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| Tuesday, February 20, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Sushant revolts against Dhumal Hamirpur lacks fire preparedness Gloom descends on village Major hike in resin purchase price Farmers suffering, says Stokes |
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| HP Govt floats
another scheme Shimla, February 19 The “Bhagya Surabhi” scheme launched by the state government to boost small savings has been a great success, leading to a collection of Rs 275 crore over the past six months. School board to
publish model question papers Teachers’
meeting on March 4
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Sushant revolts against Dhumal Dharamsala, February 19 At a function held in Chalwada panchayat near Nagrota Suriyan, the minister, who is known to have launched agitations for the cause of the people, said in his fight for justice he was even willing to quit politics. On the occasion of the inauguration of a tubewell in his constituency of Jwali Dr Sushant said it was common knowledge that he had raised a banner of revolt against Mr Shanta Kumar following differences with him. “I am the kind of man who will fight for the cause of my people even if it amounts to taking up a direct confrontation with the Chief Minister,” he said. Dr Sushant is learnt to be annoyed with the Chief Minister over giving of contracts for the Shah Nehar Project to a firm from Punjab. He said if his own people were not getting employment in the project, then there was no use of his continuing as a minister. Dr Sushant said he was the kind of man who would fight for a cause openly and not adopt double standards to remain in the good books of the Chief Minister. In an oblique reference to another BJP legislator from the Dhumal camp, he said some people claimed to be staunch BJP men but during the panchayat elections helped the Congress candidates. Dr Sushant had even revolted against Mr Shanta Kumar and went to jail. He was later expelled from the party after which he fought a Lok Sabha election against Mr Shanta Kumar. He has always been in the forefront to take up the cause of labourers and daily wagers. Dr Sushant, during his stint as a minister in the Dhumal government has been maintaining a low profile. At a public meeting of the Chief Minister in Nagrota Suriyan on February 16 he had even refused to address the public and did not attend the lunch hosted for Mr Dhumal. Dr Sushant is also irked at the proximity and importance being given to the MLA from Nurpur, Mr Rakesh Pathania, by Mr
Dhumal. |
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Hamirpur lacks fire preparedness Hamirpur, February 19 The Hiranagar and Anu areas of the town may become the worst sufferers of the ‘indifference’ and ‘apathy’ on the part of the officials as thick and huge pine trees abound in both these areas. The resin extracted from these trees is highly inflammable and if there is any major fire incident these areas may be completely burnt as no water will be available with the government agencies to extinguish a fire. Scanty rainfall during the previous monsoon and in this winter season and with no hope of rain in the near future makes the threat of fire even more grave. The Department of Forests has already started combing operations to prevent fire incidents, but shortage of grassroots level and trained staff may also hamper fire-fighting operations in the district. As many as 22 posts of forest guard and two of Forest ranger are lying vacant in the Hamirpur forest division. If these posts are not filled in time, it will be difficult to manage many forest beats in the district during the coming summer season. The situation is similar in case of the Department of Fire Services. There is only one office of the Fire brigade here. The staff of this office is responsible for fire-fighting operations in all parts of the district. However, the staff may not be in a position to fight with fires alone if there are more than two to three fire incidents simultaneously in the district. The state government has yet not bothered to open sub fire
offices at Nadaun, Sujanpur Tira, Mahre, Bhoranj and Bijheri. Meanwhile, the failure of the Department of Irrigation and Public Health to provide more fire hydrants at the district headquarters town of Hamirpur has made the situation worse. It has set up four such hydrants in various parts of the town but they all are non-functional. Moreover, the district level Fire Brigade office here is without its own office. It is housed on the Hamirpur-Palampur highway, just a stone’s throw from the mini secretariat here, in three shops. A plan was mooted to have own office of the Department in the Hathll Khud area of the town but files to this effect are still shuttling from one office to another for clearance. The Sub Fire Bridge office was set up here on April 18, 1987, and is being run by two Deputy Fire Officers, three Chief Firemen, eight firemen and six drivers. Besides, three chief firemen, eight firemen and one driver are taken on deputation from the Department of Home Guards, Himachal Pradesh. There is however, no full-fledged fire officer posted here. In the absence of a building of the department, its vehicles, including three fire engines and a fire extinguishing jeep, are parked in the open outside the Sub Jail here. Mr Rakesh Kumar, Deputy Fire Officer, claims that the office has done a lot in field of fire fighting operations during the past two years. As many as 296 incidents of fire took place in the district, in which fire personnel saved government and private property to the tune of Rs 9 crore. Despite this, the total value of the burnt or damaged property was estimated around Rs 86 lakh. He said that 1999 was one of worst years as for as fires were concerned. As many as 231 fire incidents were reported in the district during 1999, out of which 162 were forest fires. However, the number of fire incidents during 2000 came down to 53, the decline being due to timely arrival of rain last year. Only five minor fire incidents had been reported from various parts of the district till February 13, 2001. He however, lamented that the fire personnel had to work without fire hydrants not only in the rural areas of the district but also in Hamirpur town itself. He said that at least four dozen fire hydrants were needed in various parts of Hamirpur town to be prepared for any eventuality. |
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Gloom
descends on village Mandi, February 19 Kayan is one of the 47 revenue villages in Mandi, Bilaspur, Solan and Shimla districts which will either be submerged or acquired by the corporation for the construction of the project. Kayan will be submerged in the 163-metre high Kol Dam. The sprawling 300-bigha fertile land of this village of Sundernagar subdivision will be inundated in a few years from now. During a visit to this village, it was observed that the impending fear of losing their homes and hearths was writ large on the faces of the villagers. They take out their livelihood by tilling the land. Village chief Ramji Dass says the villagers want land and money to build shelter for them and their cattle to restart life. “We should not be treated in a callous manner like the oustees of the Bhakra Dam in the adjoining Bilaspur district.” The villagers are critical about the proposed resettlement under which an oustees’ colony will be constructed by granting a developed plot along with other facilities. They argue that such a colony suits employees. “Where will we keep our cattle?” they ask. In fact, the government does not seem to be clear about the rehabilitation of the uprooted families. Under an agreement between the National Thermal Power Corporation and the Himachal Government and the HPSEB the state government will acquire for the corporation all land for he project under the Land Acquisition Act, 1984, and the corporation will bear the expenses of the acquisition of the land. It will also bear the capital expenditure of health and educational institutions, but their running would be the responsibility of the state government. These facilities will be available for a cluster of 25 to 30 families only. A grant of Rs 60,000 for each house has been provided which, according to farmers, is inadequate. No land has been identified so far for the 800-odd families of Mandi, Bilaspur, Solan and Shimla districts which will be uprooted. It is an uphill task for the government to provide about 1,700 hectares to the oustees of the project. The Joint Action Committee of the oustees of the four districts has made it clear that the oustees should not be rehabilitated outside Himachal Pradesh. The NTPC will execute the project on a war footing once the land acquisition is done by the state government and the land handed over to it, says Mr Mohinder Singh, Chief Personnel Manager, Kol Dam Hydel Project. Under the agreement, Himachal Pradesh will get 12 per cent of the net energy generated free of cost and 15 per cent of the actual energy generated at bus bar tariff. |
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Major hike in resin purchase price Shimla, February 19 The resin advisory committee, which met here today under chairmanship of Mr Roop Singh, the Forest Minister, decided to raise the purchase price from last year’s Rs 1629 per quintal to Rs 1725 for the ensuing resin tapping season. The decision was taken to ensure greater availability of resin. Even though there has not been appreciable hike in the market price of resin. The pine tree owners have been reluctant to give its trees for tapping to the State Forest Corporation over the past few years as they felt that the price being offered was low. At one time the corporation faced up to 16 lakh blazes of private trees. The number came down to a mearge 6 lakh last year, the lowest ever. Consequently, the corporation has not been getting enough resin even for its own processing factories. The two factories at Bilaspur and Nahan, with aggregate processing capacity of 1.10 lakh quintals, have not been functioning to their full capacity. At present, the factories are facing a shortage of 21,000 quintals. While about 73,000 quintals of resin is tapped from government forests, the remaining 37,000 quintal is purchased from private forests. The decision to increase the price and its announcement well before the tapping season is likely to improve the situation. |
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Farmers suffering, says Stokes Shimla, February 19 Mrs Stokes, who was talking to newsmen here today, accused the BJP government of not handling the drought situation properly and demanded a proper assessment of the losses. Drinking water would be a major problem in the days to come. Earlier, Mrs Viplove Thakur, General Secretary of the PCC, and Mr Kuldeep Rathore, Secretary said that 5,000 Congressmen from the state would participate in the kisan rally which would be addressed by Mrs Sonia Gandhi at Delhi on February 25. Each PCC delegate had been assigned the job of bringing at least 100 participants from their respective areas. The issues of failure of the state government to provide relief to the drought-hit
farmers would be highlighted at the rally. There was scarcity of fodder and fertilisers. Monitoring cells had been set up in the PCC office and the district level for ensuring large participation at the Delhi rally, said the two leaders. |
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HP Govt floats
another scheme Shimla, February 19 |
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School board to
publish model question papers Shimla, February 19 The decision was taken at a meeting between representatives of the State Promotee School Lecturers Association and Mr C.L. Gupta, Chairman, Board of School Education. According to Mr Jeewan Sharma, vice-president of the association, it was also decided to hold practical examinations for Plus I and Plus II classes before the theory examination and these would be conducted by lecturers concerned of the school. The Chairman also assured that the results would be declared by May 30. |
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Teachers’
meeting on March 4 Shimla, February 19 Stating this here today, Mr Ganga Ram Sharma, a national executive member of the federation, said every individual had a right to education and it should not be made a marketing commodity. He said under the new economic policy, the government, under the dictates of the World Bank and the IMF, had decided to wash its hands off the responsibility of providing education to children and was therefore entrusting it to the local bodies. |
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