Shimla, February 8
The high court has intervened once again to help preserve the fragile hill environment. The state government has taken a decision to make Himachal “polythene free” by imposing ban on storage and use of non-biodegradable disposable plastic products like plastic cup, plate and glass from August 15 after the court expressed serious concern over the degradation of environment being caused by such waste.

Hearing this matter a Bench comprising Mr Justice Deepak Gupta and Mr Justice Sanjay Karol observed that the state must adopt a multi-pronged strategy to tackle the problem. It had not only to legislate and lay down policies but also make the people aware and ensure strict compliance of the rules. The Bench

further observed that there was also need to take effective steps for checking use of non-biodegradable packaging material used in packaging non-essential consumable items and other goods was emphasised.

The court further said that under the Himachal Pradesh Non-Biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act, 1995, the use of coloured polythene carrybags manufactured from recycled plastic for packaging goods by the traders, retailers and vendors had been prohibited. Under the notification issued in June,2004, a complete ban had been imposed on the stockists, traders and vendors within the state on using carrybags made of non-biodegradable material having thickness of 70 microns and size less then 12” x 18”. In July, 2009, the use of polythene carrybags (irrespective of their sizes and thickness) and plastic items having one time use such as disposable plastic cups, glasses and plates made of non-biodegradable material was also banned.

“Undisputedly the state has put restrictions and prohibited use of polythene carrybags and littering of plastic waste. Efforts made in this regard are appreciable, but we feel that it is just a small step taken in the direction of preserving the pristine environment and natural beauty of the hill state. In small

measure though, it has also taken steps in making the end-user and general public aware of the same. With regard to our suggestions that the matter be considered for taking a decision to ban the use of non-biodegradable packaging material with regard to non-essential commodities”.

The stand of the state that the Government of India had already notified rules known as Re-cycled Plastics Manufacturer and Usages (Amendment) Rules, 2003, was not appreciable and acceptable as these rules only dealt with carrybags.

The extent and scope of the rules did not cover the items which were specifically mentioned in the court orders. “We are not unmindful of the fact that, for the present, it may not be possible to have a total ban of use of plastic in packaging material but the state can certainly take steps to check rampant use of the same within the state. The Act further empowers the state to impose restrictions or prohibition on the use of non-biodegradable material and also on the manufacturers, distributors and other persons, who produce or handle commodities, with respect to type, size, labelling and composition of packaging with respect to its use and disposal.

These provisions of law were either being put to disuse or brazenly violated with impunity. Drains were choked and streets are littered with non-biodegradable packaging material. The implementing agencies could not keep their eyes shut in checking this menace. Small measures, which were cosmetic in nature, were not enough. Considering the enormity of the menace, effective implementation of the laws and policies was to be carried out at the ground level .

“A proper road map needs to be prepared in this regard. To begin with, the state can impose such restrictions on the products which are actually being manufactured and consumed within the State. Harsh measures need to be adopted if environment is to be protected, preserved and saved.”

After passing this order the Bench directed the state to look into the matter and file an action-taken report by March 26. After this order the state has taken the decision and decided to imposea ban on storage and use of non-biodegradable disposable plastic products like plastic cup, plate and glass from August 15. 

On the basis of a revenue record entry, they further succeeded in getting a forged certificate of an agriculturist, requisite for buying land in the state, and purchased the land by producing this certificate.

The Indora SHO said after receiving a copy of the DC’s order, a forgery case would be registered in this connection.

Palampur, February 8
Though the state government is well aware of the fact that monkeys have been causing a loss of Rs 500 crore every year by damaging crops, it has failed to represent its case in a proper manner before the Himachal Pradesh High Court, which has suspended the culling of simians.

Earlier, the government had issued licences to farmers to kill monkeys. In the first phase, over 400 licences were issued and over 500 monkeys were killed in different areas. Later, an NGO challenged the move in the High Court and the government was restrained to go further in this matter resulting in widespread resentment among farmers.

Now, the process of issuing licences has come to a standstill and the government is yet to approach the Supreme Court in this matter.

There are more than five lakh monkeys in the state and over 80 per cent live in villages far from the forest areas. Kangra district alone has over one lakh monkeys. As many as 2,500 out of 3,200 panchyats in the state are badly affected. Thousands of acres of agricultural land have gone barren in various parts. Farmers have been agitating for the past more than three years, but no effective steps have been initiated.

Farmers in over 100 villages in the lower areas of Jaisinghpur and Baijnath subdivisions have stopped irrigating their fields because of the menace. The Lambagoan, Khera, Bhora, Panchrukhi, chadhiar, Khundian and Thural areas are the worst affected where fertile land has turned barren. Most of the farmers have migrated to the urban areas in the search of employment.

Hundreds of moneys can be seen roaming in groups in these villages. Farmers say besides monkeys, other wild animals are also destroying their crops. They feel that this problem has become acute as monkeys have been provided protection under various laws.

The apple growing areas in Shimla, Kullu, Mandi and other parts of the state are so far not affected, but growers are apprehensive that monkeys may soon enter their orchards if no effective measures were taken to deal with the situation.

A senior officer of the Forest Department said in the past five years, over 1,000 people were bitten or attacked by simians, which resulted in the death of 24 persons. Monkeys also indulge in snatching handbags from passersby, stealing food from houses, medicines from hospitals and even files from government offices. Women and schoolchildren are soft targets for mischievous monkeys. Rampaging monkeys have also caused road mishaps.

KB Ralhan, an environmentalist, says in fact, human beings have encroached on their homes and robbed them of food and water. That is why not only monkeys but also wild animals have come closer to human settlements in the search of food. The state government should consider this aspect before giving permission to set up hydropower projects, cement plants and other industrial units.

Manali, February 8
The Palchaan-Rohtang and the Bijli Mahadev-Kullu ropeway projects continue to hang in balance as the state government is yet to sort out the issue of infrastructure development and terms and conditions on operation and ownership of the projects. The government is also awaiting nod from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) for the projects.

Though Chief Minister PK Dhumal has said during the inauguration of the two-km-long Solang ropeway and ski resort here recently that other ropeway projects will come up soon, the Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation (DTCA) is yet to sort out the infrastructure and other terms and conditions and get the Ministry’s nod for the Palchaan-Rohtang project.

The Himalayan Ski Village project that had envisaged to build ropeways at the Rohtang-Marhi tourist zone, but the present government sidelined the project after NGOs and residents raised their ante against it.

The government instead came out with the Palchaan-Rohtang ropeway project in this circuit. The idea of the project was to de-congest and protect the ecology of the Rohtang Pass during the summer season, which otherwise remains clogged with traffic most of the time.

Even the response to the tenders advertised by the DTCA was lukewarm as just one or two companies showed interest in them. Besides, the DTCA is yet to discuss the issues related to the infrastructure and terms and conditions with private players.

Another issue that the DTCA is yet to thrash out is that the Palchaan-Rohtnag needs a separate road for the ropeway which involved the fragile forestland in the sliding zone of Gulaba, Marhi and Rohtang, sources revealed.

Moreover, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is facing the problem of sliding in the Gulaba-Marhi-Rohtang zone. The construction of separate road involves permission from the Environment Ministry that will take a long time, said officials.

The plight of Kullu-Bijli Mahadev project is similar, though Bijli Mahadev is connected with the road. The DTCA is yet to thrash out the infrastructure and other terms and conditions of this project. Dr Arun Sharma, director, Tourism, said: “We are discussing the infrastructure issue and other terms and conditions of the projects. Techno feasibility reports are complete and the process is on”.

The urban transport management of Shimla town scheme under which 75 buses (See photo) have been purchased for plying in the state capital, is heading for collapse due to heavy operational losses.

The HRTC is suffering a loss of over Rs 2 lakh per day and its annual loss was likely to cross Rs 8 crore. The average daily income was Rs 3,000 per vehicle whereas a minimum income of Rs 5700 per bus was required for breakeven.

The scheme implemented to ease traffic congestion and provide better transport services has run into problems from the very outset due to poor utilisation of the fleet, low fares and a large number of commuters availing the concessional travel benefit. Initially, the government had fixed the fare on a slab basis under which the minimum fare was Rs 5 up to 5 km, Rs 10 for 5 to 10 km and Rs 15 for more than 10 km on the pattern of other cities in the country where the scheme had been implemented. However, strong reactions from commuters and agitation by Left parties forced the government to review the decision and a very low fare of Rs 1.11 per km was fixed.

The rate was fixed when the fare of long-route buses was 92 paise per km, which has been subsequently raised by 33 per cent, but no increase has been effected in the fare for the buses under this scheme. Furher, the average fleet utilisation was only 150 km per bus as against 275 to 300 km for the long-route buses. The low mileages directly affected earnings.

Harriet Tytler was born in 1828 at Oudh in India and had witnessed horrors of the 1834 famine. Six-year-old Harriet had then promised that “when I grow up to be a woman I will save all little starving children and bring them up as Christians.” And to keep her promise, she went to England in 1866 for collecting donation for the proposed orphanage to be established in Shimla. And 1869 saw the opening of Himalayan Christian Orphanage in the building called North Stoneham, where stands the present Government College for Boys at Sanjauli. It was later converted into a free home for European and Eurasian orphan girls and the daughters of poor parents.

Lord Mayo inaugurated the new establishment in June, 1870, as Mayo School. Mayo Industrial School for European orphans was also started here in 1872. The Headmistress of the school was Mrs A. Wilkinson, who started erecting a kitchen within the premises in 1892. Immediately, the Municipal Committee (MC) sent a letter to her, saying that ”please be good enough to quote the authority from this committee sanctioning the erection of a kitchen which is being built at Mayo School.” She got scared and wrote to Archdeacon Walter H. Tribe, who was a Sessions Judge, besides being the honorary secretary of the school. Tribe, who was at Saharanpur then, wrote a letter to the MC from there on February 1, 1892, apologising for starting the work without proper permission. It reflects the regard that the English had for the rules and bylaws. A hospital designed by TEG Cooper for Mayo Orphanage was started here in 1892.

The process of rebuilding of Mayo School Orphanage started in 1903. Gerald E. Nicolls, the Chaplain and Secretary of Mayo School wrote to the MC: “The plans have been approved by the Punjab Government, which is contributing to the cost.” Under the guidance of architect and consulting engineer A. Craddock, the proposal sent to the MC read inter-alia: “The present main building is to be dismantled, all demolition is to be carefully done, without unnecessary damage to the material in the building, all material obtained therefrom is to be carefully sorted and stacked and rubbish deposited at a place pointed out by the architect.” It shows the extreme caution with which a building was dismantled and whatever was possibly usable used in the new construction.

The architects these days while condemning a government building cast it off totally and the material of the discarded building is sold to cheapjacks. Further Nicolls assures the MC that debris would be thrown in such a manner ‘that no trees are injured, of which I would be careful.’ It is a lesson for the present builders. The building was opened on March 1, 1905 (See Photo).

A routine was that the MC medical officer would inspect the schools and present his reports. One such report by Captain JRD Webb dated April 9, 1924, has two interesting points. Just above Mayo School on the Lakkar Bazaar-Sanjauli road, a cobbler sitting in a shanty used to do the entire shoe-mending work of the orphanage. Webb recommended in his report that the school should improve the look of the shanty: ‘This would cost next to nothing and certainly give a better appearance to this corner of the road’. In the Industrial school classroom there was an English pattern stove costing Rs 500 installed in 1914. Webb’s concern for wasteful expenditure is gauged from his remark: “It seems a pity to have Rs 500 locked up on an article which is used only for show purposes.”

Col LB Grant was the last chairman of the managing committee of Mayo till Independence when the school was replaced by a B.Ed. / B.T. College for girls affiliated to Panjab University that functioned till 1969. That very year Government Degree College was opened here which got affiliated to HP University on its formation in 1970. The college has been a centre of excellence since 2006. May it bring the youth out of darkness to light with its motto ‘Aroh tamso jyotih’!

Bilaspur, February 8
Himachal Horticulture and Technical Education Minister Narender Bragta honoured and gave away cash prizes worth Rs 1,03,500 to 24 sportspersons of this district on behalf of the HP State Youth Services and Sports Department.

He honoured Pooja Thakur of Jukhala with a cash prize of Rs 25,400 for winning a gold medal in the second Asian junior kabaddi at Malaysia, besides winning a silver medal in the 33rd National Kabaddi Games at Guwahati .

Special cash prizes of Rs 10,000 each were given to Geeta Devi for winning two Golds at the World Summer Games at Dublin in Special Olympics and Akib Javed for winning a silver medal in the Asian Football Cup in Nepal. These two are mentally retarded and are students of the prominent social organization “Chetna” here.

Coaches Om Parkash and Rattan of the State Sports Hostel were also given cash prizes of Rs 10,000 each for the achievements of their kabaddi players.

The following sportspersons were also given the following cash prizes: Priyanka Negi (three golds)-- Rs 3600, Nirmala Devi (one gold)-- Rs 1200, Rajni Devi (one Gold , one silver) --Rs 3200, Ritu Negi (four golds)--Rs 4800, Karuna Kumari (three golds)-- Rs 3600, Manju Devi, Rajinder Kaur and Sandip Kumar (one gold each)- -Rs 1200 each and Seema Kumari (two golds)-- Rs 2400. All these sportspersons belonging to the Sai Sports Hostel here got these prizes for achievements in kabaddi.

Kalpana Devi and Minakshi Devi (hockey Silver in National Rural sports)-- Rs 1000 each, Shivani Thakur National Rural Sports silver in taekwando--Rs 1400, Arvind Singh (silver)-- Rs 1500 and Geeta Nand (gold and bronze) -- Rs 3400, Saroj (bronze in boxing in National School Games) -- Rs 1400 , Ajay Kumar (Bronze in wrestling)-- Rs 1400, Sapna Devi (gold in wrestling)-- Rs 1200 and Sudesh Kumari (silver in kabaddi in National Women Sports festival at Mandya.

Chamba, February 8
The Chamba region of the northwestern Himalaya is famous for its unique and vibrant cultural heritage. That is why noted art historian professor John Philippe Vogel regarded Chamba as "Achamba", a wonder.

In his "Antiquities of the Chamba State", he underscores the remarkable cultural diversities of this region. On visiting Chamba, the eminent folklorist Devender Satyarthi once had remarked that "Chamba's honey is sweet, but its folk songs are sweeter than honey".

Being protected by high mountains, Chamba could retain its rich cultural heritage for centuries. With the course of time, the rapid change can be felt in every aspect of its cultural realm. Thanks to Kamal Prashad Sharma's painstaking efforts to document the age-old cultural heritage of Chamba region by writing scores of research papers, monographs and books.

For his strenuous endeavours of documenting the cultural heritage of the alpine Chamba region, Sharma was also honoured by Ambika Soni, Union Minister of Tourism and Culture, while presiding over the "Chamba Millennium Celebrations" held at Chamba town in April 2006. Now, a popular NGO of the hilly region, named "Crafts Council", has decided to honour Sharma for his contributions in April next.

Born in a renowned family of Chamba town, Sharma (76) is firmly rooted in the realm of Chamba's culture. In 1949, he came in contact with the renowned art historian Padamshri Jagdish Mittal, who opened the vistas of Chamba art. Later, it was Prof Maithili Prasad Bhardwaj who further encouraged him to carry out research work in the field of art and culture of Chamba.

The very first book by Sharma, which came out in 1992, was "Biunsali" based on the study of folk musical instruments of Chamba. In this publication, he had laid the significance of all folk instruments in fashion down the centuries. Besides, he also made special reference of the folk Musadha and Ainchali singers, who simultaneously play upon the instruments while rendering narratives.

Bewitched by the colourful dresses and costumes, he brought out another book entitled "Costumes and Ornaments of Chamba" which is considered a standard work of the subject. Soon, Sharma wrote another book on the famous pilgrimage of "Manimahesh Chamba Kailash". In this work, he highlighted the splendour of archaeological treasure of the Bharmour region.

Sharma, being a theatre artist, remained associated for decades with the Sanatan Dharma Natak Mandal, a local theatre group. As a writer and director, he staged some famous plays like "Balidaan" and "Manjari-Mahotsava", which bagged several awards on different occasions. His book entitled "Folk dances of Chamba" affords a study based on sumptuous information hitherto unrecorded. His "Rediscovering Chamba" (with Swapan Mahajan) is a must-have handbook for those who visit Chamba. In some of his research papers, he has decoded the facts related to the mysterious "tantric" pillars located at various places in Chamba town.

Sharma is a prolific writer who still devotes much time for his researches and ongoing projects. In sum, he emerged as a saviour of the Chamba's culture and has contributed remarkably for the posterity.

Shimla, February 8
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has appreciated the Rs 353-crore “Pandit Deen Dayal Kisan Baagwan Samridhi Yojna” being implemented in the state to encourage protected cultivation.

In a letter to Chief Minister PK Dhumal, he has lauded the efforts of the state government and suggested that it should avail benefits under the Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States (HMNEH) where beneficiaries were entitled to 50 per cent assistance for establishing structures for protected cultivation raising high value crops.

Pawar said the cost norms for some of the components like green house with fan and pad system, tubular structure and wooden structure were higher under the mission than those under the ongoing scheme.

He advised the state to propose more units for protected cultivation in its annual action plan under the mission.

The Chief Minister said the yojna had been adopted by progressive farmers overwhelmingly as the subsidy component was as high as 90 per cent.

He said the state had urged the Union Agriculture Ministry to open a centre of excellence of the Indian Council for Agriculture Research on the campus of CSK University of Agriculture at Palampur for research in the farm sector to diversify from the traditional cultivation system.