Palampur, February 26
Resentment prevails in Kangra and Mandi districts as the state government has not included the 220-km Pathankot-Mandi National Highway-20 in its four-laning projects.

Recently, the state government got two national highways, Shimla-Kalka and Chandigarh-Manali NHs, cleared from the Government of India, for conversion into four lanes. The Pathankot-Mandi National Highway was ignored as MLAs and ministers from the region failed to take up the issue before the state government. In fact, the national highway seems to have become a victim of dirty politics. The major part of funds given by the Centre for national highways in the state was allegedly diverted by the state government for the other national highways merely on political considerations.

It may be recalled that this road was declared a national highway in 1987 by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, keeping in view the defence requirement. Even after 26 years, the State Public Works Department has failed to covert even 50 per cent of the road into a national highway. As the PWD has left the widening process half way, the national highway is still narrow at many points. Over 50 bridges on the highway which were constructed by the British 100 years ago have already served their purpose and are on the verge of collapse. It seems the Himachal Pradesh Government and the Ministry of Surface Transport are waiting for a tragedy to happen to get out of their slumber.

Solan, February 26
A state-level science exhibition was organised by the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT), Solan, recently. The aim of the exhibition was to inculcate a spirit of scientific thinking and develop scientific temper among the school students.

Professor Rakesh Sharma, convener of the exhibition, said the exhibition would help the younger generation to develop an interest in science.

A declamation contest on the theme, Mathematics Year-2012, was also held on the occasion. Bhuvneshwar Sharma of DAV School, Totu, bagged the first position while Bharti Thakur of Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Panjgai, Bilaspur, and Supriya Aggrawal of Him Academy, Hamirpur, bagged the second and thrd positions.

Shimla, February 26
The Himachal Power Engineers Association has urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to appoint power engineers as the heads of technical outfits like the State Electricity Board and the State Power Transmission Corporation.

A deputation of power engineers met the Chief Minister here and thanked him for approving Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP) amounting to Rs 1,400 crore to pull the board out of the debt trap and giving opportunities to professional engineers to head technical agencies like the HIMURJA, nodal agency for renewable resources of power.

General Secretary of the association Ram Prakash said technical outfits were necessarily required to be headed by engineers possessing core competence in view of the various complexities and intricacies involved in planning and operations of power systems in the face of pressure from regulatory authorities to reduce manpower cost and bring operational efficiency. The association drew his attention to the fact that due to an exodus of experienced technical manpower, knowledge and technology was not getting transferred to young engineers in a time-barred manner for want of adequate recruitment. It would have an impact on the operational efficiency of the board in the long term. The association urged him to recruit 25 to 30 power engineers annually to avoid this knowledge gap.

Further, the State Transmission Utility (STU) should be strengthened so that intra-state and inter-state transmission system and erection of evacuation lines from various projects could be completed in a time-barred manner. The Asian Development Bank had approved Rs 2,300 crore for the purpose. The STU had a sanctioned staff strength of only 146.

The association also demanded that the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) be provided adequate staff since the Electricity Act, 2003, mandated functional and financial autonomy for the organisation. It also demanded restoration of the post of Chief Engineer (System Planning), abolished without any rhyme or reason last year, and posting of one Chief Engineer (Electrical) in the Energy Directorate which is handling the disposal of power worth Rs 1,600 crore every year.

Bilaspur, February 26
The state government has prepared a Rs 100-crore monkey menace control project draft plan which has already been sent to the Central government for its approval and its implementation will be started as soon as approval is received from the Centre.

This assurance was given by Rajesh Dharmani, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Forests), while holding his meet-the-people programme at Balhi-Chuwadi village, 50 km from here, recently.

A number of village leaders brought this issue to the attention of Dharmani saying the BJP had given an assurance before the earlier election that it would end this menace from their fields, but it spent full five years in power without doing anything tangible in this matter.

They said the Congress government should take this matter seriously and save farmers from destruction as hordes of monkeys were forcing several families to abandon crop sowing.

Dharmani said earlier there were no monkeys in Bilaspur district villages, but they were brought and released here during the BJP rule after catching them from problem areas.

He said the Congress government would soon devise a suitable method to do something concrete to save farmers from monkeys.

He said soon hand pumps would be set up in villages where there was no such drinking water facility. An 80 bigha land had been selected at Bhadroa village for opening a sericulture research centre, while a ready-made garments sewing centre would also be started with Central assistance in this area.

Dharmani also declared that Rs 60 crore would be spent on the circular road at Ghumarwin and its first phase had already been completed.

Bilaspur, February 26
Naina Devi MLA Randhir Sharma has criticised the Congress government’s decision to rescind the Naina Devi-Anandpur Sahib Ropeway project.

“This has virtually deprived hundreds of youths of this area from a direct and indirect employment opportunity. The will also have a negative impact on tourism in the region. If the project gets a green signal, the journey to the Naina Devi temple would have become easy and comfortable in all seasons for devotees and tourists.

Addressing the villagers’ meeting at Khullawin after inaugurating a Community Centre building there, Sharma said this decision is in tune with the Congress of obstructing all development. He alleged that the Congress is trying to take maximum political gains from the development projects launched for the welfare of people.

Criticising the government’s policies, Randhir said people should know that the BJP is another name for development and the Congress has now become a name of corruption and obstruction in development works.

He said the construction work of the ropeway project was to begin soon and this would have given employment opportunity to large number of local youths, but now nobody knows about the future of the project.

This agreement of the BJP government of HP with the Punjab government was a result of strenuous efforts of several years, “But the state government’s move to rescind the project has brought it to zero,” he said.

Bilaspur, February 26
The zila parishad here has demanded that the government should take immediate steps to ensure required staff and machinery for the newly constructed trauma centre. About Rs 2 crore has been spent on the construction of the centre.

At a meeting, Anjana Sharma, chairperson of the Zila Parishad District Health and Education Committee , said one more post of ultrasound radiologist should be created in the regional hospital here so that most of patients were not forced to go for costly tests in private clinics.

Chamba, February 26
For the comfort of tourists, hailing from different parts of the country and visiting the ancient temples of Bharmour (AD 550), a long-cherished dream for the construction of a new tourist complex named “yatri niwas” is about to come true at Bharmour tribal township this year.

Taking into account that a lot of construction work is yet to be accomplished, the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) has speed up the construction work so that the building could be commissioned by the mid of this year.

An assistant engineer of the HPTDC, PS Thakur, said the Central Government had funded this project at a notional cost of Rs.1.15 crore, which also included the beautification of its precincts. He added that the construction of the complex was undertaken last year.

The new tourist complex at Bharmour, the tribal subdivisional headquarter in Chamba district, will have forty-bed capacity with a faciility of a large restaurant. When commissioned, the complex will give a much-needed fillip to the tourism in the region, which is a big money spinner for the region.

Endowed with scenic locale and ice-clad mountains, the complex will not only be of an advantage to tourists but also a great facility for the pilgrims visiting Manimahesh, which is situated at the altitude of 4,170 metres.

Located at an altitude of about 2,195 metres, the Bharmour tribal township has been glorified for famous cluster of 84 hoary temples, popularly known as ‘Bharmour Chourasi’. It is also a place for weary devotees to rest awhile on way to Manimahesh.

I was present at Peterhof on the evening of August 9, 2010, when the book “Har Ghar Kuchh Kehta Hai” (HGKKH) was released by the then Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Prem Kumar Dhumal. I wanted to buy the book but every time I faced “sold out”. An year after its release, the then Chief Minister also inaugurated Shimla Heritage Museum at US Club building constructed in 1860s. Recently, I went to the museum and I liked the way the antiquity of the building was maintained but to call it a museum where there were only 50 photographs and sketches of old buildings of “British Simla” was like calling a creek, a river. It is, at best, a gallery displaying photographs of old buildings. I purchased the Coffee Table Book “HGKKH”, having 89 pages of text and photographs, brought out by the State Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation from there for a hefty sum of Rs 1,500 (see photo). The credit for layout and text has been given to my friend, Raaja Bhasin.

I ask Raaja: “Is it intellectual propriety to say: “Holly Lodge passed into the hands of Raja Sir Padam Singh of Bushehr; the property is now with his descendants?” “Is the descendant not the present Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh? Did Virbhadra Singh, who had been five-time Chief Minister of the state while the book was being readied, not deserve to be named in it? What is Holly Lodge without Virbhadra Singh? All right, the word descendant covered Virbhadra Singh but the write-up on Chapslee named Charanjit Singh as its first Indian owner and Ratanjit Singh by name, and not Charanjit’s descendant, as the present one. Is it editorial fairness? I was also pained to note that in the chapter “Actors Extraordinary”, the names of Manohar Singh, who acted in 52 plays and several films, SSS Thakur, who had been artist emeritus of AIR, Master Madan, ghazal maestro, Vijay Kumar, who was hero of several silent movies and talkies and an artist of AIR Shimla, Rakesh Pandey, hero of many Hindi and Bhojpuri films, who hails from Nahan with Shimla as second home, were missing. I call this omission as “illiteracy” of the department. Can a book boost tourism? Yes, if it is in the language of the masses and not in English, the language of the creamy layer. Mani Mahesh Yatra in Chamba became popular among Bengalis because a Bengali visitor published a low-priced book on the Yatra in Bangla.

The title HGKKH has been lifted from that of a TV soap written by Anshuman Sinha and directed by Pawan Sahu that ran on Zee in 2007-08. If one, somehow, tolerates the title, then one is tickled by two amusing sub-titles on the inside pages “Har Ghar Khilta Hai” and “Har Ghar Ab Bhi Kuchh Kehta Hai” with photographs of a few blooming flowers and Shimla in-snow, off-snow, the Mall etc. I know Raaja Bhasin as a sensible, sober young man with commanding hold on lexis. Was he under extra-penmanship-pressure when preparing the text for the book? I do not know.

The other novel that I read last week was “Starlight over Simla” by Deborah Siepmann, an awarded US author.(see photo). It has 224 pages and costs 19 pounds. It was gifted to me by my son believing that it would be carrying material on past or present Shimla. A large chunk of the novel is swallowed by Delhi and the remaining by Srinagar; Shimla finds only 24 lines in the entire novel in the last but one chapter. Shimla, spelled Simla, is still sold in England, so the author, perhaps, thought to give it the title. The novel dates back to 1911 when it was announced to shift the capital from Calcutta to Delhi. Lord Hardinge was the Viceroy of India then and the Viceriene, his wife, was Winifred Salina and not Georgina, as given in the novel. Near its close, Deborah writes: “Nicholas, as the (railway) station came into view, slowed (his car) to make the long, curvy descent.” Does she speak of a railway station in Srinagar about 1911? Where is intellectual propriety or is it opportunistic ignorance?

Sundernagar, February 26
After polluting the Suketi khad and the Beas for more than three decades, the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) has now started polluting the Sutlej by throwing silt containing water into it. The board is throwing the silt containing water after using it in the production of electricity at the 990-MW Dehar Power House, which is situated on the border of Mandi district and Bilaspur.

The BBMB recently devised a new method to dispose of the silt from the balancing reservoir of Sundernagar. It earlier used to throw silt into the Suketi khad. This act of the BBMB has posed danger to the marine life in the Gobind Sagar.

During a visit to Slapper, where the Dehar Power House is situated, the residents revealed that the BBMB had been discharging silt into the river during evening hours so that one could not know that the silt was being thrown into the river. The Beas-Sutlej Link Project, managed by the BBMB, was started in 1977. Under this project, the water of the Beas was diverted from Pandoh and made to pass through the Pandoh Baggi tunnel, which opens at Baggi and the water is made to flow through the 11.2-km open hydel channel and stored in the balancing reservoir where the silt contents are allowed to settle.

This silt-free water is further diverted through the 13.2 km-long Pungh-Slapper tunnel to Slapper where it is used in the Dehar Power House and eventually flows into the Sutlej (Govind Sagar). Earlier, the BBMB authorties used to dredge out silt from the balancing reservoir with three dredgers during monsoon.

Farmers have been raising their voice against the act of the BBMB for some time as the silt has destroyed fertile land of the Blah valley. This year one of the dredgers was out of order due to poor maintenance, so the desired amount of silt could not be thrown into the Suketi khad and remained settled in the balancing reservoir. As per the Environment Management Plan, dredging is not allowed in non-monsoon season.

Therefore, the BBMB authorities have devised a new method. It removes silt and throws it on the inlet of the Pungh tunnel which ultimately flows and passes through the Dehar Power House into the Sutlej.

According to the BBMB authorities, they operate a dredger for just two hours and pass controlled amount of silt (up to 500 PPM), which is permissible as per the specification of the Dehar Power House. The authorities do not see any violation of law in the case.

Gurchaaran Singh, Director (Fisheries), Himachal Pradesh, claims that the act of the BBMB was dangerous for the aquatic life of the Gobind Sagar. He further states that he will take up the matter with the BBMB authorities.

Ravinder Sharma, Assistant Environment Engineer, Bilaspur, said the BBMB was violating the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act and action would be initiated against the officials concerned. 

Chamba, February 26
The Chamba District Journalists’ Federation has floated a proposal before the state government to introduce a pension scheme for veteran journalists, who have attained the age of 60 years, with a valid government press accreditation card for 10 years.

In a statement issued here, the chief patron of the federation, Shiv Sharma, urged the state government to follow the pension pattern adopted by Kerala, Manipur, Orissa, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Puducharry.

He urged the state government to work out a criteria while framing a policy regarding pension to journalists.

He asked to pay at least Rs 5,000 per month as pension on the pattern put forward by Kangra MP Dr Rajan Sushant with regard to the old-age citizens recently.

Sharma said he had also written to the state government in this connection and had suggested that the government could defray the expenses of pension from the journalists’ welfare fund or journalists’ benevolent fund, already created by the state Information and Public Relations (IPR) Department.

He lamented that the accredited journalists in the remote and tribal areas like Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh had been feeling ignored in the absence of facilities being provided by the Central Government as the facilities extended to them by the Government of India were not reaching them.

“It is perhaps owing to the absence of any nodal agency such as Press Information Bureau of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that the journalists are unable to get assistance, required for availing railway travel and other 
facilities extended to the accredited journalists of the country,” Sharma said.

Chamba, February 26
The constant soil erosion triggered by landslides in the aftermath of rains is fast emerging as a potential threat to the Gulei tribal village that falls in Sanh gram panchayat in the tribal terrain of Holi in Chamba district.

For the past some years, soil erosion due to landslides is constantly posing a threat to the human settlement in the area. Despite the gravity of the situation, no action plan has been worked out to contain the soil erosion, the reports revealed.

However, Himachal Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri, who represents the region, assured that a team of officials would soon visit the affected site and take stock of the situation and prepare a report on the impending danger of soil erosion in the area.

He said after considering the report, the state government would sanction funds for combating the situation. 

Solan, February 26
With the National Board for Wildlife making it mandatory for states to chalk out site-specific plans for declaring eco-sensitive zones around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, activities like creation of a buffer zone around the protected area was gaining prominence.

The move follows directions from the apex court. The state government has drafted site-specific plans for its 33 sanctuaries and two national parks.

These plans have been drafted as per the guidelines formulated by the Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoEF). A committee headed by conservators of respective areas along with DFOs, prominent ecologists of the areas, representative of Revenue Departments and representatives of the local panchayats has been constituted for various circles of the state.

Likewise, in the Majhathal Wildlife Sanctuary (WLS), located in the Kunihar Forest Division, an area of 1.5 km has been earmarked as the average width of the eco-zone in this sanctuary. This comprises 15 villages which include Jandui, Chamrol, Judllo, Jeuni, Sohra, Pazina, Saryali, Sewra Chandi, Bambeli, Rudal, Puryab, Khalli, Banli, Dhar Parli and Dhar Warli.

Apart from defining the boundaries of such zones in the site specific plans, a list of restricted activities like mining, control of noise pollution, prohibiting discharge of untreated industrial effluents into a river body lying within such zones, prohibition on setting up of hydel projects etc have also been chalked out. This will, therefore, ensure that no such activity is allowed within the ambit of the eco-zone at Majhathal which can threaten the environmental and ecological balance of the area.

A monitoring committee to ensure compliance of activities listed in the site plans is also being set up which will also include members of NGOs, officials of the state Pollution Control Board, senior town planner, besides a representative of the MoEF.

It was interesting to note that Majhathal lies in a vulnerable environmental zone with two major cement plants lying in its close proximity and activities like exploration of underground water, blasting, mining, quarrying etc, are routine activities in such plants.

While the constitution of the eco-zone will help preserve its ecology it will be a tough task to regulate such activities in this area. Even putting a curb on the noise pollution appears to be a difficult proposition given the presence of cement plants.

Moreover, since one of the two cement plants was constructed within the sanctuary area and its boundary was later redrawn, putting a curb on activities like mining, blasting, stone quarrying etc, appears to be a tall order. 

Followers of the Nirankari sect celebrated the 59th birthday of Baba Hardev Singh as “Guru Puja Divas” during which they carried out a cleanliness drive in Bemloe colony.

A Senior Sant of the Nirankari Mission Rajwant Kaur Bhullar while inaugurating the drive said cleanliness and plantation drives were two major programmes of the mission. However, as the weather was not conducive for planting saplings, only a cleanliness drive was carried out. A rally and a community lunch was also held in which a large number of followers participated.

She said the followers of the mission were actively involved in various social welfare activities and they also participated in strength in the recent earthquake mock drill conducted in the state capital. About 250 volunteers of the Sewa Dal were deployed at six sites for relief and rescue operations during the exercise. They were assigned the task of transporting the injured to hospital and arranging blood. The also organised relief camps at two places and performed their role successfully during the exercise.

Chamba, February 26
In the wake of frequent earthquake tremors and unprecedented rains, which have hit Chamba till now and triggered the process of soil erosion, particularly in the Kashmiri mohalla, Pucca Tala, Hatnala and Dharog vicinities located on the fringe of the Ravi and its tributary, Saal rivulet, a local RTI activist has raised his voice against the half-hearted approach of the government towards the conservation of this ancient hill town.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Tuesday, RTI activist Swami Bhuvaneshwar said the unabated soil erosion in the Kashmiri and Chowgan mohallas was also posing a serious threat. “There are precarious sites in the Upper Julakari mohalla also. If the unstable ground beneath these vicinities is disturbed, it can spell devastation anywhere,” the Swami said.

He said the earthquake, which hit Chamba town and its suburbs on March 24, 1995, had posed a serious hazard to the safety of human beings and houses constructed in these areas. Several buildings in these vicinities had developed cracks.

Even the residential building complex of the Deputy Commissioner was facing an imminent threat of landslides on the Ravi side, the Swami said.

He requested the government to strengthen the hill slopes from top to bottom to prevent further soil erosion, suggesting that this could be done by constructing a “drop channel” along the vertical slope to drain out waste water from the affected localities.

A well-planned system of housing construction was also required to cope with natural hazards, the Swami said. Taking into account the prevailing scenario of soil erosion around the town, the Swami urged the government to draw a master plan for its conservation.

Nurpur, February 26
The Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan (DJJS), Noormahal, (Punjab), under its youth empowerment programme “Way to awakening youth”, has organised workshops at BTC Government Girls’ School and Government ITI here recently.

Swami Vighananand said youths could play a vital role in shaping our society and nation. The inculcation of moral values among the youngsters could ensure their character building. He exhorted students to change themselves before changing the society and earn good qualities. Later, he administered a mass oath to the students for their commitment to character building. — OC

Kangra, February 26
A two-day fest “Navrang 2013” where colours of diversity met together concluded at Dronacharya College of Education, Rait, on Friday.

The event mirrored the exuberance and vitality of young generation and provided them a platform to explore and exhibit their innate latent talents. On this occasion, Himachal Pradesh University Vice Chancellor Prof ADN Vajpayee stressed on the need for total commitment towards quality in education.

He lauded the role of the host Dronacharya College of Education for organising such a programme.

On the concluding day of the fest, chief guest Padmashri Dr Kshama Metre, national director Chinmaya Mission for Rural Development (CORD), said “Getting education at a proper time is important. If the education is not available at the right time, then it is of no use.”

She said fest like Navrang provides students an appropriate platform to explore and showcase their talents.

DPRO BR Chauhan stressed on the role of extracurricular activities for multi-faceted personality development of students.

He said modernisation should be accepted but not at the cost of cultural disaffiliation. The young generation has lot to contribute to society and the goal could be achieved with serving the society with missionary zeal.

Results: Inter-college declamation contest: 1. Surbhi, Govt Degree, College, Dharamshala, 2. Gaurav, Dronacharya College, Rait, 3. Jyoti, Govt Degree, College, Dharamshala, Painting competition: 1. Sapna, Sharan College of Education, Kangra 2. Rakesh Bharadwaj, Govt Degree College, Dharamshala, 3. Upasana, Awasthi College of Education , Rangoli contest: 1. Gyan Jyoti College of Education, Rajol, 2. Awasthi College of Education 3. Dronacharya College of Education , Ad Mad show: 1. Dronacharya College of Education 2. Govt. Degree College, Dharamshala, Model making: 1.Dronacharya College of Education 2. Sharan College of Education, Seminar: 1.Sachin, Kanta College of Education 2. Monika Patiyal, Vaishno College of Education , Volleyball: Minerva College of Education, Indora.