The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Another heritage house lost in Dharamsala Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service Dharamsala, January 22 An old house, a reflection of the heritage of the town, was destroyed in fire on Sunday. The wooden structure that was one of the very few remaining old houses in the Civil Lines area in the town allegedly caught fire due to electric short-circuiting. The house belonged to the Singhoi family of the town. Though a major tragedy was averted, the old wooden structure that the family had preserved was destroyed in the fire. The Civil Lines has remained as a posh residential area of Dharamsala since the British times. The wooden houses, located along a 30-feet wide road right at the gateway of the town, are a part of the heritage of Dharamsala that has remained as the district headquarters of Kangra district since 1847, since the Anglo Sikh war. In the Anglo Sikh war, the British defeated the Sikhs and annexed all territory beyond Sutlej, including Kangra district, that was under the control of Maharaja Ranjit Singh at that time. However, this posh area, which used to be a residential area of the elite of the town, is fast turning into a commercial hub. Civil Lines was part of the Civil Bazar area that also had the administrative complex of Dharamsala. Hotels and shop-cum-office complexes are replacing the old houses in the Civil Lines areas. In the recent past, a few big hotels and shop-cum-office complexes have come up in the area. Many residents of the Civil Lines area are now complaining that the hotels and shopping complexes that have come up in the area are rendering the area unfit for residential purposes. The residents allege that hotels host parties at night that violate the norms for using high- pitch sound systems. Many commercial complexes that have come up in the area have not made any provisions for parking. The result is that the area remains choked with vehicles parked on both sides of the road. The high- rise building area now peeps into the privacy of the old houses that are part of the heritage of the Civil Lines area, they said. Many people are afraid of making open complaints against the conversion of the Civil Lines area into a commercial hub due to fear of influential people who have constructed hotels and commercial hubs in the area. However, tacitly they complain that the pace at which old wooden houses are getting converted into commercial hubs, most of the people having houses in the area would have to sell them and settle elsewhere. The town and country planning officials said in case someone deposited charges for converting residential land for commercial activity, the map for a commercial building was passed by a district-level committee, headed by the Deputy Commissioner. There was no clear- cut guideline in town and country planning rules against bringing up a commercial building in residential areas, they said. Many old houses in the Civil Lines area were now lying abandoned as the owners had either migrated to other cities in India or foreign countries. The people interested in constructing commercial buildings in the area were approaching the owners of old houses and offering lucrative prices for the properties. However, many old and senior citizens of Dharamsala town are of the view that the traditional heritage of the area in the form of a posh residential area should be preserved. The Civil Lines is the only area left in the town that puts on display its old heritage and the government should take steps to preserve it, they said.
	Incentives may be given to attract PG docs to state Our Correspondent Palampur, January 22 Health services in the state will be streamlined and the new Congress government will make all efforts to fill the 300 vacant posts of medical officer, nurse and other paramedical staff in the state at the earliest. This was stated by Thakur Kaul Singh, the state Health Minister while addressing mediapersons at the PWD Rest House here. He said the government was well conversant on the issue and the matter relating to filling of posts of doctor would be placed before the state Cabinet soon. The minister did not rule out the possibility of creating a separate cadre or grant of special incentives to attract postgraduate (PG) doctors to the state. He said the government would also request the Medical Council of India to enhance the seats of postgraduate doctors in the two medical colleges of the state to meet the shortage of PG doctors. The Health Minister categorically stated that the Congress government was not in favour of contract appointments of doctors as health services could not be compared with other services. He said the “defective” policy of appointments of doctors followed by the previous BJP government was responsible for an acute shortage of doctors in the state. The minister also told the MLAs accompanying him that ultrasound machines, X- Ray plants lying idle in different hospitals of Kangra district would be made operational soon as the government had planned to appoint more radiologists. He said in the past five years, the functioning of the Health Department moved from bad to worse. It was evident from the fact that important hospitals like Palampur, Chamba, Dharmsala, Mandi, Kullu and Una were without specialist doctors, causing inconvenience to the public.
	Encroachments on highways unchecked Ravinder Sood Palampur, January 22 Despite specific orders of the Himachal Pradesh High Court and the subsequent notification from the state government to remove all encroachments on the state and national highways, the state Public Works Department (PWD) is yet to initiate steps in this regard in Palampur and adjoining areas of the region. Increasing encroachments on state and national highways has become a matter of concern. Even the directions of the Principal Secretary, HP PWD, to deal firmly with road side encroachments and enforce the HP Roadside Infrastructure Act were yet to be implemented. Authorities have failed to check encroachments on PWD land. Political interference in the functioning of the PWD has made the matter worse as no officer is ready to take action without approval of “political bosses”. Most of the highways connecting the town or passing through it were squeezing day-by-day because of encroachments, creating issues for commuters. Though the HP Roadside Land Control Act prohibits any construction within 5 m of the state and national highways on both sides, the PWD has failed to remove encroachments on the Palampur-Dharamsala highway. Thought it started its campaign last year, it had to be suspended at the SSB Chowk for the reason best know to its senior officials. At many points this road has reduced just half to its actual breadth with a number of shops coming up on both sides in gross violation of the rules in the past years. A senior officer of the PWD said the department had served notices on encroachers in March 2010. Enquiries made by The Tribune revealed that no follow-up action was taken and most of the encroachers did not replied to the notices. He admitted that on the Palampur- Dharamsala highway, a number of shops have come up on the government land in the past few years. Due to the Assembly elections held in December last year, the department failed to remove the encroachments. The process of removing encroachments was still on. Though senior government officers pass through this road daily, no one cares to check the menace. Because of large-scale encroachments, the stretch of the road between the Nehru Chowk to the SSB Chowk has turned into a death trap as fatal accidents were taking place daily. Besides, there are regular traffic jams at Ram Chowk and Ghoggra colony due to because of encroachments.
	Gaggal airport to have better security Our Correspondent Palampur, January 22 The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has decided to strengthen the security arrangements at the Gaggal airport in Kangra district. This step has been taken following the entry of some anti-social elements on the runway of the airport recently causing damage to 17 lights, causing a loss of Rs 2 lakh. Official sources said here today that the AAI had also constituted a high-level committee to probe the incident causing loss to the property of airport. The AAI had also asked the state police to extend its assistance to officials of the AAI posted at the Gaggal airport. Meanwhile, the police has registered a case under different sections of the IPC, but no arrest has been made so far. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who was in Dharmshala yesterday, also expressed concern over the incident.
	11,000 LPG connections declared invalid in Nurpur 1,200 consumers seek restoration Rajiv Mahajan Nurpur, January 22 As many as 11,000 of the total 27,000 LPG connections of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) have been declared invalid and de-activated by a local gas agency of the Himachal Pradesh Civil Supplies Corporation in the wake of the ongoing connection verification. In order to check black-marketing, consumers need to fill Know Your Customer (KYC) forms and after verifying the documents, the agencies have been declaring valid and invalid connections. The invalid connections are being blocked for LPG refills. According to information, 5,000 connections have been declared invalid in absence of proper documents and 6,000 connections have been de-activated due to non-usage of connections for two years as per guidelines issued by the IOC in 2010. As many as 1,200 consumers had submitted their requisite documents for renewal of their connections. They have been running from pillar to post for the past three months as the local gas agency had further forwarded their cases to the IOC’s regional office at Shimla. So far no action has been taken to renew these connections due to the lack of co-ordination between the food and civil supplies corporation and IOC authorities. There is a lot of resentment among consumers, who had submitted their documents for restoration of their blocked connections. They are also facing hardship as they have been denied refills (subsidised or non-subsidised) to run their home kitchens. In this connection Minister of Food and Civil Supplies GS Bali said he had directed the officials concerned to take up the issue with the IOC authorities so that blocked LPG connections could be restored at the earliest. Meanwhile, IOC Dharamsala area manager Sunil Kumar said the invalid connections could be regularised provided the consumers should pay requisite amount to the IOC. As many as 6,000 de-activated connections of Nurpur gas agency had been transferred to the regional office of the IOC, Shimla, for new consumers.
	Govt to construct bridge over Gobind Sagar Our Correspondent Bilaspur, January 22 The Gobind Sagar Ghats Sudhar Sabha has welcomed the announcement made by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh that the government will soon initiate construction of the Berry Dadollan Bridge over Gobind Sagar here. The move will be beneficial for thousands of Bhakra Dam oustees living on both sides of the Gobind Sagar. President of the sabha Ram Singh said the sabha also urged the Chief Minister to conduct proper re-survey the bridge site as it should be constructed at the place where it would provide ‘maximum benefits to maximum affected persons’. The sabha re-iterated its demand that the bridge should link Khairiyan with the town and not to Talwaad as it was earlier suggested by officials of the PWD department. “If the bridge is linked to Talwaad then people would have to travel at least seven km to Bilaspur for essential facilities. Linking the bridge to Khairiyan will reduce the distance to travel to only two km for getting all the facilities,” opined members of the sabha. They requested some Congress leaders to look in to the interests of thousands of villagers who used to travel a long way daily to fetch essential commodities. They have been demanding a direct bridge-link to the town since the past 50 years. The proposal of constructing a four-lane “express high way” across the Gobind Sagar has made it necessary to construct this bridge, as it would directly connect the town to the highway.
	Rigid steps ‘necessary’ to minimise NPAs Ambika Sharma Tribune News Service Solan, January 22 Baghat Urban co-operative Bank Limited, Solan, with the collabration with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), organised a two-day seminar on HP state federation of urban cooperative banks, credit societies and Baghat urban cooperative banks. On the occasion, bankers stressed upon the need for taking rigid steps for the financial health of the banks. Addressing the gathering, RBI GM Pratap Ahuja stressed the need to strength payment systems in the banks. He said the non-performing assets (NPAs) are fatal for the growth of banks as funds management is a crucial area of their functioning. He said the NPA should be truncated at every step and banks should not hesitate in taking rigid steps while recovering loans. The main features of the seminar were training on credit appraisal, management of advances, funds management, currency management and NPA management. RD Nazeem (IAS) Registrar Co-op Societies of HP was the chief guest on the concluding day of the programme. Nazeem also appreciated the bank’s modern facilities like core banking, ATM, RTGS/NEFT, and SMS services to customers. He said the government is going open up the co-operative sector soon and the societies or banks can appoint the employees at their own and the institutions will conduct its audit itself, the arbitration proceeding will be dealt at their own and also said that various actions are to be taken to smoothen the cooperative sector. Emphasizing the significance of the banking system, the bankers said every individual should be linked to the banks so that benefits of banking services can be reached to maximum people. Persons below poverty line, economically marginalised persons should be given facilities of these services. Baghat Bank MD PC Kashyap said an immediate transfer of money system, including ATM services, has been launched in branches of Baghat Bank. Bankers from Haryana, HP and Punjab participated in the seminar. Highlights of seminar Training on credit appraisal Management of advances Funds management Currency management NPA management
	Himachal diary Good snowfall brings cheer as well as misery The hill state experienced a good snowfall in January almost after a decade, bringing cheer to both the tourists and the local people. However, it also brought a host of miseries as the blizzard disrupted life completely in most areas and the people had to go without power, water and other necessities of life. The “Queen of Hills” was the worst hit as all arrangements made by the administration fell apart and life virtaually came to a standstill. The thick blanket of snow on the roads made movement of vehcle impossible and tourists from nearby plains who made a beeline to the state capital only made things worse. With no idea about driving on the slippery snow-covered roads, they got stranded at various places and created more problems for the administration. Their vehicles slipped and blocked roads which were opened using snow-cutters. The power supply was disrupted completely and it took a couple of days to restore normalcy. Executive Engineer Visheshwar Sharma said there were major breakdowns at about 25 places, uprooted trees and huge branches brought down by the snowstorm fell on power lines. With limited staff it was not possible physically to restore power immediately. However, the linemen of the electricity board worked round the clock in subzero temperature to restore the snapped lines which was quite a task in the hazardous hill terrain. Since the city had not seen such heavy snow in the past few years, the damage trees and power lines were more as they could not take the heavy load of snow. The municipal corporation had adopted measures to deal with the snow but the arrangemnts came to nought when it actually snowed. The municipal corporation fell short of labour for clearing the roads and barely managed to remove snow from the road leading to the Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital on the first day. Deputy Mayor Tikender admitted that there was delay in clearing the roads due to shortage of workers and they had to hire the services of Kashmiri labour. The heaps of sand which were kept at places prone to slippery road conditions were buried deep under the snow and could no be used immediately. The ordeal for the people living in shady areas like Lakkar Bazar, Snow View and Jakhu Hill, Dhalli bypass will continue as it will take a few weeks for the snow to melt which gets very hard after the weather clears. Apple production The widespread heavy snow in Shimla and Kinnaur, which account for 80 per cent of the state’s apple production, has cheered the fruit growers who are hoping for a good output in the ensuing season after two successive crop failures. The state produced only 1.37 crore boxes of apple in 2011, down from the record 4.46 crore boxes in 2010, and 1. 94 crore boxes last year. Snow is considered as white manure for the apple orchards as it takes a long time to melt and the entire water percolates into the soil which helps maintain adequate moisture till the summer. More importantly, it helps provide the minimum chilling period for the orchards which range from 1,600 to 2,000 hours during peak winter. The temperature must remain consistently below 7C during the period but in the absence of snow, it rises abruptly and leads to premature bud breaking. It also results in sharp variaton in temperature which is not good for flowering and fruit setting. It is after a long time that upper Shimla areas have received around 3 ft of snow in mid-January and areas like the Sangla valley in the adjoining Kinnaur have got over 5 ft. Besides ensuring a good apple crop, it will also help in recharging the water sources and mitigate the problem of water shortage during peak summer. Power transfers The recent change of regime in the state government has created uncertainty of postings among officers of the state government. It has become a general practice for the party which comes to power after change of the government to appoint officers of its choice in key positions and shift those considered close to the previous regime. An administrative reshuffle has already been effected by the new regime in the state and there are still many others waiting to be shifted. Hamirpur being the home district of previous Chief Minister, many officers have been waiting for their transfers after the change of the government. Interestingly, most of the oficers who were calling shots under the Dhumal regime are certain that they will be shifted. A recent incident provided ample evidence of it. During a courtesy telephone call to one such officer, when this correspondent inquired about his well being, he said, “Samman bandh rahe hain” (Busy packing my baggage) as he could receive transfer orders any time. And he did not have to wait for long as he got the marching orders within a week. (Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)
	vignettes Luminary of Shimla Prof Madan Sharma is gone by Shriniwas Joshi Jawaharlal Nehru on the death of Mahatma Gandhi had said, “The Light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere.” I cannot say exactly the same for Professor Madan Sharma who left this world at the age of 83 years but I can definitely say that he was one of the luminaries of Shimla who remained shining in the fermament of this town as long as he lived here. No wonder, Performance Group of Arts at Punarnava-2011 declared him ‘Star of the Night’ for his poetry. He used to dabble in Urdu, Hindi and English poetry and is credited for four books of Urdu couplets, poems and ghazals. Madan Sharma was born in Lahore in 1930 to father Daulat Ram and mother Sulakshni. His father was an employee in Indian Railways. He lost his father and mother at an early age and for some time lived with his eldest sister Premvati at Amritsar where he pursued his college education. He completed his post-graduation in mathematics from Camp College, New Delhi. Madan was the youngest of three brothers, the eldest DD Sharma was in the Army and the other YD Sharma was in Haryana Civil Service. I first met Madan Sharma in 1954 when I was doing BA with Physics and Mathematics 'A' course and he had joined SDB College as Lecturer in Mathematics. He was fresh from the college; hardly 24, looked as if he was still a student; always immaculately dressed and would not mind sharing even ‘non-vegetarian’ jokes with his pupils. Soon he became the blue-eyed teacher of the students and when he arranged a cricket match against the girls of St Bede’s College, we boys were elated. It was a hi-fi match played at Annandale. Ashwini Kumar, decorated Inspector-General of Police of Himachal was one of the umpires. The advantage with the girls was that the boys had to bat and bowl with their passive hand.Though I was in the boys’ team, yet I do not remember which side had won the match but Prof Madan Sharma — this is how we used to address him — was the definite winner. He was an enthused ice-skater and skier and that had brought him close to Dr YS Parmar, first Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, who himself took interest in winter sports. He was all grace and elegance when he used to glide on ice and was the don of the ice-rink, excelling in figure skating. "The thrill of sliding on ice cannot be explained. Skaters enjoy the warmth of ice while the others shiver sitting by the fireplace," he often used to say. “Indeed they are the chosen/Who love to ice-skate/ Get all their worries frozen/And feel so good and great” is his poetic version of the same thought. He did ‘double’ for many a film actor on ice-skating. Beena Braig, an American lady, used to be his partner in couple-dancing on ice. No doubt, in his prime he was the ladies’ man(see photo) and that baffled him in choosing a life-partner for himself. He remained unmarried all through and acclaimed that he was wedded to Mathematics - “Ganit ka gyan: Maha Kalyan.” Holly Lodge Annex at Jakhu was his residence in Shimla (see photo) and he retired in 1988 as Principal of a Government College. He was a regular visitor to the SAGES Flower Show. On his last visit, he wrote in the visitors’ book: “Seed and sapling — a tale to tell/Like spring and bloom, they ever gel/Seed in sapling or sapling in Seed/It is unsullied love Indeed.” He pursued his routine till the 1st of December, 2012. The next day he was admitted for ‘disorientation’ in Indus Hospital Shimla but on the insistence of his sister’s son Avinash, whom Madan loved much, was taken to General Hospital, Sector 6, in Panchkula by Avinash’s son, a doctor himself, Dr Aditya Avinash Kaushik. Madan breathed his last there at 2.30 pm on the 21st of December. Did he follow the Mayan theory that the world would end on 21.12.12? Yes, he did. Adieu Madan! Tailpiece Avinash tells me: “My Mamaji was Omni-known-even the casual visitor knew him. Once a receptionist in an ITDC Hotel, Orissa, told me that he was from Mandi, Himachal, and knew Prof Madan Sharma.”
	Septuagenarian Paruthi pursues dry flower art with passion Rakesh Lohumi Tribune News Service Shimla, January 22 The years may have taken a toll on his body but his creative zeal and love for dry flower art is undiluted. Indeed, the manner in which 74-year-old Krishan Paruthi has been pursuing his unique art sends a clear message that age is no barrier to creativity. The advancing years have only widened his aesthetic horizon and enlarged his canvas. He has done pioneering work on glass using a host of herbal preservatives to lend the highly perishable flowers an aura of eternity by creating some magical images. He has produced a variety of range of flower artefacts, ranging from small coaters to large glass wall hangings, each of which is unique. He is currently working on his largest ever 6 ft by 3 ft glass painting, a wall hanging, on the demand of one of his acquaintances. “My work not only requires a good aesthetic sense but also involves much travelling across the country for collecting the right type of flowers and other foliage for artistic creations. More importantly, it also requires knowledge about flora, particularly herbal preservatives, and technique for drying of flowers, which is carried out in different conditions to get the right hues, and pasting the highly fragile dried petals and leaves on the canvas,” he says. “The flowers and foliage have to be first treated with tobacco and other natural preservatives to protect against insects, fungal and bacterial infestation. It takes anything from four to 10 weeks to dry the flowers and leaves of different kinds after which they could be used for creating a piece of art. The moisture is maintained by keeping these in layers of paper sheets,” he explains. The flower work on glass is quite different from visiting cards, greeting cards, wedding cards, bookmarks and other floral art pieces, which are embossed with flowers. The petals, leaves and other dried foliage is pasted using transparent glue on the backside and the image appears on the front side. After completing the work, he sprays it with transparent fixer, followed by white acrylic spray to enhance the impact and give the creation a clean look. It helps make the works moisture and fungus-proof and environment-friendly. An added advantage was that the glass works could be easily framed and displayed. It involves fine work with long hours of concentration as one has to use small tweezers to pick up and paste delicate dried petals on the canvas. Further, different type adhesives are to be used for pasting different kinds of flowers and leaves. His largest glass work, which he was about to complete, has taken a month, without taking account of the time spent in collecting and drying the flowers. Normally a work of such huge size should fetch anything between Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000. The beauty of flower artefacts is that each piece is unique as no two flower petals and leaves are exactly similar in size, shape and colour, and they acquire a different hue during drying. As such even he can not replicate his own work. Incidentally, Paruthi decided to pursue his passion for flower art about two decades ago on his return to India after suffering losses in business in Nepal. He set up an NGO in Jaipur to train youth in the dry flower art and had even exported his works. But he was rendered inactive due to a back problem three years ago after which he shifted to Shimla. Now he has managed to overcome his ailment and wants to pursue flower art, his passion, for the rest of his life.
	Govt to extend municipal limits of fast-growing towns Our Correspondent Palampur, January 22 Urban Development Minister Sudheer Sharma said here recently that the state government would extend the municipal limits of all fast-growing towns of the state. He said keeping in view the large-scale urbanisation of towns it had become necessary for the government to extend the municipal limits of these towns. Talking to medaipersons here recently, he said proposals to this effect were already pending with the government and it would take a policy decision in this regard soon soon. The minister said there were 12 municipal councils in the state the limits of which were never extended in the past 30 years despite the fact that there was a manifold increase in the population. He said the Town and Country Planning Department would be made more effective and officials were being told to be practical while approving the designs and maps of buildings in the state. It was being examined that how much persons were still waiting for the approval of designs for their buildings and at what level the delay was caused. In future all approvals would be granted under a time-bound manner to facilitate people. He categorically stated that the Chief Minister wanted to see the results not statics. Officials concerned would be answerable for all irregularities if reported to the government, therefore, unplanned, haphazard growth of towns and unwanted approvals for new buildings would not be tolerated. Officials had been directed to follow the rules strictly to check the menace. Earlier, residents of Palampur town urged the minister to extend the municipal limits of Palampur town keeping in view its fast expansion. They said the limits of the Palampur MC were never extended in the past 57 years when it was first established in 1955. At present, only 4,000 persons live in the MC while 40,000 reside in 12 adjoining panchyats, adding that these panchayats should be included in the MC area without delay.
	Govt school gets nod to build science block Rajiv Mahajan Nurpur, January 22 The requisite permission of the Archeology Survey of India (ASI) through the state Language and Culture department has paved the way to construct a science block building at the local government girls’ senior secondary school in the town. The school authorities had earlier sought permission from the ASI, Delhi, to construct the science block. Due to change in norms the State Language and Culture Department had granted the permission to the school. It is notable that the Virbhadra Singh government during its previous regime had sanctioned the science block in 2007 and earmarked Rs 90 lakh for its construction in 2008. The school administration had handed over the construction of the proposed science block building to the public works department but the ASI authorities had stopped its construction as it fell within 200-m radius named regulated area of the old Nurpur Fort declared as protected monument by the ASI. No one can construct, alter or repair old constructed area without the prior permission of the National Monument Authority. With the enforcement of the new amendment, the ASI staff had stopped the ongoing construction in the regulated area in the town, which is densley populated. It evoked a sharp criticism among local inhabitants. The local Municipal Council had even taken up the issue with the union government for relaxing the stringent rules keeping in view the interests of the residents residing adjoining the protected monuments. After the construction work was stopped, the school authorities had initially sought permission from the ASI. But finally the State Language and Culture Department has granted the approval after ensuring that the Ancient Monument and Archeological Sites and Remains Act was not violated at any stage during the proposed construction of the science block building.
	Investors await rail network expansion to industrial areas Ambika Sharma Tribune News Service Solan, January 22 A ray of hope has risen among investors in the state for connecting the state’s industrial area to the much-awaited rail network with the survey for the Ghanauli-Dehradun rail line having been completed by the Ministry of Railways. Investors now hoped that the due budgetary provision for these crucial lines would be granted in the Budget so that work to connect industrial areas, including Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh and Paonta Sahib, in the state could begin soon. Since the successive Budgets had merely talked of undertaking surveys, investors hoped the completion of the survey would now lead to availability of funds for the new rail lines. With Union Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, hailing from Chandigarh, and his kin too having an industrial unit in Baddi, investors were optimistic of getting their due in the next Rail Budget. According to the survey report, the 186.134- km Ghanauli-Dehradun track will take 10 years for completion and its estimated cost has been pegged at Rs 3,74,562.09 lakh. It will be constructed in a phased manner and its section length has been estimated to be 216.084 km. It will cover four states comprising 14.910 hectares of Punjab, 358.540 hectares of Himachal, 474.170 hectares of Haryana and 208.080 hectares of Uttarakhand. As many as four trains, including two inter-city and two express trains, are proposed to run over this track as per the survey report. It is supposed to earn Rs 33145.72 lakh per year and its working expenses are to the tune of Rs 21818.11 lakh per year. With a speed potential of 100 km per hour, this section would help meet the requirements of the industry and will provide an economical mode of transporting goods. The expansion of railways has been a pressing issue for the prime industrial areas of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, which accounts for 79 per cent industrial expansion while Paonta-Sahib and Kala Amb belt areas accounts for 10 per cent of the industrial investment. The absence of railway network has stalled the ambitious Central project of constructing a full-fledged container depot and it has been confined to a mere freight station having limited facilities. The presence of railways will also help provide the industries a cheaper mode of transportation and will provide respite to the industry from the ever-increasing freight charges levied by truck unions who have a strong presence in the region.
	Over 1.5 lakh children given polio drops Our Correspondent Kangra, January 22 Over 1.5 lakh children below five years were administered polio drops, under the Pulse Polio Immunisation campaign, in the district on January 20. For the purpose 1,070 polio booths, 26 transit sites at bus and train terminus and 65 special sites in temples, slums, brick kilns, construction sites and in high-risk areas were set up. Kangra Chief Medical Officer Dr Shashi Pal Singh said Minister for Urban Development started the drive at the Zonal Hospital, Dhramshala, and Minister for Agriculture and Energy Sujan Singh Pathania launched the campaign from the Community Health Centre, Fatehpur, by giving pentavalent vaccination with drops of polio oral vaccines. Meanwhile, Kangra Deputy Commissioner C Plarsu said he had reviewed the arrangements of the campaign at a meeting. He had directed all the heads of different departments to extend their active participation to make the Pulse Polio Immunisation drive successful. CMO Dr SP Singh said 1,40,761 children up to the age of five years were given polio drops with the help of 4,380 vaccinators and 214 trained IPPI supervisors. Following the completion of booth activity, a house-to-house drive will be continued to vaccinate new born babies and left out beneficiaries. Dr Singh said oral polio vaccine and necessary logistics were supplied to all 12 block headquarters for further distribution to booths. The health department it had received encouraging reports from all the medical blocks.
	Curbing illicit felling, forest fires ‘top priority’ Balkrishan Prashar Chamba, January 22 The groundbreaking initiatives taken by the new Himachal Pradesh Forest Minister, Thakur Singh Bharmouri, the only minister from the backward and underdeveloped Chamba district, boasts of the largest green cover of 37.7 per cent in the state. The initiatives have boosted the morale of forest officials of the state especially those from Chamba district. In fact, the Forest Minister has accorded top priority to curbing illicit felling and forest fires in the state. He has appealed to the graziers not to set fire in forests to induce fresh grasses which is a boon to the conservation of the state’s rich forest wealth. One of the senior officers of the Forest Department said, “We are happy to see a Forest Minister who means to act against illicit fellers as there are more than 423 cases of illicit felling lying pending in the district, though as of today, the situation is fully under control.” In addition, the Forest Minister has expressed the hope that he will help nearly 1.1 lakh livestock and 909 permit holders belonging to the grazing community, which includes both gujjars and gaddis, who are traditionally dependent on cattle rearing and animal husbandry in the state. At the same time, the minister has launched a plantation drive in order to augment the forest cover in the state. To begin with, the minister planted a tall deodar sapling on the left bank of the Ravi along side the Bharmour-Chamba highway, about 32 km from the district headquarters recently.