Shimla, June 18
Concerned over seismic safety of high-rise structures in Shimla that has been witnessing unprecedented growth, international seismologists have recommended two-storeyed buildings along the traditional lines having high structural stability.

These were the views expressed by a gathering of eminent names from the world over at the international workshop on seismic evaluation and strengthening of existing structures, held here last week. The focus of the workshop was ‘earthquakes don’t kill, but structures kill.’

Majority of the participants expressed concern over the construction of high-rise buildings on steep slopes, especially in view of the fact that not only Shimla but the entire state fell in high seismic zone IV and V. “We should restrict to two-storeyed structures in the private sector, while high-rise buildings should be erected only in the organised sector and that, too, under the supervision of structural engineers.” they said.

The participants were of the opinion that the government should have an exclusive department for disaster management and mitigation rather than mingling it with revenue. Time and again stress was laid on study of old and traditional structures that were constructed keeping in mind vulnerability to earthquakes. They felt light material with seismic bands should be used with the number of storeys being restricted to the minimum.

Participants from places like Canada, New Zealand, Taiwan and Greece expressed surprise over construction being undertaken on steep slopes. “The slope for construction should be minimal and the foundation should be very deep right up to the hard strata,” they said. Although the state government proposes to restrict constructions on steep slopes, the recommendation is still awaiting approval.

It was felt that seeing the vulnerability of the area to earthquakes, construction should be strictly in accordance with the National Building Code, 2005.

The participants included Prof Michael. N. Fardis, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, Greece, Prof Shamim A. Sheikh, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada, Prof K.C. Tsai, National Centre for Research on Earthquake Engineering, Taiwan, Jitender Bothara, seismic engineer from New Zealand, and experts from the IIT, New Delhi.

Rampur, June 18
Learning from the problems faced in the implementation of the Nathpa Jhakri Project, the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) is carrying out visual documentation of water sources, hill slopes and other environmentally sensitive features before starting work on the 412-MW Rampur project to help make exact assessment of the impact of the project.

In order to have a baseline environmental data of the project-affected area, several specialised studies have been carried out in accordance with the guidelines given by the World Bank, which is funding the project. Besides environmental impact assessment (EIA) and catchment area treatment (CAT) plan, terrestrial biodiversity study, cumulative and induced impact assessment on the Sutlej basin study and managed river flow study have been conducted.

A comprehensive survey has been conducted through the Agro-Economic Research Centre to have a baseline data of the socio-economic status of the project-affected families. A similar survey will be carried out after the completion of the project to correctly gauge the impact of the project.

A videographic survey of dwelling units in the project area is also being carried out in association with the state government and the panchayat pradhans concerned to have baseline data of house cracks. While 50 per cent of the villages have been covered, survey of the remaining could not be taken up due resistance by the local people.

Videography of the dwelling units situated over tunnel alignment was essential to ascertain whether or not blasting was causing damage to housing structures. However, joint inspection along with videography of natural water resources falling in project area has already been completed in association with gram panchayat pradhans.

Besides preservation of environment, the main priority is resettlement and rehabilitation of the affected families, says general manager of the project V.K. Sharma. The SJVN has worked out the best resettlement and rehabilitation package to date and its total cost comes to over Rs 102 crore. In all, 141 families will be directly affected out of which only 35 families will be uprooted.

It is for the first time that compensation for the old houses will be given on the basis of the cost of building a new structure and not the depreciated value of the old house. Further, the affected families will also be given built-up houses or fully developed plots.

Besides, they will also be entitled to resettlement grant of Rs 1.80 lakh. The SJVN is sponsoring 35 students from the affected families to various technical institutions for education every year.

Nahan, June 18
The local unit of the Himachal Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) has charged industrial units like “Wunder Electricals” and “Konark Corporation” located at Kala-Amb for encroaching upon government land.

In the Kala-Amb industrial area on National Highway-72, a fair stretch of 109 Bigha land was acquired by the HIMUDA, under the Moginand Patwar circle, has now become controversial and disputed.

A section of landlords, while talking to The Tribune, said the land acquisition process had not been transparent as names of certain landowners were deleted from the final list of the sale deed.

They vented their ire and threatened to move the High Court if the HIMUDA did not amend its way of hoodwinking the innocent farmers and stop illegal transactions.

During the land acqusition process initially a proposal of 132 bigha land was drafted and later the plan of procuring 33 bigha land pertaining to 5 Bigha 6 Biswa of Karta Ram, 9 Bigha 9 Biswa of Rasal Singh, 3 Bigha 11 Biswa of Mangat Ram, 3 Bigha 4 Biswa of Rama Nand, 5 Bigha 17 Biswa of Ram Rattan and Balbir, 1 Bigha of Ramesh and 14 Biswa of Ram Lal was dropped, reason best known to the HIMUDA authorities.

It is pertinent to mention here, that on prime location, the price of the land in the open competition market is Rs 15 to Rs 20 crore where as HIMUDA paid Rs 8 crore a bigha.

In the light of growing impasse the HIMUDA authorities have asked the local police to register a case against the illegal encroachment done by the proprietors of Wunder Electricals and Konark Corporations.

Kangra, June 18
Urmila Sharma today took over as the new president of the local Municipal Council after a controversy for nearly five months after a vote of no-confidence was moved against Suman Verma.

Urmila Sharma took oath of the president and her husband Bal Krishen Sharma took oath of the vice-president of the MC The oath was given to the two by the SDM, Kangra, C. Palrasu in the local Municipal Council office today.

Earlier for nearly one-year Suman Verma was heading the local MC, and following shifting of the loyalty by one of the members towards Bal Krishen Sharma, the vote of no-confidence was moved and later passed.

Urmila after assuming the office said the lanes and by-lanes which were in a dilapidated condition would be repaired and roads would be recarpeted to make them worth walking.

She said all chocked drains in the town, particularly the Dharamshala road from New Bus stand, would be cleaned and sanitation of the town would be improved.

Bal Krishen Sharma expressed concern that footpaths along the Dharamshala road in the town have been encroached posing threat to the pedestrians moving in and out of Kangra by this road.

Solan, June 18
Notwithstanding tall claims of the state government for having provided employment to lakhs of youth in the industrial ventures, the figures released by the Economic Survey 2006-2007, have pegged this number at a mere 34,290.

The survey report released by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and complied by the Department of Economics and Statistics clearly states that after the notification of special incentives package by the central government in January 2003, as many as 2,592 small scale industrial units and 146 medium and large scale units were registered uptill December 2006. While, investment worth Rs 1,790.67 crore was made the generation of employment has been miniscule.

The government has all along been taking credit for having generated employment opportunities for nearly 2.70 lakh youth in the newly set-up industries. It has even made the inclusion of 70 per cent Himachali youth in all industrial ventures a mandatory condition as per it's employment policy of 2004.

The grant of employment to mere 34,290 youth means that the industry has generated only 7 to 8 per cent employment contrary to their claim of 2.70 lakh after the central package.

Interestingly, most of the units have been found flagrantly violating norms of Employment Policy 2004. Though they are permitted to employ only 10 per cent staff on contract basis in the core areas, including production but this norm is observed more in the breach.

In case this number exceeds 10 per cent an investor is supposed to pay double or triple the wages depending on the strength of staff employed on contract basis.

Surprisingly, not a single case has been detected by the Industries Department where the employment granted to the Himachalis has been less than 70 per cent.

Industries minister Kuldeep Kumar said the figures of 2.70 lakh pertained to the projected employment generation as stated by the units at the time of registration of their units.

Nurpur, June 18
Erratic disbursement of salaries to the workers of HIMAGRICO, a unit of the Himachal Pradesh Agro Industries Corporation (HPAIC) at Jachh near here, has made the lives of their families miserable.

According to president of the HIMAGRICO workers’ union Jagdish Singh, workers have not received salaries since March. He demanded that the management of the HPAIC should release salaries every month like its other wings.

HIMAGRICO has been manufacturing agricultural implements and tools. However, various departments are not following the government direction of fulfilling 50 per cent of their annual requirement through HIMAGRICO. As a result, the unit has been accumulating losses for the past few years.

Hamirpur, June 18
Former Kullu district deputy commissioner Chamel Singh was today administered the oath of office and secrecy as member of the Himachal Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Board (HPSSSB), Hamirpur.

With his induction, the HPSSSB now has two members, including chairman Harbans Lal Sharma, who administered the oath to Singh at a ceremony here.

Hamirpur ADM Hira Singh was also present on the occasion.

Talking to reporters after the oath ceremony, Chamel Singh promised speedier declaration of results and a neat, clean and transparent functioning.

He said the board would ensure that only the meritorious candidates were selected by it. — UNI

Shimla, June 18
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has conferred its prestigious Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award for 2006-07 on director of the Central Potato Research Institute S.K. Pandey.

The award has been given in recognition of his outstanding achievements and contribution in diversification of potato production, storage and utilisation and improving productivity and profitability of small farmers.

The award carries a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh besides a citation and a certificate. The award will be presented to him by union minister of agriculture Sharad Pawar on July 16.

S.K. Pandey has been engaged in potato research and development for the past more than 36 years. He has developed 13 high-yielding potato varieties, including four first-ever indigenous processing varieties namely Kufri Chipsona-I, Kufri Chipsona-2, Kufri Chipsona-3 and Kufri Himsona.

He also pioneered the technology for potato processing into chips and French fries. Late blight-resistant potato varieties, Kufri Giriraj and Kufri Shailja, have helped in sustaining the potato production in the hills.

Big corporate names like Reliance, American Express, Cipla, ICICI Bank and Mc Dowell's are offering attractive packages to management students from Himachal Pradesh University.

Reliance Communications, this year selected 17 students from the MBA Department on package of Rs 3.50 lakh per annum. These students have already been appointed at various places like Delhi, Meerut, Chandigarh and other places in Punjab circle. This year itself, over 1,000 companies approached the Department of Business Administration and campus placements were held on and off the campus.

Dr Shyam Lala Kaushal, coordinator (Training and Placement) in the Institute of Management Studies at HPU, said more than 50 per cent of the students had been picked up by leading companies on an average package of over Rs 3 lakh.

While Reliance Communications has selected 17 students, IDBI Bank has taken nine students on an annual package of Rs 3.45 lakh. Other companies like Asian Pai, ICICI Prudential, Mc Dowell's and Cellebrum also picked up more than 12 students.