The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Himachal Pradesh Edition

All major SAIL plants up for revamp: Virbhadra
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Kandrori (Dharamsala), September 11
All four major SAIL plants in country are up for major revamp. The government is planning to invest Rs 70000 crore in revamping the SAIL plants. The revamp includes increase in capacity and modernisation of plants.

The basic aim behind the move is to make India the world’s leading steel producer. This was stated by Union Minister for Steel Virbhadra Singh while addressing a public meeting at Kandrori today.

Virbhadra Singh today started his first visit to Kangra district after taking over as the union minister with the inspection of upcoming steel processing plant of SAIL at Kandrori.

The union minister urged SAIL officials to squeeze the time period for bringing up the plant from 18 months to 12 months. The work for the plant is to be started within next two months.

Initially, during the previous stint of the UPA government in power, the former union minister for steel Ram Vilas Paswan had laid the foundation stone of the steel plant at Kandrori just a few months before elections.

The Congressmen here now claimed that though the foundation stone was laid, the budget provision was not made for the project. It was only after Virbhadra Singh took over that the budget provision was made for the project.

The minister also said that he had urged the SAIL authorities to expand the Kandrori steel plant for producing all kinds of steel materials. This would increase the investment here from Rs 150 crore to 250 crore.

Though the minister has expressed his desire to increase the capacity of steel processing plant at Kandrori, the SAIL officials when contacted said that presently there was no written order in this regard.

He also said the SAIL had made all preparations for setting up a steel plant at Nahan. However, the work for plant can start only after the state government provides land and electricity connection for purpose. He urged the state government to meet the necessary requirements for setting up the steel plant at Nahan.

Earlier, while responding to queries from newsmen Virbhadra Singh said the state government was resorting to witch hunting of opposition leaders. The CD case against me was politically motivated, he alleged.

He, however, refused to comment on recent call girl controversy in which the media in charge of BJP Rajinder Rana had to tender his resignation.

The Virbhadra’s visit also saw most of the Congressmen descending to please him. Most of Congress leaders from the district, including Manmohan Katoch, state president of the Youth Congress and Kewal Singh Pathania HPCC spokesperson were present at Kandrori to welcome him.

Virbhadra Singh would continue his visit tomorrow in Nurpur and Jawali areas where he would address political rallies.

Rain claims 3 lives
Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 11
A 26-year-old Nepalese woman Parbati, along with her six-month-old child, was washed away in the gushing waters of Dogla nullah in Rohru as most parts of the state limped back to normalcy after receiving the heaviest rainfall of the season during the past two days.

Parbati was washed away in the waters of Dogla khud when she was returning to her home in Bretli village from Rohru, last night. She got separated from her husband Prem Lal while crossing the khud. The two worked in an apple orchard.

In another incident, a schoolgirl was killed after being hit by boulders near Purbani Jhullah in Kinnaur, last evening.

Meanwhile, vehicular traffic to Jubbal-Rohru and Rampur has been restored while work on road clearance at other places was still in progress as there was some respite from the incessant rains today.

However, road to Kinnuar still remained closed beyond Jhakri as huge boulders and landslides kept the road blocked near Chaura. All government schools remained closed today following the education department’s directive in view of heavy rains.

About 20 families in Hungrung village of Kinnuar had to be evacuated following threat to their houses due to landslides. A wooden bridge was washed away in Kandu village while traffic remained stranded near Charabra for almost six hours in the morning due to uprooted trees.

The 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri and 300 MW Baspa project resumed generation after remaining suspended for a day. As the silt level reduced to near normal, power generation was resumed. A loss of Rs 7 crore has been estimated due to halt in generation at the two projects.

Water supply in Shimla too has been restored partially as most parts received supply today. Pumping at Gumma and Ashwani khuds had been affected for the past to days due to heavy silt on account of heavy rains.

Municipal authorities said water supply in the town would be normal within the next two days.

Meanwhile, the meteorological department has predicted that there could be heavy to very heavy rainfall at certain places in the state over the next 24 hours.

Sidelights-Punjab Sammelan

The Punjab Vichar Sammelan was formally thrown open after an Ardas by SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar.

After SAD President Sukhbir Badal’s focused mainly on the working of the government rather than the state of affairs of the party that he heads in his inaugural address, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal got up and said “now that Kakaji has talked about the government, I can speak about the party, much to the amusement of all present.”

Unlike in the past, where a few selected people spoke of all praise for the leadership, every participant has been given a performa to fill in which they have been asked to give five examples of government decisions that they appreciate, five areas where they think the government did not perform well. Besides they have been asked to give five constructive ideas. The performas were collected at the end of the session today.

The 4-day conclave, originally scheduled to take place from September 10 to 13, is being wound up after a one and a half-day of deliberations after a luncheon ceremony at the Wild Flower Hall.

According to party President Shimla was chosen as the venue because change of place makes a psychological impact, making participants take the deliberations more seriously. In a lighter vein, Sukhbir also said the Akails were trying to discover more Punjabi-speaking areas so that Punjab could stake its claim to them.

Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, accompanied by his son Anurag Dhumal, hosted lunch for the SAD leadership at Peterhof, the venue of the conclave, that has housed seven Viceroys.

The media was not allowed inside the conclave venue, yet despite rain newspersons waited in the lawns of Peterof the entire day to see if Finance Minister Manpreet Badal would raise the issue of subsidies. But till the end, he reportedly neither spoke nor was the issue of subsidies on the agenda.

Sex Scandal
Stokes for judicial probe
Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 11
Building up further pressure on the government on the “call girl” episode, Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes today demanded a judicial probe into the matter by a retired judge of the high court and immediate arrest of those involved.

Addressing a press conference here today she said the sordid incident had not only exposed the unholy nexus of officers and politician which had transformed “environment clearance” into a handy tool for achieving their corrupt motives.

This kind of moral turpitude was unknown in the state and if stern action was not taken in the matter, it would embolden such corrupt elements and bring in alien culture prevalent in the neighbouring states, she added.

She said while politicians were held accountable and often made to quit the position they were holding, officers virtually went scot-free.

Even in the present case, the officer had been merely shifted whereas he should have been suspended and chargesheeted.

She said Prime Minster Manmohan Singh had, during a recent meeting, expressed his concern over the rampant corruption in environment clearance and the scandal had blown the lid out of the murky happening in the environment department. Reports linking the episode to some hydropower project deal had also appeared and it was a very serious matter. Promoters of the projects were virtually hand to ransom by officers of agencies which was handed responsibility of granting clearance.

Stokes disapproved of the lavish style of the government functionaries who were spending huge funds on organising parties in the garb of various officials events. The Prime Minister had, repeatedly, underlined the need for politicians and bureaucrats for adopting an austere lifestyle.

She urged the government to set up a committee to look into various issues, particularly anomalies in the revised pay scales, being raised by employees.

Fresh snow disrupts adventure tourism
Our Correspondent

Manali, September 11
Continuing spell of heavy and seasonal rains and fresh snow on the entire higher reaches of Lahaul-Spiti and Kullu valley have disrupted all adventure tourism-related activities, trekking, jeep safari and mountaineering expeditions.

According to adventure tour operators here, due to heavy rains and early snow in the western Himalayan region disrupted many trekking tours. In July, August and September Lahaul-Spiti and Leh attract many foreign and domestic tourists for trekking and jeep safaris.

The tribal belt of Himachal Pradesh is known as cold deserts. After throwing open these area to foreign visitors in 1992, this circuit has became very popular among among them as well as domestic tourists for its historical Buddhist monasteries and beautiful landscape.

The tour operators in Himachal Pradesh organised jeep safaris in Kinnaur-Spiti-Lahaul and Leh during these months. But due to inclement weather conditions in the entire regions many adventure groups were disrupted.

Heavy rains and fresh snow on the 13,050-ft high Rohtang Pass and Baralacha Pass on the Manali-Leh highway also disrupted vehicular traffic. According to the reports, all vehicles going to Leh have been stopped at Darcha as a precautionary measure.

Meanwhile, the Manali-Kaza road in Spiti valley also remained closed for vehicular traffic due to fresh snow on Kunzum Pass.

Bungling found in cooperative society
Ambika Sharma

Solan, September 11
With a large scale bungling coming to fore in the Rajpura Krishi co-operative society located in the Nalagarh industrial area, the joint director today dissolved its executive body and appointed assistant registrar as its administrator.

The action followed a complaint by several members of the society to the registrar, where they alleged that they had not been able to get their dues, despite their fixed deposits acquiring maturity. It had been learnt that the society’s executive body had used the society funds to buy land and hence a large amount of fund had been invested in it. The society had also taken a contract to supply tractors from a local manufacturing unit, but since they had failed to pay the dues worth Rs 94 lakh, a notice had been slapped on them.

Furthermore, loans worth Rs 50 to Rs 60 lakh had been disbursed without any guarantee and this had caused financial loss to the society, creating a paucity of funds in the society. Its members had failed to get their matured fixed deposits back, despite lapse of several months. Several such complaints had been brought to the notice of the registrar. Earlier, a complaint had also been made to the assistant registrar, who had conducted an inquiry some months back.

Joint director KS Dhaluta, who visited the society today, said since the executive body’s term had expired and elections had not been held in the due time, it had been dissolved and the assistant registrar had been appointed as the administrator to oversee the society’s functioning. He said he had been looking into the complaints brought to his notice by the members.

Interestingly, the society that had collected funds worth Rs 10 crore had been awarded at the district level for its outstanding performance some time back.

Vivekananda’s teachings more relevant now: Shanta
Our Correspondent

Kangra, September 11
Teachings of Swami Vivekananda are more relevant today than when he addressed the World Religious Conference on this day in 1893 at Chicago, when he gave a call for ‘Universal Brotherhood’.

Rajya Sabha MP and former Union Minister Shanta Kumar said this while addressing a gathering at the local polytechnic on occasion of ‘Universal Brotherhood Day’ today organised by local branch of Vivekananda Kendra to commemorate the historical speech delivered by Swami Vivekananda in the World Religious Conference on September 11, 1893.

He said, “Swami ji had expressed apprehensions 116 years ago that fanaticism of the religions will drench the earth with blood, which came true when the World Trade Centre was smashed.” He stressed on the youth to make Swami Vivekananda as their ideal to keep them close to their cultural roots and religion, which has been the need of the hour. “Swami ji was eager to have yoga as apart of the curriculum to make children mentally alert and intellectually sharp,” he added.

A declamation contest had also been organised by the kendra on the occasion and Chaavi Sharma of Vikram Batra Government College, Palampur, bagged the first position, Abinav Awasthi of Dr RP Government Medical College, Tanda, bagged the second position and Chetna Sharma of Government College, Dhalliara, was adjudged third. The over-all running trophy was bagged by Vikram Batra Government Degree College, Palampur.

Power board shuts down projects
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Larji (Mandi), September 11
The HP State Electricity Board (HPSEB) has shut down power houses of 16.95 Andhra project, 22.5 mw Ghanvi, 2.5 mw Nogli and 3 mw Guma project since the past four days due to flash floods triggered by long spell of rains.

The board today shut down one unit worth 42 mw of the 126 mw Larji project here at 8.30 am due to inflow of trash into the Beas. The shutdown of five projects has resulted in a power loss of 2 million units of electricity worth Rs 60 lakh everyday, reveal engineers.

“We are running two machines but have no option other than shutting down one unit to clear the trash. The project was shut down yesterday for two hours to flush out the silt,” an engineer of Larji project said.

However, the worst-hit is the Andhra project which was shut down at 2.50 pm on September 8 due to high silt in the Andhra, a tributary of the Pabbar. The project remains unrestored till today.

The board shut down the power house of the Ghanvi project at 12.20 pm on September 9 due to flash flood in the Ghanvi khud.

The Giri project was also shut down occasionally several times since Wednesday, but it generated six lakhs of electricity today, according to sources.

Conference on tourism held
Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 11
With tourism industry being badly hit by recession, stress has been laid on aggressive marketing and destination branding to harness the tourism potential in the hill state. A two-day national conference on “Destination Image and Branding Strategies and Implications” was organised by the Institute of Vocational (Tourism) Studies at Himachal Pradesh University (HPU).

Speaking on the occasion Vice-Chancellor Prof Sunil Kumar Gupta said the conference was of utmost importance as they were passing through a critical phase where recession, epidemics and calamities had thrown up new challenges for those associated with tourism industry.

In his inaugural address MP Anurag Thakur said basic infrastructure must be strengthened so that better facilities could be provided to the visitors. “Himachal has a lot to offer but what is required is its systematic harnessing so that world-class facilities can be created,” he said. Thakur said the involvement of the private players in tourism promotion was a must.

Delivering the key-note address, Vijay Thakur, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), said tourism industry had been hit severely by economic recession which needed to be tackled by working out strategies.

‘Forest Act eased for growth’
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, September 11
Forest Minister JP Nadda has said land that had not been covered by any forest will now be available for development works, as the government has amended the Forest Act and the main bottleneck in development of several villages has been removed.

Nadda also exhorted the villagers to extend their cooperation in all the development works going on in their areas and not to block any link road project or drinking water pipes through their lands, as the same are being provided for their betterment and welfare.

“Such schemes are not individual affair, but these benefit the entire village,” JP Nadda said this while addressing a series of public meetings organised in connection with his ‘meet the people programme’, including those at Kothi, Panyala, Jablayana, Dhaarat, Manjwaad, Mandarighat and Baloh in his Bilaspur Sadar constituency yesterday.

Forest Minister urged villagers to plant Khair and medicinal plants in their lands for ensuring better income for them under ‘Apna van, apna dhan’ programme of the Forest Department.

Building caves in
Tribune News Service

Mandi, September 11
Even as the Ani subdivision remains cut off from the Kullu district headquarters for more than 24 hours, three-day spell of incessant rains today resulted in the collapse of Senior Secondary School building at Katola and washed away over 100 apple trees at Riyara village in Seraj in Mandi district. Several link roads remained snapped, hitting local transport in the region.

According to sources, Ani remained cut off for the third day today as landslide at Khanag breached the Ani-Jalori pass road, cutting off Ani from Kullu district. Even the Banjar bridge that had been under repair added to problem for people, as they had to come via Shimla to reach Kullu.

In the Mandi district, old-school building of the Government Senior Secondary School collapsed. Fortunately, tragedy was averted as the school had holiday today, villagers said. In Bhimkataru panchayat, one villager claimed that over 100 trees of apple had been washed away in the landslide in Seraj.

Army convoy stranded
Our Correspondent

Manali, September 11
Inclement weather conditions that worsened this afternoon have caused 12 vehicles of Army convoy to strand at about 2 km from the Rohtang Pass towards (Khoksar) Lahaul valley.

According to sources, out of 24 Army vehicles that had been coming from Pang to Manali and crossing 13,050-ft-high Rohtang Pass this afternoon, only 11 reached Marhi. Other vehicles had stranded near the top.

Till the filling of this report, all the vehicles had been stranded about 53-km from Manali on the Manali-Leh Highway. According to the reports, more than one feet of fresh snow had been recorded at the Rohtang Pass this afternoon. In the wake of fresh snowfall, all vehicles from Manali to Lahaul valley had been stopped at Marhi.

State to frame new transport policy
Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 11
The state government will formulate a new transport policy to meet the changing requirements of the hill state and its people.

This was stated by Transport Minister Mahinder Singh while presiding over the fifth meeting of the Himachal State Transport Development and Road Safety Council, here today.

“Suggestions will be invited from all departments about the operation of transport so that improvements can be made in the policy,” he said. He reiterated the government’s resolve to provide better transport facility and connectivity to every village.

Rajpura man held

Hamirpur, September 11
The police has arrested a resident of Rajpura in Punjab under the Lottery Regulation Act at Sujanpur Tihra today.

Sources said Virender Yadav, resident of Rajpura under Patiala district, had been caught along with 600 lottery tickets of Mahaluxmi bumper draw of the Punjab government. Since sale of lottery ticket has been banned in the state, the person has been arrested under the Act. — TNS

Shop gutted in fire

Bilaspur, September 11
Suman Kumar, a shopkeeper and son of Chander Maii of Halwaadi village, Chaproh, in gram panchayat Ladda near Ghumarwin, lost property worth more than Rs 1.5 lakh when his karyana shop caught fire late last night.

According to reports, the fire is suspected to have spread due to a short circuit. Some villagers spotted smoke and fire billowing out of the shop and informed the owner on phone. The Bharadi police was informed by villagers which has registered a case and is investigating the matter. — OC

100 vehicles challaned
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, September 11
Led by ASI Arjun Singh, the police launched a campaign to control breach of traffic rules by drivers at Shah Talai and intercepted and inspected at least 100 vehicles, including trucks and tempos, about 72 km from here yesterday.

Fourteen vehicles were challaned and an amount of Rs 1,800 was realised as spot fine from drivers for breach of traffic rules. Some two dozen drivers were warned to be careful in future and not to break any rules.

The vehicles were mostly challaned for use of pressure horn. Some pressure horns were even removed by the police from the vehicles.

No recoveries to be made

Shimla, September 11
The state government has assured that there will be no recovery from employees on account of 20 per cent interim relief already paid following pay revision.

An official spokesperson said the government had already issued orders that no reduction in the total emoluments being drawn by employees would be effected in this month’s salary. — TNS

Memo submitted
Tribune News Service

Hamirpur, September 11
The Hamirpur Consumer Protection Organisation today submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal through DC Hamirpur against the delay by the IPH Department in laying sewerage pipes in the town.