Solan, April 25
The BJP today attacked the state government for its failure to address the basic problems of the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial belt despite having attracted investment worth crores.

Addressing mediapersons here today state BJP vice-president Rajiv Bindal said it was the utter failure of the government which compelled a four-time Congress MLA Lajja Ram to publicly denounce the working of his own government. Things had come to such a pass that the senior congress MLA had to condemn the mismanagement of the industrial area at a function yesterday. While Lajja Ram spared no efforts to criticise the near-total absence of infrastructure he said the nullahs and river beds had been polluted by the industrial waste and sewage.

Bindal said despite receiving the central industrial package from the former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee the state government had failed to spend any funds on raising the requisite infrastructure. The state government had not only failed to protect the interests of the state but also could not make optimum use of the industrial package. While the roads faced the worst plight the entire area had been reduced to a slum with jhuggis coming up here and there.

Bindal condemned the formation of the Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Development Authority at the fag end of the government's tenure, claiming that it had failed to bring about any change in the area.

Solan, April 25
The Horticulture Department is facing shortage of horticulture development officers (HDOs) with as many as 131 posts lying vacant out of the sanctioned strength of 263. The enormous gap assumes significance in the light of the fact that a Rs 83.30-crore horticulture technology mission is underway.

A recent announcement of the Chief Minister at a public rally at Kangra had kindled a ray of hope for the unemployed horticulture graduates, but no concrete step had been taken in that direction so far.

The shortage of staff has severely affected the working of the project. The authorities could barely spend Rs 30.52 crore during the past three years. The HDOs work as field coordinating officers to implement various projects and horticulture produce contributes around Rs 1,500 crore towards the state’s gross domestic produce. Despite this, little has been done to fill these posts.

Twentytwo vacancies exist in Kangra followed by Shimla and Kinnaur where there is a shortage of 15 and 14 HDOs. Despite the twin districts of Kinnaur and Shimla contributing a major share of the horticulture produce in the form of apples, little heed has been paid to fill these posts.

In Solan, Sirmaur, Bilaspur, Mandi, Kullu, Chamba and Lahaul and Spiti districts, the number of vacancies are 13, 11, 4, 9,13,12 and 7, respectively. The lack of job opportunities for the horticulture graduates passing out from Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry has come in for severe criticism. Till now, the university has produced 528 BSc, 607 MSc and 313 PhD candidates from the department of horticulture. Senior officials of the department said the recruitment and promotion rules for the HDOs were being devised.

Dharamsala, April 25
As many as 36 persons suffered food poisoning after consuming meals in a langar at Dehrian village in Jawali subdivision of Kangra district late last night.

Another incident of food poisoning was reported from Chilli village of Teesa subdivision of Chamba district in which 20 girl students living in a hostel of a school reportedly had food poisoning. The langar was prepared at the house of Hans Raj of that village on the eve of a 'jagran'.

CMO Jaswant Singh Chandel said all patients were given treatment and were currently out of danger.

The Health Department had collected samples of the food served to the victims. Inquest proceedings under Section 174, CrPC, had been initiated in the incident.

In another incident, 20 girl students living in a school hostel suffered food poisoning late last night. The girls who were all rushed to Government Hospital at Teesa were said to be out of danger.

Shimla, April 25
Environmentalist Baljit Malik, spearheading the Kasauli Bachao Andolan today accused the government of encouraging violators by allowing compounding of structures which had come up by way of illegal change in land use.

Addressing a press conference here today, he echoed his concern over the recent government decision to compound hotels and industry constructed in violation of the Section 118 of the 1972 Land Tenancy Act. “The government is supposed to be the custodian of the law and not encourage people to break law, which will not be tolerated,” he remarked.

He said he would shortly be filing an application before the high court against the relaxation as this was the most irresponsible act and would set a bad example.

He also lashed out at the proposed four laning of the Kalka-Shimla highway. “If need be we will resort to direct action to oppose this project which is just not suited for a hilly terrain constituted by slate and friable strata,” he said. He added that before announcing such a mega project the government had neither got an environment impact assessment report, a geological study or a public hearing.

“Rather than four laning the highway the way out is better traffic management and broadening of the bottlenecks,” he opined. He said he would be urging the Army to oppose the project as it would block free military movement on the strategic Hindustan-Tibet road. He said there should be development but certainly not at the cost of environment.

With respect to protecting Kasauli against haphazard constructions, he said despite the high court directions of preparing a long-term master plan for the Kasauli area, the government had placed a 15-year-old irrelevant document.

Citing an example of a private resort coming up partly on encroached defence land near the MES Inspection Bungalow on the Garkhal-Kasauli road, he said the Army too was feeling He was even critical of the Air Force authorities who he alleged had allowed coming up of a temple on the old Karar Deo hill. “It is not the job of the Air Force to construct a temple at a place where it is a question of national security as a radar and air strip is located close to the site,” he said.

He said the Kasauli Bachao Andolan would also oppose the entry of McDonalds into the real estate and hotel industry in the Kasauli area.

He said he would shortly be filing an application on all the issues mentioned above before the high court.

Shimla, April 25
The Rail India Techno Economic Services (RITES) is conducting a survey to study traffic flow with the objective of generating and analysing inter-model transport resource costs. The Department of Economic and Statistics has been made the nodal agency for the survey. Economic adviser Ashok Rajan said here today that the first round of the survey for the rabi season would be conducted from April 26 to 28 for which 15 locations had been identified in Himachal. — TNS

Shimla, April 25
With the Assembly elections just nine months away, the byelection to the Hamirpur constituency will be an acid test for both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP, two main contenders for power in the state.

The outcome of the byelection will be a major indicator of the emerging political scenario and set the trend for the final electoral battle for power in the state slated in February next year. The party that emerges victorious will get a head start for the Assembly election.

The stakes are high for the BJP as Hamirpur has been its traditional stronghold and the party has lost the seat only once since 1989. It was the only seat that the party managed to win in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. It has no option but to put its best foot forward as defeat will deal a severe blow to its drive of dislodging the Congress from the seat of power. Though reluctant to contest, former Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal is the strongest candidate who can take the party to the winning post.

Apart from the anti-incumbency factor, the Congress will have to deal with issues like price rise and unemployment. The party may get some respite on corruption front as the BJP, which lost the 2003 Assembly elections on the issue, continues to be on a sticky wicket. The disgraceful exit of its MP Suresh Chandel that forced the byelection, the petrol pump allotment scam that involved the top BJP leadership and the conviction of former chairman of the state subordinate services selection board S.M. Katwal in three cases pertaining to the recruitment scam were enough for the Congress to put the rival on the defensive on the issue of corruption.

Winning the seat is equally important for the Congress as defeat will be construed as rejection of its programmes and policies and belie its claims on the development front.

Shimla, April 25
The youth wing of the BJP, Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), will launch a public awareness campaign on May 7 to highlight the anti-people decisions of the Congress regime.

State BJYM vice-president Surat Negi said the activists would specially highlight the anti-youth attitude of the government which had no youth policy till date. "We will try and reach out to every individual in the 25 wards to ensure victory of the BJP candidates," he said.

Despite the Congress winning the elections on the promise of providing a job to one member of each family, hardly any job opportunities had been created and the number of unemployed youth had risen to over 11 lakh.

He said the BJP victory march would begin from the Shimla municipal corporation elections, followed by the Hamirpur Lok Sabha byelection and then the assembly poll due next year.

Negi said while the Dhumal government had waived Rs 25 crore liabilities of the MC, the present government had not done anything to help the MC pay Rs 40 crore to the electricity board and the IPH Department.

Kangra, April 25
A 60-year-old man was beheaded today in Marary village near Nichli Kothi by another local resident, when the victim asked the accused to pay money for the articles he had taken from his shop.

Kangra DSP Virender Thakur said today Ram Singh, a resident of Marary village, was running a small shop in the village near a local school and Baldev Singh (32), a resident of the same village, had been visiting Ram Singh's shop regularly. He had been taking away goods from Ram Singh's shop without making any payment. DSP said today when Ram Singh asked Baldev Singh to pay the money for the goods he had taken, Baldev irritated by the utterances of the old man, took a ‘dranti’ from the shop of the victim and beheaded him. He said Baldev left the beheaded body of Ram Singh in a poll of blood and fled from the scene of crime.

Baldev was nabbed by the police soon. He said the body was sent for a post-mortem examination and the accused was arrested under Section 302 of the IPC.

Dharamsala, April 25
Tourism and transport minister G.S. Bali has ordered a probe to find out lapses on the part of officials of the state bus stand management and development authority in case of the controversial hotel-cum-parking project being constructed on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis at McLeodganj.

Talking to the mediapersons here today, he said the secretary of the Transport Department had been asked to probe into the alleged lapses in the project. “The secretary has also been directed to fix accountability of officials responsible for the lapses,” he said.

He admitted that certain formalities regarding the building plan and getting clearance for constructing the hotel from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests were not completed before initiating construction.

He said the secretary would report to him after conducting the inquiry and if anyone was found intentionally responsible for the lapses, action would be taken against him.

He said efforts had been initiated to seek requisite permission from all departments concerned. All pending formalities were being completed, he said. There had been some deviation in the initial plan to add additional parking facility for accommodating 300 vehicles, he added.

Regarding the notices issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, he said the state government was in touch with the Union Government for seeking fresh environmental clearance.

Nurpur, April 25
A gujjar family of Kiari village of Baral gram panchayat in the subdivision has heaved a sigh of relief when its missing son, Sheru, suddenly returned home recently.

Mareed Din, father of Sheru, was living in penury and making both ends meet by doing labour job and selling fuel wood.

Yesterday, Mareed Din along with Sheru, asked the police to take action against those who had allegedly abducted his son about five years ago.

Mareed Din said about six years back he had left Sheru, then 12, with a gujjar family known to him at Mirthal in Punjab to work as a domestic servant.

He alleged that the employer informed him about the sudden disappearance of his son. He alleged that Sheru was abducted by a resident of Kartarpur in Jalandhar district, who often visited Mirthal.

The employer of Sheru had lodged a missing report with the Mirthal police. 
Meanwhile, Sheru said he was kept in captivity by the abductor and was not allowed to move outside the house there. But somehow, he fled from captivity with the help of some labourers.

Mandi, April 25
The work on the Rs 3.49-crore two-phased solid waste management project sanctioned by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), New Delhi, to provide door-to-door waste collection facility to the residents here is moving at a snail’s pace. The municipal council has yet to submit the detailed project report (DPR) to get nod from the Forest Department for the construction of landfill and compost plant for the purpose.

The CPCB has sanctioned Rs 1.05 crore, but the council has yet to purchase 16,000 bins to be distributed to around 8,000 families in the town under Phase 1. The council has bought one dumper placer, two three-wheelers, 10 containers, covered rehris, masks, gumboots for workers, but samples for waste bins were rejected and fresh tenders invited.

As the council dithered on the project, the Forest Department rejected the NOC issued for the dumping site. Now, the council has sought a fresh NOC to develop the dumping site to put up a landfill, and composting plant for treatment of waste material.

The council claimed it has shortlisted over 65 rag-pickers to collect waste from door-to-door. The town generates over 20 tonnes of waste daily, around 500 gm per capita. The figure happens to be the highest in the state as the per capita waste produced elsewhere averages around 350 gm daily.

Most the waste ends up in the surroundings slopes or Sakodi nullah, Bhagwan Mohala and Suketi and Beas rivers, creating unhygienic conditions in the town.

As MC president H.K. Vaidya was out of station, executive officer S.K. Mittal said they had sought a fresh NOC and hoped to clear the process within 20 days time. “After the NOC, we will prepare a DPR for the development of the dumping site selected at Bindra Bani to start work on the phase-II, which is valid till April, 2008,” he added.

The officials claimed they would hold workshops in May and the work on the second phase would begin soon. “Bins would be distributed to residents next month,” he added. 

Mandi, April 25
If all goes as intended, poor rural women, who have been facing drudgery of deprivation over generations, would get a better economic and social life under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) launched in four districts in the state as “20 per cent of workers under NREGP would be women in the state and 40 per cent in the country as a whole”.

Director, NREGP, Government of India, Bal Ram Sharma said the idea of providing work to 20 per cent women workers in the state and 40 per cent in the country as a whole is to ensure the all-inclusive women empowerment as being intended in the 11th five-year plan.

The programme intends to uplift not only women workers but also the families as a whole from penury and deprivation. It will also generate more sustainable avenues for self-employment nearer to their villages, he said.

The NREGP is a demand- driven scheme and there is no shortage of funds, top officials said, adding the NREGP Act, 2006 also ensured both insurance and gainful employment for job cardholders.

Sharma informed that the government had allocated Rs 30 crore for Chamba, Sirmaur, Kangra and Mandi districts. “After the panchayats give the job cards to the workers, they will be awarded 100 days work in construction of rain water harvesting structures, small canals, ponds and improvement of watersheds, rural sanitation and other works in the rural areas”.

Narender Chauhan, secretary, Panchyati Raj and Rural Development, which is the nodal agency for the execution of the programme, said the department would ensure vigilance and social audit of the programme in each panchayat. “The programme will be linked through the self-help groups in the villages”.

He informed that as many as 99,000 applications had been received and 77,000 job cards had been issued. “The sensitisation training camps are being conducted in each district and in panchayats to ensure participation and transparency.”

Shimla, April 25
Criticising Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for not taking action against corruption, the Himachal Pradesh Employees Confederation has alleged that certain leaders of the BJP were hand in glove with tainted Congress ministers as a result of which the issue was not being raised effectively.

Addressing a press conference, here yesterday, confederation working president V.K.Kaul and general secretary Vinod Kumar said they had raised several issues of corruption and irregularities, particularly in the tourism and transport departments, but the Chief Minister had not taken any action.

Intriguingly, even the BJP leaders had maintained silence and did not raise the issue.

The two leaders alleged that the government was victimising the employees’ leaders who were raising such issues and rewarding those who toed its line. It had suspended or terminated about 150 leaders over the past four years.