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Mall,
Ridge to get lights, plants Dam
at Khab a strategic necessity Panchayats
to manage water supply schemes |
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Deodorant
factory reduced to ashes Sugar
mill project opposed
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Mall, Ridge to get lights, plants
Shimla, July 9 The Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation has drawn up an elaborate plan for this. Permanent illumination of The Ridge and The Mall will be done by fixing lighting fixtures, which will make the place look attractive especially at night. The Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation has already held a series of meeting to work out the formalities. Though the money will be provided by the Tourism Department it is the local MC which will be entrusted with the task of maintenance and upkeep of the electrical fixtures. Along with this plants like creepers and flowers will be planted all along the retaining wall on one side of The Mall. “Though the exact amount required for the task is yet to be worked out funding shall not be a problem,” says Mr Tarun Shridhar, Director, Tourism. He says special care will be taken to ensure that there is back up inventory so that in case the fixtures go out of order or there is some fault, it can be fixed and replaced immediately. Apart from giving a facelift to The Mall and The Ridge, the Tourism Department has already given Rs 15 lakh to the MC for converting the Ladies Park, now renamed as Rani Jhansi Park into an actual park. “Ironically it is named as a park whereas it has been reduced to an open space which is used for different purposes, like holding of exhibitions,” says Mr Shridhar. The Tourism Department is keen that the open space in the heart of the town is converted into a park with some swings and modern amusement equipment for children. This will be another attraction for the locals as well as the tourists who can just hang around and relax. The Ridge and The Mall form part of the Heritage Zone of the town, starting from the Secretariat in Chotta Shimla to the Institute of Advanced Study. A majority of the century- old- buildings along this route have been declared as heritage structures, as they were erected by the British. Infact, the government only allows minor repair or alteration in these heritage structures along the old lines.
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Dam at Khab a strategic necessity
Shimla, July 9 Conceived with the objective of protecting downstream hydroelectric projects from damage due to excessive silt and floods, the dam’s construction has now become imperative for the country. The sudden release of water has been causing flash floods in the river, paralysing life in downstream and causing huge economic loss by way of damage to power projects roads and other infrastructure. The main river has a hydroelectric potential of 6,000 MW from Khab to Kol Dam. While the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri project is already operational, projects with aggregate capacity of 2,900 MW are under implementation. With a barrage in place, flash floods can be triggered off at will by China. Over the past five years, Himachal Pradesh has twice suffered disastrous consequences of the sudden release of water from lakes, formed due to blockage of rivers by landslides in Tibet. The flash flood in the river on August 1, 2000 caught the state and its people unawares, as a result of which over 150 persons lost their lives and property worth Rs 1,100 crore was destroyed. The Parechu lake kept people along the banks of the river on tenterhooks for more than a year and when the blockade breached last year, low-lying villages and bridges on the Hindustan-Tibet highway, the lifeline of the tribal areas, were washed away. There was no loss of life as the government had taken preemptive measures. The Sutlej Jal Vdyut Nigam has been facing operational problems at the Nathpa Jhakri project due to excessive silt in the river, a result of massive construction activity, particularly roads, in the Tibet region. As three-fourths of the catchment area up to Nathpa falls in Tibet, only a dam at Khab can provide a permanent solution to the problem of flash floods and excessive silt. Precisely for this reason, engineers of the nigam want the Khab project to be materialised at the earliest. The dam, to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 5,000 crore, will have a storage capacity of 500 cubic metre. It will be the second highest concrete gravity dam in the world after the 285-metre-high Grand Dixiens Dam in Switzerland. Currently, the 261-metre-high Tehri dam is the highest in the country, followed by 225-metre-high Bhakra dam.
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Power generation stopped due to silt
Shimla, July 9 According to officials, generation had to be stopped at about 12.30 pm due to very high level of silt touching 4,500 particle per million (ppm). All six turbines had resumed generation in the morning at about 8 am yesterday and it was being expected that the power situation in the region would improve. The project authorities said generation had been stopped as a precautionary measure due to high level of silt. Officials said the high level of silt is mainly because of the muddy water from the Spiti river and not of the Satluj.
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Cigarette warning
rules notified
Shimla, July 9 The rules provide that the specified warnings shall occupy at least 50 per cent of the principal display area of the pack and shall be positioned parallel to the top of the package and in the same direction as the information on the principal display. The conical packs would display this warning on the widest end of the packing, which would be considered as the top edge, said the notification. Similarly, on the box and pouch type of packs, this warning would appear on both sides of the pack on the largest panels. The notification added that none of the elements of the specified warning should be severed, covered or hidden in any manner when the package is sealed or opened and no product would be sold without such warning. It has been provided that one pack would contain warning in two languages. A Division Bench comparing the Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and Mr Justice Surjit Singh in its June 7, order had observed that “this court has been making consistent efforts for almost two years now to impress upon the respondents the imperative need of printing specified warnings in the similar fashion as the warning printed on the packets abroad. Not only this, the court had also observed that” to say the least the respondents are neither cooperating with this court nor have been showing any tangible interest in this matter”. The court impressed upon the Central Government by directing the Secretary Health to appear in person in the court. After this order government files moved in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India and it came with the notification in the court. The Act was notified in 2003 and it took the Central Government more than three years to notify the rules.
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Panchayats to manage water supply schemes
Shimla, July 9 Steps are also being taken to ensure effective implementation of the Swajaldhara programme which aims at creating a demand-driven approach for establishing rural drinking water supply system in the state with community participation. Services of NGOs are being utilised for activities such as social mobilisation, communication and capacity-development through participatory mode. Since carriage of drinking water in villages is primarily done by women, they are being actively involved in planning, selection of technologies, location of systems, implementation, operation and maintenance of water supply schemes. The programme would strengthen the community based organisation and the Panchayati Raj Institutions for developing an effective mechanism for financial and technical sustainability of schemes. Taking conservation measures through rainwater harvesting and ground water recharge systems for sustained drinking water supply would also be taken under the Swajaldhara mode. Under the programme Rs 34.63 crore has been sanctioned from 2002-03 to 2005-06. In all, 1,697 schemes were approved, of which 333 have since been completed and work on the remaining is in progress.
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Deodorant factory reduced to ashes
Baddi, July 9 The fire was noticed at around 9.45 am in Asian Aerosol and could be
controlled by 2.30 pm. The internal premises of the unit housing various chemicals like silicon wile, AACH and
BHT, besides stocked cane of manufactured deodorant and LPG cylinders was completely destroyed in the fire. A senior store executive of the unit has put the total loss at Rs 5 crore. Mr Bhogi Bhai Patel, owner of the unit, was rushed from Mumbai after getting the news. At the time of fire, 15 workers were inside the unit. All workers were safe as they rushed out of the factory in time. Luckily the major tragedy was averted as the fire was controlled before it reached the two LPG store tanks just outside the unit. Had the fire reached these tanks, a major blast might have taken place. Short-circuit was seemed to be the reason behind the fire. The police said the spark from short-circuit might have caused the fire. The factory staff, however, was not sure of the cause of the fire. Around 15 fire engines were pressed into service from Nalagarh, Kalka, Parwanoo and Pinjore.
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Sugar mill project opposed
Shimla, July 9 The managing Director of Maple India Ltd, whose project was approved in August last year by the Single Window Clearance Committee, has approached the high court against the coming up of the second unit. The other sugar mill project was approved in December, last year Addressing a press conference here yesterday, the Managing Director of Maple India Ltd, Mr Surinder Singh, said as per the Directorate of Sugar, no mill can come up within 15 km distance of an existing mill. “Since the distance between the two sugar mills can impact the capacity utilisation and viability of the existing mill, the Centre has laid down the norms which are not being followed,” he said. He said he had to move the court so that his mill do not become sick due to the coming up of another mill. “More than 1,000 farmers have entered into contract farming with us so that there is ample sugarcane supply and nearly 500 persons will get employment,” he said.
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A clarification
Nurpur, July 9
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