Shimla, July 27
With an alarming increase of water-level in the Sutlej, the district administration in Kinnaur and Shimla districts today sounded an alert, asking people in low-lying villages to move up while the Army and paramilitary forces have been put on the standby.

Rampur SDM Rajeev Kumar today convened a meeting of panchayat pradhans of low-lying villages and all departmental heads at Rampur today to sound an alert and make preparations for the worst.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the SSB and the Army had been put on alert while announcements were being made on public address system, asking people to move to safe places.

“Keeping in view sudden rise of water level in the Sutlej, we have asked the pradhans to ask people residing in villages along the river banks to move to higher areas as the rains could continue for the next three days,” said Rajeev.

He said the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) had been asked to put up warning signals at all sensitive points along the Sutlej which could be dangerous, especially for tourists.

Central Water Commission officials are monitoring the situation round the clock. They said the water level in the Sutlej touched 2,455 feet today but there was no cause for panic.

However, with forecast of intense rain during the next five days, the situation could get alarming.

Acting Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner Hirday Ram said a 24-hour control room had been set to monitor the situation as water level in the Sutlej was rising. He said flashfloods in Uloh khud at 4 am today washed away a large number of cattle while some houses were damaged due to flood in Titan khud near Pooh.

Power generation at the Nathpa Jhakri project remained suspended since yesterday morning due to heavy silt level. “The silt level, which was 1,400 cusecs yesterday, touched 1,700 cusecs today, rendering generation impossible,” said SJVN officials.

“Rains this year have been exceptionally heavy in Spiti and Kinnaur, resulting in heavy silt level,” said Manmohan Singh, director, Meteorological Centre.

Sounding a warning, he said there would be more rains during the next 
five days. 

Shimla, July 27
The government today granted approval for the setting up of biotechnology park over an area of about 35 acres at Aduwal village near Nalagarh in Solan district at a cost of Rs 200 crore.

The decision was taken by the Cabinet at its meeting chaired by Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal here today. The park will be developed under Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode, attracting an investment of Rs 200 crore and generating employment for about 500 persons.

The park will consist of a biotechnology incubation centre to be constructed over an area of about 1.07 acres and biotechnology industrial cluster to be developed by a private promoter over an area of about 31.93 acres.

The Cabinet also approved Implementation Agreement (IA) for small hydro electric projects of up to 5 MW and revised time schedule for achieving various milestones for projects of over 5 MW capacity by the Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

It has been decided that Implementation Agreement will have to be signed within two months of the submission of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) which has to be submitted within 30 months from the date of Project Implementation Agreement (PIA).

Freezing of components would start within 12 months from signing of PIA or MOU with provision for extension of up to 12 months on payment of fee of Rs 10,000 per MW per month. Techno-Economic Clearance (TEC) will have to be obtained within 18 months of the signing of IA with extension period of six months on payment of fee of Rs 10,000 per MW per month.

The construction work will have to be started within 24 months from the date of signing of IA or 30 months if extension of six months obtained for securing TEC. No further extension beyond the proposed extensions will be considered. In case the project developers fail to meet the prescribed milestones within the proposed extensions, the allotment will be cancelled.

The Cabinet also approved amendment to the Himachal Pradesh Motor Vehicles Rules, 1999, Rule-69-B and fixed special registration fee for choice vehicle numbers. 0001 registration number would be available on payment of Rs 75,000, 0002 to 0009 on payment of Rs 50,000, 0010 to 0100 on payment of Rs 35,000 and 0101 to 9999 on payment of Rs 20,000.

Shimla, July 27
Kolkata-based Tantia Construction Company has bagged two of the three car parking projects in the state capital to be executed on the build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis.

The company will pay Rs 1 crore annually for the 750-vehicle capacity parking lot near the Lift and Rs 95 lakh for the 450-vehicle capacity lot at Sanjauli. The amount would be increased by 10 per cent after every two years.

The third parking lot of 250-vehicle capacity to be developed at Chhota Shimla was bagged by PK Constructions with an offer of Rs 36 lakh and with a provision of 10 per cent increase after every two years.

The bids, finalised by the State Infrastructure Development Board, will be taken up in private-public partnership (PPP) mode.

The parking lots will be reverted back to the local Municipal Corporation (MC) on as-is-where-is basis after a period of 30 years. The companies will invest Rs 65 crore in the three projects, which are to be completed within a period of two years. The government has relaxed building norms to allow construction of six-storey structures with a commercial floor for viability of the projects.

The fund-starved MC, which is getting only Rs 15 lakh from its existing parking at the Lift, will be a major beneficiary as it will annually receive Rs 2.31 crore without making any investment in the projects.

Dharamsala, July 27
The number of Tibetans fleeing China to join monasteries and schools run by the Dalai Lama at various places in India has reduced considerably. The Tibetans-in-exile are blaming stringent measures taken by the Chinese government following uprising before the Beijing Olympics and influence of Maoists in Nepal as the reason. The Chinese, on the other hand, might claim it as their achievement.

According to sources, till March, 2008, when the uprising began in Tibet, about 2,500 Tibetans used to arrive per year at the reception centre formed at McLeodganj by the Tibetan-government-in-exile. However, since the past two years, 1,000 Tibetans who fled Tibet have registered at the reception center where they were provided financial help and also an audience with the Dalai Lama. The 75-bedded reception centre now bears a deserted look.

After the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959, a large number of Tibetans came to India through Nepal. The number of Tibetans in India had swelled to about 2 lakh though unofficial sources put it even more.

Tibetans were also sending children to schools run by the exiled government here. However, over the past few years, China took stringent measures against Tibetans in government service who used to send their children to schools being run under the aegis of the Dalai Lama.

Earlier, about 1,000 students from Tibet used to enrol per year in schools being run here. However, the number has gone down to just 200 in the past two years.

The influence of Maoists in the Nepal government is also affecting the Tibetans in exile. Tibetans used to come to India through Nepal. However, in the recent past, three Tibetans who fled Tibet were deported by the Nepal government.

Sources added that the price of escape from Tibet was also getting costly. 

Shimla, July 27
The Suket Satyagraha Memorial would be raised at Karsog in Mandi district to commemorate the historic freedom movement launched in the then Suket state which had sparked the independence movement momentum in different parts of Himachal.

Similar memorials were also being raised in the Rani Jhansi Park, Shimla, Hamirpur and Una in the first phase. This was revealed by Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal while presiding over the 15th Himachal Pradesh Freedom Fighters’ Welfare Board meeting here today.

The Chief Minister said a master design was being prepared to raise freedom fighter memorials in Himachal as a mark of respect to the freedom fighters of respective areas who had contributed significantly to the freedom movement as also acquaint the young generation with those who had made supreme sacrifices.

Dhumal directed the authorities to ensure the exhaustive research to identify each and every freedom fighter hailing from the state who had participated in the freedom movement. He said there were 11 freedom fighters who had surrendered their pensionary benefits voluntarily and their names needed to be published prominently. — TNS

Dharamsala, July 27
Himachal DGP DS Manhas today admitted that the local police had left loopholes in investigating Michael James Blackie case at the initial stage. While responding to a query regarding the untraced and mysterious case that made international headlines, the DGP said they were now seeking the help of Interpol to seek extradition of accused in the case. The investigation has been handed over to the CID, he said.

Blackie, a British citizen, had come here and was working with a Tibetan NGP Tong Len in 2006. His body was recovered under mysterious circumstances by the police near Mcleodganj. Since then the police has been investigating the case but has failed to reach any final conclusion. Even a team from Scotland Yard had visited Dharamsala to collect evidence regarding the matter.

Every third Sunday would be observed as ‘victim day’ in all the police stations in Himachal. On the said day any victim can come to the police station and inquire about the complaint filed by him or her and action taken on it.

Manhas gave this information while talking to the newsmen here today. He was here on his first visit to the district after taking over as DGP.

The DGP said the motive of observing ‘victim day’ was to give proper feedback to the people regarding complaints filed by them.

He also said that due to rising abuse of psychotropic drugs the police has written to the state government to authorise more government departments with powers to curb the menace. Presently in Himachal, just drug inspectors are authorised to take against the chemists selling psychotropic drugs in an unauthorised manner.

Defending phone-tapping, Manhas said it was being done in national interest. If somebody was clean, he should not fear any kind of phone-tapping, he said.

Shimla, July 27
Four persons were feared killed and 27 others injured in an accident near Badera in Chopal area of Shimla district as a Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus rolled down into the swollen Nerwa khud.

The bus (HP-34-6383), which left Shimla at 8 am, was on its way to Kupvi via Nerwa when the mishap took place.

Shimla SSP RM Sharma said the accident took place at about 5.30 pm as the entire stretch of road gave way, landing the bus into the swollen khud, which is fed by a number of rivulets.

“While 15 persons swam to safety and were helped by people in the nearby area with ropes, a few passengers are still trapped inside the bus which is completely submerged under water,” he said.

According to conductor Naveen Kumar, there were about 32 persons travelling in the bus.

Till the filing of the report, 27 persons had been rescued with three seriously injured being admitted to Chopal hospital. Body of Laik Ram, a forest guard, has been recovered from the water. The exact number of people trapped inside or washed away could not be ascertained even by the authorities due to excessive water in the khud.

Deputy Commissioner JS Rana and SSP Sharma left for the accident site. Rescue operations were hampered due to heavy rains as the road was blocked at several places due to landslides.

Solan, July 27
A labourer, Kaje Saada, a resident of Balbhadrpur district of Bihar, was killed after tripping from a 10-ft-high ladder which he had aligned to whitewash the premises of a tractor unit at Thana village this morning.

According to police officials, the youth (25) received a fatal head injury and was killed on the spot. Though according to preliminary inquiries the youth fell owing to impact of an electric shock, the police was yet to verify the actual cause after conducting inquiries at the Thana-based Indo Farm tractor unit.

It was, however, worth mentioning that the labourer had scaled the ladder without any safety equipment like safety belt and helmet.

The body was cremated after a post-mortem examination this evening. The police has registered a case against the unit management for negligence and further investigations were underway.

Solan, July 27
The Solan police today arrested a youth Vijay Kumar, resident of Jwalag village in Arki tehsil, for raping a class XII girl student and intimidating her for almost four months.

Additional SP Ramesh Pathania said the youth was apprehended by the aggrieved girl’s father after he followed his daughter last evening near New Bus Stand who also beat him up.

Vijay then turned up at the local police station today to register a complaint against the girl’s father who was a policeman posted at the local police lines here.

The police, after verifying the antecedents, however, found that Vijay had raped the girl whom he had met during a school tour in February when he was driving one of the tour vehicles. The girl was then regularly molested by Vijay. This had a negative impact on the girl who withdrew into a shell. This behavior was noticed by her parents who took her into confidence and she narrated her tale of woes.

The youth was caught red-handed by her father last evening. The police has registered a case under Sections 376, 342 and 506 of the IPC against Vijay. — OC