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Urban forests back with Shimla MC
Traffic chaos rules Palampur roads
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State to take up issue with J&K government
grazing rights to Gaddis
vignettes
7 more ambulances for Kangra
Ayurvedic panel rues violation of drug purchase policy
Water sports
Drug menace alarming in Kullu
Himachal diary
ICSSR, UGC research projects for Chamba geographer
Workshop on geothermal energy in northwest Himalayas
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Urban forests back with Shimla MC
Shimla, February 22 It is after five years now that the MC has regained control over the prime forest area within the MC limits when the Cabinet recently gave the final nod to the return of forests from the Forest Department back to the MC. Even though the government had agreed in principle to give the control of forests back to the MC in June last year, the Cabinet has cleared the decks for it only now. As such the MC will now get back 843.91 hectares out of a total of 1880.13 hectares, which falls within the MC limits. The remaining area of 1020.32 hectares falling in the catchment area, 6.4 hectares in Chaid and 9.5 hectares in Craignano will not be restored to the MC. However it had been agreed to give charge of the entire forest area falling within the three merged areas of New Shimla, Totu and Dhalli, which were earlier Special Area Development Authorities (SADA), to the MC. The MC authorities said that the process of identifying the total forest area within these three SADAs was under way. The MC will, however, have to now manage the forests better and be more stringent as the main reason for their transfer to the Forest Department was on account of poor and unscientific management. The MC was able to get back the forest area given to the Forest Department in 2006 on the plea that since the task of urban forestry, protection of environment and promotion of ecology was entrusted to the Urban Local Bodies Department under Chapter 20 of the HP Municipal Corporation Act, 1994, forests could have been handed over only after an amendment to the said Act. The MC had also cited the problems being faced in undertaking development activities like creating parking slots, dumping sites, creation of children parks as one of the reasons for restoring the urban forests back to it. All such activities have come to a standstill as the necessary clearances from the Forest Department in this regard were not coming through.
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Traffic chaos rules Palampur roads
Palampur, February 22 Despite the Holta bypass being fully operational, the administration has allowed the plying of heavy vehicles via Palampur, resulting in frequent traffic jams in the town, where the narrow Pathankot- Mandi national highway is a major traffic hazard. Earlier, the SDM and the DSP took keen interest to ease traffic congestion here and diverted all heavy vehicles via the Holta by pass, but after their transfer, the situation is back to square one with all heavy vehicles entering the town. There has been a manifold increase in the number of heavy and light vehicles as 400 vehicles are added to the town every month but the width of most of the roads remains the same as it was 25 years back. Traffic jams in the town have become a regular feature. In peak hours, particularly in the morning and evening, vehicular owners have to face traffic jams at one place or the other. Palampur town has witnessed allround development in the past 10 years. The population of the town has increased from 5,000 to 40,000. A number of new housing colonies have come up in and outside the town but no new roads or bypasses have been added to the town. No new plans have been initiated for the development of the town. Though proposals were made many times forwidening the roads, these remained confined to the official files. An overbridge under construction in the town has been hanging fire with its construction coming to a standstill for the past six months. The decision of the Municipal Council to allow vendors and fruit sellers to sit along the national highway near the gurdwara in front of the State Bank of India, police station and Cinema Road have aggravated traffic chaos as frequent accidents are taking place at these spots. Though encroachments on the bypass have become a chronic feature, the PWD finds itself helpless to remove these as most of the offenders enjoy political patronage.
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State to take up issue with J&K government
grazing rights to Gaddis
Dharamsala, February 22 Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who chaired a meeting of the Gaddi Kalyan Board, here, assured that he would take up the matter with the J&K government. Dhumal said the state government would examine the possibility of importing more Australian Marino rams for improving the breed of sheep in the state. The state has already imported 2,644 rams. More rams would be imported taking all aspects into consideration. The CM said the government endeavoured to give due representation to the community in political and other fields. The Speaker of the HP Legislative Assembly, Industries Minister and chairman of the wool federation belonged to the Gaddi community, he said. He said the Mukhya Mantri Arogya Pashudhan Yojna was being implemented in the state under which one veterinary dispensary would be opened in each panchayat in a phased manner. Dhumal said the government was providing support to the shepherds by fixing the support price for wool at Rs 35 per kg in the summer season, Rs 25.50 per kg in winter and Rs 55 per kg in the spring season. The wool federation had been provided Rs 30 lakh to make payment for the procurement of wool on the spot. Besides, 15 per cent handling charges were being paid to the federation under the Market Development Assistance Programme. The CM said Rs 1 crore had been earmarked to train rural women in handicrafts and handlooms. During the one-year training, they would be paid Rs 950 per month and on successful completion of the training, they would be provided looms and related equipment free of cost to help them explore the possibilities of self-employment. State Industries Minister Kishan Kapoor welcomed the Chief Minister and thanked him for his concern for the betterment of the Gaddi community. Bhim Sen, principal secretary to the Chief Minister, who also holds the charge of tribal development, conducted the proceedings of the meeting and replied to various queries raised by non-official members. Rajwant Sandhu, chief secretary, and Sarojini G. Thakur, additional chief secretary, were also present.
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A defiant woman owned Merlin Park
by Shriniwas Joshi I got curious to visit Merlin Park at Tuti Kandi after reading letters exchanged between CG Stowell, the first lady owner of the estate (See photo), and the Municipal Committee (MC). The earliest reference to Merlin Park is found in The New York Times of 1872. Then in 1893, A. Craddock, an architect, made a representation to the MC for re-roofing and rebuilding of its weak walls. The building got damaged on April 4, 1905, when earthquake destroyed Kangra and had its effects on Shimla hills. RC Volkers, son-in-aw of Stowell, wrote a letter to the MC in June, 1905, saying that "building damaged in the earthquake. There are roughly 360 trees in the estate. Permission may be given now for cutting down 103 pine, deodar and mulberry trees so that the timber gets seasoned by the winter when the actual construction work will be taken up." BG Wallis, Engineer Secretary of the MC, replied: "The application must be made by the owner of the estate. She should submit plans for the restructured building and then only the case for tree-cutting would be considered." The MC also deputed an official for on-the-spot inspection. The correspondence that was then exchanged between Stowell and the MC is interesting as the reproduced portions of a couple of them reveal. Stowell writes in August, 1905, to the Secretary, MC, saying that "my application has been dealt with unsatisfactorily. I have to start the work in November before the fall of snow. It is total farce to send an official for site inspection (who cannot decide). Please send a responsible officer who can decide. The government is interested in helping the people whose houses were damaged in the April earthquake (and you are putting hindrances). I have to talk to the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab when he visits Simla." It had the desired effect on the MC, which, within 17 days, gave permission to cut down 30 trees. She objected to the casual inspection of the site and permission to cut fewer trees and blamed the MC for doubting that she would sell timber whereas she was willing to deposit a security of Rs 500, which could be forfeited if the timber was not fully utilised. The MC objected to her remark of 'cursory' inspection by the Engineer Secretary. Stowell replied the next day giving a lesson in the use of English words to the MC: "I had spoken of the inspection as 'casual' and not 'cursory': there is an essential difference between the two. But whichever of the two words is used, it does not furnish a strictly accurate description. It has, however, this merit that it errs on the side of moderation and I do not see what you hope to gain by questioning its accuracy. Although in a matter of this sort there is some scope for difference of opinion, I doubt whether there can be any opinion worth having which will hold that an inspection that occupied two minutes, which did not cover the whole ground and which made no attempt whatsoever to single out the individual trees that might be felled, much less to enumerate them, was at best a 'casual' one." Stowell also did not hesitate to put a complaint against the Secretary to Major Douglas, President of the MC: "I venture to think a lamentable state of affairs when individual members of one of the most taxed committees in the country are unable in the first place to obtain proper municipal attention for their urgent business except by the free and repeated use of plainest and most forcible language and, in the second, to admit without question the honesty of the Chief Municipal Executive." The war of words against the MC and getting work done in the estate without prior permission resulted in court cases, which Stowell lost in 1906 and had to pay a fine of Rs.50 each in two different cases. After Stowell-era, Merlin Park lost the chutzpah when it went to Lieutenant Sardar Raghbir Singh Sandhawalla, OBE, and then to his wife, Bibi Brijender Kaur, in 1955. The property was transferred to the Shasastra Seema Bal around 1965. The aged building was rejuvenated in 2010 and I appreciate the CPWD for a structure that presents old vista in its new avatar.
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7 more ambulances for Kangra
Dharamsala, February 22 He asked officers to accelerate the pace of development in a right perspective and achieve all the targets by the end of February positively. The construction work of Dharamsala vegetable market, which was also a part of the programme, would be completed before March 31, which would benefit local farmers in selling their products. Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ravinder Ravi gave away the information while heading the district-level Planning, Development and the third quarterly meeting of the 20-point programme here recently. He said the purpose of the programme was to uplift the needy socially and economically and also the implementation of development programmes. It has been informed at the meeting that efforts were on for the proper implementation of the MNREGA scheme for which an amount of Rs 49 crore would be spent in the current fiscal. Under the Swaran Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna, 1,515 families were provided with financial help to start their own business in which 1,300 were females. Eighty per cent of the construction work of 1,362 and 982 houses under the Indira Awas Yojna and the Atal Awas Yojna, respectively, is in progress in the district and the remaining work would be completed by the current fiscal. The minister said 659 patients had availed the services of “108 Atal Swasthya Sewa Ambulances” within a month. Ambulances, which were 10 in number in the district, were equipped with advanced technology. It is learnt that seven new ambulances would be launched in the district before March 31 out of which one ambulance would be stationed at Khundian of the Changar area.
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Ayurvedic panel rues violation of drug purchase policy
Nurpur, February 22 Upender Gupta, state general secretary of the association, while releasing the copy of the government notification issued on August 31, 2009, to mediapersons here recently, alleged that the department was ignoring the guidelines of the government that at least 70 per cent of the ayurvedic drugs were to be purchased from the state pharmacies and the rest from the pharmacies of other states if not available in Himachal Pradesh. Tthe department had floated orders to the tune of Rs 1.5 crore out of the Rs 2 crore to four local pharmacies having registration of the Centre Government Health Scheme (CGHS), whereas orders of merely Rs 50 lakh were given to 30 local pharmacies. He informed that the department had to buy drugs of Rs 9 crore due for the past two years, but it had only purchased drugs worth Rs 2 crore from the pharmacies of the state and was all set to float supply orders of Rs 7 crore from the pharmacies of other states just under the pretext of registration of pharmacies with the CGHS or government pharmacies of other states. “The condition of getting the CGHS approval is nowhere mentioned in the state government’s new Ayurvedic Drug Purchase Policy. Moreover, merely about 100 out of the 9,500 pharmacies across the country are registered with the CGHS and in Himachal Pradesh, only four pharmacies are registered with it,” he rued. The association has urged Chief Minister PK Dhumal to intervene and not to allow the State Ayurveda Department to violate the Drug Purchase Policy-2009, as it was against the interests of pharmacies, herb growers and farmers in the state.
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GND varsity teams shine
Nurpur, February 22 Teams (men and women) of Kurukshetra University, which won bronze medals, were adjudged second runners-up. The championship was organised by Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Kamaljeet Singh, director sports, GND University, and RR Thakur, deputy director, RWSC, said 15 men and 12 women teams from universities from Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand had participated in the event. — OC
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Drug menace alarming in Kullu
Though the police claims that it has checked the menace to a great extent, the amount of drug seizure and cannabis cultivation keep on increasing every year. Top officials from the judiciary, police and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), who met during a three-day workshop on the NDPS Act organised by the HP State Judicial Academy last year, said focus of the law enforcement agencies should be to check big drug traffickers and kingpins operating in various guises as suppliers of hybrid seeds to villagers and operators of drug carriers. In the meeting, the experts assessed that villages involved in the cultivation of contraband crops like charas and opium was over 631 in 119 panchayats in the districts of Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Chamba, Sirmaour and Kinnaur. They also observed that the number of cases registered had gone up but both seizures and conviction rate had not gone up. Abhishek Dular, SP, released details of the seizure during the past 10 years.
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Nirankari Mission launches cleanliness drive
In yet another community initiative to make the hills clean, the local Nirankari Mission organised a campaign to remove garbage littered on the slopes around Kamla Nehru Hospital in Shimla. Though a purely religious organization, the mission has been carrying out social welfare activities in the state and regularly holding blood donation camps, plantation and cleanliness drives. It has been contributing its bit to supplement the government's efforts to keep the hills clean and green. This year it chose a hospital for the cleanliness drive (See photo). It not only improves the environment but also send the message across to the public at large that a hospital must have hygienic surroundings. Over 200 members of the Nirankari Sewa Dal, including women and children, toiled for the entire day on Sunday to clean the area. The most notable contribution the mission has been making is in the field of blood donation and the various camps organised last year in the state yielded 2,500 units of blood to various hospitals. In a camp held in Shimla, 281 persons donated blood, the highest number for a single camp. The plantation drives are carried out during the monsoon across the state. The only problem in the state capital the mission faces is that land is not available for raising plantations. The mission has 36 branches across the state through which it carries out social welfare activities It is also running a charitable homeopathic dispensary in Shimla where the registration fee charged from patients is just Rs 5 while the medicines are provided free of cost. It also provides monetary help to people in distress. Smoking zones demanded
Perturbed over the strict enforcement of the Tobacco Control Act, the State Secretariat Services Employees Association has demanded the creation of smoking zones in the secretariat premises. In a memorandum submitted to the Chief Secretary the association has demanded that separate smoking zones be created in the Ellerslie and Armsdale buildings. The employees have been concerned over the issue as 10 smokers were recently fined for violating the law in the secretariat. However, under the Tobacco Control Act smoking zones cannot be created in the secretariat premises. Narinder Sharma, Executive Director of the Himachal Pradesh Voluntary Health Association (HPVHA) said that such zones could be set up only at the airports, hotels having more than 30 rooms and restaurants with a seating capacity for more than 30 persons. The demand was illegal and should be rejected outrightly. Moreover, it would encourage smoking, which was not good for health, Sharma, whose organisation has been actively associated with the anti-tobacco campaign, pointed out. The HPVHA had hailed the recent decision of the government to increase value-added tax (VAT) on tobacco products, including bidis, to 16 per cent. It said the step would go a long way in curbing the use of tobacco.
Journalist passes away
The death of veteran journalist Ramesh Nanda has been mourned by a large people as it was a big blow to the journalistic community, particularly of Hamirpur. Nanda died at the CMC, Ludhiana, after a brief illness early this week. He was associated with AIR for many decades and was also adviser to the Press Club, Hamirpur, besides being a prominent businessman of the town. While Nanda always took keen interest in social activities he was also known for his philanthropic endeavour to help the needy. Several organisations mourned his death while the Press Club, Hamirpur, organised a condolence meeting to place on record his services. Nanda was one of the founders of the club and took to journalism in Hamirpur in the early days. Chief Minister PK Dhumal, Director of Public Relations B.D. Sharma, District BJP president Desh Raj Sharma, Deputy Commissioner Rajender Singh Thakur, Congress leader BM Soni and several others also joined in mourning the death and recalled Nanda's contribution to journalism and other fields. (Contributed by Rakesh
Lohumi and DP Gupta)
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LPG shortage hits Kangra areas
Palampur, February 22 In Indora, hundreds of consumers recently gathered on the main road and stopped a vehicle carrying LPG cylinders. In several places, it has turned out to be a big problem for consumers. In Baijnath, Daroh, Chadihar, Lambagaon and Nagrota Bagwan, long queues of consumers can be seen daily in front of LPG supply vehicles. However, in many parts of the district, there is no shortage mainly with the distributors of Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, who are getting regular supplies from the plant. In Palampur, the situation turned worst after the suspension of the dealership of Palam Gas service in October 2010. The dealer had been catering to over 10,000 LPG consumers of Palampur and its adjoining areas. The IOC has made alternative arrangement by extending the limits of its two other gas agencies, but it has failed to meet the demand. In many parts of the town, people keep waiting for the vehicle carrying LPG refills throughout the day and return disappointed in the evening. The home delivery of LPG has almost been discontinued as refills are being delivered on the roadsides. Senior citizens and women are the worst affected as they have to carry cylinders to the road or to the godown of distributors. A senior officer of IOC said since the case of Palam Gas Service was pending in the court, normal supply could not be resumed. Meanwhile, the Palampur Welfare Forum has urged the Kangra deputy commissioner to intervene to streamline the supply of LPG in the town and its adjoining areas.
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ICSSR, UGC research projects for Chamba geographer
Chamba, February 22 An action plan prepared on the basis of findings of these proposed projects would be of great help in the research and development of watershed studies and for planners and policy makers of the state. The ICSSR has awarded a project titled “Regional Imbalances in the Level of Infrastructural Development in Himachal Pradesh: Problems and Prospects” for a period of about two years. The council has sanctioned Rs 6.52 lakh for this project. Dr Thakur informed that in the project, an attempt would be made to examine regional disparities in the level of infrastructure at the block level. A gap between availability and requirement of infrastructural facilities up to 2031 based on population projections would be assessed. Notably, Dr Thakur was the first recipient of the National Young Geographer Award, given by the state government in 2008. He has earlier worked on an ICSSR project on the socio-economic development of Scheduled Tribes. He owes his achievements to his PhD supervisor Dr MS Jaglan, a former chairman, Department of Geography, Kurukshetra University. Another prestigious project has been awarded to him by the UGC on the subject titled “Characterisation and Prioritisation of Giri River Watershed: An Integrated Approach” for three years. The commission has sanctioned Rs 7.70 lakh for this project. Dr Thakur said in this project, an attempt would be made to examine whether morphology, land use, land capability and edaphic conditions of the Giri watershed affect the erosional conditions; whether the socio-economic conditions affect the watershed prioritisation and whether the developed composite index would target the critical source areas in terms of management practices? The proposed research is an endeavour of using the integrated approach cutting across morphological, physical, demographic and socio-economic parameters and remote sensing and GIS techniques for watershed prioritisation.
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Workshop on geothermal energy in northwest Himalayas
Hamirpur, February 22 The Agneyodgara INDNOR Project, a joint venture of three countries, has been launched for the effective tapping of geothermal energy in this region. Since some areas of Himachal Pradesh are having many sources of geothermal energy, the state is going to be befitted by this project. Dr RS Banshtu, convener of the workshop, said the main purpose of organising the workshop was to create awareness among scientists and students about the geothermal energy as part of the INDNOR project for the study of this source of energy in the Northwest Himalayas. Several scientists from the Department of Civil Engineering, NIT, Hamirpur, CAS in Geology, PU, Chandigarh, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, and Arya Drillers, a drilling company, are associated with the project. Foreign partners in the project are NGI and IFE from Norway and ISOR from Iceland. The scientists shared vital information regarding the subject after visiting various geothermal sites in Leh (Ladakh), Manali and Manikaran as part of the pre-project studies. The scientists also deliberated upon the geothermal potential and its utilisation in the Himalayas. Though the result of the studies done would be brought out after the completion of the project by the end of this year, the preliminary studies indicate the vast potential but improper use of geothermal energy at various locations across the region. Dr Ritesh Arya of Arya Drillers gave his suggestions for developing Manikaran and Manali as the future geothermal tourist destinations by building beautiful spas and swimming pools by tapping the sources of hot springs on the lines of Blue Lagoon of Iceland to boost the tourism in the area. Dr Kirsti, Dr Jiri, Dr Bjarni and Dr Arni, foreign scientists associated with the project, emphasised that the Himalayas had a vast potential of geothermal energy which was going waste and stressed upon the need to tap it scientifically. The scientists from Iceland gave more practical suggestions in the effective implementation of the project since their country is among the top five leading countries in the world to use the potential of geothermal energy in the region. Iceland has utilised this energy for various purposes like heating houses, maintaining temperature in greenhouses to produce fruits and vegetables, building swimming pools and spas for tourists, besides generating electricity. The organisers of the workshop are confident that fruitful deliberation in the workshop would provide important inputs for the effective tapping of geothermal energy.
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Palampur, February 22
I got curious to visit Merlin Park at Tuti Kandi after reading letters exchanged between CG
Stowell, the first lady owner of the estate (See photo), and the Municipal Committee (MC). The earliest reference to Merlin Park is found in The New York Times of 1872. Then in 1893, A. Craddock, an architect, made a representation to the MC for re-roofing and rebuilding of its weak walls.
The building got damaged on April 4, 1905, when earthquake destroyed Kangra and had its effects on Shimla hills. RC
Volkers, son-in-aw of Stowell, wrote a letter to the MC in June, 1905, saying that "building damaged in the earthquake.
In yet another community initiative to make the hills clean, the local Nirankari Mission organised a campaign to remove garbage littered on the slopes around Kamla Nehru Hospital in
Shimla. Though a purely religious organization, the mission has been carrying out social welfare activities in the state and regularly holding blood donation camps, plantation and cleanliness drives. It has been contributing its bit to supplement the government's efforts to keep the hills clean and green. This year it chose a hospital for the cleanliness drive (See photo).
Hamirpur, February 22
Kullu, February 22