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Controversies mar Billing paragliding event
A paraglider in action at Billing. Photo by the writer
Pisciculture catching up in rural areas
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Running from pillar to post to get son’s killers booked
Early snow raises hopes of good ice-skating season
Children enjoy ice skating in the Shimla’s skating rink. Photo: Amit Kanwar
Sale of property
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal gives bonus to a milk supplier at a function in Bilaspur. Tribune photo
Vignettes
Illegal mining in rivulets continues
Himachal diary
Sanitation a far cry at public toilets in Mandi
People throng Science Congress
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Controversies mar Billing paragliding event
Kangra, November 23 In all, 141 pilots from nine countries, including Russia, Kuzbaikestan, Great Britain, France, and India, participated in the championship. It was on the concluding day when the task was being assigned to the pilots, there was smearing and resentment among them. One pilot challenged the results even on the first day and described it a mess. A pilot from the Indian Army alleged that he had flown far longer a distance whereas in the result sheet, it was mentioned that he flew for 4 km only. He was asked to deposit a fee of Rs 2,000 to get his complaint registered. The pilots resented this decision of the technical committee as well. A number of pilots raised the issue of faulty GPS, which had practically put their lives at risk. Members of the committee, however, denied the allegations and said the GPS problems could be because of the pilots themselves and the quantum of fault varied from person to person. Ajeet Sangma, a pilot from Tripura, said he was a free flier but was pushed to the novice category by the committee without any reason. He said he being an experienced free flier, ranking 25th in the country, touched the target and returned. He alleged that on the first day, his name did not figure in the result sheet. Sangma further alleged that following the second day flying as free flier, his named figured in the novice category and that too at the lowest ebb, which he described as most unfortunate and disturbing. He blamed the technical committee for this mess and alleged failure to deal with things in right perspective. Seteve Mark, a pilot from England, said Billing was a world-class site, but the state government was not taking much interest in its development. He said the take off point at Billing was not so easy and had resulted in many accidents. He suggested that the government should spend money and level the take off site so that it became the best in the world. Most of the pilots had reservations about results, which they said were because of some software problem. The managing committee members were urging the protesting pilots to be calm and lodge their complaints in a proper way. Dr SP Katiyal, member, jury and technical committee, said complaints lodged by pilots were being looked into and all of them had been asked to submit their grievances. He said efforts were made to provide best facilities to provide enough chance to pilots to fly after taking off from Billing. He said this competition was the means to manifest the talent of flying among the young fliers and the mission was achieved by getting 141 participants for the competition registered. He, however, confessed that software faults and other technical problems did crop up during such big events and everything was being looked into. Some senior pilots raised their fingers towards the mismanagement on the part of the organisers. The pilots, however, were satisfied with other non-technical facilities provided to them. In the beginning, the Chief minister was to inaugurate the event, but later, he declined. Some pilots have expressed shock that on the concluding day, the Chief minister was in Kangra and he could have spared some time for the event. Earlier, paragliding pre-world cup tournament used to be organised every year at Billing. Last year, the event became the victim of political tussle. The result is that the sport is losing its sheen.
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Pisciculture catching up in rural areas
Palampur, November 23 The state government has strengthened the fisheries sector to make it a useful instrument of economic growth as also for the promotion of tourism through angling of world-famous trout and “mahseer”. A number of developmental and welfare schemes have been launched for providing assistance to rural poor and unemployed youth for taking up fish culture. At present, hundreds of unemployed youth, village women and farmers are getting assistance from the government for setting up fish ponds in their villages. The Fisheries Department has been extending technical know-how in this regard so that they could produce quality product and get ruminative price. Special stress has been laid for trout farming in the state. In Kullu, Mandi, Sirmor, Shimla and Chamba districts, youths are being encouraged for trout farming as it has huge demand in the market. According to official sources, 100 units of trout farming have been set up in the state and `55 lakh provided as assistance. During 2007-08 to 2009-10, the department of fisheries provided whole time employment to 3,558 fishermen working in main reservoirs of the state viz. Gobind Sagar 1,660, Pong Dam 1,810 and Chamera 88. During 2007-08 to 2009-10, 3,977.34 tonnes of fish worth `20.60 crore was produced from these reservoirs. While in the lower areas, “mahseer”, mirror carp and other local varieties are being introduced. The fisheries department of HP Agricultural University has been extending help to fish growers of Kangra, Una, Hamirpur, Mandi and Bilaspur districts. On the university campus, over 24 major and minor fishponds have been set up for demonstration. Fish growers all over state come here to get latest technical know-how in fish culture. University experts interact with the fish growers regularly. Himachal Pradesh has taken a lead both in trout farming and reservoir fisheries. While the state’s reservoirs are consistently maintaining unique distinction of highest per hectare production for over two decades, successful trout farming has made a history of its kind in the country. During the year 2007-08 to 2009-10, 22,981.47 tonnes of fish worth `11,811 lakh was produced from the state’s water resources. During 2007-08 to 2009-10, 44.19 tonnes of trout fish was produced from the departmental trout fish farms and `211.74 lakh were earned as revenue. To mitigate the losses to the fishermen to certain extent, a Fishermen Relief Fund Scheme has been formulated. Under this scheme, each reservoir fishermen contributes `20 annually, to be collected from him at the beginning of the year while issuing the licences. The government contributes an amount equal to the total contribution of the fishermen. The assistance from this fund to the fishermen is given only on loss of gill nets, wooden boats and tents.
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Running from pillar to post to get son’s killers booked
Palampur, November 23 Vishal was found dead on on Saketri Road, near Panchkula, on October 12. Aged Charan Lal can be seen daily outside the offices of the DSP and SDM of Palampur, and at the PWD Rest House waiting for the Chief Minister and ministers or VVIPs with a bunch of documents to seek justice. Till date he had failed to move the bureaucracy. Vishal had been working at Manimajra for the past few months. On October 12, his body was found on a roadside near Panchkula, allegedly hit by a tractor. Though the Manimajra police has registered a case but no arrest has been made. Charan Lal visited the Manimajra police station several times in this regard but all in vain. The police has asked him not to come to the police station again since the case was being listed as untraced. It is surprising that the police has expressed helplessness in arresting the killers of Vishal and instead asked Charan Lal to himself trace the culprits and then inform the SHO, Manimajra. How can Charan Lal, who lives in Palampur, trace the killers? How can Charan Lal perform the duty of a policeman? It is learnt that residents of Saketri had named a person, who had hit Vishal, leading to his death. But the Manimajra police has not even summoned the named person to the police station even one month after the incident. Charan Lal has written letters to Shivraj Patil, Administrator of Chandigarh; the SSP and the IG of Chandigarh in this regard seeking justice but nothing has been done so far.
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Early snow raises hopes of good ice-skating season
Shimla, November 23 The changing weather pattern due to the degradation of environment over the years has reduced the effective ice-skating season almost to half. The average temperature has been rising while snow is becoming increasingly scarce, making it more and more difficult for water to freeze naturally. The situation has worsened due to the vanishing of cluster of trees on the hillside which provided shade to the rink. With a large part for the rink exposed to sun rays during the day, evening sessions are not possible. Last year unfavourable weather marred the first two weeks of the season which commences on December 1. However, the weather god obliged the lovers of the fascinating sport thereafter making 77 sessions possible during the season. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the Shimla Ice Skating Club, which manages the rink, is forced to discontinue evening sessions from February 1 as a large portion of the rink has now been exposed. The cluster of trees on the hillside has all but vanished. However, morning sessions are continuing. In the early 1960s as many as 165 sessions were possible and on an average 110 to 120 sessions continued till the early 1980s. However, large-scale unplanned construction activity over the past three decades which saw concrete monsters gobbling up vast stretches of greens, hastened the process of environmental degradation. Consequently, the number of sessions has not touched the three-figure mark and nowadays only 60 to 80 sessions take place during a normal season. There have been occasions when the number of sessions even failed to cross the figure of 20. For instance, in 2008-09 only 27 sessions were possible. Bhuvanesh Banga, secretary of the Shimla Ice Skating Club, hopes that the season will commence in time and trial run may be possible around November 27 or 28. There was a time when the season started on November 15 and continued well up to March 15. It had been now confined to just December and Janaury. The erratic weather and rising mercury has put a question mark over the future of the ice skating rink and the club is now looking to make it an all-weather rink by installing a refrigeration plant. The proposal has been gathering dust with the government for the past six years. The club is now planning to submit a fresh proposal after observing the functioning of the ice-skating rink set up in Dehradun recently. Besides, the cost of machinery, the recurring expenditure to be incurred on the operation and maintenance of the rink is important, says Banga. Shimla being cooler the electricity consumption will be much less compared to Dehradun. Moreover, the club was keen on extending the season to four months using the refrigeration plant to make the operations economical as the membership fee is the main source of its income.
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Govt all set to revive Pre-emption Act
Rajiv Mahajan
Nurpur, November 23 Under this Act, none can sell his share of property without taking into confidence the other co-sharers or tenants. It will be mandatory for the seller to intimate the cost of his share of property to the co-sharers or tenants through a court. He can only sell his share to another party only if the co-sharers refuse to purchase it. The move to re-introduce the obsolete, anti-people Act has evoked a sharp reaction here. There is a lot of resentment among the people here, especially those having joint properties with a number of co-sharers and landlords who had rented out their immovable properties. Reacting on the move, state Congress general secretary Ajay Mahajan said before passing the Bill in the Assembly the government must review its repercussions as such an Act was prevalent in the merged areas of the state before 1966 when they were parts of Punjab. “Keeping in view the common man’s interest in mind the then Punjab government had repealed this Act,” he claimed. A number of local senior lawyers opined that the proposed Act would hit the interests of common man and give rise to disputes among co-sharers of properties and between landlords and tenants. Revenue minister Gulab Singh Thakur said the government would present the relevant Bill in the Assembly session scheduled in December at Dharamsala. He asserted that following enforcement of this Act, stamp duty evasion would be curbed. “ The preference right to purchase any property by co-sharers or tenants will be restored by this Act,” he claimed.
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Milk cooperative benefits 800 families
Bilaspur, November 23 Kamdhenu, a milk cooperative society, led by its president Nanak Chand Thakur and general secretary Jeet Ram Thakur, celebrated its ninth foundation day in its premises at Rajghati, near Namhole, recently. Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was the chief guest who was all praise for the good work done by the Kamdhenu Hitkari Manch for the welfare of farmers. The Chief Minister inaugurated a three-storey Kamdhenu Bhawan and a milk chilling and pasteurisation plant of the cooperative. With this, Kamdhenu can serve farmers, cattle-breeders and consumers in a better way and provide quality milk and its products to people in the nearby towns of Bilaspur, Ghumarwin, Barmana and Dadlaghat. Nanak Chand Thakur said they had started the venture by roping in four families with 25 litres of milk eight years ago and now, the cooperative had grown to a “prosperous tree” with more than 800 cattle-breeders in 90 villages with its members supplying more than 4,000 litres of milk every day while it had also provided employment to 39 youths in its collection, distribution and maintenance sections. Milk is collected early morning and evening and supplied to consumers in polythene packs at their doorsteps at Rs 25 per litre and in pots from cash counter shops at Rs 23 per litre. Kamdhenu distributes payments in cash weekly at Rs 15.50 to Rs 22 per litre according to the quality of milk. Presently, Kamdhenu has assets worth Rs 1.75 crore in machinery and equipment, thanks to the hard work of its team and the government for encouraging it to work in this field. Meanwhile, on the occasion, the Chief Minister distributed bonus of Rs 5,06,747 to 22 cattle-breeders who had a record of supplying quality milk all year round. He not only expressed happiness at the work being done by this cooperative but also asserted that he would like to see hundreds such milk cooperatives formed in the state.
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Bharari could not become Lakshmi Nagar
by Shriniwas Joshi I know of two localities of Shimla whose popular names got stuck with the people and their change of names was unsuccessful. One is Boileauganj that could not become Tilak Nagar and the other is Bharari, which after the construction of Lakshmi Narayan temple here in 1946, was renamed as Lakshmi Nagar, but could not catch the fancy of the people. Bharari, the odd sounding name, is popular in Himachal Pradesh as there are several Bhararis here. Bharari was an important place in the erstwhile Koti state. The gazetteer of Shimla Hill States 1910, reads the ground tax in four bazaars of the state viz. Mashobra, Kufri, Sanjauli and Bharari was Rs 1400 and that arat and nakasi taxes were levied in these and Naldehra bazaar. Nakasi was applied on goods brought from outside the state or through Shimla while arat was on goods coming from places within the state. Bharari then had the privilege of having a police station; the other police stations were at Sanjauli, Kufri, Kusumpti, Mashobra, Naldehra and Kiar. The force attached with the stations was a darogha, a munshi and ten constables. All these were not paid and they did the job as “beggar” (unpaid labour by force). Madan Gupta, an old resident of Bharari, says Kanwar Rudra Singh was the darogha at Bharari. Another interesting event of that time narrated by Gupta is that it was customary for all residents of the state, except Brahmins, to shorn off their hair on death of the ruling prince. Rana Raghubir Chand of Koti died in September 1944, the day fixed for the marriage of the daughter of Mast Ram, petition writer. The marriage could not be solemnised in Bharari and the people had to go to Keleston in Shimla to perform the wedding ceremony. Prior to 1941, there was no water facility in Bharari and residents had to bring water from a perennial source that supplied flow-water to Parhechi village. The residents had erected a gym (akhara) here where they used to do morning exercise before carrying water to their homes. It was in 1941 that the Municipal Committee Shimla had installed a public tap just below the present Laureate Public school building. The people of Bharari were given coupons on a charge for filling water from the tap. It was injustice to the people of Bharari falling in the Koti that supplied water to Shimla so they represented against the payment to the Municipal Committee. The representation was considered in their favour and a public tap was installed in 1942, which still exists in the heart of the bazaar. The supply then was for two hours in the morning only. Bharari was included in the jurisdiction of the Municipal Committee in 1950, and then the houses here had the electric and water facilities. Bharari during those days was buying market for maize flour, urad daal, kulth, ghee etc for farmers of Bhajji and Suket. There were two inns here for their night stay, one at the back of the present temple and the other at lower Bharari, near Joti Ram’s house. This small locality had the distinction of having The Raghubir Amateur Dramatic Club, formed in 1934. It did quite a few religious and historical plays with professional touch that were a big draw for the people of Shimla town. One great personality associated with Bharari is Kundan Lal Sehgal who lived here in one of the oldest buildings of the locality, Kodumal Building (see photo), before leaving for Kolkata in 1931. The other, Justice Devender Gupta, who retired as the Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court, was born here in Nanak Chand building. Bharari had only one road connecting it with the town till 1914 when another one called the lower road was built by the side of which the English raised beautiful buildings, Hemillena, Garshui and Dawlish. At present, Bharari is the only nearest to the town locality that has vacant spaces so is bearing the pressure of increasing brick and mortar day after day.
Tailpiece
Localities, today, have lost their identity, and their peace and charm have been sacrificed to the worst of abominations, the automobile.
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Illegal mining in rivulets continues
Hamirpur, November 23 So blatant are the cases of unscientific mining that almost every khud has been dug up quite deep in utter violation of norms set up by the state government. As per the norms, no khud put on auction can be dug up beyond 3-ft deep to extract gravels and sand, but most of these have been dug up very deep. On a visit to many of such khuds of the district, it was found that they have been dug up as deep as 15ft. Though digging at the distance of 200m near water sources and bridges is banned, yet at many places digging work has been carried out near them. Concerned at the unscientific mining in the area, Narotam Das, a villager, said: “Greedy contractors are carrying out mining work near water sources and bridges and at many places, khuds have been dug up about 15-ft deep”. Telling a specific incident, a resident of Nadaun said: “Illegal mining is continuing in Man khud for quite sometime. The contractor has carried out digging work near a local Gurdwara and it is being done during night hours against the norms degrading the environment”. Though the department auctions rivulets every year, it has not conducted any survey to check the menace. The mining officer in charge of the Hamirpur area, said: “We allot 23 khuds of the area for mining through auctions allowing only 3-ft digging to extract sand and gravels. Though no survey is undertaken to check the actual digging, we keep a check on unscientific mining”.
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Painting exhibition a big draw
The Bharatiya Kala Pradarshni organised in Shimla by the state museum drew a good response with 94 artists taking part in it. In all 110 works were displayed (See photo) at the exhibition. The museum has been organising the exhibition-cum-competition to provide a platform to the upcoming artists to showcase their talent. In the painting section, all top three positions were bagged by women artists. Deepali of Chandigarh, Anubha of Delhi and Sneh Lata of Bhiwani won the first, second and third prizes, respectively. In contrast, it was an all-man affair in the water colour section with Subhash Shorey of Chandigarh, Dainy B Singh and Saurabh Agnihotri, both of Shimla, being the winners. In the drawing and graphics section, Subhavana Sharma of Shimla, Atul Dixit of Kurukshetra and Devendra Kumar of Bhiwani got the top three places while in sculpture section Bhader Singh of Dagshai Public School, Vishal Bhatnagar of Chandigarh and Neeraj Jhagra of Solan were the winners. Two Shimla artists, Nitin Kalyana and Balwinder, bagged the first and second prizes, respectively , while Shilpi of Ludhiana was at the third place. Senior accomplished artists and budding artists participated with equal enthusiasm in the event. Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Sarveen Chaudhary ,who inaugurated the exhibition , appreciated not only the artistic skills of the participants but also their effort to focus on socially relevant themes New industrial areas on anvil
With the central package of incentives package partially withdrawn, the state government is focusing on developing new industrial areas with proper infrastructure to attract entrepreneurs. The plan is to establish 10 new industrial areas at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore in different parts of the state. According to Industries Minister Krishan Kapoor the process to provide 5,000 bighas of land at six new locations in the Nalagarh area of Solan to reputed industrial houses was under way. Besides, 12,000 bighas of land had been earmarked for the purpose in Sansarpur Terrace, Milwan, Kandrori and Indora in Kangra district for the expansion of industrial estates. The pace of industrialisation has slowed down after the Centre refused to extend the exemption in excise duty, a major incentive to new industry, beyond March 31, 2010, The government would soon set up land bank for to facilitate prompt transfer of land to the interested industrial houses. A textile park would be set up in Una district with an investment of Rs 350 crore which would provide jobs to 2000 persons and generate indirect employment for 10,000. Efforts were being made to ensure availability of power round the clock the state’s biggest industrial area comprising Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh and a double-circuit supply line had been provided recently at cost of Rs 45 crore for the purpose. A Rs 192-crore 400-KV high-voltage transmission project had been started to improve quality of power and a transport hub was being set up at a cost of Rs 11 crore in the area. An Information Technology Park is proposed to be set up at Waknaghat in Solan at a cost of Rs 400 crore to help provide employment opportunities to around 25,000 persons.
Awareness camps
Awareness camps were organised across the state to mark World Diabetic Day last week keeping in view the growing number of diabetic patients. Experts like Dr. Jitinder Mokta, Assistant Professor in the Dpartment of Medicine at Indira Gandhi Medical College, apprised the patients of the disease and its serious implications on the wellbeing of a person in the long run and also gave tips to combat it. Talking about various causes of this disease he underlined the need for giving up the sedentary lifestyle, which was mainly responsible for its spread. He also advised people to avoid fast food as a preventive measure. Dr Mokta spoke at 12 diabetic awareness camps at places like Nerwa, Jubbal, Hatkoti, Rohru, Rampur, Anni, Arki and Sunni in association with a Non-Government Organisation Ashadeep. He revealed that he surveyed 100 diabetic patients and found that 24 per cent of them were less than 40 years and 80 per cent less than 50 years of age. He urged the participants to get their blood sugar levels tested on a regular basis after the age of 40, particularly those who were obese, hypertensive, having a family history of diabetes and a high lipid level. In the case of women those delivering babies weighing over 3 kg should undergo screening tests after 30 years of age. (Contributed by Rakesh
Lohumi and DP Gupta)
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Sanitation a far cry at public toilets in Mandi
Mandi, November 23 Besides, the surroundings of the offices of the DC and SP reek with dirt drained from two canteens and a restaurant in the old judicial complex. Even as the plight of public toilets in the Indira Market and the council complex remains pathetic, the MC remains unmoved. The councillors are busy in preparing for the coming MC poll and they are blaming each other for the rot. Lawan Thakur, president, RTI Bureau, Mandi, said the council had spent lakhs on the repair of public toilets in Old Mandi, Suda Mohala, hospital road and Janju Naun, but the facility had not been opened for the public. Most sufferers are women visitors while males are either using open spaces or riversides to answer the call of nature, he rued. A visit to the judicial complex reveals it all. Toilets stink and a large number of cigarette butts and bidis can be seen littered, which makes the facility unusable for visitors. While smoking is banned in public places, visitors and members of the Mandi Bar seem to use toilets as a safe place to smoke and dump the trash, reveal insiders. The premises of DC and SP offices, too, remain littered with junk and trash. The wastewater of canteen in the judicial complex flow through an open drain on the lower side of the SP office and emit foul smell, rue lawyers. Samir Kashyap, general secretary of the Mandi Bar Association, says there is no water in toilets and sanitation is a far cry due to shortage of safai karamcharis. “We had sent a representation to the council which says the campus should be maintained by the department concerned”. Urvashi Walia, MMC executive officer, says they have repaired the toilets at many places, which will be opened for the public soon. “But we are not getting the contractor to look after and maintain the toilets,” she adds. She, however, says the MC has no responsibility for the maintenance of toilets in the judicial complex as it is the responsibility of the department to take care of its own premises. “We are rebuilding the public toilets in Indira Market for which Rs 4.5 lakh has been allocated.”
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People throng Science Congress
Hamirpur, November 23 Hundreds of students from 11 districts of the state presented models of scientific phenomenon in simple ways. While the Education Department in association with the State Council for Science and Technology organised the event, Agastaya, an NGO, rendered technical support. The students covered almost all aspects of basic sciences through their models. Giving practical shapes to some scientific phenomenon like generating hydropower, the students presented this principle of energy by making use of water grinding mill. Showing their concern towards the problem of natural disasters, the students had put forth varied suggestions for disaster management. They displayed different alarm systems working on rising water level, movement in mountain system and spotting smoke that may be used during natural disasters like flood, earthquake, fire, landslide etc. They also displayed models of houses and railway tracks that could be raised with the increase in water level. Showing their concern for conserving every drop of water, many students prepared models showing rain and wastewater harvesting. The principles of physics explaining phenomena of day and night change of seasons, solar and moon eclipses, siphon, water filters etc were also at display. Another attraction of the event was the effort of scientists of Gyan Vigyan Samit in explaining magic tricks of the magicians through knowledge of science.
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The four-day Himalayan Open Paragliding Championship, which concluded recently at Billing, remained mired in controversies right from planning of the event till its conclusion.
Palampur, November 23
Milk cooperative benefits 800 families
