Shimla, March 15
Ruling party MLA Harinarain Saini today caused much embarrassment to his own government when he raised the issue of inadequate development work having taken place under the MLA’s priority schemes in his assembly constituency of Nalagarh.

It was during Question Hour in the assembly that the MLA from Nalagarh sought details about the schemes taken up in his constituency during the last three years of the BJP regime.

“Out of all roads, bridges, drinking water and irrigation schemes proposed by me under the MLA priority scheme, only one has been taken up,” he rued much to the amusement of the Congress MLAs.

He even went to the extent of stating that the information provided by the government in response to his question pertained to the works done during the tenure of the previous Congress regime. “I want to know from the Chief Minister what achievements should I list before my electorate when my performance is barely 4 per cent,” he said.

In his reply, Chief Minister PK Dhumal gave details of six schemes of road and bridges, three of small irrigation works and two drinking water schemes that were at various stages of implementation in the Nalagarh assembly segment. “These are 11 schemes for which Rs 33.97 crore had already been approved and I assure the member that depending on availability of funds, more allocation will be made in due course of time,” he said.

Dhumal even pointed out that there were some other assembly segments where schemes for about Rs 20 crore had been approved. He added that several schemes for the area had been approved through NABARD also.

In reply to another question about the pendency of compassionate employment raised by Kuldeep Singh Pathania, Mukesh Agnihotri and Anil Kumar, all of the Congress, the Chief Minister said so far, jobs had been provided to 430 eligible persons.

Agnihotri said jobs were being given to the wives of the deceased employee and not the children. “It is following the signing of the agreement by the previous Congress regime that it was decided to provide one-time compensation and not jobs but the court also ruled that jobs be given and we have been doing that,” he said.

Congress members had heated exchanges with the treasury benches as they insisted that jobs were not being provided to the children.

Dhumal also informed the House that the issue of providing the viability gap funding for the recently launched heli-taxi service had been taken up afresh with the Planning Commission and he had also spoken about it to Union Home Minister P Chidambram. He said the service would pick up as tourist season began. The issue had been raised by GS Bali.

Shimla, March 15
Apple growers whose produce was procured under the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) will have to accept bulk of the payment in kind, mostly in the shape of farm inputs, because of cash crunch being faced by government procurement agencies.

The record crop of 8.92 lakh tonne coupled with the frequent closure of roads in the apple belt due to landslides during the peak harvesting season led to a record procurement of 1.11 lakh tonne (18.5 lakh bags) of the fruit under the MIS. It was more than double the procurement during 2007 when the state had recorded the previous highest production of 5.97 lakh tonne.

However, almost 55 to 60 per cent of the fruit procured by the HPMC and HIMFED was spoiled as it could not transport out. The government decided to convert the rotting fruit into organic manure. The total liability under the MIS comes to Rs 58.20 crore at the procurement rate of Rs 5.25 per kg.

HIMFED procured 45,000 tonne out of which 27,000 tonne (4.5 lakh bags) was spoiled, while the sale of the remaining quantity fetched a meager Rs 2.75 crore, an average of Rs 1.60 per kg. The HPMC procured over 65,000 tonne (about 11 lakh bags) out of which about 6 lakh bags were spoiled.

While about 9,600 tonne was processed to make apple juice concentrate, the sale of the rest fetched about Rs 4.35 crore. The government has made it clear that the permissible handling charges of Rs 1.95 per kg will not be paid to the agencies for the spoiled fruit.

The cash-starved procurement agencies are trying to cash in on the huge procurement as a marketing opportunity by offering farm inputs like tree spray oil, organic fertiliser, foliage spray, pesticides, power sprayers and other farm inputs.

The growers require these inputs but during the last season, the growers were forced to give a very large quantity of fruit under the MIS and they were not keen to take the bulk of due payments in kind.

Officials maintain that the growers will not be forced to accept the payment in kind but also add that they may have to wait for sometime for payment in cash.

HIMFED has already sold tree spray oil to the tune over Rs 3 crore to growers in lieu of the fruit procured from them. It is likely to supply tree spray oil worth Rs 50 lakh more by the time the spraying season ends by the first week of April.

The bulk of the procured fruit may have been spoiled but payments in kind to the growers will certainly give business of these two agencies, which are not good financially, the much-needed boost.

Dharamsala, March 15
Chinese company Longjian, which is constructing the Mehatpur-Amb state highway, has failed to take road safety measures, leading to accidents.The construction is going on on the entire stretch of about 50 kms. In the section, especially from Mehatpur to Dhusahra, the road has been uprooted. At places, stones have been kept on the road by sub-contractors.

There is no reflector on diversion sign on the road. Since there is no light on the road, many vehicles crash into stones leading to accidents. The road is especially dangerous for the locals commuting on two wheelers. Many people have lost life or limbs due to accidents on the road since its construction began about a year ago.

The road has been dug in various sections for construction, but there is no reflector that directs vehicles to divert from rough patches.

PWD officials admitted that diversions and reflectors were must to direct traffic, especially during night in the areas where road was being construction. They, however, maintained that the road did not come under their area. Since it is a World Bank-aided project, a special authority had been formed to supervise the construction of road.

Una DC KR Bharti said they had directed the officials to take measures to prevent accidents. In case the company officials would not take adequate measures, action could be contemplated against them.

Harassed residents of Una district have threatened to move court in case adequate road safety measures are not taken by Chinese company officials.

Seema Sharma, an advocate, said earlier also local bus operators had moved the High Court against the road officials. As per the rules, the company had to keep road in working condition. However, they had failed to maintain even a single lane of road in working condition. Private bus operators had moved the High Court alleging loss caused to their vehicles due to poor condition of roads.

The Jhalera panchayat has alleged that the company has created a diversion to construct bridge over a rivulet passing through their village. However, just two pipes have been put to clear water of the rivulet on the diversion route. 

Shimla, March 15
State Congress chief Kaul Singh Thakur has accused the BJP regime of commercialising education and allowing violation of the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) by giving land on lease in the name of eco-tourism projects where permanent structures are being raised.

Participating in the debate to discuss the budget proposals for 2011-12 in the Assembly today, the Congress leader said the budget was neither growth oriented nor people friendly. “It is merely a jugglery of facts with no vision and above all it is completely silent on creating job avenues for the educated unemployed youth,” he remarked.

Thakur said 10 universities, out of which six were in Solan district alone, had been approved by the government along with two law colleges, 13 engineering colleges, eight B Pharmacy and 16 nursing colleges. “The entire thrust is on opening private educational institutions while children in my constituency have to walk over 20 km to attend school as 169 primary, middle and high schools have been de-notified by the BJP regime,” he added.

He said 17,000 posts of teacher were lying vacant while the selection process was too slow. “The government’s claim of making the state an education hub are false as the PTA teachers are being removed and hundreds of students have obtained fake certificates from the Board of School Education,” he said.

He accused the government of favouring a Nagpur-based firm in leasing out six sites for eco-tourism projects. “Gross violation of the FCA is taking place, a fact pointed out by a senior official at Chandigarh who has also asked that officers responsible for allowing violation be identified and action be taken against them,” he remarked.

Refuting the BJP allegations of discrimination by the Centre, he said the government had failed to plead the case of the state properly before the 13th Finance Commission. “The Centre provided ample funds for Bhanupali, Nangal-Talwara and Chandigarh-Baddi rail line but it is on account of the failure of the government to acquire land that the money cannot be utilised,” he said.

Participating in the debate, Satpal Satti of the BJP blamed the UPA regime for price rise and said their biggest achievement was unfolding of scams one after the other. “As compared to the Congress rule, the BJP government has ensured uniform and balanced development of the state,” he added.

Others who participated in the debate include Khimi Ram Sharma, Baldev Sharma, Anil Sharma, Vipin Parmar and Urmil Thakur.

Shimla, March 15
Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Minister Ravinder Singh Ravi today informed the Assembly that the Centre had granted approval to the Rs 204.51 crore Finna Singh irrigation scheme which would help irrigate 4,025 hectares in 70 villages.

He informed the House that the Technical Advisory Committee of the Central Water Commission (CWC) in its 109th meeting yesterday granted approval to the project. “A provision of Rs 1 crore has also been made in the scheme for rejuvenation of a kuhl in the Bhattiyat area of Chamba district,” he informed.

He said keeping in view the objections of the CWC, a new site which was about 200 metre above the earlier site had been identified for the proposed dam. “The storage-cum-diversion dam will be 160 metre long and 22 metre in height and the permission for diversion of forest land has been obtained from the Union Ministry of Forest and Environment,” he added.

The scheme is named after Finna Singh, a resident of Niyari village. He had constructed a dam with the help of mud and stones on the Chakki khad near Lahru village to provide irrigation facilities to the people of the area. — TNS

Solan, March 15
With the Union Ministry of Finance failing to clarify its stand on the continuation of benefits, under the 2003 Central industrial package, to those who shift their operations to a new location, the investors are in a fix.

Though the state industrial policy allows all benefits even if an entrepreneur changes the location of its unit, the Central policy is silent on this aspect. Though officials of the Industries Department had taken up this issue on several occasions with the Union ministry, no clarification has as yet been received.

Deputy director, Industries, Tilak Sharma, said, “In the absence of any clarification on this issue, the investors desirous of shifting from rented buildings to self-owned buildings have put on hold their plans. They fear they will not be given the Central incentives.”

He added, “I had taken up the issue with the ministry several times but no response has been received. I had again raised this issue a few days back as investors are facing problems and I am hopeful of receiving a clarification soon.”

A number of investors had started their operations from hired buildings and industrial sheds in March 2010 before the lapse of the Central industrial package. These entrepreneurs have now constructed their own buildings and they wanted to shift their units in their own buildings but with no clarification on this issue, their plans have been put on hold.

“An inconvenient situation has been created for us as the rentals were being enhanced and we are forced to pay whatever is being demanded. Though we have erected our own premises, we can’t shift as no written clarification has been received. We have requested the state government to pursue the matter with the Union ministry” remarked an aggrieved investor from Nalagarh.

The issue also figured at yesterday’s meeting with the commissioner, Industries, JS Rana, when he visited Nalagarh to listen to various grievances of the Nalagarh Industries Association.

Dharamsala, March 15
Apart from Bir-Billing, two more destinations have been earmarked at Triund and Chola near Dharamsala for paragliding.Once given green signal by the Tourism Development Corporation, the sites will be developed with modern facilities so that tourists can enjoy adventure sports like paragliding.

Deputy Commissioner RS Gupta said this while presiding over a meeting of the regulatory committee. He said it was an honour for the state that Bir-Billing was known worldwide for being a paragliding site and paragliding pilots come here in large numbers to take part in championships. Arrival of foreign tourists also promoted adventure tourism and generated employment for locals.

He said a lot had been going on in promoting adventure tourism here. Youngsters who had attained first-level or the basic training in paragliding in Manali would be given training in Bir-Billing for the second level. Around 40 professionals from all over the state would be given 10-day training at Bir-Billing and the government would bear the cost of training.

Shimla, March 15
Snow or not, winter or summer, skiers can have fun gliding down slopes in the state right through the year with the state government promoting grass skiing this summer at Solang, near the popular resort town of Manali.

“As the snow melts from Solang, we will develop a 250-foot-long and 30-foot-wide grassy slope by planting a thick variety of grass. By July-end the slopes will be ready for grass skiing,” Randhir Singh Salhuria, director of the state-run Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports in Manali said.

Solang is 13 km north of Manali. At present the Solang slopes are attracting skiers from across the globe due to plentiful snow. “The slopes still have more than two feet of snow and the skiing can be possible till March-end,” Salhuria added.

The mountaineering institute, set up to promote adventure sports in 1961, procured equipment, including grass skis, worth Rs 25 lakh this year.

The skis, each costing around Rs 30,000, were procured from Europe, Salhuria said.

“HP will be the first state in the country to promote this unique sport. From this year, the slopes will have a magnetic pull on the skiers - both in winter and summer.”

Manali Tourism Officer Rajeshwar Goel said, “Grass skiing will also be a major tourist attraction. It will, of course, allure a good number of adventure lovers.”

He said a large number of private tour operators, who were providing both skiing apparatus as well as instructors to the tourists, would benefit.

Manali has over 40 travel agents who specialise in adventure tourism.

Ramandeep Bajwa, a skier from Chandigarh, said: “It’s (grass skiing) an interesting event. I will love to ski down the slopes again during the summer.”

The institute is planning more activities. To promote rock climbing, it is constructing artificial walls in Solang and McLeodganj in Dharamsala. “The rock climbing facility will be ready by the end of this year,” Salhuria added.

The institute is conducting courses and events for skiers - both amateurs and professionals - in Solang. “Earlier, we held events and courses when the slopes were wrapped in a thick blanket of snow. Now, such activities will also be organised when the slopes are green,” he said.

Special activities are also being conducted for corporate executives, students and families in adventure sports - mountaineering, backpacking, skiing, etc. — IANS