Kullu/Mandi, October 13
More than 70 per cent of the waste generated in the Kullu-Manali belt end up in the Beas, reveals a recent survey by scientists of the GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Kullu.

The river has virtually been turned into a dumping ground by construction agencies, local residents and tourists.

The dumping of trash coupled with fish poaching and illegal mining have destroyed trout habitats in the river. On many occasions, the waste material blocks the barrage of the 126 MW Larji project downstream and triggers its shutdown.

In Mandi town, trash and junk litter Sakiodi Khud, which runs along the Suda Mohala, Lower Samkhetar. Residents and contractors dump their waste and debris into the Suketi khud that runs along Mangwani, Lower Bhagwan Mohala and historic Panchvakhtar temple. The waste finally ends up in the Beas at confluence of the Beas and Suketi near Panchvakhtar temple.

During the concluding day of Kullu Dussehra, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal made an appeal to residents, hoteliers and others to check the dumping of waste into the Beas. “Rivers in India used to be worshiped, but today, they have been polluted. It is the duty of each resident to protect environment and save rivers from pollution”, he said.

The Nagar Panchayat, Manali, and municipal councils of Kullu and Mandi have failed miserably to check the dumping of junk and trash into the Beas.

Even the debris generated by the hydro project companies, mainly the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), which is executing the 2051 MW Parbati project find its way into the Beas. The Parbati is a tributary of the Beas and it has been tuned into a “red” river, carrying debris downstream.

Nevertheless, the Manali Nagar Panchayat has set up a waste treatment plant in Manali to take care of the waste produced by over a 1,000 of hotels and guesthouses in the Kullu-Manali tourist circuit. The District Tourism Development Council, Kullu, has given waste bins to stall owners in Marhi, Rohtang and Solang Nala and have entrusted the task of collecting wastes left behind by tourists to local Mahila Mandal.

This initiative by the DTDC has generated a positive response among stall owners. Rohtang and Marhi wear a better look as waste is being collected by the Mahila Mandals. However, councils in Kullu and Manali have yet to make a sustainable effort to collect garbage at source as still a big chunk of it ends up in the Beas between Manali and Kullu.

Kangra, October 13
The town has been lagging in terms of development, thanks to the apathetic attitude of the successive governments.

Even basic amenities like sewerage have been eluding the resident of the town.

On January 17, 2004, the then Chief minister Virbhdra Singh and the then IPH Minister Kaul Singh Thakur laid the foundation stone of the Rs 9.28-crore sewerage scheme with much fanfare in the premises of local polytechnic college. But, nearly six years later, the work is yet to be completed with pipes still not laid in the old Kangra locality and some other parts of the town. Some of the pipes to be used have been dumped on roadsides in the town.

PR Agnihotri, a retired executive engineer, member, Indian Road Congress, and president of the HP Pensioners Association, Kangra, says residents of the town have been suffering due to the callousness of different governments. He says failure to identify sitea for three treatment plants and paucity of funds has delayed the project.

Agnihotri says this scheme has no proper planning. Even the layout plan is yet to be finalised despite half of work being completed, he says, adding that the delay will mean more burden on the state exchequer.

BL Sharma, spokesman for the local Senior Citizens Forum, says pipes were laid in some parts of the town and manholes were dug, but the work was left halfway.

Staff and students living in the premises of Government Polytechnic College, too, resent the installation of the foundation stone within the college premises. They allege that pipes laid in the college have been choked and the construction of manholes has not even started, thus a mess on the campus. They further allege that the roads on the campus which were dug up for laying pipes in August 2007, have not been repaired, putting students and staff to inconvenience.

Principal of the college Sunil Verma says, “We have written a number of times to the IPH department to clear the mess from the college and complete the works, but nothing has been done in this regard”.

Executive engineer of the IPH department Raghuvir Singh says 50 per cent of the work has been completed in the last nearly six years. He says being an urban scheme, it was diverted to the Urban Development department. He says Rs 3 crore was sanctioned for the scheme this year and work on Rs 90-lakh treatment plant project has been started on the Kangra bypass and the work on another treatment plant costing Rs 90 lakh has been awarded which would be constructed near the PWD rest house. The location for the third treatment plant near old Kangra is yet to be finalised. Raghuvir Singh hopes that the scheme would get completed by the end of 2011.

Palampur, October 13
Despite the government spending crores of rupees to provide better health care in the state, the 100-bedded civil hospital here is in a bad shape. Though the government has spent over Rs 10 crore on the new hospital complex, it has no wards to admit patients. The four-storeyed incomplete building was hurriedly inaugurated by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal last month.

It has only OPDs, labs and a conference hall. In the absence of any provision for admission of patients in the new building, the old building of the hospital, constructed in 1985, has failed to meet the requirements. Since there is no space left in the old building to accommodate more patients, over 50 of them have been lying in the verandahs and corridors of the hospital.

This hospital looks after the medical needs of over four lakh patients every year. This hospital lacks most basic amenities. Posts of a number of specialists have been lying vacant for the past year. This is the only health institution in the region comprising Palampur, Baijnath and Jaisinghpur subdivisions, which has the capacity to admit 100 patients. Over 200 to 300 patients visit the hospital daily.

The government upgraded this hospital about 25 years ago, raising the strength of indoor beds to 100 but no efforts have so far been made to enhance the indoor capacity of the hospital till date, causing great hardship to the people. There is no provision in the hospital to attend to emergency cases. Serious cases are mostly referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, or the CMC, Ludhiana, which is very costly and beyond the reach of poor people.

Many times a patient dies for want of medical care. A youth recently brought from the Arla area of this subdivision died because there was none to attend to him in the hospital. Even the doctor on duty did not call the surgeon. The boy died in the way to Ludhiana. Likewise, most accident cases are not attended to in the hospital and referred either to RPS Medical College, Tanda, or Chandigarh.

The sanitary conditions at the hospital are poor. Its bathrooms stink as these are not cleaned regularly. Even general wards of the hospital are in bad shape. Though the hospital has a large number of sweepers, their services are not properly utilised.

The hospital always faces a shortage of medicines, including life-saving drugs, cotton, bandage, x-ray films, bedsheets and blankets. The patients are most of the time asked to buy medicines from the market. Inquiries reveal that doctors prescribe particular brands of medicines that are only available in the market as companies allegedly give them incentives in the shape of cash and kind.

Though the state government has constituted a Rogi Kalyan Samiti in the hospital, which collects funds from patients who undergo operations and other medical checkup in the hospital. In past two years, over Rs 25 lakh was collected by the RKS but most of these funds were spent on the purchase of furniture and other luxurious goods, which amounts to direct misuse of the funds collected from the poor patients.

Kangra Chief Medical Officer Anil Mahajan admitted that there were only 10 doctors in the Palampur Civil Hospital against the sanctioned strength of 16. He says the sanitary arrangement at the hospital is on contract with a private agency.

Shimla, October 13
Watershed development projects are being implemented in the state for the past almost three decades but they have not helped much in raising the economic status of the people as the focus was mainly on checking soil erosion and harvesting rainwater. The numerous water-harvesting structures constructed by the Forest Department made a limited impact as there was no provision for improving farm productivity and enhance the income of the local community. Consequently, the projects failed to achieve the main objective of checking degradation of catchments.

The involvement of the Rural Development Department in the implementation of watershed projects in recent years has led to an integrated approach for sustainable development. However, there were problems as the micro-watershed projects were planned and implemented with the involvement of the local gram sabhas. Since the panchayat bodies did not have the technical know-how to carry out scientific planning, the projects lacked focus and failed to provide a comprehensive approach. The programme has now been revamped and made more comprehensive to provide total livelihood solution by adopting an outcome-based approach. The focus of the programme will be on optimum utilisation of resources for poverty alleviation and its success will now be evaluated on the basis of improvement in farm productivity and income of the community. It will take care of all land use, cropping pattern, organic farming and other related aspects.

The watershed development programme will now be planned at the macro level by technically qualified agencies. The department has already invited expressions of interest for preparing detailed project reports for 91885 hectare rainfed area to be treated under Rs 137.82-crore programme sanctioned last week by the Centre. In all about 10 major projects, one for each district, will be formulated. Each project will cover 5,000 to 8,000 hectares and have a number of sub-projects covering 500 to 1,000 hectares. The detailed project reports will be prepared by selected agencies after visiting the catchments and assessing the available resources and needs of local people.

However, the gram sabhas will have the final word. The detailed project reports prepared by the agencies will be presented to the gram sabhas for approval, points out SK Baldi, principal secretary, rural development. The objective is to ensure that projects are technically sound and lead to sustainable livelihoods to bring prosperity to the people.

The Centre will provide 90 per cent of the funds for the programme and the remaining 10 per cent expenditure will be borne by the state government. The programme will be implemented in Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Kangra, Kinnaur, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmaur and Una. The main aim will be to increase income of people through water conservation, afforestation, agriculture and horticulture development and creation of additional employment opportunities. The Centre has sanctioned Rs 24.81 crore under the programme for the current year.

Hamirpur, October 13
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has chosen Hamirpur district for preparing an action plan for providing sustainable livelihood to rural people in the light of recent climate changes.

ADB member Vidisha Samarsekhara conducted a survey in the district recently and also held meetings with the district administration during her two-day visit.

On the basis of its study, the ADB would suggest strategies for rural development, suggesting new ways to bring about changes in the agricultural pattern with changes occurring in the climate.

Samarsekhara during her interaction with the district administration has laid stress on the judicious use of natural resources which she said was very important for future sustainable development.

She suggested, “We would have to develop strategies for protecting our environment through forest conservation. Through proper management of water sources, we would have to conserve every drop of water by adopting watershed development projects”.

In the light of recent global warming, the ADB is studying the impact of huge traffic rush and industrial growth, which has resulted in adverse changes in the climate.

To meet this challenge at every level, especially areas concerning the livelihood of people, the bank is emphasising on finding ways to minimise its adverse impact on crops.

For this purposes, the ADB is not only studying the loss to crops and vegetation but also working on new strategies to deal with this situation in consonance with local conditions.

The ADB has already helped Sri Lanka in increasing its green cover by adopting forest conservation programmes.

ADB representatives have gathered information from officials of the rural development, irrigation and public health, agriculture, horticulture, forest and fisheries departments about various ongoing projects to focus on the future programmes, especially effort to conserve water and forests. It also studied steps undertaken by the government under its contingency plan to mitigate the losses occurring due to untimely rains and long dry spells effected by climatic changes.

The district administration is hopeful of gaining a lot from this endeavour of the ADB. Hamirpur DC Abhishek Jain said, “Through its study, the bank is aiming to provide us an action plan for sustained livelihood to rural poor on the basis of which we would formulate projects for getting these financed from the ADB.”

Wilfrid Scawen Blunt was a friend of Lord Lytton and married to Anne, grand-daughter of Lord Byron, the poet. Blunt in his book 'Ideas about India' says: "I spent 12 years of my early life in the diplomatic service abroad, where I acquired many friends, whom I still retain, in the official world." Immediately after his marriage in 1869, he left the public service on private grounds. He declared that he was not one of the 'men with a grievance' and so his criticism of the governance in India was genuine and required attention. He travelled a lot and could read the pulse of the land. His essays, first, appeared in the Fortnightly Review and came out in book form in 1885.

He reached Shimla in April, 1879, for an extended visit and was 'a poet and womaniser who outshone Viceroy Lytton in both categories.' He also had his eyes on Edith Lytton and wrote: "Though always a pretty woman she had not, before she went to India, made her beauty fully felt." He knew that she was fully devoted to Lytton but was not displeased when he called her beautiful. Marian Fowler writes in 'Below the Peacock Fan': "Years later, when he was 52, Blunt would try to seduce Edith's daughter, Emily but, like her mother, she would keep her distance".

Personal life aside, he gave telling blows to the governance of the time. He writes from Shimla, "I am disappointed with India, which seems to be just as ill-governed as the rest (of Asia), only with good intentions instead of bad ones, or none at all." Why should starving Hindus pay for a cathedral at Kolkata? he asked. He wrote that the British called the people of India 'natives' who were a race of slaves, frightened, unhappy, and terribly thin.

Criticising the government secretaries and commissioners, he called them fools instead of knaves, and said that the mysteries of Indian finances were such that 'if we go on developing the country at its present rate, the inhabitants will have, sooner or later, to resort to cannibalism, for there will be nothing but each other left them to eat'.

He found the British making enormous palaces of Governors, residences in Shimla and other hills, engaged in banquets and entertainments, had retinue of servants, having dinners of imported delicacies and wines but not giving rice to the natives and noted "they want their rice very badly, as anybody can see by looking at their ribs".

His blunt ultimatum to the British Government was that the natives were capable of governing themselves far better in about a tenth of the expense. He censured the Englishwomen too. "No collector's wife will wear an article of Indian manufacture to save her soul from perdition, and all her furniture, even carpets, must be English made". He thought she was the cause of 'half the bitter feelings there between race and race'. Blunt lived in India for a few weeks but could gauge the reality beyond the British Raj 'Lakshman rekha'.

Solan, October 13
With a view to improving the infrastructure of the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) industrial area, projects worth Rs 122 crore have been submitted to the Centre. This would help give the much-needed boost to the industrial sector.

This was stated by Industries Minister Kishen Kapoor while addressing the delegates on the occasion of a workshop organised by the CII, Himachal Pradesh, on “Competitiveness through innovative Human Resource Practices” at Baddi recently.

Expressing his concern at the haphazard industrial development, the minister said it was lamentable that the existence of a land mafia in the previous Congress tenure had led to unregulated industrial development, but now land banks were being developed which would help develop planned industrial clusters.

He said efforts were afoot to introduce management courses in senior secondary level schools and strengthen technical institutes to provide trained manpower to the industry. He exhorted the industry to lend an equal hand in training the state’s youth following public private partnership approach.

Anil Sehgal, president, CII Himachal, stressed on changing the mindset of the state youth through various innovative human resource practices so as to build a more socially and economically stable state. He also emphasised on soft skill training, including the basic know-how of the industry, to the youth in order to make them employable.

Addressing the delegates, BR Verma, labour commissioner, said efforts were being made by the government to enhance the employability of the youth and provide good working environment through various policies and schemes.

AR Singh, past chairman, CII Himachal Pradesh State Council, while speaking on the occasion highlighted the need for effective and efficient HR practices for optimum utilisation of the talent and potential of the human resources.

The industry delegates while utilising the opportunity to express their grievances said it was unfortunate that while the BBN contributed the maximum revenue to the state exchequer it received a paltry share in the budget allocation for infrastructure development. Issues like lack of subsidised housing, lack of skilled labour availability and poor connectivity were also raised by the delegates on the occasion.

Dharamsala, October 13
The internationally recognised wetland area has started receiving winged visitors. However, this year relatively lesser water in Pong Dam can result in local fishermen and migratory birds becoming adversaries.

The local fishermen and the Department of Fisheries have already been lamenting the damage being caused to fishes by migratory birds, especially great cormorants.

The department has been claiming that great cormorants have been causing extensive damage to fresh water mussels that generate yellow pearls.

However, wildlife officials of the area refute the claim. The senior wildlife officials claimed that they had been serving in the area since long. They had not noticed yellow or any other kind of pearls in the area. About the loss of fishes due to great cormorants, they said over 200 sq km area of Pong Dam reservoir was declared wildlife sanctuary. The claim of migratory birds over fishes in the area could not be disputed, they alleged.

DS Dadwal, wildlife ranger in the area, said ideally fishing should be banned in the wetland area. However, fishing used to be carried out by people in the area before it was declared as wetland or wildlife sanctuary.

“We have to provide people with an alternative source of livelihood before the fishing is banned in the area. Many proposals of providing alternative source of livelihood are under consideration of the government,” he said.

However, sources available here told that the fishing was not allowed legally in the international wetland areas. There was no proper legal framework to impose the law. The action against violators could be taken just under the Wildlife Act or the theft laws. There is a need to frame laws specifically aimed at protecting the wetland areas.

A survey in villages around the wetland area of Pong Dam reveals that many small farmers have turned to fishery. They gather fishes from the lake area and sell it to cooperative societies formed by the Fisheries Department of the state government. Most of them make about Rs 100 to Rs 300 per day depending on the catch they make.

Most of the farmers have abandoned whatever meagre land they have allegedly due to the lack of irrigation facilities and destruction of their crops by wild animals. They are dependent on government or private jobs or fishing for livelihood.

The government can compensate the farmers for growing and maintaining forest on their land that can also provide them alternative source of income. The locals can also be employed as guides for tourists coming to visit the wetland area. However, till date the government has failed to attract many tourists to the area that can provide permanent source of income to the locals. Poor infrastructure, roads and lack of facilities for stay are the basic bottlenecks for developing eco-tourism in the area.

Till they are taken care of, people will continue to be the rivals of wildlife for resources from the wetland area.

Chamba, October 13
Though the Government of India has identified Chamba as the 50th backward district of the country, many elderly citizens of the region hold a different opinion. From their point of view, the district is not backward but under-developed.

The entire district is endowed with rich forest wealth, immense hydro-power potential, vast scope for tourism since time immemorial. The land of this alpine region is fertile and the salubrious climate is best-suited to fruit and crop cultivation. Thus, there is no tangible reason which can substantiate that Chamba is backward.

Evidently, even after 62 year’s of Independence, Chamba is deprived of national highway, rail link, air link, medical college, university, information technology corridor, despite its pollution-free setting and medical herbs.

Churah subdivision of the district, comprising Tissa and Salooni blocks, is among the most backward blocks of the country. It has the lowest literacy percentage. The dropout rate of students is high. As many as 10 primary schools are functioning without teachers while 97 schools are being run by single teacher, officials reveal.

People in the interiors live in shacks made of mire. The mud houses in which the poor people live are without ventilators.

In Churah, the services in 18 health sub-centres are fighting for existence. Four centres have been closed owing to the shortage of paramedical staff.

The area which is inhabited by over a population of 80,000 is covered by these 18 health sub-centres. Due to the dearth of medical staff and doctors in this area, the patients have to trudge more than 30 km from their villages to reach the civil hospitals at Tissa and Salooni.

Deprived of medical care, the residents of the area say the health sub-centres at Khalli, Ladan, Charodi, Lesuie and Gadphari have been locked for the past two years. While the health sub-centres at Ganed, Khushnagri, Gulei, Devikothi, Bhodas, Seikothi, Thanei, Sanwal, Thalli, Bharada, Charda, Deola, Kalel and Dugli are being run by the single employee. The officials have also confirmed the prevailing status of health institutions in the area.

Similarly, Bhattiyat sub-division is also an outlying area lacking lifelines and other basic infrastructure required for the development of the area.

Official sources divulge that though the government has launched ‘Backward Area Sub-plan’ and ‘Rashtriya Sum Vikas Yojna’ for the development of these areas and upliftment of its inhabitants and more than Rs 30 crore is spent on these plans annually, the fate of people still remains to be ameliorated.

The Bhattiyat and Churah Assembly constituencies in the district are still devoided of divisional offices of forest department, IPH, PWD, HPSEB, HRTC Depot and sub-judge court despite persistent demands of the residents of these areas.

Nurpur, October 13
As many as 24 daily wage workers of the Public Works Department (PWD), Nurpur division, who were retrenched in 1990, have been running from pillar to post to seek justice.

The workers, who hail from the Sadwan and Suliali areas of this subdivision, filed petitions in the Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court on September 8, 2005, which were decided on December 22, 2007, whereby the PWD executive engineer was directed to re-engage the workers.

However, the workers rue that they have been visiting the PWD office since then, but they are given no work.

Inquiries reveal that the then state government had retrenched the services of 1,087 daily wagers in the PWD and most of the workers had moved the Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court. Forty-three such workers from Dharampur in Mandi district had also filed their petitions in the court in December 2007, which were decided in April 2009 in their favour. Interestingly, these workers were allowed rejoin their service on September 15.

But in Nurpur division, the 24 workers have been waiting for their joining since long, thanks to the apathy of the PWD. The workers have expressed their resentment over the unprecedented delay in honouring the court orders.

Meanwhile, AK Abrol, executive engineer, clarified that he had written to his higher ups for the sanctioning of posts and as soon as he got the approval, the retrenched workers would be allowed to join their duties.

Kangra, October 13
A controversy has cropped up between Choudary Shrawan Kumar HP Krishi Vesh vidiayalayia-Oil Seed Research Station (OSRS), near Donga Bazaar here, and the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) over the construction of a boundary wall by the former.

The NIFT authorities have approached the subdivisional authorities for intervention.

Dinesh Kumar Rangra, director, NIFT, said the research station was constructing a boundary wall of its office building situated on a road leading to the NIFT complex by encroaching upon the road. He alleged that the boundary wall was practically coming up on the road and would hinder the movement of traffic coming towards the NIFT. He alleged that the wall was extended 3 ft from the building, thus shrinking the road.

Denying the allegation of the NIFT, Dr KS Thakur, scientist, OSRS, said there was no encroachment and the wall was being constructed in accordance with the bio-fencing which was already there from decades. He said the PWD department had damaged the bio-fencing, forcing them to construct the wall.

Dr Thakur said as the traffic on this small link road had gone up manifold because of the coming up of the NIFT, Family Welfare Training Centre and a dharamshala at Chaib and to protect their official building, constructed in 1926, from traffic hazard, the boundary wall was needed. There was no question of restricting traffic movement on the road and there was also no violation.

Kangra SDM LR Negi said he had directed the revenue and PWD authorities to look into the matter. He said he would personally visit the spot to sort out the issue.

Chamba, October 13
Even after 22 years when the post of the District and Sessions Judge was created in Chamba in 1987, the government has failed to raise a permanent residential complex for the incumbent.

Until now, the District and Sessions Judge has been camping on the upper floor of a century-old forest rest house, which is a rented accommodation. The frequent stay and movement of strangers at the rest house is common. Thus, the accommodation is not suitable for a Sessions Judge from the security point of view.

Moreover, the rest house faces traffic nuisance because of its being located along the Chamba-Pathankot highway. Besides, a sewerage treatment unit is located at a short distance, which emits foul smell, polluting the atmosphere in the vicinity.

Chamba, October 13
On an average 870 persons are killed and 5,000 injured in road accidents annually in the state. Suitable preventive measures are required to be taken and policy needs to be formulated accordingly. The number of road accidents is increasing at an unprecedented rate.

Enquiries made by this reporter from different quarters, including police department officials engaged in traffic regulation, reveal that the SPs are so busy with their crime investigations, prevention and law and order problems that they hardly find any time to pay the required attention towards the management of traffic. Traffic congestion has increased manifold owing to the automobile revolution in the country.

“In general, it has been observed that traffic is the low-priority area of the district police. If we are able to improve the traffic situation and reduce the number of road accidents resulting in casualties, it will definitely speak high about the working of the government,” a senior police official said.

Many states have a separate traffic wing of the state police, parallel to the district police. This wing is responsible for traffic management, enforcement of traffic laws, parking places and improvement of the accident-prone areas in consultation with the engineering authorities. If traffic management is good and the traffic laws are enforced strictly, it would be a great public convenience, he added.

In the state, a large number of road accidents are the result of traffic violations and poor enforcement of the traffic laws owing to the reason that there is no proper supervision on the meagre staff detailed for traffic management.

Presently, the Tourist Traffic and Railway (TTR) wing of the state police is in existence at the state police headquarters, with a DSP, an additional SP and an assistant IGP who are confined to the office only. A DIG, TTR, is at present supervising the regulation of traffic through the district SP.

The phrase, “One can’t serve two masters”, fits the situation. Therefore, there is a strong need to separate the traffic police from the district police. It would be proper if an officer of the rank of the DSP is made in charge of the traffic police staff at the district level, who in turn be put under the control of the SP (traffic) posted at the range level. And in order of the administration, the SP (traffic) may report to the DIG (traffic).

There is no dearth of police officers in the state Department of Police. The only thing needed is the internal management of the police staff. And it is high time this exercise of setting up an independent wing of the traffic police can be done at the level of the DGP to cope with the haphazard traffic problem arising out of rapid increase in the number of vehicles all around.

The General Post Office(GPO) wears a new look following its renovation and modernisation under "Project Arrow" launched by the Department of Posts to establish India Post as a brand name.

The 126-year-old building has shed its green looks after being painted in "post office red" and "white" as prescribed under the project. Apart from the new colours scheme the post offices covered under the project will also have a new insignia. It is one of 37 post offices to be modernised in the region.

Senior superintendent of post offices Nirmal Singh said the programme was not limited to facelift and modernisation but also on improving service efficiency. All mail received at an Project Arrow post office would be delivered the same day. Similarly, letters and other articles sent by speed and registered post would also be delivered the same day. The norms for savings bank accounts and money orders had been standardised.

New computers and other required equipment are being provided whereever required and counters had also been renovated. The staff have been trained in soft skills and software had also been standardised to help give a corporate identity to India Post. The time taken for each transaction by personnel in these post offices would be monitored to assess service efficiency.

Solan, October 13
With little development in infrastructure in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) industrial area, the realty sector seems to be the worst sufferer. Though several shopping malls have made an advent in the BBN, it is the abject lack of infrastructure which has hampered renowned brands from opening their units here.

The poor condition of roads, which has worsened in the rainy season, has left the realty investors high and dry. “There have been several occasions when brand promoters after visiting the area have rolled back their plans to open a showroom here. The stretch of road on the NH-21 A, falling between Pinjore and Baddi has been acting as the worst deterrent,” confided a brand promoter.

Though the neighbouring Chandigarh and its surrounding areas have already started showing signs of revival, slowdown continues to weigh heavy on the minds of investors here. This has been largely attributed to poor infrastructure in the BBN. With few takers for shops, flats and restaurant sites despite the overwhelming potential due to the presence of several professional colleges, including a university, the realtors have been facing a tough time.

What has added to their peril is the lack of beautification of the area. An ambitious project, “Blooming Highways” was introduced some years ago to make the area green and clean, but it never progressed beyond the take-off stage. This has led to a situation where places around malls have been conveniently used for parking by hundreds of trucks or encroachments by erecting cremation grounds on the nearby lands have eroded the little that is left of the aesthetic sense.

After conveniently erecting temporary structures, a section of locals then approach the investors to remove them after pocketing huge amounts. Several such grounds have crept up in the past few years where funeral rites of barely 1 or 2 bodies are done in a year.

Since no planning had taken place during the initial stages when the BBN developed into an industrial area, with no plotting of land for various utilities like industries, malls, residential complexes etc, it has led to a haphazard growth.

A master plan has now been put into place, but it would do a little to undo the ill-planning which has already taken place. The realtors are raising hopes on the NH-21 A, which is being converted into a four-lane carriageway, and the work is underway in this direction.

Nurpur, October 13
The Himachal Pradesh Vishav Mangal Cow Preservation Yatra Samiti while welcoming a 108-day long nationwide yatra here recently has underlined the need to declare cow as national animal.

Samiti’s state co-coordinator Jaswant Katwal, who addressed a public meeting at Niazpur here, said cow was considered as the foundation of our agriculture-based economy, but it was shocking that thousands of cows were being slaughtered daily in the country.

“In order to preserve this valuable livestock, a central law should be enacted and a separate union department is required to protect and preserve it,” he added.

The yatra was received by Kangra MP Rajan Sushant, MLA Des Raj along with hundreds of activists of the samiti.

Swami Akhileshwara Nand briefed the importance of preservation and expansion of cows in the country. He informed that this yatra was launched from Kurukeshtra on Dussehra and would cover maximum parts of the country by travelling about 20,000 km. “The objective of this nationwide yatra is to motivate masses to protect and preserve cows and not to abandon them,” he added.