H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Centre questions HP order on wasteland
Shimla, August 14
With the Centre finally rejecting as “illegal” the state’s decision to exclude certain categories of wasteland from the notified forest areas, the politically influential beneficiaries of the unlawful act of the previous Dhumal government are a worried lot.

Killing of constable: ASI suspended
Chamba, August 14
ASI Trilok Chand, in charge of the six-member investigating team from the Tissa police station, has been suspended for not informing the Mangli OCP, manned by the ITBP, while crossing its jurisdiction. Constable Mohinder Raj, a member of the team, was shot dead in an encounter with militants when the team crossed over to investigate a case of stealing of livestock of some Gujjars on August 8.

Hamirpur Cong workers allege discrimination
Hamirpur, August 14
Congress workers of Hamirpur district today criticised the state government for ignoring them and giving weightage to those who had no links with the organisation and had been sacked for anti-party activities.

Panchayat bodies to get more powers
Mandi, August 14
Mr Sat Mahajan, Rural Development and Panchayti Raj Minister, said today that the state government would strengthen panchayati raj institutions by giving them more powers.

Scribes to light candles at border
Kangra, August 14
More than 20 scribes representing different newspapers and news agencies of Himachal Pradesh today left on a ‘sadbhavna yatra’ to Wagha border to light candles on the eve of India’s 57th Independence Day.

Centre questions HP order on wasteland
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 14
With the Centre finally rejecting as “illegal” the state’s decision to exclude certain categories of wasteland from the notified forest areas, the politically influential beneficiaries of the unlawful act of the previous Dhumal government are a worried lot.

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has, in its latest communication to the government, made it clear that the state had no authority to issue the notification dated August 24,1998, vide which it took out the wasteland classified as “gair mumkin” and “charagah bila drakhtan” from the notified forest areas. The advisory committee set up by the Centre to examine the issue was of the unambiguous opinion that the state could not exclude lands once declared as forest area or the land to which the provisions of the Indian Forest Act were applicable without the prior permission of the Centre.

It also rejected a proposal for the diversion of 44.03 hectares of forest land for the construction of Chamera-III project. It asked the state to include this land as forest land and then seek the mandatory approval for diverting it to non-forestry use.

Under the Forest Conservation Act, no forest land could be diverted to non-forestry use without the prior approval of the Centre. The Dhumal government, however, found an ingenious way to circumvent the law. It issued a notification to exclude the two categories of land from the notified forest areas which meant that the forest laws will not be applicable to such lands anymore.

With a friendly Vajpayee government at the Centre, the Union Ministry for Environment and Forests continued to drag its feet for five years and it was only on February 27,2003, a day after the Assembly election was held in the state, that it wrote to the state to withdraw the illegal notification.

The Congress government, instead of taking corrective measures to rectify the wrong action of the Dhumal regime, requested the Centre to regularise the illegal notification. This was not possible as the notification not only violated the Forest Conservation Act but also flouted the interim order of the Supreme Court which besides directing the state governments to enforce the Act in letter also ended all ambiguity over the definition of forest land. It held that the term forest land would not only include forest as understood in the dictionary sense but also any area recorded as forest in the government records, irrespective of the ownership.

On the basis of the illegal notification, hundreds of hectares of forest land was diverted for non-forestry use like mining for stone crushers and setting up of various other projects. The politically influential persons, who were the main beneficiaries, were concerned about the future of projects set up on such lands.

The government is now in a fix as the apex court is itself monitoring the implementation of the Forest Conservation Act. It has no option but to abide by the court’s order by withdrawing the notification.

The Supreme Court, which last year imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on the state for its failure to remove hoardings on the road sides, particularly those put on trees, is likely to take a serious view in case the notification was not withdrawn forthwith. The main problem before it is what to do about the land already put to non-forestry use on the basis of the illegal notification.

Killing of constable: ASI suspended
Our Correspondent

Chamba, August 14
ASI Trilok Chand, in charge of the six-member investigating team from the Tissa police station, has been suspended for not informing the Mangli OCP, manned by the ITBP, while crossing its jurisdiction. Constable Mohinder Raj, a member of the team, was shot dead in an encounter with militants when the team crossed over to investigate a case of stealing of livestock of some Gujjars on August 8.

Meanwhile, a search operation by the security forces, led by Mr O.C. Thakur, DIG, Dharamshala range, to trace the body of Mohinder Raj has identified the Bujhladhar range as the place where the body can be found. However, the body cannot be traced without the help of SPO Dhiyan Singh, who was injured in the encounter with the militants in Bajhladhar in the Bhalech area of Doda district.

Mr Thakur, told mediapersons here today that a search operation would be undertaken as soon as SPO Dhiyan Singh recovered. He said the SPO was an eyewitness and could pinpoint the exact site where the constable was shot dead by the militants.

The DIG said an inquiry committee, consisting of three police officers and headed by Mr D.K. Choudhary, DSP, district police headquarters, had been constituted which would conduct an inquiry into lapses and reasons behind the communication gap between the police team and the ITBP.

Hamirpur Cong workers allege discrimination
Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, August 14
Congress workers of Hamirpur district today criticised the state government for ignoring them and giving weightage to those who had no links with the organisation and had been sacked for anti-party activities.

Nearly 600 party workers drawn from various parts of the district were present at today’s meeting, first to be organised by the party since the dawn of Congress government in the state.

Workers levelled these allegations at a meeting held at Bachat Bhavan here on Tuesday. Mrs Vidya Stokes, HP Congress chief, who is also the Power Minister, was the chief guest. Two party legislators Mrs Anita Verma and Mr Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu were also present.

The workers, one after another, aired their grievances in the open and warned the party chief that if the present trend continued, the party would suffer heavily in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, MLA and HP Youth Congress chief supported the cause of Mr. Anita Verma for giving her Cabinet berth. He suggested that adequate representation should be given to Hamirpur district for the sacrifices made by its leaders and workers for giving a jolt to BJP in last Assembly elections.

Anita Verma, local MLA also blasted the party leaders for ignoring Hamirpur district in the formation of the government. She said that while leaders of both factions of the party adjusted their supporters, both ignored the cause of the Hamirpur.

She warned the party leaders of open revolt by the cadre if no representation was given to Hamirpur in the second expansion of the state Cabinet.

Panchayat bodies to get more powers
Our Correspondent

Mandi, August 14
Mr Sat Mahajan, Rural Development and Panchayti Raj Minister, said today that the state government would strengthen panchayati raj institutions by giving them more powers. Presiding over a meeting of the zila parishad at the mini-secretariat here today, he said it was important to ensure that people at the grassroots level were given powers so that they could participate in developmental activities.

Mr Mahajan, who recently returned from Kerala after studying the functioning of panchayti raj institutions there, said he would make efforts to follow the Kerala pattern in Himachal Pradesh.

Scribes to light candles at border
Our Correspondent

Kangra, August 14
More than 20 scribes representing different newspapers and news agencies of Himachal Pradesh today left on a ‘sadbhavna yatra’ to Wagha border to light candles on the eve of India’s 57th Independence Day.

Kangra district police chief S. Zahoor H. Zaidi and SDM Dr. Ashwani Kumar flagged off the motorcade of journalists from the Tehsil chowk.

The journalists participating in the 'sadbhavna yatra' hoped that both Indian and Pakistan governments would understand the sentiments of common people of the two countries.

Hundreds attend Dalai Lama's discourse
Our Correspondent

Dharamsala, August 14
Hundreds of devotees from world over attended a 10-day special discourse on Buddhist tantra by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. The discourse which started on August 4 at Namgyal Monastry near here ended yesterday.

The Dalai Lama’s sermons were organised at the request of his Taiwanese followers for the first seven days and for the following three days at the request of Singaporean Buddhist followers. Discourses were in three daily sessions and members of all four Tibetan Buddhist sects — Nyingma, Kagyud, Sakya and Gelug — attended.