Dharamsala, October 31
Taking a serious view of the construction of a multi-storey hotel on the controversial car parking site at McLeodganj, the central empowered committee of the Supreme Court today made it clear to the state government that the construction of the hotel was illegal and in total violation of the land usage as per the Forest Conservation Act.

Ritwick Dutta, counsel for petitioners Atul Bhardwaj and Samir Mehta, told The Tribune on telephone that while hearing the case, chairman of the committee V.P. Jayakrishnan said the state government had misled the committee on various issues related to the matter.

The committee chairman asked the advocate-general and two IAS officers present there, “Why the hotel building be not demolished? I am sending the report to the Supreme Court for the demolition of the hotel,” he said. He asked the state government if it had anything else to say in this regard, it could be done in one week.

The two IAS officers, chief executive officer of the state bus stand management and development authority T.C. Janartha and district magistrate of Kangra Ashwani Kapoor, pleaded before the CEC to give some more time to them as the election process was in progress in the state.

The committee chairman then granted them time till January 15, 2008. “I will finalise and file the report to the SC after that,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Surya Prashanti Construction Company also filed an application before the CEC demanding to regularise the construction and allowing it carry on with the construction. The CEC chairman was, however, of the view that construction could not be allowed till the finalisation of the report.

The chairman was also of the opinion that the construction of the bus stand was a public necessity and the committee was not against it. However, commercial activities needed to be restricted to a certain limit by the state government, he added.

Chandigarh, October 31
Launching a sharp attack on the policies of the Congress and the BJP during their respective tenures in Himachal Pradesh, BSP convener Vijay Singh Mankotia said today that the party would contest all 68 seats in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the hill state.

Speaking at a meet-the-press programme here, he said people were desperate for a change from the Congress and the BJP. He claimed that the BSP objective was to infuse freshness into state politics by focusing on the youth.

Mankotia, who represents the Shahpur constituency in Kangra district, said that corruption, price spiral, unemployment and regional disparities would be key issues in the forthcoming poll.

He said the policies followed by the two parties had led the state into a financial trap, with a debt amounting to whopping Rs 23,000 crore. The interest alone was about Rs 2,000 crore.

Cautioning against an upheaval in the state by the youth, Mankotia said that unemployment had risen sharply. Out of a total population of 65 lakh, 15 lakh were unemployed.

He said as per regulations, 80 per cent of the jobs in power projects in the state and industrial units in places like Baddi were meant for Himachali people, but their actual employment level was very low.

Unemployment, he said, had led to an increase in drug addiction and drug peddling and the Kullu--Manali region had become a hub of illegal narcotic business.

Hamirpur, October 31
Both BJP stalwarts in the state, former Chief Minister and Hamirpur MP Prem Kumar Dhumal and BJP national vice-president Shanta Kumar have not formally applied for a party ticket to their respective mandal committees of their Assembly constituencies on the last day today, but the BJP leadership has kept the option of them being in the fray by saying that they have been kept out of the condition to apply to the mandal committees.

The party leadership has also made it clear that the central parliamentary board of the party can directly consider their name as a party nominee to contest the forthcoming Assembly election if the central party intends to field them.

According to the new decentralisation process introduced in the BJP, every party candidate seeking a BJP ticket is suppose to apply to respective Mandal committee on a prescribed application form with a requisite fee of Rs 3,000.

October 31 being the last day the for applying to the mandal committees in the state, hundreds, including all top leaders keen to contest the elections have formally applied for the party tickets.

Shimla, October 31
Battle lines have been drawn for the Assembly election to the three tribal seats scheduled to go to polls in the first phase with 12 candidates left in the fray after withdrawals. Two Independents opted out of the contest on the last day of withdrawals today.

The election to the Kinnaur, Bharmour and Lahaul-Spiti constituencies is scheduled for November 14. The ruling Congress, the opposition BJP and the BSP, which has entered the fray for the first time, are contesting on all three seats. Another new entrant, the Lok Jan Shakti Party, is contesting only on the Kinnaur seat.

Jagat Singh Negi of the Congress will take on Tejwant Negi of the BJP in Kinnaur for the second time. This time the contest is four-cornered as Susheel Sagar (BSP) and Bhagat Singh (Lok Jan Shakti Party) are also in the fray. In the last Assembly election, Jagat Singh defeated Tejwant. In 1998 Chet Ram Negi of the BJP defeated Jagat Singh Negi by 3,320 votes.

In Bharmour, old rivals Thakur Singh(INC) and Tulsi Ram( BJP) will clash for the sixth consecutive time. While, Thakur Singh won the electoral battle in 1985, 1993 and 2003, Tulsi Ram triumphed in 1990 and 1998. Besides Balbir Singh of the BSP, Chandu Lal and Munish Kumar (both Independents) are also in the field but the main contest will be between the Congress and the BJP.

In Lahaul_Spiti, the contest will be a triangular one involving Phunchog Rai (INC), Ram Lal Markandae (BJP) and Bir Singh Rawal (BSP) though an Independent candidate Shyam Chand is also in the field. The sparsely populated constituency comprising the cold desert areas has the lowest number of 22,809 voters in the state. As such the margins of wins have been slender.

The total number of electorate in the three seats is 1,27,793 voter. The maximum number 55,108 voters are in Bharmour, followed by Kinnaur (49,876) and Lahaul-Spiti (22,809).

Mandi, October 31
Irrigation and public health minister Kaul Singh Thakur said here today that three major drinking water schemes were almost ready for the trial run, but the government could not launch these immediately as the model code of conduct had come into force. These schemes are: the Rs 67-crore Giri drinking water scheme for Shimla, the Rs 57-crore drinking water scheme for Solan and the Rs 68-crore Bamsan-Mewa scheme.

Talking to mediapersons on the eve of the launch of his political campaign in his home Assembly segment of Drang, he said the Giri drinking water scheme would be run on trial basis before Diwali. The scheme would provide 20 lakh gallons of drinking water to residents of Shimla every day. This would solve the problem of potable water in Shimla, he claimed.

Similarly, another drinking water scheme would take care of the needs of Solan town and 114 surrounding villages. The scheme was to be launched on October 30, but the modal code of conduct had delayed its launch.

Taking BJP leader and former CM to task, Thakur alleged Dhumal failed to provide water in his home segment during his tenure as the CM, but the Congress government had completed the Rs 67-crore Bamsan-Mewa water scheme in a record period of one year. It would provide water to over 214 villages.

He said the corruption was at its peak during the Dhumal regime and four ministers of his government had levelled corruption charges against him.

He claimed the Congress would retain power in the state as people of the state were aware about BJP’s shallow and divisive politics of caste, regionalism and religion.

Shimla, October 31
Accusing the Congress of failing to fulfil its promise of making the Giri water supply scheme functional by October 2, the BJP said the ruling party had taken the people of the town for a ride by making false promises.

In a statement issued here today, state media convener of the party Ashok Kapatia and Shimla mandal president Madan Sharma said at the time of MC elections, the Congress had promised the residents of the town that a permanent solution to the water problem would be found once the Giri scheme was made functional in November.

He said it was for the first time that water rationing was continuing for the past over six months. “Majority of the localities are not getting water even on alternate days and some of them remain dry for more than four days,” he said. 

Shimla, October 31
The high court today directed the commissioner of the Shimla Municipal Corporation and chief engineer, IPH, to prepare a scheme to utilise water from the Dhalli area where a leakage is taking place form the main pipeline.

The court also directed the senior environment engineer of the state pollution control board to draw samples from the water treatment plant at Dhalli to check quality of water and submit report to the court in two weeks.

A Division Bench of Mr Justice Deepak Gupta and Mr Justice V.K. Ahuja said Shimla was facing a grave water scarcity. Rationing of water was in force and some areas of the capital were getting water after 2-3 days. When there was such a scarcity of water, it was not understandable why the water available as a natural source was not being utilised for the benefit of the general public. The Bench said either the officials were turning a blind eye and not utilising this water or were totally oblivious of their duties and functions.The Bench directed the MC commissioner and the senior environmental engineer to file affidavits by November 14. The court passed these orders in connection with a public interest litigation (PIL) filed in this regard.

Dharamsala, October 31
Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University has scripted a new chapter in the agriculture sector in the state. Courses run by the university and the research work done by its experts have done a lot of good to the farmers of the state.

The university, also known as Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, was established on November 1, 1978. Accredited by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the College of Agriculture, established in May, 1966, formed the nucleus of the university.

The College of Agriculture has 12 departments, while the GC Negi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences has 18 departments, the College of Home Science five and the College of Basic Sciences six. These colleges offer four bachelor’s, 30 master’s and 16 doctoral degree courses. At present, 800 students are on roll and more than 4,300 had already passed out from the university since its inception.

The directorate of research has been giving priority to location-specific and need-based research with multidisciplinary approach on the main campus at Palampur. It has five research stations at Bajaura, Dhaulakuan, Kukumseri, Sangla and Kangra and nine substations at Malan, Nagrota, Salooni, Akrot, Berthin, Sundernagar, Katrain, Leo and Lari.

According to vice-chancellor Tej Pratap, the university has so far released 116 improved varieties of different crops and more than 4,000 quintal breeder seeds of different crop varieties are produced annually. Ten improved agricultural tools have been invented to reduce drudgery and 60 farm technologies recommended to the farmers.

Shimla, October 31
Two persons were killed and three injured when their car fell into a deep gorge near Ghunsa in Jubbal tehsil of Shimla district on Monday night, a delayed police report said today.

While one person died on the spot, the other succumbed to his injuries in hospital. The deceased were identified as Budh Nath and Bali Ram.

The injured were admitted to a Rohru hospital. One of them, stated to be in serious condition, was later referred to the IGMC Hospital, Shimla. — UNI