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Saturday,
August 10, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Defer
power bills of drought-hit: BJP Civilians
oppose water tariff hike Pandits
against trifurcation Green
light to fell green trees |
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A farmer
par excellence A bloody
mistake! Sony TV
dealer fined Rs 3,000 
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Defer power bills of
drought-hit: BJP Shimla, August 9 Besides, the recovery of loans and electricity bills should also be deferred in respect of cottage industries. He said in Punjab kharif crops in over 50 per cent of the cultivated area had been destroyed and the yield would be much less than normal in the remaining area. The farmers needed to be compensated to the extent of Rs 1,000 crore. Similarly, in Haryana the loss was over Rs 600 crore. He alleged that the Punjab Government was indifferent to the woes of farmers. Mr Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, was away on a foreign jaunt along with his encourage at a time when the state was reeling under drought. He said even the Agriculture Minister was not available. The committee felt that the farmers of southern Haryana, particularly of Mohindergarh, Rewari and Gurgaon districts, should be given relief in respect of pending electricity bills on the pattern of districts Zind, Hisar and Sonepat. These districts were the worst hit, with the water table plunging to 900 ft. He said it was for the first time that the Centre had taken the initiative in providing relief to farmers in the 12 drought-hit states. It had already declared that it would provide foodgrains to states for starting the food -for-work programme in the affected areas. |
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Civilians
oppose water tariff hike Kumarhatti, August 9 The MES allegedly reduced the water supply to Subathu civilians from 70000 gallons to merely 15000 gallons per day in the recent past. Similar situation prevailed in Kasauli and Dagshai, they alleged. The MES, according to subsection 2 of Section 234-A of the Cantonment Act 1924 had no power to revise water tariff. The said power vested with the central government the members asserted. The MES should not adopt unlawful means to hike the water tariff but await the central government’s decisions on the matter, they said. The members maintained that according to a letter of April 2000 sent to the Cantonment Boards by the central government, it was mentioned that civilians would be charged 59 paise per 1000 gallons by the board office and the said amount would be paid to the MES by the board office. There was provision in the Cantonment Act, 1924 that the rates in a cantonment couldn’t exceed the rates prevalent in the nearby civic body which in case of these cantonments was the Solan Nagar Parishad where water tariff was Rs 2 per 1000 litres. Hiking water tariff to Rs 20.44 per 1000 litres in cantonments was unjustified, they added nowhere in HP such high water rates were being charged from public. The members said that it was strange the MES used water from Gumber river near Subathu to supply it to civilians and for this the MES was not paying anything to the state government. Keeping this in mind there should be some relaxation in the form of lower water charges in the cantonments. Moreover the MES was also using natural water sources of cantonments free of cost. The MES should supply 50 per cent of water to civilians free of cost, the members demanded. The members has sought intervention of the central and the state government to resolve the matter. The members took exception of the rejection of a motion by the Subathu Cantonment Board president that was filed by the Subathu members seeking review of the water tariff hike. At Kasauli the MES has already charged the revised water tariff from civilians and issued the water bills with revised rates at Dagshai. However, the water bills at Subathu have not been issued for the past four months. At Dagshai the civilians have formed a welfare committee to oppose the water tariff hike. The committee has decided not to pay the bills till the decision on water tariff hike was reversed. |
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Pandits
against trifurcation Kangra, August 9 Dr Agnishekhar, who is touring the state along with Mr Ramesh Manvati, general secretary of Pannun Kashmir, said the recent RSS resolution on Jammu and Kashmir demanding the trifurcation of the state was a negation of the ‘homeland’ demand of the Pandits, who were in the 13th year of exile in their own country. He criticised the RSS for ignoring the displaced Kashmiri Pandits and lending support to the regional aspirations of the people of Jammu and Ladakh. He alleged that on one hand the RSS and VHP combine was claiming to be the champions of Hindu cause, but on the other hand it had betrayed the Hindus and Sikhs of Kashmir which has exposed the political myopia of the RSS and the VHP. He said the Kashmiri Pandits did not compromise on Nationalism in the Kashmir valley and were considered be a potent threat to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. He said even the BJP at its National Council meeting hold recently in New Delhi had maintained criminal silence on the aspirations of the displaced Pandits when it said that the BJP would keep in mind the regional aspirations of the people of Jammu and Ladakh and promised to support any agitation in this regard. He said the Kashmiri Pandits were not against any political dispensation to the people of Jammu and Ladakh but have a right to ask the RSS and the BJP leadership in which way the demand for a homeland for Pandits weaken the national cause. |
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Green light to fell green trees Mandi, August 9 As many as 1500 trees, mostly deodar, would be felled for constructing link roads, the total length of which is about 100 km. Political pressure is understood to have been exercised on the Union Ministry for getting the clearance for felling trees. The trees are reported to have been marked and the state Forest Corporation has started felling these. About 75 per cent of the population of the subdivision is yet to be linked with roads due to the blanket ban on felling of trees in the DPF. The apex court had repeatedly been turning down proposals of the state government advocating the promotion of silviculture. Villagers of the far-flung valleys have hailed the decision of the Environment and Forest Ministry, Daulat Ram and Dole Ram of Tanot village said after the construction of link roads they would be able to take their produce to the market. The valley is producing large quantity of off-season vegetables and fruit. Environmentalists on the other hand have expressed concern over the felling of a large number of trees. They apprehend that link roads would be misused by smugglers in the Nachan Forest Division. |
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A farmer par excellence MR Bahadur Singh Verma, who won the Rs 1-lakh Jagjivan Ram Kisan Puraskar last month, has not only done Solan proud by becoming the first Himachali recipient of this prestigious award, but has also transformed wasteland of the area. The ICAR award was presented to him by Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh. He has been instrumental in bringing the Saproon valley on the world map by the outstanding cultivation of off-season vegetables and stone fruits. He had won the first prize in the all-India hill fruit show organised by the ICAR way back in 1963 and had been honing his skills since then which culminated into the Jagjivan Ram national award. A resident of Kailar village, Mr Verma is winner of the SPLM Patel Farmer of the Year Award, 1999, and a nominated member of the Research and Extension Council of Dr
Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan. Mr Verma was the first person in the state who conceived of utilising wasteland for agricultural purposes. After taking up agriculture as a commercial enterprise, Mr Verma has contributed greatly towards the dissemination of technology and new innovations to fellow farmers. He has developed three lategroup cauliflower lines — “Late”, “Prakash” and “Poonam” — and is producing and supplying these all over north India. His meagre land has become a model farm and he has the distinction of producing 117 kg of cauliflower seed per bigha — a world record — and 230 gm of seed per plant, which is second to none. He has thus given stiff competition to private seed companies who always charged poor farmers exorbitantly. Besides planting kiwi orchards and introducing strawberry as an inter-crop for additional income, he has introduced cooperative farming, packaging and marketing system for vegetables and stone fruits in the area. He has also designed and improved various farm implements and introduced cross-breed cows. He has the desire to do more and to diversify agriculture with newly developed crops and technology. His advice to peasants is to have a holistic approach and diversify into cash crops, horticulture, seed production, animal science and also utilise latest techniques of wasteland utilisation and micro-farming. Only then can they get over the difficult farm conditions prevailing in Himachal and other hill states. There is need to have linkage with research stations so as to assimilate new ideas and take scientific advice for effective implementation of innovations. Mr Verma is a little disappointed that in spite of the hard work he put in for the award, he did not receive the desired appreciation from the state whereas other states had highlighted his achievements. He feels that other farmers can be motivated only if proper attention is paid to the laurels brought to Himachal by one of their colleagues. — Amar Chandel |
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A bloody mistake! Kumarhatti, August 9 Her husband Rajinder Thakur told this correspondent that he took his wife to the centre in June when she complained of a knee pain. The staff on duty took a blood test and mentioned AB+ as the blood group of his wife on the card. A few days later when she again complained of the same problem, they consulted a private practitioner at Solan. To their shock, the test there revealed that his wife had the A+ blood group. To ascertain the group, she underwent another test at a private clinic in this town yesterday where it was found to be A+. Mr Thakur lamented that the negligence on the part of the centre could have endangered the lives of his wife and unborn baby. While the Block Medical Officer of Dharampur could not be contacted, another doctor on duty said the mistake could have been due to a technical reason. |
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Sony TV dealer fined Rs 3,000 Shimla, August 9 This order was passed by Mr P.D. Goel, on a complaint alleging that the dealer had charged Rs 1,000 in excess of the price of the TV set. The complainant further alleged that when he inquired about the overcharging from the dealer, he behaved in an evasive manner. Mr Goel directed the dealer to refund Rs 1000 and pay Rs 3000 as damages for indulging in unfair trade practice. |
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Dhumal to unfurl Tricolour at Una Una, August 9 He informed that the Revenue Minister, Mr Rajan Sushant, the Deputy Speaker, Mr Ram Dass Malangar, and the Minister of State for Excise and Taxation, Mr Parveen Sharma, would attend the function.
UNI |
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