Shimla, September 10
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today sought enhanced financial assistance from the Centre for the development of the border areas along the 201-km-long international border that the state shares with China.

He raised the issue while speaking at the National Integration Council meeting in New Delhi today.

“The budget of Rs 20 crore, allocated by the Centre for 2011-12 is insufficient, keeping in view the tough geographical and topographical conditions of the areas along the border, which remain snow covered throughout the year,” he said.

He also sought two additional police battalions for the border areas of the state.

Opposing the Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparation) Bill, 2011, he termed it as interference in the domain of the states, which was against the federal structure of the country.

“The existing laws need to be effectively implemented to deal with communal violence,” he asserted.

The Chief Minister said at present there were 33,500 Tibetan refugees living in the state. He requested the Centre to fully reimburse the cost being incurred on the security of Dalai Lama and the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje.

He requested the Central government to provide a special package of Rs 5,214 crore for 2011-12, as compensation to the state due to under-assessment of the 13th Finance Commission, which resulted in lesser devolution of funds, thus causing loss to the state.

He also requested for a Special Assistance Plan of Rs 2,500 crore for 2012-13.

Dhumal also requested the Centre to extend the Special Industrial Package till 2020, as initially the package was sanctioned for the period of 10 years in 2003, which was curtailed by the UPA regime.

The Chief Minister requested the Centre to adopt a uniform funding pattern to the special category states and sought 90 per cent share for various centrally sponsored schemes being implemented in the state.

Shimla, September 10
Concerned over the issue of ensuring a minimum water discharge of 15 per cent by various power producers into rivers, the state government is contemplating bringing about a new legislation which could cover even those hydel projects which came up before 2005 when no such provision was there.

The matter is being deliberated upon by the Department of Environment in consultation with the Law Department and the issue could be placed before the Cabinet once a final decision is taken about the method to be adopted. A meeting of senior officials of the departments of environment, power, finance and law was held recently to explore ways in which the condition of ensuring 15 per cent water discharge could be enforced even on projects which came up before 2005.

In fact, the Power Department has been asked to prepare a complete data base of the exact number of projects which came up before 2005 and on which rivers and tributaries these are located. “Once we have the complete data with us we will be in a position to know where we stand and how we can tackle the situation,” said a senior official.

Even though legally it is not possible for the government to enforce the 15 per cent discharge condition retrospectively on projects for which MoUs were signed before 2005, yet being a very critical issue, various options are being weighed to have a mechanism in place which does not affect the normal life and agriculture of the people living downstream. The State Pollution Control Board will as such have to put in place a mechanism to ensure that people are not adversely affected.

Two major independent power producers have moved court against the enforcement of the 15 per cent water discharge condition on them as agreements were signed prior to 2005. With the matter already being sub judice, the government is being very cautious in its approach.

With villagers and people living downstream resenting the coming up of power projects in their area for obvious reasons, the government wants to strictly enforce the condition of the minimum flow. It is but natural that the flora and fauna and general life of the people gets adversely affected if the flow in the river or its tributary is drastically reduced with the coming up of a power project.

Solan, September 10
With a view to streamlining the working of private security agencies, the state government is in the process of framing rules which will help regulate their working.

IG (south) Ashok Sharma told The Tribune that there were 2,500 private agencies providing security to industrial units in the state and it had, therefore, become essential to regulate their working. The rules would also prescribe minimum educational qualification for the security guards along with a mandate for undergoing basic training before being recruited by these agencies.

All agencies would also be required to get themselves registered with the state government so that the government could regulate their working and keep a check on these. It was found that a majority of these agencies operated from Chandigarh and the state government had no check on their working.

The need to regulate their working had become essential especially after scores of cases of security guards being involved in thefts in the industrial units had surfaced in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh belt.

It was also observed that in the absence of any training to handle arms, the security guards had failed to act in cases of exigency. These agencies had failed to provide apt security to the industries thus defeating the very purpose.

Shimla, September 10
A new attraction will be added to the popular tourist destination of Kasauli where the Department of Tourism and the Civil Aviation Department will set up a Geo Heritage Museum.

Stating this here today, Director Tourism, Arun Sharma said Chief Minister PK Dhumal will lay the foundation stone of the museum on September 12.

“To add to the attraction at Kasauli, Rs 8.66 crore will be spent on the Geo Heritage Museum, Tourist Reception Centre and Parking at the Ros Common Tourist Complex,” said Sharma.

Dr PC Sharma, officer in-charge of the National History Museum, Chandigarh, said the museum at Kasauli would be based on the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, USA, and would give a peep into the rich paleontological (fossil) wealth of Solan district and provide the study material for Indian and international students of geology.

A well preserved and diverse assemblage of flora and fauna excavated in and around Kasauli would be displayed at the museum. Sharma said Solan was fast emerging as the hub of tourist activities and the Tourism Department was making all the efforts to promote the activity based tourism.

He said during 2009-10, the American Broadcasting group had shot a series in Himachal on “Extreme Trucking”, which was proposed to be telecast in November, 2011.

Mandi, September 10
Students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, Sundarngar, today apprised the two-member team, headed by Prof Lalit Awasthi and Dr RK Dutta, both from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Hamirpur, deputed by the newly created HP Technical University (HPTU), Hamirpur, the problems being faced by them. They requested the team to examine the status of the college and problems the students were facing in the new under-construction college building.

Other private engineering colleges were also under scanner of the HPTU, sources said. The HPTU team escorted by acting principal Vinita Arya inspected the new academic block still under-construction with no proper toilets, a risky approach road to the college, the seepage problem in the store and the presence of labourers in the academic block.

Prof Awasthi was bombarded with problems during an interactive session with the students of second and fourth semesters in the absence of the teaching faculty. The students told the team that their college had been headless as they did not have a regular principal and a regular faculty.

Talking to The Tribune, Prof Awasthi said the team had heard the problems of students. “We will submit a comprehensive report to the HPTU by September 20”, he added.

He said the different inspection teams would inspect other engineering colleges as per the norms laid down by the All-India Council for Technical Education. All colleges will come under the HPTU from this session as far as affiliation and conduct of examinations are concerned.

The team also observed that the 500-mtr-long approach road from the National Highway needed to be repaired and bus services for students should increase. The retaining walls of the road collapsed during the rain recently, raising question about the quality of works being executed by the PWD.

The students and teachers complained that the road turned slippery and one lecturer broke his leg when his scooter skidded recently.

The Tribune has highlighted the state of engineering colleges in the state in these columns recently.

Dharamsala, September 10
An international conference, being organised under the aegis of The Research Committee of Sociology of Law (RCSL) of the International Sociological Organisation (ISA), began at the Centre University, HP temporary campus at Shahpur, today.

Social scientists from India and abroad deliberated on how law emerged from the society had an impact over it and the impact of cross-cultural migration on the law of various countries.

Central University VC Furqan Qamar said it was for the first time that the conference of RSCL was being organised in India.

Vittorio Olgiati, president of RSCL, said the organisation had been working for the development of the subject “Sociology of Law” by encouraging young researchers from across the world to carry out research work in the field.

Professor Syed Mehdi, the former VC of Jamia Islamia University in Delhi, who was the Chief Guest for today’s function, said the terminology developed and developing countries had become redundant in today’s scenario.

Lobsang Sangay, newly elected Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile, chaired the first plenary session of the conference on Sociology of Law on Peace. 

Mandi, September 10
Five passengers were killed while 13 injured, four of them seriously, when a private bus (HP 65 1519) they were travelling in skidded off the road on the Durgapur-Thaun road in Sarkaghat subdivision and fell into a 300-ft deep gorge.

Those killed in the accident included Dhani Ram, a resident of Trambi, Kamlesh, a resident of Chimba Balh, Narbada Devi, Balam Ram, a resident of Tikkar and Beli Ram, Jawali.

Two seriously injured, Yadvinder Kumar and Gulabi Devi, were referred to IGMC, Shimla, for further treatment after they were given the first-aid at the Civil Hospital, Sarkaghat, said doctors.

Eleven other patients at the hospital were out of danger, the doctors said.

Among the survivors were a five-year-old baby and seven women, all from the surrounding villagers of the area.

The police investigation revealed that the bus fell into the gorge after it went out of control about 50 ft before the accident spot, eyewitnesses said. Police investigation officers Ajit Singh and Naresh Kumar told The Tribune that they had registered a case but it was difficult to ascertain the actual cause of the accident.

A team of villagers rescued some of the injured and retrieved bodies from the mangled remains of the bus. The bus was on its way from Mandi to Thaun in the Sarkaghat area this afternoon.

Sarkaghat SDM Kishora Lal, who along with tehsildar and HRTC manager, rushed to the spot said the accident victims were rushed to the Civil Hospital. An inquiry had been ordered into the accident, he added.

He gave Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,000 as an immediate relief to next of kin of the victim.

Governor Urmila Singh, Chief Minister PK Dhumal and Mandi MP and Union minister Virbhadra Singh have expressed grief and sympathy with the affected families.