The Kullu valley, already infamous for illegal opium cultivation, has been in the grip of drug peddling, including trafficking of cocaine, brown sugar, smack and other narcotics. The drug peddlers have started making young school-going children their target and the situation has reached alarming proportions.

They trap them by offering free fags and eventually making them fall prey to the habit. The alleged drug peddlers are often seen hovering around schools and colleges to sell their contrabands while the police here seems to be a silent spectator.

Government Senior Secondary Schools and high schools at Kullu, Mohal, Bajaura, Bhuntar, Manali, Katrain and Banjar in this district are the main target of these drug peddlers. The silver foil, cigarettes butts and sticks used for taking the brown sugar and smack spread near these schools clearly indicate that the students are addicted to drugs. It is also learnt that these anti-social elements had not even spared even the elementary primary schools where children were allegedly forced to take drugs.

The illegal drug sales outlets at Akhara Bazar, Durganagar, lower Dhalpur, upper Sultanpur and Shishamati had already been identified by the CID wing of the district police. Above all, it was learnt that the names of the drug traffickers were also given to the police by the CID. Ironically, a common man in the town knows about the alleged suppliers but the police expresses its helplessness, as it could never catch them red-handed.

Hardesh Bisht, additional superintendent of police, confirmed the presence of such elements among the people and claimed the department had fully geared and would strike at an appropriate time.

The drug addicts, particularly students, have also been using the restricted medicines containing alcohol or banned drug contents. Medicines like Alprazomen, Engzit and Axinil are available without prescriptions at Kullu, Bhuntar, Manali and other places in this district.

Dr Rajesh Thakur, medicine specialist at the regional hospital here said these drugs were given to patients having severe heart problem or those suffering from depression. He further maintained that a registered medical practitioner could not sell these drugs without a doctor’s prescription.

Initially, some foreign nationals, particularly Nigerians, smuggled brown sugar and smack to this valley in the eighties. Manali remained the central hub for its distribution.

A few Nigerian nationals were nabbed but were released due to the mild Act on narcotics during that period. Now drug smugglers, allegedly from Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and other parts of the country, have become active.

Bisht claims the police has initiated an intensive campaign to nab the drug smugglers and expect public help in the matter. He said a narcotics dog squad and a dog handler had already arrived and raids at some identified places would be made in due course of time. 

Forests are shrinking, agriculture lands diminishing, tea gardens squeezing, rivers drying up, glaciers melting away, yet this town celebrates World Environment Day every year and hold scores of global conferences on protection of environment. Unfortunately, all this is being done only on papers and inside the conference halls; in fact no groundwork has been done till date. 

Even our system of governance is inclined to patronise such conferences than initiating some concrete measures on recommendations already made by environment experts. 

There was a time when the beautiful lush green tea gardens of Palampur were a treat to the eyes.  The brilliance of landscape, simplicity of nature and subtle aroma emanating were enough to make one forget the din of the town.

The faulty policies of the state government, dirty politics, rampant corruption in the administration, besides greed on the part of some organisations, converted the town into a concrete jungle. 

It is a matter of serious concern that eight global conferences on environment have been held in the town under the aegis of NGOs in past eight years on issues of protecting environment, combating climate changes and poverty alleviation. And it was assured in the presence of state Chief Minister that the town would be benefited from these conferences.

The residents, the civil administration and educational institutions provided full support in holding these conferences. The truth is whatever was stated at these conferences, remained confined to papers only.

The organisers of these conferences sold some golden awards to industrial houses, collected money and left behind large quantities of solid waste and garbage. Till date, not even a single recommendation has been implemented by the state government or any other private agencies.

Heaps of garbage can be seen in every nook and corner of the town emanating foul smell at all times. In many areas garbage is not removed for days together. The situation in the inner parts of the town is no better as panchayats have no resources to maintain cleanliness, resulting in huge garbage dumps on the roadside at Ghuggar, SSB Chowk, Aima, Bundla and Chokki Khalet. 

The fading images of India’s countryside came alive in an exhibition at Modern Art exhibition hall at International Roerich art gallery, Naggar in Kullu district. M Pradip is an artist who has captured the “rare images of the fading and dying moods” of countryside life, which the future generation would otherwise miss forever.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Roerich Memorial Trust, Naggar. It was inaugurated on May 25 and is on till June 8. Pradip’s canvases are distinguishable in their colours - the green of the paddy fields, the red of the sun, the blue of the mountain sky.

Titled as “exhibition revelation”, his paintings portray images of the “fading beauty” of rural women smoking “chillam”, village belle waiting for her lover, women caressing the lambs and many more. With many exhibitions to his credit, the artist has explored the various facets of rhythm in everyday life. An alumnus of Rabindra Bharti School, Pradip uses chemical colours for his paintings as, he laments, the natural colours “are rarely available now”.

Swaran Jayanti Government Senior Secondary School, Hamirpur, is not only one of the oldest schools in this region but also has the distinction of producing many stalwarts in their chosen fields.

Hamirpur, though a tiny part of Kangra region, was always a centre of formal education even in the 19th century with the system of gurukuls prevalent at many places.

The present school at Hamirpur formally began 145 years ago in 1863 when a pathshala was started under the leadership of Pt Surya Datta.

Later, this was converted into a primary Urdu school in 1866 and Janab Jamal Din was appointed the first headmaster of the school.

After being taken over by the district board, Kangra, the school was upgraded to middle standard in 1913 and Tulsi Ram became its headmaster.

Later, in 1916, optional English classes were introduced in the school and in 1920 it was converted into A.V. middle school and Amar Nath Sehajpal was appointed the headmaster.

However, keeping in view the education needs of the area, the school was upgraded to high school in 1924 and Wali Mohammad became its first headmaster.

Government School, Hamirpur, became a higher secondary school in 1959 and was named Swaran Jayanti Government Senior Secondary School in 2000.

Some of the alumni include Virender Dogra, an adviser in Pentagon and Dr. Kamlesh Dogra, a TB expert in a World Bank project.

Many ex-students also joined the armed forces and fought for the nation. Captain Mridul Sharma, who was awarded Sena medal (gallantry) posthumously in the Kargil war, was also the alumnus of this school.

A proposal to build an open-air theatre near pond remained buried in papers because of the shifting of the department from here to a house in Housing Board Colony in 1978 followed by the academy’s ouster accommodated in Peach Blossom near Chota Shimla post office. The State Health and Family Welfare Training Centre, established on Oct 2, 1976 at Mandodhar in Solan District was shifted here in 1979. Dr G.C. Aggarwal was the first principal at Parimahal and the thirteenth was Dr. Indu Bala, the only lady to grace the chair in 2007-08. She has superannuated recently and the next one is awaited.

It has almost been like homecoming for Bollywood star Kangana Ranaut when she arrived in the “queen of hills” early this week along with Emraan Hashmi for the shooting of Mahesh Bhatt’s Raaz-2. The film is a sequel to Dino-Bipasha starrer Raaz, released in 2002.

It is for the first time since she made her debut in Bollywood that Kangana is shooting for a film in her own state. Raaz was the biggest hit of the year and Kangana, who shot into fame with Bhatt’s Gangster, has high hopes from the romantic-suspense thriller being directed by Mohit Suri.

Frequent spells of rain did upset the shooting schedule but Kangana, Emraan and other members of the unit had enough time to enjoy the captivating beauty of the hills and cool climes of the erstwhile British summer capital.