Sundernagar, November 29
Even after more than four months of a notification on the release water by the various hydel projects in Himachal Pradesh, which is made mandatory to save aquatic life and to avoid degradation of environment as per the provisions of the Environment Protection Act and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, the Bhakra-Beas Management Board authorities are still not releasing water from the Pandoh dam.

At Pandoh, the BBMB has constructed the dam on the Beas and has diverted whole of the river. The water is used for the production of 990 MW of electricity at Dehar Power House situated at Slapper on the border area of Mandi and Bilaspur districts. The power generation was started in 1977 and since then the Beas river remains dry for more than six months in a year, causing environmental hazard in the 18-km stretch. Residents of Pandoh and those who are living downstream up to Mandi have been raising a hue and cry to restore the minimum flow of water in the river in order to restore aquatic life and to meet their requirements. At Pandoh the BBMB even does not allow even a single drop of water into the Beas. It is also noticed that the various hydel power projects situated in the state are not releasing water during the lean season.

The Himachal Government in order to solve this problem issued a notification on July 16, 2005, that all the hydel project authorities had to release a minimum of 10 per cent of water into the main river. Later the limit was increased up to 15 per cent by issuing another notification on September 9, 2005.

Any violation of notification is punishable under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act and the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act with a sentence up to seven years and a fine up to Rs 5,000 per day.

Residents of Pandoh and those living downstream of Pandoh still complain that the BBMB is not releasing the water into the Beas.

On the other hand, Mr D.P. Geol, Chief Engineer, BBMB, Sundernagar, when asked, said the BBMB was complying with the notification issued by the state government and was releasing 90 cusecs of water into the Beas after calculating 15 per cent of water received during lean season.

A detailed investigation by various departments of the BBMB revealed that the BBMB had been releasing only 190 cusecs of water, although it was receiving more than 3000 cusecs of water (15 per cent of which works out to be 450 cusecs).

Mr S.P. Vasudeva, Member-Secretary, Pollution Control Board, when contacted, said he had not received any complaint regarding non-release of water into the Beas till now. He further said all the project authorities had been asked for strict compliance of the notification. If they violated it they would face a legal action.

When asked about the calculation of water to be released by the BBMB, he stated that the calculation of the minimum flow of water should have been made on yearly basis and not as the BBMB was doing. He said strict compliance of the Environment Protection Act would be ensured.

Reckong Peo, November 29
The construction work on the Rs 7,760-crore 1000-MW Karcham-Wangtoo Hydroelectric Power Project which is the nation’s largest private venture in hydroelectric power generation could not begin as the joint meeting of the panchayat of Sapni village and the authorities concerned of Jaypee Karcham Hydro Corporation Limited called by the officiating District Magistrate, Capt J.M. Pathania (retd), here this morning failed to reach any consensus on the issues pertaining to compensation paid to the affected families/panchayats and the environmental impacts of the power project.

The district administration had earlier stopped the construction work on this project last week after objections raised by the people of Sapni village. The villagers gave a memorandum to the DM raising concern on the issues of compensation and environmental impacts and threatening to go on the offensive if the construction work on the project was not stopped immediately.

Realizing the critical situation, a joint meeting of the panchayat of Sapni and the Jaypees authorities was called this morning to discuss the issue.

Since no consensus was reached on the issues raised by the villagers, Jaypees was again asked not to begin with the construction work till further orders as the issue may disturb the law and order situation of the area.

Talking to The Tribune after the meeting, Captain Pathania said there was a dispute with regard to the compensation of a piece of land housing a store house in Sapni. The issue was discussed in a cordial atmosphere and the authorities of Jaypees agreed to look into the issues raised, he said.

The issues concerning environmental impacts are concerned with other adjoining villages. So, another joint meeting of all villages concerned would be called soon to discuss them, said the DM.

The village panchayats hold the key of the aspirations of this industrial giant as the amended ‘Himachal Pradesh Transfer of Land (Regulation) Act-1968’ makes it mandatory for the private investors to get prior consent of the panchayats/gram sabhas concerned before seeking clearances from the required departments of the state government to initiate work on the project.

The construction work on this project is hanging in fire for the past six years ever since the company was awarded the contract on a build-own-operate basis in 1999. The project was likely to be commissioned by the end of the year 2009 but Jaypees seemingly would have to pay a heavy price for the delay in commissioning the power project in the form of cost overrun.

Shimla, November 29
The government today rejected the allegation of Mr P.K. Dhumal, former Chief Minister, that an officer from lower Himachal had been denied promotion to the post of Engineer-in-Chief of the Public Works Department on regional considerations and pointed out that so far the meeting of the Departmental Promoting Committee (DPC) had not been held.

An official spokesperson clarified that since no regular promotions hade been ordered, the question of ignoring seniority of any officers was false and baseless. The DPC was likely to be convened shortly to recommend the names for the promotion to the post.

He further pointed out that the previous BJP government had exercised its discretion in posting officers of its choice by ignoring the seniority a number of times. The glaring examples, included the promotion of Mr A.K. Puri as Director General of Police superseding about half-a-dozen officers, Mr R.A. Singh as Principal Chief Conservator of forests ignoring his senior Mr Pankaj Khullar and Mr U.N. Sharma as Engineer-in-Chief by ignoring Mr Harbans Lal Sharma. Besides, a number of heads of departments, including agriculture and education ,were also posted sidelining the seniority list.

Not only that the Dhumal government had also appointed junior rank officers as members of the State Public Service Commission who were later elevated in the commission. These examples provided a fair indication of how the previous government exercised its prerogative.

It had been the practice with every government at the Centre and in states to post capable officers of their choice to important posts who could deliver goods. 

Dharamsala, November 29
Two operation theatres (OTs) of Dr Rajendra Prasad Zonal Hospital have been sealed following the death of a 75-year-old accident victim due to tetanus. She was operated upon on November 27.

The half-a-dozen patients who were admitted in the OTs on the same day as the tetanus-infected patient have been put under observation. The two operation theatres were fumigated this morning and the culture report would be sent to the laboratory of the Medical College at Tanda tomorrow.

Though two of the total four OTs have been sealed, one is functional for emergency cases and one is specifically for the Ophthalmology Department. Some emergency cases are being referred to other hospital depending on the urgency of the operation.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr Surinder Singh Sodhi, in charge of the OTs, said since the tetanus-infected patient was the last one to be operated upon and the OTs were sealed immediately after her death, there was absolutely no fear of the bacteria spreading in the hospital.

He added that administering tetanus vaccines to the hospital staff and patients would have been useless, as they do not have an immediate effect on the human body. Moreover, it would have resulted in an unnecessary scare among the patients.

Since the probability of tetanus has gone down drastically, it is very rare that the hospital gets such a patient and the OTs have to be sterilised. In the case of this patient, she was brought to the hospital five days after her accident and by then she was already infected with the bacteria as bones and tissues had come out from the fractured parts of her arm.

Dr D. P. Dogra, medical superintendent, said if the culture report taken after fumigation is unfavourable, the OTs would be again sterilised.

Shimla, November 29
In a major move to save the “queen of hills” from further degradation has been proposed. The move seeks to effectively curb any further development activity in the core area and various eco-sensitive zones of the city.

As per the proposal put forward by the town and country planning department, no further permission for construction is to be allowed to those who already have sufficient housing accommodation. Those who have acquired plots prior to December 31, 2005, be allowed only a single storey with an attic sufficient to cater to the needs of a single family.

The forces of urbanisation, which have played havoc with the main city by transforming the green slopes into a concrete jungle, are to be diverted to the west of the Tara Devi-Jatogh-Kamna Devi- Ghannatti by way of regulatory control. In such areas two-storeys with an attic and parking (double the normal requirement of a family unit) will be allowed.

All non-conforming activities, including timber market, wholesale grain market, warehousing and workshops, are to shifted out from the main city to the peripheral belts. No further development of institutional facilities, government and semi-government complexes are to allowed.

The existing basic infrastructure is already over-burdened and any more construction will lead to its complete collapse. The extent of over development could be judged from the fact that as against the norm of one shop per 200 persons, the city has a shop for just 50 persons. It is imperative that no more shopping complexes are to be allowed.

Further, in the absence of adequate parking area almost one-third of the available road width is occupied by vehicles.

To ensure eco-friendly growth, culture of bungalow development by high income group people is to be encouraged.

Shimla, November 29
The HP High Court yesterday restrained Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to make any changes in the heritage building, Central Telegraph Office, situated in the heritage zone — the Mall Road, Shimla.

The court passed this interim direction on a petition filed by Mr Raj Chauhan wherein he alleged that the BSNL in an illegal manner had changed the basic structure of the heritage building without complying with the provisions of the HP Town and Country Planning Act.

While passing this interim direction the court further directed the Chairman- cum-Managing Director, the Chief General Manager of the BSNL and the Principal Secretary (Town and Country Planning) to file their replies within four weeks.

The petitioner further alleged that the building was not constructed for the purpose of providing residences to officers of the BSNL but was constructed for providing basic amenities to the public at large.

The petitioner urged the court that directions may be issued to the respondents to immediately restore the building and its interiors to their original glory and shift the residences from the CTO building.

Dharamsala, November 29
Young artists painted around 100 art works to commemorate the 104th birth anniversary of renowned artist Sobha Singh at Andretta, near here, today.

The chief guest of the function, organised by the Sobha Singh Memorial Art Society, Dr Mahmood Ahmed, Chief Policy Economist, FAO, Egypt, asked the students to emulate the virtues of Sobha Singh.

He said the late artist had wide concern for the humanity and he painted goodness in life in the form of famous religious figures, national heroes and love.

Dr S.S. Johl, Vice-Chairman, Punjab Planning Board, who presided over the function, complimented the family members of Sobha Singh for meticulously maintaining the art gallery and art works without any assistance or aid from any quarter.

Mr Hirday Paul Singh, secretary-general, Sobha Singh Memorial Art Society, informed about the various art-oriented activities of the society and elaborated its future plans. He said that an art festival was proposed next year.

Sobha Singh spent around 40 years of his life at Andretta and brought this tiny village on the international art map by his several art works, including Sohni Mehiwal, Kangra Bride, Her Grace the Gaddan. These works are displayed at the Sobha Singh Art Gallery at Andretta.

Nurpur, November 29
The local BTC Government Girls High School which was upgraded to Senior Secondary School by the state government on September 9 this year and inaugurated on September 29 by the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, had failed to kickstart even after its inauguration, but with the intervention of the C M the school started functioning on Monday.

According to the information, the president of the local MC, Mr R.K. Mahajan, drew the attention of the CM, on Sunday to this matter. The C M reportedly took serious note of failure to start the functioning of the upgraded school and ordered the Education Department to commence its functioning positively on Monday and report him in the evening.