Warning against indiscipline
HAMIRPUR, Sept 11 — The Himachal BJP chief and MP, Mr Suresh Chandel, said here yesterday that no indiscipline in the party would be tolerated. Addressing a press conference here, he said that action would be taken against those leaders and workers who had opposed party nominees in the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

A garbage-strewn bus stand
JWALAMUKHI: Residents of this temple town are sore at the dumping of garbage behind the bus stand. At present the area is water-logged. Sweepers generally dump the garbage on both sides of the bus stand.

Warning against indiscipline
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, Sept 11 — The Himachal BJP chief and MP, Mr Suresh Chandel, said here yesterday that no indiscipline in the party would be tolerated.

Addressing a press conference here, he said that action would be taken against those leaders and workers who had opposed party nominees in the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

He clarified that the BJP was a cadre-based and disciplined party and expressed satisfaction over the functioning of the BJP Government in the state.

He said the party and the government were working in unison with its coalition partner, the HVC. The party would hold training camps on the pattern of those held at Kasauli and Una recently.

He stressed the need for joint combing operations by the Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir police to check the activities of militants in the interiors of Chamba district.

Mr Chandel demanded additional forces and funds to deal with the law and order situation.

ABVP seeks probe into fake
marksheet scandal
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Sept 11 — The ABVP has demanded a high-level inquiry into the fake marksheet scandal and review of all re-evaluation cases in the past five years to ascertain if any irregularities were committed to benefit the wards of influential persons.

The parishad alleged that there was an organised racket which supplied fake marksheets. It also released photo copies of two marksheets of B.Com (first year) bearing the same serial number (29217) but issued to different students. This clearly indicated that fake marksheets of Himachal Pradesh University were in circulation.

It also criticised the authorities for not completing investigations into the fake marksheet scandal which came to light last year.

The parishad organised a students conference at Rekong Peo (Kinnaur) at which educational problems of the difficult tribal areas were highlighted. The lone degree college in the district was without a building, library, laboratories, playground, hostel and other facilities. The hostels constructed at Rampur for tribal students were also in bad shape.

It urged the government to provide adequate staff and basic amenities like furniture, drinking water, toilets and other facilities in plus two schools of the district.

A garbage-strewn bus stand
From Bijender Sharma

JWALAMUKHI: Residents of this temple town are sore at the dumping of garbage behind the bus stand. At present the area is water-logged. Sweepers generally dump the garbage on both sides of the bus stand.

At the bus stand, there are dhabas and snack bars and the shopkeepers generally throw waste in the open area. Most of the shopkeepers have also encroached on government land behind their shops. A few of them have been erected walls on the encroached land.

There is a water tank amidst the garbage dumps and thousands of tourists who approach the tank find it difficult to drink water owing to the stink.

When contacted, an officer of the local nagar panchayat said there was no permanent place in the town for dumping garbage. The garbage was usually dumped in the open area near the bus stand and on both sides of the Jwalamukhi-Shimla highway. The nagar panchayat had put up about 20 garbage bins at these places. He agreed that the place near the bus stand was not the proper place for dumping garbage. The civic body now planned to hire a tractor from a private firm to remove garbage, he added.

Enquiries reveal that a few years ago, the local administration had drawn up a plan for the beautification of the area, under which a community hall and a shopping complex would be built. About 50 shops were to be built on both sides of the bus stand.

The community hall was to come up in the heart of the town. The hall was meant to be used for marriages and other social functions. Thus the nagar panchayat could earn about Rs 10 lakh to 12 lakh annually by way of rent from the shops and the community hall.

But as ill-luck would have it the plan was shelved with the transfer of the officers concerned and after that nobody took interest in the plan.

The town and adjoining area are now in the grip of diarrhoea and viral diseases and several cases have been reported from the local hospital. Last year also, the disease was widespread due to sewage infiltrating into the piped water.

With heaps of garbage piling up, insanitary conditions prevailed in this area. One wonders how people can take refreshments or eat snacks amidst such stink, which makes it an avoidable pathway.

The nagar panchayat has earmarked funds for development of the town. But local residents have asked to the nagar panchayat to spend only 10 per cent of the development budget to clean up this place. They have also demanded that the garbage dumps be shifted to another place away from the town.