• 5 years' RI for rape attempt
  

DRDA approves plan for next year
From Our Correspondent

MANDI, Dec 24 — The 40-member governing body of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), which met here under the chairmanship of Mr D.D. Thakur today, approved the Rs 289.85 lakh credit mobilisation plan for the next year after reviewing the progress of the current year.

Mr Thakur told mediapersons that a revaluation committee had been constituted to assess the progress of the various DRDA projects and point out the loopholes, if any, in the implementation the poverty alleviation schemes sponsored by the Centre.

Mr Thakur warned that any lapse on the part of the implementing agencies would be dealt with strictly. He stressed that there should be transparency in the working of field officers and it should be ensured that the benefits of different schemes percolate down to the poorest.

Mr Guman Singh, member, Zila Parishad, came down heavily on the government for having ditched the farmers who had taken up floriculture at the instance of the DRDA and suffered huge losses. He said the Centre's aid of over Rs 1 crore had virtually been wasted as an "unproductive expenditure".

He said a company introduced by the DRDA had deceived the people and added that the reimbursement of the amount to the farmers was now being described by the DRDA as a "soft loan". "It is not a soft loan. It is reimbursement and will not be returned", he asserted.

Chamba temples neglected
From Balkrishan Prashar

CHAMBA: Erected during the reign of King Umed Singh (1748-64), about a dozen ancient temples of Kharuda-Chauntra in the vicinity of this town are undoubtedly one of the best Shikhara-style architecture of the 18th century.

But unfortunately these temples are not protected by the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) or the state government or NGOs like the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).

As a consequence, the works of art carved on the walls of these medieval temples are exposed to the vagaries of nature. Due to utter neglect, the wild vegetation has grown on the walls of the temples.

The wall carvings of these temples have fallen victim to the whims and fancy of frequent interference of animals and human element thereby disfiguring them. A lot of dust and other superficial material have deposited on the surface even as the outer layer of the walls has peeled off, flaked and cracked at many points.

Kharuda which is one of the oldest mohallas of Chamba town was a preserve of pious families of Brahmins whose settlement can be traced to the foundation of Chamba town itself. According to elderly citizens of the town, these ancient temples are memorial temples and erected by the relatives of the rulers of Chamba State.

In these temples, on the pedestal of the sanctum sanctorum not only the ruler is portrayed with exactness but also the donor couple who are sitting by his side with folded hands. The reason for the erection of these memorial temples could be that since this was the mohalla belonging exclusively to the Brahmins, proper worship could take place in these shrines to appease the spirits of the demons from time to time.

These temples are of historical significance and archaeological interest. Some of the shrines have not been renovated since the day of their construction and these stand forlorn and abandoned in the thick of Chamba town.

However, these temples still remind us of the glory and grandeur of ancient Chamba. The temples stand out as symbols of old Chamba amidst modern constructions.

From the archaeological point of view, these monuments not only denote the antiquity of Chamba but also help in determining the ancient town planning and drainage pattern of the old town.

A few of these temples received a tilt in an earthquake which occurred on April 4, 1905, but have not so far been straightened. There is an urgent need to restore these ancient temples in the interest of devotees, visitors and tourists hailing from home and abroad.

'Apple grower not paid dues yet'
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 24 — Mr Bhagat Ram Chauhan, Shimla district President of the Himachal Vikas Congress, has contested the claim of the Horticulture Minister, Mr Narendera Bragta, that the HPMC and Himfed have cleared payments for the culled apple procured from the growers.

Mr Chauhan alleged that the Minister's claim was not correct. No payment had yet been received by the fruit growers.

He demanded that payment for the procured fruit should be made in cash so that the growers could purchase insecticides and other material.

Two arrested, timber seized
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 24 — The police has seized illegally felled timber worth about Rs 1.80 lakh and arrested two persons.

According to the SP, Mr A.N. Sharma, the timber was being carried in a truck which was intercepted near Mehli on the outskirts of the town.

The driver, Netar Singh, and conductor Sudhir Singh were arrested and the timber was seized. However, a car carrying five persons escaped the police dragnet.

In another incident, Hazura Singh, president of a truck union of Ladwa in Kurukshetra, has been arrested for allegedly duping apple growers of Narkanda by carrying their produce in trucks with fake registration numbers. He was accused of having cheated them by selling the produce himself.

Resentment over delay in getting salaries
From Our Correspondent

KANGRA, Dec 24 — Hundreds of teachers in privately managed but aided schools in the state are sore over not getting their monthly salaries for the past eight months.

In a statement here yesterday, Mr Neeraj Sood, president of the H.P. Privately Managed Government-aided and Recognised School Teachers Association, Kangra district, said the government was not fulfilling promises made during the poll of providing new pay scales to them and failed in formulating a clear-cut policy with regard to these teachers.

He said it was unfortunate that on the one hand the government was promising regular salaries to the teachers but on the other it was unmoved at the eight months' delay in giving salaries to the teachers.

800 issued arms licences
From Our Correspondent

CHAMBA, Dec 24 — About 800 persons have so far been issued arms licences in the border villages of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh adjacent to Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Giving this information here yesterday the District Magistrate, Mr K Sanjaymurti, disclosed that 180 village defence committees in 34 panchayats in border areas had been constituted and that arms training had been imparted to 1062 members of these committees to fight militancy.

The magistrate said the training was also being imparted to the members of the committees falling in Dalhousie tehsil and Bhalayee subtehsil of Chamba district.

5 years' RI for rape attempt
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Dec 24 — Mr Surjeet Singh, District and Sessions Judge, Shimla, today convicted Chandu Lal and sentenced him to five years' rigorous imprisonment and fined him Rs 1000 for attempting to rape a 10-year-old dumb girl near Theog in May.

The suspect forcibly took the girl to a nullah and tried to rape her. However, the mother of the victim reached there and rescued her.