H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

The ugly face of Palampur
Palampur, February 2
Palampur is crying for attention of the authorities concerned as residents are living in hellish condition. Potholed roads, overflowing drains and contaminated drinking water are some of the problems plaguing the town. Out of a total population of 28,000 only 3,000 residents live within the municipal limits and receive basic amenities.

Army disowns three bodies
Reckong Peo, February 2
Having failed to identify three bodies recovered from the Sutlej in the aftermath of the collapse of a Bailey bridge at Kharo on September 8 last year in which as many as 34 Army personnel were killed, the army after conducting the DNA tests had returned them back to the district administration of Kinnaur.

Shimla disappoints tourists. (28k, 56k)

Home Guard jawans seek quota
Sundernagar, February 2
The Himachal Pradesh State Home Guards Welfare Association has urged the Chief Minister to provide 15 per cent reservation in recruitment of III class employees in the police, jail and forest departments.

2 e-governance awards for HP
Shimla, February 2
Himachal Pradesh, for the second consecutive year, has won two major Golden Icon Awards for initiatives in e-governance in the country.

The ugly face of Palampur
Ravinder Sood

Palampur, February 2
Palampur is crying for attention of the authorities concerned as residents are living in hellish condition. Potholed roads, overflowing drains and contaminated drinking water are some of the problems plaguing the town. Out of a total population of 28,000 only 3,000 residents live within the municipal limits and receive basic amenities. The remaining residents, live in six panchayats have no access to these facilities.

Almost all interior roads are in a bad shape. Due to overflowing drains and leaking water pipes, water collects on streets. Some paved streets have been damaged because of the regular overflowing of drains.

Garbage can be seen in every nook and corner of the town. Garbage in places near the IPH and Baijnath roads has not been removed for days.

There is no sewerage in the panchayat areas, which has further aggravated the situation. The sanitary condition of the town is deplorable and poses health problems.

Apart from this, there is also shortage of potable water. The narrow Pathankot-Mandi national highway, which passes through this town, has become a traffic hazard for residents because of the frequent jams. Despite repeated requests, the government has not cleared the project for the construction of a bypass. There has been an increase in the population here in the past five years and the panchayats are finding it difficult to maintain the town with meager funds allotted to it every year.

The residents feel liberal funds should be sanctioned to the panchayats for the installation of streetlights and sewerage in all localities of the town. The panchayat should also be permitted to charge toll from vehicles and collect tax on the sale of liquor so that it could raise its own resources for the development of the town.

Army disowns three bodies
Tribune News Service

Reckong Peo, February 2
Having failed to identify three bodies recovered from the Sutlej in the aftermath of the collapse of a Bailey bridge at Kharo on September 8 last year in which as many as 34 Army personnel were killed, the army after conducting the DNA tests had returned them back to the district administration of Kinnaur.

An official of the district administration, while revealing this, said that the Army after conducting the DNA tests had confirmed that three out of the 15 bodies recovered during the past four months were not of Army personnel.

Holding the view that these three bodies might be of civilians who met with accidents during that period, the Army had sent them back to the district administration.

The district administration has referred them to Indira Gandhi Medical College at Shimla for further medical tests and, if required, to conduct DNA tests afresh so as to ascertain their identification.

For the last few months these bodies had been preserved in the western headquarters of the Army at Chandi Mandir, near Chandigarh.

Home Guard jawans seek quota

Sundernagar, February 2
The Himachal Pradesh State Home Guards Welfare Association has urged the Chief Minister to provide 15 per cent reservation in recruitment of III class employees in the police, jail and forest departments.

According to the president of the association, Mr Bali Ram Thakur, the previous BJP government had framed the policy of 15 per cent reservation for Home Guards jawans in departments.

He said that recently about 450 posts of forest guard were advertised but no reservation was provided to the Home Guard jawans as per the agreement of the previous government. Due to this attitude of the government, resentment was prevailing among the staff of the Home Guards at various levels. — OC

2 e-governance awards for HP
Tribune News Service