Members of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) stage a rally to commemorate May Day at Lower Bazar in Shimla on Thursday. — Tribune photo by S. Chandan

Hundreds of workers on the occasion of May Day today took out a procession and later held a rally at Naaz. Representatives of various workers’ organisations addressed the gathering.

State joint secretary of the CITU Vijender Mehra said the common man was being crushed as the UPA regime was following pro-American economics policies, which was against the interest of the common man. “Following in the footsteps of the NDA regime, the Congress led UPA regime too is following the same economic policies, which have further widened the gap between the rich and the poor,” he said.

He said 94 per cent of the unorganised workers sector was still outside the social security cover. “The situation is going from bad to worse as the employers were exploiting the workers with little protection from the government side,” he said.

The workers said in view of the anti-people policies being followed by the government, they would further intensify their agitation.

HAMIRPUR: The CPI today held a public meeting to celebrate the May Day at Hamirpur. Party secretary Mukesh Kumar, former MLA B.D. Lakhanpal and other leaders, addressed the meeting.

Speaking on this occasion Left leaders assailed the attempts of imperialist countries to exploit the workers under the policies of privatisation and new liberalism.

They also criticised the UPA government for blindly following the new economic policies at the behest of imperialists. Paying rich tributes to the martyrs of the May Day of Chicago, the speakers urged the working class to get united to face the onslaught of exploiters.

The north zone insurance employees association also held a demonstration in front of their office during lunch hours to observe the May Day. They raised slogans against imperialism and new economic policies of globalisation and privatisation.

KUMARHATTI: “The contract labour in the state industries was a worrying factor. The state government’s decision to make it compulsory for units to prepare identity cards of workers was mere an eyewash.” This was stated by Dipankar Mukherjee national secretary of CITU at Parwanoo while addressing industrial workers during the May Day celebration today.

He said the BJP government in the state was making mockery of workers’ class. Despite deciding to enhance the minimum wages of workers the notification to this effect was still pending, he pointed out.

As per Minimum Wage Board norms, an ITI holder was supposed to fall under skilled labour category but here in the state the degree holders were forced to work as semi-skilled labours with wages even lower than the that prescribed under minimum wages, he asserted.

Ravinder Kumar, president state CITU said the Labour Department was acting like a mute spectator and entrepreneurs were making maximum benefit of it.

Meanwhile, in its district-level May Day function celebrated as Adhikaar Diwas at Baddi, the AITUC lashed down heavily on the state government for its anti-labour policies.

Shimla, May 1
Scarcity of water has gone to such an extent in the tourist resort of Shimla that serving guests with milk seems an easier proposition to the residents than serving them with water.

With the drinking water supply restricted to every third or fourth day and that too for half an hour only, even having bath has become a luxury for the people.

Saroj, a resident of Chakkar area, says here family has not seen water in their taps since the beginning of April. They meet their water needs by taking water from the water tankers of the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) or private suppliers that make a round of their locality every three days. Even for that, family members have to stand on the road since early morning to ensure that they do not lose their place in the long queue of buckets and cans lined up for collecting water.

“We reuse water after washing utensils and clothes in toilets. Serving guests with milk seems an easy proposition then serving them with water,” Saroj added.

There is no dearth of stories of the town’s residents going without water for days on end or getting just little to meet their daily chores. The successive state governments that came to power by promising to resolve the issue of water scarcity in the town have been unable to address the issue effectively so far.

It has now become round-the-year problem. However the authorities have their own explanations. According to them, the town faces water scarcity in winters as supply lines get frozen. During the summer, the supply falls short due to increase in demand and drying of water sources. The situation is no better in monsoon as silt chokes water pumps. If sources in the Shimla Municipal Corporation are to be believed, the situation in the town this year is about to turn from bad to worse. There is not enough water in the Ashwani Khad, the main water source for the town, to meet the drinking water needs of the people of the town.

They say the Giri Drinking Water Supply Scheme, which is in the testing stage, is the only alternative. Unless the scheme is made functional, the residents will have a long summer this year.

However, not all are facing water scarcity in the town.

Ministers, bureaucrats and hoteliers have enough water for them and at times more than they actually require. Water tanks in the bureaucrats’ colony in the town could be seen overflowing several times in a month.

Almost all hotels of the town get enough water even during the summer to cater to the needs of their clients, who throng the hill resort to escape the scorching heat in the plains.

Hotel owners have been allowed to ferry water in their own water tankers from the SMC’s main tank, situated just below The Ridge, where the movement of vehicles is strictly otherwise restricted.

Corporation commissioner Amitabh Awasthi says as against a demand of 42 million litre per day (MLD), they are supplying close to 24 MLD water daily. “The situation is likely to improve after the Giri Drinking Water Scheme is made functional this month,” he said. The residents hope so, too. — UNI

Shimla, May 1
With mercury soaring the incidents of forest fires in various parts of the state has gone up even though most are ground fires with an estimated loss of only Rs 10.35 lakh.

Till now 71 cases of forest fires have been reported with none of them being a devastating one. The forest area that has been affected by the fires this year till now is 972 hectares. Even though the fire-prone season is after April 15 onwards, the forest staff were put on alert right from mid-March this year so that any incident of fire could be prevented and the damage confined to the minimum.

“Last year, there were 580 forest fires with an estimated loss of Rs 86 lakh,” said T.S. Thakur, conservator, management. The fires, mainly in the districts of Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Solan, Shimla, Mandi had affected a total forest area of 7,810 hectares.

Even though the Forest Department considers April 15 to June 30 as the fire season, preventive steps like controlled burning and clearing of fire lines were undertaken to minimise the possibility of fires in mid-March itself this year.

This year the Forest Department has formed forest squads who will be on duty round the clock in shifts so that they can rush to the spot on receiving fire-related information. “With limited mobility due to non-availability of vehicles, the department has this year given permission to hire taxis for effective control of fires,” informed a senior officer.

The government is also in the process of providing fire-fighting equipment and other tools to check fire. The staff deputed on special fire duty would shortly be provided with fire-resistant clothes.

Shimla, May 1
With permission from the state government for the construction of a guesthouse and reconstruction of the office building at the Raj Bhawan is still being awaited, the construction plans have been put on hold, as it is only the Cabinet, which can give relaxation in cases pertaining to heritage zone and green areas.

The proposal for construction of a two-storeyed guesthouse over a plot measuring 5,800 sq m and the reconstruction of the office building along the old lines was first submitted in the office of the director, Town and Country Planning, on September 7, 2007. Ever since the matter has been pending as it is being examined by various agencies in the government.

The proposal was still being examined as the Raj Bhawan falls in the heritage zone and the green area. While in green areas there is complete ban on fresh constructions, in the heritage zone work can be undertaken only along old lines. Since it is only the Cabinet, which can give relaxation, the matter is likely to be placed before it.

It was March 13, this year that the case for undertaking construction at the Raj Bhawan was resubmitted. The case was still being examined by various agencies like the PWD and the matter is likely to be placed before the Heritage Advisory Committee, specially constituted to ensure that the heritage zone remains intact and the British architecture is not lost.

Chief secretary Ravi Dhingra said the matter was still under the consideration of the government. Since the Raj Bhawan falls in the heritage zone and green area the case will be placed before the Cabinet.

With the term of Governor V.S. Kokje getting over on May 8 the Raj Bhawan authorities were keen that the foundation stone of the proposed buildings is laid before he leaves.

Hamirpur, May 1
The ruling BJP and opposition Congress are once again facing each other in the election to the Hamirpur parliamentary seat. The former has won the seat six times and the latter five times out of total 12 contests with the Janata Party winning the seat once.

The constituency was created in 1966 after the reorganisation of states and inclusion of Una-Kangra and few other regions into Himachal Pradesh.

The first election for the Hamirpur seat was held in 1967 in which Congress candidate P.C. Verma had defeated Jagdev Chand contesting on the Jan Sangh ticket. In the next election in 1971, Narain Chand Prashar of the Congress again defeated Jagdev Chand from here.

In the 1977, Ranjeet Singh riding on the Janata Party wave defeated N.C. Prashar by over 50,000 votes. However, in the next election in 1980, Prashar avenged his defeat by defeating Ranjeet Singh by over 70,000 votes.

The BJP, which entered the electoral contest for Hamirpur parliament seat by fielding P.K. Dhumal in 1984, had to face defeat at the hands of Congress candidate N.C. Prashar by over 1.25 lakh votes.

However, Dhumal won the election in 1989 by defeating Prashar by more than 32,000 votes.

Dhumal again won the seat in 1991 by defeating Prashar by a slender margin of about 3,000 votes. However, he was defeated in 1996 at the hands of Vikram Singh Katoch of the Congress by over 16,000 votes.

BJP candidate Suresh Chandel went on to win three consecutive elections from Hamirpur. In 1998, he defeated Vikram Singh Katoch by over 80,000 votes and then in 1999, he defeated Ram Lal Thakur of the Congress by more than 1.29 lakh votes. Chandel defeated Ram Lal again in 2004 by 1,615 votes.

After Chandel’s removal from the present Parliament after being caught in the alleged ‘cash-for-query’ scam, the BJP again fielded Dhumal for the Hamirpur byelection in 2007 who defeated Congress candidate Ram Lal Thakur by over 80,000 votes.

In present byelection, caused by the resignation of P.K. Dhumal after becoming Chief Minister in December, 2007, the BJP has fielded Anurag Thakur, son of Dhumal, while the Congress has nominated former MLA O.P. Rattan from here.

Chamba, May 1
Residents of the far-flung areas of Chamba district have urged transport minister Krishan Kapoor to reschedule the routes of long-route buses, Chamba-Chandigarh, Delhi and Shimla via Himachal area.

The journey time to Chandigarh can be reduced from 12 to nine hours if the Chamba-Chandigarh bus is plied via Dunera, Sulyali, Nurpur and Una. Likewise, the journey hours to Delhi can also be reduced from 18 to 14 if the Chamba-Delhi bus is plied by Dunera, Sulyali, Nurpur and Una. 

Shimla, May 1
Tourists can be now saved from the arduous road journey to tribal and unexplored remote areas in the state as the government proposes to start heli-taxi service to various destinations soon.

This was stated by Ram Subhag Singh, tourism commissioner and managing director of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC), while addressing members of the Indian Association of Tour Operators in Delhi today.

He said the launch of heli-taxi services would attract high-spending tourists to the state. “The bids will shortly be invited from reputed air service operators to conduct these services in the state,” he said. He added that the air service providers would be asked to associate themselves with the marketing of Himachal.

He further said the government was making efforts to start flights of bigger aircrafts at the Kullu airport from the current summer season. “The government has also decided to involve public-private partnership in building infrastructure in the tourism sector,” he added.

He said the Naldehra golf course would be upgraded from the present nine-hole level to 18-hole level. “A plan has been prepared to promote apple orchards and hydel projects, especially for students from all over the country,” he said.

He said there was 75 per cent occupancy at the main tourist destinations in the state and efforts were being made to attract more tourists.

Mandi, May 1
The Gramin Muzdur Rozgar Sangh (GMRS) accused the district programme officer for the National Rural Employment Guarantee programme Act (NREGA) of abetting large-scale irregularities like fake entries, non-issuance of job cards and use of machineries in village roads and non-payment of unemployment allowance under the Act to workers in Khalwan panchayat in Balichowki tehsil in the district.

In a memorandum addressed to the minister for rural development, Raghuvansh Prasad, the villagers have come under the banner of the GMRS to raise their voice, demanding action against the programme officer on the issue who so far has given a deaf ear to their grievances.

President GMRS Sant Ram Thakur and its chief patron Lawan Thakur stated that they met the district programme officer-cum-additional deputy commissioner (ADC) but he remained unconcerned on long-pending grievances of the villagers in Khalwan panchayat under the NREGA.

They said over 84 villagers in Khalwan panchayat who have not got work under the NREGA were not given there due unemployment allowance under the Act. The villagers in many panchayats were not getting their job cards and work near their homes as provided in the Act, they charged.

They alleged that the programme officer was not taking any interest in the implementation of the NREGA in the district. While genuine workers were not getting work, the fake entries have come to light in Pandoh panchayat.

Even a shopkeeper in Sarkaghat got the job card and he was given the work of “mistri” under the NREGA, throwing all norms of the Act to the winds, they charged.

Refuting the GMRS charges ADC-cum-programme officer D.P. Verma claimed that he had sought the details from the concerned BDOs on this. “We have provided employment to over 450 people in Khalwan panchayat. We are examining whether or not unemployment allowance could be given to the claimants.”

Solan, May 1
About 150 passengers of 256 Down Himalayan Queen had to face great inconvenience when the train engine developed a snag near Barog around 2.25 p.m today.

The train, which was on its way to Kalka from Shimla, had to halt at Barog and wait for a new engine for its onward journey. This was the second major breakdown on the Kalka-Shimla track in as many days. Only yesterday another train failed to negotiate the steep climb of Kandaghat, making it go for a forced halt for over an hour.

After waiting for nearly an hour, the railway officials had to arrange about 30 taxis to take the passengers for their onward journey from Barog at a cost of nearly Rs 16,000 Since a number of passengers headed for Delhi were supposed to catch their connecting trains from Kalka, the passengers protested for the delay.

The station master at Barog said taxis were arranged for the passengers to enable them to reach their destinations in time. The breakdown of trains on this stretch has become a regular feature, inconveniencing the passengers. 

Nurpur, May 1
The police has failed to make any headway in the forgery case which was registered under Sections 420 and 120(B) of the IPC following a direction from a court on November 13 last year.

Amar Singh of Ghiali village under the Ganhi-Lagor gram panchayat yesterday submitted a memorandum to the Shimla DGP demanding a fare probe into the case. The accused in the case had allegedly managed a mutation of land in the revenue record by forging an exchange deed.

According to the FIR, accused Ratan Singh, one of the co-sharer of a piece of land, allegedly got mutated the share of land of the complainant’s sister, Jai Devi, on June 2, 2005. It was done on the basis of a power of attorney of the latter. Jai Devi was not alive at the time of execution of the deed. The deed was executed during the pendency of partition proceeding of the said land initiated by co-sharers in the tehsildar’s court.

As per the gram panchayat record, Jai Devi died on December 26, 2001. It is alleged that Ratan Singh, Purn Chand and Tilak Raj connived with each other to benefit one of the co-sharers and cause loss to the complainant. Meanwhile the SDM, Nurpur, has also revoked the controversial land exchange mutation executed by the accused.

The complainant alleged that the police was trying to hush up the case. Neither the investigations were completed nor any action initiated against the accused even after over five months, he alleged.

On the other hand, police inquiry officer Meghnath claimed the police investigations were in the final stage.

Nahan, May 1
The police has claimed that it has almost solved the Rajgarh Shirgul temple theft case and arrested three persons in that connection.

Following an information from the Kandaghat police in Solan district last evening, the Rajgarh police arrested two Nepalese, Nar Bahadur and Jeewan Bahadur, in connection with the case. While Nar Bahadur worked at Brila village in Dahan panchayat under Rajgarh subdivision, Jeewan Bahadur worked at Kandaghat in Solan district.

On interrogation, they reportedly confessed that they, along with another accomplice, broke open the locks of famous Shirgul temple at Rajgarh village on the night of April 15 and stole two ancient idols. They also took away silver ornaments and a silver stick of the deity weighing around 2.4 kg. After committing the crime, they started searching for some buyer of stolen items in Rajgarh and Kandaghat areas. They sold these to Sanjay, a jeweller of Rajgarh, for Rs 15,000.

The police picked up Sanjay in the wee hours today. He had reportedly admitted that he purchased the stolen ornaments, which he later sold to some jeweller from outside the state.

They were produced before a magistrate, who remanded them in police custody for one week.

The third accomplice of Nar Bahadur and Jeewan Bahadur reportedly ran away with the ancient idols from Rajgarh after collecting his share in the ornaments’ sale amount and the cash stolen from the temple, last week.

After his disappearance, Nar Bahadur and Jeewan Bahadur felt cheated and under the influence of liquor they openly announced in the Kandaghat bazaar that they were in search of their third partner who had cheated them of crores by taking away the precious idols with him. The matter was reported to the police, which arrested them and called the Rajgarh police immediately.

The police said the third accused was still at large. According to Rajgarh DSP Virender Kalia, police parties had been dispatched to arrest him and efforts were on to recover the stolen articles and idols.

Solan, May 1
With the Congress MP representing Shimla D.R. Shandil donating liberal sums of money for constructing tennis courts in elite clubs in the town, the rural youth too have started demanding donation of funds for improving their grounds.

The yuvak mandals from Jadari and Koon villages in Delgi panchayat while ruing the lack of facilities in their area said if the MP could donate some funds to their panchayat it would help them create some basic facilities for development of sports. Bereft of even a decent playground a majority of the panchayats, even those lying along the main roads, could provide virtually little to those desirous of pursuing sports as a career.

The district therefore had not seen any outstanding sportsman for quite sometime.

How little these elite clubs contributed to the development of tennis was clear from the fact that the district had no outstanding tennis player. Since the membership was confined to the moneyed only the elite managed to make use of the tennis courts in the town, which too was pursued on an amateur basis.

Secretary of the Durga Club, Navneet Khanna, while defending donation of lakhs by the MP to the club said only the foundation stone of the tennis court had been laid by the MP on Sunday. Once completed it would be made available to the sportsmen as well.

Interestingly, the MP had also filled the form for obtaining membership of this elite club on Sunday after laying the foundation stone. Confirming this the secretary said the issue of granting membership would be finalised at its executive committee meeting.

A perusal of the list of the elite tennis club at the police lines revealed that out of the 43 members a majority were high-class businessmen while others were officials.

Thus the belief of creating a facility for the actual sportsmen was a far-fetched idea contrary to the assertions of the MP.

Nurpur, May 1
In a bizarre incident, Pawan Kumar of Dadar village under the Awah gram panchayat, near Chuwari, killed his newborn son and hid the body in the cowshed yesterday.

The accused was reportedly under the influence of liquor at that time. Immediately after his wife delivered a male child, the accused attacked her with a sharp-edged weapon. Midwife Datto Devi tried to intervene. She managed to save the women, but got herself injured in the scuffle and fell unconscious. The man then killed the newborn.

Neighbours hospitalised the injured midwife and informed the Chuwari police.

The police has arrested the accused and registered a case of murder against him. The body of the newborn has been recovered.

According to the police, it was accused’s second marriage. His previous wife had left him due to his cruel behaviour. Later, he married Uma Devi.

The accused was today produced in a court, which remanded him in police custody for further investigation.