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What ails Baddi roads?
Solan, October 27 Various agencies, including the BBN Development Authority (BBNDA), PWD (both the state and national highway), HP State Industrial Development Corporation (HPSIDC), HIMUDA and the industries department look after separate parts of the town. The multiple agencies instead of dividing work and leading to better maintenance have rather made the situation worse. The HPSIDC that looks after interior roads between Baddi and Barotiwala failed to undertake repair work in time. They often wait for the potholes to become big enough so that they can call tenders to get the work done. This means that the condition of roads is allowed to worsen so that tenders could be floated. The PWD that looks after the main roads of the area is also yet to begin any maintenance. Its executive engineers while lamenting the delay say they have written to the HPSIDC to get the roads repaired and it was lamentable that despite the Baddi-Barotiwala road got black topped only last year, it has worn out. Since the road is yet in its warranty period of five years the contractor is responsible for its maintenance. The Pinjore-Swarghat NH-21A that is being maintained by the NH (PWD) has developed huge potholes in its entire stretch spreading from Manpura, Sandholi, Bhud, etc. The bridges, one near the truck union and the one near Morepen Laboratories, are also crying for repair. With thousands of industries having crept up, the government agencies often remain fund starved. In a bid to generate some funds, a committee headed by GM industries was entrusted the task to collect industrial area development fund (IADA) that was charged at the rate of Rs 5 per sq m from industrial units annually. But since the fund was floated before 2003, central industrial package only 300 to 400 industries pay this levy. Industrialists propose that if all units whether new or old are brought under its purview and the funds collected by the BBNDA would help provide adequate funds for such works. BBN Industries Association president Rajinder Guleria said, “Such a fund should be collected by the BBNDA and a system should be evolved to automatically undertake such works when required. Not only should the accountability for the ill-maintained roads be fixed but this can ensure that funds constrain do not hamper such mandatory works.”
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vignettes A park for women and children was opened in Shimla on July 6, 1937, by Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, who later was an MP from Mandi and the first health minister of independent India, but the plaque showing its opening was installed on November 15, 1938. Why this delay? The foremost reason is that it occurred to then senior vice-president of the municipal committee (MC) Lala Bihari Lal to have a plaque after it was inaugurated. Then the MC invited tenders, had negotiations and took long in deciding to install the plaque costing Rs 99 only. And finally, the size of the stone was not available locally and had to be brought from “down–countries”. The plaque is there on the bottom of the left side of the entrance gate to the park. On the right is another plaque that reads that the place was full of undergrowth and wildlife in the first quarter of the 19th century. Later, the town’s first hotel called Royal Hotel renamed as Lowrie’s came up here. It was burnt down in 1930s to pave way for the park for women and children spread over an area of 0.75 acre. A small Sandy’s hotel here was also to be dismantled and a resting shelter together with a pavilion had to be raised in its place. The work was completed in a month’s time by contractor Jamaluddin for Rs 15,360 prior to the inauguration. These buildings still exist on the middle-left of the park. It was popularly known as Ladies Park till Shanta Kumar government in 1977-78, renamed it as Rani Jhansi Park (ignoring its claim to be called as Rajkumari Amrit Kaur Park). The High Court banned all political and social activities here in 2005, and at present, the municipal corporation has maintained it pleasantly with trees of Cupressus torulosa standing in rows on its sides giving it a majestic look. The present government inclines to erect a statue of Rani Lakshmibai here. The park during the British times was meant for ladies and children below six years and the rule was strictly enforced. An interesting incident happened here on the evening of May 8, 1941. The secretary of the MC received a telephone call from M.L. Verma, the house agent, at nine in the evening that two persons in burqas had entered the park and when the ladies inside found out that one of them was a boy, he hurled his burqa and ran away. Next day, the secretary took the statement of Haji Qamar Ali, the chowkidar at the park. He stated that two persons in burqas had entered the park at 8 pm. They were barefooted and one of them had very large feet but then he thought that a woman could also have large feet so took no action merely on the basis of suspicion. When the women inside the park started shrieking, the boy flung off his burqa and ran away. His accompanist wore the tossed aside burqa herself and so left no evidence for him to collect. He immediately narrated the incident to a policeman patrolling near Cotton and Morris (a shop of one of the saddlers just below the park) who further reported the matter to Thana Sadar. The police was non-plus and could not even obtain the identification of the woman. They sent her to Shanker Nath (SN), probably a lawyer’s wife and a respectable lady in the vicinity, to handle the case. The Ayah of the park accompanied the defaulter. The Ayah Biharo informed the secretary that the defaulting lady did not disclose her identity to even SN. She asked her to go home letting her servant to stealthily follow her. The servant brought the identification details that the woman Fateh Khatoon was the wife of Khan Beg, the syce of Major General Hutton who lived in Sterling Castle, an old building on the opposite hill of the present Government College for Girls. And the defaulting boy Mohammed Raza, aged 15 years, lived there too. A case under Section 447 IPC (criminal trespass) against Raza was registered in the court of Syed Ghulam Haider Shah Bukhari, Magistrate First Class on September 17, 1941. The executive action ended here. Tailpiece
In 1937, the success and attraction of ladies’ park in the central area of Shimla forced men to raise a demand for “admiyon ka ladies park”.
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Sundernagar’s green cover in peril
Mandi, October 27 This has sent shivers down the spine of nature lovers and local residents, who have been up in arms against the cement plant since day one. It is also feared that the cement plant would spell doom for Sundernagar town. Over 2,726 trees are in the demarcated protected forests (DPF) of Tarambri, 5,800 in Behali Badaran, 1,720 in Karen Shil, and 1384 trees are in the non-demarcated forest, reveal sources. The felling of trees would not only ruin the ecology of the town but also pose danger to the Bandli wildife sanctuary and Taramri reserve, both are within a distance of not more than 5 km from the mining site. According to sources, the ministry of environment and forests had given its approval for the diversion of 173 hectare in 2005. However, the company has demanded over 467 hectare for mining, but it still awaits approval as the ministry is apprehensive of the damage it would do the ecology of the area. The Sundernagar Sangharsh Samiti (SSS) and Paryavaran Sangharsh Samiti (PSS) have asked the government to cancel the MoU signed by the government with Harish Cement Ltd, a subsidiary of Grasim Industries, Mumbai, as the company has played foul play by shifting the plant site from Maloh to Sundernagar. In fact, Sundernagar town has emerged as an educational hub in the central region and a dream town for settlers who could not find any land in the congested Mandi town. The cement plant will spell doom for the residents seeking a new home there. The anti-cement plant activists are demanding that the plant be shifted to other site away from the residential areas. On the other, company has pleaded they have presented the DPF to the MOEF, which had given them NOC way back in 2005. The company will pay the cost of trees to the state government, it added. Conservator of Mandi district, BD Suyal said, “The MOEF has given permission for the diversion of 173 hectare area on which over 5800 trees would be cut down in a phased manner. The counting of trees will be done freshly to assess total value as permission was granted in 2005”, he added. Suyal said the new saplings of tees have come up and trees have grown in size on the mining site. “We will examine all other aspects related to wildlife and apprised the MOEF about it. We may go for fresh enumeration of trees at the mining and plant sites”, he added.
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terminusproject hangs fire Chaos reigns at Mandi bus stand Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service
Mandi, October 27 Even as successive governments had a number of times given assurances for building a modern bus stand, no concrete step has been taken so far. Meanwhile, passengers continue to breathe in dust during dry season and bear with slushy potholes during rains. Commuters and tourists also have to brave backbreaking rides daily. Besides, toilets are not cleaned regularly, giving passengers nose-blowing stench. It is noteworthy that numerous passengers board HRTC and other private buses from here daily for different destinations in and outside the state. Right from the entrance to the exit points, the entire bus stand is an ordeal even to normal people leave alone children and old passengers. “They have to walk through the potholes and craters that can break their limbs, particularly at odd hours as there is not even proper system of lighting,” complain passengers. “We virtually breath in dust and pollution while waiting for a bus,” rues Bhupinder Thakur, who daily boards the bus for his hometown Jogindernagar. “Since we have no other option than waiting here for long hours, we run high risk of getting throat allergies and bronchial problems,” say Hema, Kapil and Kavita, all college students. The toilets are in stinking condition and unusable. People are forced to answer the call of nature in the backyard of the old ramshackle building which can collapse any time, say passengers. “Even shopkeepers here hardly bother about cleanliness and sell unhygienic snacks as there is nobody to check this,” they add. Though the previous government had floated a tender for the bus stand, the company withdrew as the government could not transfer the land for the purpose on time. Now when the forest department has given its permission for the diversion of land for the bus stand, the government has yet to award the contract. Transport minister Kishan Kapur during his recent visit to Mandi promised that the government would start the process for building a new bus stand soon. But how long will it take that needs to be seen.
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Kufri set to regain lost glory
Shimla, October 27 The hill station with its lush green forests and pristine surroundings was once a favourite destination for tourists as a famous ski resort. An action plan is being prepared with the help of environmental experts to take corrective measures so that the tiny hamlet known worldwide for its ski-slopes can be developed as a model site for eco-tourism keeping in view environmental safeguards. Courtesy the Rotary Mid Town
Shimla, an environmental expert from the Netherlands, Joseph Van
Oudenhaven, will prepare a detailed report on the basis of which external funding will be sought from agencies like the UN. What is most important is the fact that
Kufri, which has very little to offer except barren slopes, foul smell emanating form the faeces of ponies and lack of other infrastructure, will switch over to a complete rural look where all indigenous stuff is used. “We will avail benefit under the home-stay scheme floated by the tourism department so that tourists get to see the real rural hill life in a village home,” said Sohan Singh
Thakur, a panchayat member. Joseph, a senior coordinator with Pum, a Netherlands-based voluntary organization, has undertaken a filed survey and given suggestions in his report. Pum sends its experts to countries for giving expert advice, especially in developing nations, as they are unable to bear the cost of hiring experts. “What needs to be done is to develop separate forest tracks for ponies and pedestrians, a waste management plan and soil conservation steps to protect slopes and vegetation,” he says. Besides seeking funds from external agencies, the state government will also be approached to extend all possible help so that Kufri regains its lost glory. Rotary will help villagers to seek external funds and it is Rotary Community Corps, which would undertake this task. More environmental friendly things will be used and the possibility of tented accommodation will also be explored so that tourists can be close to nature. The villagers too have realised that over the years they have lost more than what they gained in terms of tourism promotion. They admit that there is very little that they have to offer to the tourists. “We will now keep a pony each in every house and give a taste of the rural life where farm fresh vegetables, fruits and milk products are offered to the tourists so that they get the feel of real rural life,” said
Thakur. The villagers are even willing to take to alternate farming like lavender cultivation and medicinal herbs for better returns. So far they have basically been dependent on potato cultivation and on tourism.
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Battle school at YolLalit Mohan
Dharamsala, October 27 He said the school had state-of-the-art facility to train troops for operations in plains. A battle space created in the school replicates the conditions prevailing in real operational areas. Modern electronic and surveillance devices have been put in place to monitor the training and carry out midcourse corrections by commanders at all levels. He also claimed that it was the only facility of its kind at the core level. The GOC also told that these days the training in natural areas was becoming difficult due to the extensive use of land for agriculture and urbanisation. The training school where operational areas of army were created artificially were the future for army training, he added.
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Back to basics
Shimla, October 27 This amazing turnaround has been achieved by Gopal Mehta, a progressive farmer of Kotgarh who took to organic farming at a time when only a few people knew about it. Mehta started experimenting with the environment-friendly mode of farming in the late 1990’s after he observed that the continuous use of chemical fertilisers and sprays was doing more harm than good to his orchard. He was not sure of the outcome but he decided to give it a try if only to save on the cost of inputs which were becoming dearer with each season. The villagers were sceptical about his experiments and in the first two years the output from his 80 bigha orchard at Beethal actually declined but he did not give up. He tried his own innovations and got in touch with scientists and experts to develop a wide range of cow-centric organic products to completely replace chemical fertilisers, fungicides, insecticides and other inputs. Perseverance paid and the plants gradually started giving a healthy look and the impact manifested in the shape of bigger fruit size, better colour and most importantly a much longer shelf life. The yield has also increased and he is harvesting almost 25 per cent to 30 per cent higher produce. The quality of the fruit has also improved dramatically. Not only the size and shelf life, the colour, taste, weight and other characteristics have also improved. He finds it convenient to transport his produce to Delhi and other distant markets without any deterioration. “Besides the non-availability of technical guidance, there was no agency for the certification of organic produce in the state which did cause problems in marketing. However, he approached international agencies like Asia Onecert which is doing the job for him these days” Mehta says while talking about impediments he faced. The organic mantra has worked wonders as far as the net returns are concerned. Earlier, he used to invest Rs 1.25 lakh on procuring various inputs and the returns amounted to around Rs 6 lakh. After taking into account the cost of grading, packaging, transportation and marketing the gains were nominal. However, now he spends just about Rs 20,000, mainly to purchase raw neem oil, which is used in place of tree spray oil (TSO). All other inputs like organic manure, biodynamic fertilisers and insecticides are produced on-farm using cow dung, cow urine and farm waste. Extracts of locally available plants and herbs are also used to prepare special fungicides. The returns range from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 13 lakh, an increase of more than 100 per cent. The fruit has become compact and the standard apple carton holds 23 to 24 kg of organic fruit as against the normal 20 to 21 kg. The fruit pressure, a measure of keeping quality, of organic apple varies from 21 to 23 psi (pounds per square inch) as compared to 16 to 18 psi for the normal fruit. Mehta is now devoting all his time and energy to motivate fruit growers to switchover to organic farming. He heads the state organic farmers forum. The forum has enrolled about 5,000 farmers, mostly from the Rohru and Chopal area.
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Patwari still a lordly figure
Hamirpur, October 27 A patwari is the most often-visited government official for multifarious revenue related works. But getting the work done from most of them is a tedious and tough task, this despite a lot of awareness among the people. According to villagers, a majority of patwaris do not work till they are “paid” for that. Bidhi Chand of Lohari village says, “Though the government has fixed minimum charges for seeking revenue papers, the villagers have to part with Rs 50 or Rs 100 as bribe each time they require any document even as small as jamabandi or naqal from a patwari.” Elaborating further, he says, “In many cases, patwaris are the root cause of many litigations among villagers as they keep people confused on the actual status of land despite frequent demarcations”. In order to make legal rates for revenue documents more transparent, the government had carried an amendment in the HP Land Revenue Act, 1992, making it mandatory to display rates not only in patwarkhanas but also at other important places. But you may not find the list in most patwarkhanas. Since a majority of people are not aware of the rates they want the government to make sure that the list is displayed at patarwaris’ offices. The situation is no different in urban areas. According to Kishan Chand, a local resident, one cannot expect a revenue document from patwaris without pleasing them and people have no option but to bribe them. “Though as per government instructions every patwari is supposed to supply all revenue documents immediately, people find it difficult to get the same after frequent visits”. Telling about the cause of delay, Bhoomi Dev, patwari of Siswa patwar circle, says, “We have to visit a large number of villages besides doing multifarious jobs assigned to us from time to time. And still we are expected to provide the documents almost immediately.” The Land Revenue Act amendment even has the provision of seeking revenue documents through VPP that have to be supplied within four days but this option is seldom utilised. Several villagers do help in getting the corrupt patwaris trapped red-handed while accepting bribes, but majority opt to bribe them than putting oneself in unnecessary hassle. On being contacted, Hamirpur DC Abhishek Jain said the government had already ordered to display the charges for seeking revenue documents and fresh instructions would be issued to display these in every patwarkhana. They have set targets of checking the working of all revenue officials to make their working more accountable and if any specific complaint regarding corruption is brought to our notice we would take immediate action” he added.
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Pak paraglider on a mission
Kangra, October 27 This was the message that was passed on to the Central government by Gul’s son Farman Ahmad, who is a SAARC games gold medalist and a paragliding pilot, while talking to The Tribune here before he left for Pakistan after attending a week-long Himalayan Paragliding Pre World Cup 2008 at Billing as guest pilot. Farman Ahmad bagged five gold medals at the last three SAARC games held in 1999 at Islamabad, in 2004 at Nepal and in 2006 in Sri Lanka in the game of karate. He was the first Pakistani karate player who made a hat trick of bagging gold medals during these games at a stretch. Farman received ‘Tamgay Imtiaz’ (medal of distinction) from the then President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, for his achievements as a sportsman. He remained as the national champion in Pakistan for one and a half decade; he also joined paragliding aero sport to fly high in the skies, particularly in the Indian sky. The Himalayan Paragliding Pre World Cup was his first ever event in this sport and that too in India, his dream place. Farman said he attained every thing and was contended with whatever he had achieved but what pained him was the unfulfilled dream of his father. He said his father was a fan of Indian film actor Dileep Kumar. And the craze was such in his family that CDs of old Indian movies were everywhere to be seen at his home. He sought a special permission from the Government of India to allow his father to realise his dream of meeting the actors in Mumbai. Farman was accompanied by Sajjad Shah, A.B.M.Faisal, Wajahat Malik and Farrukh Haroon. Sajjad Shah, the team leader, said, “We the adventure lovers have no religion, no borderlines and no nationality; the entire world is ours and we belong to the world.”
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SHIMLA DIARY
Shimla, October 27 Stalwarts in the two main parties, including former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Shanta Kumar, despite being the strongest candidates who could ensure the victory of the party are reluctant to take the plunge. They are shying away from contesting the election and have also said so publically even though they may finally be asked by their respective parties to contest to ensure a win. Besides these two leaders, HPCC chief Kaul Singh Thakur and BJP state president Jai Ram Thakur are putting in their best efforts to ensure that they are not made to contest. There is a section of party men who feel that let the two party heads fight it out to prove who is more popular from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. Even senior ministers in the Dhumal cabinet, whose names are doing the rounds for being fielded as candidates for the Lok Sabha election from Kangra are citing endless reasons for their disinterest in contesting the polls. None of the ministers, including Ramesh Dhawala, Sharveen Chaudhary and Ravinder Singh Ravi, are keen to live their assignments as ministers. Kids say no to crackers
Schoolchildren this Diwali are trying to impress upon people to celebrate the festival of lights without creating air and sound pollution that can be a cause for many medical ailments. Children are trying to create awareness among people to go in for cracker-ree Diwali. They have been holding awareness camps to educate people about the ill effects of crackers and many children even took a pledge not to burst crackers. Doctors too have been urging people not to burst crackers or at least keep it to the minimum. The Sate Pollution Control Board monitors air and sound pollution before and after Diwali to compare the pollution caused by the bursting of crackers. In fact the number of people who report to the OPDs in hospital with asthma and other chest ailments caused due to cracker pollution is very high.
Long wait for plum posts
Hoping against hope, BJP leaders are eagerly awaiting appointment as chairman of boards and corporations. Now, they are once again hoping that they will finally be rewarded with these appointments in the form of Diwali gift. Even after 10 months of formation of the government in the hill state, the Chief Minister has left everyone guessing about the appointments. “He is acting wise by not rewarding the party men as those who would be left out would certainly turn bitter and add to his problems,” says his supporter. He has kept everyone guessing even about filling of the two vacancies in the ministry. He has certainly raised the hopes of legislators from Mandi and Una districts by saying on more than one occasion that these two districts would get representation in the cabinet.
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Manpriya Khurana If you belong to the breed that wishes either there were no delicious goodies or weighing scales, you are not alone. Thankfully there are people who’ve realised that and are busy ensuring that you get to enjoy all that you’ve dreamt of, minus the guilt. Don’t believe? Read on. One can gorge on low cal cakes. Passion fruit, which is made of mixed fruits and blueberry and apple walnut cake, are not just low calorie but also healthy. Monica Sood, the proprietor, says, “There’s gelato and other 99 per cent sugar-free ice-creams.” She further adds, “There’s been a remarkable increase in the sales of such products over the past few years.” And your treat need not stop at that. At Nik Baker-9, you can enjoy all that appeals to your eyes. Says, Nikhil Mittal, the owner, “We make anything on order and everything can be made sugar-free.” Apart from this, they make cookies and chocolate low-cal dry cakes. Here, this concept has been on for quite sometime now. Says Nikhil, “People are getting health conscious and the problem of diabetes is quite rampant in India. So, this was the natural progression in our services.” We extend this sugar treat beyond cupcakes and chocolates. For, traditional mithai lovers can take heart too. The city’s oldest sweet shop, Sindhi Sweets, too, has quite a few options in its platter. Says Abhijeet Bajaj, the proprietor, “We prepare kesar ras malai in which we use corns and is sugar-free and low-calorie and then there’s kancha kola, a Bengali sweet, made of milk and paneer.” Hard to imagine hard-core Indian sweet sans sugar! So, do they taste just as good? Assures, Abhijeet, “The change in ingredient doesn’t compromise on the taste. I myself like it.” Classic case of, have your cake and eat it too. Whether a foodie or not, enjoying delicacies is one of the essence of festival of lights. Let nothing come between you and this sheer, simple and pure pleasure of eating. manpriya@tribunemail.com
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All’s well here, says Palampur SMO
Palampur, October 27 Dr Vasisth also clarified that there is no shortage of life saving drugs in the hospital as the staff had been directed to purchase such medicines from the market as and when required. However, it was not possible for the government to provide other medicines to patients and its shortage would continue, he said. He also stated that blood transfusion system in the hospital was functioning regularly. He had some changes in the working of the hospital as all doctors working in the hospital had been provided intercom telephone service and they could be easily contacted in case of emergency. Besides, efforts were being made to keep the hospital neat and clean, he added. He, however, admitted that there was a shortage of paramedical staff in the hospital.
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Here hunters get hunted
Hamirpur, October 14 As beggars and snake charmers capture and captivate these non-poisonous local pythons or rock python, the wildlife authorities rarely take action against them. The rock python, a wild reptile, is not only captivated for public display to fetch money but even killed in some cases to sell its skin which fetches a very high price. According to environmentalists, python skin is used for making shoes and other articles and sold at a hefty price. Dr Ranbir Singh, an environmentalist, says, “These pythons are captured by nomads and snake charmers from forests and fields and than captivated for many months. They later die a natural death or in some cases killed.” “Since this reptile is mainly carnivorous and survives on wild animals, it hardly gets enough food during captivity” he adds. While the Act provides wide powers to wildlife, forest, police and other officials to book people harming pythons and take legal action but hardly any action is taken. Only last month, villagers in Kangra district killed a big python but no action was taken. Conservator of wildlife, Dharamshala, V.K Singh on being contacted told The Tribune, “We are carrying out regular checks and keeping an eye on beggars and snake charmers entering the state”.
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Tinsel town calling
Shimla, October 27 She will play the lead role in a Punjabi film named “Ek Onkar” to be directed by Jagmeet Bal. “The story of the movie where a girl from Canada comes to India to make it big in the world of films and music is quite close to my own journey, so I agreed to do the film,” says Harshdeep, who was here last week to perform in a show. Not many would know that even before she participated in the “Lux Junoon Kuch Kar Dikhane Ka”, Harshdeep had already sung for over 40 Bollywood songs, including “Rang De Basanti” with A.R. Rehman. But with her popularity having soared after she won the contest her voice has got a face which is so fresh and vivid in everyone’s memory, including film and music directors, that they are specially composing songs suited for Harshdeep’s voice. One of her recent songs “Kajrare”, a duet with Himesh Reshmaya for the film “Kaarz” has been a hit. “I am fortunate to have got an opportunity to sing with Himesh, earlier in ‘Karm’ and ‘Red’ and now in ‘Kaarz’,” she says. She admits the television show lent a face to her voice, which has certainly brought more offers her way. Even as she is busy recording for films, she is equipping herself with every possible art to excel in the field of music. “Though I have some exposure to western classical music, now I am formally training in it from the Trinity College of London and my special interest is piano,” she says about her growth as a singer. Having started her formal training in music at a tender age of seven with her father, Harshdeep continued her musical growth as she trained with Tej Pratap Singh, popularly referred to as Singh Bandhu. Before the contest, she had already sung for “Karm”, “Halla Bol”, “Red” and “Rang De Basanti”. About her participating in a television show despite already making her debut in playback singing, she says it was her interest in sufi music which attracted her to the show. “This show was very different from other shows as it had a blend of sufi, films and folk music and for a singer being versatile is very important,” she says. Having got the able guidance and tips from none other than Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, she says she has learnt a lot which hold her in good stead all through her career. “It is here that I learnt to be calm and composed and hold myself in any kind of situation as the viewers minutely watch every reaction of which at times we are unmindful,” she says. The criticism that she had to bear for being more into her looks than singing in the initial states made her even more determined to prove herself. “It was demoralising for me when Anand Raj Anand, one of the judges in the first episode itself said I was more focused on my looks than singing but that made me even more focused on proving myself by wining,” she says of her experience.
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Blood unit project turns pale
Nurpur, October 27 The previous government spent Rs 24 lakh on converting new hospital serai into a blood bank and later proposed a blood storage center there. The serai was built in 2001 at a cost of Rs 10 lakh, released by former union minister Shanta Kumar from MP’s local area development fund. It remained locked as it could not be used by attendants of indoor patients of the civil hospital. Now, the same building is lying vacant following the failure of the department to commission the proposed blood storage centre. Precisely, a building worth Rs 34 lakh has been lying vacant since many years. Inquiries reveal that some requisite infrastructure has been provided to commission the blood storage centre during Virbhadra Singh regime. It had also upgraded the hospital’s capacity to 100 beds in August last year. A surgeon and gynecologist were also posted at the hospital but with the change of government, the things slowed down. The notification for upgrading the hospital was de-notified, dashing hopes of local inhabitants. Even surgeon and gynecologist were transferred, putting a question mark on the commissioning of the blood storage centre. Significantly, the National AIDS Control Society, Delhi, had given its nod to the center. The ball is now in the court of the health department which has to post staff and other infrastructure to commission the centre. According to hospital in charge Deepak Sharma, the posting of a pathologist and installation of a generator are the two basic requirements to run a blood storage centre.
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Neglect haunts cemeteries
Chamba, October 27 For instance, the condition of the graveyard near Hardaspura and a cemetery near the Industrial Training Institute (ITI) is pathetic. It appears that the local administration has been paying no attention to the pitiable unhygienic conditions in these graveyards for a long time. The footpaths are full of potholes and it has become difficult to carry the dead body. There are about six main cemeteries in Chamba, at Bhagot, near Sheetla Bridge, near Mai-ka-Bagh market, beneath Dharog, beneath lower Julahkari vicinity and near Moogla. All these are located on the banks of the Ravi. Except Bhagot crematoria, others are devoid of proper rain-shelter, toilets, and drinking water facilities, which are indispensably required for the convenience of the people coming for funeral procession. In the vitiated atmosphere, it is unbearable to sit and wait even for a few minutes. The crematoria are not less significant than those of sacred places and therefore, these need immediate attention of the local administration as well as the civic body. Even none of the NGOs has so far come forward to improve the fate of these crematoria. To give a new lease of life to one of the town’s crematoria at Bhagot, a rain-shelter, a Geeta Bhavan, and a small but beautiful garden have been raised with provision for basic amenities. It may be mentioned here that some time ago there was an ambitious scheme launched by the state forest department to construct crematoria in rural areas of the state.
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