Dehradun, September 1
Encouraged by the benign tax holiday regime in Uttarakhand, several pharmaceutical companies have set up manufacturing facilities here, but not many are adhering to quality production practices.

Drugs from at least three companies could not pass drug control regulations of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Several painkillers manufactured by three pharmaceutical companies based in Uttarakhand on being tested at Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu laboratories July were found sub-standard.

The Drug Control Authority in these states had to issue a warning to clinics, hospitals, government and private practitioners not to prescribe Ibru Plus (ibuprofen, paracetamol and magnesium oxide) tablets manufactured at GS Pharmaceuticals, Haridwar, batch No. ST-8280 (ibuprofen, paracetamol and magnesium oxide) produced at Roorkee’s Sun Life Sciences, aspirin (Loprin DS batch No. DLS08001) manufactured by Kalindi Medicare in Selaqui, Dehradun, and Powertex 250 injection (batch No. GM 134) produced by MMG Health Care, Haridwar.

Instead of maintaining a more proactive role, the Drug Controller’s office maintained that as the medicines had been tested outside the state, “we have taken precautionary steps by withdrawing the stocks.

“The defects have been minor. The medicines have to pass through different tests. At times the temperature is not maintained and the medicines are rejected,” explained DD Upreti.

However, the Drugs Controller of Karnataka maintained that the Drug Controller’s office in Uttarakhand had been sent a note on the action taken by them. “We seized the stocks of these companies during random checks and were surprised to discover that the companies in the red were mostly small companies that had set up shop in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand to get excise policy benefits. The manufacturing practices were not up to the mark,” said Dr BR Jagashetty, Karnataka Drugs Controller.

World Health Organisation guidelines say substandard medicines are products whose composition and ingredients do not meet the correct scientific specifications and which are consequently ineffective and often dangerous to the patient.

Substandard products may occur as a result of negligence, human error, insufficient human and financial resources or counterfeiting.

Experts from the pharm industry point out substandard drugs will continue to flood the market if the authorities do not carry out rigorous checks. This includes methods of transportation. Sometimes the refrigeration system in the trucks that are used to transport medicines is faulty.

“Besides, the units located in the excise-free zones are proving to be a major source of substandard drugs. However, there are also stray cases of well-known companies using the services of a third party producing substandard drugs. Lack of monitoring and quality checks at various stages at times can prove to be counter- productive,” said Dr SC Sharma, Drug Inspector.

Formulations of a substandard drug do not contain the labelled quantity of the active therapeutic ingredient. Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP) prescribes the tolerance limits within which the active ingredient should be present. Counterfeit medicines are part of the broader phenomenon.

The drugs are deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity and/source. Counterfeiting can apply to both branded and generic products and counterfeit medicines may include products with the correct ingredients but fake packaging, the wrong ingredients, sans active ingredients or with insufficient active ingredients.

Recently, The State Drugs Controller conducted raids at a pharmaceutical company based at Selaqui ( Pharma City). Large quantities of expired medicines were seized. It is believed that the company employees were busy putting up new wrappers on the expired medicines with the view to resell them.

“The procedure of booking the companies is tedious. On several occasions companies served notices for producing substandard drugs have managed to get off the hook, simply because the seized sample has been cleared by a non-state laboratory,” explained Upreti.

In wealthier countries, the most frequently counterfeited medicines are new, expensive lifestyle medicines, such as hormones, steroids and anti-histamines. In developing countries the most counterfeited medicines are those used to treat life-threatening conditions such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS

Because of poor regulation, the quality, safety and efficacy of both imported and locally manufactured medicines in developing countries cannot be guaranteed.

Subsequently, smuggling and illegal import of drugs is common.

Substandard and counterfeit drugs are not only sold in these countries but also exported or re-exported. Relabelling of products to mask details of their origin is also known to occur.

“There is no ban on marketing of drugs produced at excise-free zones across the country. But it is the responsibility of the state regulatory body to ensure that quality drugs are sold at pharma outlets.

“This is where good distribution practices come into play. While there are good manufacturing practices and good laboratory practices enforced, good distribution practices need to be mandated at the earliest,” said Dr Jagashetty.

“The governments need to develop strategies to reduce corruption and promote inter-sectoral cooperation among the regulatory authority, police, customs and judiciary to effectively control the drug market,” he added.

Pitthoragarh, September 1
Hilljatra in eastern Kumaon is one of the main festivals which reflects the extreme cultural variety of the hill society. The festival is held during the August-September (This year on September 2).

“The main attraction of HillJatra in Kumaur village where it has been celebrated for the past 200 years is the worship of Lakhiya Bhoot, an incarnation of Lord Shiva.

It is believed an angry Shiva sought to take revenge on his father-in-law Daksh Parjapati when his wife, Parvati, set herself on fire on learning that her beloved husband had been insulted by her father.

Lakhiya Bhoot is worshiped by the villagers for a good crop and sound health. “He is also worshipped by unmarried girls for a happy married life,” says Yaswant Singh Mahar, organiser of HillJatra this year.

“Worshippers wear masks of “Nandi” and wild animals. HillJatra is held on the last day when the idols of Gaura and Maheshwar are immersed. Besides Kumaur village, the festival is celebrated in Bajeti, Balakot, Kanalichina, Askot and some parts of Champawat district.

The influence of the Tibetan mask dance is obvious in the festival. According to legend, the festival has been adopted from IndraJatra and GaiJatra festivals in Nepal’s Kathmandu valley.

“Not only in the Kathmandu valley, mask dances are also played out in Ladakh, and the Lahul-Spiti valley of Himanchal and parts of Arunachal Pradesh.

Dehradun, September 1
In the first-ever initiative that aims to strike a balance between conservation and development, Uttarakhand forest authorities are transplanting mammoth trees that are supposed to be axed for a road-widening project.

As many as 10 trees in Tanda area of Terai Central Forest Division were shifted to other locations when they came in a way of road-widening. Under normal course, these trees would have been axed, but for the intelligent move by Terai Central forest officials, who managed to save them by transplantation. “We have already transplanted 10 trees, including that of Jamun, Semal, Dhak and Sheesham species,” said Parag Madhuker Dhakate, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Tarai Central Forest Division, Haldwani.

He said many more trees marked for felling would be transplanted in the future.

The trees, varying from 20 to 30 years of age, were uprooted along with the roots and relocated through massive cranes as well as JCB machines.

To help the trees get a foothold in the new location, Indole Butyric Acid, a rooting agent, was applied to their base to promote the formation of new roots.

Forest authorities are now hopeful that this method would pave the way for introduction of this conservation initiative in the entire state. “This effort will play a pivotal role in conservation methods for the future,” said Dhakate.

“While such efforts have been undertaken on a routine basis in the West, for Uttarakhand this certainly marks a new beginning,” said Dr Hem Singh Gehlot, a local environmentalist.

While expressing gratitude to TATA Motors for providing the Forest Department with logistic support to carry out the Herculean exercise, Dhakate lauded TATA’s commitment for the cause of environment.

Uttarakhand has been facing a piquant situation in recent times with development coming into direct conflict with conservation and trees have been the biggest sufferers in the process. With the new method in place, one can hope that these mute spectators won’t have to bear the brunt of development initiatives in the future.

Roorkee, September 1
Roorkee is yet to start preparations for the Maha Kumbh, that begins January next. With four months left for the world’s biggest religious congregation, the local authorities are still unsure when the work will start.

Lakhs of pilgrims would pass through this town during the Kumbh. Roads, including national highways, are not wide enough to withstand the pressure of heavy traffic. Failure of the traffic management system during the recent Kanwar festival and Budh Purnima, when thousands of vehicles were stuck in jams for hours corroborates this fact.

Says SP (Rural) Ajay Joshi: “The main issue is widening of roads to handle the heavy flow of traffic during the Kumbh without which it will be well be almost impossible to manage the traffic.”

The local Municipal Board has been waiting for funds from Kumbh authorities to start work in this direction.

“We have sent a proposal to broaden mainly two roads, the Boat Club-Chander Shekhar Azad Chowk Road and the main bazar road along with other preparatory works like installing of streetlights on various city

roads. We have sought a budget of Rs 4 crore from the Kumbh funds for the purpose,” said board chairman Pradeep Batra. What was surprising was the fact that he did not know what the status of the proposal was.

He could not elaborate on the other preparatory works mentioned in the proposal.

“The proposal was put forward six months back. We will start work as soon as we receive the required fundsfrom the Mela Officer,” he said.

A local resident, Naathu Ram, said due to sheer laxity on the part of the civic authorities, residents had been put to much hardship during major
festivals.

“When the authorities know that widening of roads prior to such a large gathering of devotees is a must, Why don’t they initiate the necessary measures in time,” asked a rather annoyed Harsh Pundhir, a student.