The tourism potential of Kangra lies under-exploited. Due to poor infrastructure and lack of planning, the government has failed to even retain the current tourist inflow to the district.

Kangra, with its headquarters in Dharamsala, is one of the biggest districts of Himachal Pradesh in terms of population. It accounts for 25 per cent of the total population of the state and has maximum assembly constituencies (16). Geographically, the district offers all types of terrains. While the lower areas are plains, along the Dhauladhars, the highest mountain range in the area, are some of the most beautiful high altitude tourist places like Macloedganj, Bhagsunag and Dharamkot. The district is also third in the country besides Darjeeling and Ooti to have tea gardens that are unique geographical indicators of the area.

The high altitude tracks to Triund, Laka and even Bharmour are among the best in the state. The presence of Dalai Lama and one of biggest settlement of exiled Tibetans at McLeod Ganj also called Little Lhasa is another attraction. The district also has a narrow gauge railway line connecting Pathankot with Joginder Nagar.

However, despite this high-end tourists elude the district due to the lack of basic infrastructure and planning.

Maximum tourists come to the district and its vicinity to visit famous Hindu temples located at Chintpurni in Una, Jawalamukhi, Chamunda, Kangra and Baijnath. By rough estimates, more than 15 to 20 lakh tourists visit these temples every year. Many high-end tourists coming to the district return immediately after paying obeisance at these temples due to the lack of facilities. Despite the fact that the government has taken over management of all famous temples, it has failed to add facilities to attract and retain the tourists.

The department of tourism does not have any package tours to offer to the tourists. There is no facility of online booking for hotels or taxi services for tourists coming for religious tourism. The result is that the tourists who can be retained return just after a short stay.

The government has also failed to develop track to Himani Chamunda temple. The temple is located almost in the snowline area, 12 km uphill from the present Chamunda Devi temple. People are of the opinion that if the government develops this track at par with Vashino Devi shrine, it can give boost to religious tourism in the district.

Most of the roads leading to Dharamsala are in a poor state. Even the newly constructed roads have failed to withstand the monsoon. The Dehra-Ranital road that is the main approach road to the district from Chandigarh, Jalandhar or Hoshiarpur is under construction for the past two years and is a nightmare for commuters. The road to Macleod Ganj that is the hot spot for foreign tourists is narrow and in a sorry state.

Similar is the case with other tourist places. The track to famous tourist attraction at Bhagsunag waterfall is poorly maintained. Though the area comes under the Dharamsala municipal council, no facility has been provided near the waterfall. The locals have developed huts at the spot. However, during the tourist season the area gets filled with litter, as no dustbins are available at the spot. Some locals themselves take initiative to clean the area.

Haphazard constructions and dingy surroundings at most of the tourist places also keep tourists away.

The government can explore the tourist potential of the district only with a planned approach. The tourism department along with hoteliers and travel companies should devise a long-term plan for attracting tourists. However, first of all the basic infrastructure has to be put in place.

With the recovery of the body of an unidentified young girl in Parwanoo, fear has once again gripped the area that has the dubious distinction of dumping ground for criminals.

While this is not an isolated case, a decomposed body of another girl was recovered in May, which could not be identified till today. Still worse, a few months back, the Moga police had traced a vehicle used in the execution of a murder near Kasauli.

Notably, the vehicle was used in the murder of an NRI, Jasbir Singh, and his cousin Harpreet Singh in Moga and it was later brought to Kasauli where it was set ablaze. The Kasauli police had registered a case of accident, as it had no evidence to prove what had happened to the dumped vehicle.

In another sensational case, an unidentified semi-nude body of a woman aged between 30 and 35 years was recovered in a highly decomposed condition on the Subathu-Kuthar road in June this year. It appeared that the miscreants had chosen the spot after undertaking a thorough search.

S.P.S. Verma, Solan SP, while expressing concern said, “All SHOs and SDPOs have been directed to keep a check on anti-social elements”.

NH-22 has also been witness to some of the gruesome murders. In 2006-07, at least three bodies were recovered from the Barog area.

Government Boys Senior School, Nurpur, that was initially a high school and came into existence in 1928, is in a sorry state of affairs due to the apathy of the successive state governments.

As the school is housed in a centrally protected monument of old Nurpur fort, its shifting is long overdue, but nobody spared a thought to do the needful.

Despite the fact that scores of senior bureaucrats and politicians of the area completed their schooling from this institution, nobody seemed serious about the future of the school that has been facing uncertainty. Some part of the temporary roof of school was blown away due to strong winds in April 2007, but it could not be repaired so far even as the roofless classrooms have been putting students to immense hardships.

It is pertinent to mention that the fort premises was notified as centrally protected monument of national importance on December 12, 1909 vide notification number PN 849. Owing to this, the Archaeology Survey of India (ASI) is not allowing the state education department to undertake any expansion, maintenance and repair of the school building.

The local town welfare committee and municipal council president R.K. Mahajan have appealed to Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to provide a new building so that students do not suffer.

According to state archeologist K.C. Norya, due to the enforcement of the Ancient Monuments and Archeology Site and Remains Act, 1958 and 1959, the education department cannot undertake any repair or expansion work.

While rains have damaged 50 per cent crops in Hamirpur district with an estimated loss of Rs 28.67 crore, farmers are finding it hard to bear the loss.

The damage to the crops is so extensive that almost every part of the district has experienced the loss. Badsar, Nadaun and Bhoranj blocks are the worst affected. According to estimates of the agriculture department, crops of maize, pulses, paddy and vegetables are affected the most while all other seasonal crops suffered damages. Crops on 26,579 hectare have been damaged out of which maize stands out at 25,000 hectare.

A farmer from the Rangas area, Raj Kumar said, “Our mainstay crops, maize and paddy, have been damaged and now we are looking for the government to help.”

Vegetable growers of the district are also feeling the pinch. Kamal Pathania, a progressive farmer from Rohvine Patta under the Bhoranj block, says excessive rains have damaged crop of capsicum while other vegetables have caught blitus. Farmers are worried as most of the crops are not insured and compensation according to relief manual would be meager.

Secretary of state kisan sabha Onkar Shad said, “Claim for only cereal crops is given. There is a need to bring fruits and vegetables under the ambit of crop insurance”.

“There is a flaw in assessing loss as claim is given to farmers if total loss of crop is found in the entire block. It is not a practical approach in this state that has high climatic variations. This stresses the need for making a panchayat as a unit for assessing the loss,” he adds.

Deputy director agriculture A.S. Rana says, “The damage to crop started with the onset of incessant rains during the sowing season due to which around 50 per cent of the crops are damaged. A damage report has been sent to the state government and farmers would be compensated as per relief manual after getting aid from the central government. We are already giving vegetable seeds to farmers on 50 per cent subsidy.”

Principal secretary agriculture and horticulture P.C. Kapoor says crop insurance scheme is already operational in the state and five crops i.e. maize, paddy, wheat, barley and potatoes are covered and soon ginger would also be added.” 

In a collaboration aiming at far-reaching impact and benefits for the industry and more importantly the environment, the CII Northern Region and Coca Cola India have initiated a project named “Conserve” for water conservation and management in Himachal Pradesh. The project was formally inaugurated at a CII session on water conservation organised in Baddi recently.

Dr D. Chakravarty, senior scientist, Central Ground Water Board, states, ”We need to take immediate measures to contain immense pressure on our limited water resources through resource optimisation. To meet the growing requirements of water and to be counted as a development-oriented nation, it is imperative not only to develop new water sources but also conserve, recycle and reuse water wherever possible.”

Expressing his concern, Dr Chakravarty says water will be the world’s scarcest commodity by 2020. “It is a challenging task for governments alone to tackle this problem. It has to be a collective exercise by all i.e. the government, civil society, experts and the private sector, keeping the community at the forefront. Hence a collaborative effort is the need of the hour”.

Rajinder Guleria, former chairman, CII Himachal Pradesh State Council, reiterates that “the active participation of industry in improving water efficiency, controlling its pollution through appropriate mechanisms will contain threats caused by uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources”. Reiterating CII’s commitment to pursue the agenda of water conservation, Guleria says the CII has been endeavouring to conserve water since 1990 and it has remained the key issue of our social agenda, various projects, campaigns, taskforces and proactive measures had been initiated.”

Elucidating Coca Cola India’s philosophy on water conservation, Praveen Aggarwal, general manger, says, “As a responsible corporate we follow the strategy of access to water awareness and conservation. We have undertaken several projects in these areas in partnership with the government, NGOs and industry associations besides gearing up the local community for projects on water stewardship. We are glad to partner CII in creating awareness and sensitising the Indian industry on water conservation in general and rainwater harvesting in particular under the project Conserve.”

Aggarwal says the immediate focus of the project will be on watershed-based co-management of water by industries and local communities and water use efficiency in the industry. “To achieve this, we will generate awareness, organise state-level as well as zonal awareness workshops and conferences, and involve corporate management in the initiatives taken under the project,” he adds.

Some of the most crowded places in the queen of hills will be better illuminated with the installation of the energy-saving high-mast lights. The tourism department has granted Rs 18 lakh to the fund-starved municipal corporation for providing four energy-efficient lights that are being installed by the state electricity board.

Engineers of the board and the officers of the corporation have selected Taka Bench on the Ridge, CTO, Shimla club on the Mall and the main bus stand for the 20-m high mast lights. Each tower will have an array of nine sodium lamps of 800 W each. The towers will have light sensitive sensor-based timers that will switch on and switch off the lights automatically in the morning and evening. Once the high-mast lights become functional, the numerous tubelights installed in the areas covered by the state-of-the-art lights will be removed.

There is also a proposal to install two laser lights as a tourist attraction. The tourism department has agreed to give Rs 10 lakh for the purpose. The corporation has not as yet selected the spots for the lights the main purpose of which is to entertain the tourists.

The municipal corporation has also drawn up a plan to replace the existing streetlights on the Mall from Vidhan Sabha to post office at Chhota Shimla with highly energy-efficient LED (light emitting diode) lights. A proposal has been sent to the bureau of energy enterprise that is likely to provide funds for the project.

The bureau will also carry out energy audit of the building housing the corporation office and necessary improvements to make it a model of energy efficient building.