Shimla, July 6
The threat of rivers in spate on account of heavy rains has already started looming large in Himachal as about 20 Nepalese labourers along with their families were marooned on an island near Mandali village in Rohru as water level in the Pabbar rose.

According to information, 20 labourers from Nepal were stranded on an island after the Pabbar changed its course as the water level rose due to incessant rain for the past 48 hours. The work force was here in connection with plucking and packing work at apple orchards.

Any major mishap was averted as timely action by the administration ensured that all of them were evacuated to a safe place by the afternoon. Directions have also been issued to provide them with safe place for lodging. With the water level in the Pabbar suddenly increasing, the administration had warned people living along the river to be on the alert in case the level rises further.

Monsoon, which has just hit the state, has already started affecting life as there are reports of landslides, trees being uprooted and road blockade. Vehicular traffic on the Rohru-Chirgaon village remained stranded due to landslide till late in the afternoon. With a forecast of heavy rains during the next 48 hours, the Meteorological office has issued an alert.

There were reports of trees falling at several places in the capital town due to heavy rains. A house in the Tutikandi area suffered huge damage as a big tree fell on it.

According to the local Meteorological Centre, rains will continue to lash the state for the next one week. A total of 60 mm rainfall was recorded in Shimla, 40 mm in Sundernagar, 55 mm in Bhuntar, 50 mm in Kalpa, 40 mm in Dharamsala, 35 mm in Una and 80 mm in Nahan.

The continuous spell of rain has brought down temperatures in most parts of the state. Shimla recorded a maximum of 17.4°C and minimum of 14.5°C. Sundernagar recorded 22.4°C and 19°C, Bhuntar 20°C and 16.2°C, Kalpa 12°C and 10.2°C, Dharamsala 20.8°C and 15.7°C, and Una 25.8°C and 20°C.

Shimla, July 6
Nomadic Gaddis frequenting the higher reaches of Spiti and Pangi, habitat of snow leopard, will be made a part of the studies under the Snow Leopard Project so that vital information about the animal’s behaviour and habitat can be obtained from these graziers.

Barring the trap cameras installed in the habitat of snow leopard in the Spiti area and occasional visit by teams of the Wildlife Department, there is no other human input about the animal, which resides in areas above 9,000 ft. Mysore-based Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) too is engaged in preparing a management plan for conservation of the animal.

“Since the Gaddis provide vital input about the animal’s behaviour and habitat we have decided to make them a part of the project so that the symbiotic relationship they share with the animal can be used for extracting information about it,” confirmed AK Gulati, Principal Chief Conservator (Wildlife).

He said though the NCF had installed 20 cameras in the area to capture the movement of snow leopards, the wildlife wing now proposed to install 10 more in the Kibber area. “The project is in the final stages of approval at the Centre and as soon as we get allocation it will be launched,” he said.

It was a chance encounter 15 days back between a snow leopard and five dogs, probably left behind by the Gaddis, which gave birth to the idea of involving the migrants in the project. The video captured by staff of the wildlife near Tiling, below Kibber in Spiti, shows the dogs shooing away the snow leopard.

As such wildlife experts are of the opinion that the snow leopard can be following the Gaddis with the intention of making its prey goats or dogs accompanying the migrants. The pattern can help provide valuable inputs about the animal’s behaviour and habitat.

With the Rs 5.5 crore Snow Leopard Conservation Project in final stages of approval by the Centre, the state Wildlife wing is making elaborate preparations for the project so that ideal conditions can be created for the launch of the project aimed at conserving the animal, inhabiting the Himalayan region.

Though no census has been undertaken to ascertain the number of snow leopards in Himachal, it is estimated that their number will be below 50. Spiti has their highest concentration with the number being about 35, followed by about six together in Lahaul and Pangi.

Shimla, July 6
In a historic judgement, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has ordered in case of the retirement or death of a government employee, his/her married or unmarried daughters will also be entitled for out of turn allotment of government accommodation.

The court passed this order on a petition challenging the validity of the Rule 8(2) of the Himachal Pradesh House Allotment Rules, 1994, whereby in the event of death or retirement of the government servant, the accommodation can be allotted to the wife/husband or son or unmarried daughter provided that the retired or deceased government servant was in occupation of government accommodation at the time of his retirement or death.

In other words, the married daughter had been left out from the purview of the applicability of this rule. While striking down this rule, Justice Rajiv Sharma observed that there was no rationale and reasonableness for making discrimination between the son, unmarried/married daughter. This classification is violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India. Married daughter can also take care of her aged parents and they can stay with her. The time has come to change the societal attitude. The classification made by the state between the son, married and unmarried daughter suffers from gender discrimination. As per the existing rules whether married or unmarried has been held entitled to out of turn government accommodation and married daughter has been left out. The court further observed such action is discriminatory on the ground of sex as envisaged under Article 15 of the Constitution of India.

The explanation given by the state was that the married daughter constituted a separate family and couldn’t be accepted. It was for the father to decide whether he wants to live with married or unmarried daughter after his retirement. His choice couldn’t be restricted only to sons or unmarried daughters.

The Rules made by the state must be humane and based on common sense. The primary objective of Rule 8(2) is to provide out of turn allotment of accommodation to mitigate the hardship to be faced by a family in the event of retirement of a government servant. In this context, one member of the family, i.e. the married daughter cannot be deprived of the right to get government accommodation after the retirement of her father, more particularly, when the father intends to stay with her, observed the court.

Bilaspur, July 6
The state government has decided to set up three transport nagars in Bilaspur, Solan and Mandi towns and at present search is on for proper land and site for the same so that these projects are implemented at the earliest. This was said by Himachal Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohinder Singh Thakur at Barmana, near here, last night while presiding over a meeting of state transporters.

He said these nagars would be provided with all modern facilities. He asked truck union leaders to spot at least 50-bigha land for this purpose here in Bilaspur district.

Thakur said Central Road and Surface Transport Minister Kamal Nath had agreed to start an advanced driving training school in Himachal Pradesh on which the Centre would spend Rs 25 crore.

Thakur added that he had invited a meeting of transport ministers of the entire country, which simplified the complicated “National Transport Policy” and decided the new “National Permit Policy” to end several anomalies in this policy. — OC

Shimla, July 6
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today urged the Centre to grant excise duty exemption for industrial units in Himachal Pradesh up to March 31, 2013, which could also be given to the hilly parts of Punjab and Haryana.

He was speaking at the meeting of Chief Ministers’ of Northern states and Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of Public Sector Banks and financial institutions at Chandigarh, presided over by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. “With the expiry of excise duty exemption from April 2010 under the special industrial package, the situation is likely to get much worse in the coming years,” he said.

He said the grant of excise duty would not only facilitate the much-needed investment in Himachal but also provide employment opportunities to the local people. “The Centre can also consider extending the industrial package to Morni Hills in Haryana and Pathankot hills of Punjab in case both these states have any objection of extending the package to Himachal,” he added.

He also advocated that each district of Himachal Pradesh should be adopted by different public sector banks, which should prepare road maps for implementation of development plans in a time-bound manner.

Dhumal said the Credit Deposit Ratio (CDR) in Himachal was merely 40.7 per cent as compared to national ratio of 71 per cent. “This is a very serious issue as it reflects the plight of capital from the state to the other areas and what is even more worrisome is the fact that seven out of 12 districts have a CDR below 40 per cent,” he added.

He said there was a need to undertake detailed district-wise analysis and preparation of district action plans so as to ensure that the CDR of every district moves to the national-level in a time-bound manner. He added that there was also a need to undertake bank-wise analysis as this ratio was particularly low for certain banks.

Solan, July 6
With large-scale fish mortality being reported from the Chikni river in Nalagarh, the State Pollution Control Board has stepped up its drive against the industries which are surreptitiously releasing effluents into the water bodies during the rains.

Along with the water samples from the vulnerable Housing Board Nullah and Sandholi Nullah, samples from at least ten industrial units lying in the precincts of these water bodies were also lifted to monitor their standards.

In a day-long exercise, officials of the board visited various textile, food and beverage units as well as pharmaceutical units, including MDC Pharma, Nicholas Piramel, Unichem Laboratories, Birla Textiles, Auro Dying, Auro Textiles and Nirmal Spining Mills and sent the samples collected from there to the board’s lab.

Officials said samples of three more units lying in the vicinity of the Chikni have also been sent for analysis.

Several cases of fish mortality come to the fore every year during the rainy season when erring units find it convenient to dump their untreated chemical-ridden effluents into the water bodies surreptitiously.

Officials said since rains lashed the area in the last 12 hours the sampling would enable them to maintain surveillance over units which released large volumes of effluents.

Though extreme measures like snapping power supplies of erring units have been exercised in the past by the board, the chronic problem of fish mortality surfaces each time during the rains.

The general secretray of NGO Him Parivesh, Balkishen Sharma, opined that units should be made to install RO-based treatment system and the weekly compliance of treatment plants should be submitted to the board so that any laxity in their operations came to the fore immediately. 

Dharamsala, July 6
The man at the center of Tibetan movement for autonomous Tibet for the past more than 50 years, the Dalai Lama, today turned 75.

His birthday was celebrated at McLeodganj, headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile, with prayers for his long life. The Kashag, the Tibetan government-in-exile, appealed the Dalai Lama to continue guiding them politically and spiritually.

However, the question that loomed over the minds of Tibetans living in exile is: what after the Dalai Lama? Though nobody openly talks on it, the question is impossible to escape.

A recent statement by a senior Chinese leader that the next Dalai Lama would be installed only with the consent of the Chinese government has added fuel to the debate. To the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama is an undisputed leader, which was proved by riots that hit Tibet just before the Beijing Olympics.

For the last 500 years when the first Dalai Lama was installed by Mongol rulers of China, the Tibetans have held a believe that after death each Lama reincarnates into the body of a young Tibetan boy. Till date, all the Dalai Lama’s have reincarnated in Tibet that is now under the control of China.

The Dalai Lama has himself been countered by the same question many times. He has sometimes stated that his reincarnation can be born in exile. Sources revealed that the Dalai Lama regularly meets higher ranks, including the 24-year-old Karmapa, at Dharamsala to debate the issue.

The Tibetans living in exile strongly believe that if the Dalai Lama does not name his successor in time, the Chinese might try to hijack the reincarnation process. The China has already started. The Chinese took away a five-year-old child who was identified as Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama in 1995, who is still untraceable. However, recently the Chinese authorities took their own Panchen Lama to monasteries in Tibet.

As per the Tibetan tradition, the Panchen Lama is a leader of committee of monks that indentifies the next Dalai Lama. With their own Panchen Lama in place, the Chinese might try to install their own next Dalai Lama. 

Bilaspur, July 6
The police at Ghumarwin, near here, has arrested two youths within 12 hours for stealing household articles worth more than Rs 1 lakh from a house of one hardware merchant Arvind Kumar of Ghumarwin, Kothi Tikkar, last night in the absence of the house owner.

Kapil Sharma, SP, said Subhash Chand of Gatol (Narol) village and Kuldip Singh of Gatol village, near Ghumarwin, were arrested under Sections 379 /34, IPC, today.

He said most of the stolen property had been recovered from the house of one of the accused.

The stolen articles recovered include mattresses, steel dinner set, kitchen utensils, bed sheets and a television set among other things.

The SP said the police worked on a clue left by the thieves on the spot and also on the information provided by residents of the area, which led to the quick arrest of the accused.

Meanwhile, the police here also arrested two persons and recovered 14,000 ml of illicit and illegally kept liquor from them in raids at two places.