H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Govt ‘indifference’ stalls work on hydro projects
Chamera, (Chamba), February 27
The development of the 231-MW Chamera hydroelectric project (stage-III) on the Ravi in Chamba district and 520 MW Parbati-III in Kulu district of Himachal Pradesh has been delayed due to various reasons.

Kol Dam oustees seek jobs, land
Harnorha (Bilaspur), February 27
Out of the 1,085 families of the 800 Kol Dam oustees, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has employed only one surveyor from Kasol village. With the shock of being banished from their motherland still fresh in their minds, the oustees demand only two things: employ at least one member each from their family and give them “nau taur” land for cultivation.

Labour Welfare Board sought
Nurpur, February 27
The Himachal Pradesh’s Indian Trade Union Congress (INTUC) has advocated setting up of the Labour Welfare Board (LWB) in the state. Mr Rajneesh Sharma, state INTUC general-secretary, in a press conference here yesterday reiterated that in the absence of the LWB, workers in the public and private sectors were being subjected to exploitation.

SAD (A) threatens stir over delay in projects
Dalhousie, February 27
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) has decided to launch an agitation if the work on 520 MW Parbati project stage-III and 231 MW Chamera project stage-III in Himachal Pradesh has not been started soon. These projects cost about Rs 5,000 crore.

Youth arrested on rape charge
Baddi, February 27
Sonu Sharma (24), who belongs to Guler in Kangra district, has been arrested allegedly for raping a girl.

 

 

Govt ‘indifference’ stalls work on hydro projects
Balkrishan Prashar

Chamera, (Chamba), February 27
The development of the 231-MW Chamera hydroelectric project (stage-III) on the Ravi in Chamba district and 520 MW Parbati-III in Kulu district of Himachal Pradesh has been delayed due to various reasons.

These hydroelectric projects are to generate additional power capacity for the development of nation to mitigate the shortage of electricity prevailing in the country incessantly.

But sadly, in the Himachal Vidhan Sabha the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)has become a silent spectator to delayed projects and failed to draw the attention of the ruling Congress government towards the major hydroelectric projects like Chamera-III in Chamba district and Parbati-III in Kulu district which have been stalled due to the halfhearted approach of the government on the pretext of environment protection for the past about two years causing a heavy loss to the national exchequer in crores of rupees.

The proposed dam of the 231-MW Chamera stage-III project is located 300-metre downstream at the confluence of the Tundah nullah and the Ravi and is accessible through the Chamba-Bharmour road. The powerhouse is located at Dharwala where three generating units of 77-MW each are to be installed in an underground cavern and Francis vertical axis turbines shall be provided.

According to a spokesman of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), which has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government, and is executing this project, the project will cost about Rs 1347 crore as per April 2003 price level. The project is scheduled to be completed within a period of five years.

Uptil now, Rs 50 crore has been spent on various works relating to the construction of infrastructure of Chamera-III project such as office complexes, roads and bridges. The adjoining areas of the project have benefited immensely due to construction of bridges and widening of roads, which are the lifelines of these alpine regions.

After the dedication of a major bridge over the Ravi at Dunali by the Himachal Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, last year, the right bank of the Ravi, which is totally cut off due to its inaccessibility, got a big boost to its economy and socio-economic conditions of the local people in the area thereby paving the way for their uplift. The work on two other major bridges at Gehra and Durgathi is in progress, which will be ready by June next.

The project will generate 1104.53 million units of power annually in 90 per cent dependable year, which will be fed to Northern Grid for further distribution to the beneficiary states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan. It is high time for the government to embark on the construction of Chamera Stage-III and Parbati-III as the high-tech machinery and equipment as well as the trained workforce, could be utilised well.

Kol Dam oustees seek jobs, land
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Harnorha (Bilaspur), February 27
Out of the 1,085 families of the 800 Kol Dam oustees, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has employed only one surveyor from Kasol village. With the shock of being banished from their motherland still fresh in their minds, the oustees demand only two things: employ at least one member each from their family and give them “nau taur” land for cultivation.

Though Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who inaugurated the NTPC’s Maitri Setu Bridge here yesterday, has directed the Forest Department to identify the land for Kasol and Bahaut oustees for rehabilitation colony in the upper reaches, the oustees demand “nau taur” land for landless from the state government and employment from the NTPC.

“We submitted the memorandum of demands to the Chief Minister here yesterday”, said Ram Babu Kaundal, pardhan, gram panchayat, Harnora, who is also president, Kol Dam Oustees’ Joint Rehabilitation Welfare Mahasamiti. “We have qualified surveyors, draftsmen and other skilled labourers. But the NTPC has employed just one surveyor in the project so far”.

Take the case of four SC families of Karai Gharaat. “We want to live near the old village land. So we are building up houses in the upper reaches of the village. We lost our ‘gharats’, saw mills and houses in the Sutlej flood a few years ago. Now the NTPC has taken over all the land”, rued Masadi Ram and Kesru Ram from the village, which falls in Arki teshsil.

“We got Rs 70,000 to Rs 2 lakh as compensation since we had very little cultivable land. Can we buy land or houses with this money. Where we will go?” rued villagers from Kasol Gharaat. “If we do not get ‘nau taur’ land, we will perish”, they feared.

Villagers rued that the NTPC dismissed them saying that they did not know how to operate computer. “For this we have told them to give us refresher course training at Polytechnic College, Sundernagar. We will prove that we are as competent”, they claimed.

The NTPC’s official spokesperson said the company had paid worth Rs 700 crore as compensation to the oustees, was developing four rehabilitation colonies at Kango in Mandi district, Jamthal in Bilaspur and Sunni in Shimla district and Mundkar for oustees in Solan district.

He added Rs 7 crore had been paid as house and land grant to the affected villagers. “Over 60 per cent of contract labourers are from the state. We recruit people as per qualification and the MoU guidelines signed by the state government and the NTPC”, he claimed.

Labour Welfare Board sought
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, February 27
The Himachal Pradesh’s Indian Trade Union Congress (INTUC) has advocated setting up of the Labour Welfare Board (LWB) in the state. Mr Rajneesh Sharma, state INTUC general-secretary, in a press conference here yesterday reiterated that in the absence of the LWB, workers in the public and private sectors were being subjected to exploitation. He appealed to the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to constitute the LWB to safeguard the interests of the workers and appoint state INTUC president as its chairman.

Mr Sharma asked the state government to fulfil its poll promises of regularisation of daily wage earners of all government departments who had completed seven years of service and enhance the daily wages from Rs 65 to Rs 100. He had demanded the release of the instalment of DA due since January, 2004. Mr Sharma, who is also the state president of the HRTC Employees Federation, urged the chief minister to release a special economic package to the HRTC to improve its financial health.

Talking on the expected repercussions of an MoU signed by the state government with the Central Government, he said INTUC was examining the MoU document and the INTUC would safeguard the interests of employees.

Refuting infighting in the state leadership of the INTUC, Mr Sharma said there might be differences of opinion in the leadership but with the intervention of the national INTUC president, Mr G. Sanjiva Reddy, and the state Chief Minister, differences had been sunk in larger interest of the workers.

SAD (A) threatens stir over delay in projects
Our Correspondent

Dalhousie, February 27
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) has decided to launch an agitation if the work on 520 MW Parbati project stage-III and 231 MW Chamera project stage-III in Himachal Pradesh has not been started soon. These projects cost about Rs 5,000 crore.

Announcing this decision here today, Dr Ajit Bhardwaj, state president of the SAD (Amritsar) said his party would pressure the state government for undertaking the construction of these projects.

Dr Bhardwaj advised the state government not to stall the development of hydropower on environment issue. Moreover, other projects like these would create employment and add revenue to the state exchequer every year, Dr Bhardwaj opined.

Over 100 crore had so far been spent on the construction of infrastructure of Chamera-III project and Parbati-II project such as office complexes, roads and bridges, he said.

Scooterist dies in accident
Our Correspondent

Sundernagar, February 27
One person was killed when the scooter he was driving was hit by an unidentified vehicle on National Highway No 21 near Jarol village last night. He was on his way to Sundernagar.

According to the police, a scooter (HP-24A-0993) was hit by an unidentified vehicle when it was coming to Sundernagar. The person, who was driving the scooter, died on the spot. He could not be identified immediately.

The police has register a case against the driver of the unidentified vehicle under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC.

Youth arrested on rape charge
Our Correspondent

Baddi, February 27
Sonu Sharma (24), who belongs to Guler in Kangra district, has been arrested allegedly for raping a girl.

The father of the girl complained to the police yesterday that his daughter had gone missing on December 23. The police traced the girl, along with Sonu, at Parrkari village in Kangra district on Friday.

The father of the girl has alleged that her daughter told him that Sonu had repeatedly raped her by making a false promise to marry her.

A case under Sections 363, 366 and 376 of the IPC has been registered.