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Queen of Hills losing architectural grandeur to modernisation
Move to take over aided schools has mixed response
Bring PM’s office under Lok Pal: Shanta
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5 ex-Cong MLAs booked
New system of property tax opposed
Fruit growers sore over high carton prices
250 hydro projects out of 269 allotted to Himachalis in 3 yrs
Passengers remain stranded on NH-20 for 12 hours
No law classes in Mandi college: BCI
Bawa is chairman of state Bar Council
HPU to get National Knowledge Network soon
Electricity board imposes penalty
on HCL
Cong for probe into IT billing project
2 nabbed with 7 buffaloes
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Queen of Hills losing architectural grandeur to modernisation
Shimla, August 7 Old colonial buildings, which lent a distinct character to the town, have been disappearing one after the other. While a number of structures have been consumed by fire, others have been pulled down to make way for multi-storeyed modern concrete structures.
The latest casualty is House Number IV in the Brockhurst Estate. The nearly 140-year-old structure was dismantled last month to construct a residence for the Chief Secretary. Government agencies assert that the dilapidated building was not a notified heritage structure. It had become inhabitable and was not beyond repair. In fact, with no officer willing to move in, the building has been unoccupied for the past four years. However, conservationists feel otherwise. Adviser to the State Chapter of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) BL Malhans maintains that the structure could have been restored. He pointed out that the preservation of “period aesthetics” was the key to heritage conservation. It required a holistic approach and preserving a few notified structures would not help. The Tudor style timber-framed structures were the hallmark of the colonial architecture and their gradual disappearance would alter the character of the hill station. It was the first of the structures to come up in the Brockhurst Estate in the 1870s and the other three houses came up later, Malhans said. Viplove Thakur, senior Congress leader who was the last occupant of the house, said it was a beautiful house and she never felt that it was unsafe. However, Secretary, General Administration, Ajai Bhandari said the building was not on the heritage list and was virtually an abandoned house. The entire process had been carried out as per rules. Superintending Engineer, PWD, Naresh Sharma said the new structure would be raised on the lines of the old building in accordance with the plan approved by the Town and Country Planning Department. It was virtually a three-storeyed structure, including the basement, and the new building would have a covered area of 340 sq m, slightly less than that of the dismantled building. As such it is not surprising that some structures have come up even in the heritage zone in deviation from the approved plans and all that the government has been doing is to condone the violations and regularise the structures. Preservation of the heritage is the collective responsibility of the people and the government.
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Move to take over aided schools has mixed response
Dharamsala, August 7 In case the local managements running the schools do not want to hand over the assets of their schools, the government has proposed to take over the entire staff of such schools. The state government is giving grant in aid to about 40 private schools in the state. In these schools, it provides about 95 per cent component of salary of staff of these schools while the rest 5 per cent is contributed by the local management committees. However, over a period of time the government has been reducing the grant in aid provided to the schools. Nearly 30,000 students are taking education in private schools getting grant in aid from the government. In lieu of the grant provided by the state, the private-aided schools provide education at subsidised rates to students. Sources told The Tribune that the managements of about 20 schools across the state have given their consent to transfer their assets to the government. These schools would be taken over by the Education Department along with their staff. However, most of the schools that had agreed to transfer their assets to the government were located in rural areas and not doing well financially. The remaining 20 private schools located in urban areas were against transferring their assets to the government. The state would take over the willing staff of these schools. The grant in aid to the schools would be stopped in due course of time. However, after that the school managements would then be free to enforce own fee structures. Meanwhile, critics allege that the move would make education costly for the students who were studying in these schools. Teachers of government-aided schools are also perplexed over the government offer. The government has proposed to take over the staff of aided schools at the initial pay scales offered to government teachers. While the younger staff of aided schools is happy at the offer, the older staff is feeling aggrieved at losing seniority. The critics further alleged that the aided schools were doing better than government schools in terms of results due to private managements that held them accountable. Converting aided schools into government schools would result in a fall in the education standards. It would also increase the financial burden on the state, they said. Meanwhile, Education Department officials are justifying the move by saying that many private managements of aided schools were marred by politics and infighting. |
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Bring PM’s office under Lok Pal: Shanta
Dharamsala, August 7 Addressing a press conference at the Karnika Resort, along with the Minister for Industries Kishan Kapoor, Shanta Kumar said the present UPA government was not serious about implementing the Lok Pal Bill. It had deliberately diluted the provisions of the Lok Pal Bill so that it could not be passed in the current session. Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was in favour of the inclusion of his office under the preview of the Lok Pal. The Congress wanted to dilute or stall the Lok Pal Bill as most of its leaders were going to be threatened by it. Present Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was considered an honest person. So, he also should not have any reservation for bringing his office under the preview of the Lok Pal, Shanta said. He alleged that the present UPA government was also trying to divert the attention of the general public from the issue of Indian black money stashed in foreign banks. In case the names of Indian citizens who had stashed their ill-gotten money in foreign banks were made public, certain senior Congress leaders would be in trouble. He said it was strange that the government did not want to issue an ordinance declaring Indian black money stashed in foreign banks as a national asset. “I am wondering what harm it will do to the Congress in case black money is declared a national asset,” Shanta said. He further alleged that most of the foreign countries, including the US, Germany and Japan, had already taken back black money stashed by their citizens in Swiss banks. The Swiss government had also declared in the UN that they were ready to return the ill-gotten money of foreign countries stashed in their banks as they considered it stolen money. Responding to a query, Shanta Kumar defended the setting up of private universities in the state. He, however, added that he had asked Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to bring legislation for not allowing diversion of land used for setting up private universities for any other purpose, but for education.
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Encroachments on Forest Land
Shimla, August 7 Those booked under Section 447, IPC, and Section 33 of the Forest Act include Kashmir Singh (Bilaspur), Milkhi Ram Goma (Kangra) and Natha Singh (Mandi district) and two deceased - Hira Singh Pal and Dharam Pal from Solan. The FIRs have been registered on the basis of a report of the Forest Department that they had encroached on a forest land in Hiranagar during the construction of houses. PPCC chief Kaul Singh said about 35 MLAs belonging to various parties, including the BJP, who were the members of the society formed around 1985, were allotted plots. However, during a subsequent forest settlement during the earlier tenure of the BJP (1998-2003) some part of the allotted land was included in the demarcated protected forest area. He said he had not seen the report on the basis of which FIRs had been registered, but it appeared to be an act of political vendetta as only Congressmen had been booked. The PPCC chief maintained that since the land was allotted by the government for the purpose of housing, the allottees could not be blamed for the encroachment. Moreover, houses had been constructed after obtaining permissions from the Town and Country Planning Department. He said he was himself a member of the same housing society. “The legislators having houses in the housing society have got all the connections after thorough permission by the Town and Country Planning Department during the time of construction. And in the revenue records of those times, the area does not fall in the DPF.” He added that it was height of political victimisation that the two former MLAs, who are dead, have also been booked for encroachment on forest land.
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New system of property tax opposed
Shimla, August 7 The party maintained that the new system was a part of the wider agenda of neo-liberalism as evident from the fact that the law was enacted in accordance with the guidelines of the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JLNURM) and the 13th Finance Commission. At present, the tax was assessed on gross annual rent and if rent of any land or building could not be determined, the same was assessed on the cost of the erection of building and the land. The 13th Finance Commission had recommended that urban local bodies should be enabled to levy property tax without any hindrance and it was a condition to avail the performance-linked grants. For Shimla, where the JLNURM was being implemented, the property tax reforms had been made mandatory. The new system would not only coerce every occupant to pay property tax even if there was no rental income. As a result, a large number of employees and other small householders, who had raised loans, would be forced to sell off their property in due course of time, exactly what the big giant builders wanted. The party further asked the government to repeal the Act and also continue with the relaxation up to 100 sq m for bona fide occupants as far as the property tax was concerned. Further, the merged areas, where no facilities had been provided, be kept out of the property tax ambit. The party would participate in the agitation calls given by various organisations in this regard and mobilise people to get the demand accepted.
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Fruit growers sore over high carton prices
Shimla, August 7 General secretary of the sabha Sanjay Chauhan said it was shocking that the apple cartons being supplied by the nodal government agencies like the HPMC were costlier than the open market price. The price of a carton had been at fixed at Rs 39 by the HPMC, whereas the best quality carton was available in the open market from Rs 34 to Rs 37. The government agency had thus allowed scope to the private manufacturers to sell cartons at higher rates, he said. He alleged that the government was functioning under the pressure of private manufacturers and it was not keen to regulate the prices of cartons and other packing material. Earlier, it had sold the state-owned carton factory at Gumma at a throwaway price, leaving the growers at the mercy of private manufacturers. He said there was a nexus between carton manufacturers and a few BJP supporters, who were acting like agents of the manufacturers. They were the same people who facilitated the sale of government-owned AIPIL carton plant at a throwaway price to benefit carton cartel. Now the high prices of cartons, despite steep fall of almost 50 per cent in the prices of paper - the main raw material for making corrugated cartons - clearly reflected the motives behind the government decision. The state government announced the release of Rs 50 crore to clear the arrears of fruit growers, whose fruit was procured under the Market Intervention Scheme, but it failed to make the payments and instead forced them to buy inputs and other materials at much higher prices through the HPMC and other agencies. The sabha demanded downward revision of prices of cartons and keeping in view the low production and heavy losses caused by natural calamities, the government should immediately release the payments amounting to Rs 30 crore due to the apple growers. |
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250 hydro projects out of 269 allotted to Himachalis in 3 yrs
Shimla, August 7 The government has reserved projects up to 2 MW capacity for bonafide Himachalis and co-operative societies, while preference will be given to Himachalis in projects up to 5 MW. Over the past three years, 269 hydro projects of 511.34 MW have been allotted, out of which 250 projects of 435.74 MW have been given to Himachalis. Implementation agreements had been signed for 55 projects with aggregate capacity of 175.85 MW. HIMURJA, nodal agency for small projects, has been assigned 19 projects of 76.10 MW capacity, of which, 16 projects of 61.28 MW were found to be viable. So far, the detailed project report in respect of 13 projects had been prepared and techno-economic clearances were accorded by the Directorate of Energy. The 900-KW Saach Project in Pangi has started a trial run, while the 400-KW Billing Project, near Keylong, is likely to be commissioned later this year. The Solar Energy Programme has also been given a major thrust and 216 solar power plants of 2 KW each are being installed at 102 police stations and 114 police outposts shortly. Besides, two energy parks are being developed at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, and National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur. Shimla and Hamirpur are to be developed as solar cities.
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Passengers remain stranded on NH-20 for 12 hours
Mandi/Kullu, August 7 Passengers remained stranded on the Mandi-Pathankot National Highway-20 for over 12 hours and on the NH-21 at 5 Meel, near Mandi, for four hours as landslides blocked several stretches between Ghatta and Guma on NH-20 and between Mandi and Pandoh. The HRTC suspended its bus services to Thaltukhod, Barot and Shivabadar in Drang today as HRTC buses remained stuck there due to landslides. The Neri-Nablai and Mandi-Duki roads remained breached due to landsides. Though the HRTC claimed that they had started transshipment of passengers from the Kot Nullah in Ani subdivision, villagers resented that they could not transport essentials and their produce to markets as the PWD had yet to restore the highway. NH-20 Executive Engineer PC Katoch said the highway was restored at around 12.30 pm today. There was heavy rain in the Jogindernagar belt last night that in turn triggered landslides on the highway, he added. After the flash flood in the Sambal Nullah yesterday, massive boulders fell on the highway at 5 Meel, near Pandoh, that blocked the highway till 9 am.
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No law classes in Mandi college: BCI
Mandi, August 7 The successive Chief Ministers, including Virbhadra Singh and Prem Kumar Dhumal, had announced that law classes would be started here. Mandi Sadar MLA Anil Sharma and former IPH minister Kaul Singh Thakur too had announced thrice in the past that law classes would be started in the college. All the announcements ended up as gimmicks to win over students’ sympathy. The student unions have been reiterating these announcements when the students’ council elections are round the corner and when the VIPs visit the campus. The BCI, which governs law colleges in the country, has turned down the demand on the ground that “no law college can function in a degree college”. Also, the UGC guidelines say that the law college should have its own principal, at least four UGC-qualified faculty members and an independent campus spread in 14 bighas, sources revealed. College Principal MS Jamval said they took up the matter with the DC, Mandi, for land, but no land could be procured for the law college. The BCI had rejected the demand for law classes to be started in the college, he added. |
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Bawa is chairman of state Bar Council
Shimla, August 7 The meeting of the 20 newly elected members of the 7th state Bar Council for the election of office-bearers was held in the office of the council here today. The elected members of the council are Ramakant Sharma, RK Gautam, NK Thakur, NK Sood, Balbir Singh Chauhan, IN Mehta, Ajay Chandel, Rajinder Dogra, Vikas Rathore, Suneet Goel, Neeranjan Verma, Bhoj Chander, Amit Vaid, Rajiv Rai, Sandeepan Sharma, Harinder Singh Negi, Narinder Gularia, Gaurav Pathania, Vipin Pandit and Des Raj Sharma. |
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HPU to get National Knowledge Network soon
Shimla, August 7 In charge of networking Dr Dharinder Sharma formally received the router 7 switch from DK Gupta, senior manager of NKN. Vice-Chancellor of the university ADN Bajpai, while presiding over a meeting of officials of the Centre and the university, said here today the NKN installation process would be completed soon and the modern infrastructure to be set up at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore would usher in an era of enabling the institution to reach and cater to the needs of the people living in the remote tribal belts of Himachal Pradesh. Bajpai said the university had taken a leap further with Union Minister for Communication and IT Sachin Pilot fulfilling the promise to integrate it with the NKN within one week of his visit. The project had saved the university nearly Rs 50 lakh, which otherwise would have to be invested by it. He said the university would submit detailed projects and proposals to the ministry to improve connectivity and help computerise the examination system, providing Internet to all the hostels and digitisation of the library. He thanked the minister for acceding to the request for providing Close User Group mobile phone facility for the university employees, non-teaching staff and teachers. The university will be the eighth institution in the country to have the facility of knowledge transfer through video conferencing and data transfers, which will be a boon for the hill state with severe geographical constraints.
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Electricity board imposes penalty
on HCL
Shimla, August 7 The data centre failed on December 29 last year and was restored only on January 7, as a result of which the data centre and the services remained non-functional for about 195 hours, causing much inconvenience to consumers. The e-billing system under the Rs 31 crore Centre-funded IT billing and energy accounting package project, which was to be rolled out in 122 subdivisions across the state by September 2010, has still not been achieved. In fact, the pilot project for the Shimla circle, comprising 10 subdivisions, is not completed as some bugs in the software are yet to be fixed. The Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC), a Central Government agency which carried out the third party testing of the software in August 2010, had pointed out several shortcomings and found it vulnerable on over 12 counts. The company was asked to rectify the fault by September, but it took more than six months to do so. Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the board RD Dhiman said the company had been given time and was asked to fix the problems in software by August 31. The company is liable to a penalty of 10 per cent of the project cost which comes to Rs 3.1 crore. |
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Cong for probe into IT billing project
Dharamsala, August 7 Youth Congress leader from Una Sanjeev Saini and Congress MLA from Nagrota Bagwan GS Bali alleged that a contract of Rs 32 crore for implementing the IT billing and energy accounting package was given to HCL Info-Systems Company. The project was to be completed till September 2010. However, it had not been completed yet. The implementation of the project in just one district that has 10 divisions led to an increase of Rs 9 crore in revenue for the board. However, soon thereafter the software being used for the project started encountering problems and the implementation of project had to be delayed further. The Congress leaders alleged that the HPSEB had 49 divisions and 258 sub-divisions in the state catering to about 18 lakh consumers and the domestic and commercial power alone fetched about Rs 500 crore annually. Even a nominal increase of 20 per cent in revenue would bring an additional Rs 100 crore to the board. Similarly, a 5 per cent increase in revenue from industrial and bulk consumers would fetch an additional Rs 65 to Rs 75 crore annually. This additional revenue would be more than the amount of Rs 163 crore being provided as subsidy by the government, Bali alleged. They further alleged that a 10 per cent penalty should have been levied on the company for delaying the project. However, till date the state government and the HPSEB authority had not taken any action to recover the penalty from the company. Instead, the company had been awarded another Rs 100-crore project for computerisation of the electricity board. However, it was unlikely that the company can complete the project within time limit. The Centre offers to convert Rs 100 crore loan into grant in case the project is implemented within the stipulated time period. However, in case the company fails to implement the project, the financial burden of implementing it could be shifted to the state government. The project would be included in the charge sheet to be filed by the Congress and in case the party was voted to power, a probe would be ordered into alleged favours shown to the company, Bali alleged.
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Chamba, August 7 The police hunt was on to nab the remaining four.Noordeen, owner of the buffaloes, had lodged a complaint at the local police station with regard to the theft of his buffaloes. The police conducted a raid at Ludera village and intercepted a private vehicle in which the stolen buffaloes were being carried towards Pathankot, Punjab. — OC
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Notwithstanding the increasing emphasis on the preservation of heritage, the erstwhile British summer capital continues to lose its built heritage, a symbol of imperial grandeur, which earned it the title of the Queen of Hill Stations.
Over six bus routes at Drang in Mandi remained suspended for buses and Ani subdivision remained cut off from the district headquarters,
Kullu, as the landslide in the Kot Nullah between the Khanag and Jalori Passes kept blocking the Banajar-Ani highway for the past 20 hours.
Two years ago, over a century-old government building Victoria Palace, near Nigam Vihar, was pulled down to build a spacious office complex to house the PWD.