Solan, January 2
With the Northern grid suffering a major collapse due to cascading tripping of 400 KV lines in the fog, the state was plunged into darkness for some time in the wee hours today. The collapse which occurred around 3.01 am today could be restored by 11.40 am.

Sources said the sudden collapse led to complete darkness for about eight hours in the industrial area of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh. However, partial load of about 50 MW was available after five hours. About 10 MW was made available initially in the Nalagarh area as against the usual requirement of about 55 to 60 MW.

The industrial area of Kala-Amb (132 KVA), however, was spared as its power supply emanates from the 220-KV Khodri Majri line.

Sunil Grover, director, Power Regulator, said since the power supply for restoration was available solely from Giri this power was extended to Kunihar and Kango-Hamirpur and Bhaba, Larji and Bassi, Malana and Shanan (PSEB).

As an immediate measure, the power houses were immediately put on hold. The state load dispatch centre, however, managed to restore complete load to Shimla, partial load to Paonta, Giri, Hamirpur, Kullu (Bajura) at about 4.45 am. Further, the SLDC managed to restore power supply from Abdullapur through Panchkula and integrated it at Kunihar after consulting the northern region load dispatch centre.

From Hamirpur, the supply was extended to Jalandhar on the 220-kV Hamirpur-Jalandhar line and after getting power from Jalandhar, it was extended to Jassore and then to Baira Siul (NHPC HEP), Pong(BBMB HEP) and Thein Dam (Punjab). These power houses were integrated with the HP system at about 9 am and the entire supply to Dehra, Amb and Una was restored at 9.30 am.

Thereafter, 30-MW load to Barotiowala, 10-MW load to Barotiwala and 70-MW load to Baddi was made available at 5.30 am as against the actual load of about 250 MW. However, on the direction of NRLDC, to off load Abdulapur-Tepla-Panchkula line, Baddi was initially restricted to 10 MW, which was barely 5 per cent of its requirement. The Baddi industrial area alone uses nearly 130 MW power.

The SLDC managed to restore the complete supply by 11.40 am following which the industrial area of BBN, Kala Amb and Poanta Sahib heaved a sigh of relief as the load restrictions were lifted.

Shimla, January 2
Having received relief from the Supreme Court (SC) with regard to felling and removing of trees, the Tree Authority Committee (TAC) constituted by the state government to examine each case individually has finally started disposing of cases, much to the relief of the public.

A total of 173 cases were placed before the Cabinet today for removal of fallen trees and to allow lopping on the request of people in the state capital. Though the number of applicants whose cases were taken up was 173 but the number of trees involved was higher as the number of fallen trees was 133 and those seeking lopping permission involved 113 trees.

“However the request for removal of 74 standing dry trees was not placed before the Cabinet as fresh inspection will be undertaken by TAC before the permission of the Cabinet is sought once again,” said sources. All these cases had been examined by TAC at its meeting held on August 12, 2009.

In fact, the blanket ban imposed by the High Court on felling of trees had resulted in even the dry trees not being removed. In a few cases these trees fell on adjacent houses and caused extensive damage. “The SC gave us relief as now felling can be undertaken though strictly as per the by-laws and with due permission,” said officials.

Sources said even while permitting lopping, TAC would be very stringent. “Though TAC is flooded with requests to allow lopping on the plea that the tree was posing a threat to their house but the genuineness of the plea would have to be gauged as in most cases it is a ploy to ultimately get rid of the tree by damaging it,” said forest officials.

It was because of the ban on felling of trees, dry or green that TAC had been virtually lying redundant. The relief given by the SC has come as a major breather to the forest officials as now they can with the permission of the TAC at least remove dry trees in case they were posing a threat to life or property.

The government has taken several steps, including the launching of the Deodar Plantation campaign in Shimla. Endeavour is to save each and every tree, especially the majestic deodar, as most of the trees belonging to this species have outlived their lives and as such are drying up and developing flat tops.

Stringent regulations with regard to tree felling would now hopefully help preserve the depleting forest cover, mainly on account of unregulated construction activity.

Shimla, January 2
The Congress has decided to bring to the notice of the Union Home minister, P. Chidambaram, the political vendetta being unleashed by the Dhumal regime to implicate his political opponents in false cases.

Agitated over the statements of DGP (Vigilance), D.S. Manhas that Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh could even be arrested in the CD case if need be, 15 Congress legislators and some former ministers today said the IPS officer was behaving like a political agent of Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal.

“The Congress will not take this lying down and we will soon bring it to the notice of the Union Home Minister and provide him with details of all such false cases registered against Congress leaders,” they said in a press statement here today. They said the statements made by Manhas here yesterday crossed all limits of decency and dignity which would not be tolerated by Congress men in the state.

They alleged that the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau had been reduced to a weapon in the hands of the chief minister to get back at his political rivals. “The CD case is still pending in court and statements made by Manhas amount to contempt of court and as such the Chief Minister must direct him to desist from such propaganda,” they said.

They alleged that by issuing statements against Virbhadra Singh, Dhumal and the Vigilance Bureau were trying to create fear among the people, especially Congress workers. “Dhumal must direct Manhas to desist from these kind of statements or else the government will be held responsible for vitiating the political atmosphere in the state,” they warned.

Shimla, January 2
Even as the days are nice and balmy in sharp contrast to the cold and dreary fog-filled mornings in the plains, the near absence of snow in the “Queen of Hills” and the adjoining areas in the past few years is proving to be a cause of concern for all.

Though other hill stations like Manali, Dalhousie and even Dharamsala have had good snow, the snow in the state capital has been on a continuous decline, giving anxious moments not just to the tourism industry but more so to environmentalists. This year too hopes of a White Christmas or New Year were dashed as there was bright sunshine all along.

What is even more baffling is the fact that though the temperatures have been low, in fact, the lowest this December in the past 15 years but with little hope of snow even in the near future. “Though it has been much more cold this year but the fact that it was so dry resulted in no rain or snow, due to the absence of strong western disturbances (WD),” say official of the local Meteorological Centre.

In fact, the minimum temperature in the town was today recorded at 6.6 degrees Celsius which is 5 degrees higher than normal at this time of the year. Similarly, the departure in case of maximum temperature is almost 8 degrees with the maximum today touching 17.2 degrees Celsius.

The nearby tourist destination of Kufri once famous for its ski-slopes too has had very little slope. It was almost a fortnight back that there was a light snowfall which had disappeared by the time the sun was out. Last year too there was much more reduced snow both in Shimla as well as Kufri.

With the fog-filled mornings setting in the plains the bright and warm sun in the hills is certainly very welcome, especially by those who come here from the plains. “Contrary to my expectation Shimla is nice and bright compared to Delhi where it is so dull and rather gloomy on account of fog,” says Anand Gupta who was here to celebrate New Year with his family.

In fact, hopes of snow in the near future have been further dimmed with the temperatures rising after the Christmas. This can spell doom not just for the farmers but can cause acute drinking water scarcity in the summers.

Hamirpur, January 2
Several projects are starting in this district in the New Year which would enhance the prestige of the district besides bringing here prosperity and new beginnings.

The first in this context Dhola Sidh hydel power project, which would not only be the first such project in this district but also in the region would be beginning this year.

This project which had been hanging fire for the several decades is now at the final stage of evaluation, and work on this project would be beginning this year.

The Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam, the agency commissioning this project, had already enhanced its proposed power generation capacity from 40 MW to 60 MW.

This project had also become a matter of political debate between the BJP government and previous Congress government as former had been accusing the latter for ignoring the project for many decades due to political reasons.

However, this project being raised on the Beas near Nadaun would definitely add a feather in the cap of this district.

The second project which would be commissioning this year is the Indian Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) being set up at Salasi. The government had marked one-year period to complete the construction work. With large portion of building work already completed, this institute would start functioning in the New Year.

Students from throughout the country would be coming here to pursue their courses related to hospitality and tourism industry and this is going to be second such institute besides NIT.

A technical university, which would be affiliating university for all technical institutes and such other institutions would start functioning in the New Year here.

Dharamsala, January 2
Weeds are fast taking over forest lands, grasslands and open areas in the state. In Himachal, just about 11 percent land is under agriculture, the rest is under forest areas or grasslands. The open areas that are not put under agriculture have provided ideal conditions for invading weeds to flourish in the state.

The increasing weed infestation in the state is posing threat to the health of humans and animals.

Dr NN Angiras, senior agronomist (weed science) at Palampur Agriculture University, said parthenium (congress grass), lantana (panchphuli), ageratum (neela phulnu), chromolaena (kali basuti) and bidens (laamb ghass) were the major foreign weeds that have spread to such an extent in the state that they were posing threat to life of humans. Scientists of Indian Institute of Himalayan Bio-resource Technology (IHBT) have recorded the presence of another South American weed ‘synedrella vialis’ in the state. Its effect on local environment and ecology was yet to be studied.

According to the conservative estimates, the weeds have spread in 14 lakh hectares in Himachal. They have invaded forest lands, orchards, pastures and grasslands in all districts expect the cold desert areas of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts. The parthenium weed is causing health hazards like bronchitis, dermatitis, fever and vomiting in human beings.

According to a survey conducted by scientists of Palampur Agriculture University, 20 per cent inhabitants of the state were found to be suffering from allergic effects due to weeds. Even in animal’s ill effects of weeds as hair loss, weight loss and damage to liver has been reported.

In grasslands invasion by weeds has reduced productivity by 90 per cent in many cases. The over exploitation of grasslands has allowed the weeds to dominate over local grass varieties. The infestation of weeds in the state has increased to such an extent that scientists are feeling that it is posing threat to plant bio-diversity and medical plant wealth of the state.

The scientists of the agriculture university have developed technologies to revive grasslands and control the growth of weeds in the state. The technologies include releasing of Mexican beetle (zygograma beetle) to control the growth of parthenium weed. Beetle just feeds on parthenium weed and is very effective in controlling its growth. In some places the scientists have illustrated that in isolated patches that use of beetle along with management with herbicides and public participation has helped in revival of grasslands.

They have also developed a technology to produce fertiliser from parthenium. However, the technologies developed by scientists have remained limited to the university campus. The government, agriculture or forest departments have not taken any endeavour to use the technologies for controlling the growth of weeds in the state.

The experts on the issue are of the view that in consultation with the agriculture university the government can use the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) to tackle the weed problem. The rural people can be employed under NREGS to revive the grasslands that have been taken by weeds.

The local government, including municipal councils and corporations, are also spending fixed amounts annually to cut weeds along roadsides. The budget should instead to be used for finding permanent solution to the weed problem.

Mandi, January 2
Apart from the blind murder at Malwan village in Sarkaghat, the first day of 2010 began with seizure of 8 kg of contraband hashish and illicit liquor pumped in towns by liquor and charas mafias to make a kill out of the trade.

The police seized 25 litres of illicit liquor and 25 kg of local brew called Lahan putting five charas smugglers and five liquor peddlers, most of them local, behind the bar in as many as eight different cases in the district yesterday.

According to the police, Dharamvir, resident of Jharodakalan, CRPF training centre, New Delhi. He was coming from Dalsani bridge towards Panarsa when the police patrol, under Srestha Thakur, SHO, Aut, recovered 1 kg charas from him. He was arrested under the NDPS Act.

A police team, under ASI Gurdyal Singh, police station Aut, today arrested Naveen Kumar of Jandhrukalan, Sarkaghat, at Silhi Larji on the highway today under the NDPS Act after recovering 2 kg charas from him.

A police team, under Amarnath, today nabbed Gulshan Kumar of Viswan Jatwar Muhalla, Bhadurgarh, Jhajhar district, Haryana, after recovering 1.8 kg of charas from him. He was on his way from Kulu side to Mandi.

In the fourth hashish seizure, the police patrol at Silhi Larji in Sundernagar yesterday arrested Somnath of Balmiki Basti, Patiala, and Narender Pal after recovering 3.2 kg charas from his possession. Moktyar Singh of Banda Mohala, Punjab was also arrested.

Apart from the drug seizure, the local liquor peddlers were on the run catering the local illicit brands and lahan to new year revellers in the district. The police arrested seven persons, most of them poor who eke out a living from the illicit local brew. The police seized 25 litres of illicit liquor and 25 kg of lahan yesterday booking seven cases under the Excise Act.

Kangra, January 2
Dr Rajan Sushant, Lok Sabha member from the Kangra parliamentary constituency, today expressed shock over misuse of funds under the NREGA scheme and warned government officials and panchayat pradhans involved in the illegal practice.

Dr Sushant, chairman of the Monitoring and Vigilance cell of the NREGA, addressing a workshop here said action would be taken against the government officials involved in the nexus. He said Rs 40 lakh were spent under the NREGA in each panchayat of the district this year but when assessed it looked far from the fact.

He said if the money had been spent on the development of the panchayat, the picture of the villages would have been different. He asked the government officers to change their attitude and share the responsibilities in the larger public interest.

He described the making of the ‘job cards’ under the NREGA as illogical and added that out of 14,387 job cards, only 7408 persons got jobs under the 
NREGA scheme. 

Bilaspur, January 2
The district unit of the Himachal Pradesh State Pensioners Welfare Association has urged Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to look into long-pending demands of more than one lakh pensioners of the state who are getting meager pension and are financially hard pressed due to the ever- rising prices of essential commodities and are finding it very difficult to make both ends meet.

Association’s general secretary Jagdish Dinesh said here today that the largely-attended meeting of the district association presided by its president Rama Nand Sharma at Jhabola-Talai, about 90 km from here, yesterday adopted resolutions that they should be provided all financial benefits on the Punjab pattern and be given pension increase of 5 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, on attaining the age of 65 and 75 years. Also medical allowance be enhanced to Rs 500 per month while they should be provided the facility of visiting popular pilgrim centres after every two years and be given one- month pension extra for the same.

The meeting also sought that all medical reimbursement be ordered to be cleared before March 31 in every department as this is posing great difficulties to them. Another resolution requested all drawing and disbursing officers to ensure that the work of revised salaries of all those employees of their department who have retired after January 1, 2006, is completed immediately under the latest Punjab pay scales given by the government so that they can get their revised pension on this revised salary at the earliest.

The meeting honoured 98-year-old pensioner Sohan Lal Sharma and presented him a shawl, a cap and a citation.