H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Over 500 sheep washed away in flash flood
Kulu, July 28
More than 500 sheep were washed away by flash flood caused by recent cloudburst last Sunday in the Great Himalayan National Park area at a peak called ‘Lahauli Bati jot’ in the Sainj valley in this district. This was disclosed by Pritam Singh, uppradhan of the Rella panchayat yesterday when he informed the district administration here.

Power staff plea on Rampur project
Shimla, July 28
The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Employees Union, has urged the government not to hand over the Rampur hydroelectric project to any central executing agency till all issues relating to the staff of the board on secondment to the Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation were settled.

Director’s re-employment decried
Dharamsala, July 28
The Himachal Angling Association, has criticised the decision of the state government to re employ Director and warden of Fisheries for another year, after superannuation, as it would demoralise the rest of the staff of the department.

Workshop on WTO organised
Shimla, July 28
Mr A.K. Goswami, Chief Secretary, has stressed the need to adopt modern techniques of agriculture and horticulture by farmers to meet the challenges of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to stand in the open market competition.

Rain damages roads to Kasauli
Kasauli, July 28
Roads leading to this town have started giving way due to the rains. The Dharampur-Kasauli road has particularly been affected, with the sides getting eroded and debris from the hillslopes collecting at points.

A view of the flooded Kasauli road in Sector 2, Parwanoo, after heavy rain lashed the town on Friday. — Photo Madan Mehra

SPCA constituted in Sirmaur
Nahan, July 28
The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been constituted in Sirmaur district. It will be chaired by the Deputy Commissioner, Sirmaur. While presiding over the first meeting of the society, Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kaushal said animals were important part of our environment and we should have a kind attitude towards them.

Admn to hear people’s grievances
Kulu, July 28
“Prashasan Janata Ke Dwar Par’ would be held at the government primary school, Bari of Nirmand tehsil in this district on August 3 at 10 a.m.

Traffic chaos at Parwanoo barrier
Parwanoo
Almost half the stretch of the National Highway from the Pawanoo barrier to Timber Trail remains jammed by a long line of trucks, sometimes parked on both sides of the road. It becomes hazardous and chaotic when vehicles try to overtake one another, which often leads to accidents.

Basanti colony faces water shortage
Kasauli, July 28
Resident of Basanti colony of the Baddi industrial town have been facing an acute shortage of water for the past four days. Situation has forced the residents, including the students of the local dental college housed there, to fetch water 7 Km from the colony.

Over 500 sheep washed away in flash flood
Our Correspondent

Kulu, July 28
More than 500 sheep were washed away by flash flood caused by recent cloudburst last Sunday in the Great Himalayan National Park area at a peak called ‘Lahauli Bati jot’ in the Sainj valley in this district.

This was disclosed by Pritam Singh, uppradhan of the Rella panchayat yesterday when he informed the district administration here.

Mr Pritam Singh told that Jeet Ram one of the shepherds accompanying 1700 sheep reached his village after walking for five days and revealed the story. He added that two temporary bridges and 5 km of road was also washed away.

The loss of the livestock was assessed to be at Rs 10 lakh.

When contacted the Deputy Commissioner here told that an officer has been sent to assess the loss. He told that all possible help would be given to the affected people.

Power staff plea on Rampur project
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 28
The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Employees Union, has urged the government not to hand over the Rampur hydroelectric project to any central executing agency till all issues relating to the staff of the board on secondment to the Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation (NJPC) were settled.

Mr Chander Singh Mandyal, general secretary of the union, alleged that the NJPC had been giving a raw deal to the seconded employees of the board and had even failed to fulfil the commitment of taking over 2870 regular employees on as is where is basis when the project was handed over to it. The number of employees had been dwindling and at present only 1350 employees had been left with the NJPC.

They said the management of the corporation now was planning to revert the seconded employees en masse. The corporation had also not granted various benefits to the seconded employee on a par with its own employees. On the hand, the employees of the board were being reverted and on the other staff from the National Hydel Power Corporation was being posted in the NJPC.

He urged the government to assign the Rampur project to the state power board to ensure optimum utilisation of manpower and technical expertise.

Director’s re-employment decried
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, July 28
The Himachal Angling Association, has criticised the decision of the state government to re employ Director and warden of Fisheries for another year, after superannuation, as it would demoralise the rest of the staff of the department.

The Joint Secretary (Event Management) of the Association, Mr Atul Bimbhat, said that this move of the government created impression of administrative exhaustion. He said that the Fifth Pay Commission, had also suggested that central and state governments and the PSU’s should impose a complete ban on extensions beyond the age of retirement. He said that if at all government wished to use the talent of an official after retirement, it can be done on a short term consultancy basis with accountability.

Mr Bimbhat, said that work on the construction of Mahseer Farm, had failed to take off, for want of selection of a suitable site. He said that the government needed to pay serious attention to the issues related to the conservation and development of game fisheries for promoting of tourism.

Workshop on WTO organised
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 28
Mr A.K. Goswami, Chief Secretary, has stressed the need to adopt modern techniques of agriculture and horticulture by farmers to meet the challenges of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to stand in the open market competition.

Presiding over the workshop on the WTO organised here today, Mr Goswami said Himachal Pradesh had rich Himalayan biodiversity and great potential to promote agriculture and horticulture produce.

He said most of the apple growers were small and marginal farmers and the Central Government had raised import duty on apple from 35 per cent to 50 per cent to facilitate them. He said gambier which was substitute of katha was also exempted from OGL.

Mr Abenstiv Peter, Director, Ministry of Commerce, said India was a founder member of the WTO, which was founded in January, 1995.

Dr Rajiv Mehta, Director, Ministry of Agriculture, also spoke on the occasion.

Rain damages roads to Kasauli
Ambika Sharma

Kasauli, July 28
Roads leading to this town have started giving way due to the rains. The Dharampur-Kasauli road has particularly been affected, with the sides getting eroded and debris from the hillslopes collecting at points.

The roads of the region have been subjected to a lot of digging by various departments from time to time. This has weakened the concrete structure. Officials of the Public Works Department rue that the digging operations carried out by the Telecom Department had caused massive damage. A sizeable portion of the Dharampur road has been damaged, forcing the department to undertake repair work in the inclement rainy season. The repair work has also disrupted traffic motorists at night are put to risk.

The digging has added to the woes of the residents who have to trudge through the slush and mud daily.

A complete overhauling of the roads will be undertaken after the rainy season, stated an executive engineer of the PWD.

SPCA constituted in Sirmaur
Our Correspondent

Nahan, July 28
The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has been constituted in Sirmaur district. It will be chaired by the Deputy Commissioner, Sirmaur. While presiding over the first meeting of the society, Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Kaushal said animals were important part of our environment and we should have a kind attitude towards them.

An animal shelter would soon be constructed at Nahan where stray animals would be kept, he added.

A member of Animal Welfare Board of India, Mr Jasbir Ralhan, said “Karuna” and “Kind” clubs would be opened in schools. He said milking cattle after giving injection was prohibited. The Chairman, Municipal Council, Nahan, asked residents not to feed monkeys on roads as it attracted large number of monkeys which could result in accidents.

Admn to hear people’s grievances
Our Correspondent

Kulu, July 28
“Prashasan Janata Ke Dwar Par’ would be held at the government primary school, Bari of Nirmand tehsil in this district on August 3 at 10 a.m.

This was told by the Deputy Commissioner here, in a press release today. The release said the complaints of the people of Kot, Doobh and Arsu panchayats would be heard and on the spot decision be announced. The Deputy Commissioner called upon the people of these panchayats to participate.

Traffic chaos at Parwanoo barrier
Our Correspondent

Parwanoo
Almost half the stretch of the National Highway from the Pawanoo barrier to Timber Trail remains jammed by a long line of trucks, sometimes parked on both sides of the road. It becomes hazardous and chaotic when vehicles try to overtake one another, which often leads to accidents.

The trouble begins at the Parwanoo barrier where most of the trucks have to halt for hours to obtain excise and sales tax clearance.

Traffic jams have become a regular feature and conditions become worse during the peak hours in the morning and evening. Commuters to the industrial town of Parwanoo from Kalka, Pinjore and Chandigarh and tourists have to face a tough time.

Traffic from Shimla and from Kalka has to pass through several hold-ups at various places in the town from the Parwanoo barrier to Timber Trail. Roadside auto-repair-shops add to the confusion. 

Basanti colony faces water shortage
Our Correspondent

Kasauli, July 28
Resident of Basanti colony of the Baddi industrial town have been facing an acute shortage of water for the past four days. Situation has forced the residents, including the students of the local dental college housed there, to fetch water 7 Km from the colony.

A breakdown in the electric motor has been reported to be the reason for shortage. Though tanker have been pressed into service their supply is learnt to be quite unsatisfactory, posing problems for the residents. Even after four days the motor is yet to get repaired leading to obvious problems for the residents. The in-charge of the colony, Mr Pandey when contacted stated that the electric motor has been sent for repair and it is hoped to restore the normal supply by today adding that the tankers provided to supply water to colony during this period.