Shimla, May 13
The entry of former Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal in the arena has made the by-election to the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency an uphill task for the ruling Congress.

Hamirpur has been a stronghold of the BJP and Dhumal is the strongest candidate, the party can field.

This was the only seat which the party had managed to win during the 2004 poll, when the Congress wave was sweeping the hill state.

He had been reluctant to enter the fray and had publicly declared that he would not contest the by-poll. However, the high command put its foot down and prevailed upon him to contest.

Dhumal may not have been pleased, but the rank and file of the party is upbeat over the high command’s decision. Dhumal has contested from the seat four times with mixed fortunes.

The Congress nominee forest minister Ram Lal Thakur is an experienced campaigner but does not match the political stature of the BJP stalwart. He is contesting from the seat for the third consecutive time. He has so far lost to Suresh Chandel on previous two occasions.

It will be, in fact, a battle between the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Dhumal. Stakes are high for both leaders as the outcome of the poll will have a bearing on the Assembly election slated for February 2008.

Virbhadra Singh had expressed his disappointment after Dhumal had announced that he would not contest the election. He said he was keen to take on the BJP heavy weight but he was shying away from the arena.

Now that Dhumal is back in the fray Virbhadra has a battle on hand.

The Congress government is now more than four-year-old and it is not surprising that the BJP is banking for victory on the anti-establishment sentiment.

The Congress on the other hand has the advantage of being the party in power at both the Centre and the state.

Hamirpur, May 13
Congress candidate for Hamirpur byelection Ram Lal Thakur has submitted a list of assets worth Rs 1.78 crore with his nomination papers.

The list includes details about his movable and immovable properties.

He has mentioned the value of his two houses at Namhol and Bilaspur as Rs 26,59,557 and that of 21. 8 bigha agricultural land at Ghiryal and Sikroha villages as Rs 9,17,850.

Total savings in the bank accounts in his own name and that of his wife and daughter are Rs 30 lakh.

He owns a Tuscan jeep and a truck worth Rs 24 lakh. The cash in hand is Rs 25,000. The amounts in case of his wife and daughter are Rs 15,000 and Rs 2,000, respectively.

The family owns 610 gm gold worth around Rs 63,750.

 

Employees’ body to oppose Thakur Bilaspur: State chairman of the Himachal Pradesh State Employees Joint Action Committee Gopal Das Verma has declared that the committee will oppose Congress candidate Ram Lal Thakur and support BJP candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal in the Hamirpur byelection. Addressing mediapersons here today, he said the committee had taken this decision as the Virbhadra Singh government had not accepted even a single demand of the employees during the past four years. Instead, the government victimised a number of employee leaders by dismissing, terminating, suspending or transferring them to far-off places. On the other hand, he said, BJP candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal did not victimise any employee leader during his tenure as the Chief Minister of the state.

Dharamsala, May 13
The promotions and postings of 81 post-graduate teachers of Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Una and Kangra districts, have run into rough weather after the enforcement of the model code of conduct, due to the coming by-elections in Hamirpur for a Lok Sabha seat.

The orders of promotions and postings were issued by the directorate of higher education on April 16 but the teachers did not receive their orders well in time to enable them to join immediately. Besides, the transfer orders of 90 other post-graduate teachers have also been issued in the same districts.

As per the orders, these teachers were supposed to join duty latest by May 5 this year. The orders further stated, “failing which, promotion orders as lecturer (school cadre) shall deemed to be withdrawn automatically for one year or till the next meeting of the departmental promotion committee, whichever is later.’

It was clearly mentioned in the orders that “no specific orders, with reference to the withdrawal of promotion orders, would be issued separately and no extension would be available in any case for joining.’

Sources in the directorate of higher education revealed that neither has the state government sought any relaxation for these transfers and postings from the election commission nor has the date of joining been extended, considering it a special case due to the enforcement of the model code of conduct for the by-elections.

Palampur, May 13
Environmentalists and wildlife experts have expressed serious concern over the sharp decline in the vulture population in Kangra district.

If immediate steps are not taken to save these birds, they will soon vanish, they maintain.

Sources say the situation is alarming, as the district is now home to only 1,800 vultures, which constitute only 5 per cent of the total population.

According to a recent survey conducted by the department, infectious disease “renal failure” is the main cause behind the sharp decline in the vulture population. Every third vulture in this region of the state is afflicted with this disease.

Reckless use of insecticides and pesticides by farmers is helping in the spread of this disease.

Use of chemicals like forate and colorfast by the farmers is another factor responsible for the extinction of vultures not only in Kangra, but also in the entire state.

Palampur, May 13
Twentyfour soldiers from Himachal Pradesh sacrificed their lives in anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir during the past two years.

However, there is none in the government to listen to the grievances of widows and aged parents of such soldiers.

They have been running from pillar to post for financial assistance and government jobs, but to no avail.

The excuse put forward by officials concerned is that “rules do not permit” giving jobs to widows or family members of martyrs.

Even the Chief Ministers and ministers seem helpless before the bureaucracy.

Kangra and Hamirpur districts of the state have the highest number of causalities in the proxy war going on in Jammu and Kashmir.

These districts have been receiving average two dead bodies of jawans every month, being killed while fighting militants.

Most of the jawans killed in Jammu and Kashmir so far were in the age group of 22 to 30 years, who left behind young widows, small children and aged parents.

In many cases, they were the sole earning members in their families.

Despite repeated requests by various organisations, panchayats and social bodies, the state government has failed to form any long-term policy to help these families.

They have been left at the mercy of the Union Government.

Enquiries made by The Tribune revealed there was no provision in the state recruitment rules for jobs to the widows or family members of the soldiers killed in Jammu and Kashmir or other states.

The government has not formulated any policy to rehabilitate such widows or their family members.

A senior government official says it is the responsibility of the Union Government or the Ministry of Defence to provide jobs to them.

However, in most of the cases, the Union Government has already sanctioned family pension to the widows and they were drawing the last salary drawn by their late husbands.

But there are some widows who have been receiving meagre pension because of short service of their husbands or the payments have been withheld because of technical reasons.

Such widows need immediate attention of the state government.

There are instances where the family pension is being paid to widows who have separated from their in-laws, and there is none to look after the aged parents of deceased soldiers.

Despite assurances by ministers, MLAs and senior government officials at the time of cremations of martyrs that the state government will provide necessary financial assistance and job to one member of the family, no officer of the state government bothers to enquire about such families.

There are 12 such families in these districts that have been looking forward for government assistance.

There is no officer to listen and solve the problems of the families of these martyrs.

Earlier, the BJP government had issued instructions to all deputy commissioners in the state to attend cremations and visit families of martyrs killed in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country and sanction immediate grants.

But with the change of government, that practice has also been discontinued, officers in districts are not bothered to help families of martyrs and no government official is generally present at cremations.

Solan, May 13
Tall claims of the Tourism Department notwithstanding, the promotional work in the twin districts of Solan and Sirmaur has virtually come to a standstill with the post of district tourism development officer (DTDO) lying vacant for the past five months.

The absence of the DTDO has affected new investors as there is no official to answer their queries at the DTDO office.

Though the department managed to obtain central funding worth Rs 5 crore for an ambitious tourism project, Sirmaur Destination, the lack of staff is now acting as a major impediment for the implementation of the project.

The department is unable to take stock of the fact that a number of tourism projects are being executed in violation of the norms.

Premises are being rented out for industrial ventures. A case in point is a pharmaceutical unit operating from an unauthorised hotel at Kumarhatti.

It being the peak tourism season, there is a rush of tourists wanting to get information here. Normally, the department makes special arrangement to distribute tourism information brochures from 8 am to 10 pm in summers.

This work, too, has remained unfulfilled. The absence of staff here has also hit revenue collection.

He is discharging the duties of the director tourism, the director transport and the deputy director industries.

Churag (Mandi), May 13
Farmers in the Churag belt of Karsog sub-division have become ‘role models’ for other farmers in the state as they have diversified apple production into eco-friendly floriculture, exotic vegetables and organic farming in seven panchayats of the district.

Assisted by the Himachal Gramin Bank (HGB), Churag Branch, the two farmers’ clubs - Pragtishil Kisan Club, Chamanpur, and Kisan Club, Kheel Dharmour in Churag, have won the top three prizes for showing ways to other farmers by diversifying traditional apple production to producing flowers, off-season vegetable and organic fertilisers from the NABARD for the year 2005-06 at a state -level function held in Shimla last week.

As-many-as 20 farmers of the Kheel-Dharmour farmers’ club have been getting tips from experts at the workshops conducted by the HGB for the past three years.

“We now grow exotic vegetables like broccoli, leek, parsley, cherry tomatoes, fennel, china cabbage and sell them in Delhi and other local markets each season”, said Khem Raj, chief volunteer of Kheel Dharmour club, which was adjudged the best club of the state by NABARD.

The Club has 20 farmers, each earning an additional income of Rs 50,000 - Rs 70,000 from exotic vegetables.

“Apple has become uncertain due to the vagaries of weather and farmers are diversifying to other cash crops with assistance from the gramin bank,” farmers said.

“The farmers have switched over to floriculture and grow gladiolas, earning an additional income of Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 from the apple orchards”, said Nand Lal, a farmer from Pragtishil Club, one of the major apple belt, which is witnessing a decline in fruit production, in the district for the last five years.

Not only this, the farmers charted the success story by way of eco-friendly organic farming using vermi-compost as fertilizer.

“The results are good, soil becomes more fertile and crops are healthy and fetch higher prices in the markets in Delhi”, said Sant Ram, another farmer from Dhanda Pani.

The farmers have set up rainwater harvesting tanks that helps not only to conserve water but also check soil erosion.

“Bank gives us kisan credit cards and we set tanks from the funds meeting water scarcity in lean season”, said Nand Lal, a farmer from Jharnaid village.

Apart from training and sensitising apple farmers to diversify to other cash crops, gramin bank has also linked over 24 self-help groups (SHGs) to the bank and gave them over Rs 9 lakh as credit, to engage them in village-based income generating activities in Churag area.

“We have given over 384 kissan credit cards to farmers. We invite different experts from horticultural, floriculture, veterinary, animal husbandry and water harvesting from time to time to sensitise farmers to diversify to other cash crops using latest technical know-how,” said Maninder Jishtu, HGB Churag manager.

Chamba, May 13
Reckless cutting and digging of hillsides for the widening of the Chamba-Bharmour highway has not only hit the normal life in the Bharmour tribal region and various hilly areas in Chamba district, but also the ongoing construction of prestigious hydroelectric projects in the area.

The activity poses a threat of triggering massive landslides.

Difficulty is being faced by hydropower enterprises in transporting heavy machinery for their projects through narrow roads.

The widening of the road by the PWD will help these companies in speeding up the work on their projects besides benefiting the local population.

However, the cutting and digging of hills along the highway is being done without taking into account the natural phenomenon and timeframe.

Many a time, the traffic on the highway from Chamba to Bharmour remains blocked for hours together due to heavy landslides following blasts.

The unscientific excavation of the roadside is also eroding the fragile slopes of hills.

The formation of the hills in this region is such that any blast can develop deep fissures that can lead to landslides even after a single spell of rain.

Sometimes, the rolling of boulders from the hills cause causalities.

Meanwhile, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has reportedly made advance payment of around Rs 24 crore to the PWD for widening the 76-km stretch of the Chamba-Bharmour highway from Goli to Kharamukh, but the work on the project is going on at a snail’s pace.

Nurpur, May 13
The Himachal Pradesh government has failed to implement provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act which prescribes the maximum loaded weight limit for public transport carriages on the highway.

Under the act, the maximum permissible weight limit for trucks having six tyres should be about nine tons.

The offenders should be penalised but the public transport vehicles entering the state from different barriers have been violating the permissible limit with impunity, thanks to the apathy of the regional transport authorities.

The office of this government agency are functioning from all entry points throughout the state and the inaction of the authorities concerned has emboldened the habitual offenders.

There is no checking of overloaded vehicles on the barriers, which causes a lot of damage to the road surface, pollutes the environment through auto-emissions and causes revenue losses to the state exchequer in the form of value added tax (VAT).

Apart from this, the overloaded public carriage vehicles are safety hazards not only for themselves but also for other road users.

Interestingly, a local advocate and a resident of Suliali village, Sumesh Raj, had filed a civil writ petition (CWP) in the state High Court against the state government to enforce a maximum weight limit on public transport carriages permissible under the law in the larger interest of the public.

The High Court while disposing off the CWP of the petition on April 11, ordered the principal secretary, Transport, principal secretary Excise and Taxation, and DGP Shimla, to ensure that no public transport vehicle should violate the maximum loading weight limit.

They have been directed to provide mechanical devices at entry points in the state.

But so far the government has not adhered to the directions of the High Court.

Raids were conducted to arrest the accused, but with no success. The motive behind the attack could not be known immediately.

Manali, May 13
A young couple from Maharashtra died when their car skidded off the road and plunged into a deep gorge here yesterday.

The driver of the car received injuries in the accident which took place on the Manali-Rohtang road.

The couple, hailing from Satara district in Maharashtra, were returning to Manali after visiting Rohtang Pass when their car rolled down into the gorge. — PTI

Nahan, May 13
A district-level cricket tournament organised by the District Sirmaur Cricket Association concluded at the Paonta municipal ground this afternoon.

Sandeep of Giri Nagar was adjudged the “man of the match” and the “best bowler”. Raman Deep was honoured for being the highest scorer in the tournament.

Kumarhatti, May 13
Three vehicles were stolen from Baddi last night.

As per complaints filed with the police, a Bolero jeep (HP-52T-6793) was stolen from Phase 3, Baddi.

The owner, Amarjeet Singh, has reported the matter to the police after noticing his vehicle missing from the parking lot in the morning.

In another case, a Ford Fiesta (4A-08J-1202) belonging to Mohan Lal was found missing from Phase 2. Mohal Lal hailed from Rajasthan.

A Scorpio (HR-B-6900) was stolen from Billawalan locality. The owner, Mohan Lal, reported the matter to the police.

Sandeep Dhawal, DSP Nalagarh, said a red alert had been sounded in the area to trace the vehicles.