H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Eight perish in major fire
Shimla, February 3
As many as eight Nepali nationals, including two women and three children, were burnt alive in a major fire which gutted a three-storeyed building at Tikker in Rohru subdivision last night.

Trash a blot on beauty of Chandra Tal
Mandi, February 3
The Chandra Tal lake, one of country’s only 21 wetlands and the last remnant of the glacial age, is under threat from the trash and junk left behind by trekking groups and from the highland moraine that has been entering the lake bed from  its catchment over the centuries.

Kol Dam workers lathicharged
Mandi, February 3
As many as 12 workers in the 800 MW Kol Dam Hydro Project sustained minor injuries at the site after they were lathicharged by the Central Industrial Security Force today. They were going to resume the work after an hour-long gate meeting as the project authorities had failed to implement the Labour Law Act even after a month.

Row over setting up cement plant
Solan, February 3
Even as the state Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board had notified February 4, for a public hearing of a cement plant to be set up by JP Industries in Bagga village.

Crashed chopper had passengers on board
Kulu, February 3
The helicopter that crashed yesterday was reportedly carrying passengers on board, though the management denied and said that the snag developed while taking off and only pilot was on board.

Substandard fertiliser seized; notice issued to Himfed Area Manager
Chamba, February 3
The District Collector of Chamba, Mr Rahul Anand, has seized 375 bags of substandard brand of super-phosphate fertilizer purchased by the Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Marketing & Consumers Federation kept in its godown in Chamba.

2 sentry posts removed from Mall
Shimla, February 3
The three police “gumtis” (sentry posts) were removed from the Mall here today after the Municipal Corporation raised objections that such structures could not be permitted in the Heritage zone.

• Virbhadra shielding corrupt, says Bindal
  
  
  
  

Eight perish in major fire
Tribune News Service

Trash a blot on beauty of Chandra Tal
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Mandi, February 3
The Chandra Tal lake, one of country’s only 21 wetlands and the last remnant of the glacial age, is under threat from the trash and junk left behind by trekking groups and from the highland moraine that has been entering the lake bed from  its catchment over the centuries.

The World Wetland has brought into focus the plight of Chandra Tal lake that has a circumference of around 4.5 km as the unchecked entry of tourists and trekking groups is fast turning this rare biosphere into a junk yard.

The problem aggravates every season from June to November, when the Chatru-Spiti road opens the highland valley for tourists driving from both Manali and Kaza, the sub-divisional headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti district.

The trekking groups that pitch their tents on the lakeside dump trash into the lake. Broken glass bottles and beverage and other containers can be seen floating freely in the crystal-clear water of the lake, reveal the shepherds, who graze their herds of sheep and goats in the region every year during summer.

“There was a time when we used to spot fish worth 2 kg in the lake. Now it is a rare sight”, informed Deepak Kapur, a Gaddi shepherd from the Bara Bhangal area, who along with Brihsu take their herds to Chandra Tal every summer. “We lost a hundred heads of sheep and goats in 1995 when Chandra Tal experienced a freak snowfall, a new phenomenon in the region”, he says.

The Conservator of Forests, Rampur circle, who controls the lake, has stopped the entry of vehicles about 3 km short of the lake, breaching the road. This had been done last season as waste deposits in the lake had become a serious threat.

The crescent-shaped lake at the height of 4420 metres in the landlocked Lahaul-Spiti district is one of the most beautiful natural lakes surrounded by the Mulkila mountain and the Samunder Tapu glacier, which is the source of Chandra river, about 210 km from this divisional headquarters.

The lake attracts high-altitude rare migratory birds during summer and supports a rare fish variety of carp. But the population of this fish has become less over the years.

Even the rare snow leopard has been seen roaming near the lake during summer when herds of sheep and goats are brought there by shepherds.

“We had booked a few trekking groups from Manali last season for leaving behind trash”, says Conservator of Forests V.R.R Singh. “Now we are opening a facility at Batal, about 12 km short of Chandra Tal, to guide and monitor the tourists going to the lake”, he said and added that the department would place a permanent caretaker at the lake.

‘‘The State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (SCSTE) and the forest department have initiated some soil conservation measures to arrest the glacial moraine discharge in the lake, but we are avoiding it because the interference may result in more problems in the natural process of the lake’’, says Dr Subhash Gupta, a senior scientist at the SCSTE, adding that global warming and other climactic changes were some of the other factors that had changed the ecology of the lake.

Kol Dam workers lathicharged
Tribune News Service

Mandi, February 3
As many as 12 workers in the 800 MW Kol Dam Hydro Project sustained minor injuries at the site after they were lathicharged by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) today. They were going to resume the work after an hour-long gate meeting as the project authorities had failed to implement the Labour Law Act even after a month. The brief scuffle disrupted the work for four hours.

The CITU state president Ravinder Kumar said they were organising the gate meeting of workers and when the workers tried to resume the work, the CISF stopped them from doing so and fired two shots in the air and lathicharged the workers.

The CITU leaders said that the NTPC was paying just Rs 3,000 per month for 12 hours of work daily, while according to labour laws the regular workers should get Rs 2,460 for 8 hours of work. Similarly the helpers are being paid Rs 1,500 per month for 12 hours of work daily, while according to law they should be given Rs 1,950 per month for working 8 hours.

Mr Kumar said the workers had resumed the work in the evening shift and the day workers would also resume the work tomorrow.

The Assistant General Manager, NTPC Mr R.B. Pathak could not be contacted till late in the evening, but other officials denied that the work was disrupted due to the incident.

Row over setting up cement plant
Our Correspondent

Solan, February 3
Even as the state Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board had notified February 4, for a public hearing of a cement plant to be set up by JP Industries in Bagga village. In the absence of a detailed environment assessment report with the district administration hampered the villagers from studying the proposal and to present their objections. This is despite the fact that the board had sent the summary and the environment assessment report to the Deputy Commissioner on December 31.

The Deputy Commissioner had nominated three senior citizens, members of the panchayats concerned and another nominee for the hearing. There was, however, resentment in the villagers about two of the three members not being senior citizens. They rued that despite their best efforts they could not study the environment report either at the DC’s office or the General Manager District Industries Centre’s office. The plant which is being set up in Bagga village of Arki tehsil which involves a number of panchayats whose land is being leased out for the purpose. The area which abounds in limestone deposits would be subject to heavy pollution both in terms of increase of vehicles and environment. The villagers were skeptical about the gains they could make from the setting up of the plant after surrendering their land.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Rajesh Kumar, said it was a preliminary stage hearing proposed by the board and no document had been received by them at this stage. It would be after notification of the land under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition act that such a document would be sent to them, he added. He said the tehsildar had been authorised to attend the hearing tomorrow.

Crashed chopper had passengers on board
Our Correspondent

Kulu, February 3
The helicopter that crashed yesterday was reportedly carrying passengers on board, though the management denied and said that the snag developed while taking off and only pilot was on board.

The Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Manali, Mr Rameshwar Sharma, said the Himalayan Helicopter Company management had informed him about the mishap, but did not ask for any help from the administration as none of the passengers were injured. He confirmed that the chopper was flying on a mountain top with passengers to be dropped for their starting points to ski down hill, but the chopper developed some snag and the passengers were dropped on the snow on the hill top. He said all passengers were safe and later rescued by another helicopter.

The SDM affirmed that the damaged helicopter was brought back to Manali.

Meanwhile, the sources confirmed that the helicopter was still lying at the mountain somewhere in Hamta Pass area and might have been under snow. A similar case had occurred in 2002 and the damaged helicopter has not been removed from the site of accident till today.

Mr K.M. Nehra, senior Aerodrome Officer at the Bhuntar airport, said the mishap might not be a major one as the ATC (Air Traffic Control) at Bhuntar airport did not have any information. He informed that the ATC watch hours were up to 2 p.m. and aircraft passing through or operating in the Bhuntar operational area keep in touch with them during the watch hours. He further said that the operator and the pilot were responsible to inform about the accident to the Director-General of Civil Aviation and seek “Air Worthiness” certificate for the grounded/damaged machine.

The management of the heliskiing company confirmed today that the heliskiing had been suspended for one week.

Substandard fertiliser seized; notice issued to Himfed Area Manager
Our Correspondent

Chamba, February 3
The District Collector of Chamba, Mr Rahul Anand, has seized 375 bags of substandard brand of super-phosphate fertilizer purchased by the Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Marketing & Consumers Federation (HIMFED) kept in its godown in Chamba.

In an official press note issued here today, the District Collector disclosed that a show-cause notice had also been issued to the Area Manager of the Himfed under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

The fertiliser expert had collected samples of the bags of super-phosphate fertiliser for chemical analysis in the state laboratory at Sundernagar. According to reports the fertiliser was found to be substandard and below the requisite parameters. On receiving the report the District Collector initiated action against the functionaries of the Himfed and forfeited the entire stock of the fertiliser lying in the local godown of the Himfed.

The ‘Mahaluxmi’ and ‘annmahadeva’ brands of fertiliser were manufactured by Messers Vohra and Messers Premsarvi of Udaipur in Rajasthan.

2 sentry posts removed from Mall
Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 3
The three police “gumtis” (sentry posts) were removed from the Mall here today after the Municipal Corporation raised objections that such structures could not be permitted in the Heritage zone.

The issue was discussed at a joint meeting of senior officers of the police and the corporation presided over by Mr S.K.B.S. Negi, Deputy Commissioner. It was decided that the new sentry posts would be set up as per the design approved by the corporation with in a month.

The new design would conform to the hill architecture.

Mr Negi had to intervene after the Mall Business Association objected to the removal of the sentry posts which, it emphasised, were essential for an effective police patrolling. Besides, they also helped in instilling a sense of security among the shopkeepers and residents of the area, they said.

These were sponsored by leading mobile phone companies. 

Virbhadra shielding corrupt, says Bindal
Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 3
Dr Rajiv Bindal, spokesperson of the state BJP, today accused Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, of shielding the corrupt. He said the inordinate delay in not accepting the resignation of Ms Asha Kumari, the Education Minister, against whom charges had been framed by a Chamba court, proved that the Chief Minister was shielding the corrupt.

He said the tainted minister had not been sacked even one month after the framing of charges and now that she had been forced to resign under pressure.