Dharamsala, April 27
Even as colonisers have been illegally cutting hills in Una and Kangra districts, the authorities are acting as mute spectators. Anyone travelling along the Una-Kangra road can spot a number of JCB machines being used to raze hillocks.

Inquiries reveal that people engaged in such activities in and around Una along the main road do not take permission from any authority. Miscreants have even encroached upon a natural rivulet, whch at places has been filled with earth or reduced to a small drain.

Residents of the only planned colony by HIMUDA in Una district allege that illegal colonisers are bringing down hillocks along their habitation. “They are openly using and damaging roads of the colony by plying heavy machinery. A path to new colonies has also been carved out of the existing colony, much to their agony, they say, adding that the authorities are, however, not doing anything.

The complacency of the authorities can be gauged from the fact that when a resident of Una, Rajesh Prashar, asked them under the RTI Act that whether people engaged in construction activities near a HPSEB substation in Una and near Phase III of Rakkar colony had taken permission, the authorities evaded the reply to help the people carrying illegal activities. They told Rajesh Prashar to provide them “khasara” numbers (revenue record of the land) on which the illegal activity was being carried out.

Seema Sharma, the counsel for Rajesh Prashar, who is now planning to move the court over the issue, alleged that the administration has tried to protect the politically powerful land mafia that is involved in razing hillocks and bringing up illegal colonies. The mafia is causing irreversible damage to the ecology of the area. In case of floods, encroachments on rivulets are likely to cause huge damage to life and property of common people, she said.

The Irrigation Department authorities acknowledged the fact that rivulets were being encroached in the area. They, however, said they had written to the government many times to give them power to stop such encroachments. However, the government has not responded. Since the portions of rivulets are owned by private persons, the department is helpless to act without specific directions from the government. KR Bharti, Una deputy commissioner, declined knowledge regarding the said reply to the query under the RTI. He, however, assured to look into the matter.

The Town and Country Planning Department authorities also admitted that illegal colonies were coming up around the town. They, however, said that the department did not have any manpower to stop such activities.

On the state highway, leading from Chintpurni to Dehra, followers of a religious sect have razed a hill to create a facility. The facility has been created without permission. It is also likely to cause traffic hazard on the highway in the coming days.

Shimla, April 27
Not willing to rely only on government funds for the creation of public facilities, people of Arki, a tiny township in Solan district, have take upon themselves the responsibility of creating the best of facilities with the help and cooperation of the community.

It is with the help of liberal public donations and able guidance of senior citizens like Sukh Dev Sharma and Devi Ram Gupta that a library has been set up in the village while the dream of having a community hall being worked at. Arki has Shiv Dutt Arya Samaj Library running for the last almost 15 years. “Though we have created the facility with the help of donation from a freedom fighter, late Dharam Dass, and the public, but it is only with the active support of the government that the library can be of great use and help the youngsters,” said Sukh Dev Sharma.

Sharma feels if the government can extend financial assistance annually to the library for the purchase of books, the way money is provided for small government libraries in villages, youngsters would benefit immensely. “The library has place for about 20 people to sit and read books and newspapers, but more books would strengthen the facility, especially for students and those preparing for competitions,” emphasises Satisk Kumar Kashyap, pradhan of Arki.

Locals are now determined to create the facility of a community hall in Arki for holding local-level functions. The construction has already been started to accommodate 500 people. The first phase of this three storied structure is almost complete, but due to paucity of funds, the project is awaiting completion. “We have spent almost Rs 18 lakh with financial assistance being extended by elected representatives like MPs and MLAs as well as the Gauraksha Sabha, but financial constraint is coming in the way of its completion,” said Sharma.

He says it is with only help from the government that the people of Arki can see their dreams being realised for which they not only took an initiative but also raised funds.

Shimla, April 27
Widespread criticism of the policy of providing subsidised canteen facilities in Parliament and Central secretariat at a time when common man is reeling under price rise has drawn attention to the similar canteens being run in the state secretariat.

Lunch, tea and snacks are available at less than half the market rates in the secretariat canteen thanks to the huge subsidy granted by the government for the benefit of the privileged staff who are among the highest paid in the country.

While no direct subsidy is granted, the secretariat administration bears the entire burden of salaries of the staff deployed by the state Tourism Development Corporation which runs the canteen on no profit no loss basis. Till now, the amount came to around Rs 40 lakh annually for the sanctioned strength of 36. If one takes into account the free accommodation and the expenditure income towards water and electricity charges, furniture, crockery and maintenance, the actual subsidy comes close to Rs 50 lakh and with the revision of pay scales it is bound to increase.

It is a huge amount if one takes into consideration the fact that the total turnover of the canteen is just Rs 60 lakh. The subsidy is almost equal to the turnover.

Ajai Bhandari, secretary, secretariat administration, however, asserts that efforts were being made to contain the subsidy at the existing level by urging the corporation to deploy newly appointed contract staff in place of highly paid regular employees. The strength of the staff has also been retained at 36, though the corporation wants it to be raised to 50. The rates have been revised in February after nine years. Even after an increase in the rates, the situation will not improve much and the quantum of subsidy will be maintained at the same level.

He said efforts were on to ensure that the rates were revised periodically and the committee of employees is also not averse to it. Even if salaries and other charges were paid by the government, the rates have to be revised to meet the increasing prices of commodities. He justified the subsidy on grounds that besides employees and officers, common people who visit the secretariat from various parts of the state daily also avail the facility.

The canteen is well managed and the quality of food, which is simple, is reasonably good as a committee of employees monitors the functioning of the canteen and even ministers and senior IAS officers are among the regular customers.

Unlike secretariat, the canteen in the Vidhan Sabha is run by a private contractor selected on the basis of tenders. No subsidy is provided, but he is given free accommodation, furniture, electricity and water. However, there is a huge subsidy involved in the lunch provided to MLA’s and mediapersons by the tourism corporation during the Assembly session. Full menu lunch, except soup, priced at Rs 425 per head for normal customers, is provided for Rs 63 (non-vegetarian) and Rs 46 (vegetarian). However, MLA’s and mediapersons are charged only Rs 30 and Rs 20 per head and Rs 10 for sweet dish, the balance is paid by the Vidhan Sabha secretariat and the Public Relations Department. A practical way out could be to have working lunch from the regular canteen instead of availing the services of the corporation.

The Shimla Amateur Garden and Environment Society (SAGES) has nature walk as one of its activities. It is a great attraction and in its mid-April walk this year, there were 80 young and old: men and women participants. It was a small walking-track of about 4 km, coming and going, and there were experts on flora explaining the beauty and uses of various plants and trees grown up there.

The kachha path in the jungle from Taradevi on the Shimla Kalka road winding amongst Himalayan oak, flowering Rhododendron throwing their redness around, bisteria and casearia trees with ferns and wild daisies painting the earth green despite lack of rain took us to an old building called The Homestead (See photo).

The Homestead is now with the Punjab and Haryana Scouts Associations and each state manages the affairs of scouting and camping alternately for two years. The caretaker, however, says that Punjab has been managing it for the past three years.

The Homestead is spread over 160 acres according to Raaja Bhasin but the signboard in the estate claims to have an area of 376 acres. Anyway, Major SB Goad was the President of the Shimla Municipal Committee five times in 1856-57; 1859-60; 1862-63; 1871-72 and 1874-75. He had 33 houses in Shimla according to Carey's Guide of 1870 which earned him a rent of Rs.38,000 per annum. The Homestead was one of these buildings. He was fond of hounds and had kept them in Ferozepur from where the pack used to travel to Shimla in the summer and regularly exercised at Annandale. The Major lived up to age of 70 and then committed suicide in a building, then called Tally-Ho Hall in Shimla. The Homestaed and other buildings then passed on to his son, Horace B. Goad. He joined the police service in the North-West Provinces and was on deputation to the Municipal Committee, Shimla, as Secretary and served here from 1878 to 1895. Edward Buck writes about him: "His extraordinary knowledge of the native language and customs, combined with a genius for disguising himself (to know the problems of the people and faults of the employees of MC), made him a terror to all evil-doers within his jurisdiction. In many respects he was an excellent secretary, and no figure was better known or respected in the station." He was held in awe like the 'Gabbar' of Sholey and the Ayah's used to calm down the little ones by taking his name while perambulating on The Mall.

Horace Goad had interest in fruit-growing, tree-planting and in improving Shimla Hill cattle. That is why The Homestead area is dotted with beautiful trees, especially those of 'chinar'. He also tried to cross the hill cattle with imported Brittany and Kerry cattle. The imported cattle were presented to him by Viceroy Lord Lansdowne. During 1880s, The Homestead was a favourite picnic spot with the British living in Shimla.

Horace, after retirement, was fined less than a paisa by the Municipal Committee for a minor misdemeanour. He took it to heart and left for Ambala where he shot himself dead on February 12, 1896.

The Homestead was converted into a hotel by Horace's son, LB Goad, and then again to residence and farm. Though I could not lay my hands on the Visitor's Book of the hotel, CM Kumbhkarni, a senior journalist, informed me that he had seen it once. LB donated the entire area to the Punjab Scouts Association prior to Independence when he left for Kenya to attend to his tea estates there. The Scouts Association has constructed quite a few hutments here for the stay of scouts. Though there is enough staff to look after the estate, the area needs further sprucing up.

Palampur, April 27
Setting up of cement plants and execution of over 25 major power projects has posed serious threat to forestlands in the state.

According to information gathered by The Tribune, the state is fast losing its forest cover and in the past five years, over 30,000 trees were axed for setting up of cement plants, power projects and other construction activities.

Kullu, Solan, Bilaspur and Shimla districts are the worst hit, where hundreds of acres have become barren because of the reckless felling of trees.

In most cases, the state Forest Department has failed to initiate action against the defaulters.

In Kullu, Kinnaur and Shimla districts, private companies axed hundreds of trees without obtaining any permission from the government. The companies executing the projects have failed to follow the norms fixed by the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment.

It is on record that over six major power projects being executed on the Sutlej have virtually played havoc with nature. Thousands of trees were in the Sutlej valley for the setting up of housing colonies and roads for these projects and tonnes of silt were dumped in the river.

Similarly, silt and other material extracted from tunnels of power projects being executed in the Kullu valley were also thrown into the Beas as there is no provision for the disposal of silt in these projects. The government has imposed a ban on felling of trees in the state. Besides, it has made the forest laws more stringent to check illicit felling and to deal with smugglers. It allows the removal of dead, diseased and decaying trees only.

Nurpur, April 27
Following the March 5 directions of the state High Court, the Kangrra police has set up two checkposts on the inter-state Chakki river bed to curb illegal mining. These posts will check mining activities round the clock, said Kangra SP Atul Fulzele, adding that these checkposts would stay till further orders of the HC. It is pertinent to mention here that illegal mining has not only played havoc with fertile land but also brought down the water table of natural resources in the Maira, Batrah, Kandwal and Khanni areas of this subdivision bordering Punjab.

The villagers are facing an acute shortage of water due to unscientific quarrying and mining in the Chakki river. Local farmers rue that the HC ban on mining notwithstanding, the mafia has been indulging in this illegal activity clandestinely threatening ecology.

Belatedly though the Shimla Municipal Corporation has decided to install water meters and bill the residents for actual consumption instead of the present system of issuing quarterly bills on the basis of average consumption. The meters will be installed within the premises and all faulty ones will be replaced.

Revamping of the water supply management has been overdue not only to ensure proper billing and recover the charges for water supplied but also to ensure fair and equitable distribution. Apart from the installation of meters the corporation must review the system of granting water supply connections. At present only one or two connections have been granted to each building that have up to 20 tenants as a result of which some get supply in abundance while others are left high and dry.

The gravity of the situation could be judged from the fact that there are only about 17,000 water connections whereas the number of electricity consumers is over 93,000. The corporation must ensure that there is the water connections equal the number of power consumers. Not only that it should also make it mandatory to have the minimum water storage facility for each connection depending on the covered are of the premises so that residents have backup for the lean summer period when water is supplied once after every two days, three days and, in some areas, even after a week.

Shimla, April 27
It is her penchant for depicting impressions of nature in myriad hues imbibed which reflects in her captivating art creations on the canvas.

With nature bringing out the best in her, artist Punam Gupta couldn’t have been in a place better than Shimla, where she has been residing since her marriage 19 years ago.

Having worked as a copywriter in Delhi she has been a passionate painter, illustrator, writer with occasional dabbling in theatre. She earlier held a solo exhibition of her paintings at Delhi’s India Habitat Centre, besides making a mark in numerous group shows.

As she prepares to hold her first solo exhibition in Shimla, the place she gets so much inspiration from, Punam is now keen to devote more time to writing and painting which had taken a back seat as she shouldered the responsibility of bringing up two daughters. Her exhibition will start at the Gaiety Theatre on May 5, showcasing about 40 of her paintings, done over the past one year and a half.

Even though Punam studied painting at Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi, she is largely self taught. “With my mother, Santosh Manchanda, being an artist, I literally grew up on the fragrance of turpentine and, as such, painting became a natural mode of expression for me,” she explains. Though her mother is more fond of making figures, Punam draws inspiration from the richness of natural beauty, be it the majestic mountains, stately deodars, a calm river or the turbulent tides.

She experiments with practically everything, including charcoal, acrylic and water colours but oil paintings are her favourite. “Soul stirring images get captured in the mind as I view nature at its best only to be reflected in my art work,” she explains. It is from her mother that she inherited the sensitivity to view the world in ways that are fresh and original to create art pieces but the flair for painting runs in the family as her maternal great grandmother too was very good at the brush.

Much to her satisfaction, her daughters, Diya and Damini, are already living up to the family reputation as they depict impressive strokes and sensibilities towards art. “I have written a lot of prose which has been published but one day I hope to pen a book with the theme already having taken birth in my mind but that can only happen once I have had enough of painting,” she says revealing her inner thoughts.

Having evolved as an artist over the years she seeks perfection in her own work, redoing it time and again, with the end result being something awesome, much to her own surprise and delight. With Punam determined to be much more active as an artist, she intends displaying more of her creations, dedicated to her parents, husband Deepak and two loving daughters.

Bilaspur, April 27
Chief Minister Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal launched the second statewide phase of “Plastic-Polythene Hatao-Paryavaran Bachao” campaign in Shimla at a function on April 22, the Earth Day, and honoured Bilaspur district, along with Shimla, Kangra, Una and Chamba districts, for achieving distinction in the first phase of the campaign which was held in all districts from December 21 to December 26, 2009.

Deputy commissioner Nandita Gupta received the award from the Chief Minister on behalf of the district. She said this was the result of strenuous efforts and active cooperation of all sections of society that this honour came to this district also.

Earlier, the deputy commissioner had also started campaign “garbage segregation at the source” here on April 9, separating and putting polythene and plastic waste in one basket and other bio-degradable garbage in another at every household.

The local Nagar Parishad would daily collect this segregated garbage and dispose it of in a scientific manner so that it is put to good use instead of becoming a nuisance to society and a serious hazard for the environment.

Nandita said the Parishad has been persuaded to charge one rupee per day for the service and it would also provide two separate dustbins to each household free of cost.

She said polythene and plastic waste is being used at ACC cement plant at Barmana near here in generating required heat for the plant in a scientific manner as it emits no harmful gases, as in the case if it is burnt in open in a normal way. Polythene has also been experimented by the state PWD in tarring of roads with good and encouraging results, giving more durability.

She said steps were already afoot to make the second phase of this campaign a grand success in the district which had already been started from April 21 and would continue till April 29. In the campaign, emphasis is being given to encourage people to refuse the use of these dangerous commodities and to keep in segregated condition for fruitful and methodical disposal of these materials which cannot be avoided in households.

Hamirpur, April 27
The Watershed Development Programme has led to an increase in groundwater table in Hamirpur district. When diminishing water table is causing a concern in several parts of the country and even in Himachal Pradesh too, the systematic growth of watershed development projects has led to an increase of about 2 ft in groundwater table in the district.

Total 12,500 hectares land has been treated through various watershed development schemes by spending Rs 495.17 lakh.

Watershed development projects in the district have special significance, as there are limited irrigation facilities due to the lack of river water system and arid land having little moisture and vegetation.

Telling about the success of the projects in the district, Ajeet Bhardwaj, project officer of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), said: “The agency adopted watershed projects as an approach to conserve and develop natural resources here”.

“Since people’s participation is very important in making such schemes successful, we ensured their participation at every level and most of the schemes were built and maintained by gram panchayats or other local bodies,” he added.

While watershed has been defined as geographical unit that drains at common point, efforts were made to achieve sustainable development of natural resources like soil water and vegetation through these projects in the district.

At present under Hariali project, 56 micro schemes in 75 villages in six projects are being implemented in the district, each scheme covering an area of about 500 hectares.

Different activities like gully plugs, vegetative barrier, counter and graded bandhs, farm ponds and minor irrigation facilities were taken up under these schemes.

Soil treatment and irrigation facilities have led to the raising of poly houses; production of off-season fruits and vegetables and many farmers are taking full advantage of these facilities.

However, the increase of 2ft groundwater level is quite significant in Hamirpur district, which is having a scanty rainfall and limited natural water sources.