 |
| Wednesday,
April 4, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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HP steps to improve power
output Kalka-Shimla rail traffic
declines Cong MLA seeks ministers’
arrest Rs 182.45 cr plan for
Shimla district 34.65 cr plan for Chamba approved |
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Confusion marks
reinduction Jains’ plea to
Himachal CM WTO pact: Sangh plans signature
drive HP officials fail to
get buses released Hamirpur gears up for PM’s visit DISTRICT DIARY HVC flays BJP for unemployment HRTC penalty for
ticketless Forest rest house
charred to ashes School sought
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HP steps to improve power
output Shimla, April 3 Stating this while speaking on the Budget estimates of the board for the year 2001-02 which were put up for discussion in state Assembly today, Mr
P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, said that the MoU signed on March 31 would enable the board to have access to more funds required for improvement in the power sector. The state had committed to undertake energy audit at all levels, put in place an effective distribution management information system, installation of electronic meters on all 11kv distribution feeders, reduce transmission and distribution losses from the present 25 per cent to 20 per cent by 2003-04, computerised billing of all urban consumers by March 2003, strengthening of sub transmission and distribution network. A complete master plan had been prepared by the board under which functions of the administrative, financial, technical and commercial functions of the board would be computerised in two phases. All power houses would be linked to the headquarters through computer-based network. A new dynamism would be imparted to achieve better resource
mobilisation, improve efficiency and give commercial orientation to the board. Short and long-term plans for harnessing the identified hydel potential of 10,035 mw in a time-bound manner also formed part of the agreement. The board had already submitted schemes worth Rs 319 crore to the Centre for sanction under the accelerated power development
programme. The schemes were sanctioned on 90 per cent grant basis under the programme and state had already received Rs 25.32 crore by March 31 last. The government was keen on implementing reforms in the power sector and it had already set up the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. The board would file an application for revision of power tariff this month. He said revenue receipts increased by over Rs 100 crore as was evident from the revised estimates. The increase of 16.4 per cent was made possible due to a number of steps taken by the board like revision of tariff, improved billing and collection of dues, replacement of faulty meters and better checking by flying squad. The 2001-02 receipts had been estimated at Rs 811
crore, Rs 124 crore more than the previous year. The deficit for the previous year increased from the estimated Rs 20 crore to Rs 92.37 crore mainly on account of higher interest payment, clearance of arrears, royalty, purchase of power and rise in establishment
cost. Mr Kaul Singh of the Congress said that the board should come out with concrete plan to overcome power shortage during winter so that there was no need to purchase costly power from other states. He expressed concern over the government’s failure to ensure jobs to Himachalis in hydel projects and called for specific clauses in the agreements for the purpose. Referring to the electrification of left-out hamlets he said the board should carry out the job in a time-bound manner. He lamented that the budget
was silent in this regard. He appreciated the effort of the board to expedite work on the Larji project. He said huge manpower of over 34,000 of the board, including 3,500 engineers, should be properly
utilised. Mr Jaikrishan Sharma, state BJP Chief landed the effort of the board in increasing the revenue but said there was much scope for reducing transmission and distribution losses.
Himachal, he said was fortunate as there was no large-scale theft of power like in the neighbouring states. He appreciated the move to install electronic meters in hotels with a load of 10
KW or more. |
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Kalka-Shimla rail traffic
declines Kumarhatti This has led to a drastic decrease in revenue from this section. The operational cost is high as compared to the revenue. Though this section had been declared economically non-viable earlier but the revenue figures available for this financial year indicate that despite efforts by the railway authorities to make this section financial healthy the revenue from freight as well as from passengers is on the decline. This decline in revenue from freight has been from 1994 onwards, whereas the number of passengers has started falling over the past two years. A visit to some railway stations between Kalka and Solan revealed that at each station revenue from freight and passengers has fallen considerably. For example, Solan an important and profitable railway station of this section, has had negative revenue growth from April to July last year and then again in September as compared to the previous year’s revenue. The emergence of good transport facilities like Canter and other small trucks and more loading and unloading in case the produce transported by train have led to a fall in transportation by rail. During an interaction with some railway personnel it was found that from the past years the orchardists preferred mini trucks like Canter to transport their produce to the terminal market rather than to use trains. The biggest advantage of Canter is that it loads produce directly from the orchards, thus reducing the carriage cost considerably and takes the produce directly to the terminal market. The decline in freight from vegetables can be gauged from the fact that railway stations at Summer Hill (Shimla), Solan, Dharampur, Jatog and Kandhaghat that used to receive a large quantity of vegetables in the past have not shown any growth as the more and more growers either sell their produce locally or use Canters. The fall in the freight has forced the Railways to take out a job analysis in 1992 that resulted the shifting of luggage van to the passengers coach. Now at present this section has only two luggage vans but last year around Dasehra the railway authorities discontinued the luggage van. The business community had to face hard time in the absence of a luggage van. More and more tourists from the other states coming from Shimla and other tourist resorts in Himachal opt to travel by deluxe buses, taxis and cars rather than to spend six hours in a train to reach Shimla from Kalka, just in the name of a joy ride. In the past, many cases of the faults in the outdated 1970 foreign-made ZDM-3 diesel locomotive engine have put tourists to inconvenience. On several occasions passengers were stranded for hours due to a snag in diesel engines which held up rail traffic. Many cases in the past have arisen when passengers were forced to hire taxis to proceed to Shimla when the engine developed fault. Sources in the Railways indicate that the new diesel engines were not being purchased and the scarcity of spare parts has aggravated the situation. The electrification of this section is not possible due to the hilly terrain. On the Kalka-Shimla section there are 16 railway stations which are less productive whose monthly revenue is just Rs 1000. The less productive railway stations cannot be closed as it would lead to blocking of rail traffic. The railways is already facing a traffic problem due to the closure of the Jabli and Solan Brewery stations. To increase the pace of the tourism in the Himachal a new train, Mumbai-Kalka was started some months ago. It was a long pending demand of the successive state governments of Himachal Pradesh as there was no direct train for tourists from Maharashtra and Gujarat. This train reaches Kalka at 4.45 p.m. and for the onward journey to Shimla. |
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Cong MLA seeks ministers’
arrest Kangra, April 3 Mr G.S. Bali was addressing a press conference here last night. He said if the accused were not arrested the Congress would seek the intervention of the state high court in this direction. He alleged political pressure was being applied to weaken the case by the accused. Mr Bali alleged the government was delaying action against the accused as the Chief Minister was awaiting settlement with rebel, MLAs and former ministers at the cost of this case. He threatened that if the Deputy Commissioner, Mr
R.C. Kapil, and the Kangra district police chief, Mr Pratviraj, were made scapegoats due to the BJP’s internal political crisis in this case, the Congress would move court. He alleged that seven BJP rebels had levelled charges of corruption, nepotism and regionalism against the Chief Minister, Prof
P.K. Dhumal. He demanded resignation of the Chief Minister on moral grounds for these alleged charges. |
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Rs 182.45 cr plan for
Shimla district Shimla, April 3 Speaking on the occasion, Mr Katoch said Rs 119.60 crore would be spent in priority sector out of which Rs 34.94 crore would be spent on agriculture, Rs 77.15 crore in small scale industry sector and Rs 77.52 crore in service sector in Shimla district in the next fiscal year. Rupees 11.84 crore would be spent under various government-sponsored schemes and programmes for the uplift of poor and downtrodden of the district, he added. Mr Katoch said the new credit plan outlay was 23.50 per cent more than last year’s plan and 19.36 per cent increase had been provided for farm sector.
34.65 cr plan for Chamba approved Chamba, April 3 Announcing this here today, the Deputy Commissioner of
Chamba, Mr T.D. Negi, said the annual credit plan drawn for the current year had registered an increase of 27 per cent as compared to the last financial
year. Mr Negi stated that the main thrust under the plan would be given to wipe out poverty and to make people living below poverty line self-sufficient by generating self employment among them. He further stated that the bankers had a pivotal role to play right from preparing projects and schemes, motivating beneficiaries and for quick disbursement of credit. Considering that Chamba being an under developed district of Himachal
Pradesh, Mr Negi called upon bankers to make efforts to achieve targets under the priority sector which included agriculture, horticulture, veterinary, and industries. Confusion marks
reinduction Shimla, April 3 The police band reached Raj Bhavan when the ceremony had concluded and the Governor along with Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal and other invitees were having tea. Senior officers were visibly upset over the lapse and finally asked District Public Relations Officer Ramesh Sharma to sing National Anthem on the mike when the Governor arrived in the Durbar Hall for administrating the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers. Some members of the personal staff of the Governor also sang the National Anthem along with the DPRO. The Chief Minister summoned the Chief Secretary, Mr A.K. Goswami, and the DGP, Mr A.K. Puri, when it was noticed that the police band had failed to reach there. It is a practice that the police band plays the National Anthem when the Governor reaches the Durbar Hall during official functions in the Raj Bhavan. This was for the first time that mediapersons were not officially invited for the swearing-in ceremony. Several newsmen reached the Raj Bhavan when they came to know of the reinduction plan. |
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Jains’ plea to
Himachal CM Shimla, April 3 In a press statement the sabha said it would not be appropriate for the Chief Minister to lay the foundation stone of the unit on that auspicious day. It would hurt the sentiments of the Jain community. A delegation of the sabha met the Chief Minister, Mr
P.K. Dhumal, and urged him to order the closure of all meat shops and slaughter houses in the state on the day. It also urged him to constitute a
stete-level committee for the celebration of the anniversary. The central government has already set up a national committee and decided to observe the year beginning from April as the year of “non-violence”. |
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WTO pact: Sangh plans signature
drive Shimla, April 3 Addressing a press conference here today, he said that the WTO agreement was heavily weighed in favour of the developed countries which were largely instrumental in finalising it. The economic interests of developing countries would not be safeguarded under the accord. He said the farming community would be the worst hit as unrestricted import of farm produce would bring down prices at a time when cost of production in the country was rising. In such a situation agriculture would become unviable and the farmers would be doomed. He said the sangh would not allow this to happen and it had decided to organise kisan rallies all over the country and collect 10 crore signatures to pressurise the government to withdraw from the
WTO. The signatures would be submitted to the President of India on June 4. The WTO agreement, he alleged, was a conspiracy of multinationals to derail the economy of developing countries. He said about 22 rallies had been held against it so far. Another rally will be held here tomorrow. He hailed the decision of the state government to left the ban on the export of
khairwood, which would help farmers get remunerative returns for their produce. |
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HP officials fail to
get buses released Nahan, April 3 About one month ago, Uttaranchal Transport officials had impounded two HRTC buses and released these on an assurance by Himachal Pradesh officials that an agreement for plying HRTC buses in Uttaranchal would be made soon. According to sources, senior officials of the HRTC neglected the assurance and even repeated requests by the HRTC, Sirmaur branch, did not produce any result. As a result, now more than half a dozen HRTC buses which started plying after 1984 in the Uttaranchal area were impounded by Uttaranchal officials and parked at Dehra Dun. According to official sources here, after 1984, no agreement with the Uttar Pradesh Government in this connection could be reached. In fact, no serious attempts were made by senior officials to sign an agreement in this regard with the UP Government. Simultaneously, some UP State Transport buses were also plying in Himachal Pradesh which was stopped quite some time ago. The sources say that taxes for plying buses in UP (now Uttaranchal) were paid from time to time by the HRTC authorities. But now the Uttaranchal Government is adamant that it will not allow plying of any HRTC bus in their area without a state-to-state agreement. Yesterday’s meeting of officials of both the states did not reach any conclusion and, according to the sources, the talks were underway today also. The sources here said officials of the Uttaranchal State Transport seem biased towards the HRTC as they had not taken
similar action against the four Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) and other buses of neighbouring states which were started after 1984 and were plying on the safe routes of Uttaranchal ‘without any such agreement’. |
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Hamirpur gears up for PM’s visit Hamirpur, April 3 Necessary preparations are on for the Prime Minister’s proposed visit. The state Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar
Dhumal, is in constant touch with the district administration to make this rally a
success. BJP leaders and workers are busy making efforts to gather people for the rally from all parts of the state in general and Hamirpur district in particular. Meanwhile, lists of the persons living in the Anu locality of the town is being prepared by the police as a security measure. All persons living in the locality and its nearby areas have been asked not to allow any other person to stay or visit them one day before the arrival of the Prime Minister. The district administration is also planning to telecast live the rally programme through local cable operators. However, no final decision on this behalf has so far been taken. |
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DISTRICT
DIARY KULU: The National Highway-21 between Pandoh to Aut has become a deathtrap as 50 fatal and at least 100 “near fatal” accidents have taken place between the stretch during the past one year. Experts opine that the road surface should be treated to minimise the problem of skidding. Also, it is learnt the tarring within the Pandoah and Khoti nullah is done by cold coal tar which makes it more prone to skidding. The road steeply descends or ascends at certain portions. * * * The main bridge link to the world’s second highest mountain road (Manali-Leh road) is not only bailey bridge, but is also ill-maintained. This bridge was built way back in 1958. Since then, practically no maintenance has been done. The floor of this one-laned bridge was recently replaced with iron sheets in place of wooden sleepers. It is the only link for people living on the other side of the river. Hence, it has heavy
pedestrian traffic. The renovation has posed a danger to the people as there is gap between the bridge railing and the edge of the floor on either sides. A child fell from the bridge and died on March 16. The bridge is an important one. It not only links the border road to China and Kargil, but also the house of the Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. When will the authorities make the bridge safe? * * * The Kulu police has done a commendable job in controlling the charas trade in this district, but it remains indifferent towards day-to-day problems faced by citizens. There are no signboards on the roads in Kulu, Bhuntar and Manali displaying the speed limit near schools and road crossings. One often comes across an ‘under-aged’, without a valid driving licence plying a commercial vehicle, overloading on buses and three-wheelers and vehicles without numberplates. The biggest danger posed by the poorly maintained HRTC and private buses plying in the district and polluting the environment. The district police will have to start a campaign to check all this. * * * Despite repeated requests by the District Bar Association here and the people of Kulu district, the District Consumer Forum hearings in Kulu have not been held for the past almost three years. The Bar Association alleges that visits by the Consumer Forum, Mandi, under whom Kulu area falls, to Kulu have been persistently postponed as the president of the forum has not been provided with a “good” vehicle. Hundreds of consumers of this district are deprived of the facility given under Consumers Law. It appears the Himachal Pradesh Government is yet to realise the meaning of a welfare state. * * * The District Red Cross Society is in the red. Its chairman, honorary secretary and members are making comprehensive plans to raise funds for its survival. The appointment of honorary secretary Deepak Katyayen, a retired Divisional Commandant of the Himachal Home Guards, has been a blessing. The funds of the society which were four in figures are now more than Rs 1.5. The society has been helping poor patients by providing them medicines and other facilities. |
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HVC flays BJP for unemployment Chamba, April 3 In a blistering attack on the BJP-led Dhumal government in his press statement here today Mr P.C. Oberoy, a state leader of the HVC, said raising of the age-limit from 38 to 45 years was merely an eye-wash, because there still was no reduction in the figures of the un-employed. Mr Oberoy said when the Dhumal government had taken over, there were about seven lakh unemployed persons in the state which had now gone up to nine lakh. He flayed the Dhumal government for its “cross stupidity” on the issue of unemployment, adding that the government had failed to create employment avenues causing disappointment and frustration amongst the unemployed youths. Mr Oberoy demanded that the state government should withdraw the hike in water and electricity charges. He said these decisions were taken by the Dhumal government without taking into confidence its coalition partners like the HVC. He further said the hiked rates of water and electricity were a huge burden on the poor people. He also demanded that water and electricity should be provided free of cost to Antodya and the IRDP families. HRTC penalty for
ticketless Nurpur, April 3 Mr Rajnesh Sharma, the president of the state unit of the HRTC Employees Federation, in a statement here today revealed that this decision had been taken at a meeting of the HRTC Managing Director with the federation on March 31 at Shimla. Hailing the decision, Mr Sharma said the ticketless passengers would be charged either a fine of Rs 500 or six month’s imprisonment. Bus conductors would not be victimised following the implementation of this decision. The federation president said the Uttranchal Government’s move to impound HRTC buses in its area of jurisdiction was due to the apathy of the state government. He said the government should take steps to stop it. Mr Sharma, said the federation had given an ultimatum to the state government to convene a meeting with the federation in view of the longstanding demands and problems of the HRTC employees. |
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Forest rest house
charred to ashes Mandi, April 3 The fire engulfed the entire structure at night, which was predominantly wooden. The watchman raised alarm but villagers could save only the confiscated timber lying in the premises of the rest house. The building was completely destroyed by that time. The cause of the fire could not be known immediately. |
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School sought Nurpur, April 3 Mr Vipon Chowdhary, Vice-Chairman, Nurpur Block Samiti, has demanded to open at least one senior secondary school in these gram panchayats. |
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