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Khauli Hydel Project
Govt to introduce health tourism
Substandard medicines thrive, courtesy docs
IPH Dept yet to enforce Ground Water Act
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Three drowned as car falls into Yamuna canal
Khajiar Lake listed
among wetlands
Hardeep Singh chosen state Intuc chief
Congress gears up for Hamirpur byelection
Glaciers hamper expedition to Manimahesh
Mercury up to 23.4°C in Shimla
Mounted police to patrol Shimla
Army to hold recruitment rally from May 1
Illicit liquor seized
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HPSEB in the dock yet again
Shimla, April 20 The per MW generation cost of the project is about Rs 10.50 crore as against Rs 10.20 crore on the 126-MW Larji project, which was until now considered the costliest hydel project in the country. The per unit cost of the project, which would generate 54 million units (MUs) of power annually, has been worked out at around Rs 6 per unit against the average selling cost of Rs 3.67 per unit by the board. The exact cost of the Khauli project was only known when the board filed an application with the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) for determining the tariff. The commission has fixed the power purchase cost of projects up to 5 MW capacity at Rs 2.80 per unit and Rs 2.25 per unit for projects with more than 5 MW. The board is drawing flak from all quarters for failing to commission the second hydel project on time as the Khauli project was completed three years behind schedule with an escalated cost of Rs 126 crore while the Larji project was commissioned five years behind schedule at a cost of Rs 1,294 crore. On the other hand, the per unit cost of the 1,500-MW Nathpa-Jhakhri hydel project, located in a more difficult terrain and executed in the around the same time in hostile climatic conditions, works around to be Rs 5 crore per MW and that too after it suffered huge losses due to flash floods on three occasions. However, more intriguing is the fact that the board or the government has not taken any action against the officials responsible for the irregularities in the Larji and Khauli projects. — UNI
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Govt to introduce health tourism
Nurpur, April 20 Health and ayurveda minister Dr Rajiv Bindal stated this here today. He said the state Health and Tourism departments would jointly work to exploit ayurveda resources and generate employment opportunities. Naturopathy and panchkarama systems were being introduced at important tourist destinations and all district hospitals. Expressing concern over the problem of understaffed hospitals he said at present 350 posts of MBBS and 154 posts of ayurvedic doctors were vacant, besides the acute dearth of specialists of nursing staff. “The state government had targeted to fill these vacant posts and open private nursing colleges in the state to meet the challenge of understaffed health institutions,” he added. Talking on the burgeoning incident of misbehaviour with doctors in the civil hospitals the health minister pointed out that the government was enacting a law by bringing a Bill in the Assembly soon on the pattern of the Andhra Pradesh Government by making the existing law more stringent to tackle the menace. “Apart from this the services of ex-army men would be requisitioned for providing security in the hospitals,” he added. He also informed that the state Health Department was serious against unqualified doctors and unregistered clinics in the state and would take strict action against the quacks flourishing in the state. “An Act against unregistered clinics has been enacted last year but its rules were not notified, now after notifying the same the department would swing into action,” he added. Earlier, he visited the 100-bedded civil hospital here and inspected the indoor wards and toilets. |
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Substandard medicines thrive, courtesy docs
Palampur, April 20 Information gathered from various hospitals and primary health centers showed that medical officers were prescribing substandard medicines made by particular companies. In various hospitals a prescription slip mentioned five to eight drugs costing Rs 200 to Rs 300, which was beyond the capacity of poor patients. A patient in the local civil hospital told The Tribune that he had just Rs 100 in his pocket but the doctor had prescribed him medicines valuing Rs 270. Likewise, a widow from Panchrukhi who had come to the hospital in connection with a gastro disease had been prescribed five medicines worth Rs 350. Many other such patients were seen arguing with chemists over heavy medicine bills.
When a doctor was reminded about the warning of the health minister, he remarked: “ No one had the authority to challenge a doctor’s prescription”. The official record of various hospitals in Kangra district established that the doctors had repeatedly prescribed a particular brand of medicines to patients. Indoor record of one of the hospitals in the district also revealed that a doctor had been prescribing a drug manufactured by a particular company for the past one year. The Tribune had a number of such prescription slips in its possession. Instances are when particular medicines were available in the hospital store, but the doctor directed the patients to buy these from the market. Himachal had become a haven for the sale of such drugs in the absence of an agency to check the malpractice. A survey conducted by a local voluntary organisation last year had established that over 100 brands of substandard and spurious drugs are reportedly selling in different parts of this district. The matter was also brought in the notice of the health secretary but no remedial action was initiated. A leading chemist of Jassur (Nurpur), a wholesale market of medicines in the district, said though the medicines of big manufacturers like Cipla, Ranbaxy, Torrent, Centaur etc were cheaper, these were not prescribed as doctors did not get any commission or other incentives from these standard companies. He further disclosed that the margin of profit in the substandard medicines was between 200 and 300 per cent and part of it went to the doctors. Besides cash and costly gifts, foreign tours, jewellery and cars are also given to the doctors by these companies if they fulfilled the targets. Increasing political interference in the posting of medical officers and para-medical staff has made the matters worse. Most of the staff posted in civil hospitals enjoy political patronage.
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IPH Dept yet to enforce Ground Water Act
Solan, April 20 Earlier, the former Congress government did not bother to go ahead with this notification though they time and again harped on having put such an Act in place. IPH minister Ravinder Ravi said he would look into the issue. The notification was issued just a few days back after nearly two years of the Act getting notified. In the absence of this notification the IPH Department was unable to check the indiscriminate use of underground water. The department was yet to identity those pockets where the ground water was prone to such problems. Once such areas are identified only then it can enforce this Act, as it cannot be implemented in the entire state. The industrial areas primarily face the problem of indiscriminate exploitation of groundwater. Thousands of industrial units and scores of housing colonies, which have sprung up in the area have put an immense strain on water bodies. Industrial places like Sai Road in Baddi, Bhatoli Kalan, etc., have been so much overburdened that the ground water level has declined by 40 to 50 feet, estimated an official. In other places lying in the periphery of Baddi, including
Malkhumajra, Manpura, etc., the ground water level has gone down by 20-30 feet. This has created a situation where it is hard to find water even at a depth of 350 feet while earlier it was found easily at a depth of 250 feet. Officials of the department said earlier it was non-issuance of this notification that deterred them from checking the violations and now non-mapping of the target areas by the department acted as deterrence. Further, with no authority in place the investors did not know whom to apply for in seeking such permissions. While no industrial unit had sought permission from the IPH Department to put in place a boring system but it was found that they were set up within short distances. This proved more fatal for the ground water level. As per the Act every user of the ground water in a notified area is supposed to seek permission from the authority. Any violation of this Act attracts punishment. |
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Three drowned as car falls into Yamuna canal
Nahan, April 20 Hundreds of residents of the village and the Asan Barrage area of Uttarakhand gathered at the spot and started shouting slogans against the local administration and the Uttarakhand police, which failed to call Army divers to fish out the bodies from the canal, till late evening. Eyewitnesses said more than 500 vehicles were stranded in the traffic jam on both sides of the village. People sat on the road soon after the Uttarakhand police left the spot. Subhash Banerjee (55), working with a private concern in the Paonta industrial area, was on the way to Paonta from Vikasnagar (Uttarakhand) with Meera (50), whom he was to marry tomorrow. According to eyewitness, when the car reached Matak Majri it collided with a motorcycle coming from the Paonta side. After the collision Banerjee lost control over his car and it rolled into the Yamuna canal along with Amir, who was on the pillion of the motorcycle. Musharraf, a local resident of the Asan Barrage area of Uttarakhand, who was driving the motorcycle, received multiple injuries. V.S. Thakur, Paonta DSP, said the state police administration was trying to call the Army divers to search for the bodies. He said Subhash Banerjee and Meera were residents of the Paonta area.
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Khajiar Lake listed
among wetlands
Dalhousie, April 20 According to official sources, the Khajiar wetland is one of the tectonic wetlands, which also include Nainital and Bhimtal in Uttarakhand.In order to maintain the ecological significance of wetlands of the country, the Government of India has earmarked Rs 210 crore for the 11th Plan, the sources revealed. The Government of India had taken various steps for controlling the shrinkage of wetlands, management and identification of wetlands for conservation under the NWCP. The wetlands are lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow water, the sources revealed. It may be recalled that the famous Khajiar glade is a saucer-shaped plateau with small lake in the centre. Dense deodar forests of the Kalatop-Khajiar Wildlife Sanctuary enfold it. Nestled on the northwestern end of Dhauladhars, at a height of 2150 m, it is about 22 km away from Dalhousie. The Khajiar Lake is also a resting place for migratory birds, which normally fly from the famous Pong Dam Wetland and cross over to China through the mountainous region of Chamba district. |
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Hardeep Singh chosen state Intuc chief
Bilaspur, April 20 The new president vowed to fight for the rights of laboureres. He lashed out at the BJP government for failing to rein in industrialists who were openly violating all labour laws. He alleged the hire-and-fire system and 12-hour duty had been introduced. Besides denying the minimum daily wage of Rs 100, labourers were not being given any holidays or relief in the case of accidents. Intuc would be forced to launch a statewide agitation against all these illegal practices if the government did not take suitable steps to enforce labour laws and protect the interests of labourers, Hardeep Singh Bawa said. |
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Congress gears up for Hamirpur byelection
Shimla, April 20 “The party will hold a meeting at Bilaspur on April 23, Hamirpur on April 24, Una at April 25 and Dehra block at April 26 to galvanise the party for the coming byelections,” HPCC president Viplove Thakur said
here. She said all office-bearers of the HPCC would remain present in these meetings and said the party would finalise its strategy for the Hamirpur parliamentary seat, which had fallen vacant following the resignation by Prem Kumar Dhumal, who had taken over the state’s Chief Minister. The party leaders also expressed its resentment with the state government for its decision to hike the bus fares by 25 per cent, besides its attempts to destroy the public distribution system in the state. Terming the BJP’s first 100 days as unsuccessful, they said the government had been a failure in reigning in the prices of the essential commodities and hiking bus fares. “The party is taking Hamirpur byelection seriously and this will provide an opportunity to the party to expose the government’s unpopular decisions,” she added. Presidents of three districts, presidents of block Congress, leaders of frontal organisations and party candidates, who fought assembly and parliamentary elections from the constituency, were also present at the meeting.
— UNI |
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Glaciers hamper expedition to Manimahesh
Chamba, April 20 These tourists included
Raghuvir, Soheel, Rohit, Man Singh and Dev Singh, who met the officials at Bharmour subdivisional headquarters and apprised them about the difficult adventurous experience they faced during the halfway trip. According to official sources, the fortnight Manimahesh pilgrimage would start on August 24 on the auspicious occasion of
Janamasthami. During the fortnight, the pilgrims and devotees of Lord Shiva take a holy dip in the sacred icy waters of Manimahesh Lake at an altitude of 4,170 m and have a vision of Kailash Peak (5,656 m), the abode of Lord Shiva. |
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Mercury up to 23.4°C in Shimla
Shimla, April 20 The town's day temperature rose by a degree to 23.4 °C as against 22.4 °C recorded yesterday. This was about 4°C above normal for this period of the year, the Met office said. It said the day temperature at Sundernagar also rose by more than a degree to stand at 33.9 °C, while the day temperature at Bhuntar stood at 29.4°C and 18.1°C at Kalpa in Kinnaur district. The maximum temperature at Una soared to 34.2 °C and 33.4 °C at Mandi following another bright day across the state today. The Met office said the minimum temperature at Shimla stood at 11.6°C, 11.1°C at Sundernagar, nine at Bhuntar, 2.2 °C at Kalpa, 25.2°C at Nahan, 12.5°C at Mandi and 16.8°C at Una. It also forecast mainly dry weather in the
state during the next 24 hours. — UNI
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Mounted police to patrol Shimla
Shimla, April 20 The Shimla police at present have six horses and all of them would be put into the patrolling duty. They would roam around in the city covering all localities from Sanjhauli to the Mall Road and bus stand, the SP said. The step has been taken in the wake of increase in the cases of theft in the city. About 12 cases of theft have been reported in the city in the past one-month. There have also been reports of burglars breaking into ATMs in the Mall Road and Sanjhauli areas. The police would also keep a close watch over eve teasers and punish them on the spot if caught harassing women. — PTI
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Army to hold recruitment rally from May 1
Sundernagar, April 20 According to Col C.M. Dua, director Army recruiting office, Mandi, the youths from Mandi, Kullu, Lahaul-Spiti, Kangra and Chamba would be allowed to participate in the rally, where they had to undergo different physical tests as per schedule for the recruitment. He said all necessary arrangement for the rally had already been completed, which would be covering most of the areas of the state. |
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Illicit liquor seized
Kumarhatti, April 20 Ashok Kumar, tempo driver, was arrested and interrogated. During the interrogation he revealed that more liquor consignment was hidden in the tempo by extending the cabin of the vehicle. The boxes contained 1,320 bottles of liquor. A case has been registered.
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Hardeep Singh Bawa, elder son of Amarjeet Singh Bawa of Parwanoo, was unanimously elected president of the state Intuc in a general body meeting of the state executive committee here this afternoon. Hardeep Singh replaces his father, who died a few days ago following a massive heart attack.
The new president vowed to fight for the rights of laboureres. He lashed out at the BJP government for failing to rein in industrialists who were openly violating all labour laws. He alleged the hire-and-fire system and 12-hour duty had been introduced.
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