Dharamsala, March 23
A 14-km stretch of the road from Dharamsala to Chambi that was laid recently has been washed away within a few months. Travel on the entire stretch of the road has turned into a nightmare for commuters. At certain places, the entire tar on the road has been washed away and sharp-edged stones have been exposed, causing damage to vehicles.

Interestingly, the PWD had recently spent about Rs 2 crore on the construction of the road.

Sources blamed the bad condition of the road on poor construction.

Those who ply daily on the road have demanded an inquiry into the matter. They have alleged that the government money spent on the road has gone waste.

PWD officials have blamed the poor condition of the road on heavy rain during January and February. However, a commuter, Matrunjay Kumar, alleged that had rain alone been the reason for the poor condition of the road, other roads in the region would also have been damaged to a similar extent.

Chief Engineer, PWD, North Zone, DR Chaudhary admitted that the road had been damaged in some stretches. He, however, said the road was still within the defect-liability period. After the completion of the road, the contractor has to repair any major damage within one year.

“We will ask the contractor to repair it as it is within the defect-liability period,” he said.

Chaudhary said in case the contractor did not repair the road, the department would repair it and charge penalty from the contractor. “The department takes security from the contractor that will be used for the repairs of the road. In case the amount of repair exceeds the security, it will be charged from the contractor,” he said.

Shimla, March 23
As expected the government came under fire in the Vidhan Sabha from PCC chief Kaul Singh, but it was the ruling party MLA from Rohru, Khushi Ram Balnatah, who gave several embarrassing moments to it by pointing out instances of corruption and “indifferent governance” during the debate on the Budget.

Defending the Budget, Balnatah showered lavish praise on dissident ministers Ramesh Dhawala and Krishan Kapoor for their “positive role” in the pulses scam, curtailing cement prices and giving credit to veteran leader Shanta Kumar for laying the foundation for the growth of the power sector, providing enough indications of the factional divide plaguing the party.

He focused on the inability of the government to check the mining mafia and pointed out specific instances of illegal mining at Seema where the PWD, instead of taking action against the lessee for causing extensive damage to a road, facilitated him by erecting retaining walls.

Strict action was required to send a message that the government was functional.

He drew attention to the failing financial health of PSUs like the Agro-Industries Corporation, 105 employees of which had not been paid salaries and terminal benefits, the HPMC and the HRTC. So many retention policies had been brought to regularise unauthorised construction, but cases had not been settled. Work on a car parking, an important bridge and the relocation of the agriculture market had failed to take off in Rohru.

Earlier, terming the Budget a perfect recipe for fiscal disaster, Kaul Singh said the government had not looked beyond six months as the elections were due later this year.

The financial implications of concessions and benefits had not been mentioned. He urged the Chief Minister to specify the additional burden the benefits would entail and the sources of revenue to meet it. Moreover, the benefits and promises should have been implemented over the past four years. Obviously, it was an election gimmick.

The Budget was far from pragmatic and lacked vision and fuel for growth. The government was not able to utilise funds allocated by the Centre under MNREGA and last year it spent only Rs 655 crore against the allocation of Rs 1,000 crore and this year only Rs 385 crore had been spent till last month. It failed to utilise Rs 278 crore under the 11th Plan. The Budget ignored the unemployment problem and no effort had been made to set up IT parks to create jobs. The charge of discrimination by the Centre was baseless as the size of the annual plan had been increased from Rs 2,700 crore to Rs 3,700 crore over the past four years due to central assistance.

Rakesh Pathania (Independent) said Congress members had no right to raise the issue of graft as its own UPA government at the Centre was embroiled in mega scandals.

Hamirpur, March 23
A majority of the elected members and villagers of the Anu panchayat today boycotted the general house meeting of the panchayat in protest against the alleged arbitrary functioning and irregularities committed by the panchayat president.

The meeting was convened today for transacting the panchayat business, but it could not be held due to the lack of quorum as only the panchayat president and one other member turned up for this meeting.

An elected ward member, Ajay Kumar, said, “Seven ward members, the vice-president and villagers falling under the panchayat boycotted today’s general house meeting in protest against the arbitrary functioning of the panchayat president. They have sent information to the BDO in this regard.”

The vice-president and seven ward members have also sent a complaint against the panchayat president to Chief Minister PK Dhumal, demanding action in the matter.

They have threatened to boycott all future meetings and tender mass resignations in case action is not taken against the panchayat president.

These members have alleged that the panchayat president has not been taking them into confidence while carrying out development works; no muster roll has been issued for carrying out MNREGA works despite a resolution passed at a meeting, cheques for the work completed under the Mid-Himalayan Watershed Project have not been signed and house tax is being reduced at will despite having been fixed in a general house meeting.

The members have demanded action against the panchayat president for allegedly committing irregularities in installing solar lights. The panchayat president has been indicted by an inquiry committee.

Kullu, March 23
The ongoing tug of war between Indian and Russian trustees over the control of the International Roerich Memorial Trust (IRMT), Naggar, and Bangalore seemed to have hit diplomatic channels ahead of the visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to India next week for the BRICS summit.

Sources said in view of this high-profile meeting, the state government had put the issue of the removal of Elena Adamkova, a Russian national, who has been a visiting curator of the IRMT, Naggar, since 2002, on the back burner.

The issue of control of the IRMT at Naggar and Bangalore, among other things, is likely to figure in the talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the sources said.

The state has kept the Russian Embassy’s proposal to set up an “international commission” in cold storage till heads of India and Russia resolve the issues at IRMT Naggar and Bangalore, including the ban on the Bhagvad Gita in Russia, they said.

The state has proposed to give a final shape to the mutual cooperation for setting up of the proposed Urasvati Institute of Fine Arts at Naggar.

This institute would come up in collaboration with the ICR, Moscow, and the IRMT. The government has set up an advisory committee for the purpose and signed a memorandum in this regard, the sources added.

Citing apex court direction and Karnataka High Court’s judgment that “Indian Trusts cannot be run by foreigners”, the state government has been pleading that IRMT must be handed over to Indian trustees.

IRMT’s life trustee, Shakti S Chandel, an IAS officer (retd), has taken the issue of mismanagement of the IRMT funds and artefacts by the controversial curator, Elena, and have demanded a probe in the matter.

On the other hand, Elena claimed she was targeted by Chandel without substantiating his charges against her. “I have brought projects for the IRMT. The government pays not even a single penny and I get my salary from the Trust”, she claimed.

Principal secretary, Art Language and Culture, Manisha Nanda told The Tribune that the contract of the curator has ended on December last.

The government had conveyed the decision of removal of the curator to the two representatives of the Russian Embassy, who attended the executive meeting on March 4, she added.

Kangra, March 23
The 10-day Chaitra Navratra festival began here today with gaiety and religious fervour. Thousands of pilgrims visited the Brajeshwari, Jwalamukhi and Chamunda temples on the first day of the festival amid tight security.

Kangra district police chief DS Thakur said thousands of pilgrims thronged the shakti peeths in the district. All arrangements had been made for the convenience of the pilgrims, he added.

Pilgrims from various states, including Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir, started thronging these temples since the wee hours today.

Long queues of pilgrims were seen outside the temples.

Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, RS Gupta attended a havan at the Chamunda Devi temple this morning and declared the Navratra festival open.

Shimla, March 23
The country’s largest 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri hydro-power project has been issued a notice by the State Pollution Control Board for causing air and noise pollution at its power plant and not installing water discharge-monitoring equipment at Sholding khad.

The project, which has been achieving good generation targets, has been issued the notice by the board for surpassing the ambient air noise levels at its power plant located at Jhakri. It is reliably learnt that Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJNV) Ltd, the executing agency, has been asked to bring down the suspended particle material (SPM) below 100, which is the prescribed limit.

The project authorities have also been directed to install air monitoring and noise-measuring equipment to ensure that it does not cross the prescribed limit. Besides, a sewage treatment plant for the main building at Jhakri has been found to be inadequate.

Member Secretary of the board Sanjay Sood said certain shortcomings had been detected at the Nathpa Jkahri power project and the authorities had been directed to comply with the norms immediately.

Another area where the project has been found to be erring is its failure to file its water cess returns, which has to be done on a monthly basis. “Despite repeated reminders in the recent pass, the project authorities have not bothered to file the water cess returns for which a notice has been issued to them,” said an official. Moreover, the authorities are operating their tungsten carbide coating plant without obtaining consent from the board under Sections 25 and 26 of the Water Pollution Control Act, 1974.

Another violation of which the board has taken serious note of is the failure of the authorities to install the water discharge-measuring equipment at Sholding khad. According to the power policy, it is mandatory for all power producers to ensure that a minimum of 15 per cent water discharge is ensured even during the lean season so that the flora, fauna and other requirements of the people living downstream are met.

Shimla, March 23
The Annual Plan of Himachal for 2012-13 has been fixed at Rs 3,700 crore, which is 12.12 per cent higher than the Rs 3,300 crore Plan for the current financial year.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal held a meeting with Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia in New Delhi today. The General Plan, the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan, the Tribal Area Sub-Plan and the Backward Area Sub-Plan have been fixed at Rs 2,427 crore, Rs 915 crore, Rs 333 crore and Rs 25 crore, respectively.

The Chief Minister said the social service sector had been given the highest priority by allocating Rs 1,190 crore, which was over 32 per cent. Other sectors like transport and communication, energy, agriculture and allied sectors had been given the second, third and fourth priority by allocating Rs 779 crore (21.05 per cent), Rs 582 crore (15.73 per cent) and Rs 480 crore (12.98 per cent) of the total Annual Plan, respectively.

He said the Plan allocation for agriculture was 12.98 per cent, which was almost double the national average of 5.6 per cent. He sought exemption for Himachal from formula-based allocation and sought Rs 130 crore under the Rashtriya Krishi Bima Yojna for 2012-13.

Himachal had achieved an annual growth rate of 8.1 per cent during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-2012), which was higher than the national growth rate of 7.9 per cent, he said, adding that the estimated growth rate of the state for 2011-12 was 7.6 per cent against the national growth rate of 6.9 per cent during the same period.

He lamented that the 13th Finance Commission had grossly underestimated the state’s committed liabilities on account of salary, interest and pension payments. “The commission assumed an average annual growth in salaries at 2 per cent over the 2010-2015 period whereas the DA increase alone was 18 per cent in 2010 and 13 per cent in 2011. If the 13th Finance Commission had given grants on a par with other states, Himachal would have got Rs 10,725 crore extra during the award period from 2010 to 2015,” he said.

Hamirpur, March 23
A jewellery shop, a medicine store and a house were gutted in a fire last night in the main bazar of Hamirpur.

The fire reduced a two-storeyed house to ashes. The loss in the fire has been estimated at Rs 30 lakh.

Balak Ram and his three family members, who were residing in the upper storey of the house, managed to save themselves.

Three LPG cylinders being used in the jewellery exploded, creating a scare in the vicinity. A forensic team from Shimla has started investigation into the incident. — TNS

Solan, March 23
Even as the state gears up to create awareness about tuberculosis on the occasion of the World Tuberculosis Day tomorrow, the emergence of extensively drug resistant (XDR) tuberculosis is posing a new challenge to the medical fraternity.

Though no cases of XDR have as yet been confirmed, three cases suspected to have contracted this type of tuberculosis have been sent for testing to Delhi. Their reports were awaited yet.

The health authorities have now begun Directly Observed Therapy for Tuberculosis (DOTS) plus in two districts - Solan and Kangra - while four more - Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Sirmaur - would soon be brought under its purview with the remaining six being included by the second week of April, said Dr Kulbhushan Sood, state tuberculosis officer.

He said the state was prepared to deal with tuberculosis case and at present 12,000 to 14,000 patients were being screened in the state.

While training programmes at the state and district levels were being conducted to ensure DOTS PLUS and DOTS were effectively executed.

It had become difficult to monitor patients in the remote areas, said field staff.

Since DOT is especially critical for patients with drug-resistant TB, HIV-infected patients, and those on intermittent treatment regimens, availability of adequate trained staff was a major issue of concern.

Sood said they were seeking more funds from the government so that more staff could be trained for effective DOTS treatment that would help arrest the prevention of the disease. He said a single case if left untreated can infect 10 to 15 patients in a year.

With a culture lab having been developed at Dharampur-based Tuberculosis Sanatorium the facility of testing has been made available in the state and the process of accreditation of this lab from the centre TB Division was underway. This will ensure that samples are tested within two-three weeks as against the earlier time span of six to eight weeks.