H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Pacts signed for 8 hydel projects
SHIMLA, May 31 — The Himachal Pradesh Government took another major step in the direction of harnessing its vast hydroelectric power potential in the state when it signed implementation agreements (IAs) and power purchase agreements (PPAs) in respect of eight small projects with an aggregate capacity of 18.65 mw and involving an investment of about Rs 111.66 crore here today.

Sukh Ram apprises PM of HP politics
KULU, May 31 — Mr Sukh Ram, president of the Himachal Vikas Congress, in an exclusive talk with this correspondent here last evening, said that he had one-and-a-half hour-long meeting with the Prime Minister at private residence at Prini, near Manali, yesterday, during which he apprised Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee of the political situation in the state.

Boy killed in house collapse
SHIMLA, May 31 — A boy was killed in a house collapse as storm, accompanied by rain, lightning and thunders, lashed parts of Himachal Pradesh last night.

Forest officials pelted with stones
NAHAN, May 31 — Forest officials of the Paonta forest division along with revenue, administration and police officials were pelted with stones by villagers when they went to demolish encroachments on the land of reserve forest.

Centre okays Rs 13 cr for raising IRB
CHAMBA, May 31 — The Centre has sanctioned Rs 13 crore for raising an Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) for Himachal Pradesh with a view to strengthening its security network, especially in the areas of Chamba district adjoining Jammu and Kashmir.

Work on Chamera hydel project on schedule
CHAMBA, May 31 — The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation has completed the digging of the diversion tunnel much ahead of schedule on the 300 MW Chamera Hydroelectric Project (stage-II), which is under construction on the Ravi near Chamba in Himachal Pradesh.

Pacts signed for 8 hydel projects
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, May 31 — The Himachal Pradesh Government took another major step in the direction of harnessing its vast hydroelectric power potential in the state when it signed implementation agreements (IAs) and power purchase agreements (PPAs) in respect of eight small projects with an aggregate capacity of 18.65 mw and involving an investment of about Rs 111.66 crore here today.

The IAs were signed by Mrs Asha Swarup, Financial Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Power), on behalf of the Himachal Pradesh Government and the PPAs were signed by Mr M.L. Gupta, Chief Engineer (PSP and Reforms), on behalf of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board in the presence of Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, Mr A.K. Goswami, Chief Secretary, and senior officers.

The Himachal Pradesh Government had earlier signed implementation agreements (IAs) and power purchase agreements (PPAs) in respect of 12 such small hydroelectric projects. The companies are likely to commission these projects within two to three years of signing the IAs, including the time for obtaining various statutory and non-statutory clearances from the state government/government of India as well as achieving financial closure for the projects.

The state government has also signed MoUs for 24 projects, aggregating a capacity of 50.24 mw, in the second phase of privatisation.

The implementation agreement is initially for a period of 40 years from the date of commissioning of the project, which can be extended for a period of 20 years by the state government. The agreement has provisions for ensuring employment to the local people, subject to availability and suitability, all unskilled, skilled staff and other non-executives as may be required for execution, operation and maintenance of the project shall be recruited through the local employment exchanges, failing which through the Central employment cell at Shimla. With regard to employment of executives, other things being equal in terms of qualification and experience, the company shall give preference to the residents of Himachal Pradesh.

The power purchase agreement is for the same duration as the IA. The PPA includes sale of HPSEB at Rs 2.50 per unit which is fixed for the duration of the agreement without any escalation. To ensure timely payments to the private investor, for the energy sold to the board, a revolving letter of credit shall be opened which can be operated by the company to get timely payments. The payment is also protected by a state government guarantee.

The Government of India has recently transferred projects from 3 mw to 25 mw to the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES). The MNES has now notified various promotional incentives for the projects up to 25 mw of varying amounts.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Dhumal stressed the need for time-bound completion of mini and micro-hydel projects so that natural resources of the state could be tapped.

He said there was need to make execution of power projects a people’s movement in the larger interest of the state. He asked investors to ensure completion of these projects for which he assured full cooperation.

Sukh Ram apprises PM of HP politics
From Our Correspondent

KULU, May 31 — Mr Sukh Ram, president of the Himachal Vikas Congress, in an exclusive talk with this correspondent here last evening, said that he had one-and-a-half hour-long meeting with the Prime Minister at private residence at Prini, near Manali, yesterday, during which he apprised Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee of the political situation in the state.

He said that he drew Mr Vajpayee’s attention towards the strained relations which have presently developed in the coalition government in Himachal Pradesh. Mr Sukh Ram said he was hopeful that the Prime Minister would intervene in the matter.

Apart from the political situation, he drew the Prime Minister’s attention towards the depletion of the forest wealth in the state which had resulted in soil erosion and was posing a threat to life and property in the state.

He said that he had been advocating the alternative sources of energy for cooking and heating purposes for the entire population of the state to save the forests. This was the major reason that the HVC in its manifesto had announced cheap power at the rate of 25 paise per unit.

The HVC chief said in addition to the suggestion about the cheap power generation, he had also told the Prime Minister that he would propose a comprehensive scheme to the Himachal Pradesh Government under which more than one lakh families would be provided employment by allotting around two hectares of waste land to each family to generate forest wealth worth more than Rs 20 lakh.

He also apprised the Prime Minister of the difficulties that would come in the way of tourism development in Manali, if the proposed Rs 3 crore bus stand is constructed at a wrong site. Mr Sukh Ram said the bus stand should be constructed at the area which was washed away in the 1995 floods near the octroi post. That would avoid traffic bottlenecks of Manali bazar and connect NH-21 with the Manali-Leh road at the bridge site.

Boy killed in house collapse
From Tribune Reporters and agencies

SHIMLA, May 31 — A boy was killed in a house collapse as storm, accompanied by rain, lightning and thunders, lashed parts of Himachal Pradesh last night.

The boy, identified as Saif Ali, a student of Class II, was buried alive when a house in which he was sleeping, collapsed due to the storm and rain at Indora village in Kangra district, a report from Dharamsala said.

The storm blew off roofs of thatched houses, uprooted hundreds of trees, disrupted power supply and telecommunication services and caused extensive damage to fruit crop, particularly mango, in the area.

The storm-related incidents and lightning have claimed the lives of eight persons in Himachal Pradesh during the past fortnight.

Shimla and its adjoining areas were also lashed by high velocity winds, accompanied by rain and hail.

Upper areas of Shimla district, including tourist places, and mid hills also experienced rain and hail which damaged fruit crops like plum, apple and peach and seasoned vegetable crops at certain places.

Duststorms and thunderstorms with the high speed of 80 km per hour had hit the region around midnight yesterday.

The capital town of Shimla, which had been badly hit by a storm, recorded 24.5 degrees Celsius as maximum temperature. Sundernagar recorded 32.7 degrees Celsius.

According to a weather forecast here, light to moderate rain is likely to occur at a few places in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Duststorm and thunderstorm with light rain is likely to occur at isolated places in Haryana.

Hailstorm or thunderstorm with the speed of 45 km per hour is likely to occur at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, the weather office added.

KANGRA: Saif Ali, a resident of Indora village in this district, was buried alive in a house collapse. His body was later recovered from the debris.

Meanwhile, the district police chief, Mr K.C. Sadiyal, said that hundreds of trees, power and telecommunication poles were uprooted and the power supply in the area was disrupted for the entire Tuesday night.

Mr O.P. Sikka, General Manager, Telecom, said the telecom network was restored but the power failure has put the system under pressure. Damage to fruit crop was extensive, particularly to mango fruit.

When the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Mr R.C. Kapil, was contacted he refused to give details about the loss in the district for want of information.

Mandi: The Mandi region was lashed by a squall for the second consecutive day at midnight on Tuesday, damaging houses and a Maruti van. The uprooted trees fell on many houses in the town and its suburbs.

The bumper mango crop was badly damaged by the storm. Nearly 50 per cent of the fruit reportedly dropped from the trees in the sweeping winds.

The traffic, telecommunications and power supply services were partially disrupted.

No loss of life has been reported.

Forest officials pelted with stones
From Our Correspondent

NAHAN, May 31 — Forest officials of the Paonta forest division along with revenue, administration and police officials were pelted with stones by villagers when they went to demolish encroachments on the land of reserve forest.

Explaining the actual position Mr A.R.M. Reddy, Divisional Forest Officer, Paonta, said here today that no pucca house and those which were provided with electricity connections were demolished. He said all demolished structures had kutcha structures.

Mr Reddy said the site was jointly inspected by him, the SDM (Civil) and DSP, Paonta. After inspection it was felt that nothing illegal was being thrusted upon the villagers. Now the land was in the possession of the Forest Department.

Showing revenue records Mr Reddy said some political persons were trying to gain short-term political gains by misguiding people and ignoring facts. In fact all these cases were challenged in the revenue courts from 1982-87 by the Forest Department and were decided in its favour.

Centre okays Rs 13 cr for raising IRB
From Our Correspondent

CHAMBA, May 31 — The Centre has sanctioned Rs 13 crore for raising an Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) for Himachal Pradesh with a view to strengthening its security network, especially in the areas of Chamba district adjoining Jammu and Kashmir.

Talking to mediapersons at Circuit House here today, Mr T.R. Mahajan, DGP of Himachal Pradesh, stated that the process to raise the ITB would commence shortly.

The DGP said about Rs 12 crore had already been provided by the Centre up to March 31 for the modernisation of weaponry, improvement of requisite equipment, strengthening of communication network and surface transport to combat militancy in the areas of Chamba district bordering Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir as per directions of the high-level committee on J&K affairs constituted by the Government of India.

The DGP said the security forces had intensified patrolling on the high-altitudes checkpoints set up on the timberline. Under the new strategic plan, round-the-clock surveillance was being kept on the strangers and suspects, he added.

He said the officers had been directed to visit these checkpoints frequently to boost the morale of the jawans.

The DGP stated that subcommittee comprising police, forest officials and representatives of panchayats had been constituted in the belts where the Gujjars had demanded the shifting of a few checkpoints for grazing their livestock. He said a decision in this connection would be taken after getting the report of the committee.

Work on Chamera hydel project on schedule
From Our Correspondent

CHAMBA, May 31 — The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has completed the digging of the diversion tunnel much ahead of schedule on the 300 MW Chamera Hydroelectric Project (stage-II), which is under construction on the Ravi near Chamba in Himachal Pradesh.

Giving this information here today, Mr Parminder Singh, Chief Engineer of the project, stated that the excavation, which was to be completed by June 30, had been completed by May 29, adding that the tunnel was to be completed by January next year.

The Chief Engineer stated that though the project was scheduled to be completed by May, 2004, yet with the present pace of work, the project was expected to be completed much ahead of the target date.

He said the work of the head-race tunnel and tail-race tunnel was progressing quickly and was going as per schedule.

He further stated that the project would cost about Rs 1,700 crore on its completion and generated 1,500 million units annually. He said the power guaranted from the project would be transmitted to the northern grid through a 400 kv line.

The Chief Engineer further said a catchment area treatment plan costing Rs 10.73 crore drawn by the NPHC had already been okayed by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.