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Road Projects
Water Supply Schemes
Water crisis in Kangra valley
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Rape victim airlifted to Delhi
7 die as truck falls into gorge
Cement Plant
No proper data on Pong Dam oustees
Gangster shot at
Man falls off train, dies
Unlawful practice in food supply under scanner
Father beats girl to death
Penalty imposed on institute
Sabha resents late issuing of power bills
Permanent posting of DTDO sought
Training programme
Teachers’ body appeals to CM
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Road Projects
Mandi, June 21 The PWD contractors have now resorted to pressure tactics to pin the state government after Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal outrightly rejected their “unreasonable demands”. The contractors had met the CM recently in Shimla, pleading their demands, sources said. On the other hand, the PWD contractors have been under scanner for the poor quality of road construction, more particularly the PM Gramin Sarak Yojna (PMGSY), as they were found defaulting on dozens of road projects in all three zones, sources in the PWD revealed. Villagers are the worst-hit who are now protesting against poor quality, narrow widths at curves and the delayed works that did not fit into the norms fixed under the PMGSY in many parts of the state, the sources added. “The government is considering these factors as the field staff and contractors are hand in glove in these violations in several parts of the state,” they said. However, the PWD contractors of the association, who met here today, decided that they would boycott all zonal tenders being called by the PWD till the state government came forward and acceped their demands. Even the government has started a vigilance inquiry, pinning down the defaulting contractors, the sources added. Dinesh Kumar, president, association, and BP Mahajan, general secretary, after chairing the meeting which was attended by contractors from different parts of the state, said the association had decided to boycott all zonal-level tenders being called by the PWD on June 26 and onwards. “We will boycott central, south and north zones tenders for the PMGSY and other World Bank-aided roads,” they claimed. They claimed that they had met PWD Minister Gulab Singh at Jogindernagar earlier and also the CM in Shimla in connection with their demands, but the government had not accepted them. They attributed the delay and poor quality of the projects to the PWD which delayed forests and other clearance. Meanwhile, Gulab Singh Thakur said they had been treating only the “reasonable” demands of the contractors sympathetically. The forest produce case was pending in the Supreme Court and was not in the hands of the state government, he explained.
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Water Supply Schemes
Shimla, June 21 In a letter sent to CP Joshi, Union Minister, Panchayati Raj and Rural Development, he drew his attention to the impact of change in the climatic conditions and global warming in rural areas. Many schemes had become defunct in drought-prone areas due to inadequate water availability or drying up of water sources. The ground water level had also receded considerably. In some areas, such small schemes had been pooled and additional water sources tapped to meet the requirement but not much could be done in the drought-prone areas. During summer or dry spells, the government had been supplying drinking water through tankers in such areas and the condition improved only if there was adequate rainfall. He said source augmentation and rehabilitation of all schemes in Changar area falling in Dehra, Khundian, Jaisinghpur and Palampur in Kangra, was needed to be carried out on priority for which a Rs 68.33-crore project had been prepared. Similarly, augmentation of various water supply schemes in Sadar, Ghumarwin and Jhanduta blocks of Bilaspur was required by lifting water from the Koldam for which Rs 64.66 crore would be required, he added. Some schemes in Jaswan and Pragpur in Kangra also needed augmentation to meet the requirement of partially covered habitations for which Rs 39.23 crore was required. In all, Rs 172.22 crore was required for which the state was looking forward to liberal funding from the Centre.
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Water crisis in Kangra valley
Palampur, June 21 Hotel owners here alleged that though the government had made tall claims, it had failed to provide even basic requirements. In lower areas of the region, the situation has gone from bad to worse. An official of the Irrigation and Public Health Department said 70 per cent of drinking water sources had been dried in the region during the past 10 days. He said
Chadiar, Jaisinghpur, Sakoh, Lamba Gaon, Purbha, Rajhoon and Jharet areas were not even getting regular drinking water but efforts were being made to provide water twice or thrice a week. Meanwhile, the district administration reviewed the situation and made efforts to provide drinking water through water tankers in adversely affected
areas. Kangra DC RS Gupta is also personally supervising measures taken for the regular supply of the drinking water.
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Rape victim airlifted to Delhi
Palampur, June 21 Meanwhile, the police was waiting for the medical and forensic reports of the case which could establish more facts. Thereafter, necessary amendments could be made in the FIR registered under Section 376/366 of the Indian Penal Code in the Palampur police station. Absence of the victim could be a major hurdle the police could face in the investigation because no further corroborated evidence could be collected in this case. The state Home Department had taken this incident very seriously. It was in constant touch with the UK emabassy, New Delhi. Principal Secretary, Home, had asked SSP Kangra to personally look into the entire case so that the accused could be punished by the court of law. Inquiries made by The Tribune revealed that a private travel agency had brought a group of 18 foreigners to Palampur. They were put up in a private accommodation hired by the travel agency at Bundla and Bindravan villages near the town. The locations where these foreigners were kept by the travel agency were neither registered with the state tourism department nor luxury taxation authorities of the state government. As per law, all foreigners staying in any hotel or guest house in India were bound to fill form “C” under the Foreigners Registration Rule, 1939, Arrival and Departure Report under rule 16. So far, no such registration documents were found by the police from these guest houses. As per provisions, to keep foreigners in such illegal locations was an offence and the travel agency could be fined or prosecuted. Sources said this practice was going on for the past three years and the travel agency had shown these locations as paid guest houses. A senior police officer, while talking to The Tribune, said in such circumstances it was not possible for the police to provide security to foreigners if they stayed in unregistered guest houses or illegal places. |
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7 die as truck falls into gorge
Dharamsala, June 21 Sources available here said about 25 residents of Saroha village, located about 8 km from Dharamsala, had come to the temple in the afternoon. After paying obeisance at the temple, all of them sat on the rear side of the truck. The driver, who had parked the vehicle on a slope, got down to close the rear shield of the truck. However, the vehicle suddenly started skidding. It gathered speed and rolled down directly into a deep gorge. The sources at the spot apprehended that it could be due to manual error. Somebody might have disturbed the gear rod of the truck and put the vehicle in neutral. Those present around gathered immediately and started rescue operations. District administration officials also reached the spot after getting the news. The injured were immediately shifted to Dharamsala Zonal Hospital and Tanda Medical College. The accident has brought to the fore failure of transport officials to implement a ban on illegal activity of transporting people in commercial transport vehicles. Kangra SP Atul Fulzele said a criminal case would be registered against the vehicle owner and the driver. |
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Cement Plant
Sundernagar, June 21 Representatives of Krishak Vikas Samiti Keran, Kishan Kalyan Samiti, Youth Empowerment and Social Justice Organisation, Himachal Kishan Sabha, Bhartiya Kishan Sangh, Naujawan Sabha and Mahila Samiti attended the meeting and shared the problems faced by farmers and residents of the area. They further observed that the government was shielding the cement industry and ignoring the genuine demands of farmers. According to these representatives, they have given numerous representations to the government and have even met the Chief Minister, but the government never checked the illegal act of the cement industry. All delegates were of the view that that none of the organisation was against any project but it should be shifted to a far away place from Sundernagar and that too on barren land. However, if the government was still adamant to set up a cement plant near Sundernagar, all organisations would jointly launch an agitation.
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No proper data on Pong Dam oustees
Dharamsala, June 21 As per information gathered by The Tribune, the office has been giving ambiguous data regarding eligibility certificates issued to Pong Dam oustees. In a letter written to the Financial Commissioner-cum-Secretary (Revenue) on April 1, the Deputy Commissioner, Relief and Rehabilitation, has stated that 16,352 oustees were found eligible for allotment of land in Rajasthan out of 20,722 affected families. Out of those found eligible, 15,124 have been issued eligibility certificates for allotment of land, while 1,228 have not applied for allotment of land. However, in an affidavit submitted to the Himachal Pradesh High Court, the same office has admitted stated that 12,142 oustees had submitted their applications for allotment of land and 11,668 eligibility certificates had been issued. Ashwani Sharma, who has still been struggling to procure eligibility certificate, said many Pong Dam oustees were still struggling to procure eligibility certificates. “They cannot apply for land with the Rajasthan Government unless they get eligibility certificates from the Himachal Government. However, it is our own government that has been keeping us waiting for eligibility certificates for the past around 40 years,”
he alleged. The office has also expressed its inability to provide a copy of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which the committee of Chief Ministers of Himachal and Rajasthan had agreed to allot land to Pong
Dam oustees. In the third meeting of the committee of chief ministers held on September 4, 1970, Rajasthan had agreed to allot 15.625 acre land to each rehabilitated family of Pong Dam oustees. Pong Dam oustees had sought a copy of the MoU from the office of Deputy Commissioner, Relief and Rehabilitation, under the RTI Act. However, the office has stated that such information is not available with it and it can only be sought from the Rajasthan Government.
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Gangster shot at
Solan, June 21 According to the police, the two belonged to rival gangs which had been found involved in various heinous crimes like dacoity, kidnapping, thefts etc. It is believed that they had been harbouring grudges against each other. The police further said the bullet pierced Goldy’s cheeks and it came out from the other side. After firing, Mona fled on his bike and could not be located till this evening. The injured was later rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh, where his condition was stated to be serious. The police had, meanwhile, sealed all borders and various nakas had been set up to nab the culprit. Baddi SP Sumedha Divedi said teams had been constituted to nab the accused and since the incident had taken place near the state border, the police was also sent to the bordering areas. A case under Section 307 of the IPC had been registered in the matter. There was no certainty about the weapon used in the offence till now. It was learnt that both gangs had their men in Ropar area of Punjab and they were involved in various crimes in Punjab, Haryana and even Delhi. The two had an altercation over some issue in the morning which, assumingly, led to the extreme reaction from Mona. |
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Man falls off train, dies
Shimla, June 21 According to the police, the deceased, who was travelling by the train, slipped from the door and fell down. He was crushed between the train and the wall. Meanwhile, in another incident, one person was killed and another injured when the Swaraj Mazda truck by which they were travelling fell into a khud, near Keet, on the Theog-Raighat road, about 40 km from here. The deceased was identified as Arun (16), a resident of Rajpura, Punjab. His father Om Prakash, who was driving the vehicle, was injured. |
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Unlawful practice in food supply under scanner
Shimla, June 21 District controller, food, civil supplies and consumer affairs, has to undertake a minimum of 25 inspections, food supplies officer 30 and inspector 37. Besides, three flying squads has been constituted with headquarters at Shimla, Mandi and Dharamsala. During the year 2008-09, 27,074 inspections were carried out and cases were registered against 29 defaulters. While 15 defaulters were arrested, 1,028 persons were given warning. Goods worth Rs 14.98 lakh were confiscated and an amount of Rs 6.29 lakh was forfeited on account of security. Under the Weights and Measures Act and Packaged Commodities Rules, 16,411 inspections were carried and 1,026 persons were challaned for various offences. The state government has introduced a special subsidy scheme for all ration card holders to supply essential commodities at reasonable rates to mitigate the impact of price rise. A sum of Rs 131 crore was spent under the scheme last year which is likely to increase this year. Each ration card holder is being provided black gram at Rs 20 per kg, urad at Rs 25 per kg, channa dal at Rs 25 per kg, edible oil at Rs 45 per litre, refined oil at Rs 40 per litre and iodised salt at Rs 4 per kg, per family. In tribal areas, wheat and rice are being given at the rate of Rs 8 kg per head to all categories. Essential commodities are being supplied to 15.58 lakh ration card holders through a network of 4,403 retail fair price shops. Out of these, 10.44 lakh families are above poverty line (APL), 3.17 lakh below poverty line (BPL) and 1.97 lakh were covered under Antodaya Ann Yojna (AAY). A total number of 5.14 lakh BPL families have been targeted under the BPL scheme out of which 1.97 lakh poorest of poor families have been further covered under Antodaya Anna Yojna scheme. The BPL families are being given 20 kg of wheat at Rs 5.25 per kg and 15 kg of rice at Rs 6.85 per kg, per family every month.
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Father beats girl to death
Mandi, June 21 The police has registered a case of murder against Bhim Singh. According to the police, complainant Banti Devi, a resident of Marothi village under the Karsog police station, told the police that Neha and her brother Dinesh stay put in her house last night. Bhim Singh came to her house in the early morning hours and beat Neha with a ‘fati’ and she fell unconscious. Banti said they tried to save Neha, but failed. They rushed Neha to the Health Centre at Karsog where doctors tried their best to save her, but she succumbed to her injuries. Police investigation revealed that the father got infuriated as to why they stay put and had their meals at Banti’s house and did not come home. Neha succumbed to her injuries inflicted on her head by her father in a fit of rage, the police added. Mandi SP Sonal Agnihotri said the police had booked Bhim Singh under murder charges. |
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Penalty imposed on institute
Shimla, June 21 Passing orders on the appeal field by Shavet Kumar Joshi, a senior accounts assistant in the DIET, state Chief Information Commissioner PS Rana observed that while the RTI application was found to be satisfactory, the reply of the public information officer-cum- principal of the institute was unsatisfactory and irrelevant. He had tired to evade any reply where he ought to have given one based on official records. He had been negligent and careless in furnishing the information to the appellant, it said. It was the second case where the appellant had to approach the commission for getting information from the public information officer-cum-principal of the institute. Further, the incomplete reply to his RTI application forced him to file the first appeal with the SSA project director, and second appeal with the Information Commission. The project director was asked to intimate the outcome of the appeal but he said the appeal in question was not received which was quite unusual. It seemed that the appeal had been misplaced in the office. The commission had been directed to streamline the receipt of RTI appeals to ensure that these were not misplaced. |
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Sabha resents late issuing of power bills
Bilaspur, June 21 After a meeting of the sabha, its convener AP Sharma said here today that these bills had left most of the families shocked due to huge accumulated amounts, which were to be paid by a fixed date to the board. This is sheer injustice to the consumers. The sabha demanded that the power bills should be distributed to consumers every month as earlier and the practice of issuing these bills after two or three months should be abandoned in the interest of the consumers. The sabha urged the Chief Minister to intervene into the matter and provide relief to them. |
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Permanent posting of DTDO sought
Chamba, June 21 Since the district has a vast tourism potential, permanent posting of the DTDO at Chamba is of vital importance for the promotion of tourism. A long time has elapsed but no permanent posting at Chamba has been made so far, thereby putting the tourism industry on the downward path. Chamba district is endowed with rich variety of tourist attractions in the form of trekking, mountaineering, art and culture, fair and festivals. The famous hill stations of Dalhousie, Khajjiar, Bharmour and famous holy Manimahesh pilgrimage beckon lakhs of tourists from home and abroad every year.The number of pilgrims to these places from different parts of the country has been steadily increasing every year. Nearly one lakh pilgrims visit the Manimahesh Lake annually. Unfortunately, many of the places of tourist interest are not linked with roads, railways and air service. There is still a great dearth of lodging facilities. In order to promote tourism in the region, the state government had opened a district tourism development office at Chamba in 1992. Initiatives taken by this office paved way for the expansion of tourism industry. The campaign launched by the state tourism department to bring hill resorts and wonderlands of the districts on the national as well as international tourism map, gave a much-needed fillip to the public and private entrepreneurs engaged in the tourism business.
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Training programme
Shimla, June 21 Candidates in the age group of 18 to 45 years can apply for six-month training in textile, pharma and packaging trades under the scheme. Applications along with educational qualification, income and Himachali certificates can be sent to the director of the department before June 30.
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Teachers’ body appeals to CM
Nurpur, June 21 A meeting of the union was held here today, which was presided over by its president Neena Devi. The union has passed a resolution in this connection. Meanwhile, Neena Devi rued that the then state government had appointed these nursery teachers on January 1, 1996, through the Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and added that till today they were being given remuneration collected as fees from school students. |
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Shimla, June 21
