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200 fall ill after taking langar
Prini hydel project wreaks havoc
on environment
Chargesheeted HPU officials may move tribunal
Essentiality certificate misuse to be checked
Himachal youth vulnerable to HIV
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Selective culling of monkeys on the cards
Two die in accidents
1 dies, 11 hurt in mishaps
Gang of cable thieves busted, 2 arrested
Woman commits suicide
Suicide by Tibetan woman
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200 fall ill after taking langar
Kangra, November 26 Dr Aman Dua, Medical officer, Jawali said following the consumption of food at a religious function in Khairian village near Jawali persons started having vomiting, loose motions and fever and 75 cases were reported in Jawali Civil Hospital yesterday, 18 of whom were admitted in the hospital. He said most of these patients had been complaining of acute abdominal pain too. Dr Dua said today 75 more patients visited the OPD of the hospital with same symptoms and seven of them were admitted for treatment. He said there was no casualty due to food poisoning and only one patient was referred to Dr R.P. Government Medical College Dharamshala, yesterday. He said doctors of the Dr R.P. Government Medical College also reached here for treating the patients. He said a team of Integrated Disease Surveillance Project headed by Dr Surender Singh today visited Jawali and the Khairian village and collected samples of stool, vomit, water samples from the village. Food samples could not be collected, Dr Dua added. A team of Rapid Surveillance team headed by Dr Subhash Thakur, was stationed at Jawali to treat patients. |
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Prini hydel project wreaks havoc
on environment
Prini (Kulu), November 26 The road, which has been carved out to facilitate movement of vehicles engaged in the project, leads from Prini, the summer residence of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Conservator of Forest, Kulu, Mr S.S. Negi, stopped the work on the project after the blatant violations by the project authorities came to light during a recent joint inspection. The department has made a claim worth Rs 1.57 crore on the private company for causing environmental damage. Mr Negi said the AD Hydro Power Company had no legal permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forests for the diversion of over 9.5 hectares damaged by the project work and construction of the road. "We have sent the damage report to the ministry and to the State Environment Protection and Pollution Control Broad to take action", he said. The Prini residents and activists of the Domya Ganga Sangharsh Samiti, which has been opposed to the diversion of the Duhangan river water through a tunnel to the Allian river, accused the company of polluting the drinking-water sources in upstream Duhangan river and desecrating the sacred Panduropa, a sacred small island lake connected with the legend of Pandavas and Rishi Jamadagni. Officials of the company refused to comment on the issue saying "the work is going on and we are not aware of it as the project has been duly sanctioned." The president of Prini Panchayat, Mr Kundan Singh, said the company had dumped the debris produced from the construction of the road from Prini in an uphill area, stopping the water flow into the Panduropa. "Villagers take ‘devtas’ for a holy dip in the Panduropa every year", he added. Samiti convener D.P. Bhardwaj said, "The Shagya Shari, Khanol, Chor Pani, Nagni Nala and Badcheri areas in the catchment area of the Duhangan river have been badly damaged due to the unbridled project work, violating the Forest Conservation Act." |
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Chargesheeted HPU officials may move tribunal
Shimla, November 26 Prof Suresh Kapoor from the Law Department and Mr Ranvir Verma, Public Relations Officer, who were the last to be served with the chargesheet, have been given time till tomorrow to file their replies. Mr O.P. Saraswat, former Director of ICDEOL, Mr J.B. Nadda from the Department of MBA, and Mr J.S. Verma, Assistant Registrar, have already filed their reply. It is learnt that all three have denied the charges. Charges were framed against the officials on the basis of the CAG report. "The fact that charges against 11 persons were dropped out of a total of 16 whose names had figured in the case is a clear example of pick and choose and political victimisation," said one of the officials. They are likely to challenge the action against them in the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT). Mr Saraswat, who has retired, faces charges of hiring accommodation in Panchkula for opening an ICDEOL centre at higher rates and not following procedure while appointing consultants. Mr Nadda and Mr Verma are facing charges for hiring additional accommodation for the examination wing in Summer Hill without following the
procedure. Mr Kapoor and Mr Verma have been charged with higher rates for
getting the B.Ed prospectus printed. |
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Essentiality certificate misuse to be checked
Solan, November 26 Sources in the department said tourist areas of Kasauli, Solan, Shimla, Dalhousie and Manali have been targeted by outsiders. An essentiality certificate is obtained from the Tourism Department and then permission to buy land under Section 118 of the H.P.Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, is obtained. Since this permission is granted specifically for a tourist venture diversion to real estate business is a violation of the Act. Tourism Minister G.S.Bali said he had ordered a survey to identify such offenders. Solan district has maximum cases of this type. He said buildings which had sought the EC for tourism but later constructed apartments which had been sold or leased had violated Section 118 of the Act. Such buildings would be taken possession by the government if violations were proved. A hotel has to pay luxury tax and the buildings which have evaded this tax would be booked. This tax is collected by the Excise and Taxation Department, said Mr Bali. As many as 10 ECs were granted in the Kasauli area alone while 48 had been issued in the districts of Solan and Sirmaur in a couple of years. About 90 per cent of these ECs had either not initiated any construction or were doing other activities. Various projects which had sought EC in Kasauli include Jasmine Motels, Pinewood Resorts, Chandratal Motels, Missus Resorts, Chandramukhi Resorts, NestorAgro and Exports, Kaithal Resorts, Zoom Resorts and Green Heights. Hardly any of them initiated construction despite procuring EC between 1991 to 2004. Some of them do not even have land. Principal Secretary Tourism Avay Shukla said they were awaiting report of ECs misuse after which cases would be referred to the Revenue Department for action. |
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Himachal youth vulnerable to HIV
Kangra, November 26 This was stated by Mr Surender Sharma, faculty member, RHFWTC, here at an awareness lecture on HIV in GAV Public School yesterday. Talking to The Tribune, he said the number of the HIV positive cases had alarmingly increased in the past one year. Till September, 2005, there were 1,212 HIV positive cases in the state, including 319 full blown ones. The number of such patients had increased almost in every district but the hike in the number was alarming in Kangra district. The number of HIV patients in Kangra had rose to 422 this year from 269 last year. Hamirpur district continued to be at the top of the list with 441 cases. In Shimla district the number had almost doubled in one year as it had gone up from 68 to 127. Mr Sharma said Kinnaur was having the lowest number of HIV positive cases nine and there was no increase in the cases in the past one year. The number of HIV patients in Bilaspur was 254, Mandi 187, Una 82, Solan 64, Chamba 32, Sirmaur 28 and in Lahul and
Spiti the number was 25. He said to fight the menace, a school AIDS awareness programme had been launched in Hamirpur, Kangra, Una, Bilaspur, Chamba and Lahul and
Spiti districts. |
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Selective culling of monkeys on the cards
Shimla, November 26 The culling will be carried out in areas where the two species have become nuisance for farmers. Mr Vinay Tandon, additional principal chief conservator of forests (wild life), has written to the field officers to identify problematic areas and draw up plans for the exercise which he prefers to call “legal group hinting”. The department has been under pressure to take measures from the farmers whose crops are being destroyed by wild animals year after year. The villagers, who were at the receiving end, have been feeling certain problematic species have been provided “over protection” under the laws like the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Wild Life Protection Act. However, as monkey involves religious sentiments of the people any move to eliminate them could lead to public outcry. Mr Tandon says the department was aware of the religious significance of the monkey and for this reason that it has decided to involve grassroot democratic institutions like panchayats and local bodies non-government organisations in the exercise. Under the law permission could be granted for killing animals which become nuisance for people. He said the State Gian Vigyan Samiti , a non- government organisation, which had taken up the issue would be associated. Officials of department will ensure that killing is carried out as per law and the carcass is burnt in presence of witnesses so that no had a vested interest in such killings. The Samiti, which has been demanding scientific culling of selected species, claims that 2319 out of the total 3,200 panchayats in the state have been affected by the problem and every year crops worth over Rs 400 crore were being destroyed. The problem of monkey menace was more acute as unlike wild boars they were destroying crops and creating nuisance in urban areas. The government had even prepared a plan for mass sterilization of the simians. The project, however, will may face opposition from environmentalists and religious organizations. |
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Two die in accidents
Nahan, November 26 As per reports received from the police scooter rider was on the way to Nahan from Sainwala side when accident took place on the Nahan-Kala Amb road near Ambwala village, 6 km from Nahan. Rahul was taken to Nahan District hospital where he was declared dead. Teacher Shishural who was hit by a bus last evening near petrol station here and was admitted in Nahan hospital succumbed to his injuries in the hospital today. The police has registered cases of both incidents. |
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1 dies, 11 hurt in mishaps
Kangra November 26 Mr Surender Sharma SHO Kangra said a Tata Indica car ( UP 15 Y 7910 ) on the way to the Mission Hospital here rolled down the hill on the Old Kangra road while negotiating a curve leaving William (27), dead and four others injured. The injured were trapped in the car and rescued with the help of fire brigade men. The driver of the car was also injured. The police recovered the body of William of Amritsar from the car. Four injured were admitted to the local Civil Hospital. A case under Section 279 and 304 A of the IPC was registered. Meanwhile, four tourists were injured in another accident on the Pathankot Mandi road this morning when a Zen car ( PB 11 W 0220 ) collided with an Accent (CH 03 U 9518 ) on the outskirts of this town near Samloti. The injured were brought to Civil Hospital here. Three motor cyclists were injured at Jadoour Dhera, Puhada Shahpur and Baryaie Har near here when their motor cycles were hit by a car,
scooter and a tractor respectively. The injured were given treatment in different hospitals. |
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Gang of cable thieves busted, 2 arrested
Mandi, November 26 Talking to The Tribune, the DSP, Sarkaghat, Mr Vimal Gupta, said the patrol team, led by ASI Madan Singh, chased the cable thieves near Sandesh village on the Sarkaghat-Sundernagar road last midnight and caught the driver of the truck, Ala
Rakha, but other three escaped under the cover of darkness. He said the thieves had uprooted 100 metre-long cable worth Rs 50,000 near the village and loaded in a truck (HP-33-8369), which was impounded. The truck belonged to Hasan Ali. The police raided his house today and arrested him. A case under Sections 120 B and 379 of the IPC was registered against him and Ala
Rakha. “They would be produced in the court tomorrow,” Mr Gupta added. The SP, Mandi, Mr M.
Chadersekhar, said the gang operated inter-district and the police hoped to solve several cable theft cases. “They melt the wire and get copper from it and sell it to kabaris or copper dealers,” he said. |
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Woman commits suicide
Kangra, November 26 Ms Ranjni Devi was allegedly tortured by in laws for dowry forcing her to commit suicide according to an FIR lodged by her father with the police. The father of the victim complained that husband Pawan
Kumar, mother-in-law Kesri Devi and her brother-in-law and his wife had been harassing his daughter for dowry. Pawan Kumar husband of the woman, Kesri Devi mother-in-law and a brother in law and his wife were arrested in this connection. |
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Suicide by Tibetan woman
Kangra, November 26 The police said Chungla wife of Tsring Norbu was found hanging from a tree near Tibetan Library by a passerby this afternoon. She worked in the Tibetan Welfare Office and attended duty yesterday but did not reach home in the evening. Her husband is a paralytic and two sons and two daughters study in Tibetan village schools outside. She usually remained reticent in the office, the police said. The body was sent for a post-mortem, to be performed tomorrow. |
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