The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Himachal Pradesh Edition

Tap conversion
The influential made to pay for water charges
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 8
The influential people who had, over the years, managed to get public taps installed at government expense for their personal use are being finally made to pay the water charges.

The policy of the government to convert public taps installed on private premises into regular private water connections has worked. Over the past one year, over 46,000 public taps had been converted into private connections, making the Irrigation and Public Health Department richer by about Rs 1 crore, received by way of connection charges and security. The maximum number of such conversions (16,500) have taken place in the Hamirpur zone, followed by Dharamsala (13,800), Mandi (8,000) and Shimla (7,000).

Instead of disconnecting the taps or shifting these out from private premises, the government has found a practical and acceptable solution. The conversion policy has benefited the new consumers as they have got a private connection without having to pay for laying of pipelines to their premises.

These private consumers will now have to pay Rs 14.64 per connection every month, which could bring additional revenue of about Rs 80 lakh annually to the department. It is a huge amount keeping in view the fact that the department’s total revenue form rural water supply is around Rs 5.5 crore. It spends Rs 138 crore on providing water through rural water supply schemes annually. The revenue from converted taps will go on increasing as the charges will go on increasing by 10 per cent from April 1 every year under the tariff policy adopted by the government.

The department has not been able to recover even 4 per cent of the amount it annually spends on providing water as there are very few metered rural water supply connections. Out of total 4,21,738 rural connections, only 5,375 are metered and charged at Rs 14.64 per month. The position is slightly better in case of urban water supply where there are 35,381 metered connections out of the total 75,874 connections.

Shimla was the only city in the state where all 13,088 consumers were being provided metered supply. The income-expenditure ratio from urban supply was slightly better than in case of rural supply with an expenditure of Rs 59.75 crore and income of Rs 5.8 crore.

Higher reaches receive fresh snow
Tribune Reporters

Shimla, April 8
A fresh spell of snow in the higher reaches of the state along with hailstorms and heavy rain in the mid hill and lower areas have revived wintry conditions in the region.

The mercury plummeted to freezing point in Keylong, the district headquarters of tribal Lahaul-Spiti, which recorded 10 cm of fresh snowfall over the last 24 hours. Kalpa in Kinnaur also reeled under extreme cold as minimum temperature touching 0.8°C.

The upper areas of Shimla district also came in the grip of cold following heavy snow on the Hatu peak and the Chanshal slopes. Narkanda also had 10 cm of snowfall overnight, which melted away.

Shimla and surrounding areas were lashed by hailstorm this afternoon, which brought down a sharp fall in the mercury. In all 20 mm of rainfall was recorded. Sunderanagar recorded 9 mm, Dharamsala 5 mm and Una 1.2 mm of rainfall.

The rain is considered beneficial for the apple crop in the mid hill areas where bud-breaking had been delayed due to lack of moisture in soil in the wake of prolonged dry spell. However, in the lower hills where flowering had started fruit setting will be affected.

The stone fruit crop had been damaged in parts of Shimla and Solan districts, which were lashed by hailstorm twice over the past three days.

The Met office has predicted more rain in lower hills and snow in higher hills over the next 24 hours.

Kangra: Kangra valley today again shivered with cold after the people enjoyed a sunny day yesterday.

The life here was left out of gear as the valley received incessant rains since morning accompanied with lightening and thunders leaving most of the people indoors. The Dhauladhar ranges and the lower foothills too received heavy snowfall resulting in cold wave like conditions in the valley forcing people to light bonfire by the roadsides.

Agriculture experts said the rains and the low temperature would adversely affect the wheat and mustard crops.

The industrial area in the town remained waterlogged due to the rains leaving the people visiting the complaint office of the HPSEB and the SDO office of the BSNL in a lurch.

Some of the owners of the industries alleged that there was no outlet to the accumulated water from the industrial area. The water had accumulated on the entry road of the industrial area, which houses some state and central government offices.

CHAMBA: The high mountains, including the passes of Saach, Chehni, Chobia, Kugti and Jalsu and the famous Manimahesh Lake in Chamba district have been experiencing heavy snowfall since Wednesday morning.

Dain Kund, the high altitude peak of Dalhousie hills at a height of about 2,900 m received a light spell of snow, reports informed.

The low-lying areas of the district had been receiving widespread downpour accompanied by thunderstorm, the reports further said.

Consequently, the transportation services had been disrupted following landslip at different places due to heavy downpour on the Chamba-Nayagran highway.

UPA ‘weak’ towards terrorism
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 8
The Himachal Pradesh Dharamraksha Manch today said it was due to the weak policy of the UPA regime on terrorism that neither Parliament nor temple or any other place in the country was safe and secure.

Addressing a press conference here today, the senior co-convener of the manch, Ramesh Sood said it was due to the so-called secular politics that terrorists were roaming scot free while people were feeling unsafe. “It is due the policy of minority appeasement being followed by the Congress that there had been a spurt in terrorist activities,” he said.

He demanded that the government must take strong steps against terrorism and first among them is execution of Afzal Guru, who despite the Supreme Court verdict was alive.

He also took strong exception to pseudo secular politicians who were seeking banning the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and at the same time lifting the ban on SIMI. “The government has also failed to check conversion taking place among the poor and backward by certain communities by offering them incentives,” he said.

Weather forecast with greater precision
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 8
The meteorological department will be able to make medium and long-term weather forecast with greater precision with the establishment of an automatic radiation station at its observatory here today.

The data will be received through satellite at the earth receiving station with six months backup storage facility. The instruments installed by a private company SGS Weather & Environmental System are linked to satellite through Yagi antenna.

The main components include precision infrared pyrometer for recording global radiation , precision infrared radiometer, ultra violet radiation recorder and hydroclip. These instruments will measure global radiation and ultraviolet radiation from the Sun, terrestrials radiation and defused radiations which will be useful for harnessing solar power, generating fog related data and agriculture.

ARS will record observations every hour and transmit it to the satellite linked which will be received at the earth receiving station. The data obtained from Automatic Radiation Station (ARS) will be indirectly used for the forecasting purpose.

In charge of the local Met office Manmohan Singh said 22 automatic weather stations were also being set up across the state during the month which would help provide all-weather related data every hour. Three stations would be established in the city at Chalsea School, central potato research institute campus and near Kali Bari temple within a week. One such station was already operational at Mashobra and another was being set up in the heart of apple belt at Kotkhai.

He said that land had been identified on the Jakhoo hill for setting up Doppler radar which would be of immense help in making prediction of cloud burst, heavy rain and snow. It can cover and aerial distance up to 150 km and as such help keep watch on weather related developments over a large part of the state.

HC tells govt to regularise service of dead employee
Legal Correspondent

Shimla, April 8
The HP High Court has directed the state government to regularise the service of a deceased employee ex-post facto from the date he had completed 10 years of service and also directed to grant the retrial benefits to his widow within eight weeks.

Justice Rajiv Sharma passed this order on a petition filed by the widow of Shyam Singh, wherein she pleaded that the 18 years of services rendered by her deceased husband be regularised. The stand of the state was that her husband though had been working for number of years, he had not undergone three months mandatory training, his services could not be regularised.

According to the petitioner, her husband was employed on daily wages with the state since 1972. Initially he worked as supervisor and from 1985 he started discharging the duties of pump operator. He worked in this capacity up to 1991. He had rendered 18 years of service as supervisor, fitter and pump operator.

While granting the benefit of regularisation of service to the deceased employee, Justice Sharma observed that after perusing the record of the case it is established that the husband of the petitioner had been working as pump operator continuously for more than 10 years. He had gained sufficient experience while working as the pump operator. In these circumstances, it was not necessary for him to undergo three months training. He had been performing the duties of pump operator for more than a decade and had gained “on job training” experience.

Online lottery threat to common man
Tribune News Service

Hamirpur, April 8
While few people have lost huge money responding to e-mails alluring them millions through “online lottery or a frozen bank account of a rich men lying unclaimed”; such mails are becoming more common as the criminal investigative agencies can do very little to book the actual kingpins behind these cyber crimes.

Internet users find such e-mails in their inboxes almost on the daily basis with tempting promises of huge amount of many hundred millions in foreign currencies lying unclaimed in foreign bank accounts.

At least two persons in the state, one from Joginder Nagar in Mandi district and another from Shimla, have already reported the instances of losing lakhs of rupees after falling prey to such cyber frauds.

The common practice of this fraudulent loot are e-mails sent by posing as some agent of a lottery, legal heir or attorney of the deceased account holder, informing that this account holder has left huge unclaimed money in his bank account of some very little known places like Ivory Coast etc.

After introducing themselves, the sender would entice the recipient to provide him this money after completing few legal formalities by and paying some professional fees through some Indian or foreign bank.

If some ill-fated person out of sheer greed replies to this mail then the sender would tell him to deposit the fees, initially very small amount, to somebody else’s account, introduced as professional or legal adviser. Once a recipient makes this payment his actual extortion starts and he is made to pay huge amount till he realises that he has actually been cheated.

Interestingly, though such e-mails are quite common in every inbox the crime busters can hardly take any action against such frauds.

Hamirpur SP Asif Jalal said, “We are well aware of such e-mails, these mails can be identified through e-mail headers but the problem is to reach the criminals since they use proxy identity proofs and operate from some distant East African country or other parts of the world.”

Parties try to woo soldiers, ex-servicemen
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 8
With an eye on the huge population of about 2.5 lakh serving soldiers and ex-servicemen in the hill state, the two main political parties are going all out to woo this section constituting over 20 per cent of the electorate.

The BJP has gone a step ahead and made several pro-soldier promises in its election manifesto. Himachal figures second in the country after Uttarakhand as far as the highest percentage of retired and serving soldiers in proportion to the total population is concerned.

It is because of this sizeable chunk of the electorate that political parties had been fielding former Army personnel in elections. Prominent among those who have changed from olive uniform to the crisp white kurta pyjama include Major Vijai Singh Mankotia, Gen Vikram Singh, former MP from Hamirpur and present Congress MP from Shimla Col Dhani Ram Shandil and sitting BJP MLA from Rajgir in Kangra Capt Atma Ram.

As per figures available with the Sainik Welfare Department, Hamirpur, there are 1,00,669 retired soldiers registered with it. The number of war widows is 1,058. As per the latest figures updated in December, 2008, the number of serving soldiers from Himachal is 1,20,300.

In fact, it is difficult to find a family in the districts of Kangra and Hamirpur where at least one family member is not serving in the Army. “It is on our request that the BJP has promised in its election manifesto to implement the “one rank, one pension” demand, give complete income tax relaxation to serving soldiers and a separate pay commission to address their grievances as regards pay,” says Chief Minister PK Dhumal while reiterating his party’s pro-soldier approach.

On the other hand, Congress candidate and sitting MP from Kangra Chander Kumar dismisses BJP’s commitment towards ex-servicemen. “The BJP has been harping on issues like “one rank, one pension” for the past several years, but it did nothing while it was in power at the Centre, except constituting a committee under Madan Lal Khurana,” he says.

It was a group of ministers headed by Pranab Mukherjee that ensured that all soldiers up to Naib Subedar would get pension benefit after 18 years of service. “All such soldiers got a benefit of almost Rs 3,000 to 4,000 in pension following the decisions taken under the Congress regime,” he says.

Homage paid to Aman Kachroo
Our Correspondent

Kangra, April 8
Hundreds of students of Dr RP Government Medical College, Tanda, joined by the faculty members, nurses and other members of the medical community, braving the inclement weather and heavy rainfall, today took out a candlelight march within the college premises to pay homage to Aman Satya Kachroo, a first year student of the college, who died allegedly following ragging on this day last month.

The students started the candlelight march from the college library around 6.45 pm. They were carrying a garlanded portrait of Aman Kachroo and placards carrying slogans of pain and agony they were experiencing by his death. They passed through the campus and ultimately converged before the statue of Rai Bhadur Jodhamal.

Principal of the college Dr Anil Chouhan said the procession was silent to mark one month of the unfortunate death of Aman. The students and the faculty members kept the burning candles around the portrait of Aman Kachroo near the Jodhmal’s statute and observed a two-minute silence. The silent tributes were paid at 7.20 pm the moment when Aman breathed his last on March 8.

Former president of the SCA Sanjay Kaushal said the candlelight march with a silent procession by the students and faculty members, which was joined by the principal and other HoDs. It was a tribute to Aman and an expression of solidarity towards his family.

‘Welcome gate’ awaits construction
Our Correspondent

Chamba, April 8
The plan of the state Tourism Department for constructing a “welcome gate” at Tunnuhatti on the Pathankot-Chamba highway for greeting tourists to Dalhousie-Chamba tourist circuit has been waiting to be materialised for the past about three years.

Information from authoritative sources revealed that a sum of Rs 40 lakh had been earmarked by the Tourism Department for the scheme. It envisages beautifying and landscaping of the entry point, which is the only gateway to Dalhousie-Chamba tourist circuit. It also envisages bringing offices of various departments under one-roof complex located at Tunnuhatti in a shabby condition.

Offices of various government departments like police checkpoint, excise and taxation, forest check-post, toll tax, etc function in ramshackle and haphazard structures at Tunnuhatti, which are an eyesore for tourists.

To rid such an untidy state of affairs, there is a need to construct a multipurpose complex in which all these offices, including tourist information centre, could be housed.

Conference on oxide materials
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 8
The department of physics of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) will organise a three-day international conference on “Multifunctional oxide materials” from April 16. Over 130 eminent physicists from all over the world, including Germany, France and Singapore, will attend the conference.

Chairman of the physics department Dr Mahavir Singh said it was for the first time that an international conference of that scale was being organised in the hill state. The conference would cover a wide range of topics, including material science, with emphasise on recent issues relating to nano-materials,” said Dr Singh.

The objective of the conference was to provide a platform for researchers, technologists and students to discuss the recent developments with reference to oxide materials, he added.

Dept cancels tender for irrigation scheme work
Dharam Prakash Gupta
Tribune News Service

Hamirpur, April 8
The Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department has reportedly decided to cancel a tender allotted to a contractor for undertaking some work in connection with the Bahru-Jhatour-Kudana lift irrigation scheme. The decision comes after another government contractor lodged a written complaint with the chief engineer of the department alleging that there had been discrimination in awarding the contract.

The complainant is an Una-based contractor, who had submitted a tender in the office of the executive engineer (XEN), Hamirpur, for carrying out the work of excavation, laying and joining of pipes etc. for the Bahru-Jhatour-Kudana lift irrigation scheme. The tender was opened on December 1, 2008.

The complainant contended that he was not awarded the contract on the plea that he was not eligible to carry out the said work as he was a class C contractor. However, the same work was awarded to another contractor, who was also registered as a class C contractor, he said.

“I was not awarded the work, despite quoting the lowest rates, because I happened to be an outsider. A local contractor was given preference over me,” he alleged.

He had demanded an inquiry from the chief engineer in the matter.

On the other hand, XEN, IPH division, Hamirpur, Surender Dhiman has denied the allegation of discrimination in the allotment of work. “This contractor was not awarded the work since his registration was under class C and the work was of higher amount than prescribed for this category of contractors. The work was awarded to a contractor having class B registration,” he maintained.

“However, to rule out any misconception, the department has reconsidered the matter and taken a decision to cancel the tender for that work. Now, fresh bids will be invited again,” he added.

Officers given training on EVMs
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, April 8
All presiding officers at the polling booths must observe all instructions of the Election Commission strictly to ensure smooth, peaceful and impartial voting and no slackness in this matter would be tolerated.

This was stated by Assistant Returning Officer-cum-SubDivisional Magistrate Sumit Khimta while presiding over the first election duty rehearsal for officers and employees deputed in the Ghumarwin and Gehadwin constituencies of this district at Ghumarwin, near here, today.

He said no mobile phones and smoking would be allowed inside the polling booths and the presiding officers must ensure supply of electricity and drinking water there while all rules should be properly enforced.

Khimta said such election-conduct rehearsal for the Assembly constituencies of Bilaspur Sadar and Naina Devi would be held at Bilaspur town on April 9 and April 10 while total 641 officers and employees were given training regarding proper handling of EVMs.

Camp for farmers held
Tribune News Service

Hamirpur, April 8
A one-day camp for farmers was organised here today by the district agriculture department on poly house management which was inaugurated by deputy commissioner Abhishek Jain.

Addressing the farmers on this occasion he said due to continuing threat of global warming and pressure on agricultural land farmers should make best use of poly houses.

1 dead, 25 hurt in bus mishap
Our Correspondent

Chamba, April 8
One person was killed and at least 25 persons were injured when a private bus overturned, near Samot, about 90 km from here on Tuesday, according to a delayed report received here today.

The bus was on its way from Draman to Tikri when it overturned a hillock and rolled down about 20 m.

The official report said the deceased had been identified as Jagdish, a resident of Nagrota Surian (Kangra district).

The injured had been rushed to a nearby Civil Hospital at Samot with the help of locals. Those who had received minor injuries were discharged after first-aid while nine passengers who were stated to be serious had been referred to Dr Rajendra Prashad Government Medical College, Tanda, for undergoing medical treatment, the report said.

The police had registered a case to ascertain the cause of the accident.

Snow cover depleting in lower Himalayan areas: Experts
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Manali, April 8
World’s top glaciologists have cautioned that the snow cover in the lower altitudes in the Himalayas is decreasing for the past 20 years and the snowline is receding due to increased human activity. But the amount of snowfall, on an average, remains fairly stable ranging from 15 to 20 m in the western region. Dust storms are defacing snow-scape in many areas, they add.

Talking to The Tribune here today on the sidelines of the international symposium on snow and avalanche organised by the Snow and Avalanche Establishment, president of the International Glaciologists Society (IGS), Cambridge, UK, Dr Erick Brun said, “The snow cover in the lower Himalayas is decreasing. Similar is the case with the Alps in Europe. This can be attributed to the rise in global temperature. There is a need to have more monitoring of key locations in the Himalayas.”

“The decrease in snow cover can be attributed to increased human activity and other local and global factors like rise in temperature. But, we cannot conclude from this that the snow cover is decreasing only due to increasing human activity, we need more monitoring of snow behaviour in the region over a longer time period of time to arrive at a conclusion,” Erick said.

“In Europe, there is an increase of 1°C over the past 100 years and 2/3 of this rise took place within a period of 30 years. It has been observed from the papers presented at the symposium that 1°C rise in temperature is also affecting snow behaviour in the Himalayan region,” he said.

Erick said glaciers were receding, snow cover was decreasing, but no definite trend had been observed so far. “These phenomena are not new and there is no need to panic,” he added.

Director SASE RN Sarvade said there was no significant change in the amount of snowfall in the western Himalayan region over the past 20 years. The snow area is depleting in lower areas. The peak melting month in 2004-05 was April while it was May in 2006-07. However, this could keep on changing every year, depending on the month of snow, he added.

CM’s rallies draw crowds despite bad weather
Our Correspondent

Nurpur, April 8
Chief Minister PK Dhumal’s three election rallies at Nurpur, Jawali and Indora in lower Kangra district today amidst inclement weather and intermittent rain were marked with enthusiasm.

He reached Jassur, near here, about two hours late this evening and said the people of the country were in favour of a strong national government unlike the helpless UPA government led by Dr Manmohan Singh.

Comparing the previous NDA government and the present UPA government, he said the former was a strong government having capacity and will power to take decisions in the interest of the country whereas the latter had proved feeble, which even could not provide security to organise four IPL matches.

Highlighting the achievements of his government in a short span of one year, he said the government had taken care of every section of society and rendered financial benefits to employees to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore, generated 26,000 employment opportunities and increased annual budget for ST component and scrapped the Town Country Plan Act enforced during the previous state government.

He claimed that LK Advani could give a strong government at Delhi. He called upon the people to cast their votes in favour of BJP candidate from Kangra constituency Dr Rajan Sushant.

The rally was also addressed by Rajan Sushant, state BJP chief Jai Ram Thakur and local MLA Rakesh Pathania.

Industrial package to be restored if NDA wins: CM
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, April 8
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal accused the UPA government of ignoring the interests of Himachal by denying it industrial package beyond March, 2010.

In an exclusive interview with The Tribune, Dhumal said that the industrial package that brought investment in the state and provided employment to thousands unemployed youth was provided by the NDA government led by Atal Behari Vajpayee. The UPA government led by the Congress initially diluted the project. Then it was allotted in bits due to which desired investment failed to flow into the state. However, in a communication to the state government the former finance minister P Chidambaram has clearly held that the package would not be extended beyond 2010.

He alleged the three Congress MPs from the state had failed to lobby and protect the interests of the state in the UPA government. However, if BJP is voted to power we are sure that the industrial package to the state would be restored. Besides, the industrial package the state government has also been denied the relief for disaster caused due to rains last year. The state government had submitted loss estimate of Rs 2000 crore to the UPA government on account loss suffered by the state in Shimla and other parts of the state. However, till date not even a single penny has been given to the state.

When asked about various projects allotted during the stint of UPA government to the state like the IIT for Mandi, NIFT in Kangra and the central university, the CM said that the projects had come to the state after the affective lobbying by the present state government.

Poppy crop blooms, ready for harvest
Tribune News Service

Mandi/Kullu, April 8
Taking advantage of the fluid political situation, the drug mafias have managed to cultivate opium poppy fields spreading in over 10,000 bighas of private cultivated or uncultivated land in Ani tehsil, Sainj and Lug valley in Kullu district and 100 bighas in Chauhar valley in Mandi district and a good chunk of contraband crop is ready for harvest under the alleged connivance of the police and the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB).

Though the Mandi police had launched operations in Karsog and Chauhar valleys, became mute spectator to the poppy fields in Ani, Sainj and Lug valleys.

Inputs gathered from Intelligence, Customs and local sources revealed that poppy was sown early by the drug managers keeping in view the fluid political situation in the state. “The crop will be harvested by the time elections conclude in mid-May,” the sources disclosed.

The law-enforcement agencies are not touching the crops, as most of the cultivators are poor villagers and destruction of the crop can incur the wrath of the villagers in the coming elections.

The police and the NCB had been performing some anti-drug drives in the Mandi-Kullu drug-producing region for the last three years, the sources disclosed.

Mandi SP Sonal Agnihotri said 40 policemen have been sent to destroy the crop and videograph the area for further action. However, in Ani tehsil, Sainj-Banjar and Lug valley the police had yet to launch the operation.

In the Bijal and Thrung areas, between Bhuntar and Sainj valley, the villagers have cut the opium fruit for harvesting, the sources revealed.

On the other hand, cultivators claimed that the vested interests exaggerate the area under cultivation to get funds for the anti-drug funding agencies from abroad. Villagers cultivate poppy to produce medicine and eat its seed during winter as it had medicinal value, they claimed.

NCB Superintendent OP Sharma said, “Poverty and lure to make easy money is the reason why villagers are turning to poppy crop.”

DIG, Central Range, Anurag Garg said the police had launched anti-drug drives in Mandi side and would carry it out in the Ani-Sainj areas as soon as its detects the cultivation.

Kullu MC to take up no-trust motion on April 22
Our Correspondent

Kullu, April 8
The Kullu municipal council will take up the no-confidence motion brought against its president Gopal Krishan Mahant by a BJP-supported group of councillors on April 22.

Deputy Commissioner M Sudha Devi confirmed that the date had been fixed for debate on the no-confidence motion. The Sub Divisional Magistrate, Kullu, would preside over the proceedings and voting on the issue.

The 11-member civic body has five members each of the Congress and the BJP while there is one Independent candidate. Although BJP councillor Kamal Nayan Sharma has not yet extended support to the no-confidence motion, it is being said the political alliance will make him vote in its favour.

The then Congress minister from Kullu had issued a whip to the party councillors for the selection of Gopal Krishan Mahant with the commitment that half of the term would be headed by Mahant, while the remaining term would be looked after by Sumer Nath Awasthi.

Awasthi said Congress leaders had backed out from their commitment and hence he would also vote in favour of the no-confidence motion.