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FIR against BBMB over forest Act violation
40 foreign tourists still stranded in Kinnaur
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Floods keep tourists away from state
Market plan for apple, mango gets nod
Monsoon kindles hope of tomato growers
Sale of unstamped meat goes on
Engineering student commits suicide
Woman held for abandoning child
3 killed in mishaps
BJP leader gets threatening letter
Kokje meets NCC officers
Hike in resin procurement price
Ayurvedic drug makers’ plea to govt
Virbhadra releases book
2 SFI men held for manhandling VC
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FIR against BBMB over forest Act violation
Sundernagar, July 2 The BBMB authorities have been dumping muck silt on Suketi land for the past more than two decades but no action was initiated till the matter was highlighted by The Tribune dated May 25. Subsequently, the Forest Department took tough stand and questioned the BBMB authorities in this regard. When this matter was again highlighted in the paper the Chandigarh-based regional office of the Ministry of Environment and Forest also took cognisance and sought report from the Forest Department. The department had written various letters to the BBMB authorities to stop this practice but the latter start transferring silt from the balancing reservoir to Suketi Khud yesterday and intended to continue it for three months. As per the BBMB it was throwing silt into the Suketi Khud as per the provision of the Punjab Reorganisation Act. Furthermore it was alleging that it was not violating the provision of the Forest Conservation Act as the project was started prior to 1980 when the Forest Conservation Act was not enacted. It was further submitted that the environmental management plan in this connection had been accepted by high court and the BBMB was throwing silt into the khud as per this plan and there was no violation of the Forest Conservation Act. According to Mr C.S. Singh, Conservator of Forest, Mandi, the matter which was pending before the high court was not pertaining to the violation of the Forest Conservation Act but that the BBMB was trying to misuse the high court order. Furthermore, it was stated that there was no mention of the Forest Conservation Act in the environmental management plan drafted by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur. How can NEERI draft a plan which violated to provision of the Forest Conservation Act, he added. The RO, Suket, has written in his complaint that his office had already issued three notices to the Chief Engineer, BBMB, Sundernagar, but the BBMB authorities had neither submitted any reply nor forwarded the case. The dredging was stopped about nine months back and during this period the aquatic life in the Suketi Khud was restored in a 24 km patch. |
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40 foreign tourists still stranded in Kinnaur
Shimla, July 2 With this, the first phase of relief and rescue operation has been almost completed and only about 40 foreign tourists, who could not be airlifted because of inclement weather , had been left stranded at Nako. A maximum of 341 persons were evacuated yesterday. A team of 45 personnel, including 15 officers, carried out the
job with the help of five helicopters. As many as 125 persons, mostly students and patients, were airlifted from various locations today. Those rescued also included 24 students of the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) who were stranded at a remote village, Nagasti, uphill Sangla. They had gone to the area for trekking during vacation when floods in the
Sutlej disrupted the road links. Vice-Air Marshal Ajit Singh, who is coordinating the entire operation, said it was a tricky job as the pilots had to carry out sorties over high mountain ranges in extremely treacherous weather conditions. Initially, the pace was slow and only 42 persons could be evacuated on the first day as
extremely windy conditions and cloud cover in the afternoon in high altitude areas like Pooh, Leo
and Sumdoh made sorties impossible in the afternoon. It was decided that maximum sorties to the upper areas be made in the early morning. Further, the base was shifted from Shimla to Rampur which reduced the flying time. While the three MI-17 helicopters were used for various areas where regular helipads were available, the smaller Cheetah aircraft were pressed into service where landing of big choppers was not
possible. Besides, the choppers also airlifted ration, relief material and cables for repair of Jhulas (spans). Around 8 quintal relief material, including tents and blankets, was dropped at Leo village today. Work to repair the old Hindustan-Tibet road for plying light vehicles has been started at several points on a war footing. Engineers of the PWD are hopeful of repairing patches of road important from the point of view of connectivity within a week. Thereafter, work on bailey bridges on the national highway will get underway. |
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Floods keep tourists away from state
Dharamsala, July 2 Talking to The Tribune, Mr Tarun Sridhar, Managing Director of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation
(HPTDC), said floods had affected the inflow of tourists to a certain extent. “We have contacted our marketing offices in Delhi and Mumbai to remove any doubts about safety in the minds of the tourists. Travel agents have also been asked to spread the word that the flood situation was only in a specific part of the state and most key tourist places have not been affected,” he said. “Since the peak of the tourist season is about to end anyway, we are now trying to have a productive monsoon season. Most of the HPTDC hotels would soon start offering discounts this month and at some places the rates would be brought down to nearly half,” he said. Hoteliers and travel agents in Dharamsala and adjoining
McLeodganj, meanwhile, admitted that reports of floods wrecking havoc in Kinnaur and Shimla district have definitely forced scores of tourists to change their mind. Bookings have been cancelled as most tourists from the adjoining states of Punjab and Haryana will not be able to come once the rains arrive and schools re-open later this month,” said the owner of a hotel in
McLeodganj. Tourists from abroad have the safety factor on top of their priority list and most of them would prefer to go to some other state or postpone their visit in wake of the floods and loss of property. |
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Market plan for apple, mango gets nod
Shimla, July 2 Under the scheme apples will be procured at Rs 4.25 per kg from growers in 60 kg bags and 20 kgs cartons. The decision was taken at the meeting of the state Cabinet held under the chairmanship of Mr Virbhadra Singh, the Chief Minister. The procurement agencies will be HPMC and HIMFED and the fruit will be procured only from those orchardists who possess horticulture cards. No fruit will be procured from contractors. The Cabinet approved the policy regarding carton subsidy for providing packing cases to various fruit growers. The subsidy on state-owned AIPIL manufactured telescopic cartons will be given Rs 6 per carton to small growers having orchards up to 10 bighas. The maximum limit of subsidy on the packing cases of fruit will be Rs 7,200 per small orchardist. The cartons will be available from the nearest sale depot of HPMC, HIMFED, Agro Industrial Packaging India Limited (AIPL) and Kinfed. Under the MIS seedling mango will be procured at the rate of Rs 3.58 per kg and grafted mango at Rs 4.25 per kg. Meanwhile, Cabinet also approved the sale of 22 per cent power available from Nathpa-Jhakri hydro electric project in lieu of its equity share to the states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. The agreements were signed with Delhi Transco Limited, Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited and the Punjab State Electricity Board on June 28. Delhi Transco Ltd. (DTL) will be given 6.5 per cent, Haryana Power Generation Corporation 9 per cent and the Punjab State Electricity Board 6.5 per cent of power. The sale rate for the 22 per cent power will be as per the rates approved by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) plus 30 paise per kwh. The state government will be entitled to get additional revenue to the tune of Rs 5 to 6 crore per month. The Cabinet also approved the pension scheme for the employees of HP Board of School Education. It has decided to amend the state value Added Tax Act, 2005, to allow the incentives already announced by the government to industrial units registered before or after the commencement of this Act by promulgation of an ordinance. It also decided to reduce the stamp duty from 9 per cent to 5 per cent in favour of allottees of the erstwhile Himachal Pradesh Nagar Vikas Pradhikaran, who has already executed the lease deeds in favour of the said pradhikaran. |
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Monsoon kindles hope of tomato growers
Kumarhatti, July 2 The market prices of tomato have touched all time low in season. Generally around this time the growers pocket handsome prices for their produce but rise in temperature and the lack of rain have created havoc on the tomato crop. After recording less than Re 1 per kg, the prices of tomato have now started to show upward sign, thanks to rain in past few days. However, the prices are still quite low to break even. Surprisingly, the arrival of produce is very low in the local terminal markets as compared to the corresponding period of the past year. A visit to the market committee regulated vegetable markets at Solan, Dharampur and Chakki ka Mour showed that the arrival of tomato was hardly 20 per cent of what it used to be during the normal season. At Solan market the daily arrival of tomato ranges between 45 to 65 quintals. As per a random survey, over 30 per cent of tomato crop was damaged due to high temperature. At some pockets the damage was over 50 per cent. Over the past few years, the general tendency among the growers has been to sow initial varieties of tomato on lager scale. This was being done to get good prices during the initial period of season. However, all equations of growers have fallen flat with the unexpected crash in prices and damage to crop. |
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Sale of unstamped meat goes on Parwanoo, July 2 As per norms, clearance of meat for sale was required from veterinary department that put its stamp after finding it fit for human consumption. No medical check up was being done before the sale of meat. There was not a single slaughterhouse in area with basic amenities like water and proper cleaning facilities. The open area is used as slaughter house by meat shop owners. The most of slaughter points are surrounded by very unhealthy conditions where stray dogs continue to roam regularly thus causing a major nuisance for residents residing nearby. The meat is mostly thrown in an open that emanates foul smell. Due to the lack of any cleanliness meat shops virtual look an abode of flies. At Barog, Kumarhatti , Dharampur and Parwanoo the sale of unfit meat was going unabated mainly because of lack of any efforts by health department or local law enforcing agencies to take action against meat shop owners. Lack of slaughter houses and failure of vet officials to take stern action against defaulting meat shop owners are main reasons behind problem, pointed residents. Dr R.K. Anand, Senior Veterinary Officer, Solan, was not available for comments. However, as per officials, available in his office the vet department had failed to implement the norms for want of proper slaughterhouses and assistance from district administration.
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Engineering student commits suicide
Solan, July 2 The suicide came to light today afternoon when Amit’s friends came to meet him at his room after he failed to turn up in the day. Unable to get the door opened, they managed to see Amit’s body hanging with a rope from the roof. Hailing from Ghumarwin in Bilaspur district, he had just returned here from home two days ago. The college had closed for a break after completion of the annual examinations on June 27. The students informed the local panchayat about the mishap who in turn informed the police. This Mechanical Engineering student had been residing outside in a room near the college for past several months. A police party led by the SHO Dharampur, Kanwar Guleria, immediately rushed to the spot. They discovered a suicide note from the room where Amit had cited the college teachers and administration responsible for this extreme step. It was also learnt that he had been caught cheating in his last examination which concluded on June 27 and he was visibly upset at this development. He had further sought an apology from his parents for his failure in not achieving anything in life. The body had been sent for a post-mortem and the police was further investigating the matter informed the SHO. Locals informed that Amit cleared his pending credits to the nearby shopkeepers a day before ending his life. |
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Woman held for abandoning child
Kangra, July 2 Deputy Superintendent of Police Virender Thakur said Krishna, a mother of two children, was arrested on a tip-off from the pradhan of Dadumb village, under the Shahpur Police station, where she was living in her father’s house. Mr Thakur said the woman had confessed to committing the crime. He said that a case under Section 317 of the IPC was registered. Krishna had in the beginning, told the police that her daughter Neetika died a few days ago and she was buried in a khud near Dadumb village. However, she could not substantiate her theory when the police dug the locations she had mentioned. She told The Tribune that poverty and her being allegedly an AIDS patient forced her to abandon the child in the bushes. She said that she was married thrice in her young age and all her three husbands had died. She was first married at the age of 13. She said the doctors at Dharamshala told her that she was suffering from AIDS and her blood samples were sent to Shimla for examination one month ago. She also said that she suspected her daughter to be suffering from the dreaded disease. She could not substantiate it by any documentary proof. The police said that she had earlier also made an attempt to abandon her daughter at Rait temple but her attempt was foiled. |
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3 killed in mishaps
Kumarhatti, July 2 In another accident, Pardeep Kumar, driver of a Maruti van, was killed and four others injured when the van skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge at Nehra, near Rampur, in this district. The injured were taken to a hospital at Khaneri. They were going to Nehra from Rampur. |
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BJP leader gets threatening letter
Una, July 2 The addressee in the letter has mentioned his name as one Yogesh, alias Babloo, son of Randeep Singh from Mehandipur village in Sonepat district of Haryana. The hand written letter, threatening Mr Chaudhary of “dire consequences”, if the money was not paid, was written on June 18 and posted on 25 June. It was received on June 29 by the BJP leader who runs a petrol pump in Gagret. He said the letter bore the stamp of some Kharkaunda post office in Sonepat. Mr Chaudhary said he did not know the person identified in the letter. He has registered a complaint at the Gagret police station.
— UNI |
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Kokje meets NCC officers
Shimla, July 2 While interacting with the NCC officers, the Governor appreciated the role of the NCC in the nation building and maintaining discipline in the society. He also stressed for accelerating the activities of the NCC and said girls’ participation should also be encouraged. He said there was a need to diversify the activities and include social and cultural activities, he added. Lieut-Gen Bhandari apprised the Governor of the activities at the national level and also discussed various relevant issues. Brig H.S. Gill, Deputy Director-General, NCC, and Col. A.S. Chitcholt, Group Commander, NCC Shimla, also accompanied the Director-General. |
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Hike in resin procurement price
Shimla, July 2 The decision was taken at the meeting of the board of directors of the corporation presided over by Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister. The corporation would procure resin at the rate of Rs 2000 per quintal, including the cost of tins. The farmers would be paid 80 percent of the cost after the resin reaches the depot of the corporation. The remaining amount would be released after ascertaining the quality of produce. — TNS |
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Ayurvedic drug makers’ plea to govt
Nurpur, July 2 Mr Jitender Sodhi and Mr Upender Gupta, chairman and general secretary of the association, respectively in a joint statement here yesterday, said the government had the policy to buy 70 per cent ayurvedic medicines from outside the state and 30 per cent from local units but the directorate had not purchased the local medicines so far for the financial year 2004-2005. Outsiders had, however, been given supply orders for the same periods, they alleged. They lamented that the Ayurveda Department had been discriminating against bonafide Himachali entrepreneurs. “The local manufacturers are getting drug licences for producing a maximum of five products, whereas the outsiders are getting the same for 50 to 100 products within one month without any hurdle,” they lamented. |
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Virbhadra releases book
Shimla, July 2 The book describes the political history of the state from medieval period beginning from year 1206 to 1809 when the Kangra fort was captured by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The book throws light over the impact of Sultans of Delhi, Mughal Emperors, Afghans rulers on the people of Himachal Pradesh during the period. Detailed description of the Nepalese invaders also from the parts of the book besides other important incidents in the political history of the state during the period. The Chief Minister lauded the efforts of the author in intensive research carried out in tracing the political history of the state. |
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2 SFI men held for manhandling VC
Shimla, July 2 Dr Verma had lodged an FIR against Vijender Mehra and Balbir Prashar, the two student leaders, yesterday. They were later bailed out. Meanwhile, the activists of the federation staged a dharna in front of the Vice-Chancellor’s office to demand immediate declaration of the result of the entrance test for admission to MCA course. They also held a rally at which the speakers charged the Vice-Chancellor with fabricating false case against student leaders. The Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad has expressed concern over the growing unrest on the campus and it blamed the SFI for it. One killed in mishap
Baddi, July 2 The truck driver was arrested. A case has
been registered. OC |
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