Palampur, March 31
The deteriorating law and order situation in this region has caused serious concern among the local residents here. It seems that the police is fast losing its grip on anti-social elements. There has been a sharp increase in murder, rape and theft cases.

Besides, the incidents of other minor crimes have also gone up here in the past few months. Over 12 cases of theft were reported from Palampur, Baijnath, Maranda, Jaisinghpur and the adjoining rural areas in the past two months. But in most of the cases the police failed to trace the culprits. Last week, in the heart of the Palampur town, electronics goods worth Rs 85,000 were stolen, but till today, the police has not arrested anyone.

Likewise, cases of murder have also gone up. Last month, a youth was brutally murdered in Dheera 30 km from here, where he had gone to participate in a marriage party. In another case, a woman was murdered in Baijnath last week. Recently, a dead body of Chemel Devi, an employee in the IPH Department at Alampur, was recovered from a forest.

In the Baijnath area, the tension was brewing between Tibetan and locals for the past 10 days. Though the police had arrested a number of persons in this case, still the local residents alleged that the police had adopted a soft approach for the Tibetans, thereby giving free hand to the Tibetans to harass the locals. The local residents had also staged dharna in this regard at Dharmshala and lodged their protest before the Deputy Commissioner.

Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that most of the police stations in the region are in bad shape. The buildings of the police stations have already lived their life and needed immediate replacement. These police stations also have inadequate police force, causing delay in attending the public complaints.

There has been manifold increase in the population in this bordering district of the state during the past 10 years. The crime graph has also gone up accordingly. But the government has not made efforts to enhance the police force accordingly. Despite the repeated reminders by the senior police officers, the state government had not increased the budget allocations for the Police Department. Even the police had no sufficient budget for the purchase of the day-to-day use items in the police stations.

No one bothers to look into these basic problems, which are directly linked with the efficiency of the police force and checking the law and order situation.

Political interference in the functioning of the police has further made the matters worst. Even the director-general of the police cannot shift the SSP, ASP or DIG. In such cases, the DGP needed political clearance, which adversely affects the smooth functioning of this law and order maintaining agency.Likewise the posting of the SHOs and DSPs, who play vital role in maintaining the law and order are also made on the recommendation of the Chief Minister or ministers, ignoring the opinion of the district police chiefs.

The frequent transfer of the district police chiefs in the past few years is also one of the important factors for the deteriorating law and order situation. In the past few years, many police chiefs were shifted, keeping in view the suitability of the local political leaders. These police chiefs failed to complete their prescribed tenure at one station. Even at present the police officers feel insecure as any minister could get them shifted at any moment, if they failed to toe their lines.

Solan, March 31
Though touted as the educational hub of the state with three universities, as many as four private colleges having various professional courses, including engineering, B.Pharmacy, MBA, law, B.Ed, etc., the lack of security in hostels in the district has put a question mark over their functioning.

A survey conducted by The Tribune has revealed that the security of the students, even the girls, studying in these colleges is at the mercy of a guard or two. The guards ,too, do not perform their duty with diligence. This can be ascertained from the fact that some time ago, two students belonging to Kullu district, who had procured admission at one such private engineering college, were so much harassed by the seniors that they had to withdraw themselves from the college and seek admission elsewhere. The parents of these two students who met this correspondent rued that the seniors entered and left the hostel at odd hours at night and had little fear of any authority. Though the college administration did suspend the erring students for some time when the parents of the aggrieved students approached the media, they were taken back after some time.

The security of the girls at the same college was left to the mercy of an inexperienced warden who had no experience to perform this demanding job. The hostel which was operating from a private building adjoining the college had little security and any outsider could easily enter the rooms exposing the lax attitude of the college management.

In yet another engineering college of the district, a male official was designated as the warden of the girls hostel and he was seen not only moving in and out of the hostel but was also seen entering the rooms unannounced. This issue was emphatically raised by the girls through an agitation after which some cursory changes were brought about.

In yet another girls hostel of a private college located near Baddi, a similar practice of an inexperienced warden looking after the hostel had generated heat some time ago. While there was not adequate security arrangement, the girls were usually on their own.

While all these colleges were located in the far-flung areas which were located away from the towns it allowed these colleges to operate amidst these glaring security concerns. Almost all professional colleges have witnessed student outbursts at the shoddy security and hostel managements in the past few months.

However, barring some minor changes no major modifications have been brought about in these colleges.

Kullu, March 31
A case of alleged misuse of funds deposited under the CAT plan to protect environment and ecology has come to the fore.

Abhishek Rai, president of the Himalayan Environment Protection Society, an NGO, has alleged that the money meant for protecting environment in the affected areas is being misused by the authorities.

Abhishek said the issuance of clearance of projects affecting forests and environment was a sensitive matter. While the state government and the central agencies gave conditional clearance to the hydroelectricity projects, the agencies involved in maintaining the environment and protecting ecology took it for granted.

He said the state-level environment impact and assessment and monitoring committee was formed to survey the damage due to the ongoing hydroelectricity projects in the state and accord clearance after directing the project managements to make provision of Rs 6,808.77 lakh for environment management and community development.

The amount thus deposited was not only misused but also spent at a snail’s pace for the protection of the environment. In Kullu, the NHPC had deposited Rs 115.65 lakh with the forest department from 2002 to 2005, out of which only Rs 20.169 lakh was utilised till March 2005, as per the environment monitoring committee.

It is learnt that out of the total amount of Rs 2,568.92

lakh that was deposited in installments by the NHPC for its stage-II project, only Rs 190.64 lakh was utilised by the forest department under the CAT plan.

The department had also spent Rs 50.48 lakh on buying two Ambassador cars, three jeeps, four zerox machines, 10 computers, 11 printers and one laptop.

A sum of Rs 15.40 crore was earmarked for the conservation of flora and fauna. An amount of Rs 593.33 lakh was released to the conservator of forests (Great Himalayan National Park situated in Kullu district) in installments up to December 2006. The project had also provided vehicles and equipments worth Rs 32.47 lakh to the forest department.

The project had also released Rs 575 lakh for the conservation of endangered species, out of which the department had utilised Rs 253.80 lakh only.

Abhishek also alleged that the CAT plan funds amounting to Rs 6,73,37,095 were spent for buying vehicles, camera, laptops, LCD projectors, EPABX system and water coolers.

According to him, the need of the hour is to constitute an agency to assess the total availability of hydroelectricity potential, minerals and drinking water sources in the state and ensure protection of the natural wealth.

Shimla, March 31
The sprawling Mandi parliamentary constituency has been the favourite battlefield of the “rajas” who have held sway over the electorate till date.

There have been only two occasions in the electoral history of the country’s second largest parliamentary constituency when no candidate from the erstwhile ruling families was in the fray. In fact, the constituency has been represented by erstwhile rulers all through since 1952, except on four occasions.

It was for the first time in 1984 elections when no candidate with “blue blood” was in the arena. With Virbhadra Singh taking over as Chief Minister, the Congress pushed a reluctant Sukh Ram into the arena, while the BJP opted for a non-gazetted employees’ leader Madhukar. Sukh Ram emerged victorious. The 1996 polls witnessed a similar scenario with Sukh Ram, the then telecom minister, defeating a non-gazetted employees’ leader, Adan Singh, who contested as the BJP candidate.

The Janata wave of 1977 saw a commoner, Ganga Singh, trouncing former ruler Virbhadra Singh for the first time. However, he held the seat only for a short while as the 1980 mid-term polls provided early opportunity to the “raja” to avenge his defeat. It was only former telecom minister Sukh Ram who kept the “royalties” at bay for three terms winning the 1984, 1991 and 1996 Lok Sabha elections.

Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur won the first ever Lok Sabha elections in 1952, from what was then called the Mandi-Mahasu constituency. The ruler of erstwhile princely state of Saket, Joginder Sen, emerged victorious in 1957, while his son Lalit Sen bagged the seat in 1962. Virbhadra Singh also made his electoral debut in the same elections winning from the Mahasu seat. The same story was repeated in the 1967 elections when the number of seats in the state was increased from four to six following the merger of hill areas of Punjab.

After delimitation, the number of constituencies was again reduced to four, forcing Virbhadra Singh to shift to Mandi in the 1971 elections as Mahasu was merged with Shimla, which was reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. Virbhadra Singh won the seat easily. However, the monopoly of erstwhile rulers was broken for the first time in 1977 when Virbhadra Singh lost to Ganga Singh.

The seat has gone back to the former rajas with the exit of Sukh Ram, who was forced to quit national politics in the wake of telecom purchase scam. Sukh Ram had entered the fray as HVC candidate in 1998, while both the BJP and the Congress fielding candidates from erstwhile ruling families. However, he retired in the favour of BJP candidate Maheshwar Singh as the BJP and the HVC formed the coalition government in the state. His support proved decisive as Maheshwar Singh defeated Pratibha Singh, wife of Virbhadra Singh, who had entered the electoral arena for the first time.

Riding the Kargil wave Maheshwar Singh again emerged victorious in 1999, defeating Kaul Singh. However, Pratibha Singh had her revenge in 2004, when she humbled Maheshwar Singh to wrest the seat from the BJP.

With Pratibha Singh declining to contest Virbhadra Singh is back in the field contesting Lok Sabha elections for the sixth time. He has won on four occasions and lost only once, in 1977, when the Congress was swept away by the Janata wave from the entire northern region.

A battle royal is on the cards again as the BJP has again opted for Maheshwar Singh who has won the seat thrice.

The present Vice-President of India, Prof Hamid Ansari, had studied in St Edward’s School during 1949-51 to do the sixth and seventh standards. His colleagues recall that he was good both in studies and sports - athletics and hockey.

The school, with a long list of illuminating alumni, is located in historical Milsington Estate by the circular road. It is surprising that Edward Buck’s “Simla - Past and Present” published in 1902, has no mention of Milsington whereas archives show that the first ever letter was written from the house on the 11th May, 1887, to the municipal committee (MC) seeking sanction for building a tennis court.

Saint G. Gore on October 10, 1891, had sought permission to have another tennis court here and then Reverend Father Paul Hughes wanted a temporary closet; Reverend Father Pascal Doely had written subsequent letters from Ripon Place to the MC. In all probability, the first building from the west side gate is old Milsington, of course, rejuvenated from time to time.

A note in a file reads, “The owner of Milsington is Archbishop of Simla and correspondence regarding the estate is done with the secretary of His Grace.” It was in the late 19th century or in the beginning of the 20th that St. Michael’s School for boys by Capuchin Fathers of Agra Archdiocese was started at Milsington.

The Capuchins, together with the Jesuits, were the most effective preachers and missionaries of the 16th and 17th centuries and they found their foothold in Agra through Din-e-Elahi of Akbar when he welcomed Christian priests in his court. Shimla was separated from the Agra Diocese in 1910, and the school was closed. The demand for a catholic school for boys was raised by the public of Shimla and the Archbishop, who stayed at Eaglemount near St. Bede’s, invited Irish Christian Brothers for establishing a school at Milsington.

Brother JC Doheny, as the founder principal of St. Edward’s School, wrote the first letter on December 3, 1924, from Eaglemount itself requesting WJ Litster, secretary, MC, for rebuilding work in Milsington. The sanction was given on the 22nd and soon the construction was completed.

The medical officer, Maj JRD Webb, inspected the school in 1926, and gave the report that the day school started in the earlier part of 1925 (March 9) was excellently situated on the sunny side of Simla and had a strength of 91 boys; enjoyed the facility of a well-constructed lavatory; classrooms were properly lighted and ventilated and the general sanitation condition of the school was good. About the composition of the students in two prestigious schools - Bishop Cotton and St. Edward’s - Nigel Collett in his novel “The Butcher of Amritsar’ writes that during the times Reginald Dyer was studying at BCS, the children of civil servants and rich commercial class were admitted there and those of Army officers were in St. Edward’s.

St. Edward’s also functioned as boarding school from 1932 to 1948, the year in which the board facilities were withdrawn. The four-storeyed building for the boarding house was designed by AA Rozalla, civil engineer, and the contract for the construction was given to Hulasa Ram. The stone-laying ceremony was done by AEJ Kenealy, the Archbishop in July 1931. The second entrance on the east side was opened in 1945 on the plea that the rickshaws would come up to the school.

Principal DA O’Callaghan applied for the construction of a gymnasium plus hall in 1945, and went on leave for 11 months to Eire. The hall was raised at a cost and made functional in August 1947, but the MC found it “not according to the plan”. The Principal, on his return, apologised and pleaded in December 1947, for compounding the case. The case was closed on June 2, 1948, with compounding charges of Rs 10 imposed on the school.

The Christian Brothers ran the school for 60 years and then handed it over to the Shimla-Chandigarh Education Society in 1984, under the Bishop of this diocese.

The school affiliated to the ICSE has senior secondary classes since 1998, and has restarted the pre-primary class since 2001. Reverend Father John Bosco, the present Principal, and the dedicated staff are making best efforts to provide smart educational facilities to the young-ones of Shimla.

Dalhousuie, March 31
Dalhousie,one of the most attractive tourist resorts of the state, continues to suffer environmental degradation on account of encroachments upon forestland coupled with haphazard and indiscriminate construction activity.

The wooded slopes at different points in the hill town can be seen littered with polythene bags and garbage. Lopping in the municipal council forests, faulty garbage management, improper drainage and throwing of debris have resulted in critical forest groves, requiring immediate steps to rectify the situation. In fact, a thorough probe into the encroachments upon the forest cover can uncover startling facts.

The clandestine drying up of green trees is a slur on the wooded Dalhousie hills which provide livelihood to a number of people engaged directly or indirectly in the tourism industry.

Taking into account the state of affairs, the approval of handing over of the municipal forests to the state forest department was granted by the state government in May 2007, although the implementation of the order is still under way, reveals Anil Vaidya, divisional forest officer, Dalhousie.

Though the Himachal Pradesh Town and Country Planning Act and the building byelaws of the Dalhousie Municipal Council are stringent in themselves, the lack of implementation has created an environment of uncertainty in the town.

Incomplete structures, and heaps of sand and gavel everywhere have spoiled the urban scene.

Rules and regulations are being flouted in order to satisfy the selfish desires of those who have the power and skill to manipulate.

On one hand, mindless construction activity has dotted the entire town and on the other, there are not sufficient facilities to accommodate visitors and tourists.

Except a hotel owned by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC), the government does not seem to be much worried about raising sufficient structures to accommodate tourists.

In order to conserve the ecology of the Dalhousie hills nestled on the northern end of the mighty Dhauladhars, it is essential to thwart the unscrupulous plans of the urban managers who are indulged in undoing the past and creating a new contrast.

Open spaces in forests are being used as dumping grounds.

Untreated liquid and solid wastes cause enormous damage to the environment. After a little spell of rain, nullahs and streams get filled with garbage due to which drinking water sources at the lower level get contaminated.

Nevertheless, the state government has drawn up a draft heritage report on Dalhousie, which is awaiting clearance.

Chamba, March 31
A two-day seminar on the “History, art and culture of Chamba” organised in the sacred memory of late Dr Rita Sharma of Chamba by the Chamba Shilpa Parishad, a local organisation, concluded here in the Bhuri Singh Museum recently.

A curator of epigraphy, numismatics (coins) and jewellery at the National Museum in New Delhi, Dr Rita Sharma was killed in a train accident near Mathura last year.

Eminent historian, writer and educationist of the state Harish Chandra Sharma inaugurated the seminar. Renowned poet, writer and editor of ‘Vipasha’, a Hindi magazine of the state’s Art and Culture Department, Tulsi Raman eulogised the efforts put in by the Chamba Shilpa parishad for holding such literary-cultural events in this historic hill town that is rich in distinct pahari art, craft and culture.

Noted environmentalist Kulbhushan Upmanyu gave presentation of his research paper during the seminar on the flora and fauna, Rajesh Chahdak on ‘bhot and bhatoris’ in Pangi, DS Deval on the old kothis of Chamba, Arun Bharti on the Bhuri Singh museum, DP Malhotra on the Ravi River, Devinder Puri on te gujjar tribals, Umesh Thakur on the ‘harnatar’ folk drama, Ravinder Ranpatia on the ‘goon- surya’ idol and other inscriptions in the village, Harish Chandra Sharma on the wall paintings in Chamba and Darshan Singh Verman on the Chamba cuisine.

A galaxy of scholars and historians from the Bhattiyat, Bharmour, Pangi and Churah regions of Chamba district and also from Shimla participated in the seminar. Harish Chandra Sharma honoured the scholars by presenting ‘ang vastram’.

The bickering and squabbling in Congress over the candidate selection from the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat has virtually spilled on to the road the manner in which both the senior party leaders as well as workers are roughing it out.

Even as the party high command decided on the name of Madan Lal, angry party workers, who were supporting the candidature of Narinder Thakur, son of former BJP stalwart Jagdev Thakur, took out their anger at those who opposed him.

What has irked the party men most is the fact that none of the elected MLA’s from Hamirpur criticised PK Dhumal or his son Anurag and it is only Narinder Thakur who launched an aggressive campaign against the chief minister, raising several questions. “When our own Congress leaders are hand in glove with Dhumal and are protecting his interests, what could be more demoralising for the workers,” said a leader.

Shimla, March 31
Even as parties profess their commitment towards women’s cause, there is not even a single woman candidate who has so far been fielded by the BJP and the Congress in Himachal despite the fact that the number of male and female voters in the state is almost equal.

The added attraction of having a woman candidate would be missing from the elections in Himachal as not even a single woman has been fielded by the two main players for the four Lok Sabha seats of Mandi, Shimla, Hamirpur and Kangra. The lone sitting MP, Pratibha Singh, who represented Mandi in Parliament is not contesting this time as she herself opted out of the fray for personal reasons. Instead, her husband and former chief minister Virbhadra Singh has been fielded by the Congress from Mandi against another erstwhile ruler from Kulu, Maheshwar Singh.

Interestingly, another former MP and minister, Chandresh Kumari, who earlier represented Kangra in Parliament, shifted to Jodhpur from where she basically belongs. She had lost the last assembly elections from Dharamshala . Married into the family of the erstwhile rulers of Kangra, this time she headed back home to Jodhpur hoping to get advantage from the fact that she is a direct descendant of the erstwhile rulers of Jodhpur in Rajasthan.

The ruling BJP which has made a provision in the party constitution to provide 33 per cent organisational posts for women has also not fielded any woman. The story is no different in the Congress which too pledges its commitment for reservation for women but when it comes to fielding them, winnability becomes the guiding principle.

Though the Congress has its former Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) chief, Viplove Thakur in the Rajya Sabha, but no lady seems to be making it to the Lok Sabha from Himachal this time. In the past, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur though hailing from Punjab was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Mandi-Mahasu seat in 1952 and was a minister in the Nehru cabinet. Later, Mahender Kaur and Usha Malhotra were members of the Rajya Sabha from Himachal.

“In case there was a potential woman candidate, who stood a fair chance of winning we would have certainly fielded her but there was no such contender”, says BJP chief Jai Ram Thakur. He denies that the BJP has just done lip service to women’s cause by giving them 33 per cent posts in the party but shied away from fielding them in the polls.

The Congress on the other hand is on a relatively safe wicket as far as giving women a fair chance is concerned. “Under our norms to give the ticket to all the sitting MPs, Pratibha Singh would have qualified but she herself expressed desire not to contest,” says state Congress chief Kaul Singh Thakur. He is quick to add that the Congress still has a woman as Rajya Sabha MP.

Hamirpur, March 31
Though providing good medical facilities has been set as one of the top priorities of the Himachal Pradesh government, how this would be achieved baffles many since the health department has appointed only three physiotherapists to cater to a population of over 60 lakh .

At present, only three physiotherapists are working for the entire state at Shimla, Mandi and Hamirpur government hospitals and even state- run Rajinder Prasad Medical College, Tanda, does not have a physiotherapist .

Sources say a physiotherapist was appointed at Tanda on a contract basis some time ago,but later he was also shown the door.

Appointments of physiotherapists, who play an important role in the treatment of patients through physical exercises, are essential as per norms.

Experts in the field say:“Physiotherapy is important for the treatment of patients suffering from spondylosis, knee ailments and having suffered a fracture and the patients from medicine, surgery and orthopedic departments are referred to this department for physiotherapy”.

The state government had taken a decision a few months ago to fill the posts of physiotherapists in government hospitals, but the matter is hanging fire.

Three physiotherapists working at present have to attend to a large number of patients from throughout the state and are reported to be overburdened.

Director, health services,Sulakshna Puri says “the matter is under the consideration of the state government and nine more physiotherapists would be appointed soon and every district would have at least one physiotherapist.”