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Erratic weather hits apple crop
Illegal mining poses threat
to resort
Dhumal for CBI probe into insurance scam
33 judicial officers transferred
IAS officers given additional charges
Demand to fill vacant posts
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Erratic weather hits apple crop
Mandi, April 18 Talking to The Tribune today, the farmers in the low-altitude areas in Mandi, Kulu, Solan and Shimla districts have reported a drop, averaging from 15-25 per cent, thanks to wild weather of rain, squalls and hailstorms and high velocity winds during the bloom time. In the major apple belt of Shimla district, farmers have reported a drop of over 20 per cent in fruit-set. But in the higher belts, the fruit-set is expected to be good, said the farmers. In the Kulu valley, the fruit-set has reported a drop of over 15-20 per cent as compared to last year, revealed the farmers. Both apple and stone fruit have witnessed a drop, averaging between 15- 20 percent, said Mr PS Jishtu, a farmer from Dalash valley in Kulu district. In the Churag-Karsog apple belt in Mandi district, there is a drop of over 25 per cent in apple and stone fruit-set this season as compared to last year, said Mr Vipin Bansal, an apple farmer from Churag. "Last year, the Mahunag-Bakhrot apple - belt in Karsog block produced over 5 lakh boxes, but this time production would be not be more than 2 lakh boxes", he added. Farmers, scientists and horticulture officials attribute the drop in lower fruit-producing areas to lack of pollination due to prevailing intermittent spells of heat and chill in the state for the past one week. "The maximum temperature recorded in research station here has today dropped from yesterday's 16.2 degree Centigrade to 15.2 degree C recorded today, said Dr. SP Bhardwaj, a scientist at the Fruit Research Station, Mashobra. "The prevailing chill will kill the chances of good fruit-set in the region. Pollution does not take place as the rains and cloudy weather restrict movement of honeybees and other insects, which facilitate pollution", he said adding that higher apple belt in Thanedar, Jubbal-Kotkhai, Rohroo and Chopal expects a good crop where pollination has already taken place, but in the low-altitude areas the fruit-set is poor this time due to poor management and a lack of pollination. The Director, Horticulture, Dr. C R Sharma, said that the reports from development blocks in Kulu, Solan, Basantpur (Shimla) and Sirmaur have reported a damage of over 5-10 per cent in apple and stone fruit crop this season so far, but reports from others belts are awaited. "The prevailing weather of heat and chill is the main culprit in damaging the fruit crop this time", he added.
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Illegal mining poses threat
to resort
Palampur, April 18 If no efforts are made to check the mining, the resort could get washed away during the rains. The water level in the river has already gone down because of large-scale mining around Saurabh Van Vihar. The first phase of this tourist centre has already been commissioned. The Himachal Government, which took up this project six years ago, has already spent over Rs 1.5 crore. This project is in memory of Capt Saurabh Kalia, who sacrificed his life during the Kargil war. The total cost of this project is estimated at Rs 10 crore. The state Forest Department is the executing agency for this project. Though the state government has imposed a ban on mining and quarrying in the river adjoining Saurabh Van Vihar, illegal mining is going on unchecked. Despite repeated reminders to the Mining Department, nothing has been done to check the practice. A former Union Rural Development Minister, Mr Shanta Kumar, who initiated this project and sanctioned Rs 50 lakh from his MP fund, has expressed deep concern on illegal mining in the river at Bundla. He says though the government and the district administration are aware of the situation, which can cause damage to the resort, no action has been initiated against the
defaulters. He has appealed to the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to intervene and save the resort, which is a public asset. A team of mediapersons, which visited the site this morning, found a large number of tractors extracting sand, stone and gravel from the river Official sources said no one had legal rights to extract sand and stone from this portion of the river. |
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Dhumal for CBI probe into insurance scam
Palampur, April 18 It was a matter of grave concern that the state government was shielding the officers involved in the scam and had initiated no action against them, he rued. Talking to mediapersons at Sujanpur Tira, 30 km from here, Mr Dhumal said it had been established that against the wishes of employees, the government forced them to have an insurance cover from a particular company with an aim to benefitting the company. This year again the government hired the same company and allocated the job of employees’ insurance despite the fact that the company was already mired in controversy, he alleged. He said last year the installment of insurance per employee was Rs 120 but now the same had been reduced to just Rs 70. He asked for government’s clarification on the excess amount charged last year and whether it would be refunded or not. He said the state government had not allocated any funds for sewerage scheme in Hamirpur and hence its construction had not been completed. Also, no funds had been sanctioned for an indoor stadium at Sujanpur Tira even though the Chief Minister had publically committed to providing funds, he added. Mr Dhumal said his party would continue to oppose the setting up of ski village in Kulu district because the government had failed to take care of the interests of the people while initiating the project. He said the project would ruin the ecology of the region as it would lead to large-scale deforestation.
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33 judicial officers transferred
Shimla, April 18 Mr Manoj Kumar Bansal, Civil Judge (senior division), Nalagarh, has been transferred and posted as administrative officer, state legal services authority, Shimla. Mr T.S. Kaisth, Civil Judge (senior division), Nahan, has been transferred and posted as such at Mandi. Mr Rajinder Kumar Sharma has been transferred to Una while Mr J.N. Yadav, Civil Judge (senior division) Kangra, has been transferred and posted as such at Shimla, Mr Rattan Singh has been transferred to Dharamsala as Civil Judge (senior division). Mr Purinder Vaidya, Civil Judge (senior division), Hamirpur, has been transferred and posted as such at Kullu. Mr Virender Sharma, Civil Judge (senor division), Shimla, has been transferred to Kinnaur while Mr R.K. Sharma, Civil Judge (senior division), Nurpur, has been transferred to Nahan. Mr J.K. Sharma, Civil Judge (senior division), Ghumarwin, has been transferred to Solan. Mr Rakesh Kainthla, Civil Judge (senior division), Jawali, has been transferred to Hamirpur. Dr Baldev Singh, Civil Judge (senior division), Sundernagar, has been transferred to Bilaspur while Mr Yashwant Singh, Civil Judge (senior division II), Shimla, has been transferred to Shimla as (senior division I). Mr R.K. Chaudhary, Civil Judge (senior division), Kandaghat, has been transferred to Nalagarh. Mr Bhupesh Sharma, Civil Judge (senior division), Sarkaghat, has been transferred to Sundernagar. Mr Padam Singh, Civil Judge (senior division), Karsog, has been transferred to Baijnath, in place of Mr Divender Kumar, who has been transferred to Indora. Mr D.R. Thakur, Civil Judge (senior division), Dalhousie , has been transferred to Sarkaghat. Mr R.K. Tomar, Civil Judge (senior division I), Kangra , has been transferred to Jawali. Mr Bahadur Singh, Civil Judge (senior division), Rajgarh, has been transferred to Ghumarwin while Mr Pardeep Samyal, Civil Judge (senior division), Rampur, has been transferred to Kangra. Mr Pune Ram, Civil Judge (junior division), Anni, has been transferred to Karsog. Mr Rajeev Bali, civil judge (junior division), Jogindernagar, has been transferred to Dalhousie. Mr Jaswant Singh, Civil Judge (junior division III), Shimla, has been transferred as Civil Judge (junior division II), to Shimla. Ms Jyotsna S. Dadwal, Civil Judge (junior division), Kangra, has been transferred to Rajgarh. Mr Madan Kumar, Civil Judge (junior division), Indora, has been transferred to Kandaghat. Mr Hans Raj, Civil Judge (junior division), Paonta Sahib, has been transferred to Jogindernagar while Mr Jia Lal Azad, Civil Judge (junior division), Rohru, has been transferred to Shimla. Ms Aparna Sharma, Civil Judge (junior division), Nurpur, has been transferred to Nahan. Mr Abinash Chander, Civil Judge (junior division), Jubbal, has been transferred to Kangra. Mr Avay Mandyal, Civil Judge (junior division), Shimla, has been transferred to Jubbal. Mr Hitender Kumar, Civil Judge (junior division), Dharamsala, has been transferred to Rampur. Mr Hoshiar Singh, Civil Judge (junior divison), Nahan, has been transferred to Nurpur while Mr Pankaj, Civil Judge (junior division II), Paonta Sahib, has been transferred as Civil Judge (junior division I), at the same place.
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IAS officers given additional charges
Shimla, April 18 Mr Bhim Sen, Principal Secretary, Social Justice and Empowerment, will hold the additional charge of Managing Director, Himachal Pradesh SC, ST Development Corporation, in place of Mr K.S. Narang. Dr V.P. Gupta, Managing Director, Himachal Pradesh Agro Industries Corporation, will hold additional charge of MD, Himachal Pradesh State Small Industries and Export Corporation, in place of Mr Sanjay Gupta. Mr A.K. Kapoor, Director, Food and Supplies, will hold the charge of Settlement Officer, Shimla, and Director, Land Records, in place of Mr B.R. Verma. Mr R.D. Dhiman, Registrar, Cooperative Societies, will hold the charge of Director, Urban Development and Town and Country Planning, in place of Mr T.D. Negi. Mr T.C. Janartha, MD, state Civil Supplies Corporation, will hold the additional charge of Mr Kashmir Chand, Labour Commissioner-cum- Director of Employment. Mr B.S. Nainta, Director, Industries, will hold the additional charge of MD, HPMC, in place of Mr C.R.B. Lalit. Mr Jagdish. C. Sharma, Member (F and A), HPSEB, will hold the charge of Member (Administration), held by Mr Ajay Bhandari. Mrs Anuradha Thakur, Director, Social Justice and Empowerment, will hold the charge of MD, Himachal Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation, held by Mr Onkar C. Sharma. Mr Sunil Kumar Chaudhary, HAS, Additional Director, Ayurveda, will hold the additional charge of Director, Ayurveda, in place of Mr V.C. Katoch. Mr Mohan Chauhan, HAS Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, will hold the charge of, MD, Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank Ltd, held by Mr Balbir Tegta. Ms Purnima Chauhan, HAS, Additional Secretary, Finance, will hold the charge of Additional Secretary, Fin and Bio-Tech, and Director of Treasuries, Accounts and Lotteries, held by Mr Davesh Kumar. |
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Sundernagar, April 18 While addressing newspersons, Mr Roshan Lal Sharma, general secretary of the association said that due to an acute shortage of ministerial staff the functioning of the department had been affected badly. He said the association demanded that new posts of ministerial staff should be created. — OC
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