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Saturday,
July 19, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Contractors will have to register workers: CM
Govt
blames HPSEB losses on Dhumal regime |
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Police
clueless about murder One held
for murder Govt
restrained from filling MC vacancies Youth
federation men stage dharna Youth
held on rape charge
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Contractors will have to register workers: CM
Shimla, July 18 Stating this after visiting the cloudburst-ravaged Garsa area of Kulu here today, he said the government was keen to ensure the safety, of labourers and had decided to take a number of measures to achieve this. It was examining whether registration of labour should be made compulsory by an executive order or a legislation would be required. Contractors would also be required to issue photo identity cards with particulars at their own cost to the workers. A copy of the photograph and particulars would also be supplied to the Labour Department. Even the wages being paid to them would have to be mentioned. The contractors would also have to provide “liveable” accommodation to the workers. Tents and shanties along nullahs would not do. Labour camps would not be allowed near nullahs or hill slopes but at safe places which were not prone to flash floods. In the absence of proper registration the identity of victims could not be established at times and the government faced problems in disbursing compensation. These cards would also help in maintaining the law and order situation and ensure the implementation of the minimum wage Act. He said the government had also decided to appoint separate labour officers in the project areas. He regretted that the casualties had been exaggerated by the media, adding that so far only 19 deaths had been confirmed and the final figure might be around 30. In all, there were four labour camps in the area in which about 100 workers were living. While one camp was unaffected, one or two persons were either injured or missing in the two other camps. Only one camp bore the brunt of the flash floods. The deadening sound of boulders, trees and other debris that hurled down the hill alarmed the occupants and barring one camp, most of the workers fled to safety. Initially, it was feared that all of them had been washed away. The Chief Minister said he was satisfied with the relief and rehabilitation operations. Rescue and search operations were going round the clock and the Divisional Commissioner and the Deputy Inspector-General of the Mandi division were supervising the operations. Meanwhile, one of the seriously injured person succumbed to his injuries at IGMC Hospital here while another has been referred to IGMC from Kulu.  |
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Cloudburst
toll about 30, says CM Shimla, July 18 |
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Cloudburst: another body recovered Shimla/Kulu, July 18 With two more deaths the confirmed death toll has risen to 21 and search for more bodies is on. The Superintendent of Police, Kulu, Mr S.P. Singh, said the body was trapped in a cavity at Juni, about 4 km from Pulia Nullah, as the rescue parties removed the debris from the entire area where the bodies were feared to have been buried. The Chief Minister, who visited the affected area, also met the injured persons in the hospital. He reiterated that the number of dead could not exceed 30 to 35 in any case. The injured at the Zonal Hospital told the Chief Minister that more than 300 persons were present at the site at the time of the cloudburst. |
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Govt blames HPSEB losses on Dhumal regime Shimla, July 18 Replying to a debate on the budget estimates of the board for 2003-04, he said the board had accumulated a loss of Rs 269 crore by the end of March, 2003, and total revamping was required to put it back on the rails. The BJP-led government only harped on making Himachal the power state of the country, but did precious little to achieve this goal. It spent most of the time in signing MoUs for the execution of projects in the private sector. In all it signed 17 MoUs of which four were cancelled and no progress was in respect of the remaining 13. In fact, only 27.5 MW of generation capacity was added during the past five years in the state sector. Of this, the 22 MW Ghanvi project was almost completed during the Congress regime. He alleged that the board was starved of funds by the BJP government and it did not even give the agreed equity for projects to it. Referring to the low voltage problem, he said to remedy the situation, an amount of Rs 1,000 crore was required. Mr P.K. Dhumal, the leader of the BJP group, said his government worked in the best interests of the state, but an atmosphere was being created as if everything was sold out and it did nothing right. He said it was the Congress government which failed to secure its full share in the inter-state power projects. He said since there were Congress governments in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, and elections were not around the corner, the issue could be settled out of court as the Centre was also in its favour. He said besides ensuring 70 per cent jobs to Himachalis in Class III and IV posts in the projects being executed by Central agencies, it also secured 30 per cent placements for operation and maintenance work after the completion of the projects for the first time. If the present government could further improve on these terms and conditions, the BJP would support it. Major Vijay Mankotia, Tourism Minister, said there was a need to have a look into the reasons for the down slide in the performance of the state. He said during the five years of the BJP rule, governance was the main causality and the board also suffered because of this. Centres of power had emerged in every department, which virtually functioned independently, creating a chaos in the administration. A strong administrator was needed to get things right and make officers accountable. He said the MoUs signed by the board for the execution of various hydel projects were not above suspicion. He specifically mentioned the MoUs and agreement signed with the J.P. Industries in this regard. Mr Mohinder Singh pointed out various shortcomings in the 86 MW Malana project executed in the private sector. Referring to the report of the committee set up by the government in this regard, he said the reservoir had not been properly concreted and a portion of it was sinking. The incentives announced by government for the early completion of the projects had boomeranged. Malana Company gained Rs 155 crore from incentives, but the project was not up to the mark. Instead of giving 15 per cent power to the state as per an agreement, the company had moved a case for arbitration that it should be reduced to 12 per cent like other projects. If the case was decided in the favour of the company, the state would lose Rs 260 crore. He alleged that the power purchase agreement for the Baspa project was not being cancelled because of pressure from some influential person. |
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Police clueless about murder Solan, July 18 While the police is ascertaining the reason behind the murder, a team of forensic experts from Shimla today visited the spot and lifted some samples for investigation. Three family members, including the sister, brother and sister-in-law of the deceased, have been detained by the police since last evening along with two local residents for interrogation. The police feels that the murder was committed at the victim’s residence. Interestingly, the Principal of Senior Secondary School, Oachghat, where the victim served as a clerk, had marked her leave for Monday and Tuesday, when she did not turn up. The Principal, Ms Santosh Chauhan, said she had marked her leave though no application was received from the victim. She had sent a letter to the Deputy Director in Solan, informing her about the victim’s absence, when she failed to report for duty till Wednesday. However, the Deputy Director said no letter had been received by her office till today. The Principal said she called up the brother of the victim on Thursday to ascertain her whereabouts, but he pleaded ignorance. The family members of the victim claimed that none of them were at home when the fire erupted in Shashi’s room. The police is clueless as to who opened the room with the key, especially since it was closed since Sunday and how the fire started. |
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One held for murder Palampur, July 18 A police party arrested Vipan near
Dharamsala. Mehar Chand Rana was a contractor and industrialist. He was murdered last week near here, when he was about board his car. Kaka Ram, another accused in this case, had already been arrested. |
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Govt restrained
from filling MC vacancies Shimla, July 18 These interim directions were issued by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and Mr Justice K.C. Sood on a petition filed by three former councellors who were nominated by the previous BJP-led government. They challenged the decision of the government whereby it had directed that nominated councillors would cease to be MC members. |
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Youth federation men stage dharna Shimla, July 18 The state government owes more than Rs 6 crore to the apple growers who had sent their crop last year to the HPMC and Himfed. The Leftist youth wing organisation also protested the hike in water tariff by the municipal corporation and alleged that the Municipal Corporation, instead of improving the water supply, was following in the footsteps of the previous BJP government. It also termed the hike in bus fare, despite the fall in the diesel price, as a burden on the common man. |
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Youth held on rape charge Dharamsala, July 18 Giving the details, the SP, Kangra, Mr S. Zahoor Zaidi, said the 16-year-old girl had gone to get water from a pond when Kuldeep, alias Jindu, forcibly took her to the fields and raped her. He said a case under Section 376/506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against the suspect who had been arrested. |
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