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Nathpa Jhakri achieves another first
Larji project suffers
generation loss
Mankotia hints at political comeback
Passengers stranded for hours
‘Poly lactic can replace plastic’
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Plastic ban opposed
CM releases book
PTA teachers hold rally
2 rape cases registered
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Nathpa Jhakri achieves another first
Shimla, July 24 The sophisticated equipment with a programmable robotic arm to carry out tungsten carbide coating on machine parts has been imported from Germany at a cost of Rs 8 crore. It is the first hydroelectric project in the country to have such a facility to effectively deal with the problem of erosion of parts of the turbines caused due to excessive silt in the Sutlej. The Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), which manages the project, sent four engineers for training to Germany who are now operating the equipment. Tungsten carbide powder is sprayed on the surface of components at supersonic velocities and high pressure to produce fine erosion-resistant layer. The robotic arm handles the high velocity gun, which bombards the surface with powder at the speed of 2,160 m per second. The high kinetic energy particles impinge on the surface and the impact produces a very good bond. There are six 250-MW generating units in all and the facility will enable the SJVN to save about Rs 2 crore annually. Turbine parts like cheek plates, guide vanes and labyrinth seal were severely eroded by high velocity silt particles moving at 70 m sec, creating deep cavities and forcing authorities to shutdown the project for maintenance. The heavy parts affected by erosion were sent to distant places for hard coating, which was not of very good quality. However, with a sophisticated in-house facility both time and money will be saved, says NC Bansal, general manger of the project. The problem had been acute in the Nathpa Jhakri project as the level of silt had been very high and it mainly comprised quark particles, the hardest rock, which caused extensive damage. The parts were being coated with layers of thickness ranging from 300 to 500 microns, which would make them last for at least two years. The raising of the height of the diversion dam at Nathpa by 10 m had also helped in bringing the level of silt at the intake to manageable levels. The project had been witnessing frequent shutdowns due to excessive silt ever since it was commissioned in 2003, but this year it had been doing well and generated 3,000 mu till Thursday, 50 mu more than the enhanced target. There had not been a single shutdown and the target of generation was surpassed by 80 mu in June and 100 mu for July till date. |
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Larji project suffers
generation loss
Larji (Mandi), July 24 According to engineers, trash ended up in the Larji barrage after being dumped in the Beas in tourist places like Rohtang Pass,
Kullu, Bhuntar and Aut. On the other hand, silt continued to flow into the
Sainj, a tributary of the Beas which met at Larji, as the NHPC, executing the
Parbati-II project on the Sainj, failed to arrest the flow of silt. Though the project engineers have no knowledge of the exact quantity of trash flushed out this month, but they claimed that it was quite less because of deficient rains. Logs, bushes, waste plastic bottles flooded into the barrage, that resulted in shutting down of power for an hour which led a generation loss of over 1.26 lakh units of electricity on Wednesday. The generation was restored after the waste material was flushed out from the barrage, engineers claimed. The power was shut down earlier on July 13 from 1 am to 5 am that resulted in generation loss of 5 lakh units of electricity, claimed project engineers. A lot of silt flowed from the Sainj into the
barrage after it rained upstream that day, they added. Kullu Deputy Commissioner BM Nanta said the administration were making extra efforts, in coordination with municipal council,
Kullu-Bhuntar, nagar panchayat, special area development authority, Manali, to collect the trash from tourist spots. “We have involved mahila mandals in the waste collection and expect that trash will not be allowed
to be dumped into the Beas. We have also warned resort and dhabha owners along the river about the same,” he said. |
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Mankotia hints at political comeback
Dharamsala, July 24 Sources said a meeting was held at the residence of Mankotia at Tiara village in the Shahpur area yesterday in which hundreds of supporters from Kangra district were invited. The participants while talking to The Tribune said all those present urged upon Mankotia to return to active politics. Mankotia said the meeting was organised as a farewell to his son. “My son, who is an NRI, has come and was leaving due to which I had organised a meeting of my core group,” he added. When asked if he was urged to return to active politics, Mankotia said though he had no plans, his supporters chose the occasion to force him into making a comeback. On the commitment he made to his workers, he said, “Let us see what happens in the next few months.” Though Mankotia is terming the meeting as farewell for his NRI son, the political observers are viewing it as a step towards political comeback. Mankotia left the Congress after differences with former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. He then carried out a campaign against them levelling charges of corruption. Just before the last Assembly elections, Mankotia joined the BSP.
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Passengers stranded for hours
Bilaspur, July 24 Some passengers said the road blockade was the creation of the office of the Motor Vehicles Inspector (MVI) here, which had fixed the passing date of the Dadlaghat cement factory trucks at this spot. As the place was being very narrow, scores of trucks choked the route. It was after three hours that Sub Inspector Swatantra Singh arrived at the scene along with policemen and the traffic blockade started to easing slowly. The passengers demanded that Transport Minister Mohinder Singh should look into the problem at this stretch of land on the national highway being choked by trucks. |
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‘Poly lactic can replace plastic’
Shimla, July 24 “The environment-friendly PLA can be used to make all products made from petroleum-derived plastics, including toys, and it has an added advantage that its properties like, strength, stiffness and flexibility can be tailored to suit the product requirement. It is highly bio-degradable and decomposes within 90 to 100 days in normal conditions and even faster in ideal composting installations,” explained Sharma, who was here to create an awareness about the new material in the state where a ban is being imposed on a range of plastic items from August 15. Thermo-plastic material was the result of 10 years of research carried out by South Korean scientist Khang Sung and was already being used in the US and Italy for making bags used in collection of urban waste as it could be discarded along with the garbage, he said. It was slightly expensive and items made of PLA would cost 2.5 times more than the plastic ones currently in use. However, the cost could be brought down considerably if the government waived off excise and impost duty on the PLA which added up to 35 per cent, he said. However, what made PLA ideal for replacing plastic, according to Sharma, was its availability in the form of granules and it could be shaped into various items. He said cost of PLA would further come down if a PLA manufacturing unit was established in the country. A high capacity plant would involve an investment of about Rs 300 crore. A private company Track Mark International had already entered into an agreement for technology transfer and if the government provided necessary encouragement, a facility for making PLA granules could be set in the state itself. It could prove to be useful for both recyclable and biodegradable packaging, he said.
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Plastic ban opposed
Shimla, July 24 A deputation of the body, led by its president Ramesh Sood, met Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, here today, and impressed upon him that imposition of ban on polythene and plastics was no solution and the government should focus on its proper disposal. Banning a few selected items would not serve any purpose as bulk of the commodities was being marketed in non-biodegradable packaging, he said. The deputation also demanded constitution of a trade-advisory board to provide permanent forums to address issues concerning traders and called for imposition of VAT at par with adjoining states. Further, only 3 per cent of the tax returns should be scrutinised as assured during the imposition of VAT, they said. Other demands included shifting of the subzi and anaj mandis to suitable roadside location and exemption to sweet makers and dhaba owners from VAT as they used items on which tax had already been paid. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister assured the body that all issues raised by them would be looked into.
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CM releases book
Shimla, July 24 It provides a peep into the personality of the Tibetan political and spiritual leader who has been in-exile since 1959. The author has observed the Nobel Laureate from close quarters and narrated his experiences in the book. Dhumal congratulated Ranchan for writing a book on the Buddhist monk, which would be of immense use for research scholars engaged in the study of Buddhism. |
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PTA teachers hold rally
Shimla, July 24 PTA appointees, from all over the state, converged here to urge the governemnt to protect their interest and not terminate their services. “We have demanded that a policy be framed to streamline appointments of PTA teachers in the state so that nobody is victimised and proper norms are laid down,” said Vivek Mehta, state president, Himachal PTA Association. He said despite the government’s assurance that no PTA teachers would be removed by way of transfer or promotion, 150 appointees had lost their jobs. “The Chief Minister has assured us that he will look into such cases as there was no intention to remove teachers,” said Mehta. |
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2 rape cases registered
Mandi, July 24 The police has arrested Dipu, a resident of Saklan in Paddar, but it has yet to nab the four accused who allegedly raped a girl of a Scheduled Caste family at Janjheli in the second case. According to the police, in the first case the 15-year-old girl alleged that she along with her cousin were in a room when Dipu allegedly raped her on July 22. The police has arrested Dipu and got the girl medically examined, but report is awaited. In the second case, the 17-year-old girl from Sainj in Kullu had gone to attend a mela at Sarogi, where her relatives live. She met four boys - Bhup Singh, Het Ram, Romesh and the fourth one she could not identify, at mela ground and befriended with them. But during the night, she was alone at her relative’s house, as they had gone out for the “nati festival” at Sarogi. The four accused came to the house and raped her, she charged in the FIR. Mandi SP Sonal Agnihotri said the police has launched a manhunt to arrest the accused in the case.
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