Solan, July 22
A number of industrial units in the Baddi-Barotiwala industrial belt have to shell out lakhs as penalty for having initiated construction activity without waiting for the mandatory clearance from the Town and Country Planning Department. An existing Baddi based industrial unit which undertook some expansion without waiting for the permission has been fined Rs 90 lakh. The unit has now represented its case to the government to allow some relaxation on the plea that the construction was undertaken in haste.

With the excise benefit under the central industrial package being available to units who commence production by March 2007, industrialists are in a hurry to initiate their ventures. The benefits are available to new ventures and the existing units are required to make fresh investment to avail the incentives. A section of industrialists opined that since the process involved lengthy clearances from various departments, including revenue, industries, town and country planning, state environment protection and Pollution Control Board, months were lost in merely obtaining permissions. More time was involved in getting clearances where land use change from agriculture to commercial was sought. This required the case to be sent to the Director TCP and each case took at least a month.

Senior officials of the Town and Country Planning Department said they were not really violations as cases for obtaining permissions were already in the pipeline. But since the constructions began prior to obtaining the requisite permissions a penalty had to be imposed. The TCP had earned an amount of Rs 2.5 crore since the industrial package was announced in January 2003. A large chunk of this amount was collected in lieu of such violations. Scores of units had been booked for this violation and each had to shell out lakhs as penalty.

The investors have urged the government to speed up clearances from various departments so that time could be saved. 

Shimla, July 22
The draft policy on urbanisation proposes a complete ban on construction on steep hills with a slope of more than 45 degrees, besides restricting the maximum number of storeys in private buildings to three to ensure structural safety in the seismically sensitive hill state.

The policy submitted to the government for approval by the Town and Country Planning Department aims to curb ribbon development along highways, discourage construction along rivers and khuds and combat environmental and heritage problems by creating planned urban infrastructure. It also seeks to promote inter-governmental and public-private partnerships for providing urban infrastructure through enabling legal, fiscal and administrative mechanisms.

While no construction will be permitted on a slope of more than 45 degrees, only one storey structure will be allowed on slopes of 31 to 45 degrees. On slopes of 16 to 30 degrees two storeys and on slope up to 15 degrees a maximum of three storeys will be allowed. No structure will be permitted up to a distance of 50 metres from national highways, state roads and other scheduled roads and up to 25 metres from district roads. No house will be allowed direct access from a highway in view of the hazards of ribbon development and buffers will be kept along the major roads. Self-contained complexes will be developed at strategic locations to discourage ribbon development and green buffers kept along highways. No construction will be allowed to obstruct the view.

Only up to three-storey structures will be permitted in the private sector in urban areas whereas up to five-storey constructions will be allowed in the organised and government sectors depending on seismic location. The height of structures will be governed by the width of roads. Along a 3m to 5m wide road up to one-and-a-half storey, along 5m to 7m wide road up to two storey and along 7m to 9m wide road upto three storey buildings will be allowed. Those who already have houses in urban areas will not be allowed more houses in thickly built-up areas and only need-based constructions will be allowed in eco-sensitive zones, heritage, green and core areas in accordance with the family requirement. As far as possible basement will be discouraged and in case it was inevitable, it will be counted as a storey.

No construction will be permitted up to a distance from 25 metres from the highest flood level in case of rivers, 10 metres from khuds and 55 metres from nullahs.

Maps of urban areas will be prepared using the latest satellite imagery and aerial photography techniques so that these could be updated regularly using the computer-based geographic information system.

To restore the depleting green cover each plot holder will be required to plant at lest five trees or equal to the number of inhabitants in his plot. In high altitude places like Shimla, Dalhousie, Dharamsala, Manali and various tourist spots plantation of conifers like deodar, kail and other evergreen trees will be preferred as they add to the scenic beauty.

Multiplicity of water supply lines, running parallel to each will be avoided to prevent leakage and provision for rain water harvesting will be ensured with the joint efforts of local bodies and house-owners.

Solan, July 22
In utter disregard to the directions of the apex court to commence the new academic session of medical colleges from August 1, the state government has not only failed to notify the fee structure for the four private un-aided dental colleges but has also fixed August 18 as the date for counselling. This besides, putting the managements of the four private dental colleges in a piquant situation. is in violation of the directions of the apex court.

Though the state government has finished counselling for admissions to its two medical colleges and one dental college in Shimla. Yet the managements of private colleges will have to wait for a full one month to begin their sessions. The Principal Secretary, Health, Mr Harinder Heera, was not available for comments.

Logically the counselling for the general seats should take place before that for the management seats but in Himachal Pradesh counselling for the management seats is taking place earlier i.e. on July 29. This will draw the entire lot of students from both the categories for the first counselling on July 29. Further there would be no guarantee of these seats remaining filled for if the general category students make it through the August 18 counselling they would most likely vacate their management seats. These seats would fall vacant then and the managements are worried as to how they could deal with the situation then.

The managements are also worried about the big gap in the two counselling dates. This would delay the commencement of the session by almost a month. They are also awaiting the fee structure notification which will specify the exact number of NRI and management quota seats available from the 50 per cent seats. Though the high court had directed the state government to notify the fee by June 30, yet the state government appears to have paid little heed to this order. In spite of almost a month having elapsed, there still seems be no urgency on the part of the government to notify the new fee structure. The college managements said their repeated pleas to the government had failed to have any effect and they were adamant not to prepone the counselling for the general category seats. The parents, however, are also opposed to this delay and said there was no point in delaying the new session by almost a month. 

Chamba, July 22
The proposed commissioning of the 172 km long Chamba-Killar highway through a shortcut route via Saach Pass at an altitude of 4,390 metres which is nearing completion, would be a boon for people of the tribal region of Himachal Pradesh.

The construction work on a small patch of a few metres of this highway is going on a war footing. The Saach is one of the few high altitude passes in Himachal Pradesh.

The opening of Chamba-Killar highway for vehicular traffic in the near future would open a new chapter in the history of Chamba district. A few years ago the construction of a road for the people of Pangi valley was nothing but an unfulfilled dream.

According to Mr Thakur Singh Bharmouri, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Higher Education), who represents this tribal segment in the state assembly, the state government is all set to dedicate this highway to the tribal people. With the commissioning of this highway the exquisite Pangi tribal valley would be directly connected with the town of Chamba from where Pathankot, which is the main trade centre in the plains and is the nearest railhead of the country is just 120 km away.

Thus, it would become the shortest route not only for the Pangwalas (residents of Pangi) but also for the tourists and trekkers visiting the enchanting abode of Pangi tribals. Earlier, the residents of the valley had to take a route of about 700 km via Pathankot, Kangra, Mandi, Kulu, Manali, Rohtang Pass, Keylong and Udaipur to reach Killar.

The opening of Chamba-Killar route would serve as a boon for the people of this tough and mountainous terrain, which has a vast tourism potential. For the tourists, the valley is a paradise.

The state government has also planned to connect Leh, a famous tourist destination, through Padhar (Gulabgarh), a village in Pangi valley, as it would also be a shorter route to Leh as compared to the one via Jammu and Kashmir.

The Pangi valley remains cut off from the rest of country for about seven months in a year.

Shimla, July 22
The state BJP Mahila Morcha has expressed concern over the increasing crime against women and rising prices.

The state executive of the morcha which met here today under the chairpersonship of its president Ms Neelam Saraik, blamed the wrong policies of the UPA government for the price rise.

It was pointed out that the prices of basic necessities like cooking gas, diesel
and petrol had been increased several times. The poor sections of the society had been hit hard by the rising prices.

The law and order situation was also deteriorating and crime against women was on the rise. It was leading to a sense of insecurity among women.

It also expressed dissatisfaction over the slow pace of relief and restoration works in flood-hit areas. Most of the roads were in bad shape as necessary repairs were not being carried out promptly.

The morcha called upon women to make afforestation a mass movement and at least two lakh sapling be planted during the current season in the state.

Nahan, July 22
After the installation of three pump sets to drain out water from an artificial lake that came up early this week at Mainthapal village close to Rampur Jattan village in the Kala Amb area, about 18 km from here on Nahan-Kala Amb road, the water level has reduced up to eight inches within the past 24 hours.

The SDM of Nahan, Mr Manmohan Sharma, who was monitoring safety measures taken by the administration, said two more pump sets would be added to drain out water from the lake by tomorrow.

Mr Sharma said one should not believe in rumours and added that there was no chance of a breach in the lake. He said actual measured area of the artificial lake was 50m in width and 750m in length. The maximum depth of the lake had been measured at 15 feet and water stored in the lake was about 3 lakh cubic metres.

Mr R.S. Negi, Deputy Commissioner, Sirmour, said after a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner of Ambala it had been decided not to make any kind of uncontrolled discharge from the lake in adjoining Markanda river as it would have caused damage to 133 kv Kala Amb electric substation constructed at a cost of Rs 2 crore and several bridges and electricity towers in the area. Pump sets were installed at the lake after a decision regarding the “controlled release of water” was taken at the meeting.

The Deputy Commissioner said he was monitoring the situation at the lake daily along with the Superintending Engineer, Irrigation and Public Health Department, other administration and police officers.

He said legal action had also been initiated in this regard. He, however, said there was no chance of breach in the lake.

The land owner who is also a leading industrialist in the Kala Amb area told this correspondent that he was fully cooperating with the district administration.

Meanwhile, the district administration of Sirmour has cautioned the residents of Rampur Jattan village and villagers of the adjoining Haryana area and has asked them to move to safers areas if they hear sirens of Ruchera Papers factory blaring.

Shimla, July 22
Mr Ajit Narain, DGP, Himachal Pradesh, today said police personnel could make a vital contribution to the promotion of tourism in the state by providing necessary information to the tourists.

Speaking at the concluding function of a three-day tourism orientation programme for police personnel organised by the Department of Tourism, he said training was being given to some police personnel but the entire force, especially the traffic police and railway platform police personnel, must be made aware of this concept. He said sometimes vehicles of tourists entered the restricted areas and sealed roads due to unawareness and in such cases instead of issuing a direct challan they should be informed about the rules and warned. He said it had also been noticed that coolies who pestered the tourists caused a lot of inconvenience to them. The police, tourism department and district administration should jointly take necessary steps to check this, he added.

He said men in uniform were visible representatives of the government and they should be well-behaved and polite. Security should be provided to tourists and it should be ensured that they were not exploited. He said hoteliers must pay attention to providing better services to tourists. He said even though Switzerland was a small country yet its per capita income was quite high due to tourism. Nature had bestowed the state with similar scenic beauty and this should be exploited to bring prosperity to the state.

Mr Jog Raj Thakur, Superintendent of Police, Shimla, said each year tourist-police training was being conducted and it was yielding good results. He said in the changing scenario tourism not only strengthened economy but also promoted national integration. He said some incidents of crime had occurred in various hotels in the city and hoteliers should cooperate with the police in keeping a vigil on visitors.

Nurpur, July 22
A private bus (HP-55-1619) carrying 60 members of a marriage party fell into a 150 foot deep gorge while negotiating a blind curve at Bhadwar, near here, last night. Thirtyone persons were injured in the mishap. Fifteen seriously injured were admitted to the local Civil Hospital, whereas two were referred to the R.P. Medical Hospital, Dharamsala.

An FIR has been lodged against the driver of the bus, Tilak Raj, who had fled after the mishap.

On getting the information the local SDM, the DSP and the police reached the spot and launched the rescue work with the assistance of local residents.

Interestingly, there is no signboard to warn the drivers of the U turn on National Highway No 20 where the mishap occurred.