Shimla, June 15
With the decks cleared for the setting up of the first aerial ropeway in the state at Jakhu here, the Tourism Department is keen to expedite the three other such projects at Dharamsala, Kullu and Manali as a team from RITES is visiting the state.

RITES, a wing of the Railways specialising in this field, has recently submitted the preliminary report of its survey for the setting up of a ropeway between Dharamsala and Triund. Experts from RITES will arrive in Kullu tomorrow to look into the feasibility of two proposed ropeways in the district, which attracts a large number of tourists.

The proposed ropeway between Manali and Rohtang, if found feasible, could perhaps be one of the longest in the country. It is likely to have a span of more than 12 km with a number of connecting links. Though the proposed project at the temple shrine of Naina Devi is to be almost 10 km long, the one at Manali would be the longest.

“The preliminary report submitted by RITES on the setting up of the ropeway at Dharamsala after being discussed at the secretary level will be placed before the Cabinet for approval,” informed a senior official. He said RITES had been requested to prepare reports on the aerial ropeways at Manali and Kullu so that their feasibility and extent of investment could be gauged.

The ropeway connecting Dharamsala with Triund is likely to have a span of about 1.8 km and will cost almost Rs 15 crore. All ropeway projects are likely to be taken up on the build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.

The Tourism Department has made certain modifications in the proposed aerial ropeways as the earlier proposal was to have a ropeway between Mcleodganj and Triund in Dharamsala and from Solang Nullah to Rohtang. In fact, the blueprint of the ropeway which was to connect Dharamkot and Triund has been gathering dust for several years as the project never took off.

In fact, the setting up of a ropeway between Manali and Rohtang has become the need of the hour as heavy vehicular traffic to Rohtang has become unmanageable and leads to a chaos in the area.

Moreover, as has been the experience at other places like Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir and at Mussoorie, ropeways are a major attraction for tourists. In fact, the ropeway set up by a private hotelier at Parwanoo has become a hot spot, especially for tourists coming from Chandigarh and the adjoining areas.

It is being expected that ropeways at the important tourist destinations of Shimla, Mcleodganj, Kullu and Manali will help increase the stay of tourists, some of which have been reduced to weekend spots.

Shimla, June 15
After taking lead in switching over to e-tendering the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) today became the first transport corporation in the country to provide 3-d secure online booking and cancellation facility.

The HRTC today became the first transport corporation in the country to provide 3-d secure online booking and cancellation facility

Himachal Pradesh has become the second state after Karnataka to have online booking for its buses. A 3-d secure interface reduces the possibility of credit card frauds with the help of Master and Visa. The new and unique e-commerce portal has been developed by the Society for IT (information technology) and e-governance in the Department of IT. The commuters could even choose their seats in a user friendly and secure interface available at www.sugamhimachal.org/hrtctickets

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh formally launched the facility along with a computerised helpline through which all information related to bus routes will be available. Despite the increase in the diesel and petrol prices several times, the government had not revised the bus fare for the past four years to ensure transport facilities to the masses at affordable prices. Concessional rates of fare were being charged from the schoolchildren and the disadvantaged sections of society.

Virbhadra Singh said that the facility of booking all long-route buses on the portal, besides Volvo and de luxe buses, would save time and energy as commuters would not have to visit booking offices for the purpose.

Virbhadra Singh said that efforts were afoot to computerise the functioning of all government departments help bring efficiency, transparency and responsiveness. He said that the entire revenue record was being computerised and the target was likely to be achieved soon.

Transport and tourism minister G.S. Bali said on-line booking would be initially available for Volvo buses but extended to other services in a phased manner. The HRTC had increased its revenue during the past four years to Rs 76 crore and also minimised the accident rate. He said computerised monitoring of all buses had improved mileage resulting in saving to the tune of Rs 4.52 crore. Volvo buses had earned the corporation a profit of Rs 3.27 crore while the semi-de luxe bus services were also popular.

Principal Secretary, Tourism and Transport Avay Shukla said that the HRTC had emerged as the best public sector undertaking in north India with its efficient facilities.

Shimla, June 15
Mercury in the state plummeted further as pre-monsoon showers continued to lash the region for the second consecutive day today.

Shimla recorded a maximum of 20.3° C as against 24.5° C yesterday but the minimum temperature remained static at 15.4° C

Gohar in Mandi district recorded the maximum rainfall of 89 mm, followed by Dharamsala (84.6 mm), Sundernagar (60.9 mm), Karsog (50 mm), Nahan (12 mm) and Shimla (8.9 mm).

The maximum decline of 8.97° C was registered in Bhuntar where the maximum temperature plunged from 34° C to 25.03° C. The minimum temperature also declined from 21.3° C to 20.5° C.

The tribal district of Kinnaur also shivered with Kalpa recording a maximum of 17.3° C, down 7.7° C. It recorded a minimum of 11.7° C, as against yesterday’s 12.5° C.

In Sundernagar, the maximum temperature came down from 32.1° C to 26.8° C. Dharamsala recorded a maximum of 25° C, down 1.8° C. The minimum temperature declined from 20° C to 16° C.

The city recorded a maximum of 20.3° C as against 24.5° C recorded yesterday but the minimum temperature remained at 15.4° C. The rain augurs well for the Kharif that is sown in the lower and middle hills. The apple growers too seem happy as a good rainfall during this time would help increase the size of the fruit.

Dharamsala: The higher reaches of the Dhauladhar Range in Kangra district today experienced unexpected spell of mild snowfall in the wee hours today even as the lower areas were lashed by heavy rains, partially affecting life here. The unexpected snow on the higher reaches overlooking the Kangra valley during the summer season proved to be a blessing for the visiting tourists.

The towns of Kangra, Palampur, Dharamsala and Nurpur witnessed heavy rainfall for more than three hours bringing the average rainfall throughout the district today at more than 70 mm. There were also reports of landslides on the Pathankot-Mandi NH where repair work was going. Power supply was also hit in many areas. A senior official of the district administration said no loss of life had been reported.

Chamba: Last night’s thundershowers proved to be a boon as they washed away the forest fires and also provided relief to the wildlife in the woods.

Along with providing relief from the sizzling spell of weather, the flora and fauna too benefited greatly from the showers. Talking about the figures in Chamba forest circle, Conservator of Forests Avtar Singh said 54 cases of forest fires involving an area of 741.79 hectares had been reported till today. He added that these were mainly ground fires and there was no major loss reported to the forest wealth. 

Solan, June 15
Large-scale fish mortality was reported from the banks of Sarsa in the industrial areas of Baddi-Barotiwala today as dead fish were found floating all along a stretch of nearly 23 km, extending from Barotiwala to Bir Pallasi village.

Fisheries Department officials said they would get samples collected to analyse the cause. They rued that PCB officials always shrugged off their responsibility of inspecting the erring units

Though the officials of the State Pollution Control Board (PCB) dismissed it as a repercussion of silting due to the onset of monsoons, the Fisheries Department negated this claim. They observed that the fish had fallen prey to toxic effluents released by some erring industrial unit.

A visit by the members of a local environmental association, Him Parivesh, revealed that the large-scale mortality stretched for several kilometres, extending almost till the Punjab border in Bir Pallasi. Its general secretary Balkrishen said the polluting industrial units were killing the fish and it was lamentable that the PCB had dismissed it as a silting-related problem. Its president Gyanendra Bhardwaj said they would take up the issue at the highest level.

PCB’s local executive engineer Chetan Joshi said they had sent some fish samples for laboratory analysis. Along with this, samples had also been drawn from the industrial units that emit toxic effluents, he added. He dismissed any reports of large-scale fish mortality.

However, assistant director of the Fisheries Department Shushil Kumar said the industrial units usually let out toxic effluents into the river bodies during monsoons. Since these effluents were high in concentration, they led to disastrous effects.

Further since mahseer fish thrives in Sarsa, it was comparatively less sensitive.

Fisheries Department officials said they would get samples collected to analyse the cause. They also decried the attitude of the PCB officials who always shrugged off the responsibility of inspecting the erring units. Since the PCB was responsible for regulating the use of effluent treatment plants, the department could do little to discipline them. It was found that some pesticide units operated on the sly during evenings and did not even have the requisite effluent treatment plants.

Shimla, June 15
Himachal Pradesh will be a key player in the Centre's programme for the conservation breeding of highly endangered high-altitude animals in the country.

The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has assigned the responsibility of the lead agency to three zoos of the hill state for the conservation breeding of monal and cheer pheasants and brown bear. Besides, its zoos will also participate in the programme for breeding Tibetan wolf, musk deer and snow leopard.

The Himalayan Nature Park at Kufri will be the lead zoo for the conservation breeding of brown bear. It has four brown bears, two of which were born in the zoo. The pheasantry at Manali will be the leading zoo for the breeding of the state bird monal while the one in Chail will be principal coordinator for the conservation breeding of cheer pheasants.

The Padmaja Naidu National Zoological Park, Darjeeling, will be the lead zoo for breeding of snow leopard in which the Himalayan Nature Park, Kufri, will be associated. The park already has a male and a female snow leopard. It will also be the participating zoo for the breeding of musk deer for which the Chopta zoo in Uttarakhand will be the coordinating agency. The Tibetan wolf will also be bred at Kufri for which the Gangtok zoo in Sikkim and Padmaja Naidu National Zoological Park, Darjeeling, respectively, have been assigned the role of the lead agency.

The CZA also approved in principle a Rs 3.30-crore project for the captive breeding of cheer pheasant. The World Pheasant Association (WPA) has been concerned over the dwindling population of the bird and encouraging efforts for its conservation. The species already figures in the red data book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and included in the schedule 1 of protected species under the Wildlife Act.

The state Wildlife Department has already achieved success in "parent rearing" of the endangered pheasant in captivity. A team of the department headed Dr Lalit Mohan, a zoologist-cum-forester, mastered the technique which will enable the authorities to release the birds bred in captivity in the wild. England is the only other country in the world to accomplish such a feat.

The department will soon formulate projects for the conservation breeding of monal and brown bear. The state has also achieved success in breeding the rare western tragopan pheasant but the CZA has not included it in the conservation breeding programme.

Chamba, June 15
The sanitation in rural Chamba continues to be a challenging task with hardly 25 per cent of the population having access to toilet facilities. The low-level of sanitation renders the settlements in the villages as potential sites for a host of diseases like dysentery, gastroenteritis, encephalitis, malaria fever, viral fever etc. Lack of community involvement, public motivation and awareness attributes to sanitation problems.

According to official sources, the Central Rural Sanitation Programme (CRSP) was launched in 1986 with the objective of improving the quality of life of the rural people and providing privacy and dignity to womenfolk. The concept of sanitation was expanded in 1993 which included personal hygiene, home sanitation, safe water and disposal of garbage, human excreta, waste water as well as environmental sanitation.

The components of the programme, included construction of individual sanitary toilets for households below the poverty line (BPL) convergence of dry latrines to water-pour flush toilets, construction of village sanitary complexes for women, setting up of sanitary marts and production centres, etc.

The programme was restructured in 1999. The total sanitation campaign (TSC) under restructured CRSP was launched with effect from 1 April, 1999, following a community-led and people centered approach.

The ‘nirmal gram puraskar’ (NGP) which was instituted on October 2, 2003, is awarded to such panchayati raj institutions that satisfy certain conditions under the total sanitation campaign. But surprisingly, so far in Chamba district, only one panchayat was able to get the NGP last month.

It was the Luddu gram panchayat in Mehla block of Chamba district which was adjudged as the cleanest panchayat of the district under the total sanitation campaign launched by the Union Ministry of Rural Development.

Nurpur, June 15
Women candidates are restive as their application forms accompanied by the income certificates are being rejected by the office of the child development project officer (CDPO) here as the eligibility income limit has been hiked.

The state government had cancelled the recruitment process a few months ago in which thousands of candidates had applied by spending thousands of rupees. The recruitment process was re-started by imposing a condition that the annual income of applicant or her family should not exceed Rs 8,000 per annum. After criticism of the fixation of such a low income limit Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh publicly announced the extension of the last date for submitting applications till June 16 and enhanced the income limit from Rs 8000 to 12000.

As the order relating to the enhancement of the income limit had not been circulated in the offices of the CDPOs, the application forms with enhanced low income certificates were being turned down by the CDPOs, causing resentment among the fresh applicants. 

Shimla, June 15
Chief Secretary S.S. Parmar has underlined the need to adopt a multi-disciplinary approach along with multi-pronged management techniques to mitigate the impact of natural disasters.

He was addressing a two-day workshop on “Seismic Evaluation and Strengthening of Existing Structures” organised by the National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, at the State Institute of Public Administration near here today.

He said to ensure sustainable development, a system of mitigation and management of such disasters by adopting good practices was essential along with proper infrastructure, planning and environment protection, which could help reduce potential risks and avoid man made disasters.

He said prior evaluation of existing circumstances was a prerequisite for effective disaster management.

He said the hill state figured in the first five states in the country with respect to natural hazards, so a lot of priority was being given to it.

Parmar said a national programme for capacity building of engineers in earthquake risk management had been initiated in the state and seismic evaluation and retrofitting of various lifeline buildings was going on in the state as part of the programme. The government was actively associating with educational institutions and voluntary organisations in creating awareness about the subject, he added.

Managing director, Tandon Consultants, Prof. Mahesh Tandon, who was the chief guest said Himachal Pradesh fell in highly seismic zone and there was a need to strictly follow earthquake resistant designs while constructing buildings. He said there was a need to introduce earthquake engineering as a discipline at degree level courses to produce technical experts in the field.

Shimla, June 15
Amending the transfer orders issued early this week the Himachal government today posted Rajesh Kumar, deputy commissioner, Solan, as such in Una.

He was earlier posted as the deputy commissioner, Kangra, in place of Bharat Khera, whose transfer has been cancelled.

Shekhar Gupta, commissioner, Shimla Municipal Corporation , who was under transfer as the deputy commissioner Una, has now been posted as additional secretary, finance. He will also hold additional charge as the director, environment and pollution control, and member-secretary, State Council of Science, Technology and Environment.

Bilaspur, June 15
The police has failed to make any breakthrough in the case where two fake customers decamped with gold and cash from the shop of Rakesh Soni. A goldsmith by profession, Rakesh was offered a drug-laced cold drink by the men, who seemed to be acquaintances. When he regained consciousness he found gold and cash missing from his shop.

Balbir Thakur, SP, said the men took along about half Kg gold and Rs 58,000 in cash from his shop.

Rakesh told the police that the two men told him about their closeness to some of his relatives and thus won over his confidence. He said they ordered jewellery worth Rs 75,000 for the marriage of one of them who seemed to be about 20-years-old. He said they gave him Rs 1,000 in cash and a draft worth Rs 34,000 and later persuaded him to have lunch with them at a nearby hotel at Sundernagar.

The SP said the police would prepare and issue sketches of the two accused persons, out of which one was about 40-years-old and claimed to be the uncle of the other accused, for whose marriage the jewellery was ordered.