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Thursday,
August 16, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Dhumal
announces new revenue laws
Forum
against hike in power rate |
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Unity
continues to elude Cong DISTRICT DIARY BADDI DIARY Form task
force on flood relief: Congress Sack
minister, says DCC Cong to
organise ‘protest day’ tomorrow Students clash,
3 expelled, 4 fined Cows were
not shot, says medical report Recruitment
rules for PWD soon Suicide
bid by HVC leader Farmer
fears threat to life
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Dhumal announces new revenue laws Shillai (Nahan), August 15 He said the shamlaat lands, which were vested with the government in 1974 under the Common Land Act would now be transferred to actual owners. This would meet the long-standing demand of the people of the state, particularly Sirmour district. The Chief Minister said the government had also decided to improve settlement procedure by making old and new records transparent. He said family partition under the newly amended Act would be completed in three months’ period. He said 3500 lambardars would be appointed in the state. The Chief Minister said since his government came to power, it had taken various important decisions, including Khudro Darkhatan Malkiyat Sarkar, which had returned the ownership of trees planted on private land to farmers and removal of restrictions on khair wood which had benefited the farmers of Una, Kangra, Hamirpur and Bilaspur districts. The Chief Minister also announced launching of “swaym sidh yojna” in eight development blocks of Pachad, Solan, Rohru, Chamba, Baijnath, Lambagaon, Jhanduta and Karsog which aimed at social and economic development of women through organising self-help groups. This scheme will be implemented by social and women welfare department of the state. CHAMBA:
Mr Gulab Singh Thakur, Speaker of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, today announced that the work on the 231-MW Chamera stage-III hydroelectric project on the Ravi in the district would be undertaken soon as a Memorandum of Understan-ding had recently been signed between the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and the Himachal Pradesh Government. He said this while presiding over a district-level function to mark the Independence Day here today. MANDI:
Independence Day was celebrated here with great enthusiasm. Mr Kishan Kapoor, Transport Minister, unfurled the national flag and took salute from contingents of Police, Home Guards and NCC. He paid rich tributes to martyrs who laid down their lives for attaining freedom for the nation. He called upon the people, particularly the youth, to safeguard the freedom, unity and integrity of the country. SOLAN:
The state Agriculture Minister, Mr Vidya Sagar, presided over Independence-Day function here today. He said the district produced 10 lakh tonnes of tomatoes, valued at Rs 15 crore, last year. This year, the district had already exported tomatoes worth Rs 8 crore to other states. KULU:
The 55th Independence Day was celebrated with gaiety and fervour here today. Mr Ramesh Chand, Minister for Irrigation and Public Health, unfurled the National Flag and took salute from contingents of the police, ITBP, Home Guards and NCC cadets. Mr Karan Singh, Minister of State for Primary Education, Mr Maheshwar Singh, MP and Mr Chander Sen, Vice-Chairman of HPMC and MLA, were also present on the occasion. BILASPUR:
Himachal Food and Supplies Minister Mansaram unfurled the National Flag and took salute from contingents of the police, Home Guards and NCC cadets at a district-level Independence Day function here today. HAMIRPUR:
Mr Roop Singh Thakur, Forest Minister, today gave a call to the people to work for preserving the unity and integrity of the nation. He was addressing a district-level Independence Day function at a local school ground. Earlier, the minister unfurled the National Flag and took salute from contingents of the Himachal Pradesh Police, Home Guards and NCC cadets. He also inspected a parade presented by these contingents on this occasion. UNA:
Mr Ishar Das Dhiman, Education Minister, today unfurled the National Flag and took salute from jawans of the police, Home Guards and NCC cadets at the ground of Government Senior Secondary School for Boys here today. He appealed people to remenber the sacrifices made by freedom fighters to get independence for the country. |
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Forum against hike in power rate Shimla, August 15 In representation to the commission, it has emphasised that the board could bridge the revenue gap by curtailing wasteful expenditure improving efficiency. It pointed out that the transmission and distribution losses of the board were as high as 25 per cent against the 8 per cent in developed countries and there was also no proper metering of power as there was no mechanism in the board for prompt detection of faulty meters and their replacement. Moreover, unscrupulous consumers had been indulging in power theft in connivance with field staff. All these affected the revenue of the board, the forum said. Hydel projects were not executed in a planned manner and those completed frequently developed snags. There is no work culture in the board and revamping of the obsolete system, whether at the managerial level or field level, should be undertaken to bring about the desired efficiency in its overall functioning. The board, it has pleaded, should be refrained from raising expensive loans for its routine activities and the past liabilities should be cleared by prudent savings. It was unfortunate that the government had raised loans at exorbitantly high rates of interest, pushing the board in a debt trap. The board, being a monopoly, should not be allowed to prohibit consumption by imposing higher tariff on more consumption and creating artificial classes of consumers. All domestic consumers should form one category and be charged equally. If the government wants to charge certain sections less for political reasons, it should compensate the board suitably. It should also stop uneconomical recruitment of staff and redeploy the surplus staff. Low cost power was key to prosperity Moreover, in a hill state, increase in tariff would affect the fragile environment as the people would revert to the old forest fuel system, which in turn would result in further denudation of the hills. In hills, power is also required for space heating, particularly during the prolonged cold winter. Being a leading power producer, Himachal could generate more revenue by selling electricity to deficient states at higher rates, the forum added. |
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Unity continues to elude Cong Jwali (Kangra), August 15 It was Mr Virbhadra Singh’s first public meeting in Kangra after Ms Stokes organised meetings for party workers here last month. Sixteen Congress MLAs from all over the state were present at the Independence Day rally organised by the Virbhadra Singh faction. The presence of Rajya Sabha member and All-India Mahila Congress President Chandresh Kumari is being considered politically significant. Initially, considered to be close to the PCC chief, she has drifted towards the Virbhadra camp. The Kangra DCC president, Mr
M.R. Goma, former PCC chief Sat Mahajan, former ministers Mr Vijai Mankotia and Mr Kawal Pathania were conspicuous by their absence. Mr Virbhadra Singh accused the Chief Minister, Prof P.K. Dhumal, of shielding those indulging in corruption. He said following a weak and directionless government all development works had come to a standstill. “The popularity graph of the BJP regime has shown a steep decline as it has failed to fulfil the promises made to the people of the state,” he said. “The present regime which had criticised the Congress government for raising loans, has itself taken loans worth Rs 7,000 crore till March 2002, he said adding that his party was not opposed to raising loans provided the money was spent on developmental works. Despite of the Centre coming to the assistance of the state, the position was deteriorating. “Due to the complete financial mismanagement by the present government it seems unlikely that Himachal will be able to come out of this debt trap in the near future,” he said. On the issue of regional discrimination, Mr Virbhadra said barring the Assembly constituencies of the Chief Minister and a few others, rest of the state was being neglected. “Despite its political importance and size, Kangra too has been a victim of regional discrimination.” he alleged. Admitting minor differences existed within the party, he said it was important that the complaint pending before the high command regarding the organisational elections be resolved. He claimed that he would tour the entire state and hold five hundred meetings before the next Assembly elections. The MLAs who attended the meeting included Mr Chander Kumar, Mr Kaul Singh, Mr Yogander Chander, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, Mrs Asha Kumari, Mr
B.B.L. Butail, Mr G.S. Bali, Mr Singhi Ram, Mr Raghu Raj, Mr Virender Gautam, Mr Dharam Pal, Mr Kuldeep Kumar, Mr Kashmir Singh and Mr Tek Chand. |
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DISTRICT DIARY Kulu It is difficult to find a road which does not have potholes or sullage from overflowing drains on it. Among the affected roads are the Head Post Office road and the National Highway near Ratna Guest House. Leakage and overflowing septic tanks in the residential accommodation of the Forest Department near the Head Post Office have made the life of residents of lower Dhalpur miserable. The municipal authorities say that the drains along the National Highway are to be maintained by the PWD. In Akhara Bazar, the drains from the gurdwara to the sub-post office are now almost non-existent. This has been brought to the notice of the PWD authorities but to no avail. * * * * The Irrigation and Public Health Department told residents of Kulu, Manali and Bhuntar towns to replace their water meters failing which their supply would be disconnected. Almost all residents got new meters installed within two months. Later the policy of the government was changed and a flat-rate system was introduced for domestic consumers. Officials say that as the life of a water meter is not more than six months, the department may have reconsidered its earlier decision. The Citizens Forum here has demanded that in future the IPH Department should provide water meters to consumers, as had been the practice earlier and charge rent from them. * * * * The administration and the local bodies of Kulu, Manali and Bhuntar are indifferent to the problem of stacking of building material on roads and in streets. There seems to be no provision for seeking permission from the authorities to stack such material on government and municipal land. People often keep the material on roads for weeks
together, causing inconvenience to the public. * * * * The pradhan and other residents of the Neoli Panchayat and the Kharahal area have thanked the Department of IPH and the HPSEB for opening counters at Ramshila for paying their electricity and water bills. They say the area covers 30-40 villages with a population of about 5,000. However, the panchayat area has no dispensary, pucca roads, bank branch, sewer system and even potable water, though it is just opposite the main town of Kulu across the Beas. The panchayat has demanded the provision of these facilities on priority. * * * * Dr Ram Dev, a physician, had donated Rs 50,000 to the district hospital here in 1992 to build a serai for the attendants of patients. The amount was given to the PWD at that time. Though more people are interested in contributing to the noble cause, the PWD is yet to draw up a building plan. |
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BADDI DIARY Ambika Sharma Baddi Various other units operating in the area, including leather industries at Nalagarh, pharmaceutical, paper and pulp, dying and tanning units at Baddi, were visited by the team which included the member-secretary of the HP Pollution Control Board, the SDM, and the Secretary Industries Department. Some other effluent treatment plants in the area were also found unsatisfactory. A large number of fish were found dead in Sirsa river last month because of the effluents discharged into the river by some units. The board raided the units and besides serving show-cause notices on three units, suspended production at three other units. After this mishap the minister had decided to assess the surveillance mechanism of the area. He also visited the severely affected Sandoli nullah, the catchment area of which houses a large number of industries. * * * Despite the mining department’s crackdown on fake contractors, they continue to dupe the tractor-trailer and truck operators engaged in picking up quarry material from the river bed. Some villagers of the Kenduvaala area have complained to the Mining Officer that they are forced to pay to an unauthorised person for every trip they make to the river bed to pick up quarry material. They have pointed out that this unauthorised person does not hold any lease on the site and pays no royalty to the government for the payments extorted from the drivers. This has been going on for nearly three years, they say, and now this person has even encroached upon some shamlat land. The District Mining Officer, Mr BD Sharma, says that the problem of illegal mining is so deep-rooted that it can be tackled only by a joint and coordinated action by the police, the Mining Department and the administrative set-up, besides a sincere effort on the part of the people to check the problem. His department alone lacks the manpower to check the problem in the vast area. The affected persons have also made complaints to the Sub Divisional Magistrate and to the police about this alleged extortion. * * * Potholes, slush pools and garbage dumps mark the roads in this industrial belt. The residents complain that the department has done little for the maintenance of the roads in the area. The residents have to trudge along the potholed roads, where stagnating water adds to their woes. Besides this, garbage heaps have accumulated at various points which not only emit a foul smell but also spread filth when stray animals rummage through the heaps. A visible difference in the condition of roads is noticed by any visitor who enters the town after travelling along the National Highway. Despite the development of industry in the area, the roads present a dismal picture of neglect. Industrial development brings to the area the elite of industrialists besides foreign visitors. Roads, therefore, should be an item of top priority. |
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Form task force on flood relief: Congress Dharamsala, August 15 Addressing a press conference here yesterday Mr Bali said the task force would help in the immediate assessment of the damage and would expedite relief work. “The task force should be headed by the local MLA and should have the panchayat pradhans and other local representatives as its members,” he demanded. Mr Bali said there should be no politics in relief distribution which should not be on the basis of revenue records. The Prime Minister should be generous in giving financial assistance to the state as immense damage had been caused in various parts due to flash floods, he demanded. The Congress MLA requested the Food and Consumer Affairs Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, to come to the immediate assistance of the affected areas by providing them free foodgrains, which were in ample in the godowns in the country. “Houses of the people have been damaged and standing crop and land washed off in the Nagrota area,” he said. He said the Congress would also send its team to the flood-affected areas of the state, to assess the damage. Mr Bali informed that 15 villages in Nagrota had been severely hit by the floods. “There has been a loss of over Rs 2 crore in the Nagrota area as two irrigation schemes of the IPH had been badly damaged, one bridge of the PWD completely washed off and the pump house of the Massal Lift Irrigation Scheme completely washed off,” he disclosed. He added that there had been a lot of damage in the Nagrota Bagwan, Hatwas and Dhaloon villages. |
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Sack minister,
says DCC Kulu, August 15 Mr Thakur said the DCC had resolved that if the state government did not take action against the minister, the district unit of the Congress would start an agitation. He alleged that the government was unfriendly towards farmers and the downtrodden. He demanded that the government should withdraw the user charges introduced in the hospitals, which had allegedly deprived the poor of the medical facilities. Mr Thakur alleged that the farmers in the district were not getting enough insecticides. He demanded that these should be made available. He warned that the flood threat to Manikaran village might cause a havoc in the valley. |
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Cong to
organise ‘protest day’ tomorrow Shimla, August 15 Addressing mediapersons here on Monday, Mr Kuldeep Rathore, secretary, of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, said dharnas would be staged at the district headquarters and a memorandum would be submitted to the President through the Deputy Commissioners. He accused the government of being corrupt. After the Tehelka exposure, the UTI scam had put a question mark on its credibility, he said, adding that even the alliance partners had charged the government of being corrupt. Mr Rathore alleged that corruption was rampant in Himachal Pradesh where the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, has lost control over the government. By imposing user charges in the hospitals, the government had put burden on the poor, he said. |
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Students
clash,
3 expelled, 4 fined Solan, August 15 The names of the expelled students are Pankaj Khajuria, Vijay Khosla and Virendra Salathia. Those fined are Vinay Sharma, Surendra Chibb, Nitish Khajuria and Ayush Gupta. While the hostel warden Anil Sood maintained that the seven were punished on account of their having been caught ragging some junior students at the hostel, independent sources said the clash had been precipitated by a minor altercation between a senior and a junior student during an NCC class yesterday. One of them belonged to the ABVP and the other to the NSUI. The two student associations have been at loggerheads for quite some time. This was followed by the grouping of the students at the hostel during late evening after which senior students took up the issue of a junior misbehaving with a senior. Heated verbal exchanges soon led to fisticuffs. The university authorities, who visited the hostel at about 1.30 a.m., lost no time in expelling the three students and imposing fine on four others. The punished students alleged that the authorities had acted in a biased manner. They said no action could be taken against them without a proper inquiry instituted by a competent authority. They recalled that some students belonging to the ABVP were
similarly punished without any inquiry some months ago. But, their expulsion was immediately withdrawn, after a certain irregularity was pointed out. The hostel warden, however, maintained that most of the punished students had been issued warnings when they were found violating discipline, on earlier occasions also. They had also furnished written undertakings of good conduct. |
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Cows were not shot, says medical report Shimla, August 15 The VHP had alleged that the cows were shot dead and expressed apprehension that a retired police officer, near whose house one of the carcasses was found, might have killed them. It staged a demonstration and blocked traffic yesterday. The administration had constituted a three-member team to conduct a post-mortem after the VHP had opposed the post-mortem by a veterinary doctor, who was first assigned the duty. The team conducted the post-mortem on both the carcasses. It did not find any bullet injury or pellets and prima facie suspected it to be a case of death by poisoning. It also found polythene bags, nails and other foreign material inside the carcasses. The viscera has been sent to forensic laboratory for examination and it may take another two days before the final report was made available. Mr
A. N. Sharma, SP, said the investigation into the case would make headway only after the exact cause of death was known. If it was established that the death was caused due to poisoning than it had to be ascertained whether the animals accidently consumed poison or they were administered poison. |
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Recruitment
rules for PWD soon Bilaspur, August 15 Minister for Animal Husbandry and PWD Ram Lal Markandey said this while presiding over a joint meeting of officers of the committee. Action Committee leaders led by Mr Ram
Singh said here yesterday that the meeting was held in a very cordial
atmosphere. |
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Suicide
bid by HVC leader Kangra, August 15 The district police chief, Prathvi Raj, said Mr Guleria was arrested when he was trying to take ‘jal samadhi’ in the Maharana Partap Dam waters today. He was later released on bail. |
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Farmer
fears threat to life Bilaspur, August 15 The president of the gram panchayat, Mr Vijender Chandel alleged that the Head Constable had assaulted him inside the police station. The Head Constable was recently transferred. In a letter written to the Chief Minister Prof Premkumar Dhumal, he (Amarnath) said, “the cop is known for fabricating cases against some people. He is also supported by anti-social elements of the village.” As Amarnath had refused to toe their line he was allegedly attacked with a sickle by an accomplice of the head constable in the village yesterday. He urged the Chief Minister and the DGP to order an inquiry and take suitable action against the head constable. |
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