2008.

Last year, when the state had a lean crop only 5 lakh boxes had been marketed in the corresponding period. Daily 700 to 750 trucks, carrying over 3.5 lakh boxes, leave the state daily for various markets.

Chairman of the Himalayan Apple Growers’ Society Rajiv Chauhan said the state government should not tamper with the value chain of apple from orchard to consumer in which wholesale suppliers and ‘arhtias’ were vital links. It hardly matters who paid the commission as long as the growers get value for their produce. If wholesale suppliers were made to pay commission, they would certainly offer lower rates to growers. The government should focus attention on maintenance of roads, which were in a bad shape and arrange adequate number of trucks for transportation of produce.

Shimla, August 5
Thousands of apple boxes have been stranded at Kotkhai and Rohru as landslides triggered by rain blocked a majority of the link roads in the upper Shimla region.

The growers are having sleepless nights as they fear that the already plucked fruit would get spoilt if the roads were not opened expeditiously.

Not only link roads connecting villages, but also the main Theog-Hatkoti was in a terrible shape due to the ongoing widening work. Large stretches of roads have been transformed into pools of slush and at places it has been turned into streams. The road linking the Pandli area to Kotkhai has been blocked for the past several days.

Local panchayat Pradhan Pawan Chauhan said he contacted the PWD authorities several times, but to no avail. As the department did not have earth moving machinery required for the purpose and it was also short of machine operators. Similarly, the roads leading from Halai, Jonny, Nihari to Garog, Bakhol and other areas were also blocked.

However, rolling boulders on the Theog-Hatkoti were a cause of concern as they posed risk to the life of commuters. Moreover, boulders were not being cleared expeditiously due to which commuters had to face long traffic jams.

State Congress Committee’s secretary Rohit Thakur said no trucks were available for the past one week in the interior areas and the fruit had started decaying. This was despite the fact that freight from Delhi had been increased by Rs 20 per box. The main reason for it was the pitiable conditions of the roads, which had been rendered unfit for plying vehicles due to poor maintenance.

Kufri near Shimla had become another traffic bottleneck. President of the Shimla district Congress Committee Kehar Singh Khachi warned that his party would not hesitate to start a stir if the government failed to restore roads promptly.

Meanwhile, most parts of the state received moderate to heavy rainfall during the past 24 hours. Jabbar Hatti recorded maximum of 66 mm rain, followed by Pandoh (60 mm), Mandi (42 mm), Kotkhai (32 mm) and Rohru and Theog (30 mm each). Even the city had heavy downpour, lasting for two hours, this afternoon.

Bilaspur, August 5
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and RB Mishra of Himachal High Court on a petition of a resident of Diara sector has directed the state government, PWD, DC and Nagar Parishad to get all encroachments on government land vacated within a period of six months from the date of the judgement.

However, it is alleged that petitioner Hem Raj Gupta, who himself was an encroacher, went to the high court for the purpose of getting some specific encroachments vacated from seven of his neighbours.

The court pointed out that it had already given direction to the government to frame a policy regarding the eviction of the encroachments in the town. Consequently, the court directed the government to ensure vacation of all government land from illegal possession.

However, the judgement makes an exception to this order only in matters of any statutory remedies in accordance with the law and formation of any rehabilitation policy by the government in this matter.

Shimla, August 5
The Union Ministry of Water Resources has acceded to the request of Himachal and released the first instalment of Rs 33.75 crore to carry forward the channelling of Swan river in Una district.

This was revealed by Chief Minister P. K. Dhumal on receiving the information from the Union Water Resources Ministry today.

He said the state government had earlier decided to convert the “river of sorrow” into “river of happiness” by channelling the entire 45 km long stretch downstream Jhalera bridge to Santokhgarh bridge by executing the project in two phases at a total cost of Rs 341.55 crore.

He said vast chunks of fertile land had been washed away by the floods and the banks were turning into barren land. He said a Rs 106.03 crore project was prepared to undertake channelling of 17 km long stretch of the river and work was started on April 15, 2000.

Dhumal said on successful implementation of the first phase, 2260 hectares of eroded land had been reclaimed. He said work on the second phase of the project was started on April 13, 2008, and would cost Rs 235.52 crore. “We sought an assistance of Rs 67.50 crore initially to execute the Swan River Flood Management and Integrated Land Development Project Phase-II in Una district under the Flood Management Programme,” he said.

He said the Central Water Commission had already approved 90 per cent funding of the engineering structure which worked out to be Rs 165.84 crore under the Flood Management Programme as central assistance and the balance 10 per cent of Rs 18.43 crore would be borne by the state.

He said the Swan channelling was bound to revolutionise the farming activities in the district since the areas already reclaimed were producing seasonal and off-seasonal vegetables in huge quantity and farmers were getting benefited with good income. 

Shimla, August 5
The Congress has expressed concern over the failure of the Dhumal government to protect the rights and villages of legislators who were being framed in false cases.

In a joint statement Congress MLAs Mukesh Agnihotri, Sukhwinder Singh, Sudhir Sharma, Harsh Wardhan, Kuldeep Pathania, Prakash Chaudhary, Yog Raj and Nand Lal alleged that cases were being registered just to muffle the voice of the people and to sully the image of Congress legislators whose constituencies were being ignored in the mater of development.

The cases registered against Subhash Manglait and Neeraj Bharati were the latest examples of the vindictive attitude of the government towards the legislators of Opposition. They were being humiliated at public functions and also kept aloof from the development process. They were not being invited and at times not informed about the government functions. Ministers tour programme to their constituencies were also not being sent to them.

The situation had come to such a pass that officers were making statements in the media against the elected representatives. The reports of projects pertaining to the constituencies of Congress legislators were being deliberately delayed to slowdown the pace of development activities.

Dharamsala, August 5
Gyari Dolma, deputy speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, has announced her candidature for the 2011 elections for Tibetan prime minister-in-exile, Kalon Tripa.

She is also the first woman deputy speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile. Since Gyari is part of the government her candidature seems to have tacit consent of the Dalai Lama. Over a period of time Tibetan women’s organisations have become more active after remaining in shadow for over five decades since Dalai Lama fled in 1959. They are fast becoming the face of Tibetan struggle against the Chinese and are holding protests and other political activities as demanding release of Panchen Lama in the recent past.

At one time even the Dalai Lama has stated that even a woman can take over as the next Dalai Lama.

Gyari’s announcement was welcomed by Tibetan women as it marks the first-ever participation of a Tibetan woman in the election for the seat of highest executive office in the Tibetan government-in-exile. “I welcome her decision as a phenomenal breakthrough in the political empowerment of Tibetan women in the exiled Tibetan polity. Therefore, notwithstanding the results, her conviction and assertion will definitely encourage the enfranchisement of the Tibetan electorate,” said Dhardon Sharling, a Tibetan woman activist.

The Tibetan exile polity has so far seen four Tibetan women ministers in the Kashag (Tibetan cabinet) but no woman has ever become the Kalon Tripa or the prime minister. Jetsun Pema, the younger sister of the Dalai Lama, was the first woman to hold a Kalon’s office as the Minister for Health in 1990. She remained in the cabinet till 1993 as the Minster of Education.

Gyari Dolma, a member of parliament for the past 19 years, said at a press conference that given a chance, she is willing to shoulder the responsibility of Kalon Tripa.

Shimla, August 5
Notwithstanding objection from the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment on promotion of eco-tourism activities in reserved forests, the state government has decided to go ahead with five new projects that have already been awarded.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal has written to Union Forest and Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh explaining the factual position in this regard. “The fact that we are not raising any permanent structure within the forest and doing it strictly in adherence to the Eco-Tourism Policy of 2001 and 2005 does not amount to violation of the Forest Conservation Act,” said Avay Shukla, Additional Chief Secretary (Forests).

The Union Ministry of Forest and Environment had objected to the manner in which forest rest houses and camping sites had been allotted under the public private partnership (PPP) mode. They had pointed out that all this amounted to commercial activity, which was simply not permissible under the Forest Conservation Act.

Having pleaded its case before the Centre, the hill state went ahead with its plans and allotted five other eco-tourism projects. This had taken the total number of such projects to 15 as 10 sites have already been handed over to private entrepreneurs.

Officials in the Forest Department pointed out that the argument of the Centre was untenable, as the Himachal High Court had already dismissed a petition filed by an individual with regard to the 10 earlier sites awarded in Solan-Shimla and Mandi-Dharamsala-Chamba sectors. They also argued that being aware of possible environmental degradation due to such activities, serious restrictions had been imposed before allotting these sites.

It was in January, 2008, that an MOU was signed for 10 sites. Ever since the creation of Eco Societies (ECO SOCS) under the Eco-Tourism Policy in 2005, this was the first major leap that the government took towards promoting eco-tourism in a big way.

The Forest Department had advertised 80 sites, including some of its rest houses, under the PPP mode in the first initiative. There was an overwhelming response as 126 proposals had been received from 40 entrepreneurs.

The focus of eco-tourism promotion shall be ensuring maximum possible number of jobs to Himachalis, so that the benefits reach out to the entire state. In fact the condition of 70 per cent jobs to Himachalis has also been laid down for these projects. Interestingly, strict restrictions have been imposed by the Forest Department on entrepreneurs who will not be allowed use of television and loud music so that people can enjoy nature and wildlife at its bets.

Shimla, August 5
The country’s largest 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri project was shutdown today as silt level and discharge inthe Sutlej shot up sharply this morning.

The discharge in the river, which normally remains around 1,400 cumecs during rainy season, rose to 2,200 cumecs and the level of silt crossed 15,000 ppm (parts per million) at Nathpa against the permissible limit of 4,000 ppm. It was over 22,000 upstream at Khab, where the Spiti joins the Sutlej. However, the silt level has gone up in both rivers. This is the fourth time during the current season that the project had to be shutdown due to excessive silt. — TNS