Shimla, July 23
Upswing in the apple market at the outset of the harvesting season is fetching record prices, bringing some cheer to growers whose crops have been severely hit by unfavourable weather conditions. The superior grade fruit of varieties like Red Chief and Super Chief is being sold at Rs 2,100 to Rs 2,200 per box in the Delhi market, while Royal Delicious is fetching Rs 1,600 to Rs 1,700 per box, almost double the last year’s rates. Even, Tideman variety is giving good returns at Rs 1,100 to 1,200 per box in Delhi and Rs 550 per box in the local Dhalli market.

Besides poor crop arrivals in the market has been affected by the decision of the growers to delay plucking of fruit, in the hope that belated rain will help improve size of the drought-affected fruit somewhat. So far only 62,502 boxes of apple had been sent out of the state to various markets as against 10,65,751 boxes last year. The latest estimates indicate that total production was likely to be 1.25 crore boxes, almost half of the last year’s turnover. In the normal course more than five lakh boxes should have been exported by now. However, if the region gets adequate rains over the next one month the fruit will gain size, increasing production by 15 to 20 per cent, director of horticulture Gurdev Singh points out.

The entry of multinational companies in marketing of fresh fruit in the last couple of years has also helped in ensuring remunerative returns to growers. Private players like the Adani Group, ITC and Reliance Adanis have procured about 25 lakh boxes of good quality fruit last year at rates ranging from Rs 29 to Rs 32 per kg.

The crop has been worst hit in the lower and middle hills where harvesting has already started and high rates will help compensate the growers for the loss of production to an extent. The higher hills have not been affected that much and production was likely to be satisfactory given the adverse weather conditions. However, by the time their crop reaches the market in the second half of August, the prices would have come down and market stabilised.

Last year, the state had a bumper crop with a total production of 2.56 crore boxes. However, 2007-08 was a lean year when only 1.34 crore boxes were produced.

Shimla, July 23
Reeling under a cumulative loss of Rs 478 crore, the state road transport corporation proposes to introduce more luxury buses to reduce the revenue gap. Managing director of the corporation Somesh Goel said while the corporation was plying buses on 928 uneconomical routes to fulfil the social obligation of the government, it was earning profit on the high-end Volvo, air-conditioned and deluxe services. It would introduce four ultra hi-tech, 16 air-conditioned and 12 deluxe buses shortly. It also planned to replace 240 old buses which have completed their life for which the government had provided Rs 41.50 crore to the corporation.

The corporation had been given 75 buses for the Shimla city under the Jawaharlal Urban Renewal Mission which would be plied under a distinct colour scheme in the city and peripheral areas. The corporation had sent a proposal to the Centre for providing 60 taxis under the mission so that it could operate more fixed fare services for the elderly and sick persons and tourists on the restricted and sealed roads.

Special attention would be paid to the upkeep of bus stands and maintaining cleanliness and to ensure that services were run as per schedule. Nine more bus stands were under construction.

The main reason for revenue loss was low occupancy which stood at 54 per cent and high operational cost on rural routes. The total loss last year alone came to Rs 34 crore on a fleet of 1900 buses. While some steps could be taken to bring down the operational costs, there were factors on which the corporation had no control. 

Shimla, July 23
Even though the estimated population of the snow leopard in Himachal is barely 15, encouraged by spotting of the animal by locals as well as wildlife staff in Spiti the government has sent a Rs 1.50 crore action plan to the Centre for protecting the highly endangered animal.

It is in association with Mysore-based Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) that the Wildlife Department has prepared the action plan for undertaking a conservation project for the animal. The NCF is already in the process of undertaking management planning in the Spiti Valley for the formal launch of the project, which is awaiting central funding from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest.

Even though initiatives with regard to launch of the project snow leopard have been taken jointly as part of Trans-Himalayan collaboration between states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, Himachal has taken the lead by preparing an action plan and seeking funds for its formal launch.

Besides the NCF, the state wildlife authorities are also in touch with the Snow Leopard Conservation Trust. Sources said the Centre had agreed for the launch of the Snow Leopard Project in Himachal and it is only the formal approval that is awaited.

“Though there is no exact data, based on very broad estimation the figure of snow leopard in Himachal is around 15, so there is an urgent need to protect and conserve the endangered animal,” said KS Thakur, Conservator (Wildlife).

Trap cameras that have been installed in the area by the NCF team for the past some time have captured shots of the animal. Moreover, fresh droppings of the snow leopard in the area frequented by it are also a proof of its presence.

Forest officials point out that locals in areas like Kibber Valley in Spiti have reported recent sighting of the majestic animal, which is a confirmation about its presence in the area. “The fact that the cattle of the villagers have often been killed by a predator is a confirmation about the presence of snow leopard in the area as no other animal can be on the prowl at that height,” said an officer associated with the project.

Shimla, July 23
Governor Prabha Rau yesterday stressed the need for taking effective steps to ensure that students in educational institutions were not made targets of ragging, which in some cases had serious repercussions.

The Governor, who is the Chancellor of the three universities in the state, reviewed the initiatives that had been taken in light of the Supreme Court directions with regard to checking ragging. She said all anti-ragging steps must be taken so that no student was harassed and made victim of the menace.

Besides, Vice-Chancellors of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), Horticulture University, Nauni, and Agriculture University, Palampur, and heads of private educational institutes were also present on the occasion.

Senior officers, including DGP, Principal Secretary (Health), secretary (Education), director medical education, director (Education) and principals of the two medical colleges at Shimla and Tanda, were also present.

It was after the death of Aman Kachroo, a first-year-student of Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda, in Kangra, that the issue of ragging came into focus. The SC, on the basis of suggestions made by an amicus curie, had asked the Himachal government to take strong anti-ragging steps.

The officials gave details of the steps taken like formation of anti-ragging and disciplinary committees and creation of awareness among the student community with the help of police.

Shimla, July 23
Even as the police re-arrested five of the 13 SFI activists who were released today, SFI activists from Himachal Pradesh University and other local educational institutions submitted a memorandum to the Governor seeking restoration of the HPU autonomy.

Over 500 activists from HPU, Sanjauli, Court Shera, Evening College and Rajkiya Kanya Maha Vidyalaya (RKMV) staged a protest march to the Raj Bhawan to bring to the notice of the Governor, Prabha Rau, the partial and biased attitude of the police and the state government. Besides state leaders of the SFI, all-India secretary Ritovrata Banerjee joined the students in the march for justice.

“We have highlighted the illegal arrest and detention of 13 SFI activists, while no action has been taken against the ABVP activists who too were involved in the violence on campus on July 14,” said Shikha Chauhan, SCA president.

Meanwhile, the 13 SFI activists who were arrested in connection with the violence on HPU campus were released today, but five of them were re-arrested.

District police chief RM Sharma said the five had been re-arrested on charges of assault on a police constable after the clash on the campus on July 14.

Those re-arrested include Naresh, Jasbir, Rakesh Verma, Yashpal and Malkeet. A case has been registered against them under Sections 353 and 332 of the IPC.

Dharamsala, July 23
Power cuts in plains are leading to shortage of fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) in the hills. The shopkeepers in and around Dharamsala when contacted told The Tribune that the dealers were not providing them FMCGs according to their demand. The fast moving consumer goods like packed milk, butter, breads, chocolates and tooth pastes etc are arriving in hills in very less quantity. As a result at many shops the goods are going out of stocks.

A dejected shopkeeper when contacted said,” What will we earn if we are not getting adequate supply of goods.’ He said the dealers who used to supply them goods revealed that due to power cuts in plains the production of companies had decreased leading to shortage of FMCGs in hills.

Further inquiries from the dealers revealed that many companies that supply FMCGs in hills have their manufacturing units in Punjab or Haryana. In both states the condition of power supply is precarious. In Punjab due to paddy season and power shortage the industries are forced to shut down for about two days in a week. Even after that the unscheduled power cuts hamper the production.

The lower production in neighbouring states is leading to shortage of FMCGs in the hills. Besides due to shortage of production the distribution agents prefer to sell whatever goods are available with them in the plains as the transportation cost is comparatively higher in the hills.

Besides the shortage of fast moving consumer goods, the cost of vegetables is also very high in the town. It is about three times more than the plains. Inquiries revealed that there were a few vegetable vendors in the town. All of them have allegedly pooled and sold vegetables at exorbitant rates. The vegetables come here from the Pathankot area of Punjab.

The state government has planned a vegetable market in the town to provide a platform for local farmers to sell their goods. However, it has been under construction for long.

The residents say till the market becomes operational, the local vegetable producers should be provided an alternative platform to sell their produce.

Chamba, July 23
Cloudburst followed by flash flood in the Himgiri area yesterday had damaged two houses and washed off a large portion of cultivable land posing a threat to the existence of Kumarka village in the Salooni tehsil of Chamba district.

According to the residents’ report, cracks have developed in the two houses and also in the adjoining agricultural land of the area. The link road leading to the area had also been blocked, the report revealed.

In another incident, the Chamba-Sahoo road was also blocked because of flash flood caused due to a damaged bridge on the road. The segment of the road had also been washed off, besides two houses of Kehlara and Sangera villages had been partially damaged.

Meanwhile, Chamba DC Devesh Kumar had directed the revenue authorities of the areas to rush to the incident site and to carry out relief and rescue operations and provide relief to the affected families.

Chamba Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sandeep Negi had provided an immediate relief of Rs 7,000 to the affected families.

Mandi, July 23
The “blooming highway”, beautification plan of National Highway-21 from Ghara Mora in Bilaspur district to Manali started in 2005 by then Mandi divisional commissioner KBJV Subhramanayam, who later took premature retirement, has turned out to be a “farce”, as lakhs of rupees collected from various sources, including students, were diverted to other purpose, while dumping the project to sidelines after change of guards in the state.

In fact, the fate of the project remained dumped in files at the DC offices in Mandi, Kullu, Bilaspur and Hamipur districts, which were involved in “blooming highway” project by the then divisional
commissioner.

The idea behind the project was to plant evergreen flowering trees and ornamental plants along the sides of the NH-21 to make travelling a pleasant experience for tourists and local commuters.

But information on the project received under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by the RTI Bureau, Mandi, revealed that the project remained dumped in respective DC offices. In all, around 1,60,000 plants were to be planted along the highway between Swarghat and Mandi.

There is no definite information as to how many trees were actually planted, in which the PWD was also involved, although the DCs claimed that survival rate of the planted trees was about 50 per cent.

Inaugurated with hype at Nagwani by then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in 2005, the RTI revealed that Rs 50,000 was spent on that very day on the function alone.

However, out of the collected money, Rs 2 lakh was given to the Dussehra festival, Rs 1.5 lakh to some Kullu-based NGO, Rs 2 lakh was shown to be given to shady supervisors or helpers working for the project and Rs 50,000 spent on watering plants planted under the project, the RTI revealed.

Despite Rs 70 lakh had been spent on the project, but cursory survey showed that the “blooming trees” along the highway remained mystery.

However, Rs 15 lakh is still pending with the DCs of Mandi, Kullu and Bilaspur.

President, RTI Bureau, Lawan Thakur demanded a vigilance inquiry into the project as it had turned out to be a smart way of fleecing public and then the purpose for which money was collected remained clouded in a mystery.

Chamba, July 23
Chamba town has been facing grave water crisis for the past three days. It was the third day today and functioning of the Jadera water supply scheme providing water to the town could not be restored to normal by the Irrigation and Public Health Department.

The entire town having a population of over 25,000, including visitors and traders who are in the town to attend the Minjar fair, which will be inaugurated by Chief Minster PK Dhumal on July 26, are badly hit due to water scarcity.

Residents of the town grumbled that the water supply was being provided only for 15 minutes in morning and evening, which was quite insufficient to meet the daily requirements of the people of the town. There was also a grouse about supply of filthy water in the town.

Executive Engineer, IPH, RC Kapoor said the flood-like situation following heavy downpour in the streams feeding the water source of the Jadera scheme of the town had drained muddy water into the treatment tanks.

Officials of the department had taken all deterrent measures to filter and purify the water by chemical substances, he maintained; adding that the officials, including technical staff, were on the job round-the-clock doing their utmost for restoring water supply to its normal functioning.

Solan, July 23
The Solan police today arrested one Manmohan and Asha Gupta and confiscated 1,077 capsules of a sedative drug, spasmo proxyvon, from their residences. It had been receiving complaints about the duo selling these sedatives to school and college-going children and to the vagabond in the town.

Acting on this information, the police raided Manmohan’s residence at Parashar Complex and confiscated 337 capsules. Another police party raided the residence of Prem Gupta, located near New Bus Stand, and recovered 740 capsules from his residence. His wife, Asha Gupta, who was present at home at the time of the raid, was arrested, as she was known to be selling the contraband illegally.

The Solan SP said Asha was selling these capsules at varying rates ranging from Rs 20 to Rs 25 for quite sometime now. The police has booked the duo under Section 22 of the NDPS Act and Section 83 of the Drug and Cosmetics Act, 1940, for illegally stacking and selling this drug.