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BJP to launch stir on ski village
PWD fells 84 trees for road
Residents oppose hydel project
Enforcement team visits forest area
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Kaul Singh rubbishes inquiry report
Shimla, April 4 Mr Kaul Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, has dismissed the inquiry conducted by a five-member committee of the BJP into the alleged irregularities in the widening of the Sauhal-Drambla road as farce and “politically motivated, and asserted that the government would go by the report of the probe being conducted by the Chief Engineer.
Peace jam at McLeodganj
Special girdawari in drought-hit areas
Secondary education directorate sought
Demonstration by SBI employees
Body found
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BJP to launch stir on ski village
Shimla, April 4 Addressing a press conference here today, the state BJP general secretary, Mr Chander Sen, said his party would not allow the coming up of the project by ignoring interests of the local villagers. “Public meetings would be held at Naggar and Halan on April 18 and at Banjar the next day, and if the government still did not reconsider the project we would launch a statewide agitation,” he threatened. Interestingly, the BJP has also decided to oppose the projects in its present form even if the Ford company decides to shift it to Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal or Sikkim. “Now the question is not to save the Kulu-Manali area alone but the entire Himalayan region, he said. He said though the government had decided against giving exclusive rights to the Himalayan Ski Village Company, it was being given undue benefit. “The company proposes to divide the 30 km area from Chanderkhani to Rohtang into four portions and give it further to companies like Hyatt and Continental International,” he said. Threatening to move court if the government did not provide him with a copy of the detailed project report (DPR) submitted by the company, he said despite applying for it he had not got any response so far. The manner in which the government is bent upon approving the project at the cost of environmental degradation, traditional rights of the people and vitiating the religious sanctity of the Kulu Valley, shows that vested interests of a number of people are involved, he alleged. Mr Sen said the coming up of the project in the area could prove to be a major threat to national security as the Chinese border was very close to Rohtang and this was an alternative route for taking defence supplies to Siachen area. Surprisingly, when former BJP MP Kripal Parmar raised the matter in the Rajya Sabha, the Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said the coming up of the project was not in his knowledge, said Mr Sen. He also expressed doubt about the company providing jobs to 3,000 youth and said that the coming up of a 600-room hotel and 300 villas would completely ruin the ecology of the area and affect the traditional rights of the villagers. |
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PWD fells 84 trees for road
Shimla, April 4 In written reply to a question, he said around 3,500 nursery plants had also been damaged due to the road construction in violation of the Wildlife Protection Act, the Indian Forest Act and the orders of the Supreme Court. He said preliminary inquiry revealed that the Range Officer (Wildlife), Barot, had allowed illegal construction of road in connivance with official agencies of the PWD. The officer had been charge-sheeted. The matter had been referred to the Conservator of Forests, Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, for initiating action against PWD officials. The Engineer-in-Chief of the department had also been asked to initiate action against the errant officials. The loss to government property was estimated at Rs 14.05 lakh, out of which timber worth Rs 4.06 lakh had been seized by the department. Replying to another question, Kaul Singh said the Government of India had agreed to give funds for snow harvesting in the tribal areas. He said snow harvesting had been carried out on experimental basis in Vogta, Phukyar, Leh-Sumnam and Bha-Sumnam in Lahaul to bring 73 acres of land under irrigation. A plan to introduce snow harvesting in around 10 more villages was being prepared for which funds would be provided by the Centre. He said snow harvesting was not required in Spiti where only a single crop was grown from June to October for which enough water was available. Tourism Minister G.S. Bali said the Shimla-Jakhoo ropeway project had been awarded to Jagson International Limited and Damodar construction company. The project would be completed over the next two years at a cost of around Rs 15 crore. He also said the commercial viability of the Triund-McLeodganj ropeway was being examined and an agreement had been signed with M/s Conveyor Ropeways Limited for the construction of Neugal ropeway in Palampur. The Detailed project report (DPR) for the Anandpur Sahib-Naina Devi ropeway had been prepared and submitted to the Centre for funding. While the Karol Parbat ropeway project was being executed by M/s K.K. Ropeways, the DPR for the Bijli Mahadev ropeway had also been prepared. There was no proposal to construct ropeways to Tara Devi and the Hatu peak. |
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Residents oppose hydel project
Chamba, April 4 The proposed hydel scheme envisages diversion of the Ravi water downstream Karian village through a 10-km-long tunnel through Samdhar hill on the slope of which Chamba town is located. Consequent to the diversion, Chamba town will become a mosquito-breeding centre and aquiculture will badly affected. Besides, this will give rise to landslides, erosion in and around Chamba town, damaging its scenery, beauty and may also lose preservation of various sources of spring waters including the historical source of drinking water through Samdhar hill. In a representation to Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, the Chamba Welfare Association president, Mr Mohinder Chand Marwaha, has requested immediate intervention of the CM to instruct the authorities of the HPSEB and the NHPC to refrain from going ahead with the proposal tunnel for the scheme. |
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Enforcement team visits forest area
Solan, April 4 The team visited the spot and assessed the extent of damage. It was reliably learnt that the Enforcement Department found about 30 stumps of freshly cut khair trees on the spot. A complaint was also lodged with the local police. Though no offender has been named in the complaint, a case under Section, 33 of the Indian Forest Act and Section 379 of the IPC has been registered at Baddi police station. The DFO, Nalagarh, Mr R.S. Thakur, who got a preliminary inquiry conducted into the matter said as many as eight stumps of khair trees had been found in the Malkhumajra beat while another nine have been found at Baddi beat of the Baddi Forest Range. With no clue about the offender, the forest officials said the availability of a number of escape routes in the region acted as an advantage for the culprits. The police officials however, said it was the handiwork of a local gang as its members were well-versed with the topography of the region. The fact that the area lies in the vicinity of the Sarsa and is well connected with a road, the probability of smuggling the highly-valued khair wood into Punjab and Haryana was high. |
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Kaul Singh rubbishes inquiry report
Shimla, April 4 Talking to mediapersons here today, he said the report had not been signed either by the members or the retired engineer who assisted the committee in making measurements. He said the BJP had enacted this drama to malign him and to gain cheap publicity. An unsigned document had no authenticity. He said he had already ordered an inquiry and given an assurance in the House that action would be taken against the guilty officers if charges were established. He said the Executive Engineer concerned had been shifted to ensure that the inquiry was not hampered. He refuted the BJP allegation that the Chief Engineer, who had been asked to conduct the inquiry, was his relative. He said the party was indulging in such false propaganda for obvious reasons. |
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Peace jam at McLeodganj
Dharamsala, April 4 The Dalai Lama said peace could be achieved through love for others, just the way a mother cared for her child. He further said most problems in the world were man made and the world could have been a better place to live in had we used all our resources properly. Ms Willaims, who received the peace prize in 1976 for peace activities in Northern Ireland, said this was the 12th peace jam she was attending, she being the first Nobel laureate to participate in a peace jam in the USA. She added that she subscribed to Mahatma Gandhi’s policy of non-violence and strongly believed that it was not a weapon of the weak but a manifestation of the inner strength. Around 250 Tibetan students are taking part in the conference, the third of its kind being held in McLeodganj. |
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Special girdawari in drought-hit areas
Shimla, April 4 Replying to the call attention motion of Mr Ravinder Ravi of the BJP in this regard Mr Kaul Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, told the House that directions had been issued to Deputy Commissioners to provide relief to the affected farmers as per norms. He said a hailstorm lashed parts of Kangra district on March 27 and 28 causing widespread damage to crops. As per the reports available from the field the maximum damage was caused in Dharamsala and Kangra subdivisions where about 50 per cent of the crop had been destroyed. In all 4458 hectare of cultivated area had been affected in 126 mohals of these two subdivisions. The damage was minimal in the Palampur and Jaisinghpur areas whereas there was no damage in the Baijnath subdivision. He said wheat and barley had been brought under the national crop insurance scheme and it was mandatory for the framers who had raised agriculture loans. Those who had insured the crops would get due compensation from the insurance company. |
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Secondary education directorate sought
Kangra, April 4 Mr Vinod Choudary, president of the HPSLA, Kangra, said while finalizing the modalities for setting up of the separate directorate for secondary education on the analogy of the Directorate of Elementary Education, interests of the school cadre lecturers must be safeguarded. He said the modalities should be framed in the light of NCTE norms. Mr Choudary said the school lecturer cadre would support government in making the EE system viable in the state. But the HPSLA would strongly oppose any move of the government harming the interests of school lecturers, especially while framing the new recruitment and promotion rules for the cadre under the new policy. He said the HPSLA demand was that all post of the senior secondary school Principals should be filled out of the school-cadre lecturers and administrative and academic control should rest with this cadre. |
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Demonstration by SBI employees
Shimla, April 4 The indefinite strike by the SBI employees working in 151 offices throughout Himachal Pradesh entered the second day today. The Deputy General Secretary of the SBI Officers Association, while addressing the rally, said the strike was aimed at protecting their superannuation benefits. The employees who raised slogans against the Central Government and the SBI management, said they had been forced to go on strike to get the long-pending issue of revision of pension ceiling resolved. The demands of the employees include pension at 50 per cent of the last drawn pay, commutation and family pension, index-linked DA on pension at par with industry and up-gradation of basic pension of all past retirees. The Himachal unit of the Bank Employees Federation of India also extended its support to the strike by SBI employees. |
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Body found
Dharamsala, April 4 According to the police, the man was staying as a paying guest in McLeodganj for the past three weeks. The pictures recovered from his room suggested that he was a musician. The post-mortem examination report said there were marks of a head injury, but it did not conclude whether the injury was due to falling down or he was hit from behind. A case has been registered, but no arrest has been made so far. |
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