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Lalu nod to Bhanupali-Bilaspur rail project
Time for relook at hydel policy
Plea to make Shimla smoke-free
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Two years on, road still not complete
The Ujjain-Jogipur road, a viable bypass from Kangra to reach Dr R.P. Government Medical College Hospital, remains incomplete even after two years of the commencement of work on the 1.25-km road under the Pradhanmantri Grameen Sadak Yojna. — Photo by Ashok Raina
Speaker’s election challenged
Industrial Licences
Aadi Himani Chamunda
Rs 16 cr for road to Bara Bhangal
Anti-hail guns to protect fruit crop
PTA Appointments PTA Lecturers and Teachers Union office-bearers at a press conference in Shimla on Tuesday. —Tribune photo by S. Chandan
Anganwari workers resent cut in wages
Tentative snowfall loss put at Rs 20 cr
Ban on feeding monkeys sought
Plea to restore promotion quota
Kalchakra: Govt assures help
Power MoU signed
Drug controller’s kin quizzed
Rodents eat away body parts
16 HCC houses gutted NIT signs MoU
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Lalu nod to Bhanupali-Bilaspur rail project
Shimla, February 26 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has indeed fulfilled the assurance he gave during his visit to the state in June, 2005, that the project will be taken up on priority. The 63-km track is estimated to cost Rs 1048 crore. The project was cleared after the state government agreed to contribute 25 per cent of the cost, which will include the cost of land. The remaining 75 per cent will be borne by the Centre and the Railways. The conversion of the Pathankot- Jogindernagar narrow gauge into broad gauge has not been found a viable proposition. A survey showed a highly negative cost-benefit ratio. The proposal was not considered as the Railways has not been undertaking economically unviable projects. The rail line has been sanctioned mainly to facilitate transportation of cement. Three plants are already in operation in the area and with three more coming up the Bilaspur-Kiratpur section of the national highway will be choked by the movement of over 10,000 trucks required for transportation of cement. It will be the second major broad gauge line to be laid in the hill state since Independence. Earlier, work on the Nangal-Talwara line was started way back in 1971. In the past 37 years only about 50 per cent to the work has been completed. The state had been since the 1970s demanding extension of broad gauge line from Kalka to Parwanoo. However, the Railways took more than three decades to accept the proposal and by the time the ground realities had changed so much that the state government and the local people no longer were in its favour. The Baddi-Chandigarh rail line was approved in principle in last year’s budget but no much has happened on the ground during the year. One only hopes that work on the Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Beri line will get under way at the earliest so that the project is completed in a time-bound manner. However, given the past experience, it will be a tall order. PCC chief Viplove Thakur has hailed the Railway Budget and thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Railways Minister Lalu Yadav for sanctioning the Bilaspur-Beri rail line. She also complimented them for providing relief to various categories of passengers by reducing fares and introducing several new train services.
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Time for relook at hydel policy
Shimla, February 26 Unlike the much-publicised state hydropower policy the central policy provides for merchant power, tariff-based bidding, bigger chunk of funds for local area development and free electricity to the project-affected families. Under the state policy, the independent power producers (IPPs) are required to spend 1.5 per cent of the total project cost on development of local area. However, the central policy mandates spending of amount equivalent to 2 per cent of the total power generated for the purpose. More importantly, the IPP has to provide only 1 per cent of power and the state government will give a matching grant from its share of 12 per cent free power it receives as royalty. The amount will go to a fund managed by the district authorities. The locals affected by the project will have a say in the utilisation of the fund. Further, the IPP will provide 100 units of electricity per month. The new policy also mandates that 100 units of free electricity per month be given to families affected by the project for 10 years. The families will be free to consume this power or sell it. The most important feature of the policy as far as the investors are concerned is provision of merchant power as per which the IPP could sell 40 per cent of the electricity generated to anyone at any price. It is a big incentive which will make hydroelectric projects an attractive proposition for the investors. There is, of course, a provision for imposing penalties for delay in commissioning of the project. If a developer is not able to complete the project within four years of its financial closure, the quantum of power available for sale as merchant power will be reduced from 40 to 35 per cent. The merchant power available will be reduced by 5 per cent for every subsequent delay of six months. If the project is delayed by four years no merchant power will be allowed. The state policy has no such provision and, in contrast, it provides for a higher royalty progressively after the commissioning of a project. As per the policy the IPPs will also be able to participate in tariff-based bidding for hydroelectric projects. The state has been following a bidding process based on upfront premium. Since the funding agencies will go by the central policy, the state will have no option but to make the required changes in its own policy to make it compatible. Even otherwise the power generated will be mostly sold outside the state which will bring the Central Regulatory Commission and various state regulatory commissions into picture who will follow the central policy. |
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Plea to make Shimla smoke-free
Shimla, February 26 Addressing a press conference here today, executive director of the association Narender Sharma said it was high time that the government ensured implementation of various legislations in order to create an enabling environment to help tobacco users quit the habit, protect passive smokers and prevent youngsters from taking up the habit. Joined by eminent personalities, including S.N. Joshi, a retired bureaucrat and medical experts, Dr S. Kashyap, head of pulmonary medicine at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), and legal experts of the HPVHA demanded that the government should take the initiative of making Shimla smoke-free by 2010 on the Chandigarh model. “As an NGO we are doing our job of creating awareness, advocacy and research on tobacco control, but the initiative will have to be taken by the government,” said Sharma. All experts said though there was a ban on smoking in public places, nobody really bothered about it in the absence of challaning and fines. They said lack of political will, perhaps due to election funding by the ITC to practically all political parties, was one of the main reasons for laxity in strict implementation of the legislations against tobacco. They said there was a need to impose total ban on advertisements of tobacco besides increasing tax on it. Joshi said when places like New York, California, Ireland, Uruguay and Chandigarh had been declared smoke-free, Himachal should not lag behind. He said it was a misnomer that a ban on smoking at public places would affect tourism. On the contrary, the people would prefer a smoke-free environment. They said chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the single largest cause of death among Himachalis. |
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Two years on, road still not complete
Kangra, February 26 According to villagers, the work under Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY), a centrally sponsored program, on this 1.25 km road project started on January 13, 2006, and was scheduled to be completed by October 10, 2006. The estimated cost was said to be Rs 17,03,603. The road was vital as it connects New Kangra bus stand with Jogipur-Kachiari road and is a viable alternative to the Tehsil Chowk-Kachiari road. Ujain-Jogipur road was a shortcut and viable connecting road between Kangra bus stand and Dr RP Government Medical College Hospital at Tanda and people visiting hospital could easily by pass the town. The Tehsil Chowk Gupt Ganga road was closed for lying down of the sewerage pipes recently thus putting the residents to inconvenience and the Ujjain-Jogipur road could have been the most viable alternative to that road. The residents alleged that they had requested the concerned authorities time and again but nothing was done. The PWD authorities here said Rs 19.70 lakh were spent on this road and funds for the metalling and tarring were yet to be received. P.S. Verma and Ashwani Kumar Sharma residents of the area alleged that the local politicians showed little interest for completing this road despite the fact that under the PMGSY funds were not the stumbling block. They alleged that during the rains the people here particularly school children and old people were worst sufferers on this road. The residents of these villages sought intervention of Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal to get the work completed on this road. |
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Speaker’s election challenged
Shimla, February 26 Bharmouri has filed an election petition before the state high court. He alleged that there were almost 53 voters who have voted in Bharmour as well as in Baijnath constituencies as per the voter lists. It is pertinent to mention here that in the recent Assembly election Bharmouri has lost the election from Tulsi Ram of the BJP by a narrow margin of 16 votes. |
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Industrial Licences
Palampur, February 26 Dhumal said such licences would be granted under a time-bound plan. If there was any delay in issuing licences or completion of other formalities, the officers concerned would be liable for action. Dhumal said as the industrial package would last only two years more, the Industries Department had been directed to woo more investment. Government machinery had been directed to clear the pending files without delay so that no industrialist should feel harassed at any level. During the Congress regime many industrialists who were keen to set up their units in Himachal Pradesh moved to Uttarakhand because of the non-cooperative attitude the authorities concerned, depriving the state of investment worth crores. He quoted the example of Hero Honda to support his point. The Chief minister said if he received any such complaints, he would not hesitate in placing the officer concerned under suspension and ordering a probe by the State Vigilance Bureau. Dhumal asked the industrial houses to approach him directly if they faced any difficulty in setting up their units. |
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Aadi Himani Chamunda
Kangra, February 26 Saini said the sidh peeth, situated at an altitude of 10,500 feet, remained closed during winters due to heavy snowfall on the pattern of Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines of Uttarakhand. He said the 11-km journey to the shrine could either be undertaken on foot or by helicopter. The ropeway would provide the third option. Saini submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister demanding better accommodation facilities at the shrine besides the facilities of drinking water and electricity. He said he was assured a Rs 3-crore road project for the shrine and a foundation stone was laid by former Union minister Shanta Kumar, but there had been no progress thereafter. |
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Rs 16 cr for road to Bara Bhangal
Dharamsala, February 26 It is the only panchayat headquarters in this district which does not have road connectivity. With the construction of this road within two years, it would take only 14 hours to reach this far-flung village from Dharamsala. At present, the residents of this village have to trek for three days to reach the village from the nearest roadside at Chota Bhangal. The proposed road would pass through Thamsar Pass via the Palacham and Panihartoo peaks. |
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Anti-hail guns to protect fruit crop
Shimla, February 26 The Horticulture Department is exploring the possibility of acquiring these guns from a Belgium-based company after assessing its effectiveness. With the equipment and installation cost pegged at Rs 76 lakh, one anti-hail gun is likely to cost around Rs 1 crore as a lightening detector, a must attachment to predict bad weather and hailstorm would cost an additional Rs 21 lakh. The anti-hail gun uses compressed air, oxygen and some chemicals to blast the clouds which could bring hailstorm. “The positive and negative charge in the cloud is diffused which will help convert hail into rain,” said a senior official. However, the effectiveness of the anti-hail gun will depend on timely meteorological inputs. Though the technology is new to India, farmers and fruit growers in Spain and France use this technology to save their crop from damage due to hailstorm. The gun is supposed to be effective over 1 sq km, which will protect about 80 hectares in one stroke. Horticulture minister Narinder Bragta said the possibility of installing guns in hail-prone areas of the state would be explored. Apple, peach, plum and pear crops suffer extensive damage due to hailstorm in areas like Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Kinnaur, Kullu and Mandi. Though the government will get the feasibility and effectiveness of anti-hail guns examined through its scientists and horticulture experts, it is being felt that a strong meteorological input would be the single most important prerequisite for its success. “In case we are not alerted about cloud formation and lightening some time before it actually strikes, we will not have the time to activate these guns,” a senior official said. “Another constraint is relatively limited range over which these guns give protection. Since ours is a hilly terrain and fewer orchards and fields would be covered in a specific area in contrast to plains where it has wider range,” said an expert. |
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PTA Appointments
Shimla, February 26 Addressing a press conference here today, the president of the Himachal Parent-Teacher Association (HPTA) requested the government to drop the inquiry into their appointments. He announced that the proposed rally in Shimla where the PTA appointees were to bring their spouses and children had been postponed till March 2. Questioning the inquiry he said the very basis was wrong as the criterion set by the Congress regime for their appointments and the one laid down by the present regime varied altogether. As such they would not be able to meet the criterion laid by the present regime. They pleaded that as the appointments of ad-hoc, para and tenure teachers made during the successive Shanta regimes had been regularised, they should also be treated in the same manner. |
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Anganwari workers resent cut in wages
Hamirpur, February 26 While 36,496 anganwari workers posted in 18248 centres along with 22000 new recruits are feeling the pinch of this budget reduction, hundreds of other craft instructors have not been paid their salaries for several months. Anganwari workers are getting measly a amount of Rs 1300 per month out which Rs 1,000 is being paid by the Centre and the rest by the state government. The helpers working in these centres get Rs 700 as a monthly allowance out of which Rs 500 is paid by the Centre and Rs 200 by the state government contribution. This month, anganwari workers were paid Rs 1000 and helpers Rs 500 only. Indira Devi, president of the Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union, said“though the BJP has been supporting our demand for raising our salary to Rs 4000 per month the state government has not made any arrangement to pay the existing salaries to us”. The anganwadi workers “have not been paid fuel bills and rental charges which is Rs. 200 per month in the rural areas and Rs 500 in the urban areas.” These workers have already met the Chief Minister and director of the Social Welfare Board in this connection. A meeting was held at New Delhi in which the secretaries and ministers concerned from all states were invited to discuss the problems of anganwari workers. |
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Tentative snowfall loss put at Rs 20 cr
Chamba, February 26 Giving this information here deputy commissioner of Chamba Munish Garg said all SDMs had been directed to rush to the affected areas and provide relief to the affected people as per the relief manual. The DC claimed that the restoration works had been taken up in a big way in various parts of the district by removing the snow from the roads and rural paths. Priority had been given to restoring and resuming the water supply schemes and power supply network and as a consequence most the water supply schemes and electricity supply in the distant areas had been resorted till now, the DC asserted. Taking in the imminent danger of sliding avalanches, the DC advised the residents living along the snowy peaks and hillsides to be cautious about the avalanches hanging above the rural paths which could slid down from the hill sides at any moment. |
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Ban on feeding monkeys sought
Palampur, February 26 The president of the forum said the Gagret-Chintpurni and Jawalamukhi-Kangra highways had become dangerous as groups of monkeys keep on roaming there in search of food. A large number of tourists from Punjab, Haryana and other neighbouring states who visit the Chintpurni, Jawalamukhi, Kangra and Chamunda temples daily, feed monkeys because of religious reasons. The government should install boards on the highways directing tourists not to offer eatables to the monkeys. Monkeys are not only creating problems for residents residing near the highways but have also become a major environmental hazard as empty food packets and wrappers of bread can be seen in large numbers on the highways and forests. |
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Plea to restore promotion quota
Shimla, February 26 The association which met under the chairmanship of president of the state employees confederation Vinod Kumar pointed out that the promotion quota of departmental employees was reduced from 25 to 10 per cent and the minimum qualification was also raised from 10 plus two to B.Sc (horticulture). The association drew his attention to the fact that at present out of the total 510 posts of horticulture extension officer, 137 were vacant. The association requested the minister to restore the promotion quota and the minimum qualification for the post before making fresh recruitments. It also urged the minister to promote 19 extension officers who had been awaiting their promotion for long and regularise 40 horticulture development officers who were continuing on an ad hoc basis for the past over 10 years. |
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Kalchakra: Govt assures help
Dharamsala, February 26 This assurance was given by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to a delegation of a religious society headed by local MLA of Lahaul-Spiti Ram Lal Markandey that met the CM here today. |
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Power MoU signed
Shimla, February 26 The project has been allotted on the BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) basis for 40 years. The project will generate 85 million units of energy in a 90 per cent dependable year. The company will submit a detailed project report within 18 months. It will give 12 per cent free power as royalty for the first 12 years, 18 per cent for the next 18 years and 30 per cent thereafter. |
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Drug controller’s kin quizzed
Shimla, February 26 The police today questioned the son-in-law of the suspended officer’s brother, who runs a business by the name of Shivam Enterprise in New Shimla. The Vigilance Bureau has recovered the seal of the drug controller and some challans of the pharmaceutical companies from the business premises owned by the son-in-law. The police also questioned some of the relatives and associates of Sher Singh who could have acted as possible conduits, especially after the seal of the drug controller was recovered from Shivam Enterprise. The police had recovered several documents pertaining to properties, plots, bank accounts and other transactions from the residence of Sher Singh at Solan, Shimla and the business premises at New Shimla. “The raids are over and now we have to start the analysis of the documents and property details that we have found,” said A.P. Singh, SP, vigilance. The vigilance sleuths are also trying to look into the aspect of ‘benami’ properties that the suspended officers could have acquired in fictitious names keeping in view the properties worth crores that he already owns in the name of his wife, daughters and mother-in-law. However, this would only be possible after interrogating Sher Singh, his other relatives and close associates. The exact amount of cash, jewellery, other valuables items and more documents would only be known after the police opens the lockers and gets details of all bank accounts. It is over the next few days that the Vigilance Bureau would be able to assess the exact value of properties and other valuables amassed by Sher Singh. |
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Rodents eat away body parts
Shimla, February 26 There was a major furor at the IGMC yesterday when ‘rodent bites’ were found on the eyes and parts of the face of the body of a suicide victim from the Krishnanagar locality here. The body was kept in the mortuary on Sunday night so that a post-mortem examination could be performed in the morning. The hospital authorities claimed that the face of the body was already damaged and there were no rats in the mortuary. “The body is kept in a deep freezer in the mortuary and there is no scope for rats to get in, so there is no question of rodents having eaten parts of the body,” said Dr Hardyal. The family members of the victim had complained that the face of the deceased was normal and it was after being kept in the mortuary that parts of the face were found to be damaged. There were reports that this was not the first incident when rats had eaten body parts of dead bodies. |
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Kangra, February 26
Shimla, February 26
