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Lahaul deity gives up yatra over ban on animal sacrifice
Unplanned construction galore in sensitive earthquake zone
Rohtang tunnel to be delayed: Experts
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4 years on, Nadaun’s spice park yet to get off ground
India Post awaits nod for CBS
HPTU training for pvt college staff
225 villages to be model villages in Sirmaur, Solan
HIMUDA to develop towns under PPP mode
Hamirpur to have underground power cables soon
Germany okays Rs 320-crore project to study eco-system
Famous for skiing, Kufri is an all-weather resort now
VIGNETTES
Passengers drug, loot taxi driver
3 booked for cheating bank
Make garbage collection effective: DC
Recruitments done during BJP govt under lens
State border to be sealed on Oct 15
Old man stuck in Beas rescued
Mandi SFI office-bearers
1 more held in bank robbery case
3 injured in road mishaps
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Lahaul deity gives up yatra over ban on animal sacrifice
Shimla, October 12 Devotees say the lord will come out of the temple that day, but they will sacrifice coconuts to the devta instead of a lamb, which used to be a tradition earlier, respecting the High Court ban on animal sacrifice in the state. But devotees have been denied the blessings of the lord after centuries, they resent. The devotees of Lord Gepan hold a night-long oracle session on Saturday with the Gur of the lord, along with the Dev Samaj of Lahaul and members of the Devta Committee, to discuss the ban on animal sacrifice imposed by the High Court. The Gur told the Harook, the assembly of devotees and the Dev Samaj that the “devta does not approve of a break from the tradition of sacrificing a lamb to the Gepan Raja, which is mandatory whenever he comes out for a “divine get-together at Gonchaling, the sacred spot in Lahaul after every three years. The devotees fear legal action if they sacrifice a lamb and may invite the wrath of the devta if they do not, they told The Tribune on the phone after attending the meeting last night. The devta will go to Gondla for the mela and then to Gonchaling to perform the traditional puja on October 21 and will come back to the temple, revealed devotees. The Harook decided that they cannot afford to break the tradition of animal sacrifice throughout its yatra of the valley. The Raja Gepan takes a tour of the valley and pays his obeisance at the Mrikula Devi temple at Udaipur in the Pattan valley where lambs are sacrificed in each village by devotees. President of the Raja Gepan Devta Committee Puran Chand said the devta would not tour the valley and come back to his temple after the Gonchaling pilgrimage as the Gur of the devta had warned them of not breaking the tradition of animal sacrifice. “The Dev Samaj opines that they should respect the ban as it was done in the Lanka Dahan ceremony of the week-long Kullu Dasehra on October 9”, he told the devotees. The Kardar Sangh of Kullu and chief representative of Lord Raghunath and Kullu legislator Maheshwar Singh have moved the Supreme Court against the High Court ban on animal sacrifice. The apex court had issued notices to all stakeholders, including the state government, but gave no relief to the petitioners on October 8 when the petitions were admitted to the court. The High Court has banned the animal and bird sacrifice in public places or place of worship in the state on September 1, 2014. The animal rights NGO had filed a petition in the court pleading that the animal sacrifice to seek blessings of the deity was inhuman and should be banned. |
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Unplanned construction galore in sensitive earthquake zone
Palampur, October 12 Several areas adjoining Palampur, Baijnath, Kangra, Gaggal and Dharamsala have turned into huge concrete jungles. After the 2001 earthquake, the state government took serious measures to regulate the construction activities in the region and also brought all important towns of Kangra district within the purview of the Town and Country Planning Act. However, all efforts remained confined to papers only and in the past 10 years most of the towns have witnessed unplanned construction and development in the absence of proper planning. Illegal and unplanned construction is extending an open invitation for
a major disaster that happened in Gujarat and Assam. Not only private parties, but semi-government and government agencies have also not followed the norms laid down for the construction. The entire Dhauladhar range in Himachal Pradesh falls in Zone V and experts from the Seismology Department of Roorkee University have recommended earthquake-proof constructions for this region. But the state government has failed to follow these recommendations and measures suggested by the experts. |
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Rohtang tunnel to be delayed: Experts
Kullu, October 12 Revealing this, sources stated that earlier June 2015 had been earmarked for the completion of the tunnel, but now it was likely to be completed by October 2017. Sources said the engineers had informed the MLA that due to water ingress from South Portal, landslides due to loose rock strata and shortage of sand and gravels, the pace of construction had receded. A report in this regard would be presented by the BRO to the Defence Ministry and state government, the sources added. It was learnt that Rs 1,355 crore had been earmarked by the then UPA government in 2010 for the construction of the project. However, the delay might raise the cost of project beyond Rs 2,000 crore. Tunneling experts stated that it had taken about four years to excavate 2,100 meters from the South Portal and about 2,400 meters from the North Portal, which is about half the length of total tunnel. Experts further opined that the mountain cover increases as the tunnel is dug further deeper, thereby reducing the pace of construction and also toughening the geological conditions. |
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4 years on, Nadaun’s spice park yet to get off ground
Hamirpur, October 12 The motive behind the establishment of the spice parks was improvement of processing and value addition of spices. They were to be equipped with international standard infrastructure to facilitate various operations, starting from cleaning to the final packaging of spices, including value addition, so the spices can fetch a much better price in the global market, hence, improving economy of the farmers involved in the trade. There has been no headway in the project for two years and some Congress leaders accused the BJP government for not providing land and stalling the project. Interestingly, it was not the lone announcement for the project as on September 22, 2012, while addressing a public meeting at Sera village in Nadaun segment, the then Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had announced that the state government had identified land for the proposed spice park and assured that the development work would be started soon. Another announcement for setting up the park came on April 15, 2013, from Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, while addressing public at the district-level Himachal Day function here. “Since the Congress government has failed to setup a spice park at the land given by our government in 2012, we would pursue the case with the Union Government, so that the spice park could be set up soon”, said Nadaun MLA Vijay Agnihotri. HPCC president Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the Cabinet had given its clearance in a meeting held in September. The UPA Government had announced that a spice park would be set up at Nadaun but due to some technical hindrances, it was delayed for some time. The government had approved the lease at nominal token fee of Re 1 only for the park and it would pave way for early establishment, he added. |
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Govt fails to tap fish farming potential in state
Dharamsala, October 12 Baljit Singh Tur, a farmer from Una district, was awarded by the state government for carrying out successful fish farming. He has successfully converted his waterlogged land into a fish farm and is earning nearly Rs 50,000 per acre from it. Sources said fish farming if carried out in a professional manner could raise a net income of Rs 1 lakh per acre per annum. Baljit said: “It is a boom time for fish farmers in the region. Even wholesale price of fish has increased to about Rs 100 per kg. However, the farmers of Himachal are missing the revolution due to lack of motivation.” Fish farming is turning into a lucrative venture in the region due to the increasing demand of fish in Punjab. The data collected by The Tribune revealed that there was a daily demand of about 4,000 kg fish in the Amritsar wholesale market. Similar quantum is required in Ludhiana and Jalandhar. Due to less production locally, dealers in the region import fish from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. Sea fish is imported from Maharashtra and is available only during winters, as in summers it is difficult to transport within a stipulated time. The varieties that are imported include Sangara, Mali and Sal. Pangas that is commonly known as Pyasi, is a cheap boneless fish and is imported from fish farms in Andhra Pradesh. The boneless varieties such as Sal and Mali are sold at rates ranging from Rs 400 to Rs 500 per kg. In Himachal, however, the Fisheries Department is concentrating on promoting farming of trout fish only. It is a high end product that has its market just in metros. Last year trout farmers rued that they were not finding proper market for their produce due to decrease in numbers of high-end foreign tourists coming to the country. Other major fish production in the state comes from two manmade lakes, including Gobind Sagar lake on the Bhakra Dam and Pong Dam lake. However, the fisheries production in the lake has its limitations. It is supporting the fishermen rather than fish farmers. The Fisheries Department is also in direct conflict with the Wildlife Department as the Wildlife Department claims that commercial fishing cannot be allowed in the lake, as it was part of the international wetland area. Farmers blame certain government policies that act as bottlenecks for promoting fish farming. They said there was no tax on income generated from traditional crops. However, fish farmers had to pay tax at par with the industry. The hassles of paying taxes desists farmers from diversifying to fish farming. They asked the government to give incentives similar to traditional agriculture to fish farmers to increase production. You only gain
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India Post awaits nod for CBS
Shimla, October 12 According to senior India Post officials, they were still waiting for the ministry’s approval as they were ready to roll out core banking services in 22 places in the state. It is expected that the ministry will give its nod next year. The MoU to design the new software was signed two years ago and was ready now,
they said. Himachal circle Post Master General N Naryanand said banking services and ATMs would be started in 22 places next year. “We have already identified three locations for postal ATMs in Shimla, Solan and Bilaspur, while banking services will be linked with the core banking system as
work of linkups is underway,” he said. The proposal to switch over to central banking solutions was pending with the Ministry of Finance and is likely to be okayed by the RBI soon, officials said. “Small savings facilitated by India Post is more beneficial for stabilising national economy rather than investment in the FDI and institutional investment,” an official said. The core banking would further strengthen small investments, he said. “We can compete with other market forces as India Post is not starting it from ground zero as we are in public services for the last 15 years,” Anand said. Project Arrow has modernised ancient post offices. “We are inducting different levels of IT solutions to 18 head offices, 447 departmental sub-post offices and 2,315 outlets and all HPOs and SPOs have been computerised so far,” he said. As many as 15 offices, Jawali, Nurpur, Sujanpur Terrace and Nadaun, Ghumarwin, Jogindernagar, Karsog, Sunderngar and Sarkaghat, Rewalsar, Mashobra, Rohru, Baddi and Poanta Sahib of Sirmaur have been modernised while POs at Theog, Rajgarh, Chail, Kothi are being modernised this
year. |
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HPTU training for pvt college staff
Hamirpur, October 12 The university has scheduled a five-day orientation-cum-refresher programme for the faculty members of 44 private engineering colleges and universities affiliated to the HPTU. The programme will be conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Engineering (NIT), Hamirpur, from November 3 on the NIT campus. There will be two faculty members from each institution. The faculty members of NIT, Hamirpur, along with experts from other NITs and IITs, will brush up the teaching techniques of the participants. Convener and Dean of HPTU Dr Lalit Awasthi said the programme was titled “training the trainer”. It would emphasise on pedagogy, teaching learning, role of teacher and accreditation. “This is the first programme towards achieving excellence in quality education. HPTU will continue to organise such programmes in the future as well,” he added. He said over 90 faculty members from all over the state were expected to participate in the programme. “The programme will be inaugurated by Prof Rajneesh Srivastav, Director, NIT, Hamirpur, and Prof RL Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, HPTU, will preside over the opening function. |
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225 villages to be model villages in Sirmaur, Solan
Shimla, October 12 According to a government spokesperson, the Block Development Officers (BDOs) will be the nodal officers to execute various development schemes under the PMAGY. Each village has a population of about 200 people in which more than 50 per cent population belongs to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe people. The model village will have adequate infrastructure in which the minimum needs of all sections of society are met. The scheme aims at giving livelihood security to the BPL and SC families, eliminate malnutrition among children and women. The spokesperson said the state advisory committee had been constituted under the chairmanship of the Social Justice and Empowerment Minister. Out of these models villages, 125 villages have been selected in Rajgarh (31 villages), Pachhad (29), Nahan (20), Paonta Sahib (20) and Sangrah (25), all in Sirmaur district. In Solan district, 100 villages have been chosen in Kunihar (24), Dharampur (34), Solan (25) and Kandaghat (17) development blocks. Each village has been given Rs 20 lakh for development of road network, education and skill development, healthcare, water supply, sanitation, streetlights, housing, livelihood security, security yard and services for persons with disabilities and senior citizens. Sirmaur district has received funds of Rs 29.78 crore for the execution of development and construction works in 125 villages. Solan has received funds of Rs 22 crore in 100 villages to execute 1,352 development works. The work on 666 schemes has been started out of which 143 schemes are complete and 523 are in progress, the government claimed. As many as 334 villages had been allocated Rs 33.40 crore for development of two villages in each constituency under the Mukhya Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojna in 59 constituencies in the state. On progress mode
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Sohail regrets not taking part in previous Raids
Shimla, October 12 “I wasted 15 years by not participating in the Raid De Himalaya organised 15 times in the past and regret having wasted the opportunity,” he said, expressing his excitement after completing the race. The 16th edition of the Raid De Himalaya officially drew to a close in Manali on October 11 and only 30 per cent competitors managed to successfully finish the Raid, considered one of the top 10 toughest raids, said Vice-President (Marketing) Maruti Suzuki Manohar Bhat. Sohail and his navigator Rahul Sancheti of Pune were among the competitors who made it to the finishing line in Manali, while the rest of the teams dropped out due to technical failures in their vehicles or other setbacks. Sohail said even though he incurred penalties which pushed him to the bottom of the ladder, he found the Raid to be an experience “where you learn at every turn”. During the first couple of days, he drove only in the competitive zones and let his navigator drive in the free zones towards the end of the day, he disclosed. “I am looking forward to compete in the Xtreme category at the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm early next year,” he said. He was not eligible to compete in the high-speed Xtreme category as first-timers are not allowed to participate in this category. Sohail said he was enchanted with his stay at nearly 1,000-year-old Tabo monastry, which he would have not seen had he not participated in the Raid. Raid De Himalaya started with 41 teams in Raid Xtreme (4X4), of which only 19 teams managed to successfully finish the rally while in Raid Xtreme (motorcycles) 27 competitors took the start and 15 made it to the end. In Raid Adventure, 50 teams took off on Day One but only 39 teams managed to make it to the finish line in Manali. |
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HIMUDA to develop towns under PPP mode
Shimla, October 12 HIMUDA has finalised the draft of the Himachal Pradesh Integrated Township policy and sent it to the government for approval. A meeting of developers has been convened in Delhi on October 19 to elicit their suggestions which will be incorporated in the policy. Besides engineers and architects of HIMUDA, Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma is likely to attend the meeting. A French delegation is also arriving here on October 15 to have negotiations with the government for assisting the state in satellite townships. HIMUDA is keen to set up satellite townships near Shimla, Kangra, Solan, Mandi and Hamirpur and had already identified 250 acres of
land near Jubbarhatti (Shimla) and Hamirpur and process to identify government and private land is in progress,
HIMUDA officials said, adding that these places were selected on the basis of a demand survey conducted by HIMUDA. The Integrated Townships Policy aims at housing for all and sustainable development with focus on affordable houses to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and low income group (LIG) people, facilitating PPP, capacity building of private developers and the government, diversion of migrants from rural to urban areas and ensure equitable supply land, shelter and services at affordable prices. The acquisition of land will be done by HIMUDA which also prepare the integrated plans of satellite towns and offer the projects for execution under the PPP. HIMUDA is keen to
take up some projects on its own but it did not have sufficient funds and has urged the government to stand guarantee for securing loans from
the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO). Private developers have been pressing for exemption from Section 118 of the Tenancy and Land Reforms Act for selling the assets on a par
with HIMUDA but the government is treading cautiously as the demand from local people to
make it mandatory for HIMUDA to sell properties only to Himachalis is becoming louder. Strangely, under Section 118 of the Act, no individual can sell land to any non-agriculturist Himachali without the permission of the government but HIMUDA can acquire their land, develop plots and construct flats and sell it to outsiders without any rider. Environmentalists are also opposed to sale
of plots and flats to outsiders as the scarce agriculture land is shrinking fast and they feel that
it should be utilised only for meeting the housing requirements of bonafide Himachalis. Meeting on Oct 19
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Hamirpur to have underground power cables soon
Hamirpur, October 12 Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL) had taken up
a project of ~6.32 crore to reform the electricity supply infrastructure of the district headquarters. The project was taken
up under Accelerated Power Development Reform Programme (APDRP) of the HPSEBL and the contract was awarded. The work is expected to complete by the end of March 2015. The power supply to the town is erratic, especially during bad weather and winters, when the load increases and HPSEBL officials face a hard time as they are incapable of tackling breakdowns. The supply conductor hanging low and close to lentils is another major problem that the HPSEBL is facing. The high-voltage live conductors have become a major life threat to residents and have been the cause of many accidents. There has been a regular demand to replace these conductors, but nothing concrete has been done so far. Under APDRP, the state electricity board will install 22 new transformers and augment the capacity of 13 transformers. It will also replace the overhead conductor with the underground electricity supply mechanism. The underground cabling will be done in the damage-prone area that crosses through the forest zone. In the first phase it
will be done from the HPSEBL sub-station Anu to Hotel Hamir, Anu to BSNL Telephone Exchange and Anu to
Forest Colony. It is also learnt that the market will be also be covered in the scheme, but the work will be taken up in the next phase. Senior Executive Engineer RS Thakur said the HPSEBL had completed installation of 22
new transformers in the town. The Board was trying to supply electricity from the new network before the fall of winter. The over head conductors would also be replaced in a phased manner, he added. |
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Baijnath, Paprola towns becoming garbage dumps
Palampur, October 12 Besides, the adjoining panchayats were not ready to transfer land for a dumping site. In the absence of garbage removal from the towns, local shopkeepers and fruit vendors are dumping waste in the Binwa river, which is a major source of drinking water in the lower areas of Baijnath. Though the state government had recently brought the towns under the purview of the HP State Urban Development Act and announced to set up a municipal council, the state had not made provisions for the instalation of garbage treatment plant in the area. “Unless and until the treatment plant is installed, the problem of garbage disposal will remain in these towns. At present, the town is being governed by five panchayats which have no funds for the removal of garbage. At least a dozen major garbage dumps can be seen in different parts of the town, emitting foul smell. The situation in the internal areas of the town is quite alarming as most of the water channels have turned into garbage dumping sites,” a senior officer of the state government said. Local MLA Kishori Lal said garbage dumping had become a major problem not only in Baijnath, but all the towns of the state and the government should come out with a long-term plan to keep the towns clean. He said the Centre had already released Rs 1,240 crore to the state under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the money should be utilised to keep the towns clean by setting up garbage treatment plants and deputing more manpower in panchayats and municipal areas.
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Make villagers aware of laws: Justice
Chamba, October 12 He told the people that families belonging to
the Scheduled Castes, Tribes and other poor families having an income of
Rs 1 lakh were given free legal aid. Chief Judicial Magistrate Aparna Sharma informed the gathering that para legal volunteers were providing information about various developmental schemes of the government among people of rural areas. They were also urging them to get their cooperation for legal assistance, he added. Free legal aid clinic
helps litigants
Sundernagar: A free legal aid clinic being run by a retired judicial officer is becoming popular among litigants in the town and its adjoining areas. Daily many litigants can be seen visiting the office which is situated in the Haripur locality of the town. The clinic was set up more than three years ago by retired Sessions Judge RL Raghu who hailed from a poor family of Bilaspur district and retired in 2011 after serving as judicial officer in Himachal Pradesh for 38 years in various capacities. After retirement he immediately got himself enrolled as an advocate in April 2011 in the Bar Association here, and soon opened a free legal aid clinic at his residence and since then has been giving free legal advice to needy people.
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Giving a new lease of life to football
Kangra, October 12 The children are being imparted training in techniques like kicking, controlling the ball, dribbling, tackling opponent and pushing ball into the goal by Munish Panjloo (36) and Ishwar Dass (42). Munish Panjloo, who played under-21 nationals and got a coaching diploma, and Ishwar Dass, who played hockey nationals, but switched to football, are now utilising their extra time to produce new players. Brij Lal (70), who had played as captain of the football team in 1958, said he visited the ground daily to see how the two young men were trying to rejuvenate the game, which had taken a back seat in the last few decades. Munish said 64 children were practising daily, including children below 10 years of age. The children were being provided free kits with other equipment, shoes, football and dress. Players produced here included three who played at inter-university level, eight at under-19 state level and three under-19 national level. He said on the basis of the sport, eight players were appointed in the Indian Army. Some local people had come out in their support financially to purchase kits and dresses for the children, he added.
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Germany okays Rs 320-crore project to study eco-system
Shimla, October 12 Under the project, experts from Germany will guide in studying the eco-system, climate change — its impact and mitigation — and reclaiming the land by weeding out lantana grass and make it suitable for agriculture. The project will be implemented within five years and later replicated in other lantana-affected areas. A large tracts of lands in Chamba and Kangra districts are infested with lantana grass and rendered “unfit not only for agriculture, but also for growing green grass” and German techniques will be used for clearing these fertile lands from the grass. Under the project, the areas infested by the lantana grass will be cleared and green grass and broad leave saplings be planted for meeting the requirement of fodder. Fruit trees will also be planted on the reclaimed lands to provide food and fodder to wild animals so that they stay in their natural habitat and do not invade field of the farmers. The lantana grass, known popularly as congress grass, has forced the farmers to leave cultivation as the grass is growing and spreading fast, rendering it uncultivable. The unavailability of green fodder is also affecting cattle rearing as farmers find it unaffordable to purchase grass from other places to feed the animals.
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Famous for skiing, Kufri is an all-weather resort now
Shimla, October 12 Due to scant snowfall attributed to global warming and change in climate, skiing ended in 1984 and gradually residents shifted to other activities to attract tourists. Three major centres, including Hip Hip Hurry, Fun World and Fun campus, have come up at Kufri in the past one decade and thousands of tourists and their families visit Kufri. Skiing was only limited to one or two months in the olden days, but a spurt in amusement and adventure activities have made it in an all-weather resort. “Curtains on skiing came as a blessing in disguise for local entrepreneurs as earlier Kufri was known only for winter sports and a large number of tourists used to make a beeline only during the snow season. But now, it attracts tourists in all seasons,” said Avinash, a shopkeeper in Kufri. “Apart from offering a panoramic view, Kufri was also famous for horse riding to the Mahasu peak and to the zoo. But with the advent of adventure sports, tourist inflow has increased and economic activities have also got a boost,” said president of the Kufri Ghoda (horse) Association Sohan Lal Thakur. However, increasing adventure activities have also raised a question mark on the safety of tourists. On June 6 this year, a 50-year-old tourist from Andhra Pradesh died at the Mahasu peak in Kufri as the zip line (aerial runway) failed to stop and instead hit a tree. The operator was booked for causing death by negligence and endangering life or personal safety of others. Nishant Nag, owner of Hip Hip Hurry amusement park and pioneer of adventure activities in Kufri, said: “Safety is our prime concern as adventure activities such as mountain biking, rippling, rock climbing, zip lining, Burma Bridge, valley crossing cannot be carried out without proper safety measures and under the guidance of experts.” “We offer more than 20 events throughout the year. In summers we offer swimming, water ball, water roller, boating and in winters we offer ice skating, snow surfing and sledging apart from round the year adventure activities, D games, disco, horror house and dashing cars. The motive is to entertain and please tourists of all segment and age,” he said.
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The beautiful but ignored valley of Chamba
Dalhousie, October 12 The gorgeous glimpses of the Bhandal valley include the exquisite natural beauty and captivating trekking and mountaineering tracks. The travellers, who have been to this picturesque and virgin valley, enjoy the natural sights and sounds. The valley lies at an average altitude of 1,800 metre or above and has great beauty. It also leads to the Bhaderwah region of Jammu and Kashmir. The Gamgul Siabehi Wildlife Sanctuary, lying in the valley, has wild animal species such as musk deer, barking deer, snow leopards, Himalayan thar, pheasants, rabbits and large species of fauna and colourful birds.
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VIGNETTES
Upma Chawdhry, Additional Chief Secretary to the government, in her introductory remarks said the government was doing its best in preserving the heritage and traditions of Shimla while encouraging the contemporary. She said it was for the seminarians to judge how far the government had been successful in its attempt. Prof Narayani Gupta, consultant to INTACH, Delhi, compared the urbanisation process in Britain and India. She said people in Britain had a sense of pride in their cities because renaissance was the result of industrialisation. In India, the cities developed on “violation” — they cut trees, flatten hills, do away with the wildlife and develop a city. The western style of pride in the cities here is missing. Sujata Patel, Professor of Sociology in Hyderabad, saw modern urbanisation in India taking place in two phases, between the ‘60s and the ‘80s and then from early ‘90s onwards. She proclaimed that the urban population in the world, already 31 per cent, would be the largest in the coming three to four decades. So, all our planning be directed keeping that fact in mind. Bhupinder Marh, Professor of Geography in Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), agreed with her and said though Himachal was the most rural state in India, yet its number of towns had been growing continuously. The towns were 56 in 2001 and 59 in 2011. He informed the gathering that 37 per cent of the total urban population of the state lived in Shimla alone, hence, the pressure. Laxman Singh Thakur, Professor in the Department of History in HPU, surprised all by saying that the sentence from the diary of the Gerard brothers and figuring in Buck’s “Simla Past and Present”, “Simla, a middling-sized village where a fakir is situated to give water to travellers… we encamped on the side of Jakko” led by the common mistake in believing that the fakir was somewhere in Jakko. He said all later chroniclers writing on Shimla made this mistake, whereas the fakir was at Jathia Devi through which the earlier Kalka-Shimla road passed. Ravindra Dhiman, Saumya Sharma, a conservation architect who is working on the renovation of the Catholic and the Christ churches, and Ved Segan, architect from Mumbai who rejuvenated the Gaiety Theatre, shared their experiences with the house. Tikender Panwar, Deputy Mayor of the Shimla Municipal Corporation, Sanjeeva Pandey, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Jasmine Kaur, an architect working as senior consultant in the Landscape and Environmental Planning Department in Delhi Development Authority, Dr Vaneet Jishtu, a scientist in the Himalayan Forest Research Institute, and the author of this piece informed the house of their efforts in keeping the town green and clean or picturised its present condition. As the topic of the seminar was about the town and its surroundings, the participants maintained a high-voltage interest throughout. There was tacit agreement that further addition of brick and mortar to the town had to be stopped and that the government should accept the latest Environment Impact Assessment Report as it was. No ifs and buts and provisos were required. The Town and Country Planning Department should remain awake and bring the peripheries of the town, well in advance, under its provisions. Late incorporation allows the town to burst at seams. Dudhli, a small village on the northern side of Shimla, has already suffered because of this laxity (See photo). It came into the folds of the department in 2007 and that too on the direction of the Chief Minister. There is a huge construction activity going on on all sides and the construction debris is thrown by the builders on the nearest khud without caring whether there exist traditional water sources for the villages in the khud or not, resulting in the death of these water sources. The seminar concluded with three common viewpoints: Ban all construction in Shimla; conserve water and forget not the forests. TAILPIECE “What do you like most in cool Shimla?” “Ceiling fan.”
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Passengers drug, loot taxi driver
Una, October 12 As per an FIR, five persons, including two women, approached Avnish at the Una taxi stand at about 2 am on Saturday and asked him to drop them at Naina Devi. Avnish said since the passengers included an elderly woman and another in the early 20s, there was no reason to be suspicious. The report said when the vehicle reached Kolan wala Tohba, the elderly woman complained of nausea and asked the vehicle to be stopped. It was a secluded place and the person sitting in the front seat grabbed the vehicle keys, while two others, sitting on the rear seat, gripped the driver’s throat and administered some substance which made him unconscious. Avnish said when he regained consciousness, he found himself tied to a tree. After setting himself free, he went to a house where he narrated his story. He said the accused had fled in his Xylo jeep (HP-1U-0348). Avnish said the accused also took away Rs 4,000, two bank ATM cards, his driving licence and a cell phone from his pockets. He reported the matter to the Kot Kehloor police station. The police said a case under Sections 382 and 323, Indian Penal Code, had been registered and investigation was on.
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State to withdraw compounding powers of RTOs
Dharamsala, October 12 Minister for Transport, Food and Civil Supplies and Technical Education GS Bali stated this while addressing a press conference at the Dharamsala mini secretariat yesterday. He said it had been found that serious offenders of the Motor Vehicles Act, such as those indulging overloading or not keeping vehicles in a good condition, were going scot-free after their offences were compounded from the RTOs. This, at some places, was leading to an increase in accidents. So the government had decided that the power of compounding serious violations of the Act should rest with the RTAs. A notification to this effect would be issued by the state government very soon, he said. The RTO is a Transport Department official posted at the district level to enforce the implementation of the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. Earlier, it had the power to challan as well as compound (release after imposing fine) the offences under the Act. Bali said in the wake of the pollution created by goods vehicles, the state government would hold a national-level workshop on technology improvement. “This workshop will be held either in Shimla or Dharamsala,” he said. “The maximum pollution is created by goods vehicles. In my previous term, as Transport Minister, the state government had taken some policy initiatives on technology improvement like giving more incentives to multi-axel vehicles,” said Bali. The recommendations were not implemented due to change of government in the state, he added. The minister also said the government had allotted around 650 kanals to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for a petroleum product storage terminal in Mehatpur of Una district.
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3 booked for cheating bank
Mandi, October 12 In a complaint to the police, Punjab National Bank Ner Chowk branch manager Kapil Bhargav said Aruna Sharma, a resident of Chandesh, Sarkaghat tehsil, in connivance with Kiran Kumar, a resident of the same locality, and Dheeraj Guleria, a resident of Panjeeth, Sadar tehsil, managed to get a loan from the bank branch by producing forged documents for purchasing a JCB machine. He said when they failed to pay the loan amount, the bank authorities asked them to produce the JCB machine. Thereafter, the authorities came to know that no JCB machine was purchased and the loan was obtained on forged documents. The police registered a case under various sections of the IPC against the three persons.
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Make garbage collection effective: DC
Mandi, October 12 He said for the better management of garbage, a scheme would be launched for a separate collection of solid, liquid and plastic waste. Stray dogs were being sterilised to put a check on their growing population. Also, stray cattle were being sent the gau sadans according to their capacities and efforts would be made to establish more such sadans in the district, he added. In the current financial year,~3.10 crore had been spent under MNREGA on various development works in the district, he said.
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Recruitments done during BJP govt under lens
Shimla, October 12 They said recruitments and promotions made between 2008 and 2012 would be scrutinised to ascertain whether the appointments were made as per the rules. Appointments to higher-level posts, appointments made in violation of UGC guidelines and other alleged backdoor appointments in ICDEOL as well as allegations of misuse of official vehicles would also be probed. Prof Sunil Gupta was Himachal Pradesh University Vice-Chancellor from April 2008 to April 2011, while present VC Prof ADN Bajpai took over on May 24, 2011, and is on six months’ extension expiring on November 24, 2014. |
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State border to be sealed on Oct 15
Shimla, October 12 Himachal shares a 150-km-long area bordering Haryana from Paonta Sahib to Baddi via Kala Amb and Kalka. The chances of anti-social elements sneaking into Haryana via Himachal and vice versa are quite high. “We have deployed 750 Home Guards at all vulnerable points along the border to ensure peaceful polling in the neighbouring state and no person with doubtful credentials will be allowed to enter Haryana through Himachal on the polling day,” Director General of Police Sanjay Kumar said. |
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Old man stuck in Beas rescued
Kullu, October 12 It was learnt that Manali SHO Firoz Khan received information of an elderly person stuck on a stone in the middle of the raging water near the cremation ground. The SHO rushed to the spot with traffic in charge ASI Tek Chand and Head Constable Param Dev and pulled out Dharam and took him to hospital. Eyewitnesses said due to the bravery of the SHO, the life of the elderly person was saved. Residents of the town appreciated the SHO for his valour and urged the administration to honour him.
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Mandi SFI office-bearers
Mandi, October 12 He said issues of fee hike, student elections and newly introduced RUSA system were discussed at the meeting. He said they would raise the issue of students having to fill forms from cyber cafes as the facility was not available in most of the colleges. He said the newly elected office-bearers would work towards strengthening the organisation in schools, ITIs and polytechnic colleges. Among other elected office-bearers, Vivek Rana was appointed joint secretary and Sanjay Jamwal district convener.
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1 more held in bank robbery case
Hamirpur, October 12 It was the fourth arrest in the case. Earlier, the police had arrested three persons, including a woman and two juveniles, from Karnal with the help of the Haryana Police. A team, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Lalman Sharma, arrested the accused on the information gathered from the arrested woman and the mobile trekking system. He said the hunt was on to nab the main accused and recover the balance amount of Rs 21
lakh.
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3 injured in road mishaps
Mandi, October 12 Khem Singh of Nihari under Thunag tehsil and Durga Singh of Shunah under Thunag tehsil sustained injuries when the Jeep they were travelling in skid off the road near Balendha Mod last evening. In another incident, Dinesh Kumar of Syanh under Lohara tehsil was injured when a rashly driven truck hit him from behind last night.
— TNS
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A two-day seminar on “Shimla: Harmonising Colonial Inheritance, Urban Aesthetics and Modernisation” was held at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) recently. Dr Chetan Singh, Director of the institute, touched upon the three aspects of the seminar in his welcome address which, inadvertently, became the keynote address as most of the speakers picked up the threads from there.