The Tribune...Himachal

H I M A C H A L
P R A D E S H

Monday, July 20, 1998

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Inter-state disputes: Dhumal believes in persuasion
CHANDIGARH, July 19 — The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, said today that his state believed in solving disputes with its neighbouring states through "persuasion and not pressure"...

"Progress at all costs"
(Chandigarh section)

Bus falls into gorge, 75 injured
HAMIRPUR, July 19 — At least 75 persons were injured, some of them seriously, when a private bus on its way from Hamirpur to Sujanpur Tira fell into a narrow gorge near Oobak village, 6 km from here this afternoon...

Janata Dal leader resigns
SHIMLA, July 19 — Mr Rajpal Chauhan, joint convener of the Himachal Pradesh unit of the Janata Dal, today resigned from the party...

A township gone to seed
KUNIHAR (Solan): Situated on the Solan-Bilaspur road, Kunihar the planned dream-town by the late Hari Dass, a prominent local leader, is facing negligence and is without basic amenities...

Inter-state disputes: Dhumal believes in persuasion
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 19 — The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, said today that his state believed in solving disputes with its neighbouring states through "persuasion and not pressure".
Speaking at a "meet-the-press" programme organised by the Chandigarh Press Club here, Mr Dhumal said since the court cases tended to linger on, he would prefer a negotiated settlement of the pending disputes with the neighbouring states.
Mr Dhumal said a breakthrough had already been achieved in this regard at a meeting of the Chief Secretaries of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab held recently. The Punjab Government had agreed to provide jobs to one member of each 500 families of the oustees of the Thein Dam project. Punjab had also agreed to pay a compensation of Rs 66.61 crore for private and Government land acquired for the dam. Similarly, a good beginning had been made in respect of the Rs 143 crore Shahnehar irrigation project.
The Punjab Government had also agreed to release 25 cusecs of water to Himachal from the Anandpur hydel channel for which an agreement was signed in 1983 and which would irrigate 2,516 hectares of land.
However, the dispute over Himachal’s share of 7.19 per cent in the power generated by the Bhakra project and allocated to it under the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, still remained. He said even if Himachal did not need this power, it could raise cash resources by selling its share of power to the other states. Similarly, Himachal was getting only 15 MW power from the Pong project which was allocated to it on an ad hoc basis in 1978 by the Morarji Government.
Ruling out the possibility of a raise in the retirement age for Himachal employees, Mr Dhumal said the state had increased the maximum age limit for recruitment to government jobs from 35 to 38 years. The state had decided to fill 50 per cent technical jobs on the basis of batches as some deserving candidates were becoming overage.
His government planned to remove regional imbalances in development by adopting a policy of need-based development, which would be devoid of politics. The Centre had given an assistance of Rs 300 crore to Himachal in the past three months to enable it to overcome its dwindling financial position inherited from the previous government and also for development of infrastructural facilities.

Bus falls into gorge, 75 injured
From Our Correspondent
HAMIRPUR, July 19 — At least 75 persons were injured, some of them seriously, when a private bus on its way from Hamirpur to Sujanpur Tira fell into a narrow gorge near Oobak village, 6 km from here this afternoon. Four of the injured were stated to be in a critical condition and were being operated upon at the local District Hospital.
On getting news of the accident, Mr Manoj Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, and Mr Jagjit Kumar Gupta, Superintendent of Police reached the spot and supervised the relief and rescue operations. They also visited the District Hospital and met the injured.
Villagers from adjoining areas reached the spot after the accident and helped in extricating the injured from the bus.
Eye-witnesses told this reporter that rash driving had led to the accident. They said at least 25 persons were travelling on the roof top. Many young men in the bus were going to Allahalal in Kangra district for an Army recruitment rally to be held there tomorrow.
Mr Manoj Kumar and Mr Jagjit Kumar Gupta told reporters that all possible medical help was being given to the injured. They said a list of the injured was being prepared.

Janata Dal leader resigns
Tribune News Service
SHIMLA, July 19 — Mr Rajpal Chauhan, joint convener of the Himachal Pradesh unit of the Janata Dal, today resigned from the party in protest against the failure of the national leadership to organise the state unit into an effective political outfit.
In a letter to the party president, Mr Sharad Yadav, Mr Chauhan lamented that despite repeated reminders, the party high command had not taken any steps to put the party on a firm footing in the state. The party, which gave two Prime Ministers and several ministers to the United Front government, could not send a single leader to the state for campaigning in the recent Assembly poll, he regretted.
He said the party high command had insisted on fielding maximum candidates but had not provided any funds or election material. The candidates were left to fend for themselves, he said.
He said even while the UF government was in power, no effort was made by the party to solve problems of the sate. The biggest disappointment came when Mr I.K. Gujral, a former Prime Minister, during his visit to Shimla, refused to listen to the problems of the party men. The Congress government had harassed party workers and instituted false cases against them and the high command did not come to their rescue, he said.

A township gone to seed
From M.S. Warrior
KUNIHAR (Solan): Situated on the Solan-Bilaspur road, Kunihar the planned dream-town by the late Hari Dass, a prominent local leader, is facing negligence and is without basic amenities.
Non-existence of a notified area committee (NAC) has affected development activities in the town. At present this town comes under Hatkot panchayat, which due to the political negligence, has always remained a fund-starved institution. Though it is the block headquarters, the town's sanitation is pathetic. The streets and ducts are not cleaned for months together and sewers give a nauseating stink.
"This town's sewerage management is poor. Sewers and streets are not cleaned regularly and there are no dustbins nor regular sweepers. Businessmen have kept their own dustbins and get the street portion in front of their business establishments cleaned. The condition becomes worse during the monsoon when sewage spills on to the road and the pools breed mosquitoes", says Subhash, a local businessman.
This town has only one public toilet which is not cleaned regularly. It does not have a water connection.
The stink keeps users at bay who generally use open space to ease themselves. The backyards of dhabas and vegetable shops are being used to dump waste. The passengers also avoid use of the handpump installed near the toilet.
The bus stand is inadequate to accommodate over 63 buses and other vehicles that leave for Shimla, Bilaspur, Nalagarh, Solan and Chandigarh daily. The newly constructed bus stand is still a non-starter. The residents say it is inconvenient and would affect about a dozen small time businessmen, dhaba owners and vegetable vendors in particular.
A majority of the residents feel that the conditions are the outcome of political negligence. A potential BJP votebank, this area, according to the residents, has been meted out step- motherly treatment by the previous Congress government. Despite huge tourism potential, the area has not been developed as a tourist place. It is famous for Shiva Cave, a lotus pond and Lall Festival.
The much-speculated film city, the opening of which had induced avenues of work to the local people, is still a non-starter. The locals also demand setting up of agro-industries in the area.