Shimla/Gushaini, June 24
The inclusion of the 905 sq km Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) as the Unesco world heritage site has received brickbats from locals and NGOs. Reasons: The state government has not settled their traditional rights and the GHNP has no blueprint to promote eco-tourism, making the locals as real stakeholders in its management.

Villagers raised their complaint because the GHNP has included the 61 sq km Tirthan wildlife sanctuary and the 90 sq km Sainj wildlife sanctuary in the park without settling their rights. The GHNP inclusion means they will forfeit their rights in the park as it will be protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, said NGOs.

Various NGOs — the GHNP Committee for Protection of Forest Rights, the Friends of Tirthan, Sahara and Himalayan Niti Abhiyan, the Kardar Sangh of Devis and Devtas — have joined hands, saying that the government is silent on the issue.

“Forest officials misled the World Heritage Committee (WHC), which gives the title to the GHNP, but the traditional rights of 2,408 families, including three villages of Shakti, Maror and Shugard in the Sainj sanctuary, are yet to be settled”, said Raniv Bharti, president of the Friends of Tirthan reacting to the GHNP’s title.

The rights of 311 families have been settled so far on the basis of the Anderson Report of 1864 in 1990s when park was created. “We welcome the status, but the government has not settled villagers’ religious, grazing and herb and wood collection rights in the buffer zone in the Tirthan and Sainj wildlife sanctuaries and the park area,” he said.

Shupi Kuni, Hans Kund, Shri Mahadev, Shaktisar were pilgrimage centres visited by villagers and Unesco title would restrict movement in the park, Bharti added.

Even the legal status of 265.6 km eco-zone, 5 km away from the western periphery of the park, remained ambiguous. “As many as 2,408 families live in and around the area and have rights in park and sanctuaries”, said Dila Ram Shabab, a former Banjar legislator and writer, adding the GHNP should be “People’s park and villagers are its stakeholders, not porters for some foreign NGOs, who have already dictated terms for the park authorities”.

“We sent representations to the Unesco team, led by vice-chairman, World Congress on Protected Area of the International Union of Conservation of Nature, Dr Graeme L Worboys, who had inspected the park on October 6, 2012, but wildlife officials did not carry the objections as part of the representation”, charged Guman Singh, an NGO convener.

The certain fake NGOs, headed by foreigners, are eyeing Unesco inclusion as a money-spinner for them as the GHNP has no blueprint for locals to make them as stakeholders, said Rajinder Chauhan from the Sahara NGO in Tirthan.

On the other hand, GHNP officials said they would settle traditional rights of villagers and review the pending cases. “We will cut out the area of the three villages if they disagree to move out. The final award will be announced by the District Collector, Kullu, after a public hearing”, said BS Rana, director, GHNP.

What it means The GHNP cannot take the Unesco title for granted. The WHC can revoke inclusion during its review after five years if “the management is not up to the mark. The onus lies on the GHNP park authorities. The GHNP will get a budget from international agencies and get tourists, but management will be with wildlife wing of the Forest Department under state rules and law, says Rana. The GHNP is country’s 7th Unesco heritage site. It is included because it is a natural reservoir of universal natural beauty and aesthetic importance in western Himalayas for science and conservation.

Shimla, June 24
The HP High Court today adjourned the matter pertaining to the Beas tragedy for tomorrow after the state government filed its status report in the case.

In the status report submitted to the court, the Chief Secretary intimated the court that the Power Department had been asked to get an inquiry conducted to look into the issue of working of SLDC/NLDC through a technical person as to why only the state power projects were asked to reduce generation. The government had also asked the departments concerned to take steps to implement the recommendations of the inquiry report of the Divisional Commissioner, Mandi.

However, in its reply, the college management submitted that during the 2nd year of the engineering course, the students were offered an educational/ industrial tour to different parts of the country. Accordingly, a circular dated April 5, 2014, was put up on the notice board and 55 out of the 143 students had opted for the tour, but finally 48 students joined the tour.

It further submitted that prior to the visit, an undertaking was taken from the students, which was also to be endorsed by one of the parents/guardian and guidelines were also issued to students to follow during the tour.

The college management also submitted that the students had requested the driver to stop the bus to attend to nature’s call. The area was quite large on the bank of the river. At that time, there was less water in the river. There were no barricades on the roadside, which could stop the students from going down, rather there existed a well-defined path to enable anyone to go down to this level ground and then to the river bank.

The college further submitted that there were no signboards or any other warning sign. The students got down to take photographs as there was very less water at that time, which could not be called a threat to anyone’s life.

However, as the water level started rising, the students were asked to come out. Their natural reaction was to get on the top of the rocks as the water level rose. But, within no time, there was a flash flood and huge water came downstream. There was no chance for anyone to react as all this happened within a fraction of time. The management also placed on record the photographs showing paths having access from the main road to the area and even a lamp post lighting the specific area during night hours.

College take Students requested the driver to stop the bus to answer nature’s call There were no barricades or signboards on the roadside which could stop the students from going down They got down to take photographs as there was very less water As the water level started rising, they were asked to come out; their natural reaction was to get on top of the rocks But, within no time, there was a flash flood and huge water came downstream

Dalhousie, June 24
DC of Chamba Kadam Sandeep Vasant today inspected the sirens set up by the hydro power project management at Baroti on the precincts of the NHPC’s Baira-Siul Power Station in the remote Salooni tehsil of the district.

The DC advised project officials to increase the number of sirens as a precautionary measure so that the residents, living in the surrounding villages, could be alert while releasing the water from the Siul river.

He also asked NHPC officials to increase the volume capacity of the sirens so that it could be heard from a distance.

On the complaints of farmers of the Salooni tehsil with regard to the slow pace of development in their areas, the DC visited these areas and listened to the woes of farmers.

The DC directed the officials to undertake the work on the cold stores.

Shimla, June 24
The work on Rs 922.485-crore Swan channelisation project will be completed in a stipulated time period and over 7,163.49 hectare cultivable land protected from floods.

This was stated by Irrigation and Public Health Minister Vidya Stokes while presiding over the first meeting of executive committee of the HP Swan Channelisation Authority here on Sunday.

Under this project, the embankment of 387.58 km would be done, Stokes said, adding that target had been fixed to embankment of 137-km length of the Swan till March 2015.

She said the 1,200-sq-km Swan catchment area would be treated under this project. She said in addition to the Swan, 55 tributaries would be embanked.

Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said 137 km would be embanked during the current financial year by spending Rs 308 crore. He said it would be ensured that paucity of funds did not hinder the completion of this project and adequate men and machinery would be made available for ensuring quality work.

He said Rs 14 lakh had been spent on the purchase of lab equipment, survey equipment and other infrastructure.

The Industries Minister said it would be ensured that scientific mining was carried out for extracting stones and sands.

He said embankments would be carried out with a local riverbed material to avoid price escalation of construction material.

Shimla, June 24
Intermittent showers lashed Shimla and adjoining areas while parts of Mandi district experienced moderate rain, causing a sharp fall in the mercury.

Shimla received 166 mm rain and the day temperature, which had touched 24.8°C, dropped by a few notches. The sky remained heavily overcast in Shimla and a thick fog engulfed the region, reducing the visibility considerably. Mandi recorded 4 mm rain.

The local MeT office has predicted moderate to heavy rain at isolated places on June 25 and 26 due to Western Disturbance.

The maximum day temperature dropped by three to four degrees to stay at 37°C in Una, 34.04°C at Bhuntar, 33.6°C at Sundernagar, 32.4°C at Nahan, 31.8°C at Dharamsala, 30.5°C at Solan, 24.2°C at Manali and 22.4°C at Kalpa.

The minimum temperatures remained marginally below normal with Keylong, Manali and Kalpa recording a low of 8.6°C, 9.6°C and 12.0°C, respectively, followed by Bhuntar 14.9°C, Solan and Shimla 16.4°C, Palampur 17.6°C, Sundernagar 18.6°C and Una and Dharamsala 20.6°C.

The local MeT office said fairly widely distributed pre-monsoon rain may continue in the region for the next four days, before the arrival of monsoons, which may be delayed by a few days. The given date for arrival of monsoon in the state is June 26, but so far it has not hit the northern states.

Shimla, June 24
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has approved a strategy and action plan on climate change for Himachal Pradesh, with an expenditure of Rs 1,560 crore, to be incurred on its implementation in various sectors.

The State Department of Environment had submitted the plan to the National Expert Committee, which had approved it earlier, and now the National Steering Committee on Climate Change too has given its consent.

“This action plan has been prepared on the basis of the analysis of climate data base of 30-50 years, available from the state,” said Tarun Sridhar, Principal Secretary, Forest and Environment. He added that the past and current climate change trends and climate statistics had been analysed.

While preparing this action plan, climate change vulnerability assessment had also been done at the block level for the entire state with respect to exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity on climate change. A thorough vulnerability assessment, sectoral analysis with respect to climate change, has also been done. Besides, assessment of different agro-climatic zones of the state was done, Sridhar added.

SS Negi, Director, Environment, said, “Agriculture, water resources, forests, biodiversity and ecosystems, energy, hydro power, health, tourism and urban development sectors have been prioritised in the Action Plan.”

He added that the action plan would assess the risks to the state from climate change and recommend strategies to reduce those.

The main recommendations include promotion of sustainable development through climate change-related adaptation and mitigation actions. Another important sector is empowering local communities and stakeholders to promote integrated watershed management as an instrument for rural poverty reduction through improvements in the productivity and climate resilience of natural resources.

Another important recommendation of the strategy would be the preparation of sector-specific adaptation plans and guidance manuals.

Dharamsala, June 24
Development Officers (BDOs) have threatened to go on strike, alleging injustice with their cadre by the state government.

General secretary of the HP BDO Association Kulbir Singh Rana said all 113 BDOs would wear black batches on July 14 and go on mass leave on July 21. If the state government still failed to redress their grievances, they would intensify their agitation.

Kulbir Singh Rana said they had already issued a notice to the state government regarding their proposed agitation.

The BDOs in their representation to the Chief Minister, a copy of which was provided to The Tribune, have alleged that while the tehsildars of 2007 cadre have been absorbed in the HAS cadre, the BDOs of the 1997 batch are waiting for promotions to the state administrative cadre.

They have alleged that the recent government decision to induct 14 officers of other categories into the HAS cadre, despite the fact that they had enjoyed promotions in their respective department, has added to the agony of the BDO cadre.

The BDOs have demand that since they were doing administrative work, they should be granted 24 per cent promotion quota in elevation to the HAS cadre. There are 113 BDOs and 131 tehsildars so as per their cadre strength, their promotion quota should be 24 per centand 28 per cent.

Their seniority should be combined with the tehsildars or quota for promotions of the non-tehsildar category to the HAS cadre should be enhanced.

Shimla, June 24
There seems to be no end to the war of words within the state Congress over its poll debacle.

The AICC secretary and sitting MLA, Asha Kumari, today stated that there could be no mathematical solutions to political problems. It was completely unwarranted and arbitrary to dissolve 34 Block Congress Committees (BCC) whose efforts had ensured the formation of Congress regime in the state in December 2012.

Asha is the second senior leader, after Rajya Sabha MP Viplove Thakur, to have broken her silence over the dismal performance of the Congress as it received its worst-ever drubbing at the hands of the BJP in the General Elections.

“The focus should be on strengthening the party and taking corrective measures and not indulging in blame game,” she remarked. She said she will take up the matter with the party high command in Delhi.

Two days ago, state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu had dissolved 34 block units where the BJP had managed to get a lead of over 5,000. With Viplove and Asha questioning the move, fingers are being pointed at both the Chief Minister and the party president.

“The move to dissolve the BCCs, which are the backbone and the biggest strength of the party, has been on a pick and choose basis and the criteria adopted is totally wrong,” she said. She questioned why the BCC of Joginder Nagar in Mandi, where BJP had a lead of 19,600, was not dissolved and in places like Jaswan, where the BJP’s margin had gone down from 15,500 to 6,500 since the last Assembly polls, was not taken into consideration.

Asha also questioned why senior leaders, who were responsible for Lok Sabha candidate selection, were not being made accountable for the poll debacle. “As long as the leaders who have been rejected by the people continue in office, the masses will continue to revolt,” she remarked.

Asha also took exception to the remarks made by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh against Viplove. “Questioning her credibility and capability is not in good taste as she is a grassroot-level worker, who has always remained loyal to the party and the high command. She hails from a family of freedom fighters,” she said in defence of the MP.

She also demanded that since all the dissolved BCCs were elected, these should be filled up again, only through election process and not by nomination.

“I would have preferred if the state Congress committee had asked me to resign rather than the BCC as we, the elected representatives, have failed to fulfill the aspirations of the people of the state. So there is no justification in making the BCCs responsible when they have no say, either in the government or party organisation,” she added.

Shimla, June 24
The Vidhan Sabha, which celebrated its golden jubilee last year, is all set to go online soon and become the first paperless Assembly.

An ambitious e-vidhan project to automate the processes involved in the functioning of the Vidhan Sabha Secretariat, including working of various house committees, is nearing completion and training of the staff and nodal officers of the government is under way to make them conversant with e-vidhan software modules.

The project is making fast progress and efforts are on to make Vidhan Sabha proceedings online from the monsoon session but it may take some time to train and acquaint the staff. It will be implemented in a gradual process and hard copies may also be supplied during the intervening period, Secretary Vidhan Sabha SS Thakur said.

An e-vidhan wing and a hi-tech training centre with 16 work stations have been set up for providing various services to members and impart training for the use of the software. The e-vidhan wing also includes an NIC centre for which Rs 84.75 lakh has been provided.

The project will reduce paper usage, eliminate redundant processes, improve efficiency, facilitate auto-compilation of reports and queries and provide data instantly.

As per statistics worked out by the Secretariat, the number of papers used between the Vidhan Sabha and the government is approximately 5.08 crore and non-use of papers will save 6,096 trees and resulting in saving of Rs 15 crore.

Vidhan Sabha Speaker B B L Butail is keen on implementing the project from the monsoon session and had convened a meeting of the Chief Secretary, secretaries and senior officers of the Secretariat on online communication between the government and Vidhan Sabha and asked them to brace up for the change from the next session.

The total amount sanctioned for this project was Rs 8.12 crore and first instalment amounting to Rs 4.06 crore had been received by the NICSI which provides total IT solutions to government organisations.

Activists of the YC stop a toy train during a protest against the hike in rail fares in Shimla on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Amit Kanwar

The party office-bearers and activists also blocked a train at the Shimla railway station. They raised slogans against the BJP for burdening the common man despite making promises of better days. Addressing the activists, Vikramaditya demanded the immediate roll back in the enhanced rail fares. “PM Narendra Modi has betrayed the common man, whom he had promised ‘achche din’, within a month after assuming power,” he remarked.

‘Hike anti-people’

Una: Youth Congress (YC) activists today burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda at the Rotary Chowk here. They were protesting the hike in the railway fare.

Activists Varun Puri, Arun Cheetu, Rahul Menon and Arjun Rana said Modi had come to power with the promise of bringing in good days.

They said a hike of over 14 per cent in train fare was anti-people. They demanded the immediate rollback of the hike, failing which they would intensify their agitation. During the BJP tenure, the prices of essential items continued to rise. They also raised slogans against the Union Government.

Shimla, June 24
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today released a calendar of Ramzan, the holy month of the Muslims beginning from June 30, in the presence of Wakf Board Chairman Khwaja Khaleel Ullah.

Virbhadra Singh congratulated the Muslims for Ramzan and wished them peace and prosperity.

Palampur, June 24
Vidya Stokes, Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Minister, inaugurated a chief scientists’ meeting on water management and ground water utilisation at CSK HP Agriculture University here today.

Addressing around 100 delegates from 34 research centres from all over the country, the minister emphasised on the judicious use of water for maximising crop production. She said despite adequate rainfall, the water was not being stored.

Maharashtra had set an example to utilise water for horticulture and other crops. The minister asked the scientists to come out with such recommendations.

Stokes said farming was becoming tough in Himachal Pradesh due to monkey menace and crop damage by wild and stray animals. She hoped that farm scientists would formulate a strategy to deal with such problems.

Dr KK Katoch, Vice-Chancellor, said a lot of research work on water utilisation had been done in the university and it could be of much use to the state Department of IPH.

Yadvinder Goma, MLA, Jaisinghpur constituency, spoke on the importance of traditional gravity streams (Kuhlas). Dr Ashwani Kumar, Director, Directorate of Water Management, Bhubaneswar, said to produce 1 kg rice, more than 3,000 litres of water was used and it was vital to reduce it by scientifically utilising water.

Dr SP Sharma, Director, Research, Dr VK Suri, Chief Scientist, and Dr SP Dixit, Head, Soil Science Department, also expressed their views. Stokes visited some colleges and departments in the university.

Shimla, June 24
To stop active politicking by teachers at Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), the Executive Council (EC) today approved the amendment to Section 35.20 of the University Ordinance.

Section 35.20 permitted teachers to participate in political activities and also granted them the right to contest elections by taking leave from the university. But now after the amendment, the teachers would lose these rights.

Amid protests by HPU’s Student Central Association against the proposed fee hike, the EC, which met here today under the chairmanship of Vice-Chancellor ADN Bajpai, decided to form a committee to finalise the proposal.

The possibility of barring teachers from actively participating with NGOs (Non-Government Organisations) would also be explored, it was decided.

The meeting discussed the recommendations of the Resource Mobilisation Committee (RMC) threadbare, but deferred the decision regarding fee hike till the next meeting. It approved the MoU to be signed between HPU and Fraser Valley University of Canada for collaborative and academic exchange.

It also approved the public-private participation (PPP) model at the university and the introduction of self-financing courses through private institutions and centres in the state.

Following the demand of PhD students, the EC also approved college teachers, fulfilling UGC qualifications, to become the guide for PhD courses. The council approved introducing new courses and subjects envisaged in the Vision-2020 document throughout the state and establishing ICDEOL study centres throughout the state. It made recommendations to the government for removing the study centres of the state wherein the other states universities courses were being run simultaneously. MLA Bamber Thakur, Harish Janartha, Chander Shekhar, Prof DC Gautam, Registrar Prof Mohan Jharta, Prof SC Bhadwal, Dr SK Sharma and Chaudhry Waryam Singh Bains were present in the meeting.

Kangra, June 24
Former state joint-secretary the Students Federation of India (SFI) Vishal Deep today congratulated the entire student community, teachers and non-teaching staff of Delhi University (DU) for their joint struggle for the past two-and-a-half years, which paved the way for the rollback of the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) which was imposed in the university last year.

He said it was through the joint struggle launched under the banner of Save DU Campaign by several student and teacher organisations that the University Grants Commission and the Ministry of Human Resource Development intervened and paved way to finally scrap this illegal system. They said the FYUP was against the national education policy of 10+2+3 and imposed without the prior permission of President Pranab Mukerjee.

Deep said the Vice-Chancellor had created chaos which prevailed in the university till now and hoped that a better roadmap to ensure that the future of students who were enrolled under the “illegal” FYUP in 2013 was secured.

He said the V-C’s resignation came from the continuous struggle of the student community, teachers and non- teaching under one banner.

He said the multiplicity of subjects under the choice-based credit system (CBCS) introduced from the current academic session under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) had made framing results of all courses of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) a difficult task.

He said the Directorate of Education should start an exercise in consultation with the professors of degree colleges and student community to help HPU and HP government to finalise whether RUSA was necessary or not. The state government should review the implementation of RUSA, he suggested.

He said the student community and professors’ association of HPU should learn a lesson from ‘Save DU Campaign’. He gave a call to students, professors’ associations and the non-teaching staff associations to join hands against the implementation of RUSA in HPU as it was against the interests of students teaching and non-teaching staff of the university.

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh state secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) today welcomed the restoration of the three-year degree courses in Delhi University by the UGC. On the same analogy, it asked the state government to follow it in the state as well. The Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) has implemented RUSA with its four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) which has overwhelmingly been rejected by the students and teaching community. The RUSA was utterly erroneous and was arbitrarily imposed in colleges, said member State Secretariat Tikender Singh Panwar. "The CPM has consistently opposed the imposition of the FYUP. The party has asked for the present HPU Vice-Chancellor's immediate sacking. In fact he should resign on the analogy of Delhi University VC," he said. It is essential for the UGC and the university faculties to ensure that the interests of the students, who were forced to enrol in the programme last year, are protected in all respects. The admission process for the current year should not be delayed, he said. "The healthy functioning of an institution is critically dependent on democratisation of decision-making processes and regular dialogue with elected teacher and student representatives which is grossly violated by the self-serving actions of the incumbent VC," he said.

Mandi, June 24
In yet another setback to students keen on pursuing MBBS course from government medical colleges in the state, the Medical Council of India (MCI) has denied permission to start MBBS classes from the current session at Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Medical College, Ner Chowk.

The MCI team during its inspection a few days ago had found several deficiencies at ESIC Medical College and Zonal Hospital, Mandi. It had raised 21 objections related to infrastructure, faculty, laboratory equipments and appointment of para-medical staff. Even during inspection, the MCI team had pointed out that the college building lacked electricity connection, furniture and library and laboratory equipment was not installed.

MCI team had also found that the facilities at Zonal Hospital, Mandi, such as the operation theatre, casualty and anaesthesia departments were not as per the norms.

ESIC authorities were making effort to start classes for the first MBBS batch from this session, but the MCI had not found the college fit to run the classes this year.

Students were eagerly waiting to get admission to the MBBS course in the ESIC Medical College, Ner Chowk, as the college would have enrolled 100 students (40 from the state, 40 from the open pool and 20 seats were reserved for the children of ESIC employees).

Dr DS Dhiman, Dean, ESIC Medical College, said: “The MCI has not allowed us to start MBBS classes from this session. We will try to rectify the deficiencies so that the classes can be started from the next session.” 

Nurpur, June 24
The state government has earmarked Rs 2 crore for infrastructural development of Arya Government College, Nurpur under the RUSA system.

This was stated by Ajay Mahajan local MLA in a statement here today.

Thanking Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for sanctioning development funds for the college, he said the infrastructural fund was the highest ever and would be spent for the construction of common room for students, administrative block, laboratory, library, canteen, toilets and hostel complex.

Apart from this, smart and computer classes would be started in the college, he said. He said the PWD had been asked to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the proposed infrastructural development works. He said the college would get a new facelift after the proposed infrastructural development.— OC

Nurpur, June 24
With a view to generating mass awareness of national upliftment, character building, women empowerment and anti-addiction, the Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (DJJS), a social-spiritual body, organized a Rashtriya Aradhan programmme at the Municipal Council hall here last evening.

Local MLA Ajay Mahajan, who was the chief guest, lit the lamp to start this discourse and SDM Ashwani Sood presided over the programme.

Swami Vighyananand of the DJJS, addressing a gathering of anganwari workers, members of the Mahila Mandal, field and office staff of different government departments, said human beings were a part of society and lack of morality in society generated corruption. “To eradicate corruption and instill a sense of character building, we need to change ourselves internally. Our society with rich morality and character can assist in national building and inculcate a feeling of patriotism in us,” he asserted. — OC

Chamba, June 24
The Anganwari Workers and Helpers Union today held a demonstration in support of their long-pending demands.

The procession, led by Sudesh Thakur, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) district general secretary, presented a memorandum to the government through the local administration, with regard to the implementation of their demands on the analogy of the Haryana Government.

Reiterating their demands, the workers and helpers demanded regularisation and sought that their retirement age be raised up to 65 years.

In the memorandum, the union pleaded for the enhancement of their honorarium of Rs 7,500 to the workers and Rs 3,500 to the anganwari helpers on the analogy of the Haryana Government.

The union also urged the government to fill up 90 per cent posts of supervisor from the anganwari workers cadre.

Sudesh said their first phase of agitation would continue till June 30. If their demands were not accepted by the government, the union would stage a state-level dharna in Shimla.

Kangra, June 24
A person, Raj Kumar (52), succumbed to his injuries at the DRPGMC, Tanda, on Sunday night. He was injured in a road accident at Matour here on June 10.

Meanwhile, four others were injured in two different road accidents in the district during the past 24 hours. The police today said Raj, a resident of Matour, was hit by an Alto car when he was going on foot.

The police said three persons were injured when a Santro car (HP-36-A-3832) hit a Maruti car (HP-36-A -5951) at Bane-Di-Hatti yesterday. The three were admitted to the DRPGMC at Tanda. A case under Sections 279, 337, IPC, and 184, MVA, had been registered against the erring driver.

In the second case, cyclist Joginder Singh was injured when he was hit by biker Tillu Kumar at Chalwara last evening. He was admitted to Sukhsadan Hospital in Pathankot. A case under Sections 279, 337 and 201, IPC, has been registered.

The police have started investigation. The drivers have been arrested.