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BJP opposes land allotment to Hero Honda
Police to tighten noose around
drug peddlers
BBMB violates forest Act
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Unemployed teachers threaten self-immolation
Work to resume soon on
Chamera-III
Lax dept messes up monkey-menace control plan
PAC chief for financial package on J&K pattern
CM for uniformity in special packages of 11th plan
Liquor seized from Volvo bus passenger
Sharp decline in TB death cases
Vocational courses to form college syllabus
Death of DFO shrouded in mystery
Development works hit
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BJP opposes land allotment to Hero Honda
Shimla, July 2 Addressing a press conference, here today, he said though alternative land was available but the company was given land in fragile ecosystem. Keen on obliging the company, the government had gone to the length of allotting forest land. He said thousands of trees would be axed to set up the manufacturing unit, which could lead to ecological imbalance. He disputed the government’s claim that it was a revenue land and said as per the record of the Forest Department, it had been a forest land all through and plantations had been raised on it. It was a clear violation of the Forest Conservation Act under which forestland could not be diverted for non-forestry use. He said 1,815 bighas of forestland was being diverted even when non-forest land was available for the project. He also demanded an inquiry into the death of Divisional Forest Officer, Nalagarh, R.L. Thakur, who had been dealing with the land case. He said the government had been approving mega projects without bothering about the environment and concerns of local people. It had given nod to Ski Village project in Kulu district despite stiff opposition from the local people. Meanwhile, the state unit of the BJP will stage a “rasta roko” stir on August 1 in protest against the unprecedented price rise in the state. It will be preceded by a campaign from July 10 to 31 to educate people about the disastrous policies of the UPA government responsible for the price rise. As women who run the household feel the pinch the most, the party has decided to involve the Mahila Morcha in the campaign. The morcha will stage a dharna in front of the Vidhan Sabha on the opening day of the monsoon session. The party has also finalised a programme for the organisational elections. Mr Bhardwaj said Ashok Sood had been appointed returning officer for the poll. The membership drive would be completed and registers verified by July 31. The poll process would be completed by October 31.
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Police to tighten noose around
drug peddlers
Dharamsala, July 2 Sources in the police said a notification in this regard had been issued and the district police chiefs had been asked to plan out a concerted action, which includes the preparation of cases of deportation of “undesirable” foreigners involved in drug trafficking. It has also been decided to create and activate anti-narcotics cells, in collaboration with the district administration. Directions have also been issued to the police to establish a force in at least one affected village or area in a month, which would include the destruction of cannabis growth and arrest of persons involved in cannabis extraction as well as trafficking. The seven districts where this crackdown would be launched are Kulu, Kangra, Kinnaur, Sirmaur, Shimla, Mandi and Chamba. Talking to The Tribune, Mr Ajay Yadav, SP, Kangra, said the cell would focus on ways to check sale of drugs in schools and colleges and the destruction of cannabis. Such cells would also be set up at the sub-divisional level. The police in these seven districts would also be involved in spreading awareness about the use of narcotics among students and the general public by taking help from NGOs. As per the notification, trafficking routes and modus operandi of drug peddlers would be identified and the police would launch counter operations. Reports of the use of drugs are common in areas visited by foreigners, like McLeodganj in Dharamsala, which has turned into a haven for those hooked on drugs. The police had taken a decision last year to coordinate with the Narcotics Control Bureau to take a stock of the situation before launching a crackdown. The police sources said there were inputs from some intelligence agencies about free flow and consumption of narcotics and other psychotropic drugs, especially by foreign tourists in McLeodganj and its surrounding areas of Dharamkot, Naddi and Bhagsunag. Instead of focussing on the activities of tourists only, who come to the area only for the easy availability of drugs, the intelligence agencies focussed on the larger drug scene but nothing substantial came out. “Since such operations involve tourists, we do not want to act in haste until we gather enough proof as it could scare away even innocent tourists,” said the official.
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BBMB violates forest Act
Sundernagar, July 2 The water of the river has been diverted from Pandoh by constructing a dam on river Beas. The water is stored at Balancing Reservoir so that silt settles there and then it is diverted through a tunnel to produce 990 MW of electricity at Dehar Power House. The main purpose of constructing the Balancing Reservoir is to store the water so that it can be used during peak load hours and also to get silt-free water at Dehar Power House. But dumping of silt by BBMB is against the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act. Interestingly, the BBMB has been committing this offence from the day one of the enactment of the Forest Conservation Act. The matter was highlighted by The Tribune (May 25, 2004), after this the Forest Department started sending notices to the BBMB for violating the Forest Conservation Act. Now as per a plan prepared by the National Environment Engineering Research Institute the dredging has been restricted to two months (earlier it used to continue throughout the year) and for the past two years the BBMB has been dredging its silt from the reservoir to Suketi Khud from July 1 to August 31, but interestingly in Environment Management Plan prepared by NEERI the aspect of violation of Forest Conservation Act was not discussed at all. The Chief Engineer BBMB, Mr D.P Goel, admitted that dredging of silt had begun from June 30 midnight. He told that one dredger of 3 acre feet per day capacity had been pressed into service. He also told that at present 1400 acre feet silt was accumulated in the reservoir. When asked about the violation of the Forest Conservation Act he stated that the matter was pending in the High Court. Last year on July 1 the Forest Department had lodged a complaint against the BBMB regarding violation of the Forest Conservation Act. Interestingly, officials of the forest department had different opinions on the issue. Mr Susheel Kumar Singla, DFO, Sundernagar, said the matter was pending in the High Court and BBMB had been allowed to continue dumping during the monsoon season and there was no violation of the Forest Conservation Act in this. Interestingly, the matter which is pending in the High Court pertains only to the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Pollution Act, 1974, as the BBMB has challenged that the provisions of this Act are not applicable to it but in the petition filed by BBMB it is no where mentioned that provisions of the Forest Conservation Act are not applicable to BBMB. According tot Mr C.S Singh, Conservator of Forest Mandi Circle, the act of throwing silt in Suketi Khud is an offence under the Forest Conservation Act and is in violation of Supreme Court orders. He said that the BBMB would be dealt with as per the provisions of the Forest Conservation Act and necessary direction to DFO, Sundernagar, would be given soon. He further stated that no one can use forest land for non-forest purposes without prior permission of the Centre and BBMB had not applied for permission from Centre in Spite of several notices issued to it over the past few years. Meanwhile, the farmers of Balh valley, from where the Suket Khud passes, have expressed resentment over the dumping of silt into Suketi Khud as it would ultimately flow into their fields and ruin the most fertile valley of Himachal Pradesh.
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Unemployed teachers threaten self-immolation
Kangra, July 2 Mr Susheel Kaushal, state president of the Himachal Pradesh Unemployed Trained Teachers Union, stated this while addressing a press conference here. He said the Virbhadra Singh government had been adopting double standards and misleading the unemployed youths for the political and vested interests. He said that on the one hand, the state government decided to have elementary system of education in the state, and, on the other, it had decided to hold interview of the JBT in the middle of this month. He said that 40,000 unemployed trained graduates were waiting for their adjustment in the Education Department and introduction of the elementary system of education in the state was a ray of hope for them as under this system only services of the trained graduate teachers were required even for teaching the primary classes. He criticised the state government for its failure to implement the elementary education system despite the fact that on papers the system stood implemented since April 1 this year. Mr Kaushal said: “ If Mr Virbhadra Singh is waiting for the sacrifice of unemployed trained teachers in the form of self-immolation, he will see that too in days to come”. He said in every session during the current tenure of the government the Chief Minister in the Assembly announced that 800 TGT teachers would be appointed but till today not even a single teacher received any order of posting. The unemployed trained teachers later held a meeting to chalk out their future strategy.
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Work to resume soon on
Chamera-III
Chamba, July 2 Announcing this decision in an official communique issued here today, the spokesman of the HCC said that their central team, led by Mr S.P. Thosar, would manage the stage III of the project. “Mr Thosar is a veteran with several decades of experience who has already managed a large number of HCC’s hydroelectric projects in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala and several other states in the Himalayan region,” the spokesman said. The HCC extended its condolences to the bereaved families of the three persons who had lost their lives in the recent incident, which occurred at Dakog in Bharmour tribal region of Chamba district. The spokesman regretted that the recent episode had caused serious damage to the imported equipments as well as to other assets of the company resulting in the stoppage of work and significant loss of livelihood for hundreds of locals and migrant workers for over three weeks. Severe damage to key project equipment had put the project behind schedule by many months. The spokesman further said that since the HCC had received representations from various quarters for resuming the project work at the earliest in the interest of workers and other project beneficiaries, the central project team would work strenuously towards the quick restoration of the project work. “The HCC is concerned about the safety of its workforce and is in close contact with the local authorities for protection of its workforce and had sought immediate measures to avoid recurrence of such unfortunate incidents,” the spokesman added. The HCC has been executing the civil works at the project site since December last year. The company has also built the 540 MW Chamera hydroelectric project (stage-I) during 1988-94 and the 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri hydroelectric project during 1993-2002 among many other critical infrastructure projects across India and abroad.
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Lax dept messes up monkey-menace control plan
Shimla, July 2 The department had decided to conduct monkey census every six months for three consecutive years to identify the areas affected by monkey nuisance and the growth rate of monkey population so that effective strategy could be evolved to curb the menace. However, only three head counts had been carried out,
the last being in December 2004. The department had come out with a pilot project under which 5,000 male monkeys were to be sterilised using laser laparoscopy technique in Shimla, Rampur and various places on the Shimla-Kalka highway. A machine has already been installed at the Tutikandi rescue centre for the purpose. However, experts feel that it will not be possible to evaluate the impact of the pilot project without conducting regular headcount of the simians. As per the last census there are 3,17,115 monkeys in the state out which 85,784 are male. The population of urban monkeys is about 5,000 while another 9,500 are found around various temples in the state. The department will focus on monkeys found near urban areas. The department had trapped 3,407 monkeys from Shimla, Rampur and the Shimla-Kalka highway and released them in deep forests. However, this step provided only a temporary relief to the residents. Since the department had not carried out
census it is not possible to ascertain if the population of monkeys had actually declined after translocation. The sterilisation project will also meet the same fate as it is being started without the latest headcount. Its success in containing the population of simians can be evaluated only if regular census is carried out.
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PAC chief for financial package on J&K pattern
Kangra, July 2 Mr Malhotra was talking to the media persons at the Bajjreshwari temple here. He was accompanied by his wife and other six MPs including Mr Janardhan Pujari and Mr V. Swami. Mr Malhotra said that the Centre provides financial packages to the trouble-torn state of Jammu and Kashmir while the peaceful state of Himachal Pradesh gets ignored. He said that the committee would put the issue of a financial package for the state before the Central Government after the committee returns to Delhi. He said that some of the areas of the state bordered China and should be developed strategically. Besides making tunnels in the area, much more needs to be done with the security point of view. He said that development in this area was a priority but at the same time, the ecology should not be disturbed. He said that on the pattern of the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in Jammu and Kashmir, a board for the temples of the state should be set up so that temple tourism, which has a tremendous scope gets a boost. The temple towns would also get a facelift. He said there is a need to convert the Pathankot- Joginder Nagar railway track into broad gauge. He further stressed on connecting Mandi and Kullu by rail. He said that the report regarding the stumbling blocks being faced in the construction of the Indo-Tibet road would be submitted before the Parliament. He said that the committee members had He said that the objections raised on different issues by the Forest and Environment Department would be discussed in the three meetings scheduled to be held at Shimla during the course of their visit. The members of the PAC today visited 9 core Headquarter at
Yol. The PAC would be meeting at McLeodgang tomorrow to discuss certain defence and other related issues where the issue of the security of the Tibetan temporal Head the Dalai Lama may be discussed, sources said here today.
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CM for uniformity in special packages of 11th plan
Shimla, July 2 He was leaving for Delhi to attend the meeting of the Chief Ministers on regional consultations on the draft approach paper to the 11th plan which has been convened by the Prime Minister tomorrow. He said as special incentives were granted in view of topographical constraints, there should be uniformity. He said that the industrial package to Uttaranchal and Himachal was curtailed to four years whereas to other special category states, it was granted for ten years, which was unjust. Moreover, the states had to pursue such matters with the Centre time and again. All this could be streamlined if the incentives and concessions were made an integral part of the plan. He said he would take up the state’s case for extending the exemption in excise duty to new industrial units upto 2013 on the pattern of other special category states. Referring to the 11th plan, he said the state had done exceedingly well in education and social sectors and the focus should on basic infrastructure development like roads, rail and air connectivity. These sectors were important as agriculture and tourism were the mainstay of economy.
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Liquor seized from Volvo bus passenger
Sundernagar, July 2 According to police, the liquor was seized from Joginder Singh, a resident of Majnoo Tila, Delhi, during checking. The bottles containing manufacturing labels of Mexico, Swedan and Scotland (six each). The bus was going to Manali from New Delhi. The police has registered a case under the Punjab Excise Act and arrested the driver of the bus. In an another incident, the police yesterday seized 36 bottles of liquor from Prem Lal of Jamla, Sundernagar, and arrested him.
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Sharp decline in TB death cases
Shimla, July 2 The death rate of TB patients, which stood at 26 per cent six year ago in Kangra district, has been reduced to 4 per cent, which was a remarkable achievement. The RNTCP envisages to achieve a high cure rate of new sputum smear-positive patients, thereby interrupting the chain of transmission. It could be achieved because 85 per cent used DOTS (directly observed treatment, short course chemotherapy) strategy. At the national level the treatment success rate has increased from 25 to 85 per cent and the death rate has been brought down from 29 to 4 per cent. Earlier the medicine to a TB patient was given in routine and there was virtually no check whether the patient was regular in taking the prescribed doses or not. As such the disease could not be cured quite often. The available data reveal that in November, 1998, when the programme was started, only 232 cases of TB patients were treated in Kangra district. While in the year 2005, the number of TB patients treated rose to 2,613 against the target of 2,530 cases. As many as 29 microscopic centres are functioning for the diagnosis of the diseases. Regular surveys and monitoring are being carried out and the default rate has declined. Medicine kits are supplied free of cost to the TB patients and there is a provision for the home delivery of the medicine kits. Besides the health workers, aanganwari workers have been entrusted with the responsibility of administering the doses of medicine regularly to the TB patients.
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Vocational courses to form college syllabus
Shimla, July 2 He said the government had passed the Private Universities Act to attract education professionals of global standards to open universities and higher education centres, which could impart quality vocational education. He said the government was exploring the possibilities of opening nursing, medical and engineering colleges of international standards with private participation, which could ensure students job opportunities the world over. He said the government had started with opening a college of excellence from Shimla and every district in the state would be provided with at least one such college in a phased manner. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the government had decided to open more degree colleges in the interiors of the state and recently colleges had been announced for Ani, Haripur, Drang, Baijnath, Tissa, Salooni, Suni, Shahpur, Sangrah and Shillai. A majority of the stations fall in the rural and interior parts of the state. He said such steps were directed towards providing students higher education facilities near their home. Necessary infrastructure facilities would be created in all above stations on a priority basis and where the facilities existed, the session would start immediately.
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Death of DFO shrouded in mystery
Solan, July 2 The DFO, who was on his way back from Kandaghat in his official Gypsy around 11.30 p.m. on June 25, met with an accident which proved fatal. Though the post-mortem report confirms death due to injury following fall from a height of about 400 feet, the superficial burns found on the upper part of his body has left behind unanswered questions. The official, who was known to be a non-smoker, was found carrying a box of match sticks, a lighter and a pack of cigarettes in the vehicle. Inquires made by the police revealed that the official had relieved his driver near Kandaghat around 8 p.m. after handing him a pre-written relieving slip. The DFO then drove the vehicle back to Kandaghat and halted in the PWD Rest House for a short while. A highly perplexed Thakur appeared to be waiting for someone there but left soon without anyone turning up. What has puzzled the police is the fact that Mr Thakur had confided to his family at Solan that he was leaving for the Khalini Rest House at Shimla while he only travelled till Kandaghat. Inquiries of his cell phone record revealed that he had remained only in the Kandaghat area during the entire duration from 8 p.m. to 10.17 p.m. This raises another question as to why he had lied to his family? Further he had filled his log book in advance which showed his official tour from Nalagarh to Shimla on June 25. The police is now trying to find out who was he supposed to meet at Kandaghat and if at all he met him or not? It is being alleged that there was immense pressure on him to clear a file relating to a big business house who are proposing to set up an automobile unit at Nalagarh. A phone call from an official of the said business house was also received by Mr Thakur the same evening. The police was investigating these crucial angles. Doubt has also been raised by the CPM alleging fowl play.
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Development works hit
Pragpur, July 2
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Opposing the decision to allot forest land to Hero Honda for setting up an automobile unit in Nalagarh, state BJP chief Suresh Bhardwaj today alleged that the government was obliging big industrial houses by handing out prime pieces of land.
