Sukh Ram’s veiled threat to Dhumal
SOLAN, Oct 20 — The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, called upon the people to eliminate the evil of corruption on the occasion of Dasehra yesterday at a meeting in Basheel.


Colourful start to Kulu Dasehra
KULU, Oct 20 — The week long Kulu Dasehra got off to a colourful start today. The idol of Lord Rama was brought in a procession alongwith about 100 local Gods (devi-devtas) from Raghunath temple to the Dhalpur ground.

Sukh Ram’s veiled threat to Dhumal
From Our Correspondent

SOLAN, Oct 20 — The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, called upon the people to eliminate the evil of corruption on the occasion of Dasehra yesterday at a meeting in Basheel.

The HVC supremo, Mr Sukh Ram, who had earlier made veiled allegations of "BJP attempts to weaken the HVC", reminded the Chief Minister and other BJP leaders of the ‘support extended by the HVC to the BJP at the difficult time when the latter had fallen short of the requisite strength needed to form the government’.

He went on to warn that the BJP would not become any stronger by weakening the HVC without referring to current reports about Lt. Col. Dhani Ram Shandel being weaned away into the BJP fold, Mr Sukh Ram regretted that the HVC MP had not turned up at the meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) where he was directed to be present.

He called upon his party M.P., who was sitting on the dais, to come to the mike and publicly declare his continued loyalty to the HVC. But when he ignored his request, Mr Sukh Ram became emotional and recounted how he had chosen Lt. Col Shandil for the Shimla Parliamentary seat in preference to a youngman "who had sided with him in my hour of peril" a reference to Mr A.N. Kaushal, who was tipped as the HVC choice.

Mr Sukh Ram also talked of a conspiracy to malign him and his son, Mr Anil Sharma, a Rajya Sabha member by some ‘vested interests’.

Later, Mr Dhumal, in his address, underscored the fact that the BJP had registered impressive leads, on its own, in 64 out of a total of 68 Assembly segments in the state, during the last Parliamentary elections.

Conceding local demands, the Chief Minister announced that the Mamlig-Dumehar-Vaknaghat-Kandaghat road would be completed by constructing the Gumber bridge ‘within two months’, the Tehsildar or the Naib Tehsildar of Kandaghat would hold office at Basheel from 11th to 20th of each month, and the feasibility of providing an industrial area at Mamlig would be re-examined.

Lt. Col. Shandil announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh from the MP’s fund for the local school at Basheel.

SHIMLA (PTI): The Himachal Chief Minister has categorically stated that the BJP will not ditch its partner, the HVC, under any circumstance as the alliance was based on mutual trust and the responsibility thrust by a fractured verdict in the 1998 assembly elections.

"We will carry the HVC along even if we have 60 out of 68 legislators as we firmly believe that the strength of the alliance lies in strengthening the alliance partners and not weakening them", he said here on Wednesday.

He rejected the suggestion that the BJP need not bother for the HVC as it commanded majority of its own in the assembly.

Mr Dhumal said there was no question of weaning away HVC MLAs as they were an integral part of the government which was working as a single unit.

‘Bulldozer myth’ led to Congress defeat
By Kanwar Yogendra

THEOG: The "bulldozer myth" in interior and rural Shimla might have brought rich dividends to the ruling party in the area but in reality there is still a deficiency of road networks here. A large number of bulldozers and earthmovers were seen deployed in this hill district by the Public Works Department (PWD) in the past few months. During the recent poll campaign, some of them moved while, some didn't, but the idea of their mere presence, was felt by the electorate. The result — a non-Congress combination won the parliamentary seat for the first time after 1977.

"Roads are being made", "work is getting done", "it was a masterstroke by the Public Works Department, some people say. But it is just a myth, say others. Just like the residents of Kirti in Kumarsain tehsil, who are yearning for a link road for the past five decades. All that is going on is not well in the Public Works Department also. Particular areas and particular people are favoured in this good but slow exercise of development.

Work is being given without any open or proper strict bid. Tenders have been invited and work allotted to contractors with the connivance of corrupt officials, says Lt. Col D.S. Chauhan (retd), who is running from pillar to post to get things right in Theog tehsil.

The 7-km Meha-Ghorna road, which was even declared a priority road in 1997-98 and again in 1998-99, is still incomplete, with hardly any progress or headway. Lakhs of rupees were given in the budget but it either lapsed or was not properly allotted and used. A 2-km jeep road which was already existing up to Neri village has been widened and there has been no progress on the remaning stretch, informs Conolel Chauhan.

A number of complaints were made to the officials concerned at the Theog Executive Engineer's office on the allocation of these secret tenders from past one year, says Colonel Chauhan, charging the officers with insensitivity towards public complaints while showing the duly received copies of these by the XEN office.

Surprisingly, on the other hand, the PWD officer when contacted denied the receipt of such public complaints and categorically assured that it was never a priority road.

Public complaints were even made to the Engineer-in-Chief and the Enforcement Department about the dereliction of duty, lack of transparency in functioning, grave irregularities, misconduct by public servants and violation of rules and regulations by the PWD at Theog, he says, but no action has been taken so far. The work is off and the public is suffering.

The Senior Engineer agreed to accept some complaints on the said road and assured action, when contacted.

Work on many other link roads needs immediate attention. The Sarog-Majihar road, Tehna Dhar to Kalna road via Janahan, Bhekalti-Khalari road, Tharmatti-Dhamandari road, Sandhu-Chikhar road up to Koti, Dharumpur-Rajpura road are some of the link roads that are in bad shape.

But it needs a strong political and administrative will, feel most of the people when interviewed regarding road construction work. Most of them blamed the PWD for not taking care of priority roads what to talk of ordinary roads.

Some of the people even question the system of giving private contracts. Most private contractors in rural areas are either pradhans or other panchayat functionaries. They are agents of political parties and influence the allocation and progress of work owing to which a common man suffers and the PWD gets a bad name.

Instead of inviting private contractors the department has a sufficient workforce and machinery for undertaking road construction and maintenance work. The department officials should be made accountable for planning and executing all types of work, says Colonel Chauhan.

It is high time now that the government should prioritise road construction in the hills, say locals. It was the bulldozer "myth" that led to winning of the seat by a HVC-BJP first timer in a Congress bastion this time, it indicates.

Colourful start to Kulu Dasehra
From Our Correspondent

KULU, Oct 20 — The week long Kulu Dasehra got off to a colourful start today. The idol of Lord Rama was brought in a procession alongwith about 100 local Gods (devi-devtas) from Raghunath temple to the Dhalpur ground.

The chariot was pulled amid the chanting of hymns by thousands of devotees. Tourists could be seen atop buses trying to capture the moment with their cameras.

The chariot of Goddess Hadimba was the first to arrive at the Dhalpur ground. The lush green valley bore a festive look and became alive with the lilting shehnai and drum beat.

According to a legend, the idol of Lord Rama was stolen from Ayodhya by the then ruler of Kulu, Raja Jagat Singh, in 1651. The Dasehra celebrations started in Kulu in 1661.

Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, Governor, was present during the inauguration in which rituals were performed by Mr Maheshwar Singh and Mr Karan Singh, decendants of Raja Jagat Singh. Mrs Rama Devi inaugurated various exhibitions. She took a round of the stalls and showed keen interest in the local handicraft.

Later she inaugurated the week-long international folk dance festival at Lal Chand Prarthi Kala Kendra. She said the Kulu Dasehra was a reflection of Himachal culture, adding that people should uphold the ideals of Lord Rama.

Navaratra fair concludes
From Our Correspondent

BILASPUR, Oct 20 — The 10-day "Ashwini Navaratra fair" concluded at Naina Devi, 75 km from here, last night. More than 1.5 lakh pilgrims are said to have paid obeisance to the deity.

Temple cum-mela officer Ramesh Chand Katoach said all arrangements including that of law and order, drinking water and electricity had been made no untoward incident was reported.

However, Nainadevi Beopar Mandal president Shiv Kumar Kaushal complained that STD services remained disrupted most of the time during the fair, causing inconvenience to thousands of pilgrims.

At least 12 prominent citizens of the town urged the Chief General Manager, Telecommunications, to order proper upkeep and maintenance of telecom services at Nainadevi, particularly during the navaratra fair.

Lavi Fair from November 11

SHIMLA, Oct 20 (UNI) — A four-day international and historical Lavi Fair will be celebrated with enthusiasm at Rampur in Shimla district from November 11.

Stating this at a meeting here today, Deputy Commissioner P.C. Katoch said a bonanza of cultural items would be presented by local troupes and those from the state during the fair.

He said the North Zone Cultural Troupe, Patiala, had been invited to present a variety of cultural items of different states like Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir. A state-level cultural contest would be held on the occasion.

The Deputy Commissioner said thousands from Himachal Pradesh and neighbouring states were expected to attend the fair.