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Easing no-construction zone norm draws flak
State for better home stay facilities
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Rampant graft bleeds freedom fighter’s heart
vignettes
State ambulance service boon for residents
From technocrat to innovative flower grower
Join hands to uproot copying in exams: Dhiman
Solang’s Anjani Mahadev attracts pilgrims
Nadaunta MLA gets active in Nadaun constituency
Himachal diary
Palampur cries for attention
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Easing no-construction zone norm draws flak
Kullu/Manali, February 15 While hoteliers call it a big boost for tourism, environmentalists say it will give a free run to the well-entrenched land mafia and influential entrepreneurs. The government, however, says it will provide relief to local residents as they can now start commercial activities along the river. The Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department, which is responsible for checking mushrooming of unauthorised construction, issued the notification in this regard on January 15. Earlier, the High court had frozen the commercial activity along the banks of the Beas in the aftermath of flash flood in 1995 which had damaged various resorts, workshops and houses along the river. But the violators have refused to learn from the past. From Bhuntar to the Solang valley and old Manali village, several influential persons almost enjoy impunity as regards violation of Section 118 of the Himachal Land Ceiling and Tenancy Act, which forbids purchase of agricultural land for non-agricultural purpose by non-residents of the state. The most prominent offenders include a prominent political clan of Haryana, which allegedly runs a benami resort near Club House along the Manalsu khad, a tributary of the Beas; Span Resorts of Union Minister Kamal Nath, whose residence was washed away in 1995; Manali resorts, which is under renovation; Highland park; Royal park; and the six-storeyed Whispering Rocks at Nehru Kund along the Beas. Most of these hotels and resorts violate the TCP Act as not more than three storeys are allowed. Many of them fall even within 25 m from the highest flood level of the banks of the Beas and its tributaries. The TCP Department has already issued notices to 1,117 violators of the Act. Out of these, about 60 are hoteliers and more than 20 hotels are located along the Beas, officials said. Environmentalists say government’s 25-m distance norm is aimed at pleasing voters and influential entrepreneurs who are eyeing land along the Beas. Meanwhile, Gajender Thakur, president of Manali Hoteliers Association, said the 25-m distance norm had given a relief to locals as earlier they could not start any commercial activity because construction was banned up to 500 m on both sides of the river. “Over 40 per cent land along the river belongs to locals and now they can start their own venture,” he added. The TCP department, meanwhile, has allegedly remained ineffective so far as curbing violations is concerned. It neither has ample staff nor infrastructure to enforce the laws. RD Sharma, town planner, TCP central zone, said the department would categorise the nature of violations along the Beas and the construction falling within the 25-m zone will be demolished. “The department has already issued notices to violators, including Whispering Rocks and Manali Resort, under the TCP Act,” he added.
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State for better home stay facilities
Palampur, February 15 Talking to The Tribune at the HP Agriculture University guesthouse here recently, Chief Minister PK Dhumal, who also holds the portfolio of tourism, appealed unemployed rural youths to come forward and adopt this scheme. He said the basic idea was to provide a clean and affordable place for foreign and domestic tourists who visit Himachal Pradesh in large number. It would provide an opportunity for foreign tourists to stay with Himachali families to experience Himachali customs and traditions and relish authentic Indian/Himachali cuisine. Dhumal disclosed that home stay units approved by the Department of Tourism, HP, would be on the website of the Tourism Department. A directory of all such approved establishments had been prepared by the department to enable domestic as well as foreign tourists to live in a homely environment and to take the advantage of the scheme. In addition, efforts were being made to organise short-term training in hospitality trade to those who would opt for such training. The Chief Minister said the objectives of the scheme were to broaden the base of stakeholders for tourism, to take tourism to the rural, tribal and interior areas, to decongest the urban areas, which cannot support any further tourism load and to provide employment and economic values in the interior areas of the state. He said the scheme had only been extended to private houses located in the rural areas of the state which were in good condition and easily accessible in the countryside i.e. within farmhouses, orchards, tea gardens, etc. The houses shall fulfil the minimum requirement of having one or more room’s accommodation subject to a maximum of three rooms to cover under the scheme with attached toilet facility. The promoters are at liberty to submit fresh proposals for approval for setting up home stay in the countryside at anytime. He said any owner of a private house located in a rural or tribal area of the state could apply to the district tourism development officer (DTO) for registration of the home stay unit under the scheme. The Chief Minister said the government had given a number of incentives to home stay units like the Town and Country Planning Department would not charge fee for change of land use, there would be no luxury tax and VAT on such units and domestic rates for electricity and water supply would be charged from the registered home stay units at the domestic rates.
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Rampant graft bleeds freedom fighter’s heart
Kangra, February 15 He remembers his first meeting with Subhash Chandra Bose in Singapore after which he used to meet him at least thrice a week. Amir says Netaji was physically, mentally and emotionally a strong man. It took him 45 days to travel by foot from Singapore to Kohima where he was accompanied by Rattan Chand Sharma of Gugga Saloh and Lal Singh of Drang. Lal Singh was carrying a brain gun, Amir still remembers. Amir was captured by the British forces at Kohima. He was tortured in his captivity for being a member of the INA. From Kohima, he was shifted to an interrogation centre at Jiggar Gaccha in Calcutta and later shifted from one jail to another, undergoing trauma and torture at the hands of the British forces. Finally, Amir was shifted to Jalandhar jail. He was declared a traitor by the British government and was told that he would be hanged. However, he was released after India attained independence. He joined the CRPF on September 21, 1961, and remained in the service for the next 14 years. He was awarded Tamar Pattar in 1972 by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for his contribution in the freedom struggle. Living in a modest house, Amir says he the menace of corruption has been destroying the roots of the country for which he sacrificed his youth. Speaking at a function organised by Vivekananda Kendra here recently to honour him, he got emotional and urged the people, particularly the youth, to save the country from clutches of the corrupt.
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vignettes
The number 108 is pious not only in Hindu religion but also in many other religions of the world. Chinese Tao philosophy holds that there are 108 sacred stars. And in Japan , a bell is chimed 108 times at the end of the year to ring out the old and ring in the new year, each chime representing one of the 108 earthly temptations a person must overcome to achieve nirvana. There are 108 beads in a rosary. Why? The Vedic system believes that 108 represent the universe or supreme. There are 108 Upanishads, 108 holy places associated with Lord Vishnu (Divyadesams) and 108 names of Lord Ganesha and Shiva. Astronomically, there are 27 constellations in our galaxy, and each one of them has four directions, and 27X4=108, the number covers the entire galaxy.
The pious and auspicious 108 has now come to Himachal Pradesh (See photo) to help save lives in emergency. A short tinkle from any telephone or mobile phone service shall record your request or demand, which stays for five years with the service-providers, and, in 20 minutes on an average, the service will be at your door and command if you are in a city and in 35 to 40 minutes if you are in a rural area. Atal Swasthya Sewa, as it called, is an emergency response service related to medical, police or fire but does not cater to the non-emergenny services. It is absolutely free and there are no charges for the service being provided. A case study from Shimla says that on January 19, Atal Swasthya Sewa picked a woman in labour pains from Totu to drop her at Deen Dayal Hospital. The trained “emergency medical attendant” posted in each vehicle, besides the pilot, who also has basic training, sensed emergency and asked the pilot to park the vehicle on a roadside and conducted the delivery. The mother and the child were later admitted to the hospital in a happy mood. The Atal Swasthya Sewa also rescues citizens in emergency situations when they are in need of police or fire brigade help. The quality of service has two dimensions -- one is the promptness with which the ambulance arrives and the second is the care provided en route. In the latter there is investment in training a cadre of paramedical staff and equipping the ambulances with all necessary consumables and equipment, including five types of stretchers and a wheel-chair. Every aspect of quality of care during transport before reaching a health facility is taken care of. Then there is a documented and verifiable system in place for measuring the time taken from the moment of receiving the call to the moment of reaching the patient and the time taken to deliver the patient to the facility. This system is well monitored and supervised in a control room at Solan. The laudable project was possible for the government when it went into public-private partnership with the Gunapati Venkata Krishna Reddy Emergency Medical Research Institute at Hyderabad. GVK-EMRI, a non-profit organisation, is India's largest, professional, integrated emergency management, research and training institute. Eric Depond of France was so impressed by the service that he said: “I discovered a perfect model of emergency. I will try to develop the same in France.” GVK EMRI has its footprint across India and its operations span the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Assam, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Started here on the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on December 25, 2010, Atal Swasthya Sewa covering seven districts of Shimla, Sirmaur, Solan, Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Kangra with 50 ambulances has been attending to 1600 to 1800 calls per day. Since the launch of the sewa, it has received 70,831 calls. The remaining districts will be covered by the end of March when the fleet increases by another 58 ambulances. Professor Murthy of JNU calls it “a solo, soulful, selfless service celebrating the worth of human life”. He is right.
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State ambulance service boon for residents
Dharamsala, February 15 “On February 25, 25 more ambulances would be launched in seven districts. And by March 31, another 25 ambulances would be launched in Chamba, Kullu and Mandi districts, which would take the number of ambulances to 100”. He said this would reduce the pick-up time and help save more lives. He mentioned that the state had already received the ambulances while the training of drivers and other staff members was going on. He claimed that the control room of 108 ambulance service was among the best in the world. “The call centre responds to a call in 3-5 seconds and in the next 70-90 seconds, the ambulance leaves for its destination and in less than one hour, the ambulance reaches for the patient’s help and takes him to the nearest hospital”. Dr Bindal also informed that surveys had been done in the tribal areas of the state and in coming months, such areas would also be covered under the service. Since its launch till February 1, the call centre had received 55,773 calls at its toll-free number from all over the state in which 3,020 were emergency cases. The ambulances attended 564 emergency calls from Kangra district. The jurisdiction of the ambulances is fixed and it takes the patient to the nearest hospital. “As per information provided by the authorities on the number of cases attended all over the state, we found that the service has attended 23 per cent pregnancy cases, 8 per cent trauma, 23 per cent trauma (non-vehicular), 8 per cent respiratory, 12 per cent cardiac, 2 per cent diabetic, 13 per cent abdomen pain, 1 per cent animal bite and 2 per cent poisoning/drug overdose cases among others”. Himachal Pradesh has become the 10th state to launch this service and the second in North India after Uttarakhand. As per Dr Omesh Bharti, officer on special duty (OSD), EMRI services, “After the launch of a similar service, the maternal mortality rate has come down by 27 per cent in Gujarat.” The ambulances are fully equipped with advanced technology, which has been proving boon for emergency patients. The ambulances have life-saving equipment like automatic external defibrillator and drugs like anti-snake venom. Equipped with GPS, these ambulances take 25-minute rapid response time in the urban areas and 35-45 minutes in the rural areas. KS Dogra, CMO, Dharamsala, has directed the school authorities to inform children about the 108 EMRI service in the morning assembly which they would share with their families so that more and more people could be benefited.
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From technocrat to innovative flower grower
Nurpur, February 15 Rana, who retired from the post of assistant engineer, PWD, in 2006, grew marigold for the first time in 2005 and after successful cultivation, he decided to continue this venture after retirement. Nowadays, his fields are covered with full-grown marigold. Rana says he has been invariably cultivating marigold and jaffari (French marigold) on his 1.5 kanal land since 2005 with technical guidance from the Regional Horticulture Research Station (RHRS) of the state horticulture and forestry university, Jachh (Nurpur). He has been getting two crops by cultivating marigold and jafari in February and June, respectively. After scripting a success story in flower cultivation, Rana established a polyhouse under a Horticulture Technical Mission programme. He is growing capsicum in it round the year. Rana reveals that though the government has adequate programmes to boost floriculture, he has been facing problems in marketing the produce. “Initially, I used to sell my produce in the neighbouring towns of Punjab, but it was not encouraging as the buyers were not paying sufficient price even as they used to sell the flowers at much higher prices to consumers. Nowadays, I am selling my produce in Kangra. But during bulk production, I am forced to sell my produce in Punjab at throwaway prices,” he says. The government should start marketing schemes for growers so that they can get ready market and get encouraged in diversifying their agricultural operations, he opines. Meanwhile, Dr Shamsher Singh Rana, associate director, RHRS, claimed that marigold could be grown round the year in the low-mid hilly areas of Kangra provided strategic planting, schedule, suitable varieties and management practices were ensured in its cultivation. “The growers can get three crops by planting marigold in February-March, June-July and September-October. They can harvest their crop just after two months of cultivation, he informed. He asserted that the RHRS was providing farm technology and guidance and plant material as well, especially seedling of marigold to the growers.
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Join hands to uproot copying in exams: Dhiman
Bilaspur, February 15 Dhiman while presiding over the annual prize distribution function of Government Senior Secondary School recently, Kot, 65 km from here, gave this call. He said the state was proud that it had now excelled in education. He said Himachal was fast developing into an
“education hub.” State youths are now capable of getting all types of education and trainings in the state itself and youths from other states are also rushing to the state to get admissions in professional courses. Dhiman said 10 universities were already functioning out of the 16 sanctioned by the government, while five medical colleges have been set up in the state. He said the state government is trying hard to provide quality education in its schools and other
institutions. He pleaded with the parents and teachers to collaborate their joint efforts to help develop the best talents. Dhiman also announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for the construction of the school boundary wall and main gate, Rs 3 lakh for principal office and library and Rs 5,000 for cultural activities of the school.
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Solang’s Anjani Mahadev attracts pilgrims
Manali, February 15 The valley gets tourists, both from the country and abroad, throughout the year, but it is during winter that the place turns a hot spot not only for adventure-seekers but also for pilgrims. Hundreds of tourists and locals visit Anjani Mahadev during December to March to have a glimpse of an ice “Shiv Lingam”, which is situated 2 km from the Solang ski slopes. Tourists generally undertake their journey from the main ski slopes to Anjani Mahadev on horsebacks or on foot. This time, the “Shiv Lingam” is about 22-ft high. Baba Prakash Puri has built a small temple and an asharm in the cave that houses the ice “lingam”. A large number of saints and devotees from Baba Prakash Puri ashram, near Gurgaon (Haryana), organise a “bhandara” at Anjani Mahadev in August every year. Later also, they continue to serve the pilgrims by offering them tea, kheer and fruits. The place has also become a source of livelihood for residents of adjoining villages, who offer horse rides, woollen garments, snow shoes and sticks to tourists. A number of kiosks have come up on the way to Anjani Mahadev. In winter months, when all high-altitude treks in and around Manali get closed for adventure lovers, local tour operators organise daylong treks to Anjani Mahadev.
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Nadaunta MLA gets active in Nadaun constituency
Hamirpur, February 15 Baldev, who was elected thrice from the Nadaunta Assembly constituency, is showing a keen interest in the party affairs, elections and other activities in the Nadaun Assembly constituency. During the recently concluded Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) elections, he also played an important role in selecting candidates and had been actively associated with all activities of the party. He had played a significant role in deciding the party nominees to head different PRI bodies, Panchayat Samitis, Nadaun Nagar Panchayat, etc., and also made it a point to remain preset during all these elections. Even during the tours of Chief Minister PK Dhumal and other important leaders to the Nadaun Assembly constituency, Baldev had been conspicuous by his presence and being overactive during all these programmes. After the last delimitation exercise in the state, a major portion of the Nadaunta Assembly segment had been merged in the Nadaun Assembly constituency. The home panchayat of Baldev, Utap, along with 12 panchayats, had been added to the Nadaun Assembly segment after carving these from the Nadaunta Assembly segment, which has now been renamed as the Badsar Assembly constituency. The Nadaun Assembly constituency had been under the control of the Congress for quite long time. Narain Chand Prashar had been dominating the politics here for several decades and getting elected from Nadaun and at present Congress MLA Sukhvinder Singh had been elected for the two consecutive terms from Nadaun. On the other hand, BJP candidates had won this seat twice when Dhani Ram and Babu Ram Mandial were elected on the party tickets. Whether the activeness of Baldev in the Nadaun Assembly constituency is a part of the BJP strategy or his personal political move after the inclusion of several parts of Nadaunta in the Nadaun constituency is being watched by the people here with interest.
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Himachal diary The ongoing state-wide folk media campaign on the theme of “Beti Hai Anmol” to create awareness about female foeticide is not only educating the people but also entertaining them. The street plays and folk dance being presented by artists during the campaign are drawing large crowds, making it evident that despite the advent of modern electronic entertainment channels the folk media continues to have its sway over the people. The programme held at the historic Ridge in Shimla enthralled not only locals but also tourists. Well-known pahari folk singer Mohan Guleria regaled the audience with popular folk numbers like “Aakhti Milaye Ja, Bhavati Laye Ja”. The street play directed by Chattar Singh effectively sends the message across that female foeticide was a sin with the artists enacting scenes of the “Yamlok” (See photo) where those guilty of the crime were handed out severe punishments and tortured. The street play also focused on the dwindling female sex ratio and tried to drive home the point that if the trend was not reversed ,there would be no brides available for solemnising marriages. The campaign is being carried out under the state National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in collaboration with Department of Information and Public Relations. In all, 300 artists from 22 cultural troupes have been trained to sensitise people about the skewed sex ratio for the campaign with a special repertoire consisting of street and folk plays and folk songs. In the first phase, 440 folk media programmes are being organised in 44 development blocks of Kangra, Una, Solan, Sirmaur, Shimla, Bilaspur, Hamirpur and Mandi districts. It will continue throughout the year in a phased manner and a special programme would be organised on the occasion of the state-level Women’s Day on March 8. New IEET Director-Principal
A highly qualified technical professional with vast expertise and experienced telecommunication engineering Dr Rakesh Sharma has taken over as the Director Principal of the IEET at the Baddi University. He is Ph.D and M.Tech in CSE. Sharma is an alumnus of BITS-Pilani from where he completed his BE (Honours) before joining the armed forces in the Corps of Signals. He launched the first electronic exchange at the Command Headquarters, Lucknow, and the first INMARSAT terminal for providing satellite-based communication services at Siachen, the world’s highest battlefield. He programmed the entire communication setup of the Army Training Command at Mhow prior to its shifting to Shimla. As Group Commander ,NCC, in Meghalaya, he ensured that the NCC was made compulsory for the North-Eastern Region and Jammu and Kashmir. After quitting the Army he joined academics and took over as branch counsellor of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineering (IEEE) for the Uttarakhand chapter. Fellow with the Institution Of Electronic and Telecommunication Engineering ( IETE), New Delhi, and the Institution of engineers (IE), Kolkata, and Life Member of the Indian Society for Technical Education ( ISTE), he has served as Director, Principal and Dean of Engineering of reputed institutes, colleges and universities over the past eight years. He is still not finished with academics and just completed his postgraduate diploma in management. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D in management. A parasailing instructor, he is an avid sportsman, a medallist and a ranked weightlifter and powerlifter. He has raised Army’s Teams in taekwondo, weightlifting and athletics and also authored four books on army communication. He has been guiding research scholars and published 11 research papers in international journals and over 20 papers in national journals.
Aspirants left high and dry
There is bad news for the MLAs aspiring for ministerial berths. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal , who had earlier announced that he would expand his Cabinet before the Budget session , has changed his plans. During his recent visit to Hamirpur, he said there was no proposal for expanding his ministry for the time being. The legislators who have been waiting for Cabinet expansion for the past more than a year have indeed been disappointed. More so because the Budget session will be over only in April and with the next Assembly poll due in October, 2012, less than 16 months will be left for the end of the term of the government. A vacancy was created in the Cabinet after the resignation of Forest Minister JP Nadda, who moved to national politics, joining Nitin Gadkari’s team as a general secretary of the BJP. The rumours of imminent expansion have been in the air for over two weeks and even February 9 was being mentioned as date for the oath ceremony. A few leaders desirous of becoming chairmen of boards and corporations were pinning their hopes this time but like earlier occasions they have been told to wait for some more time. (Contributed by Rakesh
Lohumi and DP Gupta)
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Palampur cries for attention
Palampur, February 15 History reveals that Palampur is a land of brave soldiers who had laid down their lives for the unity and integrity of the country. The Palampur region has the highest number of serving soldiers and ex-servicemen in the country. But the governments, who ruled the state, extended step-motherly treatment to the town and failed to recognise the supreme sacrifices made by the martyrs. Even, the state government failed to accord a district status to the town. The recent decision of the state government not to extend the limits of the Palampur Municipal Council has caused widespread resentment among the residents here. Earlier in the Cabinet decision, the state government has given its clearance for the extension of MC limits of the town, but because of the political reasons and opposition of the local leaders, the government withdrew the notification. It may be recalled that the Palampur MC was set up in 1955. Since then, its limits were never extended. Only, 3,910 people reside in the Palampur Municipal, which is the smallest MC in the world. There has been 20 times increase in the population of the town, as 40,000 people live in 12 adjoining panchayats which have also become a part of the town. Even then the state government is not serious to extend its MC limits. Unplanned and haphazard construction of housing colonies in the town has become quite common. Since all these colonies have been coming up in the panchayat areas, it lacks basic amenities like streetlights, roads, proper sewerage and drinking water supplies. In the absence of any appropriate authority to deal with the planning of the town, there has been a mushroom growth of colonies with congested lanes, narrow roads and without sewerage, becoming virtual slums. Though the state government brought the town under the purview of the HP Town and Country Planning Act 10 years ago, it failed to improve the situation. A number of houses and shops in the town have come up without the prior approval of the Town and Country Planning Department. For all such illegal acts, the department remained a silent spectator. Even it failed to serve notice on defaulters. Potholed roads and streets, overflowing drains and contaminated drinking water tell the tale of the town. Heaps of garbage can be seen in every nook and corner emitting foul smell all the time. In many areas, garbage is not removed for days together. The situation in the internal parts of the town is no better as panchayats have no means to maintain the cleanliness resulting in huge garbage dumps on roadsides at Ghuggar, SSB Chowk, Aima, Bundla and Chokki Khalet. The panchayat areas like Ghuggar, Sughar, Aima, Choki, Bindravan, where 90 per cent population of the town resides, are in bad shape. No funds are provided to the panchayats for the development of these areas. Even, the panchayats have no resources to remove garbage dumps.
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The decision of the state government to relax the limits of no-constriction or green zone from 500 m to 25 m on the banks of the Beas has invited criticism from environmentalists and others.
“Eradicate corruption and save the country, for which we sacrificed the prime of our youth. It pains to hear about rampant corruption among all sections of society,” says Amir Chand, a freedom and close associate of Subhash Chandra Bose, during a conversation with The Tribune. Amir was born on December 22, 1915, in Kharaot village of the district, but lost his parents at the age of 5.
The number 108 is pious not only in Hindu religion but also in many other religions of the world. Chinese Tao philosophy holds that there are 108 sacred stars. And in Japan , a bell is chimed 108 times at the end of the year to ring out the old and ring in the new year, each chime representing one of the 108 earthly temptations a person must overcome to achieve nirvana. There are 108 beads in a rosary. Why? The Vedic system believes that 108 represent the universe or supreme.
Nurpur, February 15
Hamirpur, February 15
The ongoing state-wide folk media campaign on the theme of “Beti Hai Anmol” to create awareness about female foeticide is not only educating the people but also entertaining them.
The street plays and folk dance being presented by artists during the campaign are drawing large crowds, making it evident that despite the advent of modern electronic entertainment channels the folk media continues to have its sway over the people.
The programme held at the historic Ridge in Shimla enthralled not only locals but also tourists.
