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HP in grip of cold wave
Move to divert khud water angers villagers
HP power production falls by 30 pc
Lokmitra e-governance project a non-starter
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Zonal festival held
Mandi, December 26 A lyrical presentation of ‘Ganga Ki Laharan’ by young budding artists here yesterday portrayed ethos of the Ganga. The lyric sung by Bhupen Hazarika was redone and sung on stage during the three-day long zonal festival organised by the Demorcratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) here yesterday to mark its silver jubilee. 2004: IN RETROSPECT
Encroachers’ body to approach Governor
CM expresses solidarity with quake victims
Govt may adopt Kalam’s health insurance model
Tension over order to demolish structure
Spurt in atrocities on women
Industries resent move to shift
pollution office
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HP in grip of cold wave
Shimla, December 26 The temperature dropped drastically in the tribal districts and mid hills of the state. Meteorological Director Manmohan Singh told UNI here that icy cold winds were blowing in tribal districts of Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur. The temperature dipped to sub-zero in the tribal Pangi valley in Chamba district also, as icy winds continued to blow across the tribal valley, bringing normal life out of gear. The minimum temperature at Sundernagar in Mandi district sharply dropped 0°C today, from 1.1°C yesterday and maximum 7.9°C and Bhuntar in Kulu district also recorded zero degree Celsius and maximum 13.7° C, he said. However, Suraj Tal and Chander Tal lakes in Lahaul — Spiti district were already frozen, following a sharp fall the night temperature in many parts of the state, a report from Keylong said. All natural resources and streams in high-altitude tribal areas were frozen. Water taps in Keylong, the headquarters of Lahaul —Spiti, were frozen, a report said here. However, the bright and sunny weather gave some relief during the day time to the people in the state capital town of Shimla, but the icy cold winds continued throughout the day from the snow-bound areas. The minimum temperature in the town remained 2.1°C. The weathermen here observed that the persisting cold wave had increased the prospect for the first snowfall of the season in Shimla. Chandigarh: Almost the entire North India came in the grip of a severe cold wave with mercury dropping sharply today and fog badly hitting life at many places. The minimum temperature in Chandigarh plunged by 2°C to record 6 degree, while Ambala was colder at 5.6°C, according to the Meteorological Department. Amritsar was the coldest zone in the plains as temperature plummeted four degrees below normal to settle at 1.3°C. Ludhiana also had a cold night at 4°C, while Patiala braved the chill at 6.4°C. The cold wave sweeping the Kashmir Valley further intensified and Srinagar recorded a bone-chilling low at minus 4.3°C, two degrees below normal. Jammu was also colder by two degrees at 6.5°C. Fog threw life out of gear at Amritsar, Udhampur, Jammu, Halwara, Sirsawa, Suratgarh and Bathinda, where the visibility was reduced to almost nil. Foggy conditions also affected life at Pathankot, Chandigarh and Ambala. Rail services continued to be affected because of foggy conditions over northern plains. Several trains, mostly coming from Eastern India, were running hours behind schedule, Northern Railway sources said.
— UNI, PTI |
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Move to divert khud water angers villagers
Jagatsukh (Kullu), December 26 What is ironical is that the government is protecting the nearby Naggar as a heritage village, but Jagatsukh and Prini villages, 5 km apart on the Manali-Naggar tourist circuit, would bear the brunt of the impending ecological disaster as the Duhangan water, which had been feeding the village over the centuries is being diverted to produce just 40 MW of electricity, rued the villagers. The state government after signing the MoU with the Bhilwara group, which is executing the project, has already paid compensation to the Prini villagers, but the Jagatsukh villagers have formed a sangharsh samiti opposing the
diversion of the Duhangan water that would add 40-MW to the 152-MW Alian
hydro project. Though the project authorities claim that they would provide the constant water supply down the khud to the village, the villagers insist that they need the entire khud water, saying that the project authorities have obtained no-objection
certificate (NOC) from a few individuals not from the Jagtatsukh Gram Sabha, which is mandatory for any project. The villagers say that the project will destroy its sole drinking water source, starve over 2,000 bighas of apple, paddy field and vegetable crop to death and will destroy the green cover in the upper reaches, wreaking terror downstream as the place lies in the high seismic zone. “We will not allow the Duhangan khud to be diverted as it is matter of life or death for us”, said Mr Ghanshyam Mahant, a member of Jagatsukh Sangharsh
Samiti (JSS), who owns an apple orchard here. “The Duhangan khud has given us prosperity. It is a big fraud on the villagers who will face ecological crisis in the future”, he added, saying that they had brought this to notice of the state government and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who lived at Prini village nearby. They had ensured all help. Citing the example of the nearby Pandoh dam in Mandi district, which has no water downstream, the villagers alleged the company had not given them anything in writing to ensure a regular water supply during the two public meetings with the project officials. Since the project lies in the high seismic zone, two storage water tanks in the upper areas of the village will push them into a permanent shadow of death, the villagers feared. “The link road and the 4-km-long tunnel at the 2400 m altitude in the upper reaches of the village will pollute the drinking water, trigger landslides, resulting in soil erosion downstream”, said Mr Vidya Prakash Bhardwaj, spokesperson of the JSS. Mr Bhardwaj said that the project would destroy the age-old sanctity of the Duhangan khud as they worshipped it as the Damya Ganga. It will destroy the grazing pastures for the domestic cattle as the muck excavated from the tunnel would be dumped in meadows, he added. Villagers alleged that the project authorities are axing thousands of trees of oak, deodar and shrubs in the valley to put up tents for labourers. The Subdivisional Magistrate, Manali, Mr Rameshwar Sharma said that the project authorities were assuring the villagers that they would release water in the Duhangan khud for irrigation and drinking purposes throughout the year. |
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HP power production falls by 30 pc
Solan, December 26 The state has a daily demand of 118 lakh units which it is able to get through its various hydel power projects. The demand, however, goes up in winters. This forces the board to impose peak hour restrictions on the industrial units. Though the units having continuous processing can apply for relaxation during these hours, but they have to shell out Re 1 extra on per unit they draw in the peak hour period. As many as 58 different units have been granted exemption during these hours in Solan district which houses more than 70 per cent of the industries. The officials of the board opined that since the power granted to these big units during peak hours is drawn from the Nathpa-Jhakri power project, an additional amount is charged from such units. The industrialists, however, rue that they not only have to shell out an extra amount for power during this period, but also have to pay a fixed charge for each unit of power consumed. The matter was also taken up with the Chief Minister during his recent visit to Baddi by the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industries Association. The sources in the board said since the state consumes power available from various power projects in the day, the surplus unutilised power from the Nathpa-Jhakri power project flows into the northern grid during the day. While this surplus power is sold to states like Punjab at the rate of Rs 5.70 per unit, its utility in the state would yield a much lesser amount. This fetches the board a revenue of Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakh per day, while its utility in the state would bring revenue worth a mere Rs 3 lakh. The officials said despite the 30 per cent shortfall, there was sufficient power in the state and no power cuts would be imposed on the domestic consumers. |
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Lokmitra e-governance project a non-starter
Hamirpur, December 26 The 25 Lokmitra Suchna Kendras set up across the district lie deserted as there is no redress of grievances sent to the administration through e-mail by people. While district officials point out certain conceptual flaws for its failure, those running the kendras blame indifference of the administration for making the project an absolute failure. Launched with much fanfare in 2001, the project was aimed at web enabled government-citizen interface. The idea was that instead of coming personally to government offices, residents in far-flung areas could lodge a complaint through e-mail and a reply was promised within 10 days. “But what happens is that after months of wait, the departments, such as electricity or Irrigation and Public Health, send a reply that the complainant should come to the department concerned personally to give a complete picture of the problem,” said an official. Besides, he added, the complaints sent on the net are converted into a hard copy to be sent to the department concerned and the reply has to be again converted into an e-mail. “There is absolute lack of coordination,” he said. “Also, this being the smallest district of the state, the road density is the highest. So people prefer coming to the departments physically. The project would have made more sense in a district with more tribal inaccessible areas,” he said. Mr Rajeshwar Singh Parmar, in charge of a Lokmitra Suchna Kendra in Nadaun subdivision, said that the server of the project was invariably down and it was very difficult to exchange information. “Moreover, there is nobody at the nodal centre. You can keep trying the phone but nobody picks,” he said. He further said that initially the Deputy Commissioner used to hold a meeting of the persons running the 25 kendras but no meeting has now been held for months. “They used to also call officials of the Revenue and Public Works Departments, which get the maximum complaints, and the status of the grievances was looked into. But now they seemed to have lost interest,” he said. Besides saving time and cost in personally going to different offices with grievances, the project was also started with the objective of enabling inter-panchayat exchange of information, notices about vacancies in government jobs, providing rate lists of mandis, putting up matrimonial advertisements, agricultural advice and even downloading jokes for kids. A nominal amount of Rs 5 to Rs 10 was charged per mail. “No wonder, the setting up of a district-wide intranet was seen as a success story and there were plans to extend the project to the entire state. But it has now hit the dust,” said another official. “It has also turned out to be a bad investment for the 25 people who set up the kendras. Nobody believes that the complaints would be ever looked into this way. The ineffectiveness of the project has travelled by word of mouth,” said the in charge of another kendra. Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar, however, feels that the project cannot be described a complete failure. “The facility of people downloading forms and other information from the net at these kendras is doing well. For those running the kendras, we have tried to give them additional avenues like stamp vending,” he said. |
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Zonal festival held
Mandi, December 26 The festival was inaugurated by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ali Raza Rizvi. The lyric presentation was directed by Mr Kushal Bhardwaj, the state president, DYFI, “The idea was to give youth of the state a platform to present their skills on stage”, he said. Girls from Hamirpur presented the Jhandiya dance. Then there was Banthra, a dramatic satire was performed by the local artist, natis from Shimla and folk dances from Kangra and Kulu. Giving a round-up of the DYFI’s activities, Mr Tikendra Punwar, a senate member and the former DYFI president said “We will be holding a state-level festival in Shimla next year.” |
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2004: IN RETROSPECT
SHIMLA: The flood scare due to the blockade of Parchu river in Tibet and the prolonged hostage drama in Iraq kept the otherwise peaceful hill state on tenterhooks during 2004, which saw a running battle between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP on the signing of memorandum of understanding on fiscal reforms.
The state remained in an election mode for a greater part of the year. First, it was the Lok Sabha poll and, subsequently, the Guler Assembly byelection, which kept the political parties busy. The Congress triumphed in the Lok Sabha poll, winning three out of the four seats. However, the party suffered an unexpected defeat in the Guler byelection. The Congress, which did not have any representative from the state in Parliament since 2002, staged an impressive comeback, winning three of the four Lok Sabha seats. It also sent Anand Sharma AICC spokesperson, to the Rajya Sabha. The BJP, which held all the seven seats, including three Rajya Sabha seats in alliance with the Himachal Vikas Congress, has three representatives now in the two Houses. Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, emerged stronger with the installation of his staunch loyalist, Mr Kuldeep Kumar, as the Pradesh Congress Committee chief in place of Mrs Vidya Stokes, who held the post for almost four years. However, the downsizing exercise which saw the exit of Mrs Chandresh Kumari, Health Minister, Major Vijay Mankotia, Tourism Minister, and Mr B.B. Butail, Revenue Minister, from the Cabinet created new problems for him. As all the three dropped ministers were from Kangra, the exercise led to a regional imbalance in the ministry. Major Vijay Mankotia, one of the three ministers, came out openly against the government and accused it of discrimination against the Kangra region. The new law limiting the size of ministry not only created a regional and caste imbalance in the ministry but also dashed the hopes of those aspiring for ministerial berths. Mr Virbhadra Singh intended to restore balance by accommodating some of them as chief parliamentary secretaries. However, before he could undertake the exercise a public interest litigation challenged the continuation of the lone Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Mukesh Agnihotri, on the ground that he was a minister and as such the state had 13 ministers, one more than the limit of 12 fixed under the new law. The High Court accepted the plea of the government that the Chief Parliamentary Secretary was not a minister but it made it clear that no business could be assigned to such appointees and they did not have any power to approve the actions of secretaries and other officers. Hitherto, the parliamentary secretaries enjoyed the powers and perks of ministers. The landmark verdict took away much of the sheen away from the coveted office. The year also saw the disappearance of the Himachal Vikas Congress which played a vital role in installing a non-Congress government in the state in 1998. The party was merged into the Congress, ending all hopes of raising a third political force in the state. A splinter group of the party has challenged the merger effected by the party supremo, Mr Sukh Ram, before the Central Election Commission, which was yet to give its verdict. Mr Virbhadra Singh was discharged in the Sagar Katha case by the special court. However, the decision has been challenged in the Supreme Court by a state BJP leader. It was the flood threat in the wake of the natural lake formed in Tibet due to blockade of Parchu river by massive landslides which kept the administration on a high alert for more than two months. With experts apprehending a repeat of the devastating floods of 2000 panic gripped the people living along the banks of the Sutlej. The authorities lost no time in moving the residents to over 50 villages to safer places. The 1500 MW Nathpa-Jhakri project was shut down and contingents of the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police were deployed along the river to carry out relief and rescue operations in the eventuality of floods. However, the impending disaster never came. For now the lake has been frozen but the scare will be revived next summer unless steps are taken to drain out the water to reduce pressure on the blockade. The month-long hostage drama in Iraq caused much commotion as two of the three Indians involved belonged to the state. The government came under intense pressure as the residents of Una district, from which Antaryami and Sukhraj, hailed, took to streets. The people got restive as the state and even the Government of India was not even in a position to know the progress of talks taking place through various intermediateries to secure their release. The state Public Service Commission remained embroiled in an unsavoury controversy over the alleged irregularities in the selection of assistant engineers. It led to a bitter confrontation between the commission and the government. The controversy subsided only after the High Court quashed the selection. The State Electricity Regulatory Commission and the government crossed swords over the appointment of secretary and the unending confrontation plunged the commission into a statutory crisis. The Congress and the BJP kept blaming each other for on the issue of the signing of MoU on fiscal reform. While the BJP maintained that it had not signed the document, the Congress alleged that the Dhumal Government not only signed it but had been sending reports regarding its implementation periodically to the Centre. The attitude of the two parties only indicated that they lacked political courage to take harsh decisions without which fiscal reforms could not be carried out. The 1500 MW Nathpa-Jhakri project, the country’s largest hydroelectric venture, became fully operational. The government signed an agreement for the execution of the 436 MW Rampur project with the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam and also decided to assign the Khab and Luri projects to the nigam. Unexpectedly though, it has been an exceptionally good year for apple growers. The hill state recorded the highest ever apple production of 5.25 lakh tonne during the season to achieve a rare hat-trick of bumper crops, despite stints of unfavourable weather. The production crossed the five-lakh tonne mark for the first time. In all 2.60 crore apple boxes were produced. The Horticulture Department expected the production to be slightly less than last year’s record outturn of 4.54 lakh tonnes but it exceeded the figure by a good 70,000 tonnes. It was indeed a super bumper crop. Normally, a bumper crop is followed by a lean harvest as the orchards in the state have been recording alternate bearing. However, last two seasons have been exceptional ones. In 2002 the state produced 3.49 lakh tonnes of apple, followed by record 4.54 lakh tonnes in 2003. A team of the Lahore Golf Club from Pakistan played a friendship tournament with the local club at the historic Naldehra Golf Course as a goodwill gesture to promote better ties between the two countries. Effective steps were taken to contain the monkey menace for the first time in the state on the direction of the High Court. The Wildlife Department launched a drive under which 1903 monkeys were trapped from Shimla and Rampur, the two worst infested towns, and released in deep forests. A similar drive was on along the Shimla-Kalka National Highway which has 22 troops with a strength of 2000 were located at various places on the highway. The government also amended the Municipal Corporation Act to make feeding of monkeys ,langurs and other stray animals at public places a cognisable offence punishable with a fine of Rs 500 in the state capital. However, temples where the devotees usually feed monkeys, were kept out of its purview. The state imposed a ban on use of small-sized polythene bags to check environmental pollution. Only large-sized carry bags with a minimum thickness of 70 micron were allowed. Earlier in 1999 the polythene bags made from recycled material were banned. While 172 persons died in bus accidents during the year, 20 workers who were trapped inside a tunnel in the Parbati project due to landslide had a miraculous escape. They remained trapped in the tunnel for almost 24 hours and were rescued alive. |
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Encroachers’ body to approach Governor
Shimla, December 26 More than 500 persons today held a protest rally as they went around the town to Kaithu, Lower Bazar and Cart Road, raising anti-government slogans. “The government should have made alternative arrangements before launching the demolition drive as the uprooted people have nowhere to go,” said Mr Raj Pal, secretary of the samiti. Mr Raj Pal and the President of the Valmiki Sabha, Mr Nirmal Kumar, said that they were also considering approaching the Human Rights Commission as the MC action had caused mental tension and inconvenience to women and children, who had been rendered homeless. He alleged that while the poor people had made small dwellings comprising a room or two on encroached land, some affluent people of the town had raised multi-storeyed buildings and had not been touched by the MC authorities. They added that a majority of the people had been living in these so-called unauthorised structures for more than a
decade. |
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CM expresses solidarity with quake victims
Shimla, December 26 While praying to God to give peace to the departed souls, he hoped that the affected people would be able to come out of this tragedy, which had claimed hundreds of lives. He hoped that the loss of lives would be minimum as a large number of people were reported to be missing. |
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Govt may adopt Kalam’s health insurance model
Shimla, December 26 In his presentation “Himachal Pradesh – Mission for Prosperity” the President had proposed a health insurance model for the people of the state. He had said with the help of a contribution of Rs 5 per month from every citizen, the state could raise a sum of Rs 36 crore, while an equal contribution could be made by the government itself. This amount of Rs 72 crore, he had suggested could be utilised for providing medical insurance cover to every citizen, who could even avail of treatment at super-specialty corporate hospitals. “It is an excellent model and after consultations with the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, we are considering adopting the model for the benefit of the people of the state,” said Mr Mukesh Agnihotri, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, in charge of Health and Family Welfare. President Kalam, who had made a presentation of a detailed roadmap for economic prosperity of the state, had said that this model would pave the way for providing excellent medical services in government institutions and make available most of the medicines required for treatment of common ailments. Mr Agnihotri said the state government was already spending about Rs 300 per month on every citizen. “The health services in the state are amongst the best in the country, but this unique model will further improve facilities and infrastructure,” said Mr Agnihotri. President Kalam had pointed out that with ample finances at its disposal, the government could benefit from latest technological advancements and provide the best treatment to even a resident of a remote village through telemedicine. Under this model, special emphasis would be laid on generating awareness about health issues. Citing the example of Kerala, where this health model is already being implementation for 17 lakh people, he said this could be very successful in the hill state too. He suggested that the state government should make efforts to invite big corporate names in the field of health to set up hospitals in the state as this could give a fillip to health tourism. Another suggestion incorporated by him was to encourage mobile dispensaries as these could help overcome the accessibility factor which came in the way of reaching out those in remote and far-flung areas by having perm
anent set-ups like primary health centres or dispensaries. |
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Tension over order to demolish structure
Una, December 26 The dispute between land owners and the Dalit community started in 1952 when the land owners filed a suit in the court of Sub-Judge, Una, for restraining the Dalit community from raising any structure or interfering in the peaceful possession by the landlords. The court degreed the case and directed the Dalit community not to interfere in any manner in the suit property. The Dalit community filed various appeals against this order up to the High Court but all were dismissed in 1958. Mr Naresh Chabba, one of the landlords, told The Tribune that on February 11, 1991, execution for the implementation of the order of the High Court was filed in the court of Sub-Judge, Una. During the pendency of the case, the community raised a small structure over the land. The execution case was finally decided on February 16, 1999, directing the opposite party to remove the structure within three months. Against this order the Dalit community went to the Supreme Court but lost the case there on July 25, 2003. Again the landlords filed an execution case for removing this structure in the court of Mr K.K. Sharma, Civil Judge (Senior Division), Una, of implementation of order. On November 14, 2004, the court of Mr K.K. Sharma passed the order for demolition of the structure and gave possession of disputed land to the land owners and directed the Una police to provide all help to implement the order. The order of the court is to be implemented on December 28. The Dalits are trying to raise the sentiments of the community by approaching different associations for help to prevent demolition of the structure in which the idol of Guru Ravi Das has been placed. They have also started relay fast on the disputed land. Deputy Commissioner Rajneesh Kumar and SP Dinesh Yadav have tried to solve this dispute and held meetings between land owners and members of the Dalit community, but no solution has been found. |
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Spurt in atrocities on women
Nurpur, December 26 According to information gathered by mediapersons from Nurpur and Indora police stations, this year cases of atrocities on women have doubled. Information reveals that last year only eight cases were reported in both police stations of the subdivision but this figure has doubled this year. Similar is the position of rape cases. Last year, only two rape cases were reported but the figure has doubled this year. Although there was a spurt in cases of atrocities, a sharp decline in the cases of murder and clash has been reported. The police has failed to curb the menace of trafficking of narcotics and psychotropic drugs and “satta”. |
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Industries resent move to shift
pollution office Parwanoo, December 25 The Parwanoo Industries Association (PIA) has described the decision as highly misplaced. In a letter to Ms Vidya Stokes, minister holding charge of the board, the association has sought reversal of the move, as it was bound to affect hundreds of small, medium and large-scale industrial units in and around Parwanoo. Besides Parwanoo, the office looks after the needs of industries in Solan, Darlaghat and Arki areas. In the letter, the association pleaded that the location of the office here helped in better monitoring of polluting units. More than 75 per cent of industries falling under the jurisdiction of the office were located in and around the area, the association pointed out. Also, nodal offices of other departments related to industries were located here. The industrialists contended that the shifting of the office would force both new and exiting entrepreneurs to travel for clearances and filing of papers to Solan. Capt Alok Sharma, president of the PIA, said a large number of new units had been set up in Parwanoo after the Central Government announced incentive packages for hill states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal. Mr Rakesh Bansal, general secretary of the PIA, said the shifting of the office would meet no objective and would force industrialists to make repeated rounds of district headquarters for official work.
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Mashobra coldest in 32 years
