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Forest Dept seeks more time to remove encroachments
Beas in spate; Larji power project shut
Industrial areas face power cuts
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Virbhadra must surrender 180
bighas: BJP
Police to videograph evidence
Keylong farmers oppose construction of tunnels
Transport nagar project awaits Central nod
Once a forest guard, always a forest guard!
Delivery on Camera
CPM protests against graft
Villagers: Shift power project
Daily-wage workers to be regularised
DCs shifted
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Forest Dept seeks more time to remove encroachments
Shimla, July 25 Despite clear-cut directions of the court and the constitution of a task force comprising forest, revenue and police officials, right from the state to the forest division level, encroachments are not being removed. The deadline expired on June 19, but so far only 1,493 FIRs have been registered in which 1,663 hectares of forest land is involved. The high court had given four months for the removal of the encroachments after the registration of cases, which will expire on October 31. However, the department has now filed an affidavit in the court seeking more time for registering cases and ejecting unauthorised occupants. Admitting that the task has not been completed, the department has pleaded for a two-month extension in the deadline for removing encroachments up till December, and for the registration of FIRs up till July 31. Sources point out that so far cases have been filed mostly in cases in which offenders have themselves submitted affidavits that they are in illegal possession of forest land, while applying for regularisation. There are in all over 9,600 cases of encroachment involving 1,850 hectares of forest land. A department, which has failed to comply with the directions of the court, is not expected to implement its own regulations to deal with encroachments according to which which it is mandatory to lodge FIRs in offences like tampering with boundary pillars, erection of permanent structures on forest land and encroachments in a protected wildlife area. In these cases, there is no provision for compounding the offence. Now, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has also assured the encroachers that cases against them will be withdrawn if they voluntarily surrender the encroached land. A task force at the divisional level comprising the DFO, the DSP and the Tehsildar has been set up for coordinated action and as such there is no reason for delay in taking action against the encroachers. |
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Beas in spate; Larji power project shut
Mandi/Kullu, July 25 It is for the second time in a week that the board has shut this project, thanks to the heavy silt content in the Beas. The silt has resulted due to the recent flash flood, the debris dumped by road construction companies, power projects and landslips triggered by heavy rain that has been lashing the region for the past 30 hours. The silt content in the Beas shot up from the permissible level of 2,000 particle per minute (PPM) to 5,000 PPM today, forcing the board to shut down all three units for an indefinite period. The board had lost more than one lakh units of electricity per hour, said engineers, adding that summer was the main generating season for all power projects in the state. A heavy load of trash in the Beas choked the Larji barrage and the entry gates of the desilting chambers, said the engineers. As a result, all five flood gates of the barrage were opened to save it
from damage, they added. Owing to the heavy rain, the Solang, Parbati, Sainj and Tirthan, all tributaries of the Beas, are in spate, carrying a heavy load of silt, plastic bottles and other waste dumped by hoteliers and tourists along the riverside. The logs, mainly spotted in the Parbati, indicate that timber is being cut and dumped along the riverside. The logs came as a “heaven-sent gift” for villagers living downstream between Nagwani and Takoli along the river as they fished out the logs for fuel purposes. In charge of the Larji project NR Atri said the project had been shut due to the high level of silt for an indefinite period. The 990-MW BSL project used dredgers and opened its flood gates to desilt the Pandoh dam today. |
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Industrial areas face power cuts
Solan, July 25 Board’s Superintending Engineer Suneel Grover said efforts were on to restore the Baspa project as the state’s supply was channelled through this project. Since the silt level in the three major projects - Baspa-II, Nathpa Jhakri and Karchum Wangtu - was as high as 50,000 ppm as against the safe limit of 5,000 ppm, these projects had to be shut. The high silt was on account of heavy rain, which lashed the state during the past few days. He said the Baspa-II project was likely to be restored soon and the state’s power supply of 225 lakh units to 250 lakh units would be met through this. The state would, however, lose a revenue of about Rs 12 crore as the heavy silt had led to the closure of two other projects whose power was traded. Since the Nathpa-Jhakri project generated 1,500 MW and the Karchum Wangtu project generated 1,000 MW, the state would suffer loss of several crores on account of their shutdown. The grim power situation has forced the officials to impose power cuts in the state’s industrial areas of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, Parwanoo, Paonta Sahib, Kala Amb and Gol Thai. Officials said as against the power requirement of 55 MVA in the Nalagarh industrial area, only 25 MVA load was available. Similarly as against the requirement of about 300 MVA in Baddi-Barotiwala, only partial supply was available. The officials said they were trying to ensure that domestic consumers did not suffer. |
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Yeddyurappa’s Indictment
Shimla, July 25 Addressing a press conference here, he said the BJP had all along brazenly tried to shield the errant Chief Minister, ignoring the findings of the Lokayukta and the demand from various sections of people for his removal. However, now that its own senior leader had stated that he had apprised the high command of all that was going on in Karnataka, still no action was taken. “It speaks volumes about the double standards being adopted by the BJP on the issue of corruption. The approach and attitude adopted by the party leadership has made its position untenable. All limits of probity in public life have been crossed in Karnataka and the letter of Shanta Kumar has proved that the party was in the knowhow of things and still continued to protect Yeddyurappa,” he said. Referring to the political situation in the state, Pilot said the Assembly elections, which were likely to be held around September and October next year, would see the Congress return to power with a thumping majority. The party high command was preparing an action programme which would see the party coming out against the government aggressively, staging dharnas, protests and rallies across the state over the next few months. Simultaneously, a mass contact programme would also be launched in which the focus would be on apprising the people of the achievements, programmes and policies of the UPA regime, particularly the Right to Information Act, the MNREGA and the Right to Education. To a question, he asserted that there was no factionalism in the party and all senior leaders like Vidya Stokes, Virbhadra Singh and Kaul Singh were working in unison and the party was performing the role of the Opposition in the state quite well. |
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Virbhadra must surrender 180 bighas: BJP
Addressing a press conference here today, Sharma said Virbhadra should have surrendered this excess land with him on moral grounds much earlier. “Since the Congress has no other issue against the BJP regime, it is unnecessary trying to create controversies with regard to Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reforms Act,”
he said. He said if the Congress had concrete evidence in cases where violation of Section 118 had been done, it should have brought the facts before the government or the one-man commission that had specially been constituted to probe the allegations. “Rather the Congress has now started opposing the commission as it fears that the violations made by it while it was in power too will be detected,” he said. The BJP MLA said during its rule, the Congress had given relaxation in Section 118, allowing the purchase of land by outsiders in 2,068 cases while the BJP had so far done so only in 1,297 cases. “As is its habit, the Congress is now also opposing the
Apartment Act, enacted by it which is very strange,” he said. He expressed surprise over the statement made by Congress legislature party leader Vidya Stokes that efforts should be made to stop the import of apples. “She should know that this falls within the purview of the Central Government and not that of the state and Congress leaders from Himachal must extend support on the issue,” he said. |
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Police to videograph evidence
Shimla, July 25 Even though the conviction rate in the hill state stands at a relatively better 47.39 per cent, now attempts are being made to further improve this percentage. There have been several high-profile cases where the accused have taken the benefit of the fact that witnesses, after recording their evidence, later turn hostile. “To enhance the conviction rate in police cases, we have decided to videograph evidence, especially in cases registered under Section 161 of the CrPC, as there have been several instances where the witnesses retract at later stages,” said SR Mardi, Additional Director-General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order. He said since the statement recorded under Section 161 of the CrPC was not signed, the “witnesses later retract, leading to a failure of the cases”. Police officials said in cases registered under Section 161 of the CrPC, the investigating officer (IO) recorded the statement according to the version given by the witness and the signature of the witness was normally not taken. “There have been some high-profile cases where we have had to cut a sorry picture as very important witnesses turned hostile, thereby changing the fate of the case,” said an officer. Mardi said all 101 police stations had already been provided with digital cameras and they had now been directed to attach a video recording of the statement of the witness with each case file so that the witnesses did not turn hostile later on. |
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Keylong farmers oppose construction of tunnels
Keylong, July 25 Giving credence to the farmers’ legitimate apprehensions, a glacier scientist, Dr Milap Chand Sharma, for the regional centre for development at JNU, New Delhi, during his recent study trip to the Mayar valley in Lahaul observed that if the tunnels passed under the fragile surface, spring water sources might dry up. This could trigger a water crisis in the valley if some judicious planning was not done, he said. His observation has come as a shot in the arms for the farmers, who have been opposing construction of the proposed tunnels in the Bhagha, Chandra and Pattan valleys. According to farmers, they will oppose any plan of the power companies considering the construction of the tunnels for the projects under their cultivable land and water sources. The farmers had already opposed the construction of the Jispa project on the Bhaga river. The HP power corporation, which is constructing the project, has pushed the project upstream from Jispa village, but farmers still oppose the HPCL proposed tunnel. The farmers say water springs and melting glaciers are their life support systems as these provide drinking water and irrigation, respectively. The tunnels going under the land and water sources will dry them as had happened in many cases in Kullu and other parts of the state, said Chering Dorje and Norbu, farmers from Jispa and Piyukar villages. From Koksar to Tandi, the confluence of the Chandra and Bhaga rivers, the Chandra valley survives on spring waters for drinking and irrigation. The cultivation of main cash crops, like peas and potatoes, and vegetables is possible only through irrigation, said Duni Chand Thakur, a farmer from Shashan village in the Chandra valley. “The government without considering the fragile ecology of the Lahaul valley has allotted over a dozen power projects to the private companies in the valley. The Border Roads Organisation has damaged the cultivable land in the valley and now the project companies are doing surveys for constructing tunnels,” said Himal Thakur, a farmer. “The private companies are still making detailed project reports for the final approval, and farmers’ apprehensions are premature,” claimed power companies. The government insisted that they would not go ahead with projects which were not environmentally sustainable. |
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Transport nagar project awaits Central nod
Solan, July 25 Though the BBN Industrial Development Authority had submitted the project to the ministry in
February 2010, it is yet to be approved. The state had earmarked land measuring 70 bigha at Sandholi, thus contributing its share of Rs 4 crore. The Central assistance was sought for developing Export Infrastructure and Allied Activities scheme. A sum of Rs 7.5 crore, out of the total Rs 11 crore, was being sought from the Centre. The project, which was considered crucial to decongest the state’s industrial hub, had also incorporated revenue generation as a crucial factor as an earlier project of setting up a transport nagar at Jharmajri had failed to attract bidders. Despite this, the ministry had not shown any interest to fund the project. Though the state was hopeful of getting the nod for this project as Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma was earlier an MP from Himachal, but no
headway had been made in this project. With nearly 50 export-oriented units situated in BBN, the setting up of a transport nagar where trucks could be parked along with other facilities is a key requirement. The proposal will also help decongest the NH-21A where haphazardly parked trucks created a traffic snarl. With the Centre showing no inclination to fund this project, the officials of the BBNDA are now trying to work out an alternative with the help of the local transport union and land near the office of the
truck union was under consideration. There are nearly 7,000 trucks in the local transport union and an equal number of them daily enter the area from other states. |
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Once a forest guard, always a forest guard!
Mandi/Kullu, July 25 He is not alone. There are over 100 like him, who retire as forest guard from the top-heavy Forest Department every year. Unlike their superiors, forest guards work round the clock, but there is no proper promotion channel for them, resented guards. They rued that many of them had completed 26 years in service, but they had not been promoted as deputy rangers. On the other hand, the IFS and HPF officers got their first promotion after 10-14 years, they pointed out. The forest guards constitute the backbone of the forest management, protecting forests from fire, encroachers, monitor plantations, raise nurseries and guard check posts. But in the top-heavy department, guards and field workers are not given their due. While conservators and chief conservators of forests (CCFs) have less work to do, there are 106 IFS and 113 HP forest officers in the state that shows the anti-pyramid structure of the department, admitted senior IFS officers. On the other hand, over 150 posts of forest guard are vacant - 28 posts in Mandi forest circle and over a dozen in Kullu circle. Over 150 forest guards retire every year in the state and a guard has to handle one or two forest beats of about 18 sq km each. The forest guards rued that their promotion were sealed or cancelled if the cases were pending against them. But there was no such consideration for the officers, they charged. The department has abolished the post of forester and promoted some of the guards as deputy rangers. “The department has abolished ‘workers’, who are recruited as daily wagers and will assist guards in nurseries and plantation and other supervisory works,” sources said. The plight of forest guards can be understood as whenever a case of illicit felling or encroachment or illegal smuggling comes to light, the guard of the area is suspended. The department does not care a dime for the guards. They are not mentioned in the civil list, where HPFS and IFS officers find prominent display on the official website. PCCF administrator Praveen Thapliyal said, “The department has recruited over 150 guards, who will retire this year as we have a direct recruitment policy. We have sanctioned strength of 2,500 guards and may face shortage as some of them are sent on deputation to various projects, check posts and barriers. But one-third of guards become eligible for promotion after 24 years or so for promotion as deputy rangers.” Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Vinay Tandon said, “There may be stagnation at each level, but we promote forest guards as deputy rangers as per their qualifications. We also honour them for their contribution from time to time.” |
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Delivery on Camera
Kullu, July 25 According to police investigation, the ambulance staff was carrying an expectant woman, accompanied by her husband, to a hospital in Kullu from the Lug valley on July 20. However, she delivered the baby in the ambulance and was helpedby the medical attendant of the ambulance. The police investigation found that the driver of the ambulance took the photograph of the delivery after being told by the medical attendant as they wanted to show that the ambulance staff handled the job safely as both the mother and the baby were doing fine. However, the ambulance staff circulated this photograph to a Hindi daily for publicity, which further emailed it to another Hindi daily. Kullu SP Abhishek said the ambulance staff took a photograph and did not make an MMS as reported in a section of the media. |
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CPM protests against graft
Hamirpur, July 25 CPM activists, despite the incessant rain, assembled at the DC office carrying party banners and flags and raised slogans against corruption. CPM secretariat member Dr Kashmir Singh Thakur attacked both the parties for the involvement of their leaders in various scams. He said the policies of liberalisation and privatisation had led to large-scale corruption in the country and the leaders of both parties were allegedly minting money, taking advantage of the government policies and stashing blackmoney of about Rs 25 lakh crore in foreign countries. They accused the state government for failing to act against corrupt officials. They said several officers involved in corruption cases were still continuing on their posts, despite being booked. CPM leaders AC Chuahan, Anil Mankotia, Joginder Kumar, Pratap Thakur and Satya Galoda also addressed the meeting. |
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Villagers: Shift power project
Shimla, July 25 They impressed upon him that the project was being built at a sacred site which was a place of worship for residents of 18 gram panchayats of the area. They appealed for shifting the project downstream. Dhumal assured the delegation that religious sentiments of the people would not be hurt and the matter would be taken up with the project authorities.
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Daily-wage workers to be regularised
Shimla, July 25 An official spokesperson said such regularisation would be come into effect from the date on which the order of regularisation was issued after completing the codal
formalities. — TNS
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DCs shifted
Shimla, July 25 The government has posted Sharab Negi, Secretary, State Election Commission, as DC, Chamba, vice Devesh Kumar who takes over as DC, Mandi. Additional Secretary, Home, will be the new Secretary, State Election Commission.
— TNS
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Shimla, July 25