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Mercury soars, yet a few forest fires
Rain, hail cool Shimla, damage apple crop
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BBMB engineer incurs ministers’ wrath
Hurricane damages property
Fresh snow disrupts traffic at Rohtang
HC stays orders of pollution board
Special offer for Himachali students
Power producers face villagers’ opposition
Man dies of snake bite
Quake rocks Kangra valley
Film fest to be an annual event: CM
Statutory body to monitor educational institutions
Rs 5 crore for indoor stadium
CM for cheaper drugs for common man
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Mercury soars, yet a few forest fires
Shimla, May 28 All these districts have vast areas under pine trees and dry pine needles are most inflammable. But the saving grace is that most of these fires were ground fires, which means that the flames did not damage the crown of the trees. Even though fires begin from April 15, it is mostly in May and June that there is more damage. Last year, a total of 1,906 fires broke out — the highest till date - resulting in losses of Rs 2.55 crore. This year, more damage was caused in April due to a long dry spell — there were 456 fires. Only 243 fires broke out in May and as the monsoon approaches, the damage could be far less than last year. “It may be a little premature to come to this conclusion, but the incidence of forest fires this year has been far less probably on account of better awareness levels among people due to our department,” said Avtar Singh, Chief Conservator (fire protection). He said mostly pine trees again become green after the monsoon and no permanent damage is caused to forest wealth. “We ensured controlled burning of accumulated pine needles by February. Prescribed fire lines were also clear as per the working plan,” Avtar Singh added. |
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Rain, hail cool Shimla, damage apple crop
Shimla, May 28 Though the rain will be beneficial and help prevent June dropping on account of dry conditions, the hail caused substantial damage to the crop. Growers said scattered areas in Kotgarh, Kullu and Nirmand had been hit by the hailstorm. A day after the Queen of the Hills recorded her highest day temperature in 170 years, the mercury today dipped to 28.1°C. Temperatures were still on the higher side but the hill capital experienced some relief unlike the rest of the state. The mercury may have gone down but acute water shortage continued in Shimla. Residents of localities, especially those on the outskirts, complained of erratic supply. Even though the Municipal Corporation has started rationing water — supply is provided on alternate days — there has been no water in some localities for the past three to four days. |
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BBMB engineer incurs ministers’ wrath
Mandi, May 28 The spat turned tense and the chairman asked him to leave the hall. As soon as Singla left the hall, the police took him in preventive custody at the Sadar police station. The ministers have also decided to raise the issue in the Vidhan Sabha. Earlier, when the chairman asked Singla to reply to a query on the persisting “silt problem” in Suketi khud and asked about the absence of the chief engineer at the meeting, Singla said there was no need for him to respond to the query as his executive engineer was already doing the job. At this members and others present got infuriated. He was asked to leave the hall. Meanwhile, Jai Ram Thakur told The Tribune that BBMB officials broke protocol and misbehaved at the meeting chaired by the IPH Minister in which Mandi DC, chairman of the Mandi Zila Parishad and all BJP MLAs were present. NK Gupta, irrigation member, BBMB, said it was shocking that the engineer was arrested. “The chairman or the DC should have informed and we would have acted against him,” he said. |
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Hurricane damages property
Chamba, May 28 The reports revealed that a big tree was uprooted alongside the residential building of the DC. Moreover, several tin roofs of private and government buildings were blown off during the storm. The hurricane also caused damages to the electricity supply network at many points, hitting transmission lines in the district. The entire region was lashed by heavy rain which otherwise proved beneficial as it helped douse forest fires at many places. The power supply which remained disrupted due to fierce squall in the region was restored this afternoon, the reports revealed. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar directed district officials to compile the losses caused due to the hurricane and widespread rain and hailstorm in the district. NURPUR: Strong winds, which lashed the area on Thursday night, played havoc with mango crop which dashed the hopes of farmers and fruit growers in lower Kangra district. The growers were expecting bumper crop this year. Moreover, mango traders, who had paid money in advance to the growers for lifting their fruit crops, also received a major financial setback in the wake of unripe fruit loss due to strong winds. About 70 per cent tentative fruit loss has been estimated by growers. Bajinder Singh, officiating block horticulture officer, said after undertaking survey of mango fruit loss, report would
be submitted to the deputy director of the department. |
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Fresh snow disrupts traffic at Rohtang
Manali, May 28 Following the fresh spell of snow, vehicular traffic was disrupted between Marhi and Gramphu but the 13,050-ft high pass was opened for light vehicles in the afternoon. By evening, all stranded light vehicles crossed over the Rohtang Pass from Gramphu and Marhi side. Hundreds of tourists rushed to Marhi and Rahni Nallah for a glimpse of the snow but vehicles were stopped at Marhi, about 35 km from here on the Manali- Leh highway as a precautionary measure. According to Himachal Pradesh Transport Corporation (HRTC), all buses plying to Lahaul valley from here had to cut their journey midway. The entire reaches of the Kullu valley and Beas Kund had fresh snowfall. |
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HC stays orders of pollution board
Shimla, May 28 This interim order was passed by a division bench of Justices RB Mishra and VK Ahuja, who directed the management to stop discharge of sewage effluent, failing which power supply to the resort would be disconnected by May 31. They also issued notice to the board and directed it to file reply in four weeks’ time. Petitioner Mashobra Resorts pleaded that its sewerage treatment plant was equipped with the latest technology. |
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Special offer for Himachali students
Shimla, May 28 Executive vice-chairman S. Manjit Singh said that for B.Tech and MBA courses, a student with over 90 per cent marks in the qualifying will be given 100 per cent fee concession in the first semester. The concession would be Rs 15,000 for a score of 85 per cent, Rs 10,000 for over 75 per cent and Rs 5,000 for over 65 per cent. In case of diploma courses the fee concession would be 100 per cent, 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 10 per cent for marks in excess of 90 per cent , 85 per cent, 75 per cent and 65 per cent, respectively. — TNS |
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Power producers face villagers’ opposition
Shimla, May 28 The project was almost ready for a trial run and testing of water conducting system had started by releasing water into the tunnels. However, the fate of the 174-km transmission line from Kareri to Nalagarh, needed for evacuation of power, is still uncertain due to strong opposition from the local villagers in certain stretches near Manali. They are not allowing overhead lines to pass their agriculture fields on the plea that high tension wires would affect crops. As a result, almost 30 km of line is yet be completed. Transmission woes started at the very outset when it became evident that the main system of the power grid corporation, for evacuation of power up to the pooling point at Panarsa, will not be ready by the time the project is commissioned. Since the state electricity board was not in a position to construct transmission lines, the company was forced to build its own system right up to Nalagarh. Trouble started after a major portion was completed and only the last stretch was left when the local people started objecting to overhead lines on the plea that their crops would be affected. After several rounds of talks and intervention by the local administration, the company agreed to pay Rs 10,000 per bigha for the corridor directly below the overhead lines as compensation. Ideally, the state transmission utility should have built the system as several other projects are coming up in the area. Head of the project SK Khare said the company was trying its best to sort out the matter so that the project could be commissioned at the earliest. It has become quite evident that construction of the transmission line will become more and more difficult due to opposition from people. More so, people, who allowed overhead lines to pass through over their land, got nothing and those who opposed it are getting Rs 10,000 per bigha and may be even more. This situation would not have arisen if the government had drawn up a proper plan and assigned the task in time to the state transmission corporation which has still not been made functional in the real sense. Another big project, 1,000 MW Karcham Wangtu, is also facing a similar problem as a result of which the under-construction 200 km transmission line from Karcham to Abdullapur has been delayed. |
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Man dies of snake bite
Bilaspur, May 28 According to reports, Bant Singh went to the cowshed to offer fodder to his cattle where he was bitten on his hand by a snake hidden in the fodder. He was first rushed to the local Ghwandal Community Health Centre (CHC) from where he was referred to the Anandpur Sahib hospital as the former did not have the required anti-venom injection. However, the victim breathed his last at Namella village on way to Anandpur Sahib. He is survived by his wife and a two-month-old son. Meanwhile, village elders here urged Chief Minister PK Dhumal to order an inquiry as to why the important life-saving injection was not available at the CHC as the entire district was infested with poisonous snakes. |
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Quake rocks Kangra valley
Kangra, May 28 In Kangra town people in some localities experienced tremors and left their houses for safety. There was no loss of life or property received from any part of the valley due to earthquake, said Sandeep Kumar, ADM, Kangra. Kangra valley is vulnerable to earthquakes. |
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Film fest to be an annual event: CM
Shimla, May 28 He welcomed the film personalities and urged them to visit different spots to identify scenic locations to shoot their movies in the lap of nature. The state would extend all possible help to the film industry for shooting movies in different locations, he added. Renowned film director MS Sathya urged Dhumal to set up an equipment bank in the state for the convenience of film units visiting Himachal for shooting. He also suggested that a society be set up for screening films regularly. Director Devashish Medhekar and actor Abhishek Pathak also shared their experiences with the audience. Ram Subhag Singh, Secretary, Information and Public Relations, welcomed the Chief Minister and detailed out itinerary of the film festival. Bhupender Keonthla, director, Film Festival of India, expressed gratitude towards the state government for organising the festival in Shimla. |
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Statutory body to monitor educational institutions
Solan, May 28 This was stated by Chief Minister PK Dhumal at a media interaction here today after laying the foundation stone of a Rs 4.16 crore building in the regional hospital complex. Responding to a query on blatant violation of norms by a private university near Kumarhatti where almost 200 students had been enrolled in PhD under a single guide, Dhumal said such violations would be checked by this statutory body. “With a view to promoting local drug manufacturers, it has been decided to make government purchases from companies in Himachal. This would also make available cheaper drugs,” the CM said. He said that the government had allocated Rs 72.16 crore in its first budget for the health sector in 2008-2009. In response to a query on the lapse of funds provided by the National Rural Health Mission, Dhumal said that all community health centres and sub-centres would be provided buildings wherever land was available and this would help in optimum utilisation of the budget. |
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Rs 5 crore for indoor stadium
Solan, May 28 |
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CM for cheaper drugs for common man
Dharampur, May 28 He was addressing delegates from Himachal and Uttarakhand, including those from the Confederation of Indian Pharmaceutical Industry and Himachal Drug Manufacturers’ Association on the occasion of a one-day pharmaceutical convention organised by Federation of Pharmaceutical entrepreneurs at Dharampur today. With a view to facilitating the industry, their government had opened drug licensing office in the industrial area of Baddi and Himachal was the first state to have taken this step. Earlier, while addressing delegates, Dr SM Jharwal, chairman, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), said with only 10 per cent of the population having health cover in India, it was imperative to provide drugs at reasonable rates to the common man and only 8 per cent of the drugs fell in the drug price control order. He said the NPPA effected a maximum of 10 per cent increase in the drug prices per annum and this was commensurate with the general rate of inflation. Addressing the delegates, Drug Controller General of India Dr Surinder Singh said in the current scenario it was important to stop global take over of Indian pharmaceutical companies especially in the wake of the post patent regime. He said the Indian sector had registered a modest growth of 30 per cent even in the global recessionary phase and it was expected to register a growth of 12 to 14 per cent now. With a view to facilitating the industry, six zonal offices were being opened across the country. In addition to this, dedicated airport cargo stations for medicines would be opened at international airports, he added.
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Shimla, May 28
