Dharamsala, November 21
Illegal mining is continuing at Chaki and Jabar rivulets in Nurpur subdivision of the district. A survey of the area revealed that in many areas mining was being carried out using JCBs in broad daylight. Mining with JCBs is banned in Himachal.

Hoshiar Singh, pradhan, Khani village, said their fertile land was getting washed away due to illegal mining in the Chaki river. He said many farmers of the area had complained against the erosion of their land due to the illegal mining being carried out downstream by stone crusher owners.

Gopal Singh, pradhan, Budhui village, alleged that huge trucks from Punjab that could carry crushed material up to 50 tonnes, were plying in their area, especially during night. If villagers objected to the plying of such vehicles, they were threatened by musclemen of stone crusher owners, he alleged.

The villagers alleged that the fact that illegal mining was being carried out in the Chaki was illustrated from the amount of material being sold by stone crusher owners. The stone crushers could not produce even one truckload of material per day in case mining was done manually, as prescribed under the rules.

Rakesh Pathania, local MLA, alleged that the water level in villages along the Chaki and Jabar rivulets had gone down by about 15 foot. Many water supply schemes and hand pumps installed by the Irrigation and Public Health Departments had gone dry because of the illegal mining in Chaki and Jubar rivulets.

Pathania also alleged that mining was being carried outside the boundaries of granted leased lands. “I will approach the Himachal High Court against the illegal mining in the area as the authorities have failed to take action in the matter,” he said.

District Mining Officer Ashok Sharma said regular patrolling was being carried out by officials of the Mining Department and the police to check illegal mining. However, in certain cases miscreants from across the border transgressed in Himachal boundary during night.

The Chaki river in Kangra district that lies on the border of Punjab and Himachal is a major source of illegal mining. In the recent past, the railway bridge over the Chaki got damaged disrupting the narrow gauge railway service between Pathankot and Jogindernagar area of Kangra district for many months. Earlier, the road bridge over the river had got damaged.

The Himachal High Court had banned the mining in the river and asked the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Kangra, to submit a report.

In the report submitted by former DC RS Gupta it was recommended that no mining should be allowed within 1 km of bridges over the Chaki river.

However, the ban on mining in Punjab, has fuelled the demand of crushed material from Himachal and increased illegal mining in the rivulets of the state.

Shimla, November 21
The state government has entered into a lease agreement with the Pawan Hans Corporation for providing air connectivity to snowbound tribal areas during the winter months when high mountain passes become insurmountable and roads get closed for vehicular traffic.

The General Administration Department (GAD) had invited bids for taking a helicopter on lease so that residents of tribal areas of Lahaul-Spiti, Pangi in Chamba and parts of Kinnaur do not face any inconvenience in moving to and from snowbound areas.

Every year the state government facilitates the movement of residents from areas that witness heavy snowfall during winter.

The chopper which is taken on lease by the state government is used by VIPs, especially the Chief Minister and the Governor during the rest of the year. At present, the state government is using the chopper provided by Mesco Airlines.

Three air operators, including the Pawan Hans Corporation and Mesco Airlines, had sent in their bids in response to the state government request.

“We have entered into a lease agreement with the Pawan Hans Corporation as their rates were the lowest and they fulfilled the condition of a helicopter which was not over three years old,” said Ajay Bhandari, Principal Secretary, GAD.

He said Pawan Hans had already purchased a new 26-seater carrier, which would be pressed into service to facilitate the movement of locals from snowbound areas as per routine flights and also to evacuate people in case of exigencies like sickness and accidents.

As per the agreement, the rate at which the chopper would be made available would be Rs 3 lakh per hour with an assured 480 hours use annually.

“On an average about 50 to 60 hours of flying are required every month for ferrying residents from snowbound areas during winter with the demand scaling up in December and towards March-end when everyone starts returning as winter comes to an end,” said Bhandari.

He said in case there was a deficit in the flying hours, the spillover would be adjusted in the other months.

The agreement with the Pawan Hans Corporation would come into effect from January 1, 2013.

“Though the agreement will come into effect from January 1, in case there is early snowfall, we will make arrangements to start tribal flights early,” said Bhandari.

Road link with Lahaul-Spiti gets snapped once the Rohtang Pass closes. At the moment the road is through and traffic is plying on this route.

Kangra, November 21
Resentment prevails among residents that the Mini Secretariat here, a project of Rs 6.01 crore which was inaugurated by Chief Minister PK Dhumal on September 23 last, remains non-functional.

The Mini Secretariat, which is to accommodate more than 15 government offices under one roof, remains an unaccomplished dream for people. Some officials, on the condition of anonymity, said the state government was still to provide funds to the tune of Rs 1.50 crore to make the project fully equipped.

The project has an incomplete parking lot, treasury strong room and bathrooms.

The Mini Secretariat was to accommodate offices of the SDM, Tehsildar, Executive Engineer and SDO, PWD, Land Acquisition Officer, Excise and Taxation Officer, Child Development Project Officer, Treasury Officer, Block Elementary Education Officer, Sub Divisional Police Officer, Additional District Attorney and Tehsil Welfare Officer.

Five of these offices are working in private accommodations, thus making a hole in the government exchequer.

SDM, Kangra, Ajeet Bhardwaj said the Mini Secretariat was lacking power connections to different departments.

Non-Gazetted Employees Kangra district president Ajay Khatta said the offices should be shifted immediately to the new building as the state government was causing a major financial loss by the delay.

Different departments like Bee Keeping Office, HPSEB and Block Development Office, which are connected with common people, have been demanding accommodation in the Mini Secretariat. Local journalists have also been asking for a Press Room facility there.

The dilapidated building structure of the tehsil office is still on the premises of the Mini Secretariat. The ADA office building and the 103-year-old treasury strong room constructed in 1909 have not been dismantled yet. 

Karsog (Mandi), November 21
The Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Karsog, here has done what can serve as a role model for the rest of the slacking and sulking babus across the state: How to cut down delays and red tape in the government office and deliver goods to the public.

Under the leadership of SDM, Karsog, KK Sharma, the office not only weeded out bulky and dusty piles of 25,000 scrapped and useless files, but also extended this paperless clean office drive in this town that has made it clean and garbage-free and livable for residents.

The SDM office wears an executive look.

From the ground floor to the top floor, every stack or cupboard contains the labelled files kept and organised year-wise that even a stranger can take out without looking for any help.

“We weeded out the scrapped 25,000 files which had made the office choked,” said KK Sharma, the officer who has set standards for others.

“The idea is to increase efficiency and deliver goods to the public in the shortest possible time,” he added.

The office has added a well-scrubbed conference hall that holds official meetings.

The administration has set up 70 solar streetlights and an automatic traffic control light to make the town safe for pedestrians during the peak and late night hours.

“The town has been declared as a notified area committee, making the opening of septic tanks and littering an offence,” Sharma said.

“We have got cooperation of local residents, shopkeepers and traders, and have put in place a door-to-door collection of garbage daily,” he said.

Hamirpur, November 21
Chief Minister PK Dhumal has expressed satisfaction at the hanging of Ajmal Kasab, who was involved in the Mumbai terrorist attack in which a large number of people were killed, terming it as a late but right decision taken by the Central Government.

Talking to mediapersons in an informal talk here today, he said: “The security of the country should not be compromised at any cost and all anti-national elements should be dealt with a firm hand.

However, he expressed surprise over the delay in punishing Afzal Guru, involved in an attack on the Parliament and said this matter also needs to be expedited.”

Replying to a question, Dhumal said: “Every contesting party is at liberty to claim majority in the recently concluded state Assembly elections but things would be clear on December 20 and I am confident of forming the government again.”

He said some new cases of corruption related to certain political leaders have come to light while old cases against some leaders being investigated and the state government would get all such cases investigated by a Special Investigation Team.

Earlier, the Chief Minister offered prayers at Jamali Gausadan and greeted people on Gopashtami and appealed them to save cow to uphold the culture and traditions of the country while addressing a function at Jamli Dham.

Rasil Singh Mankotia, president of the Narayan Sewa Sansthan, welcomed the Chief Minister and thanked him for his patronage to the gausadan.

Shimla, November 21
National president, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, and MP Anurag Thakur today said that hanging of Ajmal Kasab, the main accused in the Mumbai terror attack, was a welcome step.

Anurag said Kasab was given an opportunity to put his side of the case in all the courts under the Indian judicial and legal system and after passing through all this process he had finally been hanged today. “This step has not only strengthened the faith of people of India, but the world in the Indian judicial and legal system,” he remarked.

He added that most importantly, the hanging had sent a strong message to terrorists that any move to disintegrate the nation or cause internal strife would be dealt with sternly. 

Chamba, November 21
With the onset of severe winter conditions, wild animals have started migrating to lower reaches of the state in artificial lakes created due to the construction of dams and are likely to be hunted by local residents.

To prevent such illegal hunting, teams of forest officials at the forest circle and division level of Chamba district have been constituted.

These teams will carry out constant patrolling and monitoring, taking cognisance of offences, rescuing animals and sending them to Nature Park and then when they were fully recovered back to forests.

In the orders issued today to all Divisional Forest Offices (DFOs) and Ranger Officers (ROs) of the Chamba forest circle, which covers the entire district of Chamba, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), Chamba, AR M Reddy directed the officials to issue similar directions in their jurisdictions thereby disseminating the information among the public, along with telephone numbers of the staff who had been assigned this task so that people could contact them at the hour of need.

These teams would submit firsthand information to the DFO headquarters of the forest circle or the CCF directly and immediately regarding the happening of any such incident and also rescue operations carried out by them, the CCF stated. “These orders will be effective from December 1, 2012, to March 15, 2013, or till the advent of summer, whichever is later”, the CCF said, and warned that any incidence of poaching would be dealt with stringently under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Bilaspur, November 21
The district administration has sent eight stray bulls and two cows from the town and nearby areas to Lehadi Badotta, a gausadan, here in the district.

The operation was launched by the district administration under the leadership of SDM Rohan Chand Thakur with the help of local social organisation “Pragati Samaj Seva Samiti” nagar parishad staff and Home Guards. The SDM added that residents should avoid sending their cattle to streets and roads as more such stray cattle would be caught and sent to this gausadan.

Mandi, November 21
The court of Divisional Commissioner, Mandi, RD Nazeem has given a clean chit to the Buddhist Zigar monastery over the row regarding raising of the multi-crore concrete statue of Guru Padam Sambhava at Rewalsar, setting aside the order passed by the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Mandi, early this year.

In his order passed by the court of the Divisional Commissioner recently, Nazeem observed that there was no violation of Section 118 of the HP Land Ceiling Act in the raising of the Padam Sambhava statue.

The Divisional Commissioner has directed the Mandi DC to correct the official record, as the society has never mentioned that it will be raising the Lord Buddha statue at Rewalsar.

Nazeem examined the original application submitted by the society to the government seeking permission for the land at Rewalsar to raise the statue.

The society cited the original application obtained through the RTI Act from the government in which it has mentioned that they would be raising the statue of the Padam Sambhava, the Second Buddha at Rewalsar, not that of the Lord Buddha, he ruled.

This order came as a jolt to a Rewalsar-based petitioner who had won the case in the court of the District Collector, Mandi, early this year.

The District Collector had directed the SDM, Mandi Sadar, to vest the land given to the society back to the government on the ground that the society violated Section 118 of the HP Land Ceiling Act.

He had ruled that the land to the society was given to raise the statue of Lord Buddha, not the second Buddha at Rewalsar, a pilgrimage centre for Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs.

But the society challenged the District Collector order and appealed in the court of the Divisional Commissioner, who set aside this order and directed the DC to correct the official record by making entry from the original application submitted by the society to the government.

The statue had assumed national dimension as the Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of Tibetans, had come to Rewalsar to inaugurate the statue early this year. But the inauguration was postponed as the matter had entered the court.

The dispute could ultimately land in the court of the Financial Commissioner (Appeals) for the final appeal if the petitioner wills it so, said officials.

Chamba, November 21
The entire Bharmour tribal region has been shivering with intense dry cold as Chamba district has not received rain in the last one-and-a-half month. As a result, natural water sources and nullahs have
started freezing. — OC

Mandi, November 21
The Mandi police today arrested Puran Chand and Hiru Devi, both from Kullu, under the NDPS Act after the police recovered 3.925 kg charas from their possession while they were travelling in a Volvo bus (DL01PB-8831), which was on its way from Manali to Delhi.

The SP, Mandi, said further investigation was on.