Mandi, February 24
Even as the dates for the Lok Sabha elections are yet to be announced, the ruling BJP and the Congress have intensified their campaign to lure voters. While the BJP says Himachal Pradesh is shining under the leadership of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, the Congress is busy in propagating that development lies with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

During the course of campaigning, the parties are violating the Supreme Court order that bans putting billboards along the national highways. In their bid to lure voters, the state’s main political parties have launched their publicity propaganda even before the chief election commissioner announces the dates for the Lok Sabha elections and imposes the code of conduct.

At some places, the campaigning has even turned ugly. Recently, in Sarkaghat in Mandi district, the propaganda turned violent as the rival groups accused each other of pulling down their hoardings or billboards. A case was registered in this connection.

A Congress billboard says nation’s future lies with Rahul Gandhi. Another billboard shows Sonia Gandhi, Dr Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi all wrapped in Congress flag.

While Congressmen accuse the BJP of misusing the government machinery and funds for political propaganda, the ruling BJP says it is their right to propagate the achievements and policies of the government in the state.

The department of public relations (DPR) is sparing no effort in projecting Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal as “new development messiah”, listing his achievements in full-blown catchy slogans with CM’s cutout of marching ahead in a political gesture.

For the BJP, it’s Dhumal all the way. Over 80 per cent of promises made by the BJP in election manifesto have been achieved, claim party workers. The hoardings have been tailored by the DPR as per each district.

Director public relations JR Katwal ensures every day that each hoarding is intact and as to how many new have been put up.

The ambitious DPR has flooded each district public relations office with hundreds of such billboards, posters and hoardings.

These hoardings have sprouted along the Ropar-Manali national highways-21 and Shimla-Kalka highway-22, Dharamsala-Hamirpur-Shimla and other district highways and towns throughout the state.

BJP state president Jai Ram Thakur said it was the privilege of the government to publicise its achievements and policies. All previous governments had been doing this not only in Himachal Pradesh but also in other states, including the Congress, he added.

On the other hand, state Congress president Kaul Singh Thakur said it was their right to list the achievements of the UPA government.

Election observers say the main political parties should behave responsibly, avoid squandering and honour the Supreme Court order on the use of hoardings.

Photo on page 4

Nurpur, February 24
The rampant use of domestic cooking gas cylinders in private vehicles in this bordering Nurpur subdivision has created the shortage of LPG for domestic users, thanks to the state government which has allowed the registration of LPG-run vehicles.

Interestingly, there is not even a single filling station of LPG or CNG throughout the state. But under the disguise of the provision of the registration of LPG-run vehicles, the violators are indulging in the misuse of the subsidised gas meant for domestic consumers.

The authorities, too, have turned a blind eye towards this menace.

While the domestic users are facing scarcity, violators have interrupted supply to ply their vehicles in the lower Kangra district. Inquiries reveal that the closest LPG refilling stations are in Chandigarh and Jalandhar.

Despite this, permission is being granted to the vehicle owners for getting their LPG-run vehicles registered.

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) regional manager Sunil Thakur said IOC alone could not curb this menace.

He admitted that there was the lack of coordination between the IOC, police and cooking gas agencies. He also blamed the provision of registration of LPG vehicles for the misuse of cooking gas in the region.

Thakur informed that he had taken up this issue even with Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ramesh Dhawala, but nothing had been done so far to stop the registration of LPG vehicles.

He said the matter was now being taken up with the union petroleum ministry.

Vehicles illegally parked on the premises of the hospital. A Tribune photographs

According to the sources, out of six doctors one takes night off, at least one goes for court evidences and two remain on leave, so two to three doctors remain to manage the show. Instead of seven pharmacists, there are two, instead of 14 staff nurses there are only nine and against 20 class IV employees there are only 5 in this hospital.

Scientific officer of the pollution control board Anil Sharma said the biomedical waste of the hospital has not been properly managed. It is dumped in the open dustbins within the hospital complex proving as an environmental and health hazard.

An ultrasound machine has been gathering dust for want of a technician for the last nearly one year. Pregnant women have to climb stairs to go to the toilet, as it is on the second floor and even a toilet for doctors in the OPD has been in a pathetic condition. Hospital complex has become a parking lot without any check by the authorities, thus putting the visiting patients to inconvenience. 

Chamba, February 24
The famous hill town of Chamba has a rich heritage not only in terms of precious stone mass and valuable structural bulk but also in terms of environmental, aesthetical and urban design quality.

It is an embodiment of an unforgettable King’s insight. Unfortunately, the town’s downfall started right after Independence. The indiscriminate exploitation of open land by public sector agencies either for allotment to private people or for the unplanned constructions has resulted in a total degradation of the town’s valuable assets.

The authorities of the state government as well as the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) are overlooking Chamba’s heritage. Consequently, the historic hill town is losing its sheen. The edifice of the Akhandchandi Palace, which is a real focal point of historical background of the town, is facing an imminent danger of tumbling down due to government’s neglect. It is being utilised as an ordinary old structure for a government postgraduate college that is painful.

The area below the Palace, which was once green, has now been built up accommodating numerous structures that are really an eyesore. The urban managers have perhaps a deliberate plan to undo all the past and create a new contrast.

The local civil engineers appear to have set a target to convert the whole of the town into a commercial settlement. Their indifference to the well-planned development seems to centralise whole of the commercial activity in the hub of the town and for that they want to have a plan to cover all the vacant lands by shops, stalls and kiosks.

They permitted every proposal presented by any individual without giving any thought to it. This has given rise to unauthorised encroachments. This has given a baleful look to the Chamba’s heritage.

As regards unwarranted developments in the urban areas, the building by-laws are being inexorably violated and authorities are going to the seed. Private houses are being converted into tourist guesthouses and nobody seems to be bothered about it.

The state government has also enforce the provisions of stringent building byelaws. Consequently, encroachments are galore and there are shabby wooden structures (khokhas) all around in Sultanpur, Baloo, Hardaspur and Moogla . Without even access and clear ownership, the cases have been approved.

There are many more lapses where while giving approval no rules are being taken into consideration. The planning area beyond the municipal limits has been left out of any development control. As a result, massive unauthorised constructions are fast springing up everywhere.

According to information available with the local office of the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department in Chamba town, there are about 594 unauthorised cases which include 291 in the jurisdiction of the municipal council,99 cases in the Chamba planning area and 13 cases in the Karian planning area.

Officials of the TCP Department said since the powers under the TCP Act have been delegated to the local municipal council to deal with the cases that come within its purview through a single-window system set up by the government, efforts are being made by the council to settle some genuine cases.

There is also a need of conserving and preserving the greenery, glory and grandeur of the Chowgan at all costs for which the erstwhile rulers of Chamba created it. Hoping for an improvement, the resident have sought to enforce the provisions of the Public Premises Act, as most of the residential houses in the town are being used as highly inflammable goods’ stores, and these have become a tinderbox, which can catch fire at any time thereby destroying the adjoining vicinity.

Deputy Commissioner of Chamba Maneesh Garg, however, pleads for his all-out endeavours to revive the glory of the town’s heritage. He impresses on the conservation and preservation of ancient monuments of the town full of antiquities.

DC asserts that he has been receptive to new developments mooted by the elite of the area and more schemes could be drawn to cope with the huge dimensions of the town.

Shimla, February 24
Jobless persons from the weaker sections will be able to earn wages even while working on their own land under a new scheme framed by the government to make the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) a tool for poverty alleviation.

Himachal Pradesh has been among the leading states in the country in the implementation of the programme launched with the objective of providing succour to the unemployed people in villages. It tops in the utilisation of funds sanctioned by the centre under the programme. Out of the total sanctioned amount of Rs 310 crore, the state had spent over Rs 222 crore as against Rs 72 crore by Haryana and Rs 50 crore by Punjab.

However, so far the jobless persons were provided 100 days employment in a year only for working on water conservation, soil conservation and raising new plantations on government and village common land.

Under the new scheme, they could work for the development of land, horticulture and irrigation facilities on private holdings of the weaker sections that would help improve productivity and in turn increase returns. As per the scheme framed by the state rural development department, activities like levelling of land, digging of pits for raising orchards, application of fertilisers, fungicides and insecticides, construction of water storage tanks, irrigation channels and other allied works could be taken up on private land of farmers belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and below poverty line families. The jobless members of these families will be able to work on their own land, making the scheme much more productive.

“The biggest advantage of the scheme is that the people will put a sincere effort in the development of their own farm resources and also maintain them properly. They will thus have sustainable income generating assets to pull them out of poverty,” explains Shrikant Baldi, secretary of the department.

Further, the large tracts of private pastures, which had virtually been reduced to wasteland due to prolonged neglect, will be again transformed into productive farmland fetching additional income.

The department had already worked out the schedule of expenditure for planting 100 saplings for major fruits like mango, orange, kinnow, apple and other varieties so that field officers did not face problems in the implementation of the scheme.

The material component under the scheme will not exceed 40 per cent of the cost and in case it does, the beneficiary on whose land the work is carried out will have to bear the additional cost. The planting material, fertilisers, fungicides and other inputs will have to be procured from authorised agencies. The beneficiary farmer will be paid financial assistance for the maintenance of plantation, provided the survival rate was 75 per cent in the first year and 90 per cent in the second year.

Once a work is approved, the block development officer will issue the muster roll that will have a unique number. The job card number of every worker will be mentioned in the muster roll. Each family will be allowed 100 days of work in a year. Similarly, works pertaining to the creation of irrigation facilities and raising mulberry plantations could also be undertaken under the scheme. Unlike community assets like roads, forest plantation and soil conservation works being carried out under the programme until now the new scheme will help improve the productivity of private land and generate additional income for the families on a sustainable basis.

Nurpur, February 24
There are sufficient statutes to check the burgeoning encroachments on forest as well as the government land in the state, but lack of political will is the major hindrance to curb this menace.

Information gathered from the Nurpur and Jawali subdivisions in lower Kangra district, comprising the Nurpur, Jawali, Indora and Fetehpur revenue tehsils, reveals that over 500 eviction warrant orders passed by the assistant collectors (grade 1) have been pending since over 10 years for implementations. The revenue authorities passed these orders against the encroachers after hearing of prolonged proceedings under Section 163 of the Land Revenue (LR) Act. But these orders have been gathering dust in the revenue offices, thanks to the political interference and influence mounted on the authorities to act.

However, the subdivisional magistrates and the divisional forest officers have been armed with adequate powers under the Public Premises Eviction Act, 1971, to curb encroachment menace but they seldom work. It has only been in the backdrop of the direction of the state high court to the state police to lodge FIRs in each and every case of encroachment on the government land, the government agencies have started adopting strict attitude against the encroachers.

The Jawali subdivisional magistrate has initiated to follow this direction and lodged FIRs under Section 447 of the IPC against 12 encroachers of Farian gram panchayat, including, panchayat pradhan for allegedly encroaching and raising construction on forest as well as the government land.

Sources revealed that Section 30 of the HP Prevention of Specific Corrupt Practices Act, 1983, the forest as well as revenue officer on duty are bound to prevent an encroachment over the forest and the government land. This section also speaks to penalise erring officials on duty even imprisonment from one to three years along with fine for not preventing encroachments.

Interestingly, in the Rampuri revenue ward in Nurpur, some complainants right from Chief Minister to local revenue authorities have submitted written complaints against encroachment on the government land in posh localities in the September last year, but despite repeated reminders the local revenue agency notwithstanding preventing encroachment only initiated proceedings under Section 163 of the LR Act, that too, after three months of the completion of construction on the encroached land.

This was just tip of the iceberg and numerous such cases could be ascertained in lower Kangra district, in which influence of the encroachers and lackadaisical attitude of the authorities have paved the way to raise construction on encroached government land in the area.

Up in arms against the alleged dillydallying and time pass action of the revenue department to stop ongoing construction on the government land here in Rampur revenue ward, the complainants have decided to lodge FIR in this connection. 

Parwanoo, February 24
The manner in which a senior police officer has been found involved in sale, purchase and use of vehicles recovered by the department in various criminal cases, has put a question mark on their working in the border subdivision of Parwanoo. While the role of at least two such police officers, both of whom have served here, is under vigilance scanner.

In the first case, a former station house officer KD Khan, who has been facing a departmental inquiry, was booked by the Shimla police in a case of criminal conspiracy, forgery, dishonestly receiving stolen property and causing disappearance of evidence while he was posted at Parwanoo from July 30, 2007 to February 3, 2008. The case involves a qualis (HP-63-2559) that was brought to Parwanoo from Baruch district of Gujarat by a police team that had gone there in 2006 to trace some stolen vehicles. Since, such a vehicle belonging to a former congress minister had been stolen from Shimla this qualis was brought here for comparison of its chassis numbers.

This case was registered at the Boileuganj police station under sections 411, 4s67, 471, 201 and 120-B of the IPC. The erring SHO had, however, not surrendered this vehicle with the police even after its details had not matched with the stolen vehicle.

The SHO had allegedly furnished a NOC from Rajasthan and he had produced an official address showing his residence at Kasumpti for getting it registered at Shimla. What was indeed alarming was the fact that a dreaded Godhra carnage accused, Attabhai, was among those who headed a gang of vehicle lifters and a police officer had connived with such a criminal to procure this luxury vehicle.

In yet another case, another luxury vehicle, a land cruiser, was impounded from an additional SP posted at Pandoh. This vehicle lacked authentic papers and as per the investigations conducted by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, this officer has used the vehicle for quite some time now.

The official had served as subdivisional police officer, Parwanoo, from June 2006 to April 2007. This vehicle was originally registered MH-0IP-0569 and was owned by a Mumbai resident. It was registered to a local industrial unit after procuring a NOC from Mumbai. Later, this vehicle was again sold to another Parwanoo resident, Sham Lal Sharma, who, however, according to bureau inquires was not found at the cited sector 2 address of Parwanoo. The police, thereafter, impounded this vehicle as its registration was executed at fake address and under a fake name. Further, investigations were underway in the case.

Still worse, a department’s senior officer BS Thind was booked last year for another case of extortion and cheating when a Parwanoo-based businessman Ashok Mittal had presented an audio CD containing taped account of his conversation with the ADGP, demanding lakhs in lieu of getting his shop vacated.

It was not a coincidence that these three cases of corruption pertained to Parwanoo. Rather, it lent credence to the belief that this area was a fertile subdivision for such dubious activities and little wonder, only the highly connected managed a transfer here.

The sports-loving British had provided the best possible sports infrastructure to the “queen of hills”, the summer capital of the country during the pre-Independence. Almost every important building, including residential bungalows, had a tennis court and a lush green lawn. There were over 50 tennis courts and a number of badminton courts. The ice skating rink was also converted to tennis court during the summers. They also developed a cricket field at Annandale along with facilities for horse racing, basketball, football, hockey and other sports.

However, since Independence the sports facilities have seen a decline. The tennis courts have given way to multi-storeyed buildings, not only in private bungalows but also in most of the government-owned properties. Tennis is no longer played in the ice skating rink during summers.

In such a scenario, it has been a pleasant surprise to see a tennis court coming up at the police lines in Kaithu. The cement-concrete court has been constructed at the initiative of the district police chief RM Sharma, who is himself a keen sportsperson. He said the facility would not only help policemen keep physically fit but would also promote the sports that have been neglected in the hill state.