Shimla, April 21
Abnormal rise in temperature in northern plains is likely to prove a boon for the fund-starved government with power prices skyrocketing suddenly, promising windfall gains to the state through sale of surplus energy through the summer.

Until March, the state was facing problems in selling its 632 MW of surplus energy as state like Punjab, Haryana and Delhi preferred to impose power cuts rather than purchasing power. The state was not able to have any long-term sale agreements due to low rates offered by these states. In fact, it had to sell power in the open market through energy exchange which was a risky proposition because of wide fluctuation in rates.

However, with the mercury shooting up sharply creating heat wave conditions akin to peak summer, the governments are under pressure to arrange more power to meet the increasing demand.

Consequently, the states which were not willing to procure power at more than Rs 4 per unit, have now agreed to pay more than Rs 6 per unit. Himachal is now finalising agreements with various governments at rates ranging from Rs 5.50 to Rs 7 per unit for summer months from May to September.

The average rate at the energy exchange has shot up to Rs 8 per unit and the peak rate has touched Rs 12 per unit.

The state has 2,607 million units (mu) of surplus power, 1,216 mu of free power as royalty and 1,391 mu on equity basis, available from various hydroelectric projects. As such, the state is set to earn a revenue of Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 1,300 crore from sale of surplus power. The sale has been staggered month-wise to ensure best possible returns.

In contrast, the state electricity board will end up exchanging inexpensive winter power with costly summer power due its ill-conceived policy of banking and contra-banking of power with Punjab and Haryana to meet the winter shortfall. The average difference between summer and winter tariff will range between Rs 2.50 and Rs 3.50 per unit, causing loss of revenue to the tune of Rs 180 crore for banking 600 mu as approved by the electricity regulatory commission. Punjab will be the main beneficiary of the arrangement.

It is intriguing that the board, which had been negotiating sale and purchase of power for the past so many years, should commit such costly folly. The creation of independent directorate of energy has indeed saved the government from such blunder. Till recently the exercise was carried out by the board on behalf of the government.

Una, April 21
Harassed due to poor condition of the Una-Amb road that is being constructed by the Chinese company, people have now decided to take legal recourse. Many residents of Una district, who have to ply daily on the damaged road, have slapped legal notice on the state government, demanding compensation for the damage caused to their vehicles.

One such litigant, Savita Prashar, is the proprietor of the Una Highways private mini bus service. While talking to The Tribune she said her transport company was running buses on five route permits on the Una-Terrace and Una-Chintpurni roads. Her buses plied daily on 20 km damaged stretch of the Una-Amb road.

She has demanded a compensation of Rs 53 lakh on account of damages to her buses and loss of business in the past two years due bad condition of the road.

Many residents, who have their houses and business establishments along the roadside, are suffering due to dust raised from the damaged roads.

The condition of the Mehatpur-Amb road is worse which has potholes as deep as 2 ft that has made driving risky, especially during night.

The construction work of the road was handed over to the Chinese company, Long Jian, last year by the state government. The company started the development work from Mehatpur and Amb side. It was given the work for developing 10 km stretches from both sides, according to sources.

As per the contract, the company, even during construction, had to maintain the existing road. However, the company failed to do so.

The Union Ministry of Labour had cancelled visas of Chinese company workers about six months back and the work came to a halt for some time. The ministry later woke up to the fact that the Chinese nationals were working in the country on business visas and they were again summoned.

During the last six months, the public works department (PWD) of the state also failed to care about maintaining the road in the absence of Chinese company officials. This led to its further deterioration.

The locals are now using the Una-Gagret road to reach Amb. Though it is a longer detour, the people prefer it to save their vehicles from damage.

Meanwhile, Una Deputy Commissioner KR Bharti said he was pressurising the authorities concerned to repair the road.

Shimla, April 21
Himachal Pradesh will get 145 MW power from various Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPP) as the Centre has agreed to release additional power of 45 MW to the hill state. Stating this here yesterday, Chief Minister PK Dhumal said a letter in this regard had been received from Union Power Minister Sharad Pawar.

“We had been raising this demand time and again to meet the additional requirement of the domestic and industrial sector,” he said.

Dhumal said the Union Power Ministry had been allocating power to various states based on their demands while Himachal had been sanctioned only 100 MW from the UMPPs.

“Though we had raised a demand for proportionate power share but have been given only 45 MW additional hitherto,” he added.

Dhumal said the state would reiterate its demand for more power once again from the upcoming UMPP’s. He added that the state had a potential to generate 20,000 MW, of which only one fourth had been harnessed so far.

Shimla, April 21
War of words between the ruling BJP and the Congress over IPL matches further intensified with two ministers coming out in defence of the government and termed the criticism of the opposition as a ploy to divert the attention of people from the success of the event.

Reacting sharply to the charges levelled by Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ravinder Singh Ravi and Rural Development Minister Jai Ram Thakur said Congress leaders had been baffled after by the successful holding of the IPL matches at Dharamsala, which put the state on international sports map. It seemed that the Congress leaders could not compromise with the popularity that Dharamsala earned due to the event. The statement of Kaul Singh also reflected his anti-Kangra attitude.

Referring to the demand for white paper on utilisation of funds released for development of Dharamsala, the ministers said the amount of Rs 3 crore was provided on the request of the Kangra Deputy Commissioner out of which Rs 1.5 crore was released for the improvement of roads, Rs 50 lakh for improvement of drinking water supply, Rs 25 lakh for strengthening electricity supply and distribution system in the town and Rs 75 lakh for the renovation of parks, street lights and beautification of the town. There was no special favour granted as other districts had also been given funds from time to time.

They also cautioned Kaul Singh from levelling allegations about land transactions and urged him to come out with specific cases if he had some proof. The government would not hesitate to order an inquiry. However, making allegations for getting political mileage was neither desirable nor appropriate as it spread misinformation among the masses.

Referring to the use of government helicopter, they said the government informed the Himachal Pradesh cricket Association in advance about the charges, which were 25 per cent more than the official rate. Moreover, there was nothing wrong in giving the helicopter as the government had been giving it to tourists too on nominal charges.

Solan, April 21
Clarifying its stand on the lack of affiliation granted to its four batches of the BHMS admitted at Solan Homeopathy Medical College and Hospital from 2001 to 2005, its chairperson Yoshita Bakshi said the UGC had granted one-time approval to JRN Rajasthan Vidyapeeth keeping in view the future of hundreds of students.

However, there was no copy of affiliation available with the college and it was interesting to note that the UGC, in an RTI information, had clearly mentioned that no deemed university could grant affiliation to a college. It had also denied having given any permission to JRN Rajasthan Vidyapeeth to run any off-campus centre on the premises of Solan Homeopathic Medical College.

This has contradicted the UGC’s own stand where, as per its letter dated June 3, 2006, it had granted a one-time ex-post-facto approval to JRN Rajasthan Vidyapeeth to run its various courses between June 2001, and August 2006, keeping in view the fate of students.

It was, however, interesting to note that the UGC had granted this approval for various courses run under the distant education mode of the said university.

The contradictory information emerging from the UGC had misled the gullible students. Bakshi clarified that their students had been placed in the Haryana government under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) as well as in MD courses and this spoke volumes about the authenticity of their degree course.

The college authorities, however, admitted that they continued to run simultaneous batches of the BHMS through JRN Rajasthan Vidyapeeth as well as those affiliated to Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) on the same premises though they added that they had duly informed the HPU about this.

Copies of the NOC from the directorate of Ayurveda were produced by the college though the Principal Secretary, ayurveda, in an RTI information, had denied having given such any permission to run the college. The contradiction emerging in the information furnished by the RTI as well as the college had created misgivings in the students.

Hamirpur, April 21
The issue of filling of regular employment bond by the state government for JBT trainees for 2008-10 batch again came to the fore with trainees holding a statewide protest today.

More than 1,500 JBT trainees, studying in various private and government institutions, today held a protest, demanding regular employment bonds from the state government.

Hundreds of them marched here to the DC office with their mouths covered with black bands. Later, they also submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister PK Dhumal, urging him to fulfil their demands.

According to sources, “Candidates for JBT training are selected according to vacancies available in the education department and it had been the practice to fill regular employment bonds. While the state government has clarified the policy for 2009-11 batch, no clarification has been made about the trainees of 2008-10 batch.”

Meanwhile, the state government has already clarified that from now onwards, no bonds for regular employment would be filled since the policy for all recruitments had changed a few years back.

Shrikant Baldi, Principal Secretary, education, said, “Earlier, JBT trainees were selected and given training through government-run district institutes as per vacancies available with the education department. However, now JBT training is being given by many private institutes to more candidates than the vacancies available. Moreover, the state government has now changed recruitment policy for all posts and recruitments are made on contract basis only.”

There is no issue of regular service bond for JBT trainees. However, they would be absorbed as per new policy and vacancies available in the education department, he added.

Dharamsala: JBT students on Wednesday held a rally through Dharamsala town to protest against the government policy to deny them the right to permanent job after completion of training.

The JBT students wearing black batches raised slogans against the state government. They also submitted a memorandum of their demands to the deputy commissioner later.

While talking to The Tribune, the JBT students alleged that prior to their batch the government had a policy of entering into a permanent job bond with all JBT trainees. According to the bond, all students completing the JBT training were given permanent jobs in government schools.

However, the present government was recruiting the JBT trained students on contract against the policy prevailing earlier. This had equated the trained JBT teachers at par with the back-door entry teachers like PATs or vidhya upasaks.

They threatened to intensify their agitation in case the government did not heed to their demands.

MANDI: The JBT students on Wednesday staged a silent protest march covering their mouths by a piece of black cloth in the town and submitted a memorandum of their demands to the DC.

According to their spokesperson, the JBT students have been demanding that the government must give them the bond for appointment on regular basis. They should be appointed at one go after their training completes this year.

Solan, April 21
With the state government levying 7 per cent entry tax on furnace oil, investors have raised a hue and cry as it has substantially added to the input cost. The measure has been introduced by the state government in a bid to generate revenue.

The introduction of this tax has specially hit engineering product manufacturers, textile units and other investors which use furnace oil-based generation sets. Though the measure was supposed to encourage purchase of oil from Himachal, apart from limited availability of oil at Parwanoo depot, no other depot sold this oil.

Senior vice-president of a leading textile unit at Baddi rued that the state government should have first opened depots in industrial areas and then introduced this tax as they were forced to purchase it from Ambala and Panipat oil depots.

With 2 per cent CST already being paid, the amount of tax on furnace oil had become a whopping 9 per cent which had now hit the bottom line.

He added that since the power situation was becoming dicey with weather adversities or snag in the northern grid becoming a routine affair, they were forced to run generator sets. Moreover, it was unavoidable during the peak load hours and this would add substantially to the cost of power generation which would go up by several lakhs per month, he said. Further, with a proposed hike in the power tariff, the situation was bound to become worse.

Another investor, running a varnish unit, opined that their input cost had increased substantially after introduction of this tax and they were contemplating using wood-based fuel though that option would add to environmental degradation.

Several other units, including steel rolling mills and manufacturers of iron bars, would also bear the brunt of this tax.

Prem Sharma, director, marketing, Dev Bhumi Ispat, said since furnace oil was a key ingredient, this tax would increase the rate of iron by Rs 400 to Rs 500 per tonne. This would indirectly burden the common man who would bear the increased cost.Similarly, rubber units, which also used this oil, was bound to suffer. “Since they have to compete with the rate of rubber, it was not feasible to hike the price,” opined Anil Sharma, HR manager, Indag Rubber near Nalagarh.

Mandi, April 21
The ash clouds from a volcano in Iceland that hit air traffic worldwide has also hit the movement of foreigners, mainly Europe, from and into Himachal Pradesh. Tourists whose visas expired have sought extension and fresh stream of foreigners postponed their visits.

The flow of foreigners has been hit in the state due to cancellation of thousands of flights in Europe, said travel agents. Even foreigners from Israel and Europe in Manali whose visas have expired have sought extension as their flights have been cancelled, they informed. President of the travel agents’ association Anil Sharma said the flow of foreigners had started decreasing in April by 10 per cent or so due to large-scale cancellation of flights in Europe. Even the spells of rain in the state that has sent mercury down in the plains has impacted on tourist arrivals from the plans, he added.

The travel agents and hoteliers said the European tourists now constitute about 60 per cent of foreigners from the UK, Germany, Holland, France and Austria visiting Himachal. Israelis alone constitutes about 40 per cent of foreigners, who mainly visit Kullu-Manali, Kasol and Dharamkot with main the attraction of hiking and hash, they added.

On the other hand, tourism officials said last year over 4 lakh foreigners visited the state and about 3.77 lakh visited the state in 2008. “We do not have the figure from travel agents and hoteliers for April this year to ascertain the after effects of volcanic eruptions from Iceland”. Tourism here is now round the year activity and flow of foreigners is at peak from April to September, they added.

Shimla, April 21
A seminar on the "Right to Information in strengthening the democracy-role of public relations" was organised here today by the Shimla chapter of the Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) to mark the National Public Relations Day here today.

Presiding over the seminar State Information Commissioner S.S Parmar said the RTI Act had provided powerful tool to the common man to access the functioning of the government and make various public institutions accountable for any lapses. It was easily the most important Act enacted since independence to empower the people and a big step towards ensuring transparency and functioning of the government, thereby strengthening the democracy.

The new law had enabled the people to actively participate in the process of governance and prior to its enactment the functioning of the government was wrapped in secrecy and people were not aware of reasons behind the procedural delays. But now the Act has provided them an effective weapon to access the functioning of the government and any other public authority and the Official Secrets Act had been overridden to a great extent.

Parmar said penal provisions had been incorporated in the RTI Act to ensure that authorities did not delay or deny information. He emphasised the need for creating awareness at grassroots level about the provisions of the Act, which had so far remained confined to the urban areas only and the media had a bid role to play in this regard. He lauded the efforts of the PRSI, Shimla chapter, for organising the seminar to enlighten people about the Act.

Former law secretary J.N Barowalia in his keynote address highlighted the role of the Act in bringing transparency in the functioning of the government and curtailing corruption. The Act provided a citizen the right for inspection of work, documents and records where public authority and public money was involved.

Palampur, April 21
With the onset of summer, scarcity of drinking water is taking a serious turn in many parts of the region. Over 12 villages in the Panchrukhi area are facing acute shortage of drinking water and residents are left with no alternative except to consume contaminated water from nearby streams and ponds. In many villages residents are even hiring a water tanker for Rs 500.

Inquiries revealed that because of mismanagement on part of the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department situation had moved from bad to worse. The Harot drinking water supply scheme had failed to meet the requirements of the people. Six villages around Jaisinghpur, including Lahar, Ropri, Sandroa Thappal and Katocha, which falls in the tail end of the water supply scheme were the worst hit.

Villagers of the Ropri area said today that they received drinking water just once in a day and that too for half-an-hour. They said the state government had announced to augment the water supply scheme two years ago, but no steps had been initiated so far, causing inconvenience to residents of the area.

They said there was none to listen to their complaints in this regard. This is just the beginning of summer, what will happen in May and June, they rued.

Long queues of men, women and children can be seen daily along with pots and buckets in front of public taps and other natural water sources. In many areas people keep on waiting for drinking water but are disappointed when water did not reach the tail end villages.

This correspondent tried to contact the executive engineer and assistant engineer responsible for ensuring drinking water to the people in the area, but both were not available for comments.

The executive engineer was away to Dharamsala and assistant engineer at Panchrukhi was not in his office.

Chamba, April 21
High peaks of Chamba district, including Bharmour and Pangi tribal mountain ranges, received a fresh spell of snowfall today. Heavy widespread rain accompanied by thunderstorm and lightning lashed the entire district, which gave relief to farmers and orchardists of the region, according to official reports reaching here.

The interior roads in Nayagran and Satrundi belts remained blocked at certain points due to landslips resulting in disruption of vehicular traffic.

However, officials were on the job to resume the traffic on these roads by evening, the reports added.