Mandi, November 22
Both the state and Central governments seem to have given in to the cement cartel. Cement companies claim that they pay a heavy freight on transport in the hill terrain, but they also enjoy a huge 75 per cent subsidy on the transportation of fly ash and coal, get the cheapest electricity and water, and pay a paltry mining royalty of Rs 63 per tonne, revised only after three years.

In contrast, the companies have hiked the prices of cement by Rs 100-Rs 110 per bag since 2009 in Himachal Pradesh, home to three major cement plants. The prices of cement in the state are the highest in the country.

The Indian Bureau of Mining (IBM), which governs the mining business in the country, revised its rates marginally from Rs 45 per tonne to Rs 63 per tonne on September 13, 2009, after three years in the state. On the other hand, the cement cartel, to keep its “profit margins high”, has hiked the rates of cement by more than Rs 100-Rs 110 per 50 kg bag since 2009.

Consumers complain that the cement cartel is well-entrenched in the state. According to sources, neither the IBM nor the Industries Department has any mechanism to monitor the exact quantity of limestone being extracted at the mining sites.

The cement companies enjoy a 75 per cent subsidy from the Centre on transporting fly ash and coal from the nearest railway station to the plant site.

Besides, the cement firms get cheap electricity at Rs 5.75 per unit and almost free water supply, the sources added.

The government charges nothing from the companies for over 8,000 trucks, most of these overloaded, that ply daily on the highway. These overloaded trucks damage the road surface and the PWD, the traffic police and the NHAI have no weight bridges to check overloading.

In 2010-11, the state got about Rs 69 crore as royalty: Rs 24.37 crore from the ACC, Barmana, Rs 28.69 crore from Ambuja, Darlaghat, and Rs 16.57 crore from the JP, Bagha, officials said.

In a joint representation sent to the government, Deepak Mehra, Marketing Head, North, Ambuja, Joydeep Mukherjee, Director, ACC, Sales (North) and Rahul Kumar, CEO, JP, said, “The cement prices are deregulated and are decided by the market forces; still we are offering a Rs 3 to Rs 5 cut per bag in Himachal. The prices are on the higher side in Himachal as we are paying heavy freight to truckers,” they claimed. The officers were reportedly in Mumbai today to attend meetings and could not be contacted.

The state government has failed to bargain with the cement cartel to settle the cement rates at least on a par with those prevailing in Punjab and Haryana.

Director, Industries, HS Rana said negotiations were on with the cement companies to lower the cement prices in the state.

Palampur, November 22
The state Public Works Department (PWD) has launched a campaign to remove encroachments from the PWD land in the town.

In fact, large-scale encroachments on the roadside in the Ghuggar area and the Ram Chowk had become a major traffic hazard causing frequent accidents.

The PWD had earlier served them notices to remove the illegal structures from the roadside after necessary demarcation given by the revenue authorities.

But none were bothered about the PWD notices. Now, after the expiry of the notices, the department resorted to direction action.

Executive Engineer, HP PWD, Palampur, SP Jagota, while talking to The Tribune said even after services of proper notices and personal requests, the field staff had failed to remove the illegal structures, thereafter, the PWD had left with no alternative except to press JCB machines in the Ram Chowk area to demolish roadside encroachments.

He said the police was deployed and a team of PWD officials was also present on the spot and all illegal structures would be demolished till the next fortnight.

He appealed to encroachers to remove illegal structures themselves to avoid any harsh action on the part of the PWD.

The Executive Engineer said at many points the highway leading to Dharamsala was squeezed to just 3 m as many shopkeepers had constructed cemented parking and shops.

The HP High Court and the state government had taken a serious note on roadside encroachments across the state, thereafter, the Principal Secretary, PWD, had directed all the executive engineers to remove encroachments under a time-bound plan.

Jagota claimed that over 75 per cent encroachments had been removed in the Palampur division.

Shimla, November 22
Hamirpur and Mandi districts will be covered under the second phase of the National Land Record Modernisation Programme (NLRMP) for the digitisation of cadastral maps.

Stating this here yesterday, Revenue Minister Gulab Singh said a total of 46,283 cadastral maps (mussabi) would be prepared by using the new technique. An amount of Rs 5.36 crore would be spent on the project which would ensure effective management of land records for the convenience of both land owners and revenue officials. It would include computerisation of registration and its integration with the land record maintenance system, besides the development of a core Geospatial Information System (GIS) and capacity building.

Gulab Singh said at present digitisation work was in progress in Chamba and Sirmaur districts and the settlement of land in these districts was being undertaken with modern techniques of land record and measurement. The project, after successful completion, would be replicated in other districts of the state.

He said the main objective of the NLRMP was to develop a modern, comprehensive and transparent land record management system.

Shimla, November 22
To bring all judicial activity under one roof, the state high court has directed that the revenue courts shall also be shifted to the new District Courts complex at Chakkar. However, the court clarified that officers of the revenue courts shall only carry out their judicial duties by holding a circuit bench at Chakkar and need not function there for their other duties.

Continuing the stay on shifting the District Courts from the present site to the new judicial complex at Chakkar, it has further directed the government to take a final decision on the matter of approval of the plan for the construction of a multi-storeyed parking and to ensure that the facilities are made available within six months. The court passed these orders on a plea by members of the District Bar Association that a plan for parking space is yet to be approved though the same had been submitted to the government as early as 2009.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice VK Ahuja directed to allot the site, originally earmarked for a judicial academy, for the construction of lawyers’ chambers as the judicial academy is now proposed to be constructed at some other place.

The court also directed that the Chief Secretary, the Secretary (Home), the District Judge, Shimla, the president and the secretary of the Shimla District Bar Association shall also be members of the permanent standing committee in addition to the earlier committee comprising a Judge of the high court as chairperson, the Principal Secretary (Public Works), the Engineer-in-Chief (HPPWD), the Chief Architect (HPPWD) and the Registrar-General of the high court as members. The committee shall have a meeting within a month.

Earlier, the court has restrained the state government from shifting the District Courts complex from the present site near the Mall Road to Chakkar without the order of the court. Lawyers are opposing the move on the grounds that the new site is quite far from the main city. 

Shimla, November 22
A short story “Lal Hota Darakht”, written by SR Harnot for his collection “Daros”, has been selected for teaching of MPhil and PhD classes at the Central University, Kangra.

The short story in Hindi has been translated into English by Meenakshi F Paul.

The story has been chosen for the strong message it gives about society, its traditions and the unique solutions it suggests to complex problems. “The story is about a hill tradition of marrying girls and plants on the same day for which a big feast has to be thrown even if it amounts to burdening the poor,” says Harnot talking about his story.

He says the story is about one such character who has to mortgage his land to get his two daughters married with the marriage of plants and trees. The younger daughter, in a bid to save her father from the misery of mortgaging his land, goes and marries a peepal tree on her own, thus saving him from making a huge expenditure on the feast he would have had to arrange.

Dr Khem Raj Sharma, Assistant Professor in the English Department at the Central University in Kangra, was highly appreciative of the story. “It is a very fine creative work with a very powerful message and we are indebted to Harnot for penning it,” he said.

Mandi, November 22
The Himachal Pradesh Non-Government College Lecturers Association today “rubbished” the directive of the Director, Higher Education, to five government-aided colleges reducing the retirement age of lecturers from 60 years to 58 years.

Association president CP Kaushal challenged the recent directive on the grounds that these five colleges were governed by the HP Aided College Service Security Act, 1994, under which the retirement age was 60 years.

“Even the amended Act, 2008, does not specify the retirement age and the Director should withdraw the letter and maintain status quo or we will be forced to move the high court again to seek justice,” he demanded.

The association said the directive had come as a morale dampener to the faculty. The five colleges affected by this directive are St Bede’s College, Shimla, MLMS College, Sundernagar, DAV College, Kangra, DAV College, Kotkhai, and SVSD College, Bhatoli.

The association asserted that it would meet the Chief Minister in this regard. The HP University Act, 38.5 (B)(d) Appendix Rule 12, states that lecturers of private-aided colleges will retire at the age of 60 years like university lecturers.

Kaushal said the high court had directed the state government to settle the issue of retirement of a private college teacher as per HP University ordinance within a period of three months. “However, to our shock, the directorate of education misinterpreted the provisions of HP University ordinance and circulated letters to all five colleges reducing the retirement age from 60 years to 58 years.”

The Director, Education, OP Sharma, said the letter was issued following a final decision taken by the government in this regard after the rules were amended in 2008. “No doubt, the rules are silent on the retirement age in these five colleges, but the government has conveyed that the retirement age should be 58 years on a par with other colleges in the state,” he added.

Manjholi (Nalagarh), November 22
Chief Minister PK Dhumal today said the Congress had failed to protect the interests of the state at the Centre and their indifference towards Himachal had slowed the pace of development.

He addressed a series of public rallies at Dhabota, Manjholi, Panjhera and Baruna here today on the first day of his campaigning for the Nalagarh constituency where Gurnam Kaur has been fielded as the party’s candidate.

He said despite the presence of two Union Ministers, not only had the industrial package been curtailed but the plant and machinery subsidy available in Himachal was much less than what a strife-torn state like Jammu and Kashmir received. He said former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had announced an industrial package to hill states when Himachal had no representation at the Centre but the Congress had curtailed it despite having two representatives at the Centre.

Blaming the Union Government for failing to grant funds for the maintenance of the Pinjore-Nalagarh-Swarghat National Highway, he said the delay and insufficient grant of funds had effected its maintenance. He castigated the Congress for raising the issue of poor infrastructure in the Nalagarh area and said the Congress failed to repair the crucial Chikni bridge, which had been damaged during their tenure. The delay in sanctioning funds by the Centre had delayed its repair.

Taking the Congress to task for raking up the issue of sale of land, he said the Congress had not only enacted the HP Apartments and Property Regulation Act but granted permission to 51 cases for buying 2,071 bighas of land as against 377 bighas given to 11 cases by them.

He gave comparative details of funds spent by his government and those spent by the Congress on electrification, drinking water schemes, tube wells, health services, roads and bridges and urged the people to vote for Gurnam Kaur.

With hundreds of youth and representatives of the Muslim community joining the party today, the BJP’s poll prospects received a boost in the area.

Earlier, Khimi Ram, state party president, while attacking the Congress on the issue of corruption, said the level of graft could be gauged from Tihar Jail where three Union Ministers had been lodged.

Gurnam Kaur, while striking an emotional chord with the masses, said she was toiling day and night to realise the dream of her late husband and former MLA HN Saini. She said the exemplary developmental works, especially boring of tube wells, carried out by HN Saini had transformed their area and she urged the people to give her their support.

Others present on the occasion included Deputy Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha RR Kaundal, ministers Narender Bragta, Ramesh Dhawala and mahila morcha representatives.

Bilaspur, November 22
Jainga Ram (75), farmer working in his fields down the the Shimla-Kangra national highway near Kandraur, on Sunday evening, was killed when a truck (HP-62A-0467) loaded with cardboard boxes of refined oil meant for a government ration depot suddenly turned turtle on the road and several boxes fell on him.

Reports said Jainga Ram’s body was not noticed by anybody, including the police and the large number of people gathered at the spot. But after several hours of the accident when the cardboard boxes were being removed from the field, it was recovered.

The police took the body into its custody and handed it over to the family after getting its postmortem examination done. A case has been registered against the driver who had fled from the scene of the accident and the police is searching for him. 

Hamirpur, November 22
The Sarva Kalyankari Sabha has made all preparations to honour more than 2,000 families of serving Army personnel from the Sujanpur area on November 27 at Sujanpur Tihra at its annual function.

The sabha has taken the decision to honour the families of the armed personnel to pay gratitude to the Army personnel and their families for their contribution in defending the borders of the country against all odds.

The state president of the sabha, Rajinder Rana said, “Though we had planned to honour about 1,800 family members of serving Army personnel, but the organisers have identified about 2,300 families till now and activists are visiting them in the villages to personally invite them for this function.”

A large number of people are serving the Army from this area.

The Army personnell have also been sent invitations.

The sabha would present the Matribhoomi Sewa Samman to the Army personnel and their family members at this function.

Serving army personnel or one member of their families would be honoured at the function.

The sabha has also decided to distribute 100 books based on the lives of great freedom fighters and great personalities of the country to 55 private schools in association with the Sarthi Charitable Trust at its annual function on Sunday.

Chandigarh, November 22
Abhishek Kapoor, son of the Principal Secretary of Tribal Development of Himachal Pradesh, was found dead in the room No. 501 of the Himachal Bhavan in Sector 28 here today. He was 28.

The son of PC Kapoor, a 1982 batch IAS officer, Abhishek had reportedly travelled down to the city last afternoon. He came from Shimla after completing his “Mains” examination of the Civil Services.

He allegedly consumed liquor in company of two of his friends last night who dropped him in his room at about 2am this morning and left afterwards. He was reportedly “drunk”.

Abhishek’s mother is at present posted at the Disaster Management Centre in the Himachal Institute of Public Administration. He is a pass out of the University Institute of Information Technology at HPU.

Police sources said no injury marks had been found on his body. A staff of the Himachal Bhavan was the first one to report the death.

Shimla, November 22
With the objective of reducing pollution, traffic congestion and cutting down the transportation cost, the government will get a pre-feasibility study conducted to explore the possibility of having an aerial transportation system for to-and-fro movement of apples, fruits and all kinds of other goods from the main apple belt in upper Shimla.

Having obtained the Cabinet nod for undertaking the pre-feasibility study, the ambitious project is likely to cost over Rs 1,000 crore, but in the long run is expected to bring down the transportation cost considerably. The fact that heavy rain, landslides, snow and other natural factors inhibit smooth movement of apple and other goods, the aerial transportation system would help overcome these roadblocks.

“We will soon float the expression of interest so that a pre-feasibility study can be undertaken to assess if it is feasible proposition and depending on the results a detailed project report (DPR) will be prepared,” said Ajay Mittal, Principal Secretary, Transport. He clarified that the project would not just be limited to transporting apple but would be used all 12 months for free movement of goods, including other fruits, vegetables, agricultural produce and other heavy goods.

The pressure on roads resulting from the movement of apple-laden trucks through the main growing belts in Jubbal, Rohru, Kotgarh, Kotkhai, Rampur and Chopal adds to the woes of the commuters who are stuck in traffic jams for several hours. The aerial transportation system, if found feasible, could reduce traffic congestion and the resultant pollution considerably, besides providing relief to commuters, especially tourists, from unending traffic jams.

Mittal said this system of transportation was extensively used in countries like Jamaica, South America and other north-west European countries. “Though a very elementary form of this ropeway transportation system exists in our states for human and goods’ transportation in high hills but this will be a mega, modern and sophisticated system which should help reduce traffic congestion and the transportation cost as well,” he said.

The roads in most parts of the apple belt in Shimla district are choked with trucks, many of which even meet with fatal accidents during the three-month apple season. In fact, apples from the tribal district of Kinnaur, too, are transported on this route.

Last year, when the state had a bumper crop, there were almost four crore apple boxes and owing to the bad road condition, a lot of these even rotted along the roads. The aerial transportation system is likely to help growers reach the market faster with their produce with no major hitches.

Shimla, November 22
The State Information Commission has imposed a penalty on two engineers of the Public Works Department for delay on their part in supplying information regarding an under-construction road bridge over the Gobind Sagar which is incomplete even after spending Rs 21 crore.

The penalty was imposed by the State Chief Information Commissioner Bhim Sen on a complaint of RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya after the officer concerned of the PWD failed to respond to his application within the stipulated period. Bhattacharya had filed an application on May 15, 2011, seeking information on the bridge being constructed at Bagchhal in Bilaspur, the design of which had been changed repeatedly.

In his order, the SCIC said the application was duly received in the office of the Engineer-in-Chief on May 21 and transferred to the Chief Engineer, Hamirpur, and the Superintending Engineer, Xth Circle, Bilaspur, on May 24 and further to the Public Information Officer (PIO)-cum-Executive Engineer, Division-II, who received it on June 2, 2011. According to the law, the information should have been supplied by July 2, 2011, but he actually responded to the application on July 16 and sent the information to the Superintending Engineer’s office. There was a further delay at this office and the information was finally supplied to the applicant only on August 12.

Hence, there was a delay on part of both the PIOs and their explanation that the information sought was old and had to be collected from different files could not be accepted in its entirety. The penalty for delay of 42 days in furnishing the information works out to Rs 10,500. However, the commission allowed relaxation on account of the explanation given by the PIOs to the extent of 50 per cent and imposed a penalty of Rs 2,500 each.

The RTI information provided to Bhattacharya had revealed that engineers of the department ignored the design of the consultant, M/s Construma Constructions Private Limited, which was paid Rs 23 lakh for preparing the detailed project report, and shifted the site of the bridge on their own. Gammon India Limited, which is executing it, found during excavation for the second pier that the strata was not the same as that of the first pier as envisaged while designing and lacked the requisite strength to hold the structure. The project has been hanging fire for the past over 15 years and work has been at a standstill since March 2010.

Bilaspur, November 22
Two houses of Nalti village under Bharadi police station were looted as thieves took away gold and silver jewellery and cash on Monday night. Reports said farmer Prahlad Singh lost gold and silver jewellery worth more than Rs 4 lakh and cash worth Rs 15,000. 

Thieves also struck Rajender Singh’s house and stole jewellery worth Rs 5 lakh and cash of Rs 7,000. Cases have been registered. — OC