Dharamsala, July 30
Two irrigation projects worth Rs 1,102 crore were sanctioned for Himachal this evening by the Technical Advisory Committee for Flood Control of the Union Ministry for Water Resources.

Sources told The Tribune that Rs 922 crore was sanctioned for the canalisation of Swan river tributaries in Una district and Rs 180 crore for the canalisation of the Chhonej khad in Indora of Kangra district.

The Centre would give 90 per cent grant while 10 per cent be contributed by the state government. The canalisation work would be completed within four years.

The canalisation of 70 tributaries of the Swan would help in reclaiming 7,000 hectare agriculture land in Una district, while of the Chhonej khad would help in reclaiming 1,800 hectare in Indora.

A team of Irrigation Department officials from the state, including Secretary, Irrigation, Vaneet Chaudhary, Chief Engineer RK Sharma, Chief Engineer, Kangra, Parvez Akhtar, Chief Engineer, Hamirpur, RK Kanwar, SE, Una, NK Trivedi, and Executive Engineer, Una, Saini, presented the project before the committee.

The officers said active lobbying by Industry Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who belongs to Una district, helped them getting the projects cleared.

The Una district will be a major beneficiary from the sanctioned projects. The Swan was once called the sorrow of Una district due to massive flash floods in the river during monsoon. Almost the entire stretch of the river has been canalised. However, 70 tributaries of the river are prone to flash floods. This year also, the tributaries witnessed flash floods.

Now with the new project being sanctioned, the flash flood problem will be solved. The land on the banks of the Swan and its tributaries is fertile. However, due to flash floods, it is not cultivated by farmers. After canalisation, about 7000 hectare land would be reclaimed and would be open for cultivation.

It will be the biggest development project for Una district.

The Chhonej Khad in Kangra district also causes flash floods in Indora. However, after its canalisation, 1800 hectares fertile land would be reclaimed.

Palampur, July 30
Train services between Pathankot and Jogindernagar remained disrupted for the seventh day today following landslides and damage caused by heavy rains last week on the Ranital and Jogindernagar track, causing inconvenience to hundreds of passengers.

At present, there are no direct train services on the120-km railway track between Pathankot and Jogindernagar. However, the Northern Railway has partially restored services between Koparlahar and Paprola. Train services between Paprola and Jogindernagar are still suspended as a small culvert at Bhatehar village in Mandi district is yet to be repaired which was washed away last week.

The Railways today cancelled four trains between the Koparlahar and Paprola track for technical reasons. Divisional Manager Railways, Freozpur, NC Goel said all efforts were being made to restore the train services between Pathankot and Jogindernagar at the earliest. He said a team of engineers and field staff was working round the clock to repair the track.

It may be recalled that the British had laid down this railway track in 1932, passing through 33 stations linking all important and religious towns of Kangra and parts of Mandi district.

The condition of the rail track between Pathankot and Jogindernagar has gone from bad to worse in the past 10 years, as the Railways has no funds to repair the same. Several small and big bridges are in a bad shape. The retaining walls on the tracks have developed major cracks can result in a tragedy anytime.

Shimla, July 30
Giving a clear message to polluters, the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal directed the Municipal Council, Solan, to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation for the callous and irresponsible attitude of the council for causing air pollution.

Holding a first circuit court sitting at Shimla, the Bench, headed by Justice Swatantar Kumar, observed: "We impose a compensatory cost of Rs1 lakh on the Municipal Council, Solan, and this will be paid by the council at the first instance and thereupon can be recovered proportionately from officers concerned, including the SDO, Junior Engineer, Sanitary Inspector and contractor. The contractor's liability will be to the extent of 50 per cent."

Kangra, July 30
Students and staff members of Pandit Anant Ram Sanathan Dharam Degree College, Baroh, fearing a closure, today held the Changer Nayay Yatra, a protest rally, in the town to highlight the takeover of the college by the state government.

The protesting students, staff and members of different panchayats of Baroh tehsil raised slogans in support of their demand.

The protesters took out the rally from the New General Bus Stand via Dharamsala road, Tehsil Chowk, Main Market and ultimately reached the SDM’s office to hand over a memorandum to the Chief Minister through Kangra SDM Ajeet Bhardhwaj. The yatra culminated at the Bajjreshwari Temple.

The protesters handed over a memorandum and documents pertaining to the land records and donations made by the people of the Changar area for the construction of the college building to the SDM. They requested the SDM to send these documents to the CM.

They also dispatched copies of these documents to the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court for his intervention and Transport and Technical Education Minister GS Bali, who is also a member of the college executive committee, to take up the matter with the state government.

Addressing the protesters, Prof Aman Walia, a college staff leader, alleged that the Changer Shiksha Sansthan Kalayan Parished (CSSKP) had betrayed the people of the Changar area and the attempt to close down the college was not acceptable to them.

Walia demanded that the state government should revoke the NOC and also initiate an inquiry by a sitting High Court judge of the state into the circumstances which led to the issuance of the NOC by the government. He said the government must check alleged anti-social and anti-education elements that were against the basic educational ethos of the state.

He announced that the Changar Nayay Yatra protest would be held at Dharamsala tomorrow at 12 noon and a memorandum would be presented to Deputy Commissioner C Palrasu to be submitted to the Chief Minister. 

Solan, July 30
Facing a financial crunch, it has become difficult for the YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, to pay pension, gratuity and other allowances to its staff. Newly appointed Vice-Chancellor (VC) Vijay Singh Thakur said to overcome the current financial position was a challenge for the university.

With the grant-in-aid failing to be commensurate with the financial strain on the university after the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission, the university authorities would plead their case with the state government for additional financial support so that issues like pension, gratuity, etc. could be addressed.

He said DA, pension, gratuity etc had put an additional liability of Rs 18-20 crore on the university and the salary component was as high as Rs 70 crore annually while the grant-in-aid was a mere about Rs 45 crore.

Addressing mediapersons at the university after taking over as the Vice-Chancellor, he said others issues like taking the technology to every farmer would be his priority so that the agrarian community would benefit from the research work carried out in the university.

Vice-Chancellor Vijay Singh dwelt on improving the efficiency of the staff and said they would undertake collaborations with national and international agencies in future.

He said he would try to get replacements for posts where employees were retiring so that work did not suffer. They needed adequate teaching staff to run its Hamirpur-based centre besides the main campus.

Dharamsala, July 30
McLeodganj, also known as little Lhasa, is an international tourist destination of Himachal Prsdesh. The presence of the Dalai Lama and headquarters of the Tibetan parliament in exile makes it a destination of international tourist interest. However, the road from Dharamsala to McLeodganj, that is the lifeline of tourism in the area, has been in a poor state for the past five years.

The tar sole on the entire 10-km road stretch has been peeled off. The road has caved in at several places. The repair work of the road is being carried out at a slow pace.

PWD officials expressed hope that the condition of the road would finally improve in the next few months. PWD Executive Engineer Vijay Kumar said about Rs 10.02 crore had been sanctioned for the road extending from Gaggal to Bhagsunag under the Central Road Funds. The work on the road would begin soon and be completed within five to six months, he said.

He said presently, there was no provision to widen the Dharamsala-McLeodganj road. Under the present project, 50-mm bitumacdam and 20-mm premix carpeting would be done on the road. The major work would be of repairing the drains along the road, the Executive Engineer said.

However, sources in the PWD said despite the implementation of the new project, the condition of the McLeodganj-Dharamsala road would not improve to extent that it was fitting for an international tourist destination.

The sources said the McLeodganj-Dharamsala was a district road, the funds for which had to be allotted by the state government. The funds for its repairs were being allotted after a period of about five years as earlier the funds were sanctioned in 2008.

During the stint of the previous government, the PWD had mooted a proposal to include the Mcleodganj-Dharamsala road in the national highways category. It had also sent a proposal in this regard to the Union Ministry for Surface Transport. However, the sources here said the proposal had been turned down by the Union Ministry for Surface Transport.

McLeodganj and its adjoining tourist places as Dharamkot and Bhagsunag are the main tourist attractions of the Dharamsala region. However, since last year the tourism in the Dharamsala region has been hit. Tour operators in the region blame poor infrastructure in the area, absence of the Dalai Lama from the region and competition from Jammu and Kashmir for it.

In the peak season, the Mcleodganj area suffers long traffic jams due to poor and narrow roads and lack of parking spaces. The road to McLeodganj is barely double lane. The road was widened during the friendly-match between Indian and Pakistan at the Dharamsala cricket stadium. The sources here said at that time the road was widened on the state government diktats and still no permanent provision has been made for the maintenance of the road under the PWD budget.

Minister for Urban Development Sudhir Sharma who has been elected from the Dharamsala assembly constituency has promised to improve the infrastructure in the region to boost tourism.

Shimla, July 30
The unavailability of a consultant to assess the environment impact of relaxing the ban on construction in 17 green belts of the city is delaying the final decision on the issue even as the government is contemplating giving relief to those plot owners who bought the land before 2000 when the ban on new constructions was imposed.

The first time the bids were invited, no consultant came forward to undertake the assessment. When fresh bids were invited the second time, only two firms applied out of which one did not qualify, leaving a single bid. The decision on relaxing the ban has been put on the hold.

“We have referred the matter to the government to seek directions as to what should be done as we are left with a single bid for undertaking the assessment of green belts,” said an official of the Town and Country Planning Department. In view of the Chief Vigilance Commission (CVC) directives that single bid should not be opened, the matter has to be decided at the highest level.

About 80 plot owners, who had bought the land prior to the notification in 2000 declaring these green belts as no construction zone, had sought relaxation from the government. The plea given by them is that in most cases, buildings exist on both sides of these plots, so any kind of construction is unlikely to have an adverse impact on environment. They have sought permission to build need-based structure strictly for personal use, without felling any tree.

Officials also point out that since the total area under these 17 green belts is barely 414 hectares, not many firms would be keen to undertake the task of assessment. The move to give some relaxation to plot owners in these green belts to construct structures is getting delayed.

Hamirpur, July 30
The construction of the 66-MW Dhola Sidh Hydro-Power Project is likely to be delayed further as the financial approval for the enhanced project cost from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) will take some more time.

The work on the first hydro-power project being built on the Beas in Hamirpur district was mooted in 2002 and it was allotted to Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVN) for the execution in 2009 after which the SJVN had been obtaining various clearances.

Initially, the project cost was estimated at Rs 497 crore for which the financial approval was accorded by the Himachal

Meanwhile, the project cost has escalated by almost 50 per cent from Rs 497 crore to Rs 770 crore.

After escalation of the estimated project cost, the SJVN had to apply for the fresh project approval from the CEA as all projects costing above Rs 500 crore are cleared by the CEA.

Though the SJVN has invited bids for constructing the project and technical bids have been approved by the company, the actual construction would be undertaken after the final clearance from the CEA.

This being the first project in Hamirpur district, the people here are awaiting the construction of the project as the it will create job opportunities and improve economy of the district, besides boosting tourism potential in the area.

Project head, SJVN, SK Mahajan, said, “The project cost of Dhola-Sidh Power Project was calculated with baseline of land cost in 2010, which has now increased manifold for which provision is kept in the detailed project report and we have sent a note to the Ministry of Power for seeking investment approval from the CEA.”

“The SJVN has appointed a task force in New Delhi for obtaining early clearance from various agencies and we are likely to get the approval soon,” he added.

Palampur, July 30
Shanta Kumar, MP and senior BJP leader, today asked the Centre to review the mid-day meal programme in schools so that the incident that happened in Chhapra (Bihar) was not repeated.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Shanta Kumar said the mid-day meal programme on which Rs 13,125 crore was being spent every year needed complete overhauling as most of the schools in the country had no infrastructure such as storage for foodgrains, kitchen, the staff to cook and distribute meal among students. Besides, there was a large-scale pilferage and corruption in the purchase of material.

He said after the introduction of the food security plan in the country, over 75 per cent families would benefit, thereafter there would be no justification of mid-day meals in the schools. He suggested that in lieu of mid-day meal, the government could provide biscuits and other items with high proteins to the students in the schools which were easily available in the country.

Shanta said the government had already admitted that there was rampant corruption in the mid-day meal programme and the funds allocated were not properly utilised. The Centre should take early measures to streamline the system to save the hard-earned money of tax payers.

Shimla, July 30
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today reviewed the status of proposals submitted for executing various development projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM) for the Shimla Municipal Corporation area.

He was presiding over a state-level steering committee meeting here today. The Chief Minister said road improvement, widening and strengthening from the Old Barrier near the Tourist Information Centre on the Circular Road via Victory Tunnel up to Bemloe with an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore, should be incorporated for the Government of India (GOI) funding under the JNNURM.

He also reviewed the proposals worth Rs 68.74 crore for the improvement of storm water drainage system and roads in Shimla town at the meeting. He directed the Engineer-In-Chief, Public Works Department, to prepare the estimates as per requirements of the JNNURM for further submission to the GOI within 15 days.

He also reviewed the status of proposals prepared for other Urban Local Bodies amounting to Rs 269 crore for nine water supply and sewerage schemes amounting to Rs 112 crore. He directed the Urban Development Department to ensure that the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) submitted to the GOI were processed at the earliest.

Urban Development and Housing and Town and Country Planning Minister Sudhir Sharma, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister VC Pharka and Principal Secretary, Urban Development, K Sanjay Murthy were present on the occasion.

New Delhi, July 30
The Supreme Court (SC) today issued a notice to the Himachal Pradesh government on a petition by the Him-Aanchal Taxi Operators Union, Manali, challenging the HP High Court ban on commercial vehicles of more than four years’ old plying between Kothi and Rohtang.

A Bench comprising Justices Gyan Sudha Misra and PC Ghose passed the order after the union’s counsel pleaded that more than 75 per cent of the taxis numbering about 1,400 would go off the roads under the HC order.

The taxi owners had taken bank loans to buy the vehicles which they were still repaying and as such the HC decision would put them in deep trouble, the union contended while pleading for an urgent hearing of their petition.

The Bench agreed to hear their plea next week, but declined the prayer for an immediate stay on the HC verdict, delivered on a PIL. The stay could be considered only after hearing the arguments on the reasons for the HC move, it clarified.

The union also pleaded that since the tourist season would come to a close soon, there was need for a quick order on its petition to prevent any hardship to taxi owners.

The High Court had issued the order on the recommendations of the National Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). The High Court had justified the ban, pointing out the fragile ecology in the high-altitude Rohtang Pass area.

Bilaspur, July 30
Several families of Kargil war martyrs complain that the government has done nothing to honour these martyrs. The promise of naming some of the roads after them after making these vehicle worthy is still unfulfilled and lying buried in the files for the past 14 years.

"Vir Nari" Nirmala Devi and other members of her family complained on the eve of Kargil Vijay Divas on Friday that the promise regarding the 2-km-link road to the house of her husband, martyr Vir Chakra winner Havildar Udham Singh of Chehadi village had not been fulfilled even after 14 years of wait.

Reports said similar was the case of road facility to the village of martyr Havildar Raj Kumar of Bachadi Masdhan and martyr Havildar Shankar Singh of Samoh village, both in Ghumarwin sub-division.

It may be recalled that Bilaspur district had sacrificed seven of its soldiers in the Kargil war, while the state had lost total 52 soldiers.

Havildar Sanjay Kumar of Bakain village made history in the war annals as he lived even after crawling and capturing a hill top post after receiving two bullets to get the most prestigious Param Vir Chakra award in this war.

Palampur, July 30
Tax payers, chartered accountants and tax consultants were harassed today following a snag developed in the e-filing website of the Income Tax Department. Thus, no tax returns could be uploaded today.

It may be recalled that July 31 (Wednesday) is the last date to file tax returns all over the country except Uttarakhand.

Taxation Bar Association secretary Sandeep Kakkar said the e-filing website of the Income Tax Department was not functioning properly since yesterday as it was not operational for the uploading of the e-returns. In the morning, the website was completely became non-functional causing inconvenience to tax payers.

He said efforts by the members of the Taxation Bar Association and tax payers to contact the Income tax Department, New Delhi, have failed to yield any results. Even there was no proper response from the helpline of the department.

He appealed to the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes to extend the date of e-filing of returns till August 31 so that tax payers were saved from a penalty and interest. He said a copy of resolution of the Taxation Bar in this regard had already been faxed to the chairman of the CBDT. 

Shimla, July 30
Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) has extended the last date for admission in all the undergraduate courses in government and private colleges to July 31. This was disclosed here today by HPU Registrar Prof Mohan Jharta.

He said the date had been extended as some students hailing from the tribal district of Kinnaur could not seek admission due to the natural calamity. He said the last date had been extended so that interested students could seek admission in colleges where seats are vacant. — TNS