Shimla, July 4
Even as the Forest Department has received 270 applications for removal of dry and unsafe trees which could pose a threat to life and damage houses, the refusal of the Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) Mayor to chair the meeting of the Tree Authority Committee (TAC) for the last over one year has put everything on hold.

With the rains having just begun, six such unsafe trees have fallen, damaging vehicles at three places two days back. Interestingly, the department has undertaken a spot inspection on 270 requests received till yesterday, but with the final authority in granting permission to fell trees being with the TAC, the trees cannot be felled.

The TAC is headed by the Mayor but eversince the management of the urban forests was given to the Forest Department, the Mayor has refused to chair the meeting.

The TAC had last met in June 2013 to process the requests from residents as well as government agencies to remove dry or other trees.

“We have completed the formalities in all applications received by us and sent it to the MC so that the TAC can decide the cases,” said Sanjay Sood, Conservator Forest, Shimla. He said the TAC, chaired by the Mayor, had not met since June last year and he had written to the government about it.

Though it is mandatory for the TAC to meet once in every two months, this time it has not met since June 2013, giving sleepless nights to those who are awaiting the nod from the committee. The problem gets more aggravated in monsoons when many trees, especially the massive century old deodars, fall on houses and vehicles.

Since it was in November 2013 that the entire 1880.13 hectares of urban forest land was given to the department for better management, the Mayor has refused to chair the meeting of the committee. Besides the Mayor, other members include the MC Commissioner, a Divisional Forest Officer and one nominated councillor.

The MC has even made a representation to the government to return the urban forests back to it.

Forest officials said it was only after making an amendment to the Municipal Act that the Chairman of the TAC can be changed.

The Forest Department had taken up the matter with the government so that there is no further delay in removal of the unsafe trees, which could come down on houses. With there being a complete ban on felling of green or dry trees, the permission has to be obtained from the TAC to remove these.

Una, July 4
While the government has received a green signal from the Centre for setting up an industrial township at Pandoga village in Una district, about 10,000 trees will have to be axed for the Rs 110 crore project.

Industry Minister Mukesh Agnihgotri got the project sanctioned during the UPA regime.

The project, to be set up on about 150 acres along the Una-Hoshiapur road, will include industrial plots and residential areas for industrialists and workers, besides structures of the Industries Department, health and education facilities for residents.

Almost all land, to be brought under the proposed project, belongs to the state government and the Revenue Department has identified and demarcated the khasra numbers.

Most of the area has thick vegetation with no human habitation. The Forest Department is counting and numbering the trees, which are above 30 cm girth (circumference). The data will be sent to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for final clearance of the land for the project.

Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Una Forest Division, Dr Munish Rampal said the area on the right side of the Una-Hoshiarpur road had 5,100 trees having a girth of more than 30 cm, while the counting is done on the left side of the road. Here, he said about 2,300 trees have already been marked. The final count of the trees is likely to touch 10,000 mark.

After all necessary documents have been submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the decision on the final clearance for the township will be received within 90 days, said the ACF.

The government is making efforts to boost the existing industrial areas of Kala Amb, Nalagarh, Parwanoo, Baddi, Barotiwala, Mehatpur, Tahliwal, Amb and Gagret.

In Una district, a food park, with a Central Assistance of Rs 100 crore has been sanctioned at Singan village, besides the Pandoga industrial township.

Una Industries Department Deputy Director Tilak Raj Sharma said the government would make efforts to bring in environment friendly units here. He said round-the-clock electricity at cheaper rates than adjoining states, provision of capital subsidy and other sops promise to make these industrial townships viable.

Moreover, the new industrial areas also promise to bring in employment to the local youth.

Mandi, July 4
A young girl from Bulandshehar district of UP is on an expedition on her motorcycle from Kanyakumari to Leh to highlight the issue of women freedom.

Roshani Sharma (26), a software engineer of Narora village, UP, will travel about 4,000 km on her bike alone in 12 days. She started her expedition on June 28 from Kanyakumari and reached here today and would reach Leh on July 6.

During her journey, the girl from the sleepy village will cross the difficult terrain through high passes such as Rohtang, Sarchu, Pang and Tangalangla and many glaciers and nullahs.

Telling about the expedition, Roshani said, “Biking is my passion and by taking this expedition, I want to spread a message among women, especially young girls, to come out of social taboos and live a free life.”

She said, “Uttar Pradesh is experiencing the worst kind of crime against women and only women would have to fight against this.”

During her expedition, she has been meeting groups of women to discuss to them about their problems and encouraging them to work against social evils and for women empowerment, besides telling them about traffic safety rules.

She is the first woman motorcyclist to travel from Kanyakumari to Leh covering 11 states all alone and her name is likely to be included in the Limca Book of Records for this adventurous journey.

Roshani is meeting all her expenses from her pocket. Her father is running an automobile shop in Narora.

Chamba, July 4
The district administration has approved the services of two private helicopter operators for Manimahesh yatra.

The choppers will take pilgrims and devotees of Lord Shiva from Bharmour to Gauri Kund, 3 km below the sacred Manimahesh Lake at an altitude of 4,170 metres.

Chamba Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Subh Karan Singh said here today that two heli-service operators, Aryan Aviation and UT Air India, would start their flights from Bharmour helipad to Gauri Kund from August 15, the date of commencement of the Manimahesh pilgrimage.

The ADM said the one-sided fare from Bharmour to Gauri Kund had been fixed at Rs 3,270. It was also decided that the helicopter operators would contribute 5 per cent of the ticket price to the Manimahesh Trust, he said.

Shimla, July 4
The state government today notified the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for mango for 2014. An official spokesperson said here today that the procurement price for grafted mango varieties had been fixed at Rs 6.50 per kg and for seedling mango varieties Rs 5.50 per kg. 

He said 300 metric tonnes of seedling mango and 200 metric tonnes of grafted mango would be procured under the scheme. He said the procurement of mango under the MIS had already been started from July 1 and would last up to August 15.

The spokesman said the procurement would be done through the HPMC and HIMFED in crates and these agencies would be allowed handling charges at Rs 1.30 per kg. Under the scheme, 2.5 per cent extra fruit would be procured from farmers keeping in view of the losses during procurement and handling operations. 

Shimla, July 4
The BJP today demanded a high-level inquiry into the alleged pulling down of the wall of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Engineering College near Gumma by the mining and land mafia active in the areas.

Addressing a press conference here today, Jubbal-Kotkhai BJP Mandal general secretary Umesh Sharma accused Congress leaders of giving shelter and patronage to anti-social elements engaged in illegal activities. “We seek an immediate action against the guilty in causing damage to the college wall,” said Sharma.

He said the land mafia was active in the entire area around the engineering college and even the college authorities did not get an FIR registered as they were under tremendous political pressure.

“The land mafia has not only purchased the entire land around the college, but also broken the 60-m-long wall of the college,” he alleged.

He said the land mafia was illegally felling trees and dumping muck into the river in violations of all norms.

Sharma expressed concern over the failure of the Congress regime to start work on the Tehorg-Hatkoti road even 18 months after assuming power.

“The apple season will commence in barely 15 days and the pathetic condition of the road is giving sleepless nights to apple growers, who do not know how they will transport their produce to the market,” he said.

He asked the state government to fulfil its promise of getting the road constructed so that apple growers do not face any problems in transporting their produce to the market. 

Dharamsala, July 4
District officials today conducted raids to check hoarding of essential commodities. However, the quantity of onions seized by the Food and Civil Supplies Department during the raids has raised many eyebrows.

As per a press release, the district administration has maintained that 1.68 quintal onion was seized during the raids in the name of hoarding. But 1.68 quintal is a normal quantity that any vendor would have to maintain for his daily sales.

Kamal Kumar, a street vendor, said this amount of onions would be available with any farmer who has grown onions in his kitchen garden. By terming the seizure of 1.68 quintal onion as hoarding, the department had made a mockery of itself, he said. Meanwhile, the department has registered a case under the Illegal Hoarding and Black Marketing Act, 1977.

There are hardly any big cold storage chains in the state where vegetables can be stocked. The vegetable trade in Kangra is controlled by small-time vendors who get their daily supplies from vegetable markets in Pathankot.

Besides the onion, the Food and Civil Supplies Department has confiscated 24 domestic cylinders that were being put to commercial use in dhabas across Kangra.

About 14 people have been booked for hoarding of onions and misusing domestic LPG cylinders.

Raid conducted

* The district administration has maintained that 1.68 quintal onion was seized during the raids

* The Food and Civil Supplies Department has registered a case under the Illegal Hoarding and Black Marketing Act, 1977

Palampur, July 4
KK Katoch, Vice-Chancellor, inaugurated the Chamundeshwari girls’ hostel, phase–II, here last evening. He said the university was known for quality education and all possible facilities would be provided for overall development of the students.

He also announced a grant of Rs 20 lakh for furniture and other facilities in the newly inaugurated hostel.

The Vice-Chancellor also thanked the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for a grant of Rs 1.5 crore for the construction of the hostel.

Dr SS Kanwar, Students’ Welfare Officer, informed that the new hostel has 19 dormitories to accommodate 57 students.

Already there were 477 girls availing hostel facility in the five girls’ hostels in the campus. He said the new hostel had a multipurpose hall, gymnasium, computer room, etc.

Dr Sanjit Katoch, Dean, Dr GC Negi, College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Mr Rattan Gautam, Registrar, Mr Ranjit Singh, Comptroller, other statutory officers, head of departments, students and staff were present on the occasion.

Chamba, July 4
The claims made by departments concerned about Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) have fallen flat as sanitation facilities in government schools and Anganwadi centres of Chamba district are still pitiable.

The government schools in Janwas and Thalli areas of the Churah subdivision are the testimony to naked eyes.

Thus, the chief objective of the NBA to get rid of open deification practice is going unfulfilled.

Recently, the local BJP MLA of Churah, Hans Raj, visited such schools in the Janwas and Thalli areas of the subdivision and found the condition of toilets pitiable.

“Toilets, at some places, are without water connections or found locked resulting in inconvenience to students, particularly girls,” said Hans Raj.

He demanded a probe into the budget allocated to educational institutions for the construction and renovation of toilets.

Official sources, however, maintained that the Union Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation had earmarked a budget of Rs 204.32 lakh under the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA) to be spent on sanitation.

This included maintenance of 1,778 school toilets in Chamba district during the current financial year.

Pangi (Chamba), July 4
Around 775 villages have been excluded from the wildlife sanctuary areas and development work has been started in the villages.

Over 1 lakh had been benefited in the state which included five villages, Chask Bhatori, Chask, Sechu, Udeen Sandhari and Hillu Tuan, of the Sechu-Tuan sanctuary. Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri said this after laying the foundation stone of a Rs 35 lakh wildlife rest house at Sechu in the interior parts of the Pangi tribal valley yesterday.

Bharmouri said the 113.27 sq km non-inhabited area had been incorporated into the Sechu Tuan wildlife sanctuary, thereby increasing the total protected area of the sanctuary to 390 sq km.

As many as 318 villages of Chamba district had also been excluded from five wildlife sanctuary areas, Kugti, Tundah, Khajjiyar, Gamgul-Siyabehi and Sechu-Tuan, of the district, Bharmouri said.

He announced that the government had re-started the raising of nurseries which had been closed so that the availability of qualitative species of nurseries for plantation at the local level could be ensured.— OC

Dharamsala, July 4
Despite a tough stance by the state government, the private polytechnic and engineering colleges are continuing with the admission process, with a hope that the authorities would yield to their demands.

Sources said the private technical education institutions were registering students hoping that the government would yield to their demands and regularise the admissions.

The state government had disaffiliated 16 private polytechnic colleges last week. It meant that these colleges could not admit students for the current session till the government took back its decision. For engineering colleges, the state government had laid the condition that only the students who had appeared in AIEEE test could be admitted.

The members of private engineering colleges association, on the condition of anonymity, said in case they did not admit students now, there would be no students left by the time they got some relief from the government. So they had to register whatever students were coming to them.

Sources said the managements of the private institutions, that have about 7,500 polytechnic seats and an equal number of engineering seats, were working on a multi-pronged strategy to tackle the problem.

The association has moved Himachal Pradesh High Court against the government decision.

Last year also, the private polytechnic colleges had admitted students in violation of the norms laid by the state government. The state technical education board had imposed a penalty of Rs 13,500 per student on colleges for violating the norms. The colleges moved High Court, which reduced the fine amount to half. However, the colleges did not deposit the fine amount of Rs 1.32 crore. The colleges have moved Supreme Court against the High Court decision imposing 50 per cent fine on them.

The association of private colleges also met Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to solicit his support. However, he stood by the decision of Minister for Technical Education GS Bali.

Earlier, the association had tried to lobby with Bali. Some members of the association even had heated arguments with the minister in his chamber. The association was now trying to mend fences with him.

The association members are maintaining that in case they failed to get relief from any corner in the next 10-15 days, they would be forced to agitate.

However, the government move to disaffiliate the private colleges is already having an impact on admissions. The move has left many students in doubt over the validity of private colleges in Himachal. They are now opting for admissions in Punjab colleges.

Nurpur, July 4
Annoyed over the neglect of former local MLA Rakesh Pathania at a party workers’ meeting two day ago, his supporters today convened a meeting here and demanded the dissolving of local unit with immediate effect. The meeting was presided over jointly by Abhilash Chib, Nurpur Block Development Committee chairperson, Vinod Sharma and Roshan Lal, ex-BJP mandal presidents, and Sat Pal Dhiman, zila parishad member.

Airing their grievances in a press conference, they said the BJP mandal, being run by mining mafia, had been trying to sideline Pathania and his supporters, notwithstanding the directions of Kangra MP and senior BJP leader Shanta Kumar. The MP had asked the party state general secretary Vipin Parmar to start a membership drive in Nurpur and enroll new members from Pathania’s supporters before the Lok Sabha poll.

“But the BJP mandal has failed to understand the ground reality of the political scenario and is now indulging in weakening the party in the area. The BJP witnessed rout during the past two Assembly elections as party candidates even lost security deposits in the absence of Pathania, who contested elections as an independent twice,” they added.

They alleged that the BJP had not only ignored but also humiliated Pathania by not inviting him to the meeting of Shanta Kumar, who had visited the area for the first time after his landslide victory in the General Election and only a handful workers assembled to receive him.

They also appealed to the party leadership to re-store Pathania’s dignity and his supporters who had worked hard to secure votes in favour of Shanta Kumar. A new party unit be constituted through electoral process as the existing mandal had only nominated members, they added.

Pathania contested the last two Assembly elections from Nurpur as an independent after denial of party ticket. He had re-joined the party before the Lok Sabha elections.

Shanta Kumar, during his workers’ meetings in Kangra district, had lauded the efforts of BJP rebels who had re-joined the party before the elections and had admitted that they had played a key role in his landslide victory. He had even reiterated that these workers would not be ignored by the party and their services would be utilised in strengthening the party.

Dharamsala, July 4
Pawan Kajal, Independent MLA from Kangra and associate member of the Congress in the Vidhan Sabha, has been accused of continuing as a government contractor in the PWD even after being elected MLA.

RTI activists from Kangra, Vinay Sharma and Ashwani Gupta, while talking to mediapersons, said Pawan Kajal amassed construction contracts worth lakhs even after being elected to the Legislative Assembly. They have written to the state Vidhan Sabha Speaker and the Chief Electoral Officer seeking Kajal’s dismissal.

They alleged that they had sought information from the PWD, Dharamsala office, on eight points, including the date of registration of Pawan Kajal who is currently the MLA from Kangra, work allotted to him from 2008 to 2013 and the date of his surrendering the licence as a contractor.

“The department, however, provided information on only two points—his registration as a contractor with the department and the cancellation of the licence after he was elected to the state Assembly on December 20, 2012,” Gupta said.

Gupta alleged that Kajal had applied to the PWD for the cancellation of his licence as a contractor on April 29, 2013, six months after his election to the state Assembly, while his registration was withdrawn on August 28, 2013. “During this period, Kajal continued the work on construction projects he was allotted,” Gupta said.

“Not only this, Kajal was awarded eight construction works by the PWD with effect from June 1, 2004, to July 23, 2013,” he added.

The department remarked that the works were completed, but didn’t mention the date of completion.

“It means that most of the construction works he was awarded subsisted, while he filed nomination papers to the Vidhan Sabha on October 17, 2012, after the declaration of the results. It is clearly a violation of Section 9-A of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951,” Gupta said. He alleged that the department deliberately concealed the information about the date of the completion of work.

Vinay Sharma said Section 9-A of the Act provided for disqualification of a member of the legislative Assembly if a candidate had a subsisting contract with the appropriate government on the day of his filing the nomination papers.

He said the MLA’s wife had now been registered as a contractor and many of the construction works of the PWD had been allotted to her.

“Besides, the MLA’s brother has also been awarded works which is against the law,” Sharma said. He, however, could not provide any document to substantiate the allegation of the works being illegally awarded to the MLA’s family members.

Pawan Kajal refuted all allegations stating that he had written to the PWD on September 29 to discontinue his all contract works, which was a fortnight prior to his filing the nomination papers.

“As far as the cancellation of registration as contractor is concerned, after being elected as the MLA I wrote to the department to withdraw my licence in April 2013 and it was subsequently suspended in August the same year,” Kajal said.

“The construction work of not even a single penny has been carried after I filed my papers,” Kajal said, adding that the person levelling allegations against him might have been misinformed.

He also denied the allegation that his wife was working as a contractor.

Shimla, July 4
Barring the state capital which experienced heavy rain, the monsoon is yet to make its presence felt in the entire state.

Shimla recorded 43 mm rain today with only a few other places experiencing moderate to heavy rain during the last 24 hours. Kasauli experienced 26 mm rain, Jubbarhatti 18 mm and Kalaptop 17 mm, Kandaghat 15 mm and Kotkhai 10mm and Jubbal 6 mm.

The day temperature registered a slight increase of one to two degrees with Una being the hottest place at 35.6 degrees Celsius followed by 34 degrees in Bhuntar, Sundernagar 32.9, Nahan 30.9, Dharamsala 29.6, Shimla 26.2, Kalpa 23.4 and Manali 22.6 degrees.

The local Meteorological centre has predicted light to moderate showers at isolated places in the mid-hills during the next four days. The lower and higher hills are likely to experience dry weather during this period.

The monsoon had approached the state on July 1 and remained active for two days but it weakened later and only some areas experienced moderate rain during past two days.

Dharamsala, July 4
About 40 government schools in Kangra district are virtually without any land. The land on which these are located has been classified as forest land. Due to this, the schools are facing infrastructure problems. No new construction is being allowed as the Forest Department is not allowing any change of land use. The schools even lack basic facilities such as toilets and classrooms.

Raj Kumar Guleria, an RTI activist for Darkata, has written to the Union Minister for HRD, Smriti Irani, to intervene and get forest clearance for these schools.

All these government schools were earlier located on village common land. However, all the village common land in the state was classified as forest land. This has stopped the development of these schools, he added.

Some of the schools that have been badly affected are Government Senior Secondary School, Bharwala, Government Senior Secondary School, Dhaliara, and Government Senior Secondary School, Khatiar.

Guleria said nine senior secondary schools in the district are located on forest land. These schools do not own any property and the state government should either relocate these schools or allow them to raise infrastructure.

The conversion of most of the village common land into forest land is hampering the development in the state. The government is facing problems in bringing up basic infrastructure such as roads, schools or hospitals.

Even the campus of Central University of Himachal Pradesh has been lingering on for the past about three years as the government has allotted forest land for it. The Union Minister for Environment and Forests has still not given permission for conversion of allotted forest land for the campus of Central University.

Kangra, July 4
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), an advance centre for evidence-based child health, the PGIMER, conducted a three-day course on ‘How to teach evidence-based child health’ at Dr RP Government Medical College, Tanda.

Under the directions of Meenu Singh, professor of paediatrics, the PGIMER, and Anil Chauhan, Principal, DRPG Medical College, Tanda, a new dimension has been added to the teaching of evidence-based child health here. The college is an established satellite centre for the ICMR, said Meenu.

Meenu Singh, the pioneer of evidence-based child health in India, introduced the doctors of medical college to the subject and the faculty and resident doctors from all departments participated. Inaugurating the programme, Anil Chauhan said, it was a step to enhance knowledge and create doctors who would be well with the best modalities of treatment.

She taught the technique of child health and gave various brain storming exercises to doctors. The young doctors of the TMC were encouraged to teach and many of them volunteered. Nivedita Sharma, SR, department of paediatrics took up the challenge and taught the participants appraisal of randomized controlled trials and how to find out which research was good.

Kangra, July 4
Relatives of Kirtana Devi, a resident of Jheol village, and other residents of village have demanded a judicial inquiry into the cause of Kirtana’s death at the DRPGMC, Tanda, on July 1 where she was admitted in a snake bite case.

In a letter written to Chief Minister Virbhdra Singh, Kirtana’s relatives alleged she died in the emergency due to negligence of doctors.

Vijay Kumar and Om Prakash, relatives of Kirtana Devi, said the patient was brought to the emergency ward at 5:30 am, but no doctor was available that time. Later, a doctor from the Medicine Department asked to get anti-snake bite vaccine from outside.

They alleged before getting the vaccine from Fortis Hospital, doctors managed to get the vaccine from the ICU, but due to delay in action the patient died.

“When the vaccine was in hospital, why wasn’t it supplied to the patient?” relatives quipped. They ridiculed the statement of Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Dinesh Sood that the cause of the death would be known after the post-mortem report was received. “When a post-mortem examination was not performed, how could doctors know the reason,” they said.

They were critical of issuing a clean chit by the MS to doctors in the unfortunate death and demanded a judicial probe into the case.