Vrinda Sharma SOLAN: Mushroom farming in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh has revived the fortunes of locals in a big way over the past few years. With the initial investment as low as Rs.5,000 and a profit of Rs.20 to Rs.50 on every kg of mushroom, the lucrative returns have motivated many farmers to take to mushroom farming along with their standard cultivation. Over 40 families in Solan are involved in mushroom farming. The credit for this transition goes to the National Research Centre for Mushroom (NRCM) here which provides quality seeds and training to farmers.

Flowing with ample rainwater a month and a half ago, the seasonal Ghaggar now has little water to offer.

Unscheduled long power cuts offering little time to farmers to irrigate land, an abysmally low water table and erratic flow of water in the Ghaggar are giving sleepless nights to tillers. Farmers with land along the river in the district are more concerned.

A farmer of Khareka village, Baijnath, who cultivates nearly four acres located near the Ghaggar, says these days one notices water in the river, but the flow is less.

The government is considering legislation to check the sale of spurious and substandard seed to farmers.

The farm authorities are facing problems in regulating the supply of seed as the existing law is inadequate and full of loopholes.

The Centre had introduced a Bill to replace it four years ago but it had not been passed till date.

The state's Fruit and Vegetable Producers Mahasangh today rejected the procurement price of apple (Rs 5.25) announced by the government in view of the increasing costs of inputs like fertiliser, chemicals, freight and packing material.

In a statement issued here today, convener of the mahasangh Ravinder Chauhan said there was an increase in the prices of fertilisers and freight and hence, the procurement price of Rs 5.25 was not profitable to the growers.

"We urge the government to make available fertilisers and chemicals in sufficient

The Rural Workers Association (RWA) and the district administration here are on a collision course over the non-payment of wages to workers, unemployment allowance to those eligible and non-availability of work for 1,500 job card holders under the NREGA in Khalwahan, Khani, Thata and Bung panchayats in the district.

RWA convener Lawan Thakur and president Sant Ram met the district NREGA coordinator here today.

They said they had brought these issues to the notice of the administration several times, but no action had been initiated to give relief to the rural workers so far.

The Himachal Pradesh government today cleared nine new industrial projects, bringing in additional investment of nearly Rs 1,095 crore in the state, which will mostly be concentrated in the industrial belts of Solan, Sirmaur and Una districts. The proposals were cleared at a meeting of the state-level single window clearance and monitoring authority, held here this afternoon. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who is also chairman of the authority, and also holds industrial charge, presided over the meeting.

A Young girl died while 12 others were taken ill after outbreak of gastroenteritis in Basal village near Solan, last night. Out of 12 patients suffering from diarrhoea, Darshan Singh and Mohit were admitted to the Primary Health Centre at Dharampur, while eight patients were given treatment at the village by a team of doctors led by Medical Officer Dr S.P. Singh.

Nahan, Trees in various parts of Sirmour district are being cut for construction of roads, without the approval of the authorities concerned. The state High Court had passed orders that no green tree would be axed without the permission of the Union government and Ministry of Forest Department, but no heed is being paid to these orders. Even pradhans of some panchayats are using JCB machines to fell trees for construction of roads in their areas and MLAs are providing funds for this purpose. The forest officers and the minister are not aware of the cutting of trees.

Jubbal (Shimla): The BJP government chose to celebrate completion of six months in power at Jubbal-Kotkhai today by raising the minimum support price of apple by 50 paise per kg. The BJP had alleged while in opposition that the Congress had overlooked the area during its term. The support price of apple is now Rs 5.25 per kg. Launching a scathing attack on former chief minister Virbhadra Singh for ignoring Jubbal-Kotkhai, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today showered development projects on the area, including a modern marketing yard at Kharapatthar and a helipad near Jubbal.

Three months after Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal mooted the Rs 80-crore energy saving Atal Bijli Bachat Yojana, envisaging free distribution of CFLs, Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board is finally ready to introduce the scheme. Yesterday, HPSEB top officials finalised the tender documents to start bulk purchase of compact fluorescent lamps directly from the manufacturing firms. At least eight leading CFL manufacturers have already shown interest to supply lamps as per specifications of the state government.