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Thursday,
May 29, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Policy on compulsory service
in tribal areas soon Baspa may trip up HP power board Power boards’ chiefs meet today Assembly Budget session from June 23 Kangra to be brought on world tourism map Tubewell trouble for farmers |
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Forgery case: two get interim bail Bank chairman summoned
in loan case Remove booster pumps: DC
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Policy on compulsory service
in tribal areas soon Chamba, May 28 Addressing election rallies in various tribal belts of Rakh, Lihl Vales, Holi and Bharmour, the Chief Minister said priority was being given to the construction of Holi-Utrala-Baijnath highway which would provide a shortcut from the Bharmour tribal subdivision to link up Kangra, Mandi, Kulu and Shimla districts. The Chief Minister said his government would make efforts to root out corruption at all levels. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Mr Chander Kumar, Forest Minister, Mrs Chandresh Kumari, Health Minister, Mr Sat Mahajan, Rural Development Minister and Harsh Mahajan, Animal Husbandry Minister, Mr Kewal Singh Pathania, state president of the NSUI, was also present. The Chief Minister at an election rally in Lihl village categorically stated that construction work on the Chamera Hydroelectric project (stage-III) on Ravi in the district could not be undertaken until mistakes and lapses regarding interests of the state and its people committed by executing agencies like the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) in case of Chamera project (States I and II) were not rectified. He said the state government was committed to review the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) of all hydropower projects in the state. Commenting upon the undertaking demanded by the NHPC in connection with the financial package of the Chamera project (statges I and II) ousted families, he stated that the long-pending interests and grievances of the ousted families needed to be redressed by the NHPC at the earliest. |
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Baspa may trip up HP power board Shimla, May 28 The project is all set to start commercial generation from June 1, 2003. As per sources in the board, the total loss on account of purchase of power from the private sector project during the current financial year alone will be Rs 98 crore. Thanks to the “more than favourable” terms and conditions of the supplementary power purchase agreement
(PPA) signed by the board with the J.P.Industries, the generating company, on February 28,a day before the counting of votes for the Assembly election. The supplementary PPA pegs the final cost of the project at Rs 1550 crore (subject to the dollar variation). This means that the power from the project will cost the board Rs 3.36 per unit. Further the resources document prepared by the board indicates that the power will be sold to Delhi at Rs 2.60 per unit. After paying Rs 0.40 as wheeling charges the net return will be Rs 2.20 per unit. The project will generate 840 million units of power during the year from June onwards, causing an overall loss of around Rs 100 crore to the board. The project has been designed to generate 1272 million units annually and as such the board will lose around Rs 125 crore every year on account of the huge gap in the purchase and sale rates of power. The most damaging clause of the PPA is the provision for maintaining the Escrow account in which the proceeds from the sale of power will be deposited in two parts. This will in effect ensure that the state does not get any revenue on account of 12 per cent free power as royalty for at least 12 to 15 years after the commissioning of the project. The first part of the account will take care of the revenue corresponding to 12 per cent free power and the second part of the revenue generated from the sale of the remaining 88 per cent power, to be paid to the company for discharge of its liabilities. In case the amount in the second part was not enough for meeting the repayment obligations, the shortfall will be met by transferring the necessary amount from the first part. As the board, which is already in the red and not in a position to bear such heavy recurring loss, has decided to pay the company on a deferred basis. Instead of the full amount payable at the agreed rate of Rs 3.36 per unit the board will only pay the sale proceeds to the company until it clears all its debt and other financial liabilities. The outstanding amount on account of difference in the purchase and sale rates will be paid with interest subsequently. This arrangement is based on the calculations of the board that the generation cost will come down to around Rs 2.60 per unit once the company repays the loans over the next eight to 10 years and that the sale price will go up to Rs 3.50 per unit over the period. The profit earned by the board will be utilised to clear the outstanding dues of the company. Thus, the fund-starved state and the board will not get anything from the project for the next 12 years. In the light of these facts the supplementary PPA, signed, in undue haste, bypassing the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, has raised several pertinent questions like why the government agreed to buy power at such high rate when the same was to be purchased at the rate of Rs 2.50 per unit from micro and mini hydel projects in which the cost of generation is higher. Further, the 86-MW Malana project, the only other hydroelectric power project executed in the private sector, was selling power to Delhi at the rate of Rs 2.40 per unit. More importantly, even the generation cost in the Nathpa-Jhakri project, executed by a public sector undertaking, is also likely to be only around Rs 2.60 per unit. Incidentally, this is one of the projects, which witnessed huge time and cost over-runs. The cost of the project was Rs 4338 crore in 1993 and it will be completed within this year at a cost of Rs 8163 crore. The board and the government have much to explain why it agreed to purchase power at such a high rate. The Congress had made irregularities and alleged corruption in hydel projects a major issue during elections and promised to review all the agreements and the MOUs . However, it has not shown any urgency to review the PPA for the Baspa project. This is despite the fact that the Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) had even issued a notice to the board for signing a PPA in contravention of the ERC Act which lays down that all issues concerning power tariff, including purchase of power from generating companies, are to be decided by the commission. |
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Power boards’
chiefs meet today Shimla, May 28 The meeting to be inaugurated by Mr Anant G. Geete, Union Power Minister, will also discuss strategies to reorient the operations of the PFC in respect of state utilities for mutually beneficial and faster growth.
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Assembly
Budget session from June 23 Shimla, May 28 There will be a nine-day recess from July 5 to 13 during which the standing committees of the House will scrutinise the demands of the respective departments. They will present their reports, along with recommendations when the House reassembled on July 14. He said the Budget of the state electricity board would also be presented later in the session.
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Kangra to be brought on world tourism map Dharamsala, May 28 Talking to reporters after the meeting, Maj Mankotia said tourism could not be developed in isolation as such all departments, local citizens and organisations would be involved to ensure that Kangra which had scope for adventure tourism, winter and water sports and religious tourism was developed. He said the state government has approached the Centre for the approval of two circuits covering temples and Buddhist religious places. Each scheme is for Rs 8 crore. He said the Centre had already sanctioned Rs 7.32 crore for the promotion of tourism in Himachal. The Tourism Minister said that Dharamsala had several of tourist spots and these would be developed. He said bird-watching and water sports at Maharana Pratap Sagar (Pong Dam), Paragliding at Billing and trekking in Dhauladhars could invite foreign and Indian tourists alike. He said Kangra had many famous temples which are visited every year by lakhs of pilgrims. This also required exploitation. Major Mankotia said that the department also planned amusement parks, aerial ropeways and golf courses which had great potential for bringing tourists to Kangra. He said Gaggal airport was already under expansion and soon 50 seater planes will start landing here making air travel cheaper. The minister said that Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had assured assistance for in exploiting tourism potential of Himachal which will generate employment for local youths.
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Tubewell
trouble for farmers Jawali (Nurpur), May 28 Under the RIDF project, the Krishak Vikas Sangh (KVS), a committee of farmers, has to maintain, repair and pay the electricity bill of the tubewell. The KVS would also pay the salary to its operator. Intriguingly, the incomplete tubewell was inaugurated and handed over to the KVS before the Assembly elections. The farmers have yet to use this tubewell for irrigating their fields but the KVS has so far received four electricity bills, which have to be paid by the farmers who did not use even a drop of its water. As a result, the power connection has been disconnected due to the non-payment of bills. The farmers are up in arms against the authorities concerned for throwing open the incomplete tubewell to them. It is also alleged that the contractor who has been laying the pipes of the tubewell had left the job midway. The farmers and the KVS have demanded electricity to run the tubewell at a cheaper rate so that the poor farmers could bear the expenses and take its benefit. Mr Gangan Singh
Pathania, Subdivisional Officer of the Agriculture Department, Jachh, near here, admitted that the tubewell had been thrown open for farmers’ use before its completion. He admitted to faulty pipes laid by the contractor. He informed that the department had retained the security of the contractor who had not completed the work. |
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Forgery
case: two get interim bail Shimla, May 28 A criminal case was registered against them under Sections 468, 471, and 420 of the IPC and under Section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at the Barmana police station on April 13, 2002. The case was registered on the complaint of the president of the Ex-servicemen Truck Operator Union, Mr Ram Singh. This matter was discussed in the state assembly also and an inquiry under the chairmanship of the Deputy Commissioner, Bilaspur, was conducted. While issuing a notice to the state, Mr Justice Verma directed the state to produce the relevant record on June 3, and directed the petitioners to cooperate with the investigating agency. |
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Bank chairman summoned
in loan case Shimla May 28 These directions were issued by a Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice, Mr Vinod Kumar Gupta, and Mr Justice Arun Kumar Goel on a petition filed by the company, wherein the company has challenged the cancellation order of the term loan of Rs 227 lakh by the bank. The petitioner alleged that the company had applied for a term loan in 1999 and the application was forwarded to the head office in the same year. The petitioner further alleged that the bank had sanctioned the term loan in his favour and the first installmant of Rs 27,24,979 had been issued to him. On May 18, 2001 the bank cancelled his term loan without assigning any reason. Mr Natha Singh had been elected chairman of the bank recently. |
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Remove booster pumps: DC Bilaspur, May 28 He said water supply to the Lohnu ground and two connections in Housing Board Colony had been disconnected. He said 17 handpumps had been repaired and 61 tankers had been pressed into service to provide water to villagers. He said the Centre had sanctioned Rs 1.68 crore under the ‘Swajal Dhara Yojana’, which would be implemented soon. He said arrangements were being made to get at least 200 truckloads of fodder for meeting scarcity in the district.
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Chicken
pox breaks out in school Hamirpur, May 28 While one of the students is getting treatment at the isolation ward of the school, rest of the students have been sent back to their homes with their parents. Dr Suman Sharma, Chief Medical Officer, Hamirpur, said the situation was under control. A team of senior medical officers was going to Sujanpurtihra to find out the root cause of the outbreak of the disease. |
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Teacher
shifted for beating up kids Chamba, May 28 District Magistrate of Chamba, Rahul Anand said that parents of some children studying in this school had complained that Mr Karam Chand, had beaten up their children without reason. |
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