Manali, September 24
Four Belgian trekkers were airlifted from Kaza to Manali using two Air Force helicopters today.

According to Kaza tehsildar Vikas Shukla, 12 Belgians were trekking from Spiti to Ladakh via Parang la when it suddenly started snowing heavily. All of them returned to Kaza. Two Swedish and two Canadian trekkers were also with them. They also reached Kaza.

Air Force personnel started the rescue operations from Manali today morning. However, they were able to undertake only 1 sortie in which Vanbetes Jozef, Struyla Grt Sylvia, Dedcoster Huguette and Van Dulerik were airlifted. “The rescue operation will resume tomorrow morning,” he added.

Shukla said Uttam Singh (32) of Nirmand in Kullu district died due to severe cold. He was hired as a porter by two German tourists for trekking the Pin Parvati Pass.

The German trekkers managed to reach Kaza safely and informed the administration about the death of the porter. A rescue team was sent to Mudh to bring the body of the porter, Shukla said.

Sources said 15 persons were airlifted from Sarchu to Kullu today. There are still many travellers stranded between Bharatpur and Sarchu.

An Air Force helicopter airdropped food packets, medicines, blankets and water bottles at different places between Sarchu and Bharatpur, and Batal on the Manali-Kaza road. Rations were also sent to Batal from Kaza.

According to sources in Khoksar, 100 persons, who were stranded at Chhatru, reached Manali yesterday evening.

Three Nepalese labourers suffering from severe frostbite were rescued from Chhatru and bought to Keylong yesterday.

They were also airlifted to Kullu today and admitted to the hospital.

Sources said nine foreigners and 12 porters, who were stranded at Chandratal, had also reached Batal.

Mandi, September 24
Seven persons, most of them from Ladakh, were reportedly killed in an avalanche at Bharatpur nullah on September 22, while 12 trekkers went missing in the Chandertal area. Over 142 passenger came back safely to Kullu, but more than 400 are waiting for being rescued on the Baralacha-Bharatpur stretch of the Manali-Leh highway and Chatru-Chota Dhara-Batal-Chandertal stretch on the Gramphu-Kunjam-Kaza road.

The body of Chering Dorje (from Leh), a driver, was retrieved from the avalanche site, while others remained missing. As many as 142 persons were evacuated from Lahaul-Spiti over the past 24 hours, officials said.

Three Nepalese labourers hired by the Geological Survey of India in connection with a survey in the Hampta valley suffered from frostbite as they had to for walk 31 hours in five-foot snow before they reached Chatru yesterday. After being given first aid at Keylong, they were referred to Kullu regional hospital, said Dr Shamsher, in charge of Keylong district hospital. Three workers of a private company and three Gaddi shepherds from Mahol, Kullu, suffered from snowblindness after they remained struck at Chatru for five days. They have been given first aid and referred to Kullu for treatment.

Dharamsala, September 24
Former Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha member Shanta Kumar would lobby for an IT and BPO park at Kangra. He said youth from the area were being hired by BPO companies coming up at Chandigarh and Delhi.

“If the state government brings up an IT and BPO park in Kangra district, it will help in mushrooming of pollution-free and labour-intensive industry. A large number of local youth can be provided employment in such industries. I will take up the matter with the state government,” he said.

He also expressed concern over the poor condition of roads in the Dharamsala area. “I have suggested to the government that concrete roads should be brought up in the Dharamsala region as bitumen roads are not viable in the region due to heavy rainfall. Concrete roads are most cost-effective, have a longer life span and no material has to be imported for constructing these, he added.

He also stressed on the need to make road contractors more accountable. On inflation, he said the prices of food items had gone up. This had hit the poor very hard. “Though the number of rich persons is increasing, the numbers of poor persons is increasing even faster. As per recent data, about 12 crore people in the country have income of just Rs 8 per day. Soaring inflation has hit this section the hardest,” he maintained.

He attributed the increase in prices of essential commodities to a decision of the UPA government to allow multinational companies to trade in food grains.

“When the NDA government left the office, the buffer stock of food grains was around 700 lakh tonne. However, now it has come down to just around 117 lakh tonne,” he said.

The pro-rich and anti-farmer policies of the present government were responsible for the rising prices of essential commodities, he said.

He said Himachal could become a tax-free state if its entire power potential of 21,000 MW was exploited. “At present, the state government is getting a royalty of Rs 1,464 crore from power projects. It can go up to Rs 6,000 crores if the entire hydropower potential is exploited,” he said.

He also announced a grant of Rs 10 lakh from the MPLAD fund for relief and rehabilitation work in Shimla district. Earlier also, he had given Rs 10 lakh from his MPLAD fund and Rs 51,000 from his own pocket for the relief work in Bihar, he said.

Shimla, September 24
Even as efforts are being made to protect every individual tree in the town, work for the setting up of the Jakhu aerial ropeway has not just brought down dozens of deodar trees but posed a threat to many houses, which are literally hanging along the hill side.

The site where construction is being undertaken near the Shwalikview Hotel in the Richmond area, several trees have been uprooted and a massive landslide triggered which has blocked the flow of water in the nullah. The manner in which the fragile ecology of the area is being disturbed, the safety of the three hotels and houses in its vicinity has been put at risk.

Even the retaining wall that has been erected by the company to prevent further landslides and ensure the safety of some government houses adjoining the site has developed major cracks. Now, the uprooting of about a dozen trees in the last one week has further loosened the soil and made the strata more fragile.

Jagson Airlines Limted is undertaking the construction of the aerial ropeway, which will connect the town with the Jakhu hill top where a Hanuman temple is located. A four- storeyed structure has already come up at the take-off point of the ropeway. The government had approved the ropeway project despite the fact that the area falls in no-construction green zone which is also a protected forest.

Even though the company has been issued notice by the Forest Department to either undertake protection work to ensure that no more trees get damaged or stop work. However, in spite of these directives work is being undertaken which is causing further damage, especially in view of the fact that heavy rains have made the area more vulnerable to slides. The stumps of the trees can be seen at the site along with rubble, boulders and silt.

J.P. Goel, vice-president (commercial) of Jagson International Limited could not be contacted despite repeated efforts as he was reported to be busy in meetings.

A house owner, Sanjeev Kuthiala, whose house right above the site is facing threat alleged that the company was using an excavator during the night which was damaging the fragile ecology and causing fall of trees.

Jagson Airlines had been granted permission by the Forest Department to axe 31 trees after seeking permission from the Ministry of Forest and Environment. However, ever since work started many trees have fallen and landslides triggered.

Mandi, September 24
BSP chief V.S. Mankotia yesterday fired a salvo on the BJP and the Congress. He accused them of sheltering their “five corrupt leaders,” who were allegedly funded by the former drug controller, Sher Singh.

Sher Singh was arrested in connection with the ‘drug scam’ few months ago.

Talking to reporters here after addressing the BSP rally at Seri Munch Mankotia, he alleged that Sher Singh had given a statement to the vigilance that he used to collect money from the companies and funded five politicians.

Mankotia demanded that the names of five politicians both from the Congress and the BJP should be made public and the vigilance must be allowed to persecute the culprits.

But the BJP government had turned soft on the issue of corruption as its leaders were involved, he charged.

Mankotia said the BSP would launch a campaign against corruption and appealed to the voters to give them a chance to govern.

The BSP’s Sarva Samaj philosophy had caught the minds of the people as they are finding the BJP and the Congress two sides of the same coin, he claimed.

He said the Dhumal government had failed to give relief to the common man by not cutting VAT on oil and LPG in the state.

He said the national security had become a major issue, as bomb blasts had killed innocent people. He said the UPA government had failed to contain terrorism in the country.

The situation in Jammu and Kashmir was also grim, he added.

The BSP also gave 17-point memorandum through the DC to the Chief Minister demanding action against the guilty.

Shimla, September 24
The World Bank has expressed its displeasure over the tardy implementation of the catchment area treatment (CAT) plans for various hydroelectric projects in the state and asked the government to outsource the work if the Forest Department was not in a position to execute it.

A team of the World Bank, which is funding road, forestry and hydroelectric projects in the state and has advanced a Rs 820-crore development policy loan, has been totally dissatisfied with the progress on the environment front. It has urged the government to ensure that CAT plans in respect of four major projects (800-MW Kol Dam, 1,500-MW Nathpa-Jhakri, 412-MW Rampur and 300-MW Baspa projects) were implemented in toto over the next three years.

As such, the Forest Department, which spent only Rs 41 crore over the last 13 years, will have to utilise Rs 100 crore within three years. Out of this, Rs 40 crore will have to be spent during the current financial year. The government has allocated Rs 30 crore for the year out of which the Forest Department has already spent Rs 11 crore on CAT plans of other projects. Thus, the government will have to provide Rs 21 crore more in the current year and another Rs 60 crore over the next two years to fulfil the commitment made to the bank.

The indifferent attitude towards implementation of CAT plans could be judged from the fact that out of the total Rs 146.89 crore of the four CAT plans, only Rs 41 crore had been spent all these years. An amount of Rs 80 crore was released by the project authorities out of which a sum of Rs 14 crore was deposited with the CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority).

The piecemeal works being carried out under CAT plans have indeed not been making much impact as evident from the rising level of silt in the Sutlej in the basin of which a large number of mega projects are coming up.

The bank had earlier asked the state to come up with a master plan to effectively address the environmental issues. Over the next five years, a sum of Rs 266 crore will be available under CAT plans for the upper valley in which two major projects, the Nathpa-Jhakri project and the Baspa project, have been commissioned and six more were coming up.

The power generation companies, which provide funds for CAT plans, also don’t look much serious about the implementation of these plans and have been reluctant to release funds for the purpose.

Shimla, September 24
Banking services in the state were completely paralysed as officers and employees of various nationalised banks started a two-day strike in support of their demands.

The response to the call for strike given by the United Forum of Bank Unions was total and over 1100 branches of the nationalised banks remained closed. Only few private and cooperative sector banks functioned.

The agitating banks staff held protest rallies at all major towns at which the speakers criticised the move to merge associated banks and the policy of privatisation. The main demands include fresh wage settlement and dropping of amendment to the banking regulation act which will grant full voting rights to the FDI’s in the banking sector and reversal of privatisation policy.

In Shimla the striking staff assembled in front of the zonal office of the UCO Bank and held a rally which was addressed by convener of the forum C.S.Verma and leaders of various bank unions.

Hamirpur, September 24
Education minister I.D. Dhiman today inaugurated the three-day-long Nalwar fair at Jahu. Addressing the gathering on this occasion, Dhiman said a mandi would be constructed at Jahu, where farmers from Mandi, Hamirpur and Bilaspur districts would be able to sell their produce.

The minister asked the people to raise good quality cattle to strengthen the rural economy and attract young people to this profession.

Dhiman said the people should also lay stress on inorganic farming and reduce the use of chemical fertilisers.

The minister also expressed his concern on the reports of copying in the Toani Devi School with the connivance of staff.

Malan (Dharamsala), September 24
Palampur Agriculture University has introduced a hybrid variety of rice (6129) that has the potential of giving six-time yield than the normal hill varieties of paddy.

Scientist in charge of the rice research institute of the university R.P. Kaushik said the existing varieties of paddy being sown in state gave a yield of just around 10 quintal per hectare. “However, the rice 6129 variety has given around 100 quintal per hectare in the university farm under standard conditions. In the farms of the agriculture department of the state, it has given a yield of around 60 quintal per hectare, which is six times more than what is being taken from present varieties,” he added.

“In Mandi district, about 50 per cent of the farmers have shifted to the new variety. In Kangra district also some of the farmers have shifted to the said variety. Since it is a hybrid variety, the farmers will have to buy the seed every year. The variety has been developed by the directorate of rice research, Hyderabad, in private participation,” he added.

Despite the fact that farmers would have to purchase seeds every year, the returns of growing the said variety were better, he added.

The university authorities organised a programme to tell farmers of the region about to new paddy varieties at Malan today. The programme was inaugurated by varsity’s vice-chancellor Tej Pratap.

The VC said the area under paddy had reduced in the state from 1 lakh hectare to 80,000 hectare. He attributed it to diversification to vegetables. Despite reduction in the area, the yield had increased due to introduction of new varieties, he said.

Scientists said the global warming was also adversely affecting paddy plantations in the state.