Even as the Kalka-Shimla railway track is being considered for being enlisted in the World Heritage list by the UNESCO, the abject neglect of this track has become a permanent embarrassment to the Northern Railways. Though, as many as 12 trains ply on the track every day which includes six each from Kalka and Shimla, in addition to two holiday specials, the poor upkeep of the eight engines chugging these trains often leads to their breakdown.

The situation has been going from bad to worse with breakdowns occurring as frequently as twice in a month. In the recent breakdown, which occurred on April 5, the wheel axle of 1 KS train broke between Koti-Sanwara. This mechanical failure led to halting of all ten trains plying from either side of the track. Trains running from Shimla to Kalka- Down mix and 256, had to be halted at Dharampur and those coming from Kalka-215, 241, 255 Himalayan Queen and Up mix trains, had to be cancelled for the day.          Particularly inconvenienced were the 205 passengers of 1 KS train who, till late in the evening, were stuck and failed to reach their destinations in time. Finally, the Railway authorities had to hire taxis incurring several thousands to take the travellers to their destinations. This is not an isolated incident as, even after this, yet another train developed a snag, forcing the train to halt near Barog for nearly one and a half hours.

Even last year a train failed to pull along near Kandaghat, forcing the authorities to arrange taxis for the passengers. The staff, not only faced a difficult situation handling the irate passengers, but also had to cut a sorry figure for no fault of theirs. Such situations have become difficult to handle, confided an official, who chose to remain anonymous.

As per an estimate, there have been nearly 24 breakdowns in a year, earning the railways a bad name. The track, which is known for its bridges and picturesque scenic beauty, is getting transformed into a horrific experience for the travellers. The journey which used to be full of pleasure, has forced a commuter to avow never to venture again after facing such breakdowns where at times there isn’t even a place to catch a bus for the remaining journey.

One is left wondering as to why the authorities have turned so indifferent. Officials have no convincing explanation but insiders reveal that there is a clear ploy to present a forged picture as far as mechanical failures are concerned. Illustrating their point, the officials confided that in most of the cases when the engine fails, a banker engine is installed at the rear to pull the train. Though such an arrangement is permissible only in emergency situations, and that too for 3 to 4 kms, it has now become a usual practice. This allows the locomotive section to ensure that the actual engine failure is not credited in the number of breakdowns. Thus, when the engine failures actually projected are much lesser, the senior officials fail to access the actual need for replacing the old decades old worn out engines. The engines, which are supposedly several decades old, require to be replaced and soon since the spare parts, which are routed through certain companies, fail to perform to their standards.

It is time the authorities wake up and adopt a sincere approach towards this section or else the track, which is on the verge of being declared heritage, will soon lose its credibility as well as value.

A Rs 45 lakh proposed  children park, to be named after freedom fighter and former minister Choudhary Hari Ram, is facing rough weather as the previous government headed by Virbhdra Singh did not take the project seriously, thus hurting the sentiments of close relations of Choudhary Hari Ram and the OBC community. Choudhary Hari Ram was a cabinet minister in the government of Partap Singh Karion in the undivided Punjab and then again a cabinet minister in the government of Y.S.Parmar of newly created Himachal Pradesh. He was a freedom fighter who was involved in a bomb blast case at Lahore during the freedom struggle of India.

On December 18, 2006, the then tourism minister G.S.Bali, laid the foundation stone of the park at Matour in the presence of the then Kangra MLA Surender Kumar on the bank of river Manuni on Pathankot-Mandi Highway with much fanfare. The work on the project had started with bamboo commission of India supplying bamboos free of cost for the project and some bamboo structures were raised, but the project was left in lurch for reasons unknown.

Sanjay Sharma, district tourism officer, when contacted, said Rs 31 lakhs were contributed by the government of India for the project which was to be constructed by the tourism department but immediately after the foundation stone was laid, the department was relieved of the charge and tourism development corporation was assigned the job without attributing any reason.

An investigation by The Tribune revealed not even a single penny was spent on the project from the allotted funds except Rs 20,000 used on the catering on the foundation stone laying function day.  It was further revealed that Rs. 31 lakhs were received by the HPTDC  for the execution of the work from GOI  but  Rs 8 lakh were diverted to some other project.

When contacted, the GM of HPTDC, R.C.Gupta said he knew nothing about the project but would gather the information. Pushpa Choudhary, former chairperson of the State Social Welfare Advisory Board and daughter of freedom fighter said, “The way things are dealt with by the previous government is really insulting.” She said that Choudhary community was agitated and the stone bearing the name of the martyr should be removed from the site.  During investigation, it came to fore that the work was assigned to a contractor close to politicians in power but he did not start the work.

Meanwhile, P.S.Thakur, SDO, HPTDC at Dharamshala said despite repeated requests, the contractor did not start the work till his security was forfeited and contract was canceled.  

Bali said the money was lying with the tourism department and blamed the then Congress MLA Surender Kaku for his failure to get the work executed. The park has now turned into a garbage dump. The sufferers are the residents of the vicinity, for whom, it could have been an ideal location to spend their evenings.

Edward Buck had mentioned Captain A. Gordon as one who ‘also performed’ on the Gaiety stage. This man owned a rickety cottage housing offices of Indian Army where existed the present Bantony, adjacent to Grand Hotel. It was purchased by the Maharaja of Sirmaur in 1880s to have his summer palace there.

The first written reference of the building being with Sirmaur, however, is available from a letter to the Municipal Committee (MC) dated May 23, 1891, from Kumar Jowhar Singh, the agent of the maharaja residing at Torrentium, chhota Shimla. Bantony complex, at that time, included the outhouses across the main road on the west-end of the Telegraph Office that existed then as huge wooden structure at its present location.  These outhouses remained a bone of contention between the maharaja through his vakil P. Davi Ram and superintendent of the Telegraph Department (TD). The TD in 1900 wrote to the secretary, MC, disclosing the outhouses were required for their staff and that the TD staff mixed with the occupants resulting in leakage of official information. It further mentioned that these had pitiable sanitary conditions and that the maharaja was paying no heed to the notice of their dismantling already issued by the MC on April 26, 1897. The TD had also expressed their desire to purchase the outhouses. P. Donaldson, secretary, MC, replied to Dumpster, the superintendent TD, on 7.6.1900, “I doubt if he (Sirmaur) would sell even an inch of land.” The Maharaja of Sirmaur had 14 out of 34 property holdings belonging to Indian princes here in 1885. The irony is that his successors possess none today. The entire built-in property was gradually sold out. Anyway, a notice of vacation was immediately served upon the eighteen individual occupants who vacated those in August 1900 and by 1902, the ownership was transferred to the TD.

Bantony, as we see it today, is reconstructed version of 1901-02 on the designs of T.E.G. Cooper, C.E., consulting engineer and architect. It has ‘hybrid architecture, combining the features of an English county-house and the Sirmauri baroque design’. Besides a block each of the cook houses and outhouses, it has a main house or villa; a double storied cottage on the flank towards the then Delhi and London Bank (DLB), which was where the Union Bank of India exist today. The business of DLB was later acquired by Alliance Bank in 1916. The exotic cast-iron railing with coat-of-arms of Sirmaur state at every span of six feet (mostly vandalized) and the original gate outside the building built in Nahan Foundry, was erected in 1902-03. Permission to erect this was given by the MC on the condition that five deodar trees in the complex were not cut. Somerset Playne, in Indian States, has praised Amar Prakash Bahadur of Sirmaur who lent Bantony in 1914 till the end of First World War, to the government for the Military Works Office and again during the Second World War, for establishment of Prisoners of War section under the aegis of All India Radio. The section handled all to and fro messages of the POWs. Veer Vikram Singh, commander of the Sirmaur State Forces, the hero of the World War, had died in Bantony. It also functioned as guest house for the maharajas of other states and Maharaja Scindia of Gwalior stayed here in the summers of 1928. Bantony also had the privilege of accommodating the office of The Tribune from September 25, 1947 to May 12, 1948 on its dislocation from Lahore owing to the 1947 partition. Rana Jang Bahadur Singh and J.Natarajan were its editors during that period of its publication from Shimla at Liddell’s press. The building was purchased by Lehnu Mal Thakur Dass comprising many partners from the maharaja in 1945 but their intentions of converting it into a hotel could not succeed because the revenue papers showed the state government as tenant, which had been continuing with offices of the police department here.

The area of Bantony is 22,770 square yards with 251 trees in it. The Revenue Department, in September 1968, had assessed the value of trees as Rs. 62,905/- and that of the land at Rs. 25 per square yard. The total amount added up to Rs. 6, 36,905/- only for this prime piece of land and aged cottages whereas the owners, a couple of years back, were demanding Rs. 12 crores.

You can also cook some food at home before leaving and carry it for short trips, or for the first meal of your trip (before the food has had time to spoil). Boil mince meat with salt and shape into tikkis. Fry. Pack in foil and carry along with bread, whole onions, and mustard or tomato sauce. When you are ready to eat, slice the onions and put into a sandwich with meat and sauce. Add tomatoes and cucumbers if you can carry them. Vegetarians can substitute aloo tikkis.

The writer has authored India’s first handbook of adventure sports and is available at y.bey@excite.com

It cannot be denied that there are some reasons behind the present arrangement of cab service. As far as the uniformity of fare is concerned, it is undisputed that is should vary according to distance. But one would not agree that they have been introduced from places where buses are run from areas having buses in abundance. As is the case with New Shimla where timings of buses are uncertain. There is a gap of at least half an hour between such buses. Even if it is argued that corporation is incurring losses from them, then it should be made clear that these cabs are run for every person, not only for senior citizens.

To avoid losses, it is suggested that one way is to run taxis during peak hours and not at regular intervals. If they are run in the morning as well as evening, it would definitely make a difference. Also, the routes should also be reconsidered. For instance, its service can be extended from Rajiana in place of D.A.V New Shimla to High Court.