Shimla, March 2
The government may take a final decision on the fate of the controversial Jakhu ropeway as the promoters have been asked to appear before a high-level committee, comprising representatives of different departments, here on March 5 so that a conciliatory approach can be adopted rather than the matter being dragged to court.

It is reliably learnt that the promoters, Jagson International Ltd, will be asked to ensure the structural stability of the high-rise building as it had been conceived for 11 storeys and now two additional floors have been added.

The promoters are likely to be asked by the government to bear the expenditure of getting a structural stability assessment from experts from a reputed institute like the IIT, Rorkee, through the Public Works Department as no risk can be taken in a project which is likely to witness a heavy rush of tourists once thrown open to the public.

Having illegally raised two additional storeys against the approved 11 floors, the project has been hanging fire for the past few years as there are gross violations of the approved building plan. Sources said the promoters had been summoned by the Director, Urban Development, here on March 5 so that a way out could be found to make the project operational, but at the same time impose a heavy penalty for the deliberate violations.

Representatives of various departments, including Urban Development, Town and Country Planning, Forest, Municipal Corporation, Tourism and Public Works, have been asked to attend the meeting and give their viewpoint.

Officials point out that the plea of the promoters that raising two additional storeys was a structural necessity was unacceptable as they should have placed this viewpoint before the authorities concerned along with a revised plan before going ahead with the construction illegally.

There is a strong feeling that not only should the promoters be imposed a heavy penalty for violating the law but the additional space created by the construction of two storeys should also be given to the Municipal Corporation or the Tourism Department to run some activity for the public.

The project, which was allowed to come up in a no-construction green area on the Jakhu hill, has been in the eye of the storm for one reason or the other. The promoters have faced problems with regard to felling of trees and causing threat to the houses in the vicinity.

The promoters compounded the problem by constructing two storeys without permission.

Shimla, March 2
Demanding a CBI inquiry into the purchase of land by Health Minister Rajiv Bindal and his family, Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP) leader Mahender Sofat today alleged that the minister had not only abused his position to purchase land from the poor but had also kept the Election Commission in the dark about some of the land owned by him.

Addressing a press conference here today, Sofat, spokesperson for the HLP, today gave details of land allegedly owned by Bindal, his wife and other family members at various places in Solan, Sirmaur, Lucknow, Pehwa and Kurukshetra.

“The manner in which the land bank of Bindal and his family has grown is really astounding and a fit case for a probe by none other than the CBI as no state agency will hold a fair probe,” he said.

Sofat said surprisingly the minister had made some disclosures of the properties owned by him in the list released to the press even though some of these were missing from the affidavit he filed before the elections in 2007.

He said Bindal had not come clean on the allegations levelled against him by Union Minister Virbhadra Singh that he had allegedly purchased 100 bighas of land in Sirmaur district.

He said the entire record of the land deals by Bindal had been handed over to BJP chief Nitin Gadkari, duly signed by one MP, two ministers, four MLAs, three former ministers and a former state BJP chief.

Meanwhile, reacting to the allegations levelled against him, Bindal said they were false, baseless and politically motivated by a “frustrated and dejected leader” like Sofat.

Nurpur, March 2
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today said his government was committed to strengthening the economic status of people. Addressing a public meeting at Harsar in Jawali subdivision today, he claimed that per capita income had increased to Rs 58,493, which had also enhanced the buying capacity of people in the hill state.

Briefing about the steps taken for Jawali assembly segment during his four-year regime, he said the government had earmarked Rs 30 lakh for Nagrota Surian-Harsar drinking water supply scheme. “Apart from this, government is also sanctioning sufficient number of tube wells for irrigation and hand pumps to eliminate potable water scarcity,” he asserted.

He also announced funds for the construction of a community hall at Harsar.

Dhumal reiterated that the government was providing subsidised electricity and cheaper foodgrains (ration) by spending Rs 166.46 crore and Rs 130 crore, respectively, per annum in the form of subsidy.

“Around 10 lakh schoolchildren will start getting free uniforms from ensuing academic session,” he added.

Nagrota Surian (Dharamsala), March 2
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s first visit to the Nagrota Surian area in his present regime saw the resurgence of Sanjay Guleria as a potential BJP candidate from the Jawali constituency in the Assembly elections scheduled to be held by the year-end. His claim to the BJP ticket from Jawali Assembly constituency was “cemented” after he managed to get the tehsil status for Nagrota Surian, which had been a long-pending demand of the area.

Guleria, who owns Symbiotic Healthcare and Diabetics Company based in Baddi, has a paternal house in Jawali constituency. His posters dotted the entire Nagrota Surian area today during the visit of the Chief Minister. He also accompanied the Chief Minister in the entire Jawali assembly constituency.

A shopkeeper in Nagrota Surian said all the shopkeepers were joining the CM’s ‘Prashasan Janta Ke Dwar’ programme under the stewardship of Sanjay Guleria.

Meanwhile, all the shopkeepers of Nagrota Surian area put down their shutters at 2 pm to press for tehsil status for the town. They said the people of the area had to go to Jawali, which was located at a distance of about 25 km from Nagrota Surian, for petty revenue works.

They also alleged that during the last elections the Chief Minister had promised tehsil status for Nagrota Surian area.

At a rally organised here in the evening, the Chief Minister announced the tehsil status for the area.

Meanwhile, the visit of the Chief Minister to the area proved as blessing in disguise for the residents of the Nagrota Surian area as many pending development works were completed by respective departments in haste.

When The Tribune team visited the area, the PWD was still doing patch work on the Nagrota Surian Lunj road.

The Chief Minister also laid foundation stones of various projects in Jawali assembly constituency, including a primary health centre at Kotla, a circle health centre building at Jawali, ayurvedic hospital building at Harsar and augmentation of water supply scheme at Nagrota Surian.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by Minister for IPH Ravinder Ravi and Minister for Social Justice and Women Empowerment Sarween Chaudhary.

Shimla, March 2
A 170-metre-long parallel tunnel along the existing Dhalli tunnel will be the first of the four tunnels to be taken up for execution to ease traffic congestion in the city.

The Public Works Department, which is carrying out the widening of the Auckland tunnel, has submitted a revised detailed project report (DPR) to the Centre for funding under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission. It is one of the five tunnels for which the State Infrastructure Development Board got the DPRs prepared by an Austrian company, the Geo Consult. The original DPR, prepared two years ago, had estimated the cost of 160-metre Dhalli tunnel at Rs 25 crore. The PWD has revised it and increased its length to 170 metres and accordingly the cost has also gone up to Rs 37 crore. The tunnel will be bored on the right from the Sanjauli side close to the existing tunnel and it will be 9 metres wide.

The department has already addressed the queries raised by the Union Ministry of Urban Development and it is hopeful of securing funds under the mission. If all goes as planned, work will commence on the project in the next financial year.

Meanwhile, the Auckland tunnel is likely to be thrown open to traffic by the end of this month. However, the bridge on the IGMC portal of the tunnel will take another three months to complete and along with the tunnel the entire project will cost Rs 10.09 crore. It will reduce the distance on the Circular Road by 1,180 metres and help remove a major traffic bottleneck.

The company was assigned the task of preparing DPRs for five tunnels, including the one at Swarghat on the Chandigarh-Manali highway, which will be constructed by the National Highways Authority of India at a cost of over Rs 360 crore.

However, the three other tunnels had not been found feasible for execution under the PPP (public-private partnership) mode by the board, which has been declared the nodal agency for PPP projects. The longest tunnel will be 1,180-metre-long, connecting IGMC to HIMFED petrol pump, which is estimated to cost Rs 100 crore. The second tunnel from the Lift to HIMFED petrol pump will be 950 metres long and cost Rs 75 crore, while the 350 metres long tunnel from the Lift to Lakkar Bazar will be shortest and cost Rs 73.71 crore.

The only way to execute these tunnels is to set up an infrastructure development fund and seek funds from international agencies like the World Bank.

Hamirpur, March 2
Though the HP Board of School Education had issued instructions to the Education Department not to appoint local teachers as examination superintendent (ES) for the Board examinations, which began today, eyebrows are being raised as large number of local teachers have reportedly “managed” their appointment in the local or nearby schools.

These instructions were issued by the Board to check cases of cheating and to stop local teachers from helping their students in the examination.

The Board has set up 1,590 examination centres in the state, mostly in government-aided or government schools.

Reports state that many teachers have reportedly manipulated their posting as ES in the local schools or in nearby schools or in their villages, ignoring the instructions of the Education Board.

Sources say about 400 teachers throughout the state have manipulated their appointment as ES in the schools of their postings or in nearby schools while most of deputy ES are already from local schools.

However, the Board had authorised deputy directors and school principals to appoint local teachers as ES where the staff appointed had failed to report or alternatives were not available.

Secretary, HP Board of School Education, Prabhat Sharma, said, “We have asked the Education Department not to appoint local teachers as ES and instructed deputy directors and school principals to appoint local teachers in special circumstances where teachers have failed to report for the examination duty.”

“However, we have already removed few teachers as ES against whom complaints were received and would take appropriate action against those found guilty,” he added.

Kangra, March 2
Four teams of the Medical Council of India (MCI) today inspected Dr RP Government Medical College, Tanda, for 100 seats of MBBS and three other departments — Community Medicine, General Surgery and Microbiology — for six additional seats for postgraduate (PG) courses in these departments.

Dr Anil Chauhan, Principal DRPGMC, Tanda, said the team for the inspection of the 100 MBBS seats visited Dr RP Government Medical College, Tanda, it was headed by Dr TC Singal from MP Shah Medical College, Jam Nagar, Gujarat. Other inspectors in the teams were Dr Meenaxi Gajabhiye from BJ Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, and Dr Ramesh Rangrao Savardekar from Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College, Eion, Mumbai, Maharashtra.

The team carried an annual inspection for 100 MBBS seats, which had already been approved by the MCI for this college last year.

Dr Chauhan said the team inspected the college, besides gathered the details of the faculty since this morning.

The college in 2010 was granted approval of five postgraduation seats and in 2011 additional 24 PG seats were approved by the MCI for this Rural Medical College here taking the number of the PG seats to 29.

Dr Chauhan said the college management had sought approval for additional 35 PG seats in various departments for which the faculty and the college infrastructure was available.

He expressed hope that if the MCI grants approval on merits, this college would have 64 PG seats from the coming academic session.

He said in this connection for the approval of additional PG seats a team of Community Medicine comprising Dr Shyam Bihari Gupta, Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, Jhansi(UP) visited the college yesterday.

Dr Chauhan said the team of general surgery led by Dr Ujjwal Bhattacharya, Calcutta, National Medical College, Government of West Bengal, and another team of Microbiology led by Dr SP Garg, from Sardar Patel Medical College, Bikaner, visited the college for the inspection regarding two additional seats in each department.

He said inspectors of Community medicines, General Surgery and Microbiology examined the departments in detail, where in each department two seats were already approved by the MCI earlier and two more in each department were sought by the college management for which the current inspection was conducted.

Shimla, March 2
Members of the Shimla Nagrik Sabha today started an indefinite dharna at Annandale ground in protest against blockade of road leading to Dalit Colony by an influential landlord with political connections.

The Sabha alleged that the local administration was not taking action in the matter as the offender was close to the ruling party and was running a nursing college and B.Ed college. The Dhobighat-Gawai road, which was blocked by raising a wall, was being used by the local residents for the past more than a century.

The municipal corporation had failed to take action even though a complaint was lodged with it by the local people. Former Mayor of the corporation, Zaini Prem, who lives in the area, and CPM leaders Tikender Panwar and Sanjay Chuhan and Vijender Mehra of the Nagrik Sabha were among those who addressed the gathering.

They said it was a glaring example of the “gunda raj” in the state where the influential persons aligned with the ruling party could get away with anything. They alleged that the owner of the nursing college was using the girl students as a shield to thwart any move to pull down the wall and he had been allowed to violate building laws with impunity.

Tikender said the protesters would continue the dharna through the night and even tomorrow and agitation would be called off only after the road was opened to public and action taken against the offender.

Mandi, March 2
The Industries Department has shut down the operations of the stone crusher being run illegally at Koksar on the Manali-Leh National Highway by a private contractor of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) with immediate effect.

In an office order issued by the state geologist to the mining officer, Lahaul-Spiti, at Keylong, the department has asked owner of the stone crusher OP Sharma to stop operations of the crusher as he had no approval from the State Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

The Industry Department order, copy of which is available with The Tribune, stated that the BRO contractor has failed to furnish the required NoC obtained from the board and the mining officer concerned at Keylong. The department has given 15-day time to the contractor to submit the documents. The closing down of the stone crusher followed after State Chief Commissioner Bhim Sen had recommended disciplinary action against the then junior engineer (JE) of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board and imposed Rs 5,000 as penalty to be paid to RTI applicant Sudershan Thakur, a local resident. The RTI activist had sought information regarding the status of the stone crusher and detected the illegal operations at Koksar.

Dharamsala, March 2
The murder case in which an unidentified body was found in a room of a private guest house at McLeodganj on February 29 has taken a new turn today.

The body has been identified as that of a local taxi operator, Sanjay Kumar, from Dharnu village, near Dharamsala.

Sanjay Kumar had been missing for the past few days.

His parents alleged that they had lodged a police complaint but police officials did not take his missing report seriously.

The parents of Sanjay Kumar today met the local MLA and Industries Minister Kishan Kapoor and requested him to intervene in the matter.

The minister called up the police officials who got the matter probed.

The police connected the incident with a missing car bearing a Dharamsala number that was impounded by the Bharatgarh police in Ropar district of Punjab. The car was found abandoned on the road by the police.

Later, it was found that the car belonged to the deceased, the police said.

The accused in the case allegedly took away the car of Sanjay after killing him and abandoned it in the Bharatgarh area of Punjab.

It seems that the accused allegedly killed Sanjay with sharp-edged weapons and then dumped his body in the guest house.

According to the records of the Kunga guest house in which the body was recovered, a person named as Uzair Bashir, checked in alone in the guest house on February 26. In the entry records of the guest house, he has declared Shalimar as his residential address, which was suspected to be some place in Jammu and Kashmir.

Guest house staff informed the police that they had seen Uzair Bashir there till last evening. However, none of them has identified the other person, who was found dead in the room taken by Uzair Bashir.

The police was earlier relying on the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at the guest house to identify the accused in the case. The police had taken the footage of the CCTV cameras into its custody.

From the way the room booked and the body was dumped, the police was suspecting the involvement of locals in the case.