Dharamsala, December 17
The district administration is working overtime to achieve the mammoth task of setting up infrastructure for the first-ever session of Vidhan Sabha to be held at Dharamsala from December 26-29 in Prayas Bhawan of the Government College.

Talking to The Tribune, Superintendent of Police, Mr S.P. Singh, informed that special nakas would be put up at the three entry points to Dharamsala, viz Yol Cantonment road, Sakoh road and Chari road. Besides, he said, quick reaction teams are being constituted, which would be deployed at crucial vantage points.

Since many local and foreign tourists converge on Dharamsala around the new-year’s eve, there is a plan to call additional police force from outside the district so that adequate deployments could be made. Extra traffic police personnel have also been sought to avoid any traffic bottlenecks.

At a meeting attended by almost all the senior officers of the administration here yesterday, the arrangements were reviewed for smooth conduct of the session. The officers concerned were asked to furnish rooms in the newly constructed tribal hostel behind the Prayas Bhawan. It was also decided to attach liaison officers with the ministers after the daylong proceedings.

The road leading to the Government College from the Kangra Co-Operative Bank would be made one-way and only the vehicles carrying Vidhan Sabha stickers would be allowed to enter. It has been decided to deploy as many as 300 policemen in the town during the session and the police is making elaborate security arrangements in and around the venue, said an official.

Due to shortage of time, it might not be possible for the CID to put up close circuit cameras inside the Prayas Bhawan. But the police department has also directed the public works department, electricity board and the fire brigade to issue security certificates for the building.

A team of senior bureaucrats and police officers from Shimla was in Dharamsala on Thursday to take stock of the arrangements being made by the district administration for the winter session.

The session assumes significance, as this is for the first time that Dharamsala would be hosting proceedings of the Vidhan Sabha. “It would be a historic event. The district administration is facing some problems as there is no such precedent, but all efforts are being made to conduct the session smoothly,” said an official.

Chamba, December 17
The construction of sewerage tanks for Kasakra Zone by the irrigation and public health (IPH) Department above the Sheetla Mata temple located at the Kasakra vicinity of Chamba town has forced an outcry amongst the local temple. The residents have expressed apprehension that with the construction of these septic tanks, their traditional spring water would be contaminated. The spring water is used by the residents for drinking since time immemorial. They say that it is not right site for this purpose as it could cause health hazard .

On the other hand, the land being used for the construction of these septic tanks pertains to the Department of Town and Country Planning. The blue print for its construction requires approval by the local municipal council.

As a sequel to this, the entire situation has put the authorities of IPH Department in an awkward predicament and the work is held up.

Since the septic tanks at Sheetla of the prestigious sewerage scheme of Chamba town have been damaged by floods in the river Ravi early this year, the IPH Department requested the administration to provide them suitable land for the purpose, but no progress has so far been achieved in this direction.

According to an official spokesman, the sewerage scheme for Chamba town with an outlay of revised estimate of Rs 6.29 crore was almost nearing completion. So far about 1600 sewage connections out of 1737 identified connections had been released to the beneficiaries of the town. The administrative approval to the revised estimate of the scheme was granted in the year 2002.

“It was only due to certain bottlenecks in the different zones of the town that the remaining connections could not be released uptil now”, the spokesman revealed; adding that Rs 4.95 crore had been spent on the scheme while Rs 30 lakh had been earmarked for the current fiscal years.

To cope with these bottlenecks, need was felt to hand over the sewerage scheme to the local municipal council for augmenting its dimensions in the town and its suburbs with better management and maintenance too, the spokesman suggested.

The spokesman also informed that the draft project reports (DPRs) with regard to the left-out schemes of Chamba town which included Sultanpur and Mugla had also been drawn up and submitted to the government for according approval.

Kangra, December 17
Himachal Pradesh will have an international airport at Una and a flyover express highway from Una to Kangra, besides the Tourism Department is contemplating to construct a five-star hotel in the Kangra valley to move a step towards making the valley a special economic zone.

This was disclosed by the Himachal Pradesh Transport and Tourism Minister, Mr. G.S.Bali, at a press conference here today. Mr Bali said big business houses had called on the Chief Minister in this connection and submitted their expression of interest.

He said the issue was coming up before the Cabinet for its consideration. The department was to construct a first five-star hotel in the valley.

Mr Bali said the government had launched a new scheme of 10 per cent rebate for those tourists who travelled by HRTC buses and stayed in tourism hotels.

The booking on the Internet for HPTDC hotels had been started and the department was introducing SMS and toll-free telephone numbers to get any information from the department.

He said Himachal Pradesh had become a favourite tourism centre following the signing of the Himalayan Ski village agreement which would provide jobs to 5000 youths.

He was critical of the BJP for misleading people on the role of Congress towards the OBC community. He said the Congress did not need the certificate from the BJP for its contribution in the upliftment of the OBC community. He denounced the BJP leadership for indulging in anti-OBC activities.

Shimla, December 17
The stay granted by the Supreme Court notwithstanding, the Himachal Pradesh Government is toying with the idea of appointing a new Chairman of the state Electricity Regulatory Commission to get rid of the present incumbent Mr S.S. Gupta, who has been proving rather “inconvenient” for it, at the earliest.

Mr Gupta was first appointed member of the one-man Electricity Regulatory Commission on January 6 , 2001, for five years or till attaining the age of 62 years, whichever was earlier.

However, later he was made Chairman of the commission vide a notification dated April 6, 2001, for a period of five years from the date of entering the office or attaining the age of 65 years.

The high court quashed the notification on a public interest litigation filed by one Mr Arvind Sharma.

Mr Gupta challenged the order in the Supreme Court, which stayed the order of the high court. Thus, the notification vide which Mr Gupta was appointed Chairman is still valid.

Mr Gupta took over as the Chairman of the commission on July 12, 2001, and as such his term would expire on July 12, 2006.

However, a clandestine move is on in the government, which is keen to see the back of Mr Gupta, to appoint new Chairman in January.

According to sources, the effort is to appoint a judge, who could be appointed directly in consultation with the high court, without going through the normal selection procedure.

Once a new incumbent takes over, Mr Gupta could only move the apex court for contempt of the court. But the purpose of the government would be served.

It is worth mentioning that the commission has been at loggerheads with the state electricity board and the government ever since Mr Gupta took over as the Chairman.

Both the BJP and the Congress regime had been reluctant to comply with the orders of the commission.

While the board has been moving courts against the orders of the commission, the government made things difficult by denying it requisite funds, delaying approval of service regulations and other matters.

In fact, last year the statutory functioning of the commission came to a halt and it stopped adjudicating matters citing “lack of financial support” as the reason. The government and the commission also crossed swords over appointment of a regular secretary.

An independent inquiry ordered by the commission into the abnormally high cost and time overruns in the 126 MW Larji Project caused much embarrassment to the board. As the inquiry report is already with the commission, the exit of Mr Gupta will provide reprieve to both board and the government.

Shimla, December 17
With the launch of the online hotel reservation facility, hotels owned by the HPTDC can now be marketed globally.

The Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, launched the online booking facility for HPTDC hotels here last evening. The facility has been developed with Shoghi Communications Ltd.

“Getting hotel booking done while sitting in the home anywhere in the world will help promote Himachal as a favoured tourist destination,” he said. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the facility of an interactive voice response system would also be started shortly so that tourists could get all information.

He said to give a boost to rural tourism, the government would start a new home stay scheme. “The HPTDC will market the traditionally built houses, especially in the village, so that the tourists get a feel of the rural flavour,” he said.

He said the government was exploring the possibility of associating the private sector in promoting tourism in a big way. A large number of projects like setting up of a golf course at Baddi and Baragraon, film city at Suketi, tourist huts at Shoja, health resort at Jhatingiri and water sports activities at Pong Dam and Chamera and Pandoh would be taken up on a built-operate-transfer basis.

He said that the government was upgrading the infrastructural facilities at the three airports at Kulu, Shimla and Kangra, which were being expanded.

“The matter for construction of an international airport at Sundernagar has already been taken up with the Airport Authority of India so that direct flights can be started to various destinations all over the world. Tourism Minister G.S. Bali was also present on the occasion.

Solan, December 17
With only one person coming to bid at the second monthly turpentine oil auction the state Forest Corporation has been unable to sell 1.5 lakh litres of oil. The auction system introduced after a Cabinet decision a few months ago has left the corporation in poor light.

Limited storage facilities to stock this highly inflammable oil has compounded the problem of the corporation. A Bareilly-based firm Camphor and Allied Products made a bid at the auction but the prices were at least Rs 3 lower than the amount procured last month. This has upset the applecart of the corporation which had introduced the system for higher rates and participation by several firms. A rate of Rs 40.15 per litre has been procured in this auction against earlier rate of Rs 43.15.

Even though the corporation has excess material the two local units based at Baddi and Kala Amb have been unable to buy the material at the rates emerging from the auction.

Contending that they were much higher and it had diminished their chances of survival in the competitive business Mr Maheshwari of Kala Amb-based Himachal Turpentine Products said they had been forced to shut their unit for the past month. They would be forced to lay off 40 workers if the corporation demanded matching rates from them.

Mr Dinesh Jain of Baddi-based Dev Resins said the monthly fluctuation in the prices had made it difficult for them to meet their business commitments with firms like Wrigleys — the world’s largest bubble gum producer. 

Solan, December 17
Asserting that the outgoing Congress-dominated municipal committee had misled the masses on the issue of 10 per cent house tax imposition, the BJP said today that it would made it an issue in the municipal committee poll slated for December 24.

Emphasising the fact that the BJP had withheld the imposition of the house tax while in power, the party blamed the ruling Congress for having imposed it on the sly.

The BJP state spokesman and local MLA, Dr Rajiv Bindal, said four councillors of his party had opposed it in the House, but a resolution had been passed by the others, including a nominated Congress councillor in 2003. He vowed to abolish the tax if the BJP-supported council was formed.

He termed the imposition of the tax as an unnecessary burden on the people as 5 per cent conservancy tax was already being charged by the committee. This had put the total tax at 15 per cent.

Taking the Congress to task on the issue, he said even the Chief Minister had made misleading statements to roll back the tax whereas notices had already being served on the people for its payment.

With the quarterly grant for the municipal committee yet to be received, the spokesman further said, it reflected on the committee’s working. The grant, which was due to be received in September, had brought various developmental works to a grinding halt, he added.