Shimla, August 29
The traffic woes of the state capital could finally end with the modern Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT), constructed at a cost of Rs 80 crore, at Tutikandi being formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal here today.

The Chief Minister flagged off Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses from the departure area of the ISBT located on the bypass. “Our endeavour is to construct modern bus stands in all district headquarters and subdivisions with all civic amenities for the convenience of the public,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said the government was considering connecting the new ISBT through a ropeway with the old bus stand and the railway station in the heart of the town with scope for further extension to Jakhu with a view to facilitating not only the local commuters but also to give a boost to tourism.

He said this would be done in such a way that the environment and ecology of the town was not disturbed. He said efforts would also be made to construct more lifts in the town to facilitate the movement of people. “The new ISBT will be connected with a regular bus service for the convenience of commuters and efforts have been made to provide every possible facility within the ISBT complex which contains not only separate floors for arrival and departure of buses but also board and lodging facilities with a shopping mall and a multiplex,” he said.

Mahender Singh, Transport Minister, thanked the Chief Minister for dedicating the ISBT to the people. He said more bus stands were being constructed in different towns of the state. He said modern bus stands were being constructed at Mandi, Rohroo, Chamba, Parwanoo and Baddi.

There are three floors for parking to accommodate about 150 small vehicles.

The integrated bus terminal also has two floors of modern shopping mall, two multiplexes and a hotel.

Hamirpur, August 29
The Army Recruiting Office, Hamirpur, is conducting an open rally for the recruitment of soldiers for the Army in different categories at Bilaspur from September 20 to 27.

Giving this information here, Col RS Malik, Army Recruiting Officer, Hamirpur, said the open rally would be held at the Luhnoo ground in Bilaspur for candidates from Una, Bilaspur and Hamirpur districts for the selection of soldiers under general duty, clerks, technical and nursing assistant categories.

On September 20, candidates from Bilaspur, Una and Hamirpur would be screened for clerks, on September 21, candidates from Una district for general duty, on September 22, candidates from Bilaspur district and on September 23 candidates from Hamirpur for this category.

Soldiers for the technical and nursing assistant categories from the three districts would be screened on September 24 and Sikh and Gorkha candidates from these districts would be screened the next day.

Medical test of all the candidates would be conducted on September 26 and 27. The recruiting officer said computer-based examination would be conducted for the selection of nursing assistants on October 30 at Ambala. — TNS

Shimla, August 29
The issue of alleged violation of norms in granting permission to Bemloe Development and Infrastructure Company to build apartments in the thickly forested area of the city led to uproarious scenes in the Vidhan Sabha even as Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal virtually gave a clean chit to the private builder.

The issue was raised by Mukesh Agnihotri of the Congress soon after question hour. He levelled serious charges against the government which were not recorded as Speaker Tulsi Ram ruled that the member had not given a notice to raise the matter.

However, Dhumal maintained that no violation or irregularity had been committed by the company and offered to hold an inquiry, including a judicial probe, by any agency or committee to satisfy the member. Even Congress members could visit the spot and find out if trees had been felled. He said inspection conducted by the Forest Department had revealed that all 37 trees shown in the map, except one, were intact. A damage report had been filed in respect of the solitary tree which had fallen.

Urban Development Minister Mohinder Singh said the builder had obtained the required permission and as such the work could not be stopped. Congress members kept interrupting him all the while and with the Treasury Benches also joining the issue the House witnessed uproarious scenes for some time.

Earlier, in reply to a question of Agnihotri on the issue, the Chief Minister said the builder had not taken any permission to cut trees and there were 37 trees on the site as per the map. No illicit felling had taken place, though one tree had fallen. No permission for constructing a road for the project site was obtained and the company had not built any road.

Chamba, August 29
The Chhari Mubarak (holy mace) of the famous Manimahesh pilgrimage officially started from the district headquarters here today. It will conclude on September 4, the occasion of Radhashtami, when pilgrims and devotees of Lord Shiva will take a holy dip in the sacred icy waters of the Manimahesh Lake at an altitude of 4,170 metre.

The pilgrims will start their return journey the same day after watching Mount Kailash, the abode of Lord Shiva, at an altitude of 5,656 m.

Sadhus of the local Dashnam Akhada, Deputy Commissioner Sharab Negi, SDM Rohit Rathour, district officers and local people accompanied the Chhari carrying the insignia of Manimahesh and the trishul of Lord Shiva, along with Home Guards, and local bands.

The holy Chhari will halt at various places and reach the Manimahesh Lake on September 4 for a holy dip on September 5 morning. The district administration was all set for providing adequate security cover to the pilgrims especially from Bhadarwah and Gandoh areas of J&K.

Shimla, August 29
The owner of a hotel-cum-residential complex on the Mall here today erected a gate and enclosure, blocking an age-old public path leading to the Cart Road in utter disregard of the norms as the Municipal Corporation (MC) failed to take action against him despite cases for earlier violations still pending against him.

The property located in the heart of the town and falling within the heritage zone has been in the news for all the wrong seasons whenever any construction activity is being undertaken.

On an earlier occasion, the owner had raised a shop overnight and more recently reconstructed the structure in violation of the heritage norms for which he was issued a notice.

The MC has still not acted against him in the earlier case and now he is blocking a public path over a drain, which is against the norms. Residents of the area who have been using the passage since ages protested and gave it in writing to the MC authorities to stop the work and get the gate removed so that they do not face any inconvenience.

“We fail to understand as to what are the compulsions of the government or the MC in allowing a habitual offender to violate the norms with impunity and that too bang in the heart of the town,” remarked an old resident.

He added that the owner seems to be wielding major political clout as even in the past, despite their making complaints, no action had been taken against him.

“Though the land where he erected the gate belongs to him, as per rules he cannot change its usage as it is a public path and the gate and the enclosure raised by him will be broken and removed,” said AN Sharma, Commissioner, MC.

He said it was not possible to arrange labour in the evening to destroy the construction, but it would be removed.

No action has so far been taken against the hotel owner on the basis of the notice issued to him earlier for the gross violations committed and deviation in the reconstruction of the old structure.

Hamirpur, August 29
The Hamirpur FM radio station, which has been facing a shortage of staff for several years, is being managed by just two programme officers responsible for the production of programmes for the past many years.

While all the programmes being broadcast by the radio station are managed by these two officers since July 2009, there is no regular announcer in the station for a long time.

The station has a total of 33 sanctioned posts, which include technical staff but 17 posts have specifically been sanctioned for radio programmes.

Never during the past 11 years, when three-tier transmissions were adopted here in 2000, the entire staff has ever been posted in the station.

The station was started in 1996 and was relaying FM broadcast since 2000.

At present, the station is relaying daily broadcast of 13 and a half hours on week days and 14 hours on Sundays and is catering to districts of Bilaspur, Una, Mandi and parts of Kangra districts besides Hamirpur district and covers 60-km crows flight in the state and the neighbouring states.

There is no regular announcer in the radio station and all programmes are being broadcast by casual announcers.

In the absence of any regular announcers, the responsibilities of the two officers increase manifold since casual announcers have limited accountability.

Since programmes of the station are relayed in morning, afternoon and evening hours, spanning 6 am to 11 pm, which includes relay programmes of several hours from Vividh Bharti, the entire responsibility of content generation for programmes lies on the programme executive and one transmission executive posted here.

Meanwhile, programme officer Raj Kumar Sharma said: “We have been taking up the issue of filling of posts in the Programme Department in zonal meetings for quite some time, the matter is under the consideration of Prasar Bharti.”

Dharamsala, August 29
Heavy rains have damaged the roads and street lights in and around the town, which are also causing accidents and embarrassment to the local administration. Potholes have conquered Dharamsala, McLeodganj and Kangra completely.

With only a few days left for the beginning of His Holiness Dalai Lama’s discourse, poor road conditions in McLeodganj will cause inconvenience to the public and embarrassment to the administration with a lot of foreign tourists, students visiting here to attend the event.

According to Manmohan Singh, Director, Meteorology Department, Shimla: “Till now, the monsoon in Kangra district has been 2 per cent above normal, but it has been recorded 4 per cent below normal across the state.”

Meanwhile, Dharamsala has always been known for its rains, which result in the damage of roads.

RS Gupta, Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, said, “Several complaints have been reported regarding bad roads. The PWD has been provided funds and has already been directed to look into the matter. But we have been waiting for rains to stabilise a little as the maintenance requires clear weather.”

Non-functional street lights have also been causing trouble to the public, causing accidents of two-wheelers and pedestrians as well.

The VIP road that leads to the residences of bureaucrats like the DC, the Commissioner and the Sessions Judge also remains in dark with no street lights working and potholes throughout.

While clarifying the matter, the DC said, “We know that the public have been facing inconvenience. We need to wait for a clear weather as there are chances of electrocution to our men in such weather.”

Shimla, August 29
In a major relief to IAS officer Sanjay Gupta, Divisional Commissioner, Kangra, the HP High Court has recalled its earlier order whereby it had ordered to divest all the judicial powers from him and directed the state to ensure some other competent official is posted in his place.

The court recalled its order on a review petition filed by Gupta in which he had urged the court to recall its remarks passed against him. He further gave an assurance to the court that he would take utmost care in future while exercising the judicial powers.

While recalling the relevant portion of the order, Justice Deepak Gupta observed that keeping in view the remorse expressed by the officer and his undertaking given to this court, the relevant paras of the earlier order had been modified with a caution that he would not repeat such a mistake in the future.

It is recalled here that earlier the court passed this stricture against the officer on a petition challenging the stay granted by the Divisional Commissioner without issuing notice to the affected party in a matter which had been pending in the court of the Divisional Commissioner for the past over three years. Finding error in the stay order passed by him in the absence of the other side, the court had passed the observations against him.

Nurpur, August 29
Up in arms against the police for not lodging an FIR against in-laws of Bharti Devi whose body was found from a village well at Lakhwal village in Sadwan gram panchayat on August 6, villagers and relatives of Sali Ram, father of the deceased, held a protest demonstration here today.

Led by Sali Ram, who is also pradhan of Kharian gram panchayat, the protesters submitted a memorandum to the local SDM demanding the registration of an FIR and arrest of the accused within eight days, otherwise they would gherao and stage an indefinite dharna in front of the office of the SDM. The demonstrators also raised slogans against the local police.

In the memorandum it has been alleged that Bharti Devi was murdered and her body thrown into the well. Her father gave a written complaint to the police through the DSP, Nurpur, on August 12. Only after he visited the police station several times, did the police summon in-laws of the deceased and recorded their statement.

He then submitted a fresh complaint carrying detailed information of the alleged murder of his daughter to the SP, Kangra, on August 25, but the police have not taken any further action in this connection. 

Mandi, August 29
The police destroyed over 30,000 cannabis plants grown illegally on private land in three different cases and booked five villagers under the NDPS Act in Paddar and Gohar sub-divisions during its campaign against cannabis in the district.

According to the police, a police team detected 118 cannabis plants in Nichali Sudhar in Paddar cultivated in the fields of Sharan Singh and Chaman Lal.

Villagers contested the claims of the police that the plants were grown naturally in the fields and were used for making ropes or seeds for domestic use. The police said the plants had been destroyed and a case was registered against the two accused.

In the second case, the police destroyed 20,000 cannabis plants at Kutlipandar in Gohar on private land. Villagers joined the police and destroyed the plants.

Meanwhile, the police destroyed another 10,000 cannabis plants at Saunpandar, cultivated on private land in the same block.

The Mandi SP said the police had registered three cases under the NDPS Act and investigations were on.