Kangra, July 26
The BSP today kickstarted its election campaign in Himachal Pradesh scheduled to go to the polls in February next year by holding an impressive rally at Kangra.

Former firebrand leader of the Congress Vijay Singh Mankotia was also projected as the chief ministerial candidate by BSP chief Mayawati if the party was voted to power. He was also declared as convener-cum-coordinator of the state unit.

Addressing the gathering, Mayawati said the days of two-party system in the state were over and the BSP was emerging as a better political option for the hill folk.

Claiming that the BSP would win the forthcoming Assembly elections under the leadership of Major Mankotia, she promised to serve the people by promoting communal harmony, uplifting the standard of living of the poor, providing more job avenues and, above all, giving a clean and responsible administration accountable to the common man.

Adding that after coming to power her government would root out corruption from the state, she announced that Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and a few of his colleagues and bureaucrats would be put behind the bars and a special committee set up to probe the charges of corruption levelled against them.

Requesting the hill people to beware of the BJP and Congress propaganda that the BSP was a party of certain classes, she clarified that it was a party of the poor irrespective of the class, colour and creed with the ideology of making the nation a true welfare state.

Lashing out at both the Congress and the BJP, she said that the people were now looking for a change and the BSP was the only possible option.

Expressing dismay over the sorry state of affairs in the country even after 60 years of Independence, she said the social structure was deteriorating as the rich were becoming richer and the poor poorer. Mayawati said the BSP was committed to improving the living standard of the poor.

Clarifying the allegations of fund raising, she said the BSP fought elections with funding from common people and not big industrialists and capitalists.

Earlier, Mankotia lashed out at Virbhadra Singh, adding that his days in power were numbered. Describing Virbhadra Singh as a dictator, Mankotia said the Chief Minister should now get ready to go behind the bars.

The rally was also addressed by Satish Mishra, Man Singh Manhera, both national general secretaries of the party, and former ministers Kewal Singh Pathania and Vijay Joshi, who joined the BSP today along with Major Mankotia and their supporters.

Earlier, Mayawati visited the martyrs' memorial at Dharamsala.

Shimla, July 26
Kargil War was brought alive as jawans of the14th Jammu and Kashmir battalion, which participated in Operation Vijay, re-enacted the battle scenes as part of the Kargil Diwas celebrations, at Jutogh Army station, near here today.

The schoolchildren for whom the event was specially organised witnessed with bated breath the action on the battlefield as the jawans climbed up the steep hill to face the gunfire from the enemy at the top.

Havildar Subhash Chand and two other jawans, who participated in the operation, shared their experiences with the children.

Weapons used in the operation were displayed at the exhibition. A blood donation camp was also organised on the occasion. Chief guest Brig Arjun Menon said the objective was to apprise the young generation about the sacrifice of the soldiers and motivate them to join the Army.

Hamirpur: The All-India Ex-servicemen Sewa Parishad and Hindu Sangram Parishad district units today observed Kargil martyrs day and paid homage to soldiers killed in the Kargil operations.

Members of these organisations assembled at Gandhi Chowk and lighted a lamp in memory of the martyrs. A two-minute silence was observed and a salute was also given. Later, floral tributes were paid at the statue of Captain Mridul Sharma. Father of Mridul Sharma, Col. J.K. Sharma (retired), and other retired army officers were among those who paid homage.

Hamirpur, July 26
How casual the authorities are about paying tributes to our martyrs becomes clear from the case for setting up 'Amar Jawan Jyoti' in memory of Kargil martyrs here for which the Nagar Parishad (NP) has failed to find a suitable place despite Rs 10 lakh having been deposited by two MPs with the parishad a year back.

The parishad was given the job of establishing a shaheed samarak and 'Amar Jawan Jyoti' in memory of Kargil martyrs when Kargil shaheed day was observed on July 31, 2005, at Hamirpur.

MPs Suresh Bhardwaj, Kirpal Pramar and Suresh Chandel had announced at that time to give Rs 5 lakh each from the MPLAD fund for building the proposed memorial.

Suresh Bhardwaj and Kirpal Pramar had already deposited Rs 10 lakh with the NP about a year back while the money released by Suresh Chandel was withheld due to technical reasons after his removal as an MP after the 'cash-for-query scam'.

But the Hamirpur NP and the district administration have not been able to find a suitable place to put up the jyoti in memory of Kargil martyrs even after two years.

It is notable that eight army personnel-- Kashmir Chand from Uhal, Raj Kumar from Baglu, Dinesh Kumar from Andaral, Swami Dass Chandel from Samlehda, Rakesh Kumar from Palahi, Praveen Kumar from Salahi, Deep Chnad from Baroti and Sunil Kumar from Tanyakar-- all from Hamirpur district, had laid down their lives during the Kargil operations.

NP president Deep Chand said: " We are trying to find about 20 kanals of land for setting up the jyoti".

Hamirpur DC R. Selvam said: " Now that this has come to my knowledge I would ensure speedy completion of the jyoti."

Former Chief Minister and local MP Prem Kumar Dhumal said " If there is any hitch in the release of money announced by Suresh Chandel I would give the money from my fund", he added.

Shimla, July 26
The Government of India has expressed its inability to take up the Bhanupali-Bilaspur rail line as a national project, forcing the state to come up with alternative modes of funding the Rs 1,000-crore scheme.

At a meeting convened by the Prime Minister’s Office early this month it was made clear that as a matter of policy the Centre was implementing national projects only in the strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East states. If the same largesse was extended to Himachal Pradesh, other states would also come up with similar demands. The Railways also washed its hand of the project maintaining that its hands were full with projects worth Rs 70,000 crore already in the pipeline.

A follow-up meeting will he held at Delhi next week to work out a funding pattern agreeable to the Centre, the Railways and the state government so that the project which has been hanging fire for the past 15 years could be implemented.

The state has been vigorously pursuing the proposal and it had even carried out a fresh feasibility study which indicated that freight load generated by cement plants coming up in the Darlaghat-Bilaspur-Karsog belt was enough to justify even a double track. However, representatives of the Railways were not convinced and wanted the state to come up with firm assurances from the cement plants that they would transport their product by rail. But the cement manufacturers are not willing to give any such undertaking on the plea that they would do so if the freight was reasonable and economical compared to road transport.

Further, the cost of the project had also been a matter of debate. While the RITES (Rail India Techno- Economic Service) worked out the cost at Rs 1,500 crore, the Railways estimated it at just Rs 800 crore. The two have been asked to reconcile their project reports and work out the cost afresh.

With the Assembly poll drawing near the government is keen to get the project going at the earliest. It has now proposed that the Centre, the Railways and the state should share the cost of the project. It remains to be seen whether the Centre and the Railways agree to it.

Shimla, July 26
To maintain ecological balance in the Kullu valley, the HP High Court today directed the state government to ensure that mega commercial projects did not procure sand and gravel from the Beas and its tributaries in Kullu district.

The court directed the state government to maintain the status quo with regard to grant of mining lease in the district. A division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and Justice Sanjay Karol passed this interim order on a petition filed by Abhishek Rai for protecting the environment in the district.

In his petition, he has alleged that construction activities were carried out in a haphazard manner without identifying areas for the extraction of minor minerals, which had played havoc with the valley. These activities had resulted in degradation of the flora and fauna of the district, he added.

He further alleged that unabated and continuous sand mining caused obstruction and diversion of the river course.

While passing this interim order, the Bench further directed the principal secretary (Forest), principal secretary (Industries) and member secretary (Pollution Control Board) to file their reply within six weeks.

Nurpur, July 26
The Mid-Himalayan Watershed Project (MHWP) being constructed at a cost of Rs 365 crore will cover 15 gram panchayats in Nurpur Assembly constituency.

While inaugurating the Rs 3.26 lakh Mini Gravity Irrigation Scheme in Kulahan gram panchayat, Revenue and Panchayati Raj minister Sat Mahajan said last year 10 gram panchayats were covered on which Rs 1 crore had been spent on plantation, soil conservation, and on mini irrigation schemes. “Five more panchayats had been selected under the project,” he added.

He said under the MHWP scheme, local farmers would get irrigation facility to about five hectare of land.

The minister announced the sanctioning of Rs 5 lakh for the construction of village paths in a Dalit locality.

Mandi, July 26
Apple and vegetable growers of the Seraj valley, a major apple belt in the district, are not only facing shortage of trucks for fruit transportation to markets, but they are allegedly exploited by truckers and fleeced by the district market committee at its two barriers, where growers are charged Rs.1 per box as a market fee.

After submitting a charter of growers’ demands to Mandi deputy commissioner Subhasish Panda here today, Seraj Fruit and Vegetable Growers' Association (SFVGA) convener Lawan Thakur said: “The apple growers in the Seraj valley are always at the mercy of truckers from Banjar in Kullu district. The truckers charge Rs. 26.80 per 10 kg box from Upperdhar (Balichowki) for Delhi and Rs. 22 per 10 kg from growers from Manali to Delhi although Manali is about 65 km extra distance as compared with Balichowki”.

The growers demanded that the administration should fix rates for truckers, provide more truck facility for Delhi as it had been done in Shimla and Kullu districts. “The farmers should get fruit insurance facility in case of mishap and Rs. 1 market fee charged from growers from two market barriers should also be abolished as it has led to fleecing of growers”, they demanded.

SFVGA’s president Dabe Ram and general secretary Rajinder Thakur said the growers were suffering huge losses as transportation of fruit was delayed by 10-15 days. There were just 10 trucks with the Banjar union.

He said because of the shortage of trucks, the truckers charged exorbitantly and growers did not get direct trucks which went to Delhi as truckers offloaded fruit at Kiratpur for transshipment.

Shimla, July 26
Asia Development Bank, engaged in the process of making a road map for tourism infrastructure development in the hill state could fund major rural tourism, heritage and projects for providing better connectivity to the state.

A six-member group headed by Ludwig Rieder, was here to take feedback from various departments like the tourism, urban development, forest, town and country planning, municipal corporation, public works and the irrigation and public health.

The team after holding discussions with various agencies in the state will prepare a road map and submit it to the Union Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation its report by October. Additional chief secretary Avay Shukla will be holding a meeting with the team long with heads of all major departments.

The team is also keen to promote rural tourism with focus on heritage conservation. “They seem to be showing keen interest in heritage villages as this would give a major fillip to tourism in the rural areas, besides preserving the distinct features and architectural style of the area,” informed an official.

The team stressed the need for better road and air connectivity. They were also of the opinion that in order to tackle the problem of parking in major tourist hubs like Shimla and Kullu-Manali, the government should raise a huge parking with a capacity of 1,000 vehicles rather than having several small parkings.

The team is keen that certain circuits should be promoted with focus on destinations. Rural tourism and eco-tourism projects could also be funded by the bank as this was one area where the state government was keen to promote in a big way.

Sundernagar, July 26
The Consumer Forum, Mandi, has directed Vijay Kumar, a resident of Thenera Muhalla, Mandi, to pay Rs 2,600 at 9 per cent interest along with Rs 1,500 as the cost of complaint to Chander Parkash (Nepali), resident of Thenara Muhalla, Mandi.

As per the complaint, the opposite party had started a lucky draw scheme under the name of Baba Enterprises at Mandi and the complainant had deposited Rs 2,600 at the rate of Rs 200 per month (13 instalments) in the year 2005, but the opposite party did not declare the results and did not refund the amount deposited.

The forum holds the view that the opposite party after collecting the amount from the public left for another town and this amounted to deficiency in service. The forum has ordered the opposite party to refund Rs 2,600 to the complainant along with 9 per cent interest.

Nurpur, July 26
Activists of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), anganwari workers and helpers from Nurpur and Jawali subdivisions held a demonstration here in support of their demands.

Led by Kangra district BMS president Madan Rana, hundreds of demonstrators raised slogans against the alleged anti-worker policies of the government. They also organised a rally in front of the office of the SDM.

Later, they submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the SDM demanding a hike in the daily wage to Rs 150, to stop retrenchment of daily wagers and extend the pension facility to all employees of state government boards and corporations.

Sangh leaders also urged the Chief Minister to declare anganwari workers and helpers as government employees.

Kangra, July 26
An 18-year-old youth, resident of Jasai village, drowned in River Baner on the Kangra by pass near the Housing Board colony here yesterday. His body was fished out by the divers this afternoon.

He was a student of an engineering college in Bangalore. The police said five friends had gone to Baner yesterday to have a bath, when the tragedy struck and one of the five, identified as Rohit Thakur, the only son of his parents drowned yesterday.

Home guards and fire brigade staff fished out the body of Rohit Kangra, SDM C.Paulrasu said.

The parents and relatives of the youth alleged that the administration did not take effective steps to recover the body except the SDM, who tried to call divers from Nangal. The divers were called from the Pong Dam and the body was fished out this afternoon.

The body was sent for a postmortem examination . A case has been registered.