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Swelling Sutlej creates panic
Flood loss may run into billions
Generation on Chamera stage-II suspended
NHPC ‘committed’
to protect environment
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160 students left in lurch
HRTC sends proposal to raise fares
Strike by taxi operators
Leaders jailed during Emergency honoured
Sonia on 5-day visit to Shimla
Don’t ignore pensioners, appeals forum
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Swelling Sutlej creates panic
Sundernagar, June 26 Sensing the threat, the 800 MW Kol Dam authorities conducted two mock drills in which men and machinery were removed from the project area in record time. According to sources, the quantity of water flowing in the Sutlej is double in comparison to what it was during June last year. Last year, the flow of water during the summer was about 700 cumecs (cubic metre per second) compared to 1,462 cumecs this year. A visit to the border areas of Bilaspur and Mandi districts reveals that those residing alongside the river are in panic and are planning to shift to higher areas. The district administration yesterday sounded an alert seeing the increasing level of water. Work on the Kol Dam project is going as earlier. According to the Additional GM of the Kol Dam Hydro Project, Mr R.B. Pathak, they have conducted two mock drills to test the safety system. The NTPC is reportedly in constant touch with various project authorities and is sharing information regarding the water level. The silt level near Slapper in Mandi district is 8,000 ppm (parts per million), which is alarmingly high. This year, everyone was happy due to the heavy snowfall in the higher reaches, but the melting of glaciers during the past few days has created panic. Officers of the district administration were reportedly camping at a site today to take stock of the situation. |
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Flood loss may run into billions
Shimla, June 26 While the exact situation will be known only after the revenue authorities conduct a survey of affected villages tomorrow, a preliminary report from Kinnaur indicates that the damage to roads, bridges , water supply and other basic infrastructure facilities alone exceeds Rs 100 crore. Mr Maneesh Garg, Deputy Commissioner, said 20 houses, a primary school and a Mahila Mandal bhavan in Leo and a 500-metre stretch of a road had been washed away. Hindustan-Tibet Road has been extensively damaged at Tangling, Powari and Tanlik. The Choling road and silt monitoring station at Khab had also been washed away. At Chango, two houses and two orchards and another two orchards at Kilba perished in the floods. Control rooms had been set up at all Tehsil headquarters to monitor the situation round the clock. There was no shortage of essential commodities and steps were being taken to prevent hoarding by traders. Span links were being installed at places where bridges had been washed away. Arrangements would be made to evacuate tourists stranded in the district due to damage to roads. According to the Subdivisional officer, Rampur, two bridges at Jagatkhana and Wazir Bowli and two bridges of Nathpa Jhakri project have been washed away and about 50 houses were inundated in the area falling in Shimla district. |
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Generation on Chamera stage-II suspended
Dalhousie, June 26 Water level of the Ravi at the moment is more than 300 cubic metres per second whereas for power generation 150 cubic metre per second flow of water is required. Suspension of power generation and the opening of radial gates of the dam as a precautionary measure would help clear the silt being drained into the dam with high speed of flood waters of the Ravi. According to Mr M.K. Raina, Executive Director (Region-II) of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), electricity generation on the project was expected to be resumed this evening after taking steps with the receding flow of water of the Ravi. “The engineers of the project are on the job to cope with any alarming situation, if arises”, the Executive Director claimed. “In the case of such natural calamities the projects also follow the directions issued by the North Region Local Dispatch Centre (NRLDC) of the Union Ministry of Power from time to time and the project authorities too invariably remain in touch with the NRLDC”, the Executive Director pointed out. The population living on the firing of the river Ravi in the low-lying areas of the project had been cautioned not to get into the riverbed nor graze their livestock around the banks of the river as a precautionary measure with to avoid any untoward incident, the Executive Director warned. The Executive Director, however, maintained that the power generation of 540 MW Chamera power station stage-I on the river Ravi downstream Chamera stage-II in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh was going on smoothly and the surplus water was being discharged through the radial gates of the dam as usual. The district administration has also directed its officials to take effective steps to avoid any eventuality and asked to supply information about any alarm or incident. |
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NHPC ‘committed’
to protect environment
Shimla, June 26 It claimed that various environment protection measures were being carried out in the under construction Parbati-II project and an expenditure of Rs 12.3 crore had been incurred on such measures in the Garsa, Manikaran and Sainj valleys. Compensatory afforestation was being carried out through the Forest Department over double the area diverted for project activities. For this, Rs 1.15 crore had already been deposited. A sum of Rs 35.4 crore had been kept for habitat improvement and conservation of endangered species, besides the enrichment of flora and fauna. The payment was being released in phases to the Great Himalayan National Park authorities. The cloudburst at Pulia nullah in 2003 and Jigrai nullah in 2004 washed away the protection measures. Fresh protection measures were undertaken and the clearing of nullahs was being carried out for which a weekly plan had been prepared. In Pulia nullah check dams were being constructed and at the dumping site in Hurla nullah a 134-m concrete wall had been constructed to divert the nullah. The debris generated from excavation was being disposed to in earmarked dumping sites as approved in the proposal by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. For taking engineering measures like gully control, bench terracing, landslide control, slope, stabilisation and biological measures like afforestation and horticulture plantation, in the catchment areas of the project, a provision of Rs 26.71 crore was kept in the Catchment Area Treatment Plan. Against this, a payment of Rs 16.39 crore had already been released to the Forest Department.
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160 students left in lurch
Solan, June 26 The university, which issued newspaper advertisements declaring cancellation of all its study centres, has now left the institutes in a quandary. The bewildered students, who after completing a year’s study have taken admission in the second year, said they had been receiving assurances from the president of the institute, Prof P.K. Khosla, but in the absence of any concrete solution they wondered whether or not to continue in the institute. A section of the students opined that they were also contemplating seeking admission elsewhere for if the institute failed to get accreditation from any other university they would lose another year. Others felt their fee should be reimbursed as advertised by the Registrar of the university. The advertisement, while stopping all such institutes from making fresh admissions, had stated that the fee of the students should be immediately reimbursed. The institute, which had been running for a year now, had admitted students for various courses like biotechnology, bio-informatics and business management. A fee ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 had been charged from the students who had gained admission through an entrance test conducted by the institute. Prof Khosla, while painting an optimistic picture, said a PIL had already been filed in the court and the matter was now sub-judice. He said an alternative arrangement would soon be worked out as they had provided the best facilities in the institute. Allaying fears of the students losing a year in case the matter was not settled amicably, he said the entire batch of the students would be transferred to a suitable university. It was, however, reliably learnt that the institute had been hankering for being granted a university status by the state government since its inception. Not only was hectic lobbying being done to get the needful done but also a top politician had been making all-out efforts to clear decks for grant of this status. It was also learnt that the institute had been directed to make arrangements for a year after which its case could be strongly put forth. The institute had, therefore, sought accreditation from the Faizabad university as a stopgap arrangement after its other efforts failed. Prof Khosla while agreeing that the institute was keen to get a university status said the matter was being pursued. He also added that it would have been better if they had also sought an accreditation from the Himachal Pradesh University as an alternative arrangement. All eyes were now focused on the June 27 court hearing. |
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Holidaying far from madding crowd
Craignano (Shimla), June 26 Situated at a height of 7,700 ft, Craignano, just 16 km from the state capital on the Naldehra road, is a marvellous place to explore and enjoy the beauty of nature. A view of dazzling snow-capped mountains from here will take your breath away. The beauty of oak and pine groves attracted the British. They had constructed a Dak Bungalow that was used to play billiards and reading. The writer came to know this fact when he scanned a book from the British period lying in the library of the bungalow. In the book, a list of library rules was pasted on it. The seventh rule stated: “Members withdrawing books, must enter them in the issue register, either in the corridor outside the billiards room or in the library.) After Partition, the government had constructed a five-room rest house, adjacent to the bungalow. Its campus, spread over 128 bighas is well laid out with a garden and stone and wooden benches. In this season, red and blue flowers of the hydrangea, pink flowers of the hollyhock, white and yellow flowers of the delphinium and dahlia and lilies are in full bloom. A number of species of butterflies can also be seen flitting in the garden and the forest area around the bungalow. If you like reading books, then this is a place worth visiting. In the small library that has a collection of 34 books published in the early 20th century one can read “Dumphry” written by Barry Pain, “Venturers All” by Lord Gorell, “An Impending Sword” by Horace Annesley, “The Moon is Making” by Storm Jameson and “The Sentimentalists” by Dale Collins. You can even enjoy your meals in the dinnerware of the British. At present, only quarter and full plates with the stamp of the United Service Club are left. The caretaker of the bungalow, Mr Prem Chand, says that most of the tourists visit this place during the summer. He says the billiards room is now being used as the dining hall. During the winter the guesthouse is closed for a few months. In 1991, he recalls, this area recorded 6 ft of snow. The bungalow area supports wildlife, including the leopard, the rabbit, the monal, the red jungle fowl, the jackal, the ghoral and a variety of reptiles. The permission of the Shimla Municipal Corporation is a must for staying in the guesthouse. |
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HRTC sends proposal to raise fares
Shimla, June 26 The last revision in the bus fares was made in April, 2003.Since then the price of diesel has increased by Rs 6 per litre. The HRTC has worked out that the total impact due to price increase will be Rs 26 crore and it can be offset by nearly 25 percent increase in the fares. The accumulated losses of the corporation had already crossed the Rs 350- crore mark and any delay in increasing the fares would further worsen its financial position. Mr Daljit Dogra, Managing Director of the corporation, confirmed that a proposal had been sent, but refused to give any details, maintaining that it was a policy matter to be decided by the government. He denied the allegations of some BJP leaders that irregularities were committed in the purchase of mini buses and attachment of private buses. He said that tenders were invited and due process was followed in purchasing the mini buses manufactured by Tata which had given the lowest bid. The buses were purchased on the directions of the Himachal High Court which had asked the corporation to replace all the local 52-seater buses within Shimla by mini buses to ease traffic congestion. The Volvo buses were first introduced on a trial basis by the company and later regular buses were attached by inviting tenders. It had been a good proposition as the corporation earned a profit of Rs 64 lakh from the Volvo services. Under the attachment scheme, no offers were accepted in the first tender as rates quoted were very high. The second tender was modified and the corporation offered for the attachment of buses at the rate of Rs 13.25 per km after which 27 buses of two parties were attached. In the third tender offers were invited for three categories of routes from 150 km to 300 km and the rates quoted varied from Rs 12.50 per km to Rs 13.25 per km. The allegation that profitable routes were brought under the attachment scheme to benefit private parties did not hold as under the scheme all the income from the routes was deposited ,while it was paying the private parties at fixed rates. |
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Strike by taxi operators
Manali, June 26 The taxi operators in order to protest the plying of Tavera jeep took out a protest march from Vashishat Chowk to Manali town . They raised slogans against State Transport Minister G.S. Bali and burnt his effigy at main chowk of the Manali town. Taxi operators did not allow all commercial vehicles to ply for at the tourist town of Manali for any sight seeing places in and around Manali town. However, all private tourist vehicles were not stopped by the taxi operators from going towards Rohtang Pass and other tourist interested in sight-seeing tours. Meanwhile, hundreds of domestic and foreign tourists were today disappointed as they could not make their sight-seeing tour by taxies and luxury buses to Rohtang Pass which was the main tourists attraction for all visitors. The president of the Him-Aanchal Taxi Operators Union gave ultimatum to the state government till 2.00 pm tomorrow to desist from plying Tavera jeeps failing which they threatened to intensify a stir. Meanwhile, a mob threw stones on a deluxe bus of HP Tourism Development Corporation and a Tavera jeep of HRTC. Mr Devender Thakur, Additional SP, Kulu, rushed to Manali to control the situation arising out of the strike of taxi operators union. |
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Leaders jailed during Emergency honoured
Nahan, June 26 Those who were honoured include former Chief Minister of HP Shanta Kumar, former ministers Rajan Sushant, Radha Raman Shastri, Kunj Lal Thakur, Kumari Shyama Sharma, Parveen Sharma and several other BJP workers. Former Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, in his address, said after returning to power in HP the BJP would consider the demand to give pension to political workers who were jailed during the Emergency. |
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Sonia on 5-day visit to Shimla
Shimla, June 26 She was accompanied by her daughter, Ms Priyanka Gandhi, son-in-law, Mr Robert Vadra and their children. Ms Sonia Gandhi reached Chandigarh by plane and then travelled to Shimla by road as helicopter flight was not possible because of bad weather. She went straight to the Wild Flower Hall hotel of the Oberoi group where five suites had been reserved for the family. The main gate of the hotel was closed as soon as Ms Gandhi checked in. Tight security arrangements have been made around the hotel. She remained confined to her room. However, she had telephonic talk with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh twice. Sources said Ms Gandhi wanted to have a quiet holiday with her family in the serene hills and she would not have any engagements. |
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Don’t ignore pensioners, appeals forum
Chamba, June 26 In a statement issued here today, Mr Kuldeep Singh Jasrotia, general-secretary of the Forum sought an immediate issuance of a similar notification in favour of pensioners too; stating that in future the government should issue such notifications in one go only to avoid huge expenditure on stationery and postage. Mr Jasrotia alleged that the government has always been in the habit of hitting the sentiments of pensioners by infringing upon their fundamental rights. |
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Poppy husk
seized Nalagarh, June 26
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