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Limited health care
The
tall claims of the government and a huge amount of Rs 5.68 crore provided to the state under the National Rural Health Mission
(NRHM) has failed to provide health services to the rural people. The lackadaisical attitude of the government is responsible for the facilities in the state from going bad to worse.
The government has failed to post specialists in the hospitals and also the distribution of the available doctors is lopsided. There are two dental doctors in place of the required one at Dharampur’s Community Health Centre
(CHC). Also, in the absence of a child specialist and gynaecologist at the CHC, women from Kasuali are forced to travel a distance of 35-40 km to Solan for childbirths. The gynaecologist posted at Kasauli’s Cantonment Hospital refuse to handle pregnancy cases, rue the villagers. The situation is abysmally bad
in Garkhal and it’s surrounding places as well, where there is not even a qualified paramedical person to inject a patient. The ayurvedic dispensary present there provides only limited health care. The proposal to construct a 10-bed ayurvedic hospital too has been caught in political disputes. Also the two gynaecologist posted at the Regional Hospital are overburdened and many poor patients are forced to visit private nursing homes. CMO Dr
S.N. Sharma said that the problem has been conveyed to the directorate. He said he would look into why the women were not being provided the mandatory iron and calcium tablets. A section of doctors were also of the opinion that the appointment of the doctors on a one-year contract on a monthly salary of Rs 25,000 led to insecurity among them.
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In Hamirpur, one in two kids born at home
When Pushkar Thakur’s wife was delivering her fourth child, it was but natural that she give birth at home. After all, it was the done thing in their tiny, sleepy hamlet in
Hamirpur. Pushkar was born at home, so were his six brothers and sisters and recently, his three children. Surprised? Don’t be. For, the Thakurs’ is not an isolated case.
Of the 10,000 births that take place in Hamirpur district every year, half the women give birth at home. That the district has 25 primary health centers, one civil hospital and one zonal hospital is a separate matter. As per yearly figures available with The Tribune from 2001 to 2006, 4,500 deliveries are performed in homes on an average every year. A similar number of deliveries take place in health intuitions. Though this practice is largely prevalent in rural areas mainly due to absence of awareness on safe deliveries through health institutions coupled with lack of medical infrastructure and services. Lack of staff and infrastructure in health institutions is one of the main reasons why women prefer to give birth at home. All 25 primary health care centres are supposed to be fully equipped with staff and other facilities to perform childbirth, but not even half provide these facilities at night. Eight centres have been specially marked to provide round-the-clock childbirth facility. Centres complain of lack of trained staff and medical officers, who usually live far away from the centres and refuse to come at odd hours. Consequently, most delivery cases have to be referred to the zonal hospital and private clinics. Those who cannot afford these go in for childbirth at home. However, district health officials disagree. They squarely blame home births on poor awareness levels and age-old beliefs. ExpertSpeak Medical experts do not recommend home births. They say that deliveries at home could lead to several complications that could be fatal for the mother and child. They say that first deliveries, caesarian sections and women who are not in good health should always be taken to health institutions for childbirth.
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Tunnels of hope
The Renuka Dam project is somewhat back on track. The Union Ministry of Environment team that visited the Renuka dam project for the first time in 20 years has agreed in principle to three tunnels on the Giri bed.
The tunnels would be used to divert the Giri water for the time being and later would be used for the generation of 40 MW electricity on the site. The lengths of the three tunnels would be 1,075 metre, 1,500 metre and 1575 metre, respectively. Work on the dam would be initiated after diverting Giri water through these tunnels. The team comprising Prof. A. R. Usuf, Dr B. P. Das, Dr J. K. Sharma and Dr S. Bhomic had arrived on a three-day visit on September 17 to study different environmental aspects of the dam. Renuka dam project senior executive engineer R. K. Kahol said, “One of the tunnels would be used to generate hydropower and the other two will be used to flush out silt from the dam bed.” Refusing to comment on Haryana government’s stand, he said, “If successive governments start going back on the bilateral agreements signed between the neighbouring states on sharing river water, the country would be plunged in new crises, as hundreds of such bilateral agreements exists in the country at present.” The governments of Delhi and Himachal had failed to take notice of Haryana government’s stand on the rejection of
the Renuka dam agreement signed by the then Congress chief minister Bhajan Lal. This issue highlighted by The Tribune in its September 12 issue came under discussion in the meeting of Central Empowerment Committee
(CEC) held in Delhi on September 13. This was followed by a decision to send a high level team
of experts to the site to speed up the case. The dam is now being handled by the Pabbar Valley Power Corporation
Limited. The political situation in Haryana on sharing water of Yamuna and Giri is in full swing. Haryana government has openly rejected the Renuka dam agreement and also constituted a high power committee under Haryana assembly speaker Dr Raghuvir Singh Kadyan to examine the agreements on the project and Yamuna water sharing. Political observers also feel that former CM sacrificed the interests of the state by signing these bilateral agreements. After the Congress government’s rejection of the agreement signed by its CM in 1994, the governments of Delhi and Himachal have not given any weightage to the Haryana government’s demand for an equal share in water and
power that will be generated on the site. The work is going on in the usual manner and there is no move being initiated for fresh negotiations with Haryana. The work on the site was speeded up and money was also sanctioned for the project
by the Delhi government after Congress’ defeat in the Delhi municipal elections. It is pertinent to mention here that scarcity of drinking water was one of the main election planks used by BJP against Congress during the last municipal elections. Delhi chief minister Sheela Dixit had repeatedly announced that Delhi would get Giri water well before the commencement of
Commonwealth Games-2010 to be held there. Another significant issue that remains unaddressed is that the political crisis is not only going to effect the Rs 2100 crore Renuka dam project, but also effect the construction of the Kishou dam project on Tons river, much before it starts.
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Road to progress
Engineers engaged in the restoration of the Gaiety Theatre are racing against time to reopen the two main approach roads to the historic Ridge for the public meeting to be addressed by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on September 30.
PM’s scheduled visit is proving to be a blessing in disguise for the local residents, who have been facing a lot of inconvenience because of the closure of the main road from the Scandal Point and the inclined path from the Mall that leads to the Ridge between the Gaiety Theatre and the Ashiana restaurant. Initially, there were doubts if it would be possible to hold the public meeting at the venue, with the main road being dug up for the restoration of the underground portion of the theatre complex. However, with no other suitable venue for holding the rally, the administration had no other option than this. Instructions have been issued to the Public Works Department and the municipal corporation to reopen the two approach roads by September 26, for making timely arrangements for the rally. As the restoration of the underground portion will take sometime, the engineers have been asked to provide a 3.5 m wide corridor for the two-way pedestrian movement from the Scandal Point and to restore the inclined path, which was closed more than a year ago. Superintending engineer Pradeep Chauhan informed that 8 ft wide steps were being provided in place of the inclined path. Construction work was being carried out round-the-clock to meet the deadline. The two approaches will remain open even after the rally, this being a matter of great relief for the residents. Restoration of the Gaiety Theatre has been going on for the past several years and so far, over Rs 5crore have been spent on the project. The High Court had recently issued directions to the government to complete the restoration by November 30. However, it seems very unlikely, as a lot of work needs to be done and the total cost of project will touch Rs 7crore. The Ridge was the sustaining core of the Shimla, when it was established more than 150 years ago by the British. It served as the main bazaar with shops all around. It was than known as the upper bazaar. However, it being the second largest flat ground after the Annadale, the British decided to clear it for public events. The shops were pulled down and shifted to the lower bazaar. Till date, there is no other place as suitable as the Ridge for holding public meetings. Political rallies are not allowed at the venue and only official public meetings are held. Manmohan Singh will be the fifth Prime Minister to address a rally on the Ridge. Indira Gandhi was the first one to do so when she announced statehood for Himachal from the specially erected podium at the Taka Bench end. She was followed by Rajiv Gandhi, I.K.Gujral and
A.B. Vajpayee.
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Life term for triple murder accused
Una’s additional district and sessions’ judge of the fast-track court C.L. Kochar has sentenced triple murder accused Gurjant Singh to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 65,500.
Six other accused persons in the same case — Amrish Rana, Malkiat Singh, Manjeet Singh, Harjinder Singh, Rahul Kumar and Naveen Kumar — are already serving life terms. A clash between two rival groups had left three persons dead and six others injured on September 10, 1999, that took place on the Una-Pirnigaha road. Raj Kumar, Rajiv Kumar and Santokh Singh had died in the incident. The main accused Gurjant Singh and his associate Amrish Rana were also facing charges in several other criminal cases in Una, Kangra, Shimla, Bhatinda and New Delhi. It may be mentioned that Gurjant Singh had escaped from Kanda jail some years ago and was declared a proclaimed offender during the course of trial in the triple murder case while the other six accused persons were awarded punishments and were sentenced to life term imprisonments. Later, the police managed to nab him again. Gurjant Singh was presently lodged in the Bhatinda jail along with Amrish Rana since they were arrested from Bhatinda about 10 months back. But, after his conviction, the court had ordered to shift him to the Nahan jail in the hill state.Gurjant Singh was convicted under Section 302 of the IPC and awarded a life term besides a fine of Rs 50,000 and under Section 324 of the IPC the accused was sentenced to undergo three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000. The accused was also awarded different sentences under Sections 323, 341, 147, 148 and 149 of the IPC. However, the term of various punishments would run concurrently.
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Call of the wild
Well-laid treks, historic temples, legendary tales of yoginis roaming in the jungles and magnificent streams and rivulets aptly describe the lush green bowl-shaped Janjheli-Shikari-Thachi route in the Seraj valley. Although teeming with tourism potential, the government has not done much to promote the hill station.
The local residents rue the fact that several projects in the area are pending. One such is a 20-bed trekkers’ hostel in Janjheli. Built at a cost of Rs 38 lakh by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation last year, the hostel has neither been leased out nor inaugurated. Now, the only occupants of the hostel are grass and weeds that flourish on its premises. “The government also proposed setting up a golf-cum-ski resort at Bhaloh, which receives over five feet of snow, and has been compared to Holi, a ski resort in Uttarakhand. This, too, is pending,” says Devinder Thakur, a retired HPS officer, who is now trying to promote Janjheli as a tourist destination. The real beauty of Janjheli, also called Jauli by old-timers, lies in its slate-roof houses, which villagers are struggling to preserve. Their efforts seem to be fading away as tin-roof homes are coming up in the area. The British-built forest rest house and PWD rest house are also tin-roofed, indicating that the government is also destroying the original architecture of the place, much like it did in Kulu-Manali. To add to this, persons from the Sundernagar-Mandi belt are buying land at cheap rates from the gullible residents. These investors hope to hit the jackpot when tourism and other economic activities gain ground here. They further inform that forest mafias are encouraging the illegal felling of trees in the Thathi-Janjheli belt and the forest department is being indifferent to the issue. As a result, deodars are slowly disappearing and kail and chir pines, which are relatively easier to grow, are in abundance. It is left to be seen when and how the dreams of the locals will become a reality. If fulfilled, this will not only propagate the tourism potential of the area, but will also be a source of employment for the local youth. Till then, they have no option, but to wait and watch.
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Highway Blues
Even as the state transport department has made it mandatory to wear the dark blue dress for drivers and conductors and issuing of tickets to passengers for private bus operators in the state, but these rules remain only on paper as the traffic police and road transport departments have not done much about enforcing them.
According to inputs gathered from the Road Safety Forum (RSF), an NGO, which works to create awareness among drivers and commuters about the road safety and other provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act at Mandi, it was found neither the operators nor the law enforcement agencies are bothered about it. RSF convener Ravi Rana told Himachal Plus that the forum has observed that the dress code meant to check fake drivers and licenses was violated more on the Kulu-Mandi-Sundernagar-Bilaspur roads. “They do not issue tickets to passengers. The tickets are issued only if some accident takes place,” the forum noticed during its two-year-long involvement in the road safety work. “Traffic flow has shot up 10 times in recent years on the highways due to increasing number of tourists. Thus, road safety is the need of the hour,” the members of the forum added. The drivers of private buses and HRTC, including private commercial vehicles and car owners, violate the norms of using dippers at night and indulge in over speeding that result in more road mishaps on the highways, they said. Violation of dress code is rampant. Over 158 violators had been challaned from April to June last. “We check vehicles three and four times a week for violations and challaned over 158 in three months,” said Mandi road transport officer K.K. Saroch. The forum welcomed the recent provision of the reservation of 30 per cent seats for women passengers in private buses and requested transport minister Sujan Singh Pathania to extend this reservation to freedom fighters and senior citizens. Mandi superintendent of police M. Chander Sekhar said the police does the routine checking under the provisions of the Act and challans the offender. They will act on the suggestions of the NGO to ensure the road safety, he added.
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STEP OUT
Juley! I am just back from Leh and, despite being jaded because it was my sixth visit, I still had a great holiday. Ladakh offers mountaineering, trekking, rafting, and mountain biking. It also stages events. In August 2003, I covered the Great Tibetan Marathon for The Tribune (http://www. tribuneindia. com/ 2003/ 20030921/ spectrum/main4 .htm). It was won by local girls and boys and Leh is home to some international-level track athletes like Rigzin Angmo. Those of you who are runners can link up with the local ones. You can also find foreign athletes on holiday in Leh who use the opportunity to hike their aerobic capacity by running at 11,000 feet.
For mountaineers, there are small peaks like Dzo Jongo (6,120 m), Kangyatse (6,400 m), and the hugely popular Stok Kangri (6,153 m) or Kanglachen in local lingo. Even novices and first-timers can scale this peak. It is an easy walk up, with only the last section on steepening moraine and snow. Most people do it in two days, setting up a camp midway. If you are fit and hardy, you can do it in one day. Opposite Stok is a smaller peak, Golep Kangri (5,900 m) – often erroneously called Gulab Kangri. (Golep is the Ladakhi word for “dome”.) The real summit is the third snow hump but many people mistakenly climb the first hump that is visible from the Base Camp (BC) — Stok and Golep have a common BC. The Golep climb is just a longish trudge, though my trip was marked by a memorable experience. I was doing the climb alone, with a trainee guide. Neither of us had a torch so he tied rags on a stick, doused it with kerosene and set it afire. There is a small stream between BC and the ridge leading to the peak. We were setting off before dawn but the rivulet was still too wide for me and I looked for a boulder to jump from after he had already jumped across. Our “torch” burnt out in a few minutes so he jumped back and returned to camp. I waited in the starlight beside the murmuring water until he returned with another flaming torch. This time, he found a narrower spot and I jumped across right after him. Among the higher peaks, the Nun-Kun, Saser Kangri, Mamostang Kangri and Rimo massifs are popular. The Himalayan Club, Mumbai, has just climbed Chong Kumdan I (7,071 m), after giving up on the virgin CK II (7,004 m) due to bad weather and crevasses. For growing clubs, it would be a good idea to send a team with mixed experience to Nun (7,135 m). The summit attempt can be made by the most experienced but Nun has an icefall early on, which can be good exposure for a support team carrying out ferries. These members can then climb D41, a small peak to the right with mixed snow and ice climbing. Don’t return from Ladakh without rafting. The one-day, 20-km trip from Phey to Nimo on the easy-flowing Indus is okay for a first-timer (and the price is low!) but there is less water there this season so many operators are offering the 24-km Chilling to Nimo (Rs 1400-1600). Transport and lunch are included. If you have the time, go for the multi-day trip on the Zanskar, which has one Grade IV rapid. This has to be booked in advance as it includes a 3-day jeep safari to Padum followed by six days’ rafting. The Zanskar is more exploratory than exciting so white water enthusiasts should head for the day-long run on its tributary, the Tsarap (four Grade IVs, one Grade V!). And, if you are a mountain biker but don’t have the time to pedal from Manali to Leh (the average is 9-11 days with one or two rest days while the record is 5 days), do the short ride to Khardung La (18,380 ft) from Leh. (This column appears fortnightly)
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vignettes
I
have
recently read a book An Englishwoman in India-The Memoirs of Harriet Tytler borrowed from the Public Library of Hamilton County and Cincinnati. First, I will narrate an interesting remark made by a reader in the book itself and then go ahead with Harriet’s story. She writes about thugs in India in the nineteenth century and says that they worshipped Kali who has six arms and has a European victim under her feet. The reader has ‘underlined’ it and pencil-remarked, “Kali statues are standing atop Lord Shiva, not a European.” Thank you, unknown reader for correcting Ms. Harriet.
Harriet was born in India near Oudh in October 1828 and the native nurse who gave her the first bath noticed a mole on the sole of her left foot and predicted that she would be traveling till she died. Harriet says that her predictions have come true and ‘at the great age of thirteen days I began my first journey’ from Secrora in Oudh to Nusseerabad. India suffered quite a few famines during the British Raj. Giving account of the famine of 1834, Harriet writes that sailing in the Ganges, she saw horrors of the famine. Some were dead and others had come on the banks of the river so that when they die, the pious river carried their mortal remains with its flow. “My father offered the living food, but one and all made the same reply – ‘Sir, if you give me food cooked by a Brahmin I will eat, if not I must die!’ My dear father was grieved beyond measure for he had no Brahmin on board.” One lad, however, came to Harriet’s father and throwing his sacred thread in the river asked for food. He ate voraciously and died after half an hour. He was so weak that he could not digest the food. Harriet observed a little infant crawling up to its dead mother and tried in vain to obtain some nourishment from her. Six-year-old Harriet then promised, “When I grow up to be a woman I will save all the little starving children and bring them up as Christians.” Harriet was nineteen when she was married to twenty-nine-year-old Robert Tytler on March 3, 1848. Robert is remembered as the person starting the first ever museum in Shimla at Bonnie Moon in Jakhu. He attained the position of brevet-colonel in 1866 and that year Harriet left for England to raise money for the orphanage that she had decided to establish while witnessing famine in her childhood. Her choice station for it was Shimla. Scottish people, largely donated money and goods for its establishment. Harriet writes, “Once I recollect I was called upon to speak at a public meeting in Glasgow on behalf of the institution. I nearly fainted at the thought but people were very kind and I am sure they felt for me for they added to my already growing funds and offered further help.” There are differing opinions on its year of starting but the memoirs give 1867 as the opening year of Himalayan Christian Orphanage at North Stoneham, where rests the present government college at Sanjauli. Observing dying children during the famine had made such an impact on her that when orphanage was opened, she thanked God profusely that ultimately some good had come out of that evil. Later it was converted as free home for European and Eurasian orphan girls and the daughters of poor parents. Lord Mayo inaugurated the new establishment in June 1870 as the Mayo School. Robert suddenly died in October 1871 and his Jakhu museum was shut in 1872. Harriet returned to Shimla after his death, led a socially active life and moved to Hyderabad in 1880s. There she painted and gave lessons. She finally came to Shimla in 1894 and died here in November 1907. She had completed her memoirs between 1903 and 1906 at Titla (corrupt form of Tytler, I believe) Hotel, which the Tytlers had purchased from William Hay in 1862.
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CITIZEN FIRST
There was a time when vehicles were not allowed on Shimla’s roads. But now, the administration is giving permits to all those who can afford it, spoiling the beauty of the town. Mall Road is a good example, especially the stretch from the Telegraph Office to Combermere Bridge. Earlier, it used to be a narrow hill road used only by horses and pedestrians. Today, numerous vehicles ply on this stretch. A taxi service has also been introduced from the Telegraph Office to the Railway Station. If not checked, Mall Road will soon become the Chandni Chowk of Shimla.
Sumit Raj Vashisht,
Shimla Pedestrians’ problem The pedestrian path outside HRTC booths, adjacent to the Kalka-Shimla taxi union, have been sub-let to fruit vendors and small phariwalas. It is causing inconvenience to the public as the booth owners have occupied the entire area to display their goods. The authorities should check these encroachments. Vijay Sharma,
Shimla
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Missing Connectivity
Non-availability of broadband facility in Sirmour has badly hit business in the district. Growth and expansion of Internet-based business activities here has come to a halt. Many globally reputed companies including a leading company of USA, have closed down their operations in the area due to this problem. For example, multinational company Elexon had opened its offices in the district on the assurance of BSNL that broadband facility would be made available within a few months. But after waiting for six months, it closed down its offices due to non-availability of the facility in the district.
Similarly, industries having global or even nationwide business network are facing difficulties in contacting their franchises through the Internet. This has hampered their business growth in a big way. Informed Sanjeev Awasthi, a social worker of Renuka who also runs an NGO, “Many multinational companies like Elexon were interested in setting up their business offices in the district, but aren’t doing so due to lack of broadband links for their operation.” He added that in the absence of broad band, the tourism activities in the district had also received a setback as tourists coming from different countries wanted to keep themselves linked with their business and families through Internet. But at times, the Internet at Renuka and other interior parts of the district took even a day to open. Officials of reputed industrial houses of Kala Amb and Paonta informed that for the past two years, they were assured by the BSNL that broadband facility would be provided within two months time. However, more than two years had passed and the promise was still unfulfilled. “Still BSNL is not ready to announce the date for providing the facility,” said managing director of a leading industrial concern of Paonta. Reasoned general manager BSNL’s Solan Circle Rakesh Kapoor, “Sirmour district has developed as an important industrial hub of the region and to launch broadband service here is the priority of my department. We’ve received almost all the equipment required for the purpose and now there shouldn’t not be hurdles in the process. He hoped that the broadband would be operational by the end of October this year.
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Waiting its turn
The new terminal building of the Kullu-Manali airport at Bhuntar is waiting to be inaugurated. While civil aviation minister Praful Patel carries out his inauguration spree across the country, the Kullu airport patiently waits its turn.
Patel has already opened the modernised Mumbai terminal, inaugurated a September 20 Delhi-Kanpur flight and now plans to launch Air India’s flight to Kullu on September 30. Although the inauguration of the Kullu airport is on the minister’s list, Airport Authority of India (AAI) sources reveal that the three-month-old airport might have to wait as the inauguration cannot take place until both Praful Patel and chief minister Virbhadra Singh are available. The construction of the new Rs 10.5-crore terminal was an impact of a report published in The Tribune. The account, published in 1995, highlighted the fact that the ATC tower and mast of the airport was built at the northern end of the airstrip, thus posing a threat to incoming aircraft. While the airport
terminal building has now been shifted, the process to move the tower and the communication mast is still in the pipeline. The terminal building, though, seems to have been constructed without much planning. While it has been built to cater to 50 passengers at a time, observations show that the terminal will soon run into problems with several airlines introducing new flights. At present, Air Deccan and Jagson Airlines operate one flight each. From September 30, Air India will have regular flights from Delhi to Kullu and back with its new 48-seat aircraft. Two more airlines, MDLR and King Air, plan to operate flights to Kullu, proposals for which have been submitted to the DGCA. Now, it is to be seen how the new terminal will handle the rush. Weather problems and flight delays are sure to add to the chaos. Moreover, if the proposed Rs 125-crore extension of the Kullu-Manali airport strip is executed, the new terminus will definitely not be able to manage the bedlam.
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Dazzle-worthy
Shopaholics rejoice. For, you can now lay their hands on interesting jewellery, ranging from ethnic and Victorian to trendy tit bits, all under one roof. Teenagers can also go in for belly tattoos and trendy nail art. The opening of Trenz, a jewellery outlet in Shimla, will offer a wide range of affordably priced jewellery to women of all age groups. “Trenz is an ode to the beautiful creation of god – woman,” avers Sandeep Arora from the store, explaining the spirit behind the artificial jewellery available here. “The designs are ethnic as well as contemporary,” he adds.
The outlet that was inaugurated in the Shimla on September 18, has jewellery with semi precious as well as artificial stones. The range available covers every occasion, from casual to party wear variety. Targeting the youth, the store has special belly tattoos and nail art for adorning your hands. “Almost 50 per cent of the space in our stores is occupied by earrings, as these days, women go in for matching earrings ,” explains Dhiraj Arora from the store. The store has a wide range of bindis studded with semi-precious stones and swarovsky and stick-on tikkas, with the prices ranging from Rs 35 to Rs 500. Trenz is a chain of jewellery outlets with four stores in
Chandigarh.
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Shimla Diary
It
is quite unusual for the state capital to witness two book exhibitions simultaneously and that too during off-season. However, it happened when the National Book Trust of India (NBT) organised an eight-day exhibition of its publications and the state library in collaboration with the Raja Ram Mohan Rai Library Foundation held a three-day exhibition.
The NBT had displayed a wide variety of books in English, Hindi and Urdu. The reasonably priced books attracted a good number of buyers and the maximum sale was recorded was of children books. Manager of the NBT Syed Haider M. Rizvi said the trust was publishing over 800 titles every year out of which about 500 titles catered to children. Some states were making bulk purchases of NBT books under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan for school and village libraries as the books were useful for the neo-literates and children. The Uttar Pradesh government had purchased books for 10,000 libraries and the Tamil Nadu government had ordered for 40,000 libraries. The biggest advantage was that the NBT books were reasonably priced. As many as selected 555 titles selected from the publications of 863 publishers were displayed at the exhibition organised by the state library. The purpose was to enable the education department to select titles for stocking the public libraries and those in schools and colleges. The wait is on... The state capital will have to put up with water shortage for some more time. The lift water supply scheme to bring water from the Giri river will not be commissioned on October 2 as announced by the irrigation and public health minister Kaul Singh. The scheme being implemented at a cost of Rs 40 crore will make available about 20 million litre of additional water per day, which will be sufficient to meet the requirement for the next 30 years. At present the total availability of water from various schemes is 43.45 mld (million litre per day) However, only about 25 to 27 mld of water is available from all sources during peak summer due to reduction in discharge when the requirement touches 42 mld. The Irrigation and Public Health Department is keen to complete the scheme by October 30. It is confident that if there are some unforeseen problems, the scheme will be latest by November 15. Reservation fear The delimitation scare continues to hunt political parties in the state. The delimitation commission has completed the task of redrawing the boundaries of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in respect of all the states, except three North-eastern states where the exercise had been stopped by the High Court. The Government of India will have to implement the report of the commission sooner or later. The timing of its implementation is critical for Himachal Pradesh as Assembly poll is due in February. If the election is conducted on the delimited constituencies, the fate of some of the sitting legislators will be sealed. While a number of segments like Rohru, Solan, Baijnath and Chintpurani will be reserved for scheduled castes, some other seats like Kusumpti and Prgapur will no longer remained reserved.
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Banned in HP, found in Kangra
Three years after polythene bags were banned in the state, these continue to come into the state from neighbouring Punjab. Nurpur and other sub divisions of Kangra that share borders with Punjab are worst-hit and it seems both consumers and vendors don’t want to give up polythene.
Use of coloured polythene carry bags manufactured from re-cycled plastic were first banned by the Prem Kumar Dhumal government in January 1999 to check indiscriminate throwing of plastic carry bags and to prevent unsanitary condition in the hill state. The present state government further laid down specifications of carry bags made of non-biodegradable material. Under the Himachal Pradesh Non-Biodegradable Garbage (control) Act 1995, the use of polythene carry bags below 70 microns
is banned. The state government has authorised 18 government officials at the district and sub-division level to check use of polythene bags. These officials are empowered to penalise violators with fine while compounding of offences committed under the notification issued on June 4, 2004. Over 80, 60 and 50 per cent polythene carry bags are still in use, respectively, in rural, semi urban and urban areas in Kangra district.
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Lacklustre rainbow
But, even as more than 25 progressive farmers are presently engaged in trout farming and they are sending their produce to hotels at Delhi and Mumbai but allegedly nothing new has been done so far to improve the technology so as to increase production. Former project director of the Indo-Norwegian trout farming project K. B. Ralhan, who is presently the secretary-general of the Himachal Pradesh Angling Association, while talking to Himachal Plus says, he as the project director, had brought trout farming technology from Norway in the late 1980’s. However, he says the technology now has become old and obsolete to an extent. In the span of 18 years, a lot has happened in this field for increased production in the developed countries. Two major varieties of trout were available — brown trout (Salmo Trutta Fario) and rainbow trout (Salmo Gairdneri). During mid-eighties, a scheme was formulated by the state government that gave more stress on the farming of rainbow trout. The Norwegian government came forward to assist the state and an agreement was signed in 1988. The project was split up into two phases — transfer of technology and production phase. The transfer of technology envisaged the construction of modern trout farm on Norwegian model with capacity to produce 10 tones of trout per year. It was envisaged to import of quick growing disease-resistant eggs, development of economical and viable palletised feed with locally available ingredients, training of local staff and farmers and production of economically viable fingerlings. The Norwegian government gave a grant of Rs 3 crore, mainly for meeting the expenditure under consultancies, cost of equipments and training of personnel. The state government agreed to bear the cost of construction of the farm, payment of customs duty and salaries of the project personnel. In August 1989 the first phase of the project was put into operation. The first consignment of ‘eyed ova’ of rainbow trout was received at Patlikuhl farm in April 1991. A feed-mill was also installed and it started producing palletised feed with a production capacity of 500 kg per day. Four project personnel, including two women candidates underwent training during the construction phase. It attained a record survival of 92 per cent against expectation of 42 per cent from ‘eyed ova’ to advanced fingerling, which was a record in the trout farming history of the state. The second installments of eggs from Norway were received in March 1992 and were successfully hatched. But, the technology has not been updated so far to make it cost-effective. “For the success of trout farming as a small industry, we still have some grey areas related to the key factors such as quantity and quality of water supply, feeding and feed management, level of hygiene maintenance, schedule for healthcare and disease investigation,” Ralhan says. He is of the view that there is a need do away with the old hatchery practices and acquire fresh knowledge and training. The alarming rate at which the availability of quality water for trout farming has been decreasing, technologies have been evolved in re-oxygenation and artificial re-circulation of water to meet this challenge in trout farms in the western world. He says there is also a need to improve the production of fish feed, change the feeding practices and management. Adding that there should be an efficient use of the feed administered and it should also meet the nutritional requirements and cost effectiveness. Similarly, to avoid disease and environmental stress, schedules for health examination of fish needed to be designed. Also there is a need to import the technique to prevent ‘mass-kill’ at the swim-up fry and fingerlings stages and disinfect the farm tanks. Ralhan alleged that the only feed plant at Patlikuhl in Kullu is now obsolete and inadequate to meet the farmers’ requirements. Therefore, quality and design of the feed plant and hatchery equipments needed to be improved with the latest technology available in Norway and other countries. The need of the hour is to keep pace with the fast-developing aquaculture practices, otherwise, the rainbow trout farming in the state would become a non-profitable venture for the farmers.
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Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh's
crime graph shoots up
With a sudden spurt in the robbery incidents in the industrial area of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, the police is having a tough time in trying to keep the crime graph low. While, two major incidents of loot have taken place here in the past week, a number of chain-snatching and robbery cases have sent shock waves among the investors. What has astonished the police, however, is the investors’ indifference when it comes to industrial security.
There are quite a few industrial units that lack the much-needed boundary walls. Besides, the security system at many of these units depends on guards who don’t have any weapons or even sticks. In case of a break-in attempt, the guard doesn’t even have an alarm to inform the employees. The police officials inform that in the first incident, where a packaging unit Anshu International was looted of aluminium foils worth Rs 6 lakh, the security man was entrusted to guard the premises that didn’t have any main gate or boundary wall. While this was a virtual invitation for miscreants to come and commit the loot, it has brought to light how little credence was given to security aspect in the industries here. In the case of Rajnigandha unit, where the robbers conveniently loaded copper rolls into a vehicle, the unit’s security guard was given no weapon to deal with such eventualities. Not only was he made to slog for the entire day and night at the gate but had to spend the night sleeping and the day opening and closing the gate for those entering the unit. “ The investors bothered to save a few bucks by investing a precious little on security. This not only put them in trouble but also created problems for the police. How could a single security man be expected to remain on guard all 24 hours?” questions a policeman. Expressing concern at the apathetic security arrangement, the policemen further inform,“ Most security men here are novice, who neither have any experience of such sensitive works nor have they been given any training. Since they are not even equipped to deal with any adverse situation, what can be expected from them?” There’s hardly any unit that has installed security alarms to warn the other employees about a robbery attempt when the robbers first attack the security guards at the entrance. With a steep rise in the number of migrant
labour, the industrial area abounds in strangers whose identity is hard to be verified. Since the labour department has not been able to ensure the provision of identity cards to them despite government instructions, a policeman is left with little proof to trace their identify in case of a robbery. The negligence of maintaining records of their employees is manifest in such cases where raw material, which reaches a unit, is robbed in a planned manner within a day. The police officials further point out that with the border being barely 6 to 7 km away, the robbers disappear from the scene within no time, leaving little chance of their being caught. The initial investigations conducted by the police have revealed that the robbers acted in an organised manner. They first stole a utility van from a nearby village and then used it for robbery. The police is suspecting the role of some junk dealers from Chandigarh in these robberies, as the lifted material was sold within hours at these markets. Police officials also complain that though the police force has been enhanced in these areas, they are finding it difficult to deal with the rising crime since the number of migrant labour here is increasing at a very fast pace.
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Scores of dead fish have been seen floating on the surface of Sarsa River at Baddi in Solan, due to release of toxic effluents by industrial units here. Villagers and environmentalists allege.that the effluents have caused extensive damage to aquatic life in the river and it is for the second time in four months that fish have died in large numbers near Kainduwala village in Mallpur panchayat of Nalagarh sub division of the district. — UNI
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The drive from the Mandi-Sundernagar highway takes you through the refreshing low-lying hills of Chail Chowk before you hit Kanda, about 35 km off the highway. As you drive further from Bakshiad to Janjheli, the streams, apple orchards and terraced fields make a pretty picture.
The