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Setback to trout farming
This teacher talks her walk
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Tardy progress in removal of encroachments
Exhibition relives 1905 Kangra quake devastation
Mandi hospital lacks facilities
Vignettes
Cong leader accuses admin of fund misuse
Himachal Diary
Hydel projects trigger public protests
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Setback to trout farming
Shimla, June 22 The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) had approved a sum of Rs 2.11 crore for setting up a trout processing plant at Patlikuhl where a number of farmers have set up trout farms. The state government was to provide technical staff so that the plant could produce quality products that would have found buyers in foreign markets. However, the project could not be pushed through as the State Finance Department turned down the request for appointment of technical staff in the Fisheries Department. More surprising is the fact that the government recommended that the financial assistance should be provided to a private firm for setting up the plant. With the NFDB being a government undertaking it is not possible to provide financial assistance to a private agency. The Fisheries Department was very keen to start the project and had even volunteered that it would run the project with bare minimum additional technical staff. With the government now turning down the proposal, trout farming would be a major loser in the hill state. In fact a team comprising technical consultants from the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) had visited Patlikuhl and prepared the project report. Since the Fisheries Department already has a big trout farm at Patlikuhl, there was sufficient land and staff from the farm which could have pitched in at the processing plant. “On the one hand the government is encouraging farmers to take to trout farming but at the same time it declines to extend assistance in setting up big projects like the processing unit,” said a farmer from Patlikuhl on condition of anonymity. The possibility of export of trout to other countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Thailand is also being explored through the Marine Production Export Development Authority (MPEDA). With trout being a delectable cold water fish, there is big demand for it abroad and in bigger cities. Even though Himachal is number one in trout production in the country the farmers are not able to get good rates for their produce owing to marketing problems. At present the fish is marketed in ice packaging, which is later kept in cold storage but the setting up of a processing plant would have paved the way for export of the fish. Trout production in the private sector has touched 52 tonnes this year while in the government farms it stands at 18 tonnes. The Fisheries Department has six farms located at Patlikuhl (Kullu), Barot (Mandi), Dhamwari, Holi (Chamba), Sangla (Kinnaur) and Banjar. Himachal has taken a lead in trout farming and it is way ahead of states like Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand. With the government encouraging farmers to take to trout farming, its production is likely to go up considerably.
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This teacher talks her walk
Chandigarh, June 22 Taking a gold in her stride in the 5-km walk at the International Veteran Athletic meet held at Pune in January this year, Urmil Sharma encourages her students at Government Primary School in Bharmat, Kangra, as well as others around her to take up some form of sports activity to remain busy and healthy. She clocked 36 minutes and 45 seconds in the international event, pushing a Malaysian with 36 minutes and 51 seconds to the second spot. This head teacher took the first step forward into the world of athletics in 1994 when she participated in a national veteran athletics meet in Kurukshetra, where she surprised herself with a bronze in the 5-km walk. She would have loved to pursue her passion but the duties of a mother made her take a sabbatical from formal participations till 2000. All these years, however, she has never missed her practice. She has been getting up as early as 4.30 am to do housework before devoting at least an hour to walk training and takes out time in the evenings too for strength-building. Urmil gives full credit to her husband, Dr SP Sharma, a soil scientist at Palampur university, for letting her run after her dreams. It wouldn’t have been easy but for his assistance and backing, she admits. She also looks back with gratitude at her mentor SK Pathania, former students welfare officer of Farm University, Palampur, as well as a gold medallist in the 5-km walk in an Asian meet. He not only spotted talent in her (in university sports events) but also groomed and encouraged her to participate in formal meets. Sporting a keen interest in outdoor activities since childhood, Urmil didn’t allow failures to dispirit her when she returned to the tracks in 2000 but didn’t bag anything till 2008, when she brought home a gold in 5-km walk at the 29th National Veteran Athletics Meet in Thane. Again, in 2009, she walked away with the gold for the same event at the 30th meet held in Lucknow. This veteran athlete has been participating in meets totally on her own strength, and has never received any government or private sponsorship. The government could do more to encourage older people to pick up sports activities, says Urmil, who now has her sights pinned on bettering her performance and fetching more goals for her state and country.
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Tardy progress in removal of encroachments
Shimla, June 22 According to the latest data compiled by the Revenue Department, as many as 1,67,339 cases of encroachments involving 3,02,487 bighas of land have been recorded in the state. Out of these, 60,448 cases involving 1,47,287 bighas pertained to forestland. In fact, most of these are the cases that came to light after the government came out with a policy to regularise encroachments in 2002. While the maximum number of 40,980 cases are in Kangra district, the maximum 5,400 hectare of land under illegal occupation is in Shimla district. It was followed by Mandi district with 32,819 cases involving 3,100 hectare of government land. Similarly, Hamirpur has 13,888 cases (1,522 hectares), Una 13,459 cases (1,271 hectares), Solan 8,177 cases (1,566 hectares), Chamba 9,857 cases (1,402 hectares), Kullu 3,571 cases (1,100 hectares) Sirmour 2,154 cases (1,040 hectares) and Bilaspur 10,152 cases (975 hectares). Lack of political will is the main reason for the tardy progress in removing encroachments. Though the policy to regularise encroachments was stayed by the court, it sent a wrong signal to law-enforcing agencies and encouraged encroachers. Not much headway has been made even in removing encroachments from forestland which cannot be regularised under the Forest Conservation Act. The government had conferred the powers of collector on divisional forests officers (DFOs) for the purpose of removing encroachments in 1994, but it has not yielded desired results. The Forest Department maintained that encroachments could not be removed as illegal occupants filed appeals with the divisional commissioner. The DFOs had since taken action in 9,500 cases involving 1,800 hectares of forestland and passed eviction orders in 5,000 cases. However, only 2,500 encroachments have been actually removed and about 500 hectares vacated. Last year, a move was initiated to make the conservator of forests the appellate authority in place of divisional commissioner, but it has not been implemented so far.
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Exhibition relives 1905 Kangra quake devastation
Dharamsala, June 22 The museum has added to its collection rare black and white photos depicting the colossal damage to life and property of the valley due to the earthquake. It is a valuable addition to the Kangra Archive Museum. About 20 photographs were displayed in the exhibition. Curator of the museum Ramesh Chander said an album of the photos were donated to the Language and Culture Department of the state by Asha Kumari, former Congress minister and heir of the erstwhile Chamba state. The department further handed over the album to the museum. The curator or other authorities did not have knowledge about the original photographer, who clicked the scene just after the quake. Asha Kumari, who donated the photos, said Raja Sham
Singh, the then ruler of Chamba, purchased them from an English photographer, who donated it to the Chamba royal family. “We have a collection of many more such photos. I have donated them as I believe that history should be shared with everybody,” she said. The photographs depict the Kangra valley after the earthquake, Kotwali Bazaar, Mcleodganj, Forsythganj Church, Kangra fort, Jawalamukhi temple, Dak Banglow of Dharamsala and the building at Dharamkot. The museum authorities have managed to collect some photos of the said monuments before the earthquake as well. However, the comparison of the photos of monuments before and after the quake illustrates the damage caused by the calamity. According to researchers Nicholas Ambraseys and Roger Bilham, the Kangra earthquake was the first of several devastating 20th century earthquakes to occur in northern India. The then Punjab government (as Kangra was part of Punjab state at that time) estimated that more than 20,000 of its 3,75,000 population was killed by the earthquake and as many as 1 lakh buildings were destroyed. Farming was disrupted as 53,000 domestic animals died, besides extensive damage to hill aqueducts. The Kangra quake was first to have occurred since the development of instrumental Seismology Scales. The intensity of the earthquake was 8 on the Richter Scale. It was one of the four greatest earthquakes to have occurred in the Himalayan region in the past 200 years. According to scientists it ruptured 280 X 100 square km area. Scientists have also predicted that the area was still prone to even more devastating earthquakes. The curator said the main purpose of the exhibition was to make people of the area aware that they were staying in an earthquake prone area. Due to seismic activity in the area, the government has restricted constructions to four stories there. However, there has been blatant violation of the rules as high rising buildings are a common sight. According to a data collected from Wadia Institute of Seismology at Naddi near Dharamsala, in the past one year, 12 earthquakes of mild intensity have hit the area.
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Mandi hospital lacks facilities
Mandi, June 22 Interestingly, the Red Cross Society is allegedly operating in competition with the hospital-based Rogi Kalyan Samiti to get "hospital services to maximise its business". Patients coming to the zonal hospital are being referred for lab tests to Harihar Diagnostic Laboratory, a private entity, being run by the Red Cross Society under public private partnership near the hospital. The Himachal Pradesh Medical Officers Association (HPMOA) and Mandi Bachao Morcha (MBM) have been accusing the Health Department of ignoring the functioning of the hospital and blaming the government for poor management as it has failed to appoint a regular medical superintendent at the 300-bed hospital that caters to around 500 patients daily. Despite the fact that the hospital has seven lab technicians, on an average they register just 70 OPD patients each day. Interestingly, patients are being referred to private labs as the hospital has no facility for expensive tests like the PTI, endoscopy, thyroid tests and even CT scan and MRI, reveal sources. "I reached the hospital at around 9 am and for a lab test, the doctor referred me to a private lab as the hospital has no such facility," rues Bahadur Singh, a patient from Gohar, who got PTI test done from Harihar lab that cost him Rs 240. "I had never expected that it would cost so high. People come to government hospitals for affordable medical care, but we have been denied that," said the poor man. Similarly, Shakuntal Devi from Sarkaghat was also advised to go to the same lab for ESR and HB tests. Her slip showed that Harihar lab charged Rs 5 for a syringe that costs Rs 1.50 and the same was not shown in the bill. Staff members at the laboratory say they get 25-30 patients each day from the hospital. The lab has two technicians and they provide reports within an hour, they say. Interestingly, the hospital has bought new equipment that can process 300 tests in an hour. Even then it has not extended its timings beyond its 9.30 am-11.30 am schedule. Ironically, the doctors start OPD after 9.30 am or even at 10 and as such most patients end up in the hands of touts who swarm the hospitals for luring patients for speedy and cheaper testing facilities. The Red Cross Society which claims to be a "no profit, no loss" venture is running its "business" in the name of providing services to poor patients. "Apart from its controversial Harihar lab, the society has set up an endoscope in the hospital and runs its X-ray unit at its bhawan. Interestingly, tests for x-ray and endoscopy are done by zonal hospital doctors while funds are collected by the society," allege insiders. Dr Jivanand Chauhan, general secretary, HPMOA, says if private lab can provide reports in time and give facility of testing till 8 pm, why the government cannot provide the same in zonal hospitals. There is no dearth of money as funds under the National Rural Health Mission are getting lapsed, he points out. Lakshmender Singh, convener MBM, and Sanjay Mandyal, legal adviser, say they have been demanding that the lab facilities should be extended till at least noon for OPD patients. The facility should be available round the clock for emergency patients, but the Heath Department is not bothered, they resent. Meanwhile, Dr Sonam, in charge, MS, claims, "We have bought new equipment and CT scan machine has been repaired. We will also extend timings of lab tests facility. We have emergency testing facilities and on-call technicians". Dr Amandeep Garg, Mandi DC, says the Red Cross has being providing monetary help to poor and physically challenged patients. The lab and other services being provided in the hospital are additional services as the society is providing all such facilities as usual, he adds.
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Vignettes
We, in India, recognise AO Hume as the founder of the Indian National Congress but his death in the British Archives is recorded as, “Mr Allan Octavian Hume, whose death took place at his residence in Upper Norwood on July 31, at the age of eighty-three, ranks as one of the chief benefactors to the natural history departments of the British Museum. During the latter portion of his career (1849 to 1882) as a Bengal civilian, the deceased gentleman devoted his leisure and much of his fortune to collecting skins and eggs of Indian birds and heads of Indian big game”.
This ornithologist was a great friend of India and was the star among those foreigners who served India sincerely. He had sympathised with those who suffered under what he regarded as faulty policies of the government and appealed to the graduates of Calcutta University, in an open letter of 1883, to "organise an association for the mental, moral, social, and political regeneration of the Indian people". He was the son of Joseph Hume, a prominent Scottish member of the House of Commons, from whom he was believed to have inherited the political acumen. He was a brilliant civil service officer of the British government, but his colleagues named him as “eccentric, mischievous, arrogant and impossible”. He, by virtue of his qualities, had climbed the hierarchical ladder to be the secretary to the government of India in the department of revenue, agriculture and commerce in 1871. During his eight years of secretary-ship, he understood the problems of Indian agriculture and established a research centre at Pusa (Bihar), besides purchasing Rothney Castle (sheeshe wali kothi) at Jakhu in Shimla from one P. Mitchell. His intentional digression from being supporter of each British policy in India remained constant headache for Viceroy Lord Northbrook. When Lord Lytton replaced him in 1876, he abolished the department, thus debarring Hume the luxury of official stay in the hills. Hume joined as a member of the board of revenue in hot and dusty Allahabad, but resigned from the civil service and returned to Shimla to live in Rothney Castle 1881 onwards. Hume spent huge amount in rejuvenating Rothney Castle and landscaping it. He expected that it would be bought for viceregal residence because "Peterhoff," where the Governor General resided, was too small for his stature. But the steep climb to the Rothney Castle discouraged the government to buy it. Hume then made use of the large rooms by converting them into a museum for his wonderful collection of birds, and for occasional dances. He and his team collected birds for study over most of the subcontinent. A few of the birds are still known by the prefix Hume, such as Hume's Babbler, Hume's Bush Warbler, Hume’s Pheasant etc (see photo). Hume edited and published 12 volumes of "Stay Feathers" on bird observations between 1873 and 1888. He had the largest collection of Asiatic birds in the world housed in Rothney Castle. He wished to donate his collection to the British Museum on condition that the collection was to be examined by Dr RB Sharpe who would be given appropriate rank and salary for the work. The British Museum refused. When nearly 20,000 specimens were destroyed, the museum authorities let Sharpe visit India to supervise the transfer of the specimens and in 1874, 75,577 specimens were selected for the museum. His book "Nests and Eggs" has an interesting piece in the preface, “The present edition does not include quite all materials I had accumulated for this work. Many years ago, during my absence from Shimla, a servant broke into my museum and stole thence several cwt of manuscript, which he sold as waste paper. This manuscript included more or less complete life histories of some 700 species of birds. All small notes on slips of paper were left, but almost every article written on full-sized foolscap sheets was abstracted. It was not for many months that the theft was discovered, and then very little of the MSS could be recovered.” The founder of the Indian National Congress was, thus, the "Pope of Indian Ornithology".
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Cong leader accuses admin of fund misuse
Hamirpur, June 22 Talking to mediapersons here, Verma criticised the state and the district administration. She accused the district administration for allegedly misusing the funds granted by the Centre and demanded a probe into the expenditure incurred by the administration on installing benches under the tourist circuit plan, since these had been purchased at an exorbitant price. “The district administration is misusing about Rs 6.5 crore received from the Centre under the Tourist Circuit Development Plan,” she said and demanded issuing a while paper on the expenditure incurred and a probe into the matter. Verma accused the district administration for erring in purchase of mast lights. She said, “There is a difference of about 1 lakh each in three mast lights installed by the district administration raising suspicion in the matter”. Criticising the state government, she blamed Chief Minister PK Dhumal for the plight of the state. While thousands of JBT trainees were agitating for their careers, the state government paid no heed to their demand of employment bond, she added. Talking about arrests of several government officials by the Vigilance Bureau in Hamirpur for allegedly accepting graft, she said, “ Eight of them have got better postings now, after being caught accepting graft”. If this were the level of corruption by officials in Chief Minister’s home district, what would be the scenario in other districts, she rued.
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Himachal Diary Block development works done through panchayati raj institutions are often found substandard and do not conform to prescribed specifications. The shortcomings are more glaring in respect of building works and roads. A crumbling rain shelter on the Mehli-Shoghi road (see picture) presents the latest example of slipshod construction. One of the three brick walls supporting the structure have already come off and the structure has started tilting. Obviously, the contractor who executed the work did not use the right mix of mortar. It is becoming dangerous for the commuters with each passing day. However, repairs were not being carried out as the road is maintained by the PWD but the structure has been built by the Zila Parishad. This is the fate of most of the structures build by PRIs as quality of work is substandard and there are no funds for maintenance. The elected PRI functionaries award works to their favourites and the lack of adequate technical staff to effectively supervise the works makes things worse. A large number of functionaries across the state are facing inquiries for irregularities in construction works. Most roads constructed through PRIs do not conform to the prescribed specifications, particularly in respect of gradient and banking of curves. The roads are later handed over to the PWD, which faces problems in their maintenance. New CT scan machine at IGMC
The patients will get better services at the Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital with the installation of a new CT scan machine at a cost of Rs 5 crore. It is the first health institution in the state to have the advanced 64-slide machine. The patients will not face any inconvenience once the new equipment is made operational over the next three weeks. The existing machine had been creating a lot of problems due to frequent breakdowns. The new machine will also be very useful in diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases.
Online admission to BE courses
The Central Counselling Board (CCB) constituted by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development is carrying out admissions to the BE, B.tech and bachelor of architecture in various engineering colleges, including NITs, on the basis of the AIEEE - 2010 test online. NIT sources said that the CCB headquarters is at Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) in Nagpur and all information was available at its website http:// www. ccb.nic.in. The candidates can select the institute of their choice from the list of institutes available on the site. The admission process this year would be completely online and the eligible candidates would have to fill in their choice of institutes through this site and there would be no individual communication about the admission process.
After docs it’s pharmacists
After doctors the pharmacists have also started raising voice against the government policy to make appointments of staff in various hospitals through the Rogi Kalayan Samatis(RKS). The State Hospital Pharmacists Association has urged the government to fill the 418 vacant posts of pharmacist through regular appointments. It has also demanded that the pharmacists already appointed on a contract basis and through the RKS should be regularised after completing five years of service. It lamented that vacant posts of chief pharmacist and pharmacist could not be filled in time due to the failure of the government to amend the recruitment and promotions rules. There were 984 sanctioned posts, including 856 of pharmacists and 128 of chief pharmacists, out of which 418 are vacant. (Contributed by
Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)
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Hydel projects trigger public protests
Rekong Peo, June 22 Clashes over water rights between villagers and project managements are becoming common as most of the tributaries of the Sutlej have been allotted to companies to generate power. "You see, thousands of trees have been axed in the name of constructing projects and the river (Sutlej) and other water channels are being used to dump the project debris. Several areas are facing water shortages and most of the traditional water sources have dried up due to massive construction," RS Negi, who heads the Him Lok Jagriti Manch (HLJM), a people's movement in Kinnaur, told IANS. "It's simply rape of the mountains," said Negi, a retired IAS officer, who is settled in Nesang village, near here. The 1,000-MW Karcham-Wangtoo hydro project, 100-MW Tidong, 195-MW Kashang, 402 MW Shongtong-Karchham and 100-MW Shorang are among the major hydro projects under execution on the Sutlej in Kinnaur district. "Now we have made up our mind to wage a war against the companies which are hell bent on destroying our natural water resources," said Brighu Devi from Urni village, uphill of Tapri where Jaypee Karacham Hydropower's Karcham-Wangtoo hydro project is under execution. Kulbhushan Upmanyu, who is heading the Himalaya Niti Abhiyaan, said: "What has happened has happened. Now we will not allow anybody to plunder our resources. We want the government to put a full stop to allocating projects, especially in the Sutlej river basin where land is fragile." "The indiscriminate use of explosives for the tunnel construction has also increased the risk of landslides and is endangering the rural people inhabiting this geologically sensitive mountains," said the environmental activist. Another environmentalist, Guman Singh, said: "The entire stretch of the Sutlej near the Karcham-Wangtoo project has been merely reduced to a dumping ground for project debris. The retaining walls made on the riverside to dump muck are mere eyewash. At some stretches the haphazardly dumped muck is hampering the smooth flow of the river." Governor Urmila Singh, who toured Kinnaur district last month, directed the local administration to solve the problems being faced by the project-affected people. She said illegal dumping should be stopped by enforcing the environment management plan. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal told IANS: "The government was alive to the problem and it had directed the pollution control board to ensure scientific dumping of the debris." Himachal Pradesh has abundant water resources with a power potential of about 23,000 MW. About 6,480 MW has been harnessed till now. However, the failure of the government and companies to stick to environmental and rehabilitation norms has forced the local people to get organised against the projects. People in Kullu and Chamba have also been opposing the construction of hydroelectric projects due to their impact on the forests, water resources and environment. In Chamba, they have mobilised themselves under the "Saal Ghaati Bachao Sangharsh Morcha" and have been protesting against the Hull hydel project in the Saal Valley since 2005. — IANS
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Shimla, June 22
Dharamsala, June 22
Mandi, June 22
We, in India, recognise AO Hume as the founder of the Indian National Congress but his death in the British Archives is recorded as, “Mr Allan Octavian Hume, whose death took place at his residence in Upper Norwood on July 31, at the age of eighty-three, ranks as one of the chief benefactors to the natural history departments of the British Museum. During the latter portion of his career (1849 to 1882) as a Bengal civilian, the deceased gentleman devoted his leisure and much of his fortune to collecting skins and eggs of Indian birds and heads of Indian big game”.
Block development works done through panchayati raj institutions are often found substandard and do not conform to prescribed specifications. The shortcomings are more glaring in respect of building works and roads.
A crumbling rain shelter on the Mehli-Shoghi road (see picture) presents the latest example of slipshod construction. One of the three brick walls supporting the structure have already come off and the structure has started tilting.
