The state forest department had initiated the process for securing the World Heritage Site status for the park in 2005 and it was also considered in the following year but it failed to make it to the final list.

This year a fresh application was filed and it had crossed the major hurdle after which its inclusion in the world heritage list is only a matter of time.

Shimla, July 11
The Revenue Department will launch a special drive to dispose of pending revenue cases of mutation, demarcation and partition in the state.

The decision was taken at a meeting of Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police, Principal Secretaries, secretaries and heads of departments on the second day of the conference held here today.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal presided over the meeting. He said a large number of cases of mutations, demarcation and partitions were pending for want of decision at different levels which should be disposed of so that people, especially poor and weaker sections, do not suffer.

He said the disposal of cases should be monitored constantly and every working Monday needed to be exclusively reserved for such cases.

If need be, the public prosecutors specialising in revenue matters, might be requisitioned, he added.

It was decided to constitute a committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to suggest modes to be adopted by the state government with regard to the settlement and land encroachment-related matters to give further boost to disposal of all such pending cases.

Dhumal directed the authorities to adopt a lenient view towards small and marginal encroachers belonging to the SCs, STs, OBCs, widows, IRDP, BPL, differently-abled and ex-servicemen categories, besides other vulnerable sections of the society.

He said big sharks and the influentials who had encroached on big portion of land should not go scot-free.

He emphasised the need for time-bound disposal of encroachment cases received by the state government for regularisation.

There was need of coordinated efforts by every department to protect the valuable land, he added.

A committee has also been constituted under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to submit its report on reorganisation of different wings of the Revenue Department within one month so as to make its working more effective.

Shimla, July 11
State BJP chief Khimi Ram said efforts would be made to have better coordination between the party organisation and the government so that the achievements of the BJP regime could be taken to the people at the village level.

Addressing a press conference here today, Khimi Ram said he would want to galvanise the party.

“I would want the party workers to take the achievements of the state government right up to the village level so that the BJP does well in the panchayati raj elections,” he said.

He said better coordination between the party and the government would help in better feedback and accordingly policy decisions at the government level.

“The achievements of the BJP regime within a short span of one-and-a-half year will definitely help us win the two byelections for Jawali and Rohru,” he said.

In reply to a query, if changes would be made in the party set up, he said the old team would continue barring minor changes till fresh elections are held in November.

“It depends on the party high command whether to continue me or appoint a new party chief,” he said when asked if his appointment was stopgap or full time.

Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Jai Ram Thakur said his party had done well during his tenure as the party chief.

“It is due to the support and cooperation received from all party workers and leaders that the party was able to do so well in the Assembly poll, Lok Sabha elections and byelections,” he said.

Shimla, July 11
With deficient rains severely affecting the prospects of maize, apple, off-season vegetables and other agricultural and horticultural products, the state government has sought additional relief from the Centre for farmers and fruit growers.

Tough revenue officials are still in the process of assessing exact extent of damage, the Agriculture department has urged the Centre to provide additional subsidy.

What is causing even more worry to the government is the fact that in case rains do not occur during the next one week, the damage could be far more than anticipated.

The matter has been taken up with Union Agriculture Secretary Nand Kumar, who discussed the situation with Agriculture Secretary Ram Subhag Singh.

“We have sought subsidy from the Centre on various agricultural inputs like seeds so that the farmers get some relief,” said Singh.

Production of practically all crops is likely to be affected severely with maize being the worst hit by the prolonged dry spell.

The dry weather conditions prevented the sowing of maize in almost 71,000 hectares area having total dependence on rains.

Apple crop is also likely to suffer the consequences of deficient rains, the lowest in the last 20 years.

As per estimates of the Horticulture department, compared to a production of 2.40 crore boxes last year, the figure is likely to come down to 1.80 crore this year.

With apple being the mainstay of a huge chunk of the population and being a Rs 1,600-crore economy, the prolonged dry spell has spelt doom for orchardists.

With the rains still not hitting the state properly, the apple production could show a further decline.

The damage with regard to the off-season vegetables is also being assessed even though its cultivation is in mostly irrigated land.

However, with irrigation channels also going dry due to miserably low-water levels, the production of off season vegetables is likely to be hit by 20 per cent.

The Agriculture department is continuously monitoring the situation and surveys are being conducted at regular intervals to assess the situation.

It is only after the feedback is received by the Revenue Department from all districts that the actual damage would be quantified.

Mandi, July 11
As the monsoons remains elusive in the state, the drought has damaged over 60 per cent of maize, for which the sowing was complete, and 60 per cent of paddy, which is being transplanted in some irrigated stretch in the region, throwing the “shattered farmers in the worst ever economic crisis in recent years”.

The loss in paddy and maize crops has come as another shock for farmers as they had already lost over 90 per cent of rabi crop this year.

According to farmers and agricultural scientists, the drought-like condition had created a “moisture stress” that destroyed maize being grown on over 46,817 hectares of area in Mandi this season.

The area under maize has decreased this time due to the fact that farmers have started growing fodder crops owing to drought.

“It was unprofitable to sow maize as chances of even average crop was slim,” said Hardev Guleria and Bhupinder Singh, farmers in Balh valley.

Paddy nurseries had turned yellow where there was no irrigation facilities, they added. “We have given up the idea of transplanting paddy this time,” said Sushil, a farmer from Dharampur which is the worst-hit.

However, 60 per cent of paddy sown in over 19,500 hectares area in Mandi has been destroyed thanks to the “moisture stress” in Jogindernagar, Sundernagar, Balh, Gopalpur, Dharampur and Karsog.

Most of the sources of drinking and irrigation water have also dried up, throwing the farmers in worst crisis.

Farmers are not getting water for drinking purpose, leave alone irrigation, they said. The situation is no different in other parts of the region, said agricultural experts.

The directorate is monitoring the drought situation on a day-to-day basis, asking the districts to send reports. But there is no immediate relief to farmers.

Dr Surya Kant, deputy director, agriculture, said, “We are monitoring the situation. If it rains in the coming week, maize and paddy crops can recover a bit.”

Hamirpur, July 11
State spokesman of the Congress Deepak Sharma has accused the BJP-led state government for resorting to double speak to befool people in the wake of its falling graph in the state.

Talking to mediapersons here today, he said, “The state government is fast losing grip on the people and now trying to make damage control to regain confidence of the people, but such measures will not help it.”

He accused that “after the appointment of CPS in the state the double speak of the party had been exposed and Chief Minister PK Dhumal, who while in opposition opposed such appointments made by the then Congress government, had now himself appointed CPS.”

Sharma also criticised the BJP leaders for taking false credit for the schemes launched by the central government in the state and criticised it for allegedly misleading people by claiming that they were bringing many schemes in the state by convincing the UPA government.

He said, “The Congress leaders are well aware about the problems of the state and the two Union Cabinet ministers- Virbhadra Singh and Anand Sharma- are competent enough to take up the demands of the state with the Centre.”

Sharma said, “The Congress party has started a membership campaign in the state and the party will honour the booth-level party activists for their performance in the coming months.”

Shimla, July 11
The state Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation will introduce the ‘Radio Taxi’ service in major tourist towns in association with the transport department.

Stating this while presiding over the review meeting of the tourism department here on Thursday, tourism secretary Manisha Nanda said the service would be introduced in cities like Shimla, Manali, Dharamsala, Palampur, Dalhousie and Nahan.

She directed district tourism development officers to ensure timely completion of
the projects funded by the Union Ministry of Tourism for Development of various
circuits and destinations.

She said the home-stay scheme was becoming popular and till date about 100 units had been registered and about a dozen were in the registration process.

The department would organise training courses in the current financial year, which would include trekking guide and mountain rescue course to be organised at Bharmour, Shimla and Mcleodganj.

Advanced water sports course would be organised at Pong Dam, Chamera and Gobind Sagar, river rafting guide training course at Kullu in the Beas and tourist guide course at Banjar, Sujanpur, Una, Nahan and Solan.