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Afforestation: Funds lie unused with Centre
Day 3: Traffic woes continue
Widespread rain in state
Heavy rain triggered a landslide in Sector 1 of New Shimla on Sunday.
—Tribune photo by S. Chandan |
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Bridge Collapse
Warm weather responsible for silt rise
Probe ordered into IPH Dept scam
BJP encouraging regional discrimination: CPI
Anti-hail guns soon
Eco-Policy
‘No child below 14 employed’
Poor road work behind landslides
St Mary’s celebrates golden jubilee
Clarification
Awards to promote eco-reporting
1 killed, 9 hurt in mishap
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Afforestation: Funds lie unused with Centre
Shimla, June 15 Over the past few years, thousand of hectares of forestland has been diverted for hydroelectric projects, cement plants and other projects for which around Rs 200 crore was deposited with the CAMPA. The authority was set up by the Centre on the directions of the Supreme Court. Under the Forest Conservation Act, prior-approval of the Centre is mandatory for the diversion of forestland. Permission for diversion is granted only after the user agency deposits the net present value (NPV) and the requisite amount for carrying out compensatory afforestation for the diverted forest area. Till 2002, the amount was utilised by the states. However, the Supreme Court directed the government to set up a separate agency for the funds collected from states to ensure their proper utilisation. The direction came after some environmentalists brought to the court’s notice that the state governments were diverting funds for other purposes. Consequently, the objective of raising new plantations to make up for the forest loss was not being fulfilled. Out of the total amount available under the CAMPA, about Rs 4,000 crore has come by way of NPV and the remaining Rs 2000 crore has been deposited for compensatory afforestation. However, the CAMPA remained an ad hoc body all these years. According to official sources, the funds could not be utilised all these years as the Centre could not decide how these were to be utilised. The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) that advises the Supreme Court on forest-related matters had suggested that compensatory afforestation funds collected from the states should be channelled back to them through state-level societies. The issue was discussed at a meeting convened by the Union Ministry of Environment in New Delhi last week. Representatives of various states were present in the meeting. The Himachal government impressed upon the Centre that it should leave it to the states to decide how to use the funds. It also urged it to release the funds immediately so that these could be utilised for raising new plantations. The Centre wants to enact a legislation to lay down the norms for the utilisation of CAMPA funds. The issue of carbons credits was also discussed in the meeting and the states asked to claim carbon credits for the new plantations being raised by them under compensatory afforestation and other programmes. |
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Day 3: Traffic woes continue
Nurpur, June 15 The ground-supporting wall of the bridge had collapsed due to rain on Friday. The downpour since last night had attributed to long traffic jams on Kotla-Soldha-Batees narrow link road where the authorities have diverted the traffic. The people of Kangra district also got newspapers after a delay of about five to six hours, as the vehicles carrying newspapers remained stranded in the traffic jam. The police has failed to cope with the heavy traffic influx on the narrow link road whereas the administration has not deputed any traffic personnel to regulate the traffic. The commuters had a harrowing experience last night when they remained stranded in a traffic jam throughout the night, which could be cleared by 10 in the morning. The heavy rain in the Kangra valley since last night had created more trouble for them and it also interrupted the ongoing repair of the Bailey bridge. |
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Widespread rain in state
Shimla, June 15 The places that had significant precipitation included Dharamsala that recorded the maximum of 103 mm of rainfall, followed by Shimla 39.5 mm, Una 33.4 mm and Sundernagar 22 mm. The rain triggered landslips at several places blocking link roads in interior areas. The persistent cloud cover and high humidity is conducive to outbreak of fungal disease like scab and mite attacks. The scientists have cautioned apple growers to remain vigilant and take all required preventive measures. However, the weather in the tribal belt Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti remained dry. |
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Bridge Collapse
Shimla, June 15 The 110-foot span bridge meant to withstand a load of around 15 tonnes gave way while a truck-trailer carrying more than 65-tonne load was crossing it. The vehicle was reportedly carrying machinery for the Allian Duhangan Power Company. No permission had been reportedly taken from the PWD and the district administration for transporting such a heavy load over the bridge. The temporary Bailey bridge was constructed after the 1995 floods. Gulab Singh has directed the officers concerned to take action against the company for the alleged violation of norms and take necessary steps to restore the bridge in a time-bound manner. He also asked them to restore traffic through Bhunter so that there was no inconvenience to the tourists and the local people visiting Manikaran. Engineer-in-chief of the PWD had been asked to personally monitor the progress of the restoration work. He also directed the department to inspect all bridges in the state and remain more vigilant to avoid such eventualities.
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Warm weather responsible for silt rise
Shimla, June 15
The engineers of the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) initially suspected that the rise in discharge might have been caused due some temporary blockade in one of the tributaries giving way. However, the information gathered by the Warm weather responsible for rise in silt authorities from various sources regarding the catchment indicated that there was no blockade. Spiti is a rain-shadowed region and the fact that there had been no appreciable decline in the discharge over the past two days makes it obvious that the sudden melting of snow accumulated during winter had raised the level of silt and discharge. Generation remained suspended for the third consecutive day as the level of silt in Sutlej continued to be much higher at 7,141 ppm at Nathpa dam as against the maximum permissible limit of 4,000 ppm. The discharge in the Spiti almost trebled from 140 cumecs (cubic metre per second) to 373 cumecs on June 11, and the level of silt shot up from 4,500 ppm to 11,500 ppm. The increase in the discharge of main Sultlej river was nominal and the level of silt was also on the lower side. When the accumulated snow melts suddenly, it brings along a lot of topsoil, raising the lee of silt in the river. The managing director of the SJVN said as there was lot of quartz content in the silt the composition of the silt particles would have to be taken into consideration before resuming generation. Normally, coarse particles account for 25 per cent, medium for 25 to 30 per cent and fine particles for the rest. During the de-silting process the coarse particles settle down while the fine ones pass through the turbines. The silt being brought down by Spiti had changed the composition with percentage of coarse particles coming down to 16 per cent and the fine count increasing to almost 50 per cent. The fine particles, which hit the metal parts of turbines at a speed of 70 m per second create deep cavities and cause extensive damage. The level of fine particles had to be monitored continuously to minimise damage to turbines.
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Probe ordered into IPH Dept scam
Palampur, June 15 Disclosing this to mediapersons here, state IPH minister Ravinder Thakur said a decision to this effect was taken after the completion of a departmental investigation in which it was established that large-scale bungling and irregularities were committed by officials of the department while placing the orders for goods. Thakur said the departmental inquiry revealed that purchases worth crores were made in a single day. The payments were also released on the same day and the goods were shown delivered at IPH stores that very day. How this could be possible, he said. To cover up the entire thing, officials of the department obtained quotations from one person and placed purchase orders on the same day at “very high” rates, almost 10 times higher than the prevailing market rates at that time. The minister said grease was purchased at a rate of Rs 9,900 per kg, while its prevailing market price was Rs 400 per kg only. He said there were many other items where the state exchequer was drained in crores. He said the then head of the department could also not shrug off his responsibility as he had granted fund for the purchases. All of those involved in the episode should get ready to face legal action, he added. As a very large amount was involved in the scam, Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal had ordered to hand over the probe to the state Vigilance Bureau so that necessary legal action could be taken against the culprits, he said. He said the bureau would submit its report to the government under a time-bound plan with a view to filing challans in the court at the earliest. Sources said 12 senior officials of the IPH Department, who were close to some Congress leaders, were involved in the scam. |
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BJP encouraging regional discrimination: CPI
Mandi, June 15 The CPI also blamed the rising prices of commodities on the state government and the Centre’s failure to control hoardings, futures and forward trading in the country. Talking to mediapersons after the state council meeting here today, CPI president Des Raj Sharma said the BJP government in its five months in office had given rise to regional discrimination among people, creating an atmosphere of regional imbalance in the central zone of Mandi. Sharma charged that the state government withdrew medical college notification, now it is talking about starting an IIT in Hamirpur, which was earlier announced by the Central Government for Mandi. This has created a feeling of discrimination in the central Mandi region, he added. The CPI leader said the NREGA was not being implemented in the remaining eight districts in the state as neither the district administration nor the state government was interested as they have come under pressure from the lobby on contractors who would be directly hit by the NREGA. “The NREGA Act forbids the use of machineries. As such the villagers are stakeholders in priority sectors like agriculture, horticulture, water and irrigation and village roads schemes under this programme,” they added. |
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Anti-hail guns soon
Mandi, June 15 According to sources, the Centre has taken cognisance of the farmers’ woes, who suffer extensive losses to fruit, vegetables and foodgrain crops every year. Laxman Thakur, chairman, Himalayan Eco-Horticulture Society, said the government had fulfilled the long-pending demand of the farmers of the state and this would be a milestone in technology for promotion of horticulture in the state. The hailstorms damaged 20-30 per cent of crop every year, he added. The experts from Spain gave their demonstration on the anti-hail guns on June 9 to Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, horticulture minister Narender Bragta and other ministers at Shimla. Earlier, a Brazilian expert had given a similar demonstration on anti-hail guns to the state government, convincing the government as to how the guns help quell the hailstorms in the bud in Brazil and other European countries, saving farmers from the irreplaceable loss to their crops. Thakur, who had visited Holland to see the results of anti-hail guns there, said efforts by both media and the government have borne fruits finally. These guns send shock waves into the pressure area where hail clouds are formed and they puncture them and bring down harmless rains instead of the damaging hails,
he added. The experts said a single gun can cover over 300 hectares of area and are eco-friendly as the gases released from the guns are not green house gases. Bragta said the proposal to import anti-hail guns had been accepted by the Central Agricultural Ministry and it had sanctioned Rs 80 lakh. But the state government is making a separate project covering the entire state, he added. He said the farmers in the state will benefit from anti-hail guns and if it is found effective in checking the hailstorms more guns will be imported. |
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Eco-Policy
Nurpur, June 15 In a letter submitted to the Chief Minister recently, the samiti has raised three points to be incorporated into the policy. Guman Singh, co-coordinator of the samiti, said the Forest Right Act, 2006, was already under implementation in tribal areas. The samiti wants implementation of the Act relating to ‘other traditional forest dwellers’ in toto in the non- tribal areas. “Under the Act, the community rights in forests will get recognition which will provide a platform to make people responsible towards forests which can facilitate sustainable establishment of community forests in the hill state,” he said. The samiti had also demanded the sharing of benefits of the proposed carbon credits with communities by introducing certain provisions of community forests which would ensure communities as beneficiaries of the credits. The samiti had also advocated review of the developmental activities like hydel projects, cement industry, road construction, unplanned mega tourism projects and mining and quarrying as these were adversely affecting the environment and natural resources.
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‘No child below 14 employed’
Bilaspur, June 15 Additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Hansraj Chauhan said this while presiding over a seminar organised recently at Government Girls Senior Secondary School by the Labour and Employment Department (LED) here in connection with World Anti-Child Labour Day. Chauhan said a district-level task force under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner had also been formed to ensure strict implementation of this law and also for monitoring its observance. |
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Poor road work behind landslides
Chamba, June 15 An NGO of the area on condition of anonymity revealed in its study that the non-engineering methods adopted for the construction of roads and irrigation schemes were substandard thereby tending to cause irreparable loss to hillsides, banks of rivulets, streams and watercourses. |
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St Mary’s celebrates golden jubilee
Kumarhatti, June 15 Dhumal said the endeavour of any educational institute should be to support economically weaker section of the society. He also released school’s souvenir to mark the occasion. Earlier, Mother Cristel welcomed the Chief Minister and apprised him of the achievements of the school. She also read the annual report of the school. The schoolchildren also presented a cultural programme to mark the occasion. |
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Clarification
Reacting to a news-report, “HPAIC MD fails to turn up for conciliation meeting”, published in these columns on June 11, the Himachal Pradesh Agro Industries Corporation Limited has claimed that the Managing Director was duly represented before the conciliation officer.
In a communication to The Tribune, the Managing Director has stated that the notice had asked the Managing Director by designation, or the Deputy General Manager by designation, to appear in person, or through a duly authorised representative. He has further stated that the Branch Manager of HP Agro Industries Corporation Limited, Mohinder Mahajan, was duly authorised to represent the Managing Director before the conciliation officer. The Branch Manager attended the proceedings on June 10. The Tribune Correspondent adds: Neither the Managing Director in person, nor his representative, attended the meeting. I stand by the story. |
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Awards to promote eco-reporting
Shimla, June 15 Chairman of the group S.C. Sehgal said environmental issues like global warming and pollution in its many manifestations were the major concerns of the company and for this reason it had been constantly striving to support initiatives towards a clean and green environment. The awards were part of this corporate concern for the preservation of environment. The awards had been instituted to help address the issues affecting the environment and causing degradation of nature. The awards would be given away at a special ceremony at the Ozone Pratibha Manch, a platform to showcase the lesser-known talent, in Shimla on June 21. |
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1 killed, 9 hurt in mishap
Nurpur, June 15 According to the Damtal police, the Scorpio was carrying pilgrims bound for Amarnath shrine. They hailed from Palwal in Haryana. The deceased was identified as Ashok Chhabra (20) of Palwal. The nine injured were rushed to Mukerian in Punjab. The truck driver fled after the mishap. A case has been registered. |
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Nurpur, June 15
Shimla, June 15
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