Shimla, April 4
The commission inquiring into benami land deals has not only recommended scrapping of the HP Apartment and Property Regulation Act but has suggested vesting of the land of 42 promoters in the government for violating Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reforms Act.

The one-man commission, headed by Justice DP Sood (retd), in its 147-page report submitted to the government last week, has stated that since a majority of the builders are creating a concrete jungle and spoiling the natural forested environment, the Apartment Act should be immediately withdrawn and all construction activities and their control be handed over to HP Urban Development Authority and the Town and Country Planning Department.

The commission examined 1,897 files and prepared a list of 42 builders who had violated Section 118, 35 non-agriculturists who had purchased land without obtaining permission under Section 118, 71 persons who were granted land under the landless scheme and sold the land to industrialists and others, making them landless again, and 80 cases pending against Tibetans. Interestingly, of the total 62 builders mentioned in the report, 59 are in Solan and only one each in Kangra, Shimla and Kullu.

The controversial case of permission granted to Goodwill Industry for the sale of land and factory in Nalagarh also finds mention in the report. The commission has recommended a proper inquiry into it and action against the guilty for causing a loss of Rs 4.50 crore to the state exchequer. The Vigilance Bureau is already probing the case, which pertains to the tenure of the previous Congress regime.

In its report, the commission has also stated that the government lacks the manpower to check each and every construction, which is adversely impacting environment, forests, natural beauty, culture and heritage of the tiny hill state. “It is crystal clear that Section 118 has failed to achieve the purpose for which it was introduced. Hence, it should be abolished or implemented rigorously in letter and spirit.”

The commission has also remarked on the trend of frequent purchase and sale of land being indulged in by some persons, which, according to it, hits the poor farmer who loses his land and the industrialist who gets it at a very high price. The report has identified and prepared a list of 22 such persons referred to as “middlemen” who have been involved in selling land within three months to three years’ time on the basis of the general power of attorney.

The report also includes a list of 80 cases against Tibetans for acquiring land in other people’s name, which is already in the notice of the government. The commission has also remarked on the liberal attitude of the government towards industrialists in allowing the resale of a company or factory and has recommended that this should be allowed only in genuine cases.

Shimla, April 4
The Himachal Pradesh Lokayukta Bill was introduced by Chief Minister PK Dhumal in the Vidhan Sabha today. It covers all public servants, right from the Chief Minister to the lowest panchayat functionary, but leaves out non-governmental organisations, cooperative societies and sports bodies.

Unlike the existing one-man institution, the proposed Lokayukta will be a three-member body with powers to initiate suo motu action in all matters relating to allegations of corruption. However, it lacks powers under the Contempt of Court Act. It has provisions for providing protection to whistle-blowers under which the Lokayukta, if considered necessary, can order an inquiry on the basis of the supplied information. While a complainant will have to reveal his identity to the Lokayukta, it will be kept confidential by the latter. If the complaint is frivolous or has been made with mala fide intentions, a fine up to Rs 10 lakh or imprisonment up to one year or both can be imposed on the complainant.

The definition of corruption has been widened by including allegations of nepotism and favouritism along with lack of integrity and victimisation of a whistle-blower or a witness. The Lokayukta will have a prosecution wing and investigation agency to probe and prosecute errant public servants.

It will have powers to initiate an inquiry against the Chief Minister, ministers, chief parliamentary secretaries, MLAs, officers of the rank of Secretary and above and heads of departments. No action will be initiated without the permission of its full Bench.

The competent authority for allowing prosecution in case of the Chief Minister will be the Legislative Assembly, in case of ministers, chief parliamentary secretaries or parliamentary secretaries the Chief Minister, in case of MLAs the Speaker, in case of members of the judicial services the high court, in case of members of the all-India service and heads of departments the Chief Minister, in case of vice-chancellors the Governor and in case of officers in the state departments the minister concerned.

The Lokayukta will have the power to issue a letter-rogatory to obtain information from high offices and it can designate any police station for filing complaints. Its provisions will have an overriding impact in case of conflict with any provision of a Central Act.

The Lokayukta will be a retired judge of the apex court or chief justice of a high court and will remain in office for a period of five years or up to the age of 70 years.

The appointment will be made by a select committee comprising the Chief Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of the high court, but will involve public scrutiny at two stages. A search committee, to be nominated by the select committee, will shortlist the names for the purpose. The names received by the search committee or being considered will be put up on a public website giving at least 15 days for inviting any information or objections. It will recommend a panel of three names which will again be put up on a website.

The final choice will be made by the select committee, preferably by consensus, which means the appointment can be made even if two of the three members agree on a name and the process will not be blocked due to stalemate as had happened in some states.

Earlier, Congress members, led by Kaul Singh, expressed reservations over taking up such an important Bill in haste. He said since the Bill had already become controversial, it should be either deferred or referred to a select committee.

Manali, April 4
Glaciologists here say the rise of 115 particles per million (PPM) in human-induced carbon dioxide (CO2) level in the atmosphere and the change triggered by aerosols and soot, are major agents of climate change. There is an urgent need for reversing this trend in the climate change model to be presented at a meeting of the International Panel on Climate Change to be held in 2013.

The glaciologists gathered here for a three-day international symposium on “Cryosphere and Climate Change” say it is now established that there is a phenomenal rise of green house gases, mainly CO2, from 274 PPM recorded in 1860 before the industrial revolution in Europe to 389 PPM in 2011. “We are adding 2 PPM of CO2 into the atmosphere every year”.

“If the CO2 level in the atmosphere surges to 450 PPM, it can melt the frozen ice cap of the Antarctica that can push up the sea level by 200 feet, submerging sea-side metros like Mumbai and Tokyo and the like,” they warn.

But the rise in CO2 and the average rise in winter temperature in the Himalayan region will not wipe out glaciers in the Himalayas in another 1,000 to 1,500 years, says Dr VK Raina, a glaciologist and former Deputy Director-General, Geological Survey of India, who has been engaged in the study of Himalayan glaciers since 1979.

There is no doubt that glaciers are shrinking, but the rate of snow melt in the Himalayan glaciers is less as compared to glaciers in other parts of the world, he claims. “This is so because these glaciers are located above 4,000 m altitude where temperature is very less throughout the year,” he adds.

But Dr Venkatachalam R Ramaswami, Director, NOAA, Geophysical Dynamics Laboratory, USA, says green house gases have increased in the 20th century. Sulfate, soot and dust aerosols generated by transport have occurred in Asia affecting climate in the 21st century, he adds.

“We are using global climate model, CM3, in the International Penal on Climate Change concluding in 2013,” Dr Ramaswami adds.

Dr Raina, however, cites his study on effect of climate change in the Siachen glacier, world’s highest battlefield, saying there is “no significant effect of climate change found in the glacier”.

Director, Glaciology, Geological Survey of India, Arun Chaturvedi, who was a member of the Indian team to Antarctica, says the frozen continent has eight lakh-year-old history evidenced from its air bubbles and rings formed over the centuries and recorded level of green house gases. “There is an urgent need to reverse the rise in the CO2 level in the present-day climate change model,” he adds.

Shimla, April 4
The European Union (EU) has approved a Rs 7-crore city sanitation project for the state capital along with capacity building and awareness in four other municipalities in Himachal Pradesh.

The erstwhile summer capital of the British, a pale shadow of its glorious past, was ranked at the 293rd position in a survey of 450 cities undertaken by the Urban Development Ministry in 2009. The EU project will hopefully help the “Queen of Hills” regain some ground and emerge as a cleaner and better city.

“EU officials intimated us yesterday that our city sanitation project has been approved and after fulfilling some formalities an agreement will be signed,” said MP Sood, Commissioner, Shimla Municipal Corporation.

Sood said under the project four municipal committees would also be covered with respect to capacity building and preparation of detailed project reports for the sanitation plan. The MCs selected for the purpose are Mandi, Dharamsala, Hamirpur and Nahan. Local MC officials had made presentations and held deliberations with EU officials in Delhi and Bangalore to get funding from the EU for Shimla, which is a popular tourist destination the world over.

Interestingly, the project will focus not just on capacity building as far as the sanitation aspect is concerned but will adopt one ward where vocational training will be provided to sanitation workers, ragpickers and their families in some other trade like carpet weaving, doll making or similar works. This will help in gainful employment to people who are at present only engaged in sanitation work.

The EU project will also cover treatment of waste water which will then be used for toilets, gardening and construction work as Shimla is plagued by water shortage, especially during the peak tourist season during the summers.

With only about 75 per cent coverage of the town as far as door-to-door garbage collection scheme is concerned, efforts are on to cover the entire town. “We have prepared a city sanitation plan with German assistance from the GTZ and outsourced 102 public toilets to Sulabh International,” said Sood. Shortly, the MC would acquire 10 mobile bio-toilets so that these, too, could be used as and when required.

Hamirpur, April 4
Eighteen kiosks and shops were gutted last night in a devastating fire in the Deoth Sidh market causing an estimated loss of about Rs 50 lakh.

An employee of Mahant of Baba Balak Nath temple reportedly died of shock after witnessing the fire.

The fire, which was spotted at about midnight, was very strong and engulfed the entire area within a very short time and could be controlled only after considerable effort of about four hours by fire fighters, police and Home Guard personnel.

DSP, Badsar, Madan Kant Sharma said, “The fire in a kiosk, adjacent to Langar Bhawan of the Baba Balak Nath temple, was spotted at about 12.30 am and 13 kiosks and five pucca shops, selling prashad and plastic articles etc were totally destroyed in the fire, causing an estimated loss of about Rs 50 lakh.”

SDM, Badsar, OP Thakur said, “As per preliminary findings, the fire started from a spark caused by hanging electricity wires on a nearby electricity pole due to strong wind.”

He said, “A fire tender, posted near the temple, was immediately pressed into service, which helped in controlling the fire. Fire tenders from Hamirpur and Bilaspur were also called, besides deploying a large number of police and Home Guard personnel to control the fire, which was mitigated at about 3.30 am.”

Rattan Chand, an employee of the Baba Balak Nath temple, Deoth Sidh, who was staying in a nearby building, reportedly died of a heart attack after witnessing the fire.

DC, Hamirpur, Rajinder Singh has announced Rs 10,000 each as relief to the affected shopkeepers.

Dharamsala, April 4
Officials of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) today organised puja to appease the local rain god, Indrunag, before the IPL matches at the Dharamsala cricket stadium scheduled to be held next month. The Dharamsala cricket stadium will host two IPL matches - on May 17 and 19.

The HPCA officials organised the puja because of a myth that in case the local rain god, Indrunag, is not appeased before any auspicious event, heavy rain will disrupt the function. Matches at the Dharamsala cricket stadium have been disrupted many times due to rain.

The HPCA officials said on condition of anonymity that it might be a myth but cricket matches had not been disrupted due to rain after they started performing puja to appease Indrunag.

The successful holding of IPL matches in the past two years has brought the Dharamsala cricket stadium on the international cricket map.

Shimla, April 4
Education Minister ID Dhiman today introduced in the Vidhan Sabha the Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions (Regulatory Commission) Amendment Bill to provide more autonomy to the commission for effectively regulating the functioning of private universities.

He said in the existing Act, the commission was empowered to make regulations with the prior approval of the government. It had been observed that regulations were to be made in relation to procedures to be followed for convening meetings and transaction of business and the powers delegated to the commission were limited in nature.

As such the condition of prior approval of the government needed to be removed so that the commission had a free hand to make regulations.

He also introduced Bills for setting up two more private universities in the state. The India Education Centre University (Establishment and Regulation) Bill provides for setting up a university at Baddi, while Career Point University will be established at Hamirpur.

Health Minister Rajeev Bindal introduced the Himachal Pradesh Nursing (Registration) Bill seeking to enhance the quantum of penalty for violation of the provisions of the Act so that it served as a deterrent.

The penalty for a person found guilty of practising without registration is proposed to be raised to Rs 10,000 (minimum) and Rs 20,000 (maximum) and for dishonest use of certificate to Rs 25,000. The penalty for unlawful assumption of title of nurse, health visitor and auxiliary nurse is to be enhanced to Rs 10,000 (first offence) and Rs 25,000 (second offence) and an imprisonment of two years.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal introduced the Shimla Road Users and Pedestrians (Public Safety and Convenience) Amendment Bill seeking to empower the government to declare any vehicle as public utility vehicle and relax any provisions of the Act in respect of the Core Mall Road in public interest.

Palampur, April 4
The Palampur Zila Banao Sangharsh Samiti today intensified its agitation in support of its demand to accord the district status to Palampur.

Hundreds of local residents took out a procession here today in this regard.

A rally was also held outside the office of the SDM where several speakers criticised the previous state governments for extending step-motherly treatment to the Palampur region.

They said the district status for Palampur was a long-standing demand of seven lakh residents of Palampur, Baijnath and Jaisinghpur sub-divisions of this region.

Later, addressing mediapersons at the PWD rest house, Jagmel Katoch and Shanti Sarup, president and general secretary of the samiti, respectively, said members and officials of the Palampur Beopar Mandal, the Bar Association, zila parishad, panchayat samitis, Municipal Council and Press Club participated in the procession.

Samitis also submitted a memorandum to the Palampur SDM in this regard.

Katoch said the samiti would further intensify its agitation from April 9 by holding a big rally in Palampur. If the government failed to accept the demand, a complete bandh would be observed in the entire Palampur region next week, he said.

Kangra, April 4
Goldsmiths and jewellers, who are on strike till April 5, took out a protest rally through the main market and held a two-hour protest dharna at the Tehsil Chowk yesterday. They raised slogans against the UPA government and Finance Minister Pranab Mukerjee.

The goldsmiths from Dharamsala and Nagrota Bagwan also converged here and held a protest meeting in support of their demands.

The jewellers said the UPA government Budget had doubled the Central Excise duty on gold from 2 to 4 per cent and increased the taxes from 4 to 10 per cent on non-branded jewellery.

The protest was led by Kewal Malhotra, district president, Sarafa Association, Tilak Raj Soni, state president, Tank Surankar Sudhar Saba Himachal Pradesh, and Ajay Verma, president, Kangra Goldsmith Association.

Rajan Sushant, Kangra MP, yesterday declared his full support to the on-going goldsmith agitation.

Goldsmith shops remained closed here on the 13th day yesterday. 

Solan, April 4
With the Parwanoo bypass route opening for traffic on April 6 after the completion of the newly four-laned Parwanoo-Zirakpur highway, commuters will heave a sigh of relief as it brings to an end the nasty traffic jams that had become the order of the day in summer months.

Out of the total stretch of the Zirakpur-Parwanoo highway that is being four-laned, 5.6 km falls in Himachal, 21 km in Haryana and 2 km in Punjab. Work on the project had begun in March 2008.

An entry tax barrier has been erected near the HPMC yard on the NH-22 to enable collection of toll. This was in addition to the existing Parwanoo barrier.

There have been instances where thousands of holiday revellers were caught in traffic jams extending from Parwanoo to Kalka due to the limited capacity of the national highway.

Traffic jams have been giving uneasy moments to the police from both Haryana and Himachal, who had to be on their toes to ensure the smooth flow of traffic during weekends. There have been cases when people had failed to catch connecting trains to Delhi and other destinations and even patients had to wait for hours to reach the PGI in Chandigarh.

Dharamsala, April 4
A recent order issued by the Collector-cum-DFO, Wildlife Division, Hamirpur, under the Himachal Pradesh Public Premises and Land (Eviction and Rent Recovery) act 1971, has put the Baijnath-based branches of Kangra Central Cooperative Bank and Gramin Bank under the scanner.

According to the order, a copy of which is available with The Tribune, these bank branches located in the Baijnath area of Kangra district are housed in a building that has come up on land belonging to the Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary that has been encroached upon.

The branches have been running from a building which has allegedly come up on encroached forest land for the past over 20 years.

The matter was brought to light by Raj Kumar, a resident of Bir village in the Baijnath area. On a complaint of Raj Kumar, the revenue authorities demarcated the land, on which the building housing the banks had been brought up. The revenue authorities have held that the building has been brought up on encroached forest land belonging to the Dhauladhar Wildlife Sanctuary.

The owner of the building, Shyam Lal Sharma, has claimed in the court of the Collector, Forests, that in the revenue record of 1962-63, the nature of the land in question was panchayat land. However, in 1971-72 the possession of the land has been shown in the name of the Forest Department. According to the Punjab Village Common Land (Regulation) Act - 1961, the common land will vest in the government expect the land used or reserved for the benefit of the village community.

Shyam Lal Sharma, through his counsel, has contested the case and claimed that the land in question has been wrongly shown in the possession of the Forest Department and thereafter vested in the name of the government. He has claimed that in 1974, the gram panchayat had held an auction of the land in question and his father bought it.

The Collector has, however, held that the building has been brought up on encroached forest land and it should be vacated under the HP Public Premises Act.

The complainant in the case, Raj Kumar, told The Tribune that the authorities of Kangra Cooperative Bank and Gramin Bank were illegally paying rent to the owner of the building since it had been established that the building had been brought up on encroached forest land.

The MD of Kangra Cooperative Bank said they had entered into an agreement with Shayam Lal Sharma, the owner of the building, till 2013. “Till date we have not received orders from any competent authority to vacate the building. We will vacate the building once orders are received from the competent authority in a time-bound manner,” he said.

Solan, April 4
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has detected the role of middlemen in the fake permit case where drafts issued for availing of national permits by transporters were never deposited in the accounts of the respective states, but a refund was later sought from banks.

The bureau, which is conducting a probe into this Rs 71-lakh misappropriation case, has arrested Satya Prakash and a senior assistant, Sandeep Sood. A case of misappropriation of funds, cheating, forgery and under the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against them.

Bureau DSP Ramesh Sharma said the role of more middlemen could not be ruled out.

The forgery was detected by the then RTO, Raman Sharma, in 2009 who had received a communication from the transport authorities of Uttar Pradesh claiming that drafts against which “payment was deposited into their account had not been credited into their account”. Sharma’s subsequent enquiries from his office unearthed bundles of drafts meant to be deposited against the accounts of various states where transporters were issued national permits. Since these drafts were not deposited in the accounts, and the same drafts were used for several trucks, it had led to the unearthing of the permit scam.

It was found that Rs 5,000 per state and Rs 3,000 per union territory was the official fees for a national permit. The middlemen made drafts of the said amounts and deposited these drafts with the RTO’s office. The dealing clerk, however, in connivance with the middlemen, did not deposit these drafts in the accounts of the respective states and refund was sought after a year from banks for their failure to use the drafts.

Since these permits were issued on an annual basis, hundreds of drafts were found stacked in the RTO’s office.

Sharma had later reported the matter to the authorities following which the bureau started investigating the case. Incidentally, Sharma had also unearthed embezzlement worth Rs 31 lakh in the office of the SDM, Kandaghat, during his tenure where funds meant for natural calamity relief had not been disbursed among the needy.

Shimla, April 4
The state has been rated high among other states for its tourism promotion activities, but it appears that there is no park for children within the limits of the Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC).

This was observed by the state high court on a petition taken up suo motu by it on a letter addressed to the Chief Justice by 10-year-old girl Vipasha Srivastva on the issue of lack of children’s parks in the town.

It further said, “There was no park even for the public except for a developed park known as Rani Jhansi Park. We find that the corporation has made a proposal for developing 25 parks for children, 15 tourist parks and water bodies and another 25 for residents of each ward of the corporation.”

It directed the Principal Secretary (Tourism) to look into the proposal made by the corporation and submit response to the government positively within a month.

The court also directed the Principal Secretary to convene a conference of stakeholders in the process.

It also directed the corporation to forward all required materials, including DPRs, to the Principal Secretary (Tourism) within two days and listed the matter for further hearing on May 7.

Hamirpur, April 4
Invigilation staff deployed on examination duty for ongoing college examinations at Subhas Chandra Bose Memorial Postgraduate College, Hamirpur, caught a student carrying almost a whole book downloaded on his cellphone for cheating.

The student, who had appeared in the first-year exam of BSc for physics paper, had downloaded 159 pages of physics book on his cellphone and carried it to the examination centre during the evening session of the examination on Tuesday.

Though the HPU authorities has banned carrying of mobile phones in examination halls, some times students manage to carry these along.