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Traffic Snarls
Good news for Shimla residents and tourists. The unending traffic jam on the Circular Road may soon become a thing of the past with the Centre sanctioning Rs 11.5 crore for the Auckland House Tunnel.
Under the project, to be executed as part of the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, the existing pedestrian tunnel will be lowered by about 20 ft and widened to make way for double lane vehicular traffic. A 70 metre long bridge will also be constructed over the eastern portal of the tunnel to eliminate the hairpin bend on the Circular Road. The tunnel and bridge will together reduce the length of the road by 1,120 metre. More importantly, it will take Government Girls College, Auckland School and Chapslea School out of the traffic zone. The bridge will also create space for vehicle parking and expansion of the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital. The government plans to build a new out patient department block for the hospital, which, unlike the existing block, will be easily accessible from Circular Road. This will contain the ever-increasing rush of vehicles on the Sanjauli-Lakkar Bazar restricted road. A new double lane tunnel is proposed to be bored beside the existing single lane Dhalli tunnel. The tunnel, to be constructed about 10 metre on the cemetery side, will have a footpath on both sides. The existing tunnel would be exclusively for pedestrians. Distances will be reduced drastically with construction of two more tunnels linking the Lift with Lakkar Bazar and Himfed Petrol Pump with IGMC. The total cost of these four tunnels is estimated to be about Rs 110 crore. Simultaneously, the Circular Road is being widened and two more links are proposed to connect it with the bypass road. One of the links will takeoff from Naubahar road and the other from Holiday Home. Traffic jams are common here as it is the only road on which vehicles are allowed without restrictions. The situation worsens every summer as thousands of tourists arrive. The Centre has also sanctioned Rs 11 crore for the construction of a housing colony for the urban poor. The colony will be constructed on the airport road on government land in Tutu. It will have 250 housing units along with a community hall, school and other facilities. There are about 1,000 poor homeless families in the city. Two more housing projects were being planned to accommodate the remaining families. To ensure that the beneficiaries did not sell the allotted houses, the corporation has decided to allot the house on 20-year lease for monthly rent of Rs 250. The Solid Waste Management Project will be started at a new site on the Tara Devi–airport road. Rs 22 crore has been sanctioned for the project. Projects worth Rs 46 crore will take off right away.
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Vignettes
Combermere Bridge — as it used to be in 1840 — had again come alive on August 15, 2002, in Agartala when the then Tripura chief minister inaugurated a permanent gallery ‘Hillscapes of India-18th-19th century’ at the Tripura Government Museum, Agartala. The gallery was conceived and developed by Victoria Memorial and has 39 paintings, mostly reproductions of eminent artists.
One of the exhibits is Combermere Bridge, as drawn by Captain G. P. Thomas and lithographed by Dickinson and Son, a heritage sketch for Shimla (see photograph). There is only one more painting of a bridge The Ropeway Bridge of Srinagar by Thomas and William Daniel in the gallery. Kolkata thrives on Howrah and pencil slim Hooghly bridges, Delhi on Yamuna Bridge and so on but hill stations in our country generally do not boast of bridges. Shimla, however, has the distinction of having the Combermere Bridge, which despite several alterations since its construction in 1828 has stuck to its original name. General Stapleton Viscount Combermere was commander-in-chief of India from October 1825 to December 1829 and lived in Kennedy House. Captain Mundy was his aide-de-camp who used to record the happenings of the days. He wrote: “Lord Combermere amused himself, and benefited the public, by superintending the formation of a fine road round the Mount Jako, about three miles in length. It was worked entirely by hillmen and exceedingly skillfully done, and will, when finished, be a great acquisition to the loungers of Simla. Across a deep ravine, a quarter of a mile from the town, his Lordship erected a neat sangah or mountain bridge of pines; and under it a capacious stone tank was constructed to obviate the great scarcity of water.” The bridge was the first signature on the development draft of Shimla. Captain Thomas further qualified this ravine as “a deep one down whose sides in the rainy season flows an impassable torrent.” The sides have now been tamed by the retaining walls of private hotels and the HPTDC Lift. Another sketch of the Bridge in 1904 shows GT Fillingham’s Tailoring Establishment in the background and a heavy growth of cedars besides this sole building, which in the sixties housed Kwality Restaurant and being “slightly cut off” from the main town was a comfortable perch for lovebirds. The English have a panache for mixing mystery and bridges. Kipling’s Phantom Rickshaw carrying a dead Keith Wessington had her first encounter with her lover Jack Pansy at Combermere Bridge and in science fiction 28 Days Later the protagonist awakes from a coma to find London deserted and walks over the Westminster Bridge whilst looking for people. Bridges are also used by the frustrated to commit suicides. Such bridges are called the Bridges of Sighs. Luckily, Combermere never witnessed any such tragedy though its unsung counterpart over the same ravine in the Cart Road has eulogized upon the dead a couple of times: One more Unfortunate, Weary of breath, Rashly importunate, Gone to her death.Combermere’s present shape is the gift of the state PWD when this 56x28 feet bridge was completed in 1971-72 under the supervision of engineer Tara Chand Tondon. It is perhaps the widest footbridge in the country as of now as it falls on the sealed portion of the Mall where vehicles are not allowed. The open space is used as the pram-stand from where these can be hired for perambulating children as their parents stroll down the Mall as also by fruit-hawkers. On Saturdays, a hierophant stands with a bowl of mustard oil trying to ward off the evil designs that Lord Saturn may have weaved for the believers. The HPTDC Lift and Indira Gandhi Sports Complex flank the bridge since June 1977 and August 1997, respectively. He who stands and stares at Combermere Bridge slightly modifies the words of Wordsworth and utters: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
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A choking problem
The unruly traffic and repeated jams have exposed the residents of Kumarhatti to high risk. The town bus stand point is happened to be a meeting point of five roads. The roads to Barog, Dagshai and Nahan originate from the bus stand, while the Kalka–Shimla national highway crosses though the main market.
The bus stand is located in the middle of the market. It remains heavily crowded throughout the day with passengers waiting to board buses. The parking lot for private taxis is further adding to the congestion. Chaos rules the market most of the time when vehicles zoom past from all sides in this narrow road. The situation is worst on weekends when a large number of tourists make a beeline to the hills. For passengers, it is difficult to board or alight from buses with vehicles coming from all sides. However, no signboard has put up to warn the motorists. Though a traffic personnel is seen roaming at spot, but without a traffic post, it is impossible to control the traffic. Though a traffic post is being set up at Dagshai road is of no use due to its irrelevant location.
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Killer Kitchen
In Sirmour district, a family spends the maximum amount of their monthly income on medicine. And the culprit is Indoor-air pollution generated by the conventional chullahs.
The chullahs name as the big killer are fueled by wood, coal and animal dungs. As per the reports of a survey conducted by The Tribune team, as many as 1000 residents, including women and children, are falling prey to such pollution annually. The survey also showed that 40 per cent of the houses do not have proper ventilation. Chullahs, the only means of cooking for most of the rural folks here, are giving them tuberculosis, besides low birth weight. It can also be one of the main causes for diseases like asthma, blindness or lung cancer. The campaign for smokeless-chullah was started during 1990 but it did not pick up the momentum. In fact no agency came forward to fund the project. The pollution level in such a kitchen is 30 times higher than the recommeded level. The local health authorities pointed out the chunk of suspended particles available in the kitchens have 1,000 times greater chance to penetrate deep into human lungs than the suspended particles outside the home. However, the Appropriate Rural Technology Initiative is assisting rural entrepreneurs in manufacturing, selling and repairing of smoke-less
chullahs.
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Easy drugs and country-made liquor are luring anti-social elements to this serene town, writes Kulwinder Sandhu
The unfortunate part is that on the pretext of seeking spiritual knowledge, hundreds of foreigners have managed to settle down here permanently. It has resulted in a total cultural mess. The native people they have been reduced to a minority community. For a total population of about 15,000 persons in this hill town, more than 12,000 persons are Tibetans. As many as 1000 foreigners are permanently settled here after marrying some locals. An equal number of foreigners are staying here. The local people say that foreigners started coming here in the 1970s to seek spiritual knowledge on Buddhism but got addicted to cheap drugs like charas, hashish, smack and locally made liquor and other drugs. As the demand began to grow, the local people got involved in this illegal business. Surprisingly, wealth of the locals grew so fast that they now have as much as Rs 200 crore deposited in the bank accounts as fixed deposits. Besides, an equal amount in the running current and saving accounts, revealed a senior bank official. Druggies’ paradise The situation has assumed an alarming proportion in the recent years. At times, the police has to coordinate with the Narcotics Control Bureau to take stock of the situation before launching a crackdown in the area. Sources in the police have revealed that there are inputs from some intelligence agencies about the free flow and consumption of narcotics and other psychotropic drugs, especially by foreign tourists in McLeodganj and its surrounding areas of Dharamkot, Naddi and Bhagsunag. In these neighbouring villages, the local people have started renting their houses or rooms to foreigners without informing the local police. In many cases, the foreigners go on staying even after the expiry of their visa. The local people say that the basic reason is the easy availability of drugs. The full-moon parties organised on the hill-top near the waterfall and dance parties in the unauthorised night clubs are attended mostly by the foreigners and some local Tibetans. In such parties charas, smack and locally-made liquor Many a time, strategies have been put in place and investigations conducted to collect evidence in this regard. The modus operandi of the drug peddlers and involvement of the locals have also been looked into, but there is no signs of controlling the drug addiction. No concerted efforts had ever been made to crackdown on drug peddlers and check the consumption of narcotics in the area by the local administration, Tibetan administration and the non-government organisations. This has encouraged the addicts to come here. But it is not adding to the state’s economy as they are not tourists. They do not spend much except for buying drugs and share cheap accommodations. Shocking crimes Although the crime in the hills is not so high as compared to the other parts of the country, but a few crime incidents reported in the recent past have shocked all. In 2006, two cases of murder were reported to the local police while one dead body and a skeleton were also found. The mystery of the skeleton, believed to be The British charity worker Michael Blakey (23) was stoned to death on November 27 last year. The police is still groping in the dark. A woman was viciously killed by chopping-off her head with a sharp-edged weapon last week in a private resort by two young persons. The killers took away her head. The police, once again, is clueless. Problem of plenty An increase in the number of Tibetans taking refuse in this town, without getting themselves registered, has also caused concerned. According to sources, there is normally a floating population of around 500 to 600 un-registered Tibetans in the area. And, the Tibetan government facilitates them in different sectors on Indian land without bothering about their past records, which can also create problems for the Indian authorities in the near future. The non-cooperative attitude of the Tibetan government officials in this regard has made this problem persistent. It is alleged that the Tibetan government has not been clear about the details of those refugees, who are suspected as criminals by the local police. Marriage of convenience As per the reports available, as many as 1000 marriages of foreign nationals with the local people have been solemnised and registered with the local administration over the past three decades. In hundreds of cases, foreign women have married locals to get the legal approval from the Indian authorities to stay here. A few have formed their own voluntary that are being funded by both the Indian as well as the Tibetan governments. Most of the people involved in such activities have also won the confidence of the local people, who support them in their stay here. The result is a total cultural mess. Time seems to be running out and one has to think as early as possible to preserve moral values and customs in order to preserve the spiritual sanctity of this hill town.
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Mandi all for encouraging sports
eco-friendly celebration?
Citizens stressed on the use of eco-friendly balloons and other non-polluting material to mark occasions, instead of noisy crackers. They raised their concern when the inaugural session of the tournament was kick started by a session of crackers. The organisers also flew four birds at the occasion during which one bird was hurt in the process, further raising the ire of the people.
In an effort to boost local talent in the rural areas of Mandi, the state government has constructed 41 indoor and outdoor stadiums in the last six years, by spending over Rs 7 crore on the infrastructure. Addressing the gathering on the inauguration of the six-day 52nd National School Volleyball Championship at Paddal stadium in Mandi, Pratibha Singh, MP, Mandi Lok Sabha praised the sports department for organising the national tournament. She said that sports meet foster national unity and inculcate team spirit among the youth.
She said, “The swimming pool that is being constructed with assistance from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) at a cost Rs1.36 crore in Mandi would open new vistas for the swimming sportspersons across the state.” “The swimming pool is almost ready and indoor sports facilities and national tournaments like this will raise sports standards in the state.” “The state has reserved 3 per cent job quota for the outstanding sportsmen in the state and even the daily diet for the sportsmen has been increased from Rs 35 to Rs 50 per head,” said Prathiba. “The girl education has been made free up to college level in the state,” she added. As many, as 22 school playgrounds have been constructed this year in the district. The two sport stadiums, one at Jogindernagra and the other at Dharampur is also likely to give fillip
to school sports in the district. Anita Rao, director education gave a brief account of the
performances of the department.
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Cool Stuff The annual fest at NIT saw youngsters transform engineering principles into reality, finds out D. P. Gupta The budding architects from Hamirpur displayed their engineering skills through mind-boggling works at NIMBUS 2007. The annual technology festival organised by the students of National Institute of Technology (NIT) from 29 March-1 April’07, saw hundreds of students from different streams debating over the fact , that is it the mind that controls the computers or vice versa. The students representative Agam Gupta said, “The involvement of students in this festival was remarkable.” The architecture department paved the way for budding Michelangelo’s and Donnatello’s through sculpting and modelling contests. And, the battle on the digital round of the virtual showdown saw Gaurav Sharma, Devender and Amit Baleshi grabbing the prizes. The next interesting challenge was a bridge building contest, where the participants were required to build a bridge using ice cream sticks. While students of electric engineering built an electric motor on Faraday’s principal; the mechanical engineering students made motorboats using junk. One event that broke the tech mood was Robo Wars. The competition saw remote controlled robots fighting with each other for glory on a football field arena. Among the various seminars held at the festival, it was the lectures delivered by M.P Antony, a scientist from nuclear research center, Kallapakkam and Dr Jit Kumar Gupta, director, College of Architecture, Bhaddal that drew special attention. The high voltage corona discharge display that displayed the electric breakdown of air in a bright glow followed by spectacular fire works marked the closing of the event.
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Health Check
The medical fraternity is worried about the high incidence of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis in the hill state.
Extra-pulmonary tuberculosis is said to constitute 15 to 16 per cent of the total cases of tuberculosis. However, they account for 29 per cent of the total cases, which was almost double than elsewhere in the
country. The state task force set up under the revised national tuberculosis control programme which met under the chairmanship of principal of the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) Surender Kashyap here , decided to undertake operational research to identify the cause of the disease so that remedial measures could be taken. Besides, it also decided to carry out active survey to ascertain the status of the disease. Dr Kashyap said the incidence was believed to be higher in remote Tissa area of the Chamba district and Trans Giri in Sirmour district. The state had been doing well in the implementation of the programme with a detection rate of 70 per cent and cure rate of 85 per cent, which were higher than the national norms. He said sensitisation workshops would be organised for the students, interns, doctors and the faculty of IGMC shortly.
— TNS
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shimla diary
Even though, expert monkey catchers have been summoned from Ghaziabad and some parts of Haryana, but there is not much improvement in the situation. “Those monkeys who have undergone surgery virtually block the door to the cage when efforts are made to allure other monkeys with bananas in the same area,” concedes Ram Lal Thakur, forest minister. The Rs 80 lakh monkey population project was launched from Shimla as the population of monkeys there is over three lakh, and there are plans to further extend it to the national highway and Rampur too. The problem in the state has not only got the two main political parties - Congress and BJP talking about it; but a special kheti bachao samiti too has come up. The samiti formed by the farmers, whose crops are being damaged by the animals has demanded the state government to take up the issue of export of monkeys to foreign shores, as was the practice in the past. However, the efforts made by the government in the past to trans-locate monkeys to other parts of the state has proved quite disastrous. Wait and Watch With high stakes involved in the outcome of Hamirpur Lok Sabha by-poll, both the ruling Congress as well as BJP is keeping its strategy under wraps and waiting for the other to make the first move.Though, it is a fact that both the parties have adopted a policy of wait and watch but at the same time there is no denying the fact that there is not a single willing candidate in either party. The dilemma in BJP is even worse, where the two stalwarts- Shanta Kumar, former union minister and P.K. Dhumal, former chief minister are reluctant to take the plunge. Both of them are keen to stay in state politics and the one who would contest the Hamirpur election would be practically out of the fray for contesting for the post of chief minister. As such, the supporters of the two leaders are trying to impress upon the high command that the other would be the most suited candidate. Past perfect The union culture ministry has sanctioned a post survey project for cataloguing of the left out pandulipis in Himachal. The project has been sanctioned under the National Pandulipi Mission and will be undertaken by the State Pandulipi Resource Centre. The survey for the project will be conducted by Himachal Art, Culture Language Academy. According to Sudershan Vashisht, project coordinator,”Documenters will be appointed in all the districts of the state and they will go from door to door to undertake the task of cataloguing.” The report will be submitted to the National Pandulipi Mission within three months. So far, the resource centre has completed cataloguing 13,950 pandulipis; out of which 12,199 can be accessed through the internet after their electronic feeding has been carried out.
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Go Travel
The quaint hill station, Kasauli has been a favourite weekend holiday spot for people from Chandigarh and its surroundings. The sleepy cantonment town was established as a retreat by the British during the Raj days. Today, it stands tall as the silent reminder of the nineteenth century with countryside bungalows, cobbled paths and gabled shops lending it the typical British touch.
Being a cantonment area, the town has retained its green and pristine image. Also, as permission is required for even small repairs, the town has managed to retain its basic character. However, recently the presence of builders who are wielding an influence at the centre has become a cause of concern for the authorities. It is not just the coming up of flats near the Air Force Gate that has had them bothered, but also the initiation of other commercial ventures in other parts of the town. Another area of concern is the scarce water availability. Though, there has been a rush of real estate developers in and around the town, the lack of water has often soured such projects. A peculiar culture that has developed in the region is that the defence officials have started buying property here in order to reside here after retirement. The tradition has been going on for more than a decade now and has resulted in the town becoming a cantonment of retired defence personal. A perfect destination for a summer sojourn, the place is a favourite with Khushwant Singh, Anita Desai, Bulbul Sharma along with a handful top army officials and host of politicians from Punjab and Delhi. Well, while Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain, was a result of the numerous summer fires the town faced; Khushwant Singh shares a more personal bond with the town dating back to 1920s. His wife had inherited her father’s property here and that keeps bringing him to the town. Also, adding to the charm is the more than 125-year old Kasauli Club. The membership of the club lists the who’s who of the north and the club’s annual week-long celebration sees members from Delhi, Punjab and Chandigarh. Architectural feats like an old Christ Church and Central Research Institute are also a must see for any tourist. The sylvan salubrious greens comprising Himalayan Oak, Chir Pine and huge horse Chestnuts that surround the town add to the placidity of the town. The seasonal twitter of the various birds including bulbuls, sparrows, humming birds and animals like the black-faced langoors have kept the smug Kasauli a familiar place for the visitors. A visitor here loves to travel to the famous Monkey Point that crosses the lower mall. As the point is located inside the Air Force Station, photography is not permitted here and the visitors have to capture the beauty in their minds. Traversing through the mountain, which is more than 1900 meters high, one reaches the Hanuman temple. The temple bears the foot impression of Hanuman, going back to the time when he was on his way to get sanjivini for Lakshmana. With the mall road closed due to traffic problems during summers, the visitors feel that it keeps them away from their most loved activity of nature walks. “In hills it is fashion to walk and not ride in cars,” they say.
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McLeodganj, the abode of the Dalai Lama and the
centre of spiritual learning on Buddhism, seems to be gradually losing its sanctity. Easy availability of cheap drugs has turned the town into a haven for drug addicts. Criminal activities have also assumed an alarming proportion with some gruesome incidents reported during the recent past.
The monkey sterilisation programme launched by the State Wild Life department to control the burgeoning simian population in the state is facing a peculiar problem. The monkeys are been operated upon at Tuti Kandi and on their release they are ensuring that their companions don’t have to undergo a weeklong captivity and the pain of surgery.