Shimla, April 1
The Congress today constituted a three-member committee headed by Horticulture Minister Vidya Stokes to finalise the candidate for the Sujanpur Assembly by-poll as April 3 has been fixed as the last date for applying for the tickets.

The Congress has set the ball rolling for finalising its candidate for the by-poll as the committee will meet here on April 4 to take a final decision on the most suitable candidate to take on the BJP. The other two members of the committee include Health and Revenue Minister Kaul Singh Thakur and Transport Minister GS Bali.

Once the selection committee makes its recommendation, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu are likely to make the final decision by April 5, party sources said. Sujanpur seat in Hamirpur district has fallen vacant following the resignation of Rajinder Rana, Independent MLA who is contesting the Lok Sabha election from Hamirpur.

In order to take a final decision on the candidate at the earliest, Sukhu said all those keen to get the Congress ticket could apply till April 3. “The applications, along with a sum of Rs 10,000, can be deposited with the District Congress Committee president, Hamirpur, on or before April 3,” said Naresh Chauhan, HPCC spokesperson.

Though it is still uncertain as who will emerge as the final choice of the party, one thing is certain that the Chief Minister will back the candidature of Rana’s wife. With the Congress calculations about the timing of the by-poll going wrong, Virbhadra will want that Rana is accommodated by fielding his wife. In the past, the Chief Minister had said in case of a by-poll, Rana would be the party’s obvious choice as he had resigned his MLA seat to join the Congress.

Other front runners for the seat include Anita Verma, a former minister who had unsuccessfully contested the last Assembly election in 2012 from Sujanpur. She is bound to stake claim for the ticket, though she has lost two consecutive elections.

With Hamirpur being the home district of Sukhu, he too will have a major say in deciding the ticket. Having opposed the candidature of Rana, right till the last moment Sukhu is unlikely to agree to his wife being fielded as the party nominee. The name of Naresh Thakur, president, Hamirpur District Congress Committee, is also doing the rounds.

Even as the Congress is yet to decide on its candidate, one thing is certain that the party has landed up in a major trouble with the holding the Sujanpur by-poll along with the Lok Sabha election on May 7. In case the by-poll was held later, the ruling Congress would have put in all its might to win the election. As of now the party, including Virbhadra, is focusing on the entire state.

No decision yet Three-member committee, led by Horticulture Minister Vidya Stokes, constituted to finalise candidate Probables can apply to District Congress Committee, Hamirpur, till April 3 Committee to meet on April 4 to finalise name Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu likely to decide on the final candidate on April 5

Una, April 1
Congress candidate from the Hamirpur parliamentary segment Rajinder Rana today said while the campaign for the General Election had picked up momentum, the BJP could not even finalise its manifesto which clearly indicates the prevailing confusion within the BJP top brass.

Addressing public meetings at the Una Sadar Assembly segment, he said the Congress had released its manifesto well in advance and given the road map for development to the people of the country. “Our vision was very clear and people had accepted it,” he claimed.

Rana, who was accompanied by Industry Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and state Youth Congress president Vikramaditya Singh, said chinks in the armour of the BJP were already visible with differences within its top leadership getting public. He claimed that the BJP candidate’s public meetings in the Una Sadar segment had not attracted much public response.

Vikramaditya charged that the BJP had always cheated the youth of the country, while it was the Congress which had initiated self-employment and skill-upgrade schemes. He said the skill-development allowance being given to the youth for income-linked professional development would give a boost to self-employment.

Agnihotri said the main agenda of the Congress had always been development while the BJP has played divisive politics on the basis of religion, caste and region.

Rana addressed public meetings at Sanoli, Sasan, Nangan, Santoshgarh and Basdehra villages, besides Mehatpur nagar panchayat. District Congress president Varinder Dharmani and Pradesh Congress Committee member Satpal Raizada were also present. 

Congress candidate from Mandi Pratibha Singh addresses a public meeting at Gohar on Tuesday. Photo: Jai Kumar

Gohar (Mandi), April 1
Congress candidate from Mandi Pratibha Singh has demanded a probe into the money spent by the BJP to build the image of its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

Addressing public meetings at the Seraj Assembly segment today, she said a two-minute advertisement on television channels costs several crore and the BJP was showing Modi round the clock on channels. A probe should be conducted as to know where the money was coming from.

She said Modi's image building had acquired a new dimension as BJP leaders were placing him equivalent to gods and chanting “Har- Har Modi”.

Criticising the BJP for its alleged false propaganda, she said BJP leaders were trying to mislead people through false propaganda just to gain power and the Congress had always believed in doing work.

She said drinking water scheme worth Rs 140 crore had been sanctioned by the Centre for Mandi, Rampur and Manali on her initiative with the Water Resource Ministry.

She said, “I got the approval from the Central Government for starting a cancer centre, mother and child hospital at Mandi, four-lane projects from Kiratpur to Ner Chowk, Luhari national highway for the development of the state.”

Una, April 1
The preference given to the Haroli constituency in Una district in the past one year over the other four constituencies is likely to affect prospects of the Congress in the area.

The district has five Assembly constituencies, including Haroli, Chintpurni, Gagret, Una and Kutlehar, which are a part of the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency. The Congress won three Assembly constituencies (Haroli, Gagret and Chintpurni) in the last Assembly elections in 2012 while the BJP won in Una and Kutlehar constituencies.

The Haroli Assembly constituency is represented by Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who is close to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Agnihotri had been holding sway in the Una district. Entire development in the district had been taking place at the whims of the minister.

Most of the projects that came to the district in the past one year have come to Haroli Assembly constituency. It got an IIIT institute, a food park, an SDM office, despite the fact that the district headquarters were located just about 15 km from Haroli, industrial area in Pandoga area of the Haroli constituency, sub-tehsil in Ispur and executive engineer office of the Swan project in Haroli.

Even the inauguration of the Swan project was done in Haroli, despite the fact that about half of total Swan project work was to be done in the Gagret Assembly constituency that is also represented by Congress MLA and AICC secretary Rakesh Kalia.

Rakesh Kalia had openly expressed his displeasure that most of Swan project had to come up in the Gagret Assembly constituency, but the project inauguration was laid in Haroli.

Gagret does not have tehsil or sub-tehsil. People have to travel about 60 km from certain places in the constituency for revenue works at Amb subdivision. The creation of at least a sub-tehsil in Gagret has been a long-pending demand of the people of the area. The previous BJP had planned to bring up an IIIT institute in the Kutlehar Assembly constituency. However, the present government has shifted the institute to Mukesh Agnihotri’s Haroli Assembly constituency.

Sources said Congress leaders from Una openly expressed their anguish at being ignored in terms of development works vis-a-vis Haroli in the meeting held by Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Transport and Technical Education GS Bali. Bali was made the in-charge for Una by the HPCC to redress the grievances of Congress workers.

The sources added with the focus of development only on the Haroli Assembly constituency in the past one year in Una distirct, the party might have to face anti-incumbency in the other four Assembly constituencies.

Shimla, April 1
State leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxists (CPM) today accused the Congress and the BJP of pushing people into an “insecure future” as both the parties have failed to protect interests of the state.

Declaring a battle of ballot with the Congress and the BJP, CPM leaders Rakesh Singha and Tikender Panwar said the successive Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs of the Congress and the BJP had failed on all fronts protecting the state’s interest in both Houses of Parliament.

Both parties had buried issues related to agricultural crisis, unemployment and outsourcing of state’s assets to the profit-making business companies and creating unsafe and insecure future of state’s unemployed youth, they added.

“Himachal has landed in a hopeless situation as the BJP and the Congress pursue the same liberal economic policies as dictated by the Centre in 1990. They lack a political vision to chalk out its own polices protecting interests of people of the state,” claimed Rakesh Singha, while addressing a press conference here. He introduced Jagat Ram as the CPM candidate for the Shimla reserved constituency.

Singha alleged the Congress and the BJP had swept burning issues, including unemployment, lack of teaching staff in schools, colleges and pharmacists and doctors in hospitals. The common man was worst hit, he claimed.

He said more than 88 per cent of the population of the state depended on agriculture and looked towards the government sector for sustenance, but farmers and unemployed youth faced an insecure future as most of state assets had been outsourced.

The BJP, Congress MPs and the state government functioned just to implement the Centre’s agenda of ne-liberalisation. The state got new buses only after it increased 30 per cent hike in fare and it got RUSA funds for which it was least ready, he charged.

The entire poll debates had been reduced between two families of Virbhadra Singh and PK Dhumal, who just talked about each other in the election meetings, Singha charged.

The BJP and the Congress had failed to get 7.19 per cent share in the BBMB projects, royalty in its water and forest wealth as MPs showed no interests in taking up these issues with the Centre, he added.

Singha was accompanied by state secretariat member Tikender Panwar, Himachal Kisan Sabha president Dr Kuldip Tanwar, Mayor and CPM leader Sanjay Chauhan.

On the other hand, the CPM candidates have entered politics for social service through long struggle and have raised issues not for furthering individual agendas. People are disillusioned with both the Congress and the BJP, he claimed.

Palampur, April 1
The Palampur Zila Banao Sangharsh Samiti today asked the Congress and the BJP to clarify their stand on granting a district status to Palampur.

Addressing mediapersons at a press club here, samiti president Jagmel Katoch and general secretary Sanjeev Baghla said during the Assembly elections, the Congress party had promised to grant district status to Palampur if voted to power.

They said it was on record that all four sitting MLAs of the Congress in their manifesto had categorically declared that district status for Palampur would be their top priority. They said BJP leaders, however, opposed granting district status to Palampur, when the people of the Palampur region expressed their anger. As a result of this, the BJP suffered a humiliating defeat and all its four candidates from Palampur, Sulaha, Jaisinghpur and Baijnath lost the Assembly elections.

They said the Congress government headed by Virbhadra Singh closed the chapter and failed to make any headway in the past one year. Hence, they said, the samiti had decided to revive the agitation.

Katoch and Baghla alleged that the Congress government and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had virtually cheated seven lakh residents of the Palampur region, comprising three revenue sub-divisions of Palampur, Baijnath and Jaisinghpur.

He said if Congress leaders continued with the same behaviour, residents of Palampur would teach them a lesson in the parliamentary elections. They said they would appeal to the people to boycott the rallies and meetings of Congress leaders in the area and express their resentment.

Both Katoch and Baghla asked BJP leader Shanta Kumar and Congress leader Chander Kumar, who were contesting the parliamentary elections from Kangra, to clarify their stand on the issue, following which the Samiti would chalk out the further line of action.

He cautioned all four MLAs of the Congress party hailing from the region not to play with the sentiments of people.

Mandi, April 1
The announcement of Jai Chand Thakur as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from the Mandi parliamentary constituency has drawn a mixed response from AAP leaders in the state.

Desh Raj Sharma, state convener and national council member of AAP, has reacted sharply on the decision to field Jai Chand from Mandi seat.

Talking to the Tribune, Sharma said, “The decision is surprising as Jai Chand Thakur is hardly known in the AAP party circle or in the public. We have talked to our national leaders and demanded a change in the candidate's name.”

Desh Raj Sharma was an aspirant for the party ticket from the Mandi parliamentary seat. He was very active during the Anna Hazare movement and AAP activities.

Jai Chand, who hails from Sarkaghat, retired as the Deputy Director from the Agriculture Department two years back. He was the state adviser of the Himachal Pradesh Kisan Union.

Jai Chand said, “I have been raising issues of farmers for the past two years and advised them on various problems.”

He said, “I will contest the election on the strength of farmers, unemployed youth and workers.” Jai Chand added, “I shall try to take everybody along, even those who are unhappy with the party's decision to field me as the candidate from Mandi.”

Meanwhile, Lavan Thakur, an AAP activist, has hailed the party decision to field Jai Chand from Mandi. He said, “Even I was an aspirant for the ticket, but once the party has finalised the candidate we would now work for the success of AAP candidate.”

Shimla, April 1
The state government has initiated the process for obtaining Governor’s consent to prosecute former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, even as the final decision on granting permission to prosecute two IAS officers, who have been accused in the HP Cricket Association (HPCA) chargesheet is pending.

It is learnt that officiating Chief Secretary P Mitra today met Governor Urmila Singh in connection with obtaining sanction to prosecute Dhumal whose name has been mentioned in the chargesheet prepared by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Dhumal was the Chief Minister when the land lease was made in favour of the HPCA for the cricket stadium at Dharamsala. Later, the lease was made for commercial use for the construction of a hotel by the cricket body.

Mitra along with other senior officers met Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh last night to discuss the sensitive issue of the HPCA chargesheet and obtaining sanction to prosecute two IAS officers. A total of 18 persons have been named in the chargesheet while five have been made accused.

The accused include PK Dhumal, his MP son Anurag Thakur, Additional Chief Secretary Deepak Sanan, Ajay Sharma who is posted as the Deputy Commissioner, Bilaspur, and Gopal Chand, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mandi.

In case of Anurag, prosecution sanction will be sought from the Speaker of Parliament.

While Sanan and Chand were posted in the Revenue Department as the Additional Chief Secretary when the HPCA was given land, Sharma was the Director, Youth Services and Sports.

The State IAS Officers Association today held a meeting in the secretariat to discuss the issue of names of their colleagues figuring in the HPCA chargesheet.

They expressed displeasure at the manner in which some of the officers were being targeted in the HPCA case. Several other issues, including electing new office-bearers and the Seventh Pay Commission, were also discussed at length.

The HAS Officers Association met Mitra and expressed resentment over the inclusion of names of some HAS officers in the HPCA chargesheet. 

Shimla, April 1
The week-long Navratra langars or dhaams in over a 1,000 temple premises, mainly the legendary shrines across the state, have become readily available arenas for the BJP and the Congress to woo pilgrim-voters ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Leaders or party workers or supporters are not only registering their presence in these sacred feasts, they are also roping in party fund-raisers allegedly sponsoring these religious junkets that have come up in the capital city and other parts of the state, revealed inputs here today.

Though the Election Commission of India (ECI) bans candidates from asking for votes during the dhaams and organising langars, these model code of conduct norms are more flouted than obeyed by the parties, alleged voters.

Navratra crowds are making a beeline for the legendary shrines across the state since yesterday. These shrines include Hat Koti in Jubbal, Mata Devi of Haripur Dhar in Sirmaur, Renuka Devi, Bhima Kali in Saraharan in Shimla district, while Naina Devi in Bilaspur and Mariari Mata and Shikari Devi in Mandi, Brijeshwari and Jawalaji in Kangra, Chintpurni in Una.

The pilgrims throng the temple premises as they eat langars or dhaams organised by the temple committees or sponsored by ambitious leaders or agents of candidates, revealed pilgrims. "You can recognise the leaders by the caps their wear - if it is green hood cap, they are likely to be Congressmen; if they wear maroon hood they can be BJP men.

Their choice of the colour of caps goes by the ones their star campaigners wear. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh prefers to wear green-front Kinnauri cap, while his BJP rival prefers maroon-front cap. It has been observed their supporters identify with them by wearing these caps," commented a political scientist at Himachal Pradesh University, requesting anonymity.

But the enthusiasm that is seen during the Assembly elections among local leaders to woo pilgrims is missing in the Lok Sabha elections, said temple pujaris in the city, which has witnessed a flurry of langars or prashads being distributed among believers or non-believers. "These langars are regular features during the Navratras and as such you cannot say these are organised to woo voters only," said BJP and Congress councillors.

"The Congress is a secular party and it believes in unity in diversity; it is the BJP which divides people on the basis of religion and castes," charged Congress vice-president Harsh Mahajan.

Shimla Mayor and CPM leader Sanjay Chauhan said they neither opposed nor supported religious langars or dhaams and did participate when they were invited. "But we oppose if some party makes it tool to preach its politics," he added.

BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt claimed that it was a question of people's faith, but they opposed the use of other practices to seek votes. Langars are not organised along party lines. Everybody is free to relish the prashad of the deities, he added.

What the model code of conduct says No party or candidate or worker can seek votes during religious ceremonies, including religious feats or langars or dhaams. If somebody is found sponsoring dhaams or langars, the expenditure will be added in his candidates account and the ECI can take appropriate action once the charge is established, said returning officers

Chamba, April 1
The local Municipal Council (MC) is making arrangements for the historic Suhi Mata Mela to be held in Chamba town from April 11 to 13.

The three-day fair is observed to commemorate the sacrifice made by the queen of Chamba, Sunayana, who is popularly known as Sui or Suhi Mata, to bring water to the town.

The legend associated with the fair and the Suhi Mata temple built in memory of the queen relate to the sacrifice she made to fulfil a prophecy in a dream which said water from the Sarotha stream could only be accessed through an aqueduct if the queen or her son was sacrificed.

Rather than sacrificing her own son, the queen sacrificed her life for the town.

MC president Anita Thakur said a provision of Rs 8,000 had been made in the budget to be incurred on the activities of the fair.

Dharamsala, April 1
Rampant flattening of hillocks along the roads is going on in full swing in Una and Kangra districts. The hillocks are being razed for various purposes, including bringing up new housing colonies, religious deras and commercial establishments such as dabhas or hotels. In most of the cases, the razing of hillocks has come at the cost of the green cover.

The levelling of hillocks is also leading to damage to state highways. In some cases, the Public Works Department (PWD) has imposed a penalty on those levelling hillocks illegally.

On the Dharamsala-Gaggal road, the PWD imposed a penalty of about Rs 4 lakh on those levelling hillocks illegally. The fine was issued for damage caused to the road due to the levelling of hillocks.

A survey along the Kangra-Una road revealed that huge operations were going on with the help of JCB machines to flatten hills to bring up commercial establishments.

At some places, two new approach roads were being constructed from the state highway to the flattened hill top leading to the dumping of stones on the main road. In addition, the muck being generated in the process was being dumped along the road.

Ideally, permission has to be sought from the PWD if any person or organisation wants to bring up any road opening on the state highway. Permission also has to be sought from the Forest Department for flattening the hillocks. But people involved in the job have no knowledge about it.

A large number of dhabas have come up along the roads.

In Una district several colonies have come up right along the Una-Nangal road. Inquiries revealed that many colonies have not been approved either by the Town and Country Planning Department or the Forest Department. So blatant is the violation that in several places, colonisers have encroached upon the riverbeds too. They have raised bandhs to protect their colonies. However, these bandhs have the potential of diverting the course of water towards other areas.

The Irrigation Department authorities said they had brought the issue of encroachments on riverbeds to the notice of the government. However, the government had been dithering on action on the plea that in several cases the land of riverbeds was a private ownership.

Recently, the Town and Country Planning Department in Una in its reply to an RTI query had maintained that no colony in the district was approved by them. The fact reveals that all colonies coming up in Una district were illegal.

Paramjit Singh, an advocate and environmental activist, said: “We have been lucky that there have not been much rainfall in the past 10 years. In case it rains like it did in 1988, there will be large-scale destruction in residential areas as several colonies have come right on the riverbeds.”

The PWD authorities said they would look into the alleged violations along the state highways.

Solan, April 1
After failing to sell off two units of the inter-state toll tax barriers at the reserve price, the Excise and Taxation Department finally sold it at a lower price of about Rs 14.95 crore, which was nearly Rs 3.58 crore less than the fixed price.

Two toll tax barriers, including the Dhabota unit in the Baddi excise district and the Gagret unit in Una district, could not be sold despite holding auctions nearly two times.

Failing to get bidders for the reserve price fixed by the department, the officials were forced to scale down the reserve price.

With the term of the present contractor expiring yesterday, the officials had no option, but to give consent to the bidders who were willing to buy the two units at lower rates.

As against the reserve price of Rs 6.84 crore fixed for the Gagret unit, the department could gain only Rs 5.93 crore. As against the reserve price of Rs 11.67 crore, the bidders put forward a price of about Rs 9 crore, which had to be accepted by the officials who feared loss of revenue if the two units remained unsold.

Confirming the development, Joint Commissioner, Excise and Taxation Department, KK Sharma said the revenue from these two units was nearly on a par with last year. Both the units would be monitored by the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Baddi.

Contractors, at times as a tactic, desist from opting for higher rates, thus forcing the officials to accept lower bids. The department has failed to find a solution to this calculative tendency of the contractors despite the situation recurring in some of the state every year.

Shimla, April 1
A former BJP MLA from Badsar in Hamirpur district was booked on the charge of rape by the Shimla police today.

A case of sexual assault was registered against him after recording the statement of the victim, who belongs to his constituency.

The victim in her complaint made on March 5, 2014, had alleged that the accused MLA sexually assaulted her on March 25, 2012, at his residence in the Vidhan Sabha complex in Shimla.

The victim had alleged that when she had approached the MLA for her husband’s transfer, the MLA called her for attaching a note and sexually assaulted her at his residence.

The women kept quiet fearing that the revelation could affect her family. She finally gathered courage and reported the incident to the then DGP and the Chief Minister's office, but no action was taken.

Abhishek Dullar, Superintendent of Police (SP), Shimla, confirmed that the FIR had been registered after the woman ascertained the facts.

Nahan, April 1
A case of rape and criminal intimidation has been registered against a man in the Shillai area of Sirmaur district. The man has been accused of abusing two women after making their MMS and for recording intimate conversation with them.

The first case came to the fore, when a woman from Kando Bhatnol village lodged a complaint with the police yesterday saying that a man, Jeet Singh, from Bandli village had been sexually exploiting her since 2007. She said he had recorded her conversation and even made an obscene MMS.

She said she was facing mental trauma as the said clipping was being circulated in the Shillai area. She said she had registered an FIR with the police to save herself from further harassment.

It had been learnt that Jeet had sent the memory card of his mobile phone to load songs at a local mobile shop, where the shopkeeper saved the MMS and voice recordings before returning the memory card. He then sold the objectionable material to various area residents.

Sources said the MMS clippings of another woman were also found in the memory card of the accused.

The police had received another such complaint this evening.

DSP Yogesh Rolta said the police were investigating the matter after registering a case under Sections 376 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code for rape and criminal intimidation. The accused is still at large.

Shimla, April 1
With March turning out to be the wettest in the past seven years with 118.1 mm rain, which is 13 per cent more than normal, Himachal is all set to have record production of wheat this rabi season.

Agriculture Director JC Rana said the intermittent rain in March had delayed the sowing of tomato by 15 to 20 days, while the peas crop suffered 20-25 per cent damage in Mandi, Solan, Shimla, Sirmaur and other districts.

As rain occurred at regular intervals, there was no water stagnation in the fields. The wheat crop did not suffer any damage and the initial report suggested that crop damage was not substantiated.

Unlike in Punjab and Haryana, wheat harvesting began in May and the crop was not ready for harvesting as rain did not cause any damage, Rana added.

Rana said a target of 7-lakh tonnes had been fixed for the production of wheat this year which would be easily achieved.

However, the wheat crop could suffer damage in case stormy conditions were back and hailstorm, sleet lashed the region. Rain after April 20 could play a spoilsport and affect the quality of the grain, he said.

Due to global warming, the peak winter season has shifted to February and March.

As per data procured from the Meteorological Department, the state is experiencing more rain during March as compared to December and January. During March, Chamba received a maximum of 252.4 mm rain, while Una received a minimum of 60.1 mm rain.

The winter season recorded 363.1 mm rain against the normal of 544.8 mm.

The state received 20.5 mm rain in October 2013, 15.8 mm in November, 25.4 mm in December, 66.3 mm in January 2014, 117.2 mm in February and 118.1 mm rain in March.

After 2007, March had shown a downward trend in rainfall with 4.7 mm rain in 2008, 28.7 mm in 2009, 31.8 mm in 2010, 61 mm in 2011, 37.3 mm in 2012 and 75 mm rain in 2013 against the normal of 104.8 mm.

Solan, April 1
Despite the state government having imposed a ban on the use of plastic carry bags and other such packaging material, heaps of such material has been found strewn around in the Industrial Area of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN).

The problem is more pronounced along National Highway (NH) No. 21-A. Plastic waste can be seen lying in heaps on both sides of the road. Since Baddi shares a border with Haryana, the situation is equally alarming in both the states. Scrap dealers have accumulated plastic waste on both sides of the national highway.

Plastic waste is seen strewn on all roads of the BBN and the municipal committees have failed to check their use.

Since plastic is used as a packaging material by MNCs and they procure several plastic packed products from other states, it has become difficult to rid the BBN area of the menace.

At least 20 per cent of the waste is contributed by the material rejected in companies in various manufacturing processes. It has been stated that 80 per cent of the rejected material is recycled and put to other use. Since this rejected material has no other use, it is sold to junk dealers who dump it in their open yards and burn it after failing to find it to be of utility anywhere, confided Mukesh Kumar, an investor from Baddi.

Plastics are used as laminated sheets in various industries which find use in packaging. There are several such items which reach the BBN from other states.

Investors opined that things were improving after the High Court ban and several warehouses which were earlier operating from the Baddi-Siswan road had shifted to other states.

The government had directed the municipal councils to buy plastics from people at the rate of Rs 3 per kg and further sell it to the Public Works Department (PWD) at the rate of Rs 4 per kg. It was decided that the PWD would use plastic in the construction of roads.

People have not quite come forward to use this opportunity to dispose of plastic in a hygienic manner and it is found strewn at every nook and corner.

Rag-pickers are found rummaging through heaps of plastic in search of articles which can be sold further in the BBN area. The state government had bagged an award for ridding the state of plastics, but the campaign had a limited impact. Despite several officials having been authorised to challan users, they often adopt an indifferent attitude towards violations.

Kullu, April 1
The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Shimla, headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, in its orders on March 27, directed the state of Himachal Pradesh and Municipal Council, Kullu to suggest the amount that the tribunal should direct every person to contribute towards municipal council waste and sewage disposal in Kullu and Bhuntar towns.

The NGT further directed the secretary, marketing committee, Bhuntar, to submit an affidavit with complete details and photographs of the site near Beas where the tractor owner (contractor) had earlier thrown vegetable waste and had now submitted before the tribunal that he had done that at the instance of the Nagar Palika, Bhuntar.

Besides having regular staff for cleaning the municipal limits, the municipal committee Kullu had launched a new initiative for the past around six months. It had engaged a private contractor to collect door-to-door garbage. A monthly fees of Rs 50 to Rs 300 was being charged from the residents, varying between dwellings and commercial properties, for garbage collection.

Many residents had earlier resented the additional charge for the task that was being carried out since ages by paying house tax and other levy, to the municipal committee. Some residents still prefer to provide waste to regular collectors and blame the staff engaged by the contractor to be non-proficient and lacking punctuality.

A resident alleged that the staff was simply interested in a bulge in customer database.

Most of the residents opined that the fees should be directly collected by the municipal authorities, as the receipts provided by the contractor were without a carbon copy backup and signified there was negligible check and regulation on operations and account books of the contractor. Some of the residents were pleased with the new door-to-door garbage collection service and termed the regular staff to be inefficient and incompetent.

Environmentalists rued that even after charging of such hefty fees by the municipal authorities, there was no proper disposal mechanism for disposal of domestic waste and the landfill disposal site near Mohal flouted the norms as it was close to the river. It encroached upon forest land and was near inhabited areas. IPH department also charged on quarterly basis for sewerage connection, besides millions having been spent on laying of sewage pipelines within the municipal limits.

Abhishek Rai, president, Himalayan Environment Protection Society (HEPS), an NGO, rued that some water samples of five such sewage treatment plants in Manali, Sarwari, Lanka Baker, Bhunter and Sarabai failed chemical and bacterial tests.

President of Municipal Committee Kullu, Rishabh Kalia, said proper and scientific disposal of domestic waste was done at treatment plant in Mohal and door-to-door garbage collection scheme was a big success in maintaining the cleanliness of the town.

He said due to increasing population of the town and lack of manpower with the committee, the regular staff deployed for cleaning the municipal limits was not able to cope with the increased pressure of garbage collection and the job was thus outsourced to a private contractor.

IPH, SDO, Hazari confirmed that the water samples discharged into the Beas by the sewage treatment plants of this district were found to be within the permissible limits and report of the same had been submitted by the counsellors appointed by the NGT.

As for the new fees, residents opined that without proper regulation and audit, proper utilisation of the funds so collected is important, or else their fate could be the same as that of the green tax collected at Manali.

Green tribunal order The state of Himachal Pradesh and Municipal Council, Kullu have been directed to suggest the amount that the tribunal should direct every person to contribute towards municipal council waste and sewage disposal in Kullu and Bhuntar towns The NGT directed the secretary, marketing committee, Bhuntar, to submit an affidavit with complete details and photographs of the site near Beas where the contractor had earlier thrown vegetable waste and had now submitted before the tribunal that he had done that at the instance of the Nagar Palika, Bhuntar

Himri (Shimla), April 1
As many as 54 children with special needs (CWSN) from eight districts of Haryana are participating in a six-day inclusive winter adventure and nature study camp being organised at Himri village, 22 km from here. Fascinated by the lifestyle of Himachalis, they had a peek into the state's culture.

Differently abled students, accompanied by their teachers, friends and parents, have come here under inclusive and quality education efforts by the Department of Education, Rashtriya Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan and National Secondary Education programme.

Rashid Alvi, a student of Class VIII hailing from Mewat, climbing the commando net, said adventure activities instilled confidence and staying at a hilly place was itself an adventure.

Jasbir, hailing from Assand tehsil of Karnal district, was fascinated by Himachali culture and lifestyle of residents in hilly areas, especially those in rural pockets. He said it was amazing that people in the hills were accustomed to a very difficult life and still managed to be comfortable.

The campers, including boys and girls of Classes I to XII, were engaged in multifarious activities like trekking, hiking, river crossing and rock climbing apart from reading, dancing, painting and quiz competitions, said Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan state coordinator Amrit Kaur.

Karnal district in charge Arun Kaharba said these activities infused in children the spirit of teamwork and imbibed in them various other qualities. Such programmes are purported to promote inclusive education.

Kangra, April 1
Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission for India Montek Singh Ahluwalia will deliver a lecture on “India's Economic Objective and Prospects” on the occasion of the second foundation day of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) on its campus on April 4. CUHP Vice-Chancellor Furqan Qamar will preside over the function.

CUHP Pro-Vice-Chancellor Yoginder Singh Verma said Montek would deliver a lecture at the Temporary Academic Block of the CUHP at Shahpur at 3.30 pm.

Professor Verma said the lecture would help students to know the various aspects of the Indian economy and its functioning.

Mandi, April 1
Two passengers were killed when the jeep (HP-65-6786) they were travelling in fell into the Beas on the Shiva-Badar road here yesterday.

The deceased, Devi Singh and Chaman Singh (driver of the jeep), were in their 30s and hailed from Haton-Badar. Their bodies were taken out by divers.

Palampur, April 1
Large-scale deforestation, reckless cutting of hills, illegal mining, poor management of waste, falling groundwater tables, preservation and quality of forests, biodiversity loss and land/soil degradation are causes of concern for Himachal residents. Rampant urbanisation is adding to environment concerns.

Setting up of cement plants and execution of hydel projects combined with other construction activities in the state are posing a serious threat to the existence of many forest lands and natural resources in the state.

These projects have become a major environmental hazard and disturbed the fragile ecosystem.

The state is losing its forest cover year after year. In the past 10 years, over 50,000 precious trees have been axed in the state for making way for setting up cement plants, roads, buildings and hydel power projects.

Unfortunately, the new Congress government in the state has allowed five private companies to set up five more cement plants. If these companies are allowed to go ahead, it will further cause extensive loss to the state’s environment and ecosystem.

Kangra, Kulu, Kinnaur, Chamba, Solan, Bilaspur, Mandi and Shimla districts are the worst affected. Hundreds of acres have been rendered barren owing to the reckless cutting of hills and felling of trees by the companies involved in execution of power projects and cement plants. Large-scale land erosion and flash floods have made lives miserable.

Over 30,000 trucks belonging to four cement plants and power projects carrying cement, clinker and other raw material are plying on the state roads every day. These have become a major health hazard as large-scale pollution and emission of gases have triggered outbreak of various fatal diseases.

It has affected the tourism industry in the state as there are regular traffic jams on various national and state highways every day, inconveniencing tourists visiting the state.

Shimla, April 1
Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) Vice-Chancellor (VC) ADN Bajpai has called upon writers to show commitment to "facts and reality" leading to truth.

Inaugurating a one-day international seminar organised by Centre for Australian and New Zealand Studies of the university on the theme "Autobiography: Strategies of Writing the Self, Australia and India" here yesterday, Professor Bajpai said India had a rich heritage of autobiographies and biographies.

He mentioned Valmiki's "Ramayana" as the first biography and how it got modified by Kalidasa and then again by Tulsidas in "Ramcharit Manas". He quoted from "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Yogananda Paramhansa.

He said an autobiography was often subjective; there should be an endeavour to make it objective.

Dr Jackie Huggins, creative writer and activist from University of Queensland, traced the roots of aboriginal writings to the 1970s, and apprised the gathering about how significant the autobiography was to aboriginal writings.

He referred to the fact that in contemporary times, indigenous writers were also coming out with fiction and drama.

She referred to the autobiography of her mother, "Auntie Rita". She stressed that some stories were so horrifying that they could not be shared at all. Though still only 20 per cent of the population, the aboriginals were still asserting themselves, she added.

Prof KG Srivastava, former Vice-Chancellor, Allahabad University, traced the roots of the autobiography in the Rig Veda. He dwelled on the differences between an autobiography and a biography. The seminar was attended by delegates from Australia and different parts of India - Jammu, Chennai, Kolkata, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Himachal Pradesh, lecturers from colleges of the state and research scholars.

Shimla, April 1
The cyber crime cell of the Himachal police received 280 complaints of cyber crime, including 99 complaints regarding fake/hacked facebook profiles, in the past 12 months. It registered cases in 35 of the complaints after offences were found cognisable.

Additional DGP (CID) SR Mardi, who conducted an annual review of the performance of the cyber cell from March 2013 to March 2014, said the cell provided technical assistance to different police stations in the investigation of 145 cases of different categories under the Information Technology (IT) Act. Cases were registered in 34 complaints after it was found that the offence was cognisable.

Mardi said cyber crime had registered a sharp increase with the introduction of new gadgets and software in cyberspace. Unsuspecting residents have fallen victims to cyber-fraud.

He cautioned unsuspecting credit and debit card users to take precautions. "Friendship" on social media, use of an ATM card or checking a message on the phone could expose residents to cyber crime, he said. The cyber cell cautioned citizens about these frauds and precautions that needed to be taken.

Fraudsters posing as debit and credit card representatives had been randomly calling people and asking them for their card details, telling them that their card had been blocked and they required details of the card to keep it working, said Mardi. He added that some people who shared details of their cards fell victim to fraud and lost the amount they had within minutes.

"Members of the public are advised not to share their card information with anyone. Banks don’t ask for details of the cards," he said. He further said online mobile recharges, purchases or shopping, online bill payment and transfer of money through netbanking could also be exposed to the prospect of loss of the entire amount in a bank account, big or small.

The cell helped the district units to trace missing persons. Recently, one missing person was reportedly traced in six hours by the cell. Technical assistance (cyber and mobile forensics) is also provided by the cyber cell to police stations across the state.

Shimla, April 1
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has imposed Rs 10,000 cost on Oriental Insurance Company for filing an appeal devoid of merit.

The court passed this order on an appeal filed by the insurance company against the award by the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal, Dharamsala. It had awarded Rs 2,10,000 in favour of claimants following a vehicular accident that caused a death in 2000.

The claimants had filed a claim petition before the tribunal for grant of compensation to the tune of Rs 10,50,000 in 2001. After long-drawn pendency right from 2001 to 2006, the tribunal granted compensation of Rs 2,10,000 in favour of the claimants.

The insurance firm filed an appeal before the High Court and during the pendency of the case, the husband and one son of the deceased also died.

Expressing concern on the working of the tribunal, Acting Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir observed: "After long-drawn pendency right from the year 2001 to 2006, the tribunal came out of deep slumber and examined the claim petition and granted compensation, that too meagre, in favour of the claimants. This is how the tribunals of this state are working is an eye-opener."

While dismissing the appeal, Justice Mir further observed that "this is how the long pendency of the claim petition as well as this appeal, which is on the Board of this Court for the last eight years, have deprived the claimants of the compensation, who are wandering and the procedural wrangles and tangles have rendered their lives miserable and have added to their sufferings which they have suffered being the victims of the vehicular accident". It directed the Registry of the court to circulate copy of this judgment to all District and Additional District Judges in the state for information and compliance.

Shimla, April 1
The state BJP, concerned over the infiltration of two Chinese, today said security should be beefed up in border areas to stop such untoward activities.

State BJP spokesperson Ganesh Dutt said it was surprising that Chinese nationals were now roping in Ladakh girls. Taking a dig at the CM, he said it would be better if the Congress talked about their achievements in the past 10 years at the Centre and during the past 15 months in the state rather than raising irrelevant issues.

Shimla, April 1
A senior IPS officer, Chandershekhar Pandit (58), died in a road accident at Panthaghati, 10 km from here, this evening, the police said.

Chandershekhar was himself driving the vehicle and was alone when his Nano veered off the road and rolled down a hill. He was immediately taken to the nearby Tenzing hospital by some passersby, but doctors declared him brought dead. His body was taken to the IGMC hospital for postmortem.

Chandershekhar is survived by his wife and a son. He was posted at Chamba as SP. He would be cremated at his native place Jahoo in Hamirpur district tomorrow, family sources said.

He was SP, Shimla, during the BJP regime, but was posted to Police Training, Droh, and later shifted to Chamba as SP (Security).

Kangra, April 1
The four youths from Punjab, involved in assaulting a car driver and snatching his car, today were produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dehra. The court remanded them to judicial custody for seven days.

Dehra Sub-Divisional Police Officer BD Bhatia said the body of the fifth accused, who was killed due to a fall from a hillock yesterday to evade arrest, was handed over to his relatives today after postmortem.

The police said he was identified as Rahul (22) of Tarn Taran district in Punjab.

Nurpur, April 1
In a broad daylight incident, thieves broke into a locked house at Khushinagar near here yesterday, a police report said.

As per information, Vijay Sharma of Khushinagar, along with his family members, was away to attend a function at his relative’s place. When he returned in the evening, he found the lock of the main gate of the house missing. He found the steel almirah in a room broken open and silver jewellery worth around Rs 40,000 and Rs 10,000 cash missing.

Nurpur DSP Manoj Joshi said a case under sections 456 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code had been registered in this connection. He also cautioned residents of the area not to leave their houses unoccupied when they were away.