A picture of the ill-fated truck taken from a distance.

Chamba, March 3
In a fatal road accident, 34 persons were killed and eight others wounded when a truck swerved off the road and rolled down from a bridge into a deep khud near Kakyana, about 40 km from Chamba, last night, the official information revealed this here today.

The ill-fated truck was carrying a wedding party (baraat) comprising 42 passengers from Chaura to Sherpur in the district when it met with an accident.

On receiving the information, Chamba DC Devesh Kumar, SP Madhu Sudan Sharma and SDM, Dalhousie, Madhu Choudhary rushed to the spot to supervise the rescue operations.

The information said the bodies of the deceased had been extricated from the khud with the help of local people, home guards and the police.

The deceased had been identified as Ashok Kumar (30), Kishori Lal (31), Chint Ram (55), Vipin (15), Sanjay Kumar (21), Kamal Kishore (25), Sanjeev Kumar (25), Dhanna (40), Rajinder Kumar (22), Lal Singh (22), Man Singh (35), Kewal Singh (30), Satish Kumar (28), Amar Nath (55), Tilak Raj (15), Nar Singh (50), Duni Chand (40), Kaku Ram (23), Balbir Singh (31), Majid Khan (63), Vishal (20), Ashok Kumar (40), Vijay Kumar (19), Des Raj (45), Paras Ram (51), Raonki Ram (47), Ashok Kumar (24), Rakesh Kumar (24), Bhagat Ram (19), Rakesh (22), Ramesh Kumar (32), Avinash (23), Prem Nath (30) and the driver of the vehicle Kamal alias Pinka (30).

The injured are Mohinder Singh, Devender Singh, Vinod Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Tilak Raj, Ravi Kumar, Arvind and Suneel, all belong to the nearby Chaura village in Dalhousie sub-division of Chamba district.

After carrying out the post-mortem, the bodies had been handed over to their kin for cremation, the information said.

Two of the injured had been referred to Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda (Kangra), who were stated to be in a critical condition while the other six injured had been admitted to a nearby hospital at Kakira for undergoing medical treatment, the information revealed.

The DC had ordered a magisterial inquiry to investigate into the cause of the fatal accident.

The district administration had paid an immediate relief of Rs 15,000 each to the next of the kin of the deceased.

Himachal Governor Urmila Singh, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and local MLA Renu Chadha, who represents Banikhet assembly constituency, expressed grief over the fatal accident and conveyed condolences to the bereaved families and wished early recovery of the injured.

Meanwhile, Union Small Industries Minister Virbhadra Singh has also expressed condolences to the bereaved families and hoped early recovery of the injured.

Shimla, March 3
Governor Urmila Singh and Chief Minister PK Dhumal have expressed grief over the death of 43 persons in two separate accidents involving a truck and a jeep in Chamba district.

They conveyed their heart-felt condolences to the bereaved family members and wished speedy recovery to the injured.

Tulsi Ram, Speaker, Vidhan Sabha, who represents the Bharmour assembly constituency, also expressed grief at the mishap.

Shimla, March 3
Chief Minister PK Dhumal said in the Vidhan Sabha today that action would be taken against private company after conducting an inquiry into the accident in Bharmour in which all nine employees on board were killed.

He stated this after Speaker Tusli Ram, who represents the area, informed the House that the vehicle, meant for transporting the staff, was taken away by the owner and a van was provided as a substitute. This could be a reason for the mishap.

Dhumal said an inquiry would be held and if the company was found responsible, action would be taken.

Referring to the other accident which claimed 34 lives, Dhumal said initial reports suggested that it was caused due to human error. It was common for the members of marriage parties, including driver, to consume liquor during such ceremonies which often led to fatal mishaps.

He said he had instructed the director general of police to issue directions to all SHOs to take necessary preventive measures. It was a social problem and members should also strive to create awareness among the people and persuade them to shun liquor during ceremonies.

Shimla, March 3
The House today witnessed the first fireworks of the budget session when members of the Congress staging a walk out, terming the Atal Swasthya Sewa a big scam, alleging that funds given by the Centre under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) were being misused.

The issue was raised during Question Hour by Kaul Singh and other party members who unleashed a volley of queries covering all aspects ranging from the process followed for awarding the contract to a private organisation to funding of the scheme.

They maintained that the BJP government was reluctant to acknowledge the fact that funds were being provided by the Centre for the scheme but the state was using it to gain cheap publicity. However, the trouble started when GS Bali, for seeking more information from Health Minister Rajeev Bindal entered a heated argument. He said it was a big scam and he would prove it while expressing dissatisfaction over the reply of the minister.

An uproarious scene followed as other members from both treasury benches and the opposition joined the issue. They also wanted to know whether the guidelines of the NRHM allowed the service to be used for police complaints. After some angry exchanges, the Congress members started raising slogans against the government even as Speaker Tulsi Ram was trying to restore order they staged a walkout.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal condemned the action and said the Congress was in habit of terming every good scheme, introduced by the government, as a scam. Its leaders raised much hue and cry when the Rs 80 crore Atal Bijli Bachat Yojna under which energy-efficient CFLs were given free of cost to people was launched.

The scheme was appreciated by one and all and it helped in saving 270 million units of electricity worth Rs 100 crore. The party was trying to divert attention from the scandals of the UPA regime like the 2G spectrum and CWG scams, the Adarsh Society “ghotala” and others. It had faced much embarrassment on the CVC issue as the apex court removed the incumbent.

Earlier, in his reply Bindal said the funds for acquiring 108 ambulances were provided under the NHRM and in the first year 60 per cent of the operational cost would be shared by the Centre and the rest by the state.

The percentage would come down by 20 per cent every year and from fourth year onwards the entire operational cost would be borne by the state. He informed the House that till date 1,13,000 calls were received at the toll-free number 108, which included 6,238 medical emergencies and 905 police emergencies. As many as 1,369 pregnant women transported to hospital for delivery.

Shimla, March 3
Launching a frontal attack on the Dhumal regime, Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes said today that the people were suffering due to malgovernance in the state.

Initiating a debate on the motion of thanks on the Governor’s Address, she said it was time that the government came out of the “self-adulation” mode and took stock of the ground realties which were quite different.

The dismal conditions of roads, acute shortage of staff in health and educational institutions, non-release of arrears on account of pay revision to employees, growing unemployment, opening of private universities without requirement, selling of state’s precious assets and resources and the virtual collapse of the public distribution system betrayed the all-round failure on the governance front.

The government had not released Rs 58 crore to the apple growers who suffered a loss of over 700 crore because of the failure of the authorities to properly maintain the roads during the harvesting season. Not only that, it was also harming the long-term interests of growers by disposing of assets like selling the apple carton factory and the land of the HPMC in Chennai.

The “Deen Dayal Kisan Bagwan Smirdhi Yojna” had come under a cloud as the contract for setting up polyhouses was being given to favoured companies and thousands of farmers who had submitted applications under the scheme were being denied the benefit as the government had adopted a pick and choose policy. On the other hand the government was not properly implemented the national horticulture mission.

Participating in the debate, Kuldeep Pathania said the government had no right to give hundreds of bighas of land to outsiders in the name of private universities and other ventures as it was only a custodian and the land belonged to the people. “Sadak, swasthya and shiksha” were the priorities of the government but in the backward Chamba district not even a kilometre of road had been constructed. Similarly, not a single school had been opened and the health services were in a bad shape with even the district hospital not having a gynaecologist.

Earlier, moving the motion of thanks Roop Singh said the numerous awards conferred on the government by the media groups and other organisations were a testimony to the achievements of the government in various sphere of development.

Shimla, March 3
The HP High Court today granted bail to bank manager DK Dhar and local businessman Kul Prakash Bhardwaj, who were allegedly involved in connection with recovery of Rs 1 crore from a Scorpio on January 26 at Mehatpur barrier in Una.

The bail was granted by Justice Dev Darshan Sood on the bail applications filed by them.

The petitioners stated in their bail pleas that mere possession of money was no offence and other allegations which had been levelled were only in the domain of suspicion and not on established facts on record. Moreover, agreement to sell the property to monastery was not an offence under the law.

The prosecution opposed the bail pleas of the petitioners on the ground that they had a vital link facilitating the illegal activities of the monastery at Daramshala.

While granting the bail, the court directed them to co-operate with the investigation and not to obstruct the investigation.

Mandi, March 3
Resounding with the Pahari divine tunes played by “bajantris” and musicians, the week-long international Mahashivratri celebrations today started in this temple town with a festive fervour. Despite a heavy shower in the evening devotees from across the district participated in the traditional Raj Madhav Rai procession from the Damdama Palace to the Paddal Maidan.

Chief guest of the fair Chief Minister PK Dhumal, who arrived late in the afternoon due to bad weather, performed the puja of the Raj Madhav Rai at the temple in the Damdama Palace in the presence of Ashokpal Sen, present scion of the former Mandi state, and Dr Amandeep Garg, president of the mela committee-cum-Mandi DC. The idol of Raj Madhav Rai, Lord Krishna, who is the presiding deity of the Shivratri festival, was taken out in his chariot for a yatra.

The procession was escorted by the police, Home Guards, schoolchildren, NCC and camel safaris and others giving a versatile look. All civilians and devis and devtas followed the procession protocol charted by the mela committee to avoid controversy that had erupted last year.

Addressing the festival crowd at the Paddal Maidan, the Chief Minister said his government had already fulfilled its commitments and had opened an ESIC medical college at Ner Chowk, IIT Mandi at Kamand and now if any party was interested in setting up a private university in the state, they welcome them to open it in Mandi.

He said two bypass tunnel would be constructed, one on the Mandi-Manali highway and another on the Mandi-Jogindernagar highway to decongest this temple town.

Dhumla said the Mandi Jail located on the Jail road would be shifted to some other place outside the town to decongest the town.

Nurpur, March 3
After living in the confinement of a drug mafia for over a month at an isolated place near Sholapur in Maharashtra, Daya Ram, son of Tilak Raj, of Batka village managed to escape from its clutches.

Narrating his tale of woes here today, the youth said a job mediator, Munish, from Baddi in Solan rang him two months back and called him to Baddi for a job in a company. The mediator was known to him as they had worked in a local factory two years back. He said he along with another job aspirant Sonu accompanied Munish to Maharashtra.

They were taken to an isolated place in Sholapur district. They were taken for a ride when they found that they were brought to a dhaba where drug trafficking racket was operating with the nexus of the police.

Daya Ram said he and Sonu were forced to work in the dhaba. After working for over a month he asked for his salary from the owner of the dhaba but was threatened and refused any salary and even accused of stealing money.

He said they had no communication with their families as their cell phones were snatched by the dhaba owners but he switched off his cell phone and managed to hide it.

One night he managed to inform his family from his cell phone and said he had landed in trouble and could not return, hence, they should come and rescue him.

Daya Ram’s brother hired a private vehicle and reached near the dhaba on the night on February 19. Daya Ram gave a slip to his employers and boarded the vehicle.

Kangra additional SP Sanjiv Gandhi said they would take up the issue with the Maharashtra Police.