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Wednesday,
April 24, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Water
crisis in Solan, Hamirpur Militants’
activities worry HP police Cong
manifesto for probing graft charges Congress
yet to fulfil poll promises: BJP |
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RSS up in arms against
Christian conference Amendment to land
ceiling Act challenged Govt urged to tap
tourism potential Mashobra Resorts
to appoint 4 directors Eight Cong
activists expelled
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Water crisis in Solan, Hamirpur Shimla, April 23 The water position was also not very happy in Shimla where the crisis might come in case the dry spell continues. The situation was worst in the Mandi, Hamirpur and Bilaspur districts where 25 to 50 per cent of water has dried in at least 97 water supply schemes. About 290 water supply schemes in the Hamirpur and Bilaspur have been affected due to the shortage of water. Reports indicated that about 25 per cent water depletion had been recorded in 185 water supply schemes in these three districts. Depletion of about 50 per cent water has been noticed in 54 water supply schemes of Mandi, 15 in Hamirpur and 10 in Bilaspur. As many as 89 drinking water supply schemes in Bilaspur, 60 in Hamirpur and 36 in Mandi have shown a downfall of about 25 per cent in the water level. With all these reports pouring in, it is expected that Himachal Pradesh might face a severe water crisis in case the dry spell continues. Most of the water supply schemes in the state are based on rainfed catchments. However, senior officers in the Irrigation and Public Health Engineering Department claimed that the decline in the water level was not alarming and the situation had not come to deploy water tankers. The Changar, Thural, Nagrota Surian and Trilokpur in the Kangra
district have started feeling the pinch of water scarcity. Chamba was also facing problem because of isolated rain. A note of caution came from the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, in the Una district yesterday where he said that the ground water level had dropped because of meager rain and this might cause a drinking water scarcity during the summer. He said the government was making arrangements to provide adequate drinking water, but the people should not misuse it. The Chief Engineer of IPH (North Zone) would go to Una tomorrow to personally examine the situation there. The water requirement during summers in Shimla was about 72 lakh gallons against which only about 58 lakh gallons was available. However, the authorities were hopeful that the situation might not be so bad this time as the Central Groundwater Board had drilled a tubewell at the Ashwani Khad to provide an additional 4 lakh gallons of water. The water supply scheme here was constructed during the British regime in 1875 and was augmented from time to time. A sum of Rs 40 crore was sanctioned by the 10th Finance Commission in 1996 for the improvement of the water supply and sewerage system of the town. |
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No drinking water for flat allottees Shimla These flats were constructed under phase III of the New Shimla Colony project last year and allottees were caught in a cross-fire between the SDA and the SMC. SDA sources said it had deposited Rs 10 crore with the Irrigation and Public Health Department for lifting water for these flats from Ashwani Khud. However, a dispute has risen now with the SMC refusing to provide water connections on plea that the areas had been excluded from municipal area recently. Residents are annoyed with the housing board for not providing them basic facilities. They allege that after paying huge amounts for these flats, they still lead a miserable life due to absence of drinking water. “We are buying mineral water from the market for drinking as no water connection has been provided to us. For washing clothes, we have to go to the outskirts of the town. They have really played a cruel joke on us” says Shusma Kanwar, a phase III resident of the SDA complex. Every day families pay Rs 100 to labourers to get water from areas getting potable water in the town. “After paying Rs 13 lakh for a flat we have to pay Rs 100 daily for water, which is quite expensive. No water tank has been provided us” says a resident. It is surprising that many occupants have been using disposable plates and glasses in their daily routine. How can the Housing Board play such games with these families? Even basic facilities like dustbins, parking, are not available here, which had been promised by the board. The quality of construction is not up to the mark. Cement has started peeling off the walls and allottees are forced to renovate their flats. Heaps of garbage can be seen on the other side of the SDA complex. Litter is scattered on the road making it difficult for people to cross. People living in the vicinity of the dump are forced to live with a nauseating stench. When contacted, the SMC Commissioner, Mr H.N. Kashyap, said water would be supplied in bulk to these residents and distribution done through the housing board. |
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No water supply for five days Kasauli, April 23 In the absence of any other source residents have been left high and dry with not even a drop of water being received here for the past five days. This is despite the fact that the Executive Engineer had promised to purify the water and supply it by today. The callous attitude of the officials can be gauged from the fact that no other arrangement has been made to supply water. The panchayat has been unable to arrange tankers as the tenders for the tankers has not been invited by the local administration. Officials stated that the water scarcity hits the region in May. But this year the water shortage has hit the region much early. With the MES employees going on a three-day strike the prospects of receiving water has received a jolt. Villagers in the surrounding areas lament that the natural sources of water had dried up due to the installation of hand-pumps in their proximity. This has aggravated the plight of the farmers who find it hard to irrigate their fields. Interestingly, a number of constructions have been continuing around the town despite the problem. |
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Militants’ activities worry HP police Dharamsala, April 23 With intelligence reports indicating the presence of a large number of foreign militants like Afghanis and Pakistanis in the Gandoh area of Jammu and Kashmir, which is barely at a distance of 15 km from the Kehar area of Chamba, the Himachal Pradesh Police has stepped up vigil along its borders with the militancy infested state. According to Army sources, there are some major hide-outs of militants in Jammu and Kashmir, very close to Himachal and as such the possibility of them sneaking into the border areas of Chamba was very high. In fact, it was only a week back that the Army from the Jammu and Kashmir side and the Himachal police from the Kehar side launched a massive combing operation after a major militant hide-out in Gandoh was ambushed. The entire area of Padri Gulli, Langera and Sappa Cholu in the Kehar sector was searched as there were apprehensions that the militants who had managed to escape had entered Himachal. The militants included a dreaded Afghani militant, G-3, belonging to the Jaish-e-Muhammad and some other Pakistani nationals. The Army even managed to intercept wireless messages being flashed by these militants as to what should be done with the foreign mercenaries since the Army had ambushed their hide out. According to Army sources, apart from huge stock of arms and ammunition, the militants had stored ration in quintals at this hide out which could last for months together. The presence of these kind of hide-outs and dreaded mercenaries in the areas close to the Chamba border is giving the police anxious moments. The Deputy Inspector-General of Police (North), Mr K.C. Sadyal, said with the melting of the snow in the high mountain passes in the border areas of Chamba, police posts which move down during winter months would move back to their previous locations. “After getting regular intelligence inputs from the Jammu and Kashmir police and the Army about militant movement we are maintaining high vigil along our borders to thwart any attempts to infiltrate into our territory,” he stated. There have been numerous occasions when Jammu and Kashmir militants crossed over into Himachal and looted money and ration from the people in the Chamba areas since their first encounter with the Himachal police took place in June,1993. Since then the spill over of militancy has continued with the carnage of 35 innocent labourers at Kalaban and Satrundi in August, 1998 being the biggest strike. Whenever pressure is mounted on militants from the Jammu and Kashmir side they use the border areas of Chamba as safe haven. With fundamental Islamic outfits from outside extending their area of operation into the remote border areas of Chamba, the police is maintaining round-the-clock vigil along with the ITBP forces along the Chamba areas bordering Jammu and Kashmir. |
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Cong manifesto for probing graft charges Shimla, April 23 The manifesto was released here to mediapersons by the PCC chief, Mrs Vidya Stokes and the CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh. Many legislators and leaders of both factions were present to give an impression that the party was united. Among them were, Thakur Ram Lal, a former Chief Minister, Mr Sat Mahajan, a former PCC chief, Thakur Kaul Singh, Mr Rangila Ram Rao, Mr Ram Lal, Mrs Viplove Thakur, Mr Gangu Ram and Mr Lajja Ram. The manifesto alleged that the recommendation of the Chief Minister, Prof
P.K. Dhumal, had become another criteria for obtaining government jobs. It said that when the Congress would return to power, an inquiry will be ordered to probe into the allegations of corruption and nepotism levelled by four ministers and three MLAs of the BJP against their own government. The manifesto alleged that while the Dhumal government had burdened the common people with a steep hike in the electricity tariff and also imposed a winter surcharge of 25 per cent on domestic consumers, big industrialists were given a relief of about Rs 18 crore in the power tariff. The water charges were also increased and users charges imposed on health services. The Congress-controlled Shimla Municipal Corporation has been penalised by the Dhumal government as no grants were released during the past four years. Even then the corporation undertook development works worth Rs 102 crore. The manifesto pointed out that the Rs 50 crore sewerage project in the town was started during the Congress regime and a grant of Rs 40 crore was made by the Tenth Finance Commission when the Congress was in power. A solid waste management project worth Rs 7.50 crore was started by the Congress and the then Prime Minister, Mr Rajiv Gandhi, sanctioned a special grant of Rs 5.50 crore for beautification of Shimla town. The manifesto said the green belt in the town would be protected and the transport system would be streamlined. Later, Mr Virbhadra Singh said the dream of Mr Dhumal to “capture” the municipal corporation would never be fulfilled. The Deputy Commissioner, Shimla and the Commissioner of the municipal corporation were functioning like agents of the ruling BJP, he alleged. Mrs Stokes said although polling for the municipal corporation was scheduled to be held on April 27, but the final voter lists had not been provided to the parties contesting the election. |
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Congress
yet to fulfil poll promises: BJP Shimla, April 23 Addressing a press conference here, he alleged that the Congress, which had been ruling the corporation for the past 16 years, did not fulfil even a single promise. The party did not have a single achievement on the basis of which it could go to the electorate and seek a fresh mandate. It was trying to divert people’s attention from its failures by raising issues which had no relevance to the corporation, he said. He claimed that the BJP had always fulfilled election promises and carried out vikas yatras in the state to apprise the people of its achievements. The present government implemented a number of projects to develop parking space for about 2,000 vehicles, he said, adding that a special assistance of Rs 1.62 crore had been secured from the Centre for the metalling of roads. Meanwhile, the Horticulture Minister, Mr Narinder Bragta, has claimed that the BJP will sweep all 24 seats in the corporation. |
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Panel recommends online worship Chamba, April 23 The committee headed by its chairman Kashmir Singh Rana in its recommendations submitted to the state government has suggested the drawing up of a master plan for the development, renovation and beautification of temples. It has also recommended initiating innovative and social welfare programmes by the temples’ trusts and proper upkeep of the temples’ immoveable property. The committee also stressed the need of formulating a code of conduct for temple trusts and framing of rules and regulations for ensuring better maintenance of the temples. In order to give the much-needed fillip to religious tourism to the
famous Manimahesh pilgrimage centre in the district, the committee evinced keen interest in the promotion of international-level tourism to the holy centre on the pattern of famous Amarnath pilgrimage. For this Mr Rana said the committee had also explored the possibilities of encouraging and inviting donors who could get toilets huts, and sarais constructed for devotees and tourists, thereby providing ample opportunities of indirect employment. He said the project would give an impetus to adventure tourism. He said the project would give an impetus to adventure tourism. He added that the committee had suggested the formation of a Manimahesh samiti by including local panchayat pradhans to monitor the activities of the project. |
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RSS up in arms against Christian conference Dharamsala, April 23 The RSS in its complaint to the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, has demanded that the authorities should take timely action as the motive behind it was to pave the way for conversions by enticing the poor. The ADM, Kangra, Mr S.S. Guleria, when contacted said they had received such complaints, which had been forwarded to the police for further inquiry. An RSS pracharak from Kangra, Mr Vijay Nadda, said they had received complaints from the Samloti, Shahpur, Lunj and Ludoh areas, that Christian missionaries were trying to entice the economically weaker section. He said the people of Kangra had also objected to the posters put up by the organisers of the Christian conference. Mr Nadda alleged that the poor people were being misled, which would ultimately pave the way for forced conversions and added that the district authorities should take timely action. |
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Amendment
to land ceiling Act challenged Shimla, April 23 The petitioner also prayed to before the court to include “daughter” on a par with “son”, permitting her to have separate independent unit to save the clause from unconstitutionality. While admitting the petition a Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Mr W.A. Shishak and Mr Justice L.S. Panta, has fixed May 21 as the next date for hearing of the case. In this plea the petitioner has challenged the amendment to the HP Ceiling of Land Holdings Act, 1972, whereby the adult daughters have been debarred from acquiring ancestral land. She further stated that the unit of land was inherited by Ms Meenakshi Kumari through a will of her sister, Ms Anuradha, who had died some time ago. In her petition she has described the amended Act of 1973 as unconstitutional and gender discriminatory. It is worth mentioning that Mr Virbhadra Singh had recently filed an application before the Financial Commissioner (Appeals) that he was unaware of the amendment of the Act and the surplus land, if any, might be vested in the government, but he should be allowed to exercise the option to choose the land, which he would retain. The District Collector has also filed a revision petition seeking resumption of the land. It is pertinent to mention here that the high court stayed the proceedings before the Financial Commissioner on March 21 after hearing the petition. After the stay order the state government filed an application for vacation of stay in which it had contended that the court should not stay the proceedings. |
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Govt urged to tap
tourism potential Mandi, April 23 Talking to mediapersons today after visiting the Rohanda valley in the district said the state was bestowed with alluring scenic beauty. He said tourism in the state deserved to be extended to the rural areas as had been done in many European and other countries. The Planning Commission could consider the proposal of the state government to develop appropriate infrastructure for the promotion of adventure and rural tourism. He said tourism could become one of the major sources of income for the state and added that if the state government was sincere to promote tourism it should develop forests and discourage industrialisation, which was bound to devastate and pollute Himachal Pradesh. The Ambassador of Germany, Mr Heimo Richterwr, the Ambassador of Russia, Mr Alexander M. Kadakin, and the Ambassador of Lebanon, Mr Jean Danniel, also visited Rohanda and a fair at Sundernagar. A week-long painters’ workshop will be held at Rohanda shortly in which artists from home and abroad will participate. |
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Mashobra Resorts
to appoint 4 directors Shimla, April 23 The government had earlier terminated all four members which had been nominated by the EIH on the board of directors. |
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Eight Cong
activists expelled Shimla, April 23 A spokesman for the PCC said those expelled from the party for six years were: Mr Puneet Sood, Mr Ravinder Nath
Popa, Mr Kamal Butail, Mr Suresh Sharma, Mr Harish Janartha, Ms Poonam Sharma, Mr Mohinder Singh Chauhan and Ms Mamta Puri. Meanwhile, an official spokesman said all shops and commercial establishments in the municipal corporation area would remain closed on April 27 because of the elections. |
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