Shimla, November 26
The Bill for making amendments in the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act to pave way for the regularisation of unauthorised structures in the state will not be placed in the House during the winter session as residents of the Shimla core area have demanded that they too be given benefit of this amendment.

The Draft Bill was placed before the Cabinet yesterday and discussed at length, but with there being a difference of opinion it was decided not to bring the Bill in a haste during the Assembly session, beginning December 5 in Dharamsala.

The TCP is likely to start the process of holding personal hearing of residents of the core area of Shimla, who want that they also get the benefit of the amendment which was aimed at one-time settlement of illegal structures.

“Since the Cabinet has decided to listen to the objections and suggestions of house owners in the core area of Shimla, which comprises 18 of the 25 wards under Shimla Municipal Corporation, the Bill will not be brought in during the winter session,” said Sudhir Sharma, TCP and Urban Development Minister.

He also made it clear that only those constructions undertaken before September 2013 would qualify for regularisation as the TCP Department had already undertaken videography of all such structures.

Earlier, the TCP Department had promulgated an Ordinance on September 6, 2014, to bring about amendments in the Act.

The core, green and heritage areas of the state capital had not been included in the Ordinance, as it was felt that this would amount to encouraging violators.

Later the Ordinance was withdrawn but these areas were still to be kept out of the relaxations and regularisation of the deviations in construction norms.

In fact, the dilly-dallying by the government on the issue has led to complete uncertainty.

While on the one hand there were many who in the hope of getting concession undertook construction in complete violation of norms, on the other law-abiding people were the ones who were the worst sufferers.

Shimla, November 26
The government has suspended three more senior forest officials and almost blocked any chances of a project from coming up on a chunk of prime private land adjoining the Tara Devi temple complex, where 477 trees were felled illegally.

While two officials, a forest guard and Block Forest Officer, were placed under suspension on November 20, when the illegal felling was highlighted by The Tribune, Divisional Forest Officers Vinod Sharma, Additional Conservator Forest Dhanwant Singh and Range Officer Richa have now been placed under suspension.

Conservator (Shimla) Sanjay Sood, too, has been transferred and posted in the headquarters here. The National Green Tribunal has issued a notice to the government and an FIR registered after the felling was reported.

Shimla, November 26
The High Court today reserved its verdict on the petitions of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his family members challenging the order of the Income Tax Commissioner to transfer the cases related to investigations into their I-T returns from Shimla to Chandigarh.

During the hearing, on behalf of Virbhadra Singh and family members, it was contended that coordinated and joint investigation of all cases could be done in Shimla also and there was no need to transfer the cases to Chandigarh as this would only result in harassment.

However, for the I-T Department it was contended that the centralisation of cases would enable the department to conduct focused, synchronised and coordinated investigation.

After hearing all parties, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan reserved their verdict.

Apart from Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, son Vikramaditya Singh, daughter Aprajita Kumari, and Anand Chauhan (caretaker of Virbhadra’s orchards), Chunni Lal Chauhan (proprietor of Universal Apples) had challenged the orders of the I-T Commissioner relating to transfer their cases to Chandigarh on the ground that this order was illegal and coordinated and joint investigation of all cases could be done in Shimla as well.

In its earlier order passed on August 4, the HC had stayed the order of the I-T Commissioner, Shimla, whereby he had ordered to centralise and transfer cases relating to investigations into the I-T returns of Virbhadra and his family members from Shimla to Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, Central Circle-I, Chandigarh.

Shimla, November 26
The Cabinet sub-committee on Resource Mobilisation is likely to recommend limiting the number of government vehicles and its private misuse by government employees as part of rationalisation of 2,300 fleet of vehicles owned by the state government.

The sub-committee headed by Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Minister Vidya Stokes met here yesterday to discuss the ways and means to cut down on wasteful expenditure and suggest ways to enhance revenue to the government.

The other two members, Transport Minister GS Bali and Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, also attended the meeting.

“We are almost in the process of finalising our report and after another two meetings, we will place our recommendations before the Cabinet,” Bali said.

He admitted that the issue of rationalisation of government vehicles so as to avoid unnecessary burden on the government and limit its use strictly for official purposes was also being deliberated upon.

Sources said at present the total number of vehicles with various departments, boards and corporations and the Secretariat was over 2,300.

“This is a huge number and in future we can provide conveyance allowance to some of the officers who as of now have the conveyance facility with the driver, so that there is less burden on the exchequer,” an officer said.

They said the officers could be given allowance for using their own vehicle and in case of a visit to some difficult area, a tough vehicle which would be kept in the pool, could be requisitioned by the touring officer. He said this would help in checking the misuse and the salary of the driver.

As of now government officials are entitled to private use of government vehicle by paying a nominal amount every month. However, the private use of vehicles is far more than what the official pays.

Some of the other steps that the committee discussed and could recommend included banning the purchase of new vehicles, banning foreign jaunts both by netas as well as babus and imposing some charges on people who could afford to pay.

The committee was keen that all senior bureaucrat as well as ministers should only use one vehicle and surrender the second vehicle.

Shimla, November 26
Peeved MLAs and MPs are likely to push for red beacons atop their vehicles instead of amber ones and meet the Chief Minister regarding this when the Assembly’s winter session begins in Dharamsala.

Ever since the Supreme Court orders of restricting the use of red beacons were implemented in March 2014, MLAs had been urging Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to make a provision which would allow the use of red beacons for elected representatives.

The CM was initially not keen on allowing the use of beacons on vehicles for too many people, but MLAs, especially first-timers, were the ones mounting pressure.

However, MLAs were unhappy and said they wanted red beacons and would request the CM once again.

Sanjay Rattan, Congress MLA from Jwalamukhi in Kangra and chairman of the Association of the First-Time Legislators, had been pleading the case for allowing red beacons for MLAs. He said a majority of the legislators were unhappy with the amber lights.

Senior BJP leader Suresh Bhardwaj said: “It is not necessary to provide red beacons to MLAs and MPs, but if at all this provision is being made, then the protocol must be kept in mind.” “If the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police (DGP) and Advocate General can be allowed the use of red beacons then why not the MLAs?” he asked.

He said most of the MLAs would not use amber lights. The Cabinet yesterday allowed the use of red beacons with flasher on official vehicles of the Lokayukta and the Advocate General (AG). It decided to allow the use of amber lights with flasher by all MPs, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and all members of HP legislative Assembly, Mayor of Shimla, all IAS and IPS officers having super-time scale, all District and Sessions Judges of the state, and all Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police in the district.

The Transport and Excise and Taxation staff in the field had been allowed the use of blue beacons.

Shimla, November 26
Apple farmers, commission agents and other stakeholders, today made a united call urging the state government to make good quality standard cartons for apple packing. This would eliminate the bad market practices of overweighing and overgrading, they said.

However, the final call on the issue will be taken by the Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

The apple growers from Shimla, Kullu and Kinnaur, the major apple producing areas in the state, arrived at a consensus here today at a convention chaired by Horticulture and IPH Minister Vidya Stokes. It was attended by chief parliamentary secretary Rohit Thakur, vice chairman of HPMC Prakash Thakur, additional chief secretary, agriculture, Upma Chaudhary, principal secretary, horticulture, Tarun Shridhar, managing director, HPMC, Jagdish Sharma, Rohru MLA Mohan Brakta, director horticulture Dr Gurdev Singh, director agriculture Dr JC Rana and other officials.

"We welcome a standard carton of good quality but the government must withdraw other telescopic cartons in the markets and stores, make farmers aware about it and strictly enforce a regulatory mechanism to check its abuse by farmers or commission agents," said Ravinder Chauhan, Kiari, Lekh Raj Chauhan, Shrontha, Rajpal from Kotkhai and JC Machhan from Kutara Rohru.

There is need to standardise the packing material as well so that farmers get good quality packaging. Also, if the commission agents come to the doorstep of the farmer to buy apples, they should be encouraged, said Devinder Negi, an orchardist from Kotkhai.

"The government and other agencies must ensure that cold stores are opened in a cluster of three or four panchayats where the farmers can store the fruit at the time of glut," said Mahender Upadhaya, president of Kullu Apple Growers Association. The HPMC has come out with the standard carton, but quality control must be ensured for all manufactures, said CL Negi from Jubbal.

Not only standard packaging, the orchardists need good quality fruit too. The Directorate of Horticulture needed to ensure growers that imported varieties like Jeromine are quarantined before these are given to farmers, said Vikas Chauhan, a farmer from Kumarsain. The farmers need to get standard apple packaging of 20kg, 10kg and 5 kg, he added.

Prakash Thakur said the standard carton was important as the real challenge arises when the import duty on fruits is reduced. Farmers need to change their mindset so that the apple economy does not suffer the way potato did.

The government must decide on transportation from orchards to markets on the basis of weight as cost went up if apples were packed in smaller cartons, said Satyajit Negi from Kinnaur.

The growers also remembered Satyanand Stokes, father of apple revolution, and urged the government to set up his statue at The Ridge.

Shimla, November 26
The state BJP today refuted the charge that the party was “politicising” the Theog-Hatkoti road issue and claimed that the agitation for an early completion of the 80-km stretch of road had an overwhelming support of local people suffering due to inordinate delay.

“We realise the practical difficulties in the construction of the road and hope that the project will be completed by June 2016, the new deadline set by the government, but demand metalling of 5 m width of the road to facilitate smooth movement of vehicles,” former Horticulture Minister Narinder Bragta, who is spearheading the agitation, told mediapersons today.

“The BJP will stand by the government even if it desires to extend the deadline provided the government metals 5 m road on the stretch enabling residents to commute,” he said.

“The fallout of the delay in the construction of this road adversely affects the health of people. We urge the state government to conduct free health camps for residents of Theog, Jubbal, Kotkhai, Khara Patthar and Rohru and provide them free health insurance,” he said, adding that in case the government failed to respond, the BJP would organise health camps by involving NGOs.

Claiming that a large number of residents living along the 80-km stretch of the road from Theog to Hatkoti were suffering from asthma, spine and bone problems, Bragta said even animals were not getting fodder and were being fed by dust-coated grass, posing threat to the health of children who drank milk.

Giving two months’ time to the government to show results on the ground, he said massive protests by people in the affected areas and chain hunger strikes would mark the second phase of the satyagraha to wake up from the slumber.

“We will come on the roads, but will not block the road and ensure that protests are peaceful. However, the possibility of a gherao of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha and the Secretariat and a jail bharo andolan cannot be ruled out,” he added.

Bragta said the BJP would not sit idle and keep the issue alive by pursuing the matter in the High Court, vociferously raising it in the coming winter session commencing on December 5 in Dharamsala and also approach the Human Rights Commission.

He said the padyatra launched by the BJP had a wide support from all sections of people, who cutting across party lines supported the cause, adding that the number of persons joining the march had swelled to 57,000. While 27 BJP leaders were directly involved, in all 137 rallies were held.

Taking a dig at Congress leaders who dubbed the padyatra as a “drama”, Bragta challenged these leaders to file an affidavit in the court stating that the Congress government had got all environment and forest clearances, acquired land from private owners and paid them compensation.

Shimla, November 26
President of Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu today criticised Leader of the Opposition PK Dhumal for his demand of creation of new administrative districts in the state and said the same demand was raised during the previous BJP regime as well, but the BJP did nothing in this regard.

He said the state government was already grappling with financial burden due to the wrong policies of the previous BJP government and the creation of new administrative districts would further put additional burden on the state exchequer.

“The Congress party has created new organisational districts to felicitate party workers in two big districts of the state and it was the long-pending demand of the workers which has been met with this decision,” he said.

Sukhu urged Dhumal and other BJP leaders to play the role of constructive Opposition in the upcoming winter session of the state Assembly to redress the issues of the people of the state.

Shimla, November 26
Transport Minister GS Bali today said 50 per cent seats would be reserved for women passengers in local buses, adding that tax incentives would be given to operate buses in the OBC or SC-ST dominated habitations under the new transport policy okayed by the Cabinet yesterday.

Bali spelt out major initiatives of the new transport policy which was reviewed after 10 years here today in an interacting with mediapersons.

“We are introducing new luxury and air-conditioned buses which will charge 10-15 per cent fare as compared to the standard buses to give quality public transport in the state,” he said.

Bali said the alternative modes of transport such as cable cars, trams, waterways mainly at the Pong, Bhakra and Kol Dam would be provided for better and short transport services to locals.

Bali said crash barriers along black spots have been proposed to set up, adding that they had taken up the matter with the Centre to give funds. The speed interceptors, tracking systems and training for drivers would be started, he said.

Bali said the preference would be given to the under-served or non-served areas for plying new buses. The routes would be rationalised after checking the passenger load in each case and more buses would be plied which have problem of overloading, he said.

He said all antiquated rules would be amended to make them relevant to the present scenario. The private sector participation would be encouraged but preference would be given to the allocation of permits to women, cooperative societies, unemployed and ex-servicemen, he said.

To rev up the HRTC, a benchmark of services have been setup and departure and arrival timings, pollution levels and facilities would be monitored online for the benefits of passengers. Smart cards would be introduced, he said.

RTOs offices would be upgraded, driving training and pollution checking centres will be reviewed for effective monitoring, he said.

Principal secretary, transport, Ajay Mittal said the policy had been reviewed after 10 years and priorities had been fixed to deliver good transport service at affordable fares to the public. Passengers’ safety on road was the main concern and would be further strengthened, he added.

Dharamsala, November 26
Pong Dam, an internationally recognised wetland, has started receiving winged visitors. But local fishermen and the Fisheries Department are crying hoarse over the damage being caused to fish here by migratory birds, especially great cormorants.

The department claimed that the great cormorants have been causing extensive damage to fresh water mussels that generate yellow pearls and fish.

However, the claim has been refuted by wildlife officials of the area.

Senior wildlife officials, however, said they had been serving in the area for long. But, they had not noticed any yellow pearls in the area. About the loss of fish due to great cormorants, they said: “Over 200-sq-km area of the Pong Dam reservoir has been declared a wildlife sanctuary. Besides, it is also an internationally recognised wetland area. The claim of migratory birds over fish in the area could be disputed.”

A wildlife official said: “Ideally fishing should be banned in the wetland area. However, fishing is being carried out by people in the area before the area was declared as a wetland or a wildlife sanctuary.”

“We have to provide people with an alternative source of livelihood before fishing is banned in the area. Many proposals of providing alternative source of livelihood are under consideration of the government,” he said.

Sources said fishing was not allowed legally in the international wetland areas. However, there was no proper legal framework to impose the law. The action against violators could be taken just under the Wildlife Act or theft laws. There was a need to frame laws specifically aimed at protecting the wetland areas, they said.

A survey in the villages around the international wetland area of the Pong Dam revealed that many small farmers had turned to fishermen.

They gather fish from the lake area and sell it to cooperative societies formed by the Fisheries Department. Most of them earn nearly Rs 100 to Rs 300 per day depending on the catch they make.

Most of the farmers have abandoned whatever meagre land they had, allegedly due to lack of irrigation facilities and destruction of their crops by wild animals.

They are dependent on government or private jobs or fishing for earning livelihood.

The government can compensate farmers for growing and maintaining forest on their land that can also provide them alternative source of income. Locals can also be employed as guides for tourists coming to visit the international wetland area.

But so far the government has failed to attract tourists to the wetland that can provide permanent source of income to locals.

Poor infrastructure, roads and lack of lodging facilities are a hurdle in developing eco-tourism in the area.

Shimla, November 26
The two-day annual conference of Tri Services Training Commands has stressed the need for training synergy between the three services as paramount prerequisite to achieve operational success.

The three Commanders-in-Chief were in agreement that present and future wars in the conventional and hybrid spectrum would be multi-faceted and multi-role with ambiguous objectives and therefore, training synergy between services was essential.

The conference, held here under the auspices of the Army Training Command (ARTRAC), concluded today. It stated that there was scope amongst the tri services to share and consolidate conceptual training issues and best practices for mutual benefits and it was an ideal platform for brainstorming on Tri Services Training issues by the armed forces and consolidate the determinants for change of joint training paradigm for the future, an ARTRAC statement said.

The conference brought out the need to create lateral linkages at all levels and facilitate joint thinking, training and inter operability amongst the services. It was reiterated that the Indian Armed Forces must continue to train and operate with seamless synergy in all dimensions of the spectrum of conflicts.

The conference of the three services at headquarters of Army Training Command was chaired jointly by Lt Gen Sanjeev Madhok, GOC-in-Chief, ARTRAC, Vice-Admiral Surinder Pal Singh Cheema, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command and Air Marshal Ramesh Rai, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, Air Force.

The conference was also attended by Air Marshal Ajit S Bhonsle, Deputy Chief Integrated Defence Services (Doctrine, Organisation and Training) and senior officers of the service headquarters.

Nurpur, November 26
The controversy over the declaration of election result of Chaloh gram panchayat pradhan in Indora development block was finally settled after three years’ legal battle.

The re-counting of polled votes was held under the supervision of Ashwani Sood, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Nurpur, at Indora yesterday following the High Court (HC) order.

Kewal Singh, the petitioner, got 448 votes while his rival Chaman Singh got 445 votes. The former was declared the winner in the election held in 2011 for the post of pradhan of the gram panchayat.

As per information, initially Kewal Singh and Chaman Singh had a tie after getting 448 votes each during the elections held in 2011. A toss was held, in which the former won, but his rival challenged that election and filed an appeal before the SDM, Nurpur, who declared the election result invalid by declaring Chaman Singh winner.

Thereafter, Kewal Singh filed an appeal against the order of the SDM before the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, but he too upheld the verdict of the SDM. Finally, the aggrieved petitioner filed his civil writ petition before the HC last year and challenged the order of the Kangra DC.

He reportedly produced evidences for the alleged bogus polling of three voters in the panchayat election and the HC in its order on November 20 directed the SDM, Nurpur, to declare the results after excluding three alleged fake votes.

In this connection, SDM Ashwani Sood today said in compliance with the HC order, the re-counting of polled votes had taken place by excluding three votes figured in the judgment and Kewal Singh was declared the winner in the election held for the post of pradhan of Chaloh gram panchayat.

Kullu, November 26
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, while speaking at the concluding ceremony of Buddhi Diwali festival at Nirmand village of this district today, stated that stern action would be taken against contractors found adopting a dilly-dally approach and delaying the development works in the state.

Such contractors would be blacklisted and never qualify to seek tenders or jobs in future. Perturbed over the delay in the construction of a stadium at Nirmand, the CM gave a three-month deadline for completing the same.

He congratulated people of the region for celebrating Buddhi Diwali in a traditional manner and said it was a matter of pride that they had carried on with the ancient tradition of the festival and were conveying this heritage on to the future generations.

Virbhadra Singh stated that all 56 gram panchayats of Nirmand were connected by roads and 718-km road was constructed in Anni sub-division, besides metaling of 300 km of roads. He claimed that under the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Rs 131 crore had been earmarked for 53 roads in Anni Assembly segment and of these, 31 roads had been already completed or were nearing completion.

He announced shifting of the senior secondary school for girls in the already existing building of Tribal Bhawan at Anni. He awarded cash prizes and the ‘Gurj’ to the winners of Rajmata Shanti Devi Memorial National Level Wrestling Competition, known as Chinj, organised by the Nirmand Volleyball Association.

The CM also announced Rs 10,000 for the local schoolchildren who performed the cultural programme. He also released a souvenir on the occasion.

Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated the sabzi mandi at Nirmand, constructed at a cost of Rs 2.25 crore. He also flagged off an awareness rally organised by HPSEB.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Nand Lal thanked the CM for the development of the area. Anni MLA Khoob Ram Anand welcomed the CM and other dignitaries. Upendra Kant Mishra, Kulwant Raj Kashyap, Subhash Manglet, Atul Sharma, Brij Lal, and Budhi Singh Thakur, besides other dignitaries were present.

Solan, November 26
Officials of HP State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL) have woken up after 2007 to slap demand charges on peak load on various industrial units, after an audit pointed out that this levy had not been realised from the industrial units since 2007.

According to available figures, at least 400 small and big industrial units in the state’s oldest industrial area of Parwanoo have been slapped charges ranging from few thousands to as much as Rs 8 lakh.

The industrial consumers have also been directed to pay this amount within 15 days or else face disconnection of power connections.

Among the worst sufferers are Ind-Hinx, an engineering tools manufacturing unit at Parwanoo, which has been slapped Peak Load Exemption Charges (PLEC) to the tune of about Rs 8 lakh.

The members of the Parwanoo Industries Association (PIA), who approached the Forum for Redressal of Grievances of Consumers, however asserted that in the tariff order of financial year 2007, PLEC consisted of only the energy charges and there was no provision for demand charges for the consumption during peak load hours.

The senior board officials, however, noticed the error in 2012 after the audit and the chief engineer (commercial) issued a clarification on July 17, 2012 wherein field units were advised to levy both the demand charges as well as energy charges on the consumption during peak hours for the lighting load. The board officials thereafter swung into action and calculated this amount from 2007 for various industrial units, leading to additional charges worth lakhs on bigger units and charges ranging from 5,000 to 60,000 on smaller ones.

Though the PIA approached the forum to get the orders quashed, despite the association getting relief, the board managed to uphold its earlier decision.

A senior member of the PIA, Rakesh Bansal, who himself was facing PLEC of Rs 57,000 said the board officials were being unjust in slapping this amount after lapse of two years as according to the Electricity Act, 2003 they could not realise payments which were more than two years old.

Board Executive Engineer JS Rana, however, said the amount had been regularly appearing in the monthly power bills of these industrial units. The two-year clause was not applicable and since the commission had given its judgement on the issue where the forum’s order had been quashed, the units had been directed to deposit this amount, he added.

Chamba, November 26
People of remote villages in the district are living under constant fear of monkeys. Most of the affected villages are situated on the fringe of forests where inhabitants are facing maximum destruction by simians. Reports coming from the district headquarters said today.

The reports said monkeys were now targeting garlic and wheat crops in fields of Pachehal and Pukhri villages in the Uteep area of the district. Simians enter inhabitants’ houses and sabotage household articles.

Moreover, herds of monkeys have also created panic among schoolchildren.

Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri, who hails from this district, had directed forest officials to trap monkeys in affected areas.

Una, November 26
Locals rescued the passengers of a Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus as it caught fire in front of the Una bus stand late this evening. While the driver and a passenger suffered minor burn injuries, the bus suffered major damage.

Vivek Lakhanpal, the Regional Manager of the Una depot of HRTC, said the bus (HP67 2956) was plying from Hamirpur to Parwanoo. As it reached Una bus stand at 6.15 pm, a short circuit in the electrical system ignited sparks, which soon developed into a fire. The shopkeepers nearby rushed towards the bus and broke open the glass panes to rescue about 30 passengers caught inside.

Bus driver Kishori Lal of Hamirpur and a passenger sitting on one of the front seats suffered minor burn injuries. The fire brigade was requisitioned and by the time fire fighters reached the spot, the seats and engine compartment had been completely damaged. The injured were shifted to the Una district hospital for medical aid.

The Una police have registered a case, said SP Anupam Sharma.

Bharmour, November 26
A huge lot of timber and firewood were reportedly burnt in a forest fire which broke out near the Bajol panchayat area in Bharmour sub-division early this week, a delayed report said here today.

The report said the timber belonged to the HP State Forest Corporation.

State Forest Corporation Divisional Manager SK Mehra, when contacted over the phone, said a team of officials had been constituted and directed to rush to the spot to take stock of the situation.

Una, November 26
A workshop on disaster management was organised for Revenue Department officials of Una and Haroli tehsils by the district administration at the Bachat Bhawan here today.

Patwaris, Kanungos and field-level Revenue officials were educated on the latest updates in disaster mitigation and management. Sub-Divisional Magistrate Dhanvir Thakur, who holds dual charge of Una and Haroli Civil Sub-Divisions, said better preparedness helped to act swiftly and efficiently during a disaster, reducing its impact on life and property.

Published by the State Disaster Management Authority, a booklet containing guidelines on do’s and don’ts for various types of disasters was distributed.

The SDM said people could call toll-free number 1077 to seek help from the district disaster management centre, 108 for emergency services, 100 for police and 101 for fire services.

Shimla, November 26
The target of foodgrains production during the current Rabi season has been fixed at 7.12 lakh tonnes, 3,000 tonne for oilseeds, 38.10 thousand tonne for potato and 5.60 lakh tonne for vegetables, Director (Agriculture) Dr JC Rana said yesterday.

Stressing the need to increase foodgrains production to meet the growing demand, he said most of the farmers in Himachal were small and marginal and unable to earn a sufficient income.

“If they can make a profit from their farm, they can feed their families in a better way and re-invest in their farms by purchasing agriculture inputs like fertilisers, good quality seeds and agricultural equipments such as machinery. Therefore, the department is striving hard to achieve the targets,” he added.

Stating that consumers were showing inclination towards organic products which were fetching higher returns, he said so far 26,741 farmers had registered under organic farming.

Rana said 7,650 MT of improved seeds, 28,000 MT fertiliser samples, 55 MT pesticides and 50,000 agriculture implements had been made available to farmers.

To ensure quality of agriculture inputs, 1,000 fertiliser samples, 150 insecticide samples and 600 samples of seed would be drawn and tested. Also, 48,750 soil samples would be drawn so that farmers could plan proper and balanced use of fertilisers.

He said higher production of Rabi could be obtained by following good crop management practices for which due attention needed to be paid from land preparation till harvesting of the produce. Crops and their varieties had to be chosen on the basis of agro climate conditions, soil conditions and availability of water.

Rana said the National Crop Insurance Scheme would continue during the Rabi season on the wheat, barley and tomato crops of Solan and the potato crop of Kangra and Una had been covered under the weather-based crop insurance scheme.

Mandi, November 26
A district-level sports meet for special children was organised by the district Youth Services and Sport Department here today.

In the 100-m race, Hira from Sundernagar stood first, while Tanuja and Rachna came second and third, respectively.

In soft-ball, Uttam stood first, while Salman Khan and Ashraf Ali stood second and third, respectively. In rope jump, Vidhya Devi stood first, while Soma and Rajni stood second and third, respectively.

In 100-m race (18-45 age group), Anshul stood first, Jagdish second and Subham stood third.

In 100-m race (13-17 age group), Ritesh stood first, Anshul second, while Pushraj stood third.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Gopal Chand distributed the prizes.