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Mishaps take heavy toll
Sinking Ridge: Shopping arcade may arrest the damage |
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33 per cent of new HIV cases among youth
Disaster management a far cry
INIFD students raise social issues on Teachers’ Day
INIFD students take out a rally in Hamirpur on Teachers’ Day. — A Tribune photograph
Workers’ body resents salary hike for MPs
Taking environment issue to masses
vignettes
Crop loss
Himachal diary
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Mishaps take heavy toll
Palampur, September 7 According to official sources, over 611 persons were killed and 900 injured this year in road mishaps in Himachal. Rash driving, overloading, poor road conditions and lack of intensive traffic checking are among the factors that have led to the rise in fatal accidents. According to state traffic police sources, 70 persons died last week in five accidents in the state. This includes two major truck accidents in Mandi in which 39 persons, including 22 women, lost their lives while an equal number were injured. In another bus mishap 25 persons were killed when an overloaded bus fell into a gorge in Shimla district. This accident occurred because of the road was narrow and in poor condition. Every third day a road mishap is reported from the state. According to official figures over 150 persons have lost their lives in road mishaps in the past three months. Almost after every accident the state government orders a probe but no follow-up action is taken on such reports. Sometimes vital issues are pointed out in such reports by the inquiry officer, such as improvement of a particular portion of a road but such reports remain confined to files and ultimately thrown to the dust bin. Though the state government is well aware that 98 per cent of its population is dependant on road transport passenger safety has completely been neglected. Though there has been a manifold increase in light and heavy vehicles in the state in the past five years, besides tremendous growth in state and inter-state traffic, no efforts worth the name have been taken to upgrade roads accordingly. Over 40,000 trucks carrying material and product from the three cement plants in the state were playing on state roads daily. With six more cement plants are coming up in the next five years, 60,000 more trucks would be added to state roads. The width of most roads is the same as it was 30 years ago. The state government has announced various steps for the widening of roads but very little has been done in this field so far. According to official figures, over 5,000 persons have lost their lives in road accidents in the state in the past eight years while over 35,420 were injured. The state has a high rate of accidents because of its difficult topography and narrow roads.
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Sinking Ridge: Shopping arcade may arrest the damage
Shimla, September 7 The Indian National Trust for Art, Culture and Heritage (INTACH) has submitted a proposal to the Urban Development Department and the Municipal Corporation to raise a shopping arcade, which is a perfect blend of Indo-Tibetan architecture. The structure will not just resolve the problem of stabilizing the area by having proper drainage but also have a structure, which will be pleasing to the eye and adding to the beauty of the historic place. " Capt Ved Sood, a senior member of INTACH, has already discussed the matter with Tibetan government in-exile officials in Dharamsala so that they too can be roped in as several Tibetan refuges running shops in the market below The Ridge too would be accommodated," said BS Malhans from INTACH. Interestingly, the structure in typically Indo-Tibetan style below The Ridge could be replicated in other places like Darjeeling and Mussorie, where there are Tibetan refugees. "The Tibetan government-in-exile is keen to assist the project in whatever way so that the refugees get proper settlement all over India," he said. With their assistance the arcade could have Tibetan architecture and paintings in flamboyant colors, which is their trademark. He said that the MC too was keen that a stable structure is raised in the north slide-prone area at the earliest. "A sum of Rs 10 crore has already been granted for the task under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and the Tibetan government too has assured of financial assistance," said Malhans. With a 42-metre stretch of The Ridge in front of Gaiety Theatre sinking by almost six feet, the government has been forced to expedite efforts that are required to be taken to stabilize the area so that there is no further damage. In fact, the MC has submitted a proposal to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) seeking funds to the tune of RS 19 crores for stabilizing and beautifying The Ridge. Though the ADB has agreed in principle to provide the money the formal approval is still awaited. A.N. Sharma, Municipal Commissioner, too agreed that till the provision for proper drainage is not made, there will be problems on The Ridge. "Since water that seeps into the hill is not finding an outlet due to obstructions, certain portions of The Ridge have become prone to slides," he says. He says it is only by way of raising a structure like a shopping mall that the area can be
stabilised. Though several surveys have been undertaken by technical agencies to find a solution to the problem only short-term measures have been adopted so far. Seeing the deteriorating situation the government will have to act fast before it is too late.
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33 per cent of new HIV cases among youth
Kangra, September 7 Disclosing this Dr Neealm Mehta, Principal Regional Health and Family Welfare Training Centre, Chheb, said, during a five-day training under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) on Adolescent friendly Reproductive and Sexual Health Services here recently, that under RCH-2 program it was to introduce and orient health care providers to the special characteristics of adolescence and the appropriate approaches to address the selected priority health needs and problems of the adolescents. She further said it was because half of the female population was married off by 18 years and high maternal mortality rate (MMR-50%) also falls in the age group of 15-19 years. She said the unmet need of contraception for adolescents was 27 per cent and thereby total fertility rate was 19 percent. She was addressing Female Health Supervisors, Female Health Workers, Staff Nurses from eight districts-- Kangra, Sirmour, Bilaspur, Una, Chamba, Kullu, Hamirpur and Mandi here. She said that NRHM covers the entire country with special focus on 18 States including Himachal Pradesh. Outlining the aims and objectives of the orientation programme, Dr Surender Nikhil Gupta, Epidemologist underlined the need to equip the health providers with knowledge and appraisal of the problems of adolescence making them more sensitive to the needs of adolescents
in order to empower the health providers to provide ado lescent-friendly health services.
He said that despite best health indicators this hill state had been included under NRHM because of high Infant Mortality Rate (51/1000 Live births) and high Maternal Mortality Rate(MMR) (200/Lacs Live births). He further elaborated that delaying age of marriage, reducing incidents of teenage pregnancy, prevention and management of obstetric complications could lead to decline in
MMR. Stressing the need for investment in adolescents' health, he said this would reduce the burden of the disease, infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate and total fertility rate which were the standing indicators for
NRHM. Dr Sanjiv Chaudhary, Dr Seeta Thakur, Dr Amit Gupta, Dr Milap Sharma, Dr Pardeep Bansal and Dr Neelam Mahajan, the experts from DRPGM College, Kangra also impressed upon the participants on the various alternatives available for the harmonious growth and development of the adolescents.
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Disaster management a far cry
Palampur, September 7 Himachal is among the first five states in respect of natural hazards like earthquakes, flash floods triggered by cloudbursts, landslides, avalanches and forest fires. Flash floods have caused immense loss to property, natural wealth and human lives that cannot be evaluated in monetary terms. Cloudbursts and flash floods alone are projecting a horrifying picture in different parts of the state. During the past 10 years, over 30 major cloudbursts and flash floods were reported from different parts of the state in which over 3,000 human lives were lost and property worth Rs 1,500 crore was damaged. In 2006, after heavy flood in the Sutlej valley around Rampur Bushar, the then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh announced to set up a disaster management and mitigation plan, but the decision remained confined to files. However, the spate of natural calamities this year has again forced the state to rethink and evolve a strategy to combat natural disasters by puting a well-devised disaster mitigation plan (fully functional at grass-roots level) into action wherever need arises. The exploitation of 22,000 MW hydropower potential in the state and 1,000 million tonnes of limestone for cement plants have further posed serious threat to the fragile eco-system. In fact, power project companies and the cement industry have added to the woes of the state government in disaster mitigation. Awareness of the common man and fixing the liability of official machinery is must to avoid natural tragedies. If reckless cutting of hills is checked and illegal and unscientific mining is stopped, the state can usher in a new era. Unless people are made aware of the natural calamities and its impacts, tragedies like Leh are bound to occur in Himachal too. The lukewarm attitude and irresponsible behaviour of the official machinery, enforcement of proper regulations, rules and laws pertaining to natural calamities (disasters) are the biggest problems. The cement industry and constructions companies involved in hydropower generation projects sublet works without proper sanctions. They do not register workers but are never punished and instead get political shelter. Effective enactment and implementation of laws is key to successful mitigation. Despite the fact that Himachal lies in seismic zone (V), a ban on high-rise buildings (more than three storey) is being flouted not only by the public but also by government agencies.
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INIFD students raise social issues on Teachers’ Day
Hamirpur, September 7 On the occasion, the INIFD teaching faculty and students launched a signature campaign against female foeticide, drug abuse and an appeal to protect the environment. In the beginning, tributes were paid to former President of India and world-renowned teacher and philosopher Dr S Radhakrishnan and later the students, teachers and members of the Art of Living assembled at Gandhi Chowk to take out an awareness rally. The students had put up three boards for putting signatures and started the campaign by signing on these boards with an appeal to save the girl child and protect environment, besides shunning drugs. Hundreds of locals also joined the campaign. The students, carrying placards and raising slogans, took out a rally that was flagged off by DP Gupta, president of Hamirpur Press Club, and Sat Pal Sharma, managing director of the institute. Later, a series of lectures was held at the Art of Living bhawan where speakers dwelt upon the importance of saving our environment and the girl child and perilous impact of drugs on youths. The importance of role of teachers in building society was also discussed in detail.
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Workers’ body resents salary hike for MPs
Nurpur, September 7 Led by Madan Rana, president of the Kangra district unit, the BMS activists also held a protest demonstration against the alleged anti-workers’ policies of the UPA government and raised slogans against them. Criticising the Union government for raising salaries of the MPs, the BMS rued that even as every section of society was reeling under price rise, the government hiked the salaries of the MPs, which was unjust and unwarranted. The BMS has also demanded to initiate strict measures against price rise, contract system, retrenchment of workers and foreign investments in public sector.
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Taking environment issue to masses
Mandi, September 7 The ETF is encouraged by the support it is getting from villagers in the area that has turned the tree plantation drive into a mass movement. The Larji CAT plan awarded to the ETF was launched at Larji on Vijay Diwas on July 25, for planting tress in the catchment areas of the Beas and tributaries of the trout-rich Tirthan and Sainj rivers. To celebrate Earth Day on August 25, the ETF organised "vanmahotsav" and an awareness camp in which over 400 locals representing, 16 youth clubs, schools, ITI , computer centers, self-help groups, Nehru Yuva Kendra, NGOs, mahila mandals from Aut, Larji, Thalot, Shala Nal, Kau, Seraj, Nagwain and Rahi villages participated. 133, ETF commander Maj Ajay Sangvan said they had got unprecedented support from locals and the Forest Department in Kullu and Mandi. "In one month, we have planted 40,000 sapling of different species of trees in the area. On Independence Day, the ETF and members of local youth clubs of Aut and Larji villages planted more than 2,000 saplings. The members of Markanda Youth Club, Aut, are carrying out the plantation drive every Sunday along with ETF". He added that schoolchildren and ITI students organised an awareness rally on August 25 to mark one month of the ETF and planted another 40,000 saplings. Dr PK Sharma, conservator of forests, Kullu, exhorted the youth to motivate villagers to plant and protect trees. He ensured the ETF to provide all necessary support to make the drive a successful mass movement in area. Notable leadership for making it a mass movement was given by Kamlesh, school principal; K Thakur of ITI, Thalot; Lal Singh, commandant, Nehru Yuvak Kendra; Gurdev of NYC; Jitender of Centre of Sustainable Development, Larji; Jasvinder, local pradhan; and Chetan of Markanda Youth Club, Aut.
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Room to Read on literacy mission
by Shriniwas Joshi Today is International Literacy Day that we have been celebrating since 1966. Room to Read celebrates the day by distributing sweets to schoolchildren covered by it. What is this Room to Read activity? Room to Read believes that world change starts with educated children. It focuses on literacy and gender equality in education and works in collaboration with local communities, NGOs and governments to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children. There comes a moment in the life of a man destined to be great that changes his course and that moment came in the life of Connecticut born John J. Wood when on vacation from Microsoft, he was trekking in Nepal in 1998. John visited a school there and discovered that a few books available were considered precious not to be shared with the students and fewer than 20 discarded books were available for about 450 students. He decided to quit his high-profile job and thought of providing books other than in syllabus for reading to the children in the developing countries. “Microsoft wanted to give me a three-month sabbatical, but I knew that three months would not be enough time,” he explains, “If you want to figure out your path in life, you can't have an end date on the exploration”. Today, he is the founder and executive chairman of Room to Read Group. What started with a simple email requesting friends to donate used books has grown into Room to Read, an award winning non-profit group that over the past nine years has established over 7,500 libraries, donated and published six million books, built over 830 schools, and funded over 8,800 long-term scholarships for girls, impacting the lives of over 3.1 million students in Afro-Asia. The programme started in India in 2003 and in Himachal Pradesh in September 2006. Seven educational blocks-Shimla-4, Kusumpti, Mashobra, Suni, Chopal, Nerwa and Kupvi in Shimla district were selected in the first phase and the two NGOs supervising the programme running in 200 schools are the Association for Social Health in India (ASHI) and the Himachal Pradesh Voluntary Health Association (HPVHA). The entire programme is based on the principle that it would be “a room to read scheme with community’s participation to end up as community’s scheme with room to read participation”. Room to Read, in the first three years, provides books and pays honorarium to a volunteer who takes half an hour library session for each class in a primary school. He is assigned two schools in the Panchayat from which he hails. After three years, Room to Read expects the programme to be adopted by the community except the books which continues to be supplied by it. The impact of the programme is visible even in the interior of the state. Teachers of a madrasa at Kuthar in Nerwa opposed the programme tooth and nail in the beginning, but when the children started showing interest and they found that the books, approved by Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, carry nothing wounding, they accepted it. Ramesh Badrel of the HPVHA narrates his experience of visiting Maneoti PS at Kiran Valley in Nerwa where the normally absent students also started attending the school on Room to Read Day because they liked the play-way reading method in which the volunteer Kamal Jurta approached the students. She got so enthused by volunteering that she has opened her own school there. Where the programme in HP has faded out after three years, the community, in places, has made financial contribution to retain the volunteer. Room to Read desired to extend the programme to other districts too provided the government shared some of the expenditure but the government, for reasons known to it, kept the proposal in the shelf. Despite people asking for more, Room to Read has curtailed the number of schools to be covered here in 2010. Is it due to governmental apathy or because the indicators of literacy, school dropouts, infrastructure, and walking distance are favourable to the child here? I do not know.
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Crop loss
Hamirpur, September 7 Despite the fact that Horticulture Department officials have already submitted losses report to the state government several months ago, but money for the compensation has not been received for distribution among the fruit growers. Due to long spell of draught and untimely rains, crops of mango, litchi, pomegranate, lemon, etc, had been getting destroyed in the district causing huge losses to the fruit growers for consecutive two years during 2009-10 and 2010-11. After carrying field survey, the Agriculture Department had assessed the fruit losses of Rs 6.27 lakh during 2009 and Rs 1.32 crore during 2010 due to natural calamities to fruit growers and submitted the report to the government on the yearly basis. The last budget received to compensate the fruit growers was of Rs 30 lakh for 2006- 07 and after this, no budget has been received. Long dry spells, strong winds, storms and heavy rains have led to huge losses of fruit crops in large parts of the district making people wary of planting new fruit saplings. Though a large area of Hamirpur district is having different fruit trees planted by the farmers, fruit growing is turning out to be a losing proposition for the farmers. The district administration had motivated the farmers of the district to take up planting mango trees in a large way, but due to the continuous crop failures, farmers have stopped planting new fruit tress. The horticulture authorities say: “We have submitted the reports about fruit losses to the government and the farmers will be paid compensation after the allocation of the budget for the purpose”.
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Law for welfare of disabled in the offing
About 75 delegates representing 40 parents' associations of challenged children from eight northern states participated in the workshop and drew attention to various issues and problems the new law must take care of. JP Gadkari (See photo), president of well-known Bangalore-based organisation PARIVAAR, was the key speaker who dealt with the issues concerning the mentally challenged in detail. The event organised in collaboration with the National Federation of Parents' Associations and the National Institute of Mentally Handicapped, coincided with the 9th Founders' Day of Udaan, which falls on September 4. Gadakari, who is also the member of the committee set up by the Centre for preparing a draft for the proposed law after consultations with various stakeholders, stressed the need for ensuring social security cover for the mentally challenged in the country. He suggested that a provision of a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 for the family members of all categories of disabled, including the mentally challenged, should be made. Besides, there should be 1 per cent reservation for these challenged persons in government jobs on the pattern of reservation for the hearing and speech-impaired and physically challenged. The government should also make arrangements for providing facilities for sheltered employment as these special persons could not work in the open environment like other disabled persons. Gadkari informed that the panel would finalise its recommendations by month-end and these would be examined by legal consultants to give shape to the draft of the proposed law on the basis of which the government would carry out final consultations. PARIVAAR is the only apex national-level organisation of 203 parent associations and NGOs working for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Apple growers serve ultimatum
The Public Works Department has been blaming Chinese company Longjian Roads and Bridges Limited for the miserable condition of the Theog- Hatkoti road, which became a major traffic bottleneck hindering the transportation of apples. However, it cannot escape responsibility for the damaged roads elsewhere in Shimla district, particularly in and around the state capital. The condition of the Dhalli road, which is most important for apple growers as the main agriculture market is located there, has been in the worst shape. Stretches of the pot-holed road had virtually turned into nullahs of slush and storm water even entered some shops. The local traders are up in arms against the authorities and they have served a week's ultimatum for restoration of the damaged road. They allege that the construction of a bypass has created the problem of waterlogging at Dhalli Chowk. They blame the Irrigation and Public Health Department for the deplorable state of the road. The department dug up the road for laying a water pipeline. It took a long time and the road was not restored to its original shape after completing the job. The department has given Rs 58 lakh to the PWD for restoration of the road and the authorities have now assured that work would be started after the monsoon is over.
New Solan Lioness Club office-bearers
Kavita Mittoo was installed as president of the District Lioness Club, Solan, at a ceremony attended by the Board of Directors in the presence of Mamta Aggarwal, the guest of honour, and other members of the club. While outgoing secretary of the club Brij Goel presented the report of the club on the occasion, Kavita Mittoo detailed out the future programmes of the club. She said the club had been doing charity programmes to help poor and needy people. She would try her best to provide impetus to such activities to fulfil the goals of the Lioness Club. Other office-bearers of the club who formally assumed office included vice-president Brij Goel, secretary Karam Jeet, treasurer Rajesh Mahajan, joint treasurer Pummy Puri and public relation officer Meenakshi Vij. As many as 10 district directors of the club were also inducted during the ceremony in which members from the Chandigarh, Shimla and New Delhi Lioness Clubs also participated. (Contributed by
Rakesh Lohumi
and DP Gupta)
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A rise in motor accidents in Himachal has caused serious concern among the common passenger. Frequent road accidents have put a question mark on passenger safety and functioning of the road transport system in the state.
The problematic sinking zone of The Ridge could not only be stabilized but also beautified with the coming up of a shopping arcade designed in the Indo-Tibetan style by INTACH with technical assistance and inputs from the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Keeping in view the recent flash floods and devastation caused by heavy rains in the state, there is an urgent need for disaster mitigation action plan to cope up with natural disasters that have shaken the state.
Students of the International Institute of Fashion Design (INIFD),
Hamirpur, recently celebrated the Teachers’ Day in a different way.
The students not only paid gratitude to the teaching community but also launched a campaign on social issues in collaboration with the local unit of the Art of Living.
Following directions of the Central leadership, the Kangra district unit of the Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) submitted a memorandum last week to the Prime Minister through local SDM against the three-fold hike in the salary of MPs.
Shimla-based NGO Udaan organised a two-day regional parents' meet on 'Together in the Community: Inclusion and Advocacy' early this week. The event was part of the exercise being carried out to ascertain the views and seek suggestions of various sections of society for the new law the government proposed to enact for welfare of the disabled persons.