|
|
|
|
Rail Budget
Controversies galore at Mandi hospital
|
|
|
Guler bus mishap blamed on overloading, high speed
vignettes
Addiction to cocaine, smack on rise in Kullu
Greening of industrial areas on the anvil
Bada Bhangal residents face hard life
|
|||||||||||
|
Rail Budget
Palampur, March 2 The decision of the Railway Minister to connect Leh via Bilaspur had further given big setback not only to the valley, but also to part of Mandi district. Earlier it was planned to extend Pathankot-Joginder railway line up to Leh and investment of Rs 10,000 crore was expected on the track. Britishers had laid down Kangra valley narrow gauge railway line in 1932 linking all important and religious towns of Kangra and part of Mandi district. It is stated that the main object to lay the track was to carry heavy equipment for the installation of Shanan Power House at Joginder Nagar. Thanks to the apathy of the Railways which made no efforts to convert this 120-km-long rail track into broad gauge line. Unfortunately, the Railways have not added even a single brick to the track in the past 78 years. With the manifold increase in population and heavy tourist inflow to the valley, the Railways have failed to come to the expectations of the local people in the changed scenario. Same century old and outdated engines and coaches are still plying on the track. Even the Railway authorities could not introduce first class compartment here. At present, seven trains are plying on this route daily covering 33 stations passing through important places like Nurpur, Jwali, Jwalamukhi Road, Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan, Chamunda, Palampur, Baijnath and Joginder Nagar, which are also the major tourists attraction centres of the state. The authorities have been extending step-motherly treatment to this rail section. No efforts were made even to set up a proper ticket window at Pathankot for the section. The condition of rail track between Pathankot and Joginder Nagar has gone
from bad to worse in the past 10 years, as the authorities have no funds to repair the same. Several small and big bridges are in bad shape. Retaining walls on the tracks have developed major cracks. Wooden logs of railway line had already lived their life, but no efforts were made to replace them. Residential quarters and railway station buildings are also crying for repair. Besides, almost all 33 railway stations of Kangra valley railway line lack basic facilities like drinking water, cleanliness and waiting room for passengers. One would not believe that 12 railway stations have been functioning in one room. Patti, Chauntra, Paror and Chamunda railway stations have no room for passengers. Even these stations have no temporary shed to save passengers from sun and rain. Family quarters of Railway employees are on the verge of collapse. Their families are living in hellish conditions. No senior officer of the Railways bothers to visit the track. Kangra valley attracts lakhs of tourists every year, if rail services are improved and better amenities are provided to passengers, tourists would prefer to travel by train. Efforts should also be made to convert this rail line into broad gauge line. In the past 10 years, all small gauge and metre gauge rail line in South India have been converted into broad gauge line, but the northern part of the country has been neglected in this field.
|
|
Controversies galore at Mandi hospital
Mandi, March 2 But the defiant State Health Department continues to sweep them under the carpet, as it has done nothing substantial to improve health services in the hospital. The latest controversy has erupted in the ICTC centre of the District AIDS Control Society in the hospital, where a technician doubled as a counsellor and made an alleged bid to rape a 16-year-old girl. The police and the hospital authorities hushed up the case as the technician enjoys political protection, charged the insiders. This was not the only case. Three alleged cases of molestation involving certain doctors had come to light in the hospital over the years, but these were hushed up by the way of compromises or so, they said. On the other hand, emergency, diagnostic services and ambulance services remain in disarray in the hospital. Shockingly, one patient delivered baby in the hospital toilet, as there was nobody to guide her when she was rushed to the hospital last year. Patients needing CT Scan diagnosis at the hospital here are paying through their nose, as Rs 3-crore CT Scan machine is out of order for the past 10 months. “This negligence is deliberate as certain doctors allegedly get commission from two diagnostic laboratories for referring patients there for CT Scan,” patients charged. The patients are paying more than the double charges for CT Scan. “The charges for CT Scan at the hospital range between Rs 400 and Rs 750. But private labs charge at will ranging from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000,” the patients rued. Even certain staff is hand in glove with the company mechanic, who was caught red-handed supplementing old components in the CT Scan machine in June last by the hospital authorities. Besides, patients do not get proper round the clock emergency services in the hospital after working hours. There is no surgeon in the hospital as the only surgeon AB Gupta has been promoted as CMO Mandi and he is also in charge of medical superintendent of the zonal hospital. Attendants of patients charged that they do not get ambulance in time even for critical accident cases. “We brought Amandeep and Gunjan, polytechnic students who met with an accident, but there was no surgeon in the hospital and even doctors on duty came late and nurse allegedly referred them to PGI,” the students charged. Amandeep died on way to PGI, while Gunjan is still critical in PGI. They said the hospital did not give them ambulance for three hours and they got it from a private Suket Hospital. Gupta claimed that they could not do much as they do not have neurosurgeon that takes care of critical cases. One ambulance was on VIP duty, while the other had already gone to PGI with a patient. One is kept for standby duty in the town, he added. On the other hand, Dr Nagesh Verma, director, health services, passed the buck on the hospital authorities as they have been directed to run 24-hour emergency services in the hospital and can hire doctors through the Rogi Kalyan Samiti. “But we are appointing a surgeon at the hospital,” he added.
|
|
Guler bus mishap blamed on overloading, high speed
Dharamsala, March 2 As per the report, a copy of which is also available with The Tribune, the accident was caused due to gross overloading and the effort of the driver to cover time. As per the data collected by the inquiry officer and Kangra ADM Sanjeev Kumar, there were about 87 passengers in the bus at the time of the accident. The bus, as per the registration certificate, had the permission to carry only 31 passengers, including conductor and driver. From the inquiry it seemed that the bus generally remained overcrowded between the road stretch ranging from Guler
to Haripur. The bus driver used to wait for narrow gauge train to arrive at Guler. He used to fill his bus to the brims with passengers before moving ahead ignoring all rules. Despite the fact that the practice was repeated everyday, neither the police nor Transport Department officials cared to check the activity. The driver also used to over speed the bus from Guler as the HRTC bus was scheduled to follow him as per the timetable. However, on the unfortunate day he failed to control the bus while going downhill and the bus crashed into 100 feet deep gorge into the Baner rivulet. Over speeding of the bus was indicated from the fact that a later inquiry by technical experts revealed that the vehicle was crashed in fourth gear. The inquiry also established that a single bus was being run on two route permits by Happy Transport Company. Owners of the company had obtained two route permits from Jassur to Jawalaji and Talwara to Dehra. Ideally, they should have been plying two buses on the routes. However, they were covering both routes with single bus that forced the driver to over speed to cover the timing. Another interesting fact that came in the inquiry was that the bus was being run on diesel laced with kerosene. The fact has been established by the forensic examination of fuel recovered from the bus after the accident. The use of kerosene decreases the capacity of vehicle. The police has registered a case under the Essential Commodities Act against the company owners. The inquiry has established the bus driver, who drove the bus at high speed and overloaded it, as the prime accused for the mishap. The owners of the company have also been accused for running one bus on two routes and using kerosene to run the bus. However, like many other accident cases, the supervising authorities of transport and the traffic police have been allowed to go scot free for their failure to check the abuse of law on the part of above said accused.
|
|
Entrepreneur shows the way to unemployed
Hamirpur, March 2 This entrepreneur has not only earned employment for him, but has also employed nine other persons of the area in the unit. At present, he is manufacturing high-quality water tanks, which are in great demand in the area and his diligence and soft nature have proved to be assets for the marketing of the product. After looking for a government job for 15 years, this man decided to set up his own industry in his own village about three years ago under the Mahal gram panchayat. Initially, he studied various schemes of the state government available for unemployed youths and finally decided for setting up a synthetic tank manufacturing unit. He approached the Himachal Pradesh Khadi Village Industries Board for seeking loans to set up the unit. He obtained a loan of Rs 10 lakh through Punjab National Bank, Kharwar branch, on which he got 30 per cent subsidy and cent per cent tax exemption from the state government available for setting up units in backward panchayat. Telling about his venture and manufacturing process of synthetic water tanks, Vipin said raw material brought from Gujarat is being converted into pipes and then crushed into powder; which is later moulded into tanks of 500 litre and 1,000 litres capacity as per demand. At present, this unit is manufacturing 12 tanks of 500 litres and 10 tanks of 1,000 litres daily. Quality check of the product is maintained by the owner himself which has enabled the product to compete with branded water tanks and has created a niche for itself in the market. Vipin is also adopting other marketing techniques and keeps abreast with all latest developments. Today, Vipin is a happy entrepreneur with his success with hard work made by him during the past 3 years and has already paid back a significant part of his loans. While he is quite satisfied with his work, he is also telling other unemployed youths of the area to adopt self-employment schemes and has become a role model for the youths.
|
|
vignettes
An ardent Shimla enthusiast once told me that whenever he went to the plains, he purposely asks the names of capsicum and peas and when the vegetable vendor names them as Shimla mirch and Shimla mattar, he gets an unexplainable joy. This time when he returned from Pune, he was excited to disclose to me that there he saw an imposing building called 'Simla Office' and the busy square where it was located was 'Simla Office Chowk'. He added that Simla Office housed the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). He could not link meteorology with Shimla. He was not aware of the background of the IMD’s establishment. The tropical cyclone of 1864 that had hit Kolkata and the two great famines of 1866 and 1871 in the country owing to the failures of the monsoon resulted in the establishment of a meteorological organisation with HF Blanford as the first meteorological reporter to the Government of India. This organisation was upgraded to a department called IMD in 1875 with its headquarters at Kolkata. IMD started a branch office simultaneously in Shimla which was the summer capital of India since 1864. It functioned from the Government Telegraph Office. Shimla being the apple of the British eye and Director Generals of IMD being Englishmen, the town's office snatched a number of activities from its mother department. The daily weather report, monthly and seasonal summaries and long-range forecasts started flowing from the Shimla office 1885 onwards. The role reversal was made official in 1905 as Shimla became the headquarters of the IMD with Kolkata being reduced to a branch office. Sir John Eliot, who passed matriculation at the age of 26, rose to become the IMD head in 1889 and stayed in the position till 1903. It was under his authority that the first climatologic atlas of India was published. When he came to Shimla, he started searching for a suitable house. He found an old bungalow called 'Constantia' (present YWCA) that he bought for his stay here during the summer. He then rented out a portion of the bungalow to the IMD from where it started functioning. Sir Gilbert Thomas Walker succeeded Eliot and was Director-General of the IMD for 20 years from 1904. He made excellent contributions on world weather relationships, particularly with reference to the Indian summer monsoon. He is best known for his ground-breaking description of the Southern Oscillation, a major phenomenon of global climate related to El Niño, and for pioneering seasonal forecasting. He and his office remained in Constantia till 1908 when the Governor-General Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, decided that the building be acquired to accommodate the YWCA. The IMD was then shifted to a building in Yarrows Estate near Chowra Maidan but the dilapidated building became unsafe in eight years' stay of the IMD there. It had to be hurriedly shifted to a house in Kennedy Estate. Activities of the IMD had, by now, increased considerably and the new house was inadequate to cope with all those. Walker had started contemplating on taking the IMD out of Shimla to the plains and by 1924 had submitted a proposal to the Government for shifting the IMD to Pune. His successor, JH Field, pursued the proposal which was sanctioned in 1926. A new building was constructed in Pune and was inaugurated on July 20, 1928, but as the building accommodated an office coming from Shimla, it is known as 'Simla Office' in common parlance. Shimla now has a meteorological centre established towards the end of 2002 and is located near Kamla Nehru Hospital. My Shimla enthusiast friend now knows the link between meteorology and Shimla. Do you?
|
|
Himachal diary
The local Indus Hospital has introduced high-tech emergency medical service (EMS) on the American pattern with doctors and paramedics specially trained in providing basic life support and advanced cardiac life support during the pre-hospital phase. The state-of-the-art ambulance
(See photo) is equipped with life-saving gadgets like transport ventilator, cardiac monitor, ECG machine, defibrillator, cadioverter, external pacemaker, pulse oxymeter, medical oxygen and emergency medicines for cardio-pulmonary support during transportation. It has cost the hospital over Rs 14 lakh.
Emergency medical services in the pre-hospital phase are vital for saving patients. In the case of cardiac problems, prompt treatment prevents damage to heart, says Dr Balak R.Verma, chairman of the Indus Medical Foundation. In fact, it is an ambulatory critical unit on wheels which could also be used for inter-hospital transfer of patients over long distances. EMS ambulances have been introduced by many corporate hospitals in big cities of India. However, in the absence of any nationally recognised training standards for EMS paramedics and emergency medicine residency training programmes for doctors, their competence and the quality of care rendered by them remains a subject of conjecture. India has not even begun to think of EMS standards as a whole, points out Dr Verma who has been during his long stint in the USA remained closely associated with development of criteria for critical care medicine as a member of the committee concerned. The vehicle is double-airconditioned for the convenience of patients to be shifted to the plains like Chandigarh and Delhi and the most important feature is that the doctor accompanying the patient is trained in advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) and advanced trauma life support (ATLS) by the Indus Hospital.
Protest against Ambuja Cements
With the residents of Gyana, Kashlog, Chandi and Mangu panchayats in Arki subdivision lodging repeated protests against the management of Ambuja Cements for a higher compensation for their acquired land the administration is having a difficult time in sorting out the dispute. Ambuja Cements Limited had initiated mining activity on a stretch of about 12 bighas, which had been acquired way back in 2001 and 2005. The Kisan Sabha has been agitating for the stoppage of mining activity on the land in question for which an enhanced compensation is being demanded. Compensation was been given at the rate of Rs 1.40 lakh per bigha but the dissatisfied landowners were demanding Rs 20 lakh per bigha. Protests by villagers, including a large number of women, want all mining activity suspended till the dispute was resolved. The management, however, sought help from the police to ensure that there was no disruption of work. While the management has asserted that it was ready to sit across the table and discuss the issue, the villagers were unhappy over the delay in resolving the issue. The Kisan Sabha is also demanding employment for at least one person from the families that have lost their land for the project. It also alleged that mining had caused cracks in buildings.
Hamirpur on the top
The new initiative taken by the Hamirpur district administration for speedy disposal of revenue cases has yielded results. The district has topped in disposal of cases pending at different levels. The pendency of revenue cases has been reduced significantly and, except for a few partition cases, there is no case older than one year .The cases of demarcation, mutation, correction, partition, encroachment and ejectment of encroachment warrants were less than six-month old. Deputy commissioner Abhishek Jain said on January 1, 2009, 3029 cases were pending with different offices of Tehsildars and majority of these were one-to-two-year old. Today, only 2323 cases are pending in the entire district of which 1463 cases are fresh and less than three-month-old. Even cases pending for more than 10 years had been decided. The district administration had launched a special campaign under which revenue officers were given monthly targets for disposal.
(Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi, Ambika Sharma and DP Gupta)
|
|
|
Addiction to cocaine, smack on rise in Kullu
Kullu, March 2 SP KK Indoria claimed the police has kept a check on drug trafficking to a great extent but drug seizures and cannabis cultivation keeps on increasing every year. The SP informed that the police had stepped up vigil on drug peddlers, especially around schools in Kullu, Manali and Bhuntar, and identified the areas as well as the people involved in cultivation of cannabis. The police had seized more than 210 kg of charas in 2009 and about 15 kg during January and February, respectively. A total of 134 cases under the NDPS Act were registered and 167 persons, including 14 foreigners and 11 Nepalese, arrested. Charas addiction is curable but addiction to smack and brown sugar is fatal. Initially, Manali remained the central hub for distribution of dangerous drugs like smack, cocaine and brown sugar. Some foreign nationals, particularly, Nigerians, became active in selling brown sugar and smack in the eighties. A few Nigerian nationals were nabbed but were released due to the mild Act on narcotics during that period. By the time the Act was given more teeth they were successful in trapping many a youth into the deadly habit of taking brown sugar and smack. The drugs (smack, brown sugar and charas) sales outlets had already been identified by the CID. The SP has sought public assistance and participation to nab the culprits. The district, particularly Manali, Kasol, Banjar and Parbati Valley, had been a favoured destination for foreign tourists. The district is paradise for those who had an interest in winter sports or adventurous holiday in the Himalayas. Unfortunately, it is heaven for drug addicts and peddlers too. The presence of a large number of foreigners in this district, many of them staying illegally, provides an easy market and conduit for carriage of charas to the international markets. That was why people in some belts were indulging in illegal cultivation of cannabis (high breed imported seed made available to them by these foreign nationals) and extracting hashish
(charas).
|
|
Locked Kisan Bhavan irks farmers
Nurpur, March 2 According to information, this building completed about six years back was not thrown open to farmers and growers of the area. No electricity and other infrastructure have been provided in the new bhavan. An official of the IPH Department revealed that the department had no funds to provide infrastructure. There is a lot of resentment among farmers and growers of the area over the failure of the department to inaugurate and throw it open. Informed sources reveal that due to a tussle between leaders of the ruling party this locked building has been proving as a white elephant. Fruit growers of the area have urged the authorities concerned to throw the building open to the farming community.
|
|
Greening of industrial areas on the anvil
Solan, March 2 Dr Nagin Nanda, member secretary, State Pollution Control Board, while illustrating the strategy to deal with the alarming situation said: "The board has identified industrial sectors in each of these areas where greening of the polluting industries would be undertaken. This will help decrease their pollution load on the environment and will enable these red-category units to acquire status of orange units with decreased pollution load". An assessment carried out by the board has revealed that induction furnaces and paper and pulp industries predominated the Kala Amb area while fast moving consumer goods, textile and dying, paper and pulp, pharmaceuticals and induction furnaces comprised the larger chunk industrial activity in the BBN. Parwanoo industrial area, however, comprised various industrial sectors with no predominance of any particular sector. It has, therefore, been decided to carry out best practices here while the upcoming area like Una required framing of guidelines for development". Sectors like cement industry, electroplating, paper and pulp which are largely carbon emitting would be made to reduce their emissions by adopting better pollution mitigation equipments. These measures assume significance in view of the fact that the polluted level was on the threshold of reaching critical levels and if measures were not taken the industries would be governed by the Central Pollution Control Board. The industrial townships of Baddi, Kala Amb and Parwanoo were among the 32 hubs declared as "critically polluted" on the basis of the CEPI worked out after carrying out a field survey by the Central Pollution Control Board in association with the IIT, Delhi. The three industrial townships of the state with an index of 69.07 (Baddi), 68.77 (Kala Amb) and 63.77(Parwanoo) had been declared severally polluted. A tripartite approach involving the state government and key industrial associations like CII, BBN Industries Association, etc., was being followed to ensure effective pollution management. While a key area of the whole exercise involves Co2 emission quantification and disclosure, the regional offices have been directed to collect field information about such units where any of the six green house gases are emitted and also the quantity of carbon dioxide. Globally accepted voluntary guidelines would be put to use for the process. The board has also decided to raise awareness on carbon disclosure benefits, process and its guidelines. The focus will be to provide incentives to achieve carbon positive status with focus on key sectors such an energy, cement, roads and highways, buildings, pharmaceuticals, food processing, agriculture, horticulture and forestry.
|
|
Bada Bhangal residents face hard life
Bharmour, March 2 To reach difficult terrains of Bada Bhangal from the side of Chamba district, the 87-km-long trek from Chamba to Nayagran in Bharmour tribal sub-division is by bus and 14 km on foot up to Dhardi village. From Dhardi village, the trek proceeds to Khanar village, which is 5 km and the last village on Chamba border. Then trek moves along the right banks of the Ravi and reaches Bada Bhangal which is 18 km on foot. Thus, the total distance from the district headquarters town of Chamba to Bada Bhangal is around 125 km. The trek is arduous and tiring. Tucked in the rift valley at an altitude of about 2,700m, Bada Bhangal is a tribal village surrounded by pine trees along the right banks of the Ravi. The residents of Bada Bhangal, which falls in Kangra district, can be divided into two types of communities, aboriginal and others who enter Bada Bhangal with invaders form Mandi, Kangra, Kullu and Chamba. Though they have their own local dialect, they speak Gaddi, Kangri, Mandyali and Kullavi. The people are cooperative and hospitable. Their main occupation is agriculture and sheep rearing. There is no much development with regard to government jobs. There are a few people who are in Army, education and other fields. There is one primary and one middle school having inadequate teaching staff and ayurvedic dispensary is functioning without doctor for a long time. As a result, people have to tread 37 km on foot and further travel 87 km by bus to Chamba for medical treatment, narrates Rajesh Charak of Chamba, who is an eminent mountaineer, trekker and photographer of Chamba and had trekked the snowy passes of this terrain few months ago. Post office is 87 km away at Beed crossing over Thamsar Pass (15,639 feet). So far as the forest and revenue departments are concerned, there is one forest guard and a patwari. There is also one forest rest house, but without furniture. Fortunately, there is the facility of satellite phone which is the only means of communication provided by the government. In winter, these people migrate to the Beed area. The living conditions of the inhabitants of Bada Bhangal are deplorable, which need immediate attention of the government. The vital demand of the residents of Bada Bhangal is to provide them motorable road from Nayagran to Bada Bhangal which will not only shorten the distance, but also mitigate their woes. The need of the hour is to ameliorate the living conditions of the people of Bada Bhangal by executing the poverty alleviation schemes of the government in letter and spirit.
|
|
||
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
