Chamba, January 19
The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) has constituted the first milestone on the Chamera hydroelectric project (stage-III) by completing the excavation of its underground powerhouse within 304 days as per schedule.

The prestigious 231-MW Chamera stage-III project is located on the river Ravi in Chamba district, which is a run-of-the-river scheme.

Disclosing this here today, K. K. Joshi, general manager of the project said the project was poised to complete the tunnelling work by the end of this year as the construction activities on various fronts of the project were going on a fast pace.

The GM said the concreting and lining of underground powerhouse cavern of 100 x 18.6 x 40 metre to house three Francis vertical axis turbines opposite to Dharwala village across the Ravi was in progress where three generating units of 77 MW each were to be installed.

So far, the total tunnelling of 9,836 metre (9.836 km) on various points of the project had been excavated, the GM claimed; adding that this length of tunnelling also included excavation of headrace tunnel besides, powerhouse cavern and transformer gallery of the project.

The GM eulogised the determined devotion of the project workforce due to which tremendous progress could be achieved. The GM asserted that the waters of the Ravi had already been diverted through a 366- metre-long diversion tunnel at Churaid Bagda dam site in the rocky cliffs of tough terrain in the Bharmour tribal region ahead of the scheduled.

The construction work of 68-metre-high gravity concrete dam was to be kicked off by April this year, the GM further said.

The project which was scheduled to be completed within a period of 5 years would cost Rs 1405.63 crore, the GM confirmed; stating that the project would operate under a net head of 200 metre to generate 1108.17 million units (MUs) of electricity in a 90per cent dependable year and would provide a minimum of three hours of peaking during the lean season.

The power generated from this project would be fed to northern grid for further distribution to Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan.

Palampur, January 19
All is not well in the Congress in the state. It is yet to recover from the crushing defeat in the assembly elections held last month. Even after that the party has not projected a united front while electing the leader of opposition in the state assembly. The race for the post of PCC president has further divided the party into several groups.

Former Chief Minister Virbhadara Singh still commands good hold on the party, but because of the opposition by senior Congress leaders at New Delhi, he was being sidelined.

Even today, Out of 23 Congress MLAs, 17 are with Virbhadara. However, to avoid any rift with the Congress high command Vir bhadara has paved the way for the smooth election of Vidya Stokes as the CLP leader, who is favoured by the Congress high command.

Viplove Thakur, PCC president, had resigned from the post owning the responsibility of the party’s defeat in the assembly elections.

Today the Congress is a divided house on the issue of the post of PCC president. Though a majority of Congressmen in the state had supported the candidature of Thakur Kaul Singh, former IPH minister, as the Congress president, but a handful of party men, who claim to be close to the Congress high command were opposing his candidature.

Virbhadara expressed his inability to accept the post of PCC president. But he had favoured the name of Kaul Singh. Virbhadra was keen to maintain the regional balance, as the CLP leader was from the upper areas the post of PCC president should go to a leader from the lower areas.

Besides, Kaul Singh, Chander Kumar MP and OBC leader from Kangra, Harash Mahajan, G.S. Bali, are also in the race for the hot seat.

Party high command sources said one of the major reasons that uprooted the party from power in the state was the prejudiced attitude of Virbhadra towards Major Vijay Singh Mankotia in the past five years. Despite directions from the high command, Virbhadara did not induct him into the Cabinet. Mankotia ultimately joined the BSP and damaged the party prospects of winning the poll. All this has irked congress president Sonia Gandhi.

On the other hand, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had already been elected as the MLA from Bamsan, thereafter, the MP seat from Hamirpur had fallen vacant.

A byelection for this seat is likely to be held soon, but the Congress is yet to set its house in order. Elections for various local bodies are also approaching and if the Congress does not unite well in time it would again face defeat in these elections. 

Mandi, January 19
PWD minister Gulab Singh Thakur said today the government would provide basic sports infrastructure at the school level so that budding sportspersons get an opportunity to excel in their field at an early age.

Inaugurating the 13th four days long state-level forest games and duty championships at the Paddal stadium here today Thakur said the games are important part as it helps in keeping them fit and help protect forests in the state. The government will develop sports infrastructure at school level so that sports talent could be tapped at an early age, he added.

Thakur said the government would protect and develop the forests on priority basis as they play a major in preserving the fragile ecology of the Himalayas.

Principal chief conservator of forests Pankaj Khular welcomed the guests and gave a detailed account of the forest games.

Later, Thakur distributed cash prizes worth Rs 5000 each to the school children who presented the colourful cultural programme on the occasion.

Meanwhile, in track events, Sandip (Bilaspur) got first place, Pradip (Chamba) bagged the second and Jamirkhan (Nahan) won the third place in 1500 mts race. In march past, teams of Kullu, Nahan and Dharamsala won the first, second and third places, respectively.

Bharmour, January 19
Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Speaker Tulsi Ram has directed the tribal administration to accommodate all those government offices in the mini-secretariat, which are functioning in the private-rented buildings.

Ram stated this while speaking at a simple ceremony organised to have a get-together with the officers and employees working at Bharmour township the headquarters of Bharmour tribal subdivision on Wednesday. 

Mandi, January 19
The field staff of the HP State Electricity Board (HPSEB) and the Irrigation and Public Health Department today swung into action and restored power and water supplies in Keylong and surrounding villages, ending the freezing nights of darkness and water woes in the valley after four days, today.

Residents told The Tribune on phone from Keylong that power supply in the district headquarters was restored around 6.15 pm bringing relief to the residents facing subzero temperatures.

The IPH Department restored water supply in the town in the afternoon, they said.

The Tribune has highlighted the plight of Keylong residents in its today’s edition.

HPSEB superintending engineer V.K. Kaprat said the power supply was restored today in Keylong and surrounding villages. If weather remained clear tomorrow, they would restore power supply in 80 per cent of the tribal belt, he added.

Shimla, January 19
The state government has sought special dispensation of Rs 100 crore from the 13th Finance Commission for maintaining green cover. It has also urged the Centre to grant financial assistance for implementing the action plan for checking monkey menace.

In a written communication to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal has pointed out that the government has imposed a complete moratorium on green felling to help protect trees. As the state has taken this step on its own keeping in view the larger interest of the country, the Centre must compensate the state for the huge forest revenue that it has been losing annually.

He has also drawn the attention of the Prime Minster to the worsening problem of monkey menace and sought a financial assistance to the tune of Rs 15 crore for carrying out mass sterilisation of simians.

Under the action plan, the Forest Department will set up eight centres for carrying out mass sterilisation of simians in various parts of the state. Equipped with laser-based laparoscopic machines, operation theatres, holding cages and other required facilities, each such centre will involve an expenditure of about Rs 2 crore. These centres will be in addition to the one already functioning at Tuti Kandi in Shimla.

In the first phase, such centres are proposed to be set up at Sundernagar in Mandi, Gopalpur in Kangra, Tali in Hamirpur and Nahan in Sirmaur. The reaming four centres will be set up in the second phase.

The department has only two trained veterinary doctors and they are carrying out the job at the Tuti Kandi centre. It will require two veterinary surgeons, operation theatre assistants, pharmacists and other staff for each centre.

The Tuti Kandi centre has already sterilised more than 1,000 monkeys. In all, around 5,000 monkeys in Shimla, Rampur and along the Shimla-Parwanoo highway are to be sterilised. The total number of monkeys in the state is 3,19,188. Out of these, 65,000 are active in urban areas and vicinity of temples.

Shimla, January 19
The state government will formulate a uniform policy as regards appointments through parent-teacher associations (PTAs) in educational institutions in the next two months.

Giving this assurance to a large delegation of thousand of PTA appointees, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal here today said the policy being framed in compliance to the orders of the high court would be implemented taking all related aspects into consideration.

He said the government was committed to protect interests of teachers and it would do its best to accommodate those engaged through PTAs. All decisions would be taken on merit and in the best interest of the state and its people. It had already been decided to make 50 per cent recruitments batch-wise and 50 per cent through direct recruitment for all posts requiring professional qualifications, he added. Merit and seniority would be given due weightage and recruitments would be made in a transparent manner.

Dhumal said recruitment to various categories, including grameen vidya upasak, panchayat sahayak and panchayat takniki sahayak, were made by the previous government by throwing norms to the winds. During his earlier tenure also, the government had regularised the services of 4,159 voluntary teachers against the posts of JBTs, he claimed. It would adopt a lenient attitude and make efforts to accommodate PTA appointees against emerging vacancies in various educational institutions.

He assured the delegation that their interests would be protected and the government would do justice with them.

President of the association Vivek Mehta apprised the Chief Minister of the grievances of the PTA teachers engaged during the previous regime and urged him to formulate a policy protecting interests of the appointees at the earliest.

Nurpur, January 19
In order to bring socio-economic development in the lifestyle of farming community in the hill state, Himachal Gramin Bank (HGB) has been constituting farmers’ clubs in rural area which emphasise on credit technology transfer awareness and capacity building.

Chairman of HGB Gurdial Singh said today at Janera village so far 46 such farmer clubs had been constituted in the state and at least 100 clubs would be ready by the end of March 31 this year. These clubs with three years’ financial assistance of the NABARD are launching various activities relating to the farming community.

Shimla, January 19
The Shimla Motorcycle Challenge-2008, the first event of its kind in the country comprising a series of motorcycle races in the mountains, will take off from here on January 27.

The championship, which has been granted a ‘Challenge’ status by the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, will be organised in a series of six single-day events spread over a year. It will be held on the second Sunday of every alternate month, starting from January 27 with the final race being held on the November 9. The winner will be crowned ‘Shimla Motorcycle Champion’.

“The idea is to promote, train and provide exposure to motorcycle riders of the region. It will be an opportunity for motorcycle enthusiasts to test and develop their riding skills in a controlled and safe environment on a regular basis,” says Manoj Biswas, Chairman of Team Avalanche, which it organising the event.

Kangra, January 19
Surender Kumar, 37, father of two children and living a life below the poverty line is craving to live as his both kidneys were not functioning and the poor man can neither afford to go for regular dialysis nor can get operated upon for a kidney transplant.

Resident of Dhmer village in the district, he was admitted in Dr RP Government Medical College, Tanda, on December 30, 2007, and the doctors referred him to the PGI, Chandigarh, the same day with a remark ‘urgent Haemodialysis’ needed.

He was diagnosed with CKD stage V with anaemia accompanied by Epistaxis.

Surender Kumar, a mason by profession, worked hard to make his both ends meet but the dream to sustain his family shattered soon after he was told about the disease he was suffering from and the money required for the treatment.

He told The Tribune that he was dreaming of making his son Aman a doctor but god wished somewhat different. He said his brother was living separately from him and had no source of income to get one of his kidneys transplanted. He added that he had already undergone dialysis thrice so far and the money involved in the process was far from his reach.

Surender Kumar with the help of his few friends could not manage to get a suitable kidney for the transplant. He said he had a small piece of land and was eager to sell that off but got a little response from the other side. This would fetch him a little amount from the targeted Rs 8 lakh for the transplant.

Lying in his bed he said, “I do not want to live for myself but for my two kids and my wife. He asked who would look after these two kids after his death? He said, “I am craving for life now but have learnt to read the book of life in right perspective.”

Hamirpur, January 19
Alarmed over the spread of bird flu in some parts of the country, the state Wildlife Department has geared up to check the spread of disease among lakhs of migratory birds settled in the state these days. Since migratory birds coming from cold zones are quite prone to bird flu virus H5N1, the department has taken special measures to keep a check on the spread of the disease in the state. More than 80,000 migratory birds have already settled in Pong Dam area. Saving them from the disease is the biggest challenge for the department.

DFO (wildlife), Hamirpur, S.K. Guleria, said, “Migratory birds are prone to catch bird flu virus, so we are taking special care to check any such eventuality.” To save migratory birds from the virus, the department has beefed up vigilance through village-level committees and joint teams of the department. Since identification and awareness are two major components of saving the birds from the virus, the department has set up cages to isolate and house the diseased bird, if any. The department is also keeping a special vigil on the birds especially with sluggish movement or other symptom of the bird flu.