Shimla, June 28
The government will hold a tourism conclave in the state and invite renowned hotels to set up their resorts to attract high-end tourists.

This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today while chairing the sixth meeting of the HP Tourism Development Board (HPTDB). He expressed happiness over the Unesco heritage status for the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Kullu district and said it would certainly go a long way in promoting tourism.

Virbhadra added that conclaves and seminars in association with FICCI, CII and other hotelier associations would be held so that big names in the hotel industry could be urged to invest in the state. This would give a fillip to the tourism industry and the state would be established as a leading global destination by 2029.

“We can facilitate such big hoteliers by either providing them land on lease or by identifying suitable land for them to construct their hotels,” he said. He also stressed upon renovating and re-constructing the ancient temples and advised the Department of Languages, Art and Culture to do so.

The Chief Minister directed the authorities to complete the formalities concerning the Jakhu Ropeway Project so that it could be started without any further delay. He also proposed another ropeway from Sarahan to Bashal Manda. It was a picturesque spot from tourism point of view from where people could trek over to the Bhaba valley of Kinnaur, Virbhadra added.

He also asked the officials concerned to frame guidelines to check the fleecing of tourists by touts at bus stands and railway stations, as this was not only harassing the tourists but was also brining a bad name to the state.

Virbhadra said the government was committed to promotion and sustainable development of tourism. Also, to encourage the hospitality industry in tribal areas and backward panchayats, the state had exempted the new hotel units from paying luxury tax for a period of 10 years from August 2012.

He said providing parking facilities to the visitors was a great challenge for any hill state and adequate parking facilities was need of the hour, keeping in view the increasing volume of vehicles.

He also advised the officials concerned to improve the way-side facilities and install sign-boards showing directions to important tourist destinations on major state and national highways.

Earlier, Major Vijai Singh Mankotia, vice-chairman of the HP Tourism Development Board, said the tourism industry was the largest employment-generating industry in the world and the state had immense potential to exploit the natural wealth for giving the much-needed fillip to the tourism industry.

Nahan, June 28
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh announced the opening of a new tehsil office in the Haripurdhar area of the Renuka Jee constituency last evening.

Addressing a gathering at Haripurdhar, he said the tehsil status would facilitate the people of the area.

Successive Congress governments had been giving utmost priority to people residing in far-flung areas, he said.

He said several educational and government offices had been opened at Renuka Jee by the Congress government, while the BJP government had wound up Public Works Department (PWD) division here which had been opened by their government.

The CM said they were endeavouring to open hostels for girls in far-flung areas so that they could avail the benefits of higher education. While directing officials to speed up the work of constructing the local college building, he said a girls’ hostel would also be constructed here.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Vinay Kumar welcomed the Chief Minister and thanked him for opening a tehsil office.

Harshwardhan Chauhan, Chairman, State Employment Generation and Resource Mobilisation Board, Ajay Solanki, president, District Congress Committee, and other officials of the area were also present.

Shimla, June 28
The Christ Church, the most prominent landmark of the erstwhile summer capital of the British, located on The Ridge, will undergo major restoration and conservation work, along with the Catholic Church near the Deputy Commissioner’s office, at a cost of about Rs 15 crore, with funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

(Left) The Christ Church on The Ridge, Shimla; and (right) The Catholic Church near the Deputy Commissioner’s Office.

Keen to preserve the British legacy in the form of architectural masterpieces, the Tourism Department wants all churches and cemeteries in the state restored. To begin with, restoration of the two churches in Shimla will be taken up. The Gaiety Theatre has already been restored at a cost of about Rs 7 crore while the conservation project for the Town Hall, housing the Shimla Municipal Corporation, has been launched earlier this week.

The conservation architects and engineers of the Tourism Department are engaged in preparing the Detailed Project Report for the Shimla churches.

The cornerstone of the Christ Church was laid on September 8, 1844, and was opened for the first service on October 11, 1846. It was built out of stone and brick in lime mortar by Col J T Boileau in Neo-Gothic elements. This was the first proper church built by the British.

Lockwood Kipling, father of Rudyard Kipling, designed the original chancel window and had it executed by his students from Mayo School of Art.

The St Michael’s Church, near the DC Office, was built by the Catholic community in 1886. The exterior is of dressed grey stone and the floor pattern follows a cruciform. Its organ was built in 1913 and is considered the best in India.

The department has got complete documentation of all the churches and cemeteries done with the objective of attracting tourists from Britain. There are some very old churches at places like Shimla and Kasauli.

Shimla, which was declared the summer capital of the British 150 years ago, has a large number of visitors from the UK every year. Many Britishers often visit the town to locate the houses where their parents or grandparents lived or the cemeteries where their forefathers were buried during the colonial era. Quite often, they visit the Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) to get a copy of the birth certificate of their parents or even grandparents. 

Chamba, June 28
Two youths drowned in the Mehla rivulet, a tributary of the Ravi, near Mehla village here last evening, reports said.

The youths had gone for a picnic to the rivulet, along with other members of their families, where they started taking a bath in it. During the bath, a youth saw his friend drowning in the rivulet and jumped into it to save him, but himself got drowned.

On hearing the screams of their family members, passersby rushed to the incident spot and pulled out the bodies from the tributary, the report said.

The deceased had been identified as Satinder of Chamba and Kamaljeet of Anandpur Sahib (Punjab). The police handed over the bodies to their kin after a postmortem in the Chamba hospital.

Baddi, June 28
Terming the master plan prepared by the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Development Authority (BBNDA) for development of the industrial hub as a plan for the industrialists, local villagers today opposed its implementation in its present form.

Registering their objections at a public hearing, which was convened under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner-cum-CEO of the BBNDA, local residents said the implementation of the plan would pose hardships as they would be bound by the norms of the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department, such as leaving setbacks, undertaking development only in limited land by following the floor area ratio norm etc. Villagers stressed that since no facility had been extended to them, mere implementation of TCP norms was unjust and unfair.

The master plan, which was prepared in 2007, has not been implemented even after seven years. Despite several public hearings, no consensus had emerged among the authorities and the villagers on its implementation. An area of 318 sq m, covering 229 panchayats of the BBN, is slated to be covered under this plan which will regulate the development of the area till 2025.

Sansari Lal Verma, general secretary, District Congress Committee, said the plan was based on the 2000 Census instead of 2011 Census.

The plan was also opposed by environmentalists. Ajit Singh Dhukhia, president of NGO Him Parivesh, said it was prepared without taking into account the plight of a farmer whose land use would be regulated through the plan. He said it was prepared without taking into account the ground realities.

The plan’s implementation was being considered at a time when investment had been reduced to a trickle and new investments here would further burden the already saturated pollution load.

Dr Shrikant, president of a local NGO, said the old plan was changed to suit the interests of a chosen few. He also opposed the huge fee being charged in lieu of change of land use as it would adversely affect the local agrarian community.

Nurpur, June 28
Vijay Pratap Singh has brought laurels to his family as well as Kangra district after being commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF) at the Air Force Academy in Hyderabad. Vijay is a resident of Bhalakh village in Kangra district.

He passed out from the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadagwasla, Pune, in June last year.

He did his primary education from Saint Joseph School in Pathankot and completed his higher studies from Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun.

Col Sudesh Singh Pathania, Vijay’s father, who is serving at Mamoon Cantonment in Pathankot, said his son followed in the footsteps of his family’s tradition by serving the nation through the Indian Army.

“My father Sub Malkiat Singh also served in the Indian Army in Punjab Regiment, whereas my grandfather Rasaldar Amer Singh served in Tank Regiment (Armed Corps). My great grandfather Udham Singh also served the Indian Army before Independence as Dafedar (Havaldar),” said Colonel Pathania.

Vijay said he was inspired by his parents and decided to shape his career and serve the nation by joining the IAF as fighter pilot. He gave credit to his parents and teachers for his success.

Chamba, June 28
Three persons were killed and another was seriously injured when the pick-up van they were travelling in swerved off the road and rolled down a hillside near Kalaban in Churah subdivision here today, a report said.

The deceased had been identified as Bhagat Ram, Bodh Raj and Karan Singh. Injured driver Jitender Kumar was rushed to the Civil Hospital and later to the Chamba hospital.

All of them belonged to nearby local villages, the report added.