Dharamsala September 9
The ambitious project of the state government to develop satellite townships around Dharamsala, Mandi, Solan and Shimla has failed to take off.

Land was identified near the Gaggal airport for developing the satellite township here. The idea was to bring about planned habitation to ease the population growth.

The urban development authority has failed to bring up planned housing colonies at the pace at which the population is growing. It has developed only one colony, located at Khaniara.

Almost all villages around the town have been urbanised. Khaniara, Dharamkot, Bhagsu and Dhari are practically a part of the town now.

Private developers buy small pieces of land in villages around Dharamsala and convert those into plots. Such illegal colonies add to the problems in the already cluttered town.

The passage in the colonies is between 8 feet and 10 feet. Sometimes it is less, with not even room for a car to drive through. As a result, residents have to park their cars on main roads and other adjoining roads.

Those developing commercial and office complexes in and around the town are not adhering to norms fixed by the Town and Country Planning Department.

Most owners are not keeping any space for parking. Those visiting these complexes park their vehicles on the roadside, leading to traffic problems.

In Palampur, the government decided to bring a few villages under the ambit of the municipal committee. Village residents opposed the move vehemently.

They maintained that villages got benefits like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and lower water and electricity tariffs.

The state government has also failed to promote private developers, who cannot take up ventures on their own due to small land holdings and Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act.

Unplanned development has been straining resources and damaging the environment. At many places, the government had to develop roads and other infrastructure for just a few houses.

UNPLANNED DEVELOPMENT Illegal private colonies add to problems Some colonies have no room for a car to drive through No parking space at new complexes Resources strained, environment damaged

Shimla, September 9
Expressing the apprehension that black money is being invested in private universities in the state, the CPM has urged the government to put details pertaining to the institutions, including general administration and academics, on the web.

Party’s state secretariat member Tikender Panwar pointed out there were instances of private universities becoming a haven for black marketeers. He referred to former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda, who had invested in a university.

Panwar said the universities had been set up on the trust model, but the actual intention was to siphon off the money collected from students. He said seats had not been filled in a large number of universities.

The ICFAI University in Baddi had to shut its centre, he further said. Some others were running the universities to ensure that they continued till the time they could convert the institutions into industries, he added.

He asked the government to ensure that the website contained details about students and faculty. He pointed out that the faculty was being changed at a fast pace and there were new members every year.

He reiterated that the regulatory commission needed to be strengthened further and vested with more powers to ensure that violators were taken to task.

He asked the BJP to ensure that the inverse pyramid of higher education was reversed and the sector was not left to the private sector for loot and plunder.

Shimla, September 9
Accusing the BJP government of ignoring the interests of apple growers, the Congress today said the only achievement of the state government was selling the apple carton factory and had been trying to dispose of assets of the HPMC.

Former MLA and state unit secretary Rohit Thakur alleged that work on the project to set up a fruit-based winery factory, the foundation stone of which was laid 12 years ago, had not been started.

The move to make organic manure from apple worth Rs 30 crore had turned out to be a disaster, he added. The MoU with the Patanjili Yogpeeth, for which 96 bighas was allotted, had not made headway, he further said.

The plan to set up a modern agricultural market at Paralla and the Kisan Bhawan in Dhalli was on paper, he said. The Institute of Biotechnology and Environment Science was proposed to be set up in Shimla, but was shifted to Neri in Hamirpur, he added.

The government did not grant permission to the Horticulture Department and the Mashobra Research Centre of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry to recruit staff.

The gravity of the situation could be judged from the fact that 18 of the 22 sanctioned posts were vacant at the centre and it was virtually on the verge of closure, he rued.

Thakur said roads were in a bad shape and there was hardly any improvement in the Theog-Kotkhai-Hatkoti road. The 500-metre Kufri bypass had not been completed, he added.

No new road project was approved under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna and the World Bank project in the last five years, he said.

He said the government had also failed on the employment front, though it had been claiming that it had provided jobs to 40,000 persons. He demanded a White Paper on the issue, particularly on jobs provided in Shimla district.

Shimla, September 9
Unlike the trend in the country and even worldwide, the tendency to commit suicide is higher among women in the state and a majority of them are young.

This has been brought out in an analysis of the data on suicide-related emergencies handled by the emergency management service operated by the GVKEMRI to provide free ambulance service.

Of the 2,07,275 emergencies handled since the launch of the service in December 2010, 265 pertain to suicide attempt, mostly by consuming poison. Men accounted for 138 cases (52 per cent) and women in 127 cases (48 per cent).

This is a sharp deviation from the worldwide trend of 75 per cent men and 25 per cent women. In the country, men account for 70 per cent cases and women 30 per cent.

As many as 134 persons (more than 50 per cent) were in the age group of 16 to 30 years, a sign of growing disillusionment among the youth.

Another 101 persons were aged between 31 and 60 years, 23 were up to 15 years of age and only seven were more than 60 years old.

Shimla district, which accounts for 11 per cent of the state’s population, had the highest number of cases, 53 in all, which was 20 per cent of the total.

The tendency was on the higher side in the relatively backward Sirmour district, which accounted for only 5 per cent of the state’s population, but recorded 30 cases, which was 11.5 per cent.

GVKEMRI-108 head of operations Mehul Sukumaran said the WHO data indicated that approximately 1 million people committed suicide each year worldwide, with one death by suicide every 40 seconds.

India was one of the leading countries in terms of suicide rate. Data showed that healthcare service providers could reach less than one-fourth of those who committed suicide.

Early and effective intervention could help save many more lives. This message should reach the people on the World Suicide Prevention Day, being observed today.

Suicidal tendency could occur at any age and its frequency escalated steeply from childhood through adolescence to adulthood, he said.

Solan, September 9
Tedious procedures involved in availing the centrally-sponsored transport subsidy have deterred small investors from getting its benefits.

This subsidy was available to investors who had set up their industries in various industrial belts of the state after the announcement of the 2003 Central industrial package and is granted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

The investors are paid 75 per cent of the freight as per the government rate for the transportation of raw materials and finished goods after assessing various factors.

It has proved to be beneficial to big industries located in far-flung areas that incur a sizeable amount of funds in transporting raw materials and also finished good to markets.

Cement units, in particular, have been availing this subsidy to the optimum with major units having received benefits of as much as Rs 200 crore each in a span of five years.

Officials in the Industries Department, however, said cases of smaller investors trying to hoodwink the authorities had also come to the fore.

The scheme has, however, failed to prove beneficial for smaller units that not only have to wait for years to get the subsidy, but have to invest a sizeable cost in fulfilling tedious procedures. The official procedures involve the completion of as many as 48 formalities with a single document at times having 100 or more pages as information pertaining to each and every aspect of purchase, transportation and use of raw material.

Industry representatives, however, said since the scheme had failed to benefit small investors, it should be modified.

Sanjay Guleria, president, Himachal Drug Manufacturers’ Association, said the scheme should be altered to offset disadvantages by including interest subsidy for smaller units. The subsidy could be routed through banks to make it more transparent and should be performance-linked and based on the working capital.

Palampur, September 9
Gaurav Manch, a splinter group of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headed by former Baijnath BJP MLA Dulo Ram, has formally merged with Maheshwar Singh’s Himachal Lokhit Party (HLP). Maheshwar Singh had recently formed the HLP after he left the BJP.

The merger of Gaurav Manch was officially announced here last evening in the presence of an impressive gathering. Over 1,000 workers of the manch attended the merger ceremony. HLP president Maheshwar Singh and Gaurav Manch president Dulo Ram were present on the occasion.

“The HLP has emerged as the third front in the state and it will give a serious fight to both the BJP and the Congress in the upcoming Assembly elections,” Maheshwar Singh said while addressing the crowd.

He said in the present political scenario, people of the state were fed up with both the Congress and the BJP and wanted an alternative.

“The Congress has failed to play an effective role of the Opposition in the state and could not expose the scams of the BJP regime, thus allowing BJP leaders to loot the state’s wealth in the past four years,” Maheshwar said.

Singh took a dig at Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal terming him as the “most corrupt Chief Minister” who had virtually sold the state to outsiders.

He gave a slogan to defeat the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections: “Kaho dil se, na bike Himachal phir se” (Let us vow together that the state is not sold again).

Maheshwar said the BJP leaders had purchased hundreds of acres of land in the state through benami land deals. The BJP government had also allowed outsiders to buy land in Himachal in gross violation of rules, he added.

He said in the upcoming Assembly elections, the issues of benami land deals and sale of land to outsiders would be on the election agenda. He added that he would release documentary evidence on this before the media.

Dulo Ram said he had taken the decision of the merger to strengthen the third front and defeat both the BJP and the Congress. He said Shanta Kumar had entered a secret deal with the Jay Pee Group for asset transfer of the Vivekananda Trust worth Rs 200 crore free of cost.

“It is not the BJP, but the Jay Pee Group that rules the roost in the state. Chief Minister Dhumal and Shanta Kumar are dancing to the tunes of this group and have virtually mortgaged the state,” Dulo further said.

He asked how it was possible that Shanta Kumar who termed Dhumal and his Cabinet colleagues as “most corrupt” till recently, had changed his stance overnight by calling them “honest”.

He would expose Shanta Kumar who had forced him to leave the BJP, he said.

Chamba, September 9
The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) Employees Union has opposed the government and the HPSEB management for leasing the Bhuri Singh powerhouse to a private enterprise. The powerhouse is one of the oldest powerhouses in India which is now a heritage powerhouse.

HPSEB employees union district president Anil Varma and secretary Darshan Singh Varman have asked the government and the board management not to sell out the heritage powerhouse, failing which the union accompanied by local people would be compelled to resort to an agitation.

The union leaders urged the government and board management to take effective measures to take the powerhouse under its control and make it operational so that it could be a benchmark for researchers, historians and tourists.

The Bhuri Singh powerhouse on the Saal rivulet in the suburbs of Chamba town is one of the oldest powerhouses in India. People of Chamba hill town still remember Raja Bhuri Singh as a far-sighted ruler who always had an abiding interest in the development of the state realising that progress was not possible without electricity.

It was, therefore, at a time when the very idea of hydel generation was new in the country, the Raja had set up a 35 KW-DC (Kilowatt Direct Current) hydel generating powerhouse in Chamba in 1908.

Later, Gurditta Mal Mahajan, the then Chamba State’s Chief Engineer, looked after the powerhouse for many years together. When he was alive he used to say that he had studied under an electric bulb while preparing for his matriculation in Chamba, but had to take the help of a kerosene lamp in Lahore.

Built on the right bank of the Saal rivulet, a tributary of the Ravi, the powerhouse was named after Raja Bhuri Singh.

According to official information, the powerhouse was augmented by installing in its place a 100-KW DC hydel generating set in 1938 during the regime of Raja Sham Singh and later another 100-KW AC (Alternating Current) hydel generating set was installed in 1958, thus making its capacity as 200 KW.

Incidentally, when late Kailash Chand Mahajan, son of the then state Chief Engineer Gurditta Mal Mahajan, became the Chairman of the HP State Electricity Board, the powerhouse was further augmented by installing a new generating unit of 250 KW costing Rs 50 lakh in 1985, thus increasing the capacity of powerhouse to 450 KW thereby meeting the emergency services of Chamba town.

Bilaspur, September 9
The Naina Devi Temple Trust Employees’ Union led by its president Mahender Singh Thakur, general secretary Manoj Chandel and treasurer Surjit Kumar presented a memorandum of its demands to Chief Minister PK Dhumal while he came to pay obeisance at the Naina Devi temple.

Union leaders expressed hope that he would also provide them facility of holidays on the pattern of government employees. They said they also be given medical leave, earned leave, casual leave and gazetted holidays on the pattern of government staff and their demand of gratuity may also be accepted.

Local MLA Randhir Sharma, Deputy Commissioner Ritesh Chauhan, SDM Rohan Thakur and temple officer Sukhdev Singh were present. — OC

Dharamsala, September 9
Heavy rains in the region have again turned the 91-km stretch of the National Highway (NH) -20A from Nagrota Bagwan to Mubarakpur into a nightmare for commuters.

The stretch was repaired just before monsoon with the PWD carrying out the patch work on the road. However, almost the entire patch work has been washed away.

The state government was blaming the Union Ministry for Surface Transport for the delay in notifying the Nagrota Bagwan-Mubarakpur National Highway for the poor condition of the road. The road was declared as NH-20A in 2009. Since then the state government has stopped allotting budget for the re-laying of the road.

However, for the past three years the Union Ministry has also not allotted any budget for the road. The result is that the entire stretch of the road is dotted by potholes. The road in many parts, especially that ranging from Chintpurni to Dehra and Dehra to Ranital, is in a bad shape.

Most of the tourists coming to Dharamsala and Palampur travel through NH-20A and complain about the poor condition of road.

National Highways officials said till date the Union Ministry had not entrusted NH-20A to the state government for maintenance.

He said as per rules, the ministry took up roads after land was transferred in its name.

“We had transferred papers of the land to the ministry in October 2011 and are expecting a gazette notification for official declaration for the national highway. Afterwards, the ministry will release the budget for the road,” he said.

The officials said since the ministry had not released funds for NH-20A for the past three years, the state government had been bearing the cost of its repair.

Local sources said like the NH-20A, another road leading from Paonta to Hartkoti was also declared as the NH-72B in 2008. However, till date the ministry had not entrusted the road to the state.

No funds have been allocated for the road and the state was carrying the patch work on the road from its own coffers.

The officials added that the papers for the gazette notification of the road had been forwarded to the ministry.

However, the delay on the part of the ministry to release the budget for these national highways is creating hardships for commuters.

Shimla, September 9
A court is not a mere office, but rather a temple of justice and, hence, judgeship is not an easy job. This was stated by Justice RM Lodha, a judge with the Supreme Court, in his inaugural speech at the two-day conference of judicial officers of the state.

The theme of the conference was “Striving for Excellence in Court Work and Conduct” which is being held at the Himachal Pradesh High Court complex. Inaugurating the conference, Justice Lodha said people had to deal with the lower judiciary at the grassroots level.

In a country where about 90 per cent of litigation is handled by the lower judiciary, it becomes imperative for judges to play an important role in society, Lodha said.

He said the judicial officers must maintain the dignity and integrity of their office. He also appealed to all judicial officers to be impartial, independent and attain an impeccable integrity.

Chief Justice Kurian Joseph presided over the conference. He said such conferences were a kind of get-together for people involved in the judicial process.

Justice RB Misra, in his special address, said he had served in many states, but his experience in Himachal Pradesh was unique. Judicial system in the state had achieved excellence in all respects, he added.

In his welcome address, Justice Deepak Gupta said the judicial system in Himachal was the best in the country. There are about 2 lakh pending cases in as many as 109 courts in the state, Gupta added.

He appealed to the judges to work hard to dispose of as many cases as possible at the earliest. He said the Shetty Commission had been implemented in the state and good facilities were being provided to judicial officers.

He also thanked former Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice VK Gupta for his contribution for infrastructure development in the state judiciary.

Palampur, September 9
Brij Behari Lal Butail, ex-MLA and senior Congress leader, said yesterday that the Vivekananda Medical Research Trust, Palampur, had failed to fulfill its commitment with residents of the area despite collecting over Rs 25 crore from the public as donations. He said the foundation stone of this project was laid in 1992, but it had failed to come up even after 20 years.

Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Butail said the basic purpose of the Trust was to provide super-specialty health services to people as residents had liberally donated Rs 25 crore to the institution.

He said 40 acres was given to the Trust by the government for setting up the hospital. Later the Trust deviated from its commitment and started a neuropathy centre known as “Kayakalp”.

He said since Shanta Kumar, a senior leader of the BJP, was the chairman of the Trust, the state government had become a silent spectator and failed to initiate action against the Trust.

Butail demanded that the government should order a judicial probe into the functioning of trust and utilisation of donations received by it.

He also criticised the local MLA for conducting inaugurations of incomplete buildings and roads. The MLA would inaugurate a building of the Welfare Department on September 11, which was yet to be completed.

Solan, September 9
The race for procuring the Vidhan Sabha ticket in the BJP has gained momentum in the Nalagarh constituency after Chief Minister PK Dhumal addressed two rallies this week.

Since the seat was snatched from the BJP by the Congress in a byelection in November last, the BJP is now weighing its options to field a strong candidate.

Though the family of BJP leader late HN Saini is being touted as a contender for the ticket, refusal of his wife Gurnam Kaur to contest the poll has the BJP thinking about a new candidate.

What has added strength to this assumption is the entry of retired IPH Department executive engineer KL Thakur into the BJP in the presence of Dhumal. Since he too hails from the Changer area, which is also the home turf of Congress MLA Rana, his claim for the BJP ticket appears to be strong.

KL Thakur has managed to put up a show of strength before the Chief Minister, thus proving his support and presence in the area. His emergence as a strong ticket contender has upset the poll calculations of senior BJP leaders, who had been vying to contest from the BJP following Saini’s death.

Leaders like Avtar Saini, Chander Shekhar, Hardeep Thakur, Puneet Sharma and Sanjeev Tinka are other ticket aspirants who are prepared to procure the ticket.

The situation appears to be all versus one where all ticket aspirants had united to oppose the candidature of KL Thakur whom they termed as a “parachute entrant” into the constituency without having any voter base.

The grant of ticket has become a ticklish issue for the BJP as they cannot afford to earn the animosity of its senior leaders and chose an alternative who was yet to prove his strength and loyalty for the party, especially since he had applied for a Congress ticket during the byelections in November last.

The seat was held for three consecutive terms by HN Saini whose death last year has created a vacuum in the BJP. Though his wife had contested the byelection, she failed to win the seat, thus giving Congress’ Lakhwinder Rana a chance to emerge victorious in his third election.

Bilaspur, September 9
In a first-of-its-kind in the state, the Union Textiles Ministry has sanctioned an Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC)
for Ghumarwin.

This was revealed by Ghumarwin MLA Rajesh Dharmani who received the sanction letter from the Central ministry concerned last evening.

Dharmani said the Centre would spend Rs 5.25 crore on this project which would train over 2,000 girls and boys in various vocations involving readymade garments such as smart sewing and tailoring, designing, embroidery, finishing and packing, latest techniques in garment designing with the help of advanced computers.

He said all trained students would be employed immediately after the training period concludes. It would provide about 30 different courses in practical subjects of daily use.

He added that 25 sophisticated imported machines from countries such as Japan would be installed at the training centre where trained instructors would be deputed by the Union Textiles Ministry.

This will be the first such training centre in the state while there are only 50 such training centres in the country, he said.

The Ghumarwin Block Congress Committee, led by its president Nand Lal Sharma, Nagar Parishad president Reeta Sehgal and former president Sat Paul, congratulated Dharmani for his efforts. They said this was one more feather to his cap as MLA as he had already got the Rs 23-crore Seer Khud Channelisation scheme, Rs 5-crore Silk Production and Training Centre and Central School sanctioned. They also thanked Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Anand Sharma and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for this. 

Shimla, September 9
The Himalayan Forest Research Institute organised a workshop to mark the third Himalayan Day here today. The importance and role of the mighty mountain ranges in maintaining the ecosystem of the region was highlighted.

Inaugurating the workshop on “New Growth Measures for the Nation and Himalayas”, institute director VRR Singh said the Himalayas had not only been guarding the country’s border, but also constantly serving the needs of the people by enriching the soil, improving the quality of air and recharging water sources.

The importance of the Himalayas had always been underestimated and its integral role in the overall development of the nation was not fully appreciated, he said. The Himalayas deserved more attention, which called for serious discussion at the national level for the ultimate benefit of society and future generations, he added.

Group coordinator KS Kapoor said the day was observed across Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the North-East by a number of organisations committed to the conservation of the Himalayas. The objective was to draw the attention of planners, policy makers and the people at large to promote common interests, he added.

Himalayan Research Group director Lal Singh shared his views on people’s participation and ecosystem interface in the Himalayan region and suggested new growth measures.

London’s Royal Horticulture Society life-member Durlabh Singh Puri emphasised the need to preserve Himalayan biodiversity and defining measures for conservation, with special reference to the western Himalayas.

Sanawar, September 9
The Lawrence School, Sanawar, lifted the 8th inter-school Kirloskar Business Quiz trophy, while Welham Girls School, Dehradun, and Mayo College Boys, Ajmer, bagged the first and second runners-up positions, respectively, from among six teams that had reached the finals held today at Lawrence School, Sanawar.

Vasant Valley School, New Delhi, and Doon School, Dehradun, were awarded the first and the second consolation prizes and they were among the six teams that had reached the finals.

Vinay Bhushan of Bangalore was the quizmaster. The quiz comprised five mind-boggling rounds that included world-ideas, world-watch, world-vision, lateral-world and world-clues.

Seventeen schools from across the country participated in the quiz which included - Army Public School (Dagshai), Dalhousie Hill Top School, DAV Senior Secondary Public School (Shimla), Hansraj Public School (Panchkula), Mayo College Boys’ School (Ajmer), Mussoorie International School, St John’s School (Chandigarh), St Luke’s Senior Secondary School (Solan), St Xaviers Senior Secondary School (Chandigarh), The Daly College (Indore), The Doon School (Dehradun), The Sagar School (Rajasthan), Vasant Valley School (Delhi), Vivek High School (Chandigarh), Welham Boys’ School (Dehradun), Welham Girls’ School (Dehradun) and the host school. Six teams managed to qualify for the final.

Rakesh Mohan, chairman of Mohan Goldwater Breweries Ltd, Conran Estates Pvt Ltd and Redfeather Holding Company Pvt Ltd, and alumnus (1969 batch, Siwalik House) of the host school was the chief guest on the occasion. Headmaster Praveen Vasisht congratulated the participants.

The quiz was organised by the commerce department of the school and aimed at creating awareness among students about the latest developments in the corporate world.

The event was sponsored by Geetanjali Kirloskar, scion of the Kirloskar Group of Industries and an old alumnus of Sanawar.

Mandi, September 9
Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Gulab Singh Thakur today inaugurated a three-day state-level sports tournament for women under the Panchayat Yuva Krida Abhiyan (PYKA) at Paddal Maidan. About 1,100 sportswomen are participating in the event. PIKA games are meant for women less than 26 years of age.

Addressing the gathering, Thakur said the government had been encouraging sports at panchayat and village levels by opening gymnasia in villages so that the youth remained healthy. He said Rs 19 crore was being spent on sports and youth activities in the state this year.

Thakur added that the state government had reserved job quotas for sportspersons who earned reputation at national or international sport meets. The government gave Rs 1 crore cash prize to 26-year old Vijay Kumar for winning silver medal in shooting at the London Olympics recently, he said.

Joint Director, Sports, Suman Rawat Mehta and other district officials were also present on the occasion.

Later, the minister also awarded certificates to participants who had won in various events. 

Bilaspur, September 9
Seven or eight persons reportedly attacked devotee Pravin, son of Surender Pal of Masani, Jalandhar in Punjab, on a pedestrian path leading to the Naina Devi shrine. They left him unconscious on the path and carried away his mobile phone and cash of Rs 2,600 on Friday night.

The victim regained consciousness after about two hours and somehow managed to reach Naina Devi town. He reported the matter at the police station there. The police has registered a case and is investigating.

This is the first such case on this pedestrian route till now. However, the police has decided not to allow any devotee to follow this lonely jungle-enclosed path during night in future although it is a far shorter path for climbing to the shrine. Pravin works as a photographer at Jalandhar. He said he had been travelling on this path for years as he came here every year to pay obeisance to the deity. Several people helped Pravin with money so that he could buy a bus ticket and return home.

Bilaspur, September 9
Dharam Singh (50) of Androli village near Ghumarwin was bitten by a snake during wee hours of morning yesterday. He suddenly woke up and informed his family who carried him to a temple in adjoining Sarkaghat in Mandi district. But since his condition deteriorated on the way, they carried him to nearby Ghumarwin Civil Hospital. But doctors declared him brought dead.

Dharam belonging to a very poor family has left behind his wife, three sons and a daughter. Village elders have urged the district administration to provide suitable financial help to this family. — OC