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PRI poll results set alarm bells ringing
MNREGA to change face of cannabis-growing areas
Encroachers have a field day as PWD sleeps
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PWD saves cost by using polythene in roads
vignettes
Himachal diary
Vivekananda medical college project awaits funds for completion
Shanta lauds research on Kangra art
831 Tibetan political prisoners in China: Report
HPCA’s T20 cricket tournament eyes world record
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PRI poll results set alarm bells ringing
Hamirpur, January 18 If the way some of the candidates supported by these leaders fared and voters’ response in their areas of influence is any indicator, alarm bells have started ringing for some of these. Nadaun MLA Sukhvinder Singh ‘Sukhu’, who has been winning election in this assembly constituency for the past two consecutive terms, has suffered the most in terms of public support. Presently, he is the only Congress MLA from Hamirpur and had won the election from Naduan despite the BJP winning all seats in the district. Congress candidates, including the party’s block president, in the Naduan Assembly segment have lost in all four zila parishad wards i.e. Lahda, Dhaneta, Amlehad and Sapdoh. Not only this, in the panchayat samiti elections, the BJP has won 17 seats out of 26 and the Congress-supported candidates were able to win only eight seats. Similarly, candidates supported by BJP MLA from Nadaunta Baldev Sharma have lost in two out of four zila parishad wards. Here, BJP-supported candidates lost in Bani and Bijad wards. Similarly, in panchayat samiti elections, a close confident of MLA Subhash Banyal lost Bani Kanoh seat. Hamirpur MLA Urmil Thakur, who is eyeing the newly created Sujanpur assembly constituency in the next elections, also got a setback as BJP-backed candidates lost in Bagehda and Chabootra wards at the hands of party rebels. The victory of Congress-backed candidate Promila Devi from Samirpur zila parishad ward may not matter in electoral terms to the Chief Minister, but her second consecutive win from here is definitely an occasion for her to rejoice.
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MNREGA to change face of cannabis-growing areas
Chamba, January 18 The remote areas of the district will now have wild fruits and broad-leaf plants in those areas where cannabis plants grow in large numbers. The plan would be implemented under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). Chamba deputy commissioner Devesh Kumar, who is also the chief executive officer of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), revealed that the plan involved the Forest Department which would prepare the shelves of plantation work in the cannabis-growing tracts of the district in collaboration with the Police Department. Under the MNREGA, Rs 20 lakh had initially been disbursed to the Police Department for uprooting cannabis plants in Tikrigarh, Saproth, Choli, Kalhel, Dehra and Chanju panchayats of the Tissa block and Ail, Banantar, Panjei, Chih, Himgiri and Kharjota panchayats of the Salooni block in Chamba district, Devesh informed. He said the plan would alternate the villagers’ preference of making money by involving in cannabis business. Inhabitants of the surrounding villages would also be engaged in the plantation work. The villagers would not only get employment opportunities, but would also have the right to get fodder after the saplings develop into trees. Birds, monkeys and other wild animals would get wild fruits to survive. Consequently, the farmers can also save their crops from the danger of wild animals, the DC maintained. “The Pandit Deen Dayal Kisan Bagwan Samridhi Yojna, a scheme of the state government, would be another supplement to the means of livelihood of such areas. The Agriculture Department would be involved to focus on the cannabis-growing areas and make the villagers ready to set-up polyhouses as the government was providing 80 per cent to 90 per cent subsidy on setting up of polyhouse. Farmers can adopt off-season vegetable cultivation in the polyhouses. Off-season vegetables grown in polyhouses are in great demand and the farmers get remunerative prices of their produce,” the DC revealed. Since there is no commercial cultivation of cannabis in Chamba district, the villagers extract charas (a psychotropic substance produced from cannabis plants after being pulverised by hands) from the leaves of naturally grown cannabis plants. Smugglers, mostly from the neighbouring states, approach through their local agents and buy charas from the villagers at the cheaper rates as compared to its selling price in the international market. The police usually keeps an eye on the movement of suspected persons with the inputs from intelligence agencies. At the time of nakas, smugglers often scuffle with police officials. During the current fiscal year, the Chamba police has so far seized 114 kg of charas from drug smugglers which approximately costs more than Rs 1 crore in the international market and registered 33 cases under the NDPS Act, according to the police information.
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Encroachers have a field day as PWD sleeps
Palampur, January 18 Even the directions of PWD Minister Gulab Singh to deal firmly with roadside encroachments and enforce the HP Roadside Infrastructure Act are yet to be implemented. Political interference in the functioning of the PWD has made the matters worse as no officer is ready to take any action without approval of political bosses. The increasing encroachments on the state and national highways in Palampur and the adjoining areas has become a matter of concern. Most of the highways connecting the town or passing through it were squeezing day by day because of encroachments, making it difficult to drive vehicles. Though the H P Roadside Land Control Act prohibits any construction within five meters of the state and national highways on both sides, the law is observed more in breach than compliance. On the Palampur- Dharamsala highway the PWD has failed to remove encroachments SSB Chowk onwards. Thought it started a campaign last year in March, it had to be suspended at SSB Chowk for reasons known to the authorities concerned. At many points this road has been reduced to half to its actual breadth with a number of shops coming up on both sides in gross violation of the rules in the past few years. A PWD officer said the department had served notices on the encroachers in January, 2010, but no follow-up action was taken by the department. Most of encroachers did not bother to even reply to the PWD notices . A senior PWD officer admitted that a number of shops had come up on government land in the past few years on Palampur-Dharamsala highway. Because of large-scale encroachments there are regular traffic jams at Ram Chowk and other parts of Ghuggar and outskirts of this town. Many points on this road have turned into “death traps” with frequent accidents on this narrow road . A narrow bridge in front of Santoshi Mata Temple at Ghuggar needed immediate replacement in view of increasing traffic. Though a number of fatal accidents have taken place here, the PWD is yet to initiate steps for the construction of a new bridge.
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PWD saves cost by using polythene in roads
Nurpur, January 18 In Hamirpur circle, 8 km of road has been prepared with the use of polythene waste whereas in Nurpur 7.7 km of road length has been built so far. According to BS Thakur, superintending engineer of Nurpur circle, about 11 metric tonnes of polythene waste was collected in the circle, with 8.5 MT being useable. “The department has so far used 3.2 MT of polythene waste in building 7.7 km of link roads in different rural areas, which helped it save 8 per cent of bitumen. The polythene use in resurfacing roads is proving cost effective as 1 km road consumes about 4 quintal of polythene waste,” he informed. Thakur said initially, polythene waste was used on the Bodh-Ganoh link road as a trial and after its success, the department had started using it in other rural roads. According to information, the roads built with the use of polythene waste include 1-km-long stretch each on the Bhat-Kharar, Nagrota Surian-Katholi, Khshinagar-Minjgrah, Mohtali- Indora, Mohtali-Chhonch link roads whereas it has also been used in building the Lodhwan- Janera, Bhatolli-Rey, Bodh-Ganoh, Aghar-Bhatolli and Indora- Kathgarh link roads. The accumulated polythene waste is first separated from useless material and after cutting of useable waste with shredder machines it is put in hot mix plant for preparing material to be used partially in the tarring of roads. Tailpiece
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vignettes The original Khyber Pass is a 53-kilometer passage through the Hindukush mountain range. Khyber in Hebrew means fort. Connecting the northern frontier of Pakistan with Afghanistan, the pass, at its narrowest point, is only three meters wide. Its highest point is 3500 feet but for centuries it had been a trade and invasion route from Central Asia. It was one of the principal approaches of the armies of Alexander the Great, Timur, Babur, Mahmud of Ghazni and Nadir Shah in their invasions of India. The British had constructed a railroad in 1920-25 here, which runs to the Afghan border through 34 tunnels and over 92 bridges and culverts. Pakistan controls the entire pass. A British engineer, Victor Bailey, successfully completed the work of constructing this railroad and his wife drove the first train through Khyber Pass on November 4, 1925. Why did she drive the train? It could be because the British had decided that Victor would run the inaugural train but he died three months earlier or could be because the local Pashtuns were against the train project but had traditional respect for women. So, Victor asked his wife to drive the first train and Mrs. Bailey kept her hair flowing so that she could be recognised as a woman from distance. A Khyber Pass exists in Shimla (See photo) too and in earlier days it was a narrow strip. Doz writes in 'Simla in Ragtime' published in 1913: "As you proceed (further from The Mall), the hustle and bustle abates, and The Mall becomes less crowded. Jakko is thickly wooded here and the road is in consequence cooler and shadier. A little further you come across a notice board with 'Patiala state' written on it and you enter the Khyber Pass, which is well guarded by boy scouts. " This Patiala state comprised four buildings - Cedar and Cedar Lodge, now the guesthouses of the Punjab Government; Oakover, curently the official residence of the Chief Minister; Rookwood, owned by businessman DM Sahni. The Maharaja, in heydays, used to stay in Oakover, his Prime Minister Mullick Hardit Singh in Cedar, Maharaja's children in Cedar Lodge while Rookwood lay abandoned because one of the daughters of the Maharaja had died here. He disliked the place and had afterwards sold it to a Seth for `40,000 only. So, this is Khyber Pass, a local lingua-adaptation of the original to depict the chill that one experiences while passing through the area even before the onset of the winters. I am not certain when it was named Khyber Pass but it could be between 1839-42 when the first Anglo-Afghan War took place and the British had to face the cold of Khyber Pass. The first reference to Shimla's Khyber Pass is found in The Delhi Sketch Book in a sketch drawn in 1851 showing the scene at 6 p.m. The sketch shows that there are no buildings in the then Khyber Pass and the place has abundance of cedars and greenery while the aged women in jhampans (palanquins) and gentlemen and young damsels in horses cram on the narrow pass, a few falling on the ground from the mode of their conveyance. CJ French describes the scene strikingly: "Mount Jakko seems to be the pivot around which the Simla community revolves in their morning and evening perambulations. The circuit round this hill is about two or three miles, and consists of a broad pathway rendered as levelled as the nature of hill roads would admit, and in the evening it forms the nucleus around which a group of women and gentlemen congregate. Sometimes, the road is entirely taken up with conveyances, when to avoid accident or inconvenience they are obliged to proceed slow, but when no such interruption exists a woman or two escorted by a gay cavalier may be seen on their steeds dashing by the thicket and grove. The evening is often a scene of animation." This pass too, like any other pass, connects two stations - Bara (major) Shimla with Chhota (minor) Shimla.
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Snow cheers but brings problems too
The moderate snow delighted the tourists and locals alike but it also brought a host of problems virtually paralysing life in the state capital as arrangements for clearing snow from the steep roads proved inadequate. The snow came late in the evening on Saturday and Sunday, being a holiday, the local Municipal Corporation took much time to put its men on work. What to speak of vehicular traffic, the slippery road conditions made even walking a nightmare. A number of people fell and sustained injuries. The problem was compounded as extreme cold conditions, with the mercury plummeting to -3°C, water pipes were burst or got blocked due to the freezing of water. Consequently, many localities had to go without water. The residents also had to go without vegetables, milk, bread and other necessities. The Circular Road saw long traffic jams and upper areas beyond Shimla remained cut off. As life was brought to a standstill by just 9 cm of snowfall, one could well imagine the plight of people had it snowed heavily. The British had duly framed a snow manual to take care of such exigencies, which is still in vogue. The Deputy Commissioner of Shimla regularly holds meetings at the onset of the winter to review the preparedness for dealing with snow but the administration is invariably found wanting in proper implementation of the snow manual. Fine arts workshop
As many as 20 students of fine arts from Punjab and Himachal (See photo) participated in the workshop during which chief organiser of the foundation Kapur V Bhan taught some finer nuances of the art of painting. The budding artists were also sent to field to sketch various picturesque spots. The weather god obliged them with snow, which turned out to be a bonus for the participants many of whom experienced snow for the first item. Nature transformed the landscape dramatically much to their delight. Besides sketches, every participant painted two big paintings that are on display at the venue. Bhan informed that his foundation had over 12,000 paintings displayed at various exhibitions from time to time. He said fog in the plains upset the programme as women artists from Rajasthan, Delhi and other state could not make it to Shimla. He will not hold another workshop for the 30-odd women artists who could not attend the programme. His foundation is also setting up a doll museum at Naldehra where more than 2,000 dolls will be displayed. He also plans to create some specimen of animals like the yak, which will greet the visitors at entry to the museum.
Youth Award for Hamirpur man
This award carrying a cash prize of Rs 40000 and a silver medal, besides an appreciation letter, was presented to him by Vice-President Hamid Ansari on January 12 during the national youth festival at Udaipur (See photo). Sharma was selected for the award mainly for his outstanding contribution in creating awareness on important social issues like health, environment protection, women empowerment, total sanitation, blood donation, against female infanticide and self-employment. These awards, being given since 1986, had been given to 22 youths till now but this is the first time that a youth from Hamirpur district has won this award. Ram Pal Sharma has thanked Hamirpur DC Rajinder Singh Thakur for recommending his name for this award. (Contributed by Rakesh
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Vivekananda medical college project awaits funds for completion
Palampur, January 18 The Jaypee Group, which joined hands with Shanta Kumar, chairman of the trust, in November, 2008, to complete this project within two years, but the way construction is proceeding, this project could take another three years for completion. Only roads and the Jaypee guesthouse was completed in the past two years while the major hospital complex like OPD, super-specialty block, general wards. operation theatre, trauma centre is yet to be completed. As a result, the residents of lower Himachal will have to wait for at least three years or more for the completion of this medical college-cum super-specialty hospital. The foundation stone of this project was laid in 1992. Unfortunately, this project remained a victim of dirty politics for 15 years. Earlier, this project was a joint venture of Himachal Pradesh government and the Apollo Group of Hospitals, who had to run this institution through a trust. But the Apollo group left this project midway after which neither the state government nor any other private party showed interest in the completion of this project. The project remained confined to the official files for almost 10 years. Later in 2000, when Mr Shanta Kumar joined the Union Cabinet, he decided to revive this project and sought public cooperation to complete this venture. He received overwhelming support from people of the northern region of the state who contributed over `15 crore for this project. Another trust headed by Shanta Kumar was formed in 2002 to execute this project. Besides Mr. Shanta Kumar, other social workers and respected citizens of the region were also included in the trust. The old trust in which state government was also one of the trustees was dissolved. The state government transferred all funds and 40 acres of land situated in the heart of the town to the new trust on a token lease of Re 1 per year. On November, 2008, Shanta Kumar invited the Jaypee Group of Industries as the new partners to complete the project. Again a new trust was formed with 18 trustees, 12 from the Jaypee Group so that the Jaypee group Could take any decision to run the trust independently. The State Cabinet also ratified the transfer of the project to the new trust so that the Jaypee group did not face any legal hurdle in future. The land measuring 40 acres, all half-completed buildings as seen in the pictures were transferred to the new trust. On the occasion of taking over this project, Jai Parkash Gaur, head of the Jaypee Group publicly announced in the presence of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Shanta Kumar that he would complete the project within two years. However, the Jaypee group released little funds in the past two years as a result of which the project has got delayed. Besidesa super specialty hospital with 500 beds, the project also envisages providing a medical college, nursing institution, paramedical school and yoga & naturopathy treatment facilities. The trust has made a specific provision in its bylaws to keep 20 per cent beds reserved for poor patients who would get free medical aid. The trust is also committed to providing other medical facilities at affordable rates to other patients.
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Shanta lauds research on Kangra art
Chamba, January 18 In a letter addressed to Dr Karan Singh, Shanta Kumar has applauded the endeavours of Sharma for his researches in documenting the world-famous art of Kangra painting. The MP hoped that the efforts of Dr Singh would go a long way in promoting this visual art on a wider horizon. Meanwhile, a noted art historian, Kamal Prasad Sharma of Chamba, remarked that the Kangra art was cultivated in Guler by Pandit Seu, who himself was a Kashmiri Brahmin. After the downfall of Maharaja Sansar Chand of Kangra, it was the Jammu court that extended the lavish patronage to painters. The book reveals the facts relating to famous painters and their connoisseur patrons. — OC
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831 Tibetan political prisoners in China: Report
Dharamsala, January 18 The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy
(TCHRD) released these figures here in the annual report on human rights in Tibet. The report stated that 188 known Tibetans were detained last year . Of these prisoners, 71 Tibetans have already been sentenced for various prison terms by Chinese courts. The report also states that Tibetans serving legal conviction were denied a fair trial by the authorities concerned . The TCHRD fears the numbers of Tibetans arrested and sentenced could be higher since information outflow from Tibet regarding arrests and conviction is highly restricted and controlled by China. The number of Tibetans arrested and sentenced by China for political activism could be higher but certainly not lower than what we were able to document till date,” said Ugen
Tenzin, director of the TCHRD, at the press briefing. The report details last year’s events pertaining to human rights violations in Tibet. About the human rights situation in Tibet during last year in comparison to the year preceding it, Jampa
Monlam, assistant director of the TCHRD, said the situation in 2010 was worse.
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HPCA’s T20 cricket tournament eyes world record
Chamba, January 18 The tournament, which commenced on November 29 last year, would conclude before the start of the World Cup on February 19. According to HPCA president and MP Anurag Thakur, 1,406 teams, comprising 19,222 players from 11 districts of Himachal Pradesh, are participating. Matches are being played at 75 different venues in all districts. Cricket has become immensely popular in the state and the first edition of the tournament held in 2009 had generated a lot of interest among budding players. “Despite the fact that there is a dearth of playgrounds in this hilly state, cricketers can be seen turning the meadows and roads into grounds and their relentless efforts would reap a rich harvest in this mega event. Interestingly, the game has gained momentum in high-altitude districts like Chamba, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti”, says Anurag Thakur. Through this event, cricketers of this hilly state would be selected for further training to enable them to get selected at the national level. For the ongoing event, the state winner would get a cash prize of Rs 3 lakh, runners-up Rs 2 lakh and the state semi-finalists would be given Rs 51,000. Similarly, the district winner would get Rs 51,000, runners-up Rs 31,000, semi-finalist Rs11,000 and the quarter-finalist would get kits.
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High Court and the subsequent government notification to remove all encroachments on the state and national highways, the state PWD is yet to initiate steps in this regard in Palampur and the adjoining areas.
The use of polythene in resurfacing roads by the state Public Works Department
(PWD) has been proving successful. According to information, the PWD has so far built 42 km road in the state with Nurpur circle placed at number two in terms of road length.
The construction of multi-crore Vivekananda Medical College and Research Institute
(VMRI), a dream project of Shanta Kumar, being set up here by the Vivekananda Medical and Research Trust in collaboration with the JayPee Group of Industries has been going at a snail's pace.
The Jaypee Group, which joined hands with Shanta Kumar, chairman of the trust, in November, 2008, to complete this project within two years, but the way construction is proceeding, this project could take another three years for completion.
The Charu Castle Foundation has been regularly organising training programmes, workshops and competitions to promote artistic talent amongst the students, particularly girls. Early this week it organised an art workshop-cum-camp at Shimla’s Gaiety Theatre for women in collaboration with the State Department of Art, Language and Culture.
Ram Pal Sharma from Nauhan village of Hamirpur district has won the National Youth Award for 2009-10 instituted by the Union Ministry of Youth Services and Sports for his contribution to various related fields.