Shimla, September 20
The innovative approach of the Forest Department has not only ensured active involvement of the local people, but also helped in achieving the target of the “beneficiary contribution” for the Rs 337-crore World Bank-funded Mid-Himalayan Watershed Development Project almost two years ahead of schedule.

The seven-year project is slated for completion in March 2013 and accordingly the local community was required to contribute Rs 27.5 crore for various activities. However, the contribution of the beneficiaries has already crossed the Rs 28-crore mark and with two years to go it is likely to overshoot the target by a significant margin. More importantly, unlike the MNREGA, where numerous complaints of irregularities and substandard work are common, high-quality assets are being created under the project. A host of works, costing up to Rs 10 lakh, are being undertaken under the project for the convenience of the local people like water-harvesting structures, footbridges, roads, village paths, water-storage tanks and micro irrigation schemes.

Explaining the reasons for the success of the participatory approach, Chief Project Director RK Kapoor said works were proposed by the local people who also contributed 5 to 10 per cent towards the cost, a major part of which was retained in the account of the user groups for operation and maintenance of the assets, creating permanent stakes of the community. Members of the user group not only ensured quality of the works, but also took pains to maintain the assets created.

During the construction of a Rs 8-lakh footbridge at Kot village near Gohar in Mandi, the members of the user group supervised the construction in turns to ensure that quality material was used. The work had been completed at a minimal cost. If a similar approach was adopted under the MNREGA and other development works being executed through the panchaytas by creating stakes of the local community, the results would be far better.

In all an amount of Rs 261 crore had been spent till date under the project being implemented in 602 panchayats in the state. There was a proposal to extend it to 102 more panchayats and World Bank had agreed in principle to provide $45 million to cover the areas left out at the micro-watershed level and for the consolidation of the first phase to improve sustainability.

Shimla, September 20
The Himachal Pradesh High Court (HC) today made it clear that the funds sanctioned under the JNNURM for Shimla city cannot be diverted to other towns of the state. However, it has given liberty to the state government that it may spend any additional amount sanctioned by the Centre for Sarkaghat and Sundernagar.

The court further clarified in the open court that 636 houses being constructed under the name of Ashiana-I and Ashiana-II of the Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) Scheme under this mission are for the Shimla town and it will come at Shimla only.

These observations were made by the Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Sanjay Karol on a petition filed by Tarlok Chauhan highlighting that the state government and its agencies were lacking in coordination to implement the projects identified under the JNNURM.

The state government today submitted that the amount being spent at Sarkaghat and Sundernagar was sanctioned by the Centre on March 31, 2011, under some other scheme for the state annual plan 2010-11.

The petitioner alleged that the BSUP scheme was meant for construction of dwelling units for the urban poor of the town.

The JNNURM was launched on December 31, 2005, as a programme meant to improve the quality of life and infrastructure of cities. A budget of Rs 3,900 crore was approved by the Centre under the JNNURM scheme for the town.

The petitioner has alleged that the executing agencies were working at a snails pace to complete projects under JNNURM.

This is leading to a lapse of budgetary allocation for the projects important for the town. The petitioner added that that HIMUDA had submitted a detailed project report for the construction of 252 dwelling units for urban poor to the Centre in November 2010.

However, the Urban Development Department wrote to the Centre in December 2010 for transfer of the balance funds of Rs 1,302.38 lakh from the BSUP for the town to two projects for Sarkaghat and Sundernagar.

The court after hearing the parties observed that the matter requires to be expedited in the interest of the public and directed the Shimla Municipal Corporation to submit the proposal with HIMUDA for the Ashiana-I project within a week.

Dalhousie, September 20
Kangra Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Rajan Sushant has sanctioned a sum of Rs 12 lakh for various development activities in different parts of Chamba district from the MP Local Area Development Fund during his two-day visit to the district.

The MP said here yesterday that the development activities included the beautification of the ground at Salooni tehsil headquarters, a temple at Pukhri village, construction of a community hall for Muslims at Sarol village and other works in the district.

The MP appealed to people of the district to draw viable development schemes for the benefit of their areas and submit these to the Centre so that these could be pursued and get approved for the development of their areas and uplift of the people.

Shimla, September 20
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has sought Rs 27,556 crore from the Planning Commission of India for the 12th Five-Year Plan, which is almost double than the approved 11th Five-Year Plan.

He was speaking at a meeting with MLAs for fixing priorities for the 12th Five-Year Plan and mid-term appraisal of the current Annual Plan here today. He urged the MLAs from the districts of Shimla, Solan and Sirmour to give their valuable suggestions so as to fix priorities for their areas.

Reiterating his government's resolve for a speedy and balanced development and ensuring socio-economic justice to all sections of the society, Dhumal said a target of 9.5 per cent growth rate had been set for the state.

The Chief Minister said to meet the MLAs’ priorities, a target of Rs 300 crore had been fixed for the year 2011-12, and up to the end of August this year sanctions amounting to Rs 163 crore had been received so far. He asked the Public Works, Irrigation and Public Health and Health Departments to apprise the MLAs about the status of the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of the proposals made by them and the difficulties being faced.

Dhumal said with the cooperation of all and the constructive suggestions received from all quarters, the development indicators of Himachal had been the best as per the surveys conducted by various agencies. He said even in the implementation of the 20-Point Programme, Himachal Pradesh had been ranked number one for the past two years.

He said he had taken up the issue of grant of special assistance to the state in view of difficult geographic conditions and the steps taken by the hill state for environment conservation in the recent past. “The 13th Finance Commission had not appreciated the genuine demands of the state and had given an annual 50 per cent increase over the 12th Finance Commission in respect of allocation of resources of the state which was the lowest in the country,” he said.

“When some states got an increase up to 126 per cent in the allocation of resources, giving a mere 50 per cent increase to Himachal Pradesh was great injustice,” he said.

Sainj/Gushaini (Kullu), September 20
Mafia have plundered herbal roots - patish, kadu, nihani, dhoop and now nag chatri and other medicinal plants. Once found in abundance in the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) and in its buffer zone, these herbal roots have been pushed to the brink of extinction because these are in high demand in herbal products and medicines.

What is more dangerous and worrisome is that extractors have made inroads into the GHNP where the Wildlife Protection Act forbids any human activity and interference inside the park. The extractors dig up the roots and left behind a trail of uprooted soil that could trigger soil erosion and landslides in the park, sources said.

Selling like hot cakes this time is nag chatri, a root herb, the status of which is yet to be known, found at the altitude ranging from 7,000 ft to 8,000 ft, both in the buffer zone and the core area of the GHNP.

The demand of nag chatri rocketed from Rs 250 per kg during the Banjar fair to Rs 1,400 per kg during its peak in August-September.

The roots have been extracted right in the core area in places that fall in Mashiar, Toong and Nuwanda panchayats in the Tirthan valley in the north-east zone of the park.

The extractors, most of them locals, have spread in the Sainj and Jiwa wildlife ranges as well to extract nag chatri and other roots.

Traders have lifted the nag chatri from across the region as its demand has picked up in China. Villagers have been camping in jungles extracting this herbal root as never before.

Similarly, patish, a root, was used in medicines and sold at Rs 1,000 per kg, kadu for Rs 500 per kg and mushkbala (nihani) for Rs 700 per kg. All these herbal roots were found at an altitude above 8,000 ft, and were over exploited in nature and face extinction, experts said.

From the Sainj and Pin-Parbati river valley to the Tirthan wildlife sanctuary in the GHNP, villagers have been lured by herbal mafias to extract herbs and medicinal plants as much as they can every summer season as the Forest Department has failed to check over-extraction.

The two main traders, a senior BJP Banjar leader and a local trader, have made big bucks in the herbal trade. But poor villagers who rough out days and nights extracting the roots are earning a pittance.

Though nobody knows the exact volume of the underground herbal trade, the experts suspect that it runs into several crores of rupees every year in the state, including Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur, Chamba, higher parts of Shimla and Kangra districts.

But Conservator, Wildlife, and Director, GHNP, Ajay Srivastav said they had seized 1 kg of nag chatri root recently.

No case of extraction in the park area had been brought to his notice. The areas in the buffer zone was open to villagers to collect herbs from time to time, he added.

Solan, September 20
A team of officials from the state Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau finally managed to procure the records pertaining to the alleged fraudulent purchase of farm yard manure, the seed counter and the publication of a souvenir from the department of floriculture and landscaping in the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, today after days of alleged dilly-dallying by the university authorities.

The officials examined the records pertaining to embezzlement of funds and procured the necessary ones for conducting a thorough probe.

The ADGP of the bureau, KC Sadiyal, confirmed that the records had been procured and added that investigations were under way.

The bureau procured records pertaining to the purchase of a seed counter which was stated to be purchased from an international firm at a cost of Rs 4,10,625 for carrying out research activities in the department of floriculture and landscaping. It was alleged that while bills of the imported seed counter were produced, a substandard and locally manufactured seed counter from M/s Ambala Associates was supplied to the department. Since no record of the said payment having been made to any foreign firm was available in the department, embezzlement of funds was alleged in this purchase.

The records pertaining to embezzlement of funds in the publication of a souvenir during a national seminar on floriculture and landscaping held between March 19 and March 21, 2010, in the same department were also procured. Contributions were sought from firms, industries and companies in the shape of bank drafts in favour of the organising secretary, national symposium of floriculture, payable at the State Bank of Patiala, Nauni. As many as 54 sponsors gave financial assistance in the form of cash or bank draft and this money was not properly maintained and deposited in the university accounts in the allotted code No. HGI-134-08. Advertisements of at least four firms appeared in the souvenir whose money was not deposited in the account and in one case an official of the department got a cheque of Rs 10,000 drawn in his favour.

The bureau is also inquiring into the allegations of fraudulent supply of farm yard manure in the same department where a scooter was used to transport 500 quintals of manure and funds to the tune of Rs 45,000 were embezzled in 2010.

Hamirpur, September 20
Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Minister Ravinder Singh Ravi has said all water streams in Hamirpur district will be channelled by building check-dams. The minister said this while addressing a review meeting of the Hamirpur circle of the IPH Department.

He said a plan had been prepared to build a dam on the Poong khud and three dams would be built on the Man khud also. Talking about progress in raising the water table in the district, the minister said by building check-dams and channelling water streams, the water table in the district had risen.

He said with the increase in the demand for water, the department was laying stress on building large water schemes instead of small ones. He said the work on laying a sewage line in Sujanpur Tihra was on in full swing and the scheme would be completed by March 31, 2012.

The minister said the IPH Department was supplying water-purifying kits in government schools and the same had been distributed in 140 senior secondary schools. All schools would be given these kits by March 31, 2012, he added.

Similarly, water testing kits had also been distributed in 1,695 panchayats and every panchayat would be given the same by March 31, 2012.

Bilaspur, September 20
Property worth above Rs 15 lakh is said to have been destroyed as two landslips consisting of huge rocks and massive boulders damaged several houses and standing crops at Badsaur village, 7 km from here, on the new Bilaspur-Bandla road, near here, last night. Reports said already fearing serious losses, villagers got suspicious about this landslip and had left the houses and thus no loss of life was reported.

The houses of villagers Prem Sagar and Rajesh were destroyed while Ram Kumar lost his cowshed in two landslips, one after the other during the night hours while these also spewed debris into the Kharif crops of other villagers.

Zila Parishad member Basant Ram Sandhu, Block Development Committee member Seema Varma and panchayat president Roop Lal Thakur said there was still danger of other landslips due to strata having become loose in the higher terrain of the adjoining hillock due to incessant heavy rains and villagers were living in panic fearing more damages.

The village leaders urged the district administration to immediately bring succour to affected villagers and also take steps to ensure that no more landslips occurred on this spot in future.

Kangra, September 20
The Department of Community Medicine, DRRPGMC, Tanda, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), India, inaugurated a three-month fellowship training programme on “Role of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) in National Health Programmes, Non-Communicable Diseases and Health Promotion” at the DRRPGMC yesterday.

On the occasion, Dr Ashok Bhardwaj, HoD, Community Medicines, said communicable diseases (CDs) like tuberculosis, leprosy, diarrhoea and vector-borne diseases affected the health of the country.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), especially cardiovascular diseases, like cancer and diabetes mellitus and injuries had shown a rising trend and emerged as an important public health issue due to changing demography and lifestyle, he said.

The programme was inaugurated by the Principal of DRPGMC, Tanda.

Bilaspur, September 20
The district police has arrested Kuldip Kumar, a driver by profession, for allegedly being responsible for the death of his wife Poonam Kumari (28), who was agram panchayat member of Dakhyoot village under Dangaar gram panchayat near Ghumarwin, near here .

Reports said the police took action when Kali Dass, father of the deceased, a JBT teacher, got an FIR registered at Bharadi police station that he suspected that his daughter had been forced to take poison due to her repeated maltreatment and beatings by her husband Kuldip Kumar.

He said he had been trying several times to persuade his son-in-law not to maltreat his well-educated wife, but he did not desist from this which resulted in this tragedy.

Last night Poonam was rushed to Ghumarwin hospital after she started vomiting, but she was declared dead there. The police took the body in its possession and handed it over to the family after postmortem examination.

A case has been registered under Sections 498-A, 306 and 34, IPC.