Shimla, October 13
With 47 per cent higher generation at the 1500-mw Nathpa Jhakri power project than previous year, the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) has urged the Union Power Ministry to assign it more projects.

CMD of the Nigam H.K. Sharma presented a cheque for Rs 126.25 crore to the union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde in New Delhi today.

“Compared to a net profit of Rs 498.22 crore earned in the last financial year, this year the profit has touched Rs 732.71 crore,” he stated.

Sharma informed that the higher generation had been achieved as a result of various silt-control measures adopted at the Nathpa Jhakri project.

He added that during the current financial year also the power station had already generated more than 5050 mu of electricity, which is not only 212 mu more than the MOU target but also about 500 mu more than the corresponding period last year.

He said the power station is targeted to generate 6,720 mu of electricity during the current financial year.

The SJVN has declared a dividend of Rs 235 crore to be paid to the equity partners, which includes the Centre and the state in the ratio of 3:1.

Sharma said the company was cash-surplus and was keen to undertake more projects. He said the power generation at Nathpa had gone up from 4,055 MU to 5,941 MU.

“Himachal Pradesh is being supplied 12 per cent of the electricity free of cost and was getting 25 per cent of the balance generation at bus bar rates,” he informed.

The Nathpa Jhakri project commenced commercial generation from its six units of 250 mw each from September 2003.

The remaining 66 per cent of the power was being supplied to the beneficiary states of the northern grid, including Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh.

Solan, October 13
A large number of fish were found dead at the Haripur-Sandholi nullah this morning. This is the third such case to come to light in the past four months.

Villagers of the Malpur panchayat were taken aback to find a large number of dead fish all along the nullah.

The dark colour of the water revealed that some toxic effluent had been dumped into it.

Experts opined that such chemicals when mixed with river water reduced the biological oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand, thereby causing the death of aquatic flora and fauna.

Officials of the Department of Environment were shocked and said it was intriguing as to how the effluents had been dumped at the same site where fish mortality had been reported earlier on September 23.

Although two units, Haripur Paper Mill and Dabur India Limited, had been caught dumping effluents into the water earlier, some units were still continuing the activity.

Senior officials of the department opined that it was unfortunate that these incidents were happening.

They added that they would immediately start investigation so that defaulters were caught at the earliest.

Further, water samplers would soon be purchased and installed at all access points of river Sarsa, including its nullahs, Sandholi and Sitomarji, he added.

He said it would not only give regular reports of water quality but also the establish the identity of erring units dumping toxic effluents into water. The officials said they would step up the drive for getting tertiary treatment plants installed in 122 units.

Though some units had been identified earlier, sources said this incident could be the handiwork of some miscreants trying to defame the regulatory agencies as well as the industries.

Shimla, October 13
Animal husbandry minister Harsh Mahajan today stunned everyone by announcing that he will not contest the assembly elections from Chamba due to “personal reasons”.

In a letter written to the people of Chamba, his assembly constituency, he said that he had taken the decision to be out of electoral politics for personal reasons.

The decision of the three-time MLA has left everyone surprised, as till recently there were no such indications from his side.

“Despite getting so much affection and blessings from all of you, I have decided not to contest the elections, but I will continue to be a dedicated party worker,” he has written in the letter.

Even state HPCC chief Viplove Thakur was unaware of any such move. Many Congress leaders felt that the announcement by Mahajan could prove to be damaging for the party, as it would send a signal that the party is on a weak footing.

The copy of the letter along with his biodata was sent to the media. However, Mahajan remained inaccessible and did not take calls from anyone.

Coming from a political family, his father Des Raj Mahajan remained a minister and Speaker. He remained president of the state Youth Congress from 1986 to 1995 and general secretary of the HPCC from 1998 to 2004.

Shimla, October 13
Terming the suspension of president of the Himachal Pradesh School Lecturers Association Ashwani Kumar as curtailment of trade union rights, the CPM today demanded that the suspension should be revoked.

In a statement issued here today, member, state secretariat, Tikender Singh Panwar said the suspension was a draconian step taken by a despotic authority.

“He has been victimised simply for the reason that he had raised the genuine demand of the school lecturers in his capacity as their head,” he remarked.

The CPM leader said Ashwani Kumar had been suspended, as he had opposed the government policy where lecturers had been asked to teach classes IX and X.

“Just because he opposed the government policy is no justification for his suspension, as it amounts to curtailment of trade union rights,” he said.

Pawar said the suspension should be revoked immediately and the issue should be resolved amicably through dialogue with the union.