Page 7 - Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh bypolls: Cong leading in all three assembly by-polls

Congress' candidates, including Himachal Pradesh Chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife, are in the lead in all three assembly constituencies in the state where bypolls were held earlier this week, officials said on Saturday. The counting of votes for the by-elections in Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh, held on Wednesday, began at 8 am. Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur was leading by 636 votes against her nearest rival and BJP candidate Hoshiyar Singh after the fifth round of counting, the officials said. In the Hamirpur assembly seat, Congress' Pushpinder Verma was ahead by 1,704 votes against BJP candidate Ashish Sharma after the second round of counting, they said. Congress candidate Hardeep Singh Baba was leading by 646 votes in the first round against BJP candidate K L Thakur in the Nalagarh assembly seat, the officials. Thirteen candidates were in the fray from the three seats. The Nalagarh assembly constituency had recorded the highest polling at 79.04 per cent, followed by Hamirpur

Snow cover in Himachal river basins declined by 12.72% in 2023-24

The seasonal snow cover in Chenab, Beas, Ravi and Sutlej river basins in Himachal Pradesh decreased by 12.72 per cent in 2023-24 compared to 14.25 per cent in 2022-23, a statement issued here on Friday said. During the early winter months of 2023-24 (October to November), the Chenab, Beas and Sutlej basins showed negative trends in snow cover, whereas the Ravi basin showed a marginal increase, reflecting a positive trend, the statement quoting a study said. However, results for the peak winter months indicated significant declines in all the basins -- 67 per cent in Sutlej, 44 per cent in Ravi, 43 per cent in Beas and 42 per cent in Chenab in January 2024, according to the study conducted by the State Centre on Climate Change, under the aegis of the HP Council for Science, Technology, and Environment (HIMCOSTE). In February, a positive trend was observed in all basins, with an increase in snow cover, continuing into March 2024. Based on the analysis, it was observed that the declin

22 dead, Rs 172 cr loss incurred in Himachal Pradesh since monsoon onset

Twenty-two lives have been lost in rain-related incidents in Himachal Pradesh and the state has suffered a loss of Rs 172 crore in the two weeks since the monsoon onset on June 27, officials said on Wednesday. They said eight of them drowned, six fell from height, four were electrocuted and three died of snakebite, while two people were still missing. According to the State Emergency Operation Centre, five roads were closed in Mandi, four in Shimla and three in Kangra. Residents of Lindoor village of the tribal Lahaul and Spiti district where cracks appeared during the last monsoon season said they were apprehensive as 14 houses and 200 bigha land could cave in during heavy downpours. A cow was killed as a wall of a cowshed collapsed following a landslip in the Gheva panchayat of Chail, in Solan district. According to the weather office, Baijnath received 32 mm of rainfall in 24 hours, followed by Poanta Sahib with 18.4 mm, Dhaulakuan with 17.5 mm, Dharamshala with 11 mm, Dalhousi

News updates: India has given Buddha to the world, not war, says PM to Indians in Austria

From Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Austria visit to Mumbai's hit-and-run case, and from Bihar's bridge collapse to bypolls in seven states, catch all the latest news updates here

Heavy downpour in Himachal, roads closed; Dharamshala records 214.6 mm rain

Heavy rain lashed parts of Himachal, including Kangra's Dharamshala and Palampur where rainfall levels exceeded the 200-mm mark. According to the emergency operation centre, 150 roads, including 111 in Mandi, 13 in Sirmaur, nine in Shimla, eight each in Chamba and Kullu, and one in Kangra district, are closed for traffic following torrential rains The centre also said that 334 transformers are disrupted and 55 water supply schemes have been affected in the state. Kangra's Dharamshala recorded the highest rainfall of 214.6 mm, followed by Palampur 212.4 mm, Jogindernagar 169 mm, Kangra city 157.6 mm, Baijnath 142 mm, Jot 95.2 mm, Nagrota Suriyan 90.2 mm, Sujanpur Tira 72 mm, Dhaulakuan 70 mm, Ghamroor 68.2 mm, Nadaun 63 mm and Berthin 58.8 mm. The Shimla meteorological office has issued a yellow alert, warning for thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places till July 12. Other tourist destinations of Dalhousie received 31 mm of rain, Manali received 30 mm, Kasauli 24 mm, Narkand

Heavy rains lash several parts of Himachal, 115 roads closed for traffic

Heavy rains lashed several parts of Himachal Pradesh, leading to the closure of 115 roads for vehicular traffic. The Shimla meteorological office Thursday issued an orange alert, warning of heavy to very heavy rains accompanied by thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places till Friday. As many as 115 roads including 107 in Mandi, four in Chamba, three in Solan and one in Kangra district are closed for vehicular traffic following rains and 212 transformers are disrupted in the state as per the state emergency operation centre. Meanwhile, cracks have developed at a stretch between Mandi to Pandoh of the Chandigarh-Manali four-lane road and it has started sinking, forcing officials to allow only one-way traffic since Wednesday, officials said. Locals say a retaining wall was constructed by spending lakhs of rupees but it has started sinking and has gone down by about two feet and questions are being raised on the quality of construction. The tarring work is going at the spot at wa

BJP MLA Jamwal targets Himachal CM, calls him biggest contractor of lies

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is the biggest contractor of lies but his actions would not help the Congress to win the bypoll, Bilaspur (Sadar) MLA and BJP co-incharge of the Hamirpur assembly bypoll Trilok Jamwal said on Wednesday. "Sensing his party's defeat in all the three seats, including Hamirpur, the home district of the chief minister, Sukhu is making false allegations and accusations against BJP candidates," the MLA said in a statement issued here. Bypolls will be conducted for three assembly seats -- Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagargh -- on July 10. The seats fell vacant after three Independent legislators, who voted in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajya Sabha elections, resigned and later joined the saffron party. The BJP has fielded all the three former MLAs from their respective seats. "If (Sukhvinder Singh) Sukhu says that during the Congress tenure, Ashish Sharma took contracts worth crore from him, then should it be understood that contracts are

Delhi Cabinet to begin drafting note for Rs 1,000 monthly aid for women

Delhi govt FY25 Budget aims to provide Rs 1,000 in monthly assistance for eligible women aged above 18. Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh have drafted similar schemes

Delayed by 5 days, southwest monsoon hits several parts of Himachal Pradesh

The Southwest monsoon advanced and covered several parts of Himachal Pradesh on Thursday after being delayed by five days, the meteorological office here said. According to the MeT department data, the monsoon was scheduled to arrive in the state by June 22. The earliest onset of monsoon arrival in the state was recorded in 2000 on June 9 and July 5 in 2010. The monsoon arrived in the state on June 24 in 2023, June 29 in 2022, June 13 in 2021, June 24 in 2020 and July 2 in 2019. Himachal Pradesh received 39.5mm against the normal 84.3 mm of rain, a deficit of 53 per cent from June 1 to June 26. So far, all the 12 districts in the state have received deficient rains. The MeT on Thursday issued a yellow warning of heavy rain, and thunderstorm with lightning for the next four days from June 28 to July 1 in 10 out of 12 districts of the state, barring the tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti. "Isolated spells of heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorm, lightning and gus

'Finance Commission to tackle issues of freebies, green cover compensation'

The 16th Finance Commission would address the issues pertaining to the distribution of freebies and compensation for providing green cover, Chairman Arvind Panagariya said on Monday. Speaking with reporters here after deliberations with the Himachal Pradesh government, Panagariya said that expectations and needs of the state have been discussed and a 90-slide presentation was given by the officials which emphasized that the cost of everything is much higher in the state due to its difficult terrain. Replying to a question, the chairman said, "The issue of freebies would also be addressed by the commission as we are aware that freebies have proliferated and there is a competition among the states and the political parties to give freebies.. It is pertinent to mention that the Congress government in the state had promised to give Rs 1,500 per month to women in the age bracket of 18 to 59 years in its poll manifesto released on the eve of the last assembly polls held in 2022. He said

Himachal sets target of producing about 970,000 metric tons of kharif crops

The Himachal Pradesh agriculture department has fixed a target of producing about 9.70 lakh metric tonnes of Kharif crops this season. The agriculture department has set a target of sowing maize, paddy, ragi, pulses and other food grains on 368 lakh hectares of cultivable land in the Kharif season, an official spokesperson said on Sunday. The maximum target of sowing maize has been set on 272 lakh hectares of land. Similarly, paddy is to be sown on 73 thousand hectares, pulses on 18 thousand hectares and food grains like ragi on 12,700 hectares in the Kharif season, the spokesperson said. Apart from this, a target has been set to cultivate vegetables in 87 thousand hectares and ginger in 3 thousand hectares, but due to lack of timely rain till June 19, sowing was slow in the state. Most of the farming in Himachal is rain dependent but every year in the Kharif season, a target for the production of food grains and vegetables is set by the agriculture department. This time the ...

Four killed after Himachal roadways bus falls into gorge in Shimla's Jubbal

The mishap took place in Kenchi area of Jubbal when the bus which was enroute to Kuddu-Diltari in Rohru area of the Shimla district fell off the mountain road into the gorge below

7.4 mn tourists visit HP till May, hike by 3.5%; Solan surpasses Shimla

With over 74 lakh tourists visiting Himachal Pradesh till May this year, the tourist footfall has increased marginally by 3.5 per cent as compared to the corresponding period last year. A total of 74,64,184 tourists including 32,415 foreign tourists visited the state till May end as compared to 72,02,956 tourists including 23,174 foreign tourists in the same period last year, an increase of 3.5 per cent, said Tourism and Civil Aviation Director Manasi Sahay Thakur. "Efforts are afoot to improve inter and intra state connectivity through construction of heliports. Major focus is on infrastructure development like creating wayside amenities besides opening wellness centres, construction of ice skating rinks, promoting eco and adventure tourism with the funding of Asian development Bank (ADB)," she told the PTI. Private players are also engaged in advance to ensure sustainability of tourism projects and the results will be visible in the next three years, she added. Surprisingly, ...

Didn't want my wife to contest polls, but Cong brass insisted: HP CM Sukhu

Congress leader and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu Wednesday said he did not want his wife to contest elections, but the party high command insisted she should, and announced her candidature for the Dehra assembly seat bypoll. Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur's name appear in the list of candidates released by Congress general secretary K C Venugopal on Tuesday. She has been fielded from the Dehra seat against two-time Independent MLA Hoshiyar Singh, who is contesting this election on a BJP ticket. "I was not willing that my wife contests elections but could not refuse to the Congress High command" Sukhu told reporters late on Tuesday night. He said the party leadership had told him during the Lok Sabha elections too that Thakur should contest the elections "but I was not willing". "This time again when the High Command insisted, I could not refuse" given what the political scenario in the state demanded. He said his wife emerged as the front-runner in the part

Missing American citizen's body found in Himachal's Lahaul and Spiti

Three days after an American citizen went missing, his body was recovered in a ravine between Kee and Tashigang in Himachal Pradesh's Lahaul and Spiti district on Sunday, police said. Trevor Bokstaahlar (31) went missing on Thursday during his visit to the Spiti Valley, following which a search team was constituted, they said. According to the police, the team conducted searches at various areas of Kaza and recovered a motorcycle rented by the deceased near a deserted area close to Tashigang, but no further clues were found. A day later, with the assistance of the Dogra Regiment of the Army, a drone on Friday identified a parachute stuck in a deep ravine between Kee and Tashigang, they said. The police suspected the parachute belonged to Trevor, who was a base jumper, Superintendent of Police (SP) Lahaul and Spiti, Mayank Chaudhary said. Consequently, teams from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), trained in such rescue operations and ..

Himachal short on surplus water; SC asks Delhi govt to approach UYRB

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Delhi government to approach the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) for water supply as Himachal Pradesh took a U-turn and told the top court that it did not have surplus water to spare. A vacation bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Prasanna B Varale asked the Delhi government to submit an application to the UYRB by 5 pm seeking supply of water to the national capital on humanitarian grounds. The Himachal Pradesh government told the SC that it does not have surplus 136 cusecs of water and withdrew its earlier statement. The bench said that sharing of Yamuna water between states is a complex and sensitive issue and this court does not have the technical expertise to decide on it even on an interim basis. "The issue should be left to be considered by the body constituted with the agreement of parties in the memorandum of understanding dated 1994. "Since the UYRB has already directed Delhi to submit an application for the supply of wat

Delhi water crisis: No excess water released by Himachal, informs Haryana

The Haryana government claimed Himachal Pradesh released unused Yamuna water to the Hathni Kund Barrage without detailing their June water usage

Priyanka Gandhi urges Centre, U'khand govt to prevent forest fire incidents

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday urged the Centre and the Uttarakhand government to take steps to prevent forest fire incidents and make effective efforts with everyone's cooperation to save the Himalayas. Her remarks came after four forest workers were killed and four others injured while extinguishing a fire at the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary under the Civil Soyam Forest Division in Almora district of Uttarakhand. In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "The news of the death of four employees who went to extinguish the forest fire in Almora, Uttarakhand and many others getting injured is extremely saddening. I pray to God for everyone. I request the state government to provide compensation and assistance at every possible level to the affected families." The forests of Uttarakhand have been burning continuously for the past several months and hundreds of hectares of forest have been destroyed, she noted. There are reports of forest fires in Himachal Pradesh as well, s

Himachal bypoll: Cong fully prepared for elections, says HPCC leader Kimta

HPCC General Secretary Rajneesh Kimta on Thursday said the party is fully prepared for the upcoming assembly by-elections in the state and will face the money power with unity. In a statement released here, he informed that the Congress has appointed three ministers as in-charges for by-election to Dehra, Nalagarh and Hamirpur assembly seats. The three Independent MLAs -- Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra) and KL Thakur (Nalagarh) -- resigned from the assembly on March 22 and joined the BJP the following day. The by-elections will be held on July 10. Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar has been appointed incharge of Dehra assembly seat, Education Minister Rohit Thakur for Nalagarh and Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani for Hamirpur. The Congress leaders have been alleging that nine MLAs, including six Congress rebels, and the three Independents who voted in favour of the BJP in Rajya Sabha polls on February 27 and BJP tried to topple the government by using

Haryana withholding Delhi's 1,050 cusecs of water via Munak canal: Atishi

Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Friday accused the Haryana government of reducing water flow to the national capital in the last three days. Her remarks come a day after the Supreme Court directed the Himachal Pradesh government to release 137 cusecs of surplus water to the national capital, and asked Haryana to facilitate its flow. The apex court also said there should be no politics over water. Delhi has been grappling with water crisis this summer. "....Hon'ble Supreme Court is trying to resolve Delhi's water crisis, but Haryana is conspiring against the people of Delhi.While the case was being heard in Supreme Court, Haryana has been steadily reducing the water being released to Delhi in the last 3 days...." Atishi said on X. The minister will visit the Wazirabad barrage at 11 am to assess the water situation.