Shimla, August 11
The Assembly today witnessed acrimonious scenes with Congress and BJP MLAs shouting slogans against each other over alleged corruption cases against CM Virbhadra Singh.

The Opposition staged a walkout during Question Hour, despite repeated pleas by Speaker BBL Butail to allow smooth functioning of the House.

The day began with the Speaker urging the members to allow him to conduct the House in a constitutional manner. He said it was the duty of the members to discuss issues concerning the public. The Speaker said he was running the House as per Vidhan Sabha Rules and the members too must respect these rules so that there were no disruptions. BJP legislator and Chief Whip Suresh Bharadwaj said when the case pending in the Delhi court could be reported in the media then why could it not be discussed in the House.

He said when the CM could be allowed to make a statement on the issue then why could a discussion not be held. He said the BJP was keen that the House ran smoothly but it appeared that the government was itself not keen to run the House.

Leader of the Opposition PK Dhumal said the Speaker seemed to be making contradictory statement. "I urge you to review your decision as you allowed the CM to make a statement but rejected the BJP plea for discussion," said Dhumal. Butail defended his move of rejecting the two notices given under Rule 67 for suspending all business and allowing the CM to make a statement.

"According to Rules, the Leader of the House can make a statement any time and moreover in his remarks, he made no mention of the court case, so I have acted as per law," he said.

Shimla, August 11
Accusing the Opposition of disrupting the Assembly, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said property worth crores had been passed on in the name of Dhumal’s son for cricket.

Speaking in the Assembly today after Opposition members staged a walk out and refused to join the proceedings for the fourth consecutive day, Virbhadra said the BJP, led by its leader PK Dhumal, had made it a habit to disrupt the House proceedings. “Challan has been prepared in two cases against PK Dhumal,” he remarked.

“It is not that the Congress does not have issues to raise against Dhumal and his son on the floor of the House, but we have not resorted to such tactics,” he said. He added that the BJP led by Dhumal had made it a habit not to participate in the proceedings.

The Chief Minister said BJP members were raising objectionable slogans which should be expunged from the proceedings of the House. “The accusation that they (BJP) are making in the name of slogans must be expunged from the House proceedings,” he urged the Speaker.

Speaker BBL Butail responded that he would not allow anyone to raise matters pending in the court in the House. “It is also my appeal to members of treasury benches not to exercise restraint and not instigate Opposition members so that the House can run smoothly and take up the business listed for the day,” he said.

Butail said action would be taken against anyone who tried to disrupt the House as per the rules but expressed his inability to expunge the slogans from the House. He also said to enable officers and mediapersons to listen to the House proceedings amid the ruckus, ear phones would be provided.

The Chief Minister responded by stating that if Opposition members raised slogans, there was bound to be equal reaction from the side of the treasury benches. 

Shimla, August 11
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said the Superintendent of Police (Prisons) had been asked to conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the incident involving escape of five undertrials from the Hamirpur jail last evening.

Making a statement about the incident in the Assembly today, Virbhadra said a case had been registered under Sections 223 and 224 of the IPC in the Hamirpur Sadar police station.

“Action will be taken against the erring jail officials on the receipt of the inquiry report,” he stated.

The Chief Minister said it was at 7.15 pm yesterday that five undertrials - Karamjit, Anvish, Vicky, Sher Muhammad and Bansi Lal escaped from the jail. The report in this regard was given by the Assistant Jail Superintendent to the SHO of Hamirpur Police Station, he said.

He informed the House that efforts were still being made to search for the prisoners in the nearby areas of the jail.

Shimla, August 11
Former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition PK Dhumal today said seeing the defiant attitude of Congress legislators, it appeared that the government was in no mood to resolve the stalemate with the cooperation of Opposition members and run the House smoothly.

Talking to mediapersons after the BJP staged a walkout, Dhumal said when the details of the case pending in the Delhi High Court could be reported in newspapers, then where was the problem in discussing it in the House. “What is even more unfortunate is the fact that despite the BJP being keen to run the House, it is the Congress MLAs who started the sloganeering and left their seats,” he said.

Dhumal said the BJP too was keen that issues concerning the public must be raised and discussion must be held. “Our MLAs exercised complete restraint and were keen that after Question Hour was over, a discussion be allowed on the case but our plea was rejected by the Speaker and the Chief Minister allowed to make a statement on the issue which according to them is sub judice,” he remarked.

He said the Opposition could understand the plight of the Chief Minister and the mental trauma he was undergoing, but he could not take the liberty of using insulting and derogatory language. 

Shimla, August 11
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said the government was concerned about the landslide-prone area near Urni in Kinnuar district and all efforts would be make to rehabilitate the affected area residents.

He was speaking in the Assembly today on the call attention motion moved by Himachal Lokhit Party legislator Maheswar Singh.

“The landslide-prone area near Urni has been a major cause of worry for the past several years and we are very concerned about the safety of villagers who are affected by it as their fertile lands are being lost,” he said.

Virbhadra said the problem of landslides was not specific to Urni only, but to the whole of Kinnaur district as the district had a very fragile ecology.

“It is high time that we adopt more scientific means of irrigation such as sprinkler and drip irrigation as watering fields through kuhls (water channels) can be very disastrous as continuous seepage of water triggers landslides,” he said.

The CM said: “The Urni hill side was considered to be the most stable at one point of time and the old Hindustan-Tibet road passed from here.”

He assured that all possible steps would be taken to prevent landslides and ensure safety of people affected by it.

Revenue Minister Kaul Singh Thakur said it was a fact that major landslides had triggered due to widening of the National Highway-22 as the entire hillside near Urni had been destabilised. He said the irrigation system prevalent in the area too was causing immense damage and making the hill more prone to slides. He said more scientific methods would have to be adopted to stabilise it.

Earlier, Maheshwar expressed concern over the landslip at Urni, which he said had been caused due to massive seepage in the tunnel made by power project authorities.

“An alternate route must be developed but the work on widening of the road should be suspended as it is triggering landslides,” he said. 

Shimla, August 11
The HP High Court today directed the state government, the HP State Electricity Board, VNR Vigyan Jyoti Institute of Engineering & Technology, Hyderabad, and others to file a reply to a letter written to the Chief Justice, alleging tampering of evidence by the college authorities over the Beas tragedy in which 24 BTech students of the institute were washed away near Thalout in Mandi district.

This order was passed by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan on the letter written by 16 parents, who had lost their children in the tragedy, to the Chief Justice.

In the letter, they had pointed a finger on the role of the college management and faculty member C Kiran who was accompanying the students by alleging that he had ignored the safety of students. No adequate precautions for the safety of students in general and the girl students in particular were taken. It was further alleged that the college did not even engage a local tour guide having knowledge of local geographic conditions, characteristics of rivers and dams.

The faculty member even skipped the confirmed visit to Dr Reddy’s Lab in Baddi and changed the original tour programme from industrial tour to a merry-making trip. Now the college management and C Kiran are influencing the students who returned safely to give statements in support of the faculty and project the incident as an act of God and a result of the irresponsible behaviour of the affected students.

The SP, Mandi, also submitted his report before the court, wherein he stated that six persons had been arrested and released on bail, statements of 29 witnesses recorded, 23 bodies out of the 25 recovered had been identified. Two bodies were unidentified, whose DNA samples had been preserved. Eight jawans of the NDRF, including two divers, two boats and 10 HP Police personnel were deputed to undertake search operations, which would continue till the two bodies were identified.

The Chief Secretary, in his status report, submitted that the Secretary (MPP & Power) had a meeting with the technical officers to review the implementation of instructions issued consequent to the enquiry conducted by the Divisional Commissioner, Mandi, and sort out the issues and shortcomings in the functioning of SLDC.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, has reported that all vulnerable points have been fenced and signboards have been installed at appropriate places. Three hooters have been installed at the barrage site and one near the tail race for information of general public. The BBMB has been directed to ply a vehicle in routine with a warning at the time of releasing water from the dam. No case of illegal mining has been detected in the Thalout area since June 12.

The court also permitted KRKV Prasad, father of a missing student K Sree Harsha, to intervene in the matter. He had written to the Chief Justice urging for directions to the authorities concerned to continue search operations till his son’s whereabouts were known and his identity was established.

The court also directed to transfer the amount deposited by the electricity board as well as the college authorities as an interim relief of Rs 5 lakh per student into the accounts of the parents of the deceased students after verification. On the request of the Larji Project authorities to allow them revoke the suspension of their officials, the court clarified that it had not directed any authority to place any official under suspension and it was free to pass appropriate orders without commenting on the merits of the case. The court posted the matter for September 15.

Shimla, August 11
Independence Day fever is picking up fast on social networking sites. These sites have gone viral with spate of messages, pictures of the national flag.

One can see profile pictures of users of the social networking sites displaying the national flag or a patriotic message. Even the watsapp messenger users have displayed the national flag as their profile picture.

The youth took to these sites and watsapp messenger for joining the Tiranga Campaign.

The websites and communities have come up on the web under the banner of Tiranga and Youngistan to join the chorus-Saare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Hamara.

Indians living abroad are equally enthusiastic in joining the campaign.

Rahul, living in London, says, “Though I am living outside India but, love for my country is as intense as it ever was. I have never seen such a massive participation of youth on the eve of Independence Day.”

“Large numbers of friends are active on websites and I too joined them to be a part of this patriotic campaign launched for the first time,” said Vibhuti, who has been sending messages to friends in India and abroad to join the campaign.

“The Tiranga Campaign on the social networking sites has lend a new identity to Indians abroad as the world is recognising the patriotism of Indians,” said Manish joshi, a software engineer based in the US.

“I have received so many messages on my mobile and I made the national flag as my profile picture on whatsapp messenger,” said Aarti, a college student.

Shimla, August 11
The first all-women police station in the state became functional at New Shimla today. Dedicating the first Women Police Station (WPS) to the people, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said the initiative would go a long way in curbing crime against women.

He said it would embolden women to make complaints against atrocities and crime without any hesitation or fear.

The police station would be supervised by an officer of DSP rank with a lady inspector as the Station House Officer (SHO) and supporting staff of two sub-inspectors, six head constables and 10 constables and two constables would be available during night shift as well. The search for a woman driver was on.

The government had announced to open two all-women police stations, one in Shimla and another at Dharamsala. The police station at Dharamsala would be set up soon.

Congratulating the Police Department, the CM said police stations manned exclusively by women would be set up in the entire state in a phased manner to instil confidence among women.

Asserting that that the government did not believed in gender disparity and treated women equal to men, the CM said: “Women have excelled in all fields and are well-educated and more awakened.”

He said New Shimla, where the first police station of the state has come up, had fast developed into a modern township and urged the people to maintain parks and ideal spaces and keep the surroundings neat and clean.

He assured that adequate funds would be provided for necessary works and a vehicle for the newly opened police post would also be provided.

Shimla SP DW Negi said: “All women-related cases registered at police stations in Shimla town will be transferred to this police station, while women complainants from the other parts of the district can also approach the WPS.”

A cheque of Rs 1.60 lakh was contributed by the Himachal Pradesh Police employees towards the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund on the occasion.

Shimla, August 11
Apple farmers have sought changes in the system of issuing of licences to the commission agents by attaching their property and ensuring bank guarantees.

A large number of farmers have been fleeced by commission agents.

Vineet Sarjolta, Secretary, Himalayan Apple Growers Association (HAGA), Jubbal, said in a recent meeting, the farmers raised the issue of how fake commission agents were fleecing and not making payments to them.

Farmers demanded that the agricultural marketing board should change the rules for allotting the licence to commission agents.

The HAGA members demanded that the board and the APMC should mortgage property of licence seekers and ensure bank guarantee to make payment to farmers. In case the commission agents fail to do so, their property should be attached.

They also demanded that the government should put all the departments together before passing the ordinance.

HS Baweja, managing director, agricultural marketing board, said the board had issued notices to the defaulting commission agents and would initiate proceedings to auction their property.

“Licence of the some of the defaulters have been cancelled,” he added.

Kullu, August 11
The condition of the bailey bridge, that links the Kullu-Manali national highway to the Bhuntar-Manikaran road at Bhuntar in Kullu, is in a shambles.

Residents of Bhuntar and adjoining areas said the narrow bridge permits the passage of only one heavy vehicle at a time and frequent traffic jams therefore have become a major cause of concern for them as well as tourists.

The bridge is the only link for vehicular traffic between Parla Bhuntar and the entire Parbati valley. Thousands of vehicles heading for Manali and Manikaran cross this bridge everyday as the Kullu town bypass road is connected through another bridge on the Bhuntar-Manikaran road.

Residents said the problem escalates during peak tourist season, when a large number of vehicles flock to this famous hill station.

Vikrant, a Bhuntar resident said: “The concrete bridge was washed away in 1995 floods and a bailey bridge was instead put up as a stop-gap arrangement which continued till 2008. But a “trala” (big truck) carrying heavy machinery of a power project damaged the bridge beyond repair.”

He said a few days later another small bailey bridge was erected at the same place to restore the main lifeline to the left bank of the Kullu town and the Parbati valley.

Residents said the bridge had remained the same since then and the metal plates too had loosened at several places, jeopardising several lives.

They said recently, a pedestrian was hurt with the swinging metallic plate on the bridge, while a truck was crossing over.

Sunil, a resident of Bhuntar, said: “The Kullu bypass road has been declared as a national highway, but no efforts are being made by the government to repair or replace the bridge at Bhuntar connecting it to the main Bhuntar town and further to the main highway.”

The residents said the Public Works Department (PWD) authorities and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) were passing the buck on each other, while nothing concrete was being done to improve the situation.

They said the single-lane bridge was causing inconvenience to people. The orchardists in Parbati valley, who use this bridge to transport their cash crops and vegetables, demanded speedy erection of a concrete double-lane bridge to facilitate increasing traffic.

The lone private hospital catering to the needs of residents of Bhuntar and adjoining areas was also located on the Bhuntar-Manikaran road. 

Una, August 11
A workshop to discuss the alarming sex ratio at birth in 24 panchayats of the district was held today at the district hospital. Deputy Commissioner Abhishek Jain presided over the workshop.

Stakeholders, including panchayat pardhans, panchayat secretaries and anganwari workers of these panchayas, reported that the sex ratio at birth was less than 500.

During the Focus Group Discussion (FGD), complaints regarding the sex determination at a few ultrasound clinics and over the counter sale of pregnancy termination medicines were also received.

The DC ordered immediate action into the complaints. The Health Department was also advised to make use of decoys to check instances of sex determination at ultrasound clinics.

DR GD Kaushal, Chief Medical Officer (CMO), said pregnancy termination pills were easily available at drug stores, which were capable of terminating pregnancies as old as 20 weeks.

He said the sex of the foetus could be known through ultrasound examination after 12 weeks.

The DC directed Sunny Kaushal, Inspector, to check drug stores selling these pills without prescriptions.

It may be mentioned that Basal (Lower), Bhatoli, Dangoli, Dhamandri, Dathwara, Jhamber, Kotla Kalan, Lal Singi, Panoh, Rampur, Sasan, Amb Tilla, Dharamsala Mahantan, Karluhi, Kutheda Kherla, Budhan,Changer, Dohgi, Paroian Kalan, Tanoh, Dangoh Khurad, Gagret (Upper), Kailash Nagar and Sainsowal panchayats have reported birth ration of less than 500 female infants in comparison to 1,000 male infants in one year.

The FGDs reveal that people still go for advice from spiritual leaders to get a son and pregnancies are being terminated by unauthorised medical practitioners.

The DC ordered strict action against offenders within three days. He also directed creation of a database of spiritual leaders and registered medical practitioners at village-level.

He said miscarriages and abortions should be monitored by the Health Department.

“Females having a history of repeated abortions should be tracked,” he added.

He said the declining sex ratio at birth was a black spot on these panchayats. He also stressed on the need for awareness generation at village-level.

District Health Officer Dr TC Mahant, District Programme Officers, Dr Mukesh Panhalkar, Dr Nikhil Sharma and Ira Tanwar were also present. 

.

Shimla, August 11
The uncertainty dogs the laying of high voltage 400 kv transmission line across the Rohtang Pass to evacuate power from the landlocked Chenab basin in the Lahaul valley as the proposed move to lay the cable through the 8.82-km-long strategic Rohtang traffic tunnel has died its natural death.

Instead, the HP Transmission Corporation (HPTC) has forwarded a proposal to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to plan a survey for the construction of a separate transmission line tunnel to evacuate power from the Chenab basin, which has power potential worth 4032 mw.

The project Rohtang tunnel under the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) did not receive any proposal from the transmission corporation to lay the underground ducts in the Rohtang tunnel even after four years. The project Rohtang tunnel aims at connecting the snowbound Lahual valley at Sissu with Manali at Solang through an all-weather road.

All talk or proposal of transmission cables through the Rohtang tunnel died its natural death as the HPTC and PowerGrid (PGCI) dropped the move considering the high voltage 400 kv transmission cables inside the traffic tunnel could be hazardous, revealed transmission engineers.

“They have forwarded a proposal received from private entrepreneurs in the state to the CEA to construct a separate transmission line tunnel from Lahaul”, said SL Sharma, managing director, HPTC. “We received no response from the CEA and the PGCI on the transmission line so far”, he added.

Also, the government has not decided whether to lay the high voltage 400 kv line through overhead transmission towers or underground cables across the Rohtang Pass, said HPTC engineers. “The high velocity winds, the snowstorms, blizzards and heavy snowfall in winter pose danger to the transmission towers across the Rohtang Pass”, they added.

Power producers have raised the issue of transmission line with the state government which have already got power projects worth 3000 mw in Chenab basin. It has potential worth 4032 mw, but not even a single private power project has been commissioned so far in the basin.

The major power projects in this basin include 400 mw Seli, 420 mw Neoli-Dugli of Larson and Tubro, 236 mw Duger of Tata power, 300 mw Purthi of Reliance Power, 126 mw of DCM Sriram, the highest project in the Chandra river and 126 mw Bardang of ABG Energy and 230 mw Jispa project of HPCL.

But the state government has yet to take a final call on transmission line from the Chenab basin. “Who will lay and bear the cost of construction of transmission line are yet to be taken up, raising concerns of the power producers”, said power producers. 

Shimla, August 11
The Centre’s target to reduce fatalities on the roads by 50 per cent by 2020 appears to be a Himalayan task as various stakeholders involved in road safety are still heading in different directions, revealed experts here.

They called for efforts to make roads safe for travelling by adopting zero-tolerance to road black spots, human errors and manufacturing defaults in vehicles considering that 78 per cent road fatalities resulted due to human error, said experts.

As many as 1.13 lakh people died and 25 lakh people were injured in road accidents in the country in 2013 with Tamil Nadu topping the list while Himachal was placed on the second place, said OP Shamer, Adviser to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway at a national seminar on road safety, conducted by the Association of State Road Transport undertakings (ASRTU).

What was more worrisome is that road accidents were showing no signs of decreasing and young people were losing their life on the roads despite the country had constructed a slew of express highways, metros and many laned highways, he observed.

It turned out that in 78 per cent cases, it was drivers’ fault, Shamer said adding that the road fatalities cost the country 8 per cent of GDP. The 85 per cent of the accidents were the fatal ones that was more than challenging to reduce the fatalities by 50 per cent by 2020, he warned.

To tackle the hazards on the roads, the mindset of various stakeholders need to be changed. Besides, the national authorities and state PWDs need to correct the black spots, faulty designs at junctions and cross roads near habitations, said Mukesh Kumar Meshram, MD of UP State Road Transport.

Even manufacturers need to correct the faulty and ineffective brake system as it was wrong to blame squarely the drivers for the fatalities, said Balachandran from WABCO, talking about accident reduction through the vehicle control system citing the example of Germany, where vehicle number had shot up while the road fatalities had come down drastically over the years.

The experts cited factors such as age and fatigue. Brake system, weather conditions, roads, skills, dual and anti-lock braking system, zero tolerance to reckless and drunken driving, lack of road signs and indicators, crash barriers and blind and narrow curves on hill roads were responsible for the road safety.

“We need ample data, road safety audit primer on transport and road safety in schools, safe buses and trucks on the roads, training for drivers as Kerala is doing, new look motor vehicle Act, fluorescent lights for visibility on the roads and countrywide awareness campaign”, said Tony Mathew, vice-president, International Road Federation, India chapter, an NGO.

MD, HRTC, RN Batta talked about road safety in Himachal and hill terrain saying that the multiple factors emerged from the accident sites. There were 294 roads prone to accidents as these remained unpliable for the public transport. Himachal needed crash barriers, road signs for visibility and change in road specifications for safe travel, he added. 

Solan, August 11
The ambitious Baddi-Trade Centre-cum- Club House project, which is being built under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode to facilitate the investors in the state’s industrial hub of Baddi, appears to have run into rough weather with its equity share failing to be collected despite repeated directions from the state government.

Interestingly, this was the first trade centre project sanctioned under the Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development of Exports (ASIDE) Scheme to any northern state barring Delhi in 2008.

Apart from a conference hall equipped with modern systems, including Wi-Fi-enabled internet system, facility for video-conferencing and an exhibition hall are supposed to be made available in this trade centre.

The total cost of the project is Rs 10.81 crore and the Government of India has already pooled in its share of Rs 5.40 crore. A Special Utility Vehicle (SUV) comprising investors was constituted for the purpose of running this project under the PPP mode and 2.21 crore was supposed to be contributed by them. But despite a lapse of seven years, barely Rs 10 lakh has been collected as the investor share.

The state government too has contributed its share of Rs 3.20 crore in the form of setting aside a land measuring Rs 35 bigha at Bhatoli Kalan for this purpose. The Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industries’ Association is implementing the project.

Despite several state government officials, including Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, himself directing the industry association to pool in its complete equity share, little success has been achieved in this matter.

Though a major part of the civil work of this project has been completed, in the absence of the complete equity share the completion of this project has been hanging fire for the last seven years.

On one hand, the investors have been demanding better facilities from the state government. Acceding to their demand, the state government has not only reduced the electricity tariff, but also initiated the process to ease stringent stipulations of Section 118 of the HP Land Reforms and Tenancy Act, 1972.

The state government is now considering options for running this project as nearly 80 per cent of the work had been completed and the investors appear to be little interested in contributing its equity share.

Palampur, August 11
Residents in Palampur are against the fines being imposed by the traffic police for “petty traffic violations on flimsy grounds”.

Addressing mediapersons here today KB Ralhan and Daleep Sharma, members of People’s Voice, a social organisation, said: “First of all, the state administration should make provisions for parking in the town. Thereafter it should authorise the police to impose fines.”

They said residents had no other choice, but to park vehicles on the roadside or in the market area as there were no parking lots in the town.

They said the district magistrate, Kangra, had not issued any notification for no-parking zones in the town so far.

They said they had for a copy of the notification from the police as well as from the SDM office, but in vain.

“Under the Motor Vehicles Act, the police cannot challan or impose fine on people without district magistrate’s notification. Hence, such a notification is mandatory,” they said.

They said: “There are two dozen banks in the town and there is no provision to park vehicles. Hence people park their cars outside after which the police start imposing fines or issuing challans.”

They said they understood the difficulties of the police, but they too should not insult citizens and behave properly particularly with senior citizens and women.

They said the police should try and create a peaceful atmosphere to avoid any confrontation, adding that a meeting of residents and social bodies should be organised to chalk out plans to handle traffic problems in the town.

They said their NGO would extend full cooperation to the police.

Nurpur, August 11
Mahinder Singh of Papahan village in Jawali subdivision has suspected a foul play in the death of his son Karam Chand (27), whose body was found under mysterious circumstances from Sidhwan Canal at Barewal in Ludhiana district on August 3.

The Punjab Police reported it as a suicide case and the postmortem examination declared drowning as the cause of death. Karam Chand had married seven months ago.

Mahinder appealed to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and the Superintendent of Police, Kangra, to intervene in the suspicious death of his son. He sought a fair and high-level probe in the case.

He said the body had injury marks and his clothes and mobile were found missing when it was fished out from the canal.

“My son’s under shirt was recovered from a vehicle and all these facts indicate a foul play. It also raises a question on the preliminary investigations done by the local police,” he added.

He alleged that the Punjab police did not interrogate the persons who accompanied his son on August 2 night.