Shimla, May 13
Former IPS officer AN Sharma, contender for the BJP ticket in the 2007 Assembly elections, could be in trouble over his retirement plea and later its withdrawal.

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau is examining violation of norms in allowing his continuation in service.

Sharma, considered close to then Chief Minister PK Dhumal, following withdrawal of his retirement notification by the government, went on to hold a post in the Shimla Municipal Corporation. A 1989 IPS officer, he finally retired on November 30, 2011.

The investigating agencies are closely examining the role of then Chief Minister PK Dhumal, who also happened to be the Home Minister, in allowing Sharma to continue. The role of the then Home Secretary, who retired last month, has also come under the scanner.

Having political aspirations, Sharma had given a three-month notice to the state government as per rules for seeking retirement on December 31, 2007, said Vigilance sources. Even as his case was being processed, he reportedly sought a waiver of one month and requested retirement by November 21, 2007. The government acceded to his request and granted him retirement. He had applied for the BJP ticket.

Sharma, who had applied for the BJP ticket from the Nadaun Assembly segment in Hamirpur, failed to find favour with the BJP high command, which announced a list on November 26, 2007.

“Having failed to fulfil his political aspirations, Sharma then wrote a backdated letter with November 20 as the date, requesting for continuation of his services,” said a police officer.

The then government conveyed to him that as per his own request, he had been granted retirement on November 21, 2007, and the backdated letter written by him too was received on November 28.

“However, with the change of regime in Himachal, his retirement was revoked, which was against rules,” revealed an official.

Sharma had got a stay from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on the operation of his retirement. "The CAT had allowed my plea and granted me stay, following which I withdrew the case and made a representation before the state government for continuing in service, which was accepted," said Sharma.

Sources close to him said Sharma's continuation in service was purely an administrative decision and with the Chief Minister being the administrative head, all such decisions were cleared by him without any political motive.

They also added that a person could join service even three months after his retirement.

Later, Sharma, close to PK Dhumal, served as the Shimla MC Commissioner from January 2009 to November 30, 2011, till he retired from service.

Shimla, May 13
The HP High Court today extended till May 30 the period of interim bail granted to former BJP MLA Baldev Sharma from the Badsar constituency in an alleged case of sexual harassment.

This interim direction was passed by Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary. The state government has contended before the court that investigation is complete and the investigating agency is going to file a chargesheet against the former MLA within a few days before the trial court. However, in his bail application, Baldev Sharma contended before the court that he has been falsely implicated in the case and was innocent.

It is pertinent to mention here that a case of sexual assault was registered against the former MLA on April 1 at the Shimla West police station after recording the statement of the victim, who belongs to his constituency.

The victim in her complaint made on March 5, 2014, had alleged that Baldev Sharma sexually assaulted her on March 25, 2012, at his residence in the Vidhan Sabha complex in Shimla.

The victim had alleged when she had approached the MLA for her husband’s transfer, the MLA called her for attaching a note and sexually assaulted her at his residence.

Una, May 13
Dozens of telephone subscribers of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) protested in front of the Tahliwal telephone exchange here today. They demanded the restoration of their telephones lines, which had reportedly been out of order for the past four months. They shouted slogans against BSNL and its officials, alleging that they were forced to suffer due to the apathetic attitude of BSNL employees.

They said the telephone lines in and around the Tahliwal, Lalari and Nangal Khurd panchayats had been out of order since January. They had also subscribed to the internet broadband facility and while the lines were dead for four months, BSNL had issued them bills even for that period.

They had given 24 hours to BSNL to restore their lines, failing which they would be forced to gherao the office of the Mehatpur Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO). They said most of them were forced to take the services of other telecom operators for the internet and mobile telephone connections.

Meanwhile, Anil Kumar, SDO, Mehatpur, said the ongoing road work on the Santoshgarh-Tahliwal link was the reason for the optical fiber cable (OFC) getting severed at places. He said the department had lodged a complaint with the police against the road work contractor in this connection. 

Solan, May 13
With the successive state governments having failed to undertake timely expansion of road network in the Darlaghat area where hundreds of trucks of two major cement plants ply everyday, traffic jams have become the order of the day.

Since the 16-wheel multi axle vehicles too have been added to the existing fleet of about 7500 trucks which are engaged in transportation work by the JP Cement and Ambuja Cements Limited, the narrow roads are bursting at the seams with the traffic influx.

It was interesting to note that the even after the two plants enhanced their production capacities in the past few years, little thought has been given to timely expansion of the roads though this work should have begun right after the plants were given approval to set up their operations.

Tilak Raj, a local resident, rued that with nearly 2,000 trucks operating on a daily basis, it becomes difficult to pave way for patients too in emergency situations when traffic jams occur as they continue for long durations.

The narrow roads which link the plants to main roads are the worst as there are several stretches where trucks have little place to even cross. One such spot lies between Piplughat-Darla Mor where the narrow stretch often creates problem for the motorists.

Jagdish Kumar, a trucker, while terming the situation as awful said the major traffic jams occurred from the gate of Ambuja Cements right and it extended for several kilometres affecting the movement of buses and other vehicles on a daily basis.

He rued that hundreds of children and office goers were daily harassed by the traffic jams and one had to start at least one hour in advance if one has to reach a court for some work.

He said despite taking up the issue with the administration on several occasions little had been done. People from villagers like Khata, Suli, Bater, Bagha, Koon, etc., faced such hardships on a daily basis.

Though the national highway-88 was being widened now but with nearly 1200 multi axle vehicles and 4400 trucks playing on these roads such expansion activities should have been planned when the cement plants were being set up.

The poor condition of roads due to lack of proper repair and maintenance had also become a cause of accidents as the movement of heavy vehicles was immense. 

Dharamsala, May 13
A narrative short film, "Istifa" (Resignation), produced by Rahat Mahajan, a youth from the state, has been nominated for the Student Academy Awards.

The awards are given by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in the US, an organisation that also hands out the Oscars.

The film has been nominated among the six films selected from 500 submissions made from across the world.

Rahat is the grandson of former Congress minister Sat Mahajan and son of Nurpur Congress MLA Ajay Mahajan.

He has been working in the Bollywood for the past seven years and involved in production of movies at various levels. He said after earning well in the Bollywood, he got bored with routine work. In 2011, he decided to switch tracks and nurture himself as an artist.

He left for the US and joined the Art Centre College of Design in California.

In an e-mailed conversation with The Tribune, Rahat said the making of "Istifa" (Resignation) had been one of the most incredible and memorable experiences of his life.

Rahat said the idea of making the film struck him when he had to urgently fly back to India in November 2013 due to the demise of his grandmother.

"It was during the train journey to the Ganges, where I was travelling with my family in order to immerse her ashes that I read a short story written by Munshi Premchand. It struck a deep chord in my heart. That's the precise moment when I decided to make it a film that I would dedicate to my grandmother. I then reached out to an organisation called Visual Communications in Los Angeles, which had already awarded me a grant for another film. They graciously allowed me to proceed with the new idea," he said.

"It was an immensely difficult yet eventful journey of fighting against all odds to make this film come to life. I had to put my training from the Art Centre to test every moment of the way. Since it was shot at a very remote village in India, which lacked access to even the most basic filmmaking equipment or experienced crew members, I was forced to improvise and reinvent in order to realise my goal of making this film," said Rahat.

He further said the only equipment he had was a DSLR camera with two lenses and a portable sound recorder, which he owned.

"Together, with the help of two household electricians, we built our own lights, a camera stabiliser made of bathroom fittings and other basic necessities required for the shoot from material available in the local market," he added.

Rahat said the awards would be decided by the academy this year. "I hope my success will inspire other youth from the state to come up, test their skills at the international level and follow their dreams," he said.

Shimla, May 13
Apple farmers in Kinnaur and parts of higher reaches of Shimla district fear frost bite in orchards due to a fresh chill.

The two-day-long intermittent spells of rain and snow in higher reaches of the state have them worried.

The farmers in Kinnaur, who were hit hard by the freak snowfall in June last year, are hoping for a good harvest this year.

“Our real worry is that the two-day-long rain has lowered the temperature in the state and in turn, can damage the fruit-set in the high-altitude orchards at Batseri, Raksham, Kamru, Azad Kashmir in the Sangla valley and Kalpa and Chango-Pooh-Nako and Horling in the upper Kinnaur and Spiti region,” said Panum Nego, a farmer from Kalpa.

The rain is not that damaging for the fruit-set, but the real threat is the frost. The frost is formed when the sky clears up in the night after the chilling condition, said Surender Kumar, another farmer from Sangla.

Similarly, the renewed spell of chill has hit the fruit-set in the high-altitude orchards located in the 8,000-9,500 ft zone in Shimla district where proper pollination could not take place due to lack of bee activity.

The chill was dangerous for the crop and bloom yet to mature into the fruit-set here, said Deepak Kumar, a farmer from Deorighat in upper Nawar valley.

Though apple bloom is yet to start in Pattan and Lahaul valleys in the tribal district, the flowering was at its peak in the upper Kinnaur district and high-altitude orchards in Shimla district where threat of frost looms large.

Farmers are resorting to burning of the haystack in apple orchards to quell the frost as soon as the sky clears up. “We hope the frost condition precipitates and the next few days pass off well completing the fruit-set,” said Bijay Negi, a farmer from Nako.

Scientists said the ideal temperature for the fruit setting should vary from 15-25°C. But the chill and frost is bad for the crop, they added.

Mandi, May 13
Untimely rain in Mandi district has left many farmers worried as it has disturbed the harvesting season and fruit setting in the apple growing area.

The continuous rain for the past two days has adversely affected harvesting of wheat and other grains in many areas.

The farmers have already started harvesting but the sudden rain has forced many leave the crop lying in the field as threshing of wheat is not possible now.

Farmer Het Ram Saini from Balh has said, “Untimely rain has forced us to leave the soaked wheat and other grains in the fields delaying its threshing.”

“If rain continues for a few more days, the quality of grain and fodder will be affected,” he added.

NR Thakur, an orchardist from Rohanda, has expressed concern as rain and hailstorm are affecting fruit setting in apple orchards.

He said, “The variation in temperatures is affecting the fruit setting which will result in quality of apple, leaving the orchardists worried.”

Deputy Director, Agriculture, Dr Prithivi Chand Sharma said, “In the valley area, 70 per cent of the wheat crop has been harvested and untimely rain is affecting 30 per cent remaining crop but in the upper areas, 50 per cent crop is still lying in fields.”

Since it is expected to be lean year for the apple crop, horticulture experts are also worried about the temperature variation due to rain as this will affect fruit setting and quality of fruit.

Palampur, May 13
The upper reaches of Dhauladhar and Bara Bhangal ranges in Palampur region are experiencing heavy rain and snowfall for the past 24 hours, resulting in considerable fall in temperature.

The entire region is in the grip of unusual cold wave even in the month of May. Rain and snow have adversely affected normal life in the region.

Telecommunication, electricity and drinking water supply services have been hit. The residents in the region have taken out their woollens again.

Wheat and potatoes worth lakhs of rupees stacked by the farmers in their field have been damaged. Besides, fruit growers, who were expecting a bumper mango crop this year, suffered a major setback because of the inclement weather, which destroyed the mango crop in the lower area of Kangra region.

Meanwhile, the repair and re-metaling of various state and national highways have also come to a standstill because of bad weather.

A senior PWD officer said: “May is the only month in which roads repair works can be taken up, but heavy rain has adversely affected the targets. If it continues, the department will not be able to complete the repair of roads damaged during the winter season.”

Shimla, May 13
In a clear-cut warning to the slacking independent power producers (IPPs), the state government has cancelled the allotment of three power projects - 104 MW, Tandi, 81 MW Tinget and 130 MW Rahsil - in Chenab river basin in Lahaul valley as the private companies failed to deposit the upfront premium in time, which is mandatory as per the power policy 2006.

The three power projects have been cancelled as IPPs failed to deposit the mandatory upfront premium to the government even after the extension period was over, said principal secretary power, SKBS Negi.

With the cancelling of the power projects, the government has put the record straight, warning the IPPs, saying they cannot sit and drag their feet on the projects without doing anything, said the official sources.

Tandi was allotted to the ABG shipyard company on May 31, 2011 and is located at the confluence of the Chandra and Bhaga rivers in Lahaul valley. Tinget project on the Miayr river in Miyar valley in Lahaul-Spiti was allotted to the AMR-MITRA joint venture company in May 5, 2011 during the previous BJP regime.

The third project, Rashil on Chenab river, was also allotted to ABG Shipyard April 4, 2011.

According to sources, the ball is now in the Cabinet’s court on whether to give further extension to the projects as these stand deemed cancelled as per the norms and power policy, 2006, said officials.

Kullu, May 13
Nearly 40 vehicles are still stranded at the Rohtang Pass, as it experienced fresh snowfall again today.

Intermittent snowfall continued at the Pass for the fourth consecutive day today and it had received around four inches of snow by the afternoon.

The sky cleared partially for the latter half of the day, but the stranded vehicles could not be evacuated, Lahaul and Spiti, Deputy Commissioner, BS Thakur, said.

He said vehicular movement was not allowed through the Pass beyond Gulaba and Koksar villages. He said rescue teams and snow cutters had been moved to clear the Pass of snow to restore vehicular movement.

An HRTC bus, three trucks and around 14 small vehicles are trapped towards the Marhi region, while two HRTC buses, three tippers and around 15 small vehicles are reportedly stuck towards the Koksar side of the Pass.

The occupants of these vehicles were, however, moved to safe places yesterday with the efforts of Lahaul and Kullu district administrations.

Tourists, especially the honeymooners, were happy to experience fresh snowfall. Some tourists, however, complained of being fleeced by the operators of All-Terrain Vehicles (ATV), who charged exorbitantly to ferry tourists to snow point beyond Gulaba.

Kullu town experienced showers since morning, but sunshine cheered residents and tourists after 2.30 pm.

Sundernagar, May 13
The poor condition of National Highway-21 in general and from Gara Mora (Bilaspur) to Nagchala (Mandi) in particular is adversely affecting the inflow of tourist to Himachal Pradesh. A majority of tourists who used to travel on this road through this patch on their way to Kullu-Manali feel harassed and were of the opinion that this road was not fit even for the heavy vehicles.

The tall claims made by the government regarding the development of infrastructures such as roads and transportation facilities seem to be hollow if one has to travel through Gara More (Bilspur, entry point of Himachal Pradesh) to Dadour as this road is in the worst condition and tourists who happen to travel through this road further advise others not to visit Himachal Pradesh.

The inflow of tourist has already started and popular destination for the tourists was the Kullu valley but the poor conditions of the National Highway 21 from Gara More to Nagchala (85 Km Patch) which was allegedly maintained by the National Highway Authority of India was causing much of trouble to the tourists.

According to Vikas Sarin, who recently visited Himachal,said the journey had caused much harassment to him and his family members as at some places, it was not possible to even the locate the road and the whole of the road was full of potholes at some of places. The holes were even more than two feet. It seemed that the road was not repaired for the last so many years and it was repaired on paper only, it was further told.

According to residents of the Balh valley, the work on the fourlane project undertaken by the National Highway Authority of India in this patch was going on at many places, on the other hand the authorities have stopped maintaining the existing road. They further claimed that they had many times asked the NHAI to make the road trouble-free but no steps were taken to improve the condition of road. According to Officials of NHAI, the repair work would be started soon.

Interestingly, on a patch of about 100 mts near here between Nerchowk to Dadour, one will not find the road from where he can move. A visit to spot revealed that no arrangement for drain was made on the spot and the authorities at the behest of political persons tried to change the direction of natural flow of water which was causing much of trouble and during slight rains it was too dangerous to move through this patch.

Nurpur, May 13
A number of public places, markets and playgrounds in the old sub-divisional town have turned into unpaid parking lots. This is attributed to absence of any civic strategy for setting up parking lots.

The town had few two and four wheelers three to four decades back. But the past three decades have seen a drastic rise in the number of vehicles.

The local civic body has failed to cope with the burgeoning rise of vehicles and did not set up parking lots in the town. As a sequel, the streets, markets, play grounds and other public places have turned into parking lots. Residents are forced to park their vehicles in these places in the absence of parking facility in the town.

The unauthorised parking of vehicles has become a routine affair in the town. Inquiries reveal the then Municipal Council (MC) had proposed a parking lot-cum-shopping complex near the Hanuman temple in the upper Niazpur locality about one and a half decades ago, but nothing concrete has been been done so far.

Now, the MC has again submitted proposals of two parking lots to the state government following Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's approval for the same during his winter sojourn here.

MC executive officer RS Verma said a parking lot with an estimate cost of Rs 4 crore near the Hanuman temple and another with an estimate cost of Rs 50 lakh near the old employment office had been proposed by the MC.

Ashwani Suri, president, Nurpur Beopar Mandal, while underlining the need to build small parking lots in vacant places surrounding local markets lamented that in the absence of parking facility, customers experience a lot of inconvenience in parking vehicles. “Customers with four wheelers avoid shopping in the town as they find no place to park their vehicles which adversely affects business activity in the town,” he claimed.

Shimla, May 13
Expressing concern over the issue of the safety and security of government properties, the HP High Court has issued a notice to the Chief Secretary.

The court has also directed the state authorities, including Principal Secretary (Education), Principal Secretary (Home), Secretary (Health), Secretary (Revenue), Director General of Police, Director of Education HP and Deputy Commissioner, Kullu, to file their replies before June 30.

A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan passed the orders on a petition taken up suo moto by the court as a Public Interest Litigation in a news item published in the media regarding poor upkeep and safety of government properties.

It was alleged in the report that over 10,000 primary and middle schools in the state are without watchmen as the government has no provision for this post, leaving the schools at the mercy of petty thieves.

As a result, hundreds of thefts have been reported from government primary schools in the recent years, which mostly comprise LPG cylinders, utensils and ration stored in the schools for mid-day meals.

Similar is the condition of hundreds of primary health centres, patwar bhawans, veterinary hospitals and temples. Thieves are easily making old temples and monasteries their targets. Idols and ornaments worth millions of rupees have been lost/ stolen.

Treating this media report as a Public Interest Litigation, the court has sought the response of the state and listed the matter for June 30.

Kangra, May 13
The police have yet to make a breakthrough in the two cases of ATM robbery. One ATM each of Punjab National Bank and Kangra Central Cooperative (KCC) Bank at Gaggal, 8 km from here, were looted of a combined sum of Rs 25 lakh in the wee hours of May 11.

Kangra Additional Police Chief Mohit Chawala today said the two ATMs were cut with the help of gas cutters by a gang of burglars around 3 am. He said the KCC bank ATM was not equipped with the CCTV camera. However, the PNB ATM had the CCTV camera installed in it. The police were verifying the CCTV footage for getting clues.

Kangra Sub-Divisional Police Officer Ashok Kumar said officials of the forensic science laboratory visited the site and collected foot and finger prints.

Two police parties were rushed to the neighbouring state of Punjab as similar incidents, where the same technique was adopted, were reported from Jalandhar, Mukerian and Dasuya, the police said.

The KCC Bank ATM had Rs 2,46,400 whereas as per PNB authorities, Rs 22 lakh was in the PNB ATM at the time of committing the crime. Further investigation was in progress, DSP Ashok said.

Chamba, May 13
Musafir Ram Bhardwaj, a Padmashree awardee, was felicitated by the shilpa parishad of Chamba today.

Musafir Ram (87), a resident of Bharmour region, reached here previous night after receiving the prestigious Padmashree. He was greeted by officials of the shilpa parishad and art lovers of the town.

Musafir Bhardwaj is an accomplished performer of the rare drum-shaped musical instrument ‘pauna-mata’. This sacred musical instrument is played on special occasions during performance of certain rituals of the Gaddi tribe of the region.

Musafir Ram was initiated into this sacred music by his father. For his remarkable performance and contribution to the field of performing arts, Musafir Ram was honoured by the President of India with the Padmashree.

Dr Vijay Sharma, president, shilpa parishad, honoured Bhardwaj with a citation, memento and a shawl.

Several art lovers of the town were present on the occasion.

Chamba, May 13
Students of Classes X and XII from four educational institutes in Maharashtra scaled the snow-covered Gauri Kund plateau, just 3 km below the famous Manimahesh lake, during their five-day adventure trek to the mountainous region of Bharmour in Chamba district.

After their return from snow-capped ranges of the Bharmour region, Prem Sagar, manager of the students’ group, related students’ experiences to mediapersons here today.

He said it was a rare experience for students, hailing from seashore areas, to enjoy the snow on mountains.

As the track remained buried under a huge deposit of snow at Gauri Kund, students could not go up and had to return.

They also visited ancient temples of Bharmour and the Bhuri Singh Museum in Chamba, besides experiencing folklores of this hill region. 

Palampur, May 13
An attempt was made to loot the ancient Shiva Temple at Baijnath, 15 km from here yesterday, which was foiled by care takers of the temple.

Reports reaching here said two persons entered the temple premises late last night to commit theft in the temple.

However, the alert night watchmen noticed them and raised the alarm. Both ran away from the temple premises, living behind their tools which they had carried to break open the locks.

The matter was reported to the police.

The SDM, Baijnath, visited the temple and reviewed the security arrangements. He asked trust officials to be vigilant and do not allow the unknown person to enter the temple premises after 10 pm.

Nurpur, May 13
A fire broke out in the house of Baldev Singh of Ward No.7 in the town on Monday night.

Household items such as refrigerator, TV and sofa set were destroyed in the fire.

Though a fire tender was requisitioned, it failed to reach the house due to the absence of an approach path to it.

Nearby residents assembled and doused the fire.

As per information received from sources, the family members of the house were busy in the threshing of their harvested wheat crop.

A short circuit was cited as the reason of the fire. Municipal Councillor Bimla Devi has appealed to the district administration to provide financial assistance to the affected family. 

Kangra, May 13
The skeleton of a 65-year-old woman, who had gone missing on May 5, was recovered by the police today.

The skeleton of Kaushalia Devi of Chinoor village under Dehra police station was recovered from the bushes, just 200 metres away from her house, the police said.

Investigating Officer, ASI Balvir, said Kaushalia lived alone, as she was a widow and had daughters who were married.

He said on May 11, when the postman came with her pension, she was not found at home. After this the neighbours informed her relatives, who lodged a missing report with the Dehra police.

The police said the relatives made several attempts to locate her, but in vain. They said it was today that they noticed foul smell emanating from the bushes near her house. They searched the area, when they found her chappal and dupatta drenched with blood. It was then that they found her skeleton.

The police said the skull and jaws were broken and it was without skin and hair. Her eyes were removed, they added. The police said the body was identified with her dupatta, chappal and bangle.

The police suspect that she might have been killed by a leopard. But investigation was on. The skeleton was taken for postmortem.

The police said the victim’s daughters had no suspicion of any foul play.