Mandi/Kullu, August 17
After suffering a loss of 40 lakh units of electricity worth Rs 1 crore in this rainy season so far, the-126 MW Larji Power Project today resumed its generation of electricity after the state electricity board has shut down power after the surging Beas crossed inflow to the tune of 4,300 cusecs, the highest recorded by the project since its commissioning in 2006, for the fourth time yesterday.

Apart from hitting the highest of the recent time, the silt content of the Beas had also shot up to 2,000 particle per minute (PPM), which is the highest in the recent years. This has become a real worry for the project as it had been shut down repeatedly as soon as the silt level goes up from the permissible level of 2,000 PPM.

On the other hand, the 1,500-MW Nathpa Power Project on the Sutlej could resist the silt content up to 5,000 PPM, said engineers.

Though the river receded drastically today to 1,200 cusecs, the silt level in the river remained at 550 PPM.

This shows that the soil erosion, road debris, trash and waste generated by tourists in Manali, Rohtang, Manikaran and other tourist spots in the valley goes into the river and its tributaries like Parbati, Sainj,

Servari and Tirthan and due to these reasons every time it rains heavily in the catchments, said environmentalists.

Superintending engineer, Larji, PL Masoom said they had been facing the silt and trash problem only when it rains heavily or there were cloudbursts or flash floods in the catchments.

In the rest of the year the project runs smoothly till the silt level remains below 2,000 PPM, he added.

He said the turbines were designed for resisting the 2,000-PPM silt content as per the guidelines of BHEL and there was no solution from the silt other than raising plantations in the catchments to arrest soil erosion.

“Now, we have lost 40 lakh units of electricity that makes it Rs 1 crore loss in revenue,” he added.

Dharamsala, August 17
With SCA elections announced on August 20, Degree College, Dharamsala, and the Regional Centre are abuzz with election-related activities here.

Though August 19 being the day of filing of nominations, the student leaders were seen running from pillar to post after lecturers to mark their lectures so that they become eligible for contest.”Students can file their nominations till 11.30 am and can withdraw nominations till 4pm. The final list will be displayed at 4.30 pm tomorrow,” said Satish Chandra Sharma, Principal, Government College, Dharamsala.

The voting will start at 9.30 and end at 2pm on August 20. However, the counting and declaration of results will start from 3 pm.

Guidelines have already been issued to students, which they have to follow during the elections. In case of any violations, contestants could lose their right to contest elections, the principal said.

It has been found that by ignoring the guidelines, the parties have pasted their posters on the walls of the main building other than the sites made available to them.

Sloganeering inside the campus, which is again prohibited, could also be heard from time to time. The Principal said students had been told to remove the posters from.

Mentioning the agendas for this year’s election, Manuj Thakur, a ABVP leader from Degree College, said, “We don’t fight over agendas but we raise our voice for students’ rights. It’s(elections) an every year affair and we take part in it.”

However, leaders of the NSUI and the ABVP at the Regional Centre were clear with their agendas.

Shifting of the centre to its new campus (under construction) is the main agenda of both groups. The NSUI claimed that they would not let the strikes happen here and would take students’ issues and improving the infrastructure of the present campus was their other concern.

“Meanwhile, other than shifting of the campus to its new building, the ABVP’s main concerns are appointments of regular faculty at the Centre, construction of girls common room and girls hostel, new courses like MBA and MCA must be added here at the Regional Centre campus as this is the only Centre after the HPU, Shimla,” said Vishal Nehria, leader, ABVP.

Shimla, August 17
Having virtually raised a banner of revolt against its own regime in the state for allowing the opening of private universities leading to the commercialisation of education, the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is hoping to wrest control of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) from the Students Federation of India (SFI).

The student polls will take place in the HPU, a SFI stronghold, and 97 other colleges all over the state on August 20. It is expected that over 1.5 lakh students will cast their vote to elect their representatives, for which hectic lobbying is being done by the SFI, the ABVP and the Congress-backed National Students Union of India (NSUI).

All three major student outfits have made commercialisation of education and opening of private universities by the BJP regime in the state the most important election issue. With more than a dozen private universities already having been set up in the state, the student organisations have been vehemently opposing it.

The SFI has maintained its hold over the HPU and this time too they seem to be placed favourably. It was only in 2001 that the ABVP had managed to gain control of the HPU by winning all four seats.

“We will once again retain hold over the HPU and perform impressively in other colleges as students are against commercialisation of education by the present BJP regime,” said Vijender Mehra, state secretary of the SFI.

He demanded that the government must increase budget of colleges, fill up all vacant posts of teachers and provide basic infrastructure in all colleges.

“We have always opposed the commercialisation of education and opening of private universities and this is the main issue on which we are seeking support from the students,” said Naveen Sharma, state organising secretary of the ABVP.

He said declaration of results of examinations within 45 days and revaluation within 21 days was another issue which the ABVP was demanding.

The NSUI hopes to do well in the colleges in the districts. They are accusing the BJP regime of privatising education, making it unaffordable for the common student.

Shimla, August 17
A large number of organisations today staged demonstrations to register their protest against the arrest of Anna Hazare and extended their support to the fight he has launched against corruption.

CPM activists held demonstrations today against the illegal arrest of Anna Hazare, terming it as a despotic attempt by the UPA regime to crush the anti-corruption movement.

It was not just organisations like the Art of Living, the Anti-Terrorist Front and the Youth Against Corruption which came out on the roads in support of the crusade launched by Anna, but people from all walks of life joined them.

The CPM activists held protests at various places in Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Una, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi and Chamba districts.

Lawyers from the District Court also took out a silent procession and joined others on the Ridge to stage their protest.

The protests in Shimla were led by CPM leaders Onkar Shad and Tikender Singh Panwar.

They said there was need to have five separate Lokpal Bills so that corruption emanating from the corporate-political-bureaucrat nexus at all levels could be tackled.

Dharamsala, August 17
Buoyed by the success of the Anna Hazare movement, former Congress leader Vijay Singh Mankotia has also planned to launch a campaign against corruption in the state.

Mankotia said he had launched the ‘Himachal Janmahasangram Parishad’ to hold campaign against corruption and unemployment in the state. The parishad had already held three meetings. It was likely to hold a state-level rally that would initiate the campaign against corruption in October, he said.

He said at present it was an apolitical organisation. However, with the assembly elections approaching and lot of permutations, the organisation might turn political.

Shimla, August 17
A long spell of rain in the region over the past week has affected the harvesting of apple and also brought down the prices of the fruit in Delhi and other markets.

Growers were forced to defer plucking of the fruit because of incessant rain as a result of which the number of trucks leaving the state for various markets has declined sharply.

On August 9, as many as 407 trucks carrying over 2 lakh standard boxes of apple left the state. The number was reduced to 364 on August 10, 334 on the following day and only 255 trucks with 1.12 lakh boxes on August 15. In fact, only about 150 trucks of apple were auctioned at the Azadpur market in Delhi, which opened after two days on Monday. Over 60 per cent of the produce is disposed of in the Asia’s biggest agriculture market.

During the current season, over 32 lakh boxes have been marketed so far as compared to 94 lakh boxes last year, when the state had a record apple production of 4.46 crore boxes. This year unfavourable weather conditions, particularly hailstorms, caused much damage to the crop and the total production was likely to be around 2 crore boxes. Widespread rain in the plains, where the fruit is sold in the retail market, has affected its rates in the major wholesale market as the fruit was not lifted.

As a result, the prices of the superior grade of the fruit variety declined by Rs 200 to Rs 250 per box. It was being sold at Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,100 per box.

The movement of vehicles was also affected by landslides caused by heavy rain, which blocked the link roads at several places.

The road to Kharapathar was blocked near Praunthi and the traffic had been diverted through Shilghar. The road linking Chhajpur and Chikali in Jubbal has also been blocked.

The Theog-Hatkoti road has been in much better shape than last year. However, the current spell of rain has caused extensive damage, particularly between the Koku Nullah and Jubbal.

The only redeeming feature is that the crop is lean and as a result the number of trucks plying on the road is almost 50 per cent compared to last year.

Only 26 tonne of fruit has been procured under the Market Intervention Scheme so far as compared to 28,000 tonne last year, when a record 1,11,000 tonne was purchased from growers during the entire season.

Nurpur, August 17
The overflowing water of the Pong Dam reservoir released by the Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) wrecked havoc in the mand area of the Nurpur subdivision.

Information received here late last evening said the dam water released in the Beas entered inhabitants’ houses in six villages in the mand area yesterday.

Hundreds of acres of agriculture land had been witnessing water logging, which had resulted in damage to the crops.

Seven marooned families at Mand Miyani village were rescued by the administration with the assistance of the police and eight houses were damaged due to water logging.

According to information, inhabitants of around 40 villages are living under constant fear of floods following the dam water discharged yesterday.

According to SDM Sushil Sharma, following a communication from the BBMB two days ago, the administration had already cautioned people not to come near the Beas.

The Pong Dam reservoir has the maximum water filling capacity of 1,390 ft and due to heaving inflow it had touched the 1385.04-ft mark yesterday forcing the BBMB authorities to release overflow water from it.

The authorities had opened six spillway gates of the reservoir up to 5 ft to release around 50,000 cusecs of water last evening.