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Scant respect for heritage
Brick-kilns taking heavy toll on fertile land
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Scores of varsities crop up in Solan with poor infrastructure
NJPC logs record generation
3-day bird census at Pong Dam from Jan 15
Vignettes
Soil erosion: Denudation of hills the culprit
Residents protest against poor health services and “negligent” doctors in Palampur Civil Hospital.
Photo by the writer
Khair wood farmers allege exploitation
Farmers stage a dharna in front of SDM office in Nurpur to protest their exploitation by private contractors.
Photo by the writer
Himachal diary
Nurpur mini-secretariat nears completion
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Chamba jail to make way for bus stand
Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service
Shimla, January 12 Chamba town, which celebrated its millennium year in 2006, is dotted with precious heritage from the days of the earliest rulers of the princely state. It was following this that it was decided to seek world heritage site status for Chamba town for which initiatives, though slow, are still being made. "How can we expect to get the UNESCO world heritage site status when our own government is so insensitive towards protecting heritage," quips K. Aasif, a heritage counselor, who has been associated with the cause for several years. He says despite local residents under the aegis of the Chamba Sangharsh Samiti being opposed to the pulling down of the jail to make way for the bus stand, the official agencies are hell-bent on making the new bus stand come up at the same site. The samiti had got the signatures of over 6,000 persons and even brought the matter to the notice of the Chief Minister and other higher-ups. "The project, for which the contract has already been awarded has been held up for some time due to our protests but it has not been shelved," says Aasif. He points out that it was way back in 1890 that Raja Sham Singh had got the jail constructed. "The jail is very much part of the list of 42 heritage landmarks identified by the TCP Department and this fact has also been brought to the notice of the officials concerned, " he asserts. The heritage structures had been identified by the department in May, 1995, the record of which is very much available. TCP officials too confirmed that the jail was very much part of the list of heritage landmarks identified by them. In fact, portions of Chamba town extending from Chamunda Devi temple up to TB hospital and from Shitala Bridge to Kashimiri Mohallah have been designated as a heritage zone. The argument put forward by some officials was that the jail was just a three-room structure the demolition of which would not make much of a difference. They asserted that the proposed bus stand was a must for the town as the old one was congested and small. Local residents, however, point out that an alternative site can be selected for the new bus stand. They say they will not allow the demolition of a heritage landmark, which is more than a century old. They also point out that since no construction can be allowed very close to Ravi river, the construction of the proposed bus stand would amount to another violation. Both Chamba and Bharmour had been the capitals of the erstwhile state of Chamba since the fifth century and as such are endowed with ancient buildings and temples that are a part of the national heritage. Pulling down heritage landmarks like the jail would only prove to be counter-productive for getting world heritage status for Chamba from UNESCO.
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Brick-kilns taking heavy toll on fertile land
Dharamsala, January 12 Farmers are giving away the land on lease to kiln owners due to profitability. The kiln owners pay a lease amount of about Rs 50,000 per acre per annum for the agricultural land. However, since at places they have dug the topsoil up to six feet, the process threatens the fertility of land. Due to the loss of topsoil, there are chances that the land being used for mining may lose its fertility forever. The studies have indicated that the loss of topsoil leads to reduction in the production of land by about 12.5 kg per hectare per annum. The loss of topsoil leads to reduction of water retention ability of land and thus decreases water table in the surrounding areas. Certain small farmers said due to deep trenches dug by brick kiln owners, even their agriculture land was losing top soil and fertility. They alleged that since the lobby of brick-kiln owners was strong, the complaints of small farmers generally fell on deaf ears. The Ministry of Environment and Forests in a notification issued on September 14 as amended in 2003 made the use of fly ash in the ratio of 1:3 mandatory for kiln owners in the areas with 100-km radius of coal-based thermal plants. The brick-kilns located in the border areas of Una district fall within 100-km radius of Ropar Thermal Plant located in Punjab. They are also within 20-km radius of fly ash dumps of National Fertilisers Ltd.
in Nangal. As per the notification of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, all brick-kilns should use fly ash in the construction of bricks. The notification stands unimplemented both in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. However, the notification, if implemented, can save precious topsoil and mitigate the adverse ecological changes taking place due to illegal mining for brick-kilns. The studies indicate that on an average one brick-kiln produces 4 million bricks annually. It consumes about 12,000 cubic metre topsoil per annum. With hundreds of brick kilns operating in the area, the loss of topsoil in an area
is colossal. The environmentalists are of the view that it is high time that the traditional technology for producing bricks is changed and alternative raw material is used for the housing sector. If it is not replaced, the bricks-kilns will continue adding carbon in the environment coupled with the loss of fertile lands.
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Scores of varsities crop up in Solan with poor infrastructure
Solan, January 12 Besides, letters of intent have been handed over to seven other private universities by the state government in Solan district. Going by this speed, there will be more universities than degree colleges as universities are being opened without any prospective plan. The setting up of two private universities in Baddi and two in Solan has forced educationists to think about the future of those enrolled with such universities. Director of a reputed educational institute while expressing concern at the proliferation of private universities said, “It is a sheer commercialisation of education. Who will recognise the degrees awarded by such universities which are yet to set up any standard of
excellence?” “Alluring students by promising jobs, these universities often bribe human resource executives of various companies for the placement of their students. But after employing the students for a few months, the companies conveniently lay them off on the pretext of poor performance, leaving the students in the lurch with degrees gained after incurring lakhs and yet lacking recognition in getting a decent job,” he added. Solan district has
become synonymous with land dealers who provide large chunks of land at the drop of a hat to big investors. With no regulatory body in place to check the size of land granted to private universities, cohorts of politicians are making huge gains while selling off the already scarce land. An organised class of political henchmen then goes all out to procure them the university status by enacting legislations with bare minimum on the ground. This is in sharp contrast to the verdict of the Supreme Court, according to which, a university cannot be set up merely on a paper proposal and it presupposes existence of multi-faculties, buildings, well-equipped libraries, play grounds and other infrastructure. With adhoc staff dominating the scene and lacking qualification as per the UGC norms, quality is suffering adversely. Condemning the trend, Tikender Singh Panwar, member, state secretariat of the CPM, said a private university in Kumharhatti near Solan had been approved within 15 days without following proper procedure. “The entire deal smacks of heavy kickbacks to certain ministers and officials and we demand an inquiry into the issue.” It has become imperative to put in place a regulatory body for ensuring proper infrastructure, uniform academic calendar, transparency in examination system, common entrance test for admission so as to ensure high academic standards, he said, adding that no university should be granted university status without it proving itself as a quality institute and they should be initially affiliated to Himachal Pradesh University for a period of at least 5-10 years. Its university status should be granted only it is found adhering to rules and regulations.
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NJPC logs record generation
Shimla, January 12 The project has generated 6357 million units of power till January 4, which was 350 million units more than last year. The Union Ministry of Power had last year enhanced the target from 6400 million units to 6600 million units. The project managed to achieve a generation of 6609 million units. However, the performance during the current financial year has been exceptional and there has been hardly any shutdown due to excessive silt, which was a regular feature till last year. In all, the project has been shut down only for two-and-a-half days for flushing of the reservoir during the rainy season. In contract last year it remained shut for 10 days de to silt. The project achieved the generation of 6000 million on November 23 last year, 52 days ahead of the target date of January 13,2010. Favourable hydrology enabled the project to
generate more than 1000 units for three consecutive months from June to August. It is the only hydropower station in the country, which produces more than 6000 million units in a financial year. The record generation was all the more significant as the country was facing an acute shortage in generation from its major hydropower stations due to reduction in discharge owing to the poor monsoon. General manager of the project N.C. Bansal said the achievement was made possible by excellent management of silt, water and machines both in terms of operation and maintenance. With more than 80 days to go for the close of the financial year the project might even achieve its original design energy of 6950 million units.
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3-day bird census at Pong Dam from Jan 15
Shimla, January 12 In association with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and WWF-India, the state forest department is organising a three-day dawn-to-dusk bird census from January 15 at the Pong Dam reservoir in Kangra district. "To promote bird watching, we decided to invite bird watchers, especially students, to participate in the annual exercise at the Pong Dam. This will provide an opportunity to young ornithologists to learn more about the behaviour of wild birds," chief conservator of forests Sanjeeva Pandey told IANS. "With emphasis on education and conservation, this would be a fun-cum-serious exercise. Teams would spread across the specified area to spot as many species as they can," he said. The Pong Dam reservoir in the Kangra valley, around 250 km from Shimla, is one of the largest man-made wetlands in the foothills of the Himalayas. With the onset of the winter, thousands of migratory birds from central and northern Asia start arriving at the wetland for their annual sojourn. "Our estimates say that around 70,000 migratory birds of more than 50 species are roosting and feeding in the Pong Dam area these days," DFO (Wildlife) S.K. Guleria said. The largest influx was of the bar-headed geese, coot, common, red-crested pochard, great cormorant, gadwall, northern pintail, river tern and the spotbill duck. The census of waterfowl species (birds that depend on water bodies for roosting and feeding) conducted last year from January 30 to February 1 recorded around 95,000 birds of 89 species. "This year the number of waterfowl species would easily cross the 100,000- mark in the weeks to come as the migration would continue till February-end," he said. Pandey said :"Every bird watcher has to record the sighting of birds in the log book. In the evening every day, the data would be compiled. Professional wildlife photographers can also participate in the event, " he said. Built in 1976, the Pong Dam reservoir is the only place in the country after the Bharatpur sanctuary in Rajasthan where the red-necked grebe descends every year. The arrival of gulls, a seashore species, on this lake also makes the Pong Dam special. Pong wetlands occupy an area of at least 18,000 hectares and extends up to 30,000 hectares at the peak monsoon season. An area of about 20,000 hectares within a radius of 5 km has been notified as a buffer zone dedicated to wildlife The forest authorities last year sighted a great cormorant that was earlier found in Russia.
— IANS
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Sad story of College of Arts
by Shriniwas Joshi The building raised in 1967-68 for establishing Government College of Arts at Nahan never had the opportunity of having the college there. Only a few know that it was designed by Bhagwan Sahai, a retired ICS officer, who served Himachal Pradesh as Lieutenant-Governor from 1963 to 1966. He gave it the then considered modern idea of sun-friendliness with free flow of natural light to the rooms.
HC Rai, a versatile and gifted man and professor at Fine Arts College, Bareilly, was appointed principal of the college in 1962. His posting was ratified by the Union Public Service Commission the next year. To be the principal of a college at the young age of 38 was no mean achievement for him. He justified his posting by establishing the college in a short span of six months and courses of music (vocal and instrumental), dance, painting, sculpture and commercial arts were started in a building, where a primary school used to run, adjacent to Lytton Memorial, Nahan. Jagannath Bhargava, Ila Pandey, Sanat Kumar Chatterjee, Mahesh Saxena, Khalid Kamal Kidwai, Kishori Lal Sud, Agnihotri, Jawahar Lal Sharma and Nand Lal Garg were the other stalwarts who joined the college to give it a flying start. It got going with a bang on July 15, 1962. Its library, including the audio-visual section, was one of the best in north India with rare books on its shelves. In the beginning, it had about 50 students considered good for an arts college in those days. Politics played its part and the music section of the college was transferred to Chamba and HC Rai, along with Agnihotri, was sent there. The College of Arts at Nahan functioned under the tutelage of the principal of the General Degree College. The result was that the college at Chamba and that at Nahan functioned apathetically. Chamba was a total fiasco with no student joining the music classes for two years. The government decided in 1968 to bring the two colleges together at Shimla to be placed at a Scottish Kirk on The Mall near the General Post Office. Here too a functioning primary school had to vacate for the College of Arts. The new building for it at Nahan was handed over to the Degree College for establishing science sections. The government, in its best wisdom, decided to allot Kirk to the science division of the regional centre for post-graduate studies and left the College of Arts to fend for itself. Influential HC Rai could not only locate but also got orders in 1969 for shifting the college to a building, called Parimahal, in the then lonely south of Shimla. Hardly had the equipment and other material reached the building when the orders were revised allotting Parimahal to Ustad Vilayat Khan, forcing the closure of the arts college. Rai again did his best to save the college from closing down and got allotted a Labour Hostel at Phagli for it. It functioned there 1969 onwards till 1973 when the final bell tolled for it with the provision that it would continue functioning till the batch already admitted to the college passes out. A saving clause was that the music and dance sections would function at Lakkar Bazar College in the evening.
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Soil erosion: Denudation of hills the culprit
Shimla, January 12 As per estimates, a whopping 240 lakh tonnes of fertile soil is washed away every year and as much as 53.80 per cent of the total area of the state is affected due to erosion. The problem has been so acute in 34 per cent of the area that fertility of soil had been all but completely lost. Increasing human activity, particularly construction of roads and hydroelectric projects, in the ecologically fragile higher hills has been the main reason for the worsening situation. Excessive and largely unscientific construction activity on steep slopes for laying roads, haphazard urbanisation and, above all, execution of hundreds of small and big hydroelectric projects coming up across the state is taking a heavy toll of the hills. While environment management plans take care of debris generated during tunnelling and other excavation works in hydroelectric projects, the large quantity of muck generated during the construction of roads, which is mostly thrown on the hill slopes, ultimately finds way into stream and rivers. The hills are cut almost vertically for widening and construction of new roads without bothering about the stability of the hill slopes. While the debris is thrown on slopes on the valley sides, rain triggers numerous landslips on the exposed hillside. The breast walls to stabilise the excavated hill slope are not provided for years as a result of which certain stretches of roads become permanent landslip points. Engineers of the Sutlej Jal Vidyut
Nigam, which manages the country's biggest Nathpa Jhakri hydroelectric project, had identified 19 such points upstream Nathpa dam which brought tonnes of silt into the reservoir. They had hard time combating the problem of excessive silt the level of which frequently rose above the permissible limits of 5,000 ppm (parts per million). The Forest Department has now decided to prepare GIS (geographical information system)-based catchments area treatment plan for all major river basins in the state to effectively check soil erosion. The plan will take care of all aspects right from identification of worst degraded areas, the type of rehabilitation works to be undertaken, fixing of priorities and most importantly, proper monitoring of works. However, besides prompt rehabilitation measures there is an urgent need to come out with a land use policy based on slope norms to ensure that the higher hills are not burdened beyond their carrying capacity. It is surprising that a number of permits for grazing in the alpine pastures of sheep and goats have been frozen but human activity, which is taking a heavy toll of environment, is being permitted without any restrictions. The only way to regulate development activity is to declare the areas beyond altitude of 5,000 ft as an eco-sensitive zone in which only need-based development activity for the benefit of local people be permitted. The clusters of
multi-storeyed private housing colonies and other structures being allowed to come up in violation of the slope norms in the rural areas are not only leading to deforestation but also creating problem of garbage management. As per the internationally accepted Nelson's Slope Density Provisions, no construction could be allowed on the slopes of more than 40 degrees and only a
single-storeyed structure on slopes of 30 to 35 degree, subject to the condition that 90 per cent of the slope is kept in natural state.
Three-storeyed structures could be raised on slopes up to 15 degrees and
two-storeyed on slopes ranging from 15 to 30 degrees.
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Crores spent but health services in poor shape
Palampur, January 12 The 100-bedded government civil hospital here is in a bad shape. It has just turned into a referral hospital as no emergencies are attended to here. Even with over 11 specialists in this health institution, accident cases are straightaway referred to other health institutions like Medical College, Tanda, or the PGI, Chandigarh. No doctor bothers to provide first aid to such accident victims. Most of the time serious patients referred to Tanda collapse on the way. Hans Kumar Sharma, a UCO Bank employee, recently met with an accident in the local bus stand while getting down from a bus. He was brought him to the local Civil Hospital. As the doctor was about to finish his duty, he was reluctant to attend to him. Instead of providing him adequate medical aid, the doctor referred the accident victim to Government Medical College, Tanda. The doctor on duty did not even bother to check the bleeding in the leg properly or provide blood transfusion or consult a surgeon before sending him to Tanda. The young bank employee died on reaching the Tanda hospital. The postmortem report revealed that the cause of death of was "hemorrhagic shock" Women and children carrying placards marched through the main streets of the town, shouting anti-doctor and anti government slogans. Demanding stern action against the erring doctors, a memorandum was also submitted to the SMO, Palampur, and the SDM, Palampur, demanding a high-level inquiry into the functioning of the civil hospital. Mr Subhash Sharma, elder brother of the deceased, claimed had timely and proper medical aid provided to his brother, his life could have been saved. He said he would file a criminal case against the doctors and claim damages from the state government. He urged Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to order a high-level inquiry and initiate action against the erring doctors.
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Khair wood farmers allege exploitation
Nurpur, January 12 It is pertinent to mention here that the farmers in the lower Kangra district used to grow khair trees in their fields which gives boost to their economy. Katha, a valuable produce, is extracted from khair wood. Private contractors buy standing trees from the farmers of that particular area where felling of these is opened after a gap of scheduled period. Following the lifting of ban on the felling by the apex court recently, the farmers heaved a sigh of relief. But in the absence of any scheduled rate of the standing trees, the farmers are alleging their exploitation by contractors. In the memorandum, the BKU alleged that some contractors were forcing them to sell their produce at throwaway prices as they had been executing forged power of attorneys on the behalf of farmers and getting permission of felling from the forest department. The state government has been urged to intervene and fix the rates of khair trees to save the farmers from exploitation and conduct a probe into the practice of executing forged affidavits. The BKU has also warned to launch a hunger strike if no step was undertaken in the connection. Meanwhile, Jagdeep Singh, Kangra district president of the BKU, while submitting a memorandum to the Chief Minister through the local administration, told mediapersons that contractors were misleading poor farmers by saying that felling would be closed on January 31. They pleaded that 10 years ago farmers were getting Rs 1,500 per khair tree and now only Rs 1,000 was being paid to them, whereas the same should be fixed to Rs 2,500.
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Play at Gaiety Theatre every second Saturday
The programme got under way on January 9 with the presentation of “Faisla Kal Hoga”, a play emphasising that human values were far more important to any religion. The message was sent across with a plot woven around the main character “ Rahim Pratap Singh”, played by Parvesh Jassal, who is also the president of the forum. The unwavering faith in secular values is symbolised by combining the Muslim, Hindu and Sikh religions in the name of the main character who is discarded by society as he does not belong to a particular religion. He remains unemployed and is later charged with making weapons illegally. With power arguments in his defence he convinces the judge that religion has not much to do with militancy and the environment in which a person is brought up is more important in shaping attitudes. The plea is registered in the mind of the judge who is compelled to say “Faisla Kal Hoga”. Jassal says that the performances under Silsila 2010 will not be confined to in-house production of the forum. Good plays by groups from within and outside the state will be arranged. The rent of Rs 5,000 for the theatre is on the higher side for such regular performances. The government has promised to reduce it to Rs 3,500 but the decision is yet to be implemented. Less snow saddens ski lovers
While snow eluded the “Queen of Hills”, clear weather following rain in the first week of January brought cheer to the winter sports lovers. The ice-skating sessions are being held regularly and unlike the first half of the season. So far 44 sessions have been held which is a good going considering the fact that last season only 27 sessions were possible. More importantly, unlike last season, the Shimla Ice Skating Club has been bale to hold the annual gymkhana which
turned out to be a colourful affair. Some ice-hockey matches were also played. However, the ski lovers have not been so fortunate. While kufri got only token snow, the quantum was too meagre even in Narkanda for skiing. There is still hope as in recent years the region has been getting snow mostly towards the end of January and in February. The weather god could oblige them with a good snowfall over the next six weeks.
Anti-smoking drive
in Hamirpur
The Central government enacted the anti-smoking law some time back and issued directions to ensure the ban on smoking in public places but it has not been implemented at many places in the state. The lack of awareness about the ban on smoking in public places is still a big problem in implementing this ban. So unaware are people about the Act and its provisions that when the Hamirpur district police started an anti-smoking drive, violators were taken aback and wanted to know why they were being challaned. Under the drive, several smokers were challaned simultaneously at Jahu, Sujanpur, Nadaun and Hamirpur and other places last week and fined Rs 200 each. But it made little deterrence to other smokers and as soon as the police disappeared from the scene, many more people were found smoking. While a fine can be a deterrent for the smokers but educating people through awareness campaigns is even more important for effective implementation of the ban on smoking at the public places. Not only government agencies but NGOs too have to play a greater role in this regard. (Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)
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Nurpur mini-secretariat nears completion
Nurpur, January 12 After hanging in the balance and following the persistent demand of local residents, the state government finally agreed to build the COB at its old proposed site in the premises of the old civil hospital. The construction was started after the demolition of the dilapidated hospital building in 2007. The project, which was a dream project of former minister Sat Mahajan, is being built with an estimated cost of Rs 2.67 crore with funding of the HUDCO. According to AK Abrol, executive engineer of the Nurpur Public Works Department Division, the construction of the mini-secretariat-cum-COB would be completed in June this year and it would house 19 government offices. Four storeys of the COB will provide accommodation to all those government offices which are functioning in private rented buildings. The significant feature of the COB is that its front elevation gives a view of an old fort.
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Dharamsala, January 12
The story of arts college at Nahan starts with the initiative of Chandramohan Vashsist, called Pahari Mrinal, who organised a seminar at Nahan in 1959 and invited the then Lt. Governor, Raja BB Singh Bhadri, to preside over it. A demand was put before the Governor to have a Lalit Kala Academy at Nahan on the pattern of Jammu and Kashmir. Raja Bhadri, an artist himself, readily agreed to it and the government advertised the post of principal for the academy whose name before its start was changed to Government College of Arts.
In an initiative to revive theatre activity in the “Queen of Hills” the local Munir Cultural
Forum has launched “Silsila 2010” under which a one-act play will be staged at Gaiety Theatre every second Saturday.