Holy lake Unholy mess
Kulwinder Sandhu

IT is not just scenic landscape, lofty mountains and the sacred temple of Lord Shiva that greet you at the Dal lake, situated at a height of about 1,775 mt and about 11 km from Dharamsala, but also stray cattle and dogs, heaps of garbage and polythene bags thrown carelessly by visitors and residents. Sacred Dal Lake, near Dharamsala, has become the dumping ground for plastics and waste materials

Beauty & Beliefs 
Small, sleepy and serene, Kalpa, the winter home of Lord Shiva temples,Tibetan hymns and Kinnauri artistry, will make you fall in love with it 
Jitender Kaushik

KALPA, says a forty-something local gentleman, marks the confluence of two beliefs: Shivaism and Buddhism. I miss the gentleman’s name in the din of the overcrowded shared taxi, but not the apt description of a place known as the mythological winter abode of Lord Shiva. A view of Kalpa nestled in the majestic Kailash Mountains

A test of endurance
The state is all set to hold its third annual mountain terrain biking event next month that will see participation from 13 countries 
Rakesh Lohumi
IF the ever-increasing response from peddlers all across the globe is any indication, then Himachal has secured its place on the international mountain terrain biking (MTB) map. A popular sport in the west, MTB was introduced in the country in 2005 with the holding of MTB Himachal, an annual cycling ride and race event. The event has since then seen a huge participation from all across the world.

All hiss, no poison
Only four species of snakes are poisonous. 
So look out before you kill one 
Dharam Prakash Gupta 
While human beings feel threatened by snakes and try to kill them as soon as they happen to spot them, it is an established fact that only a minuscule number of them are poisonous. In fact, some of them are very useful to us. It is a general tendency in our country to kill snakes, whether harmful or not. No doubt, a large number of them are killed every year, though only about 15 per cent snakes are poisonous. 

Right trek
Tourism department organises a trekking festival
Pratibha Chauhan
WITH a shift towards adventure tourism, the state government for the first time will be holding a week-long trekking festival, covering the main tracks in various parts of the state to attract tourists.

Vignettes
Simla through a village woman’s eyes
by Shriniwas Joshi
Alice Elizabeth Dracott, writer of Simla Village Tales, was contemporary of that mysterious magician J.M. Jacob, who had arrived at Shimla in 1871. Despite learning three secrets of maintaining perpetual youth so as to look seventeen at fifty, turning oneself invisible and to control the sex of unborn child from the magician, Dracott left India suddenly owing to nervous breakdown that she had developed after the terrible earthquake of April, 1905 that shook Kangra and most of the ‘Punjaub’. 

A tale of neglect
Inadequate capacity, shortage of staff and negligence by the authorities are responsible for the neglect of the state’s first model central jail
S. R. Pundir
THE state’s oldest, biggest and first reformist jail, the Model Central Jail, Nahan has been in a state of neglect for half a century now. Records suggest that the jail is around two centuries old and came into existence during the Ryasati rule in the capital of erstwhile Sirmoor Riyasat. The present situation of the jail is alarming and records show that in the past 60 years no effective steps have been taken to increase its capacity. 

It’s an emergency 
Poor services at IGMC, the state’s premier health institute is leaving patients dissatisfied 
Kuldeep Chauhan
IT has been over a decade now that Himachal’s premier health institution, Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) and associated hospitals in Shimla has failed to deliver prompt health care services. Emergency services at zonal hospitals are yet to see the light, as the health department is yet to start the proposed trauma centres for zonal hospitals at Mandi, Bilaspur and Kullu.

Nature’s own 
The 86-bed health retreat has become Palampur’s pride and joy
 Ravinder Sood
Kaya Kalap, a naturopathy centre run by the Vivekananda Medical Research Trust, a charitable institution, has proved to be a boon to the people of the northern region. Situated on the Pathankot-Manali highway, 2 km from Palampur, Kaya kalap is an 86-bedded health retreat, set amidst 60 acres of lush green land in the foothills of the Himalayas. In Sanskrit, kaya means the body in its physical and sublime state, and kalap means transformation.

Shimla Diary
Fireworks before Diwali

THE brief monsoon session of the Himachal Vidhan Sabha saw fireworks both inside and outside the house. It was a mere coincidence that the party adopted aggressive postures under I. D. Dhiman, who replaced former chief minister P. K. Dhumal as the leader of the BJP legislative party recently. It was quite unexpected as Dhiman does not carry the tag of a firebrand leader. The police lathi charged BJP workers outside Vidhan Sabha

Clearance within 15 days
Town and Country Planning Dpartment gets organised
Jagmeet Y. Ghuman
TO streamline the working pattern of the Town and Country Planning, the Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Development Authority (BBNDA) has launched a new scheme. With this, the BBNDA is aiming to surpass the agencies like PUDA and HUDA by clearing cases within 15 days. Earlier, one had to wait for two to three months to get permission for construction.

After apples,it’s raining tomatoes 
Tomato sets Solan farmers’ cash registers ringing 
Jagmeet Y. Ghuman
Tomato has really helped in transforming the economy of the farmers in Solan. If it was apple for the upper areas, it’s the tomato that has brought sea changes in the lifestyle of the farmers of the lower Shivalik hills. Not only the tomato, the farmers of Solan also have set an example by producing other off- season cash crops like capsicum, cucumber, peas and ginger on large scale.

Potato Power
Two new blight-resistant varieties of potatoes developed
to boost production in hills and plains
Kulwinder Sandhu
THE Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla, has developed two new potato varieties, including Kufri Himsona for cultivation in the Himachal hills and Kufri Sadabahar for the Uttar Pradesh plains. Both the varieties have been released by the respective state agencies. Kufri Himsona, a processing variety, contains high levels of dry matter and low sugar content.

Elsewhere, some suffer losses due to spurious hybrid seeds
A tale of woes
Ambika Sharma
THE presence of sub-standard seeds in the markets has become a cause of concern for the tomato growers of the area. Since there is no monitoring over the sale of untested or sub-standard seeds in the market, it is the rural agrarian community, which generally falls prey to such planting material. Adopting a hit and trial method, the farmers use whatever seeds are available in the market.

History comes alive
Bipin Bhardwaj
Century-old-festival Googa Mandli, which finds a mention in the history books, is still alive in the Dev Bhoomi.

A divine trip
The famous fortnight Manimahesh pilgrimage in Chamba started on Tuesday on the auspicious occasion of Sri Krishna Janamashtmi. The pilgrimage would conclude on September 19, the occasion of Sri Radhashtami. During the fortnight, the pilgrims and devotees of Lord Shiva will take their holy dip (badh) in the sacred icy waters of manimahesh lake at an altitude of 4,170 mt and have vision of Kailash Peak (5656 mt), the abode of Lord Shiva daily. — PTI

Tailpiece
A sepoy in a hill-state army was about to be killed by his enemies. They asked him if he wanted a beedi before they killed him. “No,” he replied, “I gave up smoking. It’s bad for health!”