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Blooming beauties
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shimla Diary
CITIZEN FIRST
Improve trout habitat, says biologist
Wrong Parking Zone
Toxic threat to water resources
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Rhododendron flowers of different hues and shapes will bloom all over town in the green-Shimla drive, reports
Pratibha Chauhan
Vast variety Contrary to the common perception that rhododendron locally known as brass flowers, are only red in colour, the varieties brought in from Darjeeling will be of white, yellow, pink and beige colour. Two of the varieties from Darjeeling will even have differently shaped leaves and flowers.
The varieties brought from Darjeeling are suited for heights ranging between 1,500 to 3,600 meters, which will enable planting of the trees practically all over the town. So far there is only one variety in blood red called rhododendron arboretum found in certain parts of the state. In Shimla this variety is found in the Jakhu, Tara Devi, Summer Hill, Chowra Maidan and Boileauganj area. It blooms between February and May.
The varieties being introduced includes rhododendron grifithianum, having a 6 meter-high plant, which blooms in May and has large white bell-shaped flowers in cluster. The other variety rhododendron dalhousiae has large funnel shaped yellow flowers in a cluster of three to five. The triflorium variety will have a pale yellow flower, having green spots and fragrance.
Spots & stripes The rhododendron grande will have pink bud shaped flowers, on which at a later stage will turn white with purple blotches at the base, with bell-shaped and funnel shaped flowers. Some of these flowers will have green spots while others will have purple stripes.
The new varieties having differently coloured flowers will have the same medicinal value as the red rhododendron which is used for making jam, squashes and jellies, considered very healthy and recommended by doctors to people suffering from heart and blood pressure ailments.
More to come Mr R.K. Raj, DFO, Shimla, informed that in case these new varieties of rhododendron are a success, many more plants would be brought from Darjeeling next year. “This will not just make the town look greener, especially in view of the depleting forest cover but will also make it look colourful and beautiful,” he said. “We will undertake forestation in 200 acres of land in and around the town so that the precious deodar forests in the “Queen of Hills” does not become a thing of the past as majority of the century-old deodars trees have aged and would start drying sooner or later,” informed Mr Raj.
Many of the deodar trees in the town have developed flat tops and are drying due excessive construction activity, leaving very little space for the roots to spread. Under the Green Shimla project a model plant nursery will be set up at the state capital, which will supply plants to the public. “Though the stress will be on deodar and oak (ban) tress but other varieties will also be planted, suited for various heights,” informed Mr Raj.
People’s support
The most important component of the Green Shimla project will be the thrust on public participation. The authorities feel that it is only by involving the public that the non-forestland too can be brought under green cover. With limited forest staff, the responsibility for planting and nurturing of plants in the smaller patches, which are not owned by the Forest Department will be given to those living in that area.
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Moving mountains
Already a popular sport in western countries, mountain terrain biking (MTB) has finally arrived in the country. Like many other adventure sports Himachal Pradesh has taken the lead in introducing MTB as part of its programme to promote eco-friendly tourism activities. With its huge treasure of trans-Himalayan terrain, the hill state provides ideal settings for such sports. The extensive network of natural trails, village back tracks, un-metalled and metalled single-lane roads presents a stupendous challenge to test the strength, determination and endurance of peddlers.
Ride and race The country will be put on the international mountain biking map with the MTB Himachal 2006, a cycling ride and race event, commencing from October 4. The nine-day of classic mountain cycling through the rugged Himalayan ranges will also provide the participants from the USA, United Kingdom, Brazil, Belgium, Hungry, Hong Kong and other countries an opportunity to explore interiors and savour the unmatched scenic splendour of the hills. It will showcase the immense potential of Himalayan trails to the cyclists from around the world. The initiative has been taken by the Himalayan Adventure Sports and Tourism Promotion Association (HASTPA), which has been striving to promote responsible tourism where the local communities were directly benefited without causing any harm to the culture and environment. It has adopted Mountain Terrain Biking as its core promotional activity.
Shimla to Manali The race will take off from Shimla and conclude at Manali on October 13 after passing through Mashobra, Narkanda, Baghi, Sungri, Sarhan, Jeoriu, Rampur, Nirmand, Khanag, Jalori Pass, Ghushaini, Jhanjeli, Pandoh, Mandi, Kataula, Bajaura, Bhuntar, Bijli Mahadev, Naggar and Jagatsukh. Pedalling 70 to 80 km every day the participants will cover about 650 km during the event and achieve an aggregate elevation gain of 12,000 m. The average riding altitude will be 2000 m with the high point at Jalori pass (3,223 m) and touching low at Pandoh (750 m). The state Tourism Department, which has been supporting adventure sports activities, is the main sponsor of the event. The course winds its way through single track, double track, and broken tarmac, tarmac and footpaths presenting steep down-hills and gruelling up-hills. There are sections of hike and bike along with fast paced gravel roads. There is a little bit of everything for riders of all initiations, just not dirt roads and single-tracks, says Mr Mohit Sood, president of the association. The participants could look forward to some great days of pedalling.
Future plans Future plans of the association include development of trails indigenously with the assistance and support of local Panchayats to interconnect the whole state over the next five years. The aim is to see Himachal Pradesh emerge as a leading international destination for mountain cycling. The sport will of course be a tool for to promote holistic adventure tourism in the culturally rich but ecologically fragile hill state, he explains. The participants will stay in tents during the night halts at specially set up camps with facilities for ayurvedic massages to soothe the tired muscles after a physically demanding and mentally testing day.
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HIllside view
Boring, pompous speeches mark the Teachers Day functions every year, every where. The same stuff is doled out— teachers’ vital role as builders of society, promoters of values, quality etc. Uncomfortable questions are raised only occasionally. How good and honest are some teachers? How indifferent, or mercenary?
But an unspoken conspiracy saves them the blushes—nobody stretches a discussion to its logical end, nobody tries to answer truthfully, but everybody claps in appreciation, ending the discomfort. Fortunately the bad ones are few—but enough to spoil the teaching community’s reputation. I remember today a true teacher in my school days in that distant Andhra town — it may inspire some young enthusiastic teachers in Himachal, which has a similar culture. I remember him and a few other good teachers in my prayers every day. Achari masterji, a devout, orthodox Vaishnavaite was our Sanskrit teacher. At my nanaji’s request, he undertook to teach me three years of the course in just three months before the annual exams in 8th standard. After school in the evening, I would rush to his home nearby— and as directed, wash my hands, feet, face and squat on a bench in the verandah facing a lane. Hands across the chest, breathe deeply and relax. His son, my classmate, would join me. Masterji would hover around, chat up a bit, making you loosen up. Then at some point, he would drop into an easy chair in front, close his eyes and start teaching just like that! As smooth as a good pilot’s take-off. We would repeat “Ramaha, Ramau, Ramaah” and others from shabda manjari after him. His voice— slow, clear and strong— had a certain purity that carried the words peacefully into your mind. It was like a fine chalk-piece moving smoothly on a clean blackboard. Ironically, his skin was darker than coal, with a white three-lined vaishnava naamam sparkling up his forehead, into the shaven pate. Even today, after nearly 50 years, his voice resonates in my years. I can pick it up easily among many mixed sounds. His voice wrote on your mind. He would recite a shloka, we would repeat, eyes closed — each word registering firmly by the third time. The words were spaced out and pronounced perfectly to let the ideas sink in and stay. At times I was asked to read a complex text like Dashakumara charitram (by Dandi) at home also, once again. In three months, as promised, he taught us from the first to the last lessons of the course — Kalidasa’s classics Kumarasambhavam and Megha sandesam —with an amazing ease. He was a simple, affectionate man, practicing his religious austerities with discipline. You could see his entire being going into his words and voice as you sat there, learning for hours at a stretch. That was the key to our oral tradition of teaching. The guru’s word did not merely carry knowledge — it was a unit of knowledge itself (like electricity taking the form of light) and moved into the pupil’s mind. For this, the guru had to be soaked in his subject, had to live his knowledge all the way. Only then would his word acquire the purity essential for the next process. Like a pure surface for lasting adhesion or welding— and pure food- stuffs for proper digestion. Scriptures like the Vedas, the Bible and the Guru Granth Saahib tell us about the nature of the word and sound as a blended unit of knowledge. Form and content are inseparable (milk may take different shapes in different glass containers— but it remains milk). Unfortunately, we dole out lessons, say hollow words on values — we pretend sincerity these days. The students, with their unsoiled instincts, see through their teachers. On rare days when my mind wandered, the masterji would sense it, chat a bit, send me on some needless errand. Otherwise, he would himself declare “no mood to teach today” and make me chatter away about my playmates, relatives and the games I liked. His lessons began, as a rule, only after tuning in the student. The unhurried graphic descriptions and explanation of meanings were part of his captivating style. On hindsight, I now realise that he also studied each student’s learning system and toned it up in different ways. Just like in the great gurukul tradition of yore. He also knew how to space out his words, giving time for ideas to sink in. Even when I was unwell, or didn’t feel like learning, I liked trudging up to his home. He never scolded or compelled me to learn. When I look back, I see the bottom-line — all his students liked his company, and felt sure of learning so many things from him. Through his subject, Achari masterji connected to the myriad aspects of existence (and other subjects in the course) with ease. It was like a single beam of light hitting a prism, and coming out as a rainbow. I chanced upon a few class fellows in that town last winter, after nearly forty-five years. We soon broke into an animated chatter about our long-dead teacher with admiration. We went to the same verandah and sat the same way, with his son now retired, next to me. Obviously, the untrained Achari masterji had an instinct for each pupil. There was no drama-baazi, no razzle-dazzle of technology. No unfurling of classroom techniques. He cared, all the way. Saluting such true teachers in our state and studying their effective but quiet ways would be the right way to celebrate the Teachers Day. Manipulators will anyway take care of the other tamasha s like hollow awards, rewards, insincere speeches, and
garlands. Amen.
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shimla Diary
Remarks by Opposition MLA’s in the Assembly that all members above the age of 75 years should retire had Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh not just coming to the rescue of Revenue Minister Sat Mahajan but showering praises on him.
A minor fumble by Mr Mahajan, who is referred to as Field Marshall of Himachal politics in the Assembly while replying to a question, had the Chief Minister on his feet supporting his colleague. “He is one of the most able and experienced minister in my cabinet and we are proud that he is a member of this House,” the Chief Minister said. What prompted remarks by the Opposition was when Mr Mahajan instead of saying that the information was still being collected regarding a question by an MLA said that it had been placed on the table of the house. The BJP MLA, Mohinder Singh reacted by saying that all MLA’s above the age of 75 should retire.
Incidentally, Mr Mahajan, who represents the Nurpur Assembly segment in Kangra district is known for maintaining cordial relations with one and all as he tries to maintain equidistance from all factions and groups not just within his own party but also with Opposition members. Seeing his long political career and experience, his name has also cropped up from time to time for being made Governor. He too is learnt to be open to the idea as this will pave the way for the political debut of his son, Ajay Mahajan, who is taking keen interest in Kangra
politics.
Deodar in distress
Even though it may seem that the incessant rains this monsoon have played havoc with the forest cover, especially the deodar trees in various parts of the town but the reality is that it is the haphazard construction activity which has taken its toll on the green cover of the town.
Seeing trees falling in practically every part of the town at this time of the year, one could easily blame this on the vagaries of nature but on a closer look it is evident that it is the urbanisation and unprecedented construction activity that is ruining the fast shrinking green cover of the “Queen of Hills”. These trees, majority of them the precious deodars, have fallen as their roots have been exposed due to construction activity. According to the forest authorities a total of 87 trees on government land and 56 on private land have so far fallen. Out of this 80 are deodar threes while other varieties include pine, oak and kail. While this is the official number in the record of the Forest Department there are large number of trees, which have tilted and could fall anytime. Large number of huge deodar trees have fallen victim to the widening of the road leading to Annadale. About 20 deodar trees have already been uprooted and many other smaller ones are unlikely to survive. The joy of having cleared the medical college entrance exam has been too short lived for the 38 students who have come under the scanner of police investigations for being alleged beneficiaries of the HP-CPMT paper leak. Hardly any of these 38 students, who had secured amazingly high scores last time have failed to find a place in the merit list declared by the university after fresh exams were conducted on August 20, on the directions of the High Court. It is not just the misery of losing out a seat in the medical college which is weighing on the minds of these students but the fear of police investigations, under which they along with their parents will be questioned. The police, who have made about nine arrests in the paper leak case, had been directed by the Supreme Court to not bother the students till August 23 as they had to prepare for the examination. It is learnt that seven of the students who had been selected last time did not take the paper again while majority of the remaining have not just failed to secure a place in the merit but their score this time is far less than what they scored on the previous occasion. The three-member police team headed by DIG, Mr O.C. Thakur with SP (Shimla) Mr A.P. Singh and DSP, Mr Arvind Negi as its other members had submitted their report to the High Court, indicating that these 38 students could have benefited from the question paper leak.
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CITIZEN FIRST
The Himachal Government’s promises of making the state a hub of industrial growth seem totally vain, in the wake of its total apathy towards the problems of industrialists. Recently, the industrial plants being set up in Amb had to lose manpower and infrastructure due to improper rainwater management in the area.
Floods may have come uninvited, but what came as a bigger shock was the total indifference on the part of Government to provide any relief to the industrial units and the families of the deceased labourers. Surely, these industries would be changing the economic face of the region, but when it comes to saving their own face against natural calamities and bottlenecks, the Government seems to sleep it all off. Ajit Rana
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Improve trout habitat, says biologist
There is a need to improve the habitat of the brown and rainbow trout in the waters of Himachal Pradesh to enhance its population.
Trout is a cold-water fish and found in streams of the Beas, the Tirthan, the Sainj, the Parvati, the Baspa, the Pabar, the Ravi, etc, in the upper Himalayas. Being the game fish, it has always attracted the attention of the anglers. Of the 15 species found globally, two trout species — brown and rainbow — are also found in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In areas where no other fish species survive due to extreme cold climate, there the introduction of the trout is a big success. The Britons first introduced the trout in Himachal Pradesh in 1909 in order to promote game fishing. At that time the fingerlings, which were brought from Jammu and Kashmir, were released in streams of Chamba, Kangra and Kulu districts. The introduction of the fish was successful as the stocked fish not only thrived but also started propagating. Subsequently, a number of trout propagation farms were set up in the state and seedlings produced therein were stocked in major streams. Sadly, its population has declined in the past 10 years due to various reasons, including the construction of dams, barrages, pollution and human interference. Prof M.S. Johal of the Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, says the Department of Fishery must start the trout restoration programme to enhance its population. He had studied the habitat of the trout in Kulu district under a project, “Habitat restoration of streams to enhance trout population”. The project, sponsored by the Fishery Department, was completed in July 2005 and its report was submitted to the department. The biologist says geomorphological, hydrobiological and biotic factors of eight stretches of the Sainj and the Tirthan streams of the Beas were studied. “Surprisingly, the department had funded the study and now it is sitting on the report,” says Prof Johal. The habitat can be restored only by creating food and breeding zones. For this, the streams need to be treated. Even during the floods of 2005, the government fish farm in Nagini was washed away. Till date, the department has done nothing to restore it. Prof Johal, who was also the chief investigator of an Indo-US project, “Ecology of hillstreams of Himachal Pradesh and Garhwal”, says some of the streams in the upper Himalayas can support good fish diversity if habitat is made available. For this, some alterations have to be made in the streams so that feeding and breeding grounds are available to them. Prof Johal has recorded 85 fish species in various aquatic bodies of Himachal.
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Haphazard parking has become a major problem in Dalhousie, reports Sanjeev Singh Bariana The enviously green and serene environs of the hill station here these days witness to haphazard parking all over the town leading to frequent traffic jams, some lasting for hours at a stretch. Summers and the ongoing rainy season have witnessed a heavy inflow of traffic. Besides the regular tourists, the weekends in particular, are packed because of parents visiting their wards in about half a dozen residential schools. The road leading to Khajjiar, a tourist spot (22 km) and Chamba (district headquarters) at Gandhi Chowk continues to be jam-packed for most part of the day. Traffic jams are very common because of inadequate parking space. Vehicles are parked right on the roads and several of them jutting out on the roads. It is a common sight to see that the number of hotels and residential lodges have multiplied several times over the past few years. However, the parking space does not match the requirements of the residential quarters there. The vehicles are parked on the roadside during the nights. Mr Manoj Chadha, President of the Municipal Council, says, “we have taken up the issue of settling the parking woes at the earliest. A special parking is being created for the vehicles at Subhash Chowk. The town will have at least three more parkings, at least one each at the Gandhi Chowk and Bus Stand, respectively”. He adds, “we have already identified the trouble spots and are also talking with the state government to help us with the city roads. There has been a sizeable growth in the number of vehicles on the road here, however, the roads are largely of the size they were during the pre-Partition British Days. Majority of the development work on roads came up as a part of the coming of the Chamera Hydroelectric Project.” He says there will be little construction in future because of government orders of no construction without a matching parking space for each room of the hotel. Mr Anil Mehta, secretary of the Dalhousie Club, says, “the place has never really been promoted as an important tourist destination by the state government. We are asking the government to provide us with more infrastructure, at least tourist information centres, to attract more tourist.” One ugly spot in the serene environs of the hill town is Panchpula, which is venue for a memorial dedicated to Ajit Singh, the uncle of the martyr Bhagat Singh. The place has beautiful waterfall, however, the entire area is spotted with plastic waste. Mr R. Roy, a retired government officer, says, “tourists are expected to have a civic sense in maintaining the beauty of the tourist spot, yet, they do not bother. Probably, as a strong measure, the council should start levying a fine on the defaulters”.
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Toxic threat to water resources
The toxic liquids including leachate, a toxic liquid drained from the dumping grounds or the “deep burials” in which the hazardous medical and solid municipal waste are dumped, threaten to contaminate the rivers and the drinking water sources and the hand pumps in the state.
The leachate is drained from the dumping grounds or deep burials where the medical and solid waste produced by the hundred of government hospitals, private clinics and diagnostic labs are dumped over the decades. These toxic liquids pose hazards to the underground water, the marine life in the river Beas, Sutlej, Ravi, Yamuna or nearby khuds and traditional drinking water sources used by the villagers across the state.
Waste dumps The waste dumped in the Darni Ka Bagicha in Shimla town, is producing leachate that can drain in to the Ashwani khud downstream, the source of water being lifted for human consumption in the town, warn environmentalists. In the tourist town of Manali, the waste is dumped in an open dumping ground along the Beas river, where the ‘leachate and other toxic liquid are “ silently seeping into the Beas river”, posing a death-knell for the trout and other fishes downstream in the river. The leachate threatens to contaminate underground water sources in the Mandi town as the waste is dumped along the ground near the Beas river. But the toxic liquids threat in the dumping ground and in the industrial Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh-Poanta Sahib belt is even more a matter of concern. The industries in the belt and the auto-show rooms and work shops and service stations, which have flooded the Mandi-Gutkar-Sunder Nagar belt along the National Highway (NH)-21 and Shimla-Kalka NH- 22 are draining the effluents into the nearby rivers/ nallahs and streams without treatment, point out environmentalists. The environmentalists cite the rising incidence of the water-born diseases like gastroenteritis, jaundice, typhoid and loose motion as the “sure signs why water that the citizens drink is not safe”. These diseases are being reported from every corner of the state more common than ever before not only during the rainy seasons but throughout the year. These can be due to problem of leakages of the sewerage and leachate being drained into the water sources”, they suspect. The “leachate and toxic liquid problem” can be aggravated in the days to come. In Mandi town the traditional water sources like baolis and khatis and other sources are unfit for human consumption as these have been contaminated by leakages from septic tanks. In fact, over 60 to 80 per cent of water sources are contaminated with faecal matter as villagers defecate in the open. The hazards of the leachate and toxic liquids are understandable. The municipal bodies in the state have no mechanism to segregate, collect, transport and dispose off the waste in the incinerators and shredders nor they have the designed landfills and the leachate treatment plant as are norms in the advanced countries.
Major problem Citing examples in the western countries, where the leachate had emerged as a major problem the environmentalists reveal that the health and pollution control authorities have yet to address the problem as the leachate and other toxic liquids produced from factories seep into the water aquifers and pollute hem. “This leakage pollutes water sources both underground and on the surface as the mountains also breathe like an organism”, they reveal. Though the State Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (SEPPCB) maintains that they have yet to detect a case of underground water pollution from the leachate in the state, but the environmentalists caution that toxic liquids pose a danger as there is no study available to detect the exact dimension of the problem in the state.
Treatment plants What is more alarming is that the water samples are rarely tested unless the water-borne diseases break out in the areas. The most of the Municipal Councils have neither waste treatment plants nor the well-designed landfills nor the specialized staff to the take care of the hazardous medical waste and thousands tons of municipal waste generated in the towns. The biomedical placenta, bandages, human tissues and solid medical waste like the infected syringes, needles and bandages are dumped either in the ‘deep burials’ nearby the hospitals or dumped in the waste dumping sites in the open. The municipal waste is dumped haphazardly in the open ground nearby the khuds or rivers, revealed the medical officers in the primary health centres (PHC).
Blame game The health, pollution control and IPH department are engaged in the blame game, passing the buck from one another. The SEPPC officials admit the leachate certainly threatens the water sources. The proposal to shift the Darni Ka Bigicha site to Taradevi in Shimla town as met with opposition from the local residents there. They claim they have challaned the Mandi Municipal council for non-compliance over the management of the medical waste. We are advising the IPH to install the hand pumps away from the site of the deep burials, which should be concretised”. The health officials say that they follow the norms laid down by the pollution control board. “The waste is dumped in the deep burials or is destroyed in the incinerators. But we are not aware about the norms that the deep burials are to be concretised and about the leachate problem”. The IPH department has installed over 14,000 hand pumps to provide portable water in the villages across the state and taping underground water sources more particularly in the drought-hit villages. The IPH engineers claim that they chlorinate the water and are installing filter tanks. But we are not aware of the problem of leachate. Residents eat unwashed vegetables and food, it would be wrong to blame the IPH for the rising incidence of the water-related diseases, claim IPH engineers.
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Rhododendron flowers of different hues and shapes will bloom all over town in the green-Shimla drive, reports
Pratibha Chauhan
HIllside view
The flaming red rhododendron flowers, so far spotted only in Jakhu, Tara Devi and few other areas, will now bloom all over the town and that too in different colours as 2,000 plants brought from Darjeeling will be planted under the Rs 6-crore Green Shimla project.
