Shimla, June 21
The state government has ordered an inquiry headed by a chief engineer of the HP State Electricity Board (HPSEB) to look into the directives of the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) asking 126 Larji hydro-power project to scale down generation, leaving out big private power projects to go full steam.

The fresh inquiry will form a part of the action taken report to be filed in the HP High Court on June 24. The action is based on the revelations made in the inquiry report submitted by the Divisional Commissioner, Mandi, into the accident at Thalot where 24 engineering students from Hyderabad were swept in the surging Beas on June 8.

“The Chief Minister has approved the holding of an inquiry by a chief engineer of the HPSEB into the aspect of letting private projects to run full capacity and impose restrictions only on government projects,” revealed Chief Secretary P Mitra.

He said the Chief Minister had assured that the search operation would carry on till the last body was recovered.

The decision comes in the wake of the fact that the divisional commissioner in his report had specifically pointed out that Larji was asked to undertake load shedding by reducing generation even though it is a “run of the river” project and does not have large storage capacity like other projects.

He has specifically mentioned the fact that the 300-MW Baspa owned by JP Group, located upstream of Larji continued generating up to 330 MW throughout the day on June 8.

Officials also feel that the load reduction which had been necessitated to save the grid from collapse should have been enforced on bigger projects such as the 1,500-MW Nathpa Jhakri of the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) and 1,000 MW Karcham Wangtoo owned by the JP Group.

On the day of the mishap at Thalot, the generation was scaled down from 126 MW to 32 MW, whereas this could have been done very easily by asking Nathpa Jhakri or Karcham Wangtoo to stop one turbine.

In fact, the need for having proper coordination between SLDC and Northern Region Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC) has been stressed. The Divisional Commissioner has urged the High Court to issue directives to NLRDC and SLDC to evolve a mechanism for addressing the problem.

The deputy commissioners concerned have been asked to enforce these measures while the Divisional Commissioner, Mandi, will monitor their proper implementation. These measures include having a standard operating procedure for the release of dam water, safety audit of all power projects by an independent agency, bilingual hoardings, complete banning of riverbed mining, all vulnerable points between Kullu and Mandi be fenced.

Need for inquiry

* The fresh inquiry will form a part of the action taken report to be filed in the HP High Court on June 24

* Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has assured that the search operation will carry on till the last body is recovered

* The decision comes in the wake of the fact that the divisional commissioner in his report had specifically pointed out that Larji was asked to undertake load shedding by reducing generation

Shimla, June 21
The dissolution of 34 Block Congress Committees (BCCs) by state president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu seems to have sparked off dissensions within the party.

Rajya Sabha MP Viplove Thakur has demanded action against Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, state Congress president Sukhu, ministers and state office-bearers for the poll debacle.

“I, along with other senior leaders, will take up the matter with the high command as dissolving the BCCs is not the solution as senior leaders like the Chief Minister and the state Congress president must be made accountable,” Viplove said.

Viplove said the BCC chiefs had no say either in the party or the state government and they were never consulted on the policy formation.

She also challenged the criteria of the BJP getting a lead of 5,000 votes for dissolving the BCCs. “Defeat is defeat whether by 20,000 or by 1,500 so there is no justification in setting this criteria,” she remarked.

She said the defeat margin should not be determined on the basis of Lok Sabha results, but the slide right from the 2012 Assembly poll.

“The Chief Minister won by 20,000 votes from rural Shimla, but now the BJP got a lead of 1,700 votes in his segment. So, basically the defeat margin for the Congress is over 21,000,” she said. She said the same criterion must be applied to ministers, chairmen and vice-chairman of boards and corporations as well as the state office-bearers of the HPCC.

She regretted that instead of looking at the root cause for the worst-ever debacle, the party was trying to find scapegoats in the form of BCC presidents. “This step is certainly not in the interest of the party and will rather result in bad blood and bickering which cannot be allowed,” she said.

Una, June 21
As many as 85 ex-servicemen joined the Himachal Police as constables after a passing-out parade organised at the First Indian Reserve Police Battalion (IRB) complex at Bangarh here today.

State Director-General of Police Sanjay Kumar, who presided over the function, took the salute at a march past presented by the new recruits.

Speaking on the occasion, he appealed to the police personnel and officers to work with dedication.

Veena Bharti, Commanding Officer of the battalion, said during the three-month basic training course, the recruits were taught 22 different subjects ranging from internal security, Indian Penal Code, investigation, weapon training, map reading, besides cyber crime and other modern trends in crimes.

Constable Karam Chand won the overall best cadet trophy. Cadets conducted a mock counter-terrorist attack, besides displaying skills of dismantling and assembling different weapons while blindfolded.

The DGP also planted a sapling at the battalion complex on the occasion. Una SP Anupam Sharma and other police officers from the district, besides family members of the new police personnel, attended the ceremony. 

Shimla, June 21
Several parts of the state received moderate to heavy rain as pre-monsoon showers lashed the region for the fifth day today.

While the arrival of the monsoon by the end of the month appeared unlikely, the region will continue to have pre-monsoon rain over the next few days with heavy rain at some places on June 25 and 26, said Manmohan Singh, Director, local Meteorological station.

Normally, the monsoon arrives in the state by June 26, but this year there was no sign of the monsoon keeping the date, he added.

The Sunni Bhajji area of Shimla received heavy rain and 50 mm of rain was recorded in the past 24 hours, while Una and Baldwara received 32 mm of rain, followed by Gohar 31 mm, Jogindernagar 30 mm, Nagrota Suriyan 29 mm, Mashobra 28 mm, Bangana 24 mm, Guler 22 mm, Sujanpur Tira 21 mm and Renuka 20 mm.

The state capital, Shimla, was lashed by a thunderstorm last night and the town recorded 17 mm of rain. The intermittent showers caused a sharp fall in the minimum temperature and Shimla and the nearby resort of Mashobra recorded a low of 13.6°C and 10.2°C, respectively.

The minimum temperature dropped from 25.8°C to 20°C at Una which received 32 mm rain, but it remained hottest during the day with the maximum temperature at 42.8°C.

The day temperature remained steady in the rest of the state and Nahan recorded a high of 35.3°C, followed by Sundernagar 35°C, Bhunter 34.6°C, Solan 33.7°C, Dharamsala 31.8°C, Shimla 28.6°C, Kalpa 25.8°C and Manali 23.6°C.

The rain is considered good for the sowing of paddy, stone fruits and vegetables and floriculture. 

Nurpur, June 21
An uneasy calm prevails at Dhameta village bordering Punjab in Jawali subdivision ever since the news regarding the abduction of Sandeep Rana (38) reached here. Worried parents are praying for his safety, as they have not been able to contact him since Sunday evening.

Sandeep is one of the three persons from Kangra district and 40 Indian construction workers who have been kidnapped by Sunni militants. A large number of villagers and relatives of the hapless hostage throng his house to console the aged parents and wife.

Dilawar Singh, his 72-year-old father, and local gram panchayat pradhan Nirjala Devi had approached Kangra MP Shanta Kumar and urged him to extend help in releasing Sandeep Rana from the captivity of Sunni militants in Iraq.

Sandeep has two children, aged 4 and 7, and belongs to a very poor family. Having a small piece of agricultural land in the village he had no other source of income and being the lone bread-earner he had moved to Iraq in search of a job in September last year.

He raised a loan of Rs 2 lakh from his relatives and friends before flying to Iraq. Dilawar and mother Pushpa said Sandeep was yet to repay the loan. They said their son was in contact with an agent from Nagrota Surian, who assisted him in getting a job with a construction company Tariq Noor al-Huda in Iraq. The family has appealed to the state government and Union External Ministry to help rescue Sandeep as soon as possible. 

Shimla, June 21
Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) will issue a letter of intent to just 65 students to fill the 65 MBBS seats at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, and another 50 at the Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC), Tanda. But this has worried parents of those students who figured in the merit list of the HP combined premedical admission test (HPCPMT)-2014, the counselling for which started at HPU yesterday.

They resented over HPU’s move to issue the letter to just 65 students who topped in the merit list for IGMC and another 50 MBBS seats for the Tanda medical college. As many as 614 students were called for counselling as per the HPCPMT-14 merit list.

The students resented that both medical colleges admitted 100 students for the MBBS course ever since the seats were increased to 100 from 65 by the state government in 2011.

But, the Medical Council of India (MCI) had raised riders asking the state to reduce the MBBS seats as the colleges lacked facilities.

The students and parents told The Tribune that the government seemed to have buckled under the MCI pressure to decrease the number of seats.

“The MCI inspection pinpointed the deficiencies in the medical colleges and Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur took up the matter up with the Ministry of Health, but the matter has not been resolved so far,” the parents said.

Clearing the air, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Vineeet Chaudhary, said: “Students should not panic as we expect the renewal letter allowing 100 seats each at IGMC and Tanda from the Health Ministry soon. We have mentioned in the prospectus that nearly 65 seats at IGMC and 50 at Tanda will be filled, subject to the condition that the Centre issues the renewal letter.”

He said the MCI had pointed out certain deficiencies in the medical colleges that had been rectified, adding that they had conveyed it to the ministry, which has further conveyed it to the MCI.

He said the seats would be filled through the first counselling which was held today, but the counselling would continue till September 30 so that additional 85 MBBS seats at both colleges could be filled subject to the renewal letter, which they expected would come soon, he added.

The university would also fill the 250 seats at dental colleges — 60 for Government Dental College in Shimla and the rest at four private dental colleges in the other rounds of counselling.

Students urged the CM to issue letters to all MBBS seats. Over two dozen students met Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today and urged him to maintain 100 MBBS seats each at the IGMC and Tanda medical college. They urged him to issue the selection letters to all 200 MBBS seats, not just to 115 MBBS seats. 

Solan, June 21
Shops in Solan town remained closed till 1 pm today in protest against the alleged highhandedness of Shoolini Maa Temple caretakers, after a clash between former and current members of the Beopar Mandal left five persons injured.

As per the tradition, it is the temple caretakers who enjoy the privilege of proceeding with the palanquin of Maa Shoolini, which marches through the town. But nearly 50 caretakers formed a human chain and misbehaved with elderly persons and women, who wanted to pay obeisance before the deity. This inconvenienced people and generated animosity between the two groups leading to a clash at around 11.15 pm. At least five persons were injured when they were attacked with sticks at the Ganj Bazaar.

Beopar Mandal representatives alleged that the lack of police presence along with the procession had aggravated the situation and they were compelled to protest outside the city police post for nearly an hour demanding the arrest of those responsible for the clash.

They also gheraoed the SDM, AC, DC and Additional SP who had gone to Ganj Bazaar to resolve the issue on Friday night. The mandal again protested outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office today and demanded the arrest of those responsible for the clash.

Additional SP Padam Chand said cross cases under Sections 323, 341 and 147, IPC, were registered against both groups on complaints made by Krishen Grover from the Beopar Mandal and Netar Singh representing the caretakers and further investigations were underway.

DC Madan Chauhan today held talks with both groups to resolve the issue amicably and it was decided that only eight members from the caretakers would hold the palanquin for half the way, while the mandal would carry the palanquin for the remaining half on the third and concluding day of the fair tomorrow.

Shimla, June 21
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today recorded his statement in the court in the defamation case filed by him against former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his sons Anurag Thakur and Arun Dhumal.

The case is listed for the next hearing on July 21 for recording of the statement of the remaining witnesses.

Virbhadra Singh had filed the case against Dhumal following the issuance of defamatory statement by Dhumal and his sons regarding his income tax details in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate. 

Mandi, June 21
Angry relatives of Nikka Ram (77), who was crushed to death last night near Ner Chowk, brutally murdered the accused after this incident. The police said Rakesh Kumar had crushed Nikka under his car at about 10 pm.

The incident led to a tense situation in the area as angry people stopped traffic on National Highway No. 21.

The police had to call in additional force to deal with the situation.

Rakesh Kumar and Anil Kumar have been arrested under the charge of murdering Rakesh Kumar.