H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

CM clarifies on party post
Shimla, April 1
Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, yesterday said the Congress had been following the principle of one man, one post but it was the prerogative of the high command to decide the issue.

Timber rights of 5 villagers suspended
Kulu, April 1
Timber Distribution (TD) rights of five villagers of the Nagar Forest Range, have been suspended by the divisional forest officer here. The rights had been given to the people under the provisions of the Forest Settlement of 1894, under which all right holders could make use of standing trees of Deodar, Fir/Spruce and Kail to meet bonafide domestic requirement. 

Centre sanctions 30 cr for HP
New Delhi, April 1
The Centre has sanctioned Rs 30 crore for rural water supply schemes and animal husbandry projects for Himachal Pradesh.

Rs 30.64 cr Kurhed power project cleared
Chamba, April 1
The Himachal Government has cleared the 4.50 MW hydroelectric Project on the Kurhed Nallah, a tributary of the Ravi river in Chamba district.

• Bail plea of drug smuggler dismissed
• Diversion tunnel of Parbati project ready
• New posting for Khachi

CM clarifies on party post
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 1
Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, yesterday said the Congress had been following the principle of one man, one post but it was the prerogative of the high command to decide the issue.

He said he himself resigned as the PCC chief after becoming the Chief Minister in 1993. Capt Amarinder Singh also quit as the PCC chief after taking over as the Chief Minister of Punjab.

He told this in response to questions from reporters whether the principle of one man, one post would be followed in case of Himachal Pradesh as Mrs Vidya Stokes, PCC chief, had taken over as the Minister of Power.

The state Congress spokesperson, Mr Kuldeep Rathore on the other hand said the matter was not of immediate concern to the high command. Mrs Mohsina Kidwai, general secretary in charge of the state, had expressed satisfaction over the performance of Mrs Stokes.

Timber rights of 5 villagers suspended
Our Correspondent

Kulu, April 1
Timber Distribution (TD) rights of five villagers of the Nagar Forest Range, have been suspended by the divisional forest officer here. The rights had been given to the people under the provisions of the Forest Settlement of 1894, under which all right holders could make use of standing trees of Deodar, Fir/Spruce and Kail to meet bonafide domestic requirement. The provisions do not allow any use other than the domestic of the trees granted under the policy.

Mr B.D. Suyal, DFO, in a press note said here today that a team of forest officials headed by Mr Dharam Chand, Deputy Range Officer, make a surprise check with the help of Panchayat members and villagers and found, Girdhari Lal of Nathan village, Atma Ram and Lal Chand of Chheti, Kuram Dutt of Barnot and Bahadur Singh of Nashala village, guilty and their timber distribution rights were suspended for 25, 20 and 15 years, respectively.

Centre sanctions 30 cr for HP
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 1
The Centre has sanctioned Rs 30 crore for rural water supply schemes and animal husbandry projects for Himachal Pradesh.

State’s Rural Development Minister Sat Mahajan said here that Rs 17 crore had been sanctioned for water supply schemes and Rs 13 crore for animal husbandry projects.

Mr Mahajan, who met Union Rural Development Minister Shanta Kumar here, said the officials of the state and Centre would have a meeting here shortly for implementation of the water supply projects in a time-bound manner.

Rs 30.64 cr Kurhed power project cleared
Our Correspondent

Chamba, April 1
The Himachal Government has cleared the 4.50 MW hydroelectric Project on the Kurhed Nallah, a tributary of the Ravi river in Chamba district.

According to official information here today, the project would cost Rs 30.64 crore.

The powerhouse of the project is located on the left bank of Kurhed Nallah.

The project would one circular capacity penstock of 1150 mm diameter to feed two units of horizontal Francis Turbines. D-four type surface deilting tank. A rectangular tailrace channel 40 metre-long discharge water into Kurhed Nallah.

The project would have 33-KV outdoor switch yard near the powerhouse from where a 16 km-long 33 KV single circuit transmission line would be installed to carry power from the powerhouse site to the sub-station at Garola. 

Bail plea of drug smuggler dismissed
Our Legal Correspondent

Shimla, April 1
The H.P. High Court yesterday dismissed the bail plea of Chandi Ram who was arrested in a case pertaining to the recovery of 107.5 kg of charas in the Manali area on December 24. Mr Justice M.R. Verma dismissed the bail plea.

Diversion tunnel of Parbati project ready
Our Correspondent

Kulu, April 1
The diversion tunnel in the Manikaran valley of the 2051 MW Parbati Hydroelectric Project, stage-II, was completed yesterday. Mr M.M. Madan, General Manager, National Hydroelectricity Power Corporation (NHPC) in a press note said here today that the tunnel had been completed ahead of schedule by two months. Stage-II of the Parbati project is of 800 MW capacity and work on it was going on, he added.

New posting for Khachi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 1
The Himachal Government has posted Mr Anil Khachi, who has completed training, as Director, Public Finance and Public Enterprises, and Finance Secretary.

Mr Kamal Sharma, Additional Secretary (Home) has been posted Additional Secretary (Secretarial Administration).