Kangar (Una), October 23
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today laid the foundation stone of the Rs 922-crore Swan river distributaries canalisation project in Una district. He claimed that it was the biggest flood control project in the country and had been sanctioned by the Union Government for the district.

The foundation stone of the project kept in the Haroli Assembly constituency of Minister for Industry Mukesh Agnihotri peeved his political rivals within the party.

While speaking on the occasion, Rakesh Kalia, AICC secretary and Congress MLA from Gagret, said he had urged the Chief Minister to lay the foundation stone of the scheme in his constituency, but since Agnihotri was the “blue-eyed boy” of Virbhadra, his request was not granted.

Agnihotri organised a political rally on the occasion. The rally also established his predominance in Una district as most of the Congress leaders from the area, besides Rakesh Kalia, toed his line and praised him.

The Union Government will give 90 per cent grant for the project while 10 per cent will be contributed by the state government. The canalisation work will be completed within four years as per the project report. The canalisation of 70 tributaries of the Swan river will help in reclaiming 7,000 hectare agriculture land in Una district.

Almost the entire district will be a major beneficiary from the project. With the project, the entire Swan river along with its tributaries will be canalised. The Swan was once called the sorrow of Una district due to massive flash floods in the river during monsoons.

Now with the new project being sanctioned, flash flood problem in the district will be solved once it is executed. The land on the banks of the Swan and its tributaries is fertile. However, due to flash floods, it was not cultivated by farmers. After canalisation, about 7,000 hectare land will be reclaimed and will be open for cultivation. It will be the biggest developmental project for the district.

Shimla, October 23
The state government has urged the Union Government to start new Centrally sponsored schemes for financing states for improving road travel by providing wayside amenities, setting up transport hubs and intelligent transport system (ITS).

The demand was made by Transport Minister GS Bali while speaking at the 35th meeting of the Transport Development Council in New Delhi today. He said the Transport Department should be reoriented from purely regulatory functions to a development department to strengthen road safety and enhance the comfort of road travel.

He sought liberal funds to strengthen the state transport undertakings by framing appropriate schemes to bridge the resource gap of state transport undertakings. He said the state-run HRTC was taking bulk load of passenger services, particularly in the remote areas of the state, and the state government was providing annual budgetary support of around 200 crore to it.

He said the government would set up a comprehensive vehicle tracking system with geo-tracking of all the commercial and private vehicles in the state and road ambulance services would also be strengthened by providing fully equipped ambulances and hydraulic lift cranes at strategic locations, especially on highways. He said the government had imposed a complete ban on the use of cellphones while driving and high-security registration plates had been introduced.

The Transport Minister said 174 driving training schools had been set up in private and public sector and no new driving licence of transport vehicles category would be issued unless the driver had obtained training from an approved driving school. He said 25 per cent of compounding fee had been earmarked for road safety.

The government had adopted a multi-pronged strategy of persuasive, preventive and punitive measures for providing safe, comfortable and efficient transport services to the citizens. He said the state government had taken various steps like frequent regulatory checks and installation of weigh bridges to check overloading of goods as well as passenger traffic segments.

Bali said the Cabinet had approved uniform floor rates and pleaded for an exemption in excise duty on the purchase of chassis for buses.

He supported the introduction of national permit system for passenger vehicles on the lines of goods transport and said appropriate control needed to be put in place to check unhealthy competition by way of large number of vehicles opting to ply on inter-state routes. He also called for a review of the current system of inter-state agreement governing movement of passenger vehicles.

Hamirpur, October 23
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s two-day tour to Hamirpur district on October 27 and 28 is seen politically significant in view of the next general election.

Hamirpur, being the stronghold of the BJP where voters have elected a BJP candidate in last six elections, is being targeted by the Congress leadership this time.

All-India Congress Committee leaders have asked the state leaders to lay emphasis on Hamirpur this time and they are trying to make a bid in the next elections by taking advantage of changed political situation and the Congress government in the state.

A hectic schedule has been chalked out for the tour of the Chief Minister and he will hold progammes in four of the five Assembly constituencies of Hamirpur district.

The Chief Minister will begin his tour by attending an annual function of the Sarva Kalyankari Sabha being organised by Sujanpur MLA Rajinder Rana, who was recently inducted as an associate member in the Congress Legislature Party in the Assembly.

The Chief Minister will also inaugurate Sainik Rest House at Sujanpur, science block building in government school, Sujanpur, and inaugurate Chowki-Chambot lift drinking water scheme constructed at Rs 6 crore.

Foundation stones of ITI building, Sujanpur, mini secretariat, police post Toani Devi and new building of Government Degree College are also to be laid during the tour.

In the evening, the Chief Minister will inaugurate Hamir Utsav function at Hamirpur.

Manali/Keylong, October 23
More than 90 per cent of restaurants in Manali and almost all restaurants in snowbound Lahaul have been shut by hoteliers as tourist arrivals after the week-long international Kullu Dasehra has fallen and mercury is dipping lower every day.

Manali and its tourist hubs of Old Manali, Vashisht, Aleo, Solang and Prini can be seen with shops, restaurants and hotels with shutters down.

There is only an odd couple or a group of tourists from West Bengal. They come here during the Durga Puja celebration to tour the goddess temples in Udaipur, Manali and other places in Shimla as part of the fortnight-long pilgrimage, said Biswajeet and Deepankar Roy, tourists from West Bengal.

Most of the hoteliers and shop owners in Old Manali and Vashisht, Shenag, Aleo, Prini, Dungri have shut shops as tourist season has ended. “We had a couple of foreigners in Old Manali during Dasehra time. But now all hotel rooms have been vacant for the last four days,” said Chander Bhandary, who runs a hotel here.

The occupancy in hotels has dipped to a dismal 3 per cent these days as the tourist season is over, said AR Thakur, president, Manali Hoteliers Association. The hoteliers and restaurants have no option other than closing business as it is difficult to meet water and electricity charges, leave alone salaries of the staff, he added.

The story is no different in home-stay units and guest houses that have sprouted in Kullu, Katarain, Naggar, Haripur, Sajla, Raison, Kasol, Jhibi, Banjar, Gushaini and other places in the district.

“In most cases, it is like getting an odd guest once in a blue moon as the economic slowdown is hitting the disposable income of potential tourists,” said Raju Bharti, home-stay unit owner.

The tourist arrival in the Buddhist tourist circuit of Leh-Ladakh-Lahaul-Spiti-Kinnaur has already dipped to almost zero these days.

“Most hotels and restaurants are closed and we have an odd foreigner or some pilgrims from West Bengal. They have food in dhabas and come here to visit the Mrikula Devi temple in Udaipur as part of Durga Puja,” said Tashi Deleg, president, Lahaul-Spiti Hoteliers’ Association.

Even locals have migrated to warmer climes in Kullu with the onset of winter as the three highland motorable passes, 13,050-ft-high Rohtang, 17,480-ft-high Tanglang La and 16,043-ft-high Bara Lacha, located on the 473-km-long Manali-Leh national highway are blocked by snowfall in winter till April when the Border Roads Organiation reopens the passes, said Tashi.

These passes experienced the first snowfall of the season on October 11.

Tourists avoid travelling here after October even if the weather is good and only evenings and mornings are chilly, added hoteliers.

Shimla, October 23
The much-delayed controversial Jakhu aerial ropeway is likely to be made operational by the New Year as work has been resumed after the local Municipal Corporation (MC) compounded violations by imposing a heavy penalty on the promoters of the project.

The ropeway, work on which remained suspended for almost three years, is likely to be thrown open around the New Year, when the town will be flooded with tourists. The promoters of the ropeway, Jagson International Limited, have conveyed to the Tourism and Civil Aviation Department and the local MC that the project would finally be completed and opened for the people by the New Year.

It was after imposing a hefty penalty of Rs 60.68 lakh that the MC regularized the construction of two additional floors, raised without an approval. The decks for the formal approval of the projects were cleared following the payment of the amount in May by the company. In view of the decision taken by the government, the High Court, too, dismissed the petition filed before it on June 1.

The Tourism Department as well as the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department had given its consent for the project being allowed to be completed. The TCP sought structural stability certificate from the company to ensure that the structure was safe and stable, which was duly submitted based on the input of experts from the IIT, Roorkee. The Tourism Department, too, was of the opinion that the project be allowed to be completed as it would prove to be a major attraction for tourists.

It was in 2004-05 that the project started taking shape and despite opposition by environmentalists, the Tourism Department decided to go ahead with it. However, the project which was located in the no-construction green area, ran into one controversy after the other, delaying its completion. Various issues like felling of deodar trees to pave way for the ropeway, threat caused to houses located above the site and serious violations in the construction caused constant delays.

The most serious violation came in the form of two additional floors that were constructed by the promoters without bothering to even seek government permission. The fact that the company ignored environmental aspects and structural safety landed the promoters into trouble with the court stopping work. As per the approved plan, the company had been given permission to raise 11-storeys, but they constructed 13 floors for which they had to pay a penalty of Rs 60.68 lakh. 

Dharamsala, October 23
Anurag Thakur, HPCA president and BJP MP from Hamirpur, and the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau are up for a standoff tomorrow at Dharamsala.

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau at Dharamsala had summoned Anurag for questioning on October 24. While addressing a press conference at Dharamsala, Anurag had said he had been “deliberately” summoned on October 24 as it was his birthday. Later, the bureau changed the date for questioning to October 31.

Vigilance officials said they had initially summoned Anurag on October 22. Since Karva Chauth fell on October 22, the date was shifted to October 24. The date was once again changed to October 31 as the investigating officer of the case was out of station due to an official work on October 24.

Sources said the vigilance officials had informed Anurag that the date of his questioning had been changed to October 31. However, Anurag has mailed back vigilance authorities that he will be arriving tomorrow to answer their queries.

The sources here said Anurag’s supporters had planned a show of strength tomorrow at Dharamsala. They would welcome him and celebrate his birthday there.

However, the vigilance officials are sticking to their stand that questioning cannot be carried out tomorrow as the investigating officer is out of station.

Anurag said he would be coming tomorrow to the vigilance office at Dharamsala to answer their queries. “If an MP can spare time to answer the queries of the vigilance, why can’t the police do the same,” he said.

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau had summoned Anurag in a case registered against the HPCA for the conversion of the HPCA society into HPCA company without the approval of the state government.

Nurpur, October 23
Ten houses were destroyed in a landslide and 10 more came in the danger zone at Nayangal village in Trilokpur-Soldha gram pancahyat in Jawali subdivision in the wee hours today.

According to information, over 1-km-long hillock started sinking at 2 am today and it was noticed by an old villager at 3 am. He immediately raised an alarm and residents ran out to save their lives. No loss of life was reported, but a number of cattle in cowsheds were feared to have been perished under the debris. The calamity also disrupted marriage arrangements and damaged everything purchased by Purn Singh whose daughter’s marriage was scheduled for today.

On getting information, local gram panchayat pradhans, along with villagers, reached the spot and started relief and rescue work.

Jawali SDM Mohan Dutt Sharma and DSP DC Verma also rushed to the spot and supervised the rescue work. The Fire Brigade, Nurpur, was pressed into service.

Dr Rajan Sushant, MP, Kangra, and former MP Chander Kumar also visited the village. The gradual landsliding and sinking in the village was still going on till this evening.

The village path, along with 10 houses with cowsheds, went under the hillock debris.

SDM Sharma said Rs 10,000 had been disbursed to each calamity victim as immediate relief and they had been shifted to nearby government school premises and Mahila Mandal Bhavan. He said food arrangement had also been made for the victims. 

Solan, October 23
Officials of the Excise and Taxation Department are facing stiff opposition from people residing in the vicinity of Kalujhinda village in the Baddi industrial area where a toll tax barrier has not been set up despite a lapse of more than four years.

Though the department had approved this barrier four years ago, it had not been erected till now and the contractor is demanding compensation for failing to erect it.

The barrier was to be erected at Khudabax Chowk in Kalujhinda, but as it lay on the border of Haryana, there was massive opposition from people living in the bordering villages. They felt they would have to pay tax on carrying commodities from Himachal.

Though officials tried to erect this barrier two days ago, the move had to suspended following stiff resistance.

While local residents contended that it was irrational to erect a barrier here as the road had been constructed on private land and it was not a PWD road, high tax evasion was reported from this route where vehicles carried unbilled articles, thus causing loss of Value Added Tax (VAT) to the Excise and Taxation Department. An official said several trucks were found operating on this route on the sly a few days ago and efforts to collect tax, along with penalty, had met with a strong protest from the villagers.

A committee comprising local people has been constituted to chalk out a solution as the department is keen to make this barrier functional at the earliest. Officials of the local administration will hold talks with this committee to find an amicable solution to the problem.

Though the tehsildar, DSP, contractor of the Toll Tax barrier and officials of the Excise and Taxation Department have tried to prevail upon the villagers to allow the functioning of this barrier, all efforts have proved futile till now.

A similar opposition had been witnessed by officials in the Nalagarh area where a barrier was to be erected at Ratiyor sometime in the past.

KK Sharma, Joint Director, Excise and Taxation Department, said efforts would be made to operate this barrier at the earliest as the department was keen to check all escape routes which were leading to a loss of revenue.

Nurpur, October 23
Over six years after the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the sewerage system of this town, the Irrigation-cum-Public Health (IPH) Department, the executing agency, recently launched the construction of the second phase of the scheme comprising distribution network.

Local MLA Ajay Mahajan, while launching its construction, said Rs 13.79 crore would be spent of distribution pipelines in the town to cater to the needs of a population of over 22,000.

He said the foundation stone of this sewerage system, at an estimate cost to Rs 15.63 crore, had been laid by the then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in April 2007, but the previous BJP government had neglected and delayed this project and its estimate cost had escalated to Rs 27.20 crore. He said the state government had earmarked Rs 2.68 crore for this system for the current fiscal year and an additional Rs 4 crore had been demanded to expedite the ongoing work.

According to official information, the only treatment plant of the system could be built during the past six years on which Rs 3.79 crore had been spent. The department has a target to complete 5-km pipeline under the distribution network within a year. The system will have 3.13 million litre per day capacity.

Kangra, October 23
The Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC) at Tanda celebrated its foundation day here today. Gratitude was expressed to the state government for establishing the college here and tributes were paid to Rai Bahadur Jodhamal Kuthiala, a philanthropist who had donated land for a TB sanitarium which later on was converted to the DRPGMC, Tanda. The function was organised by the Students Central Association.

Dr Anil Chauhan, Principal, today said the DRPGMC, Tanda, dated back to October 25, 1952, when Chandulal Trivedi, the then Governor of Punjab, laid the foundation stone of a TB sanitarium and Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, inaugurated it on May 21, 1958. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh laid the foundation stone of the institution on October 23, 1996.

He said the new hospital at Tanda was dedicated to the public on October 3, 2008. The college had an intake capacity of 100 MBBS students and 48 PG seats annually. The institution grew very fast with a 579-bedded modern hospital well equipped with gadgets and a 700 seating capacity auditorium. There were five independent hostel buildings, a fully air-conditioned central library, a spacious para-clinical block, a lecture theatre complex and more than 200 residential quarters.

He said the medical college, with Mission Excellence as its goal, had a mandate to become a premier-care institution of national importance to provide high-quality services and medical care to every citizen of the state. The institute was promoting research in all fields, including operational, health management information system, occupational and tribal health.

Dr Chauhan said the college ranked 18th among the government medical colleges in the country and was the only college in the northern India to achieve the highest quality of teaching in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.

He said a Rs 150-crore super-specialty hospital would be inaugurated by the end of this year.

The function was attended by students, faculty members and resident doctors of the college.

Kullu, October 23
The police today unearthed a money collecting racket being run by a private Jalandhar-based chit fund company in Kullu, Mandi and Kangra districts. The company has been accused of collecting Rs 1 lakh per day from the gullible public in the state on the pretext that the company would double their recurring deposits (RDs) and fixed deposits (FDs) in six years’ time.

The police today filed a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy against Mukesh Kumar and Taran Kaur, managing directors of the private chit fund company, under Sections 420 and 120-B, IPC, at Bhuntar police station.

The company’s whistle blower, Jeevan Kumar, branch manager, Bhuntar, today accused the duo of cheating the innocent public.

The police investigation found that the company had been collecting Rs 5,000 as security from its members and asking each of its member to deposit Rs 1,000 every month as RD in its bank account. The police team froze the bank accounts of the company, but found only Rs 500 in it as the cheaters used to withdraw money the day it was deposited in the bank, said SP, Kullu, VK Dhawan.

According to the police, Jeevan in the complaint alleged that Fusion Infra Build India Company Pvt Ltd had no RBI licence to run the private fund. “Mukesh had authorised him to collect money from clients from Kullu and Mandi on the promise that it would be doubled in six years time,” he charged in the FIR.

He had constituted an office team of 14 persons from Kangra, Kullu and Mandi to collect money. “We also invested money in this company, when we have not got even salaries so far,” he alleged.

According to RBI guidelines, this company has no permission to do this kind of business, of opening FD and RD accounts.

The SP said police investigation was on and efforts were being made to nab the accused.

Mandi, October 23
Taxi operators under the right wing trade union Bhartiya Majdoor Sangh (BMS) staged a protest here today. They were demanding proper parking lots and space for their office like their counterparts had in Kullu, Manali and other places in the state.

The protestors submitted a memorandum to the DC in support of their demands.

Nurpur, October 23
To ensure safety and prevent any untoward incident in the bursting of fire crackers, the local administration has taken precautionary measures by restricting the sale of fire crackers during the ensuing Diwali.

Local SDM Ashwani Sood, while exercising powers vested under Section 144, CrPC, today notified eight open places in the town where the sale of fire crackers had been allowed. The licence and permission holders had been asked to sell and store fire crackers only in notified places and had restricted the sale from 8 am to 8 pm.

The SDM has also notified open places for selling fire crackers at Jassur, Rehan, Raja Ka Talab, Gangath and Indora towns in this subdivision. He said action would be taken against violators of the order.

Shimla, October 23
The project for "parent rearing" of highly endangered western tragopan will be revived. It was stalled due to the collapse of newly built enclosures due to snow in the Sarhan pheasantry three years ago.

The Wildlife Department has decided to construct it afresh with the technical support of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Hamirpur, which has rectified the faulty design by strengthening the support structure of the enclosures and increasing the slope of the roof to prevent damage due to snow. A proposal will be soon sent to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) for approval and securing funds.

The CZA had earlier sanctioned Rs 4.93 crore for the project, which is placed high on the Red Data Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listing the highly endangered species. However, only a part of the funds could be utilised as five of the seven large spacious enclosures required for parent rearing caved in under the weight of snow even before they could be put to use.

The department was directed to revive the project by Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri during the review meeting held yesterday.

Besides strengthening the support structure, the interior of the enclosures has also been redesigned to provide for a partition to keep male birds away from chicks soon after hatching, if required. The aim of the project is to supplement its dwindling population in the natural habitat through ex situ conservation.

Chicks will be raised by the parent pair in natural conditions in spacious enclosures under “parent rearing” and released in the wild as per the protocol of the IUCN in the natural habitats where the population has declined. It is found in high hills within the elevations of 8,000 ft to 10,000 ft in Chamba, Kullu, Kinnuar and Shimla. Its current population in the wild is estimated to be a meagre 2,000.

Bilaspur, October 23
Sanjay Kumar (20), son of Rajender Kumar, a migrant labourer from Behrampur Hariyan village, Gorakhpur district, UP, working as daily wager at Saarti village near Ghumarwin received 80 per cent burn injuries when the stove in his kitchen burst and he caught fire last night.

Reports said Sanjay was living in a rented room and was cooking his night meal when the accident occurred. His neighbours rushed to the spot and tried to save him. Several items in his room had also caught fire.

He was first rushed to the Ghumarwin Civil Hospital, then the Regional Hospital here and finally shifted to the PGI, Chandigarh, as his condition was stated to be serious.

The police has registered a case and is investigating.