Flights from Gaggal soon
DHARAMSALA, April 2 — Gaggal airport, is likely to become operational this month, after the visit of a high-level delegation of Indian Airlines, here last week. Since April, 1996, no regular flights have operated from Gaggal airport, despite assured traffic of foreigners on this route due to presence of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, here.

Dhumal abdicating state's rights: Cong
SHIMLA, April 2 — The PCC chief Mr Sat Mahajan has said the Chief Minister, Mr PK Dhumal, has let down people of Himachal Pradesh by abdicating the state's share in Chandigarh and other assets of the undivided Punjab.

Crackdown on timber smuggling from today
MANDI, April 2 — Crackdown on timber smugglers would be launched jointly by the police and the Forest Department from tomorrow in addition to pressure already built up against the forest 'mafia'.

Tibetan Youth Cong to resume strike on April 5
DHARAMSALA, April 2 — After waiting for nine months for a solution to the Tibetan problem, members of the Tibetan Youth Congress, will resume its hunger strike on April 5 at Geneva.

Resentment over post allocation
NURPUR, April 2 — Mr Ajay Mahajan, the General Secretary Kangra District Congress Committee, in a statement here yesterday has asked the government to make the criterion public for allocating posts of vidhya upasaks criterion public.

Form horticulture policy: growers
CHAMBA, April 2 — The Himachal Pradesh Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association has asked the state government to formulate a horticulture policy in the state.

Snow in Spiti valley
SHIMLA, April 2 — Higher reaches in Himachal have been experiencing snow since last night, bringing a sharp fall in the temperature in the tribal areas.

Flights from Gaggal soon
From Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, April 2 — Gaggal airport, is likely to become operational this month, after the visit of a high-level delegation of Indian Airlines, here last week.

Since April, 1996, no regular flights have operated from Gaggal airport, despite assured traffic of foreigners on this route due to presence of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, here. No private airline has undertaken operation of regular flights, and it is only being used for VIP and chartered flights.

According to sources, a team from Indian Airlines, visited Gaggal last week, to assess the technical feasibility and economic viability of the route. Initially a 18 seater Donier will be pressed into service, as was done by Vayudoot, when the airport had become operational, in 1992. However, air tariff has not been worked out so far.

The state government had undertaken the construction of Gaggal airport at a cost of Rs 7 crore in 1989, and had handed it over to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) in 1992. The AAI has been suffering losses because of negligible flights. It has also been bearing an expenditure of over Rs 12 lakh annually on the staff salary and the maintenance of the airport. At one stage the AAI was considering to return the airport to the state government, as it had become a liability for them.

The sinking of the runway of Gaggal airport had also made it unoperational and engineers of the AAI from Jammu had visited the place to find a solution to the problem. Despite the filling up of depressions repeatedly, the problem persisted. It was found that in the absence of a proper outlet for the perennial nullahs which existed there, the runway was getting water-logged, resulting in depressions on the runway. However, this problem was being tackled and it would not cause an obstruction in the resumption of regular flights now.

A notification under Section 4 has been issued to extend the present 3900- feet runway to 4500 feet. After formalities regarding the acquisition of land are completed, the Public Works Department, will take up the extension work. The possibility of extending the runway to 7,000 feet is being explored so that a Boeing can also land.

The resumption of flights from Kangra will give a boost to tourism as important dignitaries from all over the world keep visiting Dharamsala to meet the Dalai Lama. As per figures available with the Tourism Department, the number of tourist visiting Dharamsala in the highest followed by Kullu-Manali and Shimla.

The handing over of the Himachal sector to private airlines and the exorbitant fares are the major reasons for the non-stabilisation of air traffic in the state. People related with the tourism industry feel that it is only the government which can run reliable and regular flights between Gaggal and Delhi. The successive state governments on the other hand have been pleading subsidised structure of air tariff as was being given in Jammu and Kashmir and the north eastern sector.

The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, on his recent visit to Kangra, said the government was exploring the possibility of the setting up an international standard airport at Darkata, which is located on the Una — Kangra highway. The place has a high flat plateau, which is ideal for the construction of an airport. This site is being considered ideal as there are very few trees and habitation here. A decision will be taken after assessing the technical feasibility of the place. It is being felt that if there is a bigger airport, located centrally, Boeings will be able to land, which will also lead to reduction in air fare and give a big fillip to tourism.

Dhumal abdicating state's rights: Cong
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, April 2 — The PCC chief Mr Sat Mahajan has said the Chief Minister, Mr PK Dhumal, has let down people of Himachal Pradesh by abdicating the state's share in Chandigarh and other assets of the undivided Punjab.

Mr Mahajan was briefing newsmen about the deliberations of the meeting of office-bearers of the PCC here today.

He said the issue of the state's share might be dead for Mr Dhumal, but the Congress would continue to claim its constitutional right.

Mr Mahajan alleged that by making such statements Mr Dhumal was trying to please the BJP government at the Centre and also Punjab and Haryana which were behaving like big brothers. Mr Dhumal had surrendered the interests of Himachal Pradesh before Punjab and Haryana, he alleged.

He said he had discussed matter with the Congress Legislature Party chief, Mr Virbhadra Singh, who was also of the opinion that Himachal should not abdicate its constitutional share in the assets of undivided Punjab.

The PCC chief said the clause regarding the share of Himachal Pradesh was enshrined in the Constitution and could not be given up without an amendment of the Constitution.

He said Mr Dhumal's stand was contrary to that of the other BJP leader, Shanta Kumar, who had organised an "adhikar yatra" for the rights of the state. The state government had filed a petition in the Supreme Court when Mr Virbhadra Singh was the Chief Minister to claim the state's share of over Rs 1400 crore from the BBMB.

Mr Mahajan alleged that the present BJP-HVC combine government led by Mr Dhumal was the weakest the state ever had.

He said the law and order situation was deteriorating day by day and BJP workers were interfering in the administration.

He warned that the Chief Minister should not stand on prestige on the demand of the councillors of the Shimla Municipal Corporation to remove the Commissioner, Mr Nisha Singh, The Municipal Corporation Act provided that the government would have to recall the Commissioner in case the resolution was passed by a majority of the councillors.

He alleged that the Commissioner had granted permission for felling several green trees within the town without obtaining permission of the subcommittee headed by the Mayor.

Mr Mahajan said that although the state was facing a financial crisis, yet it had doled out advertisements worth lakhs of rupees to souvenirs which were brought out by the RSS.

Hamirpur facing drought conditions
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, April 2 — Hamirpur district in Himachal Pradesh is facing drought-like conditions due to scanty rainfall during the past three months and water scarcity has already started plaguing various parts of the district.

Absence of rain has not only dried up perennial water sources but also lowered the watertable which has resulted in drying up of hand-pumps.

Scarcity of rain has also caused irreparable loss to the standing rabi crops as about 75 per cent of the wheat crop has almost withered away.

Rabi crops have been sown in an area of about 35,000 hectares in the district, according to the Agriculture Department. The withering up of crops will result in shortage of fodder for animals and also put additional financial burden on the farmers.

Farmers in the district depend mainly on rainwater as only 3 per cent of the total land in the area is under irrigation.

Leaders of various political parties and village pradhans have been pressing the administration to engage tankers to supply water to the people in the district.

Meanwhile, the district administration held a meeting here last evening to assess the water and fodder situation. Mr Kamlesh Kumar Pant, the Deputy Commissioner, said a contingency plan had been formulated to meet the situation. He said water would be supplied to the people through tankers on demand.

Land takeover draws farmers' ire
From Kanwar Yogendra

KUSUMPTI: There was a wave of jubilation among farmers living in some villages of Kusumpti constituency adjoining Shimla town when the High Court quashed government orders of acquiring cultivable land in one of the villages some time back. There is already strong resentment in some villages near the town as these were forcibly included in the Shimla Municipal Corporation in the last regime against their will. The present political formation, which promised a reversal of this decision, is also not able to do anything regarding this so far. "Why is urbanisation forced on us" — is the question asked by these villagers.

"Now the government is acquiring land in these villages for making housing colonies", says a panchayat pradhan. About 55 bighas of land in Sangti village was acquired by the government and given to the HP Housing Board for building a new colony. The villagers after moving the High Court saved their land from acquisition. "But for how long no one knows", say the villagers.

This farm land with whatever left for cultivation is the mainstay and livelihood of the poor villagers. There is not even a single individual from this village who is serving in a government or semi-government undertaking, says Bhupinder Thakur, a farmer. We are fully dependent on this very land for our survival, he adds. The Housing Board was taking it for a song. Even the revenue agencies had given the report against acquiring this land, as it was related to the survival of poor peasants. Still it was acquired and a notification under Section 6 and 7of Land Acquisition Act was made, informs Thakur.

The Housing Board after making flats of all categories sells it to people by a draw of lots from inside or outside the state. Whereas under the Tenancy and Land Reform Act 1972, Section 118, non-agriculturist or outsider can purchase land in Himachal, says Mr Harsh Joshi, a local advocate. But the board making use of Section 18, clause H, is selling these ready flats to non-Himachalis from outside also, he adds. Mostly people from outside the state can buy these flats and Himachal being a poor state and people with less purchasing power can hardly afford these houses, feel most people.

It is often seen in the past that most of these flats were given to rich outside settlers after acquiring land from local peasants. A massive colony is being developed at Shoghi, on National Highway No 22, near Shimla. Farmers were given very less compensation, as most of them are now fighting cases in various courts. A majority of the farmers are already through with the amount of money they were given by the government as compensation.

Another colony which has come up in Sangti Dhar below Sanjauli is a glaring example. This area was earlier a joint 'charand' (pasture) of about 10 villages, like Shanan, Marhyan, Chamyana, Bakhrai and Malyana etc. Not even a single paisa was paid to the local villagers and a very big housing board colony has come up in this area. People after buying single storey flats, have now dismantled them and are making multi-storey houses there.

As a repercussion, settlers from outside are now encroaching on the agricultural land of these villages. The dirt and garbage from these colonies is going down to the villages. Natural water resources are polluted, milch cattle are forced to eat polythene and other dirty stuff thrown from these flats. The villagers are doing menial household jobs in these very flats which are made on their land once. Women and children of these farmers are already working as servants in these colonies.

The customary rights of farmers were snatched from them without being paid any compensation. And there is a race among outsiders for getting these flats as Himachal as a whole is a very peaceful state.

The farmers in the villages near the town are a worried lot. Some haphazard construction is done by outsiders at these villages after purchasing a few biswas of land from them. Now every construction in these villages is declared illegal and no water or electricity connection are issued. The original farmers have become victim of these rules, though they own sufficient land for further construction. No such rules were applied on them when they fell under their respective panchayats.

There is no agricultural cash crop in these villages. The small agriculturists of this area will be totally landless after a few years and this whole process of forced urbanisation and land acquisition will put a large part of the population to the vagaries of labour markets, creating unemployment and consequent demoralisation and destabilisation of the societies.

Timber smuggling
Crackdown from today
From Our Correspondent

MANDI, April 2 — Crackdown on timber smugglers would be launched jointly by the police and the Forest Department from tomorrow in addition to pressure already built up against the forest 'mafia'.

Disclosing this at a press conference today Mr R.A. Singh, Conservator of Forests, Mandi Circle said, the government had placed at his disposal the flying squad of Sundernagar. This squad would be pressed into service to check timber smuggling in Mandi and Kulu circles.

Replying to a question he agreed that the timber allotted virtually free of cost to the 'bartandars' (right-holders) was being smuggled. Of the 148 sleepers seized on Tuesday near Aut 100 bore the mark of TD hammer, he said.

He said it was paramount to modify the mode of granting TD. "The practice of sanctioning trees will have to be abandoned at the earliest to avoid timber smuggling", he said. He suggested that logs should be granted on need-based method. There was a plan to involve the Village Forest Development Committees in timber distribution system so that none was granted TD without genuine requirement, he said.

Replying to another question he said 8,436 trees were sanctioned and felled by the 'bartandars' during 1997-98. The market value of these trees was over Rs 15 crore, he affirmed.

He said dereliction of duty by the check-post staff had been viewed "very seriously" by the government and stringent action would follow.

He lamented that many cases of forest offences failed in courts because there was no legal agency to represent the forest cases while the forest offenders and smugglers avail themselves of the services of top lawyers. "Our guards and rangers should not be expected to compete with lawyers who take benefit of legal technicalities resulting in failure of forest cases", he added.

Mr Singh suggested that either the government advocate should be assigned to represent forest cases or the department should establish its own prosecution wing so that the culprits could be brought to book.

When asked why the police was catching more forest offenders than the Forest Department he said there had been fatal attacks on forest officials when they laid hands on smugglers. The decision to arm forest officials yet remains to be implemented. "The range officers have neither mobility nor any telephone links. These and many other handicaps affect the working of the department", he said.

Tibetan Youth Cong to resume strike on April 5
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, April 2 — After waiting for nine months for a solution to the Tibetan problem, members of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC), will resume its hunger strike on April 5 at Geneva.

The TYC members had observed a hunger strike in New Delhi last year to demand independence for Tibet, but it was deferred due to assurances from various countries, that a tangible solution to the problem would be found. The indefinite fast had continued for 67 days and one member Thupten Ngodup had even committed self-immolation.

The TYC leaders had agreed to defer the strike after tremendous national and international support assured that a solution would be found. The strike, which had attracted world attention, would now be resumed in Geneva.

With no signs of positive development, the TYC has also decided to take up the issue at the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Commission. A three- member TYC delegation has already left for Geneva to urge for the appointment of a Special Reporter on Tibet.

The TYC is the main organisation spearheading the Tibetan freedom movement. They are not ready to accept self-rule or genuine autonomy and have made it clear that they will not accept anything short of complete independence.

Resentment over post allocation
From Our Correspondent

NURPUR, April 2 — Mr Ajay Mahajan, the General Secretary Kangra District Congress Committee, in a statement here yesterday has asked the government to make the criterion public for allocating posts of vidhya upasaks criterion public.

He pointed out that 140 posts of vidhya upasaks had been earmarked for Kangra district which Mandi, Solan Kulu, with less population then Kangra had got 720, 400 and 209 posts respectively.

Form horticulture policy: growers
From Our Correspondent

CHAMBA, April 2 — The Himachal Pradesh Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association has asked the state government to formulate a horticulture policy in the state.

Dr S.P. Katyal, general secretary of the association said here today that the irony of the fate was that the state which had been proclaimed as a 'fruit bowl of India', had no horticulture policy and no steps had been taken for the benefit of the farmers.

He demanded that while formulating the horticulture policy, growers' views and opinion should be taken into consideration.

He urged the state government to set up a fruit processing plant at Chamba as the environment was conducive to fruit production and had a vast potential.

He said the association had proposed to convene a meeting of fruit and vegetable growers at Chamba soon.

Snow in Spiti valley

SHIMLA, April 2 (UNI) — Higher reaches in Himachal have been experiencing snow since last night, bringing a sharp fall in the temperature in the tribal areas.

Official reports said here today that, the Spiti valley in Tribal Lahaul Spiti district had been experiencing intermittent snowing.

About 10 centimetres of fresh snow has been recorded at Kaza, headquarters of Spiti sub-division, the entire valley is in the grip of severe cold.

The capital town of Shimla and its adjoining areas had partially cloudy weather today as the sun played hide and seek during the day.