Shimla, May 16
With the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress trading charges on the issue of violations in land deals by outsiders, the state government has requested the High Court to spare a sitting judge to probe all benami land deals and essentiality certificates issued under the HP Apartment Act since its inception.

It was last week that Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu wrote a letter to Chief Justice Kurian Joseph through the Registrar General, urging him to ask a sitting judge of the High Court to look into each and every essentiality certificate issued to builders under the Apartment Act up to March 31, 2011.

“I have always been open to any kind of probe or inquiry into the issuance of essentiality certificates under the Apartment Act as well as any kind of benami land deals, so we have requested the Chief Justice to assign the task to a sitting judge of the High Court to enable an impartial probe,” said Chief Minister PK Dhumal.

The Chief Minister said he had already assured the Opposition members that he was open to any kind of probe to detect irregularities in issuance of essentiality certificates under the Apartment Act since it was made.

“The Speaker has already constituted a house committee to look into the matter and whatever are the recommendations, we will honour them,” he said. He added that the government would go by the recommendations of the committee with regard to the Apartment Act and if they feel it should be scrapped, the government had no problem whatsoever.

Sensing that the Congress would try to pin down the ruling BJP on the issue of benami land deals, he also said the government was willing to enquire into any complaint of benami land deals or irregularities in grant of permission under Section 118.

“We will enquire and take action into any such complaint by an organisation or any individual and also go to the extent of confiscating such illegally acquired properties,” he said.

The Congress had made the issuance of essentiality certificates under the Apartment Act and land transactions made in violation of Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reform Act as a major issue during the Budget Session of the assembly. With assembly elections in the state due by the end of the next year, the Congress has been accusing the BJP regime of favouring private builders and allowing acquisition of huge chunks of land by private universities.

Shimla, May 16
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has demanded immediate recall of Karnataka Governor Hans Raj Bhardwaj for recommending President’s Rule in the state at a time when the Speaker had convened the session of the Legislative Assembly.

Terming the recommendations as “unconstitutional and illogical”, he said the House was the most appropriate platform for any government to prove its majority and the Governor had virtually murdered the democracy by recommending President’s Rule in the state.

He said Bhardwaj had been, ever since he was sworn in as Governor, frequently indulging in fault-finding to oust the democratically elected government. It appeared as if the Governor was more keen in playing party politics to destabilise the government than performing his constitutional duties as the Head of the state.

The Chief Minister said the Governor’s position carried a very high dignity and status and it was the duty of the person concerned to uphold it.

He said in the 224-member Assembly of Karnataka, Chief Minister YP Yedurappa, enjoyed unquestionable support of 121 members and at the most the Governor could have asked him to prove his majority in the House. In such a scenario making recommendations in haste to the President of India to unseat the government was unconstitutional and illogical.

He demanded immediate recall of the Governor and urged the Centre to let the elected government complete its term in office.

State BJP chief Khimi Ram today said the Governor of Karnataka was acting in a dictatorial manner to destabilise the BJP regime led by Chief Minister YP Yedduirappa.

Meanwhile, in a statement here today, BJP chief said the Governor was acting like a Congress agent. “At a time when the Speaker has convened the Assembly session where the government can prove its majority, Bhardwaj is recommending imposition of President’s Rule which is totally unconstitutional,” he remarked.

He said the Congress had not been able to digest the formation of a BJP regime in a southern state and attempts were being made to destabilise the party’s government in Karnataka.

Solan, May 16
Facing stiff opposition from villagers, officials of the Excise and Taxation Department have failed to erect a tax barrier at Ratiyor village falling under Dhabota panchayat in Nalagarh subdivision .

Though the officials, comprising AETC RD Janartha, tehsildaar RD Harnot, ETO Rajiv Sharma, and adequate policemen had descended at the site to put up the barrier, the villagers sat on a dharna on the road, making the officials to suspend the work.

Villagers say the barrier will create hassles for locals and their visiting relatives. They claim since no development has taken place in the area, they have only a few sources of livelihood. Once this barrier is allowed, more such barriers might be put up by the forest, transport and others departments, which would gradually put financial burden on them, they allege.

Though the officials tried to explain that the locals would be allowed free entry, the adamant villagers did not budge. Janartha said this was their fourth attempt to set up a barrier here, which had been auctioned for Rs 8 crore.

Since this route was a convenient option for tax evaders who used it quite often to evade tax, the department had for the first time included it in the list of barriers for the industrial area, he added.

It is worth mentioning that an earlier attempt of the officials to erect a barrier had also failed with the villagers attacking the staff. Police protection was then sought, but that too failed to help.

Shimla, May 16
While the state road and other Infrastructure Development Corporation has spent crores of rupees on international consultants to prepare project reports for construction of traffic tunnels, a local contractor has constructed two such tunnels in the 100-MW Sainj Hydroelectric Project in Kullu.

Engineers of the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation were finding it hard to start work as all components of the project were to be executed on the right bank of the Sainj river, a tributary of the Beas, which was not connected by a motorable road.

The precipitous rocky terrain made the construction of approach road to the site of diversion barrage at Niharni village a challenge. Moreover, one section of the proposed road involved felling of over 250 trees regarding which the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had serious reservations. The engineers came out with an alternative tunnel proposal to help save the trees.

As the site was no conducive for the construction of road due to inaccessibility of the site, no big contractor came to take up the work. However, a local contractor Durga Prasad qualified for the tender and came forward to construct two traffic tunnels to provide road connectivity. Joining hands with another local contractor Dhale Ram, he accomplished the seemingly difficult tracks within 10 months at a cost of just Rs 3 crore.

For the two D-shaped tunnels, each of 6 m diameter, aggregated 458 m in length, the machinery and materials were transported manually through a 2-km-long path up to the site. The machinery was transported by dismantling the parts and then reassembling it at the site to complete the work in the shortest possible time.

The villages in the vicinity have also been benefited from the construction of the motorable road. Managing Director of the corporation Tarun Kapoor said small contractors had shown their capacity to execute tedious works like construction of tunnels in a cost-effective manner. The big companies got the works executed in the field through local contractors and with so many hydroelectric projects coming up in the state, they had acquired much expertise in the highly specialised field of tunnel construction.

Shimla, May 16
With the mercury shooting up, people from the plains are making a beeline to the hills. The occupancy in hotels located in popular tourist destinations like Shimla, Khajiar, Dalhousie, Manali, Chail and Kasauli has touched 90 per cent over the last week.

Director of Tourism Arun Sharma said there was an increase in the number of tourists visiting the state in the first quarter of the year.

Over 51.49 lakh tourists had visited the state till April, 0.30 lakh domestic and 1.19 lakh foreigners. Shimla district attracted the maximum number of 10 lakh tourists, followed by Kullu (9.25 lakh) and Kangra (7.15 lakh).

He said last year 1.32 crore tourists visited the state and 300 new hotels were registered during the period.

The state tourism authorities had offered special packages on the tourist circuits of Shimla, Manali and Dharamsala. Keeping in view the rush of tourists, five Volvo buses were being run daily to Manali, Shimla and Dharamsala, he added.

Dharamsala, May 16
The IPL fever gripped the town with one of the three matches concluding yesterday evening. The first match showed the improved arrangements over the previous year when a lot of ticket holders were left stranded outside in the traffic jam.

This year almost all spectators had a smooth entry into the stadium from all gates. The local youth were present in a large number cheering almost every shot. A lot of youth from Punjab also thronged the venue.

However, half-empty high-end stand illustrated that the spectators avoided coming, either owing to the last year’s experience or rush in hotels.

The corporate boxes were, however, sold out to cement companies, including ACC and Ambuja, which have their units in the state.

HPCA president Anurag Thakur went around the ground to make sure that every section invited by them was comfortable. A political divide was also obvious during the first match. None of the Congress leaders from the district was present to see the match.

Late in the evening, the Kings XI team threw a party to celebrate its win over the Delhi Daredevils. The party was organized at Mcleo, a famous eating joint at Mcleodganj.

A Volvo bus ferried players to McLeodganj which led to traffic jam, leaving tourists stranded for some time. However, cops helped ease the situation.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore team, that arrived yesterday, is staying at Pavilion hotel at Dharamsala.

Sources told The Tribune that more glamour was likely to be added to next match between Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore scheduled for tomorrow evening. Owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore Vijay Mallya and Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone are likely to come to watch the match.

Preity Zinta, the owner of Kings XI Punjab, also enthralled the spectators by throwing her team T-Shirts towards them and waving at the youth who were eager to catch her glimpse.

The sources also said the senior BJP leader LK Advani would also visit to see the next match on May 17.

The picturesque location of the cricket stadium with the snow-clad Dhauladhar mountain at its background impress almost everybody. Had the area being easily approachable, the cricket stadium could have been a favourite destination for holding international cricket matches, said the officials of visiting teams.

As an added attraction during the IPL season, Coca-Cola is going to organise a live concert of famous Punjabi pop singer Harbhajan Mann at the police grounds on May 18 evening.

Chamba, May 16
Ten tourists of Delhi were killed on the spot and two others seriously injured when a private maxi cab with 12 occupants swerved off the road and rolled down into a deep gorge near Mangla village this afternoon, according to an official report reaching at the district headquarters.

The report said the vehicle was on its way from Khajjiar hill resort to Chamba town. Of the 10 deceased, nine died on the spot, while one succumbed to his injuries on way to the district hospital.

On receiving the information, Chamba’s Additional District Magistrate Ashwani Chaudhary and Sub-Divisional Magistrate Rohit Rathore, along with a team of medical experts, rushed to the accident site to carry out relief and rescue operations.

The bodies of the deceased had been extricated from the gorge with the help of locals and they had been identified as Sumeet Sharma, Deepak Sharma, Seema, Tanya, Yatender Yadav, Rozy, Shivam, Aditya, Khushi and driver Deen Dyal.

The report further said the two seriously injured, Hema Sharma and Reshav, had been brought to the regional hospital here for undergoing treatment whose condition was stated to be critical. 

Kangra, May 16
Two women, Kamla Devi and Sataya Devi, both aged about 70, were killed late Sunday evening when a Maruti van on way from Dharamsala to Nurpur hit them at Kuthman village on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway, the police said here on Monday. Kamla died on the spot.

People informed ambulance 108 and the Gaggal police post, but when neither reached the spot immediately, they shifted the injured woman Sataya to Tanda Medical College Hospital in a private vehicle. Sataya succumbed to her injuries on the way.

The driver and occupants of the Maruti van left the vehicle at the accident site and fled from the scene. The police has arrested driver Moti Ram, of Hatli Jamwal village. — OC

Shimla, May 16
PCC chief Kaul Singh has constituted a committee under the chairmanship of GS Bali, a former minister, for preparing the chargesheet against the Dhumal government.

The five-member committee has been constituted in consultation with the national general secretary of the party and in charge of the party affairs in the state Birender Singh during his recent two-day visit. The other members of the committee are Kuldeep Pathania, Harsh Wardhan, Sukhwinder Singh and Mukesh Agnihotri.

The committee has been given two months to frame the chargesheet which will be submitted to the President of India with a demand for a CBI probe into the charges.

The issues to be included in the chargesheet were discussed during the party meeting held here yesterday. The committee will collect documents in support of the charges from the party workers and others who had definite information about scams and various other irregularities committed under the BJP regime.

Mandi, May 16
Complainants in the “Rs 60-lakh embezzlement of Darwar panchayat development funds” in the Dharampur block today lodged a complaint with the DC against Vijay Kumar, SDM, Sarkaghat, an inquiry officer in the case.

They said the same “field staff” conducted inspection of panchayat works and they were bound to be biased ”.

The DC had constituted a three-member inquiry panel under the SDM soon after the High Court summoned the DC, including the SDM, and the BDO directing them to file the reply in the case.

According to 24 complainants, the SDM conducted the public hearing and did not ask them to express views on development works.

CPM district secretary Bhupender Singh, the main complainant, charged that the same field staff, who allegedly connived with certain beneficiaries of the works, were again involved in the inspection carried out by the SDM.

“The RTI documents are with us which show how fake bills of cement on papers were filled as a cover-up exercise”, he alleged.

SDM Vijay Kumar refuted their allegations, claiming that the inquiry was being held by a technical panel constituted by the DC in a fair manner. “They have taken the views of people present at the public hearing. We will file the report to high court on May 26,” he claimed.