Mandi, February 13
One of the four seriously injured victims of yesterday’s bus accident near here succumbed to his injuries today at the PGI, Chandigarh.

The condition of the eight seriously injured patients, under treatment at the Zonal Hospital here, is meanwhile, reported to be out of danger.

Though the district administration has yet to order an inquiry into the accident, the survivors blamed the cause of the accident on both a mechanical failure and the negligence of the driver, Yadvinder Singh, who died on the spot.

The accident victim who died today at the PGI has been identified as Raj Kumar, 26, a resident of Kanda in Gohar sub-division in the district.

Dr D.P. Handa in zonal hospital here, said that five patients, Hemant, whose chest was bleeding, and Mr Hans Raj, who sustained head injuries, were referred to the PGI while Ms Daultu Devi with pelvic injuries and Mr Karan Singh, who sustained multiple injuries, had been referred to the IGMC, Shimla.

Lata, Meena, Manoj, Mohan, Tikmi Lal are under treatment here and are out of danger. he added.

SDM Gohar sub-division said the administration has distributed Rs 3000 each to the injured and Rs 5000 each to the next of kin of those killed in the accident as immediate relief.

Those killed have been identified as Pawan Kumar, 18, Gadhirst Chunag, Yadvinder Singh, 40 Devdar Mandi Sadar, Bhim Singh 28, Padru, Mandi Sadar, Balak Ram, 42, Raidhar, Jhuma Devi, 24, daughter of Mr Amar Singh, Mathuna, Roop Singh, 42, Sakuri, Chunag tehsil, Chaman Lal, 27, Balinda, Naresh Kumar, 24, Banad, Thunag, Mr Ved Parkash, 24, Bakshaid and Hukum Chand, 18, Shakuri.

Those who sustained serious injuries and undergoing treatment at Zonal Hospital Mandi include Mr Krishan Lal, 38, Mandi Sadar, Ms Daultu Ram, 36, Mandi, Lata Devi, 9, a minor girl, daughter of Mr Khem Chand, Mr Karam Singh, 35 son of Mr Arma Ram, Mr Manjor Kumar, 26, Kanda, Ms Meena, 23, daughter of Mr Narpat, Jhenjhei and Kundan Lal, 45, Debas.

Governor, CM express grief Shimla: The Governor, Mr V.S. Kokje, and the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, have expressed grief for those who died or sustained injuries in the bus accident that took place at Salahar in Mandi district yesterday. The Chief Minister has directed the district administration to provide all possible assistance to the affected families. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Subhashish Panda, today visited the spot and released Rs 5,000 each for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 3,000 each for those injured as an immediate relief. Mrs Pratibha Singh, MP, also expressed sorrow over the loss of life and asked the district administration to provide all possible help to the affected persons.

Shimla, February 13
Snow and rain continued to lash the region for the fourth consecutive day today affecting life in the state.

The weather cleared for a while last night but clouds again covered the sky in the morning and it started snowing. By evening the city had received 5 cm to 10 cm of snow. Narkanda recorded 25 cm of fresh snow, Mashobra and Kufri 20 cm and Chail 15 cm. Snowfall continued till evening. Dhundi had 23 cm and Solang Nullah 10 cm.

The fresh snow created more problems for the administration and thwarted efforts to clear roads and restore power supply. The Hindustan-Tibet road was cleared through Narkanda, but only a few vehicles could pass and it became slippery due to fresh snow. The road to Rohru was also cleared but fresh snow blocked it again near Kharapathar.

The administration sent a team of doctors to attend to tourists stranded at Toshali Resorts and Shilon Bagh on the Chail-Kufri road. As the road is under 30 cm to 50 cm of snow, the rescue team, which included three doctors, would take the link road from Junga which joins the snow-bound road the 10 km short of Toshali Resorts. Besides medicines the team is also carrying some essential supplies in three vehicles.

Mr Tarun Kapoor, Deputy Commissioner, said there was nothing to panic as two hotels had adequate stocks of ration for the 80 stranded tourists. Electricity supply could not be restored so far and there was no fuel for space heating which made the tourists uncomfortable. A few elderly tourists and children had been taken ill and needed medical attention.

Meanwhile, the Mashobra Dhalli road had been cleared making it possible to divert the Rampur and Kinnaur bound traffic through Basantpur.

Upper areas of Shimla district remained cut off as Chopal, Rohru, Haripur Dhar and several other parts of Shimla and Sirmaur districts remained cut off. Power supply and cell phone networks remained affected.

The maintenance staff of the state electricity board was still struggling to restore electricity supply to affected localities of the city. However, power has been restored in the Naraknda area.

Meanwhile, Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, directed administrative authorities at the state and the district headquarters to ensure that roads remained open to traffic and supply of essential commodities was maintained in the snow-affected areas.

Reviewing arrangements for the maintenance of the supply and essential services here today, he said essential commodities in the tribal, remote and difficult areas, which normally remained cut off due to heavy snow during winter, had already been stocked. There was no shortage of food and other commodities in the tribal areas. He added the government had been supplying essential commodities to tribal and other inaccessible areas in advance before the onset of winter. He said a vigil was also being kept on traders to check hoarding and escalation in prices of such commodities.

He said the delayed snow and rain all over the state had ensured better prospects in horticulture and agriculture sectors. He directed the Deputy Commissioners to ensure that people in their districts got regular supply of essential commodities at reasonable prices fixed by the government. 

Hamirpur, February 13
Hamirpur's congested inter-state bus terminus will soon be shifted from its present location to a spacious site away from the main market.

The Transport Department has abandoned the proposal of shifting the bus stand to a site earlier selected in Krishna Nagar. Two alternative sites have now been identified, in Krishna Nagar and Lohara village, and a new proposal is being prepared.

The decision follows a host of objections by the Forest Department as the proposal involved cutting down of trees falling under the reserved forest category. Since no clearance from the Forest Department is required, the Transport Department authorities are hopeful of getting an early go-ahead from the state government.

There has been a demand for shifting the bus stand from its current location in view of the traffic congestion caused by long-distance buses on the National Highway-88. Traffic bottlenecks have become a common sight on the stretch outside the bus stand. To add to it, drivers of private buses prefer to alight passengers on the main road itself, without entering the bus stand, which hardly has enough space for all buses plying to and from Hamirpur.

Talking to The Tribune, Mr A.P.Nadda, Divisional Manager, said the bus stand itself had become very congested as the number of buses plying on different routes had increased manifold in recent years. "We need a new site in any case," he says.

"The two new locations are pretty expansive. The new piece of land in Krishna Nagar belongs to the Revenue Department and though it has a tree cover, it is not a reserved forest. The site in Lohara in close to the proposed National Highway and includes about 14 kanals of private land. Both the sites are about 30 kanals and would be adequate for a bus stand along with a commercial complex," he added.

The original site in Krishna Nagar had a thick forest cover and the Forest Department was reluctant to give permission for cutting down the trees and a host of objections were put on the proposal. The present location of the bus stand is already the third one and the frequent shifting has hampered development of the bus stand. Hopefully, the new location would be spacious enough to provide quality services to people of the area, says owner of a private bus service in Hamirpur.

Dharamsala, February 13
Writing came to Rajendra Rajan naturally beholding the splendour of a rainbow or the beauty of a daffodil.

When his short collection ‘Band Darwaze’ first published in 2001 recently received attention and appreciation from connoisseurs in the field of Indian literature, Himachal Government has decided to give him Chanderdhar Sharma Guleri state award of literature for his outstanding contribution in the field of Hindi literature.

The award carrying a citation and a cash prize of Rs. 10,000 will be presented to him by the state chief minister in a state-level function being organized by the department of language and culture at Shimla on February 17 this month.

Working as a deputy director in the zonal office of the information and public relations department here, he has been closely associated with journalism also. He has to his credit more than 1000 articles published in various newspapers and magazines on varied subjects- politics, literature, art etc.

Sundernagar, February 13
Mr Rakesh Jamwal, state president of the Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha, has termed the Congress government in the state as ‘government of scams’, adding that it had failed on all fronts.

He said various schemes for appointments launched by the present government for PTA, Anganwari workers and JBT appointments / selections were defective and had been stayed by various courts.

The district units of the BJYM in state would be constituted by February 20, and by the end of this month, the block-level unit would be formed for the better functioning of the organisation, he said.