Resolve Kinnaur issues: Min to power project developers

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh’s tribal development minister Jagat Singh Negi has asked the developers of Kinnaur’s hydroelectricity projects to solve the local related problems by rules and within reasonable time to the satisfaction of the affected gram panchayats.He was presiding over a meeting of the local area development committee (Lada) on Thursday at Reckong Peo. Regretting that Lada had met only thrice in the last five years, he said the present government will take this frequency to once every three months and request the high court to restore Lada’s financial powers that it had limited in a case. He asked the power project developers to build the plants within deadline without troubling the panchayats.He said Lada will share complete information of the case with the affected panchayats and hand them a list of all the development works. He said Lada will create a website to share this information digitally. He asked the power project developers to deposit the revised LADF (local read development fund) with Lada to follow the rules. The penalty will be charged at 12% annual interest.The project managers must also deposit the Lada dues for the development of panchayats and release 15% of the water into the rivers to prevent environmental damage. They must also build small ponds at every 2 to 3 kilometers from the dam to the powerhouse.