HIMACHAL PRADESH

As several states faced power shortage due to dwindling coal stocks, Himachal not only remained unaffected but also earned good profit over the last month.

The official said the power rate jumped to the highest permissible limit of Rs 20 per unit on several occasions. The price usually fluctuates between Rs 2.50 and Rs 6, but for at least 10 days in October the Average price range has been Rs 11-14 a unit. The past few weeks have indeed been profitable, he said. Much of the surplus power is going to the energy exchange. We dont have many bilateral power pacts where the price remains fixed. The exchange is market driven and rates are fixed as per demand and supply on a daily basis, the official said.

While addressing the people on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the is committed to the development of Solan as a vibrant and buzzing town of the state.

He urged the people of the state to give their wholehearted cooperation to make Himachal a pioneer in the second dose vaccination after the hill state administered first dose of COVID vaccine to all eligible Population.

Thakur said that the people of the State have always reposed faith in the State Government and BJP and would not get carried away by baseless allegations of the Congress leaders.

Earlier, Thakur inaugurated Rs 4.59 crore lift Irrigation scheme for Kurgal, Nohra, Karog, Chhob, Takrana villages in Gram Panchayats Dangheel and Hinner and Rs 1.33 crore LWSS to Sawangaon village in GP Hinner in tehsil Kandaghat. He also laid the foundation stone of Regional Hospital building, Solan to be constructed at a cost of Rs. 90.33 crore.

With the Covid-19 situation improving, Himachal Pradesh is eyeing to boost industrial in the state by ensuring execution of projects worth over Rs 10,000 crore whose MoUs have been signed.

Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said his government was working on ensuring the success of three ambitious projects bulk drug park in Una, medical devices park in Solan and plastic park in Nalagarh.

Thakur said over 1,400 hectares of land had been identified in Una district for bulk drug park, which would attract worth Rs 8,000 crore in investment. He said medical devices park, once sanctioned, would be established at Nalagarh in Solan district. He said despite being a small state, Himachal had shown the way to several big states of the country by pioneering in various sectors. He said the State Government had taken several initiatives to invite entrepreneurs to partner in the development of the state. Himachal has been ranked 7th in Ease of Doing Business, he said, adding that the state had been providing a congenial Environment to entrepreneurs to invest.

Small Dams in the state should also be brought under the ambit of the Dams Safety Act, 2021, and the future construction should be carried out as per the procedure laid under the Act.

The idea was mooted during a meeting organised by Disaster Management cell on the preparedness for the impending monsoon season. It was chaired by Principal Secretary, Revenue, Onkar Chand Sharma.

Sharma also stressed on the need to accumulate and disseminate real-time information regarding the rise or drop in the water level of water bodies and dams, Earthquakes, cloudbursts, lightning and other natural disasters for timely action.

Sharma also laid Stress on the use of modern-day technologies, especially SACHET app developed by the . The application provides weather-related alerts on time and issues dos and donts in a particular state of emergency at a particular place and time.

The allotment of Pattas of Nautor land in all sanctioned cases in the tribal areas of the state and follow up action were discussed during the meeting. Problems of migratory shepherds and their solutions including problems of pastures, theft and problems of right of way were also discussed.

TheHimachal Pradeshgovernment is considering the legalization of cannabis cultivation. Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has directed to form a panel to explore the possibility of the legal cultivation of cannabis as it would play a significant role in generating revenue for the state besides proving beneficial for the patients because of its medicinal properties and can be used for industrial purposes as well.
The would consider all aspects, including regulatory measures and will study other states that have legalized it before making a final call.

The Chief Minister was presiding over a meeting of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Board here,

He directed the officers for expediting the work on all the major ropeways viz Dharamshala-Mcleodgang, Palchan-Rohtang, Aadi Himani-Chamunda, Sri Anandpur Sahib-Shri Nainadevi etc.

He also directed the officers to effectively pursue FCA cases so that work on various tourism projects could be taken up soon.

While reviewing various projects, Thakur said that work must also be expedited on north and south portal alongside Atal Tunnel Rohtang, as the tunnel has emerged as the major tourist attraction.

Apart from this, Convention Centre at Kyarighat is coming up at a cost of Rs 29.90 crore and would be completed by September this year. Art and Craft village is being developed on 44 bigha land near Kandaghat village for which FCA approval is underway. This would prove an attractive destination for the tourists as both these projects are on the major national highway between Kalka-Shimla.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday reviewed the progress of various ongoing National Highway (NH) projects in the state focusing on resolving issues related to land compensation, clearances of FRA (Forest Rights Act) and FCA (Forest conservation Act), and other bottlenecks of the projects.

The Chief Minister lauded the efforts of the officers for disbursing Rs 804 crore as land compensation in various NH projects within a month. He also emphasized the importance of completing the disbursement process of the remaining compensation cases worth about Rs 750 crore by March 27, 2023.

As the roads are the lifeline of the Himachal Pradesh, the has been working diligently to ensure the timely completion of National Highway projects. The State Government’s efforts to expedite the land compensation and other clearances process would facilitate smoother implementation of the projects and provide better road connectivity to the people as well as tourists visiting the state, he said.

Sukhu directed the officers to expedite the FRA-FCA clearance cases, by monitoring the cases every 15 days. He said that a follow-up review meeting would be held on March 27 (Monday) to access the progress made in these matters.

The apple growers also raised the issue of increasing input cost and demanded to fix the rates as per the market intervention scheme. Consensus could not be reached on theuniversalcarton.

The new drug policy ofHimachal Pradeshhas recommended implementation of the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in NDPS (PITNDPS), Act No. 46 of 1988, for the detention of identified people in certain cases to check smuggling of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The policy said Himachal Pradesh borders withPunjab, Haryana, and Union territory of J&K and smuggling of drugs in and out of the state is a critical drug control problem that needs to be given top priority.

TheHimachal Pradesh Integrated Drug Prevention Policynotified recently said to effectively counter the smuggling problem, the state should make efforts to sensitize and build capacities of its drug law enforcement personnel; establish mechanisms to continuously strengthen inter-state cooperation. It also advocated to set up institutional mechanisms for direct exchange of intelligence between state drug law enforcement agencies and their counterpart agencies in the neighbouring states and the Centre, besides curb the Growth of illegal Internet pharmacies (darknet markets) indulging in smuggling of pharma-based psychoactive and prescription drugs and lay measures to curb import, export, shipment of drugs through air, sea, road, rail, and post/courier Services.

The policy said the State Government should notify a board and detaining authority under this act and sensitize the Police and excise enforcement agencies on its provisions. It further suggests the state to make effort to identify, seize and forfeit properties of such offenders; detain the organizers, financiers, and their agents, who manage things from behind the scenes.