Chail, July 14
With the Special Area Development Authority (SADA), here, refusing to grant permissions to new constructions along the Sadhupul-Chail road, all new ventures have been put on hold. SADA had stopped approving building maps ever since the Forest Department pointed out that no such permission could be granted in the purview of a reserve sanctuary area.

The move has been criticised by residents who say their genuine construction activity like construction of houses, cow sheds, etc., has been denied permissions. Still others who wish to begin tourism ventures by constructing hotels have also been hit by the recent instructions of SADA.

SADA was notified in 2003 for regulating constructions in the sanctuary area of Chail.

The very purpose of the notification was doubtful, since no construction was permitted in a sanctuary area as per an apex court ruling and how SADA was going to regulate constructions there was questionable.

The Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department had initially paid no heed to the ruling and continued granting permissions to all for various construction activities.

But when it was again pointed out by the Forest Department that it was contrary to the provisions, commanding the reserve forest, the TCP got the angle examined. It then concluded that the authority could not grant permissions for pursuing construction activities. Hence an immediate hold was put on all such permissions since the past six months a TCP official said.

Forest officials observed that with the enforcement of Acts like the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, there was little scope for construction activity here. They added that the very notification of SADA was erroneous but the TCP had realised it after nearly four years now.

The residents who are again resenting the move have decided to take up the matter with the Chief Minister who is visiting the area tomorrow. They also rued that though the Chief Minister had announced last year at Kandaghat that SADA would be withdrawn, no such move came about.

The enactment of SADA had made it binding on the people to obtain a NOC from the TCP for getting power and water connections. While a reserve forest prohibits construction activity in the area, the enforcement of SADA was a government approval for constructions.

The dual policy of the government had now confused the residents who did not know what rules would be binding on them.

The officials of the TCP Department agreed that the very enactment of SADA within a reserve sanctuary area was fraught with legal errors and all permissions had been put on hold ever since the apex court direction became known.

The forest range officials and the pradhans of the nearby panchayats had been shown to be members of SADA in the notification.

Dharamsala, July 14
Himachal Pradesh power minister Vidhya Stokes was today let down by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Virbhadra left her high and dry at the Shimla helipad and flew-off ahead of the scheduled time to preside over the annual meeting of the employees union of the state electricity board at Palampur in Kangra district.

She was the chief guest in the function and was officially supposed to go along with the CM on helicopter to attend the function. While talking to The Tribune from her mobile phone, Stokes said that she was hurt over this incident. I arrived at the Shimla helipad well within the scheduled time, 15 minutes before the scheduled take-off time”, she alleged.

The scheduled time for the take-off of the helicopter as per the official tour programme available with The Tribune was 10 a.m this morning. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Kewal Pathania, state president of the National Students Union of India, allegedly asked the pilot to take-off at 9.40 am without waiting for the power minister who was supposed to accompany the Chief Minister on the official tour.

The power minister alleged that the Shimla DM was supposed to inform her well in time if there was some change in the take-off time. She said, “I talked to the DM immediately after coming to know that the helicopter had taken-off but he could not give a satisfactory reply”.

She further alleged that certain leaders within the party had tried to let her down before the employees of the state electricity board by giving an indirect message that the concerned minister of the department had failed to turn-up for the function.

Dharamsala, July 14
The working committee of the state unit of the BJP has demanded dissolution of the Legislative Assembly so that the Assembly elections could be held at one time throughout the state, including the far-flung tribal areas. However, it has not been to draw consensus on the name of the leader to be projected as a candidate for the Chief Minister’s post.

Briefing mediapersons after the meeting of the state working committee here this evening, Khushi Ram, general secretary of the party, said it was not possible to hold elections in far-flung tribal areas in February due to harsh weather conditions.

A section of the BJP leaders was also of the view that the elections to the constituencies falling under the tribal areas should be held before the due date of the elections but later on they joined the majority to pass a resolution unanimously demanding the dissolution of the Assembly.

Meanwhile, neither the state delegates nor the working committee were able to draw a consensus in their respective meetings on the name of the leader to be projected as a candidate for the Chief Minister’s post in the Assembly elections.

When specifically asked to comment on this, Khushi Ram said, “The party high command will decide on this. All was well within the party and there was no question of any factionalism on this issue.”

Meanwhile, a meeting of the BJP legislature party was also held here to discuss the issue of Presidential election. All the legislators unanimously decided to vote in favour of NDA-supported candidate.

Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal, former Chief Ministers, Manohar Lal, national organising secretary, Jai Ram Thakur, state president, Ishwar Dass Diman, leader of the legislature party, Hari Narayan Singh, former minister, and other senior leaders of the state unit of the party were present in the working committee meeting.

Meanwhile, BJP’s national president Rajnath Singh will arrive here on Sunday to address a meeting of the state working committee of the party. Normally, the national president of the BJP does not preside over the state working committee meetings. Political observers are of the view that he is coming to end infighting within the party on the issue of projecting chief ministerial candidate.

Shimla, July 14
Restoration and reconstruction of all prominent ancient religious shrines in the state will be undertaken in a phased manner.

This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh while addressing the fourth annual function of the Bushair Kalyan Sabha here last evening. “A Rs 50-crore project is proposed for funding promotion of tourism-related activity and restoration of religious shrines along the Hindustan-Tibet road,” he said.

He said Rs 2.6 crore was being spent on tourism promotion in the Sarahan-Jeori-Srikhand circuit. The report of the ropeway project connecting Bashal and Sarahan was also being finalized, he added.

He said two new private universities would be opened in the state. “Permission has already been granted for the setting up of Amity university near Dharamsala. It will be named after the Father of the Nation,” he said.

He said participation by the private sector in the field of education would supplement the endeavour of the government in promoting vocational education in a big way. He said the state had shown remarkable performance in the health, education, infrastructure building and social sector and was way ahead of others in the country in many other areas.

He said joint efforts must be made to preserve the rich cultural heritage, traditions and customs of the hill state. “Only those civilizations have prospered and survived that have preserved their culture and traditions,” he said.

He also released a souvenir on the occasion. A cheque of Rs 1 lakh was presented to the him by the sabha as their contribution towards the restoration work of Bhima Kali Temple at Sarahan.

Shimla, July 14
The high court has directed the state government that at least 15 per cent seats must be kept open in all BEd colleges for accommodating candidates from all over the country.

A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Deepak Gupta and Mr Justice Surinder Singh, however, said since the process of admissions for this year was already over, the direction would be applicable from the next academic year.

The court passed this order on a petition that claimed that the condition that all candidates seeking admission to BEd colleges should be bona fide residents of Himachal Pradesh. The condition was challenged on the ground that it amounted to 100 per cent reservation for Himachalis.

Passing the order, the court said, “We live in a country comprising a large number of states. Encouragement should also be given to candidates for moving from one state to another. No state can be permitted to be totally insular and an island in itself”.

Chamba, July 14
The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has okayed two courses of electronics and communication engineering and computer sciences engineering for the newly set up the Government Millennium Polytechnic Institute, Chamba, to be commenced from this academic session which is its maiden session. Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will lay the foundation stone of the proposed complex of the polytechnic institute at Sarol village near Chamba town on August 5.

This was stated by animal husbandry and urban development minister Harsh Mahajan, while addressing mediapersons here today. He said the AICTE had recently inspected the site and existing buildings were identified for setting up of the institute. The state government had proposed five courses but the AICTE accorded its approval to two courses only, Mahajan said. He said, initially, the polytechnic courses would start in the buildings of the Government Animal Husbandry Training Centre, Sarol village, Chamba.

Mahajan said the state government had sanctioned Rs 20 crore for the construction of an imposing complex of the institute; adding that the tender and budget for which had been sanctioned and the construction work had been entrusted to HIMUDA. The institute was the first of its kind among six polytechnic institutions which was located in the far-flung district of the state, he said.

“Virbhadra Singh will formally launch a flagship scheme of Rs 25 crore Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyut Yojna (RGGVY) approved for Chamba district to strengthen electricity network in the district”, Mahajan said.

Mahajan said the CM would also lay the foundation of a prestigious augmentation water-supply scheme for the town with an outlay of Rs 6 crore and the scheme would be completed within a targeted period of one year.

Hamirpur, July 14
The Regional Transport office (RTO), Hamirpur, is finding it difficult to recover road tax dues worth crores from government-run road transport corporations.

The HRTC, Hamirpur unit, alone owes the government Rs 3,21,50,576 in road tax for the past many years. Transport corporations from neighbouring states are also not far behind. These have also not paid around Rs 15,26,280 for plying buses under the Hamirpur region.

Punjab Roadways has to pay Rs 13,57,822, Haryana Roadways Rs 1,49,345 and CTU Rs 19,121.

Private operators owe Rs 2,76,61,136 as road tax. Though the RTO, Hamirpur, has been able to realise more than Rs 6 crore, which had been pending for the past 10 years, in the past few months, a huge amount remains to be realised.

The amount pending towards the HRTC pertains to the period 1997 to 2000.

HRTC divisional manager A.P. Nadda said: “We pay the dues when we get grant from the state government. We shall make the payment as soon as we get the government grant,” he added.

Mandi, July 14
Come rains and the danger of loose rocks and boulders rolling down the steep hillsides to hit tourists and local commuters increases manifold. The danger is more pronounced in certain stretches on the three national highways in the state - NH-20, NH-21 and NH-22. The state disaster management committee, headed by the secretary, revenue, today alerted the district committees to keep ready to face the challenge.

The NH and the road transport authorities are mulling the proposal to “identify these weak stretches or spots” and initiate “measures to stabilise the loose strata” to make journey safer and hassle-free for commuters.

There are certain stretches that have raised concern as the commuters regularly face the danger of falling boulders, especially during the rainy season.

“A few days ago, we were going in our car to Kullu around 10 pm when a boulder hit the car from behind near Hanogi temple,” said Dinesh Kumar, a business executive. “The car was badly damaged, but we were saved fortunately,” he said.

Another commuter, who was travelling in his Maruti car, sustained serious injuries near Thalot when a boulder hit the car last week. These incidents, in fact, are not isolated ones. “We find boulders falling on the highways daily during the rainy season, posing threat to the life of travellers,” he added. Digging at salt mines near Guma on the Pathankot highway has rendered soil loose on the slopes.

“Rainwater washes away the loose strata into the Khokhan Nullah that in turn leads to huge deposits of debris on the highway leading to traffic blockades during the rainy season”, engineers said.

Pointing out danger of falling rocks in Kinnaur in the light of yesterday’s incident near Spilo that killed three passengers after a rock fell on the HRTC bus they were travelling in, sources in the NH authority said several stretches on the NH-22 between Jeori and Rampur, Taranda-Wangtoo bridge-Tapri-Karcham, Spilo-Khab and Chango-Ka in Pooh subdivision are dangerous. “These stretches are landslides-prone and pose immense danger to commuters.”

HP chief engineer, national highways, R.K. Singh admits that the danger of falling boulders increases during the rainy season. “We are identifying these stretches on national highways to stabilize them. We will send a proposal to Central National Highways and Road Transport Ministry for allowing and taking possible measures to minimise the danger,” he added.

Nahan, July 14
Raj Kumar (45), a factory worker, engaged in the Ruchira Paper Mill in the industrial area of Kala Amb, was found dead in the factory complex this morning.

Initial inquiries revealed that neither the Kala Amb police nor the factory officials knew about his whereabouts. As per sources, the police had recovered a personal diary from his possession which carried only phone numbers of residents and factory officials.

On inquiring from the telephone contacts found in his diary, it had been established that the deceased was working in the Kala Amb area as a factory worker for the past over three years but no body knew his home address or even to which state he belonged .

Factory officials maintained that worker was engaged through contractor and they were not supposed to verify their home address. His employers had failed to provide his address.

NGO’s working for the welfare of factory workers had called it a ‘total failure of the system’, they charged that on the one hand, the government was making large claims that the government was maintaining records of factory workers to know about their whereabouts and on the other hand, authorities were unaware of the address of a worker working for such a long time in the Kala Amb factories.

The tall claims of the Labour Department of the state that it had issued identity cards to factory workers and also had prepared records of the Himachali and non-Himachali workers could be false as the worker did not possess any such card.

Sirmaur SP J. P. Singh ruled out any foul play behind the death. He said from the preliminary inquiries it appeared that the deceased had died due to a fall under the influence of liquor last night. Efforts were on to get his home address and the matter would be investigated in detail, the SP added.

The body was sent for a post-mortem examination this evening. Actual reason of the death would be established after receiving the post-mortem report, said police officials.

Mandi, July 14
The police today recovered the minor girl and her ‘paramour cook’ from their rented house near Manali. The girl’s father had alleged that the boy, who is a cook in a Manali-based hotel, had kidnapped his daughter.

The police said the 15-year-old girl had gone missing from a mela from her native village, Panjain in Balichowki tehsil on June 24. The father of the girl had lodged the complaint at the Balichowki police post stating that his daughter was a minor and she was duped and kidnapped from the mela.

Acting on a tip-off from the mobile phone calls that the girl made from her paramour’s cell, the police today raided the place and recovered the girl along with the boy from his rented house at Manali.

Police claimed that the girl and the boy had got married in a temple near Manali and had been living together since then. But the police said the girl was a minor.

The girl told the police that she was kidnapped by some other man and then was dropped at Kullu where she met the Nepalese cook who has been identified as Hirdesh. A case has been registered.