H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Little funds for afforestation drive
Shimla, May 14
The financial crisis plaguing the state for the past one decade has badly affected the afforestation programme. With only 25.7 per cent area under forests as against the 66 per cent norm laid down in the national forest policy, the hill state was expected to spare maximum funds for expanding the green cover.

Shop ransacked over suicide
Nurpur, May 14
Tension prevailed in Jassur, near here, this afternoon when a group of irate villagers ransacked an electronics goods shop and caused injuries to its owner.

Displaced villagers block traffic
Mandi, May 14
Work on the Kol Dam hydel project was obstructed today as a large number of persons from 12 villages who had been rendered homeless and landless by the construction blocked traffic for 12 hours at Ropa village on the Slapper Tatapani road

Forest fires in Mandi area
Mandi, May 14
Reports of forest fires have come from various places in the district. Several pine trees were burnt in the Gandharva forest on the periphery of Mandi town. 

• BJP rule ends in Sirmour ZP

ICAR Deputy DG’s stress on quality education
Palampur, May 14
Dr J.C. Katyal, Deputy Director General, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), has called upon the teaching community to provide world-class quality education to the students to make them self-confident, self-reliant and self-competing.

Young monks prepare for Buddha Jayanti in a gompa near Kusumpati, Shimla, on Wednesday. — Photo Anil Dayal.

Garbage burning: notice to civic body
Hamirpur, May 14
The Forest Department has issued a notice to the local civic body for the violation of various forest Acts, including dumping and burning of garbage, in the Dang Di Kwali forest of the town.

MC workers strike work
Shimla, May 14
The removal and disposal of garbage was affected in the town as a section of municipal workers observed a day’s tool down strike in protest against the transfer of Mr Kishori Lal, president of the local Municipal Corporation Workers Federation.

5 killed in road mishaps
Una, may 14
Four persons — Nandu, Nanam, Vartatl and Lokal — were killed when the vehicle (HP-10-4858) carrying them overturned near Akroat village, 34 km from here, last night.

Little funds for afforestation drive
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 14
The financial crisis plaguing the state for the past one decade has badly affected the afforestation programme.

With only 25.7 per cent area under forests as against the 66 per cent norm laid down in the national forest policy, the hill state was expected to spare maximum funds for expanding the green cover. On the contrary, allocation for the vital forestry sector has been declining continuously.

In the seventh Plan, allocation for the forestry sector was as high as 7.44 per cent. It came down to 6.47 per cent in the eighth Plan. In the ninth Plan, it further declined to 5.12 per cent, forcing the Forest Department to scale down its afforestation programme.

As a result the area being brought under new plantations is decreasing every year. In 1998-99, new plantations were raised over 31,300 hectares whereas only 15,000 hectares of land was covered under the afforestation programme last year.

In fact, hardly any funds are being provided by the government for the purpose and the afforestation programme is being sustained largely through the externally aided projects. Therefore, the afforestation drive is not getting the desired impetus.

Of the total financial outlay of the forest department for 2002-2003 amounting to Rs 80.35 crore, the externally aided projects accounted for Rs 27.42 crore. Since these projects are site specific, the activities of the department are being concentrated in selected areas at the cost of other areas and priorities.

Senior officers of the department feel that adequate funds could be made available to keep the afforestation programme going if the amount being paid by various user agencies as compensation for the loss of environment value of forest lands diverted for non-forestry use is placed exclusively at the disposal of the department. At present these funds were being taken as the general revenue of the state and not utilised for forestry. The charge is being levied at the rate of Rs 8 lakh per hectare for areas with more than 10 per cent forest cover and Rs 5 lakh per hectare for other forest areas.

Funds could also be raised by levying 5 per cent forest tax on the sales of forest corporation. In all, the corporation sells timber, resin and turpentine oil worth about Rs 160 crore annually. Thus, forest tax will fetch about Rs 8 crore.

Shop ransacked over suicide
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, May 14
Tension prevailed in Jassur, near here, this afternoon when a group of irate villagers ransacked an electronics goods shop and caused injuries to its owner. The situation took an ugly turn when Surinder Kumar, alias Kaka, of Bhaloon village, allegedly committed suicide this morning by consuming a pesticide when he was named in a complaint relating to the stealing of electronics goods by the owner of the shop.

The owner of the shop complained to the police yesterday and named two servants, Kamal Kishor and Tilak Raj, along with the deceased. The villagers allegedly tried to cremate the deceased without informing the police. On receiving the information, the police reached the village cremation ground and took possession of the body. The body was handed over to members of the family of the deceased after a postmortem examination. Before the last rites were performed, the irate villagers ransacked the electronics goods shop, attacked its owner and fled. The police registered a case.

Displaced villagers block traffic
Our Correspondent

Mandi, May 14
Work on the Kol Dam hydel project was obstructed today as a large number of persons from 12 villages who had been rendered homeless and landless by the construction blocked traffic for 12 hours at Ropa village on the Slapper Tatapani road and did not allow vehicles to go to the site.

The villagers said the National Thermal Power Corporation, which was executing the project through private companies, was flouting the clauses of the agreement with the displaced villagers and was not keeping the promises made to them.

They took mediapersons to their villages and showed’ their houses, which had developed cracks due to blasting. They blamed the project authorities for not providing them with employment and lamented that the labour was being brought from outside. They alleged discrimination in the allotment of plots and demanded that all displaced persons be given plots. The villagers complained that their water sources had dried up due to the construction and demanded restoration of the sources or compensation.

Kisan Sabha president, Amar Singh Raghwa, said the farmers affected submitted a charter of demands to the Chief Minister on April 17, but nothing had been done so far, adding that if the demands of the displaced persons were not met, the struggle for justice would be intensified.

Forest fires in Mandi area
Our Correspondent

Mandi, May 14
Reports of forest fires have come from various places in the district. Several pine trees were burnt in the Gandharva forest on the periphery of Mandi town. The fire, which broke out in the morning, was brought under control late last night by employees of the Forest Department.

Forest officials, however, lamented that local people did not participate in extinguishing the fire. They said that there was a false notion among villagers that bumper grass comes up in the burst forest during the rainy season.

Forest fires have also been reported from Jogindernagar, Sundernagar, Nachan and Karsog forest divisions.

Meanwhile, two cowsheds at Sadoh and one in Jogindernagar were destroyed in fire.

BJP rule ends in Sirmour ZP
Our Correspondent

Nahan, May 14
In a no confidence motion adopted by 10 members of the Sirmour zila parishad out of total 17, chairman Chander Mohan Thakur and vice-chairperson Anita Devi were voted out of the office here today. It has ended the two-year and four-month-old BJP rule in the district.

ICAR Deputy DG’s stress on quality education
Our Correspondent

Palampur, May 14
Dr J.C. Katyal, Deputy Director General, Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), has called upon the teaching community to provide world-class quality education to the students to make them self-confident, self-reliant and self-competing.

Dr Katyal was delivering the silver jubilee lecture titled, “Need for reforms in agriculture education system in India” at CSK HP Agriculture University here yesterday. He said that Indian agriculture employs 59 per cent of workforce and contributes 25 per cent of the GDP. It has now a buffer stock of 60 million tonnes of foodgrains.

Dr Katyal said that despite some deficiencies in the system, the contribution of the agriculture education system is viable and vibrant because it has a strong scientific base. He said that the course curricula be linked to relevance and utility, course delivery be strengthened with emphasis on practice and quality assurance systems be developed to conform to certain norms and standards. He informed that the ICAR had started a system of accreditation and the CSKHPAU was in the process of accreditation.

Dr Katyal also honoured some individuals and teams with the “Vice-Chancellor’s Appreciation certificates” and cash prizes for service to the institution.

Garbage burning: notice to civic body
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, May 14
The Forest Department has issued a notice to the local civic body for the violation of various forest Acts, including dumping and burning of garbage, in the Dang Di Kwali forest of the town. The department has taken a serious note that burning of the garbage caused huge loss to flora and fauna in the forest.

Sources said today that the department had issued strict instructions to the civic body not to dump and burn the garbage in its area. The civic body is facing a problem of dumping nearly five metric tonnes of garbage of the town daily. It had selected a number of sites. However, it was forced to discontinue the dumping operations after objections raised by residents.

Presently, the garbage is either burnt inside the containers kept at various places of the town or it is burnt in the forest.

Worst affected residents due to air pollution are those who live in the Anoo area and nearby areas.

The previous Government had sanctioned Rs 50 lakh to the civic body for the garbage disposal. The money is still not used. The department of Audit is reported to have taken a serious note of failure of the civic body to use this money.

The pollution Department has already issued a notice to the civic body.

Even the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Devesh Kumar, has held meetings with the civic body and the Department of Forests for selecting a government land. Ultimately, a piece of land was identified but the matter is pending with the Department of Forests.

MC workers strike work
Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 14
The removal and disposal of garbage was affected in the town as a section of municipal workers observed a day’s tool down strike in protest against the transfer of Mr Kishori Lal, president of the local Municipal Corporation Workers Federation.

The protesting workers parked the trucks in front of the corporation office on The Mall. They also held a rally which the government was charged with victimising the union leader on political reasons. Mr R.S. Negi, Municipal Corporation, maintained that the impact of the stir had been negligible as only 100 of the 1,600 workers responded to the call. 

5 killed in road mishaps

Una, may 14
Four persons — Nandu, Nanam, Vartatl and Lokal — were killed when the vehicle (HP-10-4858) carrying them overturned near Akroat village, 34 km from here, last night.

The driver of the vehicle fled from the scene of the accident. The police has registered a case.

In another accident today in Gagret Bazar, 36 km from Una, one person was killed on the spot when a jeep (HP-19-5432) and scooter PBM-8-9318) met with an accident. OC