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| Monday,
August 28, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Killings cause embarrassment to
government Plan to irrigate 3.5 lakh hectares Nathpa: damage could have been prevented Five workers hurt in cane charge
Cong charge sheet
fabricated: Sagar |
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Dhumal asked to
downsize ministry SP’s directive puts
scribes in a spot 9 monkeys found
dead in forest DC accepts Atul
Sudhan’s appeal Bar members
raise slogans against minister Thakur elected
Bar Council chief 500
examined at heart care camp
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Killings cause embarrassment to
government SHIMLA, Aug 27 — The killing of a Spanish woman and her son by miscreants in the Kulu valley has caused embarrassment to the Himachal Pradesh Government, which has been trying to attract foreign tourists to the state in a big way. This was the latest in a series of such incidents in Kulu and the authorities have so far failed to check these brutal murders of foreigners. This is likely to cause a setback to the tourism industry particularly in the Kulu and Manali areas. A British national, Mr Martin Young , who was seriously injured in the attack on the three-member trekking team of foreigners, was brought to Kulu last evening and admitted to the district hospital. Bodies of the Spanish woman, Maqueles Gironis (35), and her son, Christ (15), were, however, yet to be brought down from the trekking route. Mr Young is learnt to have told the police that the three were attacked with iron rods and lathis by miscreants on August 25 while they were sleeping in their tent. Taking them as dead, the miscreants threw them in a nullah and decamped with their cash and other valuables worth about Rs 77,000. However, Mr Young survived and managed to return to their camp site and found that even their tent was missing. He will be shifted to Delhi where he has been working as a civil engineer with a British company. The group had camped at Khir Ganga on August 24 and started the trek the next day. The British and Spanish embassies have reportedly contacted the district authorities and sought their assistance in sending the bodies of the killed tourists back home. The British Embassy has also rushed a rescue team to Kulu. The incident has exposed the incompetence of the police to prevent such happenings. The police stations in Kulu and Manali areas reportedly did not have the required manpower even though the number of tourists has been constantly increasing over the years. The sprawling district has a strength of only about 225 constables. The police station at Manikaran, where the latest killings took place, has a strength of only eight personnel which is hardly adequate for the vast area in the valley. The police station at Manali too has only 18 constables. Even with Kulu being on the international tourist map, the police there is the most ill-equipped. The Manikaran police station does not have a VHF communication system although thousands of foreigners and domestic tourists visit the area every year. The trekking areas also do not have any wireless and the first information about yesterday’s killings was given to the police by a manager of the NHPC over his satellite phone. The Manikaran-PinParbati route, on which these tourists were clubbed to death is an 11-day trek and has become quite popular with foreign tourists. Another trek route to Hamta near Manali, also witnessed a gruesome killing when a German tourist was gunned down by miscreants there last month. At least 16 foreign tourists had mysteriously disappeared in the Kulu valley during the past couple of years and efforts of the police and
intelligence agencies to trace them have proved futile so far. Relatives of a Russian tourist, who went missing in the valley had also engaged private detectives to trace him but without any success. An Australian police team had also arrived in Kulu to trace a tourist, Mr Gregory John Powell, who had been missing since 1995. |
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Plan to irrigate 3.5 lakh hectares SHIMLA, Aug 27 — The Himachal Pradesh Government has drawn up a comprehensive plan to tap the state’s potential to irrigate 3.50 lakh hectares in a phased manner. Since only about 50,000 hectares could be brought under irrigation through medium and major schemes, the government has decided to give priority to minor irrigation schemes. Earlier, 443 hectares of land was brought under irrigation by field channels and 550 hectares by warabandi. During the current year 2,000 hectares would be provided irrigation facility. Under the “irrigation to every field” programme 3,93 irrigation projects were being executed with the assistance of NABARD at a cost of Rs 94.15 crore. These projects on completion would provide irrigation facilities to more than 22,238 hectares. In addition 4,270 hectares were also brought under irrigation through major and minor irrigation schemes during the past two-and-a-half year period and another 2,000 hectares it is being covered under major and minor irrigation schemes during 2000-2001. Besides schemes like the Rs 143.32 crore Shah Nehar project were also being implemented, on completion it would help irrigate 15,287 hectares. The project envisages construction of two lined canals the 32 km long canal on the left bank, from existing Mukerian Hydel Channel, will irrigate 6,183 hectares and the 48.85 km long right bank canal 9,104 hectares. Further, four medium irrigation projects have been completed and another one is nearing completion. The Balh Valley Project in Mandi district utilises water from Baggi channel to the Beas-Sutlej link project to irrigate 2410 hectares. The Bhabour Sahib Project, phase-II, is another irrigation project which has been completed at a cost of Rs 11.45 crore. The chief source of this project is the Nangal Dam reservoir and it is providing irrigation facilities to nearly 2,640 hectares. Bhabour Sahib, phase-I, has also been completed and is providing irrigational facilities to 923 hectares and the Giri Irrigation Project Executed at a cost of Rs 8.27 crore has brought 5,623 hectares under command. Work has been expedited on the Rs 33.62 crore Sidhata Medium Irrigation Project, situated in the Jawali area of Kangra district to provide irrigation to more than 3150 hectares. Apart from these vital projects, 17 another medium irrigation projects with a total irrigation potential of 47,250 hectares are also in the pipeline. These projects on completion would usher in an era of prosperity in the state. To ensure adequate supply of water for irrigation, command area development programme has also been launched in the state. An amount of Rs 136 lakh has been provided for command area development during the current financial year as compared to last year’s budgetary allocation of Rs 35 lakh. Stress is also being laid on setting up of check dams for irrigation in dry areas. Over 1,200 water harvesting tanks are being constructed during the current financial year to irrigate 300 hectares. |
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Nathpa: damage could have been prevented SHIMLA, Aug 27 — The unprecedented fury of the Sutlej notwithstanding, the damage to the underground powerhouse of the
under construction Nathpa-Jhakri Project could have been prevented to a large extent, had the outlet at the bottom of the tail race outlet been plugged before the onset of monsoon, according to senior engineers of the Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation. Machinery and equipment worth over Rs 300 crore was submerged in water in the world’s second largest underground power house as over 4 lakh cusecs of water entered the cavern, mostly from the tail race outlet, during the recent flashfloods in the Sutlej. The outlet was unplugged only in January to carry out excavations for the construction of the outfall structure. While the excavations could not be continued as the strata required cable anchors, the outlet remained unplugged. The matter was raised at the monthly project review meeting more than once and the Director, (Civil), and even the electrical wing had pointed out the necessity of plugging the outlet in view of the impending monsoon. The issue last came up during the review meeting held in June when the rainy season was round the corner. However, no concrete action was taken owing to a dispute between the management and the company executing the particular work. According to sources in the Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation, the construction company was reluctant to replug the outlet until the dispute regarding payment for its plugging carried out earlier and unplugging was settled. Its plea was that it was not part of the contract and was a separate work. As such the corporation should make additional payment for it. The management, however, maintained that it was part of protection work and thus formed part of the contract. The laxity shown by the management in settling the dispute cost the corporation dearly. It was only a matter of spending about Rs 6 lakh which led to such a colossal damage to the power house and delayed its completion by about two years, the engineers lamented. It was for the management to ensure that the outlet was plugged before the onset of rains either by making additional payment or by making the company carry out the job at its own cost. The tail race outlet is plugged as soon as work on installation of generating units is started as a safety measure. It was thus a serious lapse on the part of the management. Even the exploratory drift from which some water entered, the powerhouse cavern should have been closed, they said. Mr J.K. Sirkaik, Additional General Manager, Construction, admitted there was a dispute over the plugging and unplugging of the tail race outlet and that the bulk of flood water found its way into the underground powerhouse from there. However, he maintained that its plugging would not have made much difference as the “plug” was not designed to withstand such high pressure of water. It would have come off even if it was put in place before the rainy season. Moreover, had the excavations for the outfall structure continued, it would not have been possible to plug the outlet at all. Interestingly, the engineer-in-charge of the work had as late as July 31, a day before the disaster struck, written to the management that the company was not carrying out the instructions regarding replugging of the outlet, even the Central team, which visited the project to assess the damage, took notice of it. The damage to machinery apart, the delay in the commissioning of the project would deprive the corporation of revenue to the tune of over Rs 2,250 crore. Besides it will also increase the cost of the project by another Rs 1000 crore. The failure of the management to order an inquiry into such a serious matter has also surprised experts. It was essential to ascertain what delayed the replugging of the outlet even after the issue figured in review meetings repeatedly and to what extent it was responsible for the inundation of the underground power house, they observed. |
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Five workers hurt in cane charge SOLAN, Aug 27 — Five factory workers were injured, one of them seriously, when the police resorted to a cane charge at a gathering of 500 workers at Vardhman Chowk in Baddi today. While the police denied the allegation of cane charge, trade union leaders maintained that it had acted at the instance of the powers that be to terrorise the workers who had been agitating to procure justice for a section of workers of Birla Textile Mills, Baddi, illegally expelled from the service of the mill by the management. The Himachal units of the CITU and AITUC had been agitating for a “fair deal” for the mill workers. This industrial unit, previously at Delhi, was shifted to Baddi after the management decided to dispose of the mill property there and cash in huge returns accruing therefrom. The workers who had put in substantial years of service with the company moved to Supreme Court which among other things ordered the management to find a solution ensuring continued service benefits to the workers. The mill was thereafter shifted to Baddi with the management undertaking to implement the Supreme Court decision in letter and spirit. The trouble started when a section of workers started “feeling that the management was not keen on implementing the apex court’s orders.” The AITUC and the CITU had been organising demonstrations and rallies seeking an end to what they termed as exploitation” of the workers. Today’s rally was convened after both labour organisations had issued an appeal to panchayats, mahila and yuvak mandals of areas adjoining Baddi. As many as 500 policemen were deployed to deal with the gathering. Mr Subodh Rai, M.P. from Bhagalpur, Bihar, who addressed the rally, alleged that business houses were looting the country as evident from the fact that they owed over Rs 58,000 crore taken by way of unpaid loans from public sector financial institutions. He warned that the working class would not allow such a state of affairs to continue for long. |
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Vegetable boom on the highway KUMARHATTI: Every year the onset of the tourist season brings to the Kalka-Shimla highway a number of fruit and vegetable sellers who set up their vends on the roadside to attract the tourists. But this year they have come in larger numbers. The highway from Jabli onwards is dotted with these vendors. Their main target is the week-end tourist who returns to the plains after spending a day or so in the hills. For them, the freshness of the vegetables and the fruit is the main attraction. And, of course, the prices too are lower than those in the plains. Vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumber and capsicum attract the motorists with their fresh look, and many are forced to stop and make some purchases, particularly when they happen to be on their way back. Specially attractive are bobs of maize, roasted on charcoal fire and laced with salt and fresh lime juice. Motorists are often tempted to stop for a taste of this hill delicacy, locally known as “pahari chhalli”. Equally tempting are the juicy cucumbers. Besides, the “pahari kakri,” again with a touch of salt and a drop of fresh lime juice, is equally irresistible. There is a special charm in savouring these rustic delicacies, standing on the roadside at the salubrious, heights of the Himalayan range. As the tourist season began, these roadside vendors were offering plums, peaches and apricots. Now there are sellers offering “chhallis” and cucumbers. Soon bitter gourd, lady’s fingers and tomatoes will appear. When these roadside vegetable and fruit vends first appeared some years ago, the tourists unaccustomed to such shopping, would zoom past them and often the sellers would run after them to attract attention. But now things have changed. According to one of the roadside vendors, they often run out of stocks quite early in the day. The season will last till September and according to quick random survey, a highway vendor makes something like Rs 200 a day early in the season. As the rush of tourists increases, his earnings also rise and at the peak of the season each of these vendors goes back with earnings that touch Rs 800 a day. Equally flourishing is the business of roadside dhabas, a number of which have come up along the highway. |
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Cong charge sheet
fabricated: Sagar KANGRA, Aug 27 — The Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Minister, Mr Vidya Sagar, has described the “chargesheet” furnished by the Congress as a conspiracy against the BJP-HVC government and added that it was politically motivated, baseless and fabricated. Mr Sagar was talking to mediapersons here yesterday. He said the Chief Minister would distribute kisan pass books among the farmers of Dharamsala, Kangra, Shahpur and Nagrota Bagwan Blocks on September 16 on his visit to the district. Meanwhile, the Agriculture Minister held an open darbar at the IPH Rest House on Friday. Earlier, three Plus one girls, Sushma, Pooja and Pushpa were given Rs 100 each by the minister. Books and uniforms were also given to them by the local Rotary Club. |
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Dhumal asked to
downsize ministry KANGRA, Aug 27 — The Himachal Pradesh Congress has demanded that the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, should reduce his ‘jumbo’ ministry and should reduce the number of chairmen of various corporations as the state was on the brink of bankruptcy. The state is paying Rs 1,000 crore annually as interests on loans taken by the government. Where as the annual revenue of the state was only Rs 900 crore. This demand was raised by the HPCC general secretary, Mr G.S. Bali, MLA, at a press conference here today. He alleged that the BJP-HVC government had put the state in financial crisis and it was difficult for any government to retrieve the situation. Mr Bali said the state has an annual non-plan expenditures to the tune of Rs 3200 crore and plan expenditures to the tune of Rs 1720 crore and it was difficult for the government to meet these expenditures. He suggested that the Chief Minister should realise the gravity of the situation and reduce the number of his ministers and chairmen of the corporations and should take effective steps to curtail the wasteful and unproductive expenditures to bring out the state of this financial crisis. |
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SP’s directive puts
scribes in a spot CHAMBA, Aug 27 (PTI) — A running feud between the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Himachal Police deployed in Chamba district along the Jammu and Kashmir border has put the Chamba-based journalists in an awkward situation with the Superintendent of Police, Mr R.M. Sharma, asking them not to publish any report about ultras on the basis of information supplied by the Commanding Officer of the ITBP battalion positioned along the border. Mr Sharma in a letter addressed to local journalists issued a veiled warning that the journalists publishing one-sided or biased information would be responsible for the same. He said the ITBP was functioning under the command of the SP, Chamba, and the Commanding Officer of the ITBP had no locus standi to get news about the security forces published as the state police which was thrice in number was doing equally good work. He said the ITBP was placed at the disposal of the Himachal Police and it was the Superintendent of Police who was answerable on all issues pertaining to law and order and the activities of ultras. The local journalists have taken strong exception to the letter written by the SP and resolved to take the matter to the Press Council of India. The SP had no authority to issue any such letter which was a direct attack on the freedom of the Press, the local journalists maintained. |
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9 monkeys found
dead in forest HAMIRPUR, Aug 27 — Nine monkeys have died mysteriously in the Aghar forest range of the district. The Department of Forests has found the bodies from the forest near a village uphill. The bodies have been brought to Hamirpur for a post-mortem examination, Dr Parvesh Kumar Sharma, Divisional Forest Officer, said here yesterday. He told reporters that on getting information about the death of monkeys, he visited the spot along with the SP, Hamirpur, and Conservator of Wildlife Depart-ment. The monkeys might have died after eating maize grains from a nearby field on which pesticides had been sprayed, he said, adding that some grains of maize were found nearby. The DFO said a case under Sections 9 and 51 had been registered. |
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DC accepts Atul
Sudhan’s appeal KANGRA, Aug 27 — The Deputy Commissioner, Mr R.C. Kapil, has accepted the appeal of Mr Atul Sudhan in case of the voting’ right of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Chief, Mr Sat Mahajan from ward No. 2 of Nurpur and sent the case back to the SDM, Nurpur, on technical grounds for review. Mr Sudhan had challenged the voting right of Mr Mahajan which was rejected on the ground that Mr Mahajan had a voting right in the ward. This order was challenged by Mr Sudhan before the Deputy Commissioner who heard the appeal on the directives of the Election Commission and sent the case back for review. The agitated Congress workers held a dharna outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office. |
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Bar members
raise slogans against minister NAHAN, Aug 27 — Members of the Sirmaur District Bar Association raised slogans against Revenue Minister Rajan Sushant at the Circuit House here last evening. They were annoyed at the refusal of the minister to meet them before 6.00 p.m. Agitated bar members blocked the main gate of the Circuit House, raised slogans against the minister and handed over a memorandum to press personnel instead of the minister. In the memorandum the bar members have opposed the implementation of the amended H.P Land Revenue Act, alleging that the amendments introduced have been made without a thought to their affect on the rights of land-holders. The principles of equity and natural justice have been “flouted” by curtailing the powers of Civil Courts, they have
argued. |
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Thakur elected
Bar Council chief SHIMLA, Aug 27 — Mr Naresh Kumar Thakur was elected Chairman of the Himachal Bar Council here today. Mr Gajendra Paul Guleria was elected Vice-Chairman while Mr Balbir Singh Chauhan was elected member to the Bar Council of India from the state. |
| 500
examined at heart care camp HAMIRPUR, Aug 27 — A
team of the Tagore Heart Care and Research Centre, Jalandhar, took
part in a one-day free check up of heart patients at the local
hospital today. As many as 500 persons were checked up at the camp.
The camp was organised by the Heart Patient Welfare Charitable
Society, Hamirpur. Patients were also given medicines free of cost
and other tests were also conducted free of cost, according to Mr Ajay
Dogra, president of the society. |
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