Dharamsala, April 7
The Singhi Ram case might open Pandora’s box in the Himachal Board for School Education. Sources in the Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau said that Rakesh Bhardwaj, private secretary of former chairman of the board B.R.Rahi got about 100 marksheets within around four years of his tenure there.

One of these marksheets was used for allegedly producing the fake marksheet of the minister’s daughter. The misuse of the said marksheet has raised apprehensions that other markssheets issued in the name of the private secretary of the former chairman might also have been misused.

The special investigating team of the Vigilance Bureau has now started probing the suspected misuse of such marksheets. It has confiscated the record pertaining to the issued marksheets.

Marksheets are normally got issued by the chairman’s office only as samples for getting them re-printed. As per the schedule the sample sent for printing should have been destroyed after its purpose was over. Vigilance officials are now ascertaining whether the marksheets were destroyed as per rules or misused.

Speaking on condition of anonymity Vigilance officials have admitted that it would be an uphill task to trace the marksheets issued to the private secretary of the former chairman. “In the case pertaining to Singhi Ram’s daughter we had definite information that the marksheet was misused.

However, we are waiting for information regarding other mark sheets to verify if they were also misused. Moreover, Rakesh Bhardwaj to whom the marksheets were issued has died.

The Vigilance team has confiscated many answersheets from the education board office. The answersheets are being sent to the state forensic laboratory for examination. The Vigilance officials have attached questions to be verified by forensic experts. The queries include the handwriting used for marking the sheets, the red ink used in marks etc.

The investigation into the case is being handled by the special investigation team (SIT) of the Vigilance Bureau. The SIT is being assisted here by local officials. The team has been camping here for the past few days. In view of the recent finding it might spend some more time at the education board office.

Shimla, April 7
Ridiculing the claim of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh that the BJP government was taking credit for the achievements made by the previous Congress regime Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal today asserted that he had been able to secure a better deal from the Centre by presenting the state’s case in a proper perspective and in an effective manner.

Addressing a press conference, on the completion of 100 days of his government, he said the state failed to get its due during Virbhadra Singh’s rule even though the Congress was at power at the Centre as he failed to properly present its case.

The fact was that during 2007-08 the special plan assistance from the Centre was reduced from Rs 475 crore to Rs 342 crore instead of the normal increase of around Rs 50 crore. He got it increased to Rs 450 crore for the annual plan of 2008-09.

The state had managed to get three IRBs, which would provide direct employment to 3,000 persons.

The Congress had procured substandard fertilisers from some private company in Rajasthan, whereas he directly approached union minister Ram Bilas Paswan who immediately provided 7,700 tonnes of it in two consignments from the IFFCO.

The latest achievement was the nod given by the Centre for conducting a survey for the four-laning of the Pinjor-Baddi-Nalagarh-Swarghat road.

He had taken several decisions for the convenience of industrialists, which include setting up of tehsil and a subdivision of the Public Works Department at Baddi.

He had also taken up various issues with the Punjab Government, which agreed to complete the Baddi-Chandigarh road by June 2009.

There had been some disappointments too from the Centre, particularly in the matter of expanding the rail work. The demand for upgrading the Pathankot-Jogindernagar track to broad gauge was turned down, the promise to start work on Baddi-Chandigarh line and completing the Nangal-Talwara track by 2008, was not fulfilled and only token provision was made for the proposed Bhanupali-Beri line for which the government had provided Rs 37 crore as its share in the state budget.

The government had adopted the BJP manifesto as a policy document and started its implementation form the day one by announcing a hike of Rs 25 in the minimum daily wage and enhancing the social security pension for the aged, widows and destitute.

The government had started the process of filling the vacant posts and decided to carry out 50 per cent of the recruitment for various posts batch-wise and remaining through open competition.

Shimla, April 7
Irrigation and public health minster Ravinder Ravi today said in the Vidhan Sabha that the government would conduct an inquiry and take appropriate action if it was found that some buses purchased by the state road transport corporation during the Congress regime broke down within the guarantee period or condemned without completing the mileage.

Replying to a question asked by Mohinder Singh and Roop Singh, he said there were complaints regarding the buses purchased for connecting the state capital with district headquarters. These were latter withdrawn from these routes and some of them were even replaced by the company.

In all, the corporation has condemned 415 buses from 2005-06 to February 15, 2008, and purchased 655 buses during the same period. Out of the total fleet of 1,847 buses, 620 had covered only 33.58 per cent of the fixed mileage, while 1,150 buses had covered over 4 lakh km, more than half of the fixed mileage.

In the current year, a provision of Rs 31 core had been made for acquiring 250 new buses. However, to replace all 620 buses, Rs 74 crore would be required.

Health minister Rajiv Bindal informed Prem Singh (Congress) that out of total 347 primary health centres in the state, 101 were on private premises. He said efforts were being made to provide government buildings for them in a phased manner. At present, buildings for 46 centres were under construction.

The Congress government had upgraded dispensaries to primary health centres without providing any staff and other infrastructure. The government had now decided to categorise these centres into two categories (PHC-1 and PHC-2) and staff and other facilities would be provided accordingly.

Public works minister Gulab Singh informed Tejwant Singh that 6,800 cases for grant of “nau tor” land from Kinnaur district were pending with the government. Out of these 3,647 cases, which involved forestland, were sent to the Centre for necessary clearance. However, these were returned with several queries. He said there was a complete ban on grant of nau tor in the state, except tribal areas.

Four Bills were also introduced in the House. Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal introduced the State Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, the State Municipal Committees (Amendment) Bill and the State Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill seeking to raise reservation for women in panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies from 33 to 50 per cent.

Social welfare minister Sarveen Chaudhary introduced the State Women Commission (Amendment) Bill.

Shimla, April 7
Renowned seismologist Arun Bapat has called for urgent measures in the hill state to cope with the consequences of high-magnitude tremors in view of the recent study report of the Geological Survey of India (GSI).

Although the study was commissioned by Uttarakhand, the probability values worked out in the report are equally applicable to Himachal, he told The Tribune here.

As per the three-year seismic study report which had already been submitted to the Uttarakhand government, the probability of occurrences of earthquakes of magnitude more than 7.5 for different districts of the state varied from 0.83 to 0.98. Unfortunately, most of the disaster management organisations have a strong feeling that they come into picture only during post-seismic periods to clear the debris and the corpses. Informing population about reliable earthquake precursors through various media could save several lives.

If an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 or more occurs it will result in total destruction within an area of about 50 to 70 km from the epicentre. The region in the range 70 to 150 km may witness some repairable or non-repairable damage and areas beyond 150 to 200 km could experience strong-to-minor shaking and damages could be minimal or negligible.

The distance of New Delhi from the probable epicentre in the Himalayas will be 270 to 350 km depending upon the location along the Himalayan Fault and Raleigh Waves from such a tremor that could be highly damaging to the tall structures (more than 17 metres high) not only in Delhi but also at Noida, Gurgaon, and Chandigarh. Dr Bapat, who has been advising state governments in the matter, asserts that an earthquake does not kill anyone and it is the collapse man-made structures which takes a heavy toll of life. As such the focus must shift to preventive measures and preparedness to face the disaster. More so because recent scientific advances in seismology indicate that it is possible to pick up warning signals that emanate from the active fault before a devastating quake hits a region.

One reliable seismic precursor is Seismo-Electro-Magnetic precursor. About 20 to 30 hours before the occurrence of an earthquake the radio station tunes to higher frequencies than the normal transmission frequencies. The reception on television suffers audio, visual and spectral disturbances.

The telephone reception is accompanied by noise. About 100 to 150 minutes before the occurrence of an earthquake mobile telephones start mal-functioning or go non-functional. This was seen before earthquakes in Gujarat, Andaman and Kashmir. In addition, the abnormal animal behaviour is also a reliable seismic precursor.

Uttarakhand, Himachal, NCR and the Government of India should take suitable steps to mitigate the impact of seismic disasters, Bapat cautioned.

Solan, April 7
With the director-general, health services, (DGHS), directing the Central Research Institute (CRI), Kasauli, to destroy and write off its existing stock and furnish a report in the next couple of days, the stage appears to have been set for its closure. The CRI director has directed all section heads to furnish information by April 10.

Uncertainty regarding its status has been dogging the institute ever since the Drug Controller General of India suspended its manufacturing licence on January 25. The institute was later directed to furnish a proposal wherein it could be converted into a testing laboratory on a par with the Central Drug Testing Laboratory.

Sources, however, said officials from the DGHS office, who visited the institute sometime back, had put the worth of assets at Rs 20 crore. Out of this, about Rs 7 to Rs 8 crore was in lieu of pipeline vaccines, while stock of filled vaccines worth about Rs 12 crore was lying in the institute when its manufacturing licence got suspended.

A proposal to set up a modern laboratory fulfilling the WHO norms of good manufacturing practices (GMP) at a projected cost of Rs 35 for producing only DT group vaccines had been mooted. This would enable the institute to manufacture DPT, TT and DT vaccines, which was the institute’s mainstay.

Dharamsala, April 7
A prolonged dry spell followed by untimely rain has caused huge damage to crops in the lower areas of the state. Sources in the Agriculture Department said they had reported to the government that there had been around 80 per cent damage to the wheat crop in many un-irrigated areas in Dharamsala and Una districts. They have attributed this damage to “draught in winters”.

So severe is the damage that the farmers have been forced to use their wheat crop as fodder for animals.

In Una district, wheat crop has been damaged totally in 30,790 hectares. Poor farmers having small landholdings are the worst hit.

In irrigated areas also, about 10 per cent damage has been reported to wheat crop due to recent rain.

Dry spell and frost have also caused damage to sugarcane and mango crops in lower areas. Kishori Lal, Ashwani Kumar and Krishan Lal, all farmers from Pinjore village, have gone for sugarcane plantations this year. However, weather conditions have damaged their entire crop.

Officials in the Department of Horticulture said 20,891 hectares were under mango plantation, 5,416 hectares under kinnow and 435.3 hectares under apple plantation in Kangra district.

Farmers have also reported damage to mango plantation due to frost. The recent rain and snow in upper reaches has caused damage to pollen in apple orchards.

Despite such a large-scale damage, there is no government scheme for the time being to provide compensation to the farmers.

The farmers demanded that the state should order a survey to assess loss to the farmers.

The additional director agriculture (north zone) A.C. Sandil said reports had been sent to the government.

Hamirpur, April 7
The command of ongoing indefinite relay fast by the computer teachers was taken over by their female colleagues today afternoon when the police picked up the fasting computer teachers.

Three female computer teachers Meenakshi from Mandi, Sulochna from Kinnuar and Sakshi from Hamirpur resumed the relay fast by the computer teachers at the Gandhi Chowk in the afternoon.

Earlier, the police picked up a batch of computer teachers observing indefinite hunger strike from the Gandhi Chowk.

The police sources said they have acted on the report received from the doctors about the condition of their health, who had reportedly stated that the condition of the fasting teachers had worsened.

Though the district administration had been trying hard to bring the agitating teachers to reach a negotiation and break their agitation, their efforts had not borne fruits, as the teachers were demanding firm assurance to eliminate the private company from the state government.

The Himachal Pradesh Computer Teachers Association reiterated to continue their agitation till their demands were fulfilled.

Mandi, April 7
A case of fake entry over the payment of remuneration for 42 days under the NREGA against the job card of a widow came to light involving the ward member and his opponents in the panchayat. The widow hails from Sarandha village in Pandoh gram panchayat.

Interestingly, the villagers informed that it was decided tacitly that the panchayat would make payment to all villagers in the ward against work of carrying the debris. But due to political rivalry between the ward opponents, complainant was instigated to file a complaint in the case.

In a complaint addressed to SP Mandi district M. Chander Sekhar, who has marked it for action here today, Kamla Devi, wife of late Led Ram, alleged that the ward member in connivance with other members of the Pandoh panchayat made fake entry in the muster rolls of the panchayat register against her job card.

Kamla said she never applied for the work under the NREGA last year. “When I went to ask about my job cards from the panchayat I was shocked to see that the panchayat had made payment of 42 days against my work to the ward member,” she alleged.

Escorted to the SP office by opponents of the ward member and convener Indian Peoples Theatre Association (IPTA), Lawan Thakur, Kamla complained that the fake entry was made against her job card and payment was made in the cash book of the panchayat.

Even Kamla was offered a payment of Rs 1,500 but she claimed she refused.

Pardhan, gram panchayat Pandoh, Hans Raj Sharma claimed that he had enquired about the complaint of Kamla. Ward member Roshan Lal claimed that he had given payment to Kamla and she had been instigated by his opponents and denied the allegations.

DRDA project director Tashi Sandup said the matter was brought to his notice today and he had directed the field staff to send the report.

Shimla, April 7
It is only by having a comprehensive ecologically viable and sustainable development plan for the Greater Kasauli Area (GKA) so that further damage to the ecology can be prevented.

Environmental activist Baljit Malik, who has been vociferously fighting to save Kasauli feels that the hill town can be saved from further ecological degradation only if the government formulates an ecologically viable development plan for GKA.

He has also filed a PIL in the high court on behalf of the Kasauli Bachao Andolan.

“The entire area is fast turning into a toxic ecological danger zone, which could not just pose eco-environmental danger but could also lead to potential social tensions and conflict,” he opines.

He adds that the haphazard construction activity taking place in and around Kasauli is causing grave damage to the forest cover, soil stability, water resources, air quality and endangering primary agro-diary horticultural activities in the area.

It is through an earlier high court order that the construction of projects costing above Rs 25 lakh has already been frozen in the Kasauli area. The state government has appointed a high-powered committee to formulate a comprehensive long-term development plan for the GKA.

Malik contests that not just the Kasauli area, but the entire stretch from Parwanoo to Shimla constitutes a weak geology and seismic fault lines. Barring the Choordhar mass of granite formation, the rest of the area has a crumbly friable structure of eocene, miocene, shail limestone and shail slates, he explains.

“Keeping all these facts in mind construction of multi -storeyed structures, which pose a threat not only to ecology but also to human life should be completely prohibited,” he emphasises.

The Department of Town and Country Planning (TCP) has extended the area under it to the Greater Kasauli Area by including nine more panchayats. Under Section 15-A of the TCP Act, adoption of land use has come into effect making seeking of permission mandatory.

However, Malik feels that inspite of all these endeavours tourism, real estate, religious and industrial activities, which could cause ecological damage, were still coming up in the area.

Another area of concern for Malik is the modification made by the government in the Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act, 1972. “The Act seeks to preserve land use by restricting the sale of agricultural land only to agriculturists but the provision has been made to facilitate change of land use for the hotel-resort-property development,” he laments.

A very serious consequence of this he says has been the acute-water shortage being faced by locals. “The water is being diverted from the villages and the town to meet the needs of the hotels and condominiums, which could lead to social conflicts,” he says.

He says the only solution is to have a growth-oriented ecology drive, which can strike a balance between development activities and preservation of the ecology.

Solan, April 7
Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal said today that his government trying every means to check the rising prices of essential commodities by keeping vigil on the hoarders and black marketeers. While blaming the UPA government at the Centre for its failure to check the prise rise he said the government was taking all possible measures to provide relief to the common man.

Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating a building constructed by the Solan District Truck Operators Cooperative Societies (SDTOCS) at Darla in Arki subdivision, he said the officials concerned had been directed to ensure sufficient availability of essential commodities at affordable prices to the masses.

He lambasted the UPA government for the spiralling prices, saying that its faulty policies had led to cost escalation in the market.

Dhumal said a transport nagar would be developed near Baddi soon.

The SDTOCS presented a draft for Rs 5 lakh towards the Chief Minister’s Relief fund. Besides, Rs 2 lakh was contributed by the president of the ADKM Operators Societies towards the fund. 

Mandi, April 7
Vijay Kumar, a rag trader from Delhi, was shot at by one Tinku from Garhshankar in Ropar, Punjab, at Pandoh around at 10.15 pm yesterday. The bullet hit Vijay in the upper chest damaging his right lung. He is struggling for life at the zonal hospital. The accused fled after the incident in the victim’s car.

Vijay Kumar’s helper Meher Chand was with him at the time of the attack. Vijay told the police that all of them were going from Kullu to Palampur in his Maruti car (DL-I-CD- 0734). They reached Pandoh around 10 pm. He got out from the car to answer the call of nature. In the meantime, Tinku fired four shots at him. Three bullets missed the target but one hit him in the chest.

He fell unconscious and his helper brought him to the hospital. Tinku fled in his car towards Mandi with Rs 12,000. He said they knew each other as they happened to frequent the place in connection with old clothes.

Surgeon at the zonal hospital J.B. Gupta, who operated upon the victim, said a bullet had hit him in the upper chest and damaged his right lung. The bullet was still lodged in the lung. However, his condition was stable, he added.

Mandi SP M. Chander Sekhar said, “A case has been registered under Sections 392 and 397 of the IPC and efforts are on to nab the accused.”