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Kasauli ban on construction to be lifted
Centre okays Pabbar water project
A philosophical Gulzar blames his generation for ills
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Police warns forest, revenue officials
Timber samples sent for analysis
Swindling money out of NREGS funds under lens
Free coaching for SC, ST students
Construction of Bridges
Man gets new lease of life
Record generation at Nathpa Jhakri
Vets to get four-tier pay scales: HC
3 kids, woman in hospital after bees’ attack
Forum for shifting of mandi
3 kids in hospital after bees’ attack
Two killed in mishap
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Kasauli ban on construction to be lifted
Solan, July 1 The ban, imposed in December 2006 following a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), had put on hold all commercial constructions while allowing merely residential buildings within Rs 25 lakh amount to be erected. Filed by an environmentalist Baljeet Malik, the PIL had pointed out how the scare natural resources faced the worst exploitation by plethora of commercial constructions which had sprung up at every nook and corner of the area. The court had, later, directed the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department to devise a master plan to regulate constructions after which the ban could be lifted. The master plan will be applicable on an area of 13 panchayats comprising 35 villages lying in the precincts of Kasauli. This area has been notified as the planning area where rules and regulations of the TCP Act would be applicable. However, with a view to save undue hassle in rural areas as notified in the master plan, an exemption has been granted in seeking permission for carrying on need-based constructions while the residents of urban dwellings will be required to procure all clearances from the TCP Department as per the laid mandate. Giving due regard to the sentiments of the locals, the TCP Department has enhanced the permissible number of storeys from the earlier two to three, inlcudng one for parking. The earlier proposal of restricting this number had drawn much ire from the people who had contended that since land available in the hills was generally less, at least three storeys should be permissible. Lifting of this ban was being long-awaited by outsiders as they were keen to invest in Kasauli and its
surroundings. Property prices, which had always remained the highest here, were likely to shoot up further, pointed out a real estate developer. The rates presently hovered around Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh per bigha. It, however, remains to be seen if the new tourism projects will be permissible here as the area faced saturation in such projects and more so since water was a scarce commodity which failed to meet even the needs of the existing population. |
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Centre okays Pabbar water project
Shimla, July 1 The gravity scheme, which will bring water of the Pabbar from the Chanshal in Rohru through a 180-km pipeline, will provide a long-term solution to the perennial water shortage the capital city has been facing for the past more than three decades. The Chief Minister said the state government had prepared a detailed project report and submitted it to the Centre with a request that it should be forwarded to the World Bank with its recommendations for funding. All modalities were completed as per the directions issued by the Government of India for external aided projects. He said the feasibility study of the project also got completed by the designated agency --Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) --- which also worked out the estimated cost of the project. On approval, the World Bank will fund the project on 90 per cent grant and 10 per cent soft-loan basis. With the change in climate and global warming, water scarcity was likely to pose a major challenge before the state and, accordingly, the government had made all preparations in advance, Dhumal added. The gravity water supply scheme will save on electricity being used for pumping water from various sources. The Chief Minister said the state government was concerned about the water problem in drought-prone areas and was working overtime to find out a permanent solution.
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A philosophical Gulzar blames his generation for ills
Shimla, July 1 “We did not pass over our value system rooted in morality and the rich cultural heritage we bequeathed from the older generations and must have the courage to accept this fact. We did not stand up against corruption when it started and now we find fault with the new generation which is far more honest, straightforward and transparent and does not believe in hypocrisy like us,” he observed during a conversation with The Tribune, here today. The new generation was much more intelligent, knew its needs and the direction the world was moving. However, the older generations had to keep pace with time and change rather than serve as a bottleneck to hamper their progress by harping on the past, he said. In a vibrant society, values, culture and lifestyles kept changing with time and living in the past was a monumental folly. For instance, in an era of prosaic poetry, one should not be obsessed with rhyme and rhythm, the eminent writer pointed out. Gulzar, who penned the Oscar-winning song “Jai Ho” for the film “Slumdog Millionaire”, is in the city in connection with a workshop on “Narrating and translating women’s cultural heritage in Chamba” being held at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study. Known for both his rich poetry and crisp lyrics, the creative genius finds nothing wrong with the films, or, for that matter, the creative world as a whole. In his view, creative people only depict the reality of the contemporary society through their works. If the established values in society suffer a decline, these would be reflected in the creative works and the film world was no exception, he opined. However, there is little room for the kind of lyrics he wrote for his debut film “Bandini” with legendary music composer SD Burman in the present day films. More importantly, the new generations have not been given exposure to rich poetry as was quite evident from the response to the songs he wrote for the film “Omkara”. While “Beedi jalai le” was a runaway success, lyrically rich “O sathi re”, from the same film, went almost unnoticed. Quite satisfied with his achievements in the creative field, Gulzar’s sole ambition is to see India on the top of the world in every sphere and regain its past glory. However, he ruled out joining politics and said it was not the best way to improve the country. Creative persons could serve the country better by setting the right agenda for politicians to implement, he said.
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Police warns forest, revenue officials
Dharamsala, July 1 The police has now written to revenue and forest departments to direct their officials to keep a watch over the poppy cultivations in remote forest areas of the district. In case poppy cultivation was noticed in forest areas, the concerned revenue and forest officials can also be held liable, the police officials have stated in the communication to respective departments. Kangra SP Atul Fulzele, when contacted, admitted that revenue and forest officials had been directed to keep a watch over poppy cultivation in their respective areas. He said generally forest guards and revenue patwaris visited the remote forest areas. It was their duty to inform the police in case any illegal activity was taking place on the government land. In case they did not inform the police officials, they were liable for action, he said. Available sources said the police had also written to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) regarding the recent discovery of poppy cultivation in Kangra district. They had requested the NCB officials to keep a watch over remote forest areas of Kangra district through satellite. In addition, the NCB had also been requested to hold awareness programmes for the locals. The locals should be aware about the hazards of allowing poppy cultivation in their respective areas. The police has, however, neither registered a case nor made any arrest in this connection. Earlier, the sources said, a contractor from Mandi area had got poppy cultivated in Chota Bhangal area of Kangra district. But satellite photographs of the area revealed the cultivation and led the police to the spot. However, the sources said the cultivation could not have been possible without active participation of some locals.
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Timber samples sent for analysis Shimla, July 1 The samples were drawn during an inspection of the ongoing work conducted by Ganesh Dut, chairperson, HIMUDA, and sent to the Wood Identification Laboratory in Dehradun. As many as 162 flats were being constructed on the site at a cost of Rs 18.74 crore. He also inspected the project being executed under the housing schemes for the urban poor of Shimla city and found that the land made available was insufficient for constructing 384 flats. Only 174 flats could be raised on the site. He said more land would be provided to construct the planned number of houses. He directed officials to start work on the Rs 14-crore project at the earliest.
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Swindling money out of NREGS funds under lens
Dharamsala, July 1 A few villagers have filed complaints, in form of affidavits, alleging large-scale misappropriation in NREGS funds. As per documents available with The Tribune, Sanjeev Kumar, a resident of Bandi village, has alleged that he and his father Subhash Chand had worked under the NREGS scheme and received a payment of Rs 25,000. However, on record payments worth Rs 4-5 lakh have been made in their names. They have alleged that they neither did any work worth Rs 4-5 lakh nor received the payments for the same. The signature through which the payment has been received was also fake. Parshottam Chand, another resident of Bandi, alleged that he received Rs 6,001 for labour under the scheme. However, on record payment of Rs 30,000 to 40,000 was made in his name. Subhash Chand, another resident, has alleged that an amount of Rs 2.90 lakh was sanctioned by Kangra Deputy Commissioner under NREGS for laying crates along the rivulet passing near his land. Despite the fact that no work was done on the spot, on papers the work had already been executed, he alleged. When The Tribune team visited the spot, a drain on natural Khull, the construction for which was allegedly completed in April this year, was found damaged at many places. Villagers alleged that the drain was constructed at a cost of about Rs 2.90 lakh. However, it failed to sustain even one monsoon and got washed away as poor construction material was used, the villagers alleged. On June 21, roof of an under-construction cremation ground collapsed and five labourers got injured. Gurcharan Singh, a resident of the village, alleged that they had been complaining against the alleged misappropriation at various levels in the state bureaucracy. However, nothing had been done by the concerned authorities as yet. It was a pity that the amount directed at improving basic amenities in the village was being openly misused in connivance of the concerned officials, he added. He said he had procured material regarding the scam under the RTI and would move the court if concerned officials failed to act.
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Free coaching for SC, ST students
Shimla, July 1 The objective of the programmes of three months’ duration is to ensure that sufficient number of eligible candidates is available for selection for the posts of lecturer in the university system. The aim is to orient candidates for particular examinations conducted for services like the IAS and bank recruitment and enable them to gain useful employment in group A, B and C in central services and equivalent positions in the private sector. Candidates interested in undertaking coaching could submit applications up to July 5. The university has extended the date for interviews and admission to subsidised and non-subsidised seats in various postgraduate courses by four days from the dates mentioned in a hand book of information. The admissions, scheduled to be held from July 9 to 11, will now be carried out from July 13 to 15. The last date for admission against vacant and vacated seats, if any, will take place on July 18.
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Construction of Bridges
Hamirpur, July 1 The decision has been taken after instructions from the state government to speed up construction work of bridges on the NH-88 leading to Kangra. The contract for construction of the Bathu bridge being built on the Bathu Khad at a cost of Rs 4.9 crore has been reassigned for delay in the execution of the work by the present contractor. Thirty per cent penalty of about Rs 97 lakh has also been imposed on the
contractor for causing delay in the construction of this bridge. Similarly, the ongoing work on the Sukrala bridge at Nadaun at a cost of Rs 1.2 crore has also been cancelled and reassigned for inordinate delay in its construction. This contractor has also been imposed
30 per cent penalty of about Rs 25 lakh for causing the delay. Contractor executing the Hathli Khad bridge, near Hamirpur, on NH-88, where construction work is getting delayed for quite some time causing public criticism has also come under scrutiny of the NH authorities and its contractor has also been imposed 10 per cent penalty of Rs 15 lakh. Executive Engineer, NH division, Hamirpur, Satish Nag said, “Since construction on Bathu and Sakrala bridges is getting delayed inordinately, these works have been reassigned and 30 per cent penalty has also been imposed on the contractors as per the terms of the contracts.” “For the Hathli Khad bridge we have imposed 10 per cent penalty on the
contractor for delay in its construction and if work is not speeded up then we would take further action,” he added.
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Man gets new lease of life
Kullu, July 1 The man was rescued with the help of a crane and ladders by a team of police and fire service personnel after about two hours. Manali DSP said a team led by ASI Jai Lal did a commendable job by saving the life of Manjeet Singh. —
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Record generation at Nathpa Jhakri
Shimla, July 1 The project of the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, a joint venture of the Centre and the state, had achieved the feat when generation in most other projects in the state had declined due to lack of rain. During the year 2008-09 the power station had achieved a record generation of 6,609 million units against the target of 6,600 million units. According to general manager NC Bansal, the record generation was a result of excellent management of silt, water and machines. The project had produced more than 31,400 million units till date since its commissioning five years ago. The target for the current financial year was 6,600 million units.
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Vets to get four-tier pay scales: HC
Shimla, July 1 Justice Rajeev Sharma observed that once the government had decided to extend the benefit to eight services, including veterinary doctors, it could not deny the benefit to petitioner for the reason that the petitioner had not executed bond with the government. The petitioner, Dr Arun Sirkeck, had challenged the order of the state government of denying them the benefit of ad hoc service for granting the four-tier pay scale. He said the state government, on June 23, 2000, had decided to grant four-tier pay scales to eight services, including animal husbandry class-I services. He had served as ad hoc employee before appointment on regular basis. He approached the government to grant him the four-tier pay scale as per the orders of June 23, 2000. However, the government declined this request. The government, in its reply, stated since the petitioner had not executed bond with the state government to serve in the state, therefore he was not entitled for the benefit. The court said the petitioners were similarly situated with the medical officers serving in the Health Department; therefore they could not be discriminated by the government. It further said the reason given by the government was not sustainable. The court directed the government to extend benefit to the petitioner and release the arrears with 9 per cent interest within eight weeks.
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3 kids, woman in hospital after bees’ attack
Hamirpur, July 1 Three children and a local woman have been admitted to the Ayurvedic Hospital, Hamirpur, for treatment while others were treated by a team of doctors, rushed from Hamirpur, in the village itself. According to information, the incident occurred when children were playing in the ground around 8 am. Hamirpur CMO DS Chandel after getting this information immediately rushed a team of doctors headed by Dr Subhash Chopra to the village. Maximum children were sent home after treatment, while three children- Geeta, Priyanka, Praveen- and a local woman, Meena, have been admitted to the hospital. |
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Forum for shifting of mandi
Kangra, July 1 General Secretary, Senior Citizens Forum, ML Sharma in a letter to the Deputy Commissioner said Kangra was witnessing pilgrims and tourists in lakhs round the year, but nothing appreciable had been done to develop the town. He said the subzi mandi and the truck union office were not giving a good look to pilgrims and tourists visiting the area find left out vegetables and fruits scattered all over the road emanating foul smell. The forum suggested to shift the subzi mandi to Kachhiari, as proposed earlier, and truck union be shifted to some suitable alternative place as this would lessen the traffic of trucks.
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3 kids in hospital after bees’ attack Hamirpur, July 1 Three children and a local woman have been admitted to the Ayurvedic Hospital, Hamirpur, for treatment while others were treated by a team of doctors, rushed from Hamirpur, in the village itself. According to information, the incident occurred when children were playing in the ground around 8 am. Hamirpur CMO DS Chandel after getting this information immediately rushed a team of doctors headed by Dr Subhash Chopra to the village. Maximum children were sent home after treatment.
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Two killed in mishap
Sundernagar, July 1 According to the police, the victims were identified as Kamlesh Kumar (driver) of Mobi Devi Galu and Gagan Kumar of Mohatla village. The driver could not control the vehicle and near Kotlu village it fell into a gorge, killing both victims on the spot. The police has registered a case under Sections 279, 304 A of the IPC. |
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Shimla, July 1
