Shimla, June 3
Work on the Rs 1458 crore Rohtang Tunnel Project to link the landlocked tribal area of Lahaul with an all-weather road will finally take off on June 28.

The 8.80 km traffic tunnel will be completed by February, 2015, to help reduce the distance between Manali in Kullu and Keylong in the Lahaul velly by 48 km, leading to substantial curtailment in travelling time. The double lane tube tunnel will be 10 m wide. Union steel minister Virbhadra Singh said here today that UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi would lay the foundation stone of the project which was very important from the defence point of view.

It will provide all-weather line to the land-locked tribal areas which remain cut off during winter months as the 13,050 ft Rohtang Pass remains closed due to snow. The defence authorities propose to construct two more traffic tunnels, one on Darcha-Shinkola road in Lahaul and the other at Dhadra Dhank on the Hindustan Tibet Road.

To ensure that the highway remains open through the year, engineers of the Border Road Organisation propose to construct snow galleries at avalanche points for the first time in the country. They have identified nine avalanche points on the 24-km approach road to Dhundi portal of the Rohtang tunnel.

The new alignment from Darcha to Padam via Shinkula, along with the two tunnels, will make the 470-km Manali- Leh highway shorter by around 100 km.

Shimla, June 3
Having completed investigations in the audio CD case registered against Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau is likely to file the final report in the special court shortly.

The Vigilance Bureau informed the high court yesterday about completion of investigations in the CD case against the Congress leader under Section 173 of the CrPC.

The Deputy Secretary (Home) has informed the high court about its desire to file the final report in the special court under whose jurisdiction the CD case falls as per the compliance of the high court orders as the investigation was complete.

Along with this the government has also requested for taking up of the high profile case before the high court on June 4, so that the court could be informed about the final report and completion of investigation.

It is reliably learnt that the report from the central forensic science laboratories located at Chandigarh and Hyderabad had been received and only certain procedural formalities remained to be completed in the otherwise final report. As such the Vigilance Bureau could place the final report of the investigations shortly in the special court.

The registering of FIR against Virbhadra Singh on August 3, last year, while being a member of the Union Cabinet, had led to a furore in the state politics with the Congress crying foul about victimisation of political opponents by the BJP regime in Himachal. The case had been filed by the Vigilance Bureau in connection with an audio CD released by former Congress minister Vijai Singh Mankotia, allegedly having recorded conversation of Virbhadra Singh, his wife and some other officers in the late 80s and early 90s while he was the chief minister.

The high court had issued directives to the government on September 7, last year, to inform the court once investigations in the case were complete. It was Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh who had moved high court for quashing of the FIR and investigations in the case registered against them.

With some audio CDs containing voices of Chief Minister PK Dhumal and Director General Police DS Manhas also being under investigation, there is talk of a CD culture in the hill state. In fact, later a video CD of BJP Lok Sabha MP from Shimla Virender Kashyap was also released with serious corruption charges. This video CD is also under the scanner of the Vigilance Bureau.

Kangra June 3
The Kangra valley was lashed by heavy rain accompanied by high velocity of winds this morning. The higher reaches of the Dhauladhar mountain range experienced snowfall, giving relief to the residents from scorching heat as the temprature dropped considerably.

Dense clouds overcast the sky, forcing vehicle owners to move with headlights. It started raining accompanied with storm with lightening and thunders, making the atmospher cool. The rain continued for an hour dropping the temprature. The valley had been experiencing an unprecedented heat with mercury even touched 41.7 degree C and vegetable crops had been extensivley damaged due to the long dry spell.

Reports of rain were received from Jwalamukhi, Haripur, Shahpur, Dhraman, Nagrota Bagwan, Icchhi, Gaggal, Mallan, Palampur and Ranital. This town also witnessed heavy rain and the reports of the rain were also received from Dharamshala and McLeodganj. The rains have provided relief to the residents of the areas which were experiencing draught-like situation and were suffering from acute scarcity of drinking water.

Shimla, June 3
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today said the government would ensure the high level of community participation in water management and revive traditional water bodies in view of the receding groundwater level.

He was addressing the first meeting of the State Water Management Board convened here today. He said traditional water bodies had been catering to the requirement of villagers since times immemorial but had now been abandoned with the availability of piped water supplies.

“The expertise of people would be utilised for reinvigorating the traditional water bodies which would not only ensure water availability to the local community but also re-charge the water bodies in their periphery,” he said.

He said water management could be done in a far more effective manner through community participation and by creating a sense of belongingness. Dhumal said the government had made construction of rainwater harvesting structures in all new public and private buildings mandatory and efforts were afoot to incorporate such designs in the existing old buildings also. “Though it has been mandatory but it is often seen that it is not being adhered to strictly for which there can be strict penalisation,” he said.

He said although a strong network of drinking water supply schemes had been functioning to cater adequate water to every household in all census villages, due to drying up of the sources and receding groundwater level the schemes were going defunct in the absence of adequate rainfall. He said the need of the hour was to save every drop of water.

Shimla, June 3
Ramon Magsaysay award winner Rajendra Singh today advocated formulation of a state water policy and declaration of one of the rivers as a model river for efficient water management and preservation of the fragile Himalayan ecology.

Singh said today that Himachal had vast water resources, which it should manage efficiently by undertaking geo-hydro mapping so that the exact position with regard to water availability was known. “Having vast water resources in its rivers, Himachal should be dictating terms rather than accepting what is thrust on it and this can only be achieved by having a water policy,” he remarked.

Credited with reviving five rivers in the Chambal ravines and exemplary work with regard to water harvesting in 900 villages in 11 districts of Rajasthan, Singh said Himachal should accord topmost priority to conserving its water, soil and forests. “When there is a shift in the development paradigm there is bound to be devastation and even in the hill state rivers like Ravi, Beas and Sutlej will change their course and cause havoc,” he remarked.

He said rather than following the model of Centre or other sates, Himachal should have its own water policy and one of the major rivers must be protected and conserved. “Even the treaty and agreement signed with agencies like the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) cannot prevent Himachal from making ponds or other water harvesting bodies which will meet the demand of the people,” Singh said.

“It is only by way of disciplined use of water and community involvement that the water sources can be conserved and recharged to meet the requirement of the people,” he said. He regretted that in most cases modern exploitative technology like the one used for boring a tubewell or installing a hand pump would prove to be detrimental.

While advocating a joint strategy incorporating the traditional methods of water conservation with the modern ones, he said the best method was to involve the community by eliciting their opinion and time tested knowledge passed down through generations. “It is not the civil engineers who can do a good job in water harvesting but the locals as they are emotionally bonded to their native place and will never exploit it,” he opined. He said the government schemes like the “swajaldhara” had caused more harm than benefit as it had made the underground sources defunct.

He regretted that the dependence of the community on government water supply schemes had made them indifferent and uncaring towards protecting their traditional water sources which could guarantee much more reliable water sources even during peak summer.

Dharamsala, June 3
JBT trainees have further hardened their stand against the government despite warning by the college administration and overture on part of the secretary education. The JBT trainees here today boycotted classes and sat on a dharna outside their institute.

Initially, they had planned a rally for today, however, after a message from the secretary education the event was postponed.

Sources said the secretary education had convened a meeting of JBT trainees and principals of the JBT institutions on June 5. The principal of each JBT institute and a leader of each school have been invited for talks.

The communication from the secretary has, however, failed to pacify the trainees. They continued to boycott the classes and training sessions. The institute’s administration allegedly on the orders of higher authorities initially planned to get the hostels vacated. However, later the move was dropped or postponed till tomorrow.

While talking on anonymity, an authority from the Dharamsala JBT institute said if the students were not attending classes they should stay in hostels.

The JBT trainees were demanding that the government should absorb them into permanent jobs. They were terming the policy adopted by the government since September, 2009, to recruit all employees on contract as discriminatory.

The JBT trainees alleged that they would be doing similar jobs but would be paid almost half the salary than their counterparts while working on contract.

The JBT trainees got a supporter in the form of chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education, CL Gupta, who while responding to a query during a press conference said the government could adopt a middle way approach to redress the grievance of the JBT trainees.

The JBT trainees after completing a two-year course are generally placed in primary schools of the state as teachers. The government primary schools are already facing an acute shortage of staff. The JBT trainees are maintaining that if the government really requires primary teachers to work in difficult and rural areas of the state it should at least provide them with good service conditions.

Kangra June 3
A Rs 20 crore Central project, “Centre of Excellence of Nursing Education” (CENE), will be set up in Dr R.P.Govt Medical College Kangra at Tanda and the Centre has granted an approval for this project for this hill state.

Disclosing this yesterday, Dr Rajeev Bindal, Health Minister, told The Tribune that the Governor of Himachal Pradesh had ordered the establishment of this centre in DRPGMC Kangra at Tanda. He said infrastructure, including new buildings which would include teaching and hostel blocks for this centre, would be created on the college premises and would be funded by the Centre.

The minister said the principal, vice-principal and tutors, and other staff would be appointed so that this centre could prove as an asset for the hospital and the people of this region too.

Bindal said nurse training courses of B.Sc, M.Sc and D.Sc would be imparted in this centre and it would be a centre of superspeciality for nursing education in Northern India. He said this centre would be the part of the DRPGMC Tanda. He clarified that GNM Nursing School and CENE would be two different entities.

The minister said 30 students would be admitted for three year B.Sc Nursing in the CENE and later on M.Sc and D.Sc classes would also be started. He said there would be 1:3 student-patient ratio.

Meanwhile Dr Anil Chouhan, principal, DRPGMC, said the GNM Nursing School which was functioning in the Zonal Hospital at Dharamsala was today shifted to DRPGMC Kangra. He said for the time-being, students of GNM Nursing School would be transported from Dharamsala until the hostel facilities made available here.

Hamirpur, June 3
The condition of three JBT (Junior Basic Training) trainees, who had been observing an indefinite hunger strike since June 1 before the DIET JBT training institute at Gauna Karor under Nadaun subdivision, demanding employment bond with the state government, has reportedly deteriorated.

Vice-president of the JBT Trainees Kalyan Sangh Sunil Kumar said,

“The blood pressure of three trainees, Anil Kumar, Surender and Harish Kumar, sitting on an indefinite hunger strike is fluctuating and their condition has worsened.”

The sangh has also turned down the offer of talks from principal secretary, education, Shrikant Baldi.

He said, “Since we have held talks with the Chief Minister, the Education Minister and with him in the past and no concrete assurance has come forward from them in this regard, nothing much can be achieved by holding talks with the education secretary.”

Solan: With JBT trainee Naresh Kumar fainting during fast unto death initiated by the trainees since the past 78 hours, a dicey situation arose among policemen and the JBT trainees.

Naresh Kumar’s condition started deteriorating and efforts of the policemen to make him drink some water were resisted by the trainees who opposed to any break in their hunger strike. The policemen, however, tried to prevail sense upon the agitating trainees but the situation took a dramatic turn when a policeman allegedly misbehaved with a girl trainee. This angered the trainees who then decided to block the road.

Their move was, however, thwarted by the policemen who managed to hospitalise Naresh Kumar after about one-and-a-half hour.

SP Vinod Dhawan said the situation was under control and since the Chief Minister had agreed to meet them on June 5 the agitation had been called off.

Mandi, June 3
Armed with a new mantra, “Act Now for Harmony and Democracy” (ANHAD) women activists, which is a part of the “Campaign Reservation Express”, appealed to the people of the state to pledge their support to ensure the smooth passage for the proposed Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha.

After arriving here today from Chandigarh via Bilaspur, they got a rousing reception by organising committee comprising the left wing outfits, Congress women cell, the Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti and the Janvadi Mahila Morcha.

However, right wing organisations such as the Mahila Morcha of the BJP were absent. The organising committee claimed that they had invited the BJP outfit, but they did not turn up for the campaign.

They displayed slogans and posters making a strong plea for the proposed Women’s Reservation Bill.

Manushi, an activist, addressed a gathering and made strong point that the battle for the Bill was not over as the Lok Sabha had yet to give its nod to the Bill.

She said those who were opposing the Bill on the ground that the women from lower strata were poor had forgotten that the same logic held true in case of poor men in the country.

Krishna Tandon, former chairman of the state Women Commission, said it was an opportunity for women and men to come forward to support the Bill.

The express later left for Shimla getting support through signatures, posters postcards for the bill.

Bilaspur: Led by Manushi, a social activist from the Anhad, a group of 23 people, including 15 women and seven men from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, J and K , Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat arrived here from Dharamsala.

Interacting with the media at the Circuit House today, Manushi said the group was campaigning in favour of the immediate passing of the Women Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha in the next monsoon session. She said the objective of the group was to awaken people in the country through pamphlets, discussions and meetings through this campaign journey to build pressure on the government to go ahead with the Bill in the Lok Sabha and not to allow it to lapse this time.