Shimla, September 14
After a persistent boom through the entire season, the apple market tumbled unexpectedly over the past couple of days, with prices in Asia’s biggest Azadpur Mandi in Delhi declining by 12 to 20 per cent.

The rates of the quality royal delicious apple, which fetched Rs 2,100 to Rs 2,500 per standard box, have come down to Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,800 per box. The prices of the lower grade fruit have also taken a hit and lost Rs 250 to Rs 350 per box. This is despite a slight decline in the arrivals in the market.

According to arhtiyas (commission agents) in Delhi, heavy rain in North India and other parts of the country, which created a flood-like situation, affected the movement of the fruit to various markets. It will take another two to three days for the rain-hit markets to function in full steam, provided there is no further precipitation.

Further, the dumping of poor-quality apple in huge quantities also led to an overall downswing in the market. Almost 80 per cent of the fruit is of poor quality.

Ranjit Mehta, a leading grower of Kotgarh, said this season the crop in some higher areas, known for top-quality apple, was devastated by hailstorms. The hail-affected fruit is not even worth sending to the market. He said since he had been using anti-hail net, his crop was not only saved but yielded good returns. The downturn in the market would further hit the growers of higher areas who had a lean crop. So far high prices had compensated the growers for the low output.

Till now only 91 lakh boxes have been sent out from the state as against 2.52 crore last year, when the state had a record crop of 4.46 crore boxes. However, the figure is higher compared to 64 lakh boxes in 2009, when a meagre 1.40 crore boxes of apple were produced. The procurement under the market intervention scheme is also quite low at 1,348 tonnes.

The peak season is over and the number of apple trucks leaving the state daily for various market has come down from 450 two weeks ago to 343 yesterday. Thus, the main harvesting season will be over by the end of this month and only Kinnaur and some other higher reaches will be left for October. The total production is not likely to exceed 1.50 crore boxes.

Shimla, September 14
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today issued directions for carrying out official work in Hindi for the convenience of the common man. He also announced that the honorarium of litterateurs and writers would be enhanced from Rs 250 to Rs 1,000.

Presiding over the state-level Hindi Diwas function here today, he said the use of Hindi was essential to promote the spirit of nationalism among the countrymen and to preserve the rich culture and heritage.

Dhumal honoured officers of various departments, corporations, boards and districts for their outstanding contribution to promoting Hindi. Secretary, GAD, Ajay Bhandari received the first prize, Principal Secretary, Personnel, Manisha Nanda the second prize and Principal Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies, Prem Kumar the third prize at the secretariat level. Deputy Commissioner, Una, was also honoured for overall performance on the occasion.

Others honoured included Madhu Khanna and Naveen Sharma (both section officers), Ramesh Chand, Om Prakash and Ichho Devi (senior assistants) at the secretariat level. At the directorate level, the departments of Small Savings, Local Audit and Cooperative were adjudged first, second and third, respectively.

Kewal Ram Sharma, Deputy Director, Panchayati Raj, Surender Chauhan, Superintendent, Animal Husbandry, and Bhupender Kumar Sharma, section officer, Election Department, received the honours. Narender Singh, senior assistant, printing and stationery, Naresh Kumar, senior assistant, panchayati raj, and Kripa Chand Negi, senior assistant, Tourism Department, were among those honoured at the directorate level.

The Municipal Commissioner, Shimla, the General Manager, SC and ST Development Corporation, and the Managing Director, HP Handicraft and Handloom Corporation, were adjudged first, second and third, respectively, in the board and corporation category.

Shimla, September 14
Notwithstanding the slight improvement in the female sex ratio in the hill state, a disturbing trend of adoption of the male child by couples having only girls, which could adversely affect the rights of the female offspring, has come to the notice of the State Commission for Women.

The highly disturbing trend has come to the notice of the commission from the Mandi area, where six such cases have been reported. Even though adopting a child, be it male or female, is legally permissible, there is a fear that considering the preference for the male child in society, the legitimate right of girls could be the affected.

“We have received verbal complaints about such a disturbing trend in Mandi district and in case we feel that the rights of girls are getting affected, we will definitely act,” said Ambika Sood, chairperson of the commission, here today.

She said the commission had sought a detailed report in this regard and if need be it would approach the government to frame strict guidelines to deter such adoptions, which were adversely affecting the rights of the girl child.

She said though the commission could not prevent anyone from adopting children, either male or female, the liking for the male 
child should not be prompted as there should be no discrimination between the two sexes.

Some NGOs, too, confirmed that couples who had two or more girls and were not willing to take another chance were now adopting the male child. They expressed the apprehension that there were chances that ultimately the girls would be denied their right in property and other issues.

Even though the situation as far as the sex ratio is concerned has shown slight improvement, even now the situation is far from satisfactory. The sex ratio as per the civil registration system data had fallen to 898 in 1993. The latest available figure of 2009 has brought some relief as the sex ratio has improved and touched 922. It was 904 as per the CRS data in 2008.

The Health Department has launched an intensive awareness and education programme in 44 blocks of the state which have the lowest sex ratio. Even as there are clear indications that the sex ratio has declined more in the areas bordering Punjab and Haryana, Kangra tops the list as its 15 blocks figure in the list of the worst affected.

Kangra, September 14
Fourteen persons were injured, five of them seriously, when a Punjab Roadways bus rolled down into a gorge on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway at Thanpuri village, near here, late this afternoon, the police said. Bus conductor Manohar was among the injured.

SDPO, Kangra, Dinesh Kumar said a Punjab Roadways bus (PB 11 Y 3673) carrying 16 passengers was on way from Patiala to Baijnath this afternoon when the driver of the bus failed to negotiate a curve and the vehicle rolled down into a gorge.

Dharamsala, September 14
RM Sharma, a farmer from the Dhaliara area in Kangra district, owns about 50 kanals. He wants to grow medicinal plants on it. However, the land is not fit for agriculture as it is divided into small pieces of 1 to 2 kanals across different areas.

The farmer, while talking to The Tribune, alleged that it is very difficult to maintain and look after crops at different pieces of land.

He also cannot consolidate the land as the previous Congress government had abolished land consolidation operations. “Now, I cannot even move an application for the consolidation of my land,” he rues.

Shiv Kumar Sharma, another farmer from Dhusara village in Una district, also faces a similar problem as his 200-kanal agriculture land in the village is divided into small pieces.

There are thousands of such farmers in Una and Kangra districts whose land is unviable for agriculture or agro forestry as it is divided into small pieces at different places. The land has been divided into small pieces due to divisions of ancestral land over a period of time and lack of settlement of land on the part of the state government.

Inquiries by The Tribune revealed that earlier the government had a full-fledged department for land records and consolidation. The department still has about 300 employees. However, about four years ago, the previous Congress government stopped the land-consolidation operations in the state. The present government has also continued with the decision and operations for processing land consolidation cases have not been started in the state.

Though the operations of land consolidation were stopped, the government decided to retain the employees and give them salary without any work.

Only patwaris of the department have been slowly posted out in the field, but they are getting salaries from their parent department.

Rattan Singh, Director, Land Records and Consolidation Department, admitted that the department had not been doing any work as the government had banned land consolidation in the state about four years ago. Asked about the reason for abolishing land-consolidation operations, he said probably the government decided to do away with the process as it was increasing disputes among farmers.

However, the affected farmers are alleging that abolishing an operation just because of a few disputes cannot be a solution to the problem. The government should at least allow land consolidation where people mutually want to exchange their land for consolidation process.

Shimla, September 14
The total loss on account of damage caused by heavy rain to roads and bridges in the state during the current monsoon season has been estimated at Rs 305 crore.

Stating this while presiding over a meeting with senior officers of his department, PWD Minister Gulab Singh said the loss due to damage to the state highways, major roads and rural roads had been estimated at Rs 225 crore and the figure could go up as the monsoon was still active. Besides, the national highways also suffered a loss of over Rs 80 crore, he added.

He said the prolonged rainy season and continuous rain also affected the maintenance and restoration of roads. He said the repair and restoration work was being monitored daily by the Engineer-in-Chief at the state level and the chief engineers concerned at the zonal level.

The department was working overtime to restore the roads at the earliest by deploying adequate men and machinery. In all, 137 bulldozers and 199 excavators-cum-loaders of the department and 245 private earth movers were on the job. Standing instructions had been given to the field officers to deploy sufficient private machinery for clearing blockages caused due to landslides so that the people did not face any inconvenience.

He directed the officers to clear all debris from the carriageway and ensure clearance of culverts and roadside drainage by September 30.

Shimla, September 14
A series of meetings for the mid-term appraisal of the plan schemes for 2011-12 and to finalise the priorities for the 12th Five-Year Plan will be held here on September 20 and 21.

MLAs of Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur districts will participate in the meeting from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm on Sept 20 and those from Mandi, Chamba, Bilaspur districts, from 2pm to 5pm on the same day. On Sept 21, MLAs of Kangra and Kullu districts will attend the meeting in the forenoon and those of Una, Hamirpur, Kinnaur, and Lahaul-Spiti in the afternoon. — TNS