80-yr-old proud of martyr son
HAMIRPUR, June 16 — "I'm proud of my son, Havaldar Raj Kumar of JAK Rifles, who laid down his life so that India remains independent. These were the words of Naik Khajan Singh, the father of Havaldar Raj Kumar who was killed in an Army operation against Pakistani intruders in the Kargil sector on June 3".

Plea to redesign Parbati project
SHIMLA, June 16 — Environmentalists have urged the Himachal government to redesign the 2051 MW Parbati project to save the ecologically vital Great Himalayan National Park in Kulu district.

Hamirpur Dharamsala Shimla

Tributes paid to gunner
SHIMLA, June 16 — An angry mob burnt the effigy of Mr Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Prime Minister, as the body of gunner Yashwant Singh reached here this afternoon from the Kargil sector where he was killed fighting Pakistani infiltrators.

Manhandling of engineer decried
DHARAMSALA, June 16 — The Himachal Pradesh IPJ Engineers Association has condemned the alleged manhandling of an Executive Engineer, a junior engineer and a driver at Paprola by some persons.

Probe appointment of nurses: ABVP
SHIMLA, June 16 — The state unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad has urged the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, to institute an inquiry into irregularities in the appointment of nurses.

Development project
SHIMLA, June 16 — A Rs 171 crore integrated watershed development project has been approved by the World Bank for Himachal Pradesh.

80-yr-old proud of martyr son
From Our Correspondent

HAMIRPUR, June 16 — "I'm proud of my son, Havaldar Raj Kumar of JAK Rifles, who laid down his life so that India remains independent. These were the words of Naik Khajan Singh, the father of Havaldar Raj Kumar who was killed in an Army operation against Pakistani intruders in the Kargil sector on June 3".

"I have three sons and two of them are in the Army. While one has lost his life, the other one is on leave but will leave for joining duty in a day or two. If I remain alive, I will prepare my grandsons also to join the Army," the proud father of Havaldar Raj Kumar told this reporter at his native village, Bagloo, last evening.

Bagloo village is located in the tough terrain of the Bamsan area in Hamirpur district and is known for the bravery of its jawans. Almost all families of the village have at least one person in the Army doing duty for the nation.

Groups of villagers and people from nearby areas were consoling the bereaved family when a team of Hamirpur-based scribes reached the village. While women were sobbing inside the room, the men were discussing the war and its outcome. Naik Khajan Singh said if the government gave him permission for re-employment, he was still ready to joint the Army to fight against the Pakistanis. At the age of 80, the proud father was highly critical of the role of the Pakistanis on the one hand and the Indian leaders on the other hand. He hit out at the Lahore declaration, adding that in the garb of this declaration, Pakistan betrayed India.

He, however, demanded that the Indian Government should give all powers to the Indian forces to wipe out Pakistan from the map of the world. According to him, Pakistan could never be believed and "we should teach Pakistanis a lesson. This time there should be a do-or-die battle".

Three more Armymen of the area, namely Honorary Captain, Prem Dass, Subedar Gurdev Singh and Naik Jagat Ram, also offered to serve the nation if the Government of India granted permission. "We still have blood in our veins to safeguard the nation," they told the reporters and senior district officers, including Deputy Commissioner Kamlesh Kumar Pant.

Ms Santo Devi and Ms Shakuntla Devi, mother and wife, respectively, of the deceased jawan, were still in a state of shock. Women from other areas were consoling them inside their house. Ms Narvada Thakur, Chairperson of the Hamirpur Zila Parishad, was among those who were present when reporters reached there.

Veer Kamal (13) and Ranjeet Kumar (11), sons of the deceased jawan, were busy in meeting people who were coming to the house to console the family. Veer Kamal told this reporter that his father had left the house after two months' vacation in the last week of March 1999. Their father had told them to clear the examinations and they had passed. He said he had written a letter to his father about the result.

The family was upset over the non-arrival of the body of Raj Kumar from the war site. According to them, they got the message through a telegram and later senior district officers visited their house to console them.

Heart rending scenes were witnessed in Uhal village, the native village of Havaldar Kashmir Singh Thakur, who laid down his life while fighting Pakistani intruders in the Kargil sector on June 3. He and Havaldar Raj Kumar had joined the Army together and died together.

Ms Kangroo Devi and Ms Sabina Kumari, mother and wife, respectively, of Havaldar Kashmir Singh, had taken nothing except a few drops of water since June 10 when the sad news of the demise of Kashmir Singh was broken to them. They were in a state of shock and were weeping continuously. The mother had still not accepted the death of her son." He will come back one day", she claimed.

Surinder Kumar (12) and Sudershana Devi (9), son and daughter, respectively, of the martyr, said their father had sent them a letter after leaving home to join duty in Kargil.

Mr Jagdish Thakur, eldest brother of the deceased soldier, told reporters inside the house that the family got the sad news of demise of Kashmir Singh through a telegram. According to him, they are five brothers and two of them are in the Army, including Kashmir Singh, who died recently in the Kargil sector.

He was, however, upset over the non-arrival of the body for cremation. He said instead of sending a telegram of the demise of Kashmir Singh, the Army authorities should have informed about his being missing before his body was retrieved from the battlefield.

He said his father and two of his uncles were also in the Army. He said the death of Kashmir Singh had shaken up the family. However, the family was proud of the fact that Kashmir Singh fought a heroic battle while fighting against Pakistanis.

Plea to redesign Parbati project
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, June 16 — Environmentalists have urged the Himachal government to redesign the 2051 MW Parbati project to save the ecologically vital Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in Kulu district.

Expressing concern about the decision of the government to denotify over 10 sq km of the park to pave the way for the project, Mr B.S. Malhans, coconvener of the regional chapter of INTACH, Mrs Premila Condillac, CTOR, SINEW, and Mr Ajit Kumar, President of the Dhauladhar Public Education Society, threatened to launch a nationwide campaign against the project, if the building plan was not reviewed and modified suitably.

The first stage of the project which fell in the park could be replaced by a smaller project which did not involve the construction of tunnels. The project, as per the existing plan required the construction of storage dams and long tunnels which would cause irreparable damage to the environment in the ecologically fragile Jiwa valley, they pointed out. The valley supported a wide variety of flora and fauna, including critically-endangered wildlife species like serow, the Himalayan thar, cheer pheasant, musk deer and western tragopan (already on the red data book of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature).

Significantly, the GHNP was the only wildlife sanctuary in the world which supported the western tragopan. The part of the Jiwa valley, which had been denotified, had the maximum number of calling points of endangered bird.

Mr Malhans said excluding the Jiwa valley from the park was a retrograde step as experts had suggested the inclusion of the nearby Kanwar sanctuary in the park. The construction of the project would directly affect the park.

Besides, the construction of tunnels would generate large quantities of debris which would find its way into the river.

The park also fell within one of the globally important endemic bird areas (western Himalayas) identified by the International Council for Bird Preservation (ICBP) biodiversity project.

Mr Malhans said that they would also take up the issue with the WWF and involve various other environment organisations across the country to pressurise the government to review the design of the project.

As per satellite pictures, of the total 38 per cent forest area of the state only 21 per cent had a good forest cover and the protected wildlife area constituted 12 per cent of it. The GHNP and the Roopi valley together accounted for 70 per cent of the total protected area.

The future course of action would be finalised at a meeting of the environment protection organisations from all over the country to be held here on June 27. Before that, representatives of local organisations would meet Mr P.K. Dhumal, Chief Minister, and urge him to save the park by redesigning the project.

Tributes paid to gunner
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, June 16 — An angry mob burnt the effigy of Mr Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Prime Minister, as the body of gunner Yashwant Singh reached here this afternoon from the Kargil sector where he was killed fighting Pakistani infiltrators.

Hundreds of mourners converged on The Ridge, in the heart of the town to pay respect to the young soldier.

Slogans of "Yashwant Singh amar rahe" rent the air as the casket containing his body was brought to The Ridge from Chandimandir where it was flown from Leh in the morning.

All shops in the town remained closed as a mark of respect to the martyr.

Mr Ram Sen, father of the martyr, who stood besides the casket, said that his only son had sacrificed his life for the nation.

The casket containing his body was kept on a podium constructed specially for the same.

A stream of people continued to pay floral tributes to Yashwant Singh till late in the evening. The body will be kept in the Town Hall during the night.

The Governor, Mrs V.S. Rama Devi, Leader of the Opposition Virbhadra Singh, Transport Minister K.K. Kapoor, ministers of state Narendera Bragta, Mr Roop Dass Kashyap, Mr Parveen Sharma, Mrs Vidya Stokes and Mrs Asha Kumari, Congress legislators, and the Mayor, Mr Manoj Kumar, laid wreaths on the body.

A wreath on behalf of the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, was laid by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ram Subhag Singh.

Major-General Jatinder Singh laid a wreath on behalf of the Army Training Command. The Director-General of Police, Mr T.R. Mahajan, and the Additional Chief Secretary, Mr Harsh Gupta, also laid wreaths.

The Chairman of the H.P.Non-Gazetted Employees Federation, Mr Ganga Singh, has urged the employees to donate one day’s salary towards the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the welfare of the families of the soldiers killed in the Kargil action.

The Army truck carrying the body was stopped at Solan, Kandaghat, Shogi and various places en route Shimla where people paid homage to the brave soldier.

Mr Ram Sen, who had come here to take the body to his native village, said 20-year-old Yashwant Singh had last come home on May 2 and then proceeded to Kargil after expiry of his leave. He had joined the army only about 18 months ago in December, 1997.

Tearful farewell to war hero
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, June 16 — Heart rending scenes were witnessed, as the six-year-old son of Naik Brahm Dass, who was killed fighting the infiltrators in the Kargil sector, lit the pyre, in his native village of Tanda Massal, near Nagrota, today.

Brahm Dass (36) was killed as a result of heavy shelling by the infiltrators in the Turtuk area of the Kargil sector, on June 14. His body reached the village at midnight, by road from Chandigarh. As the body of the brave soldier lay in the courtyard of the small mud house in the tiny village, his six-year-old son, Rahul, unaware of the tragedy that had struck the family, played with other children. Naik Brahm Dass is survived by his wife Seema, son Rahul and daughter Meenakshi.

With the third death in the family, within a span of four months, Seema was inconsolable, as a large number of people from the adjoining villages converged on their house to pay their last respect to the brave soldier. Naik Brahm Dass's elder brother Surjeet, is also in the Army and is currently posted at Alwar in the 9 Jack Rifles. He too reached the village to attend the cremation of his brother, who was in the 9 Mahar Regiment.

The Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, also paid a visit to the village to offer condolences to the family. He announced that apart from the Rs 2 lakh financial assistance to be given to the family, his wife too would be given a job by the government. The government had decided to name the 4-km road between Malan and Massal, via Tanda after Naik Brahm Dass. Two new rooms in Nassal High School, would be constructed in his memory.

Meanwhile, all shops and commercial establishments remained closed in Nagrota, in honour of Naik Brahm Dass. People held a procession and raised anti-Pakistan slogans, and also burned the effigy of the Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif.

PALAMPUR (FOC): The Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, on Wednesday called on the family members of Lt. Sorabh Kalia at Sughar village to pay condolences. He presented a cheque for Rs 2 lakh to the mother of Lt. Kalia on behalf of the Himachal Government and assured that government would take care of the family.

Mrs Vijay Kalia, mother of Kalia, told the Chief Minister that she was proud of her young son who had laid down his life for the country and had no regrets. She said she would persuade her younger son too join the Army.

Later addressing a news conference the Chief Minister announced that the government had decided to rename Sughar village as Sorabh Nagar. Besides, a road leading to the house of the brave soldier would also be named as Sorabh Marg.

Probe appointment of nurses: ABVP
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, June 16 — The state unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has urged the Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, to institute an inquiry into irregularities in the appointment of nurses.

The parishad alleged that a number of candidates were selected from a particular area and it was for the first time that no list of selected candidates was prepared. Even the letters informing the selected candidates were without a despatch number.

The parishad drew the attention of the Chief Minister to the functioning of the Health Minister, which, it alleged, was lowering the image of the government. It charged him with indulging in anti-organisation activities and creating a division by encouraging regionalism.

The parishad also warned the Vice-Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University not to behave as a politician and give up his dictatorial ways, failing which it would launch a stir.

Manhandling of engineer decried
Tribune News Service

DHARAMSALA, June 16 — The Himachal Pradesh IPJ Engineers Association has condemned the alleged manhandling of an Executive Engineer, a junior engineer and a driver at Paprola by some persons.

In a statement issued here yesterday, the association expressed concern about such incidents and said these were demoralising the employees, who were working against heavy odds to maintain the water supply.

It demanded strict action taken against those named in the FIR. An IPH engineer was beaten up last month by some people in the Gamru area of Dharamsala.

The association warned that if strict action was not taken against guilty it would become difficult for its members to discharge their duty freely.

Development project
Tribune News Service

SHIMLA, June 16 — A Rs 171 crore integrated watershed development project has been approved by the World Bank for Himachal Pradesh.

According to Mr Roop Singh, Forest Minister, the project will cover the districts of Solan, Sirmaur, Una, Kangra and Chamba.

The project will be completed in five years. People will be involved in the project for which 150 village development committees will be constituted.

An area of 93,000 hectares will be taken up under the project.