Shimla, November 14
Under the new Water Policy, round-the-clock drinking water will be provided, a network of sewerage treatment plant to cover all households in the rural areas be set up and the local bodies be involved in planning, operation and maintenance of schemes by evolving a suitable participatory mechanism.

The policy approved by the Cabinet yesterday also paves the way for involving the private sector in distribution of water and collection of water charges through public-private partnership mode and putting in place a regulatory mechanism for sustainable use of water sources.

The new policy is the amended version of 2005 policy which has been changed to comply with the conditions put by the World Bank while sanctioning development policy loan and also make it compatible with the National Water Policy notified in 2012.

The policy integrates all water-related concerns, including the management of watershed and ground water resources, and makes discussion with stakeholders, particularly, the local community mandatory while planning and designing schemes.

The schemes will be handed over to community bodies for operation and maintenance and they will be allowed to retain the user charges for the purpose.

The long-term objective of the policy is to ensure round-the-clock supply of drinking water by augmenting the existing schemes. The exploitation of ground water will be strictly regulated and efforts will be made to install new hand pumps at "off-the-main road" sites so that they cater to the needs of the local villagers and not misused for other purposes.

Measures to recharge ground water and sustain the surface water sources, including water harvesting structures, will be taken to ensure adequate availability of water in various schemes.

In the case of irrigation schemes, the backward and forward linkages will be ensured for their optimum utilisation and focus will be on economical use of water by switching over to drip and micro irrigation from the present flood irrigation method. The local committees will maintain the scheme and collect water charges from the farmers. 

Shimla, November 14
The hi-tech electric tramway public transport system, being mulled to decongest the queen of hills, is feasible in terrains with higher inclines.

A team of Egis India, a French tramways company, headed by technical director Herve Cughnet, was here today to inspect the main circular road, pedestrian paths from The Ridge to Sanjauli, the CTO building to the advanced study institute to study the feasibility of the tramways system to ease the traffic mess here.

Cughnet interacted with Shimla Mayor Sanjay Chauhan, Deputy Mayor Tikender Panwar, Municipal Commissioner Amarjeet Singh and Assistant Commissioner Naresh Thakur and gave his presentation on the tramways.

Cughnet said, "The tramways system is feasible on the road and pedestrian paths where the terrains are with higher inclines. In more such terrain, this system can be operational if we put cogwheels to the trams, but this makes it more expensive and mobility is very less."

The tramways is being proposed to rid the capital of the traffic congestion, which has made the mobility in the city a nightmare, mainly during the peak hours.

The trams system has worked well in Bonn, Istanbul, Switzerland and other European cities. But here the density of population, movement of pedestrians on the restricted and main roads is very high, Cughnet observed.

The high movement of public on the roads and paths during the peak hours would make tramways mobility as low as 2 km per hour. But in other case, its mobility could be as high as 20-25 km per hour, he said.

The tramways can be laid here that can provide a tram after two minutes to 15 minutes to the traveller. But the cost of tramways can be Rs 80 crore per km. The more the speed and duration higher the cost, said Cughnet.

The tramways were both double ways and single ways and three bogies could carry 120 people at a time. "We need the road width of 7 m for the double track and 2.5 m for the single track," he added.

"We are proposing the system on the 13 km circular road and replacing the present taxi systems on Sanjauli-Lakkar Baazar, The Ridge-Sanjauli and CTO building-the advance study institute. The purpose is to discourage the locals and tourists from using private vehicles in the town," he added.

The technical inspection was at a preliminary stage and once it was found feasible, they would make the comprehensive report for the tramways, said Amarjeet Singh.

The tramways can be laid here that can provide a tram after two minutes to 15 minutes to the traveller. But the cost of tramways can be Rs 80 crore per km. The more the speed and duration higher the cost
— Herve Cughnet, technical director, Egis India

Palampur, November 14
Shanta Kumar, MP and the Chairman of the Commerce Committee of the Rajya Sabha, said today that prescription of generic drugs in the public health sector should be implemented in letter and spirit.

Addressing mediapersons at his residence here yesterday, Shanta said the main aim of the Central Government to reduce the prices of 314 drugs was to extend the benefit to poor patients.

He said the recent decision of the state government directing all the medical officers in the state to prescribe only generic drugs to patients was appreciable but at the same time a strict check was needed as “multinational drugs companies were making all the efforts to influence doctors for marketing their products”.

The state government should take necessary steps to check such "illegal acts", he added.

He said a foreign company was selling its medicines meant for cancer patients for Rs 2.80 lakh till recently, whereas the same salt manufactured by an Indian company was now available at Rs 8,000.

He said it was a matter of concern that foreign drugs companies were capturing the Indian market because of their large scale advertisement, giving incentives to doctors and adopting other means.

He said the Commerce Committee had told to the Centre that it must
ensure availability of medicines at reasonable rates to every citizen.

He said the committee had also asked the government to come out with a legislation forcing doctors to prescribe only generic drugs. Such laws were already in force in many countries and in case of violation, doctors were panelised, he said.

He said stringent steps were needed to fill the gap between prices of generic drugs and branded drugs. 

Shimla, November 14
The Himachal Pradesh High Court today expressed displeasure over the “inaction” of administrative secretaries, who failed to provide requisite information to the Chief Secretary whether or not the postings of tainted officers on sensitive posts was with the concurrence and approval of the highest authority.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Kuldeep Singh directed secretaries of all the departments concerned to furnish required information within a day to the Chief Secretary on the basis of which he would file an affidavit in the court.

It further directed that any secretary, who failed to provide information by the stipulated time period, would have to remain present in the court personally along with the original record concerning tainted officers in their department on November 18, the next date of hearing, to explain the reasons for the failure to comply with the direction of the court.

The court had in its earlier order directed all the secretaries to furnish information with regard to postings of tainted officers in their respective departments to the Chief Secretary. However, some of the secretaries failed to comply with the direction. The counsel for the state government sought more time to file the affidavits in respecting postings of tainted officers.

The orders were passed on a petition filed by a former state drug controller, Sher Singh, but the court widened its scope to address the basic issue of tainted officers on sensitive posts. 

Shimla, November 14
The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee today organised a function at Rajiv Bhawan, the party headquarters, here to mark the birth anniversary of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Addressing party workers, party general secretary Harbhajan Singh Bhajji said Nehru played a major role in re-organisation of the country after becoming the Prime Minister of independent India and responsibly handled every challenge that came in the way to lay a solid foundation for the growth of the newly liberated nation.

Bhajji urged the party workers to follow the path shown by Nehru for building a strong and progressive India. He said Nehru was very fond of children and his birth anniversary was aptly celebrated as the Children’s Day in the country.

The function was attended by Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president Geeta Negi, spokespersons Naresh Chauhan and Sanjay Singh Chauhan, former MLA Adarsh Sood, DCC Shimla (Urban) president Pradeep Singh Bhujja, former president Arun Sharma, general secretaries Ashwani Sharma, Ved Prakash, secretaries Jitendra Thaur, Raj Kumar, councillors Alok Pathania, Deepak Rohal, ex-councillor Ashok Sood, Congress Sewa Dal’s state organiser Pratap Kanwar, organising secretary Rajesh Sharma, office secretary Paramdev Sharma, district chief organiser Hem Raj Sharma, Shimla Urban Chief organiser Chander Jeet Singh, and state Mahila Congress general secretary Prabha Verma.

KANGRA: Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday was celebrated at Rait with enthusiasm and gaiety. Kewal Singh Pathania, vice-chairman, HP Forest Corporation, stressed on the audience to move on the footsteps of Nehru. He was the chief guest on the occasion. Cultural programmes were also presented on the occasion by children. 

Shimla, November 14
BJP MLAs refused to be part of the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s team, which was to play a friendly cricket match with the Governor’s Eleven, here on November 17.

It is the BJP Legislature Party, which has taken the decision of not being part of the Chief Minister’s team, which was to play the friendly match at Bishop Cotton School (BCS) here. Five BJP legislators, Jai Ram Thakur, Rajeev Sejal, Hans Raj, Vinod Kumar and Baldev Tomar, who were members of the CM team, had earlier given consent and availability for the match.

“Just like ups and downs in Indo-Pak relations, which affect matches and cultural events, playing such friendly matches in the state is pointless when the government is hurling off the field bouncers at the HPCA and the BJP, virtually hitting below the belt,” said BJP legislators. The organisers confirmed that notwithstanding the refusal of the BJP legislators, the friendly match would be organised as per the earlier schedule.

The match is being organised by the Himachal Pradesh Sports, Culture and Environment Association headed by Vikramaditya Singh, son of Virbhadra Singh. The Chief Minister is the captain of the team while Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri is the vice-captain. Similar matches have been held in the past years both at Shimla and Dharamsala.

The BJP decision seems to have been prompted by cases registers against the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) headed by Anurag Thakur, MP and son of former Chief Minister PK Dhumal. The Vigilance Bureau and other government agencies are probing various alleged irregularities committed by the cricket body.

“It is the collective decision of the BJP Legislature Party of not playing the match as we strongly feel that there is no justification in holding such friendly matches when the Congress regime is out to ruin the actual cricket in the state,” said Satpal Singh Satti, state BJP president. State Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said politics should not be dragged to the field of sports. “Such friendly matches should be played with true sportsman spirit, keeping political differences and party lines aside,” he said.

The other team members include Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Nand Lal and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, and MLAs Sanjay Rattan, Anrudh Singh, Yadvinder Goma, Mohan Lal and Bambar Thakur, all from the Congress. All the five Independent MLAs in the Assembly, Balbir Verma, Rajinder Rana, Pawan Kajal, Manohar Dhiman and Karnesh Jung are members of the Chief Minister’s XI.

On the other hand, the Governor’s team includes Officiating Chief Secretary P Mitra and DGP Sanjay Kumar.

Bilaspur, November 14
The government ordered the sealing of a benami property at Shah Talai, 70 km from here, yesterday.

Reports said Tehsildar RD Daman, Jhandutta, along with his team of revenue officials locked and sealed all rooms and the main gate of Sohan Singh Jodewale Dharamshala at Shah Talai bazaar.

The Tehsildar said this legal action had been taken on the orders of the Deputy Commissioner, Bilaspur, as this property had been found benami and had violated Section 118 of the HP Land Act.

Reports said there were some 35 serais constructed by those from outside the state here at Shah Talai for lakhs of devotees of Baba Balak Nath.

Almost all of these serais were constructed after getting land registered in the name of local people and it was now natural that all such serais were under the scanner of the district administration as these were reported to have been constructed after violating the Act. 

Chamba, November 14
The Himachal Pradesh Pensioners Welfare Association (HPPWA) has expressed disappointment over the proposed move of the state government to make amendments to the Central Government rules applicable to the HP Government servants and pensioners.

State spokesperson of the HPPWA PC Oberoi said the move of the HP Government to delink government employees from the Central rules would adversely affect employees and pensioners.

Oberoi said the government had already ordered to reduce the commuted value of the pension from 40 to 20 per cent and such reduction in the quantum of the commuted value of the pension had adversely affected the interest of the pensioners.

He said the pensioners at the time of retirement got leave encashment up to 300 days. The government had the intention to slash this limit of 300 days to 180 days or so. He said such measures would be detrimental to the interests of the pensioners.

He urged the state government that the Central rules applicable to HP employees and pensioners should not be withdrawn or amended.

Una, November 14
Anurag Thakur, BJP MP from Hamirpur, flagged off the Una-Hazoor Sahib (Nanded) train from Una railway station this afternoon.

After flagging off the train, Anurag said as a parliamentarian, he had lobbied hard for getting the train started from Una as per the demand of the locals. He claimed that he had been raising the issue of expansion of the broad gauge railway line in the state in the Parliament and had also written to the Union Minister for Railways in this regard.

He said as the BCCI joint secretary, he had an appointment with David Cameron today. He said he had to attend the historic test match between West Indies and India that was the last match of Sachin Tendulkar. “However, I have given my constituency priority and attended today’s function at Una,” he added.

“I would strive to extend all the trains coming to Una up to Amb,” he said.

The other BJP leaders who were present on the occasion included state president of the BJP Satpal Satti, Kutlehar MLA Varinder Kanwar, Naina Devi MLA Randhir Sharma and Rajya Sabha member Bimla Kayshap.

The train connecting Anandpur Sahib with Hazoor Sahib was earlier coming just up to Nangal in Punjab. It has now been extended to Una, 20 km from Nangal.

Shimla, November 14
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today refuted the charges levelled by Arun Dhumal and said if he had so many details as he was claiming he should furnish exact information about his bank accounts.

“I can ascertain the veracity of the allegations only after details like account numbers the bank branch are provided,” he said. It was a plan of the Dhumal family to defame him and divert the attention from their own misdeeds.

Two senior ministers Thakur Singh Bharmouri and Prakash Chaudhary have denounced the allegations levelled by Dhumals and other BJP leaders against the Chief Minister and his family members. They said Dhumals were indulging in malicious propaganda to divert and distract public attention from their own wrong doings which were under probe. They had made the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) a captive organisation by inducting voting members from the neighbouring states.

While in power PK Dhumal had unleashed personal vendetta against Virbhadra and registered false cases against him and a 32-point chargesheet was also sent to the CBI for investigation. However, Virbhadra Singh came out clean on all counts.

They alleged that Vikramaditya Singh was being deliberately targeted with an ulterior motive of causing harm to his campaign in the ongoing youth Congress elections. “He is a PAN cardholder and has been filing his income tax returns regularly and if the income tax authorities find no fault in them, what authority does young Dhumal had to question them,” they alleged.

It was strange that Dhumals were having access to the income tax returns and bank details of Virbhadra Singh and Vikramaditya Singh which were purely personal documents. It only affirmed that the Dhumal Government had been illegally intruding into the privacy of the people by indulging in phone tapping and bugging. It appeared that Dhumals were spying on the personal lives of their political opponents and peeping into their personal accounts, which was illegal and a crime.