|
|
|
|
Pharmaceutical units in residential areas despite ban
Sex ratio improves, but infant mortality a concern
Student politics hots up in Hamirpur
|
|
|
vignettes
Mandi residents urge govt to expedite dam project
Delay in handing over indoor sports stadium to SAI
Son turns artist’s dream into reality
Himachal diary
A colloquium on water conservation organised by the CII in Shimla.
Bridge embankment washed away
Tribune Adalat
Letter
|
|
Pharmaceutical units in residential areas despite ban
Solan, July 28 Out of the nearly 35 units, which are spread along Deonghat, Kather bypass, Rajgarh Road, Solan-Oachghat Road, a majority of them are located in the thickly populated residential areas. What has raised the concern of everyone is the tragic fire incident of Khera near Baddi where a fire in an air conditioning manufacturing unit claimed as many as nine lives. While it was found that fire safety norms were blatantly ignored there, fire officials here, too, are not convinced so far as fire safety norms in these units are concerned. An official on condition of anonymity said he had not received a single fire safety inspection case here in the past several months. With the state government having no clear instructions to seek fire certification before a unit initiated its operations, it was observed that the units conveniently bypassed this crucial measure. This has put a question mark over the safety of people living in the neighbourhood of such units. Though the issue has been raised several times, the administration has failed to initiate any steps till now. On several occasions, blasts have occurred in such units where the surrounding structures, too, have been shaken with the blast. Interestingly, pharma units are supposed to leave as much as 50 per cent space for maintaining green space and the floor area is proportional to the total space. In contrast, these units have conveniently bypassed these crucial norms. With the use of hazardous chemicals and equipments, which maintain high temperatures, the safety of residents living in the vicinity has become a moot question. Though the state government did wake up after the Khera incident, little appears to have been done in this direction to even get these units to seek a fire certification. The fire official while expressing concern said merely three to four of the total 35 units have sought a fire certification, which, too, was not in sync with their norms. He added that though the deputy commissioner has sought a report on this aspect and had directed all units to obtain an NOC, the response was not very forthcoming. Though each such unit was supposed to seek a proper fire certification at the time of initiating their operations, the compliance on this account was totally missing. These units operate from rented buildings and little onus was borne by the unit managements who were always in a haste to begin production activities. What was needed was a strict direction from the government to make the fire certification mandatory at the time of seeking other NOCs as the units on their own had failed to understand their social responsibility and if no lessons could be learnt after the tragic death of nine persons at Khera, then it was time for the government to crack the whip.
|
|
Sex ratio improves, but infant mortality a concern
Shimla, July 28 What is even more disturbing is the fact that while the sex ratio is positive in the tribal and more interior parts, the urban areas having a high literacy rate are showing low births of girls or their poor survival. Kamla Nehru Hospital, the sole mother-child hospital in the state located in Shimla, confirmed this negative trend during the last one year, as out of the total 4,534 live births, 2,384 were boys while the number of girls contrary to normal trend was 2,150. Basantpur, barely 50 km from the state capital, has earned the ignominy of being among the five blocks having the lowest sex ratio in the state where literacy level even among women is pretty high. The most literate districts of the state, Hamirpur and Kangra, have the worst sex ratio indicators as Sujanpur block has a sex ratio of 777, Bhoranj - 788, Baijnath - 799, Basantpur - 783 and Kumarsain - 801 in Shimla district. On the other hand, the remote and tribal areas have a positive sex ratio with Pangi in Chamba topping the list with a figure of 1,154, followed by Spiti - 1082, Pooh - 1077, Nirmand - 1065, Tissa - 1049, Pachaad - 1027, Sulah - 1025 and Banjar - 1017. The fact that accessibility and affordability of getting an ultrasound done for people of tribal and remote areas is less could possibly be one reason for the sex ratio being positive in practically all tribal and interior parts of the hill state. The districts sharing extensive boundaries with other states like Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand are registering very low birth rate of girls. The 0 to 6 years sex ratio during 2001 census for Kangra was 836, Hamirpur - 850, Una - 837, Solan - 900, Bilaspur - 882, Mandi - 918, Sirmaur - 934, Shimla - 929, Chamba - 955, Kullu - 960, Lahaul Spiti - 961 and Kinnuar - 979. “There is no denying that the overall sex ratio has improved but the fact that the IMR for girls has increased when it is a medically and historically proven fact that girls are stronger and have better chances of survival, we need to look for reasons for this disturbing trend,” opines Deepak Sanan, principal secretary (health). Interestingly, while the total number of registered ultrasound machines in the government health institutes in the state is 78, this figure is almost double at 146 in the private sector. The highest concentration of these machines is in Kangra (55), followed by Shimla (36) and Solan (26). As per civil registration, births between 2001 and 2007, the average for Kangra is 827, Hamirpur - 834, Una - 851, Bilaspur - 858, Solan - 884 and Mandi - 894. The average for the entire state during these seven years has worked out to be 875. In the previous census conducted in 1991, the 0 to 6 years sex ratio in Himachal was 951. Between the last decade till 2001, 10 out of 12 districts slipped into having a negative sex ratio like most other states in North India. Special efforts are now being made to improve the sex ratio by way of stringent laws and creating social awareness to change the mindset of people, who despite good literacy exhibit clears preference for a male child.
|
|
Student politics hots up in Hamirpur
Hamirpur, July 28 Every year, after the start of a new session during July and August, student politics attains the centre stage in almost every educational institution. In fact, the reason behind the sudden spurt in such activities is the preparation for the student body’s poll,
which is generally held during August. Since every student organisation wants to take lead in wooing new students and maintain their hold on the old students, they not only organise different activities but also adopt every method, including strong-arm tactics, to do this. While dharnas and raising slogans against the authorities are common, gherao of college principals and other officials are also becoming routine. But things become quite serious when students owing allegiance to these organisations become violent, leading to group clashes in educational institutes. Though student organisations claim that they protest in the favour of the genuine demands of the student community, there are many who say all these agitations are launched to gain the sympathy of students and votes in the Student Central Association (SCA) elections”. Leaders of three leading student organisations, the National Student Union of India (NSUI), Student Federation of India (SFI) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), claim to raise the genuine demands of the students. They blame each other for the trouble and also justify taking recourse to violence. The issue has been debated at various levels and Lyndoh committee recommendation in this regard has proved effective to some extent, but the larger issue of violence still needs to be resolved for which student organisations should come forward for an amicable solution. An awareness campaign among the student community could also play a significant role in containing violence on the campuses.
|
|
|
vignettes
The spur of the lower Himalayas at 7,000 feet had the town of Shimla that gave shelter to a majority of Europeans serving government and military hierarchies of British India. Emily Eden wrote in her diary in 1839, “… we 105 Europeans being surrounded by at least 3,000 mountaineers, who, wrapped up in their hill blankets, looked on at what we call our polite amusements, and bowed to the ground if a European came near them. I sometimes wonder they do not cut all our heads off and say nothing more about it”.
She was all praise for “pahari” honesty and simplicity. At least 170 years have passed since then. In today’s world, the Himachali traditional value-system is mostly intact as is described by an 18-year-old Tamil boy who alighted from a bus at Hamirpur on a dark and cold midnight with a packet of money as fee for the National Institute of Technology (NIT) that he was to join there.He knew neither the place where he had to go nor a person living there or a word of Hindi and was almost lost in the bus stop when a woman co-passenger offered him a stay at her home for the night. The boy, who was taught all his life not to trust a stranger, was in a dilemma but followed her helplessly. He was warmly treated and the woman’s husband left him at the NIT in the morning and returned only after ensuring his safety. A majority of small town or rural Himachalis would do the same. The boy lived in the state for four years and through the web expressed his gratitude to the people of Himachal from whom he had learnt to have faith in the basic goodness of human nature. The story moves further when a disbeliever commented that the whole episode appeared cooked up and fictional. The tale becomes interesting with a reply of another Tamil boy who, too, had studied at the NIT. He writes, “I would like to add that the people in Hamirpur and Himachal Pradesh in general are the best I have ever seen in the world - kind, friendly, warm-hearted, generous, etc. I could use a thousand adjectives”. Kangna Ranaut, an actor, said in a recent interview, “I hail from Himachal Pradesh and its people are overly courteous and affable”. Edward Buck writes about the people of higher reaches: “… smiling and pleased at everything, ever ready for any amount of conversation or food, they are great favourite with the mountaineers of the lower ranges; and indeed they have many amiable and lovable qualities. They are eminently truthful, honest, chaste, easily amused, easily satisfied, sociable, and of great physical endurance.” Quotes Captain Kennedy in 1835 for “Simla under British Protection”, “Where there is so little crime, it may be inferred that the morality of the inhabitants is the cause; certain it is that there is less falsehood and theft (among the “paharis” of the Simla hills) than in any quarter of Asia. There is a degree of simplicity, too, amongst these people ... that induces an idea of a certain degree of morality existing”. James Fraser, one of the first British travellers in the region, spoke admiringly of the inhabitants of the highlands as modest, able, and hard-working peasants, and he judged them superior in many respects to his own Scottish highland countrymen. The latest sociocultural survey of the states of India assesses the Himachalis as having simple faiths, primitive beliefs and myths difficult to fathom. It adds crime rate in the state is very low showing God-fearing nature of the inhabitants and their belief that a man’s acts in the present life gets recorded in the heaven and the import of good against the bad eventually decides their next birth.
|
|
Mandi residents urge govt to expedite dam project
Mandi, July 28 As per the proposal, the HPSEB would prepare an estimate for the dam project with the state government agreeing to fund 50 per cent of the cost and the rest to be met by the BBMB or other sources. The then Congress government had given its approval to the project, but it fell on the sidelines with the change of the government. The project aims at not only reviving the ecology of the town, but also boosting tourism and restoring the riparian rights of the residents. The BBMB has been claming to release 15 per cent of water inflow downstream the BSL’s Pandoh reservoir after the state government made it mandatory for all hydropower projects. But the BSL project has already destroyed the ecology of Mandi, located 17 km downstream, as it has been releasing mounds of silt from the Pandoh reservoir over the years that have been piling up along the embankments of the Beas that runs right through the middle of this ancient town. Ever since the BBMB constructed the BSL project, Mandi residents are getting nothing but silt ejected from the Pandoh dam downstream in the Beas, said residents, adding that even the bathing “ghats”, which used to be a unique feature of the daily life of the town, had been destroyed by silt. “The average temperature of the town has increased as there is virtually no water in the river, making life miserable for the residents,” they complained. The Citizens’ Council Mandi (CCM) has taken up the matter of the construction of a weir or dam downstream the town at various forums, but the government has been sleeping over the matter. Once the water level is maintained in the Beas, ecology will be restored and the dam can be tapped for water sports and recreation, the residents said. PC Bisht, a former president of the council, said the Mandi MP and Union Steel Minister, Virbhadra Singh, had promised that he would expedite the project, but the board remained mum. YN Vaidya, president of the CCM, said they had been demanding the construction of a dam downstream with funds pooled by the BBMB, state and the central governments for the past four years, but nothing concrete had emerged out. “The dam will restore the ecology of the town, besides promoting tourism,” he said. The council has also freshly taken up the issue with Virbhadra Singh so that funds are allotted to start the work. The BBMB has, however, maintained that it has not received any proposal. The silt is released during rains so that it is washed away along with the river flow, it claimed.
|
|
Delay in handing over indoor sports stadium to SAI
Dharamsala, July 28 The sources said though the stadium was inaugurated by the politicians about 2 years ago, it was still not opened for the sportspersons. The reason was that the state agency executing the project, Housefed, wanted to put in wooden flooring in the stadium. The SAI coaches when contacted by The Tribune admitted that they were facing problems due to non-functioning indoor stadium. They said in the SAI centre 80 sportswomen, who had represented the state in various national and international-level competitions, were getting training. The centre here was providing training in hockey, volleyball, athletics, and gymnastics sports. In the stadium there are facilities for volleyball, athletics, gymnastics and physical training. Even if the wooden flooring is not put, the present concrete floor is good enough for carrying out practice session. “However, despite our repeated requests the authorities concerned are not handing over the building to us,” said the sources. A visit to the locked indoor stadium revealed that due to delay in handing over the stadium is taking a toll over developed infrastructure. Despite the fact that the stadium is yet to be handed over to SAI the windows and other wooden work have started deteriorating. The termites have attacked the wooden work of the stadium and destroyed it at many places. Since there is no upkeep of the stadium and it has been lying locked for the past more than two years, the nature’s forces are taking toll over the stadium. The SAI authorities said if the stadium was handed over them they could take care of regular maintenance of the stadium. If the constructing agency kept on delaying the handover for installing wooden floor it might take another two years for the completion of process. This might deteriorate the other facilities that had already been installed in the stadium.
|
|
Son turns artist’s dream into reality
Shimla, July 28 Nestled amidst pine-scented forests close to the Chadwick Fall on the outskirts of the city, the art gallery is a part of the Shimla Art Centre where creative persons from various fields will be able to spend time in the lap of nature and come up with refreshing works to enrich the world of art and literature. Versatility has been Sanat’s forte and he is not only one of the finest artists the country has produced, but also a highly creative sculptor and a forceful poet. His vision has not been confined to an art gallery where his works could be displayed. He always had the larger “canvas of creativity” in view and dreamt of a place where artists, sculptors, writers and all others creative persons could come together and work. Him has done exactly that. Besides two art galleries, the Centre has rooms for writers and artists to stay and a professional art studio where at least 12 artists could work together. In the second phase, a unique art cafe will be set up to provide a suitable place for creative persons to relax and have interaction. One of the galleries has already been completed in which works of some eminent artists have been displayed. It has a rich collection of contemporary art from late Kalighat paintings to the works of contemporary artists such as Shayam Sharma of Patna, Baldev Gambhir from Amritsar and Damami from Udaipur. In all, the gallery has more than 1,500 art works, including sculptures. However, the prized possessions are the original works of Rabindranath Tagore, Nandlal Bose, Asit Kumar Halder and a few rare photographs of Bengal School. Some personal belongings of Tagore like his armchair and original painting brushes have also been displayed. It is not all about “father and son” and “their works”. The objective is to bring into existence a vibrant institution to nurture and harness the creative energies of artistic and literary geniuses, says Him. No gallery could be spacious enough for the works of Sanat who has lived an exceptionally energetic life as an artist with over 10,000 paintings and 1,100 sculptures to his credit. He specialises in long paintings and holds the distinction of making some of the world's longest paintings, including the 100ft x 11ft scroll on silk wash which earned him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Some of his gigantic paintings may find place for display in the second gallery, his son is quite hopeful. The Centre will be managed by the Shimla Art Foundation (SAF) which will be conducting a host of art-related activities, international and national seminars and workshops. It will emerge as the second art tourism destination in the hill state after Naggar in Kullu, famous for the Roerich art gallery in due course. The SAF also plans to introduce a postgraduate fellowship for the most brilliant student shortly. Sanat could not set up the art centre he envisioned all through his life, though his three-storeyed house in Lucknow virtually served as a one. It was a treasure house of the precious works of art most of which have now been brought to Shimla to their new home. He is ecstatic, but even more relieved that his valuable possessions have found a “safe and secure” home. After the brain stroke, he is in no position to take long travels to Lucknow and he has been concerned about the safety of his treasure of art. His joy knew no bounds when famous poet-lyricist Gulzar, one of the first visitors to his art gallery, appreciated the efforts and expressed his desire to spend some time in idyllic settings. “It is good to breathe in the colours of nature and create colours on the canvas. An artiste’s creation is greater than Him. He only ordered a tree to grow up, an artist really creates it,” Gulzar wrote in the visitor’s book. The only drawback is that the road to Chadwick Fall from the Summer Hill is in bad shape. It’s quite surprising as Chadwick Fall is one of the major tourist spot of the city which finds prominent mention in every brochure brought out by the government agencies.
|
|
Himachal diary The initiative taken by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in collaboration with Coke India Limited to create awareness and educate the hotel industry about the need to conserve water turned out to be a wasteful exercise as only a handful of hoteliers attended the event. The CII had invited about 150 hoteliers for the colloquium on water conservation and just 40 of them confirmed participation, but only 10 turned up. The organisers rued their decision to shift the event, originally scheduled to be held in Chandigarh, to Shimla. The event was shifted in view of the water problem in the hills where the hotel industry was among those sectors affected by the shortage of water. Interestingly, government officers participated in full strength and even chief guest Mohinder Singh, Urban Development Minister, also arrived in time and addressed the gathering. The emphasis of the experts was on adopting measures like rooftop water harvesting and recycling of water to reduce overall consumption. They expressed concern over the receding glaciers and underlined the need for undertaking large-scale afforestation programme to halt the process of climate change. The hills are going to be the worst hit by the climate change as water sources would dry up and the rainfall pattern would get disturbed as already evident from the uncertain monsoon. Consumers in dilemma
The prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed over the past few weeks leaving the consumers baffled and clueless about whom to blame for it. During the run-up to the recent Parliament elections, two major political parties, the BJP and the Congress, kept blaming each other and promise to control the prices if voted to power at the Centre. However, now nobody is talking about controlling the price. Both the parties are at the helm at the Centre and the state, respectively, controlling the prices of essential commodities seems to be nobody’s priority. Interestingly, people are more confused what to do and whom to blame but they are paying through their noses every time they visit the market to buy the daily necessities.
Plan to revive fair price shops
The Food and Civil Department has thought of an innovative idea to help unemployed, ex-servicemen and differently abled persons in the state. It has decided to burden them with loss-making fair price shops of the department. Breaking the news at Dharamsala, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ramesh Dhawala said the department had decided to close down 135 loss-making fair-price shops being run by the department. The employees working in these shops would be absorbed in the department. In order to help the unemployed persons in the state, the government has decided to hand over these outlets to them. Interestingly, there is a little margin in the commodities sold through the fair price shops. These days, the state government is supplying low-cost foodgrain items to the residents thorough these shops. In these items, meagre margin is offered to those running the shops. The government runs fair price shops that are making losses are generally located in the remote rural or the tribal areas. (Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi, DP Gupta and Lalit Mohan)
|
|
Bridge embankment washed away
Nurpur, July 28 The NH authorities have diverted the traffic through the Kandwal- Bhadroya link road. According to T.C. Kaundal, SDO, NH, Nurpur division, the chances of restoring traffic on the Pathankot- Mandi NH 20 through this diversion bridge in the current rainy season are remote.
|
|
If you have a grievance against a public utility, or if you have a complaint about any dealing with a public servant, in a government office, bank, finance company, post office, insurance company, in a train or at a bus stand… or if your grievance has not been attended to, write to Tribune Adalat, Himachal Plus, The Tribune, Sector 29 C, Chandigarh. Complaints against individuals will not be entertained. Your complaint is our concern and The Tribune offers to suitably highlight it.
|
|
Letter Since May 2009, the common man is facing water shortage in Shimla city. The Himalayan state which is capable of providing electricity and water to the neighbouring states, has not been able to provide water to its own capital. While the common man is suffering, bureaucrats, politicians and the elite class are being provided with regular water supply. The state government had started a pilot project, “Giri water project”, a few years ago. The aim was to harness water from the Giri river and provide it to Shimla city, but due to the selfish interests of various government officials, bureaucrats and politicians, this project was not well implemented. Now, when the common man is suffering who is answerable ? The Municipal Corporation , Shimla,the Department of I&PH or the state government? Vishal Sharma Baru Sahibh
|
|
||
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Solan, July 28
Shimla, July 28
The initiative taken by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in collaboration with Coke India Limited to create awareness and educate the hotel industry about the need to conserve water turned out to be a wasteful exercise as only a handful of hoteliers attended the event.
