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Hamirpur nagar parishad poll
Escape routes leading to huge revenue loss
Simian terror at Chamunda temple
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Special tourism zones mooted to tap unexplored areas
Himachal diary
Stress laid on increasing hydel power generation
Setback to western tragopan breeding programme
Vignettes
Helping HIV positive
Locals blame MC for poor management
Heaps of debris dumped near the Bhima Kali temple along the Beas river in
Mandi. A Tribune photograph
Lone Himachali girl clears CDS exam
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Hamirpur nagar parishad poll
Hamirpur, December 14 The name of Deep Kumar was cleared by the BJP election committee after its meeting at Dharamsala recently. Expressing resentment, two other aspirants from the BJP, Kashmiri Lal Handa and Vijay Pal
Soharu, have expressed inclination to contest as independent candidates. It is notable that it is for the first time that election to the post of president and vice-president of nagar parishad would be held directly and also contested on the
party symbol. Reacting to this decision, Kashmiri Lal Handa, who is sitting member in the outgoing house and had been elected several times, said, “I had a rightful claim for the party ticket, but the party has done injustice to me and now I have no other choice but to contest as an independent and would make a formal announcement soon”. Vijay Pal Soharu, sitting member from ward No. 3 and youth leader of the BJP, has also expressed similar sentiments and shown his inclination to contest the election. He said, “I am holding meetings with my supporters and would contest the election”. Avnish Sharma, a former ABVP leader, has already started campaigning by pasting his posters in the town. Resentment has also been prevailing among other quarters after the release of party list. Chand Kishor, a party activist, has resigned from the party after the denial of his nomination from Choru ward of BDC under Nadaun block.
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Escape routes leading to huge revenue loss
Solan, December 14 Since the area shared a porous border with Punjab and Haryana, scores of routes opened into the adjoining villages of Punjab and Haryana. The use of these routes spared a trader from paying various taxes. The Nalagarh area had the maximum escape routes with the Ramshehar road leading to Gamber Pul in Bilaspur district and the traders could easily evade the Swarghat barrier. Similarly, those wanting to avoid the Deerowal barrier could use at least three escape routes from the Punjab villages of Bagheri, Nava Gram and Gullerwala. In Baddi the way to evade tax lay through Shahpur, Nanakpura and Mandhala villages. Even the Balad river provided escape routes through villages located in Haryana as well as Punjab. With the industries in the state receiving benefits of the central incentive package, cases of second-hand machinery being imported into the units often emerged and also units transporting their machinery after availing the benefits into other states were common. The escape routes were often used for such purposes as they provided trouble-free
transportation.
RD Janartha, Assistant Excise and Taxation Officer, Baddi, said that their employees, including the flying squad, regularly checked such offenders and a number of such vehicles had been impounded. Official, however, declared that they were contemplating to launch online declaration of goods at all barriers as this would help check this tax evasion. It had been made mandatory to bring goods through notified barriers and offenders had to pay a penalty of 35 per cent of the value of goods for using the escape routes.
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Simian terror at Chamunda temple
Dharamsala, December 14 The authorities of the one of the most famous temples, Chamunda Devi, have also been facing the similar problem. The temple complex is under complete simian terror. Monkeys in huge numbers can be seen all over the temple complex and devotees often become victim to simian attacks. Be it the parking area, temple corridors, dharamshala, langar hall or the main puja hall, monkeys can be seen everywhere. They enter the main puja hall and often attack devotees carrying parsad packets in their hands. They often try to steal offerings presented in front of the deity. “We come to Chamunda Devi every year and we have seen the number of monkeys increasing each time. It has become very difficult for women, children and aged people as monkeys generally attack them. In fact, it is dangerous for all of them present here,” said Vivek, a devotee. The temple authorities have also been facing a lot of difficulties due to the ever-increasing number of simians. “They break glasses around the dome and the structure erected around it. Our phone lines remain out of order as they use telephone lines to jump. They spread litter at the temple complex. Sterilisation has not been effected in this case and the administration has failed to overcome the menace,” said LR Kaundal, temple officer, Chamunda Devi. He said, “Monkeys recoganise Wildlife Department’s vehicles and they run away to avoid the traps placed by them”. Similar is the situation at the some of the other famous temples like Bagla Mukhi situated on the Dehra-Dharamsala road, some 42 km from here. Sameer Rastogi, wildlife conservator, said, “We had sterilised monkeys there but it has not been very effective as monkeys from nearby areas approach the temple due to easy availability of food. They recoganise the department’s van and we have been waiting for their memory to fade out”. Rastogi has advised the mandir committee to make sure that there is no food available for the simians. He wants the mandir authority to tell visitors not to feed monkeys in and around the temple complex and use innovative ideas like bursting crackers to shoo them away or to take a shooting licence from the local range officer.
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Special tourism zones mooted to tap unexplored areas
Shimla, December 14 Seeing the immense tourism potential in the state, the Tourism Department is keen that new unexplored areas be developed in a manner where the local community is involved and the benefits accrue to the people of the area. In fact, a Delhi-based consultant has already been entrusted with the responsibility of preparing a 20-year perspective plan to define the key areas. The popular destinations like Shimla-Kasauli, Kullu-Manali and Dharamshala-McLeodganj no doubt still attract a lot of tourists but the fact is that they are almost saturated. An exercise will also be undertaken to assess the carrying capacity of new areas and develop them accordingly so that they do not exceed their limit. The thrust would be to develop some of the unexplored areas like Rajgarh in Sirmour, Janjhiali in Mandi, Shoja in Kullu and Pong Dam in Kangra by declaring these as STZ on the lines of special economic zone (SEZ). It is by way of creating an STZ that a particular area can de developed for tourism activities without other activities interfering or adversely affecting the tourism potential of the area. The department is keen on the creation of STZ as this will help provide all kinds of facilities for tourists, similar to the manner in which the government has created SEZs to give special space and incentives for private industry in sectors like information technology, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. The Tourism Department is already pursuing the creation of a separate tourism sub-plan so that coordinated efforts can be made by the departments concerned for tourism promotion. The creation of a tourism sub-plan by clubbing a part of the funds of various departments will help provide the required infrastructure for attracting tourists whether it is for adventure, winter or water sports, heritage, pilgrim or wildlife tourism. Another important benefit of creating STZ will be to ensure benefits for local communities, generate employment, improve economy of the state and place the state internationally in the list of high-end tourism products. The initiative will involve training of locals to serve in various capacities so that they can derive the maximum possible economic benefits as the true tourism potential of the state is yet to be fully realised.
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Chhavi 2010 showcases hill culture, beauty
There were about 250 photographs (See photo), including 80 entries in the competitive section, on display for the competition on the theme "Himachal and its beauty" organised in collaboration with the State Department of Language, Art and Culture. While landscapes capturing the awesome beauty of hills dominated the show, there were several pictures depicting the rich culture and wild life. In fact, the best photograph in the wildlife section was by Ashish Mehta, showing birds converging on a lake. In the landscape section, the picture by Surabhi Gupta showing bees was adjudged the bestwhile the bullfight captured on camera by Pawan was the winner in the culture section. The event was inaugurated by Chander Mohan Sharma, Chairman of the State Public Service Commission while DGP DS Manhas presided over the valedictory function and gave away the prizes. General secretary of Fotografix Geet Dhonsi said that the objective was to provide a platform to the deserving upcoming photographers to showcase their talent and also to create interest among the young generation in the "art" of photography. It was for this reason that his organisation did not charge any entry fee from the participants. More than 5,000 persons visited the exhibition. Keeping in view the success of the exhibition he was planning to make it an annual event. New Shimla residents rue MC apathy
Resentment prevails among residents of the New Shimla area over the failure of the local Municipal Corporation to provide them with adequate services and take effective steps to solve the problems being faced by them due to lack of basic civic amenities. The Residents Welfare Society alleged that the corporation had been ignoring the area and its officers had not bothered even to visit their colony. A part of the park in Sector 1 had been illegally occupied and work on the ambulance road being constructed from DAV School in Phase III had been held up despite allocation of funds. The roads damaged during the monsoon had not been repaired so far and local people were facing problems due to unauthorised parking of vehicles. The society was also unhappy with the law and order situation and it had decided to take up the matter with the SP.
Workshop for journalists
With the advancement of Internet technology and increasing craze for cyber world, the threat of cyber crime is also increasing. A common Internet user is ignorant about the actual intensity of cyber crime with new dimensions being added to this field everyday. Recently a workshop for mediapersons at Hamirpur enlightened them about different aspects of cyber crime. A Hamirpur-based computer institute COMTECA organized this workshop for the journalists. The CEO of E-core Techno solution Chandigarh Pradeep Sodhi, who was the resource person in this workshop, gave very valuable information about various aspects of cyber crime and precautions to be taken while using the Internet and foraying into cyber world. He said with the use of techniques like key loggers while we can get information about our child using Internet sites to keep a check on them but this can also lead to leakage of our very personal information from our computer. Since hacking of data has become very easy these days he advised every computer user to install a genuine security and anti-virus system.
(Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)
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Stress laid on increasing hydel power generation
Hamirpur, December 14 In the context, most practical suggestions were given by HK Sharma, chief managing director of the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN), in his keynote address. Laying stress on harnessing hydro power in the country, he told that: “At present 25 per cent of potential of this energy i.e. 37,328 MW of hydel power had been tapped in the country so far, while we are deficit of total 10 per cent of the energy demand”. In the Himalayan region, the state has a potential of 21,000 MW. For achieving this target of hydro power harnessing based on practical experience of the SJVN after achieving installed capacity of 3,354 MW through different projects in the Himalayan region, Sharma asked to develop infrastructure and logistic support, arrange debt financing, tackle problems of operation and maintenance like management of silt should be addressed at planning stage, expedite statuary clearances of power projects and provided tax holiday etc. Highlighting the ways to manage silt in hydel power projects, RP Singh, director of the SJVN, suggested collection of accurate data of silt in rivers for future projects, implementing catchments area development plan, along with construction of the project, optimising hydraulic design of underwater components of turbines and lower rotational speed, etc. While PK Kohli, general manager of the HPPCL, laid stress on the importance of information, investigation and instrumentation in speedy hydro power development, assistant professor of NIT, Hamirpur, OP Rahi, presented plan for refurbishment of hydro power projects in the workshop.
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Setback to western tragopan breeding programme
Shimla, December 14 The bacterial infection, which caused the death of three birds early this year, forced the wildlife authorities to stall the breeding process midway during the season. There was virtually no breeding as the only chick born also succumbed to the disease. Random tests conducted subsequently
revealed that all birds were infected with E-coli, which causes extensive damage to internal organs, including the reproductive system. The birds have been treated for the infection but breeding exposes them to great risks as organs take time for recovery. Since it is not possible to ascertain whether the birds have fully recovered from the damage suffered due to infection the core group overseeing the conservation-breeding programme had decided not to go in for breeding in the coming season as a precautionary measure. Further, a proposal to construct new enclosures was taken four years ago as spacious enclosures were required for providing stress-free environment but they were under construction. AK Gulati, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, said the immediate concern was to ensure that the new spacious enclosures were being completed at the earliest as they would immensely help in preventing the spread of infection , besides creating almost natural environment for the birds. The health of the birds was being closely monitored and the required measures, like changing the top soil of enclosures, purification of water sources, monitoring the quality of feed, necessary to prevent infection were being taken. The death of four birds will not affect the conservation-breeding programme as only seven pairs were required for the purpose. There were still 19 birds, 9 females and 10 males at the pheasantry, which were more than enough. The survival of the bird depends on success of the project as the Sarhan pheasantry is the only place in the world, which has the highly endangered birds in captivity. It was put on the world pheasant breeding map when the rare bird was bred in captivity for the first time in 2005. The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) had sanctioned a Rs 4.93-crore project for "parent rearing" of highly endangered western tragopan, which is placed high on the Red Data Book of the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) listing the highly endangered species, more than six years ago.
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Survey on malnourished children in Mandi village
by Shriniwas Joshi I was at Chakkar village in Mandi district where a team from Naandi Foundation, Hyderabad, is conducting a survey on malnourished children in Himachal Pradesh (See Photo). Chakkar, 8 km from Mandi, is known for its milk plant established in 1972 under the Indo-German Agricultural Development Project and has an intake capacity of 9,000 litres of milk per day. Naandi, meaning a new beginning; was founded in 1998; it works on three broad sectors: child rights, safe drinking water and sustainable livelihood. It is working here in collaboration with Himachal Pradesh Voluntary Health Association, Shimla. They have randomly selected 30 villages each in Mandi and Hamirpur districts in which the survey on malnourished children would be done covering each and every household of the picked-up villages the selection of which has been made in such a manner that all development blocks of the identified districts get covered. Invigilators chosen from both districts have been provided with weighing machines, height and biceps measuring tools and are being trained by experts of another organization, 'Sunai', at Patna in Bihar. Himachal Pradesh that has earned the State of State Awards recently has much better indicators on health than those of many other states but the National Family Health Survey, 2005-06 (NFHS), has shown that the percentage of wasted children below the age of three here has increased from 16.9 in 1998-99 to 18.8 in 2005-06. Wasting is defined by height and weight - less weight in proportion to height. The Per capita income of the state has increased in the seven years under consideration; the literacy rate has improved; there is superior food-intake and the life style of the families has gone better then why is it that the number of malnourished children has increased here. It is a big question mark for the health providers and social activists. The NFHS shows that 36.2 per cent children below the age of three were underweight in the state. The percentage was 43.6 in 1998-99. Age and weight define underweight. Age and height define whether the child is stunted or not. The percentage of stunted children was dangerous 41.6 in 1998-99, which has come down to 26.6 in 2005-06. The NFHS outcome on wasted child, therefore, is a matter of concern for the state. A wasted child catches diseases quickly; retention of lessons taught in school lowers, leading to his dropping out. A survey reveals that contribution of such a child to the GDP is less by 3 per cent when he grows to join the workforce. There are three reasons for wasting among children: lack of nutrient food; living and growing in polluted and unhygienic atmosphere; ignorance of mother on how to nurture a baby. A planned attack on all these evils will reduce the incidence of wastage. All parents or parents to be should note that nourishment of the child starts from the day it appears as a foetus in the womb of its mother and deserves most of the elements of nourishment by the age of three. One has, therefore, to be vigilant as a child grows up. Gross and Web writing for a journal 'The Lancet' have stated that if the percentage of wasted children increases by 15, the government should declare it as a national calamity. Watch out, Himachal. I noted that the team at Mandi was also checking nutritional oedema in children by hand pressing their feet. Nutritional oedema is primarily attributable to protein deficiency, though the aggravating effect of other coincident deficiencies may not be excluded. The present survey is being done after 1998 when a survey on the nutritional status of Himachal was conducted in 10 districts barring Chamba and Lahaul & Spiti. May the present survey prove the NFHS wrong!
Tailpiece
The final word on nutrition and health:
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Training for self-help groups, anganwari
workers
Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, December 14 Training programmes for strengthening society’s response through self-help groups and anganwari workers are being held in Kangra district. The training under the National AIDS Control Programme aims at decreasing stigma and discrimination through change of attitude and dispelling myths and misconceptions regarding the disease. One such training programme concluded at Bheu Mahadev (Sulah) recently in which 41 self-help groups (SHG) discussed safe pregnancy training of HIV positives. “The training also provided information on facilities of integrated counselling and testing centers and prevention of parent to child transmission, ART, comprehensive care centre, financial assistance etc. for demand generation and increasing uptake of services,” said Dr RK Sood, district AIDS programme officer. “Trained members will sensitise everyone in the village that people living with HIV are normal like anyone else. With appropriate medical, nutritional, and psycho-social support, patients can lead a normal and productive life. This realisation will open doors to normalisation of life with HIV. The SHG will also involve and empower affected people by associating them with income generation activities. Seven batches of anganwari workers and two batches of SHG have been trained this month in collaboration with the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment,” he added. During training, SHG members interacted and discussed the myths and misconceptions and clarified their perspective on the issues related to HIV. They further pledged to support HIV positive people in their neighborhoods and villages and help them access facilities of free treatment and financial assistance for children affected by the disease. They also discussed the relative advantages of ICTC over other labs viz. reliability, confidentiality, free of cost and counselling support.
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Locals blame MC for poor management Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service
Mandi, December 14 The residents blame poor management and apathetic attitude of the MMC for the bad state of affairs in this temple town. While traditional water sources like baolis and streams have become unfit for drinking water, the MMC is spending a major chunk of Rs 12 crore received from the Central government on useless activities, rue locals. The MC has been dumping solid waste at Ardi site, near Chandrabani barrier. It is not properly developed and municipal vehicles dump the waste outside the wall that end up on the highway and finally, into the Beas. Private contractors dump debris into the Suketi, a tributary of the Beas, near Bhima Kali temple. The illegal and unscientific dumping is polluting the Beas water. Even the sewer water of hotels and toxic effluents released by drycleaners and industrialists end up into the river, allege residents. The violators also include hoteliers and resort owners, and auto showroom-cum-workshop owners, who release water from their workshops into the Suketi, Sakiodi and Sanialdi nallahs. Besides, there are 64 places in the town that continue to be used as illegal dumping grounds. The town generates 35 quintal of solid waste everyday, but only 25 quintal is collected and dumped at Ardi and the rest is being dumped at illegal sites. The MC has bought a JCB machine to sort and dump solid waste properly, but it is lying unused. The council claims that it has spent over Rs 1 crore for the management of solid waste by buying 16,000 waste bins, three three-wheelers, a compacter, and a tractor JCB, a dumper placer, 130 rehris etc. Urvashi Walia, executive officer, MMC, said the council had erected wired fencing around illegal dumping sites. “We have no alternative site for dumping. We have erected walls and fencing along the highway around illegal sites, but waste is being dumping during odd hours”. The State Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (SEPPCB) had lodged an FIR against the then council president Sushila Sonkhla in 2003, but the court gave her a clean chit in 2009. Sonkhla alleges that the board is now mum on the issue of fixing accountability for pollution in the town as it is headed by BJP leader HR Vaidya. SK Sharma, SEPPCB in charge for the central zone, said the board had issued fresh notices to the MC and asked it file a compliance report and check illegal dumping of solid waste. The council had to report compliance and board was monitoring the progress, he added.
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Lone Himachali girl clears CDS exam
Nurpur, December 14 After getting through the examination, she also succeeded in undergoing physical and oral tests conducted by the Indian Army at Allahabad. According to information, the Army had conducted the examination to select 35 women non-technical cadets from the country. Nowadays, she is undergoing one-year Army training for Lieutenant in the Army Officers’ Training Academy in Chennai. Shaveta, daughter of a middle-class family of the area, had passed class XII from Army School, Mamoon, near Pathankot, and got B.Sc (biotech) degree from Garden City College, Bangalore. According to Raghunath Sharma, father of Shaveta, she was very keen to serve the Army during her childhood, but her dream was fulfilled
this year. Her selection in the officer rank of the Army had also cheered her grandfather Thuru Ram Sharma, who on hearing the news of her selection had distributed sweets at Jassur. He told that none of his family members had ever served the Army in the past, but her granddaughter had brought a name to his family.
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"Chhavi 2010", a four-day photographic exhibition-cum- competition organised by a local group Fotografix at Shimla's Gaiety Theatre provided a glimpse of the hill culture, natural beauty, flora and fauna.