Shimla: Five persons were attacked and injured on Sunday evening, which included a Zila Parishad member, allegedly at the behest of contractors wanting to execute two small hydro power projects on Hul Nala, a tributary of the Ravi River basin.
The five persons were attacked in Village Chungah where villagers had assembled to hold a meeting in opposition of construction of a 3.8 MW Hul Hydroelectric project, said Kulbushan Upmanyu, convener of Himalaya Niti Abhiyan, an NGO.
Those injured include Ratan Chand, a Zila Parishad member, Man 
Singh, an up-pradhan of Jadera Panchayat and three residents Hemraj, Laxman and Manoj. The injured are said to have been shifted to Chamba district hospital where the condition of Manoj is believed to serious as he has received head injuries.
Fearing loss of water rights for irrigation purposes because of construction of the hydro projects, the villagers under the banner of the ‘Saal Ghaati Bachao Sangharsh Morcha’ have been protesting allotment of these projects for quiet sometime. Rattan Chand had also alerted the district administration about fear to his life, said Guman Singh, a member of Himalaya Niti Abhiyan.
The locals are said to be opposing the construction of the hydroelectric project due to its impacts on the local forests, water resources and environment since 2005.
Repeated attempts to contact the Chamba deputy commissioner and police chief over phone were not responded to.
Photos by: Swaran Deepak Raina.
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.
sir,superintendent chaamba madhu sudan sharma was in the zonal hospital talking to media person disclosed that as soon as the information received a police team headed under the leadership of Dy.S.P.HQ K.D Sharma rushed to the spot for inquiry and arrest search .he said no one will spared at any cost. he also disclosed that rattan chaand sharma had already given a written complaint and also met him with villagers and said that they are receving threats from some contractors lobby hired by the company. he said it is not confirmed whether they have opened fire untill xray reports confirmed it.
Please provide us with more details about this corrupt incident. We are globally concerned about this type of pollution. There is more at stake here than water or blood.
You have mentioned some names but the name of the contractors and the companies involved are still not clear.
Please shine more light on this.
Why such issue does not come under mainstream media?
the follwing contractor have been arrested by the police late night Neeraj singh urf Neeru, Narendra Handa urf Bitu handa both are BJP people, Ghanshyam, Anil Gupa and Neelu Mian are congress contractors.