H I M A C H A L    P R A D E S H    E D I T I O N

Hydropower plan goes digital
Basin-wise strategy by Energy Dept to hike power potential up to 25,000 MW
Shimla, June 10
The Directorate of Energy has decided to engage consulting agencies for preparation of a digitised basin-wise plan to help identify additional potential since it is expecting the hydropower potential of the state to go up to 25,000 MW from the current 23,000 MW.

Vehicle with Bhutanese number plate impounded
Land Cruiser one of 6 such vehicles under police radar
Shimla, June 10
Following a tip-off from Central intelligence agencies about high-end luxury cars bearing Bhutanese number plates in Himachal, the police today impounded a Toyota Land Cruiser which had been plying in Kangra, Mandi and Kullu for the past three years without any insurance or Indian documents.

The impounded vehicle that had been plying in Kangra, Mandi and Kullu for the past three years.

CBI to alert airports to stop Indoria from leaving country
Shimla, June 10
With the wait for absconding IPS officer K.K. Indoria proving to be endless, Himachal police has decided to approach the CBI to alert all airports within India having international flights about his details to prevent him from leaving the country.

Domestic LPG being supplied for commercial use Sundernagar, June 10 Thousands of residents of the town and other adjoining villages have been facing shortage of LPG cylinders due to poor distribution system of Sheetla Gas Agency for the past many days. The supply of domestic cylinders to various sweet shops and dhabhas has further added to the problem, the residents claimed. Fuelling anxiety: Consumers wait for the LPG delivery vehicle along the road near Sundernagar. Photo by writer

Water sports experts okay rafting in Ravi Chamba, June 10 Now commercial river-rafting activities will be starting shortly in a big way in the Ravi in Chamba district as part of adventure tourism. Last weekend, a three-day white-water river-rafting competition concluded in the Ravi at Rajpura near Chamba under the aegis of the District Rafting Association in which Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, Devesh Kumar also participated.

A river-rafting expedition in progress in the Ravi near Chamba. Photo by writer

10,000 species of birds found at Pong
Shimla, June 10
The summer census of birds carried out for the first time at the sprawling Pong Dam Lake Wildlife Sanctuary has revealed the presence of 8,000 to 10,000 birds of different species, most of them at different stages of breeding.

NIT phases out MBA course
Faculty crunch prompts this move
Hamirpur, June 10
The National Institute of Technology (NIT) here has phased out its MBA course from this session. The institute had been running the course since 2009 and two batches had already been passed out from here. The MBA course was being stopped as the NIT did not have the required faculty.

Protesting for rights of the Left: CITU activists stage a protest against attacks on Left party workers in West Bengal, in Shimla on Friday. Photo: Amit Kanwar

96 bighas for Ramdev
Capt misleading people: Bindal
Solan, June 10
Health and Ayurveda Minister Rajeev Bindal today advised Capt Amarinder Singh to concentrate on the political affairs of his state and abstain from making misleading comments on Himachal.

Cong backs Amarinder
Shimla, June 10
The Congress has supported the demand of PPCC president Amarinder Singh for cancellation of the 96 bighas land allotted to Swami Ramdev in the Sadhopul village and urged the government to make public the details of the deed.

Tourists throng Rohtang
Manali, June 10
Hundreds of tourists are thronging Manali everyday to beat the scorching heat of the plains. With it, the Rohtang Pass, which is popularly known as “snow point”, has turned into an attraction point for domestic and foreign visitors.

Hydropower plan goes digital
Basin-wise strategy by Energy Dept to hike power potential up to 25,000 MW
Rakesh Lohumi /TNS

Shimla, June 10
The Directorate of Energy has decided to engage consulting agencies for preparation of a digitised basin-wise plan to help identify additional potential since it is expecting the hydropower potential of the state to go up to 25,000 MW from the current 23,000 MW.

The state’s total power potential was initially pegged at 20,000 MW. With the focus on small and micro-hydel projects and private parties coming up with self-identified projects, the power potential increased to 23,000 MW. Besides the existing capacity, some already allotted projects have been revised upwards.

To have a complete view of the identified potential, ascertain the status of the projects on the ground and identify the remaining potential, offers have been invited from consulting agencies. The digitised plans will be prepared for Sutlej, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Yamuna.

The consulting agencies will be required to incorporate the projects which have already been commissioned, are being implemented and are on the anvil to be allotted in various river basins in the plan. They will also prepare reports for the hydropower projects which have been already identified and the ones with new potential identified.They will also physically mark the sites and on its basis confirm the domains and capacity with regard to projects for which feasibility reports are available.

So far out of the 23,000 MW hydropower potential, 6728 MW has already been commissioned. With all the four units of the 1000 MW Karcham-Wangtu Project becoming operational by August 15, the figure will go up to 7728 MW. The plan is to exploit the entire hydropower potential by the end of the 12th plan (2022).The target for the 10th plan is 2090 MW, for the 11th plan it is 9155 MW and for the 12th plan 5027 MW. Ironically, only 467 MW, six per cent of the total potential exploited, has been harnessed in the state sector.

With most projects allotted to the private sector, even after exploiting the total potential the state sector projects will account for just 17 per cent.

So far the major projects with an aggregate capacity of 5491 MW have been executed in the central sector or in joint ventures with central public undertakings and projects of 3609 MW capacity are under implementation.

Digitised plan

• Rivers and streams in each basin will be mapped using satellite images and GPS

• The domain (full reservoir level and tailrace level) of each project will be marked by providing elevations, latitudes and longitudes

Vehicle with Bhutanese number plate impounded
Land Cruiser one of 6 such vehicles under police radar
Pratibha Chauhan/TNS

Shimla, June 10
Following a tip-off from Central intelligence agencies about high-end luxury cars bearing Bhutanese number plates in Himachal, the police today impounded a Toyota Land Cruiser which had been plying in Kangra, Mandi and Kullu for the past three years without any insurance or Indian documents.

The issue of about six such luxury vehicles being used by some Tibetan monasteries in Baijnath in Kangra and Rewalsar in Mandi was known to the police after the seizure of unaccounted foreign currency from Karmapa’s monastery came to light.

What is even more surprising is the fact that the Land Cruiser impounded from Manali managed to escape the eyes of the police despite having a red number plate bearing a Bhutanese number (BP-2-2335), which is only allowed to embassy vehicles.

Sources said the documents of the vehicle indicated that the vehicle had not been registered anywhere in India and four occupants of the vehicle failed to produce any insurance documents.

The sources said the vehicle, costing about Rs 60 lakh in India, had been brought from Bhutan allegedly without paying any Customs Duty. As such, the vehicle is still registered in the name of Sonam Dargyal of Bhutan.

SR Mardi, ADGP, Law and Order, said the issue of such luxury vehicles plying illegally had been brought to his notice as well. “We will take cognizance of all such vehicles bearing Bhutanese number plates,” he said.

Police sources said the occupants of the impounded vehicle had mentioned the letter issued to them by the Indian Embassy in Bhutan, allowing them entry into India. However, the intelligence agencies said it was not possible for the Indian Embassy to permit the entry of the luxury vehicle into India without paying any Customs Duty, which is 160 per cent.

Moreover, these vehicles have been in use here permanently. The police sources said one of these vehicles had been impounded in February this year, but was later released.

The intelligence sources said there were two more such luxury vehicles being used by a Tibetan monastery in the Bhattu area of Baijnath and one by another monastery in Rewalsar.

CBI to alert airports to stop Indoria from leaving country
Pratibha Chauhan/TNS

Shimla, June 10
With the wait for absconding IPS officer K.K. Indoria proving to be endless, Himachal police has decided to approach the CBI to alert all airports within India having international flights about his details to prevent him from leaving the country.

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has written to the CID to approach the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to alert all airports to prevent the possibility of Indoria leaving the country. The CID will get in touch with the CBI, with all the details of Indoria.

“We have written to the CID to approach the CBI to prevent Indoria’s departure through any international flight as he is still untraceable,” said K.C. Sadyal, ADGP, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. He added that the proceedings for declaring the IPS officer a PO had also been initiated and teams were also being sent to locate him in possible places.

Sources said that the formalities for declaring Indoria, wanted in a case registered against him in March for accepting financial benefits from a hydro-power company while being posted as SP, Kullu were also being completed. The papers are likely to be submitted in the court in Kullu within a day or two. This will finally declare Indoria as a PO since neither has he surrendered nor does anyone know about his whereabouts eversince his bail application was rejected by the Supreme Court, more than three weeks ago.

Though police had sent teams to look for him to Delhi, his native place Indora in Kangra and Kullu but the search proved futile. Sources said as per unconfirmed reports he was somewhere in the Gurdaspur area of Punjab, bordering his home district Kangra. There was speculation that he could surrender on June 6 in Kullu but that also did not happen, forcing the police to taken all possible action, including declaring him a PO.

Police sources said ever since his bail was cancelled by the court in Himachal, he had not used his mobile which could help in locating him. Even after his efforts to secure a bail from the Supreme Court failed, he did not surrender and has keep everyone guessing about his plans.

Domestic LPG being supplied for commercial use
Mahesh Chander Sharma

Sundernagar, June 10
Thousands of residents of the town and other adjoining villages have been facing shortage of LPG cylinders due to poor distribution system of Sheetla Gas Agency for the past many days. The supply of domestic cylinders to various sweet shops and dhabhas has further added to the problem, the residents claimed.

For the supply of cylinders in different areas, the SDM has fixed dates for different areas, but the cylinders have never been delivered by employees of the agency as per schedule.

There are 25,000 LPG connections in this area. Some villages have been included in the route chart where the door-to-door delivery has to be given, but these villagers were never given cylinders at their doorsteps. They stop the vehicle anywhere on the road. A majority of the consumers were seen chasing the gas vehicle and the worst-affected were ladies and senior citizens.

In the town, there are about 200 sweet shops, dhabas and fastfood corners, all of which use domestic cylinders. Even the contractor, who has been engaged to deliver the LPG supply in this area, runs a dhaba and uses a domestic connection, the residents claim.

According to residents, they have brought the problems to the notice of the Civil Supply Department, but the action is still awaited. The consumers have forwarded their complaint to the HP Upbhokta Sangh. The manager of the gas agency Ved denied the charges and said the cylinders were being distributed as per the norms.

He, however, admitted that sometime, the supply was received late so the cylinders could not be distributed as per the schedule.

Water sports experts okay rafting in Ravi
Balkrishan Prashar

Chamba, June 10
Now commercial river-rafting activities will be starting shortly in a big way in the Ravi in Chamba district as part of adventure tourism. Last weekend, a three-day white-water river-rafting competition concluded in the Ravi at Rajpura near Chamba under the aegis of the District Rafting Association in which Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, Devesh Kumar also participated.

District Tourism Development Officer (DTDO), Chamba, Kishori Lal said a team of water sports technical experts, comprising Director of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports Manali Capt Randhir Singh Salhuria and Deputy Director of Pong Dam Water Sports Centre RR Thakur, inspected the appropriate stretch for undertaking river rafting on the Ravi. The team cleared the site from Parel to Rajpura and forwarded its recommendations to the Departments of Tourism and Civil Aviation.

“It has also been decided to launch paragliding in Khajjiar, popularly known as Mini Switzerland, 24 km from here, in an organised manner to lure adventure-loving tourists,” the DTDO revealed, adding that SDM, Chamba, Rohit Rathour had been directed to submit a detailed report of the site for conducting paragliding.

After taking a clearance from the technical team and completing other requisite formalities, tourists would be able to enjoy paragliding under the cover of all security measures, the DTDO stated.

An adventure like paragliding would be an added attraction for tourists hailing from home and abroad and visiting summer paradise of Khajjiar midway Dalhousie-Chamba tourist circuit.

10,000 species of birds found at Pong

Shimla, June 10
The summer census of birds carried out for the first time at the sprawling Pong Dam Lake Wildlife Sanctuary has revealed the presence of 8,000 to 10,000 birds of different species, most of them at different stages of breeding.

Better known as winter destination of migratory birds from Central Asia and Siberia, the water body had 41 species of water dependent birds with the evidence of breeding such as nests, eggs and chicks. This species included migratory species like Small Pratincole, Little Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Blue-tailed Bee-eater and Green Bee-eater.

Many resident species like Little Grebe, Herons, Egrets, Painted and White-necked Stork, Lesser Whistling Duck, Spot-billed Duck, White-breasted Waterhen, Common and Purple Moorhen, Red-Wattled Lapwing, Yellow-Wattled Lapwing, River Lapwing, Little Ring Plover, River Tern, Wire-tailed Swallow, Sand Lark, Paddy Field Pipit have also been found breeding in the sanctuary.

Chief Wildlife Warden Ashwani Gulati said Sarus Crane and Yellow Bittren were also found, but without breeding evidences. — TNS

NIT phases out MBA course
Faculty crunch prompts this move
Dharam Prakash Gupta
Tribune News Service

Hamirpur, June 10
The National Institute of Technology (NIT) here has phased out its MBA course from this session. The institute had been running the course since 2009 and two batches had already been passed out from here. The MBA course was being stopped as the NIT did not have the required faculty. This course will be started again after the recruitment of regular faculty. The MBA course was being run here as an add-on course for the students pursuing BE/B.Tech or M.Tech courses in different fields, under the self-financing scheme.

There were 30 seats in the course and Rs 2 lakh was being charged for this course. This course has been phased out on the direction of the Board of Governors (BoG) of the NIT.

According to sources in the institute, the MBA course as add- on course was not attracting outside candidates to pursue this course as only internal students were taking up the MBA course.

To attract outside students, it was important to run this course on a regular basis for which the recruitment of regular faculty in the MBA department was required.

Director of the NIT, Hamirpur, Dr RL Sharma, said, “The MBA course in the NIT is being phased out temporarily, since the BoG wants to run the course on a regular basis and we are going to recruit faculty before running a regular course in MBA”.

96 bighas for Ramdev
Capt misleading people: Bindal
Our Correspondent

Solan, June 10
Health and Ayurveda Minister Rajeev Bindal today advised Capt Amarinder Singh to concentrate on the political affairs of his state and abstain from making misleading comments on Himachal. In a statement issued here today, he said Amarinder was in the habit of misleading people and had distorted facts pertaining to the land allotted to Swami Ramdev at Sadhopul.

This land was acquired by the government after a long legal battle and not by the donation from the person. Moreover, Indira Holiday Home was having a building and adjoining land for the purpose for which the society was meant for and the Indira Holiday Home Society had made this agreement on the direction of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh. Bindal asked him that the people wanted to know what benefit had the 1,000 of acres of land, which belonged to the erstwhile royal family, had ever given to any children of the state.

He added, “The people of Himachal were competent to run the state and the tall claims of Amarinder about being a well-wisher of the people did not serve any purpose.

The truth is that while he was the Chief Minister of Punjab, he had stalled work on the Chandigrah-Baddi expressway in a planned manner so that Himachal may not survive as far as industrial development is concerned.”

Cong backs Amarinder

Shimla, June 10
The Congress has supported the demand of PPCC president Amarinder Singh for cancellation of the 96 bighas land allotted to Swami Ramdev in the Sadhopul village and urged the government to make public the details of the deed.

The party took exception to the remarks of the Health Minister asking Amarinder Singh to “mind his own business” and asserted that the family, which donated the land for a particular purpose, had the right to raise questions if it was being misused. The land was given for a children’s home, Indira Holiday Home, in 1956. — TNS

Tourists throng Rohtang
MC Thakur

Manali, June 10
Hundreds of tourists are thronging Manali everyday to beat the scorching heat of the plains. With it, the Rohtang Pass, which is popularly known as “snow point”, has turned into an attraction point for domestic and foreign visitors.

The main attraction for tourists is snow at the Rohtang Pass. Enthusiastic tourists were seen enjoying yak and horse riding, skiing, sledging, making snowman and having photo sessions.