Dharamsala, November 16
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has allowed the Kangra Central Cooperative Bank to finance hydro power projects in the state. It has become the first cooperative bank in the state that can finance hydro power projects.

The Managing Director of the bank, Sandeep Kumar, told The Tribune that NABARD had allowed it to finance hydro power projects keeping in view the viability of the project and the financial worth of the bank. Keeping in view its financial worth, the bank could finance hydro power projects up to Rs 250 crore, he said.

The government had earlier directed the Kangra bank to finance the micro hydro power projects. The government had sanctioned most of the micro hydro power projects in the state to Himachal residents. Less than 10 per cent people sanctioned the projects had been able to commission those due to lack of finances.

Even a 2-megawatt (MW) project needs an investment of about Rs 10 crore for commissioning. Since Himachal residents do not have such huge finances or security to fulfil conditions of financial institutions, they fail to commission the projects allotted to them.

NABARD had earlier shot down the proposal of the Kangra bank to finance hydro power projects keeping in view the high amount of finances required and the risk factor to small investors of the cooperative institution.

Sandeep Kumar said NABARD allowed them to finance hydro power projects after its officials pursued the case keeping in view the viability of micro projects in the state and the involvement of small investors in projects.

He said the permission had been granted recently and the bank had not financed any micro project yet. He added that they had hired the services of two consultants to guide the bank in case someone applied for financing by the bank.

The decision on the Kangra bank financing hydro power projects can help many Himachal residents who have been allotted micro projects in the state. Many residents have been allotted micro projects from a few kilowatt up to 2 MW.

The bank MD said the bank was on the verge of starting the RTGS service for its customers. He said it would be the third cooperative bank in the country to offer the service. Many customers had shifted to other banks due to the non-availability of the service, he added.

Dharamsala, November 16
The tourism potential of Kangra lies unexplored. Due to poor infrastructure and lack of planning, the government is failing to even retain tourists coming to the district.

Kangra district, with its headquarters at Dharamsala, is one of the biggest districts of Himachal in terms of population. It accounts for 25 per cent population of the state and has the maximum 15 Assembly constituencies. Geographically also, the district offers all types of terrain.

Along the Dhauladhars, the highest mountain range in the area, are some of the most beautiful high-altitude tourist spots as McLeodganj, Bhagsunag and Dharamkot.

The district is also the third place in the country, besides Darjeeling and Ooty, having tea gardens that have been unique geographical indicators of the area.

The high-altitude tracks to Triund, Laka and even Bharmour are among the best available in the state. The presence of the Dalai Lama, also called as Little Lhasa, is another attraction here. The district also has a narrow-gauge railway line connecting Pathankot with Joginder Nagar.

However, despite that high-end tourist eludes the district due to lack of basic infrastructure and planning.

Maximum tourists come to the district and its vicinity to visit famous Hindu temples of national importance located at Chintpurni in Una, Jwalamukhi, Chamunda, Kangra and Baijnath in Kangra district.

By rough estimates, over 15 to 20 lakh tourists visit these temples every year. Many high-end tourists coming to the district return immediately after paying obeisance at temples due to lack of facilities.

Despite the fact that the government has taken over the management of all famous temples of the district, it has failed to add facilities to attract and retain tourists.

The state Department of Tourism does not have any package tours to offer to high-end tourists coming to visit temples from other states. There is no facility for tourists coming for religious tourism to get online booking for hotels or taxi services.

The state has also failed to develop track to the Himani Chamunda temple. The temple is located almost at the snowline area, 12 km uphill from the present Chamunda Devi temple.

Locals here are of the opinion that if the government develops the 12-km track to the old temple at par with the Vashino Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir, it can give boost to religious tourism in the district.

Poor infrastructure is another drawback due to which the tourist potential of district has remained unexplored. Most of the roads leading to Dharamsala are in a poor state. Even the newly constructed roads have failed to withstand the first monsoon. The Dehra-Ranital road that is the main approach road to the district from Chandigarh, Jalandhar or the Hoshiapur area is under construction for the past two years and a nightmare for commuters. The road to McLeodganj that is a hot spot for foreign tourists is narrow and in a bad state.

The poor infrastructure at other tourist places is another drawback. Despite the presence of a large number of natural water sources in Dharamsala, the state has failed to tap them to provide adequate drinking water facilities to residents.

The tracks to famous tourist attractions at the Bhagsunag waterfall is poorly maintained. Though the area comes under the Dharamsala municipal council, no facility has been provided near the waterfall. Local residents have developed huts at these spots. However, in the tourist season the area gets filled with litter as no dustbins are available at the spot. Some residents themselves gather resources to clean the area.

Haphazard constructions and dingy surrounding in most of the tourist places also keeps the high-end visitors away.

The tourist potential of the district can be explored only with planned approach by the government. The tourism department along with hoteliers can develop long-term plan for tourism development.

It should use modern technology by offering online booking and advertisement to attract visitors. The basic infrastructure would also be put in place.

Shimla, November 16
While seeking funding on the pattern of special category states, Chief Minister PK Dhumal today urged the Centre not to discriminate against Himachal Pradesh in the allocation of funds and sanctioning of projects.

Speaking at the meeting of Chief Ministers of northern states with the Union Finance Minister in New Delhi today, he rued that Himachal Pradesh was not being provided funding on the 90:10 basis, as was being done in respect of other special category states.

He also said the state was not being provided enough funds for Central projects, especially in the rail and road sectors. He pointed out that funding for the Nangal-Talwara rail track was so meagre that it would take more than 60 years for it to be completed.

He also expressed concern that no headway was made on the Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri rail track and the Centre had not agreed to the request of Himachal Pradesh for the extension of this line upto Leh despite strategic reasons.

Dhumal also raised the issue of restoration of the special industrial package, which was curtailed by the Centre. He also urged the Centre to formulate a clear-cut policy for providing environmental clearance to various infrastructure development projects in states.

“The present policy of granting environmental clearance is discriminatory and several development projects have been withheld in the Ministry of Environment and Forests due to one-sided conditions,” he remarked.

He demanded that the state government be allowed to prioritise the allocation of Central funding as per local conditions on the pattern of the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna for achieving better results.

Dhumal welcomed the Centre’s decision to introduce the electronic benefit transfer scheme in all 32 Centrally sponsored schemes. He said Himachal Pradesh was the foremost in terms of Aadhar project enrolment.

He said about 72 per cent of the population had been enrolled in the scheme, of which about 62 per cent had been issued numbers and cards.

Dhumal criticized the Centre for withholding the funds to the state under the total sanitation campaign even though every panchayat in the state has become open-defecation-free five years ago.

He said the government planned to increase both the number of crops and the extent of coverage in the coming days and about 4.5 lakh kisan credit cards had been distributed among farmers in the state.

He stated that the state was committed to cover all households with banking services, to open more bank branches and to extend electronic benefit transfers.

He also said the state government would extend all support to banks and financial institutions. He desired that banks and other financial institutions work with the state government to increase the credit-deposit ratio.

Hamirpur, November 16
A team of the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SVACB) yesterday carried out raids on the property owned by GD Thakur, Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO) with the flying squad in Solan, to investigate the reported possession of disproportionate assets.

The team raided a luxury hotel near Nadaun, owned by the ETO, and the house of his in-laws at Chowki village in the district. It also raided a few places in Chamba, Baddi and other parts of the state.

A case of the possession of property disproportionate to his income was registered against the ETO by the SVACB three days back. The ETO and his wife were stated to be absconding after the registration of the case.

The ETO was allegedly running a luxury hotel and restaurant near the Nadaun bridge in the name of his wife Meenu Thakur, which was being managed his relative Sushil.

SVACB’s Kangra district SP Pritam Thakur said, “The SVACB has registered a case against GD Thakur. As part of the investigation, we have raided the premises owned by him and his relatives at various places and taken certain documents in our possession.”

He added, “We are also looking into his bank accounts and other financial transactions to ascertain the investments made by him. We will proceed further in the case after analysing the documents collected.”

Shimla, November 16
Having been ranked number one in the country with the best environment performance indicator (EPI), Himachal Pradesh is hoping to get a substantial green bonus for having protected its forest and performing well on other environment-related areas.

The special cell on environment in the Planning Commission had, in the recent past, adjudged Himachal Pradesh as the best state among 28 states and seven union territories with an EPI of 0.7076. The EPI is the measure of environmental well-being of any state.

For the past some time, Himalayan states have been seeking a special green bonus so that they can be compensated for protecting their valuable forest wealth. Chief Minister PK Dhumal had, time and again, urged the Centre to compensate Himachal Pradesh as it had imposed a blanket ban on green felling and was protecting forests in the larger interests of the country.

“Since we have the best EPI in the country and our forest wealth has been valued at 1.5 lakh crore, we are confident that the Planning Commission will compensate us adequately in the form of a green bonus,” said Nagin Nanda, Secretary for Forests and Environment. The Planning Commission has funds to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore which are to be given to states depending on their EPIs.

Nanda said the Planning Commission had sought objections and suggestions from various states on the issue of EPIs which, in turn, would determine the devolution of funds from the Centre. The state is hopeful that compensatory funding will start flowing in by next year, easing out its poor financial health.

The EPI is determined on the basis of five main criteria and 16 indicators, including air pollution, forest management, water quality, climate change, plastic waste management and action plan on climate change. A score of less than one is characterised by clean environment, strict adherence to environmental standards, including implementation of legislation and institutional mechanism, and efforts towards national resource conservation.

Under the criterion of air pollution, three indicators have been evaluated and a score of 0.8939 has been secured. In the water quality criterion, Himachal Pradesh has got a score of 0.9873. Under the criterion of forests, where evaluation has been done on the basis of three indicators, the state has scored 0.4821. Under the category of waste management, the state has got a score of 0.8550. Under the category of climate change, the state has scored of 0.3196.

Shimla, November 16
Vijay Singh Mankotia, prime witness in the compact disc (CD) case, today stated in the trial court here today that he was not aware of and did not know about the original CD. He said many copies could be prepared from a CD or audio cassette. He stated this while recording his statement.

He said, “The audio cassette was not prepared in my presence. I received it in Shimla as someone left it at my doorstep. After displaying it at a press conference, I kept it before handing it over to the police on May, 5, 2008.”

He further said, “During this period, I did not allow anybody to prepare a copy of it, either in the form of a cassette or a CD. After my press conference, various CDs were played almost simultaneously.”

He added, “I held a press conference in Dharamsala, where I displayed the audio cassette. Later, it was claimed to be a CD, which might have been made by others.” During cross-examination, he admitted, “I do not know who prepared it and where it was prepared.”

Referring to the voices, he said, “In my opinion, the audio cassette contains the voices of Virbahdra Singh, Pratibha Singh, Mahinder Lal and Kedar Nath Sharma.”

He further admitted “I am not an expert in voice identification and have not undergone any training. I am giving my opinion as an honest and intelligent layman.”

He specifically stated in court that he had handed over an audio cassette and not a CD. In the preliminary inquiry, the prosecution never recorded his statement, he said. He added that only the cassette was taken from him and seizure memos were prepared.

The statements of four other prosecution witnesses, Santosh Patial, Dr Kavindra Lal, Bhuri Singh and Satinder Kumar, were also recorded. After the statements were recorded, Special Judge BL Soni listed the matter for tomorrow for the recording of statements of the remaining witnesses.

Palampur, November 16
Despite orders of the state government to provide high security registration plates (HSRPs) to vehicle owners within a month, getting the same has become a difficult task as the company which had the contract has failed to deliver them in past eight months.

Despite paying the money in advance and giving all documents to the company, vehicle owners have not got the registration plates in time. Hundreds of vehicle owners from adjoining villages visit the office of SDM daily in this regard but go back disappointed as no official of the company is available to answer their queries.

Meanwhile, enquires made by The Tribune revealed that while awarding the contract, Director of Transport Department failed to verify the credentials of the company and awarded the contract in haste. Besides, there were no heavy penalty clauses in the agreement.

In Haryana, if the HSRPs are not delivered within in week, there is a provision for a fine of Rs 100 per day.

The Uttar Pradesh government has already rescinded the contract from a company on account of such defaults.

Chamba, November 16
The Ambedkar Mission Society, Churah (Chillee), Chamba, held a meeting with the persons affected with the 36 MW Chanju-1 Hydroelectric Project here recently. The meeting discussed various problems being faced by the people due to the project.

President of the society Hari Lal, general secretary Roop Singh and chief adviser of the society KL Shah were also present at the meeting.

They alleged that there was a gross violation of certain provisions of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, and the procedural approach while obtaining an NoC from the gram sabha for setting up the plant needed a thorough probe.

Another crucial problem, which the affected persons brought to the notice of the society, was related to the crevices that had occurred due to the blasting going on in the construction of tunnels.

They said about 72 residential and non-residential houses of Kathwad and 30 houses of Dhalanjan had been damaged due to the blasting work, adding that so far neither any assessment of the damage nor any compensation had been paid to the sufferers.

Detailing about the discussions of the meeting, Hari Lal alleged that the construction work of the project was being carried out by throwing to wind the rules and regulations relating to pollution control, land acquisition, provision of employment and safety of the people, who had been compelled to stay in the houses damaged by the blasting work.

The meeting urged the state government to make an assessment of the grievances of the people and take remedial measures forthwith to maintain law and order situation in the project area.

Meanwhile, the chief adviser of the society said a resolution adopted by the society in this regard had been submitted to the Governor.

Shimla, November 16
Expressing concern over the trend of ‘paid news’, Additional Chief Secretary, Ajay Mittal said external regulation and control was not good for any institution, including the media, and self restrain was a better option.

Mittal was presiding over an interactive session on ‘Freedom of Media’, organised by the Information and Public Relations Department here today, to mark the National Press Day. He stressed upon the importance of credibility of media, as being the fourth pillar of democracy people had great expectations from it.

He said there was a dire need for self-introspection to maintain credibility. He added that media played a vital role in the dissemination of information to the masses and it should essentially be based on facts and truth.

He said with the advancement in media and technology, it should serve the society in the right perspective by facing internal and external pressure. Freedom of speech and expression was a fundamental right and was the touchstone of freedom in a democracy, he added.

Mittal said freedom of speech was the soul of democracy and the credibility of media lied in its commitment to truth, pursuits of democracy, fairness and objectivity.

Delivering the keynote address, PC Lohumi, Senior Journalist, said media should not work under any pressure. Problems and challenges in the field of journalism needed to be faced boldly and not by succumbing to pull and pressures.

He added that paid news, contract system and pressure of newspaper owners on media was a matter of concern and said if corrective measures were not taken, it would prove detrimental to the society.

Shimla, November 16
Additional Secretary (Revenue) Gopal Chand said today that every department would prepare a disaster management plan on the lines of the State Disaster Management Plan and submit it to the Revenue Department.

He was presiding over a training session on ‘MW-8 Mandi Earthquake Scenario Multi-State Exercise and Awareness Campaign and Mock drill’ organised by the Revenue Department here today.

He said the state was vulnerable to various hazards and added that the present level of safety to mitigate a big earthquake had to be reassessed. He said all the lifeline buildings and structures such as schools, hospitals, public offices, police stations, prisons, fire stations, reservoirs and main bridges were being identified all over the state so that their list could be prepared, which could help in adopting possible measures to reduce vulnerability in these areas.

He said training was being imparted to engineers and architects at the Himachal Institute of Public Administration in order to carry out assessment of structures.

DC Rana, state project officer, Disaster Management, gave a detailed presentation about the implementation of the MW-8 Mandi Earthquake Scenario Project. Hari Kumar, resource person from Geo-Hazards Society, New Delhi, told the officials about drafting disaster management plans.

Nodal officials from various departments attended the meeting.

Kangra, November 16
In order to remove blood scarcity in the district and to enable rural youth to participate in the noble cause, a mobile blood bank will tour various parts of the district from November 19.

This was stated by VS Minhas, member secretary, State Blood Transfusion Council, here today.

He said the mobile blood bank van had four couches for blood donation, refreshment cabin, and a health education cabin, adding that it would tour various parts of the district and hold camps in the rural areas. He said these camps in the district would be held from November 19 to December 2.

He said in Kangra, the mobile blood bank had been attached to blood component separation unit of DRPGMC, Tanda, so that the components could be made and shelf life of donated blood was also increased.

He said besides Kangra, four more districts Una, Sirmour, Solan and Hamirpur would be brought under the campaign to promote voluntary blood donation.

KS Dogra, project director, HP State AIDS Control Society, said counsellors and health educators would visit various colleges to dispel myths and misconceptions regarding blood donations and the red ribbon clubs were working for creating a mass movement on HIV awareness and promoting voluntary non-remunerated blood donation among youth.

SP Singh, CMO, Kangra, called upon all nodal officers of RR Clubs to become role models of their institution by donating blood. He said people must know their blood group, which saved precious time in case of an emergency.

Dr Bal Chander, blood bank officer of Dr RPGMC, Tanda, said the Blood Component Separation Unit at Tanda had become fully functional.

Dr RK Sood, district AIDS programme officer, said red ribbon clubs were promoting voluntary non-remunerated blood donation among youth through the pledge 25 campaign. He said the members overcame their fears and misconceptions through peer dialogue and pledged to donate blood 25 times in their lifetime, which was proving as a revolution in blood banking and creating a movement of socially responsible young people.

Bilaspur, November 16
‘Media is under the pressure of several forces in our country, due to the latest wave of it being controlled by big business houses which have little respect for democratic norms and principles enshrined in our Constitution.’

This was the crux of discussions held under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner Ritesh Chauhan, on ‘Press Day’ meet organised by District Public Relations Officer (DPRO), here today.

Several senior journalists opined that corporate publishing and broadcasting houses were controlling the greatest weapon of democracy and were misusing it for amassing wealth, fully exploiting the media for their personal benefit.

They felt the time when journalism was a mission was gone, and it had now become just a profession.

An effective institution should ensure freedom of media and an end to the exploitation of this freedom and journalists, they added.

Chauhan said it was a fact that much of its freedom was still intact and it had remained so due to the efforts of some responsible newspapers and news channels. The realisation of freedom of media being at stake is itself a step in the right direction.

Several senior journalists including Arun Dogra, Vishal Thakur, Jai Kumar and DPRO Amar Singh Thakur addressed the meeting in which journalists from district participated.

Nurpur, November 16
Kaka Ram, a 24-year-old student at the ITI in Shahpur, was murdered near a nullah about 200 metres from his house at Anuhi village today.

He left home around 8:30 am. He was on his way to the ITI when an unidentified assailant attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon.

Neelam Devi, a local resident, noticed blood in the water flowing from a nullah hear her house. She raised an alarm and villagers intimated the police.

Ramesh Chand, Additional Station House Officer at the Jawali police station, said a case was registered under Section 302 of the IPC and the body was sent to the Civil Hospital in Nurpur for post-mortem examination.