Shimla, October 12
A gateway to Himachal, the industrial township of Parwanoo, continues to be a major bottleneck hampering the movement of vehicles, leading to irritating traffic jams on the national highway.

Inadequate space for vehicles at the inter-state tax barrier, bad condition of road, the ongoing widening work near Timber Trail and haphazard parking of trucks, particularly during the apple season, are the main factors behind the traffic congestion.

The problem is compounded due to indifferent traffic management in Kalka and Pinjore through which the highway passes. The narrow streets in the two towns and the overbridge on the rail track are also the main hurdles.

With the project to four-lane the 29 km section of the national highway from Pinjore to Timber Trail falling behind schedule, the traffic woes of commuters will continue for at least another year. The project is to be completed by December 2010 but so far only 78 per cent of work has been completed. It will be delayed by at least six to nine months. Once the four-lane is through Parwanoo, Kalka and Pinjore will be bypassed providing much-needed respite from unending traffic jams. For immediate solution, the local authorities in Parwanoo and Kalka should work in tandem to regulate traffic. There is an urgent need to impose restrictions on movement of trucks during peak hours, particularly through Parwanoo and Kalka. The government must complete the Parwanoo-Baddi road which has been under construction since 1980. Patch-work to repair the damage caused by rains should be completed on a war footing to improve condition of the road.

On the other hand, the government should reconsider the proposal to four-lane the Parwanoo-Solan section as it will involve huge vertical cutting of slopes, destabilising the fragile mountain ranges and making the stretch prone to landslides. The massive excavations being carried out near Timber Trail provide a fair idea of the devastation likely to be caused by the project which will involve felling thousands of green trees.

It was upgraded to a national highway in 1970s and the cutting of hills undertaken for widening of roads destabilised large stretches, making them prone to landsides and it took almost three decades to stabilise strata. In fact, Union Minister for Forests Jairam Ramesh has already called for a fresh look on such projects in hills in view of their environmental fallout.

Instead, the government should go for tunnels to shorten the distance between Shimla and Parwanu and also explore the possibility of boring a tunnel from Jabli to Baddi to reduce traffic on the congested Jabli-Pinore-Baddi road. A private consultant hired by government in 2005 had found a 2.8 km tunnel feasible to reduce distance by 38 km. The authorities must learn a lesson from the ongoing widening of the Theog-Hatkoti road .

Solutions

n Impose restrictions on movement of trucks during peak hours

n The govt must complete the Parwanoo-Baddi road which has been under construction since 1980

n Start patch-work to repair the damage caused by rains

Solan, October 12
The torrential rains have caused maximum damage to roads in the district with the Public Works Department (PWD) alone assessing its damage to the tune of Rs 16.9 crore out of the total Rs 32.44 crore damage suffered by various departments.

Though the PWD has started repair works, as the extent of damage is colossal it will take quite sometime to put the roads in order. No road has been left undamaged and the crucial NH-22 has been reduced to a potholed bumpy passage where even an unblemished stretch of 20 m is hard to find. Given the huge influx of traffic on this road everyday its condition is going from bad to worse with repair work yet to begin.

Repair has, however, begun on the significant NH-21A linking the industrial area of Baddi-Nalagarh and this has come as a respite to motorists who commute daily in the area.

Repair work is yet to begin on the state highways and apart from removing landslides nothing much has been done on such roads. The condition of the Kasauli-Jagjitnagar road, near Chamiya, is pitiable where a large portion of the road has been washed away, thus, reducing the total width of the road barely to a few feet. This vulnerable point is an invitation to accidents, especially during the night.

Already facing damage due to illicit mining, the Kumarhatti-Sultanpur road at Sultanpur village is the worst affected. The use of JCB machine for drilling often creates gaps and heavy landslides are caused, an official explained who added that huge loss caused to this road required immediate restoration and maintenance works.

The link roads are least on the priority with the PWD, initially focusing on the main roads. Though the Chief Minister had directed the department to complete repair works by October 15, it looked like a far cay as funds are scarce and damage is huge.

An alternative road connecting Kasauli to the Barotiwala industrial area through Band-Haripur Dhar have been ignored since long as the entire stretch of road lacked tarring and had been reduced to potholes making the drive an inconvenient experience.

Shimla, October 12
Coming down heavily on the “political role” being played by H.K. Bhardwaj, former Law Minister and Karnataka Governor, Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal today urged the President to recall him as he was trying to destabilise the democratically elected BJP regime.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said such political activism by Bhardwaj was uncalled for. “Rather than behaving responsibly in his capacity as a constitutional head, Bhardwaj is acting like a representative of a political party,” he lamented.

Dhumal said the UPA regime should not allow these kind of unjust indulgences by Governors as it would weaken the federal structure of the government. “Even in the past, Bhardwaj has been controversial whether it was allowing opening of Quattrochi’s bank accounts or his other utterances,” he said.

The Chief Minister said even the UPA regime should not allow such kind of political interference by the Governors who were holding constitutional posts. “Those who are keen on remaining active in politics should not be appointed Governor as they will only lower the dignity of the post,” he said.

Dhumal said it is for the first time that the BJP had formed the government in any southern state and posed a serious challenge to the Congress. “Efforts to destabilise the BJP regime in Karnataka are condemnable and the President must take action to stop Bhardwaj from acting in an unconstitutional manner,” he demanded. 

Solan, October 12
Another round of talks to put an end to the six-day impasse between the 3,000 truckers and management of Ambuja Cements Limited failed to yield any result even today.

Director, Transport, Dhruv Vashisht, SDM Balbir Singh, DSP Kuldeep Rana and local MLA Govind Ram were also present at the meeting, wherein the unit was represented by senior vice-president Jalpotta, vice-president Manoj Karnawat and manager (Accounts) Himesh Janartha.

The high-powered committee comprising representatives of four truck unions - the Ambuja Darlaghat Kashlog Mangu (ADKM), the Golden Land Losers (GLL), the Baghal Land Losers (BLL) and the Solan District Truck Operators (SDTO) - were a disappointed lot as the company failed to accede to any of their demands.

The SDM said it was unfortunate that the unit management that had initially taken a decision, failed to keep words and it insisted that the management would take the final decision.

The SDM added that though they were asked to accept the rates prevailing in the JP Cement unit, they refused point blank and said their plant was much older and why they should follow a plant that had recently come up in production.

Bilaspur, October 12
The government has decided to make Diwali “sweeter” for every consumer this festival season as every ration cardholder in the state would get double the sugar quota from the government fair price shops this month.

The District Controller, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumers Affairs, Chander Prakash Jishtu, said this here today.

He said this month each individual would get 1,400 gm of sugar instead of usual 700 gm and the entire sugar quota had already been provided to all depot holders here in the district.

The District Controller said the quota of rice on each ration card for above poverty line (APL) families had been increased from 7 kg to 9 kg. The quota of wheat flour has also been increased from 15 kg to 18 kg to these families, he added.

He said there would be no change in usual ration quota of rice and wheat flour for below poverty line (BPL) families. He said all consumers should make it a point to get all these commodities according to this new arrangement from their depots.

Shimla, October 12
The local Army Training Command (ARTRAC) today hosted the Tri- Services Training Command Conference of the Commanders-in-Chief for Training of all three services.

The conference held under the chairmanship of the Commander of the Indian Army’s Training Command, Lt-Gen AS Lamba, in which the apex body of officers comprising Air Marshal VR Iyer from the Indian Air Force and Vice-Admiral KN Sushil from the Indian Navy, senior officers from the Indian Army, the Headquarter Integrated Defence Services, the Navy and the Air Force participated.

The deliberations focused on the emerging environment and challenges in training for future by the services. The aim of the conference was to achieve the highest levels of preparedness in a joint services operational environment.

Lt-Gen AS Lamba reiterated that future engagements would be short, intense and time-sensitive and “jointness” would hold the key for achieving requisite objectives.

Air Marshal VR Iyer commended the significant efforts the three services were making towards “jointmanship”. 

Nalagarh, October 12
DGP Dr DS Manhas said the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) area was fast emerging as the centrepoint of wildlife poaching. And a well-organised network is being operated in the area, he said while talking to mediapersons at Nalagarh today.

Manhas said the police was making efforts to unearth such networks by keeping a vigil on various escape routes here.

Since the BBN had a porous border, it provided several routes for the smugglers to escape, he said, adding that there would be a frequent change of the barrier staff. Manhas said cases of poaching and hide smuggling that came to the fore in the neighbouring areas of Kasauli and Chail were being managed from the BBN that was emerging as a key point.

Manhas further said the crime rate had declined in the BBN as compared to last year. He said statements of the witnesses would be video-recorded especially in sensitive cases so that these could be cited as evidence in the court and instances of witnesses retracting from their statements could be minimised.

Since there was a large population of migrant labourers in the area, the police would request the government to make their registration mandatory by making a suitable provision in the law.

He said providing smooth traffic was his priority and had directed his officials to shift traffic staff from time to time. Since huge amount of money was incurred each year on dispensing compensation to those killed or injured in the accidents, it was crucial to check such occurrences.

He directed the staff to work on the pending cases and deal strictly with cases of illegal mining and the NDPS Act. He took a serious note of illegal mining and said since mining was banned, the police should make extra efforts to check it.

Baddi SP Chander Shekhar Pandit was also present. 

Shimla, October 12
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today released three books published by the Himachal Pradesh Art, Language and Culture Department through Kangra Art Museum, Dharamsala.

These books include “Introduction to Museum of Kangra Art” written by Ramesh Chandra, “Ancient Monuments of Himachal Pradesh” written by O.C Handa and “Kangra Kalam-Udbhav and Vikas” written by Vijay Sharma.

“Ancient Monuments of Himachal Pradesh” carries detail of 23 monuments of the state which are not only of historical importance but also exhibit ancient cultural heritage. The book on “Kangra Kalam-Udbhav and Vikas” throws light on origin and development of Kangra paintings.

The book on museum gives insight into ancient and rare idols, ornaments, Kangra paintings, Chamba rumaal and various other important things placed in the Kangra Art Museum, which are of historicaland archaeological importance. — TNS

Dharamsala, October 12
The police today arrested two more persons in the examination scam case. Those held include Varinder Kumar, a postmaster from Dehra, and Parveen Kumar, an employee of a private academy, MCM. Both were today remanded to police custody, the police said.

The police had earlier arrested two education board employees who were allegedly involved in the scam.

The Education Board Employees’ Union today organised a meeting, in which it alleged that pressure of declaring results early led to procedural lapses. Members of the union alleged that about 203 posts were lying vacant in the education board and the employees were overworked, the members alleged.

President of the Karamchari Sangh Manohar Thakur said the culprits should be booked but innocent employees should not be harassed. Thakur expressed confidence in the inquiry being conducted under Onkar Sharma.

The parents of those children affected by the scam today met the committee chairman, Onkar Sharma.

Some students alleged that callousness of the education board has spoiled their career. A student from Government Senior Secondary School, Kotla, Raveena, alleged that she was declared fail in Physics and English in Class XII result declared this year while she scored well in others.

She, however, was sure that she could not fail. She applied for re-evaluation of her answer-sheets. However, board officials increased just three marks in Physics. She then applied for a provision of personally examining her answer-sheets in the presence of an expert by paying Rs 500 as per norms.

She was allowed for the same in July, after which the expert accompanying the girl increased her marks in Physics to 35 out of 85. As per the result, she should have been declared pass by the board with at the most supplementary in English. However, her result has not been declared to date.

Sources said the committee had raised doubts about the answer-sheets of a topper in Class X (Science stream). These seemed to be scanned and did not have a proper serial number.