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Development charges hamper growth in small towns
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Malana youths fast falling into ‘drug trap’
Power projects hit fisheries
vignettes
Boy flees Tibet for an audience with Dalai Lama
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Shadow of swine flu on mountain terrain biking event
Shimla, September 22 The event, introduced in 2005, has been gaining popularity with each passing year and last year there were there were as many as 33 foreign bikers among the total 79 participants. The overall response has been better this year with 90 peddlers confirming participation, only 16 of them foreigners. The Himalayan Adventure Sports and Tourism Promotion Association (HASTPA), which has organising the event to promote environment-friendly adventure tourism, expected the number for foreign bikers to cross 50 in view of the past trend. However, the swine flu scare and, to some extent, the global recession kept a large number of participants away from the event. “Even some of our regular participants from Europe and the USA were forced to miss the event. Consequently, there are only four bikers from the western countries, two from Belgium and one each from the USA and Canada. The maximum number of six foreign cyclists are from neighbouring Nepal”, informs Mohit Sood , president of the association. Billed as the third toughest mountain biking event in the world, next only to the Trans- Alps Challenge (Europe) and Trans Rockies (Canada), MTB Himachal has put the hill state firmly on the international mountain terrain biking map. This will be the fifth edition of the event after which it will be eligible for recognition by the United Cyclae Internationale(UCI). The association is confident of securing recognition for the event which will help attract a large number of professional riders whose participation will have a bearing on their international ranking. Mountain biking is already a popular sport in western countries and the bikers are too keen to cycle through the tough but exciting trans-Himalayan terrain. The UCI certification will add the event in the itinerary of professional riders making Himachal Pradesh an international destination. The bikers will take off from Shimla and after passing through the interior areas of Shimla , Mandi and Kulu districts culminate at Manali on October 4, traversing a distance of 750 km. The route has been altered for the second and third leg to provide the riders a glimpse of the apple belt. The total length of the route this year will be 38 km more than last year’s. The riders will go through more stages of time trials and very tough hike-and- bike sections. The highest elevation of 3223 m will be achieved at the Jalori
pass.
There are long downhills and gruelling uphills, straight stretches and tougher hike-and-bike sections, and also fast-paced gravel roads which will put the riding skills and endurance of both men and machines to a severe test. The total elevation gain will be over 12,000 m. Starting from Shimla bikers will pass through Gumma ,Kiari, Reoghat,Sheelghat, Khara Pathar , Rohru , Tanni Jubbar, Kullu Sarahan, Bahu, Gada Gusaini, Janjhelli and Kulu. The biggest contingent of 19 bikers is from the Army, followed by a 10-member team of the IAF. There are 10 women participants, mostly from Nepal and South India. The total prize money has been increased from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh this year. At present the cyclists have to peddle through large stretches of metalled roads, which takes away some charm of mountain biking. Mohit Sood maintains that the existing 400 km of forest trails could be connected by developing another 200 km of mountain trails to create two MTB circuits, one from Shimla to Manali and the other form Manali to Dharamsala.
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Development charges hamper growth in small towns
Dharamsala, September 22 The department has imposed the development charges of Rs 300 per sq m for getting the land use changed. Hence, Ashok Kumar would have to deposit Rs 12 lakh as development charges to get his 4 kanal land converted to commercial use before even conceiving the project. The investment is too high for the poor farmer as he cannot even get a loan for same and has decided to abandon the project. The uniform development charges is a bane of small landholders, who want to start a new venture. The charges are uniform throughout the state. Whether the land is in commercially viable areas like Shimla and Baddi or smaller towns as Nagrota Bagwan, Mehatpur or Una, the charges are same, hampering development activities in semi-urban and rural areas. The affected persons allege that the charges in many smaller towns are even more than the registered value of land. The government should impose the development charges as a percentage of the registered value of land fixed by the respective deputy commissioner rather than equating all areas. “Equating Shimla or Baddi with smaller urban areas in terms of imposing development charges is illogical and leaves small landholders at the mercy of rich investors who have the capacity of paying huge taxes before conceiving the development projects,” they allege. The government has recently decided to exempt the village areas, adjoining the urban areas, from town and country planning rules. However, the exemption would be limited to just allowing the villagers to build houses on their agricultural land. Senior officials of the town and country planning department said it was the question of revenue as the government would not like to reduce the income of the state keeping in view its current financial situation. However, in case, the government lowers development charges as a percentage of registered value of land, it can increase commercial activity in smaller towns and make for the loss caused due to reduced charges.
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Malana youths fast falling into ‘drug trap’
Kullu/Mandi, September 22 Ramesh, one of the youths, hands over a lighted cigarette to his friends after having two quick puffs in a typical Bollywood underworld don style. And that is where the whole problem starts. The youth of the area is fast falling prey to the “pool culture of drugs”, which has left Malana’s 10-member Parliament worried. “The drug addiction is a big problem as boys don’t listen to any advice,” says Chande Ram, Kardar, Malana Parliament. “They do not work, and take drug, tobacco or tablets from foreigners. The future of Malana is bleak,” say concerned members. These deadly “pools of addiction” have sprouted at many places like Akhara Bazaar, Lower Dhalpur in Kulu, Manali, Kasol, Old Mandi, New Shimla, (phase-III opposite block 9), Sanjauli, Rohru, Dharamsala, Bhagsunag. These are a few havens which have turned into “dens of drug consumption”. “The pool freaks freely indulge in smoking bhang and billiard gambling”, reveal pool freaks, who have managed to come out of the “pool drug trap”. A visit to places where pool is being played is an eye opener. They smell of hash, drugs and smoke. Schoolchildren, who have “pocket money to burn”, bunk schools and converge to these places. They play billiards not for recreation but cash, reveal pool freaks. These misguided youths have also become a constant nuisance for residents. “The pool freaks high on drugs pick up fights with shop-owners. Our children run risk of falling into drug menace,” say members, Residents Welfare Association, New Shimla. The police reveals a ragtag chain of drug touts operated by “local suppliers” in each town swarm the pools catering to demand of the “pool going brats”. They operate touts with smaller amounts just to avoid the action under the NDPS Act as only
commercial quantity is punishable under law, the police says. According to residents in Old Mandi, even some pool operators who themselves are victims allegedly indulge in supplying drug to supplement their income. “Even parties extend till very late in the nights. We complain to the police but all fall on deaf ears,” says Sarita Handa, as Old Mandi counsellor. On the other hand, pool operators, most of them young, claim they run pools as they have no other work to do. “We cannot control youth if they smoke here,” they claim. Residents in Kullu also allege that certain influential operators even play “porn films in video parlour and pools during the day time, leave alone late night hours. The young labourers and schoolchildren are main clients. An unofficial field survey across the state reveal the drug addiction is on the rise even among the rural youth, say experts. Drug suppliers - most of them locals and certain dubious chemists- operate ragtag chain of young touts, who are also consumers, scouting for young victims around schools, pools and dhabhas. “They even offer hitches on bikes to students and induce them into drugs. Even certain suppliers in Mandi town give money to the needy youth,” reveal drug victims. The police feigns ignorance, saying it does not get the specific complaint about the pools and drug suppliers. “We act on complaints but most of the time, police end up catching small tablets or packets from them. Even if the police arrests them they are bailed out as it is not a commercial quantity, which is not punishable under the NDPS Act”, it claims.
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Power projects hit fisheries
Shimla, September 22 It was with the objective of protecting and promoting fisheries, the mainstay of over 10,000 families in the state, that the Fisheries Department undertook an exhaustive study to make this report. The Fisheries Department has identified rivulets in every district which should be completely banned for any power project so that fisheries could be promoted and protected there. The report has been pending with the government even as power projects are being allotted indiscriminately even on smallest water bodies. Even though the government has made it mandatory for power producers to ensure the release of mandatory 15 per cent water whether this condition is being strictly adhered to or not is a question to be looked into. Even though there is a provision that a no-objection certificate (NOC) has to be obtained from the Fisheries Department before a project is allotted the NOC is given without a whimper, invariably under pressure from the highups. As such there is no agency protecting the interest of fisheries even as there is a mad race for setting up power projects, ignoring the environmental hazards and adverse impact it is having on locals. Till date there is only one case of an allotted project being cancelled by the government to protect fisheries. The 3-MW Sanjoin nullah project in Kullu was cancelled by HIMURJA after the Fisheries Department sought its cancellation as it would have practically destroyed the government trout farm at
Patlikuhl. Based on Norwegian technology, the Patlikuhl farm in Kullu has played a major role in promoting trout farming
in the state. There are about 6,000 riverine and 4,000 reservoir fishermen in the state, who are given licences by the Fisheries Department after payment of a nominal amount. Even though there are 10,000 families that are directly dependent on fisheries, an equal number is also engaged in its packing, transportation and selling. Himachal has emerged as the leader in the country as far as the production of the delectable trout is concerned. A large number of farmers have taken to trout farming as it is in great demand in five-star hotels and bog cities. Moreover, it fetches Rs 200 per kg. Efforts of the Fisheries Department to enhance production in the two reservoirs of Pong and Gobind Sagar have also started yielding results. Though a substantial amount of fish seed is consumed by migratory birds at Pong Dam efforts are on to contain the problem. The catch at Gobind Sagar is on the increase as a large number of farmers are earning well from fishing. However, with indiscriminate allotment of power projects, fisheries could be a major casualty as the water discharge in the rivulets gets decreased. The only ray of hope can emerge if the government accepts the proposal of the Fisheries Department for declaring some of the tributaries power project-free.
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vignettes Charlotte Elizabeth was born in Paris in 1817 on a bed that belonged to Pauline Borghese, sister of Napoleon I. She was married to Charles John Canning at the age of 18. Lord Canning was Governor General in India during the ‘War of Independence, 1857’ and guided the administration through ‘the mutiny’ with a firm hand to keep India with the British for another 90 years. Cannings visited Shimla in the April of 1860. They stayed at Barnes Court, the office-cum-residence of the Governor of Himachal Pradesh today, which Charlotte had then properly curtained with chintz. She hated the ‘dry-as-winter’ Shimla where downpours in the monsoon made her nervous. Her Lord also disliked Shimla being too far away from the centre and returned to Kolkata immediately. Charlotte’s desire was: “I should have liked going with C. to Calcutta, and would not in the least have feared the heat, but C. would not for an instant hear of it.” Charles thought it would be too much on her health and planned a tour for her to Kalpa (then Chini) in Kinnaur instead. Coping with bridges made of tree trunks or at times hauling across the Sutlej in a swinging basket on ropes, and being carried away on a ‘sort of reclining chair’ on impossibly narrow and snaking roads, she and her party with two ADCs travelled about 500 km up the mountains to Kalpa in 31 days, making only four halts of a day each in rest houses. She wrote a letter to her mother from there, saying that “certainly mountains on a moderate scale only are pleasanter, these giants are detestable to live amongst.” Wondering at the sagacity of Charles in sending her to Kalpa, she wrote ”for I certainly could hardly have called the roads passable, and I should scarcely advise any of my woman acquaintances to go.” But those were the days when Reverend James Fordyce’s ‘Sermons to Young Women’ and William Kenrick’s ‘The Whole Duty of Woman’ were a must-read for the British women requiring them to be modest and timid and by modesty Kenrick meant “diffidence in voicing an opinion and a low and gentle voice.” She, as per the desire of her husband, spent a few days of June in Kalpa and returned to Kolkata and by July was beside him. Her visit from there to Darjeeling and return acted adversely on her health and she died in her husband’s arms on November 18, 1861. Stunned Canning went pale and gray, walked with a stick in hand in just one day. Charlotte was lowered into grave under casuarinas at Barrackpore. Canning never failed to visit her grave and place wreath and light candles there till he stayed in India. He died in London in 1862 and his bronze equestrian statue was raised in Kolkata but in 1960, it was removed to Barrackpore where it stands even today by the side of the grave of his beloved. “Finally and forever, they are together”, writes Marian Fowler. Bhim Nag, a prominent confectioner of Kolkata, developed the Bangla sweet ‘ledikeni’ (pantua) in honour of Lady Canning.
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Himachal diary The management of the local Convent of Jesus and Mary School turned the inauguration of the new multipurpose hall into a cultural bonanza by organising a series of programmes. The performance which won maximum accolades was the unique one-act play "Manthan Shrishti" involving as many as 190 actors. The play, written and directed by Dayal Prasad, stood out for its strong social message, spiritual content and imaginative use of colourful costumes to bring alive the five elements of nature on stage. The script cleverly wove the elements into a real life story to lift the play from mundane to spiritual plane, vastly enhancing the impact on the viewers. Groups of girls dressed in imaginatively designed dresses made a forceful representation of the elements of nature on the stage as per the requirement with the story built around the life of an abandoned girl. The script made good use of verses from poem "Mrityu ka Sapna", penned by Kunwar Dinesh Singh. Prasad was ably assisted by Dheeraj Raghvanshi in his capacity as assistant director. (See picture) Vigilance probe clears Rana
The alleged 'call girls' episode, which forced BJP leader Rajinder Rana to resign as the chairman of the state media advisory committee, led to much kite flying and all sorts of stories were published in the media. The "media reports" provided much ammunition to the Congress to attack the ruling BJP and it made full use of the opportunity by linking the incident with the "rampant corruption" in environment clearance. The party used it effectively to target ministers and officers close to the ruling setup. For once, it managed to put the ruling party on the defensive. The media persons had a field day as reports giving new twists and turns to the story kept appearing all this while. The incident provided enough grist to the rumour mills, which have kept going even after the Vigilance Department gave a "clean chit" to Rajinder Rana, who had been a close lieutenant of Chief Minister PK Dhumal. It will be interesting to see whether or not the "clean chit" helps Rana to reclaim his post. While putting in his papers Rana had asserted that he had not committed any wrong and he had resigned on moral grounds. He had taken the stepto thwart the nefarious designs of political rivals to malign the government and facilitate a probe into the incident. Now that the inquiry conducted by the seniormost officer of the Vigilance Department has established Rana's innocence, he has a rightful claim for restoration of his status.
Drive against monkeys
The "Kheti Bachao Sangharsh Samiti" has termed programme for mass sterilisation of monkeys as inadequate and urged the government to carry out scientific culling of the simians to save the farmers whose crops were being ruined year after year. It has launched a camping to mobilise public support in favour of its demand for bringing pressure on the government. The samiti points that over the past three years only 8,825 monkeys had been sterilised and even if 20,000 simians were
operated annually it will take at least 12 years to sterilise over 3.17 lakh monkeys and 53,000 langurs in the state. Since the monkeys live for 20 to 30 years the problem would remain for the next three decades. The Forest Department was allowing the killing of monkeys by granting permission to farmers but it was opposed to the culling of the animal. Scientific culling of wild animals to keep their population within manageable limits was a world-wide practice but the government was reluctant to exercise this option for no plausible reason. Besides , allowing export of the semians for biomedical research could also help to an extent in limiting their numbers. The samiti decided to carry out a 100-day intensive campaign from October 26 which will end on "Kisan Divas" on December 23, to build public pressure on the government for carrying out culling and lifting the ban on export of monkeys.
(Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)
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Tourism takes a hit, courtesy govt apathy
Palampur, September 22 Haphazard construction of hotels in Manali, Dalhousie, Shimla, Dharmsala, McLeodganj and other places has given rise to various problems like garbage disposal, contamination of drinking water, pollution and large-scale soil erosion. Despite the fact that there is a vast tourism potential in the state, it is most unfortunate that little has been done in the past 10 years to exploit the same. In most of the towns, the government has failed even to extend municipal limits. Many new hotels coming up in panchayat areas are openly violating norms fixed by the Urban Department. Frequent traffic jams have become a regular feature at Shimla, Manali, McLeodganj, Palampur and Kullu. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal has time and again announced to come out with a “master plan” for the development of tourism in the state, but all has remained confined to the official files. The government has been making promises to provide better amenities to tourists, but in reality nothing has been done. What the tourists actually find in Himachal Pradesh are “corrupt” traffic police officials, costly hotels, poor parking facilities and heavy taxes. Besides, bumpy roads, poor transportation, and expensive food also hurt them. Deteriorating law and order situation is also a matter of concern. Cases of rape, theft and murder have adversely affected the tourism, particularly in the northern parts of the state. In Chintpurni, Jwalamukhi and Kangra alone one dozen cases of murder and rape were reported in the past two years. Almost half dozen dead bodies remain unidentified till date. The victims were tourists from outside the state. Himachal Pradesh matches Switzerland in its scenic beauty and climate. The snowcapped peaks of the majestic Himalayas are a visual treat. Lush green tea gardens, dense forests with pines and deodar trees, river and hills are things of beauty. The state has a long way to go in catching up with states like Kerala, Goa, Haryana, Uttarakhand. Promotion of tourism is essential for the development of the state as the tourism industry can fill the coffers of the state. It is an important revenue earner and a good source of foreign exchange. In past 10 years much stress has been laid on the development of places like Shimla, Manali and Dalhousie as major tourists centres. Himachal Pradesh Tourist Development Corporation - a state government undertaking - has “failed” to deliver goods in the absence of proper planning policies. Increasing political interference in its affairs has made the matters worse.
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Boy flees Tibet for an audience with Dalai Lama
Dharamsala, September 22 "My area is quite far from Lhasa but still many Chinese troops and Chinese authorities just come to our place. When we were protesting last year, they just hit us on our heads with iron rods," Jamyang said. He further revealed that he came by a bus, used by the Chinese authorities, as a stowaway without their knowledge. He mentioned that his other motive to come here was to get better education and also to have an audience with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetans.
— ANI
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