 |
|
|
Forced conversions to be banned: CM
Govt to release white paper on development works A sacred mountain bleeds |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Forced conversions to be banned: CM Mandi, December 2 Talking to mediapersons stationed at Mandi and Dharamsala through live video-conference conducted from Shimla by the National Informatics Centre Mr Virbhadra Singh said the government would ban forcible religious conversions in the state once the law was in place. In reply to a query whether the proposed cement plants would spell doom for the move to promote Sundernagar-Mandi as education hub, Mr Virbhadra sounded confused as he admitted that traffic hazards and pollution levels would increase as more than 10,000 trucks would be engaged in the transport of cement from the plants to outside markets. "But we will allow cement plants- Arki Alcindi, Nachen in Sundernagar subdivision- in the "isolated locations away from human population, plants equipped with latest filter glass technology, causing minimum damage to humans and environment", he claimed. He went on to blame the previous BJP government for signing the MoU for the cement plants but asserted that the pollution created by the cement-carrying trucks in the belt would be minimised once the cement transportation was done through trains as the central government had decided to develop the Bhanupali-Bilaspur rail line as a national project. In reply to another query on the ongoing media spat between the former ADGP B.C Thind and DGP Ashwani Kumar, Mr Virbhadra Singh, who appeared live online on the television screen accompanied by IPH Minister Kaul Singh Thakur and Secretary, Public Relations J.P Negi and Director Public Relations Dinesh Malhotra, warned the government servants, including IPS, IAS officers, against using government platform against each other. He said the government would take disciplinary action against such officials. "The government has issued letters to all of them in this regard", he added. The Chief Minister said the government would soon start ATR flights from Kangra airport. Regarding the CPMT paper leak case Mr Virbhadra Singh said the government would spare no one involved in the case being investigated by the police. |
|
Govt to release white paper on development works Dharamsala, December 2 He said the expansion of the Kangra airport was almost complete and the Aviation Minister would be invited to inaugurate it. The expansion would make it possible for 40-seater planes to land and help in bringing down the fares between Delhi and Kangra. His winter sojourn in Kangra district would begin from January 5. The objective of this was to take stock of the ongoing development works in Dharamsala and its adjoining areas, he added. The Chief Minister said Dharamsala was the most important city after Shimla as the concentration of the government offices was high here. A sum of Rs 47 crore, sanctioned by the Centre, would be spent on the development works like water supply, sewerage and roads in Dharamsala, Una and Hamirpur. Asked about setting up a Bench of the High Court in Dharamsala, he said if such a proposal was sent to the government, it would definitely be considered. He also assured to take action against 273 encroachments in McLeodganj, as pointed out by the mediapersons. |
|
A sacred mountain bleeds Mandi, December 2 This "geological surprise" has brought the work on the boring of the "adit tunnel II" of the Phase IV on the Shilgarh side to a halt for the past one week. The NHPC is yet to ascertain the exact volume of water in this water body even after a week. The NHPC was hoping that the "flow of red water carrying silt and clay", leaking into the 31.5-km-long under-construction tunnel for the past one week, would recede, but it has shown no such signs. The water further flows into the Gadsa khad, a tributary of the Beas, giving sleepless nights to villagers downstream. Talking to The Tribune after he inspected the red water discharge with an NHPC team, the General Manager, Mr A.K. Mishra, ruled out the flow to be any major geological problem posing danger to the environment and people, including labourers, in the project. "We are waiting for the flow to recede, but it has been fluctuating between 5000 and 4500 litres per minute", he added. Mr Mishra said workers bumped into the water body in the process of boring work of the tunnel, but luckily there was no casualty as the sudden gush of water could have been fatal. "We have done a particle analysis and the flow of water contains 50 per cent sandy clay and 50 per cent sand silt", he disclosed. Asked how the hollow caused by the water discharge would be plugged, Mr Mishra said they would plug it by "cement grouting" once the water flow stopped. "Such surprises at a depth of 1 km inside the mountain can always be expected and there is no threat to the tunnel and the environment," he asserted. God-fearing locals, who worshipped the Parbati mountain as the abode of Lord Shiva, fear that the discharge of red water from the "womb of the mountain" is a bad omen for the valley as the project has plundered its sanctity.
|
||
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
