H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Traffic jams welcome tourists
Manali, April 20
Even as the tourist traffic has shot up in the town for the past one week, the narrow and potholed roads clogged with traffic jams welcome tourists here as the Public Works Department (PWD) and the national highway authorities have failed to remove major traffic bottlenecks.

Missing property recovered from Headmaster’s house
Palampur, April 20
Goods worth Rs 2 lakh missing from Government Senior Secondary School, Jaisinghpur, were recovered from the house of the Headmaster of the school yesterday.

Blast not due to smoking by peon, claim kin
Baijnath (Palampur), April 20
Family members of Piar Singh, a peon in the HP Excise and Taxation Department, who received 80 per cent burns in the chamber blast of the liquor factory at Damtal on Monday, have denied the statement of factory owner that the blast occurred because of smoking by Piar Singh.

Teacher gets job on fake certificate
Chamba, April 20
The Pangi police has registered a case against Kanta Kumari for getting the job by producing a fake certificate with regard to her date of birth.

Company directors booked for fraud
Baddi, April 20
The Nalagarh police has booked the directors of P.S.J. Communications Private Limited for committing fraud with the Himachal Pradesh Financial Corporation’s Jharmajra-based office.

One killed in accident
Chamba, April 20
One person was killed on the spot when a private vehicle (HP-47-0220) fell into a gorge near Ohra in Salooni tehsil of Chamba district last evening.

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Tibetan children wish Queen Elizebeth. (28k, 56k)

Traffic jams welcome tourists
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Manali, April 20
Even as the tourist traffic has shot up in the town for the past one week, the narrow and potholed roads clogged with traffic jams welcome tourists here as the Public Works Department (PWD) and the national highway authorities have failed to remove major traffic bottlenecks.

The major traffic trouble point is the one-way bridge across the Beas in the town. The traffic coming from and going to Rohtang Pass on the bridge gets stuck for hours together as the bridge is used by commuters taking the left bank route through Aleo and the right bank route through the town.

Every year tourists go back with bitter experience of the traffic jams as the project to construct the Rs 6-crore two-way bridge on the Beas has been gathering dust in the files of the Ministry of Surface Transport in New Delhi.

Similarly, the Rs 4.5-crore bypass road that can ease the traffic congestion is yet to materialise, although the PWD engineers claim that the tender is complete, but the Forest Department is yet to give its clearance, reveal officials.

Another major cause of traffic jams on The Mall is the haphazard parking of vehicles on this so-called tow-way zone, said a local hotelier. “The traffic police is found wanting in picking up the parked vehicles in the zone”, he added.

The traffic woes for the tourists and locals start from the traffic congestion points in Kullu town through Akhara Bazaar where traffic jams are the order of the day, complained Mr Ravi Malhotra, a tourist from Delhi.

The Executive Engineer, NH-21, Mr S.L. Sharma, said the tarring work between the Ramshila bridge and Katraian would begin this summer, while the work on the bypass and the Manali bridge would start next year after the projects got clearance from the Centre.

Missing property recovered from Headmaster’s house
Our Correspondent

Palampur, April 20
Goods worth Rs 2 lakh missing from Government Senior Secondary School, Jaisinghpur, were recovered from the house of the Headmaster of the school yesterday.

A case has been registered against the Headmaster.

According to the police the material received after dismantling of the building which included 36 deodar frames, eight windows , one ventilator and 50 CGI sheets were allegedly taken by the Headmaster to his house in a village near Alampur on April 12.

When the local panchayat came to know about the missing of goods from the school compound, it reported the matter to the Lambagaon police, which raided the house of the Headmaster and recovered the stolen goods. 

Blast not due to smoking by peon, claim kin
Ravinder Sood

Baijnath (Palampur), April 20
Family members of Piar Singh, a peon in the HP Excise and Taxation Department, who received 80 per cent burns in the chamber blast of the liquor factory at Damtal on Monday, have denied the statement of factory owner that the blast occurred because of smoking by Piar Singh.

This correspondent, who called on the family members of Piar Singh at his Bandian Khopa village near here, was told that he was a non- smoker. His wife Kusam and brother Suresh said the owners of the liquor factory was trying to pass on the entire blame on the peon.

He said Piar Singh was well-known to the rules of the distillery. They said the owners of the factory were at fault and had failed to implement the safety measures as per the Excise Act.

Karam Chand, ASI, told The Tribune that he had recorded the statement of Piar Singh in a nursing home at Pathankot before he was shifted to DMC, Ludhiana, he had stated before him that the he was a non-smoker. Raj Pal, Romesh Kaundal and Sashi Sharma, all Excise and Taxation Officers while talking to The Tribune, also denied that the blast occurred because of smoking by Piar Singh. They said they had known Piar Singh for the past many years.

Meanwhile, residents of Nagrota Surian, native village of deceased inspector Shakti Chand Rana, had demanded a high-level probe into the blast. They have constituted a Sangrashg Samiti to launch an agitation to get justice for the family members of the deceased.

Over 300 residents of the village today staged dharna on Jawali-Dehra Gopipur state highway and disrupted the vehicular traffic. Col Raghunath, president of the samiti, told mediapersons that the government should provide adequate protection and medical aid to Piar Singh.

Rajesh Kumar, forensic expert from Shimla, visited the spot last evening and collected evidences. He seized burnt electricity wire, belt of the victim and certain equipment used in the factory to measure the density of alcohol. 

Teacher gets job on fake certificate
Our Correspondent

Chamba, April 20
The Pangi police has registered a case against Kanta Kumari for getting the job by producing a fake certificate with regard to her date of birth.

In an official press release issued here today, Mr Upendra Thakur, Superintendent of Police, Chamba, said certain unemployed persons of the Pangi subdivision had submitted a complaint to the Resident Commissioner of Pangi, alleging that Kanta Kumari had produced a fake certificate of her date of birth and on the basis of it she got the job as a craft teacher.

On the basis of the complaint, a case had been registered against the teacher under Sections 420, 468 and 471 of the Indian Penal Code and the investigation into the case was on, the SP added.

The SP said that Kanta Kumari was working as a craft teacher in Government High School, Karyuni, in Pangi subdivision of Chamba district.

Company directors booked for fraud
Our Correspondent

Baddi, April 20
The Nalagarh police has booked the directors of P.S.J. Communications Private Limited for committing fraud with the Himachal Pradesh Financial Corporation’s Jharmajra-based office.

In a complaint to the police the HPFC officials have alleged that the company had taken loan to the tune of Rs 390.71 lakh from the HPFC between March 2002 to July 2004.

The loan amount was used for purchasing machinery by the Manpura-based company. It, however, failed to return it and a notice under Section 51 of the State Finance Corporation was then issued to the company by the HPFC.

The company officials learnt about the fraud when on checking the unit premises they found as many as 29 machines less than shown in the loan. A complaint was then lodged with the police on Monday.

The police has registered a case under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC. 

Millennium festival concludes
Our Correspondent

Chamba, April 20
The main attractions of the week-long Chamba millennium festival concluded here this evening in a traditional and religion way.

However, the cultural celebrations would continue in the villages situated in the nook and corner of the Chamba region to disseminate the cultural heritage of this alpine region.

One killed in accident
Our Correspondent

Chamba, April 20
One person was killed on the spot when a private vehicle (HP-47-0220) fell into a gorge near Ohra in Salooni tehsil of Chamba district last evening.

According to an official information, the deceased had been identified as Babloo, a resident of Kundi village of the district, whose body, after a post-mortem examination, was handed over to his kin.

The police has registered a case under Sections 279 and 304-A, IPC revealing that the accident had occurred due to rash and negligent driving.