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Residents oppose power project at religious site
NIFT’s bamboo structures illustrate eco-friendly housing
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Erratic monsoon fails to mitigate drought impact
Vignettes Himachal youth makes mark in Bollywood
State pharma industry Encroachments removed in Kangra
Himachal diary
Project improves economic condition of hill people
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Residents oppose power project at religious site
Shimla, September 1 Reacting strongly against the insensitivity towards the religious and cultural sentiments, the villagers have demanded that all such sacred sites must be declared “eco-sensitive sacred zones” so that people can continue performing the rituals. Resolutions have been dispatched to the Chief Minister by the affected panchayats demanding that prior to sanctioning of all such projects, obtaining an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) of the cultural heritage of the community must be made mandatory. It has been suggested that the Department of Language, Art and Culture must be made responsible for making this EIA with inputs and assistance of the local panchayat and an authentic NGO. It is not just the site of the Jogini waterfall which has become disputed, but in many other parts of the state, too, the trouble has been brewing as the locals have been ruing the indiscriminate allotment of mini and micro-hydel projects by the government, ignoring their interest. In some cases, people have tried to physically stop the work as they are not willing to let their tradition and rituals be ruined in this mad race for hydropower generation. The Jogini waterfalls are basically the sacred bathing place for “Joginis” who are believed to be the unwed daughters of Lord Indra. It is on the first of Baisakh that the locals bring their children for their first tonsure here above the Bashisht village. “Public hearings by the HP Pollution Control and Environment Protection Board in my experience have shown glaring examples of forcing them in favour of the project proprietors so there is an urgent need for a stronger mechanism which can help protect the rights of people,” says BS Malhans, convenor of the HP State Chapter of INTACH. He says INTACH, too, will take up the cause of the villagers as it affects their socio-cultural rights. The villagers have even threatened to take the matter to the court in case the government does not come to their rescue. They are already facing a police case for trying to forcibly stop the work when they discovered that the project had been allotted at the sacred site. “We cannot remain mute spectators to such insensitivity of the government which has no respect for the sentiments of the locals,” says pradhan of one of the panchayats. He says besides taking it up with the government they intend taking the battle to the court. Other villagers, too, say they are not opposed to coming up of power projects as long as it does not infringe on the socio-cultural life and religious sentiments of people. The panchayats who are signatory to the resolution include Halan-I, Shalin, Manali, Baran, Katrain, Duara, Halan-II, Nathan, Nagar, Soyal, Karja, Gojara, Jagatsukh, Badagraon, Prini, Bashisht, Buruwah, Goshal and Palchan.
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NIFT’s bamboo structures illustrate eco-friendly housing
Dharamsala, September 1 The NIFT campus has come up in the Cheb area, near Kangra. The institute was handed over the hostel complex of Kangra Polytechnic College. However, NIFT authorities had to start classes from this year and the building was neither equipped nor adequate for the purpose. For this, NIFT sought help of the National Bamboo Mission authorities, which have brought up pre-fragmented bamboo structures that now house an administrative block and classrooms of the institute. The wooden structures have waterproof tin roof that synchronises with the surrounding hill landscape. Principal of the institute Dinesh Kumar Rangara said the bamboo structures had been treated for termite. “They are long lasting. The pre-fabricated structures can be easily shifted to alternative places,” he added. Rangara said the structures were serving the purpose of accommodation for classes and the administrative wing. “We would put them to alternative use after a permanent building comes up here.” The Indian Institute of Himalayan Bio-Resource Technology (IHBT), a centre of the Centre for scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in Palampur, has been trying to popularise bamboo plantation in the state. The idea is to develop bamboo-based industry and provide employment to local farmers. Experts at the IHBT said China had developed its bamboo industry and its products were being exported to many countries. In India, the union agricultural ministry had launched the National Bamboo Mission with the same idea, they added. However, the ban on the felling of green trees in the state has hindered the mission’s programme here. Farmers are not ready to grow bamboo even on their wasteland as they are of the view that they would not be able to put it to commercial use. Moreover, to develop the bamboo industry, special varieties are required to be brought in the area. Besides, centres for training farmers in bamboo craft are also required. The technology to produce bamboo products is not yet available. Products such as bamboo tiles, which are presently being imported from China, can help in promoting agro-based industry in the state. Presently, only the IHBT has developed the technology to produce charcoal from bamboo. The institute is now studying the possibility of producing activated charcoal from bamboo that can be used in the industry. The technology would then be transferred to interested entrepreneurs.
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Erratic monsoon fails to mitigate drought impact
Shimla, September 1 However, the greenery is rather deceptive and only for visual delight. The scanty rain brought by a weak monsoon came too late to revive the kharif crop which suffered an extensive damage due to the prolonged dry spell being experienced since the last winter. Worse, the apple crop, the mainstay of the state’s economy, has also been severely affected as the region did not receive much snow during the winter. The total loss on account of damage to agriculture and horticulture crops has been estimated at Rs 872 crore. Maize and vegetables are the main casualties, accounting for most of the crop loss in the agriculture sector. The state is likely to fall far short of the foodgrain production target of 16.50 lakh tonne set for the 2009-10. The overall deficiency of rain was as high as 72 per cent
in June, which came down to 58 per cent in July and 52 per cent in August. Consequently, all 12 districts of the state were declared drought-hit. A central team will visit the state to assess the damage from September 2 to 5. In fact, the weak and highly inconsistent monsoon added to the woes of the farmers who sowed their fields twice as there was no germination due to lack of moisture in the first instance. However, the strategy did not work and the second effort also turned out to be a futile exercise in most parts of the state. The small and marginal farmers, who comprise 85 per cent of the farming community, are in dire straits as most of them will not have enough foodgrains even for their own consumption. The impact is more severe as the rabi crop was also hit by the dry spell, though to a lesser extent. In all, 18,000 hectare could not be sown as a result of which the total production was only 4.5 lakh tonne as against the target of 7.25 lakh tonne. The situation has turned worse during the kharif season and as much as 42,000 hectare has been left unsown, out of which over 30,000 hectare pertains to maize, which has suffered more than 50 per cent damage, except in Una district. Director of Agriculture J.C.Rana apprehends that the total maize production may not cross the 5.25 lakh tonne mark against the target of 6.8 lakh tonne. Almost 80 per cent of the vegetable crops have been affected and the damage is over 60 per cent. The total production will be around 3.5 lakh tonne against the target of 6 lakh tonne. In case of paddy, the situation was slightly better as the impact of drought was limited to rainfed areas which account for 45 per cent of the total area of 80,000 hectare under the crop. The total production was likely to come down to around 75,000 tonne from the targeted 1.2 lakh tonne.The apple production was projected at 1.50 crore standard boxes, down more than 1 crore boxes from the last year’s output of 2.56 crore boxes. The focus was now on saving the ensuing rabi crop by advancing sowing by 30 to 45 days. Normally, the crop is sown from the middle of November, but to take advantage of delayed rain, the farmers have been advised to sow wheat by the end of September. Rana informs that his department has arranged 74,000 quintals of wheat seeds against the normal requirement of 50,000 quintals since the rabi crop was severely affected by the dry spell in many areas and farmers did not have seed for sowing. An additional 10,000 quintals has been kept in reserve just in case re-sowing was required because of unfavourable weather conditions. Besides, 2560 water supply schemes out of the total 8135 were affected in the state.
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Vignettes There is one thing common in Singapore and Shimla, besides the letter ‘S’ with which their names start. It is jinirickshaw - it came to Singapore on February 16, 1880, the year in which it started running in Shimla too. Jiniricksahw in Japanese means “man-powered carriage”, and in Shimla, it was “four man-powered vehicle” different from that in the plains where a single person pulls it. The privileged owner of the first rickshaw in Shimla was Reverend J. Fordyce, a chaplain of St. Mark’s Church. It was 9-ft long, including the shaft, 4 ft in breadth and weighed about 150 kg. These were the normal dimensions of a rickshaw with its weight varying between 117 and 162 kg. Rickshaws and coolies pulling these displayed the status of the riders. The town’s aristocracy used to have red rosettes on their rickshaws, which meant a pass for special entrance to any function of the Viceroy. Others who had white rosettes were restricted to using the common entrance. But the occupants of both used to get pleasure from the feeling that they were favoured inhabitants of the country and were far above the ordinary citizens. That was when Indians were slaves and Britons were the rulers. Is the same feeling not there today among the occupants of the flagged and red-light cars? Rickshaw coolies - five in number, four to pull the rickshaw and the fifth one as reliever for the one who got tired - were barefoot runners, but pleasantly uniformed above with coat over the chests which hid their burnt up lungs. No doubt, quite a few had ended their runs and life with pulmonary diseases. It was the privilege of the Viceroy to use scarlet colour for his coolies. A Scot had his coolies in kilts. An English gentleman had two uniforms of different colours for the coolies - one for the evening and one for the daytime. Among the families in Shimla, there was a sort of competition for most elegantly turned out rickshaw coolies. These coolies were “inhuman” toys for the owners of the rickshaws. No wonder, a savage kick by Mansel-Playdell, Controller of the Army Canteen Board, resulted in the death of a rickshaw coolie, Jageshar, in 1925. Mansel-Playdell was sentenced to 18 months’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 4,000. Later, he committed suicide in jail. Pamela Kanwar has given the details of this case in her book “Imperial Simla”. The rickshaw that was without tyres in the beginning gradually improved and Doz in 1903 had beautifully worded this transformation “an iron wheeled atrocity that used to shake and bump you fearfully” became “a very well got-up and well upholstered invalid-chair arrangement on wheels”. Shimla rickshaw is a museum piece today. It faded out of the town in 1980 when the Himachal Pradesh High Court in 1968 ordered on humanitarian grounds that no further licences would be given to these man-powered carriages.
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Himachal youth makes mark in Bollywood
Nurpur, September 1 He is the first young man belonging to the state who at the age of of 22 went to Mumbai and joined Bollywood. Rahat,the grandson of Congress stalwart Sat Mahajan, and son of state Congress general secretary Ajay Mahajan is a product of Lawrence School, Sanawar, in Himachal Pradesh and successfully worked as assistant director- cum- chief researcher for the recently released Hindi film, “Kaminey”.He is now post- production head of the film. He is also an associate videographer to the Australian documentary filmmaker and actor Oliver Cole. Rahat has also produced 20 documentary films highlighting various social causes.He is writer, editor, director and photographer of the documentaries. Rahat told this reporter over phone from Mumbai that that he was just an instrument of the universe, a miniscule source of its expression and a wave in the ocean.
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State pharma industry
Solan, September 1 Though the area has earned the sobriquet of being the pharmaceutical hub of Asia after nearly 400 pharmaceutical units started their operations here, quality control has become an issue of concern. The pharmaceutical units are spread across BBN, Poanta Sahib, Kala Amb, Parwanoo and Solan and the situation is similar in all these areas. Though there are ample cases where drugs manufactured here were found lacking in quality, neither the manufacturers nor the authorities ever agreed that the problem has assumed an alarming proportion. This first-hand experience by none other than the country’s Health Minister during his maiden visit to Kasauli recently has brought this issue to the forefront once again. A well-equipped laboratory is must to ensure that the drug samples are ably tested and quality control is maintained. But with the state’s lone Composite Testing Laboratory in Kandaghat lacking even a regular analyst for the past almost four-and-a-half years, there is little one can expect from it. Worse still, the newly created microbiology laboratory is caught in the official mesh of not being handed over. Hence, no testing can be initiated there. Interestingly, there is no microbiologist who can conduct the tests even if the lab is handed over. This facility is essential for testing injections and capsules. The drugs are, therefore, not tested at all. The quality control of drugs is further dependent on effective monitoring in the pharmaceutical units. But with the state government failing to post adequate staff in the BBN area, which houses a majority of the units, the regulation has remained a far cry. The situation in the field is equally pitiable. A single drug inspector posted in each industrial area is supposed to undertake works like regulation, monitoring over retail chemists and even surprise visits. The state has barely 10 drug inspectors, although as per the findings of a taskforce formed under the Mashelkar Commiittee, constituted to help improve the healthcare, there should be one inspector for every 25 manufacturing units. Little has been done to strengthen the basic infrastructure since 2003 when the pharmaceutical units made an advent in the state. Expressing concern over the appalling state of affairs, the union minister has announced the opening of a separate authority for the BBN area that would help maintain the quality control. However, it remains to be seen how soon will this facility be set up. Meanwhile, director of the newly created Health Safety and Regulation Directorate Rakesh Kanwar, while agreeing to the lack of staff in the drugs department, said an exercise was underway to restructure the department where adequate staff would be made available. He said the government was serious about sorting out these problems and no compromise would be allowed on quality. He added that they were in the process of reengineering the entire department, keeping in mind the requisite staff vis-à-vis the number of manufacturing units in the state. “Care would also be taken to streamline official procedures where no undue delays would be allowed”. Regarding the lack of staff in the Composite Testing Lab, he said technically qualified people were reluctant to join the government sector as the salaries in the private sector were far higher. Hence, it was difficult for them to find qualified people for the post of government analyst. He further added that the taking over of the lab was delayed due to some internal problems, but directions had been issued to take over the lab. On the issue of the non-availability of a microbiologist, he said this aspect would also be addressed soon.
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Encroachments removed in Kangra
Kangra, September 1 Encroachments on the Temple Road, Main Market, College Road, Dharamshala Road, outside the general bus stand and other parts of the town have not only become a traffic hazard, but also threat to the lives of pedestrians. The HP Roadside Land Control Act, too, is being violated on both sides of the national highway and the other highways. The authorities here to avoid the frequent traffic jams in the town constructed road dividers two months ago on the entire National Highway-88, popularly known as the Dharamshala Road, but with the passing of time, the authorities succumbed to pressure of influential businessmen of the town and removed the dividers near their business centres. These dividers, however, remained in force where common businessmen were running their shops. These dividers helped in curbing the traffic jams but added to the threat to the lives of pedestrians who had no space to move with encroachments on both sides of the highway. SDM LR Negi, DSP Jeet Singh, along with executive officer, local Municipal Committee, Sanjay Kumar, and the National Highway Authorities held a joint operation recently to remove the illegal encroachments made by shopkeepers on both sides of the Dharamshala Road. The authorities with the police contingent removed the encroachments and even persuaded the encroachers to remove them on their own within 24 hours. The drive continued for a few days and even the police challaned some shopkeepers and fined some of them. Some rehries were removed from the Tehsil Chowk area and outside the Civil Hospital, but the authorities, however, could not make any dent in removing permanent encroachments made on the roads of the town by some powerful people. The authorities succeeded in getting the encroached area cleared from the occupation of an unauthorised taxi stand opposite the Head Post Office with an assurance that taxies would be accommodated in the local private parking lots. This taxi stand was a major traffic hazard in the town along the National Highway-88. The local residents, particularly senior citizens, have lauded the efforts of the authorities in removing the encroachments and streamlining the traffic. They hoped that the drive would continue.
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Himachal diary
Film units have been shooting on the historic Ridge with the landmark 160-year-old Christ Church in the background. Now, with the restoration of the top storeys of the Gaiety Theatre, which were dismantled in 1912 for safety reasons, there are two grand edifices separated by a short distance. The unit will be in the state capital for about three weeks during which scenes will be shot at British Resort, Spring Field and other places. A major portion of the ghost story with Riya Sen and the upcoming actor Addie in the lead roles has been shot in an old fort at Arki near here. It is the debut film of Addie, son of Bhagat, who introduced Salman Khan in his film in 1988. Ashutosh Rana is the other important character in the film, who is playing the role of a police inspector. (See picture) Politicians’ wives to the fore
The bypoll to the Assembly seats of Jawali and Rohru is all set to be a dynastic affair. The two seats fell vacant after sitting MLAs Rajan Sushant and Virbhadra Singh were elected to the Lok Sabha. Both of them have been
pursing the candidature of their wives from the seats. Sushant’s wife, Sudha Sharma has been moving around in the Jawali constituency for the past quite some time and it appears that the party may finally give her the ticket. Union Minister of Steel Virbhadra Singh, during his visit to the state, made it a point to tour the Rohru constituency. He held a series of corner meetings and also announced relief for the victims of a recent fire incident. Although the Dhumal government had registered a case against both Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh, the latter is considered to be the best bet for the Congress. The last two years has seen kin of a number of established politicians entering the political arena. They include Anurag Thakur, elder son of Dhumal, Ajay Mahajan, son of veteran Congress leader Sat Mahajan, Neeraj Bharati, son of former minister Chander Kumar and Nikhil Rajour, bother of Viplove Thakur.
Govt employees want more
It seems that there is no end to the demands of government employees. No sooner the government accepts one set of demands, they come out with another charter of demands. The state government has announced its decision to implement the recommendations of the 5th Punjab Pay Commission and the employees are happy as there salaries will be hiked by as much as 27 per cent. Various employees’ bodies are coming forward to thank the government. Press releases are being issued by one employee organisation or the other, hailing the decision. At the same time, they do not forget to put forward new demands. Union leaders concede that they have got a good hike but they have to come up with more demands in the game of one-upmanship with the rival unions. Even otherwise there is no harm in hankering for more financial gains if the government is willing to oblige. Whatever be the logic, it seems the employees have been inspired too much by the slogan, “Yeh Dil Mange More”. (Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)
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Project improves economic condition of hill people
Hamirpur, September 1 These changes have been noted by the baseline survey conducted by the bank under the Mid- Himalayan Watershed project undertaken in the state. The most notable change has been reported in the economic condition of people by increase in the per capita income of the state. Himachal Pradesh, which was known as one of the most backward states of the country at the time of Independence, had very low per capita income as there were limited sources of income in this hilly terrain. As per the survey, the state now has the second lowest poverty rate in the country with a large number of people crossing the poverty line with sustained economic growth. According to the survey, the income in the state has crossed $800 per capita which is even higher than the national average. Since land holdings in the state are quite low, improving agricultural yield through water conservation and irrigation facilities gave impetus to better production and improvement in the economy of the hill people. According to the World Bank report, after implementation of the watershed project, the average household income has increased by 50 per cent; crop yields by 75 per cent and crop diversity, too, has improved from one to two and three to four crops. The project’s greatest achievement lies in ensuring sustainable management of land and water resources while enhancing the livelihood of rural inhabitants. Self-help groups, mahila mandals and panchayats have also participated in several programmes in a big way under the project and several of them have also won the cash prizes.
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Restored to its old glory and shape, the majestic Gaiety Theatre is a new centre of attraction for Bollywood producers. Impressed by the imposing structure, well-known film producer Suresh Bhagat decided to shoot some of the scenes for his latest venture “Jenifer” on the Ridge with the building in the backdrop. Some of the scenes were shot during night with the slate-roofed structure illuminated with floodlights.