Shimla, December 7
The increasing commercialisation of paragliding ignoring the safety aspects, particularly as recreational activity to beckon tourists with joy rides, is causing concern to the administrators of aero sports.

The safety concerns are addressed to a large extent during the competitive rally held at Bir-Billing but it is only an annual feature. Recreational paragliding is undertaken in places like Solan Nullah, Khajiar and Bir for most part of the year. For local paragilders, whose number is increasing with each passing day, it is no more an adventure sport but a lucrative source of income. They make a fast buck giving joy rides to tourists. There is system for certification of the equipment and no logbook is maintained to keep record of logging hours and flights.

What causes concern is that most of the local pilots have used paragliders, mostly sold by foreigners. "The airworthiness of the used flying equipment is always suspect and it is hard to tell whether it is safe or not. Apart from usage, exposure to UV (ultraviolet ) rays is the major factor responsible for damage to the canopy, making it prone to collapse, says Sanjay Thapar, Director-General of Aero Club of India (ACI). As a tourist was charged up to Rs 2,000 for a 10-minute joyride, local pilots were keen to make as many sorties as possible.

They were mostly ignorant about the basics of flying. In the absence of a log book the skills of the pilot and the status of equipment could not be certified.

The safety concerns were not confined to airworthiness of equipment and skills of the pilot. The women tourists draped in "saris" and other such apparel, not suitable for flying, were also given joyrides at great risk to their lives. Other factors like rescue arrangement, location and weather conditions were also ignored.

Thapar suggested that the state should put in place effective mechanism for regulating commercial paragliding and it could take the help of the Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment, Agra, a unit of the Defence Research and Development Organisation which specialises in supported parachute and other aerial dropped projects research. Annual inspection of equipment by experts could also help.

Jyoti Thakur, an accomplished pilot and a member of the technical committee set up by the government, said the problem of used equipment could be solved only if the government facilitates import of new equipment by reducing duty to make it available at a price of around Rs 1.25 lakh. Besides, sites for joyrides should be approved by the technical committee and a system to maintain a record of logging hours was also essential.

Shimla, December 7
Industrialisation is a national priority and it has to take place, but not at the cost of environment. Impressive industrial growth figures fail to hide the grim realities of environment pollution. While the state government is only bothered about development, the civil society has to bear the danger it poses to the environmental and public health.

However, the High Court is awake to the problem and it has taken a serious note of environment degradation being caused in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh area, the biggest industrial hub of the state, and ensured that the lax State Pollution Control Board takes some coercive measures against the defaulting units.

As a result of the court’s intervention, the board submitted a list of 56 units to the court recently where it had conducted sampling. It had constituted a three-member committee to collect effluent samples from these industries, which carried out the job from August 25 to September 17. As per the report, 15 units were not complying with the pollution norms and as a first step, orders have been issued to disconnect power to seven erring units.

Further, show-cause notices have been issued to seven other units, which were complying with the norms previously, while in case of one unit, directions were issued for rectifying minor violations.

The board also asserted that it was serious towards the protection of environment and informed that it had already initiated criminal proceedings against one industry before the Judicial Magistrate, Nalagarh, for violating the norms.

The board had submitted the list in compliance with the orders passed by the High Court in a PIL vide which the Green Bench, comprising Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Sanjay Karol, had directed it to take random samples of effluents from at least 50 industries and placed the report before the court.

In doing so, the court has expanded the scope of “the right to life”, a concept enshrined in the Constitution of India, to include the right to a clean and healthy environment.

It is not as if the court is encroaching upon the territories of legislature or the government, it is only protecting citizens’ rights guaranteed by the Constitution and various laws like the Environment Act. After perusing the report, the Green Bench listed the matter for further hearing on December 10.

Shimla, December 7
Embroiled in political and environmental controversies, the Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation (HPPCL) has submitted a revised proposal for the Renuka Dam to the forest authorities with the number of trees to be felled reduced to 7,100.

It was three days back that the revised case was submitted to the State Forest Department to be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest for final clearance. With Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh vehemently opposed to the felling of 1.72 lakh trees, a fresh survey of the trees was undertaken to pave the way for the construction of the dam, meant to provide water and power to Delhi.

"In the fresh enumeration, the number of trees has decreased by another 27 per cent (8,373 trees) taking the final number of trees that need to be felled to around 7,100," said Tarun Kapoor, Managing Director, HPPCL. He added that the revised case had been submitted last week and he was hopeful that the Union Environment Ministry would now grant approval.

He admitted that the earlier figure of 1.70 lakh had been arrived at as even the saplings and shrubs had been included even though they were not categorised as trees. Other officials associated with the project explained that as per norms all over the country only those trees, which are above 30 cm, are identified as trees.

They explained that only those trees need to be felled which are between the full reservoir level and the river bed. "Moreover, the trees which will face the axe mainly include eucalyptus, khair and broad-leaved trees and fast-growing species more than double the number to be felled will be planted as part of compensatory compensation," said an official.

Even though HPPCL is hopeful that the project would now get the nod, the statement of chief minister Prem.Kumar Dhumal that Himachal will not go out of its way to help Delhi which will benefit with the coming up of the Renuka Dam could also prove to be a stumbling block.

Environmentalists have been opposing the project on the ground that it will not only cause immense environmental damage to the flora and fauna of the area but also displace a large number of people who are being paid meager compensation for their land.

Out of a total if 2092 hectares of land required for the project, 775 hectares would be diverted permanently. HPPCL has already disbursed a sum of Rs 8 crore as compensation among some persons likely to be affected by the project. The estimated cost of the project is likely to be around Rs 3,700 crore. 

It was my first visit to the temple of Baba Balaknath at Deot Siddh where I had gone to attend a literary get-together held jointly by the State Academy of Arts, Culture and Languages and the Urdu Centre at Solan. I was disappointed to see the modern structure constructed outside the cave where Baba had meditated (See photo). With little imagination, the temple could have been given the look of a heritage shrine. A lady littérateur in the group refused to go to have the darshan of Baba saying that women were given second-hand treatment as they were not allowed to go near the idol and had to offer prayers from a platform constructed opposite the cave.

Suraj Prakash Soni, a tehsildar performing the duties of the temple officer, had no answer to ‘why so’? I bank upon Prashna Marg to find out its answer. It reads that God, in the form of divine presence, is established in a temple. Any form of impurity reduces the aura of the divine presence. Prashna Marg lists out the impurities which include all human excretory matter, including sweat and perspiration. Though menstruation is not specifically mentioned, it is because of this that women are not allowed.

On Prashna Marg theory, a sweating man should also be disallowed. Vashistha Dharmshastra, however, forbids entry of only menstruating women in temples by narrating the story of Indra slaying Vritra, the three headed son of Tvashtri. Indra felt the guilt of slaying a learned Brahman and ran to women for protection. Women took upon themselves the guilt which as Brahman-murder appears every month in menstrual flow, the reason for not allowing women inside temples. Sabarimala Temple in Kerala does not allow women in the age group of 10-50 inside, though Kerala actress Jaimala broke the sanction and entered the temple in 2006 resulting in hue and cry.

Dilwara Jain Temple at Mount Abu displays board, “only gents are allowed beyond this point” near the sanctum sanctorum. I, a non-entity, am against all such rules and taboos and go with Jefferson, “equal rights for all, special privileges for none”. Remember, ‘Sati Pratha’ was also popular in India once.

Deot Siddh Temple in Himachal Pradesh has an annual income of about Rs 11 crore and runs a degree college, a Sanskrit college and a model school at Chakmoh, a nearby village. It is spread over about 40 kanals at Deot Siddh and has a staff of about 290, including lecturers of the colleges.

The Dictionary of Beliefs and Religion reads, “Nath Yoga philosophy aims at liberation in life (jivan mukti), which is the realisation of one’s innate (sahaja) identity with the absolute, attained in a body made perfect (siddha) or divine (divya) in the ‘fire’ of yoga”. It was about AD 1200 that Gorakh Nath had invited Baba Balak Nath to join his sect. He refused and Gorakh Nath decided to forcibly capture him. Baba escaped to a cave and convinced the demon living there to vacate the place for his meditation. Deot Siddh Temple stands constructed over that cave. Here, a Brahmin named Banarasi became his devotee and started lighting an earthen lamp outside the cave.

People called it the Light of the Accomplished (Deot Sidh) and as the time passed; the cave became a sacred pilgrimage. Baba, prior to settling at Deot Sidh, was at Shah Talai, only 5 km away. He accepted to graze cows of an old lady Ratno Mai in lieu of roti (bread) and chhach (buttermilk).

He did it for 12 years and once Ratno got angry on him for not performing the duty of grazing the cows seriously and asked to return all rotis and chhach. Chhach poured out and filled a pond which came to be known as Chhach Talai later corrupted to Shah Talai. A devotee, today, completes his pilgrimage by visiting these shrines, Deot Sidh in Hamirpur and Shah Talai in Bilaspur.

Hamirpur, December 7
The third state-level sports meet for special children, which was organised at Hamirpur on December 2 and December 3, was a wonderful experience to watch physically challenged children performing in different games. About 450 children from different parts of the state assembled here during the period to prove their capabilities beyond their physical disabilities.

The sports meet, organised at Government Senior Secondary School ground, Hamirpur, was inaugurated by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Sharveen Chaudhary.

Giving importance to the performance of these children, the Minister said it was our prime duty to encourage these children to take up normal human activity like games.

The sole aim of organising the event for special kids was to exhibit their talent shedding physical disabilities and inhibitions and these hundreds of children made optimum use of the games to prove that though several physical disabilities were affecting their normal routine, it was never a hindrance in achieving high in any sphere of life.

Education Minister ID Dhiman, who was the chief guest during the concluding function, also stressed on the need for giving equal opportunities to these children to prove their talent by organising games and other such activities. Both ministers appealed to people to come forward in helping these children in every way since this was one of the best ways of doing social service.

The children participated in events like race, rope jump, long jump etc besides painting competition. Ashok Kumar of Hamirpur district won 100m race in the boys section, while Vishal and Sajan were placed second and third in the event. In the girls section, Manju of Bilaspur district won 100m race and Pooja and Yashita were placed second and third, respectively, in the event.

Kangra, December 7
The temple of Jayanti Mata, situated on a hillock between old Kangra and Nandrul village, witnessed huge rush of pilgrims during the five-day Panch Bikham festival. However, despite it being a place sacred for people of all faiths, the state government is least bothered about exploiting the tourism potential of this shrine.

The Panch Bikham festival is linked with Mahabharata and the ultimate realisation of truth by Bishama Pitamaha while lying on the bed of arrows. Panch Bikham is also celebrated as an occasion of the marriage of Tulsi with Saligram.

The temple is as old as the Mahabharata period and it is said that the idol of goddess in the form of a pindi had emerged naturally. Jaynati Mata is kul devi of the Gorkha community. Gorkha Regiment jawans and officers used to visit the shrine to seek blessings before proceeding for a war. Besides, a large number of pilgrims from Nepal and West Bengal visit the shrine every year.

The shrine with scenic beauty all around could have been exploited for temple tourism, but there is no such effort. A ropeway between the shrine and the Kangra Fort could have proved as a major attraction for tourists, but despite assurances, the government has not done anything concrete.

The government has even failed to get a 400-m stretch blacktopped and improve the parking lot for the convenience of pilgrims. BL Sharma, spokesman for the Senior Citizens Forum, has flayed the government for not improving facilities at the shrine.

Lt-Gen AS Lamba, GOC-in-C, Army Training Command (ARTRAC), Shimla, relinquished charge early this week to take over his new assignment as Vice-Chief of Army Staff in New Delhi.

He was given a ceremonial sendoff at the Annandale helipad (See photo). He spoke about emerging challenges and the new training strategies required for preparing the Army. He said:" The new technologies call for complete transformation in training right from how the Army deploys and employs forces, adapts to a wider range of missions across the full spectrum of warfare and leadership development process to building force's capabilities".

"ARTRAC carries the onerous responsibility of evolving and articulating operational doctrines, concepts and philosophies as an expression of the Indian Army's fundamental approach to war-fighting in the emerging operational environment. " the Army Commander said

Known for his out-of-the box thinking, General Lamba believed in "innovation" in training of leaders and men to do the "unthinkable". While at ARTRAC he has articulated the new Indian Army doctrine under the guidance of the Chief of Army Staff and given shape to relevant doctrines and philosophies, transformed the human resource and leadership development as a continuum from the stage of induction in training academies as centres.

He intensely propagated inter-service "jointmanship" and civil-military synergy and held several seminars on issues of contemporary importance, such as the recent "Media-Military Synergy" which set a benchmark in fostering mutual understanding with the media.

"Excellence in the art and science of war' remains the credo and the guiding spirit and ARTRAC looks at transforming war-fighters to operate successfully in the realms of high-technology environment. For the second largest Army, training will remain a huge challenge for ARTRAC for which the training institutions would have to be gradually transformed into "centres of excellence", he observed.

Solan, Demember 7
With a sharp rise in the number of accidents in the state's industrial area of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN), traffic management has become an arduous task for the police. Since majority of the accidents were cases of hit-and-run, the police had a tough time in trying to catch hold of offenders who generally fled the spot after the accidents.

Enquires from the Police Department revealed that in majority of the cases, commercial vehicles like trucks, tippers and tractors caused accidents due to reckless driving. Figures revealed that in 2008, as many as 78 people had lost their lives in 190 accidents, though this figure declined to 50 in the following year in 138 accidents. In 2010, about 115 accidents, which have occurred till date, have claimed about 80 lives which is a steep rise in the number of casualties.

In a recent accident, five lives were lost when a tractor-trailer carrying people turned turtle at Bhiffar village near Nalagarh. While this was a major case of loss of human lives where tractors were used for transporting people, even trucks are at times seen carrying people despite High Court's direction banning such use.

Apart from the Pinjore-Nalagarh-Swarghat NH-21-A, other roads like Sai Road, Jharmajri-Barotiwala and places like Khera, Nalgarh Chowk witnessed the maximum number of accidents. It was found that the operators of commercial vehicles were often in a hurry and drove recklessly through the busy roads often hitting smaller vehicles. Since the area saw a passenger-car ratio of 25,000 every day, the rate of accidents was prone to be high. Often overloaded vehicles drove through busy roads without caring for traffic rules.

Moreover, with the absence of adequate parking space for trucks, they stood lined up on both sides of the roads at several places on the NH-21-A, especially near the truck operator's office, thus giving invitation to accidents. This stretch of the national highway had become synonymous with killer's stretch due to large number of fatal accidents for the past several years.

Chander Shekhar Pandit, SP, Baddi, said the recent religious discourse in which people had arrived loaded in trucks had led to an accident. He added that he was carrying out a special drive to check reckless drivers and other violators of traffic rules where majority of the staff, including him, were booking offenders. He added that more chaos was created by unlicenced vehicles who operated secretly from Haryana and were often overloaded. Several such vehicles had been challaned so as to deter such operators.

Chamba, December 7
The term Chamba rumal conjures up in mind a spectrum of silken threads embroidered on a piece of textile. This pictorial handicraft of women is unique for its extraordinary double satin stitch popularly known as ‘do-rukha’ (both-sided identical). The magic of Chamba rumal can be seen on the either side of the textile where exquisite figural and floral motifs appear identical.

This pictorial handicraft flourished in the erstwhile Chamba state from 17th to 19th century. The earliest example of the embroidery can be seen on backless ‘cholis’ and coverlets decorated with simple floral designs. Later when the art of miniature painting reached its zenith, new experiments were worked out by the pahari painting. This paved the way for new possibilities that pictorial subjects depicting Krishna Lila and wedding and hunting scenes were reinterpreted by women crafts persons.

In the olden times, women of noble families in Chamba used to embroider rumals during their pastime. In fact, Chamba rumal is a joint venture of the painter and the embroiderer. The painter used to draw outlines in black and then women used to do embroidery work according to his instructions. Soft and muted silken threads of different hues were used to work out the lively figures of Radha and Krishna dancing in a circle (See photo). A large number of Rasamandala designs of Chamba rumals (See photo) are preserved in various museums across the world.

The training-cum-production centre run by the Himachal Pradesh State Handicrafts and Handloom Corporation till 1980s played vital role for keeping the tradition popular. But, due to the lack of attention and apathy of the government, the popularity of this art tradition is on the wane. In the name of Chamba rumal, some low-grade rumals filled the showcases of Himachal emporiums. Art lovers visiting Chamba get disappointment on seeing such rumals worked out in gaudy coloured threads. It is high time that the government should pay attention and take appropriate steps to maintain the quality of Chamba rumals.

After seeing this handicraft on the verge of extinction, an NGO, Delhi Crafts Council, which in the recent years came to the rescue of reviving this majestic tradition, imparted training to scores of young women in this art. Today, a number of young women are earning their livelihood out of this craft.

However, the support of the government is imperative to promote and popularise the craft of Chamba rumal in the national and international markets.

Maheshi Devi was the first craftsperson who received the National Award for making Chamba rumal. Later, Lalita Vakil and Kamla Nayyar were also bestowed with the same award. Masto Devi, Indu Sharma and Kamla Chadda are other young embroiderers who are committed to preserve this rich pictorial handicraft of a bygone era.