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Sunday,
October
5, 2003,
Chandigarh, India  
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MPs in line for BJP chief’s post Villagers stop work on crusher Kinnauris sore over
hydel project plan Nod for collection of bills by post offices Village plea on water falls
on deaf ears |
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Will this cement plant come up? Mahasheer farm plan fails to take off Potato consumption low in India Another child mauled
by panther Sheds reduced
to ashes Haryana cops beat up youth PWD workers union
general secretary resigns
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MPs in line for BJP chief’s post Shimla, October 4 Mr Sanjay Joshi, general secretary in charge of organisational affairs, and Mr O.P. Kohli, national returning officer for the ongoing organisational poll, have completed two rounds of consultations with prominent party leaders of the state to settle the issue by consensus. They were deputed by the high command with specific instruction that a contest could lead to the repetition of the unsavoury Jwalamukhi episode. About 40 leaders were given an opportunity to express their views during a meeting held in Chandigarh two days ago. The issue was also discussed at the meeting of senior RSS and BJP leaders of the region for coordination early this week. They were of the view that the reins of the party should be entrusted to a senior leader who could function rising above factional considerations. During the consultation meetings some senior leaders who did not belong to either the Dhumal or the Shanta Kumar factions expressed the view that a new organisational set-up was necessary to rejuvenate the party. They pointed out that Prof Dhumal had been calling the shots in the party for the past five years and handing over the reins of the party to him or any of his staunch supporters would only perpetuate the rule of the existing set-up. Moreover, Prof Dhumal as the Leader of the Opposition had an important part to play in state politics. Mr Maheshwar Singh and Mr Suresh Chandel, who enjoy a good rapport with Central leaders, have emerged as strong contenders. The two leaders were in the Dhumal camp during the Jwalamukhi episode. However, they developed differences with Prof Dhumal on the creation of districts. Mr Shanta Kumar, is not likely to oppose them. They, however, have to contest the Lok Sabha poll in 2004. Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, is also among the front runners, despite the controversy he had landed himself in as the returning officer for Kangra district. He is the only senior leader after Mr Shanta Kumar and Mr Kishori Lal and has roots in the Sangh Parivar. Next in line is Mr Khushi Ram Balnatah, who contests elections against Mr Virbhadra Singh, from Rohru. Mr Joshi and Mr Kohli are likely to discuss the matter with the Central leadership and make the final choice for a consensus candidate after consulting Prof Dhumal and Mr Shanta Kumar. |
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Villagers
stop work on crusher Hamirpur, October 4 The villagers have been objecting to and protesting against the crusher in the khad as it is harming their crops. The owner of the land where the crusher is located alleged that the crusher owner was doing illegal work ignoring the agreement reached between them. The land owner has already gone to court to get his land vacated. The watertable in the area has gone down since the start of the crusher nearly a decade ago. Villagers were happy when the Himachal Pradesh High Court had stopped the crushing work all over the state, including that at Kunah khad. They were hoping that this crusher would now be closed forever. But they were taken aback today when the crusher owner started construction work there in accordance with the guidelines issued by the high court to crusher owners to prevent harm to the ecology of the area. A team of the Hamirpur police reached the spot after getting a phone call from the crusher owner about the tension following the tiff between the crusher owner and the villagers. Mr Rajesh Kumar Sharma, SHO, Hamirpur,held discussions with both parties to defuse the crisis. An official spokesman told ‘The Tribune’ here this evening that no case had been made out against anyone so for as talks were in progress. Both parties were adamant on their respective stands, he added. |
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Kinnauris
sore over hydel project plan Shimla, October 4 The Pollution Control Board has fixed a public hearing on a proposal of the Jaypee Karcham Hydro Corporation , which is executing the project, at Tapri on October 7. However residents of the villages to be affected by the project are sore over the fact that copies of the EIA and the EMP had not been made available to them. Without an indepth study of the report, they would not be in a position to raise relevant issues during the public hearing. Vimal, a member of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRAP) who has been pleading their case, said the EIA and EMP which the company got prepared through NEERI (National Environment and Ecological Research Institute ) ran into over 400 pages but for the public hearing, only a summary of 21 pages had been supplied. Moreover, the report was eyewash as authentic data had not be collected and it was based on information supplied by the promoter of the project, he alleged. He said it was environmentally a sensitive project as it was being set up between the 1500-MW Nathpa Jhakri Project, located downstream and the 300 MW Baspa project, upstream. The impact of these two projects should have been studied to prepare any worthwhile EIA and EMP. However, this was not done. The Baspa project had created a host of problems, like drying of natural water sources, sinking of villages, waterlogging of fertile tracts and seepage in hills due to tunnelling. |
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Nod for collection of bills by post offices Chamba, October 4 This approval indicates the Centre’s move to utilise services of post office for collecting of bills of electricity boards, water supply authority, telephone companies, taxes and other utility services all over the country. According to a circular issued by the Union Ministry of Communications and IT on September 19 to all Principal Chief Postmasters General, Additional Post Master Generals and other subordinate authorities of the Department of Post, the collection charges for all types of bills on behalf of the service provider such as electricity board, water supply authority, telephone companies, taxes and other utility services which are collected over the counters of the post offices will be Rs 5 per bill. The e-bill post software provides for various modules such as bill presentment, bill payment, account management, subscriber data management, customer service representative, administration and post office module. In post offices where e-bill post software is loaded, service providers may be offered the option of availing all modules of e-bill post software except the facility of payments to be made using credit cards. In cases wherein all these modules available in e-bill post software are desired by the service provider (biller), the charges for the same would be Rs 7.50 per bill for a maximum of five fields and Re 1 to be charged additionally for every additional field as already announced on October 24 last year. The post office module of the software also provides for biller-wise, locationwise, mode of payment-wise generation of reports. The collection details are available on line when the payment data is updated. |
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Village
plea on water falls on deaf ears Bilaspur, October 4 They said some four years ago they were provided tap water by the Irrigation-cum-Public Health Department but for the past about one year, the taps had gone dry and now they were forced to fetch water from a far-off ‘bawli’, much to their inconvenience. They said having failed to get relief from the local officers and employees right from the bottom to the top at the district level, they had finally sent a representation to the Chief Minister. But to their dismay and disappointment, even after more than two and a half months, they had neither got any acknowledgement of their representation nor had any action been taken or any relief provided to them. These village leaders urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to order an inquiry into what had happened to their representation. |
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Will this cement plant come up? SUNDERNAGAR: The site for the proposed Sundernagar cement plant has been changing with the change of government in the past. This time also, the site has been changed. Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister of Himachal, during his recent visit to Mandi declared that the site for the cement plant would be changed to Maloh
(Nalni). The previous government had proposed to set up this cement plant at
Chambi, near Sundernagar. It was in 1982 that a relative of former Chief Minister of Punjab. Partap Singh Kairon proposed to set up a cement plant here but changed his mind after the 1984 riots. When the Congress government was changed in 1990, the BJP government headed by Mr Shanta Kumar decided to set up a cement plant here and an MoU was signed with the Kedia Group of Industries. All formalities were completed at that time for setting up the plant at Keran village. But the BJP Government was toppled on the Ayodhya issue, aborting the plan. When the Congress came to power, it signed an MoU with Harish Chandera Ltd to set up this plant at Maloh
(Nalni). But in 1998 when the BJP government came to power it changed the site for the cement plant to Chambi although the case for this factory was rejected by the Ministry of Environment and Forests once. But with the recent change in government, the site has again been changed to Maloh
(Nalni). M/s Harish Chandra Ltd, which had earlier signed the MoU with the government has once again come forward to set up the plant under a new name of M/s Harish Cement Ltd. Interestingly, none took residents of the area into confidence about the setting up of this cement plant whereas half of the population of Mandi district will be badly affected by pollution caused by this plant with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes. Most water sources of this area would be dried up as the main sources of all water supply schemes are situated at
Nalni. The fertile Balh valley will be ruined. Moreover, this plant is near another pollution-causing ACC cement plant
Barmana, which does not have an aerial distance of more than three or four
kilometers. This plant is near the Bandli wildlife sanctuary and the Nature Awareness Centre,
Trambri. According to BBMB officials, the blasting operations in the area will endanger the
Sundernagar-Slapper diversion tunnel, which is the backbone of the 990 MW Beas-Sutlej Link power project. Moreover, the cement plant would adversely affect tourism in the state due to hazardous vehicular traffic. Environmentalists assert that as awareness about clean environment is increasing day by day, it will be difficult to set up this cement plant. The recent decision of the Congress Government to set up an all-weather airport at Sundernagar has been hailed by one and all. It has given a clear signal to the masses that if the airport project is cleared, there will be no cement factory. |
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Mahasheer
farm plan fails to take off Mandi: Work on the Rs 4-crore national mahasheer fish farm proposed to be set up at Sidhpur in Sarkaghat subdivision of this district, which would have been the first of its type in the country for the development of the Himalayan mahasheer, has run into rough weather, thanks to the apathy of the government. Despite the fact that the Central Government while approving this project about five years ago had agreed to bear half the cost and had immediately released Rs 1 crore, the state government has not started the project which would have generated self-employment. The amount released by the Centre has partly been squandered in futile exercises and partly lying unused with the Deputy Commissioner here. The work of executing the project had first been assigned to the state Agro-Industries Corporation which neither had the infrastructure nor technical knowhow to take up such ventures. It had only approved a tender for Rs 40 lakh for the site development which included levelling of land, fencing and construction of two huts. Instead of awarding the project for execution to a competent agency by floating public tenders, various departments were involved which had been holding meetings and incurring wasteful expenditure. Five years have been wasted in futile exercises and nothing has come out. A provision of Rs 6 lakh had been made in the Annual Budget, 2000, and Rs 4.75 lakh in 2001 and similar amounts in the subsequent years. This speaks the volumes about the apathy of the government to take up this vital project which, when completed, would have revolutionised the development of fisheries in this part of the country. When the Central Government took serious note of the inordinate delay in the execution of the project, a meeting of senior officials of the government was held at Shimla in February, 2002, where it was decided to start the project at the earliest. The meeting was chaired by the Secretary, Animal Husbandry. The IPH officials present at the meeting had submitted an estimate of Rs 60 lakh for the flood protection work. Nothing has been done so far in that direction too. To cover up lapses, the bureaucracy and the department have started finding fault with the site of the project and it is feared that the project may not be shelved by the lop-sided approach of the officials concerned. It is on record that the site had been approved by an expert invited by the state government in 1999. The Sidhpur project, if executed, will be the second golden mahasheer fingerlings development farm in the country. The lone existing mahasheer farm is at Lonawala in Maharashtra established by the Tata Hydroelectric Company. The Himachal Pradesh Government had invited the manager of that farm, Mr S.N. Ogale, in September, 1999, to assess the potential of Himalayan mahasheer in the state and approve the site of the farm. During his week-long visit, Mr Ogale went round lakes, rivers and streams and found that adequate brooders were available. He also visited the site of the Sidhpur farm and confirmed that it was an ideal site. He conducted netting at a number of places, including Sunni, Kandapattan, Renuka, and Pong Dam. He found plenty of brooders everywhere and reported that there was vast potential in the rivers and reservoirs of the state which could be harnessed for raising the seed of mahasheer for multiplication not only in Himachal Pradesh but also in the entire Himalayan range. The Kandapattan sanctuary was found to be the most ideal site for the collection of brooders and yearlings of golden mahasheer. “Pong Dam also abounds in mahasheer,” he reported. He had further reported that the Fisheries Department of Himachal Pradesh had world-class modern infrastructure, technical knowhow and a network of qualified officers and staff who after acquiring some upgraded training could easily propagate a huge quantity of mahasheer seed. He had recommended that the proposed project should be taken up in two phases. In the first phase the seed target should be fixed at five lakh, while in the second phase it should be multiplied five times. Himachal Pradesh is endowed with tremendous potential for the development of fisheries with 3,000 km of riverine resources and a network of dams made for multi-purpose power projects like Gobindsagar and Pong Dam, which cover an area of 25,000 hectares. |
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Potato
consumption low in India Shimla, October 4 While the area under potato over the past five decades has increased 5.2 times and productivity improved by 2.6 per cent, the per capita consumption of potato continues to be very low. As against the per capita potato consumption of 136 kg per year in Poland, the per capita consumption in India is only 15 kg per year. Dr Mangala Rai, the Director-General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR), suggested that a public campaign should be launched to educate the people about the nutritional value of potato. He said in the country 73 per cent of potatoes were consumed as fresh food in the form of vegetables, 10 per cent as seed and less than 1 per cent as processed food. Hence, there was a need to expand the marketing activities, he added. He said information system should be set up to analyse the marketing and other needs of potato growers and cooperatives. The symposium was organised by the Central Potato Research Institute to mark the birth centenary of its founder, Dr S.
Ramanujam. Papers were presented highlighting various aspects of potato research. Dr G.
Kalloo, Deputy Director-General, ICAR, spoke about the gaps in potato research and adoption of new technologies, while Dr
K.L. Chadha highlighted the merits of organic agriculture. Dr P.K. Gupta, an eminent molecular biologist, explained the role of breeding in crop improvement. Dr
S.M.P. Khurana, the Director of the institute, was presented the first-ever Dr Ramanujam Award for his contribution to potato research and development in the country.
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Another
child mauled by panther Dharamsala, October 4 Three children had been killed by a panther last month in this area. Forest officials had declared it a man-eater and some hunters had been deputed to kill it. About a fortnight ago, a female panther had been killed by a hunter. Now with the attack, the debate is on whether the animal killed earlier was the man-eater. Senior forest officials were not available for comments. HAMIRPUR (OC): A leopard on Saturday attacked a woman at Bharnot village of this district, causing serious injuries on her legs. The incident took place when she was returning home after cutting grass. According to reports reaching here, she raised the alarm and the leopard ran away. She has been admitted to the Regional Hospital. She is stated to be out of danger. People of the Khiah gram panchayat have appealed to the district administration to take some measurers.
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Sheds reduced
to ashes Hamirpur, October 4 The fire started around 10 pm from an STD booth and its owner raised the alarm. The fire soon spread to the nearby shops. Local residents gathered at the scene and tried to extinguish the fire. Police personnel also reached the spot and helped the residents to put out the fire. The cause behind the fire was not yet known. However, it was stated to be due to a short-circuit. Mrs Anita Verma, the local MLA, visited the spot today and gave a sum of Rs 5,000 to each fire victim. Mr Virendra Thakur, the Hamirpur Mandal BJP chief and chairman of the Sujanpur Tihra Panchayat Samiti, also gave a relief of Rs 7,000 to each fire victim. |
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Haryana
cops beat up youth Nurpur, October 4 The police party reportedly approached the Nurpur police station yesterday and was told to contact the police chowki at Gangath for taking the accused into custody. The sources said the police party, without taking the Gangath police with it, raided the house of the accused and allegedly beat up his uncle Sushil Kumar. Later it found the whereabouts of the accused and the girl.
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PWD workers union
general secretary resigns Bilaspur, October 4 In his resignation letter Mr Bhatia has said that the Executive Committee of the unit of which he made General Secretary, is “unconstitutional” as only a few people attended the meeting at which this election was held and there was no general house meeting. There were more posts than the members present at the meeting, he alleged. |
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Junior
Engineer beaten up Chamba, October 4 The Junior Engineer had also alleged that he was threatened by the contractor. No arrest has been made so far. |
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