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| Friday, August 25, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Kishori Lal offers
to quit Cabinet Statue desecration: Cong dharna called off Nathpa project may be delayed Pilgrim’s car
set on fire Bulldozers to be
airlifted for relief work |
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SFI activists
court arrest 2 killed, 5 hurt
in truck mishap Hindu Mahasabha
defers fast ABVP to intensify
agitation
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Kishori Lal offers
to quit Cabinet CHOWARI (Chamba), Aug 24 — Mr Kishori Lal, Himachal Industries Minister today stated that he would prefer to resign from the cabinet if the allegations levelled against him by the former Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, and the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Mr Sat Mahajan, in the state Assembly were substantiated. Reacting to the accusations made against him by both of these leaders, Mr Kishori Lal asserted that he would file a defamation suit against Mr Virbhadra Singh and Mr Sat Mahajan claiming Rs 50 lakh for the damages caused his reputation. Mr Kishori Lal said the charges made against his son Mr Rakesh Kumar regarding the proposed installation of a stone-crusher in Chakki Khud in the Bhattiyat area were vicious, baseless and spiteful. He said his son had the right to work and to transact any kind of business adding that nobody could maliciously snatch the right of employment of his
son. |
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Statue desecration: Cong dharna called off HAMIRPUR, Aug 24 — The Congress last evening called off the dharna last evening that it had launched to protest against the desecration of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Chowk, Hamirpur. The dharna lasted 14 days. Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Mr Singi Ram and Mr Kashmir Singh Thakur offered juice to the fasting party activists and the dharna was called off. The senior Congress leaders blamed the state government and the BJP leaders for politicising the issue to put blame on the Congress party. They said that instead of nabbing the real culprits, the Police was harassing the Congress leaders and activists and trying to implicate them. They said that the Congress party had no faith in the present DC and the SP working at Hamirpur. They demanded their immediate shifting from Hamirpur for free and fair inquiry into the case. The Congress leaders said that it was ridiculous that on one hand, the Police had named one of the Congress leaders in the FIR and on other, it was announcing reward to persons who would give information about the culprit. They said that this statement of the government proved that Congress leader Mr Prem Kaushal was innocent and had been made victim only because he had informed the police about the desecration of the statue. |
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Nathpa project may be delayed SHIMLA, Aug 24 — The future of hydroelectric projects in the Sutlej basin of Kinnaur and Shimla districts has been threatened because of the repeated devastation being caused due to flashfloods. These projects have suffered a major loss in the recent flashflood which has put a question mark of their reliability. The Nathpa Jhakri power project, was again a victim of the flashflood and its completion has been delayed as most of its vital machinery and equipment has got submerged in flood water. The project suffered a massive damage three years ago also when its generation machinery was submerged and the tunnel was damaged. The NJPC authorities had planned to complete the project next year, but it is now expected to be delayed by at least another two years. The Bhabha Hydel Project of the HPSEB upstreams has also been a victim of the repeated flashfloods which have virtually become an annual feature in the tribal area of Kinnaur. The approach to the 300 MW Baspa Project has been badly damaged this time. Reports indicate that the Karcham Wangtu Project might fail to come up on the expected lines in case floods continued to devastate the area. Besides, several small and mini hydroelectric projects were proposed to be constructed on the tributaries of the Sutlej and other rivulets in the area. Following the loss being faced due to repeated floods, the authorities might be having second thoughts on the Rampur Hydel Project, which will be another big project in the area. This is proposed to be constructed downstream of the Nathpa Jhakri project. The state government had sometime ago drawn up an ambitious plan to exploit the Sutlej waters for power generation. But the fury of the nature is unlikely to oblige the authorities and allow them to easily execute their plans. Not only these flashfloods, but massive landslides have also created problems for the engineers in the past. A massive rock blocked the Sutlej near Wangtu about four years ago and submerged a vast area. This threatened the power projects as a huge lake was formed due to the blockade of the river. Experts of the Navy were summoned to blast rocks and other debris to restore the flow of water in the river. Local residents allege that the indiscriminate blasting of rocks and fragile hills by private companies engaged in the construction of the power projects had destabilised the mountains which were now triggering these landslides. The Hindustan-Tibet highway linking the tribal district of Kinnaur with the rest of the country has been damaged due to cloudbursts and flashfloods. The highway was also being utilised for construction of the Nathpa and other hydel projects in the area. |
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Pilgrim’s car
set on fire KANGRA, Aug 24 — Certain miscreants allegedly set afire the car of a pilgrim from Amritsar in the main market here last night, the police said. Mr Vinod Kapoor, owner of the car said he had parked his vehicle at 9.30 p.m. outside the municipal office in the main market and at 10.45 p.m. the car was in flames. He said the filter of the car was removed indicating that petrol had been stolen from the car. He said he had been visiting the town for the past 18 years and holding free langar during navratras at Bajreshwari Temple. This year too he had come to make arrangements for free langar during the coming navratras. Earlier, thieves stole a stereo and a stepney from the car of Kuldeep Sachdeva, a journalist, from his house. The gang had been indulging in the theft of petrol from parked cars on roads. Mr P.S. Thakur, DSP, said the chowkidar of the market was being interrogated and
patrolling by the police would be intensified. |
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Bulldozers to be
airlifted for relief work SHIMLA, Aug 24 — The Border Roads Organisation has pressed into service MI-26 helicopters, the biggest available with the Indian Air Force, to airlift heavy construction machinery to the flood-ravaged areas of Kinnaur which have been cut off. The Chief Engineer of the Deepak Project, Brig B.M. Bakshi, has informed the state government that the big helicopters had been deployed to airlift bulldozers and compressors to Karchham so that work for restoration of the damaged road could be undertaken simultaneously at several points. Machinery and other equipment had been made available between Wangtu and Tapri to repair the road on a war footing. The airlifting of machinery would enable the Deepak Project to open the road by the stipulated date. The road between Khab and Powari would be cleared by September 1. Mr A.K. Goswami, Chief Secretary, while reviewing the relief and rehabilitation measures at the meeting of the crisis management group complimented the villagers of Pooh and Moorang who themselves restored the road between Khab through shramdan. He appealed to the people to extend all possible help to the Border Roads Organisation in restoring traffic on the national highway. Meanwhile, the government today extended the period of vacation in educational institutions located in the flood-hit areas of Rampur up to Dutt Nagar and Brow and Jagaat Khana in Kulu district up to September 15. |
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SFI activists
court arrest SHIMLA, Aug 24 — About 60 activists of the Students Federation of India courted arrest in front of the police reporting room on The Mall to press their demands. The protestors assembled on The Mall in small groups and started raising slogans. The police soon swung to action and arrested them. Meanwhile, the chain fast and dharnas of the federation continued all over the state. Its main demands include withdrawal of fee hike and immediate election of the Central Students Association. |
2 killed, 5 hurt
in truck mishap SHIMLA, Aug 24 — As many as two persons were killed and five injured when a private truck (HR 37-A-0850) fell into khud near
Devimor, about 25 km from here today. The truck, which was carrying vegetables, was on its way from Theog to Chandigarh. The two seriously injured persons were shifted to Indira Gandhi Medical College, here. One of the deceased was identified as Krishna Kumar of
Jogindernagar. |
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Hindu Mahasabha
defers fast KANGRA, Aug 24 — The All India Hindu Mahasabha and its allied organisations today deferred their proposed chain fast for two months. The fast was to start today outside the Bajreshwari Temple. The decision follows an assurance by the Deputy Commissioner Kangra, Mr R.C. Kapil, that free langar at the temple would be started in the evening too by October 24 this year. Disclosing this at a press conference here today Dr Nalinder Ghautam, state president of the All India Hindu Mahasabha, said Mr Kapil had accepted that three was mismanagement in the temple and communication gap between the temple authorities and the district administration had aggravated the situation. |
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ABVP to intensify
agitation SHIMLA, Aug 24 — The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad has decided to intensify its 45-day-old agitation in support of its demand. A spokesman of the parishad said that its activists would take out silent processions on August 28 all over the state. Thereafter they would resort to traffic blockades, bandhs and finally court arrest. It would give a “Shimla chalo” call for September 8 to demonstrate its strength to the government. It ridiculed the “joint front” floated by the Students Federation of India as it held the federation responsible for the discontinuation of elections to the Students Central Association. |
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