Palampur, May 14
Monkeys continue to destroy a large number of crops, causing losses to farmers in the state. Hundreds of acres has gone barren in the state as farmers have left their fields uncultivated because of the monkey menace. Till date, no serious efforts have been made to solve the problem. The successive governments have ignored this issue for long.

Official sources confirmed that every year crops worth Rs 600 crore were being destroyed by monkeys and other animals in the state. Farmers have been agitating for the past six years and submitted memorandums to the government, but all in vain.

The state government had initiated steps for the sterilisation of monkeys in 2008. However, In the absence of "administrative will", poor governance and the financial crunch, the plan could not be implemented properly. The Forest Department who was assigned the job to set up sterilisation centres was not "serious" toward the problem. "Inadequate staff without any infrastructure" were deputed for sterilisation, which made the matter worse.

In past seven years, the strength of monkeys in the state has gone up by three times. Earlier, in 2010, the state government had allowed the culling of monkeys but because of a stay order by the Himachal Pradesh High Court, farmers had to restrain and the problem still persists. Here, too, the government failed to plead its case forcefully before the High Court and lost the game.

Notably, there are more than six lakh monkeys in the state and out of it over 80 per cent live outside forests. The gravity of the situation could be judged from the fact that 2,600 panchayats out of total 3,300 in the state have been badly affected by the problem. In past five years, over 2,000 people have been bitten or clawed by monkeys in Himachal Pradesh, which resulted in 30 deaths. Monkeys are also accused of snatching handbags from passersby, stealing food from houses, medicines from hospitals and even files from government offices. Women and school-going children have become a soft targets for mischievous monkeys.

Dalhousie, May 14
The diminishing natural regeneration of rhododendron forests has become a major environmental concern nowadays due to global warming and the biotic interference particularly when the Himachal Pradesh Government has declared the rhododendron's pink flower (gulabi buransh ka phool) a state flower.

The Jot, Khajjiar and Dalhousie hills are replete with luxuriant rhododendron forests. The locals pluck these flowers for making chutneys and also because they carry many proven medicinal properties, besides making good juices by the state-run HPMC.

The tourists are also lured to see the beautiful flowers as they give the look of a flame in the forests when they are in full bloom at higher altitudes beyond deodars in mid Himalayas soon after the setting in of spring season in April.

While walking towards Shaheed Samarak at Panjpulla in the Dalhousie hills in the month of March-April, one would suddenly be struck with the beautiful blooming trees full of red blossoming flowers.

During the season, the flower always finds a place in the 'pahari' cuisine as spicy chutney made with a dash of mint or just onion and chillies. Any mountain villager when asked will say the flower is good for blood not only because of its red colour but of its proven qualities.

All parts of this plant contain a poison called grayanotoxin, but the leaves are the most poisonous. Eating this plant can cause a severe stomach ache. It can also cause liver damage and pneumonia.

Plucking heaps of rhododendron flowers for sale at all important market places in the vicinity of Rhododendron forests really poses threat of natural regeneration to rhododendron forests, as there is no established nursery practice or any successful plantations to the credit of forest department in raising rhododendron forests.

Moreover, the immature plucking of flowers of rhododendron leads to non-fertilization of its flowers.

Some time back even the chilgoza trees (neoza) in Kinnaur district were also facing the same threat due to excessive collection of its fertile seeds for human consumption on commercial levels and destruction of seeds by the avifauna or rodents.

Solan, May 14
Baddi-based Elin Appliances organised a blood donation camp on their premises which was the fifth camp organised in many years.

In this camp 152 units of blood were donated by the employees which was more than the previous year among the total blood donors. Out of 152 units 17 units were contributed by the employees of various hotels and other units were located in the vicinity of Elin Appliances.

The camp was inaugurated by Dr (Col) RS Saha, Director, Rotary and Blood Bank Society Resource Centre Chandigarh, along with JS Kang, Factory Manager. A team of four doctors and six staff nurses assisted the donors in donating blood in this camp.

JS Kang, Plant Head, while encouraging the employees to donate liberally for this cause.Blood donation was a noble cause and every one should donate blood to help and to provide vital life saving substance to the needy patients. He said by given the significance of blood donation they had made it an annual feature where employees turn up voluntarily for donating .

Doctors at the camp also highlighted the significance of blood donation and the donors who donate blood had lesser chance of getting heart attack and stroke. A healthy body replaces blood within 48 hours and creates new red blood cells within a week. Since blood is required in surgeries and for transfusion. Such camps help to save many lives.

Bilaspur, May 14
The Ghumarwin Bar Association here has drawn the attention of the state government and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh towards its day-to-day difficulties while working in the new Judicial Complex which was made functional in 2007. Four courts, including those of three Civil Judge-cum-JMIC and one court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, are functioning in the complex which is without any supporting essential facilities for advocates and hundreds of litigants who visit the complex daily.

Talking to mediapersons here on May 9 and releasing a unanimous resolution of the general house of the Bar Association, president LR Nadda said the state government had sanctioned Rs 77.20 lakh for constructing additional accommodation at the complex, at the instance of the High Court. The entire amount was handed over to the HP PWD in July 2011 for providing basic essential facilities in the building like accommodation for record room, stamp vendors, typists, computer operators, photostat service, sitting and shelter arrangements for advocates and litigants, canteen service and drinking water.

All this time, the Bar had been trying to ensure that the construction was completed at the earliest.

The students of Auckland House, Dayanand Public and Laureate Public Schools, must have agreed with John Muir ‘in every walk with Nature one receives far more than one seeks’ after having attended the annual SAGES’ (Shimla Amateur Garden and Environment Society) WALK at Chharabra amidst a thick forest of Deodar and Mauru from Hem Kunj (Punjab Governor’s summer residence) to Hem Kunj via Oakland and Retreat (President’s residence in Shimla). Experts on flora of the area would stop on the walk to make people aware of the beauty, bearing and botany of the shrubs, plants and trees. And what attention did they receive (see photo)?

I start with the story of Hem Kunj. Its former name was Dane’s Folly. If you ask about the previous name of the building from the Malis and Chowkidars working there presently, they will tell you that English used to come here to dance to their leisure and so they named it Dance Freely. Dane’s Folly owes its name to Sir Guy-Fleetwood Wilson who was Finance Member on the Viceroy’s Council from 1908 to 1913. I have to steal words from ‘Imperial Simla’ by Pamela Kanwar to describe him, “He was antithesis of the ‘sun-dried’ bureaucrat. A bachelor of solitary habits, he disliked the social life and the holiday atmosphere of the summer capital with its tendency to divert attention from working efficiency, and attributed many of the Indian difficulties to Simla where the Government of India went ‘to sleep’.” He used to deliver long speeches and during one in 1909; he observed that all the 21 members were napping. He, called ‘not-a-bob-Wilson’, would prune any extravagant public expenditure. It was he who did not sanction money for the camping ground-a pavilion and rose-pergola-that Louis Dane, Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, had got constructed through the PWD at Chharabra. It prompted British residents to name it Dane’s Folly (see photo). I was told that Dane’s Folly was renamed as Hem Kunj by Indira Gandhi when she visited Shimla in 1972 for the famous Shimla agreement.

The Walk was attended by about a 100 persons including the writer of this column. The experts introduced us to the plant that produces Psyllium Husk, commonly known as Isabgol. The plant is native to India and attains a height of 30 to 46 centimetres but there at Chharabra, it was just popping-up the wild. It is a gentle laxative, cooling and diuretic, so a great home-remedy for constipation. Though the route of the Walk was dotted with ferns, wild Primula, bamboo etc, yet I have to make special mention of Copper Beech trees growing in the garden of Retreat. In 1881, it was purchased by Sir Edward Buck, father of Edward J Buck who wrote ‘Simla-Past and Present’.

Then Lord Elgin, Viceroy in 1894-99, had secured Retreat as suburban residence for the Viceroys. Sir Buck confides, “I, with my tenants in the upper chambers, remained in occupation of Retreat until 1896, when Lord Elgin became my tenant, and as I was then shortly to retire from service; arrangements were, in that year, made to transfer the estate permanently to the Government as a viceregal residence.” It means that Retreat had ever been the residence of the Viceroys of India and is, now, the home at Shimla for the Indian President. Sir Buck, during his occupation of Retreat, introduced many of the trees of Hattoo peak, especially silver fir and the maples, to Retreat woods. He also planted two England borne copper beech trees (Fagus Sylvatica) here which were blooming with pinkish-purple leaves on the day of the Nature Walk. The European beech has several significant requirements: a humid atmosphere, frequent fogs, well-drained soil and the woods here stand up to these. The building Retreat has not changed much since its taking over by Lord Elgin. Its originality has been conserved but, like many public buildings, the photography of this heritage building is not allowed.

The Nature Walk, after a complete circle of five kilometres, culminated at the point from where it started and the 100 walkers appeared to have been saying ‘But the beauty is in walking - the destination betrays us.’

Nurpur, May 14
Drug trafficking in Nurpur and its surrounding areas is increasing at an alarming rate and the police has failed to check the menace. Unfortunately, besides youth, schoolchildren are also falling prey to the menace. The drug traffickers are running their illegal narcotics selling activities at a number of places in the town. The sedative capsules, locally called 'bhutu', and charas-filled cigarettes are the ones, which are widely used.

The traffickers have a wide-spread network of procuring and selling drugs. The bus stops have become a den for drug traffickers.

The government-run anti-drug programmes are proving of no help as drug traffickers are spoiling the lives of teenagers. The police did not book even a single case under the NDPS act, whereas the Kangra district CID following a tip off had intercepted a jeep on January 16 this year near Jassur and seized 12,000 sedative capsules from the jeep. But, the local police seems helpless in checking the menace. There is a need to organise de-addiction camps in the area to assist the youngsters in coming out of the addiction.

Local municipal council chairperson Krishna Mahajan, block development committee's chairperson Abhilasha Chip, along with a number of mahila mandals and social organisations, have appealed to the state government to formulate a strategy to curb the menace in this border area of Kangra district. Meanwhile, local MLA Ajay Mahajan said he had told the local police and administration to act swiftly and sternly to check drug trafficking in the area.

Chamba, May 14
Chamba is situated on the right bank of the Ravi and cannot dream of attracting tourists in the near future despite the fact that the government is claiming that important towns of Himachal will be turned into tourist destinations.

Chamba, nowadays, has turned into a slum with residents taking things so easy and dumping household waste on the main roads. The authorities have turned a blind eye to the same.

The parking of vehicles on the road, leading to the historic Gandhi Gate (also called Delhi Gate) leads to severe traffic congestion and blocks all the traffic, leading to the Delhi gate and the 11th century Harirai temple.

Moreover, washing of vehicles by the residents, frequently leads to flooding of roads, causing a lot of inconvenience to the residents.

Filth thrown by roadside chat vendors, parking of solid waste collection dump and stray cattle making the lives of citizens much more difficult.

One can only hope that the authorities would improve the situation.The Fire Department and the bus stand need to be relocated away from the heart of the town. The officials,however,maintain that in order to give a facelift to the town, efforts were afoot for improving sanitary conditions of the town. — OC

Palampur, May 14
Brij Behari Lal Butail, Speaker of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, has stressed on the need of quick redress of public grievances at the level of Deputy Commissioners, Subdivisional Magistrates. He said if grievances of people were redressed at the lower level, people could be saved from travelling a long distance to reach Shimla and Dharmshala for petty matters. Butail said this while talking to mediapersons here recently.

Butail reiterated that the redress of public grievances and transparency in governance was the top most priority for the government. He said the common man's welfare was the main concern for the government

He said during his stay in Palampur and Shimla, he was always available for the redress of public grievances at his residence and the office. He said government officers must realise that they were public servants and their object should be to serve the public. The speaker categorically stated that no corrupt officer would be spared as the government had already announced zero tolerance for corruption.

Butail asked the government officers to be present in their offices and devote much of their time in hearing the grievances of people. He said the absence of officers from their offices cost much the poor people who come from far-flung areas with their problems and got disappointed after finding officers absent.

Bilaspur, May 14
Shashi Pal Sharma, District Revenue Officer, Bilaspur, who is also the District Nodal Officer for Aadhar card, said those who had got their Aadhar card registration done at any centre in the district, but had not yet received their cards till now, should contact the authorities concerned in Room No. 205 of the Deputy Commissioner's office till June 15 for getting their Aadhar Numbers.

He said this number would soon be made mandatory by the government for receiving all government subsidies through the Direct Money Transfer Scheme on the bank accounts based on the Aadhar Number.

He said such persons should come with a receipt which they were given at time of their registration. In case this receipt is not available, even then this number can be obtained from Room No. 205 only by giving the name and address.

He said all those who have already got their Aadhar Number, should give a photo copy of this number to the bank in which they have an account so that their bank account get attached with this Aadhar number for purposes of receiving all government subsidies, which would be directly transferred on this number by the government.

Sharma said all scholarships and stipends of students, financial help of child and maternity welfare schemes, (excess) government subsidy charged by dealer on LPG gas cylinder, purchase and payment of pensions under social welfare and retired government servants etc. would now be covered under this new scheme. — OC

Solan, May 14
A national inspection and monitoring committee, including the Under Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family, a sociologist , the Chief Medical Officer and the state in charge of Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act raided a private clinic at Nalagarh and sealed an ultrasound machine after detecting a series of irregularities relating to maintenance of records.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Shashi Pal Singh, said two ultrasound machines were found at the clinic where one potable machine was supposed to be used for mobile medical investigations. This was sealed to ensure that it was not misused.

Dr Singh said the monthly returns filed by the clinic had revealed that the doctors were involved in carrying out unauthorised abortions and sex determination tests. These observations were proved by several records like deficiency in the F forms, lack of signatures of the doctors on the forms and other documents, the large number of missed abortion cases, which were carried out on women having one or more daughters, at the clinic. the team also found difference in the payment receipts and records maintained by the clinic.

It was worth mentioning that the clinic management was also running nursing college Lord Mahavira at Nalagarh.

The committee members sealed only one ultrasound machine while the other one was allowed to remain operational. The clinic was served a week’s notice to explain the deficiencies, failing which it would be sealed and barred from operating. Its records were seized for further verification and contrary to the requirements of the act the clinic management had failed to furnish records for two years.

Intriguingly, a private doctor running another clinic, Aakash Hospital, locked his clinic much before the team could inspect it. While this gave credence to that fact that illegal practices were underway at the clinic, little appears to have been done in the past to scrutinise its records.

Dr Surekha, state in charge , PNDT Act, said since there were several deficiencies in the records, the clinic has been served a show cause notice to explain its position.

This raid had exposed the working of private clinics and the lack of regulation of these medical shops. Though all private clinics using ultrasound machines file monthly returns of the number of cases diagnosed and comparison of the records can help establish illegal practices in any clinic, hardly any raid had been carried out in this industrial belt in the past several years. This had emboldened such clinics to operate with impunity.

It was a day full of fun and learning for girl students with disabilities who were taken on an educational excursion to the state museum and the Viceregal Lodge, housing the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, by Umang Foundation, a public welfare trust, early this week.

The group led by Akshay Kumar, a wheelchair user who is pursuing PhD in English from Himachal Pradesh University, included one severely disabled student, Jahan Ara, from Government School, Boilueganj, and 20 girls with visual and hearing impairments from Portmore who are pursuing studies with the support of the foundation.

Visually impaired girls had a feel of the ancient sculptures in the museum by touching them while the hearing impaired tried to understand things through the sign language. Gagan Khanna from the museum explained to them about the ancient artifacts and the need for preservation. The dolls gallery and magic mirror attracted the deaf girls much.

In the Rashtrapati Niwas, they were excited to know that the 125-year-old palatial building was the first one to have power supply in northern India. They were pleasantly surprised when Khemraj from the Indian Institute of Advance Study told them that the building had one of the oldest water-harvesting systems in the country.

Muskan, a blind girl, said, "We can't see, but thanks to Umang Foundation, today we have come to know many new things about the history of our state." Kanika, a hearing disabled girl, said through the sign-language interpreter Maya Ram Sharma, "We are fortunate that such an excursion has been organised for us. It provided a rare opportunity to learn and enjoy."

Chairman of the foundation Ajai Srivastava said imparting education was the best way to empower the disabled and such outings helped in making them confident.

Veea Bharti, a young IPS officer, while interacting with the disabled girls, said, "You should never think that you are inferior. Persons with disabilities, particularly girls, are excelling in various fields and the day is not far when people will salute your abilities."

Shimla, May 14
While ‘khap panchayats’ (caste councils) in Haryana continue to frown on inter-caste and sub-caste marriages and punish those who do so, marrying outside one’s caste is ever so profitable in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh - it’ll get couples all of Rs.50,000.

To prompt young men and women to break the caste barrier, the cabinet headed by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has enhanced the inter-caste marriage incentive from Rs.25,000 to Rs.50,000. It’s given to couples where one of the spouses belongs to a Scheduled Caste.

“We have seen in the past few years that the cash incentive of Rs.25,000 was not encouraging too many couples. So we have decided to make it lucrative by doubling its amount,” Special Secretary (Social Justice and Empowerment) M.P. Sood told IANS.

Departmental records show that only 1,113 inter-caste marriages materialised in the past four years.

In 2012-13, 277 couples got the incentive, 304 in 2011-12, 300 in 2010-11 and 232 in 2009-10.

The Himachal Pradesh government introduced the scheme in 1994.

“Now, we are expecting more and more young couples, especially women, will come forward to break the caste barrier,” Sood added.

Newlywed Shimla-based Aneesh and his wife Shweta believe that the choice is for the man and the woman to make. Aneesh, a handsome banker, belongs to a lower caste, while Shweta is a high-caste Brahmin.

“It’s you who spends your whole life with the partner, not your parents. Your decision is final,” Aneesh said.

“In our case too, we convinced our parents and finally they agreed. But we were lucky as many still get threatened or even murdered for this,” Shweta added.

Rameshwar Sharma, additional director of the social justice and empowerment department, said the state is expanding opportunities for the Scheduled Castes, who constitute 24.72 percent of state’s 6,856,509 population.

“Promoting inter-caste marriage is just one step in destroying the caste system,” he added.

The Supreme Court in 2011 held that inter-caste marriages are in the national interest. Justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra said: “The caste system is a curse on the nation and the sooner it is destroyed the better. In fact, it is dividing the nation at a time when we have to be united to face the challenges.

“Inter-caste marriages are, in fact, in national interest as they will result in destroying the caste system,” the court added. The court held that diktats by the “khap panchayats” aimed at coercing or committing atrocities on young men and women who wish to marry inter-caste/religion were illegal and should be stamped out. — IANS

Palampur, May 14
With the opening of Jammu and Kashmir circuit for domestic and foreign tourists, the tourism industry in Himachal has received a major setback. Travel agencies in metros have made bulk bookings for Kashmir this year, resulting in a sharp fall in the flow of tourists to Himachal Pradesh. Travel agencies are also preferring Kashmir oevr Himachal as tourist destination. Though the tourist season is in the full swing, most of the tourist centres of the state have failed to attract tourists.

It may be recalled that Himachal Pradesh has an enormous tourism potential. The snow-capped peaks of Himalayas are a visual treat.

However, the state has a long way to go to catch up with the front ranking states like Kerala, Goa, Karnataka , Rajasthan, Jammu and Uttarakhand in tourism sector. Promotion of tourism in Himachal Pradesh is essential for its faster development as it is an important revenue earner and a good source of foreign exchange.

Thanks to the apathy of the successive governments, who failed to develop tourist places in the state in a planned manners. Even at most of the tourists places, the government has failed to extend the municipal limits. The Himachal Pradesh Government has time and again had announced to provide better amenities to tourists, but nothing has been done so far.Corrupt traffic police officials, lengthy traffic jams, costly hotels, poor parking facilities welcome tourists to the state.

Besides, bumpy and narrow roads, poor transport and air service, expensive food and fleecing of tourists by taxi operators also hurt the tourism sector. The hotel tariff in Himachal Pradesh is quite heavy as compared to other states. Even the government has failed install meters in taxis in the state.

Frequent traffic jams have become a regular feature at Dharmshala, Kangra, Palampur, Manali, Kulu, Shimla and McLeodganj. Although the state government has announced several times to come out with a new master plan for the development of tourism in the state, all remained confined to the files and in the past 10 years most of the tourists place in the state have turned into slums.

Haphazard and unplanned construction of hotels at Manali, Dalhousie, Shimla, Dharmshala , McLeodganj and other places in the state has caused various problems like disposal of garbage, contamination of drinking water, pollution and a large scale soil-erosion.