Shimla, September 7
A storm and continuous rain in the region damaged the apple crop in the Nankari-Ratnari-Baghi belt which had already suffered damage in May following freak snowfall at the time of flowering and hailstorm after the fruit set, shattering the financial condition of the farmers.

“The storm last evening lashed orchards which ruined about 10-15 per cent fruit,” Ashutosh Chauhan, an orchardist from Ratnari, told The Tribune here. The farmers were collecting dropped apples from orchards, shattering their returns as the fruit got damaged and would be sold as the culled fruit to the HPMC or sold at throwaway prices in the markets, he added.

Farmers in the Nankari-Narkanda belt also suffered a damage as the fruit drops at the slight air pressure when it is ready for harvesting.

The farmers said the storm was the second blow this year. “The freak snowfall in May followed by hailstorms in June had damaged the crops in the high-altitude orchards in the belt and freak windstorm wreaked another havoc last evening”, said Rajkamal, an orchardist of the Baghi belt.

Monsoon revives

The rain lashed the state reviving the monsoon in the region. Shimla recorded 16 ml of rain, Chail 14 ml, Jubbarhatti11 ml, Chelsea 9 ml, Rampur 7 ml, Dalhousie, Rohru, Annu 5 ml each, Sarahan and Hipa 4 ml each, Kalpa, Manali, Kumarsain, Bijahi, Nahan and Kahu received 3 ml rain, revealed a Met Department report.

Though no major report of damage to life and property was reported in the state, the rain hit the flow of tourists in Manali, Lahaul-Spiti and Shimla.

Keylong in Lahaul-Spiti recorded 9.4°C, the lowest temperature in the state, while Bilaspur recorded 23.2° C, the highest in the state. Shimla recorded 15.7°C today. 

New Delhi, September 7
The Narendra Modi government has granted major concession to hundreds of small hydro-power producers of Himachal Pradesh to enable them to expedite works on their long-pending projects.

The concessions include relaxation of rules relating to environment and forests. The extant norms were a major hurdle to the projects obtaining clearance from the Centre.

The Central munificence is attributed to the rare joining of hands by the Opposition BJP and the Congress government of the hill state at the initiative of former Chief Minister and incumbent MP (BJP) Shanta Kumar.

The largesse was granted during a joint meeting of Congress and BJP MPs from the state, representatives of the Himalaya Power Producers Association (spearheading the cause of the power producers), top officials of the Departments of Power and Environment Forest from the state with the Union Ministers for the Power and the Environment, organised by Shanta Kumar here this week.

A senior functionary of the Himalayan Power Producers Association confirmed that it had represented its case to Shanta Kumar, who is considered to be the progenitor of privatisation of power in the state when he was the Chief Minister. It had urged him to take up the cause of the power producers with the Centre.

Shanta told The Tribune today that he had urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to send representatives of the state government in the crucial meeting with the Union Ministers.

According to him, about 80 per cent of the grievances of the power producers had been redressed in the meeting. The Union Ministers have assured to take up the remaining issues, including demand of the producers to increase the purchase price of their power. Some of the issues also relate to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The government had sanctioned nearly 500 hydro-power projects, each up to 5-mega watt capacity, to private parties during 2002-2008. However, only 59 of them have come into operation.

The other projects hit upon a cul-de-sac when the UPA-II government amended the rules to substantially increase the mandatory width of the “corridor” relating to the transmission lines.

The corridor is the land under the overhead transmission lines which purvey the power generated at source point to the nearest grid from where it is taken to designated sources. The power is ultimately connected to the national grid.

The Environment and Forest Department at the Centre, however, refused to play ball under the new rules. It shot down the clearance. Consequently, the power producers were caught in the turf war between the Power and the Environment Ministries, and the state reduced to helpless spectator.

Shanta alleged that the change in the rules was arbitrary and in contravention of the terms of agreement between the state and the power producers.

The inter-ministerial tussle at the Centre cost a whopping loss to the revenue of the state. As per the norms, the private power producers pay 12 per cent royalty (annually) to the state.

The 500-hydel project in question was envisaged having cumulative generation capacity of 1,200 MW. The 59 of them in operation are said to be have a collective capacity of 2,000 MW.

Their sites dot basins of the major rivers flowing in the state, and are spread over distant and remote areas.

According to experts, the projects had the capacity of providing nearly direct employments to about 10,000 persons, and sustenance to manifold of the denizens in areas where industrialisation is an uphill task. 

Shimla, September 7
The administration in tribal areas has geared up for the transportation of apple, peas and other crops to the markets. Landless tribals will get “nautour” land for which tribal areas are exempted from the Forest Conservation Act.

Besides, the old Hindustan-Tibet road in Kinnaur is being restored to facilitate the transport of peas, apple and other crops. The tender has been floated for the alternative route at the flood-ravaged Keer nullah in the Pin valley for which Rs 1.63 crore has been sanctioned, said state spokesperson here today.

He said the tribal areas had a vast network of roads, educational and health institutions and other basic facilities. There were 579 primary schools, 102 middle schools, 47 high schools, 73 senior secondary schools, four degree colleges, five ITIs, two civil hospitals, 10 community health centres, 43 primary health centres and 104 sub-centres, he added.

There are five ayurvedic hospitals, 70 ayurvedic dispensaries, 47 veterinary hospitals, 130 veterinary dispensaries and 2,584 kms of motorable roads and 100 per cent electrified villages.

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has been frequently touring the tribal areas to resolve the problems. The flow of funds from the State Plan to Tribal Sub-Plan has increased from Rs 9.05 crore in 1974-75 to Rs 395.47 crore during the current financial year.

The size of the 12th Plan (2012-17) has been fixed at Rs 2,052 crore. Ever since the beginning of the Tribal Sub-Plan, the government has so far spent Rs 4,203.35 crore under this Plan, he stated.

Rohru/Kotkhai (Shimla), September 7
Farmers, commuters and patients are an agitated lot. Reason: they have to brave rough rides on the 90-km Rohru-Hatkoti-Theog highway, the backbone of the apple economy, as the construction company has failed to make any visible progress on the road.

Trucks in a long queue on the Rohru-Hatkoti highway on Sunday. Tribune photo: Amit Kanwar

The road from Rohru, Hatkoti Shadi, Parawanthi, Kharapathar, Patidhank, Nihari, Padshal, Kotkhai and Guma has nothing but unending series of pits, potholes, slushy pools of water, giving a tough time to the travellers.

“My cousin Maheshwar slipped and suffered spine injury last week. He was rushed to the IGMC for treatment, but his condition deteriorated due to the jerks received while travelling on the potholed road,” rued Kalyan Singh, a resident of Kolarha Jubbal.

“He was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, where he died,” Kalyan added. He blamed the pathetic condition of road for his cousin’s death, as it took them seven hours of hazardous journey to reach the IGMC.

Patients turn all the more serious when they are rushed to the IGMC on this road.

The farmers have been suffering losses worth crores of rupees while transporting apple cartons to the markets in Delhi, Chandigarh and other places since 2008, when the company started the widening work on the road.

Laxman Thakur, Chairman, Ecohorts, Nandpur, in the Jubbal-Ruildhar-Nandpur-Chajpur belt, one of the biggest apple basket in the Valley, said the commission agents cut the price of the fruit. The apple is a highly perishable and delicate fruit and suffers bruises in the course of transportation to the markets on this potholed road.

The touched and bruised apples fetch lesser price and make storability a problem as farmers have no cool chains to transport it to markets, he added.

Both the PWD and the construction company concerned have failed to improve the condition of the road.

The traffic bottle necks between Hatkoti and Patsari and between Pati Dhank and Nihari, where the traffic jams are an order of the day, have not been opened.

“It takes almost 10 hours to reach Theog and you do not see any machinery on the road, what to talk of speeding the work,” said Dinesh Tegta, an apple farmer from Mendli Rohru.

The apple farmers are agitated as the main life line of the apple economy is in tatters since 2008, resented Harish Thakur, a farmer from Mandhol.

RS Jaiswal, executive engineer of the project, claimed that the widening work from the Theog side was almost complete and that the road between Nihari and Kharapathar and Parwanthi and Kharapathar was not disturbed due to the apple season. The company has mobilised its machineries to speed up the work in two phases, between Kharapathar and Theog and between Rohru and Kharapathar, once the apple season eases up, he added.

SL Diwedi, chief engineer of the project, said the company had installed two stone crushers at the two project sides and hoped to meet the June 2016 deadline for completion of the project. 

Shimla, September 7
HP Power Corporation Ltd (HPCL) today completed the construction of the 6.37-km head race tunnel of the 100-mw Sainj power project on the Sinaj river in Kullu district after HPCL Managing Director DK Sharma today pressed the proverbial last blast and announced the completion of the tunnel.

DK Sharma said the completion of the head race tunnel was a milestone. The project would be completed in time in spite of adverse conditions and start generation by June 2015, he added.

The work on the completion of head race tunnel was done from four sides. The concrete works of head race tunnel was underway, stated the HPCL spokesperson.

This project comprises a diversion barrage on the Sainj near Niharni village and underground power house on the right bank of the Sainj near Siund village. The project will generate 322 million units per annum in a 90 per cent dependable year. It has 6.357-km, 3.76-m diameter modified horse shoe-shaped head race tunnel and two 50-mw Pelton turbines (2X 50 mw).

Sharma performed the ceremony in the presence of MS Rana, Director (Electrical), AK Gupta, Director (Civil), Ramesh Chaudhary, General Manager, Sainj power project, and other officials of Hindustan Construction Company, which was awarded the contract on engineering procurement and construction mode. 

Palampur, September 7
The Bara Bhangal valley of Kangra district has been cut off from rest of the world following a bridge collapse on the Hanny Khud on the way to the valley. Reports also said mule path, leading to the valley, was also destroyed at many points because of heavy rain and flash floods in the area for the past three days.

Sources at Baijnath said today that foodgrains (buffer stock for winter) dispatched to Bara Bhangal by the district administration had been held up in the absence of the bridge and the mule path to the valley. He said out of 4,000 quintals of foodgrains, only 300 quintal could reach in the valley.

He said the Thamsar Pass, a highest peak to the valley at the height of 17,000 feet, was likely to be closed after snowfall in October. Therefore, the supply of foodgrains had to be delivered in the valley.

Official sources confirmed that foodgrains sent last month were lying at the Bara Gram Panchayat and other villages as mules could not move further because of heavy landslides and soil erosion at different places.

A carriage contractor said limited time was left with him to supply foodgrain to Bara Bhangal as after September, there was every possibility of snowfall at the Thamsar Pass, which had to be crossed on the way to Bara Bhangal.

Chuni Lal, panchayat pradhan of Bara Bhangal, also confirmed that mule path and bridge were washed away.

He said if timely action was not taken, over 600 persons would face hunger. He said he had already conveyed a message to the SDM, Baijnath. 

Sec 118 a hurdle

The state government has also failed to promote private developers who can develop townships in the interior areas. They cannot take up ventures on their own due to small land holdings and provisions of Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act. 

Solan, September 7
A clash between two groups of students of a private university last night, during a fresher’s party, left at least six students injured. The Kandaghat Station House Officer (SHO), who received the information about the clash around 1 am, rushed to the spot to pacify the two groups, comprising students of third and fourth year of engineering.

The police said the trouble started when a third-year student complained of being slapped by a fourth-year student. In an inebriated state as they were, the students grouped up and a free for all ensued, leading to a big clash between the two groups.

With the situation going out of control, the university authorities summoned the police, which sorted out the matter after talking to both the groups till the wee hours today.

No case was registered as a compromise was arrived at between the two groups.

Balbir Singh, university Registrar, said the issue had been amicably resolved by holding talks with the students and things were back to normal now.

It is, however, worth mentioning that such clashes have become routine in private universities operating in the district and recently a clash had led to the registration of a case. This has become an added headache for the police, who are already battling staff shortage. 

Sundernagar, September 7
Bhim Sen, State Information Commissioner, Himachal Pradesh, has imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 on Ajay Prashar, Tehsildar, Mandi district, for delay in supplying information.

The commissioner observed that there was more than 100 days’ delay in supplying the information, which was in the custody of the tehsildar and he did not implement the order passed by the commission regarding the supply of information.

Hari Singh, a resident of Ghoud (Reur), had demanded certain information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in December 2012 from the office of Divisional Commissioner, Mandi. Some information was supplied by this office but for certain information the matter was transferred to the office of tehsildar, Sadar Mandi District, as per the provisions of the RTI Act, but the tehsildar did not supply the information.

The appellant knocked the door of the State Information Commission, which remanded the case back to Divisional Commissioner, Mandi. On hearing both the parties, the Divisional Commissioner, Mandi, observed that the information/record was available in the office of tehsildar but he had denied availability of the record, thus misleading the appellant.

The Divisional Commissioner recommended penal action against the tehsildar.

The appellant once again appealed before the state commission, which passed interim direction that the left out information may be supplied to the appellant but instead of complying with the directions, the tehsildar summoned the appellant to appear before him and search for the left out information.

The commission observed that though the record had been supplied to the appellant, the tehsildar did not comply with the order and none of his action was transparent and specific.

Thus, the commission imposed maximum penalty as provided under the RTI Act, ie Rs 25,000, for the delay in supplying information and directed the tehsildar to deposit it in government treasury.

Kullu, September 7
The state government is facilitating writers, literary scholars, media personnel and folk artistes to strengthen the fourth pillar of democracy, which, in turn, will strengthen the democratic system.

This was stated by Health and Revenue Minister Kaul Singh Thakur on the occasion of an awards ceremony organised by the publication committee of a monthly magazine, Himtaru, at Devsadan here yesterday. The two-day ceremony is held in collaboration with the Department of Languages, Art and Culture.

The minister said the state government was conserving and enhancing the folk culture of the state through the department. He lauded the efforts of the Himtaru Publication Committee to award individuals and institutions for their commendable services in various fields. He urged the media to help curtail social evils like female infanticide.

Kaul Singh presented awards to various dignitaries for their contribution in various fields.

Dr Sushil Chander, District Health Officer, Kullu, was awarded for exemplary social services, Sher Singh Kaushal for his contribution to folk songs, Saran Dass Bittu for promoting folk musical instruments, Urmila Sharma for Pahari religious songs, Munish Sharma for promoting folk plays and the theatre and the Sai Engineering Foundation for its efforts in community development. Besides, Rita Vashisht, Shivangi Kashyap, Monika Negi and Nawang Rinchen were also awarded. Sameer Thakur was awarded for his outstanding achievements in sports.

Banjar MLA Karan Singh and Dr Arun Sharma, Director, Language, Art and Culture, addressed the gathering.

Kullu Zila Parishad president Hari Chand Sharma, State Congress Committee general secretary Sunder Singh Thakur and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion. 

Dharamsala, September 7
Residents of Dehra sub-division of Kangra district have alleged that they have to wait for months to get the revenue record of their land.

Ram Murti of the Dhaliara area in the sub-division had applied for “mausavi” (revenue paper indicating the collective map of a land in a particular revenue parameter) of his land about a month ago. He alleged that officials at Dehra had asked him to come after about two to three months to get the revenue paper of his land. Like Ram Murti, there are many others who have been waiting to get the record of their land for the past three to four months.

Dehra Sub-Divisional Magistrate Vinay Kumar, when contacted, said the anomaly had not been brought to his notice. “The officials have been directed to supply revenue record to people within a week. If this does not happen, action can be taken against the officials concerned,” he said. He denied that there was so much delay.

Sources said most of the revenue records in Kangra district had been computerised. The officials now just have to print it and hand it over to people. A delay of three to four months for the supply of “mausavis” of land was unjustified, they said.

Earlier, people used to get records of their land at the district level also. Now, the records are being given at the sub-divisional level.

Ram Kumar is another applicant who has been waiting for the revenue record of his land for the past three months.

Besides revenue cases, many people have been waiting for decades to get the partition of their land affected. Kamlesh Singh of the Dhaliara region waited for seven years after filing an application to get his ancestral property divided in revenue papers. However, now he had to file the application again as one of his kin had disagreed for division. He said if the case takes about seven years again, he would have to spend one fourth of his life in getting the land demarcated.

People have been alleging an inordinate delay in the demarcation and mutations of land. In many cases, they alleged that due to the failure of the department to divide their ancestral land, they had not been able to use the land for agricultural purposes as it was disputed among their relatives.

The aggrieved people have demanded that the state government should fix a time period for the disposal of cases pertaining to ancestral land division, demarcation and mutations of land in the state.

Meanwhile, revenue officials blame staff crunch for the delay in work. They said there was just one patwari for two to three areas in the field. In Kangra district alone, there was a shortage of 40 patwaris vis-a-vis the required strength. The government in the recent past had recruited patwaris on contract, but it has not solved the problem. In many areas, the district administration was being forced to take the services of retired patwaris to execute the revenue work.

Chamba, September 7
M Sudha Devi, Deputy Commissioner, Chamba, distributed crutches, walking-sticks and certificates to the handicapped and the disabled at a free medical camp organised by the District Red Cross Society at the Community Health Centre, Sahoo, here yesterday.

An official communiqué said around 350 persons were examined by a team of the specialists from the Health Department.

Free medicines were also distributed to the persons, who were found suffering from various ailments, the communiqué stated.

Speaking on this occasion, the DC said the district Red Cross Society would also organise such camps in other remote parts of the district.

Among others, Dr Bipin Thakur, Dr Prashant Rana, Dr Kamaljeet and secretary of the District Red Cross Society Neena Sehgal also helped examining the patients at the camp, the communiqué further stated. 

Palampur, September 7
Though the state Mining Department has cancelled the lease agreements issued to contractors for a dozen rivers and khuds in Kangra district, illegal mining and quarrying is going on unchecked. This has resulted in large-scale environmental degradation in the region.

Also, the government exchequer is facing huge losses as the state is losing royalty in crores every year.

Illegal mining has also posed serious threats for the existence of dozens of irrigation and drinking water supply schemes, local paths, roads, bridges and cremation grounds in this region. The existence of a dozen bridges on the state and national highways and the railway line is in danger because of the continuous mining near these bridges, damaging foundations.

Illegal and unscientific mining in the Kangra valley and other parts of the state has also resulted in large-scale deforestation, landslides and flash floods. Over 25,000 hectares have been affected, resulting in drastic reshaping of the landscape.

The illegal mining in the Kangra valley is already under the scanner of various courts and green tribunals. But government agencies have become mute spectators and are allowing the mafia to flourish and extract stones and sand from the rivers and rivulets.

The Awa, Binwa and Neugal rivers of the region have turned into gold mines for the mining mafia, who have been abstracting material in broad daylight, despite the fact that their lease agreements with the state government have already been cancelled.

Though the SDMs of Palampur, Baijnath and Jaisinghpur, along with officials of the Police and Mining Departments, have conducted a number of raids, seized JCB machines, tractor trailers carrying mining material and also imposed heavy fines, the steps have not deterred the mining mafia.

In Bindravan, Banuri, Bundla, Nain, Kandwari, Baijnath and Mehanja areas, hundreds of tractors can be seen in the rivers daily, extracting mining material illegally.

It may be recalled that the persons involved in the trade have no legal rights to extract sand, stone, bajri and other raw material from these khuds and quarries.

However, in connivance with political leaders, the mining mafia has flourished and survived in the region. Also, the mafia is regularly charging “illegal cess” from hundreds of tractor trailers and trucks lifting material from these rivers.

TAILPIECE

The grandmother lived in a village where the signal to her mobile was weak. She had to climb a tree nearby to receive the signal. His grandson told her that he would inform her about his examination result on such date and time. The old woman, at the right time, with great difficulty climbed the tree and waited and waited and waited. 

Solan, September 7
The lax attitude adopted by the field staff of the Excise and Taxation Department is not only leading to large-scale evasion of luxury tax in the Kasauli area, but proliferation of unauthorised hotels and tourism units is also taking place.

Though it is mandatory for each hotel to get registered with the Tourism Department before applying for VAT registration from the Excise and Taxation Department, cases have come to the fore in the Kasauli area where the field officials have started collecting luxury tax from unauthorised hotels.

Since registration involves specifications like number of rooms, the collection of tax from unauthorised hotels clearly leads to evasion as lump some tax is collected, which is far lower than the actual tax.

Though officials of the Excise and Taxation Department have been apprised of such violations in the Kasauli area, they appear to have turned a deaf ear to such reports as no action has been taken against the field staff.

Hotels are also operating in far-flung forest areas, making bookings through the internet and operating with impunity. Such hotels are also fleecing tourists who fail to get the promised facilities and refund in case they decide not to stay there.

A Chandigarh resident, who recently faced such a problem, had to complain to the Chief Minister to get a refund of Rs 20,000 when the Excise Department failed to act.

Officials of the Excise and Taxation Department, instead of checking such violations, are conniving with these unauthorised hotels to help them operate. Even when such cases are brought to their notice, they conduct cursory exercise to check the violations, which includes confiscating the records of such hotels for a while and challaning them. This helps them operate for some more time and gives them immunity from being challaned again, till their records are returned back.

KK Sharma, Joint Commissioner, Excise and Taxation Department, said written directions had been issued to the field officials to coordinate with the Tourism Department and collect VAT from only the registered hotels. He said any violations, if detected, would be dealt with sternly.

Kangra, September 7
Once there were some disadvantages of residing in small towns as compared to big ones in terms of awareness and competitive levels, but with the advent of the internet and availability of various resources, this gap is bridging. Earlier, hard work was a must to reach up to certain competitive levels in career, but now all serious students are almost equally intelligent.

Rajat Sud (left) addresses first-semester students of RGGE College at Nagrota Bagwan in Kangra on Friday; and students listen with rapt attention. Photos: Ashok Raina

This was stated by Rajat Sud, vice-president (South-East Asia), Bank of New York and Mellon in Hong Kong, and heading projects in 12 countries, while addressing first-semester engineering students of the newly started Rajiv Gandhi Government Engineering (RGGE) College at Nagrota Bagwan here on Friday.

He discussed the challenges of the corporate sector at various levels of responsibility, especially in consultancy, project handling and banking.

He said no hurdle was difficult to overcome, but the aim must be clear and action focused. He said academic achievements should be taken seriously by students.

Earlier, he was welcomed by Puneet Sood, coordinator of the Training, Placement and Counseling Cell.

Prof Rakesh Sehgal, Director-cum-Principal of the Engineering Institute, said Rajat had more than 12 years of working experience at various levels in various MNCs and countries. Rajat is an alumni of IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad and originally hailed from Pathiar village near Nagrota Bagwan here. 

Hamirpur, September 7
The indifference of some school principals has bereft meritorious students in Hamirpur districts of being rewarded with a netbook, as promised by the state government.

Despite the government providing 154 netbooks to eligible students in the district, the principals failed to collect them from the office of the Deputy Director, Education, thus denying the students their recognition.

The delay in getting the reward has led to a lot of resentment among the students, who said they should have been given the netbooks the moment the government had made them available with the Education Department.

In fact, the students made several visits to their respective schools to get the netbooks but in vain.

As per its Budget announcement, the state had promised to give netbooks to the students of Classes X and XII, who had scored top 4,000 positions in the HP Board of School Education results. The scheme was an initiative to encourage students to be updated in the field of Information Technology (IT) and enable the poor but intelligent students to be able to compete on the same platform.

It is almost six months since the results of the board examinations was declared but the principals never bothered to collect the netbooks to be given to the deserving students, despite repeated reminders by the office of the Deputy Director, Education.

“The principals of all the concerned schools have now been asked to collect these netbooks by September 10 so that the students can put them to good use,” said Som Dutt Sankhyan, Deputy Director, Education. 

Una, September 7
The upgrade of forensic techniques is a must for the delivery of justice. This was stated by Dr SK Pal, Assistant Director and media officer of the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Dharamsala, here on Thursday.

He was in the district to investigate the murder case of a local youth on the Una-Rakkar road on Tuesday night. He said the responsibility of the department was immense since punishment to the accused depended on the accuracy of forensic results.

He said while the field of forensic science was advancing with every passing day, criminals too were using better and newer techniques to put these advances to test.

He said the state Forensic Department had some of the most modern equipments, capable of providing expert opinion.

The forensic expert said departments such as biology and serology, chemistry, liquor and toxicology, photo, cyber and documents, narcotic drugs, DNA, physics and ballistics were already functional in three centres located in Shimla, Mandi and Kangra districts.

He said training programmes in forensics were given to new judicial magistrates, government doctors and police investigating officers.

Dr Pal said to speed up the justice delivery system, RFSL, Dharamsala, had launched a one-district one-police station programme, under which a police station each in Una, Kangra and Dharamsala would be selected.

He said: “While the maximum time allowed to file cases in court is 90 days, forensic reports will be finalised and cases put in court within 15 days
in the selected police stations.” He said work had started at the Dharamsala police station.

The expert said mobile forensic units had been proposed to be stationed at two districts of the state to move quickly to the crime scene before the destruction of evidence.

He said the Forensic Department was facing staff shortage while the workload was increasing. Forensic experts collect evidences from the scenes of crime.

Dr SK Pal, Assistant Director and media officer of the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Dharamsala, who is here to investigate the murder of local youth Aditya Parashar, said: “According to the autopsy report, there was a 5-cm-long and 2.5-cm- wide hole in the deceased’s chest, which was caused by a sharp weapon, leading to his death.”

The youth was stabbed in the chest on Tuesday night on the state highway, nearly 2 km from the Una bus stand. Dr Pal said the weapon had not been recovered so far, but the district courts had remanded the accused, Ram Parkash Singh, in police custody for five days.

He said: “The top priority of the district police is to locate the weapon used in the crime.”

He said the clothes of the deceased and the accused, worn at the time of the incident, a blood-stained wooden baton from Aditya’’’’s car and some other evidences had been taken into possession.

He said the samples of the paints of the two vehicles from the place of their impact, besides other details like the skid marks had also been analysed.

He, however, said it would take nearly a
month to analyse all evidences and arrive at the final conclusion. 

Solan, September 7
Three neutraceutical manufacturing units have been fined Rs 1 lakh each for five products which had been manufactured using non-food based coatings, which failed to confirm to the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2011.

Food Inspector Satish Thakur said he had seized samples of five products, including tablets and capsules, from three companies, Ross Robinz Biotech, Barog, Ethix Healthcare, Solan, and Corona Remedies, Solan. Their coating failed to confirm to the FSS Act, 2011 and they were found using chemical-based ingredients while having obtained license to manufacture them under the said act.

As per the Act, all products are supposed to use natural products in their manufacturing processes, including coating. No chemical, as described in the Indian Pharmacopoeia, when used in any product manufactured as food should contain metal contaminants beyond a specified limit. The samples of such products had failed to confirm to the laid norms in the lab tests and their case was presented before the ADM who is the appellate authority under the Act.

Shimla, September 7
The disturbing trend of use of women and children as conduit for drug trafficking and routing charas from outside the state and selling it as Malana crème has become a cause for concern for the police.

During the last five years, 32 children below 16 have been nabbed with trafficking drugs and had to be sent to juvenile homes. Though there are a large number of cases of drug trafficking every year, this year till now six women, including two Nepalese, were nabbed by the police while carrying a huge quantity of drugs. The other four are from Hamirpur, Kullu (2) and Kolkata.

“This is a disturbing trend as those engaged in this heinous crime are using children and women as conduits to make drug trafficking easier,” said Director General of Police Sanjay Kumar. He says that this makes the task of the police all the more difficult as there will now have to be stringent checking.

Kullu-Manali has emerged as a drug haven attracting large number of foreigners as well as others from all over the world. The locals cultivate cannabis and poppy to make charas and opium which fetch a huge price in the international market. In fact, Malana crème is the world famous and a large number of foreigners flock to the valley in view of easy availability of drugs.

Kullu Superintendent of Police Surinder Verma said in view of the increasing involvement of women and children in drug trafficking, the police is taking in extra precaution. He admitted that due to of less suspicion by the law enforcing agencies on women and children, the drug mafia could be using them.

Verma said though the police had launched sustained destruction campaigns to remove the cannabis and poppy plants, people still grow it. “Recently we destroyed cannabis over 1,603 bighas and three cases against private individuals for undertaking illegal cultivation,” said Verma.

Efforts by the state government to wean away locals from the illegal cultivation and drug trafficking have so far not yielded results. In fact, efforts were made with the help of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) also to encourage villagers of Malana and adjoining areas to switch over to cultivation of peas, herbs and floriculture.

However, the disturbing trend is the rising drug addiction among the youth. Awareness campaigns are also launched from among schoolchildren and the youth to educate them against drugs.

32 kids nabbed

During the last five years, 32 children below 16 have been nabbed for drug trafficking and sent to juvenile homes. Though there are a large number of cases of drug trafficking every year, this year six women, including two Nepalese, were nabbed by the police while carrying a huge quantity of drugs. The other four are from Hamirpur, Kullu (2) and Kolkata.

Kullu, September 7
National BJP Mahila Morcha president Vijaya Rahatkar today said the morcha acted as a mediator between the masses and the government by raising the concerns of people and spreading awareness of the various government schemes for women. She said this while addressing mediapersons during her visit for a three-day meeting-cum-training camp organised by the state unit of the Mahila Morcha at the Mahadevi Tirath temple.

She lauded the achievements of the Central Government in its 100-day tenure and thanked it for the various steps initiated for the welfare of masses, especially for women. She said the aim of the Mahila Morcha was to protect the rights and interests of women and strive for their empowerment.

State Mahila Morcha president Ritu Sethi said female infanticide was a social evil. She blamed the state government for the receding sex ratio in the state and said concrete steps should be taken to abolish female infanticide. She lamented that the condition of women was worsening in the state and strong efforts were required to ensure their safety and security.

Mahila Morcha state vice-president Rama Verma, Zila Parishad vice-president Dhaneshwari Thakur, Kullu Mahila Morcha president Shashi Malhotra, Sharda Potdar, Manisha Sood, Shakuntala, Pushpa Talwar and other women office-bearers of the morcha, besides national treasurer of the BJP ST Morcha Yuvraj Bodh, state BJP vice-president Ram Singh and president, BJP Kullu, Gobind Singh Thakur were present.

Nurpur, September 7
The Tractor-Trolley Owners’ Association of Jawali subdivision held a protest at Jawali yesterday in support of their demands. Led by president Ravinder Indi, hundreds of tractor owners took out a rally from the Maharana Pratap ground, Labh, to the office of the SDM, Jawali.

They raised slogans against the state government for challaning them. They lamented that the police were harassing and penalising tractor owners for carrying sand and gravel from small rivulets whereas stone crusher units had been indulging in unabated illegal and unscientific mining on riverbeds. The state had failed to check the menace.

Later, the association gave a memorandum to the SDM, demanding waiving off taxes imposed on the plying of tractor-trolleys in 2002 by the then state government, changing of royalty collection pattern by fixing royalty amount per cubic metre, printing of rates of royalty on M-forms issued while loading sand and gravel and lifting of royalty lease ban. In the memorandum, the association rued that tractor owners who were earlier unemployed had raised bank loans to buy tractor-trolleys but the state as well as Central Governments had adopted a harsh decision to check illegal mining in riverbeds which would render thousands of people jobless across the state.

Meanwhile, the association president said if the government was adamant to impose a ban on mining, it should first provide jobs to people who were going to be jobless in the state, waive off their bank loans and close stone crushing units which were using JCBs for mining on the riverbeds.

Una, September 7
Gagret MLA and secretary of the All-India Congress Committee Rakesh Kalia today resigned from the post of chairperson of the Kutlehar Assembly segment grievances committee, besides resigning as member nominated by the state government to the governing board of two private universities.

Talking to mediapersons, Kalia said he had expressed his resentment over the interference of another Congress MLA of the district in the internal matters of the Gagret segment. He added that the said MLA had made some complaints to Himachal Pradesh Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukkhu and state Youth Congress president Vikramaditya Singh against former Gagret Youth Congress president Devi Lal, who was a good party worker.

The Gagret MLA said Devi Lal, who was also a member of the state youth board, was removed from the post yesterday. He clarified that he had not resigned from the various Vidhan Sabha committees and sub-committees, of which he was a member.

Meanwhile, Vikramaditya Singh, when asked, said over the telephone that Rakesh Kalia was a senior member of the party and he would personally get in touch with him over the matter. He clarified that Devi Lal was not a member of the Youth Congress. He added that he would not be able to comment on Kalia’s allegations of removing Devi Lal from the membership of the state youth board since he (Vikramaditya Singh) was not a part of the government. 

Kullu, September 7
The annual function of Brahmrishi Mission School was celebrated on the school premises at Jarar yesterday. Swami Krishna Kanta of the International Brahmrishi Mission and Vishwa Shiksha Niketan Brahmvadini was the chief guest on the occasion. The outstanding performers in academics and extra-curricular activities were awarded. — OC