Palampur, March 23
Thousand of acres of land in the state has gone barren as the farmers have stopped cultivation in view of damages being caused to their crops by monkeys. Since the state government is not serious towards the problem, the area under agriculture is reducing year after year.

Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has already admitted this fact in the state Assembly recently. Crops worth Rs 400 crore has been destroyed by monkeys and other animals in the state.

There are more than six lakh monkeys in this hill state and out of it over 80 per cent live in cities, towns and villages far outside the forest areas. The gravity of the situation could be judged from the fact that 2,500 out of the total 3,200 panchayats have been badly affected by the problem. Farmers have been agitating for the past more than two years and they have even submitted a memorandum to higher-ups, but no steps had been initiated.

The villagers, however, are feeling that the problem has become more acute because of the fact that monkeys have been provided overprotection under the law like the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Wild Life Protection Act. Another factor responsible for the increase in the number of monkeys is the ban on their export imposed by the Centre.

Social organisations like Save Palampur and the Palampur Welfare and Environment Protection Forum have urged the government to lift the ban on the export of monkeys and save farmers from the menace. These organisations have also urged the government to launch a campaign to check the menace.

Information gathered by The Tribune also revealed that in the past five years, over 1,000 persons were bitten by monkeys in the state, which also resulted in the death of a few persons. Women and schoolgoing children have become the soft targets of monkeys in several parts of the state.

It is an open fact that the government has failed to check the menace. There is no one in the government to listen the problems of thousand of farmers, housewives and schoolgoing children who have been facing several problems due to the menace. Despite repeated complaints to SDMs and wildlife officers, no one is bothered to look into the matter.

Though the Chief Minister has time and again announced that monkeys would be sterilised and rehabilitation centres would be set up in the state, till date only a few hundred monkeys could be sent to such centres. In these circumstances, it would take years to rehabilitate five lakh monkeys. In fact, the government has failed to formulate any plan for the sterilisation of monkeys. Whatever the government has done, that is quite little and in this way it would take years to eliminate the monkeys from the populated areas.

The worst affected areas in the state are Shimla town and its suburbs. Besides, residents of Palampur, Baijnath, Paprola and lower areas of Palampur are also fed up of the menace. In the past, the administration trapped and relocated more than 2,000 monkeys in forests, but nearly all of them returned to cities for the lack of water and vegetation in jungles.

It is an established fact that human beings have encroached upon their homelands, robbed their food and water. That is why not only monkeys, but also other wild animals have come closer to human settlements seeking food. The government should also think over it while giving permissions to set up hydel power projects, cement plants and other industries without affecting the homelands of wild animals. 

Even though in a peaceful state like Himachal, there are rare cases of police atrocities these cameras would provide evidence as and when the situation warrants. The cameras would also keep a check on the behaviour of police personnel with those who come to lodge an FIR or a complaint. Very often people complain that their complaints are not registered despite repeated visits.

Another step aimed at improving police functioning is the compilation of a central database connecting all 100 police stations, 130 police posts, offices of the SPs., DIGs an the police headquarters under the Crime Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS). A sum of Rs 1.79 crore has already been received from the Centre for the purpose.

A total of 14 laboratories have been set up and police personnel being provided training. "There will be a direct link not only with the Ministry of Home Affairs but also with the National Crime Record Bureau as the updated record of all kinds would be available at the click of a mouse," said Verma.

The only concern of people would now be that these cameras should remain in a working condition and be repaired or replaced as and when necessary. It is only then that the real purpose of having this kind of a monitoring device will prove beneficial.

Mandi, March 23
Even as the police has upped its anti-drug campaign against the herbal charas nabbing over 12 smugglers in the region in the past few days, but it has yet to curb more lethal chemical drug menace in which “certain dubious chemists and drug suppliers run the show under the nose of drug controlling agencies and the police”.

The police has arrested over 10 charas peddlers under the NDPS Act after recovering 12.5 kg of charas and 550 gm of opium in eight different cases reported from Mandi district in the past few days. The Kullu police also claimed that charas seizures had gone up and an anti-drug drive had also been launched in the district. But drug experts and NGOs working in the field of rehabilitation said drug controlling agencies and the police had given almost a free run to chemical drug peddlers and suppliers in Mandi, Sundernagar, Sarkaghat, Karsog and Jogindernagar in Mandi district and in Kullu, Manali, Manikaran, Bhuntar and Ani towns in Kullu district.

Drug peddlers target most vulnerable sections among schoolchildren in these towns, teachers said. The peddlers supply small drug “purias” to addicts, including new drug takers, hunting for them around schools, they added.

Children are hooked to the consumption of drugs, including cough syrups, tablets, smack and hashish and, in turn, become the victims of the drug menace. These drugs are readily available in dhabas, tea shops and other joints on highways and billiards pools in towns, said drug victims.

Even there was no proper check on the chemists who continue to sell drugs to the customers without having doctors’ prescription. Chemists in the town make fast bucks out of the trade, drug users said.

But the role of drug inspectors in the state remains under cloud as they were busy in obliging ambitious chemists, so was the case with the police, residents said.

Ironically, the nexus is deep-rooted. The health department has reinstated Sher Singh Thakur, drug controller, who was caught red-handed by the Vigilance taking bribe from certain drug manufacturers in the Badi-Barotiwala industrial belt a couple of years ago.

Even certain shopkeepers and chemists dealing in chemical drugs enjoy police protection. The police has caught a watch shopkeeper in Mandi, seizing a good quantity of chemical drugs last year. Even certain tour operators double as drug suppliers in tourist towns of Manali and Kullu, sources said.

The police has found a foreigner and a young Indian tourist, both reported to be drug addicts, dead in two different hotel rooms in Manali last year, but investigation remains shady.

Drug peddlers were using buses as the safe conduit for smuggling drugs to the desired destinations outside the state. The police caught a big consignment of drugs from a bus roof on the Tiuni-Chopal road in Shimla last week, with peddlers operating from Nepal and Uttarakhand, police sources said. But the police has yet to nab the smugglers.

Earlier, the police had searched a Haryana Roadways bus on its way from Manali to Chandigarh and recovered 5 kg of charas and 250 gram of opium from the possession of Chuni Lal of Bhuntar recently. The police has arrested one Brahm Parkash of Gurgaon at Shilly Larji on the NH-21 and recovered 1.5 kg of Charas from him.

DIG central range Anurag Garg claimed that the police had launched a campaign against drug traffickers in the region. Nakas at barriers had been improved and drug seizures had also gone up recently, he added.

Hamirpur, March 23
With the killing of four leopards in Hamirpur district and several incidents of leopards injuring human beings during the past few months, human-leopard conflict is continuing unabated due to lack of awareness among people and a few other reasons.

Out of the four leopards killed, two were killed by local residents, and a case has also been registered by the Forest Department against a few villagers.

Recently, four villagers beat a leopard to death with sticks in Loharda village near Hamirpur after he reportedly attacked a villager.

Though forest officials are downplaying the incidents of the killing of leopards by claiming that no organised gang is operating here, reported killing of about 17 of them during the past some time and missing of hair and body parts on some of the dead leopards is a matter of concern.

On the other hand, many villagers have been raising concern over the safety of their children and cattle as many people have died due to regular attacks by leopards.

Forest officials term these incidents as normal and say: “Hamirpur district is a natural habitat of leopards due to its climate and semi-hilly terrains. Bushes, grassland and ravines provide it perfect habitat with good number of rabbits, monkeys, etc, available in the forest for their food”.

According to the 2007 census, 761 leopards were counted in the state, while 50 were killed during the past five years and there were 186 cases of attacks on human beings during this period.

“Thirty leopards were counted in the district during the last census, which is a sign of healthy forestry and leopards are in a good number in the Toani Devi and Sujanpur ranges,” tells Sanjay Sood, DFO, Hamirpur.

There are regular complaints from villagers to kill leopards when their attacks on human beings and cattle increase, especially during grass-reaping or wood-collecting months.

In this regard, Sanjay says: “Our aim is not to kill leopards, but wipe out human-animal conflict and for a long-term strategy, we have invited a team of experts from Wildlife Institute, Dehradun, to study the problem and hold meetings in gram panchayats to make people aware and suggest safety measures”.

However, a concerned villager Narotam Ram from Loharda rues: “It is a matter of human safety as several incidents of leopard attacks have been reported in our area”.

Forest officials tell: “We have been putting up traps to catch animals if there are complaints. We killed a few leopards who had turned man-eaters”.

“As safety measures, people should not panic on seeing leopards, not to allow children to venture alone, inform forest officials and be cautious if dogs have been kept as pets since they are their favourite food,” the officials add.

Palampur, March 23
The government has failed to check overloading in trucks carrying building material, steel, cement and heavy machinery for power projects and cement plants resulting in Rs 1000-crore damage to bridges and roads every year.

A senior officer of the Transport Department admitted that over 50 per cent of the trucks entering the state had been carrying loads more than the prescribed limits fixed in the Motor Vehicles Act.

Keeping in view the extensive damage caused to roads, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had doubled the entry fee to Rs 240 on such trucks from April 1, 2010. At present the state government spends over Rs 2,000 crore every year on the re- surfacing and repair of national and state highways.

Most of trucks entering the state carry 15 to 30 tonnes of load as there is none to check overloading. The weighing bridges installed at different entry points like Mehatpur, Parwanoo, Kandwal, Ponta Sahib, Swarghat have been either lying out of order or not put to use for the past many years. In the absence of proper checks on the load carried by trucks, it has resulted in the destruction of roads, culverts and bridges on the highways.

Two bridges recently collapsed on the Chakki river in Nurpur and Bhuntar in (Kulu) when heavy overloaded vehicles were passing through these bridges.

The state needs to come out with new legislation in this connection.

According to official sources, six new cement plants are coming up in the state in the next two years, which will worsen the situation. Though the government had granted licences for these cement plants purely on political considerations, it had not modernised its road network accordingly.

A survey conducted by a local NGO revealed that with the coming up of these plants into production 50000 more trucks will use state roads daily in Solan, Bilaspur, Shimla, Kulu, Hamirpur, Una , Mandi, Kangra and Chamba districts, causing frequent traffic jam on the highways. Besides causing large-scale pollution in the region, these trucks would also caused heavy damage to internal link roads used to avoid tax barriers.

Because of the excessive use of roads by these trucks loaded with cement and other construction material, the Pathankot- Mandi, Shimla- Kalka and Kiratpur- Manali national highways have become prone to landslides and soil erosion. A Number of small and big culverts and retaining walls have been badly damaged by overloaded trucks. Besides, there are major traffic jams daily for hours putting passenger and tourists to inconvenience.

The state government should learn a lesson from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka, where there is a blanket ban on the entry of trucks carrying more than nine tonnes of load. If any overloaded vehicle is detected, a minimum fine of Rs 10,000 is imposed. All inter-state barriers there are equipped with latest weighing machines and it is mandatory for every vehicle to pass through these machines. All such inter-state barriers are manned by an officer of the rank of District Transport Officer.

Kangra, March 23
An ancient Baghlamukhi temple at Bankhandi on the Hoshiarpur-Kangra National Highway attracts people from all over the country.

Mahant Devi Giri, manager of the temple, said the temple was brought up in Tretayug.

Manohar Lal Sharma, priest of the temple, said kings like Raja Harish Chandra, Raja Sansar Chand and Raja Banbatu used to offer prayers in the temple before proceeding for a war and seeking blessings for victory from Goddess Baghlamukhi. Pandavas during their exile too visited the shrine.

Devotees perform yajna here for their better future and redressal of their problems. Such yajnas continue here almost everyday.

It is believed that as Lord Hanuman had visited the shrine, so a large number of monkeys can be seen in the temple. The temple has a lamp, which has been burning from years together. Thursday is the preferred day for a visit here.

Sharan Jeet Singh from Amritsar, who, along with his daughter visited the shrine, recently, said he came here to pray for his daughter who was a patient of brain tumour. Parveen Mittal of Delhi, Bhavna of Ludhiana and Ramesh Kumar from Punjab all said they had come here to get their wishes fulfilled.

The ever-increasing number of vehicles has been adding to traffic congestion in Shimla. The Circular Road, lifeline of the city, is virtually choked during peak hours and the police has a hard time regulating traffic. The problem is acute in the narrow stretch of the road from the Victory Tunnel to Tara Hall as the road is hardly wide enough to give pass to vehicles coming from the opposite direction.

As per rules no structure could be constructed up to a distance of 5 m from the edge of the road but buildings have been allowed to come up close to the road. To make things worse RCC slabs have been constructed to bridge the gap between the buildings on the valley side and the road. The Tara Hall side portal has become a permanent bottleneck as hardware dealers park vehicles for loading and unloading right on the road itself, effectively reducing its width to half. While traffic jams are common during peak morning and evening hours, the vehicles parked for loading and unloading (See photo) bring traffic to a halt anytime of the day. More so because the Tara Hall portal is also a bus stop for Lakkar Bazar-bound vehicles.

Shimla, March 23
Despite increasing thrust of the government programmes and policies on agriculture, the vital sector on which over 80 per cent of the state’s population is dependent has failed to perform. In fact, the poor performance of agriculture during 2009-10 has severely restricted the economic growth of the state which was likely to be 7.5 per cent, only a notch better than the previous year’s growth of 7.4 per cent.

The contribution of agriculture to the gross state domestic product has come down from 22 to 18.5 per cent as food grain production slumped from 14.41 lakh tonne to 9.36 lakh tonne and fruit production came down from 6.28 lakh tonne to 3.31 lakh tonne. The economic survey for 2009-10 has brought out that industrial sector did reasonable well with contribution going up from 9 to 10.5 per cent, notwithstanding the economic slowdown. Other sectors which showed improvement over last year included construction (23 to 25 per cent), power sector (9.5 to 10 per cent) and transport and tourism (12.5 to 13 per cent).

The growth rate would have been a healthy 8 per cent or even more if the agriculture sector had done as well as last year. Unfavourable weather conditions over the past year apart, the contribution of agriculture to the state gross domestic product (GSDP) has been consistently on the decline and over the past 40 years dwindled from over 55.5 per cent to around 18.5 per cent even as the percentage of population dependent on farming showed an insignificant decline from 72 to 69 per cent.

Every year about 3,000 to 4,000 hectare of cultivable land is being brought under irrigation. The areas under high-yielding varieties are also increasing and huge subsidies are being provided on various farm inputs, but the productivity has not shown any significant improvement. The yield of wheat is 18 quintal per hectare as against the national of 30 quintal per hectare and of rice 17 quintal per hectare against the national average of 35 quintal per hectare. The diversion of thousands of hectare of fertile land for non-agriculture purpose and failure to maintain old kuhls and irrigation schemes, as a result of which total irrigated area has almost remained static, are the main factors for low productivity.

In the situation it is not surprising that the growth rate of agriculture has been ranging from 2 to 4 per cent and in case of drought even turned negative.

Still, the overall growth of 7.5 per cent was better than the national growth rate of 7.2 per cent for the same period. The state had achieved a growth rate of 8.6 per cent in 2007-08, which came down to 7.4 per cent in the following year. The over growth rate for the 10th plan period (2002-07) had been put at 7.6 per cent, 0.2 per cent lower than the national average.

Kangra, March 23
Known for always buzzing with pilgrims and presenting an amalgamation of faith during the Chaiter Navrata, Bajjreshwari Temple, one of the 52 Shakti Peeths, here wore a deserted look this year.

Except the first and the last two days of Navratra, there was a drastic decline in the number of pilgrims this year. Different reasons have been attributed to it.

District Police Chief Dr Atul Phulzale said thousands of pilgrims visited the Shakti Peeths of Bajjreshwari, Jawalamukhi and Chamunda temples during the Navrtara. Accordingly, the arrangements had been made this year. But the pilgrims visiting these shrines hadn’t been on the expected line this year. He attributed this to the Kumbh festival this year which was attracting large number of pilgrims.

The SSP said nearly 50 per cent less pilgrims visited the shrines during the Navratra and Kumbh was the main reason. Temple authorities put the figure of pilgrims’ arrival at 40 per cent for this year.

Atul added he had been supervising the security arrangements personally this year in view of the KCF threat and had deployed two armed reserves in each Kangra and Chamunda temples and three reserves in Jawalamukhi temple.

Besides police personnel, nearly 100 home guards had been deployed in each temple to regulate pilgrim traffic and maintain law and order. Because of the KCF threat, the bomb disposal and sniffer dog squads sanitised all the three shrines daily and remained in readiness. Metal detectors had been introduced and every pilgrim was frisked and coconut as prasad was banned in the temples, the SSP said.

Kangra, March 23
The inauguration of a private hotel here recently attracted politicians, senior bureaucrats, industrialists, music director and 11 MLAs of the Congress, besides other senior Congress leaders and BJP MPs.

It was the inauguration of ‘Hotel Grand Raj’ here by Suresh Kumar Neotia, noted industrialist and proprietor of Ambuja Cement Company. He thanked former Transport and Tourism Minister GS Bali whose son RS Bali owns the hotel, for inviting him.

Group president Reliance Industry Bala Subramanium and director Fortis Hospitals Sanjeev Vishest were also present on the occasion.

Interestingly, the gathering here had political dimensions. Eleven sitting MLAs of the Congress from the state, besides some former ministers and MLAs, Rajya Sabha MP Viplove Thakur, former CPS Mukesh Agnihotri, MLAs Sukvinder Sukhu, Surender Bhardwaj, Yog Raj, Neeraj Bharti and Kuldeep Pathania attended the function.

Former ministers Shiv Kumar and Thakur S. Bharmouri and PCC general secretary Ajay Mahajan also attended the function. Arch rival of GS Bali, former Tourism Minister Major Vijay Mankotia also arrived on the scene. MP Anurag Thakur, son of Chief Minister PK Dhumal, also attended the inauguration.