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Power company told to pay for felling trees
Authorities fail to curb illegal mining in BBN
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People take political CDs with pinch of salt
Sushant buries the hatchet with CM Dhumal
Willow trees face extinction in Lahaul-Spiti
Camp on disaster management held
Himachal diary
Over 5 lakh pilgrims visit Manimahesh
Enrolment up to class VIII up at 99.67 pc in state
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Power company told to pay for felling trees
Shimla, September 21 Despite limitations of jurisdiction, courts have played a vital role in the implementation of various laws framed for protecting the environment. The inability of the executive to effectively cope up with the ever increasing pressures on the environment, brought about by change in the country's economic policies, had thrust the responsibility of its protection on the judiciary. In its efforts to protect the environment and making the industry realise its responsibility, the Green Bench, in its recent order, directed the Forest Department to plant 4,400 trees of various varieties by recovering the cost from Everest Power Private Ltd (EPPL). The court passed the order in a case pertaining to felling of trees during the execution of the power project by EPPL in a dense forest in the Mallana valley of Kulu district. While passing the order, the Bench, comprising Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjay, said the company must be made to compensate by planting adequate number of trees. The Bench passed this order after perusing an affidavit filed by the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) wherein he informed the court that the total number of trees damaged, over and above the permitted number, during the construction of Malana-II project by the company was 381. This matter came to the notice of the court through a news item published in these columns (The Tribune, November 24, 2009) under the heading “Forest Dept’s role under scanner” and after taking cognisance on this, the court treated the news item as a public interest litigation. Taking serious note of the illegal felling of trees at one of the sites of the 100-MW Malana-II power project in its earlier order, the court had directed the PCCF to file an affidavit to inform the court what action had been taken by the board to protect the environment. During the hearing of the case, the Forest Department informed the court that the cost of such plantation and maintenance for five years was worked out at Rs 5,32,750. On this, the Bench further directed the company to pay the amount to the department.
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Authorities fail to curb illegal mining in BBN
Solan, September 21 A visit to the Nalagarh industrial belt revealed that Mahadev, Kundlu and Chikni khuds faced maximum damage due to indiscriminate mining, which has been going on unchecked for years now. It is a well-known fact that stones from khuds here are feeding several stone crushers located at Bharatgarh in Punjab. It was found that nearly 12 to 18 tractors crossed the Panjhera-Nava Garam Road in half an hour and several tractors could be found lifting quarry material from the riverbeds throughout the day. Peeved at the receding groundwater level and declining moisture content owing to indiscriminate mining, which has been going on at Chikni khud for the past almost 20 years, villagers of Radiyali panchayat have now reported the matter to the SDM, Nalagarh. Ravinder Kumar, pradhan of the village, rued that fertile soil had been eroded and their productive land had been rendered barren owing to unchecked mining at Chikni khud. But the authorities were sitting pretty over the activity. He threatened to launch an agitation if immediate steps were not taken to check it. The government in a bid to effectively check mining had delegated powers to various officials, besides mining officials, including forest guards, SHOs, SDM, JEs of the PWD and IPH Departments. This has failed to make each of them realise their responsibility as they contend the area was so vast that they could do little besides challaning tractor-trailers occasionally. The villagers wondered as to why the trade could not be checked even though it led to loss worth crores to several bridges. Though officers pleaded that there were several escape routes, it was worth mentioning as to why mining could not be checked when JCB machines are engaged in lifting quarry material from the khuds. Him Parivesh, a local environmental society, which had filed a PIL in the High Court in 2004, was disheartened with the way the activity continued unchecked. Its president Jagjit Singh Dhukiya, secretary Balkrishen Sharma, Jogo panchayat pradhan Karam Singh and others said it was surprising as to how mining was being allowed when the lease had expired long back. The society had obtained information under the RTI from the Mining Department and it was learnt that for the past two years, no meeting of a district-level committee had been convened as was directed by the High Court following the PIL. The members contended that officers failed to check the activity as the cohorts of politicians were overtly involved in the trade otherwise how could stone crushers remain operational in bordering Punjab at Bharatgarh. However, SDM Shushil Sharma said prompt action was taken whenever such cases were brought to his notice and action would be taken in the complaint of Radiyali panchayat.
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People take political CDs with pinch of salt
Hamirpur, September 21 The campaigns launched by activists of both parties have left the people confused and they are no longer ready to buy their theories. Chief Minister PK Dhumal and former CM and Union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh, who have drawn daggers against each other, have launched a campaign to create public opinion on the issue of corruption. The CDs released some time ago, alleging involvement of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and DGP DS Manhas in tapping phones of top Congress leaders, do not prove anything conclusive, but the role of the ruling party in dealing with their political opponents has definitely created suspicion in the minds of the people, feel many. However, a reported video recording of Virender Kashyap, MP, alleging acceptance of money for getting some work done is more incrementing from the public point of view. To counter this, the BJP leaders have also been using a CD pertaining to former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh alleging his role in collecting money during elections about 20 years ago. This has also raised suspicion in the minds of the people. The present BJP government and the previous Congress governments have tried to sidetrack these CDs by ordering probe by state agencies, but the general feeling is that nothing conclusive would come out keeping in mind the fate of earlier such probes. Dr PC Sharma, a political thinker, opines, “The collection of money by political parties is quite common, but no leader can claim to be very honest today, with only a few exceptions. While nailing corrupt politicians is very important, a long-term solution at different levels can only check this malady”.
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Sushant buries the hatchet with CM Dhumal
Nurpur, September 21 Sushant, who reportedly had sharp differences with the CM since November last after his wife was denied the party ticket for the Jawali byelection caused by his election as MP from Kangra Following differences with the CM, Sushant left no stone unturned to corner his own party's government in the state on various issues and even tried to resort to the RTI act in embarrassing it. During a one-day tour of the CM in his native assembly constituency on the occasion of laying the foundation stone ceremony of 43 tubewells at Fatehpur in Jawali subdivision recently (September 16), Sushant not even shared the dais with the CM but also publicly appreciated the functioning of the Dhumal government. Sushant even had some light moments with Dhumal at a press conference here before he left for Fatehpur. Sharing various issues with mediapersons that led to his differences with Dhumal, Sushant said: "I have always raised issues only in public and state interests," he claimed. Blaming some BJP leaders for his unpleasant relations with the Chief Minister, Sushant said:"My sharing the dais with the CM probably would not appeal to them." He claimed that his relations with Dhumal were above politics as Dhumal was a professor in a college at Jalandhar when he was an ABVP activist. Sushant indicated that he had ironed out the differences with Dhumal during the BJP convention at Naina Devi. He admitted that he had differences on certain issues like allowing private universities in the state. "During my meeting with the CM I had expressed my viewpoints on various issues and he responded to my suggestions," he claimed.
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Willow trees face extinction in Lahaul-Spiti
Keylong (Lahaul-Spiti), September 21 Tribals have been the helpless witness to the drying and dieing willow trees around their villages. A visit to the area revealed that there are vast stretches of dried willow trees in Sissu, Gondla and Tandi in the Chandra valley, Keylong, Kardang and Jispa in the Bhaga valley and in Tandi-Udaipur belt in the Pattan valley. Local farmers are feeling the heat of this “manmade” ecological disaster. “We are worried as willow trees have been providing us animal feed, firewood and timber for harsh winter months down the centuries,” said Devi Singh Thakur and Norbu, local residents. Even scientists have yet to study this phenomenon, although teams of the Himalayan Forest Research Institute (HFRI), Shimla, and Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF), Nauni, recently visited the area, but they differ in their findings. Mohinderpal, director, HFRI, says willows trees are drying up due to two major factors. “First the giant aphid that feeds on the bark of willow tree and saps its nutrients and the tree dies in the process. The insects multiply and attack more trees. The second major culprit is irrigation schemes in and around the forest areas. Willow trees near these IPH schemes have dried up as trees moisture regime has been upset by the cemented kuhals,” he says. The team further observes that the giant aphid exists in the area. “Climate change and global warming have increased the number of warm days in the cold desert and as a result this giant aphid finds this new warm condition as a fertile ground for breeding and feeding on willow trees”. HFRI scientists observe that the exotic willow species, introduced about 300 years ago in the valley from outside, are more prone to the giant aphid attack. “It is found very less among the native willow strain. The exotic strains have been recycled in the valley and its resistance to the aphid attack has decreased,” they say. On the other, the four-member UHF team comes out with a different conclusion. They find the cytospora fungus, a canker, as the main villain for drying up willow trees in the Lahaul valley. Dr RC Sharma, convener of the team and head, department of plant pathology at UFH, says the cytospora fungus canker is drying up the willow trees in Lahaul. “The canker infests the exotic species, but it has no effect on native willow species, ‘jungli billow’,” he adds. Dr Sharma explains that fungus enters through the “wounds on the bark of pruned branches. Farmers prune the willow branches frequently for fuel and fodder. The canker enters through the wounds”. He says the mortality is found even 90 per cent in the Sissu and Gondla areas where canker was first detected in 1999. “Even animals eat the soft bark of small trees making them susceptible to fungal attack and consequently canker dries up the trees”.
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Camp on disaster management held
Nurpur, September 21 The camp, in which employees of various government departments took part, was aimed at promoting capacity building of government functionaries at all level for preparedness and mitigations measures in disaster-like situation. Desh Bandu Kaith, research officer of the centre, said such camps were being organised in all sub-divisional headquarters in Mandi, Kangra and Kinnour districts with an objective to launching awareness campaign for vulnerability analysis of disaster in the hill state. He informed that participants were being imparted special training for prevention, preparedness and mitigation measures in pre-disaster period and relief, rescue, rehabilitation and reconstruction in post-disaster management. He claimed that this awareness campaign was of immense importance for the hill state as most part of Himachal Pradesh fell in seismic zone-V. He also advised people to construct their houses with anti-earthquake technique. Kavita Thakur, officiating SDM, presided over the closing ceremony of the camp.
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Planet plants at Hamirpur
by Shriniwas Joshi It was a misty morning at Hamirpur. When I raised my eyes as I was on a morning walk on the stretch of the road from Hira Nagar to NIT, I felt the naughty tall pines fondling the foggy veil over the sky trying to steal a kiss. And I heard the sky humming “Chor do aanchal, zamana kya kahega”. I, nostalgically, stopped at Bal Van Vatika at Anu where with the help of several youths under the aegis of Sharmaji of Nehru Yuva Kendra, Hamirpur, we had made a park in 1983 when I was in the Youth Services and Sports Department. I may also tell those who have interest in history that Anu was the first tehsil that Raja Hamir Chand had established when he founded Hamirpur in 1700. The Vatika has been excellently developed today by the Forest Department with Sanskrit quotes on forest and trees displayed by the side of the footpath circling it. The Navgrah (nine planets) Vatika here (see photo) opened on February 11, 2009, reminded me of “My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas”, the sentence that I tell to my granddaughter for remembering the names of the planets - the first letter of each word in the sentence names a planet - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. In Hindu astrology, the nine planets are Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu (Dragon’s head) and Ketu (Dragon’s tail). It was from this Vatika that I gathered that there were trees linked with the planets and those who believed on the effect of the planets on human body might get the same result as if propitiating the planets if the linked-trees were venerated. Mulberry tree is bonded with Mercury; peach, mango or neem are the trees for Venus; any tree for Earth; camphor or pine for Mars; lemon, maple or date palm trees go with Jupiter; almonds, holly, gingko or peepal tree satisfy the Saturn; coffee or eucalyptus is good for Uranus; benzoin for Neptune; and sandalwood is for Uranus. The planet or the constellations (nakshatra) or the zodiac trees have their origin in Celtic astrology, one of the oldest astrological practices in the world. Its roots go back to 3,000 years before Christ that was an early historic period of Ireland. The learning had been verbally transferred from generation to generation. This genre of astrology is based on lunar calendar with 13 months. These lunar astrological periods were named after different trees. I found in my old notes that Sanjay Sood, a forest officer, was the brain behind developing the Vatika at Anu and had claimed that the idea came to him from the study of Narad Puran and Saraswati Puran. He also believed that the trees that corroborated with different planets in Hindu astrology were: aak (calotropis procerea) for Sun; dhaak (butea monosperma) for Moon; khair (acacia catechu) for Mars; puthanda (acyranthus aspera) for Mercury; peepal (ficus religiosa) for Jupiter; guler (ficus glomerata) for Venus; shami (prosopis cineraria) for Saturn; dhruva (cynodon dactylon) for Rahu and kusha (desmostacys bipinnata) for Ketu. The government here had decided to grow such vatikas in all temples that attracts rush of pilgrims. It is a good idea as the pilgrims will have the added benefit of warding off the evils just by sitting in these vatikas as the cosmic rays emanating from the trees may rejuvenate them by right-adjusting their planetary configurations. What about hotels and hospitals? The benefit of navgraha vatikas should also reach the elite and the patients. May I inform the readers that Kerala, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have already established gardens representing nine planets, 12 zodiac signs and 27 constellations? The name of my home is “Panchwati” so I got interested in Panchwati Van of Gujarat. It has five tree species: peepal, banyan, bill, Ashoka and amla, which are symbolic of the five elements of the universe namely, air, fire, water, wind and earth.
Tailpiece
I went to a village. I asked the lord of the house, “Where is the toilet, Sir?” He replied, “Third tree from the right”.
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Institution of village deities earns ire at seminar
The traditional institution of village deities (devtas), which has held sway over the local communities for centuries, came under attack at a seminar (See photo) organised by Shimla's Umang Foundation on "Caste-Based discrimination in Himachal Pradesh- a human rights perspective" The participants were of the view that the age-old institution was being abused by vested interests to serve their own ends. The discriminatory caste system was being perpetuated through the edicts of "devtas" and this was one of the main reasons that people of lower castes were still being barred from entering some temples or participate in religious ceremonies. Some speakers even maintained that caste discrimination was behind religious conversions and conflict in the society. The chief guest, Justice RB Misra, of the Himachal High Court said at the seminar that discrimination on the basis of caste and creed was abhorrent to the philosophy of "Vasudeva Kutumbhakam-One World, One Family". He said the issue of caste discrimination had been prevalent in society because of deep-rooted ignorance. Citing various literary and religious texts, Misra outlined that religion does not create a divide. "The divine does not rest in temples, it is within the beings. We need to root out ignorance", he said. The judiciary is all there to help the disadvantaged sections of society and cases of atrocities against the weaker sections are a matter of violation of human rights. These should be dealt with as per the provisions of the Constitution for the betterment of the disadvantaged sections. Speaking on behalf of the Himachal Pradesh Koli Samaj, Gopal Jilta said that if equal status and honour were given to the Dalits, they were ready to give up the reservation facility. Chairman of the foundation Ajai Srivastava said the objective of the seminar was to provide a platform for a healthy debate on the issue so that corrective steps could be taken reform the institution of " devtas". Dr Jaidev Singh Retola feels ignored
An authority on plague and contagious diseases Dr. Jaidev Singh Retola left an imprint at the World Forum at the University of Cambridge in the UK as an ambassador of India where nearly 500 delegates participated from more than 40 countries last fortnight. He visited the country in his capacity as a medical expert on the joint invitation of the University of Cambridge and the International Biographical Centre (UK). He did the country proud with his illuminating lectures on " strategy to fight the dreaded plague disease" at the 2010 world congregation. He brought in an element of spirituality in his academic discourses which made a deep impact on the international audience. Hailing from the upper Shimla region Retola has been conferred several awards for outstanding services in the medical field, specially plague and other contagious diseases. He was the only person invited from India. He shot into limelight after he single-handedly controlled plague in the state and saved hundreds of lives. He has been nursing a grouse that while institutions and organisations in India and abroad vie with each other in honouring him and conferring awards, he is ignored by his own state for which he did the most.
School board scam generates heat
The heat generated by the unearthing of fake certificates issued under a criminal conspiracy in collusion between officials of the State Board of School Education, Dharamsala, provided a potent weapon to the opposition Congress to whip the ruling BJP. Top Congress leaders have demanded a high-level probe into the scam in which hundreds of candidates, who never appeared in the examination, were declared successful. Former chairman of the board BR.Rahi has demanded a CBI probe and the removal of board chairman CL Gupta from the post to help take the probe to its logical conclusion. Apprehending that the government will cover up the scam Rahi said since more than 200 fake certificates had already been unearthed, the issue had become quite sensitive and the mere cancellation of these certificates by the board would not be enough. Some heads must roll and Gupta cannot escape responsibility for the worst scam in the history of the board. In fact, he is squarely to be blamed as everything happened under his very nose and,moreover, Gupta had reportedly permitted students to submit admission forms late, using his special powers, Rahi adds. (Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)
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Over 5 lakh pilgrims visit Manimahesh
Bharmour (Chamba), September 21 The pilgrims also had a vision of the sacred image of Mount Kailash (the abode of Lord Shiva) situated at an altitude of 5,656m. While so far during the past two month’s continuous Manimahesh pilgrimage, about five lakh pilgrims, including the last week’s number of about 17,000 pilgrims thronging to Manimahesh from different parts of Himachal Pradesh and neighbouring states, had a holy dip during the Manimahesh yatra. Confirming reports about the pilgrimage, Deva Singh Negi, additional district magistrate of the Bharmour Tribal sub-division, said the pilgrims, including men, women and children, had a blissful journey. The devotees during the pilgrimage offered prayers to Lord Shiva. Negi further informed that the pilgrims hailing from the Bhaderwah region of Jammu and Kashmir also visited the sacrosanct pilgrimage centre and had a holy bath on Janmashtmi. Meanwhile, Himachal Industry Minister Kishan Kapoor also paid a visit to the abode of Lord Shiva and offered prayer. After screening the arrangements about the facilities for pilgrims and regulation of traffic, the minister expressed happiness over the preparedness and measures taken by deputy commissioner of Chamba Devesh Kumar and SP Madhu Sudan Sharma. A ban on the use of polythene was imposed and 100 garbage disposal pits were made alongside en route Manimahesh climb, the minister said.
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Enrolment up to class VIII up at 99.67 pc in state
Palampur, September 21 He said this was one of the major achievements of his government in the education sector. At present, the state had the total number of 17,408 educational institutions and out of them, 15,045 were in government sector and only 2,365 in the private sector. The Chief Minister said the state has the best educational infrastructural facilities in the country needed for qualitative education. The state government had decided to exempt the students of class VII from undertaking HP Board of School Education Examination from this session onwards. Besides, with an aim to reducing the burden of books, only one book was being taught to the students of class I and class II in the state. He said with a view to improving the quality of education at the elementary level, “Adhar Programme” would be launched in Chamba district with the assistance of NGOs. He said under the new education plan, five model schools in the educationally backward blocks of Chamba and Sirmour districts would be opened soon. The state was working on upgrading eight of its district-level government degree colleges as the centres of excellence, while the first such college had already started functioning in Shimla. Dhumal said the state had distinction as in most of the educational institutions girl students were outnumbering boys and securing positions in merit, which is a healthy sign. He said there were 22,040 special children in the state, out of which 19,634 had been integrated into schools and only 2,397, who were severely challenged, were unable to attend regular schools and efforts were afoot to provide them home-based education through requisitioning the services of NGOs in the field. He added that mid-day meal was being provided to 7,75,263 children in 15,167 schools at the primary and upper-primary level and honorarium of cook-cum-helpers working in schools was increased from Rs 400 to Rs 1,000 per month this year.
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Even as illegal mining has caused loss worth crores to bridges in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) industrial area, the authorities don’t care two hoots to check hundreds of tractors indulging in transporting quarry material from its bordering riverbeds.
After burying the hatchet with Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in a closed-door meeting at the latter's official residence Oak Over, Kangra MP Rajan Sushant has started eulogising him publicly.
The traditional institution of village deities (devtas), which has held sway over the local communities for centuries, came under attack at a seminar (See photo) organised by Shimla's Umang Foundation on "Caste-Based discrimination in Himachal
Pradesh- a human rights perspective" The participants were of the view that the age-old institution was being abused by vested interests to serve their own ends.
