Shimla, November 19
Throwing all norms to the winds, more than 200 deodar and oak trees have been cut from a vast expanse of prime private property adjoining the Tara Devi temple here on the outskirts of the town.

The stumps of the felled trees, saw dust and heaps of ash lying in huge pits used to burn the branches on the land shows how blatantly the owners violated all norms. Despite the use of motorised saws so as not to not leave any proof, the patch of land is full of tell tale signs of the brazen act on the outskirts of the state capital.

The felling of trees took place about a fortnight back and it was on November 14 that the forest authorities came to know about it. Though forest officials visited the site and undertook the stump count which is over 200, the number is likely to go up as some saplings are still unnumbered.

The fact that no effort has been made to trace the felled wood also reflects the very casual approach of forest officials.

What is even more interesting is the fact that the Forest Department is yet to issue a notice to owners of the land as it has no address or contact number of the owners.

Except for a simple complaint made with the police, the department is still inquiring into the matter. It has been confirmed that the owners did not bother to seek permission from the Range Officer or the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) to cut trees on their land.

Principal Chief Conservator Forest (PCCF) SK Srivastava said he was unaware of illegal felling. “I will inquire into it as prior permission has to be sought even if it is private land,” he said.

“We are still inquiring into the matter but we are yet to issue any notice to the owners as we do have their address or contact number,” said Vinod Sharma, DFO. He said the police had been informed but since the felling took place on private land, it was not necessary to get an FIR registered. He also added that the number of trees felled could be 208 as some more stumps of trees had been found at the site.

The locals said it took three days to fell the trees even with the help of machine. “The sale of land or its leasing out has taken place recently either for a five star hotel or a green house,” they said. While some say the land has been sold, others say it has been given out on lease but it could not be verified as the revenue authorities had no information. 

Shimla, November 19
Mahasu Peak Resorts and Kufri Fun Campus & Adventure Park have encroached upon forest land in Kufri. This was stated by the Deputy Commissioner, Shimla, in his reply to a public interest litigation plea pending in the high court.

He further stated that encroachment cases had been filed against all encroachers who had created structures, whereas the temporary structures used for running dhabas, gift shops, etc had been removed by the Forest Department in Kufri. The reply further revealed that steps were taken to stop illegal adventure activities to prevent any untoward incidence after a tourist lost his life in zipline accident on June 7, 2014.

The DC has filed this reply to a petition taken up suo motu by the court as a PIL plea on a letter written to the Chief Justice by Infinity Adventure Tourism. In this letter, the petitioner has highlighted the issue of encroachments by some persons in Kufri and also alleged that government is doing nothing to develop the Mahasu peak. It was further alleged that the government land was encroached by Kufri fun world.

Today the matter was listed before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and after hearing the matter, the court posted the matter for December 24.

The court appointed Dilip Sharma, senior advocate, as amicus curiae to assist the court and directed the Kufri Fun Campus, Mahasu Peak Resorts and the Devta Commitee, Nag Devta, Chirah, to file their replies within four weeks.

Nurpur, November 19
Drug trafficking in Nurpur and its surrounding areas is increasing at an alarming rate, thanks to drug peddlers who are present in almost every nook and corner of this border town. Unfortunately, school and college students are falling prey to these. The peddlers have a high-tech network to procure and sell sedatives and narcotic drugs.

They run their ‘mobile’ drug shops at a number of places in the town and other parts of the subdivision. The peddlers and drug addicts have cell phone connections for selling and buying drugs packed in small quantities. Apart from this, sedative capsules, locally known as ‘bhutu’ and a white fluid used in erasing ink is being sold to the addicts by some chemists and small vendors.

The government’s anti-drug awareness programmes are falling flat and proving to be no help to check the menace, which has become a serious concern for parents.

Also, unauthorised liquor is being sold by vendors and small shopkeepers in the town and surrounding villages, allegedly with the help of their political connections.

The situation has turned worse after November 2012, when the then state government amended the HP Excise Act and withdrew powers from the police to inspect and check illegal sale and consumption of liquor at public places. As per the new amendments, only excise authorities were empowered to do so.

Rajiv Pathania, general secretary of the Crescent Club, and Vipon Mahajan, president of the Free Thinkers’ Club, local NGOs, while expressing concern over drug trafficking and illegal sale of liquor, underlined the need to open drug de-addiction centre in the local civil hospital. They also demanded the launch of an aggressive campaign by the police against drug peddlers and suggested special awareness drive against drug abuse.

DSP Manoj Joshi said the police had recently inspected chemist shops with the assistance of drug inspectors and conducted raids as and when a tip-off was received. He appealed to parents whose children had become drug addicts to approach the police and take assistance of drug de-addiction centres for their rehabilitation.

Solan, November 19
Health and Family Welfare Minister Kaul Singh Thakur today said all deputy commissioners had been directed to look for a suitable land, measuring 1,200 bighas, for setting up AIIMS. The institute would be set up wherever suitable land was available.

Addressing people at Dharampur today, after dedicating an Emergency Response Centre constructed at a cost of Rs 2.28 crore to the people, the minister said no site had as yet been earmarked for opening the AIIMS-like institution.

An AIIMS institute had been announced for the state in the Union Budget and various political leaders had been desirous of setting it up in their respective constituencies.

Thakur said the state had strengthened the health sector by deploying 452 doctors on contractual basis and 112 female health workers were also being appointed. The BJP had not only closed their training centres but also several sub-centres, causing hardships to the people. Congress government was now re-opening such centres by making available adequate staff, he added.

Kaul Singh said 80 new health institutions had been opened in the last two years and 900 para-medical staffers were appointed. Referring to the long-pending demand of opening a trauma centre at Dharampur, he said the government was pursuing the issue with the Union Government.

He appealed to the youth to shun drugs. 

Mandi, November 19
Anganwari workers would hold protest rallies in support of their demands in the district on November 21.

District CITU president Bhupender Singh said they demanded regularisation of the anganwari workers and monthly allowance of Rs 7,500 on the pattern of Haryana. He said the protest rallies would be held in Mandi, Jogindernagar, Sarkaghat and Kasog and the anganwari centres would remain close on that day. — TNS

Shimla, November 19
The visually challenged and other disabled persons, who are unable to write due to some major disability, have a reason to cheer as the Himachal Pradesh University has finally approved the new policy to provide concessions to such students.

Vice-Chancellor ADN Bajpai today approved the policy, relaxing the norms for providing a writer to blind and other persons with disability after more than 20 months. But other institutions such as the State Public Service Commission, Subordinate Services Selection Board and Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education are yet to implement the policy.

The policy circulated by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for implementation across the country, waves off all pre-conditions for a writer who writes in examinations for the blind or other disabled persons.

Further, an hour additional time would be accorded to such students over three hours’ time in the examination and qualification of the writer would be no bar.

The new rules would be implemented in the ensuing examinations commencing from November 27, 2014.

Ajai Srivastava, an associate professor and member secretary of the committee, said: “A major relief for the blind or other candidates who cannot write due to disability is that now they can engage any person as a writer irrespective of his qualification.”

As per old rules, the qualification of the writer had to be one class lower than the candidate, but now this condition had been removed and it would be for the invigilator to ensure that “no unfair means were used” while answering the questions.

The procedure for granting permission for getting a writer has also been relaxed and principals of the colleges have been authorised to give permission to avail writers to save time and energy of the disabled students. Presently, only the Controller of Examination of University was authorised to give permission for engaging a writer.

In case of an emergency, the candidates would be allowed to change their writers. As per the new policy, the university and colleges will prepare a pool of writers who will write in the examination for the blind and other disabled candidates. 

Shimla, November 19
The recent conking off the newly installed Rs 5 crore transformer-generator of the sixth unit of the 412 mw Rampur Hydropower Project has not only raised a question mark the way “quality control” is being maintained at Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL), but has further delayed the inauguration of the project already running three years behind schedule.

It is already plagued by cost overruns and the project cost has shot up from Rs 2,047 crore in 2006 to Rs 3,315 crore despite the fact that “Rampur project does not involve the construction of diversion dam as it is utilising the waters of the outlet of the 1,500 mw Nathapa Jhakhari project”.

As a result both state government, which would get 30 per cent as equity share and 12 per cent free power and the SJVNL, which is executing the project on the Satluj river in the district, are losing revenue worth crores of rupees everyday.

The Ministry of Power, which controls the SJVNL, is planning to rope in Prime Minister Narendra Modi for its inauguration next month to make it a big show, considering that the 1,500 mw Nathapa Jhakhari power project, which was dedicated to the nation by the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in 2005, revealed insiders.

The SJVNL has fixed its commissioning this month earlier, they said.

The malfunctioning of the Rs 5 crore transformer procured from the Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd (BHEL), a government of India undertaking, has raised questions about the quality control at the SJVNL. This transformer was installed in the 68.66 mw sixth unit of the 412 mw Rampur project, which is running more than three years behind schedule as the project was slated to be commissioned in March 2012.

The SJVNL, however, has ruled out any malfunctioning of other transformers installed at other five units.

“All other five units are running their commercial generation smoothly ever since these were commissioned in 2013 and 2014,” claimed general manager, Rampur hydropower project, Kranti K Gupta.

“We have replaced the sixth transformer as it was within warranty period from BHEL and hope to start the trial run soon,” he said.

The work on the project began in February 2007. But the SJVNL blamed “unexplained geological surprises”, including the diversion of the river for construction of the 15.19 km head race tunnel as major ruses” for delay as the corporation missed the March 2012 deadline for its commissioning.

Dharamsala, November 19
Health Minister Kaul Singh has ordered an inquiry into operation of illegal drug de-addiction centre at Indora in Kangra. Drug addict from Moga Rajinder Singh was beaten to death by centre workers on November 11.

Kaul Singh said all Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) would be directed to find out and stop if such illegal drug de-addiction centres were operating in the state. The CMO would be asked to take action against the accused for running an illegal centre in Indora.

The health authorities in the district were not aware about the illegal drug de-addiction centre being run in Indora. Inquiries by The Tribune revealed that while the district health authorities were not aware about the functioning of the drug de-addiction centre, the local health authorities turned a blind eye to it.

The laxity on the part of the health authorities led to the death of Rajinder Singh, inmate of de-addiction centre.

CMO of Kangra BM Gupta said he had no knowledge about the de-addiction centre at Indora. As per the provisions of the Health Department, all private health centres have to register with the office of the CMO. However, the drug de-addiction centre that was being run in Indora was not registered with the office of the CMO. The centre was being run illegally, the CMO said.

When asked as to what action the department was taking against the people running the illegal drug de-addiction centre, the CMO said though the state government had made provisions for registration of private health centres, there was no provision of penalty against those who did not register.

Sources said as per norms, any de-addiction centre had to be run under the supervision of registered medical practitioners. The drug addicts had to be given psychotropic drugs under the supervision of a trained doctor. In addition to that, de-addiction centres should have trained psychologists to counsel drug addicts for giving away drugs.

However, in most illegal de-addiction centres, drug addicts are restrained from taking drugs by force. The drug addicts, who turn violent due to withdrawal symptoms, are controlled by beating by musclemen. The people running the centres charge amounts ranging from ~10,000 to ~15,000 per month from the kin of addicts.

The three accused arrested yesterday were remanded into police custody today for five days. The police were conducting raids in Punjab to nab other two accused. The body of deceased Rajinder Singh was handed over to his parents by the Nurpur police.

Kangra, November 19
Two schools of Nagrota Bagwan have done well in the four-day state-level Science Congress organised by Science and Technology Department at Mandi recently.

Chhavi Kashyap, Principal, Rainbow International School, said Muskan, Rajat, Pratykash, Sarvesh and Arman bagged the first position at the state level for their skit “Kalchakra”, based on the effects of weather and climate. Namita Gupta and Munish Sharma got mementos and certificates for being guide teachers.

Sudhanshu Sharma, Principal of Green Field School, said in senior survey report, Arushi Walia and Deepakshi of Class X got the first prize and were selected for National Survey Report. In the same category, Aditi Sharma and Aayushi Awasthi got the second prize, he said. The school bagged a runners-up trophy for senior urban survey report.— OC 

Solan, November 19
Two youths, Sanju and Kishen Kumar, hailing from a village near Nanui, received splinter injuries when their friend, Bhim Singh, fired at some wild birds in the forest area of Bhajo, near Nauni, on Sunday evening. 

Bhim Singh reportedly had his father’s gun. Kishen was taken to the Regional Hospital,Solan, and was referred to the IGMC, Shimla, on Monday. SHO Anil Dhaulta said Kuldeep lodged a complaint with the police the same day.— TNS

Nurpur, November 19
Around 200 bus, truck and taxi drivers were examined at a health and eye medical camp at Jassur near here today. The camp was organised by the Kangra district police at the HRTC workshop on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway. A team of doctors from the Nurpur Civil Hospital and community health centre, Gangath, examined the drivers.

Sub-divisional police officer Manoj Joshi opened the camp told that such camps were being organised at sub-divisional headquarters in the district under its road safety scheme launched in 2006. “The poor physical fitness-cum-weak eyesight of the drivers is among one of the reasons for road accidents and the police have been organising such medical camps in the district to make drivers aware about their health and eye fitness,” he asserted. The drivers were also educated for not plying vehicles in inebriated condition and avoid rash and carelessly driving to check road mishaps.

Members of the Road Safety Club, Jassur, were also present at the camp.

Shimla, November 19
The six-day march by BJP leaders for early completion of the 80-km Theog-Hatkoti road concluded at Sanjauli here this evening with former Chief Minister PK Dhumal describing it as historic.

Addressing a gathering, he hit out at the government for being insensitive towards the sufferings of the people of the area and urged the government to expedite the work on the road. Dhumal lauded BJP workers for the successful yatra and said it had brought the plight of the people into focus and now it was for the government to act.

The march, spearheaded by former BJP minister Narender Bragta, was flagged off by state BJP chief Satpal Satti from Rohru on November 14, reached Theog this afternoon and party workers reached Dhalli near Shimla from Theog and marched to Sanjauli. The response to the yatra was good but it would have been much better if all leaders of Shimla district had participated in it, said a senior leader.

Besides, Bragta and state BJP chief Satti, Varinder Kashyap, BJP MP from Shimla, Suresh Bhardwaj, Mohinder Singh, MLAs, and former MLA from Theog Rakesh Verma participated in it but former BJP MLA from Rohru Khushi Ram Balnatah was missing.

A delegation led by former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, would submit a memorandum to the Governor tomorrow and demand early completion of road.

The Congress has dubbed the padyatra as a political gimmick and blamed the previous BJP government of not taking prompt action for early completion of the road. 

Shimla, November 19
The HP High Court has deferred the hearing on the petition filed by former minister Narender Bragta on the issue of widening of the Theog- Kotkhai- Jubbal to Rohru road for November 24.

The Advocate-General informed the court that pertaining to this issue a Public Interest Litigation was filed by an advocate, Devinder Chauhan and various orders were passed by the court for the early construction of this road. After hearing the matter the court listed both the petitions for next Monday.

It is pertinent to mention here that Devinder Chauhan has also raised this issue in his petition and alleged that due to bad condition of this road the apple growers of this area are facing transportation problem. He further alleged that bad condition of the road had entailed a loss of ~500 crore to the apple growers connected with the Theog, Kotkhai, Jubbal to Rohru highway.

Now former minister Narender Bragta has also raised same issue by filing the fresh petition with a prayer to direct the state and the contractor to complete it with in stipulated time.

Kangra, November 19
The BCCI will award Rishi Dhawan with Madhavrao Scindia Award for taking the highest number of wickets in 2013-14 Ranji Trophy.

Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) spokesman today said Rishi, who took 49 wickets at the rate of 20.3 in eight matches, would be awarded a trophy and a cheque for Rs 2.5 lakh in an award ceremony on November 21.

Dhawan said, “I cannot describe my happiness and joy. It is an honour to receive the prestigious award from BCCI and this award will give me and my fellow players from HPCA a boost to perform better.”

He thanked the HPCA for its support over the years. This would help players like him to excel in the game, he added.

HPCA President Anurag Thakur said, “It is a moment of great pride and honour for all of us at HPCA. Rishi has time and again proven his metal and this award is a testimony to that.”

HPCA spokesman said others who will be awarded included Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Parvez Rasool, R Vinay Kumar, Kedar Jadhav, Rahul Tripathi, B Anirudh, Shubham Gill and Smriti Mandhana. Dilip Vengsarkar will be awarded with Col C K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, he added. 

Shimla, November 19
The Power Ministry’s proposed privatisation of distribution networks of the state-run power utilities, by amending the Electricity Act, 2003, has received brickbats from engineers and bouquets from the independent power producers (IPPs).

The Northern India Power Engineers’ Federation (NIPEF) has upped its ante against the proposed move of the Central Government to amend the Electricity Act in the upcoming session of Parliament. Once the government gives license to the private companies, they would take out the ‘creamy layer high-end consumers’ that, in turn, would trigger huge losses to the state-run distribution utilities and burden the common consumers”, stated R S Dahiya, chairman of NIPEF, and Bhupinder Singh, secretary general, who were here to garner support to oppose the Centre’s move.

NIPEF has been holding a series of meetings in UP, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir to lobby with the state government to thwart the proposed amendment. Under this amendment, the private companies which get license will use the distribution network of the state power utility and supply electricity to identified consumers, the power engineers said.

“The Aggregate Technical and Commercial Losses (AT & C losses ) will go up, maintenance of transmission network will suffer and hit the quality of power supplies and increase hassles of contract to common consumers. It would also give a financial blow to the state-run utilities”, they feared. NIPEF claimed that the private companies would dominate the generation and distribution networks and dictate full generation of private plants. “We demand that generation should be in the state hands as state should get more thermal and hydropower projects,” said Bhupender Singh.

On the other hand, private producers defend the proposed move, pleading that the AT and C losses, including rampant power thefts and transmission and distribution losses, will go down. The consumers will get better power supply. Secondly, the tariff was decided by the state and Central electricity regulatory commissions and there were many checks and balances to bridle the private and state-run utilities. The move would make power generation and distribution a competent business, the private power producers said.

But the NIPEF engineers demanded that the CAG audit be made mandatory for private companies, while the regulators should decide the tariff, keeping in mind the annual revenue requirements of state utilities. “The private distribution model in Delhi has failed and we demand a white paper on this system”, Dahiya said.

Chamba, November 19
The famous Chamunda mandir complex located on a hill on the eastern edge of Chamba town is without toilet facilities. Chamba Welfare Association president RK Mahajan recently dropped a letter to officials concerned to take immediate steps to provide toilet facilities in the precincts of the Chamunda Devi temple complex.

It may be recalled that the ancient Chamunda Devi temple is visited by a number of devotees daily to pay obeisance to the Goddess Chamunda Devi. Even the tourists who visit Chamba town never miss to visit the famous temple of Chamunda from where one can have a bird’s eye view of the entire Chamba town and its 
environs. — OC 

Chamba, November 19
As many as 16 orphans, poor and disabled students were provided financial assistance of Rs 2,400 per annum by the liberal donors and members under the ‘anath angular yogna’ of the Himotkarsh Sahitya Sanskrit Avum Jan Kalyan Parishad, one of the prominent NGOs of Himachal Pradesh.

The assistance was provided at an annual function of the Chamba branch of Himotkarsh Sahitya Sanskrit Avum Jan Kalyan Parishad held here on Sunday. M Sudha Devi, Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, was the chief guest and the function was presided over by Kunwar Hari Singh, state president of the parishad.

The scholarships and medals were also presented to district toppers and meerit holders of the Chamba and Bharmour sub-divisions who cleared the Himotkarsh quiz competition held last year. Five district toppers and sixteen merit holders were honored with medals and cash prizes.

Three distinct achievers of Chamba were also honoured with ‘Himachal Shree Samman’, by the chief guest for their outstanding achievements in different fields. Dr Rajesh Seghal for significant contribution in archeological research, Dr Shivdayal for education and late Darshan Singh Verman for art and culture. The DC praised the role of Himotkarsh Parishad in providing assistance to poorest of the poor and helping them to bring them to mainstream of the society. Himotkarsh’s local branch president YK Puri gave annual report of the branch activities. School children performed a cultural programme at the function.