Dharamsala, April 25
The Kangra police today launched a campaign to check illegal parking of vehicles on roads. Hundreds of vehicles parked along the roads in Dharamsala town, especially in the Civil Lines area, were fined for illegal parking.

Local residents were seen arguing with traffic policemen. Many students complained against the heavy fine imposed on them for illegal parking.

Filing challans brings traffic policemen at loggerheads with the locals who allege that they are being harassed, as they do not find any other place but roadsides for parking their vehicles.

The parking problem is due to the violations by most of the commercial building owners in the area. As per building by-laws, any commercial building coming up in the area has to earmark its ground floor or basement for parking.

Interestingly, most of the buildings in their maps passed by the Town and Country Planning Department have kept a parking space on the ground floor or in basements. However, the owners have utilised parking spaces for commercial purposes. The local municipal council authorities have not taken any action against such building by-law violators. This leaves visitors to these commercial buildings with no option but to park along the roads.

Very few hotels in McLeodganj and Bahgsunag have developed their own parking places. This puts pressure on the public parking places that become inadequate during the tourist season when the vehicle influx into the area rises.

Even government buildings like the head office of Kangra Central Cooperative Bank in the Civil Lines area does not have adequate parking place.

Traffic policemen said the problem of building by-law violations was discussed at a district-level meeting. However, clearing the building by-law violations fell within the preview of local Municipal Council and Town and Country Planning Departments and they cannot do anything regarding it.

Mohit Chawla, ASP, Kangra, said he would take up the matter with the Local Bodies Department. The police could also take action in the matter in case some specific complaint was filed in this regard, he said.

The Transport Department revealed that about 60 vehicles were being registered daily in the state. With this, the problem of illegal parking is bound to increase in the coming years.

Chamba, April 25
The post of the Sub-Divisional Officer (Civil) in remote Churah subdivision in Chamba district has been lying vacant for the past six months. Similarly, the post of the naib-tehsildar is lying vacant and other government departments and schools in Churah are facing staff crunch.

This was stated by local BJP MLA Hans Raj while addressing mediapersons at Chamba today. He alleged that the Churah constituency was feeling orphaned as the administrative set-up had crumbled owing to vacant posts in various departments. He said residents’ administrative problems remained unsolved due to the problem. He said development activities had been hanging fire due to the staff crunch.

Hans Raj said the standard of education had fallen in government schools of the constituency because of an acute shortage of teachers. Government schools at Bairagarh and Bhanjraru had a severe shortage of teaching staff, he specified.

Speaking about the health institutions in the area, Hans Raj said the first referral unit (FRU) had been shifted from Tissa, while primary health centres were devoid of requisite strength of doctors. He said the non-availability of medicines was affecting poor patients.

Hans Raj said ayurvedic dispensaries were on the verge of closure due to the shortage of staff.

The MLA added,“The Churah constituency has a number of hydroelectric projects and the private hydropower enterprises executing these projects have deposited around Rs 2 crore as local area development fund with the administration. Then why these funds are not being utilised for the development of the area?”

Hans Raj urged Chief Minister Virbahdra Singh to look into the problems of the area.

Solan, April 25
The rigorous procedures involved in availing of the Centrally sponsored transport subsidy had delayed its granting to investors who had set up units in various industrial areas of the state after the 2003 Central industrial package.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has recently notified the setting up of a new state-level committee (SLC) which will deal with such cases. The state government notified the SLC on April 18.

The SLC comprises the Principal Secretary for Industries, the Director Industries and a representative each of the Finance Department, the Transport Department, the Industrial Policy and Promotion Department and the Himachal Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation Limited, which is the nodal agency.

Earlier this committee was headed by the Director Industries. As per new norms, units which do not have environment clearance or do not comply with environmental standards will be ineligible for the subsidy.

There are cases of units yet to receive the subsidy even though formalities have been completed. Cases worth Rs 29 crore have been sanctioned and approved but are awaiting the grant of funds from the Union ministry.

The investors are having anxious moments waiting for the release of the subsidy. The change in norms in January which required additional formalities to be completed have added to the delay. The last meeting of the committee was held in August last.

Transport subsidy worth Rs 229 crore is in the pipeline. Subsidy worth Rs 129 crore is in old cases where investors have to submit documents as per revised guidelines. Subsidy worth Rs 100 crore is in cases submitted to the government which are in various stages of processing.

This subsidy is available for raw material and finished goods. It makes available 75 per cent of the transportation cost from the nearest railway head. The claim is supposed to be submitted to the District Industries Centre within one year of incurring the expenditure.

Palampur, April 25
Shanta Kumar, senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister, today pleaded for the early execution of the Jogindernagar-Leh rail line project keeping in view the recent threats from China and the intrusion of
Chinese troops into the Indian territory.

He said in the present circumstances, the government should give top priority to linking Leh and Ladakh by a rail network.

In a press statement here today, Shanta Kumar said he had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in December 2012, apprising him that China had already expanded its rail and road networks up to Lhasa in Tibet and Arunachal, whereas in the past 40 years India had not added even a single brick for the expansion rail or road networks up to the Tibet border.

Shanta Kumar said at present there was negligible road network to Leh, which was accessible only for four months in a year. Most of the defence supplies were lifted by air from Chandigarh and other places, putting huge financial burden on the exchequer.

He said at present crores of rupees were spent by the Ministry of Defence for the movement of troops and supplies to Leh and other forward areas, the same could be saved if the rail track was laid for Leh.

He said the state government had already assured the Union government of extending full cooperation for the speedy execution of the project.

Mandi, April 25
About 350 students enrolled in private MG Polytechnic College, Badu, here have launched a stir as the college has not deposited the examination fee with the Technical Education Board (TEB), Dharamsala, even as the last date with late fee for depositing the same ended on April 20.

The students today lodged a complaint with Deputy Commissioner (DC), Mandi, Devesh Kumar and urged him to take action against the management.

Talking to The Tribune, they said they had been protesting against the delay on the part of the college management for the last two days on the campus.

The students represented the mechanical, electrical, electronics and computer science streams studying in BTech classes from first to final year, including those who are appearing in the supplementary examinations. “We paid a fee of Rs 500 per semester to the college by April 10, the last date without late fee. April 20 was the last date with late fee, but the college has not deposited our forms with the TEB so far,” they said.

“We have asked the Director, Technical Education, to initiate action against the college,” the DC said.

College Principal Vinod Kumar’s mobile remained out of reach. The engineering college run by the MG group was shut down last year after the inspection team from the Technical University, Hamirpur, found the college infrastructure in tatters.

Kangra, April 25
The main accused arrested in connection with the inter-state sex racket busted at Jwalamukhi on Sunday was produced before the court at Dehra today and remanded in three-day police custody by the court.

SDPO, Dehra, BD Bhatia said this evening that the kingpin of the sex racket was being interrogated and had revealed some names from Punjab, allegedly involved in the racket. He said the police was looking for the authenticity of the four women allegedly involved in the crime.

According to the police, the kingpin tried to get bail at the Dharamsala court yesterday. But when the court denied the same to him, he was arrested by the Jwalamukhi police. The police said the sex racket had its links in Pathankot, Punjab, Chandigarh and Delhi too.

The police had arrested seven persons, including four women, in a raid on a hotel in Jwalamukhi. The owner and the manager, respectively, of the hotel were also held.

DSP Bhatia said the accused arrested under the Immoral Trafficking Act were Mohinder Sharma, manager of the hotel, Anil Chowhan, owner, Arun Kumar of Dehra town, Sunita of Bihar, Neetu and Luxmi, both of Ludhiana, and Laprit of Faridkot.

Hamirpur, April 25
Employees of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) seem to be on a collision course with the authorities on the value added tax (VAT) land leasing system scheme.

Under the scheme launched by the state government, private bus operators are paid a fixed amount per kilometre for running a private bus service and meeting all expenses.

While the HRTC authorities are determined to implement the scheme by leasing out to private players about 450 routes, the employees’ Joint Action Committee (JAC) has decided to oppose it and has threatened to launch a statewide stir.

The HRTC had leased out many routes under the scheme during the tenure of the Congress government from 2003 to 2007, but this scheme had been shelved by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government.

The state government is justifying the scheme by terming it as an effort to bail out the HRTC, suffering huge losses, by cutting operation cost and getting a new fleet of buses for it.

The government has invited offers from private bus operators and nearly 450 bus routes are proposed to be leased out to private operators. Transport Minister GS Bali has warned employees of strict disciplinary action in case of a stir.

Opposing the decision of the government, HRTC employees organised a dharna in Shimla on Tuesday and threatened to intensify the agitation.

JAC state president Shankar Singh Thakur has alleged that the scheme is being restarted to help private operators which will finish off the HRTC. He asserts, “We are determined to oppose it as the earlier experience was bad.”

He adds, “We have apprised the government of our opposition. We will chalk out our future strategy on May 7 in Shimla. We are not scared of threats as we are opposing the scheme by using our trade union rights.”

HRTC Managing Director Onkar Sharma says, “This is an effort to cut losses. The HRTC will get new fleet of buses under the scheme.” Transport Minister GS Bali was not available for comment.

Shimla, April 25
Director-General of Police (DGP) B Kamal Kumar has placed under suspension the Station House Officer (SHO) of Nirmand in Kullu district, who along with other police personnel threatened the family of a missing four-year-old boy whose body was later found in a sack.

Taking a serious note of allegations by the family and other villagers that instead of helping trace the boy, the drunk policemen threatened the father of the boy and took him away, the DGP suspended the SHO. The DGP demanded an explanation from all errant police personnel.

The DGP directed all SPs to register an FIR in all cases where a child went missing. He warned that strict action would be taken in case there is was callousness.

The agitated family, accompanied by relatives and villagers, had blocked traffic for six hours and staged a protest outside the police station. They had demanded suspension and strict action against the errant policemen.

Shimla, April 25
A committee headed by the Chief Secretary will supervise and monitor the progress of hydro power projects and solve problems being faced in securing clearance through a single window system.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said this while presiding over a meeting to review the functioning of the Power Department here yesterday.

He was happy that the hydro power potential had increased to 27,433 MW following a recent survey with the Sutlej basin accounting for 13,331 MW which was the highest.

He said more than 30 projects having a capacity of 2,200 MW would be commissioned this fiscal which would be more than the total capacity addition in five years.

He said the Parbati project (520 MW) was almost complete and the Neogal project (15 MW) had been commissioned while the Sorang project (150 MW) would be completed next month and the Kut project (24 MW) in June.

He said the Kol dam project (800 MW) would be completed in October, the Rampur project (412 MW) in September, the Kashang project (65 MW) in October and the Lamadug project (25 MW) in March next.

He said 13 projects of less than 5 MW capacity each and aggregating 35.9 MW would be commissioned this fiscal.

He said the state would get an additional revenue of Rs 213 crore annually after the completion of the projects. He said an additional revenue of Rs 89.65 crore would be generated on account of the sale of free power this fiscal.

He directed officials to speed up the finalisation of the solar policy to complete the cumulative environment impact assessment studies of all river basins.

He said an authority on hydro project safety and quality control would be set up at the Directorate of Energy to ensure the safety and quality of construction for projects which would be reverted to the government after 40 years.

Nurpur, April 25
Sushma Verma (20), who hails from Sunni tehsil in Shimla district, has brought laurels to the state after being a part of the Indian cricket team (women) for the recently concluded Bangladesh tour. She played three T-20 and three one-day matches during the tour.

She played as wicketkeeper and performed well during the tour. Sushma, who is known in the Indian team as “Sush”, was here last evening as a guest of former MLA Ranjit Bakshi.

Talking to mediapersons, Sushma said she got the opportunity of playing for the Indian team due to the guidance of the HP Cricket Association that had its women’s cricket academy in Dharamsala. “Himachal Pradesh is the first state in the country where this kind of academy has been established to give a fillip to the women’s cricket,” she said.

Presently, she is a student of mass communication at the Regional Centre of Himachal Pradesh University at Dharamsala. She added that she had been playing cricket for the past six years.

Shimla, April 25
The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-(CPM) today demanded that the common entrance test (CET) for admission to private universities and colleges be conducted by the Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) to ensure that it is carried out in a fair and transparent manner.

In a press note issued here today, CPM state Secretariat member Tikender Panwar said the government should closely monitor the issue as some HPU officials allegedly hand in glove with the authorities of some private universities did not want it to be conducted smoothly. The CPM sought strict vigilance over and speedy implementation of the decision.

“It should be conducted by the HPU using the latest technology and should not be restricted to the sale of forms,” he remarked. He demanded that there should be online sale and filling in of CET forms which the HPU authorities had been dilly dallying and trying to create the impression that they were incapable thereof.

Panwar warned the government against politicising the post of the Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission member and to stop giving the important post to those affiliated to the Congress.

“We demand that the fair and non-partisan character of the body should be maintained and the member and the chairperson should be persons with high integrity who have served in the field of education,” he said.

He said the government was meant to safeguard the interests of the people and it should ensure that the regulatory body had persons who were capable and integral and from the academic field so that there was proper regulation of the institutions. He added that they should not act as rubber stamps and pay lip service to the cause.

Shimla, April 25
The 65-MW Kashang project will be the first to be commissioned by the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation.

This was stated during a meeting of the Board of Directors of the corporation here today to review the progress of projects.

It was said five projects with an aggregate capacity of 856 MW were in various stages of execution while eight with an installed capacity of 1,235 MW were under investigation and seven of 935 MW under pre-feasibility stage investigations.

Chief Secretary Sudripta Roy, also Chairman of the Board, appreciated the performance of the corporation in accelerating the pace of work in Sainj and other projects.

Managing Director DK Sharma said projects entrusted would be commissioned in a time-bound manner. He said efforts were being made to commission projects within the scheduled time. — TNS