Mandi/Manali, June 11
Ruling Congress candidate Pratibha Singh and Leader of the Opposition PK Dhumal today slugged it out in Manali and blamed each other for the “tourism mess” in the town.

Addressing a series of public meetings in Manali, Dhumal alleged that the BJP government had withdrawn the ski village project, but the Virbhadra government took the case back from the high court. "Will it not spread pollution in higher peaks around Manali?" he asked and avoided any comment on the controversial issue.

Dhumal said Virbhadra Singh had failed to extend the industrial package from the Centre and his five-month government had disappointed people. Pratibha Singh, when she was an MP, did not visit the fire-ravaged Solang village.

He claimed that the present government had decreased daily wages from Rs 150 to Rs 138 and PTA teachers had not been regularised and were not getting an honorarium. So was the case with Home Guard jawans, he claimed.

On the other hand, Pratibha Singh, addressing public meetings at Kothi, Burwa, Palchan, Bhrain and Haripur, said the BJP was spreading false propaganda against the Congress. The BJP had done nothing for the development of tourism in Manali where traffic jams and congestion were rampant, she said, adding that the Congress had a master plan for the development of tourism in Manali.

The Kiratpur-Ner Chowk National Highway-21 would be four-laned for which tenders had been awarded, she added.

Pratibha said the BJP had commercialised politics, enacted shady land deals and was now befooling people to get votes.

She blamed the Dhumal government for submitting an affidavit in the high court on the basis of the NIERI report on the status report of Marhi and Rohtang.

Party in-charge for Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti Harsh Mahajan claimed that the response to the Congress campaign was very good and party would retain the seat with a record margin.

Dhumal was accompanied by Manali BJP MLA Govind Thakur and other leaders Khimi Ram and Ravinder Ravi, while Pratibha Singh was welcomed by Harsh Mahajan, Bhuveshwar Gaur, Lahaul-Spiti MLA Ravi Thakur, Harichand Sharma and other leaders.

Shimla, June 11
An abnormally high discharge in the Sutlej is creating problems for the country’s largest Nathpa Jhakri hydroelectric project which had to shut down for flushing out silt from the reservoir for the second time within a fortnight.

The discharge in the river has been consistently high since the start of the summer, but it has increased to more than four times as compared to last year for the past two weeks.

On June 10, it shot up to 1,613 cumecs as against the normal flow ranging from 250 to 400 cumecs. It started increasing towards the middle of last month and on May 19 crossed 515 cumecs against 265 cumecs last year, on May 25 to 968 cumecs (275 cumecs last year) and on June 7 to 1,135 cumecs. Such a high flow in the early part of June is unusual and observed when the river is in spate during peak monsoon.

The impact of the relatively higher flow was visible in the Bhakra reservoir, the level of which was much higher compared to last year. The reservoir level was 1578.11 ft on June 6 as against 1,540.49 ft on the same day last year. Adequate and timely snow on the lower hill ranges during winter was one of the factors for the high discharge.

The level of silt, which increases with the flow, also touched 8,000 ppm (parts per million), more than double the permissible limit of 4,000 ppm. The Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam was forced to shut down the project for a day to flush out silt and generation began this morning. This was the second time that the project was closed for flushing out silt. Earlier, it was shut down on May 26. The upstream 1,000-MW Karcham Wangtu project was also hit and shut down for flushing out silt.

Sanjeev Sood, General Manager, Nathpa Jhakri, said the level of silt during flushing was over 1 lakh ppm and the high discharge ensured that most of the silt deposits on the bed of the diversion dam were flushed out. It would help in the operation of the project as room had been created for the silt to settle down.

The level of silt at 5,000 ppm was higher than the permissible limit, but the generation was started keeping in view the fact that the level of coarse silt (more than 0.2 mm in size) was only 75 ppm.

The project has so far generated 1,739 million units as against 1,378 million units last year. Last year, the project could generate only 6,778 million units against a target of 7,000 million units which prompted the Union Ministry of Power to reduce the target for the current year to 6,825 million units.

Hamirpur, June 11
The inordinate delay in issuing smart cards under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) to poor families and those covered under MGNREGA has deprived a large number of beneficiaries from the benefit of free health insurance.

The smart cards, on the basis of which these families get free treatment and medicines in government hospitals, have not been delivered even after six months of the registration of beneficiaries.

The registration was undertaken in the state in January last through Block Development Offices, but the cards to a large number of beneficiaries have not been delivered till date.

The state government had engaged a Chandigarh-based private firm for the registration and issuing of the smart cards and 3.85 lakh beneficiaries were registered, but a large number of them in Hamirpur, Mandi, Una, Kullu etc, have not received their smart cards.

The RSBY had been launched by the Central Government throughout the country through the state governments under which people living under the BPL/MGNREGA get a health insurance cover of Rs 30,000 in a year.

In some cases of chronic diseases, medical expenses up to Rs 1.75 lakh are reimbursed under this scheme.

The delay in issuing smart cards have already deprived a large number of people from the benefits of the health insurance cover for nearly six months as these are valid only for a year.

The cards are renewed every year as government hospitals provide medical facilities to the beneficiaries on the production of the smart cards.

The project in-charge said, “We have taken up this matter with the firm and will not pay premium for the smart cards which have not been delivered to the beneficiaries.”

Shimla, June 11
The Himachal Pradesh Horticultural Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation (HPMC) will undertake branding and certification of apples to enhance its market value. This will help it to meet stiff competition from imported apples.

The HPMC will work towards ensuring certification of the apples being produced in Himachal and entrust the task of accreditation to agencies. Consultants, who are experts in the field of fruit production and processing, will be hired to lay down the guidelines for the certification of the produce.

"The HPMC can become the accreditation agency or assign the task to others and at the same time prepare its data base which will help it to build its brand name and regain the position it once enjoyed at the national level," said Tarun Sridhar, Principal Secretary, Home and Horticulture and Fisheries.

He says the absence of certification on Himachali apples affects the sales as consumers feel a certified fruit will certainly be better in quality.

Efforts have been stepped up to revive the ailing HPMC through aggressive marketing and brand building for which the agency was once known in the '80s. Steps are being taken to enhance its production to meet the demand of consumer and the market as a whole.

"Barely 2.5 per cent of the fruit is processed and over 35 per cent of it goes waste which can be put to varied uses through the latest processing technology," says Sridhar.

He says the fruit from various apple-growing pockets like Kinnaur, Kotgarh, Chopal, Kullu or other areas will have to be branded and marketed on the basis of its uniqueness whether it is the crunchiness, nutritive value or colour.

The competition being faced by Himachali apple, because of the markets being flooded with apple from abroad, is also affecting growers. The demand of Himachal to raise the import duty on apples from the present 50 per cent being levied by the Centre seems unlikely. It has also been suggested that if the duty cannot be enhanced at least seasonal and quantitative restrictions should be imposed on the imported apple so that domestic growers are not adversely affected.

Efforts will also be made to set up modern processing units so that the maximum possible fruit is processed and there is little wastage. Another aspect is to retain the freshness and other qualities of the fruit while being transported to various markets outside the state.

With a bumper crop of apple being expected this season, the HPMC, which already has losses of Rs 70 crore, is hopeful of buying fruit under the market intervention scheme and processing it to make apple concentrate and other products. 

Kangra, June 11
Life in the Kangra valley was disrupted following heavy rain today. Traffic disruption was reported from different link roads with the temperature dropping and giving relief to residents from the scorching heat. Kangra town experienced nearly 70 mm rain and most of the khads and rivers were swollen.

Air traffic on the Kangra-Delhi route too was disrupted. KK Sharma, Director, Kangra airport, said the Spicejet flight was cancelled due to poor visibility.

The Air India flight, which was scheduled for landing at 11.15 am, was delayed by two hours.

Reports of rain were received from Dharamsala, McLeodganj, besides Jawlamukhi, Dehra, Gaggal, Shahpur, Mallan, Nagrota Bagwan, Ranital, Dhraman and Chamundaji.

Dr KS Thakur, scientist in charge, Research and Extension Centre, CSK, HPKV, said today’s heavy rain was a boon for farmers of the region, as it would help them in sowing kharif crops like maize, paddy, pulses and soyabean.

Mandi, June 11
The Chief Minister today ridiculed the BJP for spreading false propaganda about his health. "I am hale and hearty and have been working for the party," he asserted.

Addressing six public meetings in Karsog, he charged PK Dhumal and other leaders of spreading false propaganda against him as they had nothing positive to offer to people. Dhumal had done nothing during his tenure.

"Dhumal became Chief Minister twice. He tried to implicate him each time, but the truth is before the public," he said.

He was accompanied by Karsog Congress MLA Mansa Ram, Kuldeep Kumar, Harshvardhan Chauhan, Divender Bushairi and other local leaders.

Palampur, June 11
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said during the BJP rule, the debt of the state crossed Rs 28,000 crore which was the highest figure so far.

He said when he left the office in 2007, the loans payable to banks were only Rs 18,000 crore, thus Dhumal had raised loans to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore.

Addressing mediapersons at Baijnath near here last night, the Chief Minister said despite raising huge loans from different banks, the development activities remained standstill. The conditions of most of the roads went from bad to worse. He said over 1,000 foundation stones were laid by PK Dhumal and his Cabinet colleagues, but construction was never taken up.

He said there was a total financial mess and nobody knew how the funds were utilised. He alleged that Dhumal had brought the state on the verge of bankruptcy. The Chief Minister said corruption was rampant, therefore development works were affected.

He said his government would not spare corrupt officers who had caused loss to the state exchequer.

In reply to a question, he said he had already requested the Centre to convert the Kangra railway line into broad gauge, link it to Leh and Ladakh and also declare it a national project. The matter was under consideration of the government, he added.

Earlier, addressing a rally at Ladh Bharol, he said with LK Advani's resignation, the split in the NDA was imminent as its allies like the JD(U) would now join the UPA as indicated by Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar. 

Mandi, June 11
BJP candidate Jai Ram Thakur today accused Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur of leaving patients at the mercy of God. He had failed to depute doctors in the Community and Primary Health Centres even in the Drang constituency he represented, leave alone other parts of the Mandi constituency.

Addressing a series of public meetings in Drang, Jai Ram alleged that Kaul Singh had been Drang MLA for long, but had done nothing for its development. There were neither sufficient doctors in health centres, nor teachers in schools, then what would be the plight of the rest of the state, Jai Ram said.

He claimed that development works started by the previous Dhumal government were stopped. Even works started by Kaul Singh were not completed, he said.

He claimed that dozens of villages in the Chauhar valley were not taken out from the wildlife sanctuary, while they had won the case. There was no road connectivity in villages as Kaul had failed to take up the issue with the Central government, he alleged.

Mandi BJP president Jawahar Thakur claimed that Kaul should have resigned as he was not getting well along with the Chief Minister.

Jai Ram was accompanied by Ram Swarup, Ajay Rana, Khiramani and other leaders during the campaign.

Solan, June 11
Two persons were killed in accidents in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) industrial area today.

Nanha Khan (72) was crushed to death under a speeding truck on the Swarghat Road at Nangal village. Khan was standing on the road where a kiosk had been set up to distribute sweetened water to passersby.

In another case, factory employee Pritam Singh was hit by a speeding bike near Bhud around 1:15 pm today, while he was going home for lunch. Pritam died on the spot, while the bike rider fled away.

In both cases, the drivers fled the scene and the police was on the look out for them.

Though senior police officials have been expressing concern over the high rate of accidents, the police appeared to be short in strength compared to the ever-increasing population of migrants working in the area.

There has been a sudden spurt in criminal cases in the industrial area with more cases of theft, hit-and-run, murder and suicide being reported in the last 10 days.

Six murders have been reported in the past seven months with the latest one being on last Sunday. Four cases of miscreants breaking windowpanes of parked vehicles and stealing cash, and two hit-and-run cases were reported recently.

With nearly 1.60 lakh registered and 1 lakh unregistered labour, there was an urgent need to post additional force in the BBN.

Sanjay Kundu, IG, Law and Order, said he was seized of the matter and would soon come out with an industrial security and policing plan.