Mandi, August 24
Over 400 houses, including private hotels and resorts and auto showrooms, Home Guards’ camp, have come up inside the high flood zone of the Beas and its tributary Suketi in this temple town. These structures have come up in violation of the norms of the newly declared “25-m no-construction zone along the Beas” by the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department.

The TCP Department and the Mandi Municipal Council have remained silent spectators to these violations.

From the Sauli Khud to the Panchvakhtra temple, from Bhiuli to old Mandi and from Gutkar to lower Samkhatar, over 400 houses, resorts, private houses, auto showrooms and 30 odd jhuggis, sarais and Home Guards’ colony and Indira Awas Colony have come up right inside the flood zone of the Beas and its tributary Suketi.

An influential builder has built an 8-storeyed river bank hotel that rises right from the riverside of the Beas, which has no permission from the TCP Department and the Municipal Council, said TCP and council officials.

Another Visco Resorts has allegedly modified the bank of the Suketi khud turning it into its own private fiefdom, clearing boulders and debris along the river source, charged residents.

These structures violate the 25-m clause of the TCP Act, which the state government fixed last year after the direction of the high court. Earlier, the limit was over 59 m, said TCP officials.

These houses are sitting on a time bomb considering that the Beas had hit an inflow of 1.10 lakh cusecs once, an all-time high in 45 years.

Last week, the Beas flow hit the 42,000-cusec mark that flooded several houses and washed away jhuggis in this town.

Sunil Kapur, town planner, Mandi, claimed that the department had delegated powers to the Mandi municipal council to check violations.

“We have served notices on violators, including auto showrooms and resort owners, to disconnect their water and electricity connections, but we have only one JE to take care of the huge area,” she added and passed the buck on the council.

Expressing helplessness, Sushila Sonkhla, president, Municipal Council, Mandi, said they had served notices on the violators.

“But we are helpless as some of the houses are old and we evacuate people as and when the water level of the river rises above the danger mark,” she added.

Shimla, August 24
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today informed the Assembly that a loss of Rs 334 crore had been suffered on account of damage to public and private property during the current monsoon, which had claimed 40 lives so far.

The Chief Minister informed the House that out of this loss, the damage caused to crops due to incessant rains had been assessed at Rs 101 crore. “Public and private property worth Rs 334 crore had been damaged while 40 persons lost their lives and four were missing,” he stated.

He lamented that the first trimester instalment of Rs 61.68 crore from the Centre was still awaited and despite reminders the money had not been released yet.

“The state government has already released Rs 13.73 crore to deputy commissioners for being disbursed to the affected people along with Rs 61. 68 crore to be received from the Centre,” he said. He said maximum lives had been lost in Kullu district where eight persons had died and four were still untraceable in incidents of cloudburst, which had resulted in a loss of Rs 67.56 crore.

Meanwhile, seven persons died in Sirmaur, five in Solan, four in Mandi and two each in Shimla, Kangra and Chamba.

The Chief Minister said the state received excessive rain in June and the second half of August, resulting in a huge loss to private and public property.

Shimla, August 24
Complete pandemonium prevailed in the Assembly today as Congress legislators trooped to the well of the House raising slogans against the BJP regime on the issue of corruption and the patronage being given to land mafia, virtually putting the state on sale.

Irked over the remarks made by Chief Minister PK Dhumal about the Congress padyatra, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Vidya Stokes raised the issue the moment the House began.

“We take serious objection to the remarks made by the Chief Minister that people had been hired to ensure a gathering at the Congress rally and padyatra which is not true,” she remarked.

Even before Speaker Tulsi Ram could react to her statement, Congress legislators trooped to the well of the House, raising anti-government slogans.

Nothing could be heard in the din as members from the treasury benches too raised counter slogans accusing the Congress leaders of having stashed black money in Swiss banks and foreign accounts.

The Speaker started the proceedings amidst the hullabaloo with only the BJP members asking questions listed for the day.

All this while the Congress members continued with their protest, as they sat down and continued clapping and raising slogans. Even after the question hour was over, the Speaker continued with the business listed for the day as some Bills were tabled in the House.

Acrimonious scenes were witnessed in between as on one occasion BJP members also tried to enter the well of the House while waiving papers bearing names of account holders in Swiss banks.

Finally the Congress members left the House at about 12.30 pm.

Later, the House was adjourned by the Speaker.

Shimla, August 24
Launching a new offensive against the BJP on the issue of corruption, the Congress today declared that after coming to power in the state it would ensure that all those indulging in graft under the Dhumal regime were held accountable for their actions, irrespective of their political clout.

The warning came at a rally organised near the Vidhan Sabha by the party at the culmination of its three-day padyatra to expose the “misdeeds of the BJP government”.

AICC General Secretary Birender Singh said institutions like Lokpal or Jan Lokpal were immaterial, only political will was needed to bring the corrupt to the book.

The Congress would demonstrate this and ensure that corrupt BJP leaders, including ministers and MPs, were sent behind bars.

The actions of some leaders were already under scrutiny and as the in charge of the party affairs in the state he would not allow the tainted leaders to go scot-free.

He said the Congress was committed to fight corruption and in this respect he endorsed the viewpoint of Union Minister Virbhadra Singh that stern action should be taken if any Congress leader was found guilty of corruption.

He said the memorandum submitted to the Speaker was, in fact, a warning to BJP leaders to mend their corrupt ways or be prepared to go to the jail.

The Congress leadership would wage a united battle to oust the BJP from power and he had already chalked out a programme under which senior leaders would tour the entire state in specially designed bus to project a united image.

The success of the rally, despite heavy rain and preoccupation of farmers with crops should make the BJP see the writing on the wall.

PCC chief Kaul Singh said the Congress had to take to the streets as the Dhumal regime was bent upon selling the state’s land, power projects, minerals and other natural resources.

Already more than one lakh bighas of land had been given and now the government had come with an amendment Bill to exempt certain categories from the Land Ceiling Act.

Ministers and leaders close to the Chief Minister were involved in shady land deals and some IRDP families, which were allotted land by government, had been made landless again.

Virbhadra termed the opening of private universities as a sinister conspiracy to enable outsiders to grab land in the state. Permission had been granted to open educational institutions of doubtful credentials on extraneous considerations.

Leader of Opposition Vidya Stokes said the BJP was on its way out and it would be routed in the next Assembly poll. The Congress would intensify the campaign against the government and ensure its downfall.

CWC Member Dhani Ram Shandil, AICC Secretary Aneesh Ahmad and AICC Joint Secretary Asha Kumari also addressed the rally.

Shimla, August 24
The Congress today urged Speaker Tulsi Ram to ensure that sanction was granted to prosecute Health Minister Rajiv Bindal, who was booked in a case of corruption, without any further delay.

Soon after the rally, party legislators went to the Vidhan Sabha and submitted a memorandum to the Speaker drawing his attention to the fact that the prosecution sanction had been withheld for the past over three years in such an important case.

Further, no action was taken against the MP from Shimla who was involved in the cash-on-camera scam.

The party expressed concern over the unprecedented corruption under the BJP regime and mentioned the opening of private universities, allotment of power projects, frequent changes in power policy, allotment of land to the State Cricket Association headed by the son of the Chief Minister and other benami land deals to substantive the charge.

General Secretary of the AICC Birender Singh said it was not a memorandum but a warning to BJP leaders to mend their ways or face the music.

He said the battle started by the Congress to oust the BJP would be taken to a logical end. The party had chalked out a programme to build up pressure on the BJP government till the state goes to polls next year.

Besides organising rallies and padyatras, the party would gherao the Vidhan Sabha during the winter session to be held at Dharamsala.

It would be followed by a similar show of strength during the Budget session at Shimla.

The party leaders would join hands against the BJP and ensure its ouster.

Birender Singh appreciated the effort put in by Union Minister Virbhadra Singh, who joined the padyatra in the last phase and walked all the way from Sankat Mochan Temple to Chaura Maidan.

Shimla, August 24
Accusing the Congress leadership of indulging in politics of convenience and doublespeak, Chief Minister PK Dhumal said today that the party had no moral right to speak on the issue of corruption or private universities when they had “so many skeletons in their own cupboard”.

Talking to mediapersons after the Congress protest in the House, Dhumal said the Congress was issueless, directionless and in disarray.

“Ideally, Congress MLAs should have trudged along with party workers from Tara Devi to Chaura Maidan or at least participated in House proceedings but as usual they staged a protest in the House instead of raising issues,” he remarked.

He said the behaviour of the Congress legislator in the house today was a reflection of their frustration and dejection at being rejected by the public.

“It took them three days to traverse the distance between Solan and Shimla and most of the leaders made a token presence in the padyatra and travelled by cars,” he said.

He lashed out at HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur for refusing to make complaints before the one-man commission constituted to look into land deals under Section 118 and the Property and Apartment Regulatory Act.

“Kaul Singh had welcomed the probe and the constitution of the commission but strangely he is now saying that the probe will not be a fair one,” said Dhumal.

He said in fact the central leadership of the Congress was in favour of opening of private universities whereas in the state they were adopting a different stand.

“Union Minister Kapil Sibal has advocated opening of maximum possible private universities and most of the Congress-ruled states have much more than we have allowed here,” he said.

Mandi, August 24
A massive landslide on the Mandi bypass in the town near the Victoria bridge caved in on the Mandi-Pathankot National Highway No 20 this evening in which a maxi cab had a miraculous escape.

The police and eyewitnesses feared that some people were buried under the huge debris of rocks that has blocked the 70 m-long stretch of the Mandi bypass.

According to Ravi Sharma, a social worker, who got injured while alerting people not to venture near the spot, said the rocks fell apart and came down on the road from the Dhansidhar hillside.

The people waiting for the bus at the rain shelter ran in panic as a huge landslide fell on the road shaking the whole area around the Victoria Bridge and Old Mandi. The rocks and debris fell into the Beas riverside.

The police has ruled out the possibility of casualty as the landslide came down slowly.

The PWD has cut the rocks to make the bypass on the Mandi-Pathankot highway a few years ago, which left behind a loose strata.

The PWD did not use the rock bolt to stabilise the rock uphill, resented locals.

PWD engineers and the police and the fire brigade rushed to the spot, but the PWD has yet to put its machineries to clear the landslide.

Though the police diverted the small traffic through the Victoria Bridge as it can not carry big vehicles, passengers coming and going to Jogindernagar were stranded at both sides of this stretch.

Shimla, August 24
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has transferred the probe regarding the death of a 27-year-old man, who died after allegedly being thrashed by the Baddi police (Solan), to the CBI.

Taking a serious note of this, the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Sanjay Karol has directed the CBI to conduct investigation and conclude the same as expeditiously as possible.

The investigation into the case was earlier being conducted by the CID.

The orders were passed on the petition of Rani, widow of deceased Suchcha Singh, who prayed to get the case investigated through an independent agency as she said she had no faith in any state agency to conduct a fair probe. She alleged that her husband died due to the atrocities of the police.

Suchcha of Paploha village in Kalka was allegedly electrocuted at Jharmajri on May 31, 2011, while trying to escape some policemen.

The petitioner had alleged that four policemen of the Barotiwala police station gave severe beating to Suchcha for not wearing a helmet and he died due to electric shock caused by falling on a transformer as some cops hit him with a stick while he was trying to climb a wall to save himself from them. The arms of the victim had to be amputated and he ultimately died on June 12, 2011.

The petitioner alleged that no action was taken against the erring officials from May 31 to June 12 even as the victim’s father had brought the matter to the police on May 31 itself by submitting an application to the SHO, Barotiwala police station. No official came to record the statement of the victim in the hospital while he was conscious.

The FIR was lodged only on June 13, 2011, due to public pressure and agitation. The petitioner also alleged that SHO Dev Raj was one of the persons who mercilessly beat the victim, but no action was initiated against him.

In his reply, the DGP had expressed no objection to the transfer the case to the CBI.

Four policemen of the Barotiwala police station gave severe beating to Suchcha for not wearing a helmet and he died due to electric shock caused by falling on a transformer as some cops hit him with a stick while he was trying to climb a wall to save himself from them. The arms of the victim had to be amputated and he ultimately died on June 12, 2011

Hamirpur, August 24
Meera Devi, president of the Badehar panchayat, falling under Bhoranj subdivision, has been suspended from her post for taking double financial benefits illegally and committing some other irregularities.

Satish Sharma, District Panchayat Officer (DPO), Hamirpur, suspended Meera Devi after she failed to file a reply to a show-cause notice issued to her by him to explain her position on the charges of drawing double financial benefits and undertaking development works without completing formalities.

The show-cause notice was issued to Meera Devi on the basis of an inquiry conducted against her by ombudsman of MNREGA and Project Officer of the DRDA on two separate counts.

A complaint was filed against Meera by villager Brahm Dass that the panchayat president was drawing wages through MNREGA works and emoluments from the panchayat for doing official work, simultaneously.

It was also alleged that she committed irregularities in completing development works in the panchayat without inviting quotations and not buying material from the rate contract-approved agencies.

On the basis of this complaint, an inquiry was conducted and Meera was found guilty.

DPO Satish Sharma said, “It has been established after the inquiry that Badehar panchayat president Meera Devi had drawn wages under MNREGA work and emoluments for attending panchayat general house meeting on the same day”.

“The inquiry has also found that she had undertaken 13 development works in the panchayat, but neither did she invite any quotation nor did she buy material from rate contract-approved agencies,” he added.

The DPO had issued a show-cause notice to Meera to explain her position within a stipulated period after which it would be assumed she had accepted the charges against her.

“Since she has failed to reply to this notice, it is assumed that she has accepted the charges of irregularities against her and we have suspended Meera Devi under Section 145 of the Panchayat Act. A regular inquiry will be conducted against her by the SDM, Bhoranj,” the DPO said. 

Mandi, August 24
Protestors continuing their hunger strike in support of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement today asserted that they wanted that the state government should set up a strong Lokayukta along the lines of the Jan Lokpal Bill to combat rampant corruption in government departments.

Talking to The Tribune, Des Raj, a engineer, who is fasting for the ninth day in support of Anna, said corruption was rampant in all departments ranging from the tehsildar officer to the BDO in the state.

“We support Anna’s demand for setting up a strong Lokayukta who will have powers to investigate the complaints and allegations against government officials from a peon and a patvari to MLAs and ministers and the Chief Minister or other organisations brought under the ambit of the Lokayukta,” the protestors asserted.

They said the Lokayukta in the state remained as good as a defunct institution as charges and allegations submitted by complainants remained buried in files. “The Lokayukta should be empowered as Anna Hazare has demanded from the Central government. It must have power to investigate and take punitive actions against those against whom the charges are proved to be true,” said president, HP RTI Bureau, Mandi.

The protesters said the state Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau was being used as a tool to settle scores with political opponents whenever a new party came to power.

The Congress has launched a padyatra against corruption, while the BJP is busy levelling charges of corruption against the Congress regime at the Centre and the state. “This is creating a smoke screen, misleading people as both the Congress and the BJP are violating Section 118 allotting land to outsiders and not making serious efforts to empower the Lokayukta in the state,” said LR Sharma, a retired engineer.

Nurpur, August 24
The Himachal Pradesh Ayurvedic Medicine Manufacturers’ Association has alleged a ayurvedic medicines purchase scam under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in the state Ayurveda Department like the one that was exposed in Uttar Pradesh a few months ago.

Armed with documentary information obtained under the RTI Act, state general secretary of the association Upender Gupta in a press conference here today alleged that the department had not only thrown the existing ayurveda drugs purchase policy to the winds, but also purchased medicines from outside the state by paying three times more than the actual cost.

Demanding a high-level probe into the NHRM’s fund scam in the Ayurveda Department and action against the erring bureaucracy responsible for the scam, he pointed out that the department had purchased ayurvedic medicines in February this year by paying Rs 10 crore which was available from pharmacies within or outside the state to the tune of Rs 3 crore only.

He maintained that there was a clear direction in the state government’s ayurveda purchase policy that the medicines must be procured through the state Civil Supplies Corporation for which the latter had to receive 6 per cent service charges. “But the department has purchased Rs 10 crore worth medicines of around 100 types from government pharmacies from other states by bypassing the corporation and causing it a loss of Rs 60 lakh. Apart from this, the department has also violated the condition of 70 per cent purchase from the GMP-approved local pharmacies and the rest 30 per cent from pharmacies from other states. Only 20 per cent purchase worth Rs 2.94 crore was made from the GMP-approved private pharmacies having a tender rate contract in the state,” he rued.

He asserted that the association would move the state high court if the government didn’t take prompt action. 

Bilaspur, August 24
Led by Excise and Taxation Officer Lalit Poswal, a team of officials stopped three trucks — one of the state and the other two bearing Haryana registration numbers — at the Gambhar bridge and found the vehicles carrying plastics, crockery and hosiery goods without having paid tax at barriers.

They imposed tax and a penalty of Rs 61,100 on occupants and drivers of these trucks as they failed to produce any tax receipts essential for the entry of goods into the state from outside.

These trucks were evading payment of tax by avoiding the border excise barrier of Suharghat by adopting a diversion of a single-lane road and had taken a circuitous barrier-free route, which converges at the Gambhar bridge in Bilaspur district from the Nalagarh-Ram Shehar in Solan district.

The tax and penalty were recovered from these trucks on the spot and only then these were allowed to proceed.

This merchandise was being carried from Delhi to different destinations in the state and these vehicles were avoiding payment of tax by adopting this road instead of coming through the National Highway No 21 (Chandigarh-Manali) through the Suharghat barrier.

Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, Vivek Mahajan has warned the truck drivers not to evade the payment of tax and adopt such illegal tactics, otherwise they will be penalised.

Kangra, August 24
One-day training workshop for senior medical officers (SMOs) from five districts on bio-medical waste management was conducted in Regional Health and Family Welfare Training Centre, Chheb-Kangra.

Addressing the workshop, Dr DS Chandel, joint director, Health, said the Ministry of Environment and Forests Notification introduced the Bio-medical Waste Management and Handling Rules, 1998, on July 20, 1998, under Sections 6, 8 and 25 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Defining the bio-medical waste management, he said it was the waste generated out of diagnosis, treatment or immunisation procedures carried out to an individual in any health care centre or related institution.

So as to avoid the hospital-acquired infection, he said the greatest single factor in the spread of nosocomial infection was the failure of health care workers to wash their hands often enough. Cautioning the officers, he elaborated that some universal precautions should be followed, while handling the waste management. Dr Surender N Gupta, a faculty of the centre, was among those who spoke.