Shimla, July 15
The categorical statement of Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh that replacing polythene bags with paper was not an eco-friendly solution, has put a damper on the state’s plan to ban all non-biodegradable one-time usage items like disposable cups, plates and other such items made from plastic.

In fact, a debate had been triggered ever since Chief Minister PK Dhumal made an announcement on the World Environment Day to impose a ban on such items from August 15. The decision was being viewed as impractical and also very difficult if not impossible to enforce.

The government had not been able to checks illegal constructions, which took years to come up, and it had been coming out with one retention policy after the other to regularise them.

Environment conscious western countries like Germany have banned imposts packaged in degradable material and allowed only that material which could be recycled. In a globalised environment, an individual country or even a state could not impose such bans as manufacturing companies will only use non-biodegradable material. Recycling of the non-biodegradable material is the best solution.

Now, Jairam Ramesh has expressed a similar view and asserted that banning polythene bags was no solution. He minced no words in criticising the move and said it was the failure of the solid-waste management by local bodies that was forcing state governments to ban the use of plastic bags.

The ban was on recycled plastic bags but not on plastics per se. The entire world uses them and they came as an alternative to paper bags. Paper bags would lead to cutting of trees.

Even otherwise, ban on disposable cups and plates could lead to health problems as these are hygienic. Further, packaged water is available only in such cups or plastic bottles which could not be banned.

The ban on recycled polythene bags came into force in January, 1999, but it has not been enforced properly till date. This is evident from tonnes of plastic waste which the Larji project authorities had to remove to prevent the intake from being choked.

Shimla, July 15
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today gave a clarion call to people to contribute
their bit by cooperating with the government in the endeavour to check declining
sex ratio.

Launching a month-long awareness campaign “Beti Anmol Hai” here, he said the situation could become irretrievable unless urgent corrective measures were taken.

As per projections, by the year 2031, the female sex ratio would come down to such an extent that there would be one female for every seven males.

Himachal Pradesh was one of the 10 most vulnerable states in the country where the female sex ratio had decreased substantially from 976 in 1991, to 968 in 2001.

The decline in child sex ratio under six years of age was even sharper from 951 females to 897 over the period. He said that sharpest decline had been noted in Kangra, Hamirpur, Una and Mandi.

Corrective measures had been initiated by completely banning pre-natal tests, making registration of birth mandatory and providing incentives to families adopting voluntarily family planning after the birth of two daughters.

Awards were being given to those who provided information regarding female foeticide cases but the desired outcome was yet to come.

The government had announced a special development grant of Rs 5 lakh to the gram panchayat with highest female birth rate in a year to draw the attention of the society towards the social imbalance.

The Chief Minister said girl child deserved more attention as compared to male child as it was generally being observed that girls were excelling in academics and sports.

He expressed hope that elaborate programmes would be organised to awaken society by roping in NGOs to make a visible difference.

Hamirpur: Awareness campaign named “Beti Anmol Hai”, stressing the need of nurturing a girl child, began here on Wednesday with a rally at Gandhi Chowk which was inaugurated by local MLA Urmil Thakur. The campaign will continue till August 15 throughout the state.

A large number of anganwadi workers, health educators and female activists from mahila mandals participated in this rally. Participants marched from Gandhi Chowk to Bhota Chowk, raising slogans in favour of girl child.

Addressing the gathering, Thakur, while stressing the need of having girl child, said there should be equal number of boys and girls otherwise this would create an imbalance in society.

She said though during the past few years girls had excelled in every field of life, still girl child was unwelcomed in many families and there had to be a sustained campaign on this issue.

Hamirpur CMO DS Chandel, while speaking on this occasion, said men and women had equal importance in society and both should be treated with respect.

He said in Hamirpur district the number of female was 850 against 1,000 men and there was a need to create awareness to improve this ratio.

Shimla, July 15
The police and Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) have decided to enforce the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee with regard to the holding of student elections in a peaceful atmosphere even as fresh violence erupted at Court Shera College today.

Senior police officials, including IG (Law and Order) Pradeep Kumar Sarpal and district police chief RM Sharma, discussed the matter with the Vice-Chancellor of the HPU, Prof Sunil Kumar Gupta. It was decided that recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee would be strictly enforced.

With the din of student elections being heard, incidents of violence have started taking place with the local Court Shera College witnessing violence, leaving six students injured. Even though the HPU campus remained peaceful today, there was heavy police deployment.

With student elections to be held between six to eight weeks after the start of the academic session, the police is not taking any chance.

“Besides undertaking police patrolling, we have asked the concerned principals to seek police help in case of apprehension of trouble,” the SP, RM Sharma, said.

The SP said 11 students of the SFI had been arrested today after the Court Shera incident, while 13 had been arrested in connection with violence at the HPU yesterday and five were still at large.

“Counter complaints have been registered by the SFI in both incidents and names of 18 ABVP activists have been mentioned,” he said.

Meanwhile, the CPM accused the Vice-Chancellor of acting in an impartial manner by favouring the ABVP.

“It is surprising that only SFI activists have been arrested and charged with non-bailable sections when the police has itself admitted that clash took place between the SFI and ABVP activists,” said Rakesh Singha, secretary of the state committee of the CPM.

He regretted that both government and university authorities were converting the HPU into a RSS playground.

“The government now is trying to do away with Wilson committee recommendations for recruitment, which were appreciated by all sections of society,” he said.

Solan, July 15
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau is now examining the role of Ashok Sehgal, co-accused in the Sanjay Gupta bribery case, after he was arrested last Thursday.

Interestingly, while the 1988-batch IAS officer was suspended a day after being arrested, Sehgal was suspended after a period of five days after much dilly dally on the issue by HIMFED, the parent department of Sehgal.

Sources in the Bureau said they were now probing the past records wherein number of irregularities had emerged in the working of the General Industries Corporation (GIC), the Parwanoo-based bottling plant.

According to the findings of an internal audit report of the plant, for the period 2002-2003, a number of irregularities had been pointed out and instead of initiating any action, officials had conveniently misplaced this report.

The successive governments also failed to initiate any action, lending credence to the existence of a big nexus.

According to the report, a copy of which was available with The Tribune and which was also under the Vigilance scanner, a rebate of nearly Rs 64 lakh was given to various liquor contractors without the approval of business committee and a credit of Rs 83 lakh was given on total sale of around Rs 3.5 crore while not a penny had been recovered till date.

Further, several wasteful expenditure, including Rs 6 lakh on the purchase of gumming machines and blending tanks, were made. However, these machines were never put to use.

Pouch films worth Rs 7.42 lakh were purchased without inviting open tenders and since they were inferior in quality, it led to large-scale wastage which were never recovered from the firm.

The report has pointed out that in several cases decision to grant rebates without any approval and allowing sales without even obtaining post-dated cheques was gross violation of norms.

Sehgal, who was a junior engineer (JE), was promoted as plant manager after HIMFED leased out its Parwanoo office to the GIC in March 2003, without any provision in the service rules.

However, he continued to draw the salary of a JE. He took over as the plant manager and has been on deputation with the GIC since 2003.

Bureau DGP DS Minhas said since he was a co-accused in the case, his role was under scanner now.

Interestingly, the ill-gotten Rs 2 lakh had been delivered at Sehgal’s office a day before his arrest and the Bureau was examining his role as well as his antecedents.

Chamba, July 15
Four persons were killed on the spot when a private pick-up van (HP-73-0798) in which they were travelling went off the road and fell into the Ravi riverbed at Bakani bridge in Chamba district this morning.

Police information revealed that the deceased had been identified as Karnail Singh, Gagan Singh, Des Raj, Bhan Chand- all residents of the Bakani area of the district.

The bodies had been extricated by police officials in a rescue operation and handed over to their kin after carrying out an autopsy at the district hospital. A case had also been registered to investigate into the cause of the accident.

Chamba Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar had directed the authorities of the local administration to rush to the accident site and distribute an immediate relief to the next of kin as per the relief manual of the government.

Meanwhile, state Vidhan Sabha Speaker Tulsi Ram, who represents the area, had expressed grief over the accident and condoled the bereaved families.

He said, “The body of the girl has been sent for a post-mortem examination.”

Shimla, July 15
Fate of the Himalayan Ski Village (HSV), facing an uncertain future, is likely to be decided tomorrow as the report of the tumultuous public hearing held on June 6 at Kothi near Manali will be placed before the high-powered committee constituted to take a final decision on the contentious issue.

With about a dozen panchayats, senior BJP leaders, NGOs, hoteliers’ association and other organisations of Kullu-Manali registering their opposition to the coming up of the HSV, it appears that the project, touted as the biggest foreign direct investment (FDI) project, could face rough weather.

Interestingly, names of two senior BJP leaders —Maheshwar Singh, former MP, and Chandersen Thakur, former MLA, — figure prominently in the list of individuals who opposed the project at the public hearing which turned violent.

It is only two organisations, including a Kullu-based Mahila Welfare Society, which have supported the project.

According to proceedings of the public hearing which have been videographed, Naggar, Jana, Karja, Gofra, Jagat Sukh, Burva, Shamug, Palchang and Malana had opposed the project. Even the Kullu and Manali Hoteliers’ Associations had expressed resentment over the proposed project.

The high-powered committee had been constituted by the government on the directions of the high court so that an early decision could be taken on the issue by examining the project minutely.

The committee, which will hold its fourth meeting, includes Principal Secretaries of Finance, Law and Revenue, Principal Chief Conservator Forest (PCCF), Director of Environment, Town and Country Planning and Tourism, engineer-in-chief, IPH, Electricity Board and DC, Kullu.

The public hearing report specifically mentions the issues which were raised by those who attended the public hearing to register their objection to the HSV project.

They pointed out that coming up of the project would pollute water sources, ruin meadows, create unemployment among the locals and adversely affect the flora and fauna of the area.

Shimla, July 15
The state government has decided to use information technology-enabled geographical information system (GIS) for protection and management of the state’s forest resources.

Stating this while inaugurating a two-day workshop on “National e-governance Plan”, here today, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said the computerised-monitoring system would enable the forest department to keep a close watch on forests and effectively check illegal felling, encroachments and other offences.

The state’s forest wealth was valued at Rs 1.5 lakh crore and it had to be protected. The GIS would also come in handy for monitoring the progress of the catchment area treatment plans in the state, he added.

He said the top priority under the e-governance plan was to bring transparency in functioning of the government and prompt delivery of services on the doorsteps of people for which as many as 3,366 Lok Mitra Kendras were being set up at the gram-panchayat level.

Computerisation of revenue courts and public distribution system was also high on the agenda. The state-wide area network (HIMSWAN) would be extended down to sub-tehsil level for the purpose.

He said a mobile phone gateway was being put in place to enable people to access various information using SMSes.

Hospital Management System had been introduced at the Indira Gandhi Medical College for the convenience of patients and it was likely to be extended to other major hospitals in the state, the Chief Minister added.

The e-Samadhan scheme had been launched for quick redressal of public grievances and computer labs had been established in all government degree colleges.

SR Rao, Additional Secretary, IT, Government of India, said Rs 50,000-crore
investment had been envisioned to extend IT services to the remotest corners
of the country.

BK Aggarwal, secretary, information and technology, said e-governance road map, which was an integral part of the plan, along with capacity building road map, were being prepared.

He outlined the government’s priorities for the e-governance plan comprising 27 mission mode projects and 10 other components.

It would be implemented over a period of three years, he added.

Shimla, July 15
The government is considering to set up tourism development councils for prominent tourist destinations in the state like Kufri, Naldehra, Dharamsala, Mcleodganj, Dalhousie and Khajjiar, in association with local representatives.

It also proposes a single-window system for grant of essentiality certificate for tourism projects involving investment of Rs 50 crore or more.

Stating this while presiding over the third meeting of the Tourism Development Board here yesterday, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said it would lend a new dimension to tourism promotion activities under the 20-year master plan being prepared for sustainable development of tourism.

The master plan would specify the short-term, mid-term and long-term measures to be adopted to promote sustainable, environment friendly, socially acceptable, employment-generating tourism, and identify new destinations to divert tourist traffic from the existing ones.

He said development council for Manali had attained the desired objective and the new councils would be constituted taking all related aspects into consideration.

The state was likely to get a financial assistance to the tune of $90 million from the Asian Development Bank, he added. The government had submitted a separate Rs 50-crore proposal under the Sustainable Infrastructure Development of Hill Stations to the Centre, besides Rs 8-crore scheme for starting hospitality courses in the existing ITIs at Shamshi, Mandi and Una.

Besides, a six-lane highway from Pinjore to Swarghat was proposed for construction as a joint venture.

Ropeways to connect Anandpur Sahib with Naina Devi, Dharamkot with Triund, Bhuntar with Bijli Mahadev, Palchan with Rohtang, Palampur with Neugal and Shahtalai with Deoth Sahib prospered on Built Operate Transfer basis, he added.

Kangra, July 15
Dr RP Government Medical College Hospital, Tanda, catering to the needs of lakhs of patients was lacking the fire-fighting facility, thus putting the lives of patients, doctors and paramedical staff to risk.

This came to limelight today when mediapersons questioned Health Minister Dr Rajeev Bindal at Tanda, after he chaired the meeting of the governing body of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti, about lack in fire-fighting facility in the DRPGMC building.

Expressing ignorance about this, he assured that it would be looked into.

Meanwhile, Dr Anil Chouhan, principal, DRPGMC, confirmed that the Fire Brigade Department was yet to issue a NOC to HSCC, the company responsible for construction of the building, and added that he had called both HSCC and Fire Brigade authorities, but both did not report.

He said representatives of both HSCC and fire brigade have been called again to sort out the issue.

Medical superintendent Dr Bhano Awasthi disclosed that special ward, burns unit, dialysis unit, eco-gram unit and causality wards on first floor were yet to become operational. He said five operation theatres too were yet to start functioning.

The hospital still finds many posts vacant thus putting the working staff under stress and patients in a dock.

The minister confirmed that some posts were lying vacant in different categories, but added that three posts of professor, one of associate professor, four assistant professor, 14 resident doctor and 214 staff nurse were filled during the past year.

Bindal said the Rogi Kalyan Samiti had adopted budget of Rs 6.27 crore during its governing body meeting with no fee hike for patients.