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Tardy Implementation of Power Reforms
Deras acquiring farm lands in violation of law
Palampur in grip of gastro diseases |
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Bird species count begins in Shimla hills
Farmers to be made aware about agri portal
Allow states to follow own agriculture policy, says Dhumal
End siege of Kirti monastery, demand Tibetans
Bagheri barrier row settled
Governor, CM mourn Sai Baba’s death
Let states follow own agri policy: CM
Scooterist killed in road mishap
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Tardy Implementation of Power Reforms
Shimla, April 24 Under the Rs 96.40 crore Part-A of the project sanctioned in September 2009, the AT and C losses are to be brought down to 15 per cent in 14 major towns of the state by rolling out of IT-enabled services. In case of special category states like Himachal on successful implementation, the entire project cost will be converted into grant, otherwise 90 per cent of it will be deemed as loan. Further, there is also a provision for payment of 2 per cent of the amount converted into grant in the Rs 289 crore part-B of the project for strengthening the distribution system as incentive to the employees. Thus, failure to implement the project in time and achieving the targets could deny the fund-starved state electricity board up to Rs 350 crore and the employees may lose the incentive money to the tune of Rs 5 crore. The board is still in the process of framing the incentive scheme for employees. Given the past track record of the board, there is little possibility of timely execution of the project. In fact, it has still not implemented the e-billing and GIS (geographical information system) project launched in 2006 being executed by HCL Infosytems which was to be completed by September 2010. The same company has been awarded the R-APDRP project in August 2010 for which the target date of September 3, 2011, has been fixed on the direction of the Union Ministry of Power but the work is progressing far behind schedule. The project is virtually an extension of the previous e-billing scheme. The main reason for slipshod implementation of the e-billing and GIS scheme is the failure of the board, which has no expertise in information technology, to appoint an independent consultant to monitor the implementation. Initially, the NPC (national productivity council) was engaged as consultant but it was dropped later for reasons best known to the authorities. In case of the R-APDRP project, Vayam Technology has been appointed as IT consultant, but the board had not been pushing it for proper monitoring.
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Deras acquiring farm lands in violation of law
Dharamsala, April 24 Sources told The Tribune that these deras had acquired thousands of hectares agriculture land in the state. The land had been converted mostly for creating huge infrastructure, where various religious discourses could be delivered. In many cases, the deras had violated the law of land use. A famous religious dera with its headquarters in Punjab had converted hundreds of acres of tea garden land for construction of its infrastructure. As per the land laws of Himachal, the tea garden land cannot be converted for any other purpose. However, since thousands of followers visited the place every year, none of the officials dared to take action in the land violation case, they said. Recently, former Commissioner of Kangra Onkar Sharma passed an order and declared hundreds of kanals acquired by a religious dera, that was in controversy in Punjab, as benami. The land on which the dera was built was in the name of Himachal residents, who were followers of the dera. But district officials had not moved to vest the land in the name of the government. Some religious organisations have flouted the norms and raised deras on the Kangra-Chintpurni state highway. But the authorities have turned a blind eye to it. Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act forbids non-agriculturists from buying agriculture land in the state. Even state residents, who do not own agriculture land, cannot buy it in the state. There is land ceiling on agriculturists as in Kangra, no farmer can own more than 15 kanals. Only tea farmers own large chunks of land in Kangra that also with a condition that the land cannot be converted for any other purpose. However, it seems that there is no bar on deras, which are acquiring hundreds of acres in the state and violating all rules and regulations to set up their infrastructure. |
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Palampur in grip of gastro diseases
Palampur, April 24 On the Palampur-Dharamsala bypass in Ward number 4 near Tiny Tots School, the sewer water is leaking into the Bhiral Khud emitting a foul smell. Bhiral Khud is a major source of drinking water supply in the lower areas of Palampur. Even the department has drawn water from this khud for over 100 villages in the Thural area of the Changer valley. Despite the home town of IPH Minister Ravinder Thakur, the department is not bothered to repair the leaking sewerage lines which have made the lives of residents of the town “hell”. Though the residents and municipal officials have brought the leakage problem to the notice of the Executive Engineer, IPH, time and again, no repair work was initiated. A senior medical officer confirmed that the cases of diarrhoea had increased in the region for the last few days because the residents had been getting contaminated water. A senior officer of the IPH Department admitted that the sewerage lines were leaking in several parts of the town. He said now the department had made a report for Rs 50 lakh for the repair and maintenance of the sewerage lines in the town and repairs would be taken up soon.
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Bird species count begins in Shimla hills
Shimla, April 24 The exercise was part of the Shimla Bird Race organised by the Himachal Birds, an NGO founded by serving IPS officer and bird lover Somesh Goyal. Divided into eight teams, 40 participants from Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi toiled the whole day trekking up and down the hills, looking for the winged creatures in the thickets on the forest floor and the towering trees. “It is indeed a unique experience for them and they feel that such events will go a long way creating awareness among the people about nature conservation” said Chandrima, a bird lover from Delhi, who covered the thickly wooded Glena and Vice-Regal Lodge area. Somesh, who was part of the team which covered the Shoghi-Kusumpti belt, was very excited to notice that they came across 12 species which had not been recorded in the past. He said there were around 100 species, including rare pheasants, koklass, kaleej and cheer, in and around the Shimla hills. The last comprehensive bird species lists were prepared by British men Frome and Hugh Whistler sometime before Independence. All teams will meet in the evening, exchange notes and arrive at a final bird species count which will enable to know the exact bird status of the area. According to Somesh, bird races are held to count the maximum number of birds on a single day in a particular city or area, but no such exercise had ever been carried out in Shimla all these years. The exercise will provide a comprehensive bird list of Shimla birds which will be provided to the Forest and Tourism Departments. The Himachal Birds has been actively promoting bird watching and conservation. It organised a photo exhibition here on March 20 to mark World Sparrow Day. The Himachal Birds has decided to institute two annual awards of Rs 11,000 each for outstanding contribution by an individual and a group in the field which will be presented during the Bio-Diversity Week in October. Nominations will be invited by the end of August 2011 and the final selection of the winners will be over by mid-September 2011.
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Farmers to be made aware about agri portal
Shimla, April 24 The portal is designed to take care of all concerns, but not many farmers are availing the facility to find solutions to their problems. The department plans to install hoardings providing information about AGRISNET at every Lok Mitra Kendra where all IT-enabled services are being made available to people. Besides, efforts will be made to motivate the panchayati raj instiutions, mahila mandals, yuvak mandals and other active NGOs to utilise the facility in their respective areas. The main objective of the project is to create a sustainable data bank of all agriculture-related information pertaining to the state and allow access to the same through the secured network. The portal provides the end-users with the ability to access services through an online forum. The portal has information related to the Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Departments. It brings farmers, researchers, scientists and administrators on a common platform by establishing online information about agriculture and related departments. Farmers can seek solutions through online queries. The effective delivery of services is ensured through online re-dressal of farmers’ grievances. It provides direct feedback from the farming community to decision makers in the state, ensures better monitoring of government schemes, which leads to improved productivity and in turn better returns to farmers.
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Allow states to follow own agriculture policy, says Dhumal
Chandigarh, April 24 Addressing delegates and later talking to newsmen at the two-day national convention of its Kisan Morcha, the Chief Minister said the party was against GM technology and wanted to promote organic agriculture. He gave the example of Himachal where he said local wheat seeds had done better than new ones being promoted by multi-national companies. However, when briefed about the situation in Punjab where BT cotton has yielded good results for farmers, Dhumal said it had its side effects claiming incidence of cancer was also being reported from this area. BJP Kisan Morcha head OP Dhankar when questioned on the same issue, admitted that the third and fourth generation seeds of BT cotton had been beneficial to farmers, but said the same seed had resulted in suicides in the Vidharba region earlier. Meanwhile, Dhumal called for a separate agricultural budget, saying Karnataka had already shown the way in this regard. Castigating the Centre, he said instead of making farmer-friendly policies, it was introducing policies that were suffocating and killing farmers. He said powers had been snatched from state governments and multi-national companies should not be allowed to decide what was to be sown by the country’s farmers. The Chief Minister also claimed that while the condition of the labourers had improved, farmers were increasingly realising that agriculture was a losing proposition. He demanded a hike in the maximum support price (MSP) saying farmers were not getting adequate return on their investment. Dhumal also demanded a proper market management policy to wipe off the role of commission agents, besides calling for better crop management to wipe deal with the issue of gluts.
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End siege of Kirti monastery, demand Tibetans
Dharamsala, April 24 The Tibetan Government-in-Exile, in a statement here, has also urgently called on the international community to help defuse the worsening situation at the Kirti monastery in Tibet’s north-eastern province of Amdo. The appeal comes as the situation at the Tibetan monastery continues to remain tense allegedly resulting in the death of two elderly Tibetans and arrest of more than 300 monks from the region’s most prominent Buddhist monastery. "In view of the grim situation at the Kirti monastery, the Kashag strongly and urgently appeals to the international community, governments and parliaments around the world to persuade China not to use force to resolve the crisis that is facing the monks of the Kirti monastery in Ngaba, northeastern Tibet," the Kashag (Cabinet) of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile said in a statement here today. The situation around the monastery has remained tense following the death of Tibetan monk Phuntsok, who set himself ablaze on March 16 to protest against the Chinese rule. Following the incident, China stepped up security in the region and its security forces cordoned off the Kirti monastery, putting some 2,500 monks of the monastery at risk of starvation, the Tibetans here alleged. The sources here also alleged that the Chinese authorities had further warned that the monks from the monastery aged between 18 and 40 would be relocated to another location for patriotic re-education that often required denouncing the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. However, China has denied any unrest, saying on Tuesday that everything was "normal" at the famed monastery.
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Bagheri barrier row settled
Nalagarh, April 24 The dispute had arisen after villagers of Punjab had refused to pay the toll tax contending that the barrier had been set up in Punjab. A team of revenue officials of Punjab and Himachal had, therefore, visited Bagheri to establish the veracity of the claim put forward by Punjab residents. Trouble started when the new contractor started charging barrier fee from the villagers of Punjab for entering Himachal. The villagers falling under Dehani panchayat asserted that the barrier was set up in Punjab and refused to pay the toll. This led to a scuffle between the villagers and the barrier staff last week. The contractor who had acquired the rights for Rs 8.51 crore had then approached the Nalagarh SDM who then deputed six policemen to provide security to the staff. The contractor later approached the SDM seeking demarcation of the site to find a permanent solution to the problem. Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner RD Janartha, Naib Tehsildar Bali Ram Suman and revenue officials from Punjab conducted measurements as per the revenue records available with them. Suman told The Tribune that the 20-foot patch was found to be unmeasured land which did not figure in the revenue records of any state. Hence, it was decided to maintain status quo on the barrier site. He added that if land settlement took place, this 20-ft land would be equally distributed between the two states. The villagers also had to pay the toll tax.
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Governor, CM mourn Sai Baba’s death
Shimla, April 24 They recalled the stupendous contribution made by him in the field of social welfare and inspiring people lead a pious life. Urmila Singh said Sai Baba’s charitable works were exemplary and he contributed immensely to the uplift of the poor and needy. Dhumal said the Baba was a source of inspiration for people of all faiths. Leader of the Opposition Vidya Stokes also condoled the death of the Baba. — TNS
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Let states follow own agri policy: CM
Chandigarh, April 24 Addressing delegates and later talking to newsmen at the two-day national convention of its Kisan Morcha, the Chief Minister said the party was against GM technology and wanted to promote organic agriculture. He gave the example of Himachal where he said local wheat seeds had done better than new ones being promoted by multi-national companies. However, when briefed about the situation in Punjab where BT cotton has yielded good results for farmers, Dhumal said it had its side effects claiming incidence of cancer was also being reported from this area. BJP Kisan Morcha head OP Dhankar when questioned on the same issue, admitted that the third and fourth generation seeds of BT cotton had been beneficial to farmers, but said the same seed had resulted in suicides in the Vidharba region earlier. Meanwhile, Dhumal called for a separate agricultural budget, saying Karnataka had already shown the way in this regard. Castigating the Centre, he said instead of making farmer-friendly policies, it was introducing policies that were suffocating and killing farmers.
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Scooterist killed in road mishap
Dalhousie, April 24
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The Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department has come under fire for negligence in repairing the damaged sewerage lines and for the supply of “dirty” water in several parts of the town and adjoining villages, resulting in a sharp rise in gastro diseases.
Hundreds of Tibetans in exile today organised a protest march from McLeoganj to Dharamsala to protest against the alleged security clampdown on the Kirti monastery in Tibet by Chinese troops. The protesters carrying placards demanded that the Chinese troops should lift the siege of the monastery.
Shimla, April 24
