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Friday,
April 26, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Rain,
hailstorm damage crops Dhumal
blames Cong for state’s woes Parking, water problems plague residents Campaigning
for MC poll ends Hamirpur farmers take to horticulture |
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Leaders
oppose ‘new convention’ Jhuggi
owners seek power connections FCI
Director Sofat resigns Panchen Lama's birthday celebrated
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Rain, hailstorm damage crops Shimla, April 25 The temperature sharply dipped as cold winds swept the town and adjoining areas. People took out their woollens and heaters were put on. Many trees were uprooted by a storm last night. The Spiti valley was in the grip of a cold wave as it was snowing there since yesterday. Reports said 35 cm of snow had been recorded at Kaza where the temperature has dipped to -10°C. Fruit growers also suffered as the flowers on the plants were damaged due to the hailstorm. It remained dark even during the day because of clouds. Harvested crop in the Hamirpur, Kangra and other areas was damaged. However, residents of the areas suffering water crisis heaved a sigh of relief. HAMIRPUR:
Widespread damage was caused to rabi crops in various parts of the district for the second consecutive day due to heavy rain and hailstorm. It rained throughout last night and this morning and played havoc with the wheat crop lying in the open. The onslaught was so sudden that farmers were taken aback. Hundreds of farmers who had stacked their crops in bundles in fields for threshing purpose braved the rain and took the crops inside their houses. However, most of others who could not venture out of their houses were upset and agonised to see the bad condition of their crops. Power supply, water supply and telecom services were also affected and labourers of the PWD were seen working on roads to clear them of debris that had fallen due to heavy rain. Reports from the interiors of the district said the crop loss was estimated around 25 to 40 per cent. An official spokesman said rain at this juncture when harvesting season was on and crops were lying in the fields was bound to harm the crops. He said as per the initial reports, the loss to wheat crops was around 10 to 15 per cent. Meanwhile, farmers and leaders of various political parties and other organisations have urged the state government to depute revenue officers to visit fields and assess the loss. They have also demanded compensation under the Crop Insurance Scheme. MANDI:
After a long spell of dry weather and scorching heat, the region had a heavy rain, which continued throughout the night. The rain is expected to ease the drinking water crisis by recharging the water sources. Parts of the town plunged into darkness after the town was lashed by rain last evening. The power supply remained disrupted throughout the night and was restored only on Thursday. |
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Dhumal blames Cong
for state’s woes Shimla, April 25 Addressing a rally at the Sabzi Mandi ground here to wind up the party’s campaign, he said the problems of the capital city had multiplied due to the non-performance of Congress-ruled corporation. The scenic hill resort had been transformed into a concrete jungle as buildings were allowed to come up even in the banned green belt, he alleged. The corporation, which should have become an effective instrument for the development of the city, had become a hurdle in its planned growth. Consequently, it was facing all sorts of problems ranging from water scarcity and insanitation to potholed roads and lack of parking space for vehicles. The corporation had failed to spend the funds given to it by the government, he observed. Mr Dhumal claimed that the government had implemented a number of projects over the past four years, including parking lots at various places to provide additional parking space for 1,500 vehicles, installation of a tube well at the Ashwini khad to augment the water supply, setting up of a garbage-treatment plant and the implementation of an OPEC-aided scheme to improve the water distribution and sewerage system. Meanwhile, the BJP today termed as misleading the election survey conducted by a Hindi daily published from Chandigarh which revealed that a majority of employees were in favour of the Congress. Mr
J. P. Nadda, the state Health Minister, said the survey did not present the true picture. He claimed that the employees were supporting the BJP. He claimed that the BJP had succeeded in raising the relevant issues and put the Congress in the dock for its non-performance. The Congress had tried its best to sidetrack the main issues by raising issues like withdrawal of tax concessions to the middle class in the Union Budget, but failed miserably, he maintained. |
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Parking, water problems plague residents Hamirpur, April 25 The latest in the line is the digging of the main road for the laying of pipes for fire hydrants. The laying work, which started during the peak business season, has paralysed the business activities in the town and the worst affected are town traders and customers. The main road leading from Gandhi Chowk to Hospital Chowk is badly broken and unfit for driving. Many persons have received injuries while plying vehicles on the road. The unplanned stacking of earth dug from the trenches on the main road is another problem. The Department of Public Works has taken no steps to repair the road that was damaged due to the laying of pipelines. Earlier, it was the Department of Telecommunications that had dug the road for the laying of optical fibre cables and did not bother to cover the trenches properly. There are reports that the Department of Irrigation-cum-Public Health is also planning to carry out work for the laying of sewerage pipes in all parts of the town and once this work starts, the condition of the main road will further deteriorate. No exact date for the project has so far been announced by the department. People of the town and those who visit the town daily for shopping and other purposes are finding it difficult to reach the main bazaar area in their vehicles, as it is difficult to cross through this portion of road due to its bad condition. Moreover, there are no parking facilities in the town and if anyone parks his vehicle on the main road, he is subjected to challan by the traffic police. The town is also facing an acute water shortage these days. Though the augumentation of the town’s water supply scheme is going on these days, it is not sure whether the work will be completed by October, another date given by the department through the Chief Minister, Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal, at a function recently. The department during the monthly Press conference of the Deputy Commissioner at the Pressroom here two months ago had announced that the work for the augmentation of the water supply scheme would be completed before the start of summer. Residents of the town are finding it difficult to cope with their daily need of water and are waiting for the day when their problems of water supply and parking will come to an end. |
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Campaigning
for MC poll ends Shimla, April 25 The campaigning for the 24-member corporation ended amidst a heavy rain this evening. Polling will be held on April 27. The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, addressed a BJP rally in the Sabzi Mandi ground. The CLP leader, Mr Virbhadra Singh, was in the Krishna Nagar area to address the election rally. The PCC Chief, Ms Vidya Stokes, accompanied by a former Chief Minister, Thakur Ram Lal and Mr Sat Mahajan, had to shift the venue of their rally from Ganj Bazar to a nearby hall because of the rain. The HVC chief, Mr Sukh Ram, led a procession on the Mall and interior areas of the town and addressed a rally. The Himachal Jantantrik Morcha headed by a former minister, Mr Mohinder Singh, held rallies in different parts of the town and its candidates took out processions in their respective wards. Mr Virbhadra Singh, Ms Stokes and Thakur Ram Lal, earlier in the day, jointly addressed election rallies at the Lakkar Bazar and Daizy Bank in the Jakhoo area. They were accompanied by many legislators belonging to both factions. Mr Virbhadra Singh alleged that the BJP government was terrorising the employees on the eve of the SMC elections and their leaders were being taken to the official residence of Mr Dhumal to pledge their support to the BJP. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the corporation was undertaking development works with the grants amounting to Rs 102 crore provided by the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, the 10th Finance Commission, OPEC and the Norwegian agency. The water supply scheme for the town was augmented by investing a huge amount of money by the previous Congress government, but now the BJP was trying to take credit for these works, he added. Ms Stokes, Thakur Ram Lal and Mr Mahajan said while the BJP government at the Centre had upset the Budget of the middle class and the poor by increasing the price of cooking gas, the Dhumal government here was making the people pay enhanced water and electricity tariff. Imposition of users charges in hospitals had also badly hit the poor. Meanwhile, Mr Kuldeep Singh Rathore, secretary and spokesman of the PCC, told mediapersons that the ruling BJP had been trying to manipulate the corporation elections right from the beginning when the voter lists were being updated. He announced expulsion of three more Congress activists from the primary membership of the party on the charge of violating the party directives regarding the corporation elections. Those expelled are Mr Sanjeev Goswami, Mr Pawan Mahajan and Mr Sanjay Sharma. |
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Hamirpur
farmers take to horticulture Hamirpur, April 25 The area under crops in 1972 was just 472 hectares but has crossed 5,240 hectares by 2001-02, according to department sources. The production of fruits that was just 235 metric tonnes has touched the mark of 2,013 metric tonnes. The Union Government has also sanctioned a micro management horticulture project for the district under which the farmers have constructed four green houses on an area of 400 square metres. Fifty per cent subsidy was given for their construction. An additional area of 42.46 hectares has been brought under fruit crops under the Central Government-aided programme. The department has also taken up on war footing the growing of mango plants through the in situ method. This campaign was started in 1996, when Mr KJBV Subramanium was the Deputy Commissioner of Hamirpur. The scheme proved to be successful and during the year 2001-02, as many as 7,971 new plants were grown. The department also distributed 2,500 plants of other varieties of mangoes that it had imported from the Malihabad area of Uttar Pradesh. It also established five exhibition-cum-progeny plots and resorted to floriculture in the district. An area of 0.2 hectares was brought under floriculture last year. |
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Leaders
oppose ‘new convention’ Bilaspur, April 25 Zila Parishad vice-chairman Manorama Chauhan, who is also district president of the mahila wing of the Himachal Vikash Congress (HVC), and two other Zila Parishad members Bhagwaandass Sharma and Ashok Sharma who are of the HVC, have said they were not invited for the state-level seven-day annual Nalwaadi Fair at Bilaspur town. They said despite being elected representatives of the parishad, the highest panchayat-level institution, they were not invited for the annual fair at Ghumarwin though thousands of invitations were distributed by the organisers for these functions. They demanded that the Chief Minister should order an inquiry into this matter. |
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Jhuggi owners
seek power connections Shimla, April 25 Mr Mohinder Singh is also president of the nine-party Himachal Jantantrik Morcha which has fielded its candidates in 21 of the 24 wards of the SMC which is going to the polls on April 27. The Commissioner, Mr H.N. Kashyap, said that the jhuggi owners should formally apply for electricity connections as the SMC could recommend their cases only if the building plans were approved. Later, at a public meeting outside, they alleged that power connections were being provided only to those who had pledged support the ruling BJP in the election. |
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FCI Director Sofat resigns Solan, April 25 Addressing a press conference here today, Mr Sofat said he had resigned on purely personal grounds. He said he wanted to concentrate on his home district, particularly the Solan Assembly constituency. He said his duties as FCI Director required frequent trips to New Delhi, which left little time at his disposal for keeping in touch with the people. |
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Panchen Lama's
birthday celebrated Dharamsala, April 25 With the 13th year in one's life being considered most inauspicious, the Tibetan community is worried for the safety of Gedhun Choekyi
Nyima, who happens to be the youngest political prisoner in the world. The community, including monks, nuns, schoolchildren and officials of the exiled government attended the prayers held at the main temple outside the palace of the Dalai Lama. A function was also organised by the Akhil Bhartiya Tibet Sahyog Manch on the occasion of the birthday of 11th Panchen Lama. |
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