Shimla, May 12
The government can consider giving a one-time relief to owners of over 70,000 unauthorised constructions in the state but only by imposing a heavy penalty so that nobody dares to violate norms in future.

Over 70,000 structures have been declared unauthorised by the government for various violations in construction norms under the Town and Country Planning Act. Even as most of these illegal structures have already been provided water and power connections.

It is reliably learnt that the matter is under consideration of the government and various options are being explored to find a solution so that the cases can be settled. “The most plausible option is to regularise the violations but with a heavy penalty so that in future nobody dares to break the law,” admitted a senior official.

After arriving at a consensus on the issue by holding talks with the agencies concerned, the matter will be placed before the Cabinet.

Meanwhile, the opinion of the Law Department is also being sought as a petition has been filed in the high court on the issue and the government had said that options like retention policies and other concessions would not be given in future.

As per government figures, there were a total of 60,911 unauthorised construction in the 22 planning areas of the state till March 31, 2010. In 7,765 cases, action has been taken under Section 83-A where water and power connections have been disconnected while some structures have been compounded under Section 39-C of the Town and Country Planning Act.

The number of unauthorised constructions in the Special Planning Areas is 2,668. In these cases also, cognizance of the violations in the norms has been taken and only 280 cases are pending. Though the figure, cited by various municipalities and local bodies on the total unauthorised constructions in the state, is 3,761 but this number is far higher than this.

In Shimla, the number of such constructions was 828 out of which cases of 436 have been approved while in 382 cases a decision is still pending. Most of these cases pertain to violations where the deviation is more than the prescribed limit of 40 per cent.

Shimla, May 12
Joining hands to seek justice from the Centre, the Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh today wrote a joint letter to the Prime Minister urging him to restore incentive of excise duty exemption granted under the special industrial package to the two states to March 2013.

Giving this information at a press conference here, the two leaders, PK Dhumal and Ramesh Pokhriyal, said, “We have requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to restore the incentive which was curtailed to March 2010, affecting industrial growth in the two states.”

They alleged that the central government was discriminating against with the BJP-ruled states on political consideration as evident from the non- extension of the industrial package. The Centre had extended the industrial package to the north-eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir for 10 years in 1997 and again for 10 years till 2017. However, in the case of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the package granted in 2003 for 10 years had been tempered with to curtail the excise duty exemption to March 2010.

Dhumal said Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma had also written a letter to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister in November, 2009, to consider extending the limit for 100 per cent excise duty to the two states up to March, 2013.

Pokhriyal said the industrial package had helped his state attract an investment of Rs 30,000 crore and its non-extension would deprive 2 lakh persons of employment opportunities.

Shimla, May 12
Chief Minister PK Dhumal said promoting the Indian system of medicine like ayurveda would not only provide an effective solution to health problems of the country but also help bring prosperity to farmers by involving them in large-scale cultivation of endangered herbs and medicinal plants.

Inaugurating a two-day national seminar on indigenous integrated health policy based on Indian system of medicines, organised under the banner of Bharatiya Swasthya Chintan, here today, he said alien rulers had deliberately undermined and debunked the traditional knowledge of the country to destroy the confidence of the people on their own systems so that they could perpetuate their occupation. It was time to take steps to restore the confidence of people so that they did not suffer from any complexes and took pride in their culture and systems.

The Chief Minister said the state accounted for 7.32 per cent of the national biodiversity and higher ranges were home to a large number of rare herbs. Efforts were being on to motivate farmers to diversify to cultivation of cash crops under controlled climatic conditions in poly houses and grow herbs on a commercial scale to ensure remunerative returns. The state had varied agro-climatic conditions suitable for cultivation of a wide range of herbs. Since a large chunk of national population inhabited the rural areas, strengthening of rural economy would automatically make the country prosper as a whole.

Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal said Uttarakhand was planning to launch “Nakshatra Van Yojna” to make available nature cure for various ailments by utilising the curative powers of various trees for treating various ailments, besides making use of their leaves and bark to help people stay healthy.

He said the ancient scriptures mentioned of the curative qualities of various trees in great detail and the country must take full advantage of its traditional knowledge bank.

Senior RSS leader Suresh Joshi and Punjab Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla also spoke on the occasion.

Dharamsala, May 12
The new visa rules implemented by the Indian government has hit tourism industry in the Dharamsala area. There has been a marked decrease in number of foreign tourists visiting Dharamsala and its surrounding tourist places this year.

Dharamkot village, located 2 km uphill from McLeodganj, is known as little Israel due to a large number of Israeli tourists coming here. The writings in Hebrew on walls of guest houses and a ‘Shabad’ house in the village are an illustration of how famous the place is among tourists from Israel. However, this year very few tourists have arrived in the village despite the peak season. Raju, a local who is running an eating joint in the village, said, “I will be lucky enough if I manage to salvage my investment this year.”

He said he was also in Goa earlier and the business was good there. However, surprisingly very few tourists are turning up here this year.

Similarly, in Bhagsunag village also owners of guest houses reported sluggish business. Dinesh, a local, who owns a guest house, said most of the rooms were vacant. Very few foreign tourists have come and they are also not staying for long, he added. The owners of guest houses and hotels were hoping that the influx of domestic tourists would increase and compensate for lower turnout of international tourists.

Tour operators and many foreign tourists blamed the new visa regulations of the Indian government for low turnouts. Kerry Lawson, a tourist from Canada, said she wanted to stay in India for a longer period, however, was given a visa of just three months.

Sources said earlier backpacker tourists coming to the area had a multiple entry visa from India. Those possessing such visa could use India as a base and also visit neighbouring countries. They were allowed re-entry into India within the visa period without any paper work. However, under the new rules the tourists once moving outside cannot enter India without completing formalities.

In addition to this, any foreigner coming to India on tourist visa would now have to wait for at least two months for getting another visa extension. Earlier, the condition was applicable for only those who came here on a long-term visa of five or 10 years.

The sources said due to new visa rules the low economy foreign tourists, the lifeline of small tourism places like Dharamsala, was shifting to other south Asian countries.

Shimla, May 12
Former chief minister and MP Shanta Kumar said the two major political parties, the Congress and the BJP, would have to forge consensus over issues of national interest to put an end to blackmailing by regional parties based on caste and family considerations.

Addressing a press conference here today, the BJP leader, who is also the national vice-president of the party, said he had even held talks with leaders of some majsor national parties on this vital issue. “Having to compromise on certain issues owing to compulsions of coalition politics is very unfortunate both for the BJP as well as the Congress,” he opined.

Giving his reaction on the BJP once again joining hands with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), he said it was a political compulsion of his party to keep the Congress out of power. “Keeping in mind the emerging political scenario, major political parties having a nationalistic outlook will have to look for solutions to put an end to the blackmailing by smaller regional political parties,” he stressed.

Shanta was critical of the unabashed misuse of the CBI by the UPA regime for protecting its political interest. “This kind of devaluation of institutions of the repute of CBI is most unfortunate and public opinion has to be built at national-level to stop this disturbing trend,” he said. “It is for this reason that the BJP is submitting a memorandum and registering its protest against the misuse of the CBI,” he added.

Citing example of different yardsticks being applied by the CBI in probing communal violence in Gujarat and killing of Sikhs in 1984, he said this was the most unfortunate use of the investigating agency. “It is shocking how overnight some corrupt leaders become honest and their cases are put on the back burner while some other leaders are brought under the CBI scanner to suit the ruling party,” he regretted.

He said the Congress was responsible for rampant corruption and no efforts had been made by the UPA regime to check it. “While India is one of the 140 signatories to the UN Convention against Corruption, but even after five years the government has not ratified,” he said. He said he had even written a letter to the PM seeking reasons for not ratifying the Convention, as this would have helped India get details of the black money deposited in the Swiss bank accounts.

Kangra, May 12
A former DGP and writer OC Sharma today gave a call to valley people to save the cultural heritage of Kangra from modernisation. OC Sharma, who has written hundreds of books on Indian cultural, was addressing a press conference at his residence here.

He criticised the construction of pucca road in place of stairs so that VIPs could reach the Bajjreshwari temple gate in their vehicle. The stairs from the temple gate to church and then from church to Old Kangra road were replaced by a cemented path.

He said the ASI reconstructed the walls of the famous Kangra fort in violation of norms. He said the old heritage sites and buildings should be preserved. The ASI had no right to reconstruct, dilute or deface any culturally rich monument. He said a citizen forum would be formed to stop the reconstruction.

He said the municipal ground in this town was not the property of the municipality but was an Army camping ground and which was levelled by him with the help of 200 jawans with the permission of General A.N.Vohra in 1970.

He said this ground was meant for hockey and football but was closed for these sports and only cricket was being played and two pitches were made there which proved hurdles for hockey and football.

He demanded that locked gates of the ground should be opened. He said there should be 200 metre running track, 100 metre race track and 110 metre hurdle race track and suggested the HPCA should purchase land from private parties for constructing a small stadium for cricket somewhere else.

Shimla, May 12
Governor Urmila Singh has, on the recommendation of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, accepted the resignation of Forest Minister J.P. Nadda, who has taken over as national general secretary of the BJP with immediate effect.

A notification to this effect was issued here today. The portfolios held by him have been reallocated. The Chief Minister will look after the portfolios of Forest, Science and Technology, Parliamentary Affairs, Election and Law. — TNS

Mandi, May 12
In an order that can discourage offenders from selling adulterated food products in the town, Chief Judicial Magistrate Virender Sharma has sent Dhani Ram, who runs “Nishant Fruit and Paneer Corner” in the town, to six-month imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 1,000 after the judge held him guilty for selling adulterated milk products under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act.

The owner was fould guilty of not fulfilling the mandatory 50 per cent milk fat specification under the PFA in cheese products he was selling. The judge heard both parties and passed the order convicting Dhani Ram under the PFA. In case, he does not pay fine he will have to spend 15 days more in jail, the CJM ruled.

Food inspector of the health department, Mandi, had collected samples of cheese from his shop in 2004 and found the samples adulterated. The inspector filed a challan in the court to prosecute the owner.

The judgment comes as a relief to the residents, who have been complaining of sale of adulterated milk products. The judgment will act as a deterrence for the offenders who were playing with the health of citizens selling adulterated food products, a resident said.

Food inspector LD Thakur told The Tribune that the judgment had come as major support for the department as more than 100 such cases were still pending in the court. “We have been taking samples from shopkeepers on a regular basis to check adulteration of food products”, he asserted. 

Dalhousie, May 12
A lineman of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) fractured his right leg when he was working on an electric pole to restore the power supply in the Hunera area of Chamba district.

The power supply was disrupted due to gale during the last couple of days in different parts of the district.

According to executive engineer of HPSEB (Dalhousie) RK Thakur, as soon as lineman Gandh Ram ascended up the electric pole to restore supply he fell down as he received an electric shock, thereby fracturing his right leg. The injured lineman was forthwith rushed to the Harigiri hospital, near Kakira, where he was undergoing treatment.

An immediate relief of Rs 5,000 had been provided to the injured, executive engineer informed; adding that all expenses to be incurred on treatment of the lineman would be borne by the HPSEB.

Dharamsala, May 12
The district vigilance and anti-corruption bureau arrested a patwari on graft charges. In a press release issued here today vigilance officials told The Tribune that Ashok Kumar Walia, honorary captain (retd), from Lelehar village complained to them that patwari Anil Kumar posted at Rajiana circle was seeking bribe from him in lieu of mutation of land.

The vigilance laid a trap for the patwari. Today, the accused was caught red-handed by the vigilance officials while accepting a bribe of Rs 12000 from the complainant. The vigilance arrested the patwari and registered a case under various sections of the prevention of corruption act.

Shimla, May 12
Three persons were killed and two seriously injured when a Balero camper rolled down a khud in Gamau Nullah between Chopla and Nerwa, late last night.

The deceased have been identified as Kamlseh (27), Joginder Singh (28) and Sanju (25), who was driving the vehicle (HP-63-2482). All were residents of the nearby Khaddar village. The two seriously injured, Ramesh and Rajinder, have been admitted to the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here.