BRICS To Provide Rs. 670 Crore To Himachal
Shakeel Qureshi
BRICS countries group has agreed to help Himachal Pradesh in making water reach in rural areas too. Officials from Himachal Pradesh held an important meeting with officials of BRICS, in which Rs. 3267 crore projects were discussed. However BRICS officials have asked for some information related to the project from officials of Himachal. BRICS group has agreed in principle to provide a help of Rs. 670 crore in the first phase. It is expected that soon a team from BRICS group will visit Himachal and the project will get final approval. Principal Secretary Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Anuradha Thakur, ENC Anil Bahri and other officers from Himachal discussed the projects details with BRICS group officials. It was also discussed in the meeting that how water distribution is managed in rural areas of Himachal and how much water is supplied there. Besides this, other aspects like how water distribution system could be strengthened in rural areas of Himachal through this was also discussed in detail in the meeting. The project is extremely important for Himachal and this is the reason IPH department is seriously working on it. If Himachal succeeds to get help from BRICS countries, then it can open doors for help for other projects in future too. In Himachal, water needs of rural parts are not fulfilled as per requirement. Even drinking water schemes are failing to meet the demand and supply of pure drinking water supply. Sewerage plants too are not in good condition. Questions has been raised against sewerage treatment plants in most of the places. Not only drinking water supply, agriculture area too is not getting required supply. However approval from BRICS group for this project could help in providing ample amount of water for agriculture purpose. IPH department besides rural areas is formulating plans for urban areas of Himachal too.
All Bank ATMs To Run In Post Office ATMs
Maan Singh Verma
The Postal Department will now provide facility to transact money from its ATM machines using debit card of any bank. The department has begun the process of upgrading its ATM installed all across the state so that customers can avail the facility 24 x 7. Earlier ATM issued by the Postal Department only were acceptable in ATM machines installed by the department. But now ATM machines of postal department will provide money transaction facility to ATM card holders of different banks also. The Bank ATMs are already providing money withdrawal facility to post office ATM card holders. In fact now post offices in rural areas are also being connected with internet connectivity to facilitate banking transaction in the nearest post office. Superintendent Postal Department, Chamba, Santosh Kumar said that ATM cards of all banks will be acceptable in post office ATMs. The facility has been made available in all ATMs of post offices.
Business Brief
Fish Production Falls In Pong Dam
Baljeet Chambial
Fish production has fallen this time in Himachal’s biggest lake Pong Dam. However the Fishery Department is working hard to improve fish production but much improvement has not been witnessed due to changing weather. According to information, fish production has touched 361.4 metric tonne mark this year in Pong Lake which is much less as compared to previous year. Last year the fish production stood at 415 metric tonne. The department however put 1.15 crore high quality seed with an aim to increase fish production. But due to inclement weather, their efforts did not bring the desired results.
Pong’s Singhara Fish In Great Demand
The variety of fish found in Pong dam includes rahu, katla, marigal, mahasheer, singhara, mali, shol etc. Boneless singhara fish remains in quite a demand in Himachal and neighbouring states.
Fish Production
Year Fish Production Fish Seed
(in metric tonne)
2012-13 341 66.65 lakh
2013-14 307 79.65 lakh
2014-15 474 83.40 lakh
2015-16 415 88 lakh
2016-17 361 1.15 crore
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