Shimla, September 19
Heavy rain in most parts of the state and early snowfall in higher reaches of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti have disrupted normal life in the state.

There are reports of snowfall in the higher reaches of tribal districts and Chitkul. Most parts of the state have been lashed by heavy rain. The monsoon has been very vigorous that triggered landslides and caused uprooting of trees.

Vehicular traffic at Pagal nullah (Tapri), Lal Dhang (near Karcham), Tinku nullah (near Pooh), Nesang and Powari jhullah in Kinnaur was disrupted on the Hindustan-Tibet road in Kinnaur. A vehicle was buried under debris at Pagal nullah. Work was immediately started to clear the area in the morning. A Nepali labourer died after being hit by a boulder at Karcham while working at the power project site.

There are reports of shepherds being stranded in the pastures at Nathpa, Baldar, Rakcham and Asrang kandas in the higher reaches along with their flock due to early snowfall.

Kinnaur DC P.S. Draik, however, said he had no information about any shepherds being stranded at Bhava and Chitkul. Draik said employees of the sheep breeding farm at Jeori, who normally camp at Kara, had been directed to move down to Muling so that they did not get stranded in case of more snowfall.

In Shimla, there has been 111.58 mm rainfall since yesterday, causing landslides and disruption in vehicular movement. Trees have been uprooted at several places, including Khalini Chowk, and many of the link roads blocked due to landslides.

There has been 29 mm rainfall at Sundernagar, 30 mm at Bhuntar, 75 mm at Kalpa, 25 mm at Mandi, 79 mm at Solan, 45 mm at Kotkhai, 62 mm at Renuka, 97 mm at Rajgarh, 152.7 mm at Arki, 44.3 mm at Kasauli, 31.4 mm at Nahan and 48 mm at Dharampur.

The Met office said there would be more rainfall and thundershower at most places in the state over the next 24 hours. There was also a possibility of light snowfall in the higher reaches during the next three days.

SUNDERNAGAR: Heavy rain brought down the maximum temperature by around 10°C in various parts of Mandi district. It started raining in the evening yesterday and the area had been thoroughly drenched by morning. Around 24 mm of rainfall had been recorded from morning till 5.30 pm.

The maximum temperature on Wednesday was 30.6°C, it dipped to 24.8°C on Thursday while the figure was 20.5°C today. As it continued to rain during the entire day, the temperature was expected to dip further.

KUMARHATTI: It has been pouring misery for the residents of Kamli and Khareen villages under the Banasar panchayat near here for the past two days. In fact, landslips on Bhojnagar road have made life difficult for the residents of around six villages in the area. The debris flow from the hills has blocked the road at many points between Kamli and Khareen.

The condition of the 2-km stretch of road beyond Kamli has gone from bad to worse. Bitumen layer was nowhere to be seen as a thick layer of debris has covered the road surface. Slush at many points had made things difficult even for the pedestrians.

A bridge over the Kaushalya river was also under slush cover. Choking of seasonal nullahs due to indiscriminate construction activity has further complicated the problem. Instead of being drained through the nullah, rainwater was flowing on the road making it very dangerous for the people to cross it.

Manali, September 19
Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the 13,050 ft high Rohtang Pass, the gateway to Lahaul-Spiti valley.

Inclement weather conditions which worsened since yesterday caused hundreds of persons to spend the night in their buses and other vehicles due to fresh snowfall this afternoon at both sides of the Rohtang Pass.

Vinay Kumar Saini, bus conductor of HP 58-2489, in which about 40 passengers were travelling on the Triloki Nath-Manali-Dharamsala route, was also among the stranded at about 2.30 pm, 3 km towards Khoksar. He said the bus was behind an army convoy of 40 vehicles coming from Sarchu to Manali but it was stranded due to snowfall at the Pass.

He further added that about 30 civilion vehicles were also stranded behind the bus.

Saini when contacted on his cell phone said all passengers were forced to spend their night without food and proper warm clothing in the sub-zero temperature. He added that snowfall still continued and more than 2 feet of snowfall was recorded so far.

According to HRTC, Manali depot, four buses which were on the way from Manali to Keylong were also stranded between Marhi and Rohtang Pass. At the same time there was no correct information about the location of the buses.

The entire high altitude reaches of the Manali region have been experiencing moderate-to-heavy snowfall since yesterday and the lower parts of the region lashed by heavy rains have caused sharp fall in the temperature.

The weather has forced people of the valley to take out their warm clothes.

Shimla, September 19
Recycling and proper disposal of growing e-waste has become a major challenge that the government must address without delay by putting in place a policy and legal framework, says Vinnie Mehta, executive director of the IT Products Manufacturers Association (MAIT).

“Even at the current low levels of IT penetration, the country has been generating huge quantities of e-waste and the quantum was increasing with each passing day. A recent study conducted by MAIT revealed that 3.3 lakh tonne e-waste was generated in 2007 and the figure was likely to touch 4.7 lakh tonne by 2011,” said Mehta, who was in the city to attend a conference today.

“The emerging scenario made it imperative to enact a legislation to ensure environment-friendly management of e-waste. MAIT is in touch with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest and the Central Pollution Control Board in this regard,” Mehta added.

He said the best option was to make recycling mandatory for the suppliers of personal computers and other IT products. This could be achieved by going in for tenders with a provision casting responsibility on the producer to “take back” used products.

Regarding the low penetration of IT in Himachal, he said the state government could come out with a scheme to provide soft loans to employees for purchase of personal computers right down to class IV employees. Computer literacy was important to enable people to take full advantage of the e-services being provided by various departments.

The target should be to ensure that every home had a personal computer. In Goa, the government had launched a scheme to provide all schoolchildren with computers. A state like Himachal, which had been doing well in education and other sectors, could aim for similar targets.

Shimla, September 19
Renowned conservation architects Romi Khosla and Sweena Berry will now be involved in the task of undertaking conservation and restoration work of the historic Viceregal Lodge, housing the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies (IIAS).

With large-scale damage being caused to the precious Burmese teak wood used extensively in the interiors of the imposing structure, the institute authorities are no longer willing to leave the conservation work in the hands of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Khosla and Berry remained associated with the IIAS’s conservation work undertaken by INTACH about 20 years ago. The institute authorities have selected them out of a list of 14 prominent conservation architects whose names had been considered
for the task.

Although the ASI takes care of the IIAS, not much has been done to undertake the necessary conservation and restoration work. As such, the IIAS authorities have decided to requisition the services of these two architects, who have experience in working with British-time stone structures.

“The main task at hand for the two architects will be to conserve the structure in its original form and prevent it from further decay. As part of the restoration task, they will have to repair or replace the damaged areas with identical material and style so that the original structure remains unchanged,” explained B.S. Malhans, convener of the state chapter of INTACH.

In fact, IIAS director Peter Ronald Desouza held a high-level meeting of the committee for preservation and restoration of the IIAS in Delhi on August 21 where the matter was discussed at length. Other members of the committee included B.N. Goswami and Rajnish Wattas. The Shimla chapter of INTACH would also be associated in the task.

Talks have also been held with the ASI, which is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the majestic structure constructed by Lord Dufferin between 1884 and 1888. With little care and maintenance by the ASI over the years, the building, which was the residence of the Viceroy of India during the British rule, is facing damage due to leakage and other factors.

Mandi, September 19
The National Bamboo Mission (NBM) has hit a major roadblock in the state, as the farmers across the state are hesitant to raise commercial plantations.

They fear that they would not be able to cut bamboo because of the blanket ban on felling imposed by the High Court in the state.

The scientists, who were here for the two-day-long workshop on NBM for the forest officials here today, expressed their concern that the government must exclude the bamboo raised by farmers for handicrafts, paper and food industry from the green felling in the state.

The NBM has caught the fancy of the farmers in Mandi, Kangra, Hamirpur and Una, the scientists said.

Anil Sud, a scientist from HIBT, Palampur, who was here to sensitise forest officials and farmers on NBM said, “The Bamboo plantations in the country are confined to Northeast and are not being raised on modern scientific lines. Thus Bamboo’s real potential in paper and pickle industry, engineering, house building, charcoal and furniture and handicrafts is yet to be fully exploited in other parts, mainly in Himachal.”

D.S. Bhardwaj, bamboo scientist from the Dr Y.S. Parmar University of horticulture and forestry, said the university has set up four demonstration farms in different parts motivating farmers to plant edible bamboo species imported from China.

Bhwadwaj said the edible species like D. Asper from Thailand and Mono bamboo from China were more nutritious and could be planted with soyabean and the herbs like aloe vira, tulsi ginger etc. The needs of industry in the region could be met from Himachal itself, he added.

But farmers are hesitant because they fear that they will not be able to harvest the bamboo due to blanket ban on green felling.

“We want to plant bamboo, but still most farmers are hesitant because they cannot cut their own trees from the private land due to the ban,” said Swarnu and Prem Chand, farmers who attended the workshop.

Conservator of forests B.D. Suyal said, the department has sent a proposal to exclude bamboo from the preview of the green felling and the department is raising nurseries for farmers in Sarkghat this year. The government is expected to take a decision in this regard soon, he added.

Shimla, September 19
The Centre has agreed to release Rs 400 crore for the implementation of various rural development projects in the state during the current financial year.

Minister of Public Works Department Gulab Singh met union rural development minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh in New Delhi today. Gulab Singh took the matter with Raghuvansh Prasad.

The amount will be sanctioned under the Bharat Nirman Programme and the Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) for undertaking various road development projects to connect additional 300 panchayats of the state.

Gulab Singh said the Centre had sanctioned the first instalment of Rs 75 crore to the state and the remaining amount would be released to the state shortly.

He said the union minister told that due to tough geographical conditions, heavy snowfall in the tribal areas in the winters and limited working season it was necessary to expedite work for achieving the targets.

The minister requested him that the time limit for completing the works under the PMGSY would be extended from the present 18 months in view of various climatic and geographic conditions prevailing in the state.

The minister also urged the union minister to allow cost escalation in the ongoing rural development projects in view of the increase in the prices of construction material.

He informed him that the Centre had agreed to allow the cost differential due to escalation in prices of basic materials up to 75 days from the date of sanction of DPR’s (detailed project reports) for the year 2007-2008.

Dharamsala, September 19
Some middlemen, bank officials and Central Horticulture Department officials are allegedly involved in duping farmers of the area.

According to an investigation by The Tribune, farmers from the district were allegedly lured into taking loans from banks for setting up mushroom farms on the pretext that they would get 20 per cent subsidy from the Central Horticulture Board. The middlemen facilitated loan clearance in these cases.

After getting loans, farmers set up mushroom plants. However, nobody guided them regarding the norms to be adopted for getting subsidy from the Central Horticulture Board. All went on well till there was a change in the management of the horticulture board recently.

With the change in the management, the cases for subsidies to farmers got stuck. The farmers found themselves in a spot as there were loans standing against their names, there was hardly any chance of getting subsidy while middlemen have already collected their shares.

Farmers Suresh Kumar, Bishan Dass and Vipan said they had taken loans from banks ranging from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh with a hope that the interest would get compensated against the subsidy portion they would get from Central Horticulture Board.

They said two ayurvedic doctors working in their respective areas took Rs 7,000 from about 100 persons in their area to get their cases of loans and subsidies sanctioned.

Assistant director of the Central Horticulture Board R.K. Singh admitted that subsidy to farmers had been withheld in many cases as it was found that mushroom farms were not brought up as per the norms mentioned in terms and conditions for getting subsidy.

He said the maximum number of fraud cases were sanctioned by Kangra Cooperative Bank. He also admitted that the farmers were going to lose in maximum cases as the board was not going to release subsidy till the norms were met.

He said if pressure was exerted on them to release subsidy even such cases, they would have to handover the case to the CBI.

Minister for food and civil supplies and labour Ramesh Dhawala, who was here at the Dharamsala secretariat to listen to the grievances of the people, said he would get the matter investigated by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. The government servants, who acted as middlemen in these case, would also be brought to book, he added.

Hamirpur, September 19
Concerned over the problem of anaemia in the state, the state government has decided to launch a drive against anaemia and make the state anaemia free by 2015.

The project would be started in two districts of Hamirpur and Kangra where prevalence of anaemia is high and many people were suffering from several diseases due to this factor.

The Health Department proposed to conduct a detailed survey to find out the exact number of anaemic persons in the state. The reports based on sample surveys suggested that the state had large number of anaemic cases.

According to reports, 72 to 82 per cent of the pregnant women and about 92 per cent of the adolescents are anaemic in the state. Though the number of anaemic persons in the state is 58 per cent in comparison to national average of 92 per cent, experts suggest that the actual number of anaemic cases in the state could touch 70 per cent if the detailed survey is carried.

The central and state governments have been trying to improve the hemoglobin (HB) level of the people through mid-day meal scheme, ICDS project and by distributing iron tablets, but all in vain.

Health experts say, “Inherent deficiency, imbalance diet, faulty eating habits, lack of awareness are some of the reasons for high rate of anaemia.”

To make Himachal anaemia free, the Health Department would conduct an intensive survey to find the HB level of the people, prepare a medicine chart for the treatment and conduct progress reports to make the state anaemia free by 2015.

Health minister Rajiv Bindal said, “Anemia is a big problem in the state and root cause of many serious diseases. Though it’s a big challenge, the state is going to become the pioneer state in the country in its drive against anaemia and huge budget is going to be earmarked for this project.”

“Initially the project would be undertaken in Hamirpur and Kangra districts,” he added.

Shimla, September 19
Taking BJP ministers to task on the issue of central university and IIT, the Congress has asserted that the UPA government had sanctioned the two institutions and the requisite funds while the party was in power in the state.

In a rejoinder to the statement of ministers Narinder Bragta, Ravinder Ravi and Rajiv Bindal, the Congress has pointed out that union finance minister P. Chidambaram had made a public announcement in that regard at a rally in Shimla on October 2, 2007. The announcement had come after the Virbhadra Singh government vigorously pursued the matter with the Central Government. The UPA regime had also sanctioned Rs 760 crore for the IIT to be set up at Mandi, the party claimed.

PCC general secretaries Mukesh Agnihotri and Sukhwinder Sukhu and legislator Harsh Wardhan lambasted the BJP on the issue of proposed medical college at Mandi. They maintained the Virbhadra Singh government had even issued a notification for opening the institution in the government sector. The BJP government was now trying to back out from the commitment.

The BJP had been in the habit of taking credit for achievements of the Congress. 

Shimla, September 19
Adopting a tough posture on the issue of proposed medical college to be set up at Mandi, Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal today said the government would fix responsibility of the officials who were instrumental in issuing notification for opening the institution after the model code of conduct for elections had come into force.

Talking to mediapersons, he said the decision of the government to set up three medical colleges in the private sector was based on ground realities. It would not be in the best interest of the state to have a third college in the public sector when the state was finding it difficult to run the existing two institutions at Shimla and Tanda. He said the issue was being unnecessarily politicised by the Congress.

His government was making all efforts to ensure balanced development of state, including Mandi district, and the latest project being pursued was the greenfield airport proposed to be set up in the Balh valley. He had taken up the matter with Prime Minster Manmohan Singh and ministers concerned during his visit to Delhi last week. The Rs 460-crore project would go a long way in boosting economic activity in the state, he added.

Replying to a question, he said the demand for invoking articles 355 and 356 in respects of NDA-ruled states was aimed at diverting attention of the people from the failure of the UPA government to contain terrorism. There was utter confusion and division in the UPA on the policy to be adopted to tackle terrorism and issues pertaining to internal security.

He maintained the law and order situation in the NDA-ruled states was much better and there were only stray incidents of the kind witnessed in Orissa recently.

Dharamsala, September 19
The Dalai Lama has approved the proposal submitted by the Tibetan parliament-in-exile and the Kashag for the emergency meeting to be held in November.

Samdhong Rinpoche, Tibetan prime minister (Kalon Tripa) in exile while talking to media here today said that the proposal was approved and the meeting would take place as per the proposal formulated and decided upon by the Tibetan parliament-in-exile.

On asked if the meeting will change the course of the official position of genuine autonomy, Rinpoche said that he did not think so.

“We are committed to our middle way approach and we will continue our efforts for a genuine autonomy within China’s framework and that will not change. But this meeting surely will be a good platform of discussion for various opinions and views within the Tibetan community,” he said

Rinpoche further added the November meeting was very important for all Tibetans and that the representatives attending it must reflect the views of the general public from their localities at the meeting. 

Bilaspur, September 19
The Himachal Pradesh State Non-Gazetted Employees Federation has opposed the posting of some high-level officers in their districts on the recommendations of some politicians.

They demanded that Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal should intervene and review these postings, as such postings could harass the government employees. It would also pollute the image of the government due to the possible nexus between such officers and the concerned politicians.

The state president of the Himachal Pradesh State Non-Gazetted Employees Federation, Ram Singh, said such postings, which were also against the transfer policy, should be banned in the PWD and the IPH departments where nexus between officers, contractors and the politicians was liable to reduce the quality of construction works.

Ram Singh said the state federation had also received a number of complaints regarding some such officers, who had manipulated their postings in their own home districts. The federation would soon present a report to the Chief Minister in this matter.

He urged the Chief Minister to provide full protection to the employees, who come out with complaints and proof of corrupt practices of officers of various departments, so that such officers did not succeed in manipulating the false cases of transfers. 

Mandi, September 19
Bahadur Singh, the Mandi Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, permitted the police yesterday to conduct the narco-analysis tests on Sanjay and Subhash, the two main suspects in the Tek Chand’s murder case.

Dismissing the petitions of the two suspects that they were suffering from hypertension, the judge allowed the police to conduct the narco-analysis tests and the brain mapping tests on both of them.

The suspects are in judicial remand. The police claimed that they had enough clues that the two suspects were hiding the facts.

The brain mapping tests would help the police to establish the missing links in the Tek Chand’s murder case and the multi-crore benami royal property deal that was linked to this case, the police said.

Mandi SP M.Chandra Sekhar said the main suspects would be taken either to Ahemdabad or Bangalore for the brain mapping test, as the court had allowed the police to conduct the test. 

Nurpur, September 19
The Indora police in Nurpur subdivision has booked four youths of Meerthal village of Punjab under Sections 376, 363 and 34 of the IPC for allegedly gang-raping a girl. Those booked are Sethi, Gaari, Yuvraj and Saabi.

According to DSP Bidhi Chand Verma, two girls (16 and 20 years of age) from Sanda Dakki village under the Nangal Bhoor police chowki were allegedly abducted by four occupants of a car on September 9. The victims had gone to Mukerian for shopping.

They were reportedly given lift by a car driver known to one of the victims at the Mukerian bus stop.

Instead of leaving them in their village, the accused drove the car towards Kathgarh in Himachal Pradesh and allegedly gang-raped the 20-year-old girl at a deserted place.

The parents of the victim girl went to the Nangal Bhoor police chowki for getting an FIR registered against the accused, who reportedly belonged to influential families of the Punjab area. However, their plea was turned down on the pretext that the crime had taken place in Himachal Pradesh.

DSP Bidhi Chand Verma said the parents of the victim then approached the SP, Kangra, and presented the rape victim before him. Following the direction of the SP, the Indora police registered an FIR.