AC in Tanda Medical College ICU 'adds to heat', patients in distress
Kangra, July 16
The patients under treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Medicine Department of Dr RP Government Medical College, Tanda, were in acute distress as the air-condition (AC) facilities in the unit ceased to work for the past five days.

Vignettes
The colours in Vatsala's paintings
When I entered the exhibition hall of The Gaiety to see Vatsala's paintings, I felt I was amidst the colours of Nicolas Roerich. He had portrayed landscapes where the skies were red, blue or crimson and the snows were not necessarily white. The bright colours, for him, depicted the vibrancy of life. Vatsala says that dullness damps her spirit and she cannot think of a painting without bright colours.

Himachal diary
Sant Nirankari Mission dispatches relief material to Uttarakhand
The Sant Nirankari Mission organised a Samagam, a religious congregation, in the open at the sprawling potato ground in Theog, about 32 km from Shimla, early this week.

Building norms: Violations continue unchecked
Solan, July 16
Notwithstanding warning by the National Disaster Management Authority that earthquakes of high magnitude could strike various parts of the state and tremors having been witnessed in Kangra district, little appears to have been done by the authorities to regulate the construction activity on fragile hills.

Soil erosion damages water-supply lines
Dalhousie, July 16 The residents of the remote Salooni, Singadhar, Manjeer and Digayee panchayats of the Churah subdivision of the district have been facing a water crisis for the past some days owing to the damage to the water-supply lines in the aftermath of mud slide and soil erosion following recent heavy rains in this region, according to unofficial reports reaching here recently.

Dharamsala faces acute parking problem
Dharamsala, July 16
The problem of proper parking space in Dharamsala is adding to the tourist woes. During the last two months, with the inflow of tourists, the traffic jams were a common scene in the area.

Vector-borne diseases
Village committees to create awareness
Kangra, July 16 To strengthen the comprehensive Information Education Communication campaign to make people aware about vector-borne diseases like malaria, dengue, scrub typhus and kala azar, the Health Department has issued directions for awareness activity up to the sub-centre level in a meeting of the Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Committee, besides strengthening surveillance activities under the National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme.

Pahari paintings of Himachal showcased in Germany
Balkrishan Prashar

The famous painting of Gita-Govinda in Kangra style depicted in the Volkerkunde Museum of Hamburg in Germany.

Chamba, July 16
The Kangra valley is famous for its picturesque landscapes, flora and fauna. The beauty of this valley apparently reflects in the Pahari miniature paintings especially of Guler and Kangra schools. The undulating hills with lush green expanses along with clusters of leafy trees and floral plants are depicted in these miniatures invariably.

The painters who had migrated from the Mughal court to the Kangra valley were greatly fascinated by the magnificent prospects of hills. It is for this reason that such lush landscape with vivid trees, blossoming plants, rivulets and ponds strewn with lotuses are seen in Kangra paintings invariably.

Flowers, trees and gardens are key elements of Pahari paintings especially of the Guler and Kangra schools. Various kinds of trees and decorative floral creepers and shrubs in gardens contribute significantly to the atmosphere and beauty of these fascinating miniatures.

Paintings depicting such elements are showcased in a special exhibition — flowers, trees and gardens of gods — in the Volkerkunde Museum of Hamburg in Germany. All these delightful paintings displayed in the exhibition belong to Prof Ludwig Habighorst, a scholar and collector from Koblenz in Germany.

Besides the portraits of hill rulers, the famous paintings from Gita-Govinda of Jaidev, Rasikapriya of Keshavdas, and Satsai of Bihari are the attractions of this special exhibition.

Recently, the Volkerkunde Museum, Hamburg, invited the renowned Pahari painter, Vijay Sharma, for giving a presentation of the Pahari painting techniques. Artist Vijay Sharma of Chamba is one of the most exceptional contemporary exponents of the Indian miniature painting.

Besides being a painter par excellence, he is also a scholar of Pahari arts and has been lecturing and promoting the arts of Himachal Pradesh, both in India and abroad as well. A recipient of the Padma Shri, Sharma mesmerised the art lovers of Germany by wielding his magic brush. During this recent visit to Hamburg, he was also invited by India's Consulate General at his office in Hamburg in appreciation of the talent of this master artist.

112-year-old Kotla bridge on verge of collapse
Rajiv Mahajan

The dilapidated Kotla bridge on the Dehar Khad on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway. Photo by writer

Nurpur, July 16
The single-lane Kotla bridge, 20 km from here, on the Dehar Khad on the Pathankot-Mandi national highway built 112 years ago, in 1901, is in a dilapidated condition. The bridge is considered very significant from tourism point of view in the Kangra valley and Kullu district.

Heavy rain and flash floods in the Dehar Khad have weakened the foundation of the supporting pillars of the bridge. Thousands of vehicles use this dilapidated bridge round the clock daily, but contrary to its load capacity of 18 tonnes, a large number of over-loaded vehicles drive down the bridge with impunity. Like the Chakki bridge on this highway, the Dehar Khad bridge is also facing the threat of collapse. Illegal and unscientific mining on the riverbed of the khad is also posing a threat to the bridge.

The construction of a new double-lane bridge at an estimated cost of Rs 7.54 crore sanctioned by the Union Road, Transport and Highways Ministry was kick-started in 2008 by a private Hyderabad company. It was proposed to have a 98-m span with 12-m width. The construction company after raising some portion of the supporting pillars of the new bridge had left the work halfway. However, this proposed earthquake-proof bridge was scheduled for completion in June 2010, but now even after over three years it is incomplete.

Assistant Engineer, NH subdivision, Shahpur, Virender Dhiman said the department had rescinded the tender awarded to the construction company and around Rs 75 lakh had been realised from it as penalty for the delay in the construction of the bridge and leaving it in halfway. “The department has initiated a new process to re-tender the construction of the proposed bridge,” he said.

There is a widespread demand to expedite construction of the new bridge to avoid any untoward incident.

AC in Tanda Medical College ICU 'adds to heat', patients in distress
Our Correspondent

Kangra, July 16
The patients under treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Medicine Department of Dr RP Government Medical College, Tanda, were in acute distress as the air-condition (AC) facilities in the unit ceased to work for the past five days. It is learnt that more than a dozen patients were undergoing treatment in the ICU of the medical college, Tanda, and most of them were heart patients. They were suffering acute distress as the AC in the ICU was not functional.

The attendants of some patients on condition of anonymity said it was painful to see their patients, who were already suffering from various ailments, suffer more in the "suffocating" ICU.

The ICU of the medical college has airtight windows which cannot be opened. There is no passage for fresh air to pass into the ICU except a single door, putting the patients and their attendants to discomfort.

Besides, there are no ventilators and fans in the ICU adding further to the misery of already traumatised patients. The ICU has to be under controlled temperature in order to avoid heat accumulation but the failure of the AC for such a long period has produced this effect only, affecting in particular heart patients, said a doctor on condition of anonymity.

Dr Dinesh Sood, Medical Superintendent, confirmed failure of the AC for the past five days, adding that it was under the control of the electrical wing of the HP PWD and the department had already been apprised of the situation. He said the Electricity Department was waiting for some technician from Chandigarh to repair the plant.

Junior Engineer, Electrical, Vinod Sharma, said that last year there were no funds for the maintenance of the ACs, so the maintenance could not be carried out.

YC Dhiman, SDO, said special repairs were required for the plant for which tenders were being floated. He said there was a technical fault and it would be rectified.

Vignettes
The colours in Vatsala's paintings
by Shriniwas Joshi

Tailpiece

“Clouds came floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add colour to my sunset sky.” — Rabindranath Tagore

Himachal diary
Sant Nirankari Mission dispatches relief material to Uttarakhand

During the recent Kedarnath disaster, the mission has dispatched two truckloads of relief material to provide succour to the affected people immediately. The mission has also asked the followers to donate liberally for reconstruction and rehabilitation works in the flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.

Retina surgery

Efforts of RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya have finally moved the government and it has sanctioned funds for purchase of all the required equipment and other infrastructure for conducting retina surgery at Indira Gandhi Medical College, a facility the state has been lacking all these years.

It took four years of relentless pursuing by Bhattacharya who continuously followed the matter through the RTI route seeking information from the quarters concerned about the action being taken to provide the much-needed medical facility.

"I came to know that Himachal Pradesh did not have any facility of retina surgery in any of its hospitals in January 2009 when my school friend Vishwa Rattan, who had almost gone blind, came to Delhi for the treatment of his eyes. I took him to Dr Parkasi, a famous retina surgeon, who was kind enough to operate on him and restore his vision partially," he said while narrating his RTI success story.

Given the "indifferent" attitude of the authorities, it virtually became a battle for all those Himachalis who were fighting a losing battle against blindness. An RTI application was filed by him in 2009 which revealed that Himachal did not have any retina surgeon despite having thousands of reported cases of people losing vision. The issue was reported in the media.

Thereafter, he kept mounting pressure on the government through RTI queries and ultimately the office of the then Health Minister, Rajiv Bindal, informed him that two doctors from the IGMC, Shimla, would be send for training to PGI, Chandigarh, and that the budget allocation for installing machinery had also been finalised. As the two doctors completed their training, the political set up in the state changed and the Congress replaced the BJP regime.

He had to again follow up the matter with the new government and he got in touch with Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and also kept up the pressure through his RTI queries and reports in media. Agnihotri informed him that the case for purchase of equipment had been cleared by the government and last week the IGMC authorities confirmed sanction for the purpose.

He said taking the issue to a successful end had given him immense satisfaction as it would help save and restore vision of poor hill people who could not afford to go to Chandigarh or Delhi for treatment. He said people should use the RTI for improvement in public services and make society free from corruption .

ICFA expansion

The ICFA (Institute of Computerised Financial Accounting), which provides training to youth in the field of computerised accounting, taxation, finance and banking, has drawn up an expansion plan to improve its presence in Himachal Pradesh. It has decided to set up 15 more centres in the state in addition to the eight already operational in Kangra, Palampur, Shahpur, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Ghumarwin, Sundernagar and Rampur Bushair.

The ICFA has tied up with various corporate houses and industries. It is organising a series of Job Fairs in the state and the first of these will be held at Bilaspur on July 22, 2013. Gursimran Singh Oberoi, Chief Managing Director of the ICFA, said the finance industry is witnessing a very healthy 40 per cent growth every year and the demand of finance professionals was huge. The Ministry of Human Resource Development projects a shortage of 72,000 finance professionals by 2014. While the numbers of CAs and MBAs have been growing, there is a huge gap in semi-skilled manpower in critical areas like finance, banking and insurance.

The ICFA attempts to fulfil the shortage by training students and exposing them to a practical environment and theoretical concepts in accounts and finance. The focus is to train students on new initiatives like MS-Office 2007, Tally.ERP 9, e-filing of returns through CompuTax and international accounting with QuickBooks.

(Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi)

Building norms: Violations continue unchecked
Ambika Sharma/TNS

Solan, July 16
Notwithstanding warning by the National Disaster Management Authority that earthquakes of high magnitude could strike various parts of the state and tremors having been witnessed in Kangra district, little appears to have been done by the authorities to regulate the construction activity on fragile hills.

The manner in which the fragile hills were being cleared for constructing resorts and residential flats by blatantly ignoring the stipulations of erecting buildings on slopes having over 45 degree was a clear invitation to disasters.

Such large-scale clearing of hillsides not only destabilises the fragile hill strata but also makes the area prone to landslides. Large scale landslides are witnessed on such sites during rains and they pose further damage to roads and the hill strata.

With abject lack of check on builders violating building norms in Solan and its surrounding areas, these areas are fast transforming into a “concrete jungle” with buildings having five to six storeys coming up in stark violation of regulations. Though the state government has stipulated three plus one storey norm, its adherence was neither being ensured by the Town and Country Planning Department nor builders.

Though officials of the National Disaster Management Authority have been stressing on the need to abide by the building norms to minimise damage during earthquakes, the authorities were yet to wake up to comprehend its implications.

Himachal was sensitive to earthquake and an earthquake of magnitude of 8 on the Richter Scale could strike the state in the near future which could cause widespread damage to the state as well as neighbouring areas. The Solan area falls in the sensitive seismic Zone IV which was highly prone to earthquake.

While the government had taken measures like restricting the height of buildings and making it mandatory for a structural engineer to inspect a building site before embarking upon any new construction after the major earthquake in Bhuj in 2001, these norms barely remained a paper formality.

The TCP Department shrugs off its onus by barely issuing notices which fail to deter the violators, the MC too has failed to take steps to check such violations.

Soil erosion damages water-supply lines
Our Correspondent

Dalhousie, July 16
The residents of the remote Salooni, Singadhar, Manjeer and Digayee panchayats of the Churah subdivision of the district have been facing a water crisis for the past some days owing to the damage to the water-supply lines in the aftermath of mud slide and soil erosion following recent heavy rains in this region, according to unofficial reports reaching here recently.

Dharamsala faces acute parking problem
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, July 16
The problem of proper parking space in Dharamsala is adding to the tourist woes. During the last two months, with the inflow of tourists, the traffic jams were a common scene in the area. The people were forced to park their vehicles on roadsides, which brought them in direct confrontation with traffic policemen who further fined them through challans.

The problem of traffic has increased to such an extent, that traffic congestion could be witnessed even on routine days in Dharamsala.

The linear development in the town along the roadsides was the major cause of traffic problem. The two major local markets in Dharamsala namely Kachehri market near secretariat and Kotwali market, face the maximum parking problem as there is no parking place. In Mcleodganj, the main tourist hub of the area, the only public parking place at the entrance was embroiled in controversy due to encroachments on forest land and illegal construction.

The district and town planning and municipal council authorities have failed to come up with a proper parking facilities for the tourists. Many new shopping malls are coming up in Dharamsala area for which the parking place should be made mandatory.

A bypass in Dharamsala which could divert the traffic going to Mcleodganj and avoid congestion in Kotwali market is under construction and progressing at a slow pace.

Vector-borne diseases
Village committees to create awareness