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Efforts on to drain out artificial lake
Central team assesses flood losses
TRIBUNE IMPACT
Chopper had developed snag in engine
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Govt following WTO, says
mazdoor sangh
Panel reviews govt officials’ performance
17-seater vehicles for 53 routes in HP
Estimates panel for employment to locals
Centre biased in aid allotment, says Dhumal
Floods, rain cause Rs 1,206 crore worth of damage
Army should be given a free hand in J&K, demands defence body
Students hold protest
CM condoles Irani’s death
HP minister lashes out at NTPC
CPM condemns police action
Drunk IAS officer creates ruckus
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Efforts on to drain out artificial lake
Kala Amb (Sirmour), July 23 For the past few days, the lake has created panic among residents of certain villages of Ambala district as they fear that sudden release of water could cause flooding in the area. A show-cause notice under Section 133 of the CrPC has been issued to the owner of land, Mr Dinesh Narula. The district administration maintains that there is no danger of flooding if the water is drained out in a controlled manner. Officials of district administrations of Sirmour and Ambala were monitoring the situation. The land was being levelled to set up industrial units. Cutting and levelling of hillocks has also created the problem of slush in Moginand and Trilokpur areas here. The district administration has sanctioned an amount of Rs 1 crore to the Industries Department for constructing of drain systems across the slush-affected road to Tirlokpur and some other roads. Meanwhile, hundreds of persons from the Nahan, Narayangarh and Yamunanagar, besides locals are visiting the place daily to see the lake. Work was on to install a drain system so that the huge quantity of water collected in the lake could be redirected into a rivulet. The natural course of the rivulet now stands blocked forever with filling of earth on more than 50-metre stretch of the rivulet. The landowner, Mr Dinesh Narula, under the supervision of the district officials, was getting the drain system (about 160 feet) constructed constructing. Three pumping sets were also being used to drain out the water from the lake. According to sources in the Irrigation and Public Health Department, the artificial lake is about 750 metres long, 50 metres wide and 8 metres deep. Mr Narula claimed that the lake was causing no danger to the villages and the villagers were unnecessarily getting panicky. When asked why the drain was not constructed earlier, he said heavy rain delayed the construction work. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr R.S. Negi, said a show-cause notice had been issued to Mr Narula.
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Central team assesses flood losses
Kulu, July 23 Committee members spoke to villagers and listened to their woes. Villagers, told them that they were not only the victims of nature but of the administration’s apathy. They informed members that the remote villages had not been provided any relief till date. Roads were badly damaged and the repair works, had not yet been started at same places. Their perishable crops of vegetables could not reach the markets and were totally damaged. Om Prakash, Uppradhan of the Dhaugi Panchayat told the committee that the villagers whose houses were damaged had not been given any relief. Many had not got enough ration and people were put to great inconvenience. The Deputy Commissioner, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, the Divisional Forest Officer, and many other officials accompanied the team. The Central team reached here by helicopter yesterday morning and left in the evening for Shimla. The team said the Central Government would release a package after complete survey and assessment. |
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TRIBUNE IMPACT
Kumarhatti, July 23 In the stay order passed by the Civil Judge, Senior Division, Kasauli, yesterday, the court observed that no worker can be restrained from availing the facilities available under service if any labour welfare related demand was pending for decision before the Labour Officer. Section 33 (2) (b) of the Industrial Dispute Act prohibits such illegal ouster of the workers from the job till the pending case was solved. In compliance of the Act the court has restrained the management from removing the staff from the quarters till the next hearing on August 17. Till the decision on the case is pending, the staff has the legal right to retain the quarters, observed the court. A show cause notice would be issued to the hotel management in compliance of Order 39 Rules 3 of the CPC in a day, the copy of the said notice is in the possession of The Tribune. A demand charter of the hotel staff was pending for decision before the Labour Officer-cum-Conciliation Officer, Solan. Meanwhile, Mr Jagdish Bhardwaj, President of the AITUC, has questioned the management’s claim that the hotel was temporarily closed so as to carry out renovation and other repair work. |
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Chopper had developed snag in engine
Chandigarh, July 23 Air Force officers at 12 Wing here, the helicopter unit’s home base, said the chopper’s emergency warning system had sounded an alarm after it had taken off from Rampur and the crew decided to return to Rampur instead of proceeding to Karchham, as the latter was situated at a higher altitude. While returning, the huge machine was stated to be flying on one engine. Citing reports from Army detachments at Rampur, sources at Headquarters Western Command, Chandimandir, said the chopper’s rotor had hit a high-tension wire while approaching the helipad. This, according to an aviator, could have happened either due to some misjudgement on part of the aircrew or visibility being obscured due to changing weather conditions. Meanwhile, bad weather prevailing in the hills prevented the IAF from airlifting a technical team to Rampur for inspecting the aircraft and assessing the damage. Till afternoon, the team was still awaiting clearance. Details about the incident and the reaction of the air crew in bringing the chopper back to the ground safely are still sketchy. The Western Command had requisitioned the Mi-26, for airlifting a number of bulldozers and other heavy equipment to Kinnaur for speeding up the relief work in the flood-affected areas. Equipping 126 Helicopter Flight here, the Mi-26 is the world’s largest and heaviest aircraft, capable of lifting up to 20 tonnes of cargo and undertaking trans-continent flights. These are generally utilised for specialised tasks. This is the second incident of a Mi-26 sustaining damage since they were inducted into the IAF during the 80s. A Mi-26 had been severely damaged in 1996 after a gust of wind had toppled it over in the dispersal bay. After years of negotiations, Russia had replaced the damaged chopper. According to officers at Western Command, continuous rains in the region are hampering the reconstruction of the damaged portions of the national highway. What was earlier estimated to be over by September, it could stretch up to December, a senior officer said. Sources said there were about 60 places where engineers would have to cut through sheer rock to re-lay portions of the road which had been washed away. This requires heavy machinery. The Manali-Kaza-Sumdo road which was re-opened by the Army recently is being further strengthened for accommodating heavy vehicles. It is presently suitable only for light vehicles.
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Govt following WTO, says
mazdoor sangh
Shimla, July 23 Mr Om Prakash, General Secretary of the Sangh, said the root cause of growing unemployment and price rise was that the government was blindly following the policies of WTO which had been designed to serve the interests of the multinational companies. It was not surprising that the working class was at the receiving end. Factory laws were being changed to disadvantage of workers and job opportunities in the public sector were shrinking due to increasing emphasis on privatisation. He said the new patent regime would hit the common man, particularly farmers hard as prices of medicines would go up and seeds and other farm inputs would have to procured from the companies holding the patent. He also attacked the CPM and alleged that it was also responsible for the wrong polices as it was extending support to the UPA regime. It was paying lip service to the cause of working class and undermining their interests by continuing its support to the UPA. Captain Ram Singh ,president of the state unit of the sangh, said the Congress betrayed the working class as it promised to give jobs during elections but started large scale retrenchment of workers when in power. |
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Panel reviews govt officials’ performance
Dharamsala, July 23 The members of the committee are Mr Hari Narayan Saini, Mr Tilak Raj, Mr Khimi Ram, Mr Vikram Singh, Mr Virender Kanwar, Mr Sat Pal Singh and Mr Rakesh Kalia. The police department was asked the action taken in the alleged molestation of a Briton at Maranda earlier this month by some local youths. The answer was that both the accused had been arrested. The officials of the Public Works Department were enquired about the various schemes being run under NABARD. The Chief Engineer, Mr R.S. Kanwar, informed the committee about various targets set for the current financial year and expressed happiness over the 28 per cent progress made by the department so far. The Irrigation and Public Health Department gave information about the total number of hand pumps installed this year and the areas where water supply had been provided by using tankers. |
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17-seater vehicles for 53 routes in HP
Manali, July 23 Mr Bali said these vehicles would be offered to unemployed youth of Himachal on a five-year contract basis with the down payment of Rs 1 lakh and HRTC would deposit this amount in a bank. After completion of five years, the amount would be refunded with bank interest and the person will be made owner of the vehicle. The minister also revealed that retired state government officers would be appointed inquiry officers who will be given Rs 1,500 per inquiry. He added that land had been acquired at Narela in Delhi for the HRTC Complex. He said to boost tourism in the state, a 33-seater plane was likely to be introduced in Kulu valley. The Transport Minister earlier presented the first deluxe bus fabricated by HRTC to the Kulu depot.
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Estimates panel for employment to locals
Dharamsala, July 23 The seven-member committee under acting chairperson Harinarayan Saini inspected many industrial units located in the Sansarpur Terrace industrial belt and interacted with industrialists and officers. The committee discussed various issues related with industry and directed the district and local officers to put in maximum efforts for setting up big industrial units in the area. The committee also discussed various problems of industrialists. DC Bharat Khara, GM Industry Prabhat Chaudhary, SDM M.L. Sharma along with officers of labour, forest and other departments were present.
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Centre biased in aid allotment, says Dhumal
Palampur, July 23 Talking to The Tribune he said a Central team headed by a Joint Secretary, Home visited flood-hit areas to assess the loss around 20 days ago but the state government was waiting special aid for carrying out relief and rehabilitation measures. He said even the visit of Ms Sonia Gandhi, UPA Chairperson, to flood-hit areas had proved futile. The BJP leader said the state had demanded Rs 50 crore. He said it was a matter of concern that the UPA government was not bothered about the problems of the state and vital issues like the allotment of funds for the rehabilitation of flood victim were hanging fire. He said both in the state and the Center Congress was ruling but the state government was receiving step-motherly treatment. Mr Dhumal said during the Vajpayee government the state was given liberal funds when it faced natural calamity. He regretted that reopening of the Hindustan-Tibet Road and repair of bridges were going on at a snail’s pace. This would create problems for apple growers to transport their produce to the markets. |
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Floods, rain cause Rs 1,206 crore worth of damage
Shimla, July 23 This information was given to the Central team headed by Mr H.R. Singh, Joint Secretary, which held a high-level meeting after visiting the affected areas to assess the damage here today. The team visited Kulu, Shimla and Kinnaur districts to take stock of the situation yesterday. The state government team was headed by Mr Subhash Negi, Principal Secretary, Tribal Development and PWD, who informed the team that the state had suffered a huge loss to public and private properties due to excessive rains and floods during the month of July. The major loss had been in respect of roads, buildings, electrical installations, cattle, agriculture, horticulture crops, government land and institutions, households and business establishments. According to preliminary survey a loss of about Rs 406 crore to public and private properties had been caused during this month due to excessive rain and floods. The Central team was further informed that the loss on account of Parchu flood amounted to Rs 800 crore. The central team appreciated the timely steps taken by the state government as a precautionary measure to save human lives. Mr Singh said the committee would make suitable recommendations to the Centre for giving additional grants to the state to compensate the loss suffered and restoration and repair of damaged infrastructure. The team also interacted the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh.
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Army should be given a free hand in J&K, demands defence body
Kangra, July 23 Col Shakti Chand Choudary, state president of the association while talking to mediapersons here today expressed concern over the situation in the state and said political interference was a major hurdle in the way of anti-terrorism move. He said, “It is painful and unfortunate that Army jawans, officers and other personnel were shedding their blood in encounters and suicide attacks but Army commanders were not free to take independent decisions due to political interference”. He urged the politicians to forget their petty political interests and give a free hand to the Army to curb the activities of anti-national elements. He was also critical of the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, for his “healing touch” theory and decisions to withdraw security forces in a phased manner. He demanded that militants activities should be curbed with a tough hand.
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Students hold protest
Mandi, July 23 Addressing the rally, leaders said the government had started anti-student policies in the name of cutting down costs and putting a ban on government jobs. They alleged that the government had failed to safeguard the interests of the youth. |
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CM condoles Irani’s death
Shimla, July 23 Mr Mukesh Agnihotri, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, also condoled his death. |
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HP minister lashes out at NTPC
Bilaspur, July 23 He declared that as a representative of the Kot-Kehloor area, he would not allow the NTPC to play with the future of the oustees and would make allout efforts to ensure that they not only got justice but also got better facilities. He said the retaining walls in these newly allotted plots were virtually collapsing as these were not according to specifications. He alleged that the NTPC was in league with big companies and contractors. |
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CPM condemns police action
Shimla, July 23 The party warned the administration to desist from such highhandedness and conduct impartial inquiry into the scuffle between students’ organisations in a Kulu college. It alleged that the administration in connivance with local businessmen, including some BJP leaders, was unnecessarily harassing party leaders. It lamented that the police instead of arresting the BJP goons for entering the office, arrested the party leaders, which was totally unwarranted.
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Drunk IAS officer creates ruckus
Solan, July 23 The officer proceeded to meet the Deputy Commissioner and the ADC. But seeing his condition he was reportedly refused entry into the office. Peeved at receiving such a treatment he brandished a ‘khukri’ and tried to intimidate the office staff by using abusive language.
— OC |
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Youth killed in
accident Barotiwala, July 23 The victim, Sudhir Kumar, who was sitting alongside the driver’s seat, died at a private hospital in Baddi where he was brought for treatment. |
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