The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Pedestrians, walk in Shimla at your own risk now!

With numerous serpentine roads passing through dense forests, Shimla was popular as a pedestrian’s paradise. Walking was a tradition here till 1980’s, when residents would walk up to the Mall that served as a socialising spot. However, today with the city spreading in all directions the scenario has undergone a sea change. Those living in distant suburbs can no longer walk to their work places. Further, automobile revolution triggered off in the country after the huge Maruti impact made more people opt for means of personal transport. In this process, the state capital lost its pedestrian culture. In fact, the ever-increasing number of vehicles coupled with lack of parking spaces had brought things to such a pass that walking on some of the busy roads at peak hours became an ordeal. The pedestrian arteries are virtually choking with the increase in rush of vehicles and the narrow lanes have turned into racing promenades for cars and jeeps.

Even today vehicular traffic is allowed only on the Circular Road, which skirts the core of the city. While movement of vehicles is restricted on all link roads joining the Circular Road to Ridge and the Mall; hundreds of vehicles ply on these roads, some with valid permits and others unauthorised, causing great inconvenience to the pedestrians.

The lack of proper parking space makes things worse as vehicles are parked alongside narrow roads, which further reduces the effective width. The Sanjauli-Lakkar Bazar road has been the worst affected by roadside parking. Despite being a restricted road, traffic jams near Indira Gandhi Medical College Hospital at peak hours almost every day is a common sight. Imposing restrictions on the movement of vehicles will lead to undue hardship for patients and their attendants who come from all over the state to the Hospital. Besides, a large number of office goers and businessmen, mostly from Sanjauli also park their cars on the road.

Before enforcing restrictions on vehicular movement, alternative means of transport will have to be provided to the commuters will have to be provided, says Deputy Commissioner, Tarun Kapoor. He has already taken up the matter with the state road transport corporation for plying regular minibuses or other smaller vehicles between Sanjauli and Lakkar Bazar. Once the service starts the office goers and businessmen can commute by these services and it will certainly help in reducing traffic and solve parking woes.

Further, parking space has been earmarked for taxis and only two taxis will be allowed to be parked at a time. Similarly, a separate parking lot has been created for ambulances and dead vans. Once the corporation introduces a regular transport service for daily commuters, parking space will be earmarked for the vehicles of patients, doctors and attendants.

With assembly polls just seven months away, while harsh measures like imposing restrictions on movement of vehicles are ruled out. One can only hope that the steps that the administration proposes to take will make life easier for the hapless pedestrians.

Himalayan Nature Park breeding programme in doldrums
Kufri’s second snow leopard dies
Rakesh Lohumi

The snow leopard conservation breeding programme at the Himalayan Nature Park has suffered a setback with the death of the second and last female cat, Sapna. Her brother, Subhash, is now the lone snow leopard in the park.

Sapna had miraculously survived a bout of sever feline infectious enteritis two years ago. It took two months for veterinary experts to cure her but her immunity fell. A second bout of the disease proved fatal for her. The infection affected her vital organs and ultimately led to her death.

Both Sapna and Subhash were brought here from the Padmja Naidu National Zoological Park in Darjeeling under an exchange arrangement over two years ago. Despite a more suitable climate than Darjeeling, Kufri is proving jinxed for the rare snow leopard, particularly the female of the species.

Two-year-old Rozy’s death a few years ago had sparked off a debate on whether Kufri was climatically suitable for the high altitude animal, found along the perennial snowline. A team of experts probing Rozy’s death found Kufri to be even more suitable than Darjeeling, which is warmer and much more humid.

Incidentally, both Rozy and Sapna died pining for mates, as the state wildlife department could not find mates for them. As per Central Zoo Authority (CZA) guidelines, animals have to be kept in pairs as isolation causes emotional stress, leading to behavioral changes and other complications. Being siblings, Subhash and Sapna were kept in isolation.

The Padmja Naidu Park and the Himalayan Nature Park are the only ones in the country to have snow leopards in captivity. As animals at both places are from the same genetic stock, mates have to be brought from abroad to prevent inbreeding.

Detailed investigations into the death of Sapna are underway and the findings may offer some lessons for the authorities.

What’s Wrong?

Rozy had died in the park under mysterious circumstances five years ago. The animal was found abandoned in the cold Spiti desert as a one-month-old cub. It took to the new environment and grew into a healthy adult. Its sudden death surprised experts. During the postmortem, the cat was found to have been affected by carbon emissions from vehicles and pollution from the excreta of large number of horses in Kufri. Subsequently, authorities had shifted the parking near Rozy’s enclosure and restricted the movement of horses.

IT goes tribal
Dharam Prakash Gupta

The National Institute of Technology (NITa) at Hamirpur has launched a unique drive to spread awareness on the importance of information technolology and technical education among the tribals of Himachal.

As a part of this programme, the members of the Tribal Development Project have organised several workshops in Kinnaur, besides providing facilities for the benefit of tribal students pursuing technical education at the NIT.

The institute has taken this initiative under the Technical Education Quality improvement Programme (TEQIP) of the World Bank. A team of professors from TDP of the NIT, comprising of Prof. P.C. Ryhal, Prof. Lalit Awasthi and Prof Ravi, held five workshops at Bhaba Nagar, Chagaon, Sangla, Rekong Peo and Liyo. Says Prof Ryhal,“ The main objective of TEQIP is to attract tribal students towards technical education. The IT sector as well as the people were very enthusiastic about this programme while NGO’s, Mahila Mandals, Yuvak Mandals and Panchayati Raj institutions have played a very active role in mobilising locals for these workshops. In fact, the tribal students and the local people were so keen that hundreds attended these workshops at all the five places. The average attendance was four hundred per workshop.”

The organisers have also decided to donate two computers to each of the schools where these workshops were held. During these workshops, the TDP team informed people about the type of technical education available in the state, both in the government and private sector, procedures of admission in these courses and different eligibility criteria for taking AEEE and enrolling themselves with the IITs. The importance of IT education in broader perspective was also explained during these workshops.

The NIT is already providing free books and offering remedial classes for the tribal and backward students pursuing various courses here. Elaborating on the second phase of TEQIP, Prof Ryhal chips in, “The team would carry the programme in Lahaul Spiti and Bharmour areas and hold workshops at different places in these areas to promote technical education.”

Nod to waste treatment plant
Kulwinder Sandhu

Rs 35-cr facility near Nalagarh to treat & dispose waste from the entire state

The government has finally decided to set up a solid waste treatment, storage and disposal facility near Nalagarh to take care of hazardous waste from the entire state.

Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh Development Authority CEO Dr Amandeep Garg said that the facility would be set up at a cost of Rs 35 crore in Majra village jointly by the Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh Industries Association and the Shivalik Solid Waste Management Limited Company. The latter, a part of the United Phosphorus Limited (UPL) Group, had expertise in managing solid waste management facility in Gujarat and had set up similar plants. The waste management firm would hold 51 per cent equity while the industries’ body would hold 49 per cent stake.

“The state government has allotted 191.05 bighas and construction of two pits had already begun on the site. A total of 15 pits would be built,” Garg said.

Adding that the treatment, storage and disposal facility was being created following Supreme Court guidelines making it mandatory for all states to have such a facility, Garg said that the state alone produces more than 50,000 metric tones of solid hazardous waste annually.

As per the Hazardous Waste Rules, 1989, it is now mandatory for all industrial units generating hazardous waste to send it to the authorised dumping site. The State Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board has already approached units to conform to the guidelines to avoid penal action.

How green is my hill?
Rakesh Lohumi

Illegal felling of trees poses a threat to Shimla’s green cover

Deodars are dying.

The failure of the Shimla Municipal Corporation to enforce building laws has taken a heavy toll of the green cover. While hundreds of trees are being illegally felled every year, a good number of trees are drying up mysteriously. For the past decade, about 1,500 trees were brought to ground every year. In the absence of any worthwhile afforestation effort the urban forest is fast vanishing from the ‘queen of hills’, causing both environmental and aesthetic degradation.

The tree cover is under threat even in the greenbelts like the Jakhoo hills. Fully aware of the vital role the lush green hills played in maintaining the environment, the British preserved the crown of the ‘queen of hills’ for more than a century. Things were in good shape even after Shimla became a part of Punjab after partition of the country. The rot set in after the hill station became the capital of Himachal Pradesh. There was a spurt in construction activity all over the hills and even the Jakhoo hill was not spared. In fact, the newly set up state housing board chose it for setting up its first colony in 1973.Violations of the building laws started once the colony was handed over to the local municipal corporation in 1983.

Close to multistoried concrete structures, dry deodar trees are a common site. The plot owners use ingenious methods, like application of acid on exposed roots. At times, a hill is cut vertically to make the trees unstable and declared dangerous to get permission for felling. If nothing works, the tree is choked in concrete. As per the town and country planning rules, no construction can take place upto 2 m from a tree and recently the distance was increased to 5 m. However, the rule is observed more in breach.

The cases of illegal felling are mostly compounded by imposing a meagre fine of Rs 500 and at times recovering the cost for damage caused to forest. No accused has been put behind the bars till date, even though the municipal act provides for a three-month imprisonment for such offences. The officers maintain that it is difficult to prove the guilt as people do not come forward to give evidence. There is no point in pursuing the cases in the absence of any witness.

The mandatory setbacks have also been covered in some cases and the norm pertaining to maximum permissible floor area ratio has also been violated. Even after being declared a green belt in 2001, unauthorised alterations and additions have been carried out in some buildings, while some influential landlords had even illegally constructed garages.

Some cases pertaining to unauthorised additions are pending with the municipal authorities. However, illegal structures are seldom demolished. Instead of taking deterrent action against the offenders, government has been rewarding them by coming out with one retention policy after the other to help regularise the illegal constructions. The relevant rule is suspended to pave for implementation of the retention policy.

The development plan for Shimla has been amended 39 times since it came into force in 1979 virtually making a mockery of the Town and Country Planning Act. The amendments have been mostly carried out to condone deviations from approved building plans, increase the number of permissible number of storeys and allow construction in banned areas and green belts.

Obviously, merely framing rules will not serve the purpose unless the government shows the political will to enforce law. Those at the helm of affairs will have to rise above the vote bank politics and take some harsh measures, which is too much to expect in these times of unabashed populism.

Wake up, before it’s too late
S. R. Pundir

Residents raise voice against the ecological havoc caused due to construction of mini hydel projects

It seems that the state has not learnt a lesson even after innumerable reports have poured in from all over the state on the heavy damage caused to the environment due to haphazard, unplanned and unscientific work on several mini hydel power project sites in the region. In addition to the voice of the residents, a strong stand has been taken by BJP, local NGO’s and the issue was also highlighted by Chipko leader Sunder Lal Bahuguna on his recent visit to the state. Bahugana strongly opposed the construction of these projects and called upon the residents to come forward to save the environment.

The residents of Lana Pallar have raised their voice against the hazard created by the construction of a three-megawatt mini hydel power project on river Pallar in the village. In a letter sent to the deputy commissioner of Sirmour, the villagers complained that despite their repeated requests the work was still on. They fear that if the problem is not dealt with immediately, it would pose a serious environmental threat to the village and the Pallar bridge. A known social worker from the region, Suresh Kumar said that the residents had constructed the bridge after a struggle of 30 years and they would not tolerate any damage to their lifeline.

In the complaint filed, the villagers said that a possibility of raising the silt level in the Jatoun barrage might cause heavy damage to Giri powerhouse as debris ultimately flows to this barrage. More than 24 people, who put their signature on this representation, even claimed that the local panchyat was been paid Rs 5,000 a month from the company to remain silent on the issue.

Former union minister and all-India vice president of BJP, Shanta Kumar expressed a deep concern on the havoc played by mini hydel power plants. He said that it was an example of a total failure of the government machinery in implementing laws to protect the environment and ecology of the state. He said, that while he was in favour of the construction of mini hydel plants, it should not happen at the cost of the state’s ecology.

vignettes
Of Sania & Shimla mirch
by Shriniwas Joshi

— Photo by S. Chandan

I am in the midwestern region of USA these days, Cincinnati to be more precise. This town made acquaintance with the people of Shimla through Sania Mirza. She started taking part in tennis tournaments here and people came to know of this second biggest town after Cleveland in the state of Ohio. She recently won the women’s doubles at the Lindner Family Tennis Court here. I am eagerly waiting to be a bystander to yet another Federer-Nadal fight in the men’s single finals. Could it be the day for defending champion Roddick? August 19 will tell.

It is disappointing that tennis has gone away for good from Shimla. Every British bungalow worth the name had a tennis court attached to it — Harvington, Good Wood, Chapslee, Titla Hotel, Peterhof, Barnes Court... Most of these open spaces have yielded to brick and mortar today. The Blessington Courts, the present ice-skating rink, however, kept the sport alive in Shimla even after Independence but the life on ‘support system’ ultimately gave way and all players had to hang up their whites.

The tennis story was an off-shoot of the shimla mirch, strangely called mango in this part of the world, though most of USA knows it by the name of bell pepper or sweet pepper. The usage mango is, no doubt, becoming archaic with the modern advent of fresh tropical fruit importers exposing wider latitude of individuals to different varieties of mango including Mumbai’s Alfonso. One should, however, be ready to receive a stuffed shimla mirch on ordering mango in restaurant here.

Shimla Mirch is called kudai milagaai in Tamil and seema mirapakaya in Telugu. In Mexico, it is pimiento and in Spain, it is chile, but in Chile, it is not Spain, it is aji. Peru and Argentina follow Chile in naming it. It is Capsicum in UK from where we borrowed it in India.

Christopher Columbus when sailing back to Spain brought with him the seeds of this versatile vegetable from Mexico and Indies and authentic history noted its presence in 1699. Its spread in Europe and England was quick because of its flavour and nutritional value — 340 mg vitamin C in 100 gm of fresh capsicum.

When Englishmen finally established themselves in Shimla with large bungalows having space enough for kitchen gardening, they brought seeds of capsicum and peas from England in the early nineteenth century. Pahari gardeners grew them in their gardens and carried the residue to their own fields. The soil and climate suited to this genus of the nightshade family-solanaceae. It entered culinary books as shimla mirch. It was a variety that was ripe even when green; otherwise most green capsicums are actually not ready. When allowed to ripen, they turn a glorious red, yellow, orange or even purple. Stuff it with potato or pork; maize or mutton, eat it raw as salad or relish its juliennes to cooked vegetables.

The ties between USA and India are of late tender, fuzzy and full of syrupy sentiments but there was a fierce rivalry, too, on which is the hotter chilly — Nagaland’s Jolokia or California’s reigning Red Savina? It has just ended with Jolokia being declared the winner, beating Red Savina by more than four lakh SHUs – the Scoville Heat Unit was devised by renowned chemist William Scoville to quantify spice heat. Most people are reduced to tears at three lakh SHU and our Jolokia got 10,01,304 SHUs! And, you may not know, but the standard for SHU was set with shimla mirch placed at zero.

Tailpiece

A Shimla farmer purchased a piece of barren land and decided to convert it into a capsicum farm. A preacher saw him working in the field and said, “May you and God work together to make it the best of all capsicum farms.” He came again and saw plants laden with capsicum. “Look what God and you have accomplished,” he exclaimed. The farmer, in all humility, said, “Remember what the farm was like when God alone was working?”

shimla Diary
Mission clean-up
Pratibha Chauhan

In order to ensure the strict implementation of its garbage collection scheme, the local municipal corporation is willing to cut off the water and electricity connections of those who do not comply with it. A Jaipur-based NGO has been entrusted the task of garbage collection from homes, shops, hotels and all commercial establishments. However, the residents in certain parts of the town are rather reluctant to pay the workers for garbage collections.

As a first step towards ensuring 100 per cent coverage of the entire town, the MC authorities have issued notices to some of the shopkeepers of Sanjalui, who were not getting their garbage collected by the NGO workers. “Though notices have been issued to only 10 shop ownes so far, another 250 will be issued such notices if they do not fall in line,” said a MC official.

The notices clearly mention that the MC would not hesitate to disconnect their water and electricity supply in case they do not cooperate in the implementation of the garbage collection project.

The MC is committed to ensure that the entire town and rather each household, hotel, office and commercial establishment is covered under the garbage collection project. Nominal rates ranging from Rs 30 to a few hundred have been fixed for garbage collection from homes and bigger establishments. Despite the MC placing its dumpers at several places, it has been seen that people litter the garbage on slopes and nullahs, leading to filth and stench.

Melody’s spell

Only a lucky few got to enjoy the sweet melodies of ghazal maestro Pankaj Udhaas, who performed here on Sunday night. Having performed in the erstwhile summer capital of the British on few occasions, the singer was here in connection with a function organised by Jagson company. The occasion was the laying of the foundation stone of the Jakhu aerial ropeway. Pankaj Udhaas has earlier performed in the ‘Queen of Hills’ at the famous summer festival where big Bollywood names like Hema Malini, Mukesh, Jagjit Singh and Alisha Chinoy have also performed.

It was a brief one-hour performance by Pankaj Udhaas and only a select audience, including the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, hoteliers and those associated with the tourism industry, were invited. At this brief performance, Pankaj Udhaas sang his popular ghazals including ‘deewaron se mil kar rona accha lagta hai’ and ‘chandi jaisa rang hai terna sone jaisi chaal’ which left the audience spell bound.

Political drama

Never have the cool political climes of the hill state witnessed such melodrama within a short span, and especially at a time, when the assembly elections are round the corner. Much to the delight of the BJP, the high-profile tourism minister in the Virbhadra cabinet had to make an unceremonious exit. Tourism and Transport Minister, G.S. Bali, had to resign after a TV news channel aired news of his birthday bash in a hotel in Dharamshala, where five call girls from Delhi had been summoned.

It was just two days before the controversial birthday party that BSP supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati held a rally at Kangra. Keen to make inroads into Himachal, she found a good leader in suspended Congress MLA, Mr Vijai Singh Mankotia. Projecting him as the BSP’s chief ministerial candidate, she said that the social engineering formula would work well even in the hill state. Not missing such an opportunity, the BJP has demanded the dismissal of the government and holding of early elections on moral misconduct by a minister.

Obstructions in organic path
Kuldeep Chauhan

Plans of the farmers in Mandi to switch to organic farming are being disrupted in the absence of biological pests to control the pests menace. The bio-laboratory set up in September last year is yet to get proper equipments and technical staff. IPH minister, Kaul Singh Thakur and agricultural minister, Raj Kishan Gaur, jointly founded the lab. The building for the lab was constructed at a cost of Rs 45 lakh by Agricultural University, Palampur.

BS Thakur and Ramesh Guleria, farmers from Balh valley who grow organic vegetables said, “The farmers in the state are switching over to organic farming, but they do not have biopests to control diseases in tomatoes, cauliflowers, wheat and other crops. In the absence of biopests, we have to use chemical insecticides which defeats the purpose of organic farming.” The agricultural experts said, “Organic farming without biological control through biological pests is a losing situation.” Biopests including fungi and bacteria are first produced in bio-lab and then introduced in farms. The biopests unlike chemical insecticides and fungicides kill pathogens more effectively and do not harm the fertility of soil.

Deputy director, agriculture, Mandi, Dr. SK Katoch said that the bio-lab was sanctioned under the central government’s scheme. “The building is ready and equipments and other things are yet to be set up”. Additional director, agriculture headquarters, JD Sharma added, “The department has sent a proposal to the central government for procurement of equipments. We will deploy the existing staff of technicians and pathologists for the lab after the sanction.”

Queen of Plantation
Pratibha Chauhan

Concerned at the denuding forest wealth and depleting green cover in the ‘Queen of Hills’ the forest department will seek the help of school children and office goers in planting 25,000 trees of different varieties and ensuring their survival. The plantation will be done on 12.50 hectares in the initial phase.

The staff of the Shimla forest division, created specifically to ensure scientific management of the forests of Shimla, will personally get in touch with the school managements, both government as well as private, to involve school children.

As far as the plantations are concerned, there would be a special focus on the old British time walks including the one from Chotta Shimla to Boileauganj, Jakhu to Sanjauli, Boileauganj to Sumer Hill, Charlie Villa, St Bede’s College and other such routes.

Even though Shimla has grown rapidly grown over the last decades, the forest department is keen to restore and preserve certain features, which are creation of the British. One such feature is planting of khanor trees on all the steep slopes and erection of a resting place around it. “Being an evergreen tree which has broad leaves all the year round, khanor trees were planted by the British at all such sites so that people, especially the porters and those carrying load on the slopes, had a resting place,” explained DFO R.K. Raj.

The forest department will also be planting 5,000 rhododendron, commonly known as brass trees at various sites in the town. To add colour to the existing flaming red rhododendron, new varieties bearing pink, cream, yellow and white flowers are being brought from Darjeeling.

Skater on world mission
Pratibha Chauhan

Covering a huge distance of 1.10 lakh km is no mean task, especially when it is on the skates. It is, however, the ambition to break the current world record, that inspires Prakash Jha. Having covered 22 states already, it was two years back that 25-year-old Prakash embarked on the mission of breaking the Guinness World Record, which stands at 1.22 lakh km. Mayor Narinder Katari flagged off his return journey to Delhi from the historic Ridge maidan on July 31, 2007.

“I left Mumbai on November 14, 2005 with the mission of generating awareness about the dreaded disease AIDS and establishing peace and harmony in the country,” avers this young skater. He intends covering 1.24 lakh km so that he can register his name in the Guinness Book, where the world record is at 1.22 lakh km.

CITIZEN FIRST
Teachers divided

Introduction of innumerable teacher categories in the recent past in the state has destroyed the work environment and motivation among the teaching community. A teacher is a teacher — his status and salary should be determined on the basis of his educational qualifications and the seniority, not by coining different cadre names. But who cares?

In the current scenario, aspiring to become a teacher is the last option based on TINA Factor — there is no alternative. Such an apathetic attitude to this most important sector vanishes all hopes of correction in the socio-economic and political system, which we all criticise several times daily.

Rakesh Kumar Sharma
Shimla

Don’t kill monkeys

At a time when lot is being said and done to preserve ecology and wildlife, this brutal killing of monkeys in Sirmaur is most shocking and disturbing.

It is true that the simian population has increased manifold in the state and Shimla is perhaps the worst-hit, but Shimlaites manage to live with it. Not long ago, monkeys were caught from Shimla and freed elsewhere. This only resulted in their spread and multiplication all over the state.

Monkeys started destroying fields and the farmers’ anger and frustration is indisputable, but killing monkeys is not a permanent solution. What is needed is a humane solution keeping in mind religious sentiments and the fragile ecology.

Bimal Gupta
Bilaspur

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