H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Hydel projects: HP invites pvt investors
Shimla, July 24
The Himachal Pradesh Government has invited private investors, public sector undertakings, and cooperative societies to set up small hydel projects at 100 sites with a total estimated potential of 116.05 MW through HIMURJA, a nodal agency for micro hydel project.

• HP to be ‘vidyut rajya’, says minister

Medical college yet to get building
Kangra, July 24
The fate of Dr R.P. Government Medical College, Tanda, has been hanging fire as work on the Rs 60 crore project of 500-bed hospital building, which is pre-requisite for its recognition from the Medical Council of India is yet to start.

‘Implement pension scheme speedily’
Parwanoo, July 24
A meeting of the HP State Corporate Sector Retired Employees’ Association was held here under the chairmanship of Mr Rameshwar Gripta, secretary-general of the HP Corporate Sector Workers Coordination Committee, to take stock of the implementation of the pension scheme for employees of public sector units.

HRTC federation to intensify stir
Nurpur, July 24
The Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation Employees Federation has decided to intensify the second phase of its stir for which it has called an emergency meeting on July 26 at Mandi. The federation had launched the first phase of the agitation from July 10.

Timer device or false alarm?
Dharamsala, July 24
The recovery of a spring with attached wires which was declared to be a timer device by the local police may result in embarrassment to the department. On the morning of July 21, an HRTC bus which had come from Shimla via Chandigarh the previous evening, was on its way back when a student discovered a suspicious looking object with attached wires on the roof of the bus.

Water crisis in Chamba areas
Chamba, July 24
The town has been facing scarcity of drinking water due to low water level in the Jadera stream. Surrounding areas of the town receive water supply for half-an-hour in the morning and half-an-hour in the evening.

2 students killed in mishap
Shimla, July 24
Two students were killed and one was injured when a Tata Sumo collided head on with a private bus near the police barrier, here this evening. While Ankush, who received a head injury, died on the spot, his friend Deepak, succumbed to his injuries on the way to a hospital.

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Hydel projects: HP invites pvt investors
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 24
The Himachal Pradesh Government has invited private investors, public sector undertakings, and cooperative societies to set up small hydel projects at 100 sites with a total estimated potential of 116.05 MW through HIMURJA, a nodal agency for micro hydel project.

The Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Mr Sanjay Gupta, said here today the projects were located in eight districts namely Kinnaur (24 sites), Shimla (27 sites), Sirmaur (two sites), Chamba (15 sites), Kangra (two sites), Kulu (12 sites), Lahaul-Spiti (seven sites) and Mandi (11 sites). The private investors would have to take up the work right from the commissioning which would include pre-feasibility, survey and investigation and preparation of a detailed project report. The investors could also apply for self-identified sites, which were not included in the list of identified sites. The allotment of projects would be made on ‘first come first serve’ basis.

He said Himachal Pradesh was among the few states which had streamlined various procedures and had also finalised the implementation and power purchase agreement for small hydel projects. Several promotional incentives were being given for the execution of small hydel projects through the private sector such as the buying of power by the HPSEB at the rate of Rs 2.50 per unit and third-party sale of power outside the state. No royalty would be charged on projects up to 5 MW for the first 15 years.

The agency had so far singed MoUs in respect of 217 projects in three phases having a total estimated potential of 346.85 MW with 124 companies. The estimated investment in 217 projects was expected to be about Rs 2,081 crore. Of these, 78 detailed project reports regarding the above MoUs had been received and the HPSEB had accorded techno-economic clearances to 46 projects. The government had, till date, signed implementation agreement regarding 35 projects with 22 companies with a total estimated potential of 81.75 MW. The power purchase agreements with board had also been signed in 20 projects so far.

HP to be ‘vidyut rajya’, says minister
Our Correspondent

Jaisinghpur, July 24
The Minister of State for Technical Education and Power, Mr Ravinder Singh Ravi, said here today that hydel power projects in the state would strengthen the economy of Himachal Pradesh.

Addressing a press conference at Bheri rest house, about 25 km from here, he said the state was heading towards becoming ‘vidyut rajya’ and would produce 2236 MW of power from new projects by 2003. He said at present work on 7155 MW new power projects in addition to old projects was on and many of these projects would start production soon. He claimed that by the end of 2008, the state would produce 10,000 MW of power out of its total identified potential 22,000 MW.

Medical college yet to get building
Our Correspondent

Kangra, July 24
The fate of Dr R.P. Government Medical College, Tanda, has been hanging fire as work on the Rs 60 crore project of 500-bed hospital building, which is pre-requisite for its recognition from the Medical Council of India (MCI) is yet to start.

A nine-member Public Accounts Committee headed by Mr Rangila Ram Rao pointed out this lapse on the part of the government which might result in some serious implications for the college on Monday. During a visit to the college, the committee members asked the Principal, of Dr I.D. Santoshi, to brief them on the reasons for delay in the construction of this 500-bed hospital. Dr Santoshi told the PAC that the state government had signed an agreement with Hospital Services consultancy Noida for the construction of the hospital building and a token money of Rs 1 crore had been given to the agency but the work had not started. The committee was told that the agency had carried out a survey of the area but reasons for not starting work were not known to the medical college authorities.

According to the MCI norms a hospital should be attached to a medical college within 5 km radious where as Zonal Hospital, Dharmsala, which is attached to this medical college is violative of this norm. It is learnt that the work on this hospital project should have started latest by December 2001, but could not materialise because of the financial crunch the state was facing.

The state government had made a commitment to the MCI that by the end of 2003 the hospital would be ready. But it seems it would be difficult to complete this project by the end of the stipulated time. The MCI team is scheduled to inspect the college next month.

It is learnt that the Cabinet had given approval for raising loans from HUDCO or some allied agencies for the construction of the hospital but nothing had been done in this regard.

The PAC pointed out that purchases made for the Physiology, Anatomy and Bio Chemistry Departments were not according to the requirement of the MCI. The team members told the College authorities that these items had not even been purchased by the IGMC Shimla as yet.

The pleads of these departments told the PAC that these purchases were made in the interest of the patients and students.

The PAC comprised Rangila Ram Rao, Mr Harsh Mahajan, Mr Jai Krishan Sharma, Ms Viplo Thakur, Mr B.B.L Bhutail, Mr Chander Sen Thakur, and others.

Meanwhile the medical college authorities yesterday received from the government sanction for the appointment of 207 para medical staff for the medical college.

‘Implement pension scheme speedily’
Our Correspondent

Parwanoo, July 24
A meeting of the HP State Corporate Sector Retired Employees’ Association was held here under the chairmanship of Mr Rameshwar Gripta, secretary-general of the HP Corporate Sector Workers Coordination Committee, to take stock of the implementation of the pension scheme for employees of public sector units.

As many as 25 representatives of district units of retired employees’ associations attended the meeting. In a statement, Mr G.P. Sharma, president of the association, Mr R.C. Gupta, senior vice-president, Mr H.K. Kaushik, general secretary and Mr R.C. Sharma, joint secretary, said the Himachal Pradesh government had issued notification extending pensionery benefits to employees of the public sector undertakings in October, 1999. A resolution was also passed at the meeting expressing gratitude to the Chief Minister for making Himachal Pradesh the first state in the country to have given pension to corporate employees.

The association hailed the decision and urged the government for its speedy implementation as the matter had already been delayed considerably and retired employees were facing financial hardships.

The members also urged the government to create a corpus fund under the control of the finance department and transfer Rs 70,000 crore lying as pension contribution with the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner. The association also resolved to start “Jan Jagran” from September.

HRTC federation to intensify stir
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, July 24
The Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) Employees Federation has decided to intensify the second phase of its stir for which it has called an emergency meeting on July 26 at Mandi. The federation had launched the first phase of the agitation from July 10. This was stated by Mr Rajnesh Sharma, state federation president, here yesterday. He said the agitation was launched to save the prestigious public sector undertaking.

Mr Sharma alleged that the HRTC had been reeling under a severe financial crisis and the state government was responsible for the present mess. The government had not released its grant-in-aid, he added. The federation president said the HRTC had been incurring an annual loss of Rs 45.57 crore. Apart from this 800 HRTC buses had been plying on loss-earning routes. The HRTC had suffered a loss of Rs 6 crore due to the recent hike in the diesel price. He lamented that the government had not enhanced the bus fare to neutralise the hike in the diesel price.

Mr Sharma said the government had transferred 10 of its managing directors within the past four and a half years and warned that the federation would not allow the HRTC to be weakend. Mr Sharma pointed out that in the first phase of the agitation, the federation had launched an employees’ awareness campaign by holding gate meetings at all HRTC depots.

Timer device or false alarm?
Our Correspondent

Dharamsala, July 24
The recovery of a spring with attached wires which was declared to be a timer device by the local police may result in embarrassment to the department.

On the morning of July 21, an HRTC bus which had come from Shimla via Chandigarh the previous evening, was on its way back when a student discovered a suspicious looking object with attached wires on the roof of the bus. The alarm was raised and the police claimed that it was a timer device. Later, it was handed over to the Army authorities for examination. The police claim caused panic among the people, and led to reports that militants are again active in the district. Senior police officials now have doubts about it being a timer device as there is no timer attached.

Meanwhile HRTC staff is being accused of negligence in checking the bus at the workshop or the Dharamsala bus stand. The Kangra Deputy Commissioner, Mr Prabodh Saxena, has advised people to be vigilant about abandoned things and report the movement of any suspicious person or persons to the police.

Water crisis in Chamba areas
Our Correspondent

Chamba, July 24
The town has been facing scarcity of drinking water due to low water level in the Jadera stream. Surrounding areas of the town receive water supply for half-an-hour in the morning and half-an-hour in the evening.

The shortage of water has been affecting business in hotels and commercial and industrial establishments.

The Jadera water supply scheme for the town was commissioned in 1993 at the cost of Rs 1.4 crore. Potable water is supplied through a water treatment unit with a capacity of 7.28 lakh gallons.

The local Assistant Engineer of the Irrigation and Public Health Department said the prevailing drought conditions and enhanced water requirements of the residents during summer were responsible for the crisis.

2 students killed in mishap
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 24
Two students were killed and one was injured when a Tata Sumo collided head on with a private bus near the police barrier, here this evening.

While Ankush, who received a head injury, died on the spot, his friend Deepak, succumbed to his injuries on the way to a hospital. They were both students of plus one in Government Senior Secondary, Lalpani. Their classmate Sandeep, who was injured in the mishap, has been admitted to the local IGMC hospital.

According to reports, Deepak and Sandeep, who were standing on the footboard near the door, fell down due to impact of the collision.

A correction
Our Correspondent

Mandi, July 24
A news item that appeared in a section of the Press, including The Tribune, that Rimpy of Kohan village in Dharampur valley of this district died in the PGI due to injuries in her eyes has been found to be incorrect. She is alive and recovering. We regret the error committed inadvertently.

A false report conveyed to the newspersons had been used under a bona-fide belief that its contents were true. According to her brother Mr Suresh Kumar, Rimpy had regained consciousness and she would have to undergo long treatment to regain her eyesight. The Tribune wishes here early recovery.