Shimla, October 24
The state BJP will press for the demand to disqualify four independent MLAs, who have become the associate members of the Congress under the Anti-Defection Act, in the coming session of the state Assembly likely to commence in third week of November.

State BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti said the party had filed a petition before the Assembly speaker, BBL Butail, on September 2 last, seeking disqualification of four independent MLAs including, Manohar Dhiman (Indora), Pawan Kajal (Kangra), Kirnesh Jang (Paonta Sahib) and Balbir Singh Verma (Chopal), pleading that they were elected as independents, but now they were members of the ruling Congress party for all intent and purposes and attract disqualification under the said act.

The BJP got a boost after the Punjab and Haryana High Court disqualified five MLAs of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), who had who defected to Congress after the 2009 Assembly elections and its leaders were hopeful that these MLAs would also be disqualified on the analogy of the high court judgment.

“During the last Assembly session in August, these MLAs had issued statement in favour of the Chief Minister and claimed themselves as associate members of the Congress party, which implied that they have joined Congress,” said Satti.

He said a lot of issues remained unaddressed during the last Assembly session which was prematurely adjourned sine die on the pretext that there was no business to transact. But, the truth was that 754 starred questions, 150 unstarred questions, three private members bills and ten discussions were received by the the Vidhan Sabha.

“Issues like activities of land, mining and drug mafia, damage caused by floods and turmoil created by hasty implementation of RUSA, Lokayukta Act and TCP Act which were not be discussed during the last session will be raised during the session this time,” he said.

However, a meeting of the party MLAs would be convened on the eve of the session to chalk out the strategy for the session, Satti added.

Shimla, October 24
While the Centre has not agreed to the request of the state to reintroduce the class V and Class VIII board examinations, which had been scrapped under Right to Education (RTE) Act, the Himachal Government has decided to devised a mechanism for external assessment of students. This will be to evaluate the learning levels of students and also make teachers accountable.

Concerned over the falling standards of education after the new system, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh also made a strong plea for reintroducing the board examinations for Class V and Class VIII to judge the performance of students and even met the Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani.

It was observed that in the absence of board examinations, neither students, nor teachers were serious about the studies as there was no way to judge the performance of the students.

The Himachal Board of School Education will conduct the examinations for Class V and Class VIII but there will be no fee and no student be detained. The board will get the details of students from the Education Department and issue roll numbers. Students will answer question papers and their centres will be in nearby schools and the results be conveyed to schools, says Chairman of school board Balbir Tegta.

A teacher from a school will identify students appearing in the examination and no form will be required to be filled. It will just like an internal assessment by an external agency and will reduce the pressure on students when they appear for Cass X examinations, he added.

The mechanism will also assess the performance of teachers who will be made accountable if the students did not perform well. The Chief Minister had already announced that English, Maths and Hindi would be taught as compulsory subjects from Class I and the new system will help in identifying the grey areas of teaching-learning levels of students in the age group of six to 14 years.

Una, October 24
The district union of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) today protested against non-payment of night and over-time charges for the last three months in front of the Una HRTC depot office. Consequently, yesterday was a Black Diwali for all of us and our family members, rued Union president Ram Singh.

The protesting employees said Transport Minister GS Bali’s announcement regarding the payment of the last three month’s night and overtime charges to their cadre before Diwali had come about 10 days ago. Ram Singh said the department had even disbursed the due amount to the depots but the payments were not made by the local office on the plea that the lists received from the higher office were faulty.

Secretary of the Union Vijay Kumar demanded strict action against the guilty ministerial staff employees or the bankers, saying that the drivers, who commuted people to their destinations for celebrating Diwali, had to go emptyhanded to their homes.

Shimla, October 24
The issue of creating more than one District Congress Committees (DCCs) in Kangra, Mandi and Shimla is likely to be placed before the meeting of the State Executive, which will be attended by all block, district and state office bearers.

Even though state Congress president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has discussed the issue with senior leaders, including Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, ministers, legislators and senior office-bearers of the party, it will be discussed for the first time at the party forum. The meeting of the State Executive will be held here on October 27.

“The creation of more than one DCC in big districts is part of several reforms that we have initiated to make the office-bearers more accountable,” said Sukhu. He added that he had discussed the issue with several leaders who had mixed response to it but now it will be placed before the State Executive Committee meeting.

Sukhu intends to create three DCCs of Nurpur, Palampur and Dehra in Kangra district and Mandi and Sundernagar in Mandi district. In case of Shimla which already has Shimla (Urban) and Shimla (Rural), some more assembly segments could be included under the rural body.

Though a majority of the ministers and senior leaders have expressed their reluctance to support the creation of more than one party unit within a district, Sukhu is keen to push it through as he feels it will strengthen the party.

Another issue that is likely to be discussed is the creation of the Panchayat Congress Committee in all 3,243 Gram Panchayats in Himachal. “To be able to reach out to each voter, it is imperative that we create a Panchayat Congress Committee for which the process has already been initiated,” said Sukhu. He said this would go a long way in strengthening the party.

Sukhu said several steps such as pruning of the BCCs having almost 100 members had been taken and restricted it to only 31. “Similarly, the almost defunct 12 departments of the Congress such as kisan, legal, SC/ST and intellectual cells had been dissolved so that more active and effective people can be entrusted the responsibilities,” he said. 

Nurpur, October 24
Dilavar Singh (75) of Samker in Dhameta gram panchayat of Jawali subdivision here has been running from pillar to post to know about the whereabouts of his son Sandeep Rana, the only breadwinner in the family, who has been stranded in Iraq for the past four months.

Sandeep is one of the three youths from Kangra district who had gone to Iraq in September last year for earning their livelihood as JCB operators in a construction company.

Dilavar said he had no communication with his son since June 14. “The other two youths, Aman from Passu village near Dharamsala and Inderjeet from Lanj, have also been stranded in Iraq,” he said.

He said they were working in a private construction company at Mussal in Iraq. He said the families of the three stranded youths of Kangra district were in touch with the families of Punjabi youths who have also been stranded in Iraq since June.

“Myself, parents of Aman and Inderjeet, accompanied by the Punjabi youth families, had met Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj twice during the last two months. The minister told us that all youths from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh were safe in Iraq and they were working with the same construction company, but were not allowed either to leave the job or communicate with their families in India. She also told us that the Union Government was trying its best for their safe homecoming,” he said.

He said the state government had failed to provide them financial help and no leader of the ruling party and the MLA of his native Assembly constituency and Agriculture Minister Sujan Singh Pathania turned up to visit his family.

He said the Punjab Government was extending all possible financial assistance to the families of the youths.

“I have no source of income, no agriculture land and my family’s lone bread earner is in trouble in Iraq. At the age of 75, it is very difficult to support a family of five members,” he rued. 

Kangra, October 24
The dream project of former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar, a Bachat Bhawan, shopping complex, coffee house and an auditorium at the Tehsil Chowk, in the heart of Kangra, remains unaccomplished since nearly 22 years, after its foundation stone was laid in 1992.

Shanta Kumar, eying the development of the temple town, had laid the foundation stone of the project at Tehsil Chowk on November 28, 1992. His government was sacked by the Central Government on December 15, 1992. The foundation stone was dismantled by miscreants and thrown in a garbage dump in July 2011 and was reinstalled again in a broken condition. However, no action was taken against the miscreants for removing the foundation stone.

The former CM had communicated to the district authorities that if the government was not constructing the project because of paucity of funds, he would provide Rs 1 crore from his Rajya Sabha MP fund in four installments, otherwise the laid foundation stone should be removed.

Meanwhile, in 2011, the district administration decided to bring up the project at a cost of Rs 4.2 crore, funds for which were provided through World Bank by the government. RS Gupta, the then Deputy Commissioner of Kangra, had said in 2011 that the project would have a parking space of at least 100 vehicles, besides a shopping complex, a Bachat Bhawan, a modern cafeteria and an auditorium.

On the top floor, a commercial complex would be constructed to accommodate banks and business centres in order to generate resources for the maintenance of this multi-crore complex, he had said.

Three years past, the project remains unaccomplished. The funds meant for the project were allegedly diverted to other projects by the present government. Shanta Kumar, when elected as member of the Lok Sabha this year, gave Rs 10 lakh for the project but there is no progress yet.

Both BJP and Congress governments ignored the project.

Shimla, October 24
Hundreds of people gathered at Dhami for the traditional Pathar Mela (stone pelting fair), a ritual of hitting one another with stones to anoint the forehead of goddess Kali at a local temple today.

The fair lasted only for 10 minutes as a villager was hit by a stone and started bleeding profusely.

The event passed off without any major casualty. Around six persons sustained minor injuries.

During the annual ritual, famous as Pathar Mela, the villagers are divided into two groups, one representing the erstwhile princely state of Dhami and the remaining forming the rival group.

The team, comprising male residents of the Dagoi, Turnu, Katedu and Jathodi clans, together take on the opponent Jamogi clan.

The ritual is held a day after Diwali.

The two groups assemble at the Kali temple and in the midst of playing drums and other traditional instruments throw stones at one another.

A local committee, including representatives of the royal family, organise the event. The tradition of stone pelting was introduced to replace the tradition of human sacrifice, which was prevalent in many hill states.

Shimla, October 24
About 24 persons sustained burn injuries while celebrating Diwali here.

However, no casualty was reported. The number was less as compared to that in the previous year. Last year, more than 60 cases of burn injuries were reported at the IGMC alone.

IGMC Medical Superintendent Ramesh Chand said awareness among the public of the noise and air pollution by campaigns launched by individuals and NGOs seemed to have made an impact and the craze for crackers was not much this year.

Anuj, who used to spend thousands of rupees on crackers every year, spent Rs 1,000 this year and said crackers were expensive and the craze for them had reduced. “We asked our children to buy things of their choice on this Diwali, rather than spending on crackers,” he added.

UNA, October 24
Vishwakarma Jayanti was celebrated with religious fervour in different parts of the district today.

Una MLA and state BJP president Satpal Singh Satti also participated in a function organised at the Vishwakarma temple in his native village Jalgran Tabba.

He said in the Rig Veda, where Vishwakarma, son of Lord Brahma, has been mentioned as an architect and an engineer. Religious functions were also held at the Vishwakarma temples in Santoshgarh and Kotla Khurd where thousands of devotees paid obeisance. 

Shimla, October 24
Governor Urmila Singh and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh felicitated people of the state on the occasion of ‘Bhaiya Dooj’.

The Governor in her message said the festival would not only strengthen the bond of brotherhood, but also played a significant role in creating a cordial atmosphere in society. Meanwhile, Transport and Food & Civil Supplies Minister GS Bali announced free traveling facility for women in Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses on October 25.— TNS

Shimla, October 24
The state police, grappling with acute staff crunch at all levels, has sought an increase in Indian Police Service (IPS) cadre from 89 to 108 to fill functional posts.

“The cadre strength is 89 and 22 posts are lying vacant. About two dozen IPS officers are on central deputation or deployed outside the cadre,” said Director General of Police Sanjay Kumar.

He said the matter was under consideration of the state Home Department, which would pursue the proposal and forward it to the government for a follow-up action.

The overall situation is no better and of the 16,856 posts at various levels, 2,730 are lying vacant and about 14,100 policemen are deputed to take care of the population of 69 lakh. Out of the total 2,730 vacant posts, 2,490 are of constables and head constables, 387 of ministerial staff or class four employees and 190 other posts.

As many as 16 posts of DSP are to be filled. Besides, the single approved post of administrative officer, three posts of doctor, four posts of deputy district attorney and seven posts of assistant district attorney are lying vacant.

As many as 307 posts of Gazetted Officers (GO) have been approved for the department and as per the record, 60 posts are lying vacant. Out of the five approved posts of lecturer, none had been filled so far.

Eight out of the 29 approved posts of class II are lying vacant. Fortythree out of the 266 posts of inspector, 110 out of the 672 posts of sub-inspector, 87 out of the 1,115 approved posts of assistant sub inspector and 412 out of the 2,866 posts of head constable and 2,078 out of the approved 11,937 posts of constable are lying vacant.

The Police Department is finding it difficult to fill the cadre posts. Moreover, with less than 50 per cent of the cadre working in the department in the state, the burden of work on individuals has increased manifold, sources in the police department say.

Palampur, October 24
The Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department has come under fire for delay in repairing damaged sewer lines and septic tanks in different parts of the town.

The sewer lines on the Palampur-Dharmsala by-pass are leaking into the Bhiral Khud for the past three years, emitting foul smell.

Despite the fact that the IPH Department is well versed with the situation, no steps have been initiated to repair the lines or install new ones.

At present, the entire sewerage of the three municipal wards is directly flowing into the local water stream.

Likewise, two major septic tanks of the sewerage scheme, constructed on the banks of the Bhiral Khud, were washed away in the floods two years ago. These tanks are yet to be repaired.

The sewerage of the area is directing flowing into the Mol Khud.

The Bhiral and Mol Khuds are a major source of drinking water supply for the lower areas of Palampur.

Thousands of residents daily fetch water from these rivulets.

Even the IPH Department has lifted water from these rivulets for various water supply schemes, feeding over a hundred villages in the Thural area of Chnager valley.

Despite Palampur being the home town of Speaker Brij Behari Lal Butail, who is also the local MLA, none in the IPH Department is bothered to repair the sewerage lines.

Residents of the town, heads of some school and municipal officials have brought the problems to the notice of the IPH Executive Engineer time and again but in vain.

A senior medical officer confirmed that cases of diarrhoea had increased in the region for the past few days because the residents were being supplied dirty and contaminated water.

When contacted, senior officials of the IPH Department said sewerage system of the town had already lived its life and needed large-scale augmentation and replacement of pipes. The department had planned to prepare a new detailed project report (DPR) for the repair and replacement of sewerage lines. If the DPR was approved, works would be taken up soon, they added. 

Kangra, October 24
The work of the sewerage project which was started a decade ago is still incomplete.

The foundation stone of the Rs 9.28 crore was laid by Chief Minister Virbhdra Singh on January 17, 2004, but the pipe laying was yet to be completed.

Praikshit Raj, a retired Public Works Department executive engineer, said the town was in need of a sewerage facility which had not been provided to residents due to callousness of different governments.

He said work was carried at a snail’s pace and paucity of funds led to the delay in the completion of the project.

He alleged that the lay out plan of the sewerage pipes was yet to be finalized.

Dr Naveen Kumar, a local resident, said the pipes were laid in some parts of the town, but still the pipe laying work was yet to be completed.

The cost of the project had escalated from Rs 9.28 crore to Rs 13 crores till 2011, which has further escalated to above Rs 14 crore in 2014.

The roads in the town are dug for laying the pipes and delay in repairs was leaving pilgrims, tourists and the locals in a problem.

Dharamsala, October 24
The state government has planned new industrial areas along the border of Punjab to attract the industry. A new industrial area is being developed at Pandoga in Una district.

Though new industrial areas may be a welcome step, there is no policy in place for reviving the old industrial areas where most of the industry has either shut down or leave the state.

In Kangra, Sansarpur Terrace industrial and Damtal industrial areas are the old ones on the border of Punjab. Both areas failed to attract any major industry even during the period when Himachal was availing the benefits of industrial package. A few small units came up in the industrial areas but now, most of the small units has also closed down

Golthai is a planned industrial area developed near Bhakra in Bilaspur district. Two major steel units came up in Golthai that provided employment to thousands most of whom were Bhakra Dam oustees. However, now most of the units in the Golthai industrial area have closed. Sources said not even one unit in Golthai was operational.

Mehatpur was the first planned industrial area in Una district. Initially, the industrial area was successful as many big and small units came up here. However, now one pharmaceutical unit of any substance was operational. All other units are small.

Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri admitted that most of the industry from the Golthai industrial area had closed down. He said the industrial area had local problems due to which major steel units had closed down. He declined the fact that other industrial areas such as Mehatpur, Sansarpur Terrace and Damtal had failed.

He said for the last two years when the Congress government came to power in the state, an investment of Rs 10,000 crore in the form of new units and expansion of existing units had flown into the state. This clearly illustrates that the present government had done well to attract the industry of Himachal even in the absence of any industrial package.

The sources here, however, said the state government should also bring a policy or announce incentives for reviving the existing industrial areas besides bringing up new industrial areas. This could put to use investment worth crores that had been put into developing the existing industrial areas.

Dharamsala, October 24
Major irrigation works that were started in Kangra district during the stint of previous BJP government have come to a standstill.

According to sources, the projects could not be completed on time, as funds for executing them were not received from the Centre.

In Kangra district, two major irrigation projects were launched in Nurpur area. These included the Chonj Khad channelisation work worth ~177 crore and Phina Singh Canal project worth ~204 crore.

Both the said projects included construction of bandhs and canalisation works of local rivulets and use of their water for irrigation purpose.

As per the detailed project reports (DPRs) of the projects as approved by the Union Ministry for Water Resources, they were to be completed within three years. Both projects were approved by the previous UPA government.

As per the DPR, the Irrigation and Public Health Department should have received Rs 70 crore this year for carrying out the channelisation work of Chonj rivulet. However, highly placed sources here told The Tribune that the department has received just Rs 9 crore for Chonj Khad channelisation project so far.

“If the money is released, the work is likely to be completed in 10 years,” said a senior official of the IPH Department.

Similarly for Phina Singh Canal project, the Irrigation Department has received just Rs 25 crore this year. This is less than half of the project amount that the department should have received to keep the targets as set in DPR.

Sources said in case the projects were delayed it might lead to escalation of cost.

Sources in the IPH Department said funding from NABARD for the IPH schemes in the state has also dried up since the new NDA government took over. The IPH department had submitted projects regarding various water supply schemes in rural areas of the state to NABARD.

The projects were approved by NABARD. As per the approved projects, NABARD was to finance the projects in 20:40:40 ratio for first second and third years. However, despite the approval, NABARD has not released funds for the project since the new government took over.

The funds under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme under which each division of the IPH Department used to receive about Rs 1 crore per annum have also dried up.

The funds under the scheme were used to repair and augment water supply schemes in rural areas of the state. Sources said this year the department had received just Rs 25 lakh per division under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme.

The department was also facing fund crunch for the maintenance works of various drinking water schemes in the state. 

Shimla, October 24
The state government has decided to set up a Gauvansh Samvhardan Board and a dog home on the outskirts of the state capital to tackle the problem of stray animals.

With the state keen to meet the December deadline of the High Court to tackle the problem, the ball has been set rolling. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh made this announcement here yesterday.

“It is very unfortunate that people abandon their cows and other animals when they are no longer useful and this very often leads to serious accidents and many problems for others,” he opined. Services of veterinary doctor would also be provided and proper inoculation of the dogs would be done, he added.

As per the government statistics, there are about 32,160 stray cattle in the state. “Presently, there are 74 gau sadans (shelter homes for cows) being run by NGOs and other social organisations while there is only one run by the government, at Khajjian in Dehra sub-division of Kangra,” an official said.

Even though huge amounts would be required for setting up the cow and dog protection homes, local bodies and NGOs would be roped in to undertake the task.

The government also intends to set up the Gauvansh Samvhardan Board so that people can be asked to rear indigenous species of cows, which are more affordable as they require less fodder. These local species of cows are concentrated more in the districts of Sirmaur and Kullu and the department of Animal Husbandry intends to undertake a survey to get the exact statistics.

An MC official said, “As far as the issue of stray dogs plaguing the state capital is concerned, the government has decided to set up a dog home on the outskirts of the town. Even though 6,990 dogs have been sterilised since the programme was launched by Shimla Municipal Corporation (MC) in 2006, even now there seems to be no respite as the estimated population of stray dogs in Shimla is over 4,000”.

With incidents of dog bite rising, the state has decided to set up a dog home. The local MC had set up a dog pond at Harinagar near Kachhi Ghatti in Shimla but it was later closed, with objection being raised by certain animal right activists.

Palampur, October 24
The population of stray cattle continues to rise with each passing day, resulting in their presence on the streets, roads and highways in the town.

The state government, municipalities, village panchayats and the Animal Husbandry Department all have failed to impound stray cattle.

The presence of stray cattle on streets and highways causes accidents and inconvenience to pedestrians and commuters. Sadly, the civic authorities, panchayats and the Veterinary Department wash hands off any responsibility on the plea that they have no resources and funds to tackle this menace.

The problem is acute in the main bazaar where a couple of stray cattle roam, often blocking the road. Sometimes they are seen rummaging through garbage bins kept by the municipal council.

Near the old and new vegetable and fruit markets as well as where there is a congregation of hawkers on either side of the gurdwara road, stray cattle flock in a large number, creating a chaos.

The situation in Ghuggar, an important hamlet of Palampur, is worse. Herds of stray cows and bulls remain near the Kalibari Temple, creating problems for senior citizens and schoolchildren. The risk of vehicles hitting such wandering beasts always looms.

The civil administration and village panchayats have failed to handle this problem despite several representations from NGOs, voluntary bodies and welfare organisations.

KB Ralhan, Neelam Sood and Daleep Sharma, members of “Peoples Voice”, a voluntary organization, today said despite the High Court orders, no steps were initiated so far to end this menace.

Hamirpur, October 24
The Himachal Pradesh Science Teachers’ Association (HPSTA) has shown its resentment against non promotion of trained graduate teachers (TGT) in science subjects to post graduate teachers (PGTs) in senior secondary schools of the state.

The HPSTA state president Manoj Parihar said the government and Education Department had deprived those TGTs of promotion who had done post graduation in science subjects though there were hundreds of posts lying vacant in senior secondary schools of the state.

He said it was unfortunate that many schools in the state did not have science subjects, depriving students of science studies. He urged the government that in all such schools science classes should be started.

He said on one hand, the governments at the Centre and state were encouraging students to take up science by introducing events like INSPIRE and Children Science Congress, and on the other hand, the state government had restricted science subjects to a limited number of schools, thus defeating the purpose of its own programmes.

Parihar said non-promotion of teachers had demoralised them and he termed the act as gross injustice to the science teacher’s fraternity.

The Education Department should promote science teachers at the earliest to the existing vacant posts as it would also be of great benefit to the students. The delay in promotions would also affect the seniority of the teachers as PGTs, he added.

The HPSTA also demanded start of science classes in all senior secondary schools where they had not been started till now.

Hamirpur, October 24
In a move to have all offices under one roof and putting an end to the existing congestion in the twon, Badsar subdivision of the district will soon have a civil Secretariat.

The district administration has geared up to identify a suitable location near main market of Mehre village, the sub-divisional head quarter.

It is learnt that the proposed site was being finalised near the Public Works Department (PWD) rest house on Mehre-Hamirpur express highway.

It was also proposed earlier to have the new Secretariat near Shahtlai junction on the express highway, which led to a lot of resentment among the business fraternity of Mehere village.

The district administration was keen that the proposed site for the Secretariat should not be a forest land, so that time was not wasted on obtaining the necessary clearances from the Ministry of Environment and Forest.

The land that was selected earlier had a portion of forest land and the administration was finding it difficult to get forest clearance, thus the project was delayed for a long time.

At present many offices of Badsar subdivision are functioning from private rented buildings and are scattered in various streets of the village.

This makes it inconvenient for people to get their work done. The construction of the new Secretariat will provide all the facilities under one roof.

DC Rohan Chand Thakur said the administration had initiated the process to identify land for the administrative Secretariat at Barsar. He said there had been some delay in the process due to forest clearances, but now the administration had finalised the land.

Una, October 24
The Kangra Central Cooperative Bank (KCCB) recently set up a data centre worth Rs 47 crore to get connected with core banking system, said bank Chairman Jagdish Sipaia.

Addressing mediapersons recently, he said with the facility, ATM cards of all banks would be compatible with the KCCB ATMs within a week’s time.

Sipaia said at present, 45 ATMs of the KCCB were functional in the state and the number would swell to 100 in the next two months. Commending the efforts of the bank staff in the increasing profits of the bank, he said a gift worth Rs 1,100 would be given to each employee for Diwali festival.

The chairman said a proposal to provide pension facility to the retirees had been forwarded to the government. As per the proposal, the employees will contribute four per cent of the salary towards pension funds and the amount of pension, upon retirement, will vary from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 per month. The bank had also decided to open an all-women branch in Dharamsala, and if it was successful, similar branches would be opened at all district headquarters, he added.

Parala (Shimla), October 24
The Rs 800-crore modern sabzi mandi on 105 bigha land, launched in this tiny hamlet on the main junction of the Chopal, Jubbal, Kotkhai, Rohru-Theog apple belt, has been squeezed into a mere marketing yard.

The apple mandi project, that would have turned out to be a major solace for farmers, has been put on deep freeze with the new state government showing no seriousness towards the project, the farmers in the apple belt resented.

The e-marketing yard, building and the approach road are complete, but the work on other components of the modern sabzi mandi has come to a standstill.

Ramesh Thakur, an orchardist-cum-contractor from Theog, said Parala is a central place and the marketing facility should have been started this season. “The farmers need processing facility near their fields to do away with gunny bags packaging culture for culled fruit. The government should expedite the work and make it a reality that will save farmers from exploitation at the hands of the middlemen”, he added.

The mandi would save farmers from the traffic congestion on the Chail-Theog-Shimla road during the apple and vegetable season, Mahinder Thakur and Sachin Chauhan, orchardists from Rohru and Chopal, said.

The project aims at giving state-of-art facility for storage of fruit in controlled atmospheric store (CAS) and processing unit, besides the electronic auction yard.

The present government has curtailed the project, which was the brain child of former Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta.

Bragta said the Congress \had “double standards” on the project because “they cannot digest it was started during the BJP regime”.

“There is a conspiracy to curtail the project to mere Rs 12.75 crore. Why is the board not building CAS, processing unit, cold stores and electronic auction yard?” he asked.

Refuting the charge, Subhash Manglet, chairman of the state Marketing Board, said the previous government had not allocated funds for the project and had shrunk its size to Rs 12.75 crore . “We have got Rs 5 crore from the Centre while Rs 8 crore was raised from the board to complete the yard. We will start the mandi next year after completing tarring work for the parking and it would be executed as per the plan,” he added. 

Nurpur, October 24
Cleanliness campaigns launched by the local administration and students of various government as well as private schools on October 2 to mark the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan have failed to make residents conscious of their surroundings.

Following the direction of the local administration, the Municipal Council (MC) had exhorted shopkeepers to keep dustbins in their business establishments and not throw garbage on the road or markets.

They were asked to put accumulated garbage in the MC’s tractor-trolley in the morning, as it collects garbage from markets every day. But residents as well as shopkeepers in the town continue to throw garbage on roadsides. Stray cattle can be seen near these garbage dumps.

The Town Welfare Committee in Nurpur had appealed to residents and shopkeepers to assist the local MC in keeping the town neat and clean, but in vain.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ashwani Sood said: “The MC is doing its best to keep the town clean, but it is not getting full cooperation and support from residents. Strict action will be taken against offenders under Section 133, CrPC, if they don’t desist from creating nuisance by throwing garbage in public places.”

Palampur, October 24
Uncertainty prevails over the World Cup Pre-World Cup Paragliding Championship to be held at Billing in November. Though only a few days are left for the event, no preparations are seen either by the Tourism Department or the Bir Billing Paragliding Association.

This correspondent, who visited Billing, was told that the registration for the event was yet to begin as there was no green signal from the authorities. The championship was to be organised for the first time in Billing. On an earlier occasion, only pre-world championships were held here for five times.

Last year, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, during the closing ceremony of the Pre-World Cup Championship, had announced a bigger event (World Cup) at Billing in 2014 and also directed the Tourism Department to begin preparations.

However, almost a year is over, but none is serious about holding the event. Therefore, there is uncertainty whether the event will be organised or not.

Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma has taken a keen interest in holding this international event at Billing with an object to boost tourism and popularise the adventure sport.

Initially, the event was proposed to be organised in the first week of November this year at Bir Billing. The PWCA, an agency that organises such global adventurous events, had notified the dates of the World Cup Championships. A number of pilots from India and abroad have already reached Billing and started trial flying.

Earlier in 2003, 2004 and 2005, the Pre-World Cup Paragliding Championship was held at Billing. 

Dalhousie, October 24
As many as 12 gamblers were caught red-handed by the police near Tapper village in Dalhousie tehsil of Chamba district on Wednesday, an official report said here today.

The report said on a tip-off, a police party raided a grocery shop at Tapper village in the Bagdhar area of Dalhousie tehsil and nabbed the gamblers. A sum of Rs 29,300, along with playing cards, was recovered from them, the report said.

A case under the Gambling Act had been registered against the gamblers at the Dalhousie police station. 

Chamba, October 24
Four persons, including the driver, were killed on the spot when their vehicle went off the road and rolled down a hill near Dol village, about 70 km from Chamba, today.

A police report stated that the vehicle was on its way from Mashka to Bhunaar at the time of incident.

The bodies had been recovered and were being transported to their respective villages after the postmortem, the report stated.

The deceased were Pawan Kumar, Parmod Kumar and Ram Kishen, the driver of the vehicle who belonged to Basholi area of Kathua district of J&K, and Tara Chand, alias Kala, who belonged to Dol village of the Salooni sub-division in Chamba district, the report revealed.

A case has been registered in the district. — OC

Kullu, October 24
A woman (29) has alleged that she was raped by a youth on Wednesday.

In a complaint lodged with the Bhuntar police yesterday, she alleged that four persons had abducted her in a jeep while she was waiting for a bus near Larji Dam bridge.

She added in the complaint that one of the accused sexually assaulted her.

Kullu DSP Sanjay Sharma said the medical examination of the victim had been conducted and a case registered.

The police said no arrest had been made so far and further investigation was in progress.