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Commercial Institutes in Rural Areas
Master plan for Baddi industrial belt soon
Tribune Impact |
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Fake MBBS Degree
Villagers oppose power grid
Cold deserts getting greener
UGC team meets CM
Police station awaits land
Landslide threat
BCS students scale peak
Trapped tanker drivers saved
Judicial exams advanced
Power board staff plan statewide protests
Woman burnt alive
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Commercial Institutes in Rural Areas
Shimla, June 13 Till now all these institutes located outside the planning area or the special area did not have to pay any charges to the Town and Country Planning Department or any other government agency. Thought the modalities are still being worked out, the proposal is to ask them to pay anything above Rs 200 per square metre for the change of land use. In recent years there has been a boom in the number of engineering, medical, law, nursing and other institutes in the rural areas. “With the price of land in these areas away from towns being very low, these institutes acquire huge chunks of land from the villagers at throwaway prices but do nothing in return for these places,” said a senior official. It has been felt that once such commercial institutes come up in any area, the resources get strained, causing inconvenience to local people. “The water and electricity supply of a small village or a town is meant to cater to the needs of only those many people and the coming up of such institutes creates problems for local people,” he added. The matter is likely to be placed before the cabinet for approval as the number of such institutes coming up in the state has been on the rise. Besides the medical and engineering colleges other vocational training institutes are also being opened in large numbers. Since there will be a change in the land use from agricultural activity to commercial, it is felt that such institutes should be asked to pay a descent amount as they to would be charging from their students.
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Master plan for Baddi industrial belt soon
Shimla, June 13 The plan, being prepared by the Centre for Environment Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad, would ensure separate zones for industries, housing, commercial sites, recreational and institutional areas and take care of major infrastructural facilities such as roads, drainage and green areas. It would provide the blueprint for future development of the area in a planned manner. The government was keen to put in place a simple and transparent regulatory system and ensure that the development authority functioned more as a facilitator and less as a regulator to help move towards a regime of self-regulation. Dhumal said that industrial development would only be sustained by creating proper infrastructure for industries and facilities for the people residing in the area. Private entrepreneurs were being encouraged to develop housing projects for workers. Dhumal said improvement of the existing infrastructure was in progress and projects worth over Rs 45 crore had been sanctioned during the past two years. Funds would not be a constraint in strengthening infrastructural facilities. The sewerage-cum-common effluent treatment plant for Baddi-Barotiwala core area, transport nagar, municipal solid waste management plant and sanitation had been proposed for timebound execution. Transport and urban development minister Kishan Kapoor said that the newly constituted authority was gradually taking its final shape. Basic infrastructural facilities for its smooth were being provided. Subhash Negi, principal secretary, industries, said the Surajpur-Swarghat road widening project would take off soon and completed in a timebound manner. Solan DC Amandeep Garg said 41 gram panchayats and two urban bodies were being covered under the master plan and opinion of the local bodies was being incorporated into it.
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Tribune Impact
Palampur, June 13 Talking to The Tribune here today Thakur said he had gone through media reports and also received serious complaints from irrigation and public health (IPH) officials that the companies were indulging in reckless cutting of hills and dumping debris in local streams, which were major sources of drinking water supply to the public in the area. Thakur said he had convened the meeting of officials of these companies and categorically directed them to restrict to the MoU, develop dumping site for debris and save the environment of the region. Besides, the companies had also been asked to cooperate with the IPH Department and the SDM, Palampur, so that the drinking water crises were avoided in the region. He said if companies still failed to follow his directions, the matter would be taken up with Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and the government would not hesitate in the cancellation of MoU. He said the Chief Minister had already stated that no one would be allowed to disturb the eco fragile system of the state and play havoc with the nature. He said as per reports available with the IPH Department, only one company had caused a loss of Rs 3 crore to IPH department in Palampur division. He said this company was directed to deposit the amount immediately in state exchequer. Besides, all the companies had also been asked to stop cutting of hills till the rainy season was over. Executive engineer of IPH divisions, Palampur and Thural, L.R. Chaudhary and Naresh Sharma, respectively, were deputed by the minister to keep a check on the illegal activities of these companies, and in case of violation of the MoU, report the matter to the state government immediately so that legal action could be taken.
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Fake MBBS Degree
Mandi, June 13 Acting on the complaint registered by Prasad’s wife, Mamta, a local resident, who had married him in 2000, the Mandi police ceased his documents from Sanjivan Hospital. But before the police could nab him after verifying his degree from different institutions in the country Prasad went underground in 2006. He applied for anticipatory bail here yesterday, but it was turned down by district and sessions judge A.C. Dogra and he was sent to police remand. Mandi SP M. Chander Sekhar said Prasad wife’s has registered an FIR in 2001, stating that his MBBS degree was fake and he had cheated her posing a doctor. “We ceased his documents from Sanjivan Hospital and verified them from where he had procured them, but these turned out to be fake ones,” he added. Medical administrator, Sanjivan Hospital, which has come under fire from residents for compromising patients health by employing a fake degree holder, Dr Jainder Pal said, “Prasad worked as a resident doctor from 2000 to 2001 and had submitted these documents to the hospital. We could never suspect that his degree was fake.”
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Villagers oppose power grid
Mandi, June 13 Though the police has registered a case under Sections 353, 504, 506 and 34 of the IPC against Sanjiv Kumar, a resident of Banala, for stopping officials to perform the duty, nobody was arrested. In a complaint registered with the police, Sukh Ram, assistant engineer, Power Grid Corporation of India, stated that the ADGM Power Grid, Jagmohan Sharma, guard Gurdyal Singh and patwari Kanshi Ram were inspecting the site today at Banala when the villagers started abusing them. They also manhandled and pelted stones on them. But nobody was hurt in the incident. The surrounding villagers are opposing the setting up of the power grid while the villagers whose land is being acquired for the polling station have pledged their support for the project.
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Cold deserts getting greener
Palampur, June 13 Both the said areas were cold deserts and no one could expect apple orchids or any other fruit tree to survive in these areas earlier. The fact that the apple orchids had come up in these areas is a clear indication that the global warming was having an impact on the climate, director of the IHBT P.S. Ahuja told The Tribune at Palampur today. Top scientists of the Center for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) had gathered at Palampur today to observe the foundation day of the IHBT. Director general of the CSIR Samir K. Brahmachari said the biodiversity of the Himalayan region was getting affected due to the climate change. The Himalayas have unique biodiversity as they were at one time under the sea and now are the highest mountain ranges of the world. The Himalayan ranges are indicators of the impact on the climate change as they have ranges in different heights having unique flora and fauna. The CSIR has decided to open a new centre at the IHBT to study the impact of the climatic change on the biodiversity of the Himalayas. The funds for the purpose had been sanctioned by the board of governors and work on centre would start soon, he said. When asked about the impact of brain drain on the CSIR, the DG said now the organisation had worked out a plan to reverse the brain drain from the country. The CSIR has got the permission to recruit 50 to 60 foreign scientists of Indian origin, who are working in foreign countries. A Shanti Sawroop Bhatnagar award has also been instituted under which incentives ranging from Rs 7,500 to Rs 15,000 per month will be given to young and senior scientists working in the organisation. |
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UGC team meets CM
Shimla, June 13 The nine-member expert committee of the UGC yesterday visited HPU and held detailed discussions with the authorities. The team members today met the Chief Minister and discussed the education scenario in the hill state. The team lauded the efforts being made by the authorities in starting job-oriented and self-financing courses. They appreciated the research and teaching activities being undertaken at HPU and strict adherence to the 75 per cent lecture condition in colleges and postgraduate departments. |
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Police station awaits land
Mandi, June 13 The need of the police station was felt in Drang segment in the district as timber and opium smugglers use the Ropa-Katola-Drang and Katindi-Drang routes for smuggling, sources revealed. With the Drang police station in place there, the movement of smugglers could be checked, they added. Mandi SP M. Chander Shekhar said the police post, Drang, had been upgraded to a police station Paddar at Drang. “We have no land available at Drang so far. But the additional staff will be accommodated at the same police post before the land is made available for the purpose”, he added. He added that the police would provide community services to residents in the area.
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BCS students scale peak
Chandigarh, June 13 A press note said the summiteers included, Ajay Mathew and Gaurav Chauhan, Delhi-based doctor Dr Anil Gurtoo, lead climber Nima Tshering and instructor Rinku Sharma. The team was lead by teachers R.S. Dhaliwal and Praveen Dharma under the auspices of Brig D.K. Khullar (AVSM, Arjuna Awardee). They also crossed three major crevasses on the way to summit. |
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Trapped tanker drivers saved
Bilaspur, June 13 Confirmed reports here said these truck drivers were sleeping on their tankers on the bank of Ali khad when heavy rain upstream virtually turned this otherwise docile khad into a swirling torrent of roaring river, devouring everything that came into its way. The drivers were totally confused and nonplussed when they wake up from their sleep on hearing noises of water surrounding them. They shouted for help but nobody responded as nothing could be heard due to thunder and noisy torrents. One of the drivers told Rajkumar, a local youth, about the incident over the phone. Rajkumar immediately informed villagers and they strove hard to save the trapped drivers in the swirling rivulet with the help of ropes. It took about two and a half hour to save all the trapped persons and ending their horrendous ordeal. The tanker drivers said the villagers strived hard and strained every nerve to save them. |
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Power board staff plan statewide protests
Shimla, June 13 The union termed the decision to constitute an independent transmission corporation on the pattern of the Himachal Power Corporation (HPC) as a step towards unbundling of the board. The union suspected that the government was working on a hidden agenda to trifurcate the board.
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Woman burnt alive
Hamirpur, June 13 Kamlesh Kumari (45), who was sleeping in her room, was trapped in the fire and lost her life. Villagers pulled out her body from the room. Preliminary investigations revealed that the fire was caused due to an electric short circuit. The district administration has given Rs 25,000 as immediate relief to family of the deceased. |
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