Shimla, September 25
Independent power producers (IPPs), whose projects are nearing completion in the interior Chamba district, are worried over the evacuation of power as the state electricity board has failed to put in place the required transmission network.

About a dozen projects are fast nearing completion in Bharmour and Tisa areas and three of them will be commissioned over the next six to eight months.

The entire power generated from these projects has to be wheeled out through the Bathri substation (132/33 kv) but it has already exhausted its capacity of 32 MVA.

It is evacuating power from Tarela-I, Tarela-II and upper Tarela, each of 5 MW, 1 MW Manjhin, 3 MW Holi, 2 MW Sal, 5 MW Sahu and 1 MW Bhuri Singh projects.

The board plans to build a 220/132/33 kv substation at Karian but work has not started on it so far.

Even if the work starts immediately, it will take a minimum of 30 months to construct the substation.

In the meantime, projects with aggregate generation capacity of over 60 MW will be completed for which there will be no system for evacuation of power.

The immediate problem will be for 5 MW Tarela-III, 5 MW Chirchind and 12 MW Joiner project which will be commissioned over the next six to eight months.

Other projects likely to be completed over the next two years include 5 MW Balsio, 5 MW Duneli and 5 MW Bilij.

Since the local demand for power is minimal, the entire power has to be evacuated for distribution in other parts of the state and even outside.

Engineers point out that the only way out is to upgrade the capacity existing substation of Bathri substation.

The two 16 MVA 132/33 kv transformers should be replaced with 32 MVA capacity transformers to double the capacity.

Since capacity upgradation can be carried in about six months, the required transmission system will be in place by the time the projects are commissioned.

Simultaneously, work on the Karian susbstation should be started immediately and the project be completed on a war footing.

The foundation stone of the project was laid about a year ago but work has not commenced so far.

Shimla, September 25
All specialised investigations dealing with narcotics, cyber crime, human trafficking and other important inter-state issues will now be handled adeptly as the first police station of the CID wing of the police has started functioning.

Though the notification for setting up of the police station in the state was issued in August, it is from today that it started functioning formally.

It will basically deal with cases relating to cultivation and trafficking of narcotics, which has become a major problem in certain parts of the state, including Kullu, Mandi and parts of Chamba.

Even though the CID wing was already handling such cases, with the setting up of its own police station, it will be in a better position to handle important cases in a time-bound manner.

To begin with, the CID police station has 20 personnel, but there is a proposal to increase the strength later on to expedite investigations.

The government proposes to post police officials and personnel who have undergone specialised training to deal with cyber crimes, human trafficking, fake currency racket and other such areas to ensure a better conviction rate.

It is felt that a major reason for the low conviction rate in all such cases is the absence of knowledge amongst the investigating officials about the laws and latest advancements in specialised fields like cyber, narcotics and human trafficking.

The CID is also keen to specifically investigate cases of women from interior parts of Sirmaur and Shimla districts going missing amid speculation that they have been sold to people in parts of Haryana and Punjab.

Besides important cases, this police station will deal with all inter-state and inter-district cases.

In fact, the first case registered today in this police station was that of seizure of Rs 36,000 fake currency in Kullu district in which three persons have been arrested.

Shimla, September 25
The Himachal circle of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) will provide Wire Line broadband connectivity in rural and remote areas at reasonable tariff.

A spokesperson of the BSNL said Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) of the telecom department had entered into an agreement with it to provide broadband connectivity to about 28,000 existing rural wire line exchanges under the subsidy support plan.

He said from each exchange, a maximum of 32 connections, 25 individuals, six government and one kiosk, would be subsidised by the USOF in the state.

The BSNL would offer two special USO tariff plans of Rs 99 and Rs 150 per month throughout the validity period of the agreement of eight years.

In addition, it would provide other tariff packages, a subsidy up to Rs 850 for both individual and government connections, for the first 31 connections. Computer subsidy to the tune of Rs 4,500 would also be provided for these 31 connections.

The BSNL would not charge higher tariffs as per the TRAI regulations. It would also provide rebate if the broadband connections remains faulty beyond the permissible TRAI guidelines.

Dharamsala, September 25
Farmers of Chota Bhangal, the declared backward area of Kangra district, dumped their vegetable produce outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner here today.

The farmers were protesting against the alleged apathy of the agriculture department and the government towards their plight.

They travelled more than 80 km from remote areas to the district headquarters this morning. The farmers alleged that a heavy hailstorm hit their area on September 4. This destroyed their vegetable crop.

“We informed the district agriculture authorities about the damage. However, no official has visited the area till date. We have been forced to dump our decaying vegetables before the office of the DC,” they alleged

The farmers submitted a memorandum of their demands to Kangra ADM. The Deputy Commissioner was not available and the ADM did not comment on the matter.

In the memorandum, the farmers have demanded compensation for the loss of their crop and free seeds and fertilisers for the next cropping season.

They also demanded that a vegetable market should be brought up in the area as it was difficult for them to carry their produce to far-flung areas for sale.

Chota Bhangal is one of the remotest areas of Kangra district and farmers of the area are heavy dependent on their vegetable produce for income.

Earlier, they used to depend on the forest in their area for daily needs. However, the forest area in their vicinity has now been declared as a wildlife sanctuary.

Residents of the area boycotted the last Lok Sabha elections against the move to include their forests into wild life sanctuary.

Damage of their crop came as a heavy blow to them. The only other source of income for the farmers of the area is trout-fish farming. They have developed small trout fish farms in the area.

However, this year they suffered losses even in this field. Due to recession, the demand of trout fish, that was earlier sold at about Rs 400 per kg in Delhi, dried up. 

Bilaspur, September 25
In quiz, the team of DAV School, Bilaspur, represented by Ashish Sharma, Shreya and Abhishek, was declared first in the first competition of the Regional Youth Festival of DAV schools comprising Bilaspur, Mandi, Hamirpur and Kullu districts.

The team of DAV School, Mandi, represented by Tuquant Rana, Tushar Singh and Vatsala Sharma was declared second.

Earlier, inaugurating the festival, SP Kuldip Sharma exhorted students to take interest in their surroundings and to oppose social evils and bad practices in society.

Principal K. Parthipan gave details of the school’s activities and said eight DAV schools, including Sundernagar, Mandi, Manali, Nadaun, Hamirpur, Barmana and Bilaspur, were participating in the meet.

Kullu, September 25
A tourist from Chennai was killed in an accident when the raft in which she was adventuring with six others tilted in the Beas opposite Bhuntar airport today.

The victim was identified as Prema, wife of Mohan Krishna of Chennai. However, the raft guides saved the six other occupants.

The body has been handed over to the relatives after a post-mortem examination. The cause of the death had not been ascertained. A case under Sections 336-304A has been registered.