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Pilgrim rush leaves many stranded at Kangra road
A traffic jam near Kangra. Photo: Kamaljeet
Industries Dept’s mining wing faces staff crunch
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Dhumal faces flak for defending HPCA
District Cricket Association defends Anurag Thakur
Traffic hit on Pathankot-Mandi National Highway for hours
Big rocks on the National Highway-154, near Nurpur, on Saturday. Photo by writer
Congress meet focuses on ways to capture Dhumal’s den
CM Virbhadra Singh and HPCC chief Sukhwinder Singh in Shimla on Saturday.
Illegal Mining Case
The Pathankot-Joginder Nagar rail track in the Kangra valley near Baijnath.
Parties support Dalits rendered homeless
Climbing training camp on Bara Shigri glacier held
Members of the Climbathon Expedition-2013 in Manali
National seminar on Indian languages from today
Monsoon Navratras cause heavy rush
Traffic, tourism affected at Dalhousie
Two held for demanding dowry
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Pilgrim rush leaves many stranded at Kangra road
Dharamsala, August 10 At a 20-km stretch from Ranital to Kangra, commuters, including ambulances, remained struck on the road for about two hours, but no traffic personnel was available to streamline it. The traffic moved on the road only after a few commuters took an initiative and streamlined vehicles parked haphazardly on the road. Traffic jams are a common sight on this road these days as a PWD contractor has dug up the road at many places for laying concrete overbridges. The authorities have allowed the contractor to uproot the road during monsoon. Now, the areas dug up have been converted into muddy single portions that are also one of the major causes of traffic jams on the road. Near Ranital, the Nagni Devi fair is also being held. Thousands of locals visited the Nagni Devi temple today. Commercial vehicles like taxis and jeeps that had brought the locals to the shrine were parked haphazardly in about half-km radius of the temple, causing a traffic jam for hours together. Mohit Chawla, ASP, Kangra, said as soon as he got the news regarding the traffic jams on the Kangra-Ranital road, traffic personnel were dispatched to the area. The tunnel was not a traffic point and generally the traffic police was not posted there, he said. In Una, however, despite the fact that there was heavy rush of pilgrims at the Chintpurni temple, traffic remained smooth due to heavy deployment of the police. The police was not allowing pilgrims to park their vehicles along the road, helping the traffic run smoothly in the area. |
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Industries Dept’s mining wing faces staff crunch
Solan, August 10 The state’s industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) is being looked after by an assistant mining inspector and as against two assistant mining inspectors, only one has been posted, while the post of mining inspector has been lying vacant for the past several months. The lone assistant mining officer is responsible to man the entire, nearly 50-km, bordering area, where illegal mining is the order of the day. The extent of illegal mining can be gauged from the fact that a penalty of Rs 1 crore was collected by the flying squad, headed by the SDM, in about seven months. The mining guards who have no powers to challan are supposed to work in the field and curb the illegal mining activity. The state had constituted a committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, to review the issue of illegal mining. The committee was supposed to study various aspects related to environmental norms, illegal mining and shortage of construction material. Other members of the committee were the Principal Secretaries of various departments like Industries, Forests and PWD. Its recommendations were supposed to be placed before the Cabinet to work out a solution vis-à-vis shortage of mining material like sand and gravel and the curb on mining following directions of the court. The committee was yet to submit its report, though it was constituted in April. Meanwhile, restrictions on the movement of vehicles from 8pm to 6am has failed to yield any result. The state had registered as many as 2,800 tractors for commercial use in the Nalagarh belt as against their use for agricultural purposes only and this decision was covertly responsible for the large-scale illegal mining. Lacking resources and manpower, the mining staff had a tough task to curb illegal mining where the support of the 39 other officials of various departments authorised to check this activity was limited.
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Dhumal faces flak for defending HPCA
Shimla, August 10 He said only one FIR had been registered in connection with the irregularities pertaining to the construction of a luxury hotel by the HPCA and by questioning the registration of a second FIR, Dhumal had only betrayed his ignorance about the facts of the case. He asked Dhumal to explain how the HPCA was transformed from a society to a commercial company. As per law, in case a society has to be wound up, proper liquidation proceedings have to be carried out and for the same a liquidator has to be duly appointed. He wanted to know from him if proceedings were carried out to liquidate the HPCA. He also questioned the decision to allotting the playground of the government school in Shimla to the HPCA that was a grave injustice to students of the institution. The previous BJP government, headed by Dhumal, showered undue benefits on the sports body. Balnatah alleged that the HPCA had been virtually reduced to a captive organisation of Dhumal and Anurag by replacing the constitution and inducted life members with voting right. He asked Anurag to make public the names of all life members along with their addresses. The HLP leader urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to ensure speedy investigation in the case and take appropriate actions so that no sports body could grab the assets of the state in the name of promoting sports. |
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District Cricket Association defends Anurag Thakur
Bilaspur, August 10 Talking to mediapersons here today, Bilaspur district secretary of the association Vishal
Jagota, accompanied by office-bearers RK Raghu, Vijay Soni, Sonal Sharma, Munish
Chandel, Brajesh Sharma and Sanjiv Thakur, said the HPCA was brought under the Companies Act after completing all formalities under the Act, where permission was granted by the Central Government and the BCCI and this was done to develop the sport in the state. They said not only the
HPCA, even the cricket associations of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and UP were all covered under the Companies Act,
1956. Jagota said Anurag took over as president of the HPCA in 2000 when it was just a scrap and now it was a flourishing organisation having several stadiums and holding one-day international matches for which several bigger states clamoured without success. He said cricket stadiums and facilities for players should not be made the target of political rivalries as these facilities had given the state promising players like Prashant Chopra (Solan), Pankaj Jaswal (Kangra), Ankush Bains (Una) and Sushma Varma (Shimla), who had reached the Indian cricket team, and Rishi Dhawan
(Mandi) and Paras Dogra (Kangra), who were bringing fame to the state through IPL matches. |
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Traffic hit on Pathankot-Mandi National Highway for hours
Nurpur, August 10 The landslide has also endangered buildings of the local Municipal Council and block development office. Meanwhile, lightning threw all telecommunication network in the area out of gear as it damaged the transmission system of the Nurpur telephone exchange. The landline as well as BSNL mobile service remained suspended throughout the day today. The broadband worked partially and subscribers experienced inconvenience due to the failure of the telecommunication network in the area. In many areas of lower Kangra district, population of around 20,000 of seven gram panchayats are still under the fury of flood from the
Beas, which is in spate after water being discharged into it by the BBMB from the overflowing Pong Dam reservoir for the past three days.
SDM Ashwani Sood and Manohar Dhiman, MLA, Indora, today visited the flooded villages. The stranded maize, paddy and vegetable crops in the area have suffered extensive loss due to the flood water. However, no loss of life has so far been reported from any area. |
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Congress meet focuses on ways to capture Dhumal’s den
Shimla, August 10 Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh sat through the meeting along with Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee
(HPCC) chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and noted down all points made by party men leaving no one in doubt that the party would spare no effort to capture the BJP bastion, where it had been licking dust for the past 17 years. In fact, the party has won the seat only twice, in 1984 and 1996, over the past three decades. Over 300 delegates from the constituency, including ministers, former ministers, block office-bearers, MLAs and
ex-MLAs and HPCC members, participated in the meeting at which the reasons for the party consistently faring poorly in the Lok Sabha poll were debated threadbare. Emphasis was on the declaration of the candidate well in advance so that there was enough time for him to visit each and every part of the constituency spread over five districts. Virbhadra exhorted party men to make a sincere effort to win the seat. He said Dhumal was shaken when he was made HPCC chief months before the Assembly elections and he made all sorts of announcements to retain power, but still lost the battle. In the process, he played havoc with the state’s finances and left a debt of Rs 30,000 crore. He was trying to restore the financial health of the government and speed up development works that had come to a standstill during the BJP regime. Sukhwinder underlined the need to galvanise party workers right down to the polling-booth level. |
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Residents protest registration of case against tractor driver
Tribune News Service
Solan, August 10 The residents gathered at the Indira Anaj Mandi today and questioned the rationale of the police to register a case for attempt to murder against Makhan who they alleged was not driving the tractor at the time of the incident. They said if the police did not withdraw the case, they would hold a meeting on August 12 and decide the next course of action, including blocking of the traffic. They alleged that the case had been registered under pressure. In a letter signed by about 200 persons, the local residents said the police had failed to act against the mining mafia that was indulging in a large-scale illicit mining and transporting quarry material to other states, while people who were collecting quarry materials like sand and gravel for their personal housing needs were being victimised. They further alleged that the tractor was being driven by Krishen Kumar, brother of Makhan Singh, who was collecting quarry material for his personal use. Fearing action by the flying squad led by the SDM, Krishen started driving the tractor in the reverse direction towards the Sarsa bridge. The residents said Makhan hails from a poor family and the registration of this case would adversely affect his family.
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Landslides wreak havoc
Palampur, August 10 Official sources today said heavy rain and flash floods in the past two days had caused extensive damage to the rail track at many points between
Ranital, Koparlahar and Kangra, forcing railway authorities to cancel many trains on this route. The Railways have managed to run four trains between Pathankot and Guler section, but beyond
Guler, the rail track is yet to be repaired. Meanwhile, hundreds of passengers, particularly daily commuters, are the worst hit as no train is plying regularly on this route for the past one month. Residents of
Palampur, Baijnath, Paprola, Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan and Joginder Nagar have been facing inconvenience in the absence of train services. The British had laid down the Kangra valley narrow gauge railway line in 1932, linking all important and religious towns of Kangra and Mandi districts. Unfortunately, the Indian Railways have not added even a single brick to this track in the past 79 years. With a manifold increase in the population and increase in the tourist traffic to the Kangra valley in the past 25 years, the Railways have failed to come up to the expectations of local people. The same century-old and outdated engines and coaches are still plying on this track. |
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Parties support Dalits rendered homeless
Mandi, August 10 They were joined by the Mandi Bachao Morcha, Mandi Adhikar Manch, Rashtriya Aavas Abhiyan and others. They demanded that the state government file a fresh affidavit in the high court in this regard. Houses of about 26 Dalits had been demolished in the drive. The government should frame a policy for their rehabilitation, they added. Des Raj, AAP national executive member and Mandi coordinator, who spearheaded the protests in support of the dalits, said the government policy should be to provide house and land to the poor dalits, but it had rendered them homeless. On the other hand, executive officer of the council TS Thakur said they were executing the high court order of demolishing illegal structures raised over a period of time. |
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Climbing training camp on Bara Shigri glacier held
Manali, August 10 This expedition also helped them gain confidence in mountain climbing, leadership, team work and learn techniques in disaster management. Sixty mountaineers from India, Brazil, Italy and Romania, including nine instructors, three of whom were from overseas, participated in the Climbathon Expedition from July 20 to August 10. The expedition was lead by DS Gulia, retired Deputy Director, Mountaineering Institute, Manali. Col HS Chauhan, president, IMF, was the chief guest of the flag-in ceremony here and presented all the participants with mementoes. He said the team had successfully climbed five peaks on Bara Shigri glaciers namely, Shigri Parbat (6,526 m), Kullu Pumori (6,553 m), Khangsering (6,258 m) and two unnamed peaks (6,290 m and 6,238 m). |
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National seminar on Indian languages from today
Shimla, August 10 The seminar will open with the key-note address by Prof UR Ananathamurthy while National Fellow of the Institute Rajvinder Singh will be the coordinator. The participants will debate on fundamental questions such as dominant literary politics in India, problems that Modern Indian languages (MILs) face at the global level, role of translators and translations in prominent MILs. About 25 emerging writers, literary scholars, translators, publishers and cultural administrators will be participating in this seminar. They include Prof Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Dr Mausumi Kandali, Prof Chandershekhar Kambhar, Dr Gagan Gill, Prof Rana Nayar, Dr Rakhshanda Jalil, Sangeeta Barua Pisharoti and Arun Maheshwari. |
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Monsoon Navratras cause heavy rush
Kangra, August 10 The number of vehicles in the town is increasing with each passing day. On the other hand, roads have remained the same as they were three decades back. People with money, muscle and political power have encroached upon these roads with the authorities being mute spectators. Nearly 2,500 vehicles enter the town daily from neighbouring states and other parts of Himachal, but during the Navratras, the number increases manifold. |
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Traffic, tourism affected at Dalhousie
Dalhousie, August 10 In the ongoing rainy
season, landslips slide down from the gullies of the hillside and hamper the vehicular traffic at
this site, while tourists thronging the Dalhousie, Khajjiar and Chamba tourist circuit are
stranded. The officials, however, maintain that to remove the debris from the highway and resume the traffic, the requisite machinery and equipment always remain available on
the spot. Meanwhile, there is a common demand that a permanent solution be worked out to resolve the recurring problem by constructing a bridge or by other deterrent measures from the engineering point of view. |
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Traffic jams kept commuters stranded on the Kangra-Ranital road for hours today due to a heavy influx of pilgrims and lack of police arrangements.
Thousands of pilgrims are arriving in Kangra district to visit the Chamunda Devi and Kangra Devi temples.
At a 20-km stretch from Ranital to Kangra, commuters, including ambulances, remained struck on the road for about two hours, but no traffic personnel was available to streamline it.
Landslides triggered in the wee hours today on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway (NH)-154 suspended vehicular traffic for hours, leading to total chaos. Big rocks along with debris blocked the highway. Public Works Department
(PWD) labourers had a tough time clearing it and succeeded in restoring traffic on the highway at 2 pm. Light vehicles diverted their route through the town markets, whereas heavy vehicles and buses remained stranded for hours and waited for
the restoration of traffic on the NH.
Determined to capture the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, a stronghold of former Chief Minister PK
Dhumal, the ruling Congress held a marathon meet here today to finalise its strategy for the 2014 poll.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh sat through the meeting along with Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee
(HPCC) chief Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and noted down all points made by party men leaving no one in doubt that the party would spare no effort to capture the BJP bastion, where it had been licking dust for the past 17 years.
The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF), New Delhi, organised a special expedition and alpine climbing training camp on the Bara Shigri glacier in the Lahaul-Spiti valley to provide an opportunity to young mountaineers to interact with one another and learn new climbing techniques from experienced climbers.
