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Flash floods, rain play havoc in
Rain, debris thrown into Neugal the villain |
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‘Picture not that rosy in health, education sectors’
Grazing, herb collection may be allowed
Kalka-Shimla rly should be UNESCO heritage site
Agitating TB patient ends fast
7-year RI for rape
Gas Tragedy
Prisoners charmed by Ramdev’s yoga
5 killed as Tavera falls into Beas
Ban sought on new teacher training institutes
Registration date extended
Auto-rickshaw race ends
HIMAGRICO workers await salary
Pratibha Patil’s visit cancelled
Peace march by villagers
Chandra Shekhar’s death mourned
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Flash floods, rain play havoc in Kangra district
Control rooms
A control room has been set up at the district headquarters here with phone numbers 01892-224967 (police lines), 01892-229278 (district magistrate’s office) and a national toll-free number 1077. Similar control rooms have been set up at all subdivisional headquarters. Snowfall
The higher mountain peaks in Manali and Kangra experienced snowfall today. The seven sister peak, Shikhar Beh and Mukher beh in Manali wore caps of snow, while the Dhauladhar ranges were also snow-clad. Dharamsala, July 8 Although the town is known for heavy rainfall next only to Cheranpunji in the country, today’s heavy downpour, followed by cloudbursts on the Dhauladhar ranges, resulted in flash floods in many rivulets flowing through the hill town. The nature’s fury caused damage to the National Highway-88 near Kangra, washing away a portion of the Dharamsala-Sheela-Kangra road, causing damage to many bridges and buildings in and around Dharamsala. When The Tribune correspondent visited Sheela chowk in the town, the Manjhi rivulet was flowing above the danger mark. A portion of the Dharamsala-Sheela-Kangra road near the Batehr village was washed away in the flash flood, blocking the traffic completely. A portion of the temple comprising bathing ghat on the rivulet was also washed away. The main temple building was almost on the verge of collapse as a portion of the rock on which it was standing had been washed away. The administration has got the temple building vacated and imposed a ban on entry of priests and the common people into it. Eight flats in the housing board colony were damaged due to flash flood in the Manooni rivulet. A small bridge across the rivulet adjoining the housing board colony and another over the Manjhi rivulet near Khaniara village were also partially damaged. Reports from Kangra revealed that the National Highway-88 was blocked by a heavy landslide near Brijeshwari ghat. A portion of the highway was reportedly washed away near Kangra. However, traffic was restored for light and medium vehicles via old Kangra when the report last came in. A bridge situated on the Kangra-Jamanabad road was partially damaged. There were also reports of loss to private and public property in the Nurpur and Jawali areas. Six families had been shifted to a safer place at Rajauli village after rainwater entered their houses. Machinery of the Subash Power Project at Palampur was also damaged in the rain, said Bharat Khera, district magistrate of Kangra. Shimla: Normal life was affected in some parts of the state following widespread rain over the past 24 hours. Strong winds that accompanied the incessant rain brought down a steep fall in the maximum temperature across the state. The maximum precipitation of 100 mm was recorded at Bhuntar, followed by Sundernagar (72 mm), Shimla (35 mm) and Una (8.8 mm). The tribal area of Kinnaur also had moderate rain that caused the maximum temperature at Kalpa to plummet from 30°C to 17.1°C. Bhuntar recorded a maximum of 20°C, down 16°C from yesterday’s 36°C. Sundernagar saw the maximum temperature fall from 34°C on Saturday to 23.8°C. Shimla had a maximum of 18.3°C, down 8.6°C from 24.9 °C recorded yesterday. The rain triggered numerous landslips that blocked link roads in interior areas. Shimla also witnessed some landslides one of which blocked the road leading to the Himalayan Forestry Research Institute. It also posed danger to the stability of six houses located uphill. The foundation of a house was shaken by landslip in Dhalli. It posed a threat to the adjoining houses, too. Minor slides were reported from lower Kahlini and Vikas Nagar areas. KULLU: Torrential and incessant rain during the past 12 hours affected the normal life in the district. The water level in the Beas crossed the danger mark and its tributaries were also flooded. The water level suddenly went high in the Sarwari River and Mohal Nullah due to flash floods. Twenty residential kiosks in the Lanka Baker Colony were washed away while 40 huts have been evacuated. However, no loss of life was reported. A pedestrian bridge at Bhootnath across the Sarwari was washed away. Bus services were affected due to landslides at Luggar Bhatti on the Kullu-Manali left bank road, Chharor Nullah on the Bhuntar-Manikaran road and at many places in the Lug Valley. Sources in the HRTC confirmed that the buses on these routes were not plying. MANDI: Daylong spell of heavy rain in the central region today sent several nullahs surging and triggered landslides that disrupted traffic on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway at Guma, near Jogindernagar, on the Mandi-Dharampur highway near Dharampur and on the Mandi-Manali highway near Bhuntar for two to three hours today. A couple of link roads in the district were also blocked due to landslides. The traffic on the Pathankot-Mandi highway remained blocked for three hours near Gumma where the surging Khani Nullah brought huge mass on the highway. The Mandi-Dharampur highway also remained blocked near Dharampur for around an hour. A couple of link roads in the district were blocked due to landslides. Chamba: Rain accompanied by a thunderstorm has damaged the kharif crops in certain parts of the district. A house collapsed at Mai-Ka-Bagh in the outskirts of Chamba town but no loss of life was reported. The Chamba-Nayagran and Chamba-Satrundi highways have been blocked by landslides at different points, disrupting traffic. Efforts were on to restore traffic. |
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Rain, debris thrown into Neugal the villain
Palampur, July 8 According to reports, the supply to the water works has been suspended which would result in a serious water crisis in the town and the adjoining villages for two days. Executive engineer Naresh Sharma said over 10 lakh litres of water was available in storage tanks which could suffice for 12 hours. He said efforts to solve the problem were under way. He said the IPH Department had repaired all water supply lines getting water from the Neugal river only last week but the dumping of soil and debris by the power company had damaged pipelines again, disrupting the supply of water. Despite repeated requests, the IPH Department was not getting any cooperation from the company which was cutting the hills to construct a road and throwing debris into the Neugal, a major source of water. The request to lay a new cement pipeline had not been conceded. It would be difficult to restore the water supply lines soon as it would take time to lay new pipelines. It may be recalled that the Palampur SDM last week directed the company to suspend the entire construction activities in the catchments areas of the Neugal as debris thrown by it was damaging the water supply pipelines to the town and other 20 villages. As the company continued with the construction of the road disregarding the SDM’s directions, it again resulted in a water crisis in the town. Meanwhile, R.K. Sood, president of the Palampur Welfare and Environment Protection Forum today urged the Himachal Pradesh High Court to intervene and restrain the power company from throwing soil and debris into the Neugal, a major source of drinking water to 5,00,000 residents of the Palampur region. |
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‘Picture not that rosy in health, education sectors’
Shimla, July 8 Statistically, the state has achieved much to be regarded as one of the best and the fastest growing economies but the mid-term review of millennium development goals carried under the “Campaign for government accountability” (wada na todo abhiyan), being carried out by NGOs, brings out a different and rather grim picture. The report released by Subhash Mendhapurkar, director of SUTRA (social uplift through rural action) stated that the quality of services was far from satisfactory. He said it would be a folly to assess the achievements of the state on the basis of statistical data like the number of health institutions, schools, student-teacher ratio, tele-density, per capita income and other indicators as the ground reality was different. As many as 58.8 per cent children in the age group of six months to three-years and 40 per cent women in the age group of 15-49 years were anaemic indicating that economic prosperity had not eradicated malnutrition. Similarly, the reduction in total fertility rate had not improved the gender ratio and, in fact, since 2005, even the infant mortality rate (IMR) had also become skewed with more girl child dying. Until 2004, the IMR of male child had been higher than that of girls. For the first time, the IMR for male declined to 47 from 56 per thousand, whereas for girls it rose to 51 from 45 per thousand. The reality was that despite all achievements, the coverage under the immunisation programme had declined from 84.4 per cent in 1998 to 74 percent in 2005, as per the National Family Health Survey which was a matter of concern. The outbreak of measles had been reported in some parts of the state and in all, 269 cases came to fore during 2003-06 period. He said the situation was better in Education. The state had the highest-teacher student ratio with most schools having a teacher for less than 20 pupils but the quality of teaching was questionable. As per a survey conducted by ASAR, an NGO, only 7 per cent students could read their books and solve sums at the primary level. |
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Grazing, herb collection may be allowed
Shimla, July 8 In consultation with the ITBP and the Forest Department the police will let the Gujjars and local people to venture up to the higher reaches along the J & K territory. However the Gujjars and locals will be allowed to go up to the higher reaches in the company of special protection officers (SPOs), village defence committee members or police personnel. The police and other security agencies had imposed a complete ban on cattle grazing and herb collection from the high mountain passes following the massacre of 35 labourers in Kalaban-Satrundi on the night of August 2, 1998. There have been several instances in the past when terrorists from J & K have crossed over to Himachal territory and killed or taken the locals from the Chamba border villages as hostages. Despite the fact that locals in the area are economically dependent on herb collection and, the authorities had to impose a complete ban on their venturing up to the higher reaches from the security point of view. The Gujjar community had approached the police and the administration to let them go up with the cattle as the situation was under control with no threat perception. "Since there is complete normalcy in Chamba and no intelligence reports of any threat or infiltration we are considering opening up the border area for the locals and the Gujjars," said Ashwani Kumar, DGP. He, however, added that the final decision would be taken after consultation with the ITBP, forest officials, locals and the Gujjars. In order to ensure surveillance and safety of the locals, the government has constituted 159 village defence committees (VDC), which have over 1,400 members. There are 476 SPOs who have been given arms licences to ensure the safety of locals and keep surveillance in the area along with police and ITBP personnel. Himachal police and ITBP personnel are manning the 216-km border Chamba shares |
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Kalka-Shimla rly should be UNESCO heritage site
New Delhi, July 8 The hill railways have unique features and when they were initially laid, their conception, design and construction were feats of engineering marvels, a character which they still retain. With a view to giving more pace to the efforts, two films, namely “Kalka-Shimla railway” and “Shimla Odyssey” have been produced on the Kalka-Shimla railway. The films tell the saga of the Kalka-Shimla railways, right from the discovery of Shimla to the rolling of trains in the hill section. The screening of the films was jointly organised by the Institute of Rolling Stock Engineers and the Indian Steam Railway Society here yesterday. In a length of 96.6 km, the Kalka to Shimla line required 869 small and 33 large bridges to criss cross the valley and ravines. The bridges are stone brick masonary, with a few multi-arch gallery bridges built like Roman acquaducts, some of which have been declared heritage structures and a sight to behold, a lasting tribute to the engineers. From Kalka to Shimla, out of 107 tunnels that were bored there are 102 tunnels in operation, with 20 stations en route. At one time before the advent of the Railways, only a few and resourceful could manage to reach Shimla. Once a resort of the rich, the Railways brought Shimla within the reach of the common man.
— UNI |
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Agitating TB patient ends fast
Kumarhatti, July 8 Rajesh Kumar, an MDR (Multi Drugs Resistant) TB patient, had been sitting on a hunger strike since Friday night, alleging mistreatment by some staff members of the sanatorium. However, well placed sources in the sanatorium revealed that Rajesh used to create indiscipline and argue with the staff on wrong matters. Fed up with his violent behaviour, he was discharged. But he started the hunger strike. A senior official was able to convince him and he finally ended his protest. Rajesh has been asked to leave the sanatorium as his indoor treatment has already completed. |
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7-year RI for rape
Dharamsala, July 8 Dalbir Singh took away his niece from her house on April 3, 2006, when her parents had gone out for some work. He took his niece to Bathinda in Punjab and raped her there for about five days. After the girl came back home on April 8, a criminal case was registered against Dalbir Singh on the victim's statement. In the case of failure to deposit the fine, the accused would have to undergo imprisonment for another one year. |
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Gas Tragedy
Kumarhatti, July 8 The storage tank in the basement of a unit of the Hira Moti Group of industries was not cleaned for a long time. Efforts to contact management officials did not succeed. |
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Prisoners charmed by Ramdev’s yoga
Kullu, July 8 On the request of inmates, the special yoga class by experts of Ramdev's Patanjali Yoga Peeth, which was earlier scheduled from July 1 to 7, has to be extended by four days, deputy superintendent of Jail, M.R. Rana told PTI today. The inmates, including 47 male and three women, practise ‘anulom’ and ‘vilom’ for two-hours every morning and evening. Rana said the yoga experts had volunteered to train someone from the jail staff who could carry on the exercise among the inmates, later on also. Assistant jail superintendent said the prisoners felt healthy and energetic due to regular yoga exercise and attended the yoga with their own will. — PTI |
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5 killed as Tavera falls into Beas
Kullu, July 8 Tavera driver Kehar Singh from Hirdayepur in Ropar district said he lost control over the vehicle after it was hit by another vehicle. The driver said they were on their way back home after visiting Manikaran. The dead were identified as Amarjit Singh, Kaka of Laddi Tent House, Bitoo of Khanpur, Chhinda and Raju of Bhawani in Ropar district. The dead were washed away in the flooded river and their bodies had not been located so far. The injured were Kehar Singh, Amrit Singh and Kaku, all from Ropar in Punjab. |
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Ban sought on new teacher training institutes
Chamba, July 8 The association also sought the appointment of teachers through the Himachal Pradesh State Subordinate Selection Board (HPSSSB) and the appointment of lecturers through the Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (HPPSC) so that all posts of relevant categories could be filled judiciously on the basis of merit. In a memorandum submitted to the state government through the local administration, office-bearers of the district unit of the association pointed out that the present policy adopted by the government with regard to appointment of teachers on a contract and PTA basis was "illogical" as this policy was promoting regionalism and nepotism. |
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Registration date extended
Kullu, July 8 Now the persons registered with the employment exchanges till July 2 could apply for these posts. This was said by G.D. Bhargava, superintendent of police here today. He said the pro forma of the application was available at all police posts, police stations, offices of the SDMs and tehsildar. It could also be downloaded from www.hppolice.nic.in . Bhargava said out of the 79 posts, eight had been reserved for women. The tehsil-wise allocation of the posts is: Banjar-11, Kullu-34, Manali-8 and Anni Nirmand-18. For the posts of woman constables, a separate merit list would be made at the district level, he added. The last date for filing applications is July 25. |
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Auto-rickshaw race ends
Manali, July 8 The race was flagged off from Kolkata on June 24. Speaking on the concluding ceremony today, Lamona Trahair, event manager of the UK-based company, ‘League of Adventurists International’, said the teams from UK, the US, Italy and India had undertaken the tour without any specific route.
— PTI |
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HIMAGRICO workers await salary
Nurpur, July 8 According to Jagdish Singh, president of the workers union of HIMAGRICO, they have not been receiving their salaries for the past four months. He urged the management to release salaries every month like trading and other wings of the HPAIC. State INTUC president Amarjeet Singh Baba asserted that he would take up the issue of regular disbursement of salaries with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. |
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Pratibha Patil’s visit cancelled
Shimla, July 8 She was to address Congress legislators to muster support for her candidature for which a meeting of the legislative party had been convened at Peterhoff, the state guest house, this morning.
— TNS |
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Peace march by villagers
Bagheri (Nalagarh), July 8 The march was organised under the banner of the Thermal Plant Hatao Sangresh Committee and NGO Himsprivesh. Raising slogans, the villagers demanded cancellation of the plant. The march was organised to express resentment against government’s failure to take action on the six-day ultimatum of the samiti seeking abandoning of the project. |
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Chandra Shekhar’s death mourned
Shimla, July 8 In his condolence message, Kokje said he was a man of principles who had dedicated his life to the uplift of the poor. He was an excellent parliamentarian and his contribution would be remembered by the people. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh also condoled the death and said in his death the country had lost an able leader. Pradesh Congress Committee chief Viplove Thakur has also mourned the death. National vice-president of the BJP Shanta Kumar, former Chief Minister, P.K. Dhumal, state BJP chief Jai Ram have also condoled the death. They described him as a man of independent views who lived by his conviction.
— TNS |
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