n The process will enable integration of village maps with land records n Discretion of revenue officials will end in demarcation of holdings n A pilot project is being implemented in Sirmour, Mandi and Hamirpur districts

Shimla, June 14
The government has decided to digitise the cadastral maps (musabis), the most important document pertaining to land records, which will end the discretion of patwaris and other lower-rung revenue officials in the demarcation of holdings.

To begin with a pilot project is being implemented to cover 15 villages each in Sirmour, Mandi and Hamirpur districts. The task has been outsourced to a private company, Aimil Limited, which will carry it out using modern electronic survey devices like Total Station (TS) and the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology. The control points on the ground will be aligned with the Dehradun-Shimla axis provided by the Survey of India using the GPS. The company will also provide training to field staff in using the TS and GPS devices and carrying out survey to digitise the cadastral maps in rest of the state.

The objective is to carry out a survey of at least 100 sq km area in each of the three districts. While cadastral maps in 10 villages will be digitised by the company, the task in the remaining five villages will be carried out by the revenue staff with its help to ensure that the staff acquired the requisite skills. Subsequently, the entire state will be covered under a state-wide plan to be prepared on the basis of the pilot scheme.

The digitisation of cadastral maps will enable integration of village maps with land records, computerisation of which is nearing completion. Out of the total 21,123 villages in 109 tehsils, land records of 19,948 villages have been computerised and the remaining 919 villages were under settlement. Only Pangi tehsil has been left out.

With the digitisation of village maps, the copies can be provided by the click of a button. Moreover, the musabis are difficult to maintain as they get worn out. The modern technology will end the discretion of patwaris while carrying out demarcation and the process will be completed using sophisticated electronic devices, points out Principal Secretary, Revenue, Deepak Sanan.

The project will help create a Geographical Information System which will enable the department to make the entire land records, including musabis, be made available on the web so that landowners can access land records and download all required documents, including maps with khasra numbers, from anywhere.

Dharamsala, June 14
Facing the heat from the Congress over allegations of benami land deals, the state government is planning a counter-offensive over the issue.

Sources said the state government had unearthed five cases of major benami land deals in which the alleged beneficiaries were people affiliated with the Congress.

The sources said the state government was planning to highlight the cases to neutralise the Congress offensive on such deals.

IPH Minister Ravinder Ravi said the entire allegations of violations of Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act being levelled by Congress leaders were baseless.

The Chief Minister had appealed to the people of the state to bring to the notice government cases of benami land deals. The people had written regarding many cases. The cases had been forwarded to the commission formed under retired judge DP Sood that would probe the llegations.

The commission would bring the truth regarding the allegations before the people of the state.

He said Congress governments in the state amended Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act five times to benefit certain people. The cases in which the Congress amended provisions of Section 118 to benefit a few leaders would be brought to the fore before the people of the state.

Ravi also said the Congress had been making a lot of noise regarding private universities that had come up in the state. The state government had not allotted government land to any university. Educational trusts, which have set up private universities, have bought land directly from the people of the state. The state government had granted permission to buy land to these institutions as these are bringing in investment and generating employment and educational opportunities for the youth.

The state government would soon come out with data regarding the number of employment opportunities generated by the private universities in the state, he said.

Ravi also alleged that the HPCC meeting at Palampur had once again brought to the fore that the Congress was a divided house in the state.

The division between Virbhadra Singh and Kaul Singh camps was obvious from the statements given by both leaders.

Kangra, June 14
Some parts of Kangra were today lashed by heavy rain along with hailstorm which threw life out of gear and the Dhauladhar mountain range experienced a mild snowfall dropping the temperature considerably.

The valley witnessed a sunny morning, but later in the afternoon the sky was overcast and it started raining in different parts of the valley accompanied hail and high-velocity winds.

The temperature fell following a mild snowfall on the Dhauladhar mountain range. The reports of rain were received from different parts of the valley.

Due to high velocity winds, big trees were uprooted at three different places along the Pathankot Mandi National Highway, resulting in its blockade leaving hundreds of the vehicles stranded.

PC Katoch, Executive Engineer, National Highway 20, who was supervising the blockade removal operations, told The Tribune that blockades were at three different places and bulldozers were pressed into service to remove the uprooted trees and the traffic was regulated within an hour or so. There was no loss of life reported from any part of the valley.

Shimla, June 14
Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta said Himachal would urge the Centre to include hailstorm under national calamity as apple crop worth crores had been damaged in the state due to it.

Bragta presided over a high-level meeting convened here yesterday to review the arrangements being made for the coming apple season. He said he would request the Chief Minister to take up the matter for inclusion of hailstorm under natural calamity with the Central Government.

He assured that all possible efforts had been made to ensure smooth transportation of apples to the market and a sum of Rs 143.54 crore had been sanctioned for the maintenance of roads damaged due to heavy rains. “Besides identifying the critical spots on the national highway in Shimla, Kinnaur, Kullu and Mandi, the amount will be utilised for maintaining link roads so as to provide better road connectivity to growers during season,” he added.

The minister said JCB machines, cranes and other heavy machinery would be deployed at the critical points to ease out heavy vehicular traffic during the apple season. “The machinery will be deployed in Chhaila, Gumma bridge site, Kotkhai (PWD Rest House), Parshal (PWD Store), Khara Phatar, Praunthi, Jubbal Junction and Hatkoti to ensure the proper maintenance of roads,” he added.

Bragta said about 5,000 trucks would be required during the coming apple season and the main control room would be established at Fagu near Theog in Shimla district which would start functioning from July 15 and control rooms would also be set up in Sainj, Khara Phatar, Narkanda and Kuddu as per the requirements.

He said in addition to private entrepreneurs, HIMFED and HPMC would also supply cartons and bundle trays at reasonable rates to the growers. He added that 48 market yards had already been established in the state.

Shimla, June 14
Chief Minister PK Dhumal said today that he would personally review the enforcement of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994, in the state as a check against holding of sex determination tests.

In response to a letter written to him by Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Gulam Nabi Azad, he expressed concern over the practice of sex determination and pre-natal tests in some parts of the country.

Dhumal said the state had banned sex determination tests making it a cognisable offence and all clinics carrying such tests had been closed down. “We have launched an ambitious scheme ‘Beti Hai Anmol’ to sensitise people about the decreasing population of girl child causing population imbalances and creating socio-cultural problems,” he added.

Dhumal said under the programme, a sum of Rs 5,100 was being deposited in the name of every newborn girl child at the time of birth for disbursement with interest on attaining the age of 18 years.

He said “Mukhya Mantri Kanyadaan Yojna”, “Mother Teresa Matri Shakti Sambal Yojna” and “Matri Shakti Bima Yojna” were some of the other schemes aimed at women empowerment.

He said as per the latest information released by the Census Operations 2011, the female sex ratio had improved in the state substantially and a record increase had been registered in the tribal district of Lahaul-Spiti. He said mass awareness was also being created through various campaigns. 

Shimla, June 14
Even as the new ISBT here is nearing completion, the state government is yet to take a final decision on the issue of imposing a penalty on the builder for committing gross violations in construction and then seeking its regularisation.

The case of the ISBT, which has come up near Tutikandi on the Shimla bypass, is likely to be placed before the state Cabinet shortly so that a final decision can be taken and the structure can be made operational within this month. What is surprising is the fact that the builder has exceeded the floor area ratio (FAR), despite the fact that additional land was provided to him to meet the structural demands.

The Single Umbrella Committee headed by Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, AN Sharma has already forwarded the case to the government. “I have forwarded the case to the government with the opinion that being a building of public interest, relaxation may be made on the excess FAR violation as had been recommended by the MD of the HRTC,” Sharma said. He added that the builder had been given relaxation in FAR in the past also and provided additional land too.

“The matter is already pending before the government and the Cabinet is likely to take a decision on the issue shortly,” said TG Negi, Principal Secretary, Transport.

He said the ISBT had provision for 24 departure bays and eight arrivals. However there was no provision for the parking of HRTC buses, which would continue to be lined up along the bypass.

What is intriguing is the fact that why should a builder who is undertaking a project on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis be allowed excess FAR, thereby enhancing the commercial area, without the government imposing a penalty, as is the case with others. The proposal to reduce the recovery period of 17 years from the project was also floated but the official pointed out that it would not be a legally viable idea.

The fact that the builder committed violation by exceeding the FAR limit and later sought permission from the government also puts a question mark on his intentions. “Even if the excess FAR was a structural necessity, the builder should have sought prior permission rather than going ahead with the construction and later seeking its regularisation,” a senior official opined.

Chamba, June 14
In his bid to expose the unlawful activities going on in the region, district RTI Bureau convener Swami Bhuvaneshwar Sharma has sought a high-level probe into the miming mafia clandestinely active in the mountainous region of Bharmour in Chamba district.

In a press statement here today, Sharma pinpointed certain specific points along the Chamba-Bharmour national highway where the mining mafia was busy hollowing out the hills on a large-scale thereby triggering landslides from hill slopes along the highway.

“The mining mafia has posed a constant threat to the exquisite green hills causing the recurring soil erosion and landslips even during a little spell of rain,” Sharma stated, adding that the menace had been causing great inconvenience to daily commuters and tourists following the blockade of the highway due to recurrent landslides.

Sharma revealed that illegal extensive mining had been noticed in the hills of Lothal and Dharwala areas. Digging the hills had also posed a great threat to the ecology of the area.

Apprehending untoward occurrence in the affected area, Sharma warned that the officials concerned would be held accountable for any mishap.

Mandi, June 14
Congress workers today accused former Seraj Congress MLA Shivlal Sharma of spreading propaganda against former Milkfed chairman and Seraj Congress mandal president Chet Ram Thakur. Shivlal has been pushed to the corner in Seraj as his home panchayat has been merged with the Nachan reserved constituency by the last delimitation commission.

Lashing out at Shivlal for demanding a disciplinary action against Chet Ram and his supporters, Congress workers charged that Shivlal “is feeling insecure and is on his way out as his area of influence has merged with the Nachan reserved constituency”.

Interestingly, Shivlal had lost the recent mandal organisation poll to Chet Ram, the supporters of Virbhadra Singh. Shivlal is a supporter of Kaul Singh Thakur, PCC president.

A veteran Congress leader and PCC member, Prof Vir Singh Chauhan contested Shivlal’s statement, saying that it was baseless and uncalled for as no such decision was taken at the Shikari Devi meeting.

Shival, in fact, was sidelined at the recent meeting of the Congress workers at Shikari Devi attended by Chet Ram Thakur. Shivlal attacked them, demanding action against Chet Ram and his supporters for declaring him the Seraj Congress candidate without party decision.