Kullu, September 6
Villagers of Balh and Mahol gram panchayat are up in arms against the “faulty integrated waste management and treatment plant which has become a health and environmental hazard spreading flies, stink, noxious gases in surrounding villages on the right bank of the Beas”.

Villagers rue that they have brought the matter to the notice of the government over the years, but all their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

The solid waste and bio-medical waste generated in Kullu and Bhuntar town is brought here for treatment, but the “plant is not being run and designed on scientific lines”.

“We inhale foul smell emitted by the decaying solid waste day and night. Flies, mosquitoes and cockroaches have become a menace,” resent villagers living in surrounding areas. Sometimes the stink is so strong that it reaches houses, schools and offices located nearby, they add.

Even rafting freaks taking detour down the Beas from Pirdi to Shada Bai face the stink menace when they zero in near the waste plant along the river.

Senior scientist, GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Mahol, JC Kuniyal says the plant design is faulty. “Cement pits, tin roof and cement base of the plant should be replaced by masonry and stone works and dumps where unused waste is dumped should be covered,” he adds.

Dr Kuniyal says the compost needs 40 per cent moisture, 25° temperature for microbes to grow for compost. But in cement pits and tin-roofed structure, temperature variations are high and kill microbes. The waste should be stirred after 15 days for composting, he adds.

Dr Kuniyal says the base should have been made of soling and have a plastic lining so that it does not leak into the river. But these things are ignored and problems are raising their ugly head now, he observes.

NGO Himachal Niti Abhiyan (HNA) convenor Guman Singh claims he has lodged a complaint with the Hazards Centre and the State Pollution Control Board as the waste is not managed properly. The land has been diverted and the NOC not availed by the Kullu council before leasing the site to the contractor, he alleges.

Rishab Kalia, president, Kullu Municipal Council, claims the solid waste plant is managed manually by a contractor, with the council paying Rs 40,000 per month to him. “It has been managed well for the last 13 years and the present move is politically motivated,” he claimed.

SDM, Kullu, Vinay Dhiman says the complaint has not reached the district administration. “We inspected the site earlier. Now maybe because of rains, the problems has cropped up as large quantities of vegetable wastes go into the plant in this season,” he adds.

Mandi, September 6
The Himachal Pradesh High Court’s order to the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to deposit 2 per cent of the cost of the 990-MW Beas project and to get a no-objection certificate from the Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board on the silt menace in the Balh valley has put the BBMB in a spot.

The BBMB has called a meeting of Secretaries of member-states on September 10 in Chandigarh to discuss the issue. Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan are members of the project.

The order has financial ramifications to the tune of Rs 5 crore. BBMB Chief Engineer RB Jain said the Secretaries would discuss the issue at the meeting on September 10.

The order came as a relief to farmers of 13 gram panchayats; Chatra, Dadour, Khilra, Kummi, Chandyal and Behena on the right bank of the Suketi and Chulah, Gutgarh, Badsu, Nagchala, Bhangrotu, Ner and Sayera on the left bank.

Yudh Chand Saklani, spearheading the cause of Balh farmers, said they had submitted three resolutions to Chief Minister PK Dhumal recently, but had not received a reply so far. Five panchayats on a 7-km stretch needed a bridge, but their resolutions had fallen on deaf ears, he added.

Balh Kisan Sabha president Paras Ram welcomed the ruling. The money should be utilised to compensate silt-affected farmers, he added. The state pollution control board had not set up silt pollution parameters to check and monitor silt pollution in the Suketi, insiders said.

Dharamsala, September 6
Private banks are not fulfilling their social responsibility of extending agriculture loans in Kangra district. Data has revealed that private banks in the district have made highly insignificant progress in issuing Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs).

Of about 1.3 lakh KCCs issued in the district, HDFC Bank has issued just 10 while ICICI and J&K banks have not issued any. According to RBI guidelines, all banks have to give at least 18 per cent of the total budget towards extending agriculture loans.

Under the KCC scheme, farmers can get loans of up to Rs 20 lakh. Loans up to Rs 1 lakh are given without collateral security. Farmers who have KCCs are issued debt cards, through which they can withdraw the credit limit sanctioned. KCCs can also be issued to landless farmers. The scheme also provides free accidental insurance.

As per data collected from the district authorities, there are 3.35 lakh farmers in the district, of which 2.3 lakh are operational land holders while about 2 lakh have not been issued KCCs.

Enquiries have revealed that the credit limit for KCC holders in Kangra district, on an average, is between Rs 7,000 and Rs 12,000. This is much lower than in other states and districts.

According to sources, farmers in the Changar area of the district are bereft of the benefits of KCCs as there are only a few bank branches there.

When contacted, Deputy Commissioner KR Bharti said he would call a meeting of officials of all banks, including private ones, and pull them up for not meeting RBI targets. He said they they would start a campaign to spread awareness about KCCs.

When contacted, lead bank’s manager Rattan Singh Rohil said people in the state were afraid of taking loans. He blamed the refusal to KCCs on lack of awareness.

He added that they were trying to spread awareness about KCCs. He admitted that banks in the district were short of the target by at least 30 per cent.

Mandi, September 6
Doctors in the state have upped their ante against the government for not filling the “two posts of joint director in the Health Directorate and 26 posts of block medical officer (BMO) lying vacant for the past six months that in turn has hit health programmes, blocking avenues of promotion for junior doctors”.

Narrating their woes to The Tribune here yesterday, members of the Himachal Medical Officers’ Association (HPMOA) said the two posts of joint director had been lying vacant in the Health Directorate, hitting the functioning of the department.

“The Secretary, Health, held a departmental promotion committee (DPC) meeting on Tuesday in Shimla to fill these posts, but it was deferred on a flimsy ground of non-availability of ACRs of two senior-most doctors in the department and suitable substitutes for the two CMOs to be promoted as joint directors,” said insiders.

“This move is thwarted by the three ministers, two from Mandi and one from Kangra, as they want senior-most CMOs to continue with the present job because of their vested interests,” said HPMOA members.

Even the CMOs who faced charges in the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) purchase scam should be punished and accountability fixed so that the Central purchase was made as per the norms, they demanded.

The doctors further resented that the schemes and programmes, including the NRHM, were suffering as over 26 posts of BMO were lying vacant. Posts at Ladbharol, Sandhol and Paddar in Mandi district were lying vacant.

General secretary, HPMOA, Dr Jivanand Chauhan said they had requested the Chief Minister and taken up the matter with the Health Secretary for filling the vacant posts immediately.

Senior-most doctors should be appointed as joint directors and all posts of the BMO be filled, he added.

But the Health Department was also facing another issue as doctors were contesting the seniority list.

“Even if you depute them as BMOs in remote areas, the next day they come out with a minister’s note for transfer,” commented an health official.

Principal Secretary, Health, Ali Raza Rizvi termed HPMOA’s charges as baseless saying that there was no political pressure. “We are awaiting ACRs of senior-most CMOs and have formed a panel to fill the posts of joint director.”

“We have formed a committee to resolve the dispute of BMOs over the seniority list and will take a week to fill these posts” he added.

Palampur, September 6
The Taxation Bar Association, Palampur, yesterday urged Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram for immediate restoration of the office of Commissioner of Income Tax Appeals (CIT-A), at Palampur, which was closed by the Income Tax Department a few years ago.

An emergency meeting of the association was held here on Tuesday night. Representatives of Taxation Bar Associations of Pathankot, Dharamsala, Una, Hamirpur, Nurpur and Chamba also attended the meeting.

A joint resolution was passed in which it was unanimously resolved that there was complete justification of the office of the CIT (A) at Palampur as there was adequate workload.

The association said the office of the CIT (A) was functional here till 2006 and it had jurisdiction for appellate cases of eight districts out of the total 12, viz Kangra, Mandi, Una, Hamirpur, Chamba, Kullu, Bilaspur and Lahaul-Spiti.

The association assailed the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for closing this office without looking into the issues of taxpayers of eight districts of the state.

It said after closing this office, the jurisdiction of appellate cases of eight districts of the state had been attached with the CIT (A) at Solan. Solan is over 350 km from these places.

The association criticised the CBDT for adopting anti-taxpayer policies and causing harassment to them and said the CBDT was least bothered with the issues being faced by taxpayers in the state.

Briefing mediapersons, Sandeep Kakkar, secretary of the Bar Association, said the Northern region of the state contribute over 60 per cent of the tax revenue to the state exchequer and still taxpayers from this region were not getting justice at the end of the Income Tax authorities.

He said the CIT (A), Solan, had heavy workload with pendency of 1,500 appeals.

It was not possible for the officer concerned to dispose of cases of this part of the state as 800 appeals from the Northern region were pending for disposal, therefore, the CBDT should restore the CIT (A) office at Palampur or make an alternative arrangement without delay.

Shimla, September 6
With losses mounting by a whopping Rs 80.65 crore in 2011-12 and the current year presenting a more scary picture, the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) is virtually heading for a collapse.

The loss accumulated has shot up to Rs 653 crore. The situation may have been worse but for the grant of Rs 90 crore provided by the government. In 2010-11, the loss was Rs 23 crore, with a grant of Rs 98 crore.

With the government out to give benefits to employees and introduce buses to villages in election year, the loss is expected to go up to Rs 140 crore, notwithstanding the grant of Rs 70 crore to clear arrears of revised salaries, in addition to the regular grant.

Besides the rising wage bill, wrong policies of the government, indiscriminate privatisation of passenger transport and an abnormal increase in uneconomical routes have been responsible for the failing financial health of the HRTC.

It had been under pressure to introduce new buses, mostly on rural routes, which had high operational cost and low income. As it did not have funds to procure additional buses, it decided not to auction old ones.

On average, about 200 old buses are auctioned every year. Last year, only 87 buses were disposed of. This year, no bus has been auctioned so far. As a result, the fleet strength has risen from 1,920 to 2,014 and so have losses.

The annual coverage increased abruptly by 50 lakh km to over 17 crore km over the last two years. As the new routes were uneconomical, the expenditure per km per bus increased from Rs 30.50 to Rs 35.

The income, including grants from the government, remained static at Rs 30 per km per bus. Old buses plying on rough rural roads resulted in high wear and tear and low mileage.

This was evident from the fact that the expenditure on diesel increased from Rs 75 crore to Rs 87 crore and on stores from Rs 45 crore to Rs 53 crore.

This year, the situation will be worse. The HRTC has paid arrears of salaries to the tune of Rs 50 crore and the recurring increase in expenditure on this account will be Rs 22 crore.

With a large number of old buses in operation, the expenditure is likely to be higher and the cumulative loss may rise to Rs 800 crore. As roads are the only means of transport in most parts of the hill state, the government should review its policy of indiscriminate privatisation.

It should also carry out reforms to reduce the mounting wage bill and other expenditure to save the tottering corporation, which is the backbone of passenger transport services in the state.

Kangra, September 6
Parents of Aman Kumar, one of the 23 crew members of a Malaysian shipping company held hostage by Somalian pirates in November 2010, today said if the government could not negotiate, they should be allowed to do so.

They said they would sell their property to save their only son. Other residents of Kardial village near Jawali said they would sell some property in the village as well to help Kewal Krishan in his son’s release.

Retired Joint Director of Education Amar Singh said they had pinned their hopes on the President, but nothing had been done so far. Kewal Krishan said the other Indian crew member, Raju Prasad of Kolkata, was killed by pirates.

He said the pirates initially demanded $8 million, but later reduced the demand to $2.85 million. He said Pakistan had got its seven hostages released by reportedly paying $1.2 million.

He said Aman called up on July 30 that the pirates had threatened to kill him if their demand was not met within 45 days, which meant that their deadline was September 15.

Kewal Krishan and his wife Pushpa Devi said they had written to then President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Foreign Minister, the Home Minister, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and then Union minister Virbhadra Singh, but had not got any response.

Shimla, September 6
The state government has decided to get a study undertaken by an NGO to look into the reasons behind missing of women and girls from various parts of the state so as to take corrective measures to arrest the issue.

The decision to get a survey done was taken at a meeting held here today to review the position with regard to the unsolved murders and the number of missing women and girls. The number of unsolved murders as per police records since 1944 is 525, though the number could have actually come down had the figure been updated.

However, the number of unsolved cases since 2001 to 2011 is 230.

The meeting was chaired by Chief Secretary S Roy and attended by Principal Secretary (Home) PC Dhiman, Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) KC Sadyal and Secretary (Law).

It was also decided to set a time frame to solve murder cases and make a provision about the same in the Himachal Pradesh Police Rules, which are in the process of being prepared.

With over 500 women and about 450 girls going missing from the state during the past seven years, it was decided to ascertain the reasons behind this disturbing trend with the help of an NGO. Though police officials point out that in almost 80 per cent cases missing girls and women had been traced or returned on their own, even then the need to get to the root cause of the issue was felt.

The number of untraced women had come down after a special police campaign was undertaken to update the figures and cross check with their families.

The NGO will look into various socio-economic reasons like lack of awareness, illiteracy or other factors which could have created such compelling circumstances that these women were lured into eloping from home or were abducted.

In the past too the police has tried to ascertain the reasons behind missing of many women from the Sirmaur area, adjoining Haryana.

However, the police could not ascertain any human trafficking angle as many of them said they had got married out of their own will.

With regard to unsolved murder cases it was felt that a time frame must be fixed as most accused in the cases, which are over 40-year-old, could have died.

“In every likelihood, a time frame of 10 to 15 years will be set and a provision of it will be made in the HP Police Rules,” said a police official.

Bilaspur, September 6
Led by state Congress vice-president and former MLA Biru Ram Kishore and Jhandutta block Congress president Capt Om Parkash Chandel, a deputation of the Jhandutta Block Congress met Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ritesh Chauhan here yesterday and presented him a memorandum addressed to the Governor.

Talking to mediapersons, Dr Kishore and Captain Chandel said they had urged the Governor to order a high-level probe into the allotment of 96 PWD contracts to only one contractor in the Jhandutta constituency in one year against the law.

They said this contractor was a son of a prominent BJP leader of the area and there was no doubt that all these irregularities were committed under political influence of this leader.

The deputation has also objected to the inordinate delay in the construction and escalation of the cost of the Government Degree College building at Jhandutta, which was also allotted to this contractor.

They said earlier also, on November 19, 2010, they had presented a memorandum to the Governor through the SDM, Ghumarwin, but till now no action had been taken in the matter. They warned that they would be forced to start an agitation if no action was taken.

Shimla, September 6
Terming Chief Minister PK Dhumal’s allegation of discrimination by the UPA regime against the state a political gimmick, state Congress chief Virbhadra Singh today said the government failed miserably to utilise the Central funds available.

Taking on Dhumal on the issue, he said the state government had not been able to mobilise the resources required through tax and non-tax revenue on account of widespread corruption.

As a result, it could not utilise at least Rs 10,000 crore available under various Centrally sponsored scheme over the last four years, he added.

It could not avail Rs 4,000 crore under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) due to its failure to prepare detailed feasibility reports of projects, he said.

It was also found lacking in the utilisation of Rs 1,256 crore of the budgeted development provisions and had to surrender the same, he added.

Virbhadra Singh pointed out that nearly Rs 1,500 crore was being provided by the Centre every year, besides the budget for the state, under schemes like the MNREGA, the NRHM, the ICDS, the Mid-day Meal Scheme, the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan, the National Horticulture Mission and the Bharat Nirman Yojna.

The BJP government had not been able make full use of the funds available under the schemes, he said. The amount surrendered included Rs 58 crore for health, Rs 23 crore for water supply schemes and Rs 60 crore for roads, he added.

The Centre had been providing liberal assistance to the state, which was evident from the fact that the per capita Plan assistance to the state had increased to Rs 22,963 crore for the 11th Plan and the revenue deficit grant to Rs 1,528 crore in 2010, he said.

The Centre had provided the state Rs 44,000 crore for development under the Plan head and the figure would be over Rs 1,50,000 crore if non-Plan assistance was included, he added.

During 2010-11, Rs 36 crore remained unused under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, Rs 54 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna, Rs 9 crore for computerisation of panchayats, Rs 30 crore for development of ayurveda and Rs 20 crore under Rajiv Gandhi Vidyutikaran Yojna, Virbhadra Singh said.

Only Rs 8.15 crore of Rs 125 crore provided for curtailing power transmission losses was spent and Rs 38.35 crore of Rs 183 crore received for rural drinking water supply schemes was unspent, he added.

Solan, September 6
With the battle for the Nalagarh ticket gaining momentum, Chief Minister PK Dhumal today addressed two rallies organised by rival aspirants to show their strength.

The first rally was organised at Government Senior Secondary School in Bhatiyan, where the new building was inaugurated by the Chief Minister.

The second rally was organised at Sobenmajra in the evening, which was the official venue as per Dhumal’s tour programme and had a bigger gathering.

Ticket aspirant Avtar Saini, Gurnam Kaur, Zila Parishad vice-president Hardeep Thakur and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha state executive member Puneet Sharma were present at both rallies.

The Sobenmajra rally was dominated by KL Thakur, a retired Irrigation and Public Health Department official. It marked his entry into the BJP and established his claim to the Nalagarh ticket.

Other ticket aspirants might have got together, but his claim could not be taken lightly. Despite a delay of several hours in his arrival, the gathering waited to listen to the Chief Minister.

Dhumal dedicated to the people development works, including the Seri-Kalyanpur road, the Chikni bridge and the Government Senior Secondary School buildings at Bhatian and Gullarwala, completed at a cost of Rs 4.25 crore.

Addressing the rallies, he criticised the UPA government for introducing anti-people measures like frequent hikes in LPG and petrol prices and discriminating against the state by reducing the quota of LPG and foodgrain.

He said the curtailment of the Central industrial package had reduced the scope of employment in the state, which affected the youth adversely.

He gave details of development activities undertaken by his government for various sections of society, adding that they had delivered what they had promised.

Bilaspur, September 6
Reeta Devi (30), wife of Jogender Singh of Phatoh village, near here, died of drowning in Khuradi nullah near the village last evening.

Reports said Reeta went to wash clothes. She might have slipped and fallen into deep water and drowned. She was all alone and did not know to swim.

She left behind two children. Her husband was away to some other place when the accident happened.

Later, a passerby found her body floating in the water and informed other villagers. The police registered a case.

Dalhousie, September 6
A “walking plaza” was inaugurated here yesterday by Brig Pradeep Sofat, who is also president of the Dalhousie Cantonment Board.

The 3.6-km-long pathway passes through a picturesque wooded area of deodars and has a soothing light music to enthrall walkers.

The unique facility of a “walking plaza” will go a long way in benefitting Army personnel and their families as well as civilians and tourists visiting the hill station.

Nurpur, September 6
The Kangra Central Co-operative Bank (KCCB) opened its 174th branch at Ganoh, near here, yesterday.

Presiding over the ceremony, Raseel Singh Mankotia, Chairman of the bank, said the KCCB, which was established in the state in 1920, had made strides during the past 92 years.

Local MLA Rakesh Pathania, who was the chief guest inaugurated the branch. Sandeep Kumar, MD, KCCB, said the new Ganoh branch of the bank would be air-conditioned within one month.— OC

Chamba, September 6
A 19-member team of shooters from Himachal Pradesh has been selected by the HP State Rifle Shooting Association to participate in the Gun for Glory rifle shooting competition being held at Pune from September 12 to 18. The team includes three shooters from Chamba, namely Indu Shah, Irfan Ali and Rohit Chadha.

The event is being organised by the National Rifle Association of India in collaboration with the Gun for Glory Organisation, Pune.

Indu has till now participated in three national rifle shooting competitions and the last National Games.

Irfan and Rohit, junior category shooters, will be participating in the tournament for the first time. They will be shooting to qualify for the National Rifle Shooting Competition being held in Delhi in December this year. Irfan will participate in air pistol and Rohit in air rifle.

Briefing to this reporter here today, president, District Rifle Club, Chamba, Prem Sharma said the team, accompanied by KL Shah as manager, had left for Pune today and would be back on September 20. Sharma further said each member of the team had been given Rs 5,000 by the club for their travelling expenses.