The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Group of women scripts success story
Plants 80,000 saplings in 90 hectares
Ambika Sharma
Tribune News Service

Paonta Sahib, August 20
A group of 34 women of Amboya and Saalwala have scripted a success story by greening their environs by planting 80,000 saplings in 90 hectares. They drew inspiration from a group of 10 women who about 15 years ago had taken up a challenging task of greening a stretch of about 65 hectares of barren land in the Amboya panchayat by constituting a Woman Environment and Forest Protection Committee. They planted about 50,000 saplings on this unused and barren stretch and set an example of hard work and determination.

Besides enhancing the green cover appreciably, this acted as a motivation to the many other women of the Saalwala panchayat in the Paonta Sahib sub-division who constituted a Naagraj Women Forest Samiti and planted 27,000 saplings on about 25 hectares. It further encouraged more women groups to come forward and emulate their success.

Taking a step forward, the women also ensured that the saplings once planted were safeguarded. Explaining the challenges faced for ensuring cent per cent success rate of the plantations, Kamla Devi, pradhan, Amboya Panchayat Samiti, said: “The women not only had to face police cases but also allegations of thefts were levelled against them for trying to achieve this motive.”

This did not deter the women who were keen to make this endeavour a success despite all odds and they toiled day and night to ensure that the plants were safe. They faced challenges from those indulging in illegal felling and even caught them red-handed and also managed to collect a large number of articles used in cutting trees like ropes, sickles and axes from them.

Their collective efforts bore results and they managed to bring greenery over a stretch of 65 hectares.

Sumitra Devi, secretary of the samiti while recounting their success story, said various plants, including medicinal herbs, fruits, bamboo and other commercially useful varieties, had been planted on the land and their success rate was quite high.

Pradhan of Naagraj Mahila Samiti Sunita Devi and Secretary Parmeeta Devi said a large number of people were exploiting forests for their needs nowadays, but a few had taken up the task of conserving this natural wealth as its indiscriminate exploitation was leading to natural calamities.

Kinkri Devi, an environmentalist who had fought a long battle to save and conserve the environment in Sirmaur, continues to inspire them.

With little support from their families, these women have set an example in society urging more women to come forward and contribute to this cause.

There was an urgent need to support such endeavours and the government should step forward and provide some monetary help to them who have little means to enhance their livelihood.

The Forest Department too should involve women in such projects as their present endeavours have little participation of women.

Crime rate in Palampur increases, residents lose faith in police
Our Correspondent

The building of Palampur police station, which was constructed in 1919, is on the verge of collapse. Photo: Ravinder Sood

Palampur, August 20
Palampur and its surrounding areas have witnessed an increase in the crime rate in the past few months. Over 60 cases of theft were reported from Palampur, Baijnath, Bhawarna and Lambagaon police stations. But, in most of the cases, the police failed to trace the culprits. A few months ago, jewellery and valuables worth Rs four lakh were stolen from a house at Rajpur. Likewise, valuables worth Rs three lakhs were stolen from a village near Thrual. But till today, the police has failed to arrest the culprits.

In lower areas of Palampur, things have moved from bad to worse. The residents here have stopped venturing out of their houses after sunset as thieves could strike them any moment.

Panchrukhi, Thural, Daroh, Alampur, Bhawarna and Dheera areas are worst affected where numerous thefts have taken place in the past six months'.

In many villages, local residents have lost faith in police and they have set up barriers on the roads to check the vehicles moving in later hours. The villagers are personally guarding their property.

A senior police officer admitted that police has little presence in the rural areas. He stated that in the absence of night patrolling, cases of thefts have gone up. Besides, there is no checking of vehicle at night by the police.

Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that most of the police stations in the region are in bad shape. The buildings of the police stations have already lived their life and needed immediate replacement. These police stations also have inadequate police force, causing delay in attending the public complaints.

Child marriages still prevalent in Himachal, admits govt

Shimla, August 20
Himachal Pradesh has failed to root out the social problem of child marriage, with 15 reported from five panchayats alone in Sirmaur, one of state's backward districts, from December 2007 to November 2011, the government has admitted.

In an affidavit dated June 18, 2013, in the Himachal Pradesh High Court, the state government admitted that 15 child marriages were solemnised in the Khud Drabil and Jarag panchayats in Sangrah block and the Chandni, Kathwar and Kodga panchayats in Paonta Sahib block.

It also said four infant deaths, three child deaths and four dropout cases were reported in these panchayats during this period. There was, however, no case of child labour.

Taking suo motu cognisance of an NGO survey, a division bench consisting of Chief Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Kuldip Singh had asked the Deputy Commissioner of Sirmaur on April 9 to file a status report on child marriages, infant and child deaths, child labour and school dropouts.

The court's direction came after treating a baseline survey conducted by NGO People's Action for People in Need as a public suit.

The government affidavit says the five panchayats covered by the NGO in its survey have a population of 7,942 according to the December 2011 records.

"Peculiar practices with regard to institution of marriage exist in Sangrah and Shillai areas of Sirmaur. However, with the passage of time, there is a declining trend but it is not fully extinct," the affidavit said.

Customary provisions, including polyandry and polygamy, are still widely prevalent in the community as a whole in the areas across the Giri river, adjoining Uttarakhand, it said.

The customary practice of "Har chali gayi" or "girl went to her in-law's house" is quite prevalent there.

Under this practice, during fairs and festivals, commonly in January, relatives and near and dear ones visit each other's houses and stay as guests.

It so happens that when a girl visits a house and a boy in that family becomes her choice, both of them share their liking and start residing together irrespective of their age.

Sometimes the girl delivers a child with the acquiescence of the parents and the community. The marriages are later solemnised and registered with the local authorities when the couple becomes major, the affidavit says.

It says seven out of 15 child marriages in the surveyed panchayats were performed by following the "Har chali gayi" practice.

NGO director Kuldeep Verma said the government conducted the survey only in those panchayats where its study was focused.

"All these five panchayats are connected with roads. There are numerous panchayats in Sirmaur that are not accessible and where the customary provisions are more prevalent. We need to draw up action plans to crack down on child marriages," Verma said.

Besides Sirmaur, he said, the tradition of child marriage is also prevalent in other districts like Kupvi in Shimla, Tissa in Chamba and Chhota and Bara Bangal in Kangra. "It's hard to know the exact number of child marriages as many go unregistered."

The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, in its latest report, said 14 per cent of girls in Himachal Pradesh get married before they turn 18.

The high court while disposing of the NGO's petition observed on July 23: "Since the issue is of great public importance and the department is committed to take measures to eradicate the social backwardness and social evil practices, as is assured in the reply-affidavit, we dispose of this petition."

The bench however gave liberty to the petitioner to take recourse to appropriate remedies, including a fresh suit, to bring to the court's notice the continuation of such medieval practices.

Child marriages still prevalent in Himachal, admits government. — IANS

Himachal diary
Banking branches to service needs of rural customers

Keen to spread its operations in villages, leading private sector HDFC Bank has set up six rural branches in the hill state. Two of these branches are located in the 'unbanked' remote villages of Sundli (Jubbal) and Kuddu in Shimla where the people had no access to formal banking services. The new three-person branches set up in these villages will help bring them into the banking fold. The remaining four branches launched are located in Chopal in Shimla, Rajgarh in Sirmaur, Darlaghat in Solan and Reckong Peo in tribal Kinnaur.

The new branches were inaugurated by Sudripta Roy, the Chief Secretary, who appreciated the effort of the bank in extending its operations into far-away areas which did not have any banking services.

Smita Bhagat, Branch Banking Head, HDFC Bank, said the new branches would offer customers world-class banking services under one roof ranging from basic services such as savings account, fixed deposits, current account, mutual funds, insurance, two-wheeler loan, auto loan to sophisticated direct access banking channels such as ATM, PhoneBanking, NetBanking and International Credit and Debit Cards.

These new-format branches had been especially created to service the unique requirements of the rural customer and to allow HDFC Bank to go further into 'unbanked' areas of the country.

HDFC Bank was reaching out to more people in Himachal Pradesh through its micro-branches which are primarily three or four- member branches. These new rural branches are part of the HDFC Bank’s plan to deepen its penetration in rural markets.

With these launches, the bank now has 43 branches in the state. Overall the bank has a distribution network with 3,119 branches and 11,088 ATMs in 1,891 cities and towns.

Say no to pollution

The initiative taken by Kullu-based non-government organisation Youth Association for Transforming Nation (YATN) to create awareness among the villagers and pilgrims visiting Bijali Mahadev temple about the environmental degradation caused by garbage and the need to ensure its scientific disposal has started yielding results.

After two years of sustained effort to check littering of hills by ensuring proper collection and disposal of garbage, the slopes along the three-km route to the sacred temple wears a much cleaner look. President of YATN Gaurav Bhardwaj says that the quantum of non-biodegradable waste has been minimised to the extent of 70 per cent. The effort was to make this trek a zero- waste area and a model for villagers in other high-hill areas to follow.

This year approximately 10,000 pilgrims passed through the route daily during the auspicious month of “shrawan” and as there are no garbage bins, the entire area was littered with plastic bottles, packets of chips and other non-biodegradable waste. The YATN observed that tea stalls along the trek selling chips, mineral water and other edibles were the main sources of garbage. During a two-day survey it found about 10 quintals non-biodegradable waste, mostly plastic wrappers and bottles, and it was not only collected but the villagers were also educated about its disposal. Some pilgrims came forward and volunteered to collect waste.

Bharadwaj said last year the YATN volunteers worked only on Sundays but this year they worked throughout the month. Pamphlets were distributed among pilgrims and temporary garbage bins installed in the shape Kiltas (long conical baskets), gunny bags and cement bags. The pilgrims also cooperated and acceded to the request of volunteers to transport the garbage bags to Kullu for disposal.

In all 10,000 pamphlets, 200 posters and 50 banners were put up to raise awareness and a signature campaign was also launched. Over 1,000 garbage bags were given to pilgrims free of cost for taking out their own garbage. The shopkeepers who cooperated by providing bins were honoured.

Research scholars of GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment also participated in the campaign and senior scientist Dr SS Samant assured the volunteers to provide technical help for making the area garbage free.

Roller skating competition

Nearly 175 skaters from across the country participated in the Invitational Roller Skating Gold Cup organised by Speed Skating Federation of India, in collaboration with HS Sports Academy (India) in Shimla early this week. The local schoolchildren bagged as many as six gold medals.

Sharmishta Singh of DAV Public School, Lakkar Bazar, secured three gold medals while Dhananjay Mumick of St Edwards School, Gurvani Mumick of Convent of Jesus and Mary School and Arushi of Loreto Tara Hall bagged one each. Mohan Sharma of Sanjauli College and Reeta of Skating Rink Shimla also received medals.

War of words 'to sway voters'

The registration of an FIR against the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) has triggered off a war of words between the Congress and the BJP leaders. While the ruling party leaders are terming it as a follow-up of the charge sheet submitted to the President of India, the BJP leaders are accusing the Congress government of political vendetta.

Political observers are linking the timing of the FIR to the Parliament election due in 2014. Many feel that this political sparring has something to do with the preparation for the next round of show of strength between the two parties. However, people rue that instead of debating issues concerning the common man, the two parties were indulging in accusations to sway voters.

(Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)

Vignettes
Hamirpur — town of shining stars and a black dot
by Shriniwas Joshi

"Ashtadhyayi" by Panini hints at Hamirpur being part of Trigarta Empire and adds that the people of the area were great warriors and fighters. The old man "Time" has not taken that tradition away from the people and the district of Hamirpur, with bulk of its people in the armed forces today, can be termed as Veer Bhumi within Dev Bhumi Himachal Pradesh.

I had recently visited Hamirpur with pen, not sword, in my hand to attend a seminar arranged by the State Language, Arts and Culture Academy on the 107th birth anniversary of late Dr YS Parmar.

I had a brief stay in an ideally located Circuit House built in 1972-73 at Hira Nagar. Its portico raised on circular columns adds to the beauty of the building lifted with dressed stones.

It, however, appears that the portico was a later addition to the building and was not there in the original design but still manages to gel with the main structure (See Photo). Why the locality is called Hira Nagar? Raja Hamir Chand, who had established Hamirpur, had a Wazir by the name of Hira Chand who had come here from Sialkot and had built a house on a site opposite the present Circuit House.

The locality, ultimately, developed after his name.

Amin ud-din Ahmad Khan, Nawab of Loharu, an erstwhile princely state of Haryana, was the Governor of Himachal Pradesh from 1977 to 1981.

His gift to Himachal Pradesh are the fountains — those I can remember are the ones at Derh Gharat a few kilometres ahead of Kandaghat on way to Solan, Circuit House Parwanoo and on the premises of Hamirpur Circuit House (See Photo).

My personal belief is that a fountain in a hilly station is alien: the water here cascades down the hill not gushes up, so man-made or natural waterfalls go with the ambience of the hills and anything vice-versa messes up the surroundings.

The cascading water forming the backdrop of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the Ridge scores over the fountain near the Scandal Point at Shimla.

Hamirpur was established by Raja Hamir Chand (1700-1740) from the Katoch dynasty. He was son of Alam Chand who ruled for a short period of three years from 1697 to 1700.

The well-known Raja in the dynasty, Sansar Chand Katoch lost a major part of his kingdom in Kangra to Sikhs after gaining their support to defeat the Gurkhas and in 1846, the Sikhs were defeated by the British in the first Anglo-Sikh war. The supremacy of the British continued in the area since then.

The British made Kangra, of which Hamirpur formed a part, a district in which Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti were also merged. Nadaun was the tehsil headquarters then. The tehsil Headquarters was changed from Nadaun to Hamirpur in 1868.

A citizen of Hamirpur, today, proudly says that Tehsil building in this town is the oldest, built in 1888. It is a flat building with a flat roof on it. The old hospital building and that of the boys' school are also of British times.

Dr YS Parmar, during his tenure as Chief Minister of the state, got Kangra trifurcated into Kangra, Hamirpur and Una and Mahasu bifurcated into Shimla and Solan.

As a result, Hamirpur, since 1st September, 1972, is a separate district with Hamirpur town as its Headquarters. The growth of this town since then is tremendous. The population of the town as per Census 1971 was 3,671. Its population jumped to 8,797, 12,544 and 17,252 in 1981, 1991 and 2001 Census respectively.

The growth rate of the population of the town during the decade 1971-1981 was 139.63 per cent against the average growth rate of 35.20 per cent in the State.

Hamirpur district, with several shining stars, also carries a black dot with it. It is the most literate district of the State. The Census 2011 discloses that 83.44 per cent of its females and 95.28 per cent of its males are literate but sex-ratio in the age-group 0-6 is 881 whereas that of the State is 906.

It means that female foeticide, despite high female literacy, is still a householder's game here notwithstanding legal provisions to check it.

Tailpiece

“A small town is where you do not signal turns because everyone knows where you are going”

Spurt in snatching incidents scares residents
Ambika Sharma
Tribune News Service

Solan, August 20
A case of theft of about Rs 69,000 has come to light where a resident of Dagshai who had gone to withdraw some cash from a Punjab National Bank (PNB) ATM at Kumarhatti last evening was not only duped of his ATM card but also a large amount of cash was withdrawn from his account using his card.

The aggrieved resident realised that his card had been exchanged by someone else’s card when he returned from the ATM and that the two youths present there had tricked him.

A sum of Rs 10,000 was first withdrawn from his account through an ATM located on the Mall at Solan and then more money was withdrawn from another ATM at Parwanoo and yet another attempt was made to withdraw money from a third ATM at Kalka this morning, thus taking the total amount withdrawn at Rs 69,000.

The victim today lodged a complaint with the police at Dharampur.

Superintendent of Police Ramesh Chajta said they would inquire into the matter after seeking details of the CCTV footage from various ATMs. This was not the first such case in the area. A gang of miscreants appeared to be active in the area, which was keeping tabs on people visiting banks and ATMs. Cases had come to light where money was snatched from persons coming out of banks after withdrawing the same.

Even a chain snatching incident was foiled by some local residents in Solan on Saturday where a youth had attempted to rob a woman of her gold chain.

Earlier, a case had come to light in Kasauli where a miscreant had snatched Rs 1 lakh from a person who had come out of the local branch of the State Bank of Patiala after withdrawing cash and was asked to stop on some pretext.

It appears to be the handiwork of a gang operating from the neighbouring Haryana state as the police had little clue about the whereabouts of the miscreants. A spurt in such cases was creating a scare among residents.

There were also some rumours of gangs who were lifting children and removing their vital organs being operative in the area. However, a combing operation done by the police in the Kasauli area to nab such miscreants had failed to yield any result.

Government fixes 2,000 MW target for current year
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 20
The state government has fixed a target of commissioning projects with aggregate capacity of over 2,000 MW during the current financial year. The major power project, expected to start generation during the year include 520 MW Parbati, 24 MW Kut, 800 MW Kol Dam, 400 MW Ramur, 65 MW Kashang-I, 10 MW Ghanavi-II, 16 MW Jogni, 8 MW Kurmi, 9 MW Parala, 6 MW Daned, 11 MW Tangun-II and 24 MW Bada Gaon within 2013. Some more projects like 25 MW Lamadug , 9 MW Fuzal, 9 MW Brua and 14 MW Nanti will be completed by March 2014.

The state has an identified hydropower potential of 27,436 MW and it is giving utmost priority to run-off-the-river projects. The latest assessment reveals that Satluj basin has the maximum potential of 13,331 MW, up from 10391 MW. In all, 8,418 MW has been harnessed so far and projects of 4243 MW capacity were being executed through different agencies while project with aggregate an capacity of 2,982 MW were awaiting clearances.

Efforts are being made to explore the possibilities of harnessing 5,132 MW of hydro power. A target to tap 1,111 MW hydro power by the year 2017 and 2400 MW by the year 2022 has been set. The state-owned HPPC alone is executing 20 hydro- power projects of 3026 MW, out which five projects of 826 MW are under construction and eight projects of 1,235 MW capacity were under consideration. Pre-feasibility study of seven projects of 935 MW hydro power capacity is underway.

An Authority on Hydro Projects Safety and Quality Control is being established in the Directorate of Energy for monitoring safety and quality of construction. A State Designated Agency and State Energy Conservation Fund will be created for the purpose soon. A committee headed by the Chief Secretary has been constituted to supervise and monitor progress of projects and to sort out problems faced in obtaining various clearances.

The state had done rather well in rural electrification and all 77,483 villages of the state have power today. The state has as many as 20,84,152 electricity consumers, out of which 17,65,293 are domestic, 2,31,567 are commercial and 21,559 are non-domestic and commercial consumers.

Palampur roads turn into drains
Ravinder Sood

Palampur, August 20
Most of the roads of this important town of the state have turned into drains in the past months in the absence of adequate repair and maintenance by the state Public Works Department (PWD). The condition of the Palampur-Dharamsala road, the Palampur-Thakurdwara road and the Palampur-Mehanja-Parour road has moved from bad to worse. In the absence of proper drainage, the roads have been washed away at many points making it difficult to drive.

The Palampur-Dharamsala road, which links the district headquarters with the town, is also in a bad shape. This road is full of deep potholes at Ghuggar, Ram Chowk and SSB camp. Despite repeated requests of local residents, the Public Works Department has failed to take up the repairs. At the Ram Chowk a number of accidents have taken place in the past one month where the road has deep potholes and no surface is visible.

The Palampur-Thakurdwara and Palampur-Mehanja-Parour roads which fall under the category of the Pardhan Mantri Gramin Sarak Yojna (PMGSY) are under construction for the past three years. While constructing these roads, the PWD has failed to follow the standards laid down for the construction of roads under the PMGSY. Because of the use of inferior quality of construction material, the roads have wiped out at many points.

Though till date crores of rupees have been spent on these two roads by the PWD from PMGSY funds, the roads are still half complete. It looks like public money has virtually gone down the drains.

A senior officer of the PWD said the widening of both the roads had been delayed because of lapses on the part of contractors. The PWD has already served a show-cause notice to the contractors, but no penal action has been initiated so far, he added.

'Inexperienced' pilots fly para-gliders in Manali
Our Correspondent

Palampur, August 20
The traffic situation in Palampur has gone from bad to worse in past few months. At present, the narrow Mandi-Pathankot national highway which stretches from within the town has become a major traffic jam area.

There has been manifold increase in the number of vehicles in the town. During the the peak hours, one could witness traffic jam in many parts of the town. The flyover on the national highway is under construction for the past five-years', despite public pressure the Public Works Department (PWD) had failed to complete it.

Palampur has witnessed all round development in the past few years. The population of the town has also gone up with the coming years. Many new housing colonies have come up in and outside the town, but the state government has failed to initiate any new plans for the development of the town.

No efforts were made for the widening of the roads and for the construction of parking places. The old parking places were converted into new markets, causing lot of inconvenience. At present, it has become difficult to move on foot in the town. Many a times, the pedestrians are hit by the vehicles.

The road pattern of the town suffers from an inadequate and irregular road width. The condition of most of the roads is in a shambles.

Palampur also lacks in improper parking place. Many a times, the vehicles are challaned and impounded by the police for wrong parking.

The Municipal Council in the town has been facing lot of difficulties to handle the situation in the absence of adequate funds.

Thakur Balwant Singh, President of the Municipal Council, said over 300 vehicles are added to the town every month.

"It is not possible for the council to provide parking place without any financial assistance from the state government," he added.

Rs 45-crore state highway cries for maintenance
Our Correspondent

Palampur, August 20
The Bhawarna-Jhunga Devi road (state express highway) constructed at a cost of Rs 45 crore under the State Road Projects (SRP) last year is crying for the attention of the state government. Till date nobody in the state government knows who out of the two, the Public Works Department (PWD) or the SRP, will maintain this road.

According to sources, this road was constructed by a private company in 2011 under a centrally sponsored programme. The company left the site after the completion of maintenance period. It also handed over the road to the state’s PWD for further upkeep.

However, due to the non-completion of certain paper formalities, the PWD has still not taken up the maintenance of this highway. The road is virtually lying abandoned for the past one and half years. On the other hand it has been opened for vehicular traffic.

Recently the road remained closed to vehicular traffic for seven days because of heavy rains. There was no one to remove the boulders, which blocked the expressway at different points, causing inconvenience to the commuters.

A private contractor came to the rescue of local residents. He removed heavy stones from the highway at Kotlu, Chhenssari, Kurang and restored the vehicular traffic.

Earlier, the PWD had refused to press its JCB machine on the pretext that the road had not been handed over to the department.

Naresh Sharma, Chief Engineer, State Road Projects, Shimla, said the SRP had no funds to maintain such roads. As per the policy of the state government the SRP job was only to get the roads constructed from private companies. “As soon as roads are completed and maintenance period of the company is over, it becomes the property of the state government and the PWD is bound to maintain all such roads in the state,” Sharma added.

Monkey Sterilisation Centre at Sarol to give respite to farmers
Balkrishan Prashar

Chamba, August 20
Controlling the simian population in the state is the mandate of the state government and the Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh, has already announced during the budget session that the government will take all steps to control the monkey population in an effort to give respite to farmers of the state, whose crops are constantly damaged by monkeys. Many of the farmers are discouraged to raise any more crops in their land and the land has been left unattended.

In pursuance of the commitment of the Chief Minister and also with the constant persuasion of Forest Minister TS Bharmouri to combat monkey menace faced by the farmers, the wild life wing of the state has constructed a Monkey Sterilisation Centre (MSC) which was finally inaugurated by the Forest Minister at Sarol in Chamba last week. The opening of the centre here has facilitated the department in Chamba district by reducing distance of about 140 km, whereas monkeys were earlier being transported to Gopalpur near Palampur for getting the sterilisation done.

This MSC is supposed to cater to the sterilisation needs of the monkeys of Chamba district alone, whereas in Chamba district, the recent estimates indicated that there are about 25,000 monkeys. In the past, the sterilisations in Chamba district were very meagre as only 743 sterilisations were carried out last year, that, too, from Dalhousie division only. Though the monkey sterilisation programme started in 2007, so far 68,377 monkeys only have been sterilised.

However, the Chief Wildlife Warden has set a target of 2,000 monkeys for sterilisation from each division of the state. But, there is not much problem from monkeys in the tribal areas of Bharmour and Pangi, whereas the maximum problem exists in the Chamba and Dalhousie divisions. Surprisingly, most of the monkey population has been found to be in the forest areas, rural areas and a small portion on the roadside and temples. Only 406 monkeys have been counted in the district, present in the urban areas.

Increasing traffic mars development of Palampur
Kuldeep Chauhan/TNS

Solang (Manali), August 20
Migrant labourers from Bihar and Nepal have been operating para-gliding despite the ban on commercial flying. The Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation had banned commercial flying for a month, i.e. from July 15 to August 15 due to bad weather with continuous rain and fog. But para-gliding pilots have been operating "illegal flying" from Marhi and from three other high points of the Ropeways and Ski Centre uphill from here.

The pilots said it was a matter of bread and butter for them as the tourist season had been lean in the Kullu-Manali circuit this year.

The local operators buy secondhand para-gliders at half the total cost from foreigners as the new certified equipment costs Rs 3 lakh a piece.

“They either sell the para-gliders on instalments to new pilots or rent these out on a daily basis and get commission in return,” revealed insiders.

An operator from Burwa village has been operating six para-gliders run by pilots who do not have a flying licence and are not registered with the department.

Moreover, five pilots of a local village are bed ridden because of an accident. As many as 37 small or big accidents have taken place in the last four to five years here, sources revealed.

There are more than 250 para-gliding pilots operating their gliders for commercial flying in the valley. But, only 80 pilots have been issued licence by the Tourism Department.

"The Para-gliding Association is as good as defunct as certain ambitious locals do not subscribe to its rules and run their parallel rules and schedule of flying," said Roshan Thakur, Para-gliding Association president.

"The Tourism Department must enforce stringent rules," he added.

Subhashish Panda, Director, Tourism, said the technical committee issue licence and certificate after the inspection. The rules are being amended to make it more stringent and if the association does not function, the department will have close down the commercial activity, he said.

Removal of anganwari helper from job sought
Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, August 20
Satya Devi, a poor woman from Trilokpur in the Jawali sub-division who has been struggling for justice for the past around five years, has threatened to commit self-immolation before the office of SDM Jawali if she did not get speedy justice and the state government would be responsible for the same.

She in a memorandum submitted to the state government through the local SDM has alleged that Anju Devi of Trilokpur village had succeeded in getting job of anganwari helper in 2007 by submitting fictitious low-income certificate procured by her father-in-law.

She had challenged the income certificate before the ADM, Kangra, who further conducted a probe through the Jawali tehsildar. After a thorough probe, he declared that the certificate was fictitious and annulled it.

In her memorandum, she said she had even lodged a police complaint for preparing the alleged certificate in 2010 with the Jawali police but so far no action was taken against the culprits and even Anju, whose appeal had been rejected by the Jawali SDM, was not removed from her job so far.

In this connection S Rana, Woman and Child Development Officer, Nagrota Surian, said after receiving the copy of the order of the Jawali SDM in which Anju’s appeal had been turned down he would forward it to the Director, Women and Child Development, Shimla, through the District Programme Officer, Kangra, for the final order of the removal of Anju Devi from her job.

Control wild-animal scourge: Kisan sabha
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, August 20
Himachal State Kisan Sabha has demanded effective action from the government to control the devastation caused by wild animals, herds of monkeys and stray cattle in the state. Talking to mediapersons here recently, Krishan Kumar, former MLA and HP Kisan Sabha state general secretary, said the former BJP government did little to solve this problem.

"It has been almost eight months, but the Congress government has not taken this problem seriously," he added.

The problem has resulted in heavy losses to thousands of farmers as their earning from their fields has dried up because of the wild animals.

The State Kisan Sabha has opined that sterilisation of monkeys and then their release in the same areas is no solution to the problem. In many cases, monkeys have been found much more aggressive, attacking without any provocation and causing injuries to villagers, apart from continuing routine destruction of crops and field produce. The Sabha said effective steps were required to solve the problem and serious efforts have to be made for the same.

State Kisan Sabha has demanded state-wide debate and government sponsored seminars to control the menace. — OC

Bilaspur Forest Circle to plant 11 lakh saplings

Bilaspur, August 20
The Bilaspur Forest Circle, comprising Bilaspur, Nalagarh and Kunihar forest divisions, will be planting 11 lakh saplings in 1,024 hectares, costing Rs 4 crore, this year. This was stated by Conservator of Forests Anil Thakur in a press note released here recently.

Thakur said the emphasis this time was to make an attempt to solve the monkey problem on long-term basis and carry take the simians away to forests by providing food and fruits there, by planting saplings of wild fruit-bearing trees and plants like harad, behada, amla, jamun, arjun, kachnaar, neem, khair, dadoo and bamboo apart from other useful plants like herbal and medicinal and fodder.

Thakur said herbal, medicinal and fodder plants would help villagers to exploit these for fulfilling their necessities according to their usual rights in adjoining forests.

He said under compensatory afforestation, 440 hectares of land is being tackled while under the Bamboo Mission, 75 hectares of forest area, where gregarious flowering had occurred.

Thakur said that during the past two years, 700 hectares of forest land had been made free of 'Lantana' weed while the 'Lantana Eradication Programme' has now been launched in 850 hectares forest area.

The Conservator of Forests has urged villagers to cooperate and help forest staff in this massive effort. — OC

Ram Lal Thakur inaugurates ayurveda centre
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, August 20
HP state Planning Development chairman Ram Lal Thakur and 20- Point Implementation Committee held a public meeting at Samlettu under gram panchayat, Kutehlla, after inaugurating the Ayurveda Health Centre. "The state government is giving top priority to health, education and roads as these are most essential for faster progress of the hill state," said Ram Lal Thakur.

Thakur urged the ayurveda doctors to stick to their own ayurveda treatment for treating patients. He said the ayurvedic treatment was our ancient and most trusted method which removes disease from its roots and the medicines have no side effects at all.

"This system is mostly dependent on local hill herbs and chemicals, which can be developed locally here in the hill state," he added.

He said only Kerala and Himachal Pradesh are still using the ayurveda method of treatment and it must be popularised further in interests of the people.

Thakur said BJP only makes tall and unsubstantiated claims while the development of the state was the result of dynamic and experienced leadership of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Thakur said the Chief Minister had provided full funds and had also laid foundation stone of the Baghchhal bridge over Gobind Sagar, for the faster development of people. He further stated that the BJP totally ignored the construction work and its construction remained suspended for full five years as they posed hurdles the construction of the bridge.

Block panel resents withdrawal of powers in Bilaspur
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, August 20
The Ghumarwin Block Development Committee has resented the withdrawal of committee powers. Panchayat Samiti, Ghumarwin, (Block Development Committee) has strongly condemned the police inaction and failure to catch culprits of thefts in the area and has demanded immediate remedial measures to ensure that the culprits are hauled up.

A meeting of Panchayat Samiti was presided by Chairperson Aneesha Sharma recently in Ghumarwin, also resented the withdrawal of powers of the Samiti for sanctioning the development projects. She demanded that the government should reconsider the retrograde step and withdraw the orders and restore their powers as new orders would only create confusion and irregularities in the matter. The members expressed serious concern regarding deplorable condition of Ghumarwin Banoha Sarkaghat road and demanded immediate steps to improve its condition and repair it at the earliest.

School panel for permanent staff
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, August 20
The School Management Committee of Government Senior Secondary School in Suharghat has taken exception to the continued failure of the Education Department to post permanent school staff.

Sunil Kumar Varma, School Management Committee president, has warned the Education Department that the committee would set out an agitation with the help of guardians, if an immediate action was not taken.

The Committee said the school was upgraded to senior secondary level two-years ago. Since then, it did not get full staff despite their repeated attempts and requests to the department.

"At times, teachers are sent on deputation every month, due to which the students are suffering," said Varma.