Shimla, February 13
The state came in the grip of a renewed cold wave following incessant snow and rain for the past 24 hours which brought down the mercury sharply.According to reports reaching here, Narkanda, Manali, Kalpa, Keylong, Sangla and the higher reaches of the state had been having snow since wee hours today. The Hatu peak, the Chanshal slopes, Churdhar, Chitkul, the Rohtang Pass and the Dhauladhar range have been covered with a thick snow.

The lower areas of the state are having widespread rain which is considered good for the rabi crop. The snow and rain in the apple belt has brought cheer to the apple growers as it is considered as white manure for the orchards. It also helps mitigate the problem of water scarcity during coming summer as depleted sources will be recharged.

Keylong, the district headquarters of Lahaul-Spiti, recorded 25 cm of fresh snow and the region has received more than 100 cm of snow over the past four days, throwing life out of gear. Kalpa had 20 cm of snow while Manali and Narkanda had 15 cm each.

The temperature dipped below the freezing point in the tribal areas. The city has been having incessant rain since last night. More precipitation is likely as the local Met office has forecast heavy snow and rain at isolated places over the next two days.

Manali, February 13
A fresh spell of snow and rain in the upper Kullu valley disrupted normal life and revived cold wave conditions in the entire upper Manali region today.

The tourist town of Manali and its adjoining areas also experienced a fresh spell of snow this morning and was still continuing till the filing of this report. Tourists came out of their hotels to have fun in the fresh snowfall on Mall Road and Nehru Park.

The thick white layer of fresh snowfall covered deodar and apple trees. Hundreds of tourists who have converged on the tourist town from all over the country were delighted to see the town donning an impeccable white mantle.

After the fresh spell of snowfall, a festive atmosphere again prevailed at Mall Road and Nehru Park, the heart of the town, as winter revellers having a photo session, making snowmen and threw snow balls at each other.

Traffic on the Manali-Rohtang road was disrupted at several points beyond Bahang, about 4 km from here this afternoon. Due to widespread snowfall, all buses remained suspended this afternoon on the Manali-Naggar (left bank route). Buses also remained suspended on the Manali-Solang and Kothi route.

The ski slopes of the Solang valley, which were used nowadays for different skiing courses, also experienced a fresh snowfall. The heavy snowfall on the 14,000-foot high Bhrighu slopes, the 12,000-foot high Hamta slopes and the 13,050-foot high Rohtang Pass, which were internationally famous for its helicopter-skiing in the Western countries, also brought cheer on the faces of heli-ski lovers who have been camping here for skiing.

The entire higher reaches in the Kullu valley, including Rohtang Pass, the gateway to Lahaul-Spiti, the Pir Panjal range, Marhi meadows, Gulaba, Kothi, the Bhrighu slopes, the Hamta ski slopes, Dhundhi and the Chanderkhani Pass also received moderate to heavy snowfall.

Due to fresh spell of snowfall in the entire reaches, the upper Manali region was in the grip of severe cold wave leading to further decline in the day temperature as icy winds continued to lash the region all through day. 

Shimla, February 13
The State Electricity Regulatory Commission has reiterated the need to follow the tariff-based competitive bidding route for allotment of projects to safeguard the interest of consumers.

The commission rejected the plea that revising the tariff for SHPs in line with the regulations framed by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) would put additional burden on consumers leading to higher subsidies as “misleading and perverse” and observed that “If the state has so much concern for obtaining power at the cheaper rates, it should switch over from an MoU structure to a tariff-based competitive bidding structure as advised by it earlier”.

As far as the cost to the consumer was concerned, extensive studies indicated that the impact would be so marginal as to be laughable when used as an argument by the governance structure.

The tariff would increase only by 2 to 3 paise per unit. Moreover, the government was selling the free power available to it as royalty from various sources to the distribution licensee at a higher rate than the one applicable for purchase of power from the SHPs.

Reduction in the rate could also help reduction in the tariff to the consumers of the state, it pointed out while passing the final order on the petition of the Small Hydro Association seeking to revise the tariff of the 0-25 MW segment in line with the orders of the CERC.

It drew attention to the fact that the tariff policy envisaged intra-category competitive bidding in the interim stage and inter-category competitive bidding in the ultimate scenario and asserted that if the government did that, there would be no reason for the commission to work out generic tariff for any of the projects as it would become a self-regulatory mechanism.

In case the government and the distribution licensee felt that there were sufficient takers for small hydropower projects and there was no need for preferential tariff, they should resort to tariff-based competitive bidding, while allotting projects and executing power purchase agreements (PPAs).

The regulations framed by the commission provide that it will adopt the tariff determined through transparent process of bidding in accordance with the guidelines issues by the Centre. The scope of tariff and related terms and conditions to be specified by the commission in future will automatically get diluted to a great extent. However, till such time such mechanism was resorted to, the tariff and related conditions would need to be revised by the commission in accordance with the regulations in force from time to time.

Accordingly, the commission would fix a generic tariff for the SHPs of 5 MW to 25 MW as per orders of the CERC, applicable from July 1, 2011, while for projects up to 5 MW, the revised norms and parameters for determination of the tariff will be notified only for the next control period starting from financial year 2012-13.

Palampur, February 13
Despite a ban on mining activities in Neugal river passing though the town, illegal mining is going on unchecked. In the Gazette notification 2010, the state government has stated that there would no mining in Neugal river between Palampur and Alampur (a 40-km stretch).

A Tribune team observed that in the stretch between Palampur and Alampur tractor trailers, tempos, trucks and other vehicles were extracting stones, sand and other material, in spite of the ban. No mining inspector was seen between the two towns. Some individuals were collecting royalty for the loot. When asked to show the permits or licences that authorized the collection of royalty, they ran away. Over one hundred tractor trailers are daily extracting mining material from the Neugal River illegally.

Illegal mining in the Neugal river is causing a loss of Rs 2 crore a year to Himachal Pradesh, as the mining rights were not auctioned last year to check environmental degradation.

Rattan Gautam, SDM Palampur, said he was aware of the matter and had directed the District Mining officer to initiate action, but lack of manpower hampered efforts. He admitted that mining in the Neugal river was banned.

The matter was also raised before Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal during his visit to Palampur last week. He had ordered local officers to stop illegal mining. However, the mining is yet to stop. 

Dalhousie, February 13
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today dedicated the newly-constructed Rs 66-lakh water sports complex at Taleru on Chamera project reservoir near Dalhousie in Chamba district to the locals and tourists.

He also rode a power motor boat in the complex. Several cabinet colleagues including Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha Speaker Tulsi Ram, IPH Minister Ravinder Ravi, Health Minister Rajiv Bindal, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Sarveen Choudhary, MP Dr. Rajan Sushant besides other dignitaries accompanied the CM.

Dhumal added that the sports complex was another milestone in the state’s quest to provide quality sports infrastructure in the state, especially for those interested in boating and kayaking.

He added the complex would have village ‘haat’ constructed at Rs 9.5 lakh, where local handicraft product would be sold to the tourists.
Dhumal added that the state government had accorded top priority to exploit tourism potential available in the state, but with ecological safeguards. He added Taleru complex was first-of-it-kind in the state and added that facilities would be attracting tourists from country and abroad to enjoy the water sports.

The CM said connectivity to all prominent tourist destinations was being strengthened. He said projects similar to Taleru being constructed in Maharana Pratap Sagar Dam (Pong Dam) which too had water sports potential. He said boost to tourism will encourage local youth by providing them with jobs.

MLA Renu Chadha welcomed the Chief Minister and thanked him for promoting the water adventure tourism. 

Shimla, February 13
The HPSEB Project Engineers’ Association has opposed the move to appoint an electrical engineer as chief engineer, Planning and Monitoring, a post currently held by a project engineer.

Terming the move as arbitary, the association added that the Planning and Monitoring Wing had always been headed by a Project Engineer, civil or mechanical.

The association added there was no justification for giving the post to an electrical engineer as it was concerned mainly with the implementation of the hydropower projects.

It was only because of the hard work, sincerity and expertise of project engineers that the HPSEB Ltd had set up 21 hydropower projects with a generating capacity of about 468 MW.

General secretary of the association MK Sharma said the association had been demanding creation of the post of chief engineer, Civil Designs, for ongoing and proposed projects of capacity between 5-25 MW as the present chief engineer was looking after Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation.

It had also urged the management to create a post of chief engineer, Civil, to look after all the civil engineering works and maintenance of all the operational hydro- power projects and existing buildings, construction of new buildings, sub-stations and other works.

Further, the post of director (civil) and that of chief engineer, civil, in the Himachal Power Transmission Corporation would pave the way for speedy and quality works relating to survey, design and construction of transmission towers, sub-stations.