Solan, May 17
With the Forest Department failing to control the burgeoning simian population, their rising number is now creating trouble for women and children in villages, besides causing colossal damage to crops.

Kasauli-based Central Research Institute (CRI) is receiving scores of such cases every month where women and children have been bitten by monkeys. There is a sharp rise in the number of such victims, says a doctor at the CRI.

The hapless victims, who comprise old women, are forced to go through five painful vaccination schedules which are not only difficult to endure but also costs every patient Rs 2,000, revealed an elderly woman who was bitten by a monkey last week. She said it had become difficult to stand in the balcony or at the terrace even for a few minutes as monkeys in groups keep hanging around. “I had barely stepped out in the balcony to pick up clothes left outside for drying when a monkey pounced on me and bit me” confided the woman.

A large number of monkeys present in Garkhal village often tear clothes left outside for drying and even take them away. Such losses have become frequent and with no remedy in sight, women are now afraid of stepping out even on to the terrace and balconies. With little food availability, the monkeys have turned violent and they attack people without any provocation. Old women are unable to sit outside in the sun as has been a popular tradition in the hills. They are prone to suffer with no vitamin D being absorbed by the body due to lack of exposure to the sun, explains a doctor.

Despite repeated complaints to the wildlife wing of the Forest Department, no solution appears to be in sight. Though a team of wildlife officials came here last week, they were unable to catch the monkeys as none came near the traps.

The officials said they needed support from the locals who should stop feeding monkeys with their leftover food, bread and other eatables.

The people are now demanding compensation from the Forest Department as they were made to spend unduly on the treatment. They rue that even telephone and cable wires are being damaged by simians.

Mandi/Kullu, May 17
As the local species of bees - episarana and wild syrphids - are facing extinction under the nose of the Horticulture Department and the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, apple growers are facing a huge crisis in fighting the cataclysmic low temperature and frost in which imported bee colonies have failed miserably this time to do pollination during the apple bloom.

The imported species of bees - apismellisira - being raised in Haryana works in temperature above 18 degree Celsius, while the temperature dipped below 14 degree Celsius during the apple bloom in the apple belt of the state this season. Thanks to this, bees could not do pollination resulting in a lean fruit set this time.

Laxman Thakur, chairman, Eco-Horticulture Society, said beekeepers were more interested in producing honey rather than breeding the local bee species that facilitate pollination in low temperature and frost conditions. The local species had been pushed to the brink of extinction and there were no efforts to revive and propagate them among farmers in orchards, he rued.

Dr YD Sharma, scientist consultant, Ecohorts, said farmers had no choice other than buying bee colonies of apismellisira from beekeepers who raise them in high temperature in Haryana in winter and sell them to farmers in summers. “We have found bees ineffective in facilitating pollination as they work for a limited time and do not work in low temperature and die soon,” he added.

Nakul Khullar, a progressive orchardist from Kullu, said they buy bees from beekeepers at Rs 800 a box per month, but the bees do not work in low temperature.

The farmers should be encouraged to propagate the local species so that the apple bloom gets proper pollination for good fruit set, asserted Rajiv Machhan, an orchardist from Kutara, Rohru.

The farmers were always at the mercy of nature as chill-tolerant native bee colonies had been decimated as there was nothing to promote their breeding among farmers, resented SD Sharma, a farmer from Churag, Mandi.

The Horticulture Department had recently stopped giving bees to farmers throwing them at the mercy of commercial beekeepers, added Pramod Chauhan, a farmer from Kiari, Shimla.

Dr BS Rana, a senior entomologist at Dr YS Parmar University, said beekeepers breed honey producing species of apismellisira in high temperature rather than native bees which were tolerant to chill because the latter produce less amount of honey.

“We are suggesting to farmers to propagate local two to three bee colonies in each orchard so that pollination in low temperature does not suffer,” he added.

Dr Rana said the university was also encouraging farmers to plant 30 per cent pollinators in each orchard. No bee could work in temperature below than 10 degree Celsius and the formation of pollens is less in low temperature, he added.

Horticultural officials said the government was encouraging beekeeping among farmers as it could facilitate pollination and yield honey to generate extra income.

Shimla, May 17
The Queen of Hills, known for its tranquil and safe environs, is nowadays plagued with the problem of thefts and snatching giving sleepless nights to residents due to the sudden spurt over the past six months.

Earlier, thefts mostly took place in winters when more than half of the town’s population was out due to vacation in schools and colleges. However, this year, the trend has continued through the summer and there is hardly any day when thefts are not taking place.

What is even more disturbing is the fact that snatching incidents, which were rare, are taking place frequently. During May itself, there have been several such incidents in crowded places like the Bus Stand, Sanjauli and the Cart Road and that too in broad daylight. Miscreants snatched valuables like jewellery, purse and mobile phones from people, especially women. The number of thefts and snatching incidents in various parts of the town has crossed 70 during the recent months.

With there being no stopping to theft and snatching incidents, people even feel insecure to leave their house locked. There have been thefts in the houses of prominent people, including the local legislator Suresh Bhardwaj, senior BJP leader and chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Urban Development Authority and a BJP councillor of the Municipal Corporation Pradeep Kashyap. The police still remains clueless about most of these thefts.

With the police failing to solve these cases and nab the gang involved in the crime, people are agitated at the deteriorating law and order situation in the town.

“Barring a few theft cases and that too in winters, we never heard of snatching incidents that are taking place everyday in broad daylight,” says Surinder Chauhan, a retired teacher.

He says residents live under constant fear that if they leave their house unattended, thieves will not only take away cash and jewellery, but also household goods, including furniture.

What is making people insecure is the fact that snatching incidents have suddenly picked up during the past one month making it unsafe for women and girls to go out with purses and valuable jewellery. The Congress has been highlighting the issue of deteriorating law and order situation in the state capital and failure of the police to check the rising incidents of thefts.

Palampur, May 17
The Assembly elections in the state, due next year, will be held as per new boundaries fixed by the Delimitation Commission. The delimitation of constituencies has put a question mark on the political future of a number of MLAs and ministers in Kangra district.

Though most of MLAs had managed to find a place in the state Assembly in 2007, it would be difficult for them to win the coming elections because of the fact that the number of constituencies has been reduced to 15 from 16 as the commission has abolished Thural constituency in this region. Besides, many constituencies have been either reserved or reorganised.

The new boundaries marked by the commission will affect the political scenario in Palampur region too as Assembly segments in this region have come down to four from five. Moreover, out of four segments, two constituencies, Jaisinghpur and Baijnath, have been reserved.

Ravinder Thakur, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, will now have to search for a new segment to contest the Assembly elections as Thural, his home constituency, has been abolished.

Likewise, Sudhir Sharma, a congress MLA from Baijnath,has also been rendered “homeless” as his constituency has been reserved for an SC candidate. A number of segments which have been reorganised also disturbed political game of the leaders. In Palampur, a number of Congress-dominated areas have been detached and added in Sulaha constituency. Likewise, BJP stronghold villages from Sulaha have been attached with the newly created Jaisinghpur constituency.

Meanwhile, no political party is happy with the reorganisation of the Assembly constituencies.

Dharamsala, May 17
Concerns have been expressed worldwide at the dwindling population of white-backed vulture, the scavenger bird that has been put on red data list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on highly endangered wildlife species. Efforts are being made by environmentalists to breed the bird species in artificial conditions to maintain its population.

A white-backed vulture chick in the forest area of Salol in Kangra; and (right) the birds looking for a prey in the area.Photos by writer

On such centre is in the Panchkula area of Haryana. However, the centre has not achieved much success in breeding white-backed vultures in artificial conditions.

However, in different pockets of Kangra district, the population of this bird is bouncing back. It is flourishing in the forest areas near Salol, Kangra and Baijnath of Kangra district.

In the Salol area on Kangra-Nagrota Surian road, a large number of nests of white-backed vultures can be seen. Forest officials confirmed that a good population of these vultures is present in the Salol area.

ARM Reddy, conservator of forests, Kangra, said they had found many newborn chicks of white-backed vultures in forests near Salol. The bird population seemed to be flourishing in the area, he said.

Scientists had found that diclofenac, a veterinary drug, was responsible for substantial decline in the population of vultures in the region. Vultures being scavenger birds generally feed on the remains of dead domestic animals. Diclofenac is used in the treatment of domestic animals, which leads to the formation of whitish deposition around the internal organs of white-backed vultures that leads to their death. The drug also interrupts the breeding of vultures that has led to a steep decline in their population.

Since the discovery, the use of diclofenac drug has been banned in the treatment of wild animals. However, many scientists also believe that that the loss of natural habitat and use of pesticides were another reasons for the declining population of vultures.

Wildlife experts are of the view that the best way to protect the endangered species is to protect their population in the wild. Efforts should be made to protect the environment in which the bird population flourishes in the forests of Kangra district. The people of the area should be sensitised about the importance of these birds in the ecology of forests.

Forest officials say the bird is safe in the state as they are mostly surviving on wild animals in the forests rather than dead domestic animals. “We are keeping a watch of their population in the area,” they add.

Mandi, May 17
Mandi has emerged as the centre stage of political activism as the BJP and the Congress have pressed their frontal youth brigades - BJP’s Yuva Morcha and Congress’ Youth Congress - into the driving seat to gear up public sentiments on the corruption issue that has boiled down to grass-roots level after the Anna Hazare’s movement on the Jan Lokpal Bill.

The Third Front of the CPM-CPI has been staging dharnas and gheraos raising corruption issue in the state.

Hot on the heels of Yuva Morcha chief Anurag Thakur’s “race against corruption”, Youth Congress under-national secretary Bishav Ranjan and state chief Manmohan Katoch have announced to launch “padyatra against corruption”. They dubbed Anugar Thakur’s “race against corruption” a publicity stunt and called the present BJP regime under Chief Minister PK Dhumal as the most corrupt government.

The Youth Congress held conference of the state-level block presidents here recently and decided to take the BJP regime head-on on the corruption issue.

Katoch and Mohanti dared Thakur to ask his father and Chief Minister PK Dhumal to conduct a CBI probe into benami land deals, colonisers and JP company nexus that have put Himachal on sale to outsiders.

Kaul Singh urged youth leaders to take a pledge to oust the corrupt BJP government in the coming state Assembly elections.

“We adopt zero tolerance on corruption and Youth Congress workers will make 30-member committee to launch campaign against the BJP government in the state and highlight the achievements of the Congress,” he added. He said the Centre sanctioned Rs 1,000 crore under the MNREGA to the state, but it could spend only Rs 670 crore.

He charged that the BJP was trying to hide its failures and corruption by blaming the Centre. “The present government has given one lakh bighas of land to outsiders, colonisers and 18 private universities, which, in near future, would set up their own ventures if they fail to take off,” Kaul Singh claimed.

“Unemployed youths are not getting jobs under 70 per cent job quota in industries and companies working in the state and its percentage is not more than 8 per cent,” Katoch claimed.

Mandi youth Congress president Dharmender Sharma said the Youth Congress would work with the party to achieve the objective to oust the BJP government. Thakur asserted that the Morcha would intensify the “race against corruption” in schools, colleges and other institutes to make it a mass movement across the state and the county.

He recently kick-started the “race against corruption” campaign in Mandi pre-empting the Youth Congress’ “padyatra against corruption”.

Thakur attacked the UPA government and charged that the Centre had failed to take effective steps against terrorism and corruption. He said common man was disappointed with the UPA government as it was neck-deep in corruption.

He said the UPA government had failed to bring the perpetrators of the 26/11 and the Parliament attack accused to book. The government was promoting corruption at the Centre. Thakur said the Morcha had got the support of the BJP leadership and would fan out this campaign down to schools and panchayat level as the Centre was discriminating against BJP-ruled states.

“We will highlight the achievements of the state government as well and the failures of the Centre at the same time,” he claimed. He, along with the state BJM president Narender Atri, vowed to intensify the “race against corruption”.

The most attended event by members of the Shimla Amateur Garden and Environment Society (SAGES) is the “nature walk” held once in a year in summers. It was at the water catchment area of Seog this time. The Forest Department that boasts of having forest wealth of Rs 1,06,666 crore has also “Seog feather” in its cap. A recent survey has disclosed that the water of the area is the cleanest in the state because there is trifling soil erosion in 1,015 hectare of the area which is thickly wooded with variety of trees and herbs.

It is 8 km east of Shimla and falls offside on Dhali-Wildflower Hall road. The forest, if watched from the main road, is a pleasure to the eyes, solace for the soul and joy for ever. Its unofficial name is “Hassan Valley”. The myth is that a taxi driver by the name of Hassan used to bring tourists to this spot where they were delighted by the scenic beauty and thickness of the greenery turning into blackish hue. We, Indians, always mix visual delight with gastronomical pleasure, so chhabriwalas with eatables started making quick a buck here and the users, drenched in double delight, threw the discarded rubbish in the jungle where not a shred of paper was visible during the British period. Still, I find it the cleanest forest in the vicinity of Shimla town. And the plus point is that it does not permit exploitation of minor forest produce like firewood, grass and herbs by locals although I saw a lady collecting a bagful of lingroo, a local vegetable.

It is home to two species of pheasants, koklass and kaleej. We did not see the birds during our walk; probably a crowd of 100 plus was distraction for the attractively feathered creatures. Seog is also a source of water supply to Shimla city, as two-and-a-half million rain-fed streams water is collected in a 16-ft deep tank constructed in 1899.

The entire area was leased in perpetuity by the owner, Rana of Koti Estate, to the Shimla Municipal Committee in 1878. It was declared a protected forest in 1952 and notified as a wildlife sanctuary in 1999. Till 2006, it was under the administrative control of the Municipal Corporation of Shimla and since 2009 under the Wildlife Division of Shimla.

The area, linked to the Chail Wildlife Sanctuary by a forest corridor at its southern boundary, is also habitat to leopards, Himalayan black bears, barking deer, goral, langur, macaques, flying squirrels, yellow-throated marten, and porcupines. There is an old-is-gold type of rest house at Seog, also built in 1899, (see photo), 7 km from the point of start at Dhali and a walk up to this place on the kutchha path amidst an array of trees has an out-of-the-world charm. Permits for entry and stopping at the rest house with nominal charges are available at the entry point.

Daulat Ram is the caretaker of the rest house and was face-to-face with leopards many times in the catchment area. He informed us that the rest house was opened during daytime only and, at night, the haunt of wild animals inhabited there. A not very old log book of the rest house showed that Shiela Dikshit and Virbhadra Singh had come here in June 2007; Anurag Thakur and his son Jaiaditya Dhumal, who drew a childlike sketch of the rest house, visited in April 2008; both Rajeshwar Reddy, former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, and Prabha Rao, former Governor of Himachal, had visited the rest house before passing away. I had finished a glance at the log book when Daulat Ram invited my attention towards a special entry. It was from Maino Alexssoundra (Anushka, I believe) from Tirana, Italy, on April 4, 2011. “She is the sister of Sonia Gandhi”, Daulat Ram smugly disclosed the status of that special visitor. 

Dharamsala, May 17
A 22-year-old married girl, Rupa (name changed) a resident of a village near Palampur, has ended up at Nari Niketan (a government facility for destitute women), after she was disowned by everybody, including her parents, husband and in-laws.

The case had the district administration perplexed as officials were in a fix how to deal with the situation in which Rupa had landed herself. Rupa, a good looking girl from rural background landed in Dharamsala police station a few days ago and complained that she had been deserted by both her in-laws and parents and she had nowhere to go. Police officials were in a fix as they could not keep Rupa in their custody and she was refused to move out of police station.

The police officials later inquired into the matter and found they could neither register a case against Rupa nor her parents and in-laws. Inquiries by the police revealed that Rupa was married to a truck driver in a village near Palampur. She allegedly developed illicit relations with her brother-in-law. When her husband and in-laws found out about their illicit relations they turned both of them out of the house. Both Rupa and her brother-in-law were ousted from the village also with the consent of panchayat.

Rupa then started staying in Kangra with her brother-in-law. As per the accusation levelled by her brother-in-law Rupa once again developed illicit relations with another person. He also then allegedly left Rupa deserted with no source of income or livelihood.

After learning about the entire story the police officials tried to contact Rupa’s parents. The parents outrightly refused to accept her. The police then presented her before the SDM, Kangra. The SDM, however, refused to legalise the custody of Rupa as the police had no charge against her.

The police officials then presented Rupa before Deputy Commissioner (Kangra) RS Gupta. Gupta once again called the parents and the in-laws of Rupa. They, however, gave in writing that they disown Rupa and did not want to have any relation with her. After failing to convince the kin of Rupa to accept her, Gupta requested the Social Welfare Department to rehabilitate Rupa. The social welfare officers then got her admitted to a Nari Niketan centre being run under their aegis.

Gupta said, “It is for first time that I have noticed that a daughter has even been deserted by parents in a state like Himachal where families are closely knit. The case illustrates the changing social fabric even in rural Himachal. We felt sorry for the destitute girl but had no alternative but send her to Nari Niketan.”

Nidhi, a women rights activist, said, “The case illustrates that still women are discriminated in our society. While the families have disowned Rupa, her brother-in-law who was equally responsible might be absorbed back in family.”

Palampur, May 17
To take care of aged parents in the state has become a major problem. As per the new census, the population of educated families in the state has turned static like in Europe and other western countries. In the coming days, there would be none to look after aged people, especially those who are above 70.

It may be recalled that due to lack of job opportunities in the state, thousands of engineers and management graduates were forced to move out in search of jobs to other states leaving behind their aged parents in isolation. It has become a compulsion for them to leave their homes and move out in search of jobs in IT and other industries.

According to information gathered by The Tribune, in educated families every third parents are living in isolation and suffering from various ailments like depression, high blood pressure and diabetes as their children are serving in cities like Bombay, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Gurgaon. In 10 per cent cases, children are also working abroad.

A senior professor from Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, said 2,000 cases of deep depression had already been detected in the state. Most of the aged persons have become victims of this disease.He said majority of such patients were living in isolation and were suffering from a disease known as “psychosis” (first stage).

The situation in rural areas like Jaisinghpur, Mhahakal, Chobin, Panchrukhi, Chadiar, Thural, Alampur, Jwalamukhi, Pragpur, Sahapur, Khundian, Baroh, Bir Dehara Gopipur was quite alarming as most of the parents were scared as they are growing older. They are feeling insecure as there would be none to look after them after a few years.

Deteriorating law and order situation, increasing incidents of murder, thefts and robbery had further made the matter worse. There are instances where old people were murdered and robbed off their valuables.

A number of old couples living in lower areas of Palampur told The Tribune that their children time and again had requested them to leave villages and move to the places where they are working, but it was very difficult for them to leave their old ancestral homes.

One of the couples said if they shift to the US, the UK, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad or any other places then they have to live in more isolation as their children would come back home after long working hours.

It was also learnt that over 20,000 more youths from the state are likely to join IT and other industries in the next three years, it means that another 20,000 parents had to live alone and there would be no hope that in the near future their children would come back to their home state and get jobs here.

Even there are no old age homes in the state. The state government should initiate timely action and encourage private, charitable organisations and NGOs to come forward to set up old age homes in the state so that the aged people could be helped and looked after in a better way.

Solo events displaying works of individual artists have been a regular feature at the Gaiety Theatre ever since the heritage edifice was reopened after restoration. It is for the first time that an All-India Art Exhibition is being held at which works of 20 selected artists from across the country have been showcased (see photo).

The event, organised by Chandigarh-based Society for Development of Films and Art in collaboration with the state Department of Language, Art and Culture, has provided a platform to the artists, besides an opportunity to the budding talent to see the works of different styles and compare the techniques of artists hailing from different regions of the country and from different schools of art. Artists from as far as Mumbai, Nagpur, Gaya and other places participated in the exhibition, making the event a success.

The works of Mohammed Alam from Gaya included two portraits of Lord Buddha, indicating the impact of the native place on creative pursuits. Other prominent artists whose works were on display were Raghu Niwaare from Nagpur, Ishwar Dayal from Chandigarh, Arshad from Srinagar and Suresh Kumar from Delhi.