Bilaspur Chamba Dharamsala Kangra Shimla Manali Solan

HVC gets tough on seat sharing
SHIMLA, July 7 — Adopting a tough posture on the issue of sharing of seats with the BJP in the ensuing Lok Sabha election, the Himachal Vikas Congress today authorised Mr Sukh Ram, its president, to negotiate an electoral alliance with any political party if the senior coalition partner refused to leave any seat for the party.

Constructions mushroom CHAMBA: Capt Dhani Ram Sharma Vice-President, Himachal Pradesh Ex-Servicemen League, and member, Khajjiar ward, Chamba Panchayat Samiti, has alleged that unwarranted constructions are inexorably sprouting up in and around Khajjiar and eating into the dense forest cover in the Kalatop-Khajjiar wildlife sanctuary, about 24 km from Dalhousie.

Baddi-Chandigarh road 'in 6 months'
SOLAN, July 7 — The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, inaugurated a Rs 2 crore bridge over Chikni khud on the Nalagarh-Bharatgarh road yesterday.

19-yr-old girl caught impersonating
KANGRA, July 7 — The police today arrested a 19-year-old school girl in a case of impersonation when she was posing as a representative of the Urban Development Department, Shimla and inspecting offices of nagar parishads, nagar palikas and nagar panchayats in Kangra and Hamirpur districts.

HP police needs policing!
DHARAMSALA, July 7 — Himachal Pradesh has failed to discipline its security forces in Chamba district. Apart from the ITBP, the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) and the personnel of the 2nd battalion of the Himachal Pradesh Armed Police have been deployed in areas bordering Jammu and Kashmir.

Kiosk owner gets Rs 5,000 relief
BILASPUR, July 7 — The District Consumers Redressal Forum has ordered an assistant engineer of the HP State Electricity Board at Barthin, 42 km from here, to pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 and Rs 200 by way of cost of the case to the complainant Brahamdev, an exserviceman, of Dhalch village and to restore electricity connection to his kiosk at Barthin.

CBI case against Sukh Ram's
son "dropped"
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, July 7 — Mr Sukh Ram, President of the Himachal Vikas Congress, said here today that the CBI case against his son, Mr Anil Sharma, a member of the Rajya Sabha, had been dropped for want of evidence and his stand that the charges against him and his son were part of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched out by his political opponents to finish his career had been vindicated.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said after three years of intensive investigations the CBI had informed the court that it had no evidence to prove the charge that Mr Anil Sharma had amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. The special court went through the entire record and allowed the FIR to be cancelled.

He added that during investigation his son and relatives were subjected to acute mental torture and harassment by two overzealous officers of the CBI, one of whom had retired while the other had been sent abroad.

The raid on the residence of his son, while he was a minister, and totally false information regarding the assets of his son given to the press by CBI sleuths had caused embarrassment to the family. The cancellation of the case had proved his innocence but irreparable damage had already been caused to his reputation.

Mr Sukh Ram stated that during the interrogation the CBI sleuths even pressurised him to make certain statements and threatened that they would register a case against his son if he refused to do so. However, since his political career was at stake he did not yield to the pressure.

He said a part of the conspiracy had already been exposed with the cancellation of case against his son and he would also come out unscathed after the trial was over. Besides his political opponents, a multinational company with which he refused to sign a memorandum of understanding for providing basic telecom services in half of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Under a pilot scheme was also behind the conspiracy. He over-ruled the bureaucrats, who wanted to give undue benefit to the company and invited open bids.

The CBI, which had earlier alleged that he had acquired benami property and invested over Rs 1000 crore in various companies and properties, had failed to provide any documentary evidence to substantiate the charge.

The value of his house in Delhi, which the CBI had claimed was worth over Rs 1 crore, had been assessed at Rs 28 lakh. Moreover, the details of the assets placed before the court included only those properties which had been accounted for in his annual income tax returns from year to year.

Referring to the agreement with the National Hydel Power Corporation for the execution of the Parbati Project, he said since the state did not have any equity participation, it must insist on the constitution of a board to manage the project in which the state should be given due representation. This was essential for the effective monitoring of the progress of work.

HVC gets tough on seat sharing
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, July 7 — Adopting a tough posture on the issue of sharing of seats with the BJP in the ensuing Lok Sabha election, the Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) today authorised Mr Sukh Ram, its president, to negotiate an electoral alliance with any political party if the senior coalition partner refused to leave any seat for the party.

Delegates, who took part in the party's meeting, here yesterday, expressed concern over the indifferent attitude of the BJP on the issue and pointed out that the repeated statement of its leaders that the party should go it alone in the Lok Sabha poll only indicated that it was disinclined to share seats with the HVC.

Mr Sukh Ram, said he wanted the alliance to continue and would not take any step which could strain the BJP-HVC relationship. However, it was for the senior coalition partner to give a fair deal to the HVC and ensure smooth functioning of the alliance by having a reasonable seat-sharing arrangement.

He said he had already had talks on the issue with the central leadership of the BJP and the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal. He was confident that the HVC would be given its due. He said he would not create any situation which could hamper the functioning of the coalition government as it would ultimately affect development activities in the state.

The HVC chief asserted that the BJP could not win the election without the support of the HVC which was a force to reckon with in Mandi and Shimla constituencies. He said he could win the Mandi seat easily but he was not inclined to contest the Lok Sabha poll. He said the BJP had never won the Shimla segment and even today out of the 17 Assembly seats falling in the constituency as many as 14 were held by Congress legislators. The HVC was in a much better position to win this seat.

In its political resolution the party also underlined the need to set up coordination committees at district and assembly constituency level for smooth functioning of the alliance. In the absence of such committees, even petty matters required the intervention of the Chief Minister and the HVC President.

In its economic resolution, the party complimented the Dhumal government for handing over the Parbati project to the NHPC and getting work started on the Chamera-II project. It urged the Centre to restore 50 per cent subsidy on non-conventional sources of electricity like micro-hydel projects. It opposed the privatisation of mini and micro hydel projects and urged the government to utilise the services of engineers of the state power board for preparation of detailed project reports and execution of the schemes.

It also lauded the government's achievement in upgradation of three state roads into national highways in one year. Over the past 50 years the state could get only three national highways.

The meeting also paid tributes to the valiant soldiers who laid down their lives while fighting the Pakistani intruders in Kargil. It expressed satisfaction over the measures announced by the state government for the welfare of families of the war heroes.

It urged the Centre to expeditiously undertake the construction of a tunnel under the Rohtang pass, Baralacha and Thang Lag La to make the Manali-Leh highway an all-weather road. The Srinagar-Leh road was within the firing range or Pakistan and as such an alternative route was required.

It also urged the Union Home Minister to recruit maximum number of youths from Himachal Pradesh as the climatic condition in the state was similar to that prevailing in Kargil and as such they could do a better job at the frontiers.

Nine more held for arson
From Our Correspondent

MANALI, July 7 — The local police today arrested nine more suspects allegedly involved in the ransacking, looting, arson and attacks on the shops of Tibetan refugees here. Four accused arrested earlier were remanded in police custody till July 9 next.

According to Zahoor H. Zaidi, in a massive search operation launched by the local police, looted property worth Rs 1 lakh was recovered from rag-pickers, babas and other anti-social elements here on Monday.

Mr Chander Sen Thakur, the local MLA-cum-Vice-Chairman of the HPMC, visited the town today also and held a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner and district police chief. Mr Thakur said peace and normalcy had been restored to a great extent in the riot-hit areas. The MLA met the Tibetan refugees and persuaded them to open their shops. He assured them of all safety and protection.

The Deputy Commissioner claimed that so far not a single case of Tibetans fleeing from Manali had been reported in the wake of Monday's incident. Even though the ban under Section 144 of the Cr.PC continued here, shops had been allowed to open at 9 am and close at 9 pm.

The condition of two boys injured in the stabbing incident was reported to be better and they were likely to be discharged from hospital within a day or two.

Baddi-Chandigarh road 'in 6 months'
From Our Correspondent

SOLAN, July 7 — The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, inaugurated a Rs 2 crore bridge over Chikni khud on the Nalagarh-Bharatgarh road yesterday.

Later, while addressing a public meeting at Nalagarh, Mr Dhumal said the construction of the 22 km long Baddi-Chandigarh road, which had been hanging fire for well over a decade, would be completed within the next six months. He said the Punjab Government, had allocated Rs 5 crore for the construction of the proposed road's portion falling in Punjab territory and work had been undertaken on a war-footing.

Taking credit for improved relations with the neighbouring state, the Chief Minister said long-pending issues like those concerning the Anandpur Sahib hydel channel, Shah Nehar and Thein Dam had been amicably resolved. As a result, Himachal would get its due share of water from the Anandpur Sahib hydel channel, and Shah Nehar would irrigate nearly 16,000 hectares of land. The state would also get Rs 83 crore in compensation.

He said the central government had agreed to construct four new national highways in Himachal Pradesh. One of these proposed roads — the Pinjore-Swarghat national highway — would benefit the people of Nalagarh and adjoining industrial estates of Baddi and Barotiwala.

Mr Dhumal criticised the former Congress government "who had burdened the state with huge loans, the interest liability of which would exceed Rs 2,000 crore by the year 2005."

He claimed that certain Army personnel had expressed their admiration at the manner in which the Vajpayee-government had handled the Kargil crisis during his recent tour of the Kargil area, adding that the jawans were critical of the way successive Congress governments surrendered hard-won territories to Pakistan in 1948, 1965 and 1971.

Political observers here felt it was unusual for a person of Mr Dhumal's authority and stature to drag the Army's name into politically motivated public statements.

The Minister for Country and Town Planning, Mr Hari Narain Singh, Mr Dulo Ram, MLA, and the Chairman of the State Marketing Board, Mr Virendra Kashyap, also spoke.

Earlier, Mr Dhumal visited Bhugar Kangta village and called on the family of late Army jawan Dharmendra Singh who laid down his life while fighting the enemy in the Dras sector on June 20. He handed over a cheque of Rs 3 lakh to Dharmendra Singh's father, Mr Narpat Ram. The district administration had earlier paid Rs 2 lakh to him.

Mr Dhumal announced the upgradation of Government Middle School at nearby Durgapur-Dharadi and renamed it as Shaheed Dharmendra Singh Memorial Government High School.

19-yr-old girl caught impersonating
From Our Correspondent

KANGRA, July 7 — The police today arrested a 19-year-old school girl in a case of impersonation when she was posing as a representative of the Urban Development Department, Shimla and inspecting offices of nagar parishads, nagar palikas and nagar panchayats in Kangra and Hamirpur districts.

According to the SHO, Kangra police station, Mr Sandhu, the girl, Geetu Rana of Samkhetari mohalla in Mandi, was arrested under Section 170 of the IPC on a complaint made by the Executive Officer Kangra municipality, whose office she had inspected on June 19. The girl was caught in old Kangra where, she was invited by a former Secretary of the Kangra Municipality, Mr Sodhi Prakash, to attend the marriage of his son who was introduced to her on June 19 during the fake inspection. When she visited the house of Mr Sodhi Prakash the police nabbed her.

Subdivisional police officer Mr P.S. Thakur when contacted said the girl had been visiting offices since the past one month and had inspected offices at Hamirpur. Her father was fighting the intruders on the front and she was motherless. She told the police she was prompted to impersonate when she visited some offices along with a child development project officer, Ms Sheshi Bijalwal, who had been living in her neighbourhood.

The police said there was no report of her having accepted money from any person in these offices. She had been carrying out fake inspections, collecting figures of funds allotted and utilised by the office concerned, the police said.

She will be produce before the court tomorrow. She was to appear in the plus two examination this year, the police said.

Constructions mushroom
From Balkrishan Prashar

CHAMBA: Capt Dhani Ram Sharma Vice-President, Himachal Pradesh Ex-Servicemen League, and member, Khajjiar ward, Chamba Panchayat Samiti, has alleged that unwarranted constructions are inexorably sprouting up in and around Khajjiar and eating into the dense forest cover in the Kalatop-Khajjiar wildlife sanctuary, about 24 km from Dalhousie.

According to Captain Sharma, hotels are being raised clandestinely in the woody hillsides by uprooting trees with out obtaining any permission from the department concerned.

He alleges that these multi-storey structures are a slur on the beauty of the Khajjiar lake surrounded by deodar forests. He has reproached the authorities of the Department of Forest Farming and Conservation as well as the Khajjiar Development Authority for their failure to curb these illegal activities,

Captain Sharma says not only the constructions are unauthorised, but the water and electricity connections released for these buildings are also illegal.

As a sequel to the ongoing unruly and unwarranted constructions, an acute shortage of drinking water has been felt in nearby dozen villages. The water supply scheme for Khajjiar is about 30 years old.

Captain Sharma has demanded a high-level inquiry into the unauthorised constructions in the wooded Kalatop-Khajjiar sanctuary.

He has also demanded the augmentation of the water supply scheme.

He has requested the state government for the opening of a bank branch of any of the nationalised banks and a police post for Khajjiar and improve telecom services in the area.

* * *

Salooni Panchayat Panchayat Samiti of Chamba district in a resolution has urged the Chamera and Baira Siul hydro-electric project authorities to compensate the samiti by providing funds for the development of those areas which fall in the catchment basin of these projects.

According to Mr Dharam Singh Pathania, Chairman, Salooni Panchayat Samiti, most of the areas of Salooni Development Block in Chamba district have been affected by these two hydro-electric projects.

Mr Pathania says these areas are in dire need of afforestation. The samiti has demanded funds for improving fountains, link roads and rural paths.

He says the copies of resolution passed by the samiti have already been submitted to the project authorities and the state government.

* * *

Residents of the Pangi valley in Chamba district have demanded the widening of an 18-km road from Saach to Sechu. In September last year a jeep service was introduced by the Himachal Road Transport Corporation for carrying passengers. But the service was cancelled after three months.

The Saach-Sechu road needs to be widened so that either a mini-bus or other light vehicles could ply on the road.

* * *

The residents, specially the retired defence personnel residing in Ghatasni, Kamladi villages adjoining Bakloh-Kakira township in the district, are sore at the frequent break downs in the STD system since they are unable to keep in touch with their kin serving on the boarders, they have requested the Department of Telecommunications to rectify the STD network in their area.

HP police needs policing!
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, July 7 — Himachal Pradesh has failed to discipline its security forces in Chamba district.

Apart from the ITBP, the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) and the personnel of the 2nd battalion of the Himachal Pradesh Armed Police have been deployed in areas bordering Jammu and Kashmir. On a number of occasions it has been found that the high-handedness of the state forces has led their confrontation with the locals.

During the past 10 days there have been two incidents. The first was at Tarela. Two traders from Chamba town were allegedly beaten up by 12 IRB men. One of the traders sustained injuries.

The SP, Chamba, Mr R.M.Sharma, said cases had been registered at Tissa police station. At Ranikhet IRB men acted tough with labourers and PWD employees at the Tissa-Pangi road. Ever since the massacre of labourers by militants in August last year, IRB men accompany workers to the construction site.

The PWD labour informed IRB men that they had spotted some strangers in the Gujjar area. The IRB went in search but didn't find any suspect. Locals say IRB men thrashed the informers. PWD employees went on a strike against the behaviour of IRB men.

In January, this year an OCP at Sahu in the Tissa sector of Chamba had to be shifted following a clash between the locals and IRB men. Earlier at Tarela village members of the 2nd Battalion of HPAP had indulged in eve teasing. As a result the battalion had to be withdrawn from border areas.

"One of the reasons that can be attributed for such actions of indiscipline is weak monitoring and control by the middle-level management", admits one of the police officers.

Kiosk owner gets Rs 5,000 relief
From Our Correspondent

BILASPUR, July 7 — The District Consumers Redressal Forum has ordered an assistant engineer of the HP State Electricity Board at Barthin, 42 km from here, to pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 and Rs 200 by way of cost of the case to the complainant Brahamdev, an exserviceman, of Dhalch village and to restore electricity connection to his kiosk at Barthin.

Brahamdev had moved the forum for restoration of electricity connection to his kiosk. He said he had been paying electricity bills regularly.

The Forum found this action of assistant engineer as unauthorised and directed the electricity board to pay up the compensation within one month. In case of default Brahamdev would be entitled to 15 per cent interest on the amount till the date of payment.