Manali, January 23
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today upgraded the five-day-long Manali winter carnival to a national-level festival and made a fervent appeal to residents and tourists to pool in their efforts to make the “valley of gods pollution-free”. He also announced that The Mall would wear a fresh look of international standards the next year as Rs 2 crore beautification project be completed in a year’s time.

Addressing a festive gathering of residents and tourists after inaugurating a ropeway project at the Solang ski resort uphill this tourist town, the Chief Minister said the winter carnival’s popularity had increased at the national level and thus the state government had declared this carnival a national-level festival. “It will go a long way promoting tourism in the valley as troupes from all over the country have come here for festival”, he added.

The Manali carnival will now attract troupes from across the country, who will give their performance during the five-day-long festival. The carnival will get more grants from Centre.

Dhumal made an appeal to schoolchildren, residents, the nagar panchayat samiti and other member of the panchayati raj institutions to make this valley pollution-free. “We also urged tourists to shun the use of the packaged food materials, plastic bottles, wrappers and bags and dispose of wastes in the waste bins”, he said.

He further cautioned them that those found littering plastics and other waste materials would be fined Rs 500 for which a head constable and pradhan had been delegated power to punish the offenders. “We do not want tourists, who come for enjoyment, be fined with Rs 500 for littering plastic. I found two plastic wrappers on The Mall whereas these should have been disposed of safely in the bin”.

Recalling his last year’s promise, he said his government had sanctioned Rs 2 crore for beautification of The Mall and work would start soon after the conclusion of the carnival as tender was already awarded. “The Mall will be a vehicle-free zone for pedestrians with international standard of which former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had once dreamt of, along the lines The Mall, Shimla, in the next season, he asserted.

Dhumal, who also had a ropeway ride, said the ropeways would promote tourism. “The work on the ropeways was started in 2008 when his government came to power”, he claimed.

Dhumal also upgraded the community health centre to civil hospital and said the hospital would have latest equipments.

The Chief Minister reiterated that he had taken up the Bilaspur-Mandi-Manali-Leh railway line with the Centre on a priority basis. The heli-taxi services being stared from this month-end would further promote tourism in the state, he added.

Kullu MLA Givind Thakur, who recounted the achievements of the government, Manali carnival president-cum-SDM Rajeshwar Goel, nagar panchayat president Rup Singh Negi, BJP president Khimi Ram, DC Kullu BM Nanta and SP Kullu Abhishek Dular were present on the occasion.

Mandi/Lahaul, January 23
Terming the Shukla Committee and the Ministry of Environment and Forest’s recommendations as “their views and not mandatory preconditions”, the Himachal Pradesh government has rushed into allotting 18 major hydropower projects worth 1300 MW capacity for which it has received 63 bids from the independent power producers (IPPs).

Principal secretary, Power, Deepak Sanan, told The Tribune that there was no stay on the process of allotment of projects as such.

Sanan said there were no preconditions of a riparian distance imposed as of now by the ministry or the High Court on the allotment of power projects in the state.

Most of the 18 projects advertised by the state government for allotment are located in the Chenab basin where the ministry had mulled that “no projects will be allotted in the Chenab basin till the cumulative environment impact assessment study of the entire basin is not complete”.

As a matter of fact, the state government has rejected in its affidavit filed in the High Court the recommendations of the Shukla Committee appointed by the court.

The court had asked the state, IPPs and the ministry to file affidavits in the court for their opinions/views on the issue of environment. The court has yet to give its final verdict on the Shukla Committee.

He said they had received 63 bids from the IIPs for 18 power projects advertised for allotment the last date for which expired on Friday.

Dharamsala, January 23
Has the winter sojourn of the government to Dharamsala started? While officials confirmed that it has started with the arrival of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal for short stints to Dharamsala, others are waiting for formal start.

Formally, the Chief Minister comes along with his cabinet colleagues and is welcomed by the local administration and people. The entire Dharamsala town is decorated by lights. The winter sojourn is a symbolic in nature.

Due to elections to the posts of presidents and vice-presidents of block development committees and zila parishads, the government move to lower areas is delayed this year.

During winters, the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh moves to the lower areas with his headquarters in Dharamsala. It is a symbolic winter sojourn of the state government as only the Chief Minister and a few of his officers move to Dharamsala, whereas the other officers stay in Shimla. The move was started by former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who was often accused of ignoring the lower areas of the state.

Generally, the Chief Minister moves to the lower areas in December and stays there for a month. During his stay, he meets the people from the area and lay foundation stones of various development schemes. However, this year due to the execution of the election code of conduct for panchayat elections, the winter sojourn of the state government is delayed.

This year, the winter sojourn of the state government is also politically significant as the ruling BJP received a defeat at the hands of the Congress in the municipal council polls that were held on party symbol.

Shimla, January 23
Eyeing major stake in the hydropower projects in the hill state, Reliance Power has bid for 10 out of the 18 projects for which global tenders were invited by the government. In all, 63 bids have been received and corporate giants, including Tata Power-SN Power joint venture, GVK Energy, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), ABG Shipyard, Capital Consortium, IBCRL Assets and Holdings Limited, Essar Power, CESE Limited and Manipal Group are in the race for major projects.

Interestingly, Adani Power, which is locked in a protracted legal battle with Reliance Power over the controversial 960 MW Jhangi-Thoapn-Powari project, has not applied for any project. Moser Baer, which surrendered three of the five projects it bagged in 2008, has also chosen against submitting a bid this time. The two companies had purchased tenders for six projects.

The maximum number of 8 bids each have been received for the 13 MW Suil and the 12 MW Dhanchho projects, while Reliance Power is the only bidder for the 60 MW Patam project to be constructed upstream the Miyar project in the interior of Lahaul-Spiti. Among the big projects, the maximum 7 bids have been received for the 236 MW Dugar project, followed by 4 bids each for the 300 MW Purthi and 130 MW Rasil projects. GVK Power is in the race for three big projects, Dugar, Purthi and Tandi, having an aggregate capacity of 640 MW, while the Tata Power-SN Power joint venture and Larson and Toubro have applied only for the Dugar and Purthi (combined capacity of 536 MW).

Reliance Power has applied for these three projects and 7 other projects, including 130 MW Rasil, 94 MW Teling, 81 MW Tinget, 60 MW Patam and 44 MW Shangling (all in Lahaul and Spiti) and 130 MW Sumte Kothang and 104 MW Lara Sumta (both in Kinnaur).

The Essar Power has submitted a bid only for the Dugar project. Other major projects on offer include 104 MW Tandi, 94 MW Teling, 81 MW Tinget, 60 MW Patam and 44 MW Shangling (all in Lahaul and Spiti) and 130 MW Sumte Kothang and 104 MW Lara Sumta (both in Kinnaur).

Only 8 bids have been received for the three self-identified projects, three each for 12 MW Jorbie and 30 MW Malana III (both in Kullu) and two for 10 MW Nesang (Kinnaur). The parties, which had identified the Malana and Nesang projects, have not applied even though the government had decided to give preference to them in award if their bids fell within 30 per cent of the highest bidder.

In all, the 18 hydroelectric projects for which global bids have been invited had the aggregate generation capacity of 1385.5 MW.

Bilaspur, January 23
The government has sanctioned Rs 8.87 crore for this year under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to this district as 35 rogi kalyan samities are functioning in various health institutes here. This was said by Himachal Vidhan Sabha deputy speaker Rikhi Ram Kaundal while presiding over a district-level meeting of officers for reviewing the progress of the NRHM here last evening.

Kaundal said the government had started several free services, including the Janani Swasthya Yojna, the Mukhya Mantri Vidyarthi Swasthya Karyakram, free referral transport for pregnant women and free delivery facility in health institutions, for all the sections of society.

Officers should ensure that people take full advantage of these facilities without any hassles and no complaints should be received in these matters.

He stressed that these programmes should also be propagated in all villages of the district so that residents should be made aware of these facilities.

He said 1,100 women had taken the advantage of the Janani Swasthya Yojna in the district last year while the number could be much more if people knew about it in all areas.

He said the government considers health as the top priority and it was due to this reason that one regional hospital, one civil hospital, six community health centres, 27 primary health centres and 116 health sub-centres were working in the district.

He said Bilaspur town and Kandraur has one Ayurveda hospital each, while there were 65 ayurveda health centres and two homoeopathic health centres and two civil dispensaries at the Raura and the Diara sectors of the town here.

Deputy Commissioner Nandita Gupta and MLA Randhir Sharma were among those who were present.

Shimla, January 23
Accusing the Congress and the BJP of serving each other’s business interest, the CPM said the unethical compromise between the two political parties in the Kullu zila parishad chief’s elections had exposed the two.

In a statement issued here yesterday, Member State Secretariat of the CPM Tikender Singh Panwar said it was a common business interest rather than political ideology which prompted the two parties to arrive at a compromise under which the post of ZP chief went to the Congress and that of vice-president was given to the BJP.

“The Congress leadership has both ideologically as well as politically surrendered before the “saffron” brigade and to top it all the Chief Minister and the state Congress chief have a symbiotic relationship,” he alleged.

He added that the Kullu ZP poll had thoroughly exposed the Congress leadership which lacks the potential to take on the BJP.

The CPM leader said the issuing of statements by the Congress against the BJP regime was a sham for public consumption whereas in reality the two were serving each other’s purpose. “It is certain that the same mutual understanding arrived at by the two main political parties will be repeated in elections to the ZP chief in other districts of Mandi, Chamba and Kangra,” he alleged.

Panwar made an appeal to the Congressmen to come out of the shackles of such an organisation and join the CPM in its fight against communalism and authoritarian regime of the BJP, thus, helping the formation of a strong third force.

Manali, January 23
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today said local residents could now build resorts and hotels on the either side of the Beas at a distance of 25 mtrs which now had been included in the Rs 80 crore river channelisation project.

Inaugurating the Rs 1.07 crore mini secretariat here today, Dhumal said his government sought a relief from the high court to allow construction as per the Town and Country Planning Act along the river sides for land owners at a distance of 25 mtrs from the highest flood level of the Beas.

The High Court has banned construction within 500 mtrs from either side of the Beas in the Kullu valley. All construction within this distance was frozen and the state government made a policy in this regard and approached the High Court which later gave relief.

The Chief Minister went on to add that the Rs 80 crore river channelisation project would also include the Beas. “The idea of the project is to protect the people living in the low-laying areas from the fury of the floods”. He said his government had directed all officers to dispose of the complaints the same day.

Manali, January 23
The five-day Winter Carnival-2011 started with much fanfare and gaiety at Manu Rangshala, popularly known as Rambag, here today which was inaugurated by Chief Minister PK Dhumal.

Earlier, folk artistes in their traditional costumes, drawn from different parts of the country, assembled in the compound of the Hadimba temple at Dhungri near here to pay obeisance to the goddess, the presiding deity of the Manali region.

A special puja was performed there . Later, a procession was taken out from the Hadimba temple to Manu Rangshala.

The procession consisted of fascinating tableaux displaying culture, art and the way of life of the people from the Kullu valley and other parts of the country.

Artistes of the local Mahila Mandals, the Yuvak Mandals, the Border Roads Organisation, the Department of Tourism, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied sports, Manali, and various NGOs also participated in the celebrations.