Shimla, February 10
A dozen villages along the banks of the Pinder, a tributary of the Alaknanda in Uttarakhand, will be saved from submergence, with the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) redesigning the 300 MW Devsari hydroelectric project as a three-stage run-of-the-river scheme of almost double capacity.

It was originally designed as a storage project with a 90 m high dam at Nand Kesari.

The creation of the huge reservoir would have led to the displacement of over 12,000 people due to submergence of low-lying villages, including the block headquarters.

SJVN engineers decided to redesign the project to save the people from being uprooted.

They decided to reduce the height of the dam to limit the spread of the reservoir so that minimum area came under water and increased the length of the head race tunnel.

They added two more stages upstream and downstream to enhance the installed generation capacity by 291 MW.

The first two project stages would be replicas of the 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri project.

The height of the diversion dam at the 300 MW first stage would be only 55 m, but the length of the head race tunnel would be 18 km, as against 7 km in the original project.

The power house would be located at Simli Gad.

Much like the Rampur project, the tail race water would be carried through a 19 km tunnel to generate 245 MW of power at Simli.

The third stage would be constructed upstream the diversion dam.

It would involve the construction of a 10 km head race tunnel to generate 46 MW.

The total cost of the project was likely to be over Rs 3500 crore.

The SJVN had been assigned two other projects, each of 33 MW, besides the Devsari scheme, by the Uttarakhand Government.

Work on both Naitwar Mori and Jakhol had also been progressing well.

Solan, February 10
The tardy pace of land acquisition by the Industries Department has delayed the setting up of new units in the state’s industrial hub —Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh.

A plan to acquire 4,000 bighas of land, 2,000 bighas each at Gurumajra and Chanalmajra, was prepared by the said department in October last year but the Revenue Department has failed to acquire the requisite land. It is learnt even the process had not been started as notices under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act had not been issued. This is the first step towards acquiring private land. The actual process usually takes six months.

Sources said with the Assembly elections due in Uttarakhand, the department was trying to attract industrial units to the area. As several bigger industrial houses had set up units in Uttarakhand, there was stiff competition between the two states to attract more investment. This three-month period was considered a bonus period for the state.

Sources said big industrial groups like Saint Gobain are among the major investors exploring investment in the region.

Another major reason which delayed the land acquisition process was sudden transfer of the Director, Industries, and an a tussle between the IAS and HAS lobby for the coveted post, revealed sources. With the elections round the corner in Uttarakhand, the state has failed to make good use of the model code of conduct.

Shimla, February 10
Temperature in most parts of the state dipped further as the lower parts were lashed by widespread rain while higher reaches had intermittent snow since Friday night.

Day temperature in Shimla dipped to 8.0°C compared to 9.8 degrees on Friday as the town and surrounding areas had rain since morning. The minimum temperature recorded on Saturday was 5.6°C which relatively was higher due to cloud at night.

According to the local meteorological office, 1.6 mm of rain had been recorded in Shimla town, which was lashed by rain. There were reports of a mild snowfall in Dalhousie and Banikhet. There were reports of snowfall from various parts of the state, including the tribal belt. Over one foot of snow was recorded at Rohtang Pass ad four inches at Solang Nullah. About five inches of snow was recorded at Kalpa while there was mild snowfall on the Churdhar ranges in Sirmaur district.

Traffic on the Chamba-Killar road had been stopped due to heavy snowfall on the Saach Pass.

Solan, February 10
The first ever job fair organised by Himachal chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here today turned out to be a big draw with 2,000 youths from all over the state turning up. Nearly 40 companies from Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh and Parwanoo industrial areas interviewed the youth for various jobs.

Youths from as far as Rampur in Shimla district, Kinnaur, Chamba, Kangra, etc, turned up to get employment. Pharmaceutical firms like Panacea Biotech and Nectar Life Sciences were on the lookout for computer literate youth. Mr T.K.Sharma, manager (administration) from Nectar Lifesciences said an in-house training of six months would be provided to youths recruited.

The company was on the look-out for matriculates and plus two candidates. Youths with pharmacy background were also in demand by these units.

With state government having enforced the norm of employing 70 per cent Himachalis the investors had initiated in-house training to fulfil the requirements. Textile houses like Vardman and Winsome also made attempt to hire unskilled youths to work as textile workers. Mr Ashwani Sharma, manager, Industrial Relations, Vardman Textiles said since there were few takers for the heat-intensive textile industry there was always paucity of staff. Since the trade was not available in the state-run industrial training institutes(ITIs) the youth were trained for it.

New companies like Samay Watches, Cellebrum, HPL Protection Technologies, Johnson and Johnson, Pidilite, etc., also interviewed candidates. Senior manager of Cellebrum, Sanjeev Upadhyaya, said they were on the look out for girls for customer care.

Mr Vijay Thakur, deputy director, CII said majority of the youths who had turned up were raw. A large number were mere matriculates or plus two pass. Number of graduates or undergraduates was less.

The employment fair was inaugurated by Speaker G.R.Musafir. 

Shimla, February 10
Accusing the government of failing to check the spread of jaundice in the state’s capital, the BJP today demanded the state government to seek help of the Centre to bring the situation under control.

In a statement here today, state BJP chief, Jai Ram Thakur said it was surprising the disease which normally breaks out in summer or during monsoon season, had struck the town in winter. “We hold the Congress-ruled Municipal Corporation responsible for the outbreak of jaundice as sewers and water lines were running parallel, which led to leakage and contamination of water,” he said.

He said it was mismanagement by the MC that the sewers and water lines still ran parallel, leaving scope for leakage and contamination of water.

Despite the government claims spending crores on the sewerage system in Shimla besides OPEC funding, there had been outbreak of jaundice which reflected mismanagement by the authorities, he alleged.

Nahan, February 10
One person was killed and three injured when a tractor on way to Rajgarh fell into a gorge near Donga Fog village under the Dimber panchayat in Rajgarh tehsil, about 130 km from here.

Police sources said villagers rushed the injured to Rajgarh Subdivisional Hospital.

Amrit Singh, a resident of Dimber panchayat, succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital.

Three others, Thakur Prasad, Bir Bahadur and Chakra Bahadur, were admitted to Rajgarh Hospital and stated to be out of danger.

The Rajgarh police registered a case under Sections 279, 337 and 304-A of the IPC in this connection.