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Order on sand, grit mining renders thousands jobless Govt committed to tap state’s hydel potential Himachal state lottery may go CM blackmailing service panel chief, says BJP Forest staff gear up to control fires |
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Engine failure delays train for 15 hours Pensioners
for DA merger from July, 2002 38 hurt as
bus falls into nullah 194 cr
additional demand presented Employees lathicharged Union defends public service panel BJP opposes MC
more on rent CM to
take up Bawa’s case with Haryana
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Order on sand, grit mining renders thousands jobless Mandi, February 24 The Chief Minister reportedly ordered a blanket ban and directed the authorities to implement his orders within 24 hours. The officials concerned did it in just 12 hours. Hundreds of tractors and trucks used in the carriage of sand etc are without work leading to resentment among people of the area. HVC leader and Rajya Sabha member, Anil Sharma, has protested against this “anti-people and hasty” action. Former BJP minister, Thakur Rup Singh, has also criticised the government for the unjust action which, he said, would hit the poor. Construction activity in Mandi, Sundernagar and Jogindernagar Sub-divisions has come to a halt due to the non availability of the sand and grit. Lower middle class people are the worst hit as they cannot afford to purchase the material from the crushers. An earlier order of the High Court on 314 stone crushers of the state on September 24 last month caused loss of crores as development activities was affected. The current ban has hit the poor engaged the extraction of sand and grit mostly from their own fields. Labour from Bihar, UP and Rajasthan working in the valley has gone home bag and baggage. In Sayanh village agitated villagers said the ban would starve them. They used to take out sand and grit from fields fit for farming. “Such fields are reclaimed for agriculture after removing the big layer of sand-mixed grit and after processing sold it in the towns.” An agitated Hans Raj said the government had done nothing to prevent the BBMB from ejecting silt into the area which had converted the fertile valley into a “veritable desert”. It on the other hand, had snatched the only source of income from the poor and rendering them jobless. The mining Department should have been directed to regularise the leases where there was no threat to environment. There was no threat to environment in the area he said. There was no industry and no industrial wastage in the valley. Mr Alam Singh of Gagal village lamented that the people had been selling sand and grit for the past four decades and this was the main source of their income. He decried the blanket ban as arbitrary and added that the status quo should be restored without delay. |
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Govt committed to tap state’s hydel potential Shimla, February 24 In his Address on the opening day of four-day session of the Himachal Vidhan Sabha, here today, he said the country was going through a period of transition with the advent of globalisation which presented challenges as well as opportunities. However, it had to be ensured that the achievements of the past five decades were protected and built upon in the globalised environment. Referring to the priorities of the government he said it was committed to make the hill state self-reliant economically and for this it was focusing on areas of comparative advantage. Recognising the hydro-electric potential in the state, it would endeavour towards time-bound implementation hydro-electric projects. Already steps in this direction had started paying dividends and two units of 250 mega watt each of the 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Project, had been commissioned while testing of the remaining four units was in progress. All three units of the Chamera-II project (300 MW) had been commissioned and the private sector 300 MW Baspa project had also become functional. The 126 MW Larji project was in an advanced stage of construction and likely to be completed in 2004-2005. Further, global tenders for the implementation of nine new projects, with an aggregate installed capacity of 365.5 MW on boom ( build, own, operate and maintain) basis had been invited. The government had the target of bringing on stream 2319.50 MW of additional generation during the 10th plan while for the 11th plan a target of 7673 MW had been set. The government proposes to link all gram panchayats in the state with roads in four years. To speed up the construction of roads and bridges as 129 projects had been finalised for funding under the rural infrastructure development fund scheme of the NABARD. While institutional coverage at the primary level had reached satisfactory levels, to ensure that the Fundamental Right to elementary education was delivered the middle school network in the state was being strengthened. During the year, 423 middle schools, 81 high schools and 90 senior secondary schools had been opened or upgraded. For effective health care delivery the government had taken the initiative to appoint 145 medical officers and 181 nurses in the far-flung and remote areas of the state. Work on the building of government medical college at Tanda had also been started to make it a model health institution in the country. All 16,807 villages as per the 1981 census had been provided with drinking water facility. To supplement piped drinking water supply system, a programme for the installation of hand pumps has also been taken up. During the 11 months of my government 1167 rural water supply schemes were executed and 707 hand pumps installed to raise water supply schemes in 28 towns had been taken in hand and work to provide sewerage facility in 21 towns is in progress, The information technology (IT) sector was being given priority and 608 bighas had been earmarked for an IT park near Waknagat in Solan. The government was also in the process of creating a statewide area network (HIMSWAN). This project would be a major step towards paperless and good governance. This intranet would link all district headquarters with the state capital. The industrial sector 454 new units employing 2367 persons with investment of Rs 20.12 crore had been set up in the state up to December 2003. The package of incentives to industry in the state had helped attract 215 investment proposals in medium and large scale sector envisaging an investment of Rs 2896.75 crore and an employment potential for 35,227 persons. In addition, 1616 proposals in the small-scale sector envisaging an investment of Rs 600.00 crore and an employment potential of 37000 persons had been approved. To help fruit growers face the challenge of globalisation a Rs 80 crore “Horticulture Technology Mission” was being approved by the Government of India for the integrated development of the sector during the 10th five year plan. Improved root stock and new varieties had been distributed in the traditional fruit — growing temperate regions. A new mushroom compost unit had been set up near Bilaspur and two new units were proposed at Dhar Baghi in Kangra and Bajaura in Kulu. |
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Himachal state lottery may go Shimla, February 24 Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, told mediapersons today that the government had last year decided to restart lottery that was discontinued by the previous regime as it was a recognised source of revenue the world over. However, keeping in view the social repercussions, it could review the decision. The process for awarding the contract to run the lotteries had been initiated but it could not be finalised as only one bid had been received. The current financial year was almost over and it could “rethink” the policy next year, he said. The Chief Minister lambasted the BJP MPs for their failure to raise the issues concerning the state in Parliament. He said they had done nothing to secure the state’s share of 7.19 per cent in the BBMB projects or getting any new rail project sanctioned. The state had even been ignored in the opening of apex health institutions like the PGI even though 12 were sanctioned by the Vajpayee government for various states. Responding to a question, he said the government would hold a preliminary inquiry into the complaint of irregularities in the Vivekanand Medical Trust, Palampur. |
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CM blackmailing service panel chief, says BJP Shimla, February 24 He reiterated that the party had no intention of protecting any person and only demanded that the head of constitutional institutions should not be treated like a petty criminal but proceeded against in a manner provided in the Constitution. The Chief Minister had not cleared whether the commission had committed an alleged irregularity or corruption. The two things were different, he said. |
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Forest staff gear up to control fires Kumarhatti, February 24 Talking to TNS today Mr Alok Nagar, DFO, Solan said the department would hold the training classes of the Kasauli cantonment staff in the first week of March to teach them the way to control the spreading fire. Fallen dry needles of pine on the floor caused forest fire, he said. More emphasis would be laid to clear the dry needles as it was not possible to control heat and air, he said. Despite the best efforts, a few pockets remained unattended, mainly due to financial constraint, he said. The department had also started to locate the sensitive areas to avoid such incidents, he asserted. Besides coordinating with villagers to take adequate measures to check the fire, the forest staff had started burning dry pine needles in different areas, he said. |
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Engine failure delays train for 15 hours Solan, February 24 The train first broke down at Chambhaghat level crossing at 10.30 a.m. had to return to Kalka after the staff failed to rectify the fault. After repair at Kalka the train again proceeded to Shimla to break down again at the same place. A good amount of time was again lost in repairing the engine. With the level crossing being close to the Kalka-Shimla road head the passengers after waiting for some time took buses for onward journey to Shimla. With traffic remaining disrupted for the entire day five trains from either side remained suspended for the day said Railway officials. |
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Pensioners
for DA merger from July, 2002 Chandigarh, February 24 Association president Des Raj Sharma said in a press note here yesterday that the government had not met the demands of pensioners. The “feel-good” factor had become a “feel-bad” factor for the pensioners, he said. The other demands of the pensioners include enhancement of the reimbursement of medical expenses from Rs 40 to Rs 500 per month, grand of LTC and allied benefits on the Punjab pattern and restoration of interest rate of 12 per cent for deposits by pensioners. |
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38
hurt as bus falls into nullah Kulu, February 24 The ill-fated bus was chartered by a contractor of the NHPC and was transporting his labour from Shilagarh to Raila where phase-II of the Parbati Hydro-electricity Power Project is under construction. A majority of the injured were Nepalese. Thirteen injured, including three women, were shifted to Zonal Hospital here and condition of one of them was stated to be critical. The injured who were in the hospital were identified as Pana Lal, Teja Singh, Bimla Devi, Virender Lama, Amar Nath, Krishan Chand, Rita Devi, Dil Bahadur, Rai Singh, Bishna Devi, Sher Singh, Ganga Ram and Raj Kumar (driver of the bus). |
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194 cr
additional demand presented Shimla, February 24 An additional provision of Rs 18.88 crore has been provided to meet the expenditure on fast-track courts, construction of major works under tribal development, Kamla Nehru Hospital, the Larji power project and building works of the Land Revenue Department and district administrations under the Plan head. A sum of Rs 66.93 crore has been provided for Centrally sponsored schemes. Most of this is proposed to fund new or ongoing schemes for which money has been received from the Centre in this financial year. Out of this amount, over Rs 55 crore has been provided for various rural water supply schemes, including the installation of hand pumps. Rs 5.29 crore has been provided for the integrated child development scheme. Under the Non-Plan head, Rs 108.79 crore has been provided in the supplementary demands for grants. The major items of expenditure include the payment of arrears of judicial officers, expenditure on photo identity cards in the Election Department, repayment of loans and the honorarium of elected members of Panchayati Raj institutions. |
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Employees lathicharged Shimla, February 24 The branches of various nationalised banks and insurance companies virtually remained closed as sufficient staff was not available. The employees held rallies and dharnas in all major towns. In Shimla a combined rally was held in front of the main branch of the Sate Bank of India. Employees’ leaders urged the government to reverse its privatisation and “anti-worker” policies. Reports of the strike were also received from Hisar, Yamunanagar, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Dharamsala, Kulu, Kangra, Hoshiarpur, Batala, Jalandhar, Sangrur and Nawanshahr. |
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Union defends public service panel Shimla, February 24 Mr Bhoop Ram Verma, president of the association, said some mischievous elements had been indulging in manipulations for personal gains. The office of the commission had received a clarification from the Personnel Department in 2003. It had made clear that excess appointment in a lower cadre could be made against an equal number of vacant posts in a higher cadre subject to the condition that the posts in the cadre were in their own line of promotion. — TNS |
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BJP opposes MC
more on rent Chamba, February 24 In a statement issued here today, Mr Naresh Mahajan, president, Chamba Urban Mandal of the BJP, criticised the local municipal council for leasing out its buildings to banks constructed under schemes approved by the Centre. Mr Mahajan opposed the move of the council regarding increasing the monthly rent of shops and stalls, and the imposition of house tax. |
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CM
to take up Bawa’s case with Haryana Shimla, February 24 Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, said that the incident was stagemanaged to frame up Mr Bawa. He said the police had provided him security as he apprehended threat to his life. He did not believe that Mr Bawa had fired at Mr Sisodia after snatching the revolver of his security guard. |
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Visually impaired hold dharna Shimla, February 24 The association is demanding that posts to be filled under 1 per cent reservation quota of the blind should be filled on a regular basis and not on contract. It threatened that its members would resort to self-immolation if its demand was not met. |
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Good response to sterilisation camps Nurpur, February 24 |
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