Mandi/Udaipur, December 12
Tribesmen in the land landlocked Lahaul and Pattan valleys under the banner of the Shaili Project Sangharsh Samiti (SPSS) have threatened that if the government does not abandon the 320- MW Shaili project they would hold a Lahaul-Spiti bandh beginning on World Environment Day on June 5 next year.

In a resolution submitted to the Additional Chief Secretary, Forests, Environment and Scientific Technologies, and Chairman, HP Pollution Control Board, Sudipto Roy at Shimla recently, the tribesmen from Madgram, Salpat, Ratoli, Salgram, Namu and Kurched in Udaipur and Tindi panchyats have come under the banner of the SPSS and opposed the project.

The samiti also charged that some officials are allegedly misusing their official position and are getting monthly pecuniary advantages from the company.

“We have forwarded the names to the CBI for investigation,” the samiti claimed.

On samiti’s demands, Roy told The Tribune that they have received the resolution and sought a report from board officials on the public

hearing and would cross-examine all issues before they decide on the project.

They would not go against the will of the people and merit of the facts on the ground, he added.

Further, the SPSS demanded that the government should scrap the project as it would be an environment and socio-economic disaster in the lower Pattan valley.

However, officials denied the charges of the samiti saying that they were only doing their duties.

Convener, SPSS, Sudarshan Thakur said a majority of the people in Udaipur-Tindi panchayats opposed the project and public hearing conducted by the State Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (SEPPCB) on November 18 last.

“We have urged the government to abandon the project as its 80-m-high and 8-km-long dam will

submerge the green forest and cultivable land that will render them environment refugees in the cold desert and shattering their economy and culture,” tribesmen claimed.

The SPSS rubbished the claims of Moser Baer, the company, that the project does not involve much displacement as the thick green forest in the Madgran-Tindi belt will be submerged in the dam.

They demanded that small and big trees should be counted and the Forest Department should take the locals with them while counting trees.

SPSS members said they would hold the Lahaul-Spiti bandh on June 5 on World Environment Day as various NGOs, mahila mandals, yuva mandals and the Jispa Bandh Roko Samiti have pledged their support to oppose the project.

Meanwhile, chief executive officer, Moser Baer Projects Ltd, AB Giri told a press conference at Kullu recently that the Shaili project was an eco-friendly project and it would benefit the people of Lahaul. The company would ensure compensatory tree plantation and free power as per the state government policies.

Shimla, December 12
The sudden dip in mercury following a moderate spell of rain and snow has raised hopes among ice-skating enthusiasts who have been waiting for the sport to begin for the past three weeks.

Usually the ice-skating season is at its peak at Asia’s oldest natural ice-skating rink, here, around mid-December but this winter there is not even a trace of ice yet.

The extremely dry and relatively warm weather, with temperature staying high above normal consistently, made it impossible for water to freeze naturally. As a result, the ice-skating season has failed to take off so far.

However, the moderate spell of rain in the region and mild snow in the higher reaches have brought about a sudden fall in mercury over the past two days and the minimum temperature in the city dipped to the normal 4.7°C yesterday for the first time over the past one month. The maximum temperature came down to 14°C, still 1.1°C above normal.

The minimum temperature further dipped today to 3.7°C, 0.6°C below normal, and frost was seen on grassy hill slopes this morning for the first time. Normally frost makes appearance towards the middle of November.

Bhuvanesh Banga, honorary secretary of the Shimla Ice Skating Club, which manages the rink, said the sharp decline in temperature and increased humidity had created a condition conducive for freezing of water and if the weather remains clear it would be possible to create a layer of ice of requisite thickness on the rink to start trial run over the next two days.

The possibility of a belated ice-skating season finally taking off is high, as the local Met office has forecast of clear weather for the next few days.

In charge of the office, Manmohan Singh, said a western disturbance, which brought widespread rain and snow, had passed only two days ago and it was normally followed by clear weather and fall in the temperature.

Not only Shimla, but also tribal areas have been experiencing relatively warmer weather.

Keylong with a minimum of -6.9°C was the coldest but it was still 1°C above normal.

Similarly, Kalpa at -2°C was also 1°C above normal and maximum of 10.7° C, 3°C more than normal.

However, plains were comparatively cooler with Sundernagar recording a minimum of 2.8°C, 1°C below normal, and Bhuntar 1.4°C, 0.6°C.

Shimla, December 12
Rejecting the public hearing conducted for the Luhri project on August 9, 2011, on the ground that the environment impact assessment (EIA) report was incomplete, Him Dhara , an environment research and action collective, has come out with a detailed critical report titled, “A river under arrest” on the Sutlej to highlight the shortcomings of the project.

The report documents several inbuilt faults in the very design of the 775-MW project, which is one of the longest in the world, with 38 km-long twin head race tunnels being the most problematic component. It maintains that the EIA report, submitted by the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Ningam, failed to carry out a fair and detailed assessment of the environmental and socio-economic impacts of the project as evident from the omission of nearly 80 villages above the head race tunnel of 38 km from the list of project-affected families. A copy of the report has been submitted to the Expert Appraisal Committee on River Valley Projects.

As a general policy, environment impacts of tunnelling is a mandatory part of the terms of reference of any hydroelectric project. However, this has been ignored in case of the project, which has not one, but twin tunnels and that, too, the longest in the country. It asserted that the Luhri project would have irreversible impacts and only exacerbate the process of destruction of the Sutlej valley that had come with the hydropower development.

Further, it does not take into account the cumulative impacts of the project on the Sutlej River basin, which again have not been studied in detail by the project proponents in the EIA. The Luhri project will divert a large stretch of the river and the grievances of the tunnel-affected villagers have be taken on board on priority because it will have an impact on their livelihoods. The Forest Department’s clearance for 271 hectares is also involved and the EIA does not include the impact of the transmission lines to be erected and evacuation of power from the project.

Apart from Bhakra, the Nathpa Jhakri, Rampur, Baspa II and Karchham Wangtoo projects have proved to be severely damaging both environmentally and in of their socio-economic impacts for Kinnaur. The tunnelling has led to drying up of the natural water springs, soil erosion, landslides, change in climatic conditions and affecting apple cultivation.

The existing projects account for less than 30 per cent of the total estimated power potential of 10,000 MW. More than 30 projects each had been allotted to private and public hydropower developers, which would play havoc with environment and livelihood of people.

Solan, December 12
With a view to streamlining the working of the Salogra-based solid waste management plant the State Pollution Control Board has directed the local Municipal Committee (MC) to ensure segregation and scientific disposal of the waste.

In an inspection conducted by the board’s member secretary Sanjay Sood and Deputy Commissioner C Palrasu, the MC has been directed to ensure scientific disposal of the garbage. The inspection followed complaints by some local residents, who had alleged that stench and pollution were creating problems for the villagers as garbage was rolled down from the hillside.

Sood said they had directed the MC to ensure that the garbage was collected in heaps and segregated and no biomedical or chemical-ridden waste from the pharmaceutical units was dumped there. The gates of the plant were kept closed to ensure that the animals did not rummage through the waste and add to the pollution.

With a view to rid the area of stench emanating from the plant, the MC would now undertake plantation of aromatic plants, which could offset the foul odour. The bio-degradable waste as per the directions of the board would be converted into manure, while the non-biodegradable would be disposed of in landfills.

Executive Officer of the local MC Ajmer Singh said they were awaiting a nod from the Ministry of Environment and Forests to transfer 17 bighas of land lying in the plant’s periphery so that a scientific waste disposal plant could be constructed with the required infrastructure. He said they were segregating the waste by junk dealers collecting the scrap and the biodegradable waste being collected in heaps and chemically treated to make manure. Since funds worth Rs 1.5 crore were available they were awaiting the ministry’s nod to undertake construction of the new plant.

Inaugurated by the Chief Minister PK Dhumal in 1998 in his earlier stint, the plant was designed to convert at least 25 tonne municipal waste in a day into manure.

It was funded by Norad, a Norwegian Government aid agency. It, however, ran into rough weather in its very inception as second-hand machinery was installed and in the absence of any in-house facility to test the toxicity of the manure it failed to be sold in the market.

There were also complaints of the manure containing animal parts and toxic hospital waste. The MC took over its functioning about one and a half years ago.

Shimla, December 12
Governor Urmila Singh today said education was the sole mode of development and teachers must go beyond the syllabi and empower students with diverse knowledge.

The Governor, who is also the Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), was speaking at the 19th annual convocation of the university held here today.

She expressed happiness that girls had once again outnumbered boys in getting degrees and diplomas in various subjects, which was a clear indication of their empowerment.

She said the youth needed to be inculcated with feelings of nationalism, socialism and human values so that India could emerge as the supreme power in the world. She congratulated the degree holders and medal winners and wished them a bright and prosperous future ahead.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister PK Dhumal said the state government was endeavouring to enhance the percentage of college students from 24 per cent to 50 per cent against the national average of 12 per cent. “The state government is spending about Rs 2 lakh on providing university- level education to each student per annum,” he said.

Dhumal said the literacy percentage had increased in the state substantially during past years, which was a positive sign of development. He said the position of the state had also been alleviated in human resource development indicators to third rank in the country.

He said the government had launched a number of schemes directed towards women empowerment, which included preferential admission of single girl child to various vocational and professional colleges. The state was making rapid strides on educational front and had emerged a role model in the country.

He lauded the efforts of the university authorities for bringing out vision document “Swaran Drishti- 2020” and hoped that all out efforts would be made to follow the guidelines envisioned in the document. He gave away gold medals to the meritorious students in different disciplines of education and wished them all a bright and successful future.

Shimla, December 12
Having put on hold their crusade against corruption till the holding of the two byelections, BJP dissidents have decided to resume the mass awareness programme against corruption and that too from Jawali, the home turf of firebrand BJP leader Rajan Sushant.

The decision to resume their campaign against corruption was taken at the meeting of the Himachal Bhrashtachar Mukti Morcha held yesterday under the chairmanship of former MP Maheshwar Singh.

The morcha has decided to resume its campaign from the Jawali segment in Kangra by holding a programme on December 17 followed by a meeting at Una on December 18.

The selection of the place to resume the second phase of the campaign is politically significant, as it is the home turf of Sushant, who too had raised a banner of revolt against his own party’s government in the state.

In fact, it was Sushant who had provided documentary evidence against some senior ministers in the Dhumal regime, who were being allegedly indulged in corruption, to Gadkari.

In case Sushant joins morcha members in their fight against corruption, it will be their first joint public appearance.

The dissidents had been asked by Gadkari to put on hold their activities as he assured them that their grievances would be looked into by national BJP general-secretary JP Nadda.

“We waited for the byelections to get over but since there has been no action on the part of the party, we have decided to resume our fight against corruption as it is no way a political or anti-party activity,” said a senior leader.

Spokesperson of the morcha and former Transport Minister Mohinder Sofat said they would now gradually cover the entire state and constitute the state executive and district bodies so that an awakening could be brought about among the masses.

Shimla, December 12
The honorary PhD degrees awarded to four persons - Rajiv Shukla, Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Padamshree and social worker Pratap Singh Ganpat Rao Jadhav, academician Alekshendra Singh and leading dental practitioner Dr Mahesh Verma - at the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) convocation, came in for severe criticism both from the teaching faculty as well as students.

The majority of them said they were not opposed to honouring these four dignitaries with PhD (honoris causa) degrees, but what hurt them was the fact that the university authorities did not find even one Himachali fit for the honour. The opinion was shared by many, including senior politicians and high-ranking officials, who were present at the convocation, but did not wish to be identified.

Prior to this such PhD degrees have been awarded to eminent personalities in their respective fields by HPU only on two occasions. The last time an honorary PhD degree in social sciences was awarded was in 2003 when President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, who did his MA in political science from HPU in 1978, was conferred with the degree. “It was a matter of great pride that a former student rose to become President of his country, so recognising his success was fully justified, but all these four people are not such big entities that they be honoured here,” said a student not wanting to be identified.

They contested that several people from the state had earned laurels in the field of medicine, defence, education, sports and several other fields, but the HPU authorities chose to completely ignore them and chose people who did not have even the remotest connection with Himachal Pradesh.

The CPM, too, had opposed the conferring of degrees on these four persons stating that the decision on the names was taken in a haste without consulting everyone.

Kangra, December 12
A resident doctor of Dr RP Government Medical College (DRPGMC), Tanda, was today suspended by the college management for allegedly sexually harassing a woman intern in the Department of Medicines. The Principal has informed the police to proceed in the case.

Dr Dheeraj Kapoor, Head of the Department of Medicine, said he had received a complaint in writing by a woman intern regarding sexual harassment by a resident doctor of the same department and he immediately forwarded the complaint to the Principal of the college for further action. He said in the complaint the victim had alleged that she was sexually harassed at 10 this morning in the department.

The Principal, Dr Anil Chauhan, said he received a complaint today through the HOD, Medicine, that a woman intern was sexually harassed by a resident doctor, Dr Adity Khanna, in the department.

Prof Chauhan said he had suspended Dr Adity Khanna and directed the Sexual Harassment

Committee, headed by Dr Sita Thakur of the Gynaecology Department, to submit a report in this matter within three days.

He said the police was informed about the case.

It was learnt that the woman intern had verbally lodged a complaint on December 2, too, regarding such harassment, but the doctor did not change his attitude and repeated the same this morning forcing her to lodge a complaint in writing.

The SDPO, Kangra, Dinesh Kumar, said a case under Section 354 of the IPC was registered against Dr Adity Khanna, but he was yet to be arrested.

Shimla, December 12
The HP High Court has rejected the bail application of Anita Sandal, Kuldeep Kumar and Ranjeet Sandal, involved in a case of cheating and forgery by alluring youths with providing them jobs in Assam Rifles.

While rejecting the bail plea, Justice Kuldeep Singh observed that keeping in view the stage of investigation, custodial interrogation of the accused was required.

The prosecution alleged that all these persons had allured many youths of the area with providing them jobs in Assam Rifles. It was alleged that they took Rs 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh from many persons for this purpose.

The petitioners alleged that they had been falsely implicated in the case. They were cheated by Sanjiv Airy, resident of Ferozepur, Punjab, and a compliant in this regard was lodged against him at the Jawalmukhi police station.

Bilaspur, December 12
Large number of consumers have resented receiving electricity bills after six to seven months in villages under the Barthin electricity sub-division in this district, resulting in concern among them as the total bills run from Rs 500 to 5,000, amounts which are not easy to be paid within the time limit of two days given for payment of these bills.

Led by village elders Shyam Lal, Kashi Ram, Lachhman Singh, Sant Ram and Sita Ram, villagers from Dharoti, Sargal, Nihan, Barad and Kajail demanded that these bills should be given regularly every month and they should get at least seven days’ time for payment of the bills. They urged the state power board management to intervene in this matter.