Shimla, December 14
Widespread heavy snowfall overnight blocked roads and disrupted power supply in many places throwing normal life out of gear in the higher and mid-hill areas of the state.

Shimla, Kullu and Kinnaur districts experienced the heaviest snowfall of the season with Solang nullah and higher areas up to Rohtang Pass recording 90 cm to 110 cm of snow.

The Churdhar, the Hatu peak and other higher ranges were also covered with a thick white blanket.

Narkanda and Kharapathar had 20 to 30 cm of snow while Manali and Tissa had 20 cm each. The city also had its first substantial snowfall and Jakhu, the highest peak, wore an impeccable white mantle in the morning after receiving 10 cm of snow. Temperature dipped to the freezing point for the first time in the season. Keylong and Udaipur in Lahaul- Spiti recorded 12 cm of snow each, Kalpa 8 cm and Theog 5 cm.

The Rohru, Chopal, Thanedar, Baghi other areas remained cut off as snow blocked roads. However, the India-Tibet Road was opened for traffic by the evening.

Residents of affected areas had to go without essential commodities. Bus services were also discontinued due to slippery road conditions.

The lower hill areas had widespread rain with Dharamsala recording 38 mm of rain, Jubbal, Bangana and Rajgarh (24 mm each), Seobagh (23mm), Ghamroor (23 mm), Gohar (20), Una, Baijnath and Nagrota Suriyan (19 mm each), Nadaun, Sujanpur Tihra, Dehra Gopipur and Jogindernagar (18 mm each), Gaggal (17 mm), Nurpur, Palampur, Mehre and Amb (16 mm each), Renuka and Kandaghat (15 mm each), Dharampur (14 mm), Guler, Hamirpur, Bhuntar, Sangrah and Solan (13 mm each).

In charge of the local Met Department Manmohan Singh said the current spell of inclement weather is likely to continue with another Western Disturbance is approaching the region around December 16. However, its impact will be mainly confined to higher hill areas.

The widespread snow has brought cheer to apple growers as it is considered as white manure for orchards. The rain is beneficial for the rabi crop, particularly in areas where sowing had been delayed due to the dry spell.

MANALI: The tourist town of Manali and its surrounding areas experienced a fresh spell of snowfall today while the lower parts of the region were lashed by rain, continuing the cold wave conditions in the region. The region received season’s second snowfall today.

The sun shone this afternoon and tourists and local residents got a respite from the severe cold conditions.

The entire upper areas of the Manali region were covered with a white blanket.

The vehicular traffic on the Manali-Rohtang Pass was disrupted at several points beyond the Nehru Kund, 5 km from here.

Tourists and local residents had a difficult time this morning driving their vehicles further to Solang and Kothi due to fresh layer of snow on the road. Tourists going to the Solang valley had to stop at different places between Bahang and the Nehru Kund.

After the fresh spell of snowfall in the upper Manali region, the HRTC suspended its bus services between Manali-Solang and Kothi.

The ski slopes of the Solang valley also got a fresh spell of snow. The snowfall on the ski slopes brought cheer to winter sports lovers as now these slopes had enough snow for their skiing.

The 13,050-ft-high Rohtang Pass, the gateway To the Lahaul-Spiti valley, also experienced heavy snowfall today. The entire higher reaches in the Kullu valley also experienced moderate to heavy snowfall.

However, orchardists and agriculturists in the region have welcomed the snow and rain. They said it was beneficial for the apple crop in upper areas and the standing crops in the lower region.

DALHOUSIE: Dalhousie hill station today received 10 cm of snow while the higher reaches of Dalhousie had 30 centimeters of snow, said reports received here today.

The reports said the Saach Pass, situated at an altitude of 4,413 m, had been closed due to snowfall continuing since last night and the far-flung Pangi tribal valley had been cut off from the rest of the district, adding that the pass was the gateway which directly links the mountainous valley with the rest of the district.

The high-altitude passes such as Jalsu, Chobia and Kugti had also been closed owing to the heavy snowfall. The famous sacred Manimahesh lake had been covered under heavy snow, the reports stated.

The low-lying areas of the district have had widespread heavy rain. There is a sharp downfall in temperature in the entire region. As a sequel to this, the whole mountainous region is in the grip of intense cold wave.

Experts working on hydropower projects and the water resource management in the mountainous terrains of the mighty Himalayas believe that the huge deposit of heavy snowfall on the mountainous ranges of the Himalayas proves “a boon”’ for the optimum hydropower generation, irrigation and drinking water supply schemes in the plains of the country during summers.

Hamirpur, December 14
The Union Ministry of Urban Development has put Hamirpur Nagar Parishad in defaulters’ list for delay in construction of flats for weaker sections under the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP).

The delay in construction of IHSDP flats has resulted in the escalation of per unit cost of these flats further delaying allotment.

The beneficiaries who were to get the flats at Rs 1, 23,000 per unit would now have to pay about Rs 3 lakh per unit.

The scheme was launched throughout the country in 2007-08 by the Centre and 152 houses were to be built in Hamirpur.

Since the scheme was implemented in many states, the Ministry of Urban Development had prescribed a limit for giving the grant to build the flats under the scheme and construction work was to be completed in three years. The nagar parishad had awarded the work to the Himachal Pradesh Housing and Urban Development Agency (HIMUDA).

However, out of 152 proposed flats, 72 flats have been constructed and Rs 2.33 crore has been spent out of the allocation of Rs 4.33 crore.

Eighty more flats are to be constructed and the delay has resulted in the escalation of cost. Since the Hamirpur nagar parishad had failed to complete the work in the stipulated period and with a prescribed grant, the department has put it in the defaulters’ list.

Executive Officer of the nagar parishad RK Sharma said, “We are approaching the state government for providing additional funds to complete the project”. However, HIMUDA officials blamed the finalisation of site for completing the project.

Shimla, December 14
People in Shimla and parts of Solan district had to face erratic power supply today as the cold weather in the wake of heavy snowfall fuelled demand, overloading the distribution system.

Many areas of the town were without power last night and there were frequent interruptions in supply throughout the day due to overloading.

A fault in one of the feeders worsened the situation, forcing the board to impose power cuts in rotation. The supply could not be stabilised fully till the evening.

Executive Engineer Visheshwar Sharma said there was a sharp increase in demand during the morning hours, which led to the overloading.

The supply was also affected in a large area of Solan district due to breakdown of conductors in the 132-KV Kangu-Bhagal and Kunihar-Solan transmission lines yesterday.

Power supply was disrupted in many other areas in upper Shimla as well, which had experienced the heaviest snowfall of this season.

The board was forced to procure more power as the drop in temperature led to a further fall in generation in its own projects, which plunged from a normal of 110 lakh units during summer to 24 lakh units.

It had arranged excess power, increasing the overall availability to 252 lakh units through the peak of winter, when the demand could go up further.

Due to a breakdown in the distribution system at many places, actual consumption was less than demand. The board had to dispose of about 12 lakh units of power through the power exchange under unscheduled exchange.

The output from small hydro power projects came down from 68 lakh units to 12 lakh units. Power available under the Central share declined from 150 lakh units to 94 lakh units.

Mandi, December 14
The 800-MW Kol Dam hydro power project on the Sutlej being executed by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) here is running behind schedule by five years, that has shot up its cost by about Rs 400 crore.

The project has now been scheduled for completion in March 2014. The NTPC had initially targeted to complete the project in 2009-10 at a cost of Rs 5,640 crore.

According to the revised schedule of the NTPC, the cost of the project has shot up to Rs 6,000 crore and can be revised further if the project is not commissioned in 2014.

As a result of the delay, Himachal Pradesh is losing 366.48 million units of electricity it will get as 12 per cent free share of the 3,054 million units that the project will generate every year.

“We will start ponding water in October 2013. We have no issue with the Bhakra Dam as we will not divert the entire Sutlej to fill the dam,” said AK Nanda, General Manager, Kol Dam.

Union Power Minister KC Venugopal had recently inspected the project and pulled up the hydro power engineer over slow work. The NTPC attributed the delay to unexplained geological surprises.

“The project will be commissioned in 2014. Work on the powerhouse and transmission line is almost complete,” Nanda said. He was non-committal on the deadline.

SUNDERNAGAR: Addressing mediapersons on Friday, AK Nanda said the project would give 12 per cent free power, 15 per cent at bus bar and 2.5 per cent through grid allocation to the state government.

He said only some work on filling, the spillway and the fillip bucket were left. He said 98 per cent of the work on filling was done only 12 metres of the 163-metre-high dam was yet to be completed.

He said filling would be started after the monsoon next year and the reservoir would be filled as per the schedule formulated by expert agencies.

He said the reservoir would be spread over 42 km and would have a capacity of 52,000 hectare metre. He said the rate of filing it would be between 0.3 metre and 0.6 metre per day and it would take 315 days to fill it.

Shimla, December 14
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed the state government that no liquor vend should be visible from national or state highways. The vends should be located at a place which is not visible to motorists.

A court Bench constituted a committee to draft a policy on the distance of liquor vends from educational institutions, places of worship and national and state highways. The HC directed it to submit a draft policy by the next date of hearing.

The committee comprises the Chief Secretary, the Principal Secretary (Excise and Taxation), the Principal Secretary (Finance), the Principal Secretary (Education), the Principal Secretary (Social Justice and Empowerment) and the Director-General of Police.

Passing the order, a division Bench comprising Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Kuldip Singh observed, “We have been disturbed at the fact that liquor vends are being opened right on national and state highways.”

It said, “As per studies conducted by the police and some organisations, the maximum number of accidents are caused due to drunk driving. It is the duty of the state to ensure that the number of accidents is reduced to the minimum.”

The Bench directed the Principal Secretary (Excise and Taxation) to ensure that the recommendation of the HC was taken into consideration while formulating the excise policy for 2013-14.

The Bench further said, “No advertisement was allowed for liquor vends earlier. Now we have seen huge hoardings near liquor vends and away from those as well.”

It directed the Principal Secretary (Excise and Taxation) to explain how these hoardings and advertisements were being permitted to be put up.

It further asked the Principal Secretary (Excise and Taxation) if action was taken in the last 10 years against any proprietor or salesman of any liquor vend or bar for serving or selling liquor to an underage person.

It said the excise policy must clearly lay down the minimum age for purchasing liquor. The court passed the order on a public interest litigation in this regard.

Shimla, December 14
The Himachal Pradesh High Court (HC) has stressed that keeping tourist places neat and clean is the joint duty of municipal bodies and the public. It has told the state government to consider the imposition of higher penalties for violation of civic laws.

Passing the order, a division Bench comprising Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjay Karol observed that the time had come when harsh measures would have to be taken against those members of the public who violated municipal laws with impunity and were guilty of dirtying their own towns and villages.

The Bench added that most municipal laws provided for either no penalty or an apology of a penalty. It said the imposition of a penalty of between Rs 25 and Rs 200 was not sufficient. It said it would make a start with Kullu, Manali and Bhuntar in this regard.

The HC asserted, “Why should visitors leaving the state be greeted with garbage and illegal constructions? We are also of the view that penal provisions should include forcing the offender to do community service. We are of the view that the penalty needs to be enhanced.”

The HC directed civic bodies to punish repeat offenders by making them render community service by personally cleaning the area in question, till the state government framed new rules. It added that if an offender did not improve after two opportunities, the civic body could stop municipal facilities like water.

The HC said in case of offences relating to commercial establishments like shops, their licences should be cancelled. It directed municipal bodies to first inform residents through advertisements in local television channels, local newspapers, radio channels and leaflets by December 31.

Dharamsala, December 14
The Wakf Board of Himachal was making meagre income from its properties in the state. The fact came to light during the meeting of the board that concluded at Una last evening.

Local sources said as per the facts presented in the meeting, the Wakf Board owns 1,099 properties worth about Rs 4,000 crore in Himachal according to the current market value. However, it was making a meagre income of just about Rs 30 lakh per annum from these properties.

The income was not enough even to meet the expenses of the board that amount to about Rs 50 lakh per annum.

Board members have also expressed concern over the failure of state revenue officials to enter mutation of about 214 properties of the board across the state.

Chief Executive Officer of the board Parvez Akhtar while talking to The Tribune said the approximate value of the properties that were still not in the name of the board in revenue papers was about Rs 100 crore. The board had decided to seek the help of the state government to get the mutation of these properties executed in the name of the board. At present, these properties were in the name of custodians.

Akhtar said most of the properties of the board had been given on lease or rent in an arbitrary manner. There was no set procedure with the board for renting or leasing out the properties. All board members have expressed opinion that a set procedure should be formed for leasing or renting out these properties. The procedure should be laid before the board before any property was leased out to someone.

Many old properties, including those located at the Mall Road in Shimla, have been leased out for peanuts decades ago.

Several cases have come before the board wherein the lessees were paying less than Rs 100 per month rent to the board but have further leased out the properties to others for hefty rents. In such cases also, the board has decided to take the help of the state for revising the lease rate to increase the income of the board, he said.

Members of the board also decided to appeal against the decision of the state high court to give its land near Baluganj in Shimla for school ground.

In the meeting held yesterday the members decided that they would seek a legal opinion over the issue and file an appeal over the same.

Akhtar added that many properties of the board in the state were in the possession of government departments. The board had decided to appeal to the government to either give rent or lease of such properties to the board or give alternative land in lieu of the land in possession of government departments.

The other major decisions taken by the board in the meeting included paying salaries of Imams that were pending for the past six months and to authorise each member with a discretionary fund of Rs 2 lakh for development and welfare of the community in his respective area.

The Wakf Board of Himachal came into existence in 2005 after it was separated from the Wakf Board of Punjab. The board looks after the Muslim properties in the state and is responsible for carrying out welfare of the community.

Mandi/Kullu, December 14
The current spell of winter chill, along with snow and rain, has come as a facilitator for chilling, which is a prerequisite for a good apple crop. Farmers are upbeat following the onset of winter. Apple plants need between 1,200 hours and 1,600 hours of chilling for proper conditioning.

“Minimum temperatures are below 6°C in the Mandi-Kullu-Shimla-Kinnaur-Chamba-Lahaul apple belt, which is good for orchards,” says Prem Sharma, president of the Upper Kullu Valley Fruit Growers Association.

“It is essential that chilling starts when the temperature dips below 7°C in orchards. Snowfall aids chilling as it maintains the temperature around the chilling temperature and acts like while manure,” says Dr Vijay Thakur, Associate Director, fruit research station, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry.

Chilling is required because it induces dormancy and facilitates the growth of buds, leaves and flowering while the fruit sets in in a later state, he explains. “If the chilling period is less, plant growth staggers, affecting the normal growth of leaves, buds and flowers,” he adds.

When the temperature dips below zero, as in Lahaul and upper Kinnaur, the phenomenon is freezing chilling. “It also affects the growth of the plant at a certain stage and the fruit is more sturdy and has larger shelf life,” says Thakur.

Scientists say snow and rain in December are good for apple orchards as these facilitate vegetative nutrition. They advise farmers to train and prune plants at higher altitude where snowfall is expected earlier.

Shimla, December 14
Horticulture Minister Narinder Bragta met Gorakh Singh, Commissioner, Horticulture, GoI, at New Delhi today and urged him to sanction two centres of excellence of horticulture.

He said the state needed two centres to cater the needs of growers of upper hill areas, known for apple, and lower hill areas that had huge potential for mango, citrus fruits and other subtropical fruits.

Bragta said the Centre had agreed in principle to set up two parks at a cost of Rs 5 crore each for strengthening the horticultural activities.

He said during his meeting with senior officers, he had also raised the matter for release of Rs 20 crore under the Horticulture Technology Mission.

It would boost the horticultural activities in the state and strengthen the economy of farmers to a great extent.