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| Tuesday, May 1, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Dhumal
seeks return of Annandale Cong rally marred by
hooliganism Pollution
of Beas unabated Officials’
cars likely to stay No
unscientific debris dumping: ministers |
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Himachal
appoints ‘vidya upasaks’ 4 die in
accidents Stokes
must remove differences: Kidwai Lack of
space irks bank clients Plea to
amend HP land Act Kar seva of historic tanks starts
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Dhumal seeks return of Annandale Shimla, April 30 The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, personally met the Defence Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, during his recent visit to Delhi and urged him to expedite the return of the 120-year-old ground to the state government. The Annandale is presently under the control of the Army to whom it was leased out by the Shimla Municipal Corporation on January 1, 1934. When contacted, Mr Dhumal told TNS here today that Mr Jaswant Singh had positively responded to his request and would discuss the matter again. Mr Jaywant Lele, Secretary of the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI), during his recent visit here had visited the Annandale and found it fit for being developed as a cricket ground. Mr Dhumal said Mr Lele had told him that the BCCI would allot at least one international cricket match to Shimla in case the Annandale was taken back from the Army and developed as a cricket ground. This would perhaps be the only high altitude cricket field in the country. The Annandale was developed as a ground by the British in 1883 by leveling the hill. Subsequently it was leased out to the Army which has been maintaining it. Efforts of the state government to get it vacated from the Army have so far been futile as the latter have been demanding an alternative place for developing a ground. Some sites shown to them were not acceptable to the Army authorities. The ground, where the Army authorities have set up a golf course, was also being utilised as a helipad by the state government. |
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Cong rally marred by hooliganism Nagrota, April 30 Chaos and hooliganism by the Youth Congress activists marred the otherwise impressive rally at Hatwas in the Nagrota assembly constituency. The clash between the supporters of the two rival factions was averted twice, when senior leaders, including Mr Virbhadra Singh and Mrs Vidya Stokes, intervened and asked their supporters to maintain cool. This was the first visit of Mrs Kidwai to Himachal Pradesh eversince she took charge of the state. Contrary to the claims of the CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, and Mrs Stokes that the party was completely united in the state, the indiscipline and factionism came to the fire. Trouble started when some Youth Congress activists tried to shout down the supporters of Mr Virbhadra Singh by shouting slogans in favour of Mrs Stokes. This provoked Virbhadra supporters, who challenged the Youth Congress activists right in front of the dias. It took almost half-an-hour before the situation could be brought under control as senior leaders of the two rival factions intervened. Taking serious note of the indiscipline and hooliganism, Mrs Kidwai rebuked the youth activists for behaving in such an indecent manner. Earlier, Mrs Kidwai was accorded a warm welcome. Lashing out at the BJP government, she said all communal forces had come together and it was only the Congress which could fight them. “Today the government is not being run by the BJP, but by the RSS, which had adopted the two-nation theory way back in 1942,” she warned. While admitting that there was corruption during the Congress regime, she said these were cases of corruption in the system but in the case of the BJP it was individual corruption, of which the ruling party was not taking any note. Making mention of the alleged kidnapping of two OBC zila parishad members from Nagrota by three BJP ministers and one MLA, she said the moment an FIR was lodged against them they should have resigned. She added that now the government was trying to get back at those officials, who had taken action by transferring them. Addressing the huge gathering Mr Virbhadra Singh said today there was rampant corruption in the country. He alleged that a scam of Rs 15 crore had taken place, where ayurvedic medicines had been bought for the Animal Husbandry Department. The AICC spokesperson, Mr Anand Sharma, All-India Mahila Congress President and Rajya Sabha member Chandresh Kumari, former PCC chief Sat Mahajan, former Chief Minister Mr Ram Lal and Mr G.S. Bali, addressed the rally. |
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Pollution
of Beas unabated Kulu The civic bodies of Manali, Kulu and Bhuntar besides the panchayat areas on the left bank of the river are responsible for more than 80 per cent of the pollution. The civic bodies callously dump garbage near the river or into it. Besides, the Irrigation and Public Health Department discharges sewage direct into the Beas at Manali as the treatment plant was washed away by floods in 1995. A new treatment plant has still not been set up. The Kulu civic body was successful in persuading the adjoining Balh panchayat to allow it to dump the town’s garbage at Pirdi on a bank of the Beas. In return, the civic body provides amenities like streetlights, looks after sanitation and maintains footpaths and roads in certain parts of the panchayat area. A no-objection certificate was taken from the panchayat in this connection. A Rs 80 lakh project, under an Indo-Norwegian waste management scheme, was initiated at Pirdi about a year ago. However, nothing substantial has been done so far except the construction of a link road to the site. Under the project, solid waste will be converted into organic manure. But as of today the civic body has spread a thick carpet of garbage on the river bank which automatically goes into the Beas with the rise in the water level during the summer. Further, the dumping of garbage by the Bhuntar Nagar Panchayat is not only polluting the river but also endangering flights as the site is near the airport and attracts birds. The river is also being polluted due to the location of an open site for animal slaughter on a bank of the Beas adjoining the airport. The leftovers there also attract birds. Although work on the sewer system has started in Kulu and Bhuntar, it is going at a snail’s pace. Residents also allege that the work on the laying of pipes is not up to the mark. Residents say it is time the authorities took effective measures to preserve the environment. |
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Officials’
cars likely to stay Shimla, April 30 The decision to withdraw the official vehicles of officers other than that of the Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Police was taken by the Cabinet two months ago and was to be implemented in May. These officers were to be paid a fixed monthly allowance for using their private vehicles for official purposes. However, the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, today indicated that the scheme might be recast to ensure that there was no misuse of official vehicles after their withdrawal. The state government spends over Rs 2.25 crore for maintaining its fleet of 225 vehicles in the secretariat and with Director-level officers. Mr Dhumal said that the government had offered the drivers to purchase these vehicles and run them as taxis. He agreed that certain ministers and officers, besides the earmarked vehicles, were using the vehicles of the departments and boards and corporations under their control. The new scheme will prevent the misuse of vehicles. There have been reports that the Chief Minister was under pressure from the bureaucracy not to implement the decision of withdrawal of official vehicles. |
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No unscientific debris dumping: ministers Chamba, April 30 In a statement issued here today, both ministers said there was no complaint regarding the unscientific dumping of debris on the banks of the Ravi. They said canards in this regard by certain leaders and agencies were uncalled for. The ministers said the 300-MW Chamera project was of national importance and was being executed by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) after prior environment and pollution clearance from the Union Government. To mitigate environment damage, a provision of Rs 14 crore had been made, besides a catchment area treatment plan had already been approved by the NHPC under the environment management plans. The ministers who hail from Chamba had inspected the functioning of the project several times and observed that environment losses were meagre and would not adversely affect the socio-economic aspects of the area. They asserted that the debris excavated from the tunnelling process was being dumped at the prescribed points in a scientific manner. A Voluntary Environment Coordination Committee had been constituted comprising authorities from the Environment and Forest Department and HP Pollution Control Board, besides NGOs. The Chief Minister was himself monitoring the environment aspects, they added. The ministers warned certain elements not to intimidate and “blackmail” the NHPC authorities in the name of environment and ecology and advised them to refrain from such activities so that the project could be expedited. |
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Himachal
appoints ‘vidya upasaks’ Kangra, April 30 This was stated by the state Agriculture Minister, Mr Vidya Sagar, while speaking at the annual function of the local GAV Public School yesterday. Mr Sagar said during the past three years, 1,062 new educational institutions, including 276 primary, 569 middle and 105 high schools, 111 senior secondary schools and a degree college, had been opened in the state. He said 9,125 posts of teachers had been filled in the schools and 6,476 posts had been created. He claimed 7.5 lakh poor students were provided free books, for which the government spent Rs 19.44 crore. He said in 25 senior secondary schools in the state, various professional courses had been introduced and computer education would be introduced in all senior secondary schools. On the occasion, a local flour mill management handed over a cheque of Rs 50,000 to the minister for the construction of a private ward in the local subdivisional hospital. |
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4 die in accidents Dharamsala, April 30 Three persons were killed on the spot when a truck carrying them rolled down a 100-foot khud while reversing near the old bus stand in Palampur. The deceased have been identified as two Kashmiri labourers, Jumala and Ghulam Hassan, and truck driver Tej Vir. The cleaner of the truck was injured and is stated to be out of danger. In another mishap, one person was killed on the spot and another injured in an accident at Banugarh in this district last evening. The deceased has been identified as Jatinder Kumar.
UNI |
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Stokes must remove differences: Kidwai Nurpur, April 30 Ms Kidwai said it was the accountability of the PCC chief, Ms Vidya Stokes, and the CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to check dissension and differences at all levels. On being asked about the action being initiated concerning complaints about the organisation elections of the party lodged by Mr Virbhadra Singh with the party high command, she said the Mirza Committee had been looking into the complaints and the inquiry was still on. |
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Lack of space irks bank clients Chamba, April 30 Lack of accommodation in the SBI branch irks the customers but the local authorities of the bank are helpless. |
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Plea to amend HP land Act Shimla, April 30 The society held a meeting under the chairpersonship of Mrs G.B. Singh, president of the state unit, here yesterday. The meeting observed that the Act reduced non-agriculturalist to second-grade citizens and prevented the employees, who had been serving the state for decades, from settling in Himachal Pradesh. The society decided to organise a Punjabi festival here during June to promote Punjabi culture. It also criticised the state Chief Minister Mr P.K. Dhumal, for not providing land or accommodation for the office of the society as promised by him. |
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Kar seva of historic tanks starts Nahan, April 30 Mr Sanjeev Sharma, president of the council, said a large number of residents are volunteering for kar seva. During the past two days hundreds of people and volunteers of the Environment Society here and the Nagrik Sabha have done kar seva. Mr Suresh Joshi, a retired college principal and president of the environment society, said in past 40 years no public support had been mobilised to save the five main water tanks and many other small ponds and water sources, in and around Nahan. But with people coming forward for kar seva, he was hopeful of saving these tanks. |
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