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| Wednesday, April 12, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Auction
of mines may be cancelled |
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| Police told to submit report on
April 17 KANGRA, April 11 — The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Virender Sharma, here today sought the details from the police regarding the seizure of 1380 boxes of liquor by the Kangra police in the industrial area on April 6 and asked them to submit the report by April 17 in the court. BSF officer cremated
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Auction of
mines may be cancelled SHIMLA , April 11 — The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, today announced in the Vidhan Sabha that the government would not allow quarrying in those slate mines of Chamba which had been auctioned in violation of the orders of the Supreme Court and without obtaining no-objection certificate from the Forest Department. He said an inquiry would be held into the matter and auction of such mines cancelled. The issue was raised by Mr Harsh Mahajan (Cong) during question hour when he pointed out that the authorities had committed grave irregularity by not obtaining “no-objection from the Forest Department. He also pointed out that violation of orders of the Supreme Court had been done by auctioning these mines without obtaining permission from the Centre as had been clearly stipulated by the court. Congress members, including Mr J.B.L. Khachi and Mrs Asha Kumari, urged the government to immediately halt work on these mines which were also playing a havoc with the ecology of the area. Replying to supplimentaries, the Forest Minister, Mr Roop Singh, admitted that a no-objection certificate from the Forest Department was a prerequisite for auctioning the mines, but there appeared to be some confusion. He said 27 slate mines were auctioned in Chamba. Mrs Asha Kumari claimed some of these mines were situated in demarcated forests and their auction was in violation of the Forest (Conservation) Act. Replying to Mr Mahajan, the Forest Minister said as per the practice, the Forest Department issued no-objection certificates to the Industries Department to carry out mining on non-forest land. He said the Forest Department was aware that some of the mines auctioned in Chamba by the Industries Department may be falling in the forest land which would require approval under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. The Forest Department had already taken up the matter with the Industries Department to exclude such areas which were classified as forests in government record. Replying to a question by Mrs Asha Kumari (Cong), the Minister of State for Revenue, Mr Rajan Sushant, said the government had ordered the authorities to take strict action against those indulging in “benami” land transactions. The minister said 115 fresh cases of benami land transactions in violation of Section 118 of the H.P. Tenancy and Land Reforms Act had been detected during the past two years, 228 such cases were in appeal in revenue courts. He said properties in 12 cases had been vested in the state government. These included six properties in Kangra district, two in Solan, three in Sirmaur and one in Shimla. Giving a breakup of benami land cases pending in various revenue courts, the minister said 70 cases were pending before the Deputy Commissioner, Solan, 68 before the DC, Kangra, 16 each before the Deputy Commissioners of Chamba and Sirmaur, 14 before the Financial Commissioner (Appeals), 10 in the court of the Divisional Commissioner, Shimla, and 15 before the Divisional Commissioner, Kangra. Mrs Asha Kumari demanded that action should be taken against those officials who provided water and electricity connections to the buildings which were constructed on a benami basis. He said many such transactions had taken place in Dalhousie. Mr Raghu Raj (Cong) pointed out that benami land transactions were taking place in Barog and Kasauli areas of Solan district. Mr Sushant, in reply to a question by Mrs Viplove Thakur (Cong) and Mr Des Raj (BJP), said a high level committee would visit Rajasthan next month to settle the problem of rehabilitation of Pong Dam oustees. He said 2982 cases for fresh allotment of land to the oustees were pending before the Rajasthan Government. The minister said the Rajasthan Government had agreed to allot land to the oustees at Mohangarh and Rajgarh. In a written reply, the Chief Minister informed Mr G.S. Bali (Cong) that MoUs for 85 micro hydel projects had been signed with private parties and 48 detailed project reports submitted by these parties declared unviable at the pre-feasibility stage. An allocation had been cancelled for violation of the terms of the MoU. The Chief Minister introduced a Bill seeking to amend the Himachal Pradesh Fire Fighting Services Act for obtaining a no-objection certificate from the Director, Fire Services, or the Chief Fire Officer for all buildings, including industrial and commercial establishments, more than 15 metres high. This would also apply to establishments dealing with explosives or inflammable substances. The Bill provides that
the authority in charge of water supply in the area
should ensure to keep the fire hydrants functional round
the clock. The penal provision for obstructing
fire-fighting operations has been made more severe by
enhancing imprisonment to one year from the three months
and the fine to Rs 5000 from Rs 500. |
Report for
changes in six Acts SHIMLA, April 11 — The High-powered committee for review of land laws and revamping of the revenue administration has recommended major changes in six Acts to bring them in conformity with present and future requirements and ensure speedy justice to the people. The committee, which submitted its report to Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, here today, has recommended deletion of several provisions in these Acts which have lost relevance and rendered obsolete. Amendments in the Land Revenue Act has been recommended to empower the government to regularise encroachments on its land after framing a policy. Besides, the provisions to deal with encroachers are to be made more stringent. The Revenue Officer will have the power to fine up to Rs 5000 per bigha of encroached land in the first illegal act. Repeated acts of encroachment will entail prosecution, including a sentence up to one year. For the expeditious disposal of cases, decentralisation of powers has been recommended. Charges have also been recommended in the Land Revenue Rules Manual. The framework of the original land record manual is required to be restored for the convenience of the field staff. Certain instructions which are contrary to statutory provisions of the Land Revenue Act are to be deleted. Other Acts in which amendments have been suggested are the State Tenancy and Land Reform Act, State Village Common Lands (Vesting and Utilisation) Act, State Registration of Money Lenders Act, Municipal Act, Stamp Duty Act, Town and Country Planning Act and State Roadside Control Act. Administrative reforms recommendations include making tehsil and development blocks, panchayat and patwar circles co-terminus for more effective and efficient functioning and intensive revenue training to officers to ensure expeditious disposal of cases. Mr P.K. Dhumal said the government would study the report. Dr Rajan Sushant,
Revenue Minister, said the recommendations, when
implemented, would entail far reaching implications and
provide relief to the common man caught in a plethora of
laws. |
Cong flays
hike in grain prices SHIMLA, April 11 — The Opposition Congress in the Himachal Vidhan Sabha today lambasted the BJP government at the Centre for having made a “back breaking” increase in the prices of foodgrains under the public distribution system cooking gas and kerosene. The Congress members accused the government of having reduced the prices of luxury items like cellular phones and colour TV sets, but sharply increased the rates of essential commodities of daily use particularly for the poor sections. Discussion on the issue was moved by Mr Virbhadra Singh, Mr Kaul Singh, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Mrs Asha Kumari and Mr G.S. Bali (all Cong) under Rule 130. The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, said that he had already taken up with the Centre the matter for reducing the security for LPG connections to Rs 500 from the existing Rs 900 and also certain other concessions in view of protecting the forest wealth. He said that Himachal was facing a peculiar problem because of its geographical position and the need for protection of forests. Mr Dhumal said sudden cut in subsidies might have pinched the people, but the Centre would not have taken the step if the financial position permitted the continuation of subsidies. BJP members, including Mr Jai Kishen Sharma, Mr Rakesh Pathania and Mr Babu Ram Mandial, said that the Congress during its 45 years of rule at the Centre had mindlessly introduced subsidies without visualising the adverse effect these were making on the economic situation. Mr Mandial said that
tax-free Budgets could not be continued in view of the
grave financial crisis the country and the state were
passing through. |
Civic
chief restrained SHIMLA, April 11 — A Division Bench of the Himachal Pradesh High Court comprising Mr Justice Surinder Swaroop and Mr Justice K.C. Sood, yesterday restrained Mrs Renu Chadda, President of the Dalhousie Municipal Committee, from discharging her official duties for two weeks. The order was passed on public interest litigation filed by some residents of Dalhousie. The petitioners levelled a number of charges against Mrs Chadda, which included illicit felling, sanctioning of building plans in contravention of rules, misuse of official telephone and transfer of municipal land in her own name. The court also issued notice to Ms Chadda in the matter.
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Civic
taxes on merged villages ‘under study’ SHIMLA, April 11 — The issue of imposing municipal taxes in 30 peripheral villages which were merged into the Shimla Municipal Corporation in January 1997 was still under consideration of the government. Stating this in the Assembly, Mr Roop Das Kashyap, Urban Development Minister, admitted that the corporation had issued notices to house owners but it had no linkage with the impending decision. It took about six months to settle the cases and issuing of notice was the first step. He said the corporation
spent Rs 1.71 crore on providing various civic amenities
in the merged areas which had a population of nearly
45,000 and over 9,000 houses. |
3-day
seminar on ‘Mahabharata’ SHIMLA, April 11 — Prof Vishnukant Shastri, Governor, Himachal, said today that the epic “Mahabharata” was a work of supreme excellence without which country’s history could not be written. Inaugurating a three-day seminar on “Mahabharata” at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, he said there was hardly any aspect of life, including philosophy, religion, science, culture and traditions which had not been dealt in detail in the monumental work. As per the Indian point of view history was not merely a chronological description of life of people, but the events which had the power to influence life in future times and represented a form of continuity. The “Mahabharata” was a classic example of this that was why it had not lost its relevance even today. In his initial remarks
Prof G.C. Pande said that there had been no objective
literary criticism of the “Mahabharata” though
hundreds of books had been inspired by it. |
Police
told to submit report on April 17 KANGRA, April 11 — The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Virender Sharma, here today sought the details from the police regarding the seizure of 1380 boxes of liquor by the Kangra police in the industrial area on April 6 and asked them to submit the report by April 17 in the court. The seized liquor was not released by the court today. The seized liquor
triggered a controversy between the police and the Excise
Department. |
BSF
officer cremated CHAMBA, April 11 — D.N. Thakur, Inspector, BSF, who was killed in a combing operation in the Anantnag sector of Jammu and Kashmir, was cremated today at his in-laws village, Dhared in Chamba district, with full state honour. The Deputy Commissioner of Chamba, Mr K.Sanjaymurthy, laid wreaths on the body on behalf of the Himachal Governor and the Chief Minister. The BSF personnel also laid wreaths and paid tributes to the martyr. Mr Rajinder Mohan Sharma, SP, was also present on the occasion. The Inspector accompanied by a patrol party raided a hide-out where two terrorists were staying. In the encounter the Inspector was killed on the spot. However, the party gunned down both militants. Mr Sanjaymurthy gave Rs
10,000 to the next of kin of the martyr. |
Bill to
amend Land Revenue Act SHIMLA, April 11 —
A Bill to amend the Land Revenue Act seeking to empower
the state government to make rules for regularisation of
encroachments on government lands was yesterday
introduced in the Vidhan Sabha by the Minister of State
for Revenue, Mr Rajan Sushant. The Bill also seeks to
empower the government to make rules regarding
computerisation of records. |
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