Kalka-Parwanoo rail line hailed
SHIMLA, Feb 26 — Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, has welcomed the inclusion of the Kalka-Parwanoo broad gauge line in the Railway Budget.

Van impounded
BILASPUR, Feb 26 — The police here has impounded a Maruti van (Number DID-1974) which was required by the Punjab police in connection with a murder case at Ropar.

Jhakri strike enters eighth day
From Our Correspondent

SHIMLA, Feb 26 — The strike by NJJU workers entered its eighth day today at the Nathpa-Jhakri project. Workers are demanding equal pay for equal work, implementation of the Minimum Wage Act and Workmen Compensation Act and that workers serving in private companies be given parity in wages with the principal employer, NJPC.

Meanwhile, farmers and villagers displaced by the project are also organising Kisan Sabhas and village committees to fight collectively against the project's management for better compensation for their land, according to a Kisan Sabha spokesman.

A meagre sum of Rs 1500 per bigha was given to the villagers a few years ago for their land, says Dharmanand of Jeori, who lost 35 bighas of land to the project. The farmers displaced by the project are planning a massive rally here on February 28.

Mr Hemraj Sharma, vice-president of CITU, demanded cancellation of the licences of some private companies working in the project.

It is clearly given in Clause V(5) of the licence that the companies will give wages and other service benefits to their workers on par with the principal employer, he said.

It is the social moral and political responsibility of the government to intervene and force the private concerns to give fair wages in this project, the pride of the state, where a singles day strike means a loss of Rs 5 crore in earnings to the state.

Kalka-Parwanoo rail line hailed
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Feb 26 — Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, has welcomed the inclusion of the Kalka-Parwanoo broad gauge line in the Railway Budget.

Mr Dhumal said this would benefit people of the state, especially the entrepreneurs who had set up units at Parwanoo. He said this would also help boost industrial development.

The Chief Minister said Parwanoo was the gateway to Himachal Pradesh and tourists visiting the state would have a direct entry to the state.

He said the government had taken up the matter with the Union Minister for Railways for the construction of the Una-Talwara and the Kalka-Parwanoo lines. Work of the Una-Talwara line up to Churhu had been started last year and on the Kalka-Parwanoo line would be started soon.

New HP Youth Cong office-bearers
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, Feb 26 — Twentyeight office-bearers of the Himachal Pradesh unit of the Youth Congress were nominated by Mr Manish Tiwari, president, Indian Youth Congress, today.

According to Mr Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, president, HP, Youth Congress, among the nominated were seven vice-presidents, eight general secretaries and 13 secretaries.

They were Mr Deva Nand (Shimla), Mr Hoshiar Singh Thakur (Bilaspur), Mr Kanwar Singh (Shimla), Mr Mahesh Chand Puri (Chamba), Mr Manjeet Thakur (Shimla), Ms Urmila Sharma (Una) and Mr Sunder Singh Thakur (Kullu), all vice-presidents.

The general secretaries were Mr Joginder Singh Kanwar (Shimla), Mr Kamal Singh Dhaulta (Shimla), Mr Madan Lal Chaudhary (Solan), Ms Minakashi Bali (Shimla), Mr Nitin Sharma (Hamirpur), Mr Ramesh Thakur (Mandi), Mr Sanjeev Dogra (Hamirpur) and Mr Sudhir Sharma (Kangra).

Among the secretaries were Mr Devender Negi (Kinnaur), Mr Dharmendra Kala (Chamba), Mr Gautam Thakur (Lahaul-Spiti), Ms Laxmi Thakur (Mandi), Ms Madhu Sharma (Una), Mr Nardev Kanwar (Hamirpur), Ms Nisha Gupta (Mandi), Mr Pardeep Chaudhary (Kangra), Ms Rajni (Kangra), Mr Rakesh Kalia (Una), Ms Roma Thakur (Shimla), Mr Sanjay Awasathi (Solan) and Mr Tej Singh Thakur (Mandi).

Quake threat in Naddi belt

DHARAMSALA, Feb 26 — Some villages in the Naddi area, in Upper Dharamsala threatened are by landslides in this earthquake prone area.

The recent set of landslides show, that there could be a major threat to the very existence of Gujiada, Tota Rani, Gamru, Jogibara and Bara Kothi villages. This fact came to light during the survey for landslide hazard zone mapping being undertaken by the Wadia Institute of Seismology. During the survey it was found that there are at least 25 very active landslide zones between Dharamsala and Naddi.

The team of the Wadia Institute of Seismology, lead by Dr Amrish Mahajan, has built monitoring points to check the rate of slippage in the area. Because of these landslides some newly constructed houses in Dharamsala Cantonment have developed cracks and three flats have been vacated.

The main reasons being attributed for the landslides is seepage and overburdening.

Since the town of Dharamsala is located on rock which has fractures the possibility of earthquakes is high. According to scientists, the Dharamsala and Chamba zone are still capable of generating large earthquakes.

The Naddi area demonstrates the presence of recent extensional tectonic activity in the form of surface cracks. The Dharamsala-Kangra, area is one of the most active earthquake zones in the Himalayan Seismic belt and has experienced several destructive earthquakes in 1905, 1968, 1978, 1986.

Haphazard and indiscriminate constructions being undertaken in Naddi and McLeodganj area is triggering still more landslides.

The road leading to McLeodganj is sinking at a number of places and has become difficult for the PWD to maintain. The landslide prone area of Gamru and Khazanchi Mohallah, has become slushy, because of unchannelised water from the Tibetan settlement above it. If no steps are taken it could pose a danger to the houses located here. The authorities have imposed a ban on new constructions in this area.

Despite the Dharamsala and Naddi area sliding the district authorities have failed curb construction of high rise buildings. Officials of the Town and Country Planning Department express their inability to stop this as the Naddi area falls outside the planning limits. Two years ago plan was sent to the government to extend the planning limits, but sanction is yet to be granted.

Recommendations by the Wadia Institute of Seismology about formulating an earthquake resistant building plan in this seismlogically sensitive belt, have not been implemented. The institute made the recommendations after an earthquake rocked the Sundernagar area two years ago.

Van impounded
From Our Correspondent

BILASPUR, Feb 26 — The police here has impounded a Maruti van (Number DID-1974) which was required by the Punjab police in connection with a murder case at Ropar.

The Superintendent of Police, Mr Anurag Garg, said here yesterday that the van impounded at its checkpost at Toba, where its driver failed to produce any document relating the vehicles. The police impounded the vehicle and asked the driver to bring documents for its release. The police got suspicious when the "owner" did not turn up for several days for getting the vehicle released. After investigation, it was revealed that this was a vehicle involved in a murder case. The Punjab police has lauded the role of the Bilaspur police for impounding the van.