Dharamsala, August 9
As many as 11 families were displaced after their houses were damaged at Chola village near Dharamsala due to a massive landslide in the Dhauladhar mountain range.

The landslide occurred following a heavy rainfall in the past few days. Chola village is located above the Indrunag hill, which is a strenuous 5 km walk.

The villagers, mostly Gaddi tribals, said the land started sliding late in the evening yesterday as stones started falling down.

They said they immediately sensed danger and moved out of their homes after taking essential items. The debris entered a few houses in the village causing considerable damage. Cracks have developed in 11 other houses as well.

A villager said: “Since the entire hill overlooking the village is under threat, we may not be able to return to our houses.”

SDM, Dharamsala, Balbir Thakur visited the spot and promised help to the affected villagers.

He distributed a grant of Rs 5,000 each to the 11 affected families. The villagers have moved to their relatives’ houses in adjoining areas.

The area, where the landslide occurred, falls in the active-sliding zone as per a study conducted by the Wadia Institute of Seismology, Dehradun. Interestingly, the present Congress government had proposed to set up the campus of the Central University Himachal Pradesh in the area.

This is the second major landslide that has occurred in Dharamsala in the past one year. Last year, Terralines, a village on the McLeodganj-Dharamsala road, had been destroyed completely and the villagers were shifted to vacant government houses in Khainiara village.

Former minister and senior BJP leader Kishan Kapoor held a press conference today and accused the district administration of its lack of concern in extending help to residents of Chola village.

The affected villagers include families of Neepu Ram, Pooran Chand, Churu Ram, Digti Ram, Kishori Lal, Rajesh Kumar, Chaukas Ram, Nakhro Devi, Pooran Chand, Ghamandi Ram and Changa Ram.

Active-sliding zone The area falls in the active-sliding zone as per a study conducted by the Wadia Institute of Seismology, Dehradun Interestingly, the present Congress government had proposed to set up the Central University Himachal Pradesh campus in the area This is the second major landslide that has occurred in Dharamsala in the past one year. Last year, Terralines, a village on the McLeodganj-Dharamsala road, had been destroyed completely

Shimla/Rekong Peo, August 9
Viral disease peste des petits ruminant (PPR) has attacked sheep and goats at Pa Shah village in the tribal Kinnaur district adjoining the Spiti valley and spread panic among shepherds.

Nearly 250 sheep and goats have died in the pastures in the Pa Shah tribal area so far and teams of veterinary doctors have been rushed to the area with medicines and support staff.

Initially, the disease could not be identified, but later it was found to be PPR. The symptoms include fever, necrotic stomatitis, gastroenteritis and pneumonia.

The sheep and goats are spread throughout forest areas in Pa Shah pastures and as per local shepherds nearly 25 shepherds graze their cattle here.

Bhag Dev of Jhakri village, Man Singh of Dhara Shargha village in Ani, Khima Ram of Samej and Keshav Ram of Kushwa village said the reports of sheep and goats succumbing to the viral were pouring in from the higher hills. They said there was no communication link and they had to trek 6 km to inform about the spread of the disease.

Bhag Dev said he had come with a flock of 200 sheep and goat and now only 125 were alive.

Deputy Commissioner, Kinnaur, DD Sharma said there were 67,000 sheep and 34,000 goats in the district and all of these had been vaccinated.

He said veterinary teams had been rushed to the affected area and diseased sheep and goats had been segregated to minimise the chances of infection.

He said 500 sheep belonging to Man Singh and 700 sheep of Bhag Singh, both hailing from Kullu, were being treated and medicines had been administered to the animals. 

Mandi, August 9
A team of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi, has come out with ways to conserve water in hilly areas, improve drinking water quality and utilise water sources in a better way.

The team headed by Dr Shail Shankar, Assistant Professor, Psychology Department at the institute, made the suggestions by making an extensive field survey under a project to study watershed techniques in the state.

The team also compared the water management techniques being adopted worldwide, besides studying major water problems and suggesting ways to improve these.

The team found that uneven distribution of water was a major problem in Kangra district, which was facing water scarcity despite having an average rainfall and needed attention due to decreasing rainfall and decreasing groundwater table.

They said the problem could be solved by setting up catchment areas in deep forests as had been done in Shimla reserve forest sanctuary and catchment area.

Similarly, the groundwater in Una district had been found having a high concentration of nitrates, which was more than required. To tackle this problem, the team suggested the plantation of phytoremediation. It involves planting trees that are symbiotic to nitrates or any mineral that is excess in water on the banks of water bodies with high concentration of nitrates. Phytoremediation is a green solution and is potent of squeezing out nearly 4,000 kg nitrate in a year.

General water scarcity was also due to heavy soil erosion caused by heavy rainfall leading to silt accumulation and maintaining a stream buffer could help reduce erosion and protect the environment, it said. “Stream buffers are un-mowed areas along streams with appropriate stream-side vegetation growing,” suggest researchers. 

Una, August 9
The state government has declared the Una-Rampur-Haroli-Palkwah-Jaijon road as a Major District Road (MDR), said Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, while addressing a public meeting at the PWD rest house in Haroli today. He said with this tag, the road would be able to attract better funding for its upkeep.

Agnihotri said: “The basic infrastructure on the proposed road already exists, but the missing link was the proposed bridge on the Swan river between Rampur village in Una segment and Haroli block headquarters.”

He said a detailed project report (DPR), estimated at Rs 55 crore, was being prepared for the construction of the bridge (750 m by 7.5 m) over the river, which would reduce the distance between Una and Haroli.

He said all funds for the proposed Rs 41-crore minor irrigation scheme for the Beet area of Haroli segment had been received, adding that 18 deep-bore tubewells would be drilled to lift water, which would be pumped to storage tanks in Singan and Amrali villages. “From here, the water will flow under gravity to irrigate fields in nine panchayats of Haroli segment, which are situated at a high altitude and are still rain-fed,” he said.

Earlier, he distributed cheques worth Rs 18 lakh from the CM Relief Fund to 41 beneficiaries for the treatment of various ailments.

DC Abhishek Jain, SP Anupam Sharma and SDM Dhanvir Thakur besides officers of other departments were also present. 

Dharamsala, August 9
The Himachal Pradesh Poorav Sainik Sahayata Sangathan has asked the state government to appoint a committee of MLAs to oversee the execution of Sainik Welfare Department in the state.

In a petition to the state government, the sangathan alleged that most of the schemes meant for ex-servicemen were not being implemented properly. Sangathan Chairman SC Sharma said the state government had sanctioned 15 per cent reservation for the ex-servicemen in Class I and Class IV jobs. However, presently ex-servicemen from the state were getting just 3 to 4 per cent reservations in government jobs. He said there were 25 Sainik Rest Houses in the state, but their condition was appalling. The condition of Sainik Rest Houses was such that no civilised person could stay there. Very meagre funds were being provided for the upkeep of these rest houses and they were not being used judiciously.

Sharma said the state government had made provisions for providing reservation for the wards of ex-servicemen in educational institutes. But, the reservation policy was not being implemented properly and the benefit was not being extended to all ex-servicemen’s families.

Sainik Welfare Boards had been formed in the state, but these hardly organised meetings. “The meetings depends on the availability of the Governor,” he said.

There was an acute shortage of clerical staff in the Sainik Welfare Department of the state. Almost 50 per cent posts of clerks in the department were lying vacant. The post of Director, Sainik Welfare, had also been lying vacant. Many posts of deputy director in the Sainik Welfare Department had also not been filled for long. The charge of these vacant posts had been given to bureaucrats, who rarely found time to redress the problems of ex-servicemen, the sangathan alleged in its petition.

It said the state and Union Governments had announced various schemes for the families of martyrs or soldiers who had attained martyrdom on duty, but it had been years before the announced benefits percolated to the families.

“In case the committee of MLAs is formed, various schemes for ex-servicemen can be expedited,” they said.The ex-servicemen’s organisation has also demanded the speedy implementation of one-rank one-pension scheme.

Una, August 9
Twentyfive-year-old Shivani of Khadoa village in Dehra tehsil of Kangra district gave birth to triplets at the district hospital here yesterday.

“The mother as well as the infants, two girls and one boy, are in good health,” said Dr GR Kaushal, Chief Medical officer (CMO).

He said the mother underwent a normal delivery.

Dr Ashok Daroch, Senior Medical Officer (SMO), said Shivani’s husband Rohit Parashar, who works in Delhi, brought her to the hospital about a month ago for checkup.

He said initially the case was complicated and it was decided to refer her to a higher institution, but a local gynaecologist Dr Rajan Angra volunteered to handle the case.

The SMO said since then, the mother was admitted to the hospital.

Rohit said it was his wife’s first delivery and they were very happy.

Nurpur, August 9
Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) led by its in charge Sabhya Lohtia took out a rally and held protest demonstration on the Arya Government College premises against the implementation of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Siksha Abhiyan (RUSA) here today.

The agitating activists raised slogans against the implementation of RUSA which they said was not in the interest of students hailing from rural areas, as they were being deprived of admissions in government colleges in the state.

Addressing students, Gourav Pathania, president of the local unit of the ABVP, said after the implementation of this system all sports activities had come to a standstill at the local government college.

He said Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) had failed to declare the results of the first semester even after seven months. He said this system had created an ambiguous academic atmosphere in the state colleges.

Solan, August 9
Delhi resident Satish Kumar, who was staying with his friend Meharban Singh Sodhi on the Kanda road at Dharampur, shot himself dead with his .372-bore pistol here last evening.

Parwanoo DSP Parmod Chauhan said Satish was facing some family problems as his wife was not keeping well and he was also under financial strain. Sodhi told the police that he had gone to attend a phone call when Satish shot himself and died soon after.

Apart from Sodhi, his servant Manoj was present in the house when the incident took place.

The victim was a close kin of a BJP leader from Delhi and this had made the case high-profile and officials were treading with caution.

Satish’s body was earlier sent to the Regional Hospital, Solan, for a postmortem, but later referred to the IGMC, Shimla, due to the absence of forensic science specialists.

This not only delayed the postmortem, but also his body could not be handed over to the family members till this evening.

Shimla, August 9
The state government has received Rs 1,000 crore from the Union Government under the Horticulture Development Scheme. The World Bank team will soon visit the state for inspection.

This was stated by Horticulture Minister Vidya Stokes while planting a sapling at Nagkeli village in Kotgarh here today.

Una, August 9
Offerings worth Rs 1,61,77,662 crore have been received during the Shravan Ashtami fair at the Chintpurni shrine here. This was stated by temple officer Subhash Chand here today.

Besides, devotees had offered 102 mg gold and 7.539 kg silver, he said.

He said currency notes from other countries were also offered The nine-day fair had commenced on July 27. — OC

Sundernagar, August 9
Dr Padam Guleria and Amit Kaushal were elected president and secretary, respectively, of the Rotary Club during the club elections here on Thursday. The installation ceremony was held yesterday. As per the newly elected president, it was decided to make a Rotary chowk in the town and start smart classes in needy schools.

The following were elected office-bearers: president - Dr Padam Guleria; vice-presidents - BR Bansal and BB Kaushal; general secretary Amit Kaushal; chief adviser Dr OP Mehandru; administrator KD Khosla; treasurer Anil Gupta; and press secretary Ashwani Saini.

Solan, August 9
The Nalagarh police arrested Nirmal from Nalagarh last night, who while posing as a religious guru, raped a married woman who had come to his dwelling place at Nangal village to seek a remedy for her problems.

The woman had lodged a complaint with the police about three days ago that she was given something to eat laced with an intoxicant, and the baba had committed the crime after she became unconscious. He was later beaten up by villagers after the incident and taken to the police station.

Superintendent of Police (SP) G Shiva, while giving information, said they had initially registered a case under Section 354 of the IPC and since the accused had received some injuries after being beaten up by local residents he was referred to the PGI in Chandigarh.

The baba, however, came back to Nalagarh after being discharged from the PGI and was spotted by the locals near an ATM. They again reported the matter to the police who then registered a case of rape and arrested him last night.

The SP said the accused was a dismissed sub-inspector who had served the state police.