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Mishaps claim 13 lives
Review policy on power projects: Bahuguna
Govt to take up Naina Devi ropeway
project with Punjab
Woman dies; death toll up to 13
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Virbhadra turns 74
Villagers blame docs for woman’s death
Landslide kills three
Rain brings down temperature
Journalists decry disparity
Upgraded schools await lecturers
Unbundling of power boards opposed
RTO’s office raided
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Mishaps claim 13 lives
Kullu, June 23 The victims were members of a marriage party that was returning from Bachchut village, near Gadagusheni, to a village near Rampur. The Tempo Trax in which they were travelling rolled down the hill into a 500-m-deep gorge. The injured were shifted to Banjar hospital, while two of them were referred to Regional Hospital, Kullu. The DC said only one body could be retrieved so far and the search for others was on. The injured were identified as Rakesh, Anil, Dinesh, Ram Rattan (all from Chiksa village) and driver Sadh Ram of Averi village (Nirmand). Agriculture minister Raj Krishan Gaur, HP Marketing Board chairman Satya Prakash Thakur, HPMC chairman Ishar Dass and MLA Khimi Ram have expressed grief over the incident. DC Abhishek Jain said an immediate relief of Rs 5,000 each to the seriously injured and Rs 2,000 each to those suffering minor injuries had been disbursed. He said a relief of Rs 1 lakh or Rs 50,000 each to the next of kin of the deceased would be given soon.
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Four killed, six injured
in accident
Bilaspur, June 23 Reports said here today that all occupants of the vehicle belonged to Bholanath Nagar of Shalimar Park, Shahadra, in East Delhi and were on the way to Naina Devi when the accident occurred. The vehicle lost balance and tumbled down when the driver tried to give way to a truck coming from the opposite direction on a narrow turn while in the reverse gear. Those killed on the spot were Sarla Nagpal (60), Karan Nagpal (16), and Parul Nagpal (30), while Suneel Nagpal (40) died on the way to hospital. Those injured included Rajiv, Mini, Maney, Vijay Nagpal, Ravi and driver Rinku were rushed to a nearby Anandpur Sahib hospital from where they were referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. The district administration announced immediate relief for next of kin of the deceased and the injured. |
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Review policy on power projects: Bahuguna
Shimla, June 23 Interacting with mediapersons after touring the entire state he said he met Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and requested him to take certain steps which were a must to save the fragile Himalayan ecology. “I requested him to review the policy on micro-hydel power projects in order to save the fragile Himalayan ecology projects,” he informed. Being strictly opposed to the construction of tunnels for power generation, he said they would prove to be most disastrous for the fragile Himalayan ecology. “The government should ensure that the agencies executing the power projects strictly adhere to the environmental norms and those adversely affecting it should be discouraged,” he said. He said he had also raised the issue of a regular share from the profits of the projects being given to people who had been uprooted rather than one time compensation. “Himachal has emerged a model hill state and as such it should initiate the framing of a Himalayan policy so that they can be saved from further devastation,” he said. He said it was important to frame a policy to tackle global warming and depleting glaciers. “All Himalayan nations right from Afghanistan to Burma should join hands on the issue of water as it would severely affect the lives of those living in the hills,” he opined. He said Himachal should once again take up the issue of water royalty with the Centre as the state should be compensated for imposing a complete ban on felling of trees,” he said. He added that even though the Centre had rejected the state’s earlier request for royalty but pressure should be built jointly by all the hill states to ensure that they got their due. He said the focus should be on saving the Himalayas by covering it with trees. “I have suggested that we should plant walnut, chestnut, oil seeds which not only provide food but also save the Himalayas,” he said.
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No compromise on environment: Virbhadra
Shimla, June 23 This was stated by Virbhadra Singh during a meeting with environmentalist Sunder Lal Bahuguna, who called on him here. He said his government had banned green felling way back in the 1980’s and stopped the use of wooden boxes to market horticulture produce which costed the state over 80,000 trees annually. He said the government had adopted a new environment policy and taken all precautions to protect the environment of the state. He said his government had abandoned hydro-electric projects of 460 MW in Kinnaur and Kullu district keeping in view the adverse effect it had on the environment. |
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Govt to take up Naina Devi ropeway
project with Punjab
Shimla, June 23 Although the state government has approved the setting up of a ropeway at Jakhu in Shimla, the Naina Devi project, which received the sanction of the Centre around four years ago, is yet to take off. The Tourism Department has even set the ball rolling for setting up of ropeways at Dharamsala, Kullu and Manali. Being a joint project of the Himachal and the Punjab governments, the core issues pertaining to the project are yet to be settled between the two states. Interestingly, the Centre has even approved Rs 7 lakh for preparing a detailed project report (DPR) of the project. The estimated cost of the project is likely to be over Rs 30 crore, a major share of which will be given by the Centre. “The project has been delayed as certain issues are to be decided by the two states. We will take up the issue with the Punjab Government soon,” said tourism minister G.S. Bali. He said the project was important not only from the tourism point of view, but also because it would strengthen emotional ties between the two neighbours. In Himachal, the ropeway will start from Naina Devi temple, but it is yet to be decided from where it will take off on the Punjab side. Though it is proposed that the ropeway will connect the two famous shrines of Anandpur Sahib and Naina Devi, the finer details have not been worked out yet. Although RITES has undertaken a preliminary survey of the area for the purpose, issues like how much land has to be acquired and at which place exactly have not been decided yet. The case for diversion of forest land for the coming up of the project will also have to be moved to the union ministry of forest and environment. The span of the project is likely to be around 10 km and will be taken up on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. However, many issues, including the share that each of the two states will get from the promoters, have yet to be worked out. |
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ADM slaps notice on PWD
Dharamsala, June 23 The condition of Akshay, who was also seriously injured in the accident, has worsened while the other three admitted to the PGI are out of danger. Meanwhile, the local police has taken into custody driver of the bus Raj Gill after he was discharged from hospital this afternoon. He has been booked for negligence and rash driving. Additional SP Santosh Patial said the driver would be produced in court tomorrow. Meanwhile, Kangra ADM H.S. Pundir, who was conducting a magisterial probe into the bus accident, had served a notice on the PWD for dumping crushed stones and installing a cement mixing machine for widening the road near the site of the accident without taking any permission from either the local administration or the municipal council. The dumping of construction material and the cement mixing machine on the roadside was creating a lot of problems for the vehicles passing through that point, besides leading to traffic jams.
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Shimla, June 23 Governors and Chief Ministers of various states and a host of members of Parliament sent their greetings to Virbhadra Singh wishing him good luck. People from different places of the hill state, carrying traditional musical instruments, gathered at Singh's residence and rejoiced the celebration. While thanking people, the CM said their wishes inspired him to work for their welfare. — PTI
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Villagers blame docs for woman’s death
Chamba, June 23 Madhu of Chambi village, which falls in Jadera panchayat of Chamba district, died after giving birth to a baby in the hospital. She was admitted to the hospital on June 17. A gynaecologist performed a caesarian operation on her on June 20. But, her condition deteriorated and she died allegedly in the absence of doctors. However, the newly born baby is well. An inquiry has been ordered. |
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Landslide kills three
Purli (Hamirpur), June 23 Julfi Ram (62) of Kot village and his newly married daughter Shushma (21) from Devyali village got buried under the rubble and were killed on the spot, while two-and-half-year-old Harish from Panyala succumbed to his injuries on way to Tohni Devi hospital. Those injured were Chandu Ram, his wife Banarsi Devi and Budhi Chand from Panyala. They were taken to Tohni Devi hospital. One Vinod Kumar was discharged after administering first aid. The incident occurred around 12 noon. Digging for widening of the road was in progress at that time. Residents of the area assembled at the spot and blocked the road for some time. They also raised slogans against the government. Hamirpur SDM R.K Pruthi, accompanied by tehsildar and DSP K.G. Kapoor rushed to the spot to supervise the rescue operation. Former Chief Minister and MP Prem Kumar Dhumal also visited the spot. The district administration has announced an immediate relief of Rs 10,000 to the families of the deceased.
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Rain brings down temperature
Shimla, June 23 Shimla, which recorded 22.5 mm rainfall, registered day temperature of 23.5°C in comparison to 24.3°C yesterday, met office sources said. Rain was also recorded at Bhuntar (1.6 mm) and Dharamsala (2.8 mm), sources said. Elsewhere, Sundarnagar recorded day temperature of 32.4°C vis-a-vis 34.9°C yesterday, while it was 33.2 °C at Bhuntar and 24.7°C at Kalpa.
— PTI |
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Journalists decry disparity
Bilaspur, June 23 The federation drew Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s attention towards its state executive committee meeting at Shimla on September 26 where he had ordered the officers concerned to withdraw this notification charge the same amount for night halt without any distinction. The federation rued that the Chief Minister’s orders had not yet been implemented. The federation would decide its further course of action at its next meeting if the government did not withdraw the objectionable notification immediately.
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Upgraded schools await lecturers
Nurpur, June 23 Ironically, the Education Department did not create posts of lecturer and principal for these. As a result, no teaching staff could be posted in these schools. Even after two and a half months of the beginning of the academic session, proper teaching has not begun in these schools as just one lecturer has been sent to each school on deputation from other senior secondary schools. Residents of Khanni and Minjgranh gram panchayats have served an ultimatum on the government threatening to lock the upgraded schools if the Education Department failed to post teachers there. The deputy director, education, Dharamsala, said permission had been sought from the director to appoint teachers for these schools.
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Unbundling of power boards opposed
Shimla, June 23 This decision was taken at an executive committee meeting of the NIPEF held here today. Office-bearers and executive committee members from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan attended the meeting. An action plan would be submitted to the Centre on important issues. It was also decided that the NIPEF would also urge the Centre to undo the unbundling of state electricity boards. “It has been witnessed that none of the objectives set by the Centre in terms of efficiency, economy and maximization of generation had been achieved through unbundling,” said Chairman of NIPEF Suneel Grover. He said it had also been decided to seek review of the Electricity Act, 2003, by constituting am expert committee comprising economists, engineers and legal experts rather than depending on the industrial-political-bureaucratic nexus. The NIPEF felt that members of the boards should be selected on merit for a fixed tenure of three years with no extension. They also felt that fresh recruitment of engineers must also be undertaken immediately by all states to make the power sector more vibrant and self-sustaining.
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RTO’s office raided
Bilaspur, June 23 Though Ashwani Ramesh tried to play down the raid, claiming it to be a routine checking, the thorough checking of the files indicated that this inspection had followed complaints from some transporters. Reports said the raiding team had taken away some documents and files. |
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