Shimla, October 27
The state government will not allot any hydroelectric project to the BBMB in view of the bitter experience it had in respect of Bhakra and Pong Dam projects executed and managed by it.

Stating this while talking to mediapersons here today, Chief minister P.K. Dhumal said the state had been virtually cheated by not providing the share to which it was entitled under the State Reorganisation Act. There was no question of assigning any project to it unless the state was suitably compensated for the denial of its due share in the inter-state projects managed by it.

He said power was the top priority of his government and to ensure expeditious execution of projects, a single-window authority would be set up for various mandatory clearances so that the independent power producers did not have to run from one department to the other for the purpose.

The $ 800-million Asian Development Bank loan would speed up the work on projects being executed by the Himachal Power Corporation. The state would receive 90 per cent of the amount as outright grant from the Centre.

Replying to a question, he said there were no immediate plan to create new districts, though there was need for rationalisation of the existing units. He said the assembly and parliamentary constituencies had been delimited and any exercise reorganising the districts could be undertaken only after each assembly constituency coincided with a subdivision, a tehsil and a block.

He criticised the UPA government for not enacting the law for utilisation of funds under compensatory afforestation management and planning authority (CAMPA) in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court. The funds released under the catchment area treatment plan were being deposited with the CAMPA and these could not be utilised by the state. He said in his view it would be appropriate if the funds were placed at the disposal of the state so that necessary measures could be taken for the rehabilitation of catchments of various projects.

Shimla, October 27
Uncertainty regarding the 775-MW Luhri hydroelectric project ended with the state government finally signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for its execution with public sector undertaking Sutlej Jal Vdyut Nigam.

The project had been hanging fire for the past five years and, in fact, the previous Congress government had at one stage backed out of its commitment to allot it to the SJVN. Subsequently, terms and conditions were renegotiated and the state equity share was raised from the 25 per cent to 49 per cent. It was also agreed that a special purpose vehicle would be set up to implement the project.

Another MoU was signed for the 40-MW Dhaulasidh project to be constructed on the Beas in Hamirpur district. The detailed project report was yet to be prepared and the generation capacity could go up. The agreement was signed by chairman-cum-managing director of the SJVN H.K. Sharma and principal secretary, power, Ajay Mittal in the presence of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, and chief secretary Asha Swarup.

The special purpose vehicle will be a joint venture company of the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam and the state with the former having 51 per cent holding. The state had 25 per cent share in the 1,500-MW Nahpa-Jhakri project and 30 per cent in the 412-MW Rampur project.

The Luhri Hydro Project will come up on river Satluj between Nirath and Chaba villages in Shimla district, down stream the Rampur project. The Dhaulasidh Hydro will be constructed on the Beas near Sanotu village, 23 km from Nadaun.

The state will get 12 per cent of the energy generated from the two projects as royalty and 49 per cent of the remaining 88 per cent at bus bar rates. It will also be allocated additional power from the unallocated share to the extent of 15per cent of the saleable energy available with the Centre during the winter months (October to March) at bus bar rates. This allocation will be for exclusive consumption in the state and not for sale. An additional 1 per cent free power from the project will be provided by the SJVN for the Local Area Development Fund (LADF).

The agreement provides for allocation of one hundred (100) units of electricity per month to each project-affected family for a period of 10 years from the commissioning of the project.

The Luhri project will have an 86-m-high concrete gravity dam on the Sutlej near Nirath village, 9-m diameter and 38.138-km-long headrace tunnel and an underground powerhouse in a cavern measuring 156.4 m x 243.5m x 44 m. The power plant will comprise four turbines of 193.75-MW capacity each. These will generate 3,152 Gwh energy in a 95 per cent dependable year. The project cost is estimated at Rs 5,700 crore as per the revised estimates for the twin-tunnel scheme.

The Dhaulasidh project will have 130-m-long and 43.8-m-high straight gravity concrete masonary dam with two turbines of 20 MW each. It will generate 114.029 million units in a 90 per cent dependable year.

Shimla, October 27
With the winter round the corner, the government is gearing up to meet the shortage of electricity to save people from power cuts. It has taken up the matter with the Union Ministry of Power for allocation of 350 million units from the unallocated Central share.

The winter shortfall has increased sharply due to spurt in industrialisation over the past three years with demand going up from 2,800 million units to over 4,000 million units from November, 2008, to March, 2009. The total availability from the Central pool, state’s share in various projects and own generation will be around 3,000 million units. This means the state will have to arrange 1,000 million units. The peak demand is likely to go up from 184 lakh units to 205 lakh units per day.

The state will get 200 million units supplied to Punjab during summer under the contra-banking arrangement. It has also entered forward banking arrangements with Haryana and Delhi for the supply of 450 million units, which the state will return during ensuing summer when these states face shortage of power.

Earlier, Himachal had been selling power during summer to various states at high rates. However, this year it opted for banking arrangement to avoid purchase of costly power during winter months when generation in various hydroelectric projects declines to 25 per cent due to reduction in discharge in rivers and streams.

There has been a sharp increase in demand in the wake of industrial package granted by the Centre, which accelerated the pace of industrialisation, and the hill state will not have any surplus power from the next year.

The situation will keep worsening and there will be no respite from the winter shortfall till 2012. The state electricity regulatory commission has taken a serious notice of the power availability certificates (PACs) being granted by the state electricity board to new industries, particularly power-intensive units that are on the negative list.

Chamba, October 27
Before the proposed bus terminus is constructed at the identified site at zero point in Chamba, unauthorised and unruly constructions are fast springing up around this green patch of land. The steep hill having formation of fragile strata along the site can be a threat to the bus terminus during rains.

However, it is not understood why the proposal of bus terminus has not been put through so far despite the fact that a period of about five years has elapsed. Thus, whither new bus terminus of Chamba?

It is pertinent to mention here that the construction of proposed ‘Chamba bus terminus’ project with an outlay of about Rs 17 crore on the “build, operate and transfer” basis at the zero point, which is the hub of the historic hill town of Chamba appears either to be a non-starter or a ‘lame duck’. The town’s bus terminus project drawn way back in 2005 during the previous Congress regime is still waiting for the commencement of its construction though a period of about five years has elapsed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the plan for the construction of a new bus terminus at zero point had been changed by former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to an ideal site replacing the district sub-jail on the right bank of the Ravi river with a view to avoiding some green felling at the zero point and the district sub-jail was proposed to be shifted to some other suitable place. Moreover, in the recent past some unauthorised structures have also sprung up around the proposed site identified for raising the bus terminus at zero point.

Tucked in the captivating skyline vales, the proposed bus terminus is one of the flagship projects in the state conceived during the previous Congress government. The layout plan of a three-storeyed hilly structure of the new bus terminus, especially designed for an alpine zone of the Himalayan ranges also stands approved. Now, the people of Chamba have high expectations from local MLA B.K. Chauhan, a bureaucrat-turned politician, and hope that Chauhan would cherish their dream.

Recently, the Chamba Welfare Association through its memorandum approached Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal urging him to take up the bus terminus project on priority and undertake its construction forthwith. 

Solan, October 27
With a view to four-laning the National Highway No. 21-A that connects the state’s industrial hub, the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh area, to Haryana, the Ministry of Transport and Highways has sanctioned funds for preparing a feasibility report. A consultant would soon be hired to carry out the study after which a decision would be taken by the ministry about its expansion.

While it was for the state government to work out its modalities, the report would help the ministry assess the passenger car unit (PCU) that would form the basis for four-laning the highway. As per a survey conducted by the Haryana Government, the highway had a PCU of about 1.04 lakh and it would be eligible for a six-lane structure.

BBNIA general secretary Arun Rawat said a delegation of their association met the DG (road development) in Delhi and highlighted the poor condition of the road. The delegation was led by president Rajinder Guleria and member Anil Nagpal.

With little progress in getting the road repaired, the BBNIA suggested options to the DG, including immediate repair, making the road a toll road to generate funds etc.

Rawat said there were three aspects of the problem and the prime problem revolved around the ill-maintenance of the stretch of road between 11.2 to 17.2-km points for which an estimate of Rs 9 crore had been drawn. Though tenders had been called for its repair by the Haryana Government, no contractor came forward after which the estimate had to be revised. Although some work, like cutting of trees to widen the road, had been undertaken, there was no further progress in the case. The BBNIA urged the NH authorities to expedite the work in that direction.

The repair work of the highway stretch from 0 km to 2.2-km point had been awarded to a contractor, but little had been done in that direction. The stretch from 2.2 km to 11.2-km point had worn out excessively and though the contractor concerned was supposed to repair it, he had refused to do so after seeing its exceptionally poor condition. The association urged the DG to take immediate note of the situation.

Una, October 27
The old Una-Amb road, which could have helped in eliminating the curves in the coming up Una-Amb express highway, seems to have been left by the government for the encroachers.

The old Una-Amb road starts from Una and goes up to Jhalera. As the road has not been in use for the past some time, many people have encroached upon it. Some have even erected bridge-like links over the road to connect their buildings constructed on opposite sides.

The present road has to pass through a hill and has many curves till Jhalera village.

Had the government revived the old road, it would have saved money to be spent on acquiring land for the express highway, sources maintain. On papers, the old road is 18-m-wide. The government needed to acquire just 5-m land on its both sides for converting it into an express highway. However, now it is spending huge money on acquiring land. Moreover, curves in the road will remain.

The Lal Singhi panchayat has adopted a resolution demanding that the old Una-Amb road should be revived, at least up to Jhalera village. The road stretch is being encroached upon by some vested interests, they say. They have demanded that the government should get the encroachments removed from the road and open it for traffic. If the road is opened again, it will help decongest the state highway, villagers say.

Residents said they had met the DC in that connection during the stint of the previous government, but to no avail.

Sources say the PWD has now received directions to study the viability of reviving the road.

Shimla, October 27
The names of former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his Cabinet colleagues figure in the list of persons who were allegedly involved in the grant of permission for felling trees in the municipal limits of Shimla despite peremptory orders passed by the high court.

The state government informed the court by way of an affidavit that approval for felling trees was accorded by the Cabinet chaired by Virbhadra Singh. Almost all his Cabinet colleagues, including Vidya Stokes, Kaul Singh, Rangila Ram Roa, Kuldip Kumar, Ram Lal Thakur, Singhi Ram, Raj Krishna Gaur, Harsh Mahajan and Sujan Singh Pathania were present in the meeting held on September 27 last year.

The counsel for the petitioner sought time for impleading all of them as party in the case. The court granted the time. On the last date of hearing, Justice Rajiv Sharma summoned the entire record pertaining to the felling of trees in violation of the court orders. In its earlier order, the court had directed the state to disclose the names of persons involved in according permission on October 4, 2007. In compliance to the order, the state has filed an affidavit in the court disclosing names of those involved in according the permission.

Shimla, October 27
In order to retain the heritage character of the town, the municipal corporation will seek funds from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other organisations to beautify the Mall and other parts of the town.

The MC has chalked out a proposal where the facade of all buildings on the Mall would be made uniform with only limited number of boards indicating names of shops, restaurant or other commercial establishments. The MC will shortly hold a meeting with the Mall Businessmen Association to seek their consent and cooperation in executing the proposal.

The ADB has agreed to finance the project in view of the fact that several buildings on the Mall are heritage structures that were constructed over 100 years ago during the British rule. The ADB team inspected some of the structures on the Mall during its visit last month.

The MC is keen that instead of having huge individual boards outside each shop there should be a common neat board of uniform size for at least four shops. The board can have the names of all the establishments located there.

The MC has also approached the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam to extend financial help in the upkeep and maintenance of the Mall and other areas of the town. Special emphasis will be laid on developing parks. “The park opposite Khadi Ashram will be developed on the lines of parks in Chandigarh. For this, a team of the MC will visit Chandigarh next week,” said Kataria.

The area from the state secretariat up to the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies (IIAS) has already been declared heritage zone and the old character of all buildings on both sides of this zone cannot be altered. However, now the authorities are keen that there should be some kind of uniformity and semblance along the Mall.

As part of the beautification campaign, the MC is keen to undertake some other projects for which other organisations, including voluntary bodies, are being approached. There have been several such endeavours in the past also, but the paucity of funds had always emerged as the biggest hurdle.

Shimla, October 27
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal received a cheque of Rs 2 crore as contribution towards the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund from CMD of the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam H.K. Sharma here today.

Asha Swaroop, chief secretary, Bhim Sen, principal secretary to Chief Minister, Ajay Mittal, principal secretary, MPP and power, Arvind Mehta, principal secretary, finance, B.K. Aggarwal, secretary to Chief Minister and J.R. Katwal, director, information and public relations, were present on the occasion. — UNI

Shimla, October 27
Despite unfavourable weather conditions for most part of the apple season, the growers have harvested a bumper crop though the quality has not been all that good.

The harvesting season comes to close officially by October 31 and already about 2.15 crore standard boxes have been exported out of the state. With another about 5 lakh boxes expected from the higher reaches of Kinnaur and Shimla the final figure was likely to be around 2.20 crore boxes. As such the total output this season would be 4.85 lakh tonne.

A noticeable feature was that the procurement under the market intervention scheme was as much as 43,600 tonne, which was very high and indicative of the fact that the quality of the fruit was not good. Last year the state had a record production of 7.08 lakh tonne with apple alone contributing 5.92 lakh tonne, surpassing the previous high of 5.40 lakh tonne achieved in 2005-06 by a substantial 52,000 tonne. However, only 27,000 tonne of fruit was procured under the market intervention scheme.

The unfavourable weather conditions with the sky reining overcast for weeks together and excessive rain led to outbreak of fungal disease caused premature defoliation of plants in many pockets. It affected the size, colour and quality of fruit as a result of which the growers preferred to sell the inferior fruit to the government agencies rather than sending it to market. The growers got adequate returns for the produce as the prices at the Delhi market, where about 70 per cent of the produce is disposed of, and other markets by and large remained stable for most of the season. The trouble in Jammu and Kashmir over the Amarnath Shrine land issue also helped as the fruit from valley could not reach the market during the peak season and there was no glut.

The uptrend in apple production in recent years is a good sign as the yield had come down from 9.5 tonne per hectare in 1970s to 6 tonne per hectare in 1990s.

In fact, the production had not touched 4-lakh tonne mark till 2002-03. It was only in 2003-04 that the state produced 4.59 lakh tonne of apple, which was followed by successive bumper crops in 2004-05 (5.27 lakh tonne) and 2006-07 (5.40 lakh tonne).

More significantly, over the past six years there has been only one crop failure in 2006-07. If the upward trend continues the yield will increase over the next few years.

Mandi, October 27
Gross favouritism irregularities in awarding tender for the painting work in Madho Rao temple, hawan kund and DC office for the Shivratri festival held in February here has come to light under the Right to Information (RTI).

According to documents availed by the Indian Peoples Theatre Association (IPTA) under the RTI Act, the Shivratri mela committee awarded tender to one of the highest bidder throwing norms to winds.

It was awarded to Pankaj Sharma, who had quoted Rs 3.22 lakh for the painting work and not to Jaspal Singh, the lowest bidder, who had quoted Rs 90,000 for the same,” revealed RTI documents made available to The Tribune.

Consequently, the awarding of tender to Pankaj Sharma resulted in a loss of Rs 2.92 lakh to the mela committee, revealed RTI documents.

In fact as many six contractors had applied for the painting work, apart from Jaspal and Pankaj. Kulbhushan had quoted Rs 2.72 lakh, Jatinder Kashayap had quoted Rs 3.30 lakh, Paras Ram Rs 3.50 lakh and Lalit Kumar Rs 3.85 lakh, revealed RTI documents.

IPTA convener Lawan Thakur said the RTI had exposed that the mela funds were misused and tender was given to the highest bidder causing loss to the mela committee. It is also surprising that the mela committee invited quotations for the painting work while other works are carried out by the PWD, he added.

The mela committee had invited quotations for the painting of five rooms in the DC office, Madho Rao temple, Chandani, Seri Munch, tennis hall and badminton hall.

Officials of the mela committee are tightlipped, as the expose has put them on the mat.

Palampur, October 27
Jay Parkash (JP) Group of Industries will set up a medical college-cum-super speciality hospital here. The state Cabinet had already granted its approval to the project.

Addressing mediapersons at his residence here this afternoon, former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar said JP Group had decided to enter into an agreement with the Vivekananda Medical Research Trust (VMRT) to run a hospital and medical college in the town. He said the group would take over the entire infrastructure developed by the VMRT, which included the half constructed hospital complex having 3.5 lakh square feet covered area and vacant land on the site.

He said an MoU to this effect would be singed between JP Group, VMRT and the state government, as the state government was also one of the permanent trustee of the VMRT. He said deck had already been cleared for the execution of this project after the approval given by the state government in a Cabinet decision last week.

Shanta Kumar said Jai Parkash Sewa Sansthan, a subsidiary of the JP Group, would run the hospital and medical college, which would extend health services in this region. He said the group would also set up a nursing college in the hospital.

The VMRT will fulfil its commitments with the people and provide health services to poor people at low cost. Besides, 20 per cent beds would be reserved for the weaker section of society on subsidised rates.

It may be recalled that the first phase of the project, which included naturopathy centre known as the Himalayan Research Institute for Yoga and Naturopathy, has already been commissioned and provide quality services in naturopathy and yoga to the people of this region and adjoining states. Five naturopathy and yoga experts in different fields have been appointed by the trust to serve the people. Indoor facility to over 300 patients has also been provided inside the centre by the trust.

The estimated cost of this project is approximately Rs 200 crore when completed.

Kangra, October 27
The state government has decided to separate the cadres of the IGMC, Shimla, and DRPGMC, Tanda, at the lower level too with an open policy of rejoining in order to improve further the working in both medical college hospitals.

Disclosing this today health minister Dr Rajeev Bindal told The Tribune on phone that doctors cadre was separated earlier and now in order to improve further the working of DRPGMC at Tanda the cadres other than the doctors would too be separated. He said the Tanda hospital was a priority for the state government and all steps were being taken to improve its working in all spheres.

Bindal said, “We have received an encouraging response from retired doctors for the post of professors, associate professors and assistant professors even without any formal advertisement as yet and five doctors have applied for these posts of the faculty as of now.”

He said walk in interviews would be held for filling the posts of the faculty shortly. The government had decided to pay Rs 75,000 to professors, Rs 70,000 to associate professors and Rs 65,000 to assistant professors. He said soon after the faculty members join at Tanda, the government was planning to start the postgraduate classes in this college.

Shimla, October 27
Health minister Rajiv Bindal today lashed out at former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for misleading the people of the state on the issue of opening of a medical college at Mandi.

In a statement issued here today, he said the Congress government had announced to open the medical college at Mandi while the election code of conduct had come into effect. “Moreover, the notification was issued in the back date and that too without making any budgetary provision that clearly reflected intentions of the government,” he said.

Bindal said in case Virbhadra Singh was so keen to provide a medical college for the people of Mandi, he should have done it before the elections. “He is now trying to mislead the people. The announcement made during his regime was only an election gimmick,” he said.

“The BJP government will provide a medical college to the people of Mandi, but the people should not be misled by statements being made by Virbhadra Singh,” he said.

He said during the Congress rule only Rs 12 crore out of the sanctioned amount of Rs 48 crore could be utilised despite the fact that it could have been utilised in improving health facilities in various institutions.

Shimla, October 27
Vice-chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University Prof Sunil Kumar Gupta has been honoured with the PCMA Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution in the field of commerce and management.

The Punjab Commerce and Management Association (PCMA) conferred the award on Prof Gupta at the 5th international conference in collaboration with the Punjab School of Management Studies, Punjabi University, Patiala, on October 25.

Kullu, October 27
The newly nominated president, Baldev Singh Thakur, of the district unit of the All-India Rahul Gandhi Brigade (RGB) announced the brigades of Kullu district today.

Addressing a press conference here today, Thakur said the district unit would have one senior vice-president, four vice-presidents, 10 general secretaries, eight secretaries and one treasurer-cum-spokesperson, besides 11 executive members. He said the block presidents of Manali, Kullu, Banjar and Ani constituencies were also nominated. The nominated list is: Senior vice-president: Devender Negi

Vice-presidents: Bhupender Thakur, Senapal, Ashok Kumar Marwah and Thakur Dass.

General secretaries: Anurag Prarthi, Nand Lal Kaushal, Sunder Singh Bodh, Ashwani Kumar, Dev Raj Napak, Dugloo Ram Thakur, Murlidhar Sharma, Gaurav Sood, Jyoti Prakash Sharma and Raj Kumar Dogra.

Secretaries: Lobzang Bodh, Room Singh, Atma Ram, Dharam Chand, Jaswant Singh, Rajesh Kumar, Jhhabe Ram and Rakesh Acharya.

Treasurer-cum-spokesperson: Narender Mohan Gupta.

Executive members: Bhola Ram Thakur, Beli Ram, Raj Kumar, Shiv Chand, Naveen Malhotra, Karan Bodh, Tek Chand Thakur, Hari Chand, Amar Singh, Pratap Negi and Tek Chand; Block presidents: Prem Sharma of Manali, Rohit Thakur of Kullu, Sher Singh of Banjar, Prem Chand of Ani.

Balbir Sohal was nominated as the president of Bhuntar town.

Shimla, October 27
The 61st Infantry Day celebrations were held by the Army authorities at the Annadale ground here today. The Army holds these celebrations to commemorate the heroic act by the first contingent of the Indian Army when it was airlifted into Srinagar to defend India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against Pakistan on October 27, 1947.

To pay respect to the valiant soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the service of the nation, a wreath-laying ceremony was held by the 14 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles.

Wreaths were laid by Maj-Gen R.K. Arora, MGGS Army Training Command on behalf of GOC-in-C of the Army Training Command, Brig Khushal Thakur and Col K.S. Kalsi of the 14th Jammu and Kashmir Rifles.