Shimla, October 2
Despite its abject failure to check the
unauthorised construction in various areas,
the state government seems averse to
making unlawful building of structures a
cognisable offence.

Over 13,000 unauthorised structures have
been identified officially in the planning areas
across the state and their actual number
may exceed 20,000.

However, the government has informed the state high court that existing legal provisions are sufficient to deter a person from committing the illegal act.

Section 38 of the Town and Country Planning Act provides for simple imprisonment up to six months and or a fine of up to Rs 2,000 in such cases.

The government feels the provisions are sufficient to check illegal constructions.

Moreover, unauthorised construction is a civil wrong and the authorities vested with the powers under the Act are required to take action against the violators.

The harsh reality is that the provisions of the Act are being observed only in breach and no sincere effort has been made to enforce the law.

Till date, only 81 illegal structures have been demolished and another 85 sealed.

In another 2,567 cases, water supply and electricity connections have been cut.

Deviations from the approved plans have been compounded in 2,871 cases and remaining 6,396 are under process for taking action.

The court had asked the government to consider making unauthorised constructions a cognisable offence in view of the mushrooming of illegal structures all over the state as it posed a big threat to the fragile hill environment.

The successive governments had been encouraging offenders by coming out with one retention policy after the other to regularise illegal multi-storeyed structures constructed on steep slopes.

All six retention policies framed since 1999 are in blatant violation of the Act, which provides for compounding of deviations only to the extent of 10 per cent.

In fact, one of the policies was brought out specifically for Patechi “hadbast” (demarcated boundary estate) on the outskirts of the city to provide reprieve to ministers and legislators who have built palatial multi-storeyed structures in violation of the building laws.

Water supply and electricity connections are provided for unauthorised buildings.

A committee set up under the chairpersonship of the chief secretary around four years ago had recommended action against the guilty officers and ensure compliance, but not much has happened on that front so far.

Shimla, October 2
The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed New India Assurance to pay Rs 14.01 lakh as compensation with 12 per cent interest to Kishan Chand of Bilaspur.

The commission headed by Justice Arun Kumar Goel also imposed a penalty of Rs 2.5 lakh on the company for unnecessarily harassing the complainant because of non-settlement of his legitimate claim.

According to the complainant, he had established a colour lab at Bhager in Bilaspur district and got it insured with the said company.

During the validity of the insurance policy, there was a fire and a blast in the lab on August 15, 2002.

The company repudiated the claim on the ground that damage was caused due
to a willful act.

Allowing the complaint, the commission observed that the company had failed to prove on record that it was a fraud claim.

Shimla, October 2
Even today there are some people (although their number can be very small) who believe in the Gandhian way of fasting for their rights.

It is with this very mission that Mehar Singh Chauhan, former MLA from Theog, started a 72-hour fast to focus attention on protecting the rights and interests of Himachal, which, according to him, have been denied to it ever since it became a state in 1971.

Chauhan, who was a Janata Party MLA from the Theog constituency from 1977 to 82 when Shanta Kumar was the Chief Minister, said till date Himachal was struggling to get its due from it neighbouring states.

Despite efforts made by the Himachal Government to get its share from neighbouring states under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, there had been no headway.

“What is even worse is the fact that the Central Government treats Himachal like its colony and not a full-fledged state,” he alleged.

It was humiliating and painful to see that while the Centre was liberally giving special financial packages to other states, Himachal was being denied its due, he said.

Chauhan, who is also the convener of the Jan Adhikar Sangharsh Manch, said he had brought the matter to the notice of the President of India, the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India.

He had also written to Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal about getting Himachal its due, including 12 per cent free power and the Shanan power project.

Shimla, October 2
Governor Prabha Rau has underlined the need to promote Hindi language as the “Rajbhasha” in view of the significant role it could play in strengthening the unity and integrity of the nation.

Addressing the 21st All-India Rajbhasha Sammelan organised by the National Hindi Academy here today, she said concrete efforts be made to popularise Hindi and it should be ensured that the language was used extensively in day-to-day life in the entire country to achieve the objective.

She said simplification of Hindi was essential to popularise it among the masses.

The Governor said national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhash Chander Bose and Acharya Vinoba Bhave always gave priority to the promotion of Hindi and addressed the people in the language only.

The freedom fighters expressed their ideology and patriotic thoughts through Hindi during freedom struggle and it played a vital role in uniting and arousing the people of the country.

The Governor honoured eminent scholars and writers Om Prakash Awasthy of
Dharamsala, Chaman Lal Gupta of Shimla, Vijay Bahadur Singh of Bhopal, B.
Ram Sanjeevaiya of Banglore and Hari Pal Singh of Delhi with Vishishtha Hindi
Sewa Samman.

Shimla, October 2
Horticulture minister Narender Bragta today urged the Centre to enhance the 100-day limit of providing guaranteed employment under the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREGA) scheme to 150 days.

Bragta made this demand while speaking at a national-level conference on ‘Interaction on Implementation of NREGA’ in New Delhi today.

“The parameters for the hill states should be different from other states in view of the difficult terrain and working conditions,” he said.

He said since the number of persons who availed themselves of the 100-day
employment benefit was small, those wanting employment for 150 days should
be granted permission.

He said certain provisions were not applicable to Himachal as in it was not possible in snowbound areas to undertake work at all for some part of the year.

He said Himachal should be allowed to declare this period as non-working so that there was no legal binding.

“Engaging crop protectors should also be allowed under the NREGA as crops worth crores were being destroyed in Himachal by wild animals,” he urged.

He said undertaking restoration of damaged assets, including roads and buildings,
should be allowed under such schemes so that immediate relief could be given
to the people.

Shimla, October 2
Keen to conserve the legacy of the British era, the government has sought funds from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for restoration of about a dozen heritage buildings in the town and the construction of a helipad in the suburbs of the town.

The ADB team headed by Micahael Green today visited various places, including the historic Ridge and the Town Hall, which too is a heritage building.

The tourism department has prepared a number of projects and is hopeful of getting total funding of about Rs 350 crores.

The team visited some of the heritage buildings in the town today as government is keen that some of the heritage structures like the Ellerslie, housing the state secretariat, Vidhan Sabha building, United Services Club and Gordon Castle can be restored and conserved.

A total of 97 British time buildings in the town have been identified as heritage structures, with most of them falling within the designated heritage zone between secretariat and the Vicereagl Lodge.

Even though the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) had identified about 300 buildings in Shimla to be declared as heritage structures, the department of Town and Country Planning (TCP) has short listed only 97 of them.

However, with paucity of funds, it is not possible for the government to protect these marvellous structures which are considered architectural feat.

“Even though we have submitted a list of about 30 such British time buildings but we are keen that the ADB agrees to provide funds for restoration of at least a dozen of them,” said a senior official.

With Shimla having remained the summer capital of the British, it has some beautiful heritage structures which are a major attraction for tourists, especially from Britain.

The team also visited the proposed site for the construction of a helipad on the Sanjauli-Dhalli bypass.

The government is keen that it has a helipad of its own as the two landing sites in the town at Annadale and Kalyani helipad in Mashobra are not with it.

Permission has to be sought from the ministry of defence and from the Rashtrapati Bhawan in case these two helipads are to be used.

The tourism department has also pointed out that in case it has its own helipad, it can be used for launching its helli-taxi service which is basically aimed at the high-end tourists.

This will help them save time and visit most pristine and remote areas of the state.

The state government officials from the departments of tourism, forest and municipal corporation took the team around to various places.

The team also visited the two sites near the barrier and the lift for construction.

Shimla, October 2
The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), the apex body for promoting forestry research in the country, has selected the local Himalayan Forest Research Institute for implementing a pilot project for switchover to e-governance.

The project, Development and Implementation of Indian Forestry Research
Information System (IFRIS), will help the ICFRE and its research institutes
across the country to change from manual to electronic environment and
develop a model for work flow automation and knowledge management that
other research organisation could follow.

The council is executing forestry research-related activities in the country with the help of its regional research institutes situated in various parts of the country.

The Himalayan Forest Research Institute (HFRI), Shimla, is one of its regional research institutes catering to the forestry research needs of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

The IFRIS will make it convenient for users and stakeholders to access information and services provided by the ICFRE.

Information on forestry research activities, including research results of the new findings of the council, will be available at the click of a button.

All accounts, including budget, could be accessed by employees on line. It will discourage unnecessary delays in the processing of cases pertaining to promotions, annual increments, GPF statements and calculation of pensionary benefits.

A weeklong workshop to discuss the technical issues involved in the project began at the HFRI here today.

The problems pertaining to the implementation of the project will be resolved on the spot by the consultants during the workshop.

A pilot rollout of the IFRIS will be carried out at Shimla after the workshop to dawn the new era of e-governance in the ICFRE.

The workload of the employees will definitely be reduced after the successful implementation of the project.

Inaugurating the workshop, principal chief conservator of forests Pankaj Khullar appreciated the initiative and expressed hope that project would turn out to be a role model for forest departments, universities and other research organisations.

Director, HFRI, Mohinder Pal said after the successful implementation of the software, the efficiency of the council would improve and the researchers and foresters would find it convenient to access research findings.

Shimla, October 2
The Himachal Pradesh Sikh Welfare Council has urged the Siromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar, to provide adequate representation to Sikhs of the state in the supreme body.

It has also demanded opening of institutions of technical and professional education in the hill state.

The council which met at Baru Sahib in Sirmour under the chairpersonship of its president Rawail Singh recently pointed out that at present the state had only one representative in the SGPC.

It would be appropriate if the representation be raised to at least three by
way of nomination.

The council urged the state government to charge domestic rates for electricity for the educational institutions being run by the council in the state as these were being run for the benefit of the people and no commercial interest was involved.

It also drew the attention of the government towards problems faced by Sikh
pilgrims visiting Paonta Sahib due to refusal of the authorities to allow the buses
entering from Uttarakhand side to cross the barrier without paying a huge amount
as entry tax.

These vehicles return from Paonta within hours and as such they should not be charged entry tax.

Solan, October 2
The manner in which the state Education Department has de-notified a Government Girls High School at Kunihaar merely two weeks before filling of annual examination forms has exposed its indifferent attitude towards education.

The school which was upgraded by the previous Congress government in 2007 managed to admit 24 students in class X and these students were now preparing to fill forms for their board examinations.

The school serves the needs of various surrounding villages and being a girls school the villagers had admitted their daughters here.

The state education department, however, in a bid to rationalise schools, had announced closing down of several such schools where number of students was less.

What had , however, irked the villagers who had organised themselves under a sangarsh samiti was the abrupt de-notification executed at the fag end of the academic session.

Condemning the move secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee Sanjay Awasthi said, “It was highly unfair to de-notify a school barely a fortnight before filling up of examination forms.”

He demanded revocation of the de-notification and said the move was purely politically motivated as the Congress had upgraded that school.

Questioning the rationale behind the move Awasthi questioned that if the government wanted to de-notify this school as the intake of students was less it should have been done at the beginning of the academic session.

Such an ill-timed move had not only played havoc with the future of girls but had exposed how little the government cared to promote education among the girls.

What was even more worrisome was the fact that these students would have to appear as private students and this would mar their future career.

On the one hand the state education department had failed to make good use of the funds for sarv shiksha abhiyaan and on the other it was indulging in such acts, pointed out Awasthi.

Solan, October 2
With trucks being in short supply due to the ongoing apple season, the industrial units located in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) industrial area have started feeling the pinch.

Though the availability of trucks reduces during the apple season every year, the shortage has become more prominent this year.

Facing onslaught of the opposition for shortage of trucks in Shimla district, the government has set up a control room to monitor availability of trucks.

An official of HIMFED said, “The shortage is quite pronounced and we are trying to make available as many trucks as possible. What has, however, added to the problem is the poor condition of roads due to recent heavy rain that has made truckers shy away from plying in interior areas of Shimla.”

Echoing similar sentiments, a leading grower Prakash Thakur from Kotkhai said, “The rain has caused worst damage to the roads this year and this has added to the woes of apple growers who have to make efforts to transport their produce amid poor road conditions.”

Since apple transportation is a seasonal chore, the existing fleet of truckers from various industrial areas are engaged in their transportation.

With the BBN area showing an enormous growth of industries in the past five years, the demand for trucks has also gone up.

Though the local union has added about 1,500 trucks to their fleet in the past
one year, it has failed to cope with the added demand of apple growers during
these few months.

Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Truck Operators Union general secretary Vidya Sagar says, “We have enhanced our fleet from 2,800 to 3,500 this year and whenever there is demand from the control room, we send trucks from this industrial area. The demand is anywhere between 100 to 350 and we have to send whatever number is demanded. Our trucks are sent across the country, including Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, etc.”

Arun Rai, general manager (commercial) of Nicolus Piramel, which is one of the largest pharmaceutical units in the area, said, “The availability of trucks has definitely seen some decline in the ongoing season as these are diverted for transporting apples. On an average, about 10 trucks are used by our unit daily and availability has become irregular in the present apple season.”

Bilaspur, September 2
Bhimsingh of Manjhasu village was injured when a wild boar attacked him here this morning. The boar fled from the scene after the villagers rushed towards the spot raising the alarm.

Bhimsingh was on his way to Bhaged when he was attacked by the animal near
the local dispensary.

He was admitted to the local health centre and his condition was said to be
out of danger.

Villagers said attacks by monkeys and boars had become common in the district. Wild animals often destroy standing crops, they said.

The BJP had promised to take steps to control the menace of wild animals, but nothing concrete had been done so far, they alleged.

Bharmour, October 2
The Bharatiya Majdoor Sangh Anganwari Employees Union held a rally and took out a procession at Bharmour tribal tehsil headquarters, about 55 km from the district headquarters town of Chamba, last evening in protest against the indifferent attitude of the state government towards its demands.

Speaking on this occasion, the union’s tribal unit president Krishna Devi said that a 12-point charter had been submitted to the state government in support of their demands but no heed was paid to their genuine demands by the state government.

They alleged exploitation of hundreds of anganwari workers and helpers in the state by the government by paying them petty wages.

The main demands of the union included declaring the posts of anganwari workers and helpers as ‘government servants’, payment of Rs 500 for each additional work, launching of a pension scheme, preference to anganwari workers and helpers while filling vacant posts of class III and IV employees in the health and education department, provision for jobs to the dependants on the basis of sympathetic ground, fixation of retirement age and providing gratuity of at least two years to the anganwari workers and helpers.

The leaders warned that a statewide agitation would be launched if their demands were not accepted soon.