Shimla, July 18
Moderate to heavy rain lashed several places in Shimla and Sirmaur districts while light to moderate rain occurred at isolated places in Himachal as monsoon remained normal in the state.

The excessive rain during the past 60 hours triggered landslides at various places, throwing normal life out of gear in interior areas and blocking over 25 link roads.

All major rivers and their tributaries are in spate and flowing above the danger mark and district administrations have alerted the people living nearby rivers to take precautions.

Sangrah in Sirmaur district experienced heavy rain and 92 mm rain was recorded during past 24 hours while Dharampur and Kasauli had 68 mm and 61 mm rain.

Shimla, Rohru and Kumarsain had 53 mm rain while Solan and Nauni had 48 mm and 43 mm of rain, followed by Kandaghat, Rajgarh and Annu 41 mm each, Bijahi 37mm, Dalhousie 36 mm Dharamsala 28 mm and Kangra 21 mm.

Manmohan Singh, Director, local Met office, said the monsoon would be less active during the next six days and light to moderate rain would occur at many places. The rain deficit has come down to 35 per cent from 43 per cent on July 14 after rain.

The lower areas reeled under sultry heat as the mercury rose by a few notches and Una recorded a high of 33.4 degree against 27 degree yesterday while Sundernagar and Dharamsala recorded the maximum temperature at 27.7 degree, followed by Bhuntar 25.8 degree, Nahan 24.4 degree, Solan 23 degree, Manali 21 degree, Shimla 20.4 degree and Kalpa 17.4 degree C.

There was no significant change in the minimum temperature and Bharmaur in the tribal belt was the coldest with a low of minimum 12.1 degree while Keylong, Manali and Kalpa recorded a minimum of 12.5 degree, 12.5 degree and 13.4 degree.

Shimla and Nahan registered the minimum temperature at 15.8 degree and 16.8 degree while Bhuntar, Dharamsala and Palampur recorded the minimum temperature at 19.1 degree followed by Solan 19.4 degree, Sundernagar 21.1 degree and Una 21.5 degree C. The Sky remained overcast and thick fog engulfed Shimla and its adjoining areas.

Kangra: Heavy rain drenched the Kangra valley this afternoon, dropping the temperature and providing a relief from the scorching heat. However, it also threw life out of gear.

It started raining heavily around 3:30pm. The town recorded nearly 30 mm rain.

Roads were deserted and business came to a halt. Pilgrims, mostly from Punjab, were seen rushing for shelters. The Banner, Manji and Manuni rivers were swollen.

But farmers heaved a sigh of relief as after a long dry spell, heavy rain was experienced for the second time this week.

Reports of rain were also received from Dharamsala, McLeodganj, Nagrota Bagwan, Mallan, Palampur, Jawalamukhi, Shahpur, Dehra and Maranda. — OC

Una, July 18
The link road, catering to residents of Friends Colony, Arya Nagar and Takka road, is in a neglected condition as it has fallen a victim to the tussle on the issue of the boundaries of the Una Municipal Committee (MC) and the adjoining Arniala panchayat.

Arya Nagar residents Raghubir Chand and Ravinder Pathak said the narrow link road runs between ward number 1 of the Una MC and ward number 1 of the Arniala panchayat areas.

Consequently, both the bodies conveniently pass on the responsibility of maintaining the road on to each other.

Another resident Sham Lal Sharma said the Public Works Department had metalled the road in 2002 and some years later, it was dug up for laying sewer lines. He complained that the contractor left without metalling the road. During the rainy season, puddles developed on the road, causing inconvenience to locals, pedestrians and the two-wheeler riders, he added.

Mamta Kashyap, Chairperson, Una MC, said they had constructed some other link roads in the area, but the main link road was damaged while laying the sewer lines. She, however, negated the allegation of local residents that the MC was ignoring the area due to boundary issues. She said if the district administration provided them with funds, the MC would pave the road at the earliest.

Another resident Santosh Devi said there were more than 100 houses in the area and were duly approved by the Town and Country Planning Department.

She said all residents were paying house tax to either the MC or the Arniala Panchayat, but the condition of the link road was pathetic. She said the residents had taken up the matter with the district administration a number of times, but there had been no positive response. 

Kullu, July 18
The Air-India has announced to cancel its operations for Delhi-Kullu from July 22 to August 31.

The airlines was operating daily flights to Kullu, except Tuesday, has further reduced its operation frequency by halting operations on Friday as well.

Air-India manager at Bhunter said due to unfavourable weather conditions the management had decided to shut the operations during the rainy season.

A local travel agent said there were heavy bookings for July and August.

Ellen, a foreign national, said she was informed by her travel agent about the cancellation as the airlines generally informed only a day before the fight departure schedule.

The newly emerged airline, Himalayan Bulls, has decided to start its daily operations to Delhi after July 24. Based in Kullu, the airlines was presently operating daily flights to Chandigarh and had recently launched its flights on Kullu-Delhi sector. 

Nurpur, July 18
The Himachal Pradesh Government Revenue Officers’ Association and the state Kanungo-Patwari Association have taken exception to the government’s decision of curtailing promotional quota of tehsildars of the Himachal Pradesh Administrative Services (HAS) cadre.

In a joint press statement here by state general secretary of the association Arun Sharma and state adviser of the Kanungo-Patwari Association Vijay Singh, the associations said the quota had been enhanced from 22 to 30 per cent during the previous Congress regime in 2006. But it had been reduced to 27 per cent by the successive BJP government after coming into power in 2007.

They claimed that Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had promised the Revenue Officers’ Association to increase the promotional quota from 30 to 35 per cent during his previous regime (2006) and now the revenue officers were expecting that increase.

“But the government’s recent decision to reduce the existing quota to 25 per cent has startled the revenue officers, kanungos and patwaris across the state for whom the HAS is the only channel for their service promotions,” they added.

The associations’ leaders asserted that revenue officers were not only instrumental in implementing the government’s public welfare and development programmes and schemes but also played a pivotal role in disaster management.

Mandi: The state Revenue Officers Federation has urged the state government to restore their quota for promotion to the HAS.

State president of the federation NS Chauhan said tehsildars, naib tehsildars and other revenue officers were performing important duties in different capacities as executive magistrates, registration officers and were also involved in round-the-clock relief works during natural calamities in the state.

The officers urged the government to increase the promotion quota to the HAS to 35 per cent. 

Mandi, July 18
Two persons were washed away in the Beas today as a tempo, in which they were travelling, fell into the river this morning near Dawada.

The police said Ramesh of Ropar and Ashok Kumar of Nangal, on their way from Kullu to Punjab, are feared to have drowned in the Beas when their vehicle (PB12-N-0992) fell into the Beas around 7 am. The NDRF team stationed at Pandoh dam has launched a search operation to trace the victims.

Mandi, July 18
Devesh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, has issued an alert to people living near dams, rivers and rivulets not to venture near the water bodies in view of the increased water discharge due to heavy rain in the area.

He said people should remain vigilant and not venture near water, especially to bathe or wash clothes, as water can be released from the Pandoh dam and the Larji dam any time these days.

The DC has also instructed the Pandoh dam and Larji dam authorities to sound sirens and make announcements through loud speakers to alert the residents before releasing the spillway water gates of dams.

Meanwhile, the additional SE, Pandoh dam, has said three gates of the dam have been opened to flush out silt and people should remain vigilant.

Solan, July 18
A case of minor student being raped by her brother-in-law came to light here today where the girl was threatened to keep silent after the crime.

According to the police, the girl mustered courage and approached the police today after which a complaint under Section 376 of the IPC was registered. She along with her sister gone to register a complaint after which the police got her medical examination conducted.

The girl had come to stay with her sister and brother-in-law for pursuing her school education but her brother-in-law Ramkumar raped her five days ago. The victim and her sister are Nepalese and her brother-in-law was operating a small canteen here.

In-charge, city police post, Tapinder Kumar  said they were inquiring into the matter and awaiting the medical examination report for further action while a case had been registered.

Shimla, July 18
Security has been beefed up along the 200-km border area of Chamba district adjoining Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir after information from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) that four terrorists were spotted at the Ravi basin and might have sneaked into Himachal.

This was stated by Sanjay Kumar, Director General of Police (DGP), here today.

Talking to mediapersons, he said, “As a precautionary measure, the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) has been deployed along the border of Chamba, patrolling intensified, intelligence and surveillance increased and sensitive routes have been plugged.” Referring to reports that Jammu & Kashmir has set up a police post, 8 km deep into Lahaul & Spiti district from the Leh side, the DGP said it was a temporary post set up in view of “Kal Chakra”, a major religious congregation of the Buddhists.

Sanjay said taking note of an increase in thefts in temples in the state, the temples had been classified into three categories for providing security and the temple authorities apprised of the issue. “There has been a decline in the number of theft cases as compared to last year,” he added.

He said three companies would be raised as the State Disaster Response Force and disaster management plans for each of the 12 districts had been prepared and the SPs concerned directed to constitute teams of 25-30 policemen for a prompt response to disaster.Further, Rs 1 crore has been allocated for the installation of CCTV cameras at 27 locations at entry points along the border and deployment of security forces scaled up at other sensitive points. 

Dharamsala, July 18
Farmers who took the initiative of growing low chill apple varieties in the mid-Himalayas are upset over the government apathy. Due to the errant weather in lower hills this year most of the farmers who had grown low chill variety of apple have suffered losses this year.

About 2,000 apple trees, grown by Mann Tea Estate owners here, had started yielding fruit last year. However, this year the orchard has not yielded any fruit. Guddu Pathania, manager of the estate, said we hardly got any advice or support from the government. Owing to low temperatures that persisted till May caused about 90 per cent loss to their apple crop.

Talking to The Tribune, Guddu Pathania said they had started growing apple trees about five years ago in about 55 kanal agriculture land available with them. We had brought apple shoots from Hariman, a farmer in the Ghumarwin area of Bilaspur who had first successfully grown apple in low-altitude areas of the state.

The trees started producing fruit in their fourth year. The crop was really good last year. We developed shoots of low chill apple variety and sold it to other farmers of Dharamsala region so that they could grow commercial fruit crop of apple, he said.

Dharamsala falls in the mid-Himalayan region and has an average altitude of just of 1500 metres.

Many other farmers have also started growing apple in low-altitude areas. A farmer in the Dehra area had also successfully grown an apple orchard.

Dehra subdivision in Kangra district has an average altitude of just 503 metres from sea level. The area witnesses extreme temperatures ranging from 40 to 45 degrees Celsius during summer. The apple varieties that have been successfully grown in Dehra and Dharamsala areas are low chill varieties of apple.

Inquiries by The Tribune revealed that the apple varieties that are being successfully grown by farmers in lower hills include the Anna and Golden Dorsett varieties of apple. These varieties were developed in Israel and were first introduced in 1959.

The said low chill varieties of apple flower in January and February, whereas the varieties sown in high altitudes in March and April. The low chill varieties that are being grown successfully in Dharamsala, bear fruit in June or July, whereas the high altitude varieties in September and October.

In the name of promoting low chill varieties of apple, the state government imported 2,000 low chill apple saplings from France and distributed them in lower areas of the state.

However, the entire apple promotion policy of the state has remained limited to just high-altitude areas of Himachal. The apple crop was promoted by the state government in only Shimla, Kullu and tribal areas of Kinnaur and Chamba.

It is unfortunate when the low chill varieties were available since 1959, why the state government did not make concerted efforts to introduce the apple crop in mid-Himalayan regions that include Bilaspur, Kangra, Solan and Sirmaur districts.

Palampur, July 18
Decks have been cleared for a municipal council (MC) for the twin towns of Baijnath and Paprola, also known as temple towns. All adjoining panchayats have given their consent and filed no objections within the stipulated period allowed by the state government.

Official sources today said the main hurdle in setting up the MC was public objections. Since no one has filed objections, the government was likely to issue final notification soon so that the matter was placed before the cabinet for approval and allotment of funds.

The setting up of MC here was hanging fire for the past 15 years because of objections raised by the residents. Baijnath MLA Kishori Lal persuaded the panchayats and the local residents to not raise any objections. Rigved Thakur , Baijnath SDM, convened a meeting of local residents to finalise the modalities for the creation of municipal council, its jurisdiction and installation of other infrastructure. — OC

Shimla, July 18
There has been a marked increase in cases of rape, murder and cruelty to women during the first half of 2014 compared to the corresponding period in 2013 even though the cases of eve-teasing and molestation declined significantly.

The increase in criminal cases was just 7 per cent and 8,118 cases were registered in 2014 (Up to June 30) against 7,590 cases in 2013 and the increase of 528 cases this year is attributed to increase in the number of cases registered under the NDPS act (101) and the Excise and taxation Act (346), Director General of Police, Sanjay Kumar told mediapersons here.

The number of rape cases increased from 111 to 129 while cases of cruelty to women rose from 147 to 170 but the cases of molestation and eve-teasing came down from 57 and 234 to 34 and 208, he added.

A nodal lady officer of the rank of Inspector General (IG) Police has been deputed to monitor the progress of women cells and the Mahila Twarit Bal has also been set up for quick response in case of women victims. Two women police stations would soon come up in Shimla and Dharamsala, he added.

Solan, July 18
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said no electricity duty would be charged on captive power generation and a notification had been issued in this regard.

The CM, who was interacting with various industry associations at Baddi last evening, said the government was introducing several measures to facilitate the industry as it could lead to growth, employment and revenue generation.

The abolition of the duty for captive power would give relief to those investors who had been using diesel gensets. Though this clause had been laid down in the Industrial Policy, it had failed to be implemented in the absence of a notification. The investors were paying the duty at 30 paise per unit

The CM said efforts were also made to relax norms of Section 118 of the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, to facilitate land availability to investors and simplify procedures.

Giving a stern message to investors to ensure employment to Himachali youth, he said excuses such as lack of technical and educational qualifications would not be accepted as the state had highly qualified workforce.

The CM said the government had notified all budgetary promises and even the issue pertaining to increase in the floor area ratio and reduction in the charges of change of land use too had been notified. He said ~50 crore were being spent on augmenting power infrastructure in the area.

He said the proposal for connecting Baddi-Barotiwala with rail link from Kalka to Baddi via Chandimandir was in the final stage. Virbhadra directed officials to resolve issues pertaining to power supply.

The CM also directed the PWD authorities to improve the condition of the Barotiwala-Parwanoo road via Gunai as the total length of the road was approximately 34 km and merely 2.6 km was double lane.

Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, addressing investors, said the decisions taken at the Single Window Clearance Agency meeting chaired by the CM for granting clearances to industrialists would be final and no department would raise objections.

The CM also chaired the review meeting of the Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Development Authority.

Solan, July 18
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh inaugurated and laid foundation stones of vairous projects worth Rs 24 crore in Solan district today.

He laid the foundation stone of a multipurpose agriculture produce management block, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 10 crore, in Parwanoo. He also laid the foundation stone of drinking water supply scheme for Parwanoo, which will be constructed at the cost of Rs 7.27 crore.

The CM also inaugurated a car parking in Parwanoo to be constructed at a cost of Rs 48 lakh and laid the foundation stone of a Community Hall.

He also flagged off a Mudrika bus for the industrial area and two buses from Parwanoo to Bhojnagar. He inaugurated the agriculture produce marketing yard which is completed at a cost of ~1.32 crore on outskirts of Parwanoo.

The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of the science block at Government Senior Secondary School, Bhojnagar, to be completed with an estimated cost of ~82.37 lakh.

He also inaugurated a Community Health Centre building in Dharampur which is constructed at a cost of ~1.21 crore.

While addressing a public meeting in Parwanoo, the Chief Minister said Tipra village would be connected to a link road from sector-1 in Parwanoo by the Town and Country Planning Department.

He said Parwanoo would be developed as a big commercial centre. He also announced that two more borewells would be set up in sector-4 and 5 in the town and sanctioned ~1.65 crore for the Parwanoo-Naryal road.

Referring to the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) yard, the Chief Minister said it would give a platform to the horticulturists and farmers of the state for storing and marketing their produce.

Ramesh Chauhan, vice-chairman of the Khadi Board, welcomed the Chief Minister and raised the demands of the local people.

The CM also sanctioned the construction of link roads from Joharji Mallah to Kiarua, Joharji Mallah to Jandori and Narikala to Halda. He also directed the PWD officials to undertake the survey of these roads.

He announced the inauguration of the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Pratha 
and sanctioned health centre for Nabho, besides constructing a primary school building in Tarol.

Later, while addressing the gathering in Dharampur, the Chief Minister announced the inauguration of a PHC in Deothi and said a PHC in Pattabrauri would be set up soon.

He also announced the upgradation of Government High School (GHS) Dagshai, GHS Subathu (Girls) and GHS Haripur till class XII and also announced the upgradation of Government Middle School in Rori and Ganol to high school.

Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Urban Development Minister Col Dr Dhani Ram Shandil, Chairman of the HP Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board Bawa Hardeep Singh, Chairman of the APMC Ramesh Thakur, Vice-Chairman of the Planning Board Gangu Ram Musafir and officials of the district also present on the occasion.

Chamba, July 18
The Deputy Commissioner’s Office Employees Association has expressed concern over the state government’s failure to fill vacant posts in the Revenue Department. As a result, the existing staff has been overburdened with official work.

The association has also opposed the decision of the state government to amend the yardsticks, thereby abolishing a number of posts in the department. It has described the decision as anti-public and anti-employee.

Welcoming the decision of the state government to open new revenue sub-division, tehsils and sub-tehsils in the public interest, district president of the association Brij Mohan Bedi urged the government to fill the posts lying vacant for a long time.

The association threatened to resort to agitation if the government did not change the decision, Bedi said.

The association also submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the Deputy Commissioner, he added. — OC

Palampur, July 18
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Ministry of Shipping and Transport has cleared the four-laning project for the 220 km Pathankot-Mandi national highway 20, linking Pathankot with Leh.

The NHAI has included the project in its current year plan.

A senior officer of the state Public Works Department (PWD) said here today that the Government of India had also allocated necessary funds for the acquisition of land on sides of the highway. They also directed the state government to initiate steps for early acquisition of land so that the project could be completed within the time frame and more funds could be provided next year.

It may be recalled that the Pathankot-Mandi highway was declared as national highway in 1987 by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, keeping in view the defence requirements of the country as it is the safest route to Leh.

Even after 27 years, this road has remained neglected. The Army has been using this highway for moving their supplies to Leh-Ladakh and other forward areas.

After the Kargil conflict, this road has assumed more significance. The Ministry of Defence has considered this road as the shortest and the safest route for carrying army supplies and other heavy equipments to boarder areas as it is beyond the firing range of the Pakistan Army.

Shimla, July 18
Residents of areas merged with the municipal limits of Shimla, under the banner of the Himachal Kisan Sabha (HKS), have rejected the proposed property tax. They have warned the government that if the areas were not excluded from the Shimla Municipal Corporation and exempted from the property tax, they would launch a stir in the city soon.

“The government is imposing property tax on residents in the merged areas where citizens have no basic amenities as people still practice agriculture and animal husbandry”, said Kuldip Tanwar, HKS president.

“The rights of the local people have already been curtailed after bringing the area under MC”, he rued.

The retention policy was brought six times in the past, but only to benefit a few influential and politically connected people. They had constructed buildings after purchasing land from the local people at very low prices and the common people came to know about the policy when its time had expired, resented Satayender Singh, member of HKS.

“It is shocking that locals who have built houses with their hard-earned money are paying water and electricity bills at commercial rates, more than the top industrial houses in the industrial belt, as their houses are not regularised”, resented residents.

The villagers in the merged areas still practice agriculture but they are being deprived of the benefits of schemes like MNREGA, subsidies on fertilisers, seeds and pesticides, they asserted.

“Even to repair their ancestral houses and cowsheds, they have to make rounds of the Town and Country Planning Department (TCP) and the Municipal Corporation. They are not permitted to cut trees on their own land. They are challaned for even cutting wood for cremation”, the protesters added.

The inclusion of areas in SMC had multiplied nothing but miseries. There were no facilities like drinking water, sewerage, public toilets and sweepers in the area, they pointed out, demanding exclusion from the TCP and MC limits as these areas were merged with the MC without public consultation.

If the administration did not recognise these houses as legal construction, how could it ask for taxes now, questioned Dr Tanwar.

Accusing the Congress and BJP governments and their councillors in the MC for playing with the emotions of the people, Dr Tanwar alleged that the political parties did nothing and shed crocodile tears on the problems of the residents and the proposed tax system. 

Kangra, July 18
Members of the Teachers Welfare Association of Medical College Tanda (TAMCOT) today resolved that the teachers of Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla, and Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC), Tanda, would remain separate.

They said the government would take a one-time option from the teachers, who wanted to move from the DRPGMC, Tanda, to the IGMC, Shimla, and vice-versa, without disturbing the functioning of both colleges.

Atul Mahajan, president of the TAMCOT, and Amit Gupta, general secretary, said the growth of the DRPGMC, Tanda, was possible only after the teachers were separated and permanent faculty was available.

They said earlier the teachers from the IGMC came to the DRPGMC for promotions only.

The members of the TAMCOT met here today under the chairmanship of Dr Atul Mahajan, following an effort of the government to mix the teachers of both the medical colleges.

They demanded that the medical teachers should be given time-bound promotion, academic allowance, raise in the basic pay to Rs 85,000 and full working staff for the super specialty hospital.

They also demanded that the facility of vehicles for consultants on emergency duty in night hours should be provided immediately. 

Kangra, July 18
Tension gripped the MCM DAV College campus today when activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI) and the National Students Union of India (NSUI) clashed following arguments over some issue.

Budhi Parkash, Additional SHO, said activists of the SFI informed the police station that they were attacked by a group of NSUI activists at the college gate. A police party was immediately rushed to the college. However, the activists of NSUI had already left by then.

Meanwhile, the NSUI activists had moved an application with principal Virender Bhatia, complaining against SFI activists. The principal told the police that both the groups would be called to his office to sort out the matter tomorrow.

An academician said the atmosphere of various colleges was getting polluted day by day as activists of different organisations were protesting, sitting on dharnas and clashing, besides gheraoing the principals of the colleges on one issue or the other. It would certainly cost heavily on the future of the students. 

Una, July 18
A workshop on e-filing of tax returns for traders of the district was organised by the Una Excise and Taxation Department at the Bachat Bhawan here today.

The online filing of returns has been made mandatory by the department from this month.

Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner (Flying Squad) DK Sharma, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioners (AETC) Ujjwal Singh Rana and Dr Rajiv Dogra, Beopar Parishad president Sumesh Sharma and general secretary Narinder Pathak were also present.

The Una Beopar Parishad honoured AETC Ujjwal Singh Rana, who has been transferred to Shimla. 

Nurpur, July 18
The Nagni fair will be celebrated at the Nagni Mata temple near here on August 2. The Nagni Mela committee, which convened its meeting last evening here under the chairmanship of local SDM Ashwani Sood, decided to celebrate this fair on that day.

According to the SDM, local MLA Ajay Mahajan will be the chief guest in the fair. He said the tehsildar had been appointed as mela officer to oversee all arrangements for fair celebrations.

“The administration will keep a vigil on the use of polythene bags by vendors and all necessary arrangements of security and drinking water for pilgrims are being made,” he added.— OC

Chamba, July 18
The police seized 65.50 kg nag chhatri, a forest produce, being transported in a vehicle near Sala Mor falling under the Kihar police station here last evening.

According to Superintendent of Police (SP), Chamba, DK Chaudhary, a police party which was on a patrol near Sala Mor in the remote Kihar area intercepted a vehicle.

The police recovered 65.5 kg naag chhattri being carried in the vehicle, the SP said, adding that one person was detained. A case has been registered.— OC

Mandi, July 18
A team of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) today visited the town for making an on-the-spot inspection of important heritage buildings to develop these into places of tourist interest and maintain their heritage status.

The team, headed by Geetika Kalhan, former Additional Chief Secretary to Punjab Government and the adviser of the ADB, visited Emerson House, Panchavakta temple, Ghats situated on the banks of the Beas and other places.

The government and the district administration had sought financial help from the ADB for developing these historical places to maintain their heritage status to draw tourists to the town.

The ADB team also had a discussion with the district administration in this regard.

Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar said the district administration had submitted different projects seeking funds to protect heritage buildings and heritage status of Mandi.

He said the ADB team after visiting different places and buildings had advised the district administration to submit a composite project for developing the heritage places in the district.— TNS