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Septicemia breaks out in Nadaun area
Horticulture Mission sapping farmers’ energy
4 children of family burnt alive
Polytechnic students call off strike
Two teaching shops given show-cause notice
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Units told to
harvest rainwater
10-year RI for raping minor
Govt clarifies
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Septicemia breaks out in Nadaun area
Hamirpur, February 17 Haemorrhagic septicemia, popularly known as “HS” and is a deadly disease found in animals, has been spreading fast in Nadaun and Barsar revenue subdivisions of Hamirpur district for some time now, but the Department of Animal Husbandry has not taken any preventive steps so far. The first case of “HS” was reported from the Dhaneta area about 15 days ago. It claimed lives of animals one after another. Sporadic cases were reported earlier but no one bothered to take timely action. The local teams of the Department of Animal husbandry led by Dr Sandeep Sharma of Nadaun and Dr K.K. Sharma, Senior Veterinary Surgeon, located at Barsar, have visited the affected areas of Dhaneta, Jasai, Beharar and Jansooh and given them vaccines to save their livestock. Villagers told The Tribune during a tour of the area today that once cattle was affected by the disease, it took not more than 12 hours to die. According to Pritam Chand, Hoshiar Singh and Kehar Singh of the Kohla area, they lost their buffaloes due to “HS”. However, they bemoaned that the authorities had not come to their rescue and provided them any help. The latest report says that two buffaloes died of “HS” at Rit and Tillu villages in Nadaun revenue subdivision today. A large number of other buffaloes were also suffering from the “HS”, the villagers added. Dr Sharma said that the department had already vaccinated about 12,000 head of cattle in the Nadaun area so that this disease was contained. He appealed to the people to approach the department if any symptom of disease was reported in their animals. While the department claims to have done a lot for treating the animals, the general feeling among the people is that the Department of Animal Husbandry has not called veterinary officers from the animal science wing of HP Agricultural University, Palampur, to visit the area. When contacted, Dr H.S. Kochhar, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry, who was busy in a camp at a village, told The Tribune this afternoon that the department was taking the necessary steps to check the disease. He said that teams of veterinary officers of the department had been sent and a mobile team was in the field to take care of their animals. He said that vaccination work was in progress and there was no shortage of the vaccine. Dr Kochhar said that the disease was due to bad weather conditions prevailing in the state. He claimed that the disease had been brought under control in the Dhaneta area of the district. |
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Horticulture Mission sapping farmers’ energy
Mandi, February 17 Contrary to the official hype, the Rs 80 crore HM is sapping farmers’ time, energy and money. The HM is a bundle of formalities that is time-consuming for farmers”, rued Mr Nakul Khullar, an orchardist near Naggar in Kulu valley. “They should simplify the procedures to benefit farmers, who cannot afford to waste time on obtaining sanction”. The HM is not reaching farmers in remote areas. “Only big farmers around towns are being covered under the HM as the department rarely advertises the project. Farmers who want to avail the HM schemes like setting up water tanks, power tillers and green houses have to go through a long list of formalities to get the subsidies of over 40- 50 per cent. “Then they have to take photographs of the tanks and areas. There are no link roads. It is all time-consuming”, say farmers. In Kulu district as many as 93 farmers await clearance for the vermi-composting, 200 for beekeeping and 16 for power tillers. “We have written to the government as the HM has limited options for bee-keeping and power tillers”, said Mr P C Bhanoo, Deputy Director, Horticulture, Kulu district. “We have covered 267 farmers and achieved a target of 65.3 hectares out of the desired 119 hectares”. In Mandi district the demand for power tillers is more but the HM mission provides for just two, informed officials. The Deputy Director, Horticulture, Mandi, Mr K S Chambiyal, said they had sent proposal to the central government, demanding amendment in the scheme. “A high tech green house for flouriculture at Sundernagar and 18 water tanks have been installed under the HM so far in the district”. The Director Horticulture, Mr RP Sharma, said they had to follow the HM guidelines. “The money has to be utilised for the period up to 2007. The target is to increase the area under the HM, empowering farmers to get more benefit from the horticultural produce”, he added.
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4 children of family burnt alive
Una, February 17 All the four children Shivani, Pooja, Alka and Ankit were charred. Malkiat Singh has received about 70 per cent burns while his wife, Sunita, has received 20 per cent burns. Both of them have been referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. Malkiat Singh has given a statement before the SDM that at midnight somebody threw kerosene in the house. His condition, however, was serious and he could not talk much. The Gagret police has cordoned off the house and nobody is being allowed inside the house, as the police is waiting for the arrival of forensic experts from Shimla to know the cause of fire. It is yet to be found out how all the children sleeping in the room were charred to death while Malkiat Singh received 70 per cent burns and Sunita received only 20 per cent burns. Till the police takes the statement of either of the parents, the cause behind the deaths may not be clear. Meanwhile, SDM Subhash Nanda visited the hospital and handed over Rs 20,000 as immediate relief to the attendants.
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Polytechnic students call off strike
Kangra, February 17 They had been boycotting their classes since
February 8. They observed a strike and staged a dharana from February 11, 2005, in support of their demands. The acting Principal of the college, Ms Vandeta Arya today said that regular class work had started in the college but the attendance was still thin. The students said the strike had been called off unconditionally as students of other colleges in the state did not come forward to support the agitation. Mr R.D. Panwar, Director of Technical Education, told The Tribune on phone that students who were boycotting the classes were misguided youths and their boycott was unjustified. He said it was decided last year only that there would be no detention of students and the carry on system would continue. Mr Anil Verma, Secretary of the board, said, “No changes have been made in the board rules regarding the carry-on system and there was no direction as yet from the government regarding amendment of the board rules”. |
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Two teaching shops given show-cause notice
Mandi, February 17 Sources in the district administration told The Tribune that only three of the five institutions were running classes for the art and craft courses, while others were found locked. The raid followed after the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, who was here on Monday, told mediapersons that the students would be enrolling themselves in these institutions on their own risk as these were recognised neither by the UGC nor by the state government. Officials revealed that the documents seized from the premises of the two institutions — Bhuvneshwari and the Abhilashi Society — revealed that the institution did not have UGC recognition. “On this we have served them a show-cause notice and they have to reply to it by February 23,” said Mr R.S. Gupta, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mandi district. “We are examining the documents and we will take action after they reply to the notice served on them,” he added. According to officials the two institutions were offering diploma courses in art and crafts but these courses were not recognised by the Director, Technical Education, Sundernagar, and the state government. The art and craft course students have been on strike for the past four months, demanding recognition of their diplomas from these two institutions.
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Units told to
harvest rainwater Baddi, February 17 Major industries like pharmaceuticals, textiles, packaging, paper and chemicals, comprise the major share of the units here. A survey by the pollution control board has revealed that out of the 866 handpumps installed in Solan district, 400 are in Baddi and Barotiwala. The board has made it clear that no fresh NOC would be issued to a unit unless the provision of water harvesting was met with. The survey, while taking into account the status of the watertable, revealed that it was receding at an alarming pace. Each unit would now have to install the necessary machinery to tap rainwater. The survey which was conducted by a Hyderabad- based firm was likely to recommend a further ban on sinking new handpumps. Unscientific mining going on in the region for the past several years has already damaged a dozen irrigation schemes.
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10-year RI for raping minor
Sundernagar, February 17 The police registered the case under Section 376 (2) (F) and arrested him. The prosecution examined 10 witnesses to prove its case. The court in its 20 page judgement held that the evidence by the prosecution was sufficient to convict the accused. The order was announced yesterday afternoon.
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Govt clarifies
Shimla, February 17 An official spokesperson said the matter came up for discussion but the Cabinet did not agree on it. It was inadvertently mentioned in the official press release regarding decisions of the Cabinet issued yesterday. — TNS |
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