Aut (Mandi), August 6
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh announced today that the government would construct the Jalori Pass tunnel on the Kulu-Ani road and the Ghara Morha-Bilaspur traffic tunnel on the National Highway-21 to make travelling a hassle-free experience in the hill state.

Responding to the queries of mediapersons, after he kicked off the Rs 1.5-crore highway project at Banola village and inaugurated the India’s longest traffic tunnel, 2806-metre Thalot-Aut traffic tunnel, 3 km from here, Mr Virbhadra Singh said the Jalori-Jot tunnel would make the road transport-worthy throughout the year. A survey for the project was on, he added.

Similarly the Ghara Morha-Bilaspur traffic tunnel was under active and “the work on the project would be kicked off shortly”.

The Chief Minister said the government was constructing three traffic tunnels in Shimla to make the transportation smooth. “The Central Government has sanctioned Rs 1,345 crore for the 8.7-km Rohtang tunnel, being executed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). It would link the snowbound Lahaul valley to the rest of country throughout the year”.

More tunnels would be constructed in the state, he added.

He kicked off a plantation drive, which was part of a highway project, besides the website of the project www.bloominghighway.com. Plants, along the highway on the 240-km Ghara Morha-Manali stretch would be an attraction for the tourists and would conserve the ecology, he added.

Mr Virbhadra Singh received a rousing welcome from the mahila mandals and villagers of Aut and other panchayats. He was accompanied by IPH Minister Kaul Singh Thakur, Power Minister Vidya Stokes and Chairman, HPSEB, Kanwar Shamsher Singh.

Shimla, August 6
The committee set up by the Supreme Court to deal with forest diversion cases has taken a serious view of the blatant violation of the conditions laid down by the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment while allowing diversion of protected wildlife area for Ambuja Cement Plant.

It has asked the state to give reasons for its failure to extend the area of Darlaghat wildlife sanctuary by 20 sq km as agreed earlier. It has also sought information regarding the area transferred so far and the number of trees already felled or likely to be felled.

The issue was highlighted in these columns recently. In 1992, the Government of India had allowed the state to divert a part of the Darlaghat sanctuary for the cement plant on the condition that 20 sq km of the adjoining land would be merged into it to make up for the diverted land.

The truncated sanctuary was renamed as the Majathal wildlife sanctuary and a move was initiated to merge 17.5 sq km of the adjoining forest area into it.

A notification under Section 18 of the Wildlife Act was issued in March, 2002. The process to settle the rights of the local people in certain pockets of the area proposed for merger was also started.

The final notification for the merger was to be issued under Section 26 of the Act after settlement of the rights. However, it was later decided to withdraw the move in view of the objections raised by the local people who opposed it on the grounds that their forest rights would be affected.

Environmentalists maintain that it is the responsibility of the department to settle the rights of the people as had been done in case of various other projects. More so because the area of the sanctuary was being extended in fulfilment of the condition laid by the Union ministry to allow diversion of land under the Darlaghat sanctuary for a cement plant.

The department is likely to face embarrassment as it will also reopen the case of diversion of land from the same sanctuary for the Kol Dam project in which it failed to include some thickly wooded forest areas with standing trees worth over Rs 2.5 crore.

It has obtained clearance for diversion of 954 hectare of forest land, whereas the land which will be actually submerged is about 100 to 120 hectare on which 40,000 to 45,000 trees are standing.

Reckong Peo, August 6
It is a hard time for patients at the regional government hospital here as health care facilities in the tribal belt have been hit owing to the unavailability of doctors.

There is not even a single private allopathic medical practitioner at Reckong Peo forcing the patients to depend on the regional government hospital for treatment.

The shortage of specialists, particularly paediatrician, gynaecologist and general surgeon, has made the things worse for the local people making them realise that are actually living in a tribal area.

The paediatrics department has been locked for the past many years as no specialist doctor has been posted by the Health Department in this tribal belt even as there is a sanctioned post of a paediatrician in this hospital.

Next to the children, tribal women are the worst hit by the absence of a gynaecologist in the hospital for the past couple of months. The specialist doctor is said to be on a long leave. The health authorities have not made any alternate arrangement to provide medical facilities to the patients.

The post of a general surgeon has also been lying vacant for the past many years, besides the absence of an anaesthesiologist making things worse for even minor surgeries. Taking the medical laws into hands, the doctors during the past one year had conducted hundreds of surgeries on the patients without the assistance of an anaesthesiologist.

At present, there are only four specialist doctors — a general physician, an eye specialist and two dental surgeons, besides, a radiologist from the allied medical field. ENT specialist had already resigned from the service last month.

These shortcomings had hampered the functioning of the hospital, which is a refuge for a large number of people in need of specialist medical care from the far-flung areas of the Kinnaur and Spiti valley.

The general administration of the regional hospital is also in a distress in the absence of a permanent Chief Medical Officer, District Health Officer and Senior Medical Officer. Non-specialist doctors are officiating as the CMO and SMO without any administrative skills while the post of the DHO is lying vacant.

Nurpur, August 6
The sudden collapse of 86-year-old Bathu bridge near Ranital in Kangra district on Friday morning following incessant rain has apprehended the viability of inter-state dilapidated Chakki bridge in the subdivision.

This 117-year-old bridge on the Pathankot-Manali national highway connects Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and is the asset of Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highway.

The bridge being significant for tourism is also of vital importance for the movement of security forces to Yol cantonment in Kangra district.

It also provides and alternative approach to the Kargil sector through the Leh-Manali route. Moreover, the highway also leads to the border of China.

The single-lane bridge, considered as lifeline for Kangra valley and was built during the British rule in 1889 at a cost of Rs 14,280, has outlived its utility. It has been repaired so many times yet it is in bad condition and the bridge is unable to bear heavy traffic load. Owing to poor condition of the bridge, the authorities have allowed safe loading of 8 tons and ultimate loading of 12 tons on it. The piers supporting the bridge are continuously being eroded due to unscientific and illegal quarrying on the Chakki riverbed.

According to an information, a part of the bridge (79 per cent) falls with in the jurisdiction of Punjab and the rest in Himachal Pradesh.

The HP Government has taken the issue of reconstruction of this bridge with the ministry several times, which has recently given its nod for the reconstruction of the bridge and earmarked Rs 20 crore for this purpose. 

New Delhi, August 6
In a major respite to Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC), the Supreme Court has continued the stay on eviction of the heritage canopy building by it on the Ridge in Shimla, in which the HPTDC is running two restaurants, Goofa and Aashiana, for the past 30 years.

A direction to this effect was issued by a Bench of Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice C.K. Thakker while admitting the appeal of the HPTDC against the eviction order passed by the state high court last year.

The appeal was admitted by the Bench on Friday after Himachal’s Additional Advocate-General J.S. Attri submitted that despite an earlier order passed by the court, the respondent on whose PIL the high court had passed the order had not filed his reply.

The order virtually kept the possession of Goofa and Aashiana restaurants with the HPTDC on the same rent it was presently paying to the Shimla Municipal Corporation till the appeal was decided. The Shimla Municipal Corporation had leased out the building to the HPTDC in 1975.

Payment of a nominal rent of Rs 27,000 per month to the MC was the main ground in the PIL by Ravinder Kumar Sankhayan, who contended that the private parties had offered much higher rent, thus it was causing a huge loss to the MC.

The state government had defended the decision to keep the canopy building in its possession on the ground that it was a historical building, which needed to be preserved by the state.

Kumarhatti, August 6
Mala Sharma, (32), was killed while her 13-year-old son, Piyush, sustained serious injuries when a wall of the house in which the woman was working collapsed at Palog village, yesterday. The house was being reconstructed.

The family was engaged in removing the waste material from inside the house when the wall gave way killing Mala. Her husband, Mr Raj Kumar Sharma, managed to pull his son from the falling debris but he could not save his wife.

Mala's body was retrieved from the debris with help of locals and was rushed to Civil Hospital, Arki, where she was declared brought dead. Piyush has been referred to IGMC, Shimla. Mr Keshav Ram, Naib Tehsildhar, has announced financial support of Rs 5,000 to victim’s family. — OC