Palampur, September 27
Despite the fact that Kangra is among the most earthquake-prone areas of the country, haphazard and unplanned construction is going on unchecked in the district. In past five years, the district, particularly Palampur, Dharamsala, Kangra, Gaggal and Nagrota Bagwan towns have turned into concrete jungles.

Though after the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, the Himachal government took serious measures to regulate the construction activities in the region and brought all important towns of the district within the purview of the Town and Country Planning Act, it is surprising that hundreds of buildings have come up without an approval of the Town and Country Planning authorities.

As the entire Dhauladhar range in the state fall in Zone 5, experts of the Seismology Department of Roorkee University had recommended earthquake-proof construction for this region. However, neither the Town and Country Planning authorities nor the state government has followed these recommendations. Most of the building maps approved by the Town and Country Planning Department, particularly in Palampur, Kangra and Dharamsala, do not confirm to norms and as such huge concrete jungles have come up here which could result in a tragedy any moment.

It may be recalled that on April 4, 1905, the Kangra valley was jolted by a massive earthquake. More than 20,000 persons were killed. Nearly 1,00,000 buildings were destroyed and 53,000 domestic animals were perished.

The historical Kangra fort was devastated by the earthquake. British forces, which were stationed at the fort, had just moved out before the disaster struck the area. Besides, the famous Brajeshwari Temple of Kangra was also razed to ground. A church built in 1852 at Dharamsaala was also reduced to rubble. It was rebuilt in 1929, but was again badly damaged by another earthquake in 1945. Several small towns of Kangra like Palampur, Baijnath, Paprola, Bhawarna, Maranda, Pathiar and Nagrota bagwan suffered heavy losses.

The successive state governments have failed to learn a lesson from these incidents. No steps were initiated to regulate the construction activities in this earthquake-prone region, although the number of civil engineers and other senior officers of the state have been given training for the construction and designing of earthquake-proof structures in the state. The government has also been organising special workshops on this subject at various levels. Huge funds were spent, but the services of trained staff were never utilised and a number of such officers have retired in the past two years.

The towers constructed by the cellular telephone companies on the roof buildings in various parts of the district is an open invitation for disaster in this earth quake pruned belt of the state. No body knew in the administration that with whose permission these towers were erected which can collapse at any time since the roof tops of the building has no capacity to bear the load of these structures.

Dharamsala, September 27
“There are no genuine beggars in McLeodganj. Please do not give them raw food items like rice or lentils because they sell these to local shopkeepers at half the price.” Such notices are seen pasted in the McLeodganj market to warn tourists, especially foreigners, regarding the menace of beggars.

The Vyapar Mandal, taxi operators’ union, hotel, auto associations and other bodies have joined hands against the issue. They have pasted such notices all over the town to warn people.

Narender Pathania, pradhan, Vyapar Mandal, McLeodganj, said: “The number of beggars have increased manifold in the recent past. The incidents of snatching, theft, pick-pocketing and shoplifting have become common with their presence in this tourist hub. They usually target foreigners here. We had complained to the police, but it failed to control the menace.”

The pradhan elaborated, “Besides money, they ask tourists to buy them milk, oil, soap, flour etc and later, sell these items back to local shopkeepers at half the price.”

Shoe shiners have also joined the gang and adopted the same technique of earning money from tourists, Pathania added.

“Fed up with the issue, we have decided to paste such notices in the market to warn the tourists,” he said.

Most of the beggars belong to the Charan slum area and include migrants from other parts of the country. Their aim is not to take alms, but to earn money.

Amit Sood, owner of an artefacts shop in McLeodganj, said: “Women beggars come with infants every season and follow tourists inside the shops as well. We feel helpless in getting rid of them. They are also involved in pick-pocketing and shoplifting”.

The police use to take them away, but they always returne, he added.

Meanwhile, SP Daljeet Thakur said: “We will deploy some more personnel to tackle the issue and challan them. We will also hold counselling sessions for them”.

Shimla, September 27
Noted Supreme Court advocate and vice-president of the Bar Association of India, KN Bhat has said there was simply no substitute for the judiciary but at the same time there was an imperative need for restatement of the law, to avoid the pitfalls.

Bhat, a former Additional Solicitor General of India, recently delivered the Lala Amarchand Sood Memorial Lecture on “Judicial Activism and Public Interest Litigation” here. It is in recognition to the outstanding contribution to legal profession and social service by Lala Amarchand, that the memorial lecture is held every year by the Bar Association of India and his son Kapil Dev Sood, an eminent advocate.

“Public interest litigation (PIL) and judicial activism are not synonymous as PIL is concerned with the relaxation of the procedural law while the latter involves moulding the substantive law or occasionally bypassing it,” he opined.

Citing several instances, including the Gujarat communal riots cases, he added that the dangers of judicial activism had been demonstrated time and again and “we need to be very cautious against it. It is high time that we attempt at an exercise of restatement of law, confirming what actually is the laid down law by the Supreme Court through its various decisions and discarding what are not to be followed.”

He said India could resort to something designed on the system of restatement of the law as was done in American jurisprudence, three series of which had been published by the American Law Institute.

“Everyone has a lot of faith in the judiciary and would want to see it becoming stronger, but we need to take corrective steps before it is too late”. He reminisced how former Chief Justice of India, Justice RS Pathak had visualised the dangers of PILs in sharp contrast to Justice Bhagwati’s passion for doing justice.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court, Justice Kurian Jospeh said judicial activism came into play only when there was in-activism or non-activism on part of the democratic institutions. “There are times when the political system or the government is more than happy to let the judiciary step in and lay down policies which they are hesitant to do,” he opined.

He said the judiciary must do its duty as a guardian of the Constitution and part of its responsibility towards the people. “When the government fails to discharge it duty, the judiciary is completed to act and this too is institutional activism and not activism of an individual judge,” he remarked.

Bilaspur, September 27
The district unit of the Himachal Brahmin Sabha has urged Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to fill the post of a Cabinet minister, vacated from the Brahmin quota from Bilaspur, “only from the Brahmin community from the district”. A resolution in this regard was adopted by a meeting of the sabha held under the chairmanship of its president Sita Ram Sharma at Dholera Temple complex here recently.

The post was last year vacated by Forest Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda (from the Bilaspur Sadar constituency) as he has been appointed as the national general secretary of the BJP.

Now, it is being pleaded by certain sections that the post should be filled by an incumbent of other community. The sabha felt that any such decision would be an injustice not only with the district but also with the Brahmin community, which formed a considerable part state’s population. The sabha expressed the hope that the Chief Minister would ensure that no injustice was done.

The community members also stressed that Bhagwan Parashuram Jayanti should be declared as a gazetted holiday so that it could be celebrated on a large scale. Another resolution pleaded for reservation on the basis of poverty and not on the basis of caste, which had proved counter-productive as it had created serious differences among various sections of society.

Present on occasion were prominent leaders OP Garga, Hira Lal Sharma, Gita Ram Sharma, Uttam Chand Sharma, Daulat Ram Pathak, Hardev Sharma, Jai Kishan, Tushar Dogra, Dr Ashwini Dogra, Sunder Lal Dogra, Hari Ram Sharma, Pyare Lal Sharma, Rama Nand Sharma, Ram Lal Sharma, Surender Sharma and Achhar Dev Sharma among large number of others, most of whom also addressed the meeting stressing these demands.

Shimla, September 27
The government has set up a state centre for climate change in the State Council for Science, Technology and Environment to study the impact of climate change on the Himalayan eco-system and combat its effects through the implementation of the mountain-specific adaptation plan.

A notification has been issued to create the centre which will coordinate with different universities, research institutions, government departments, NGOs and other agencies to pursue theme-based specific research on climate change in the Himalayan region. Besides, it will act as a repository of climate change-related information in the state. The centre will also help generate awareness among various stakeholders for undertaking appropriate measures in combating the impact of climate change.

A governing committee under the chairpersonship of the Chief Secretary will oversee its functioning.

Palampur, September 27
A mobile diagnostic van purchased by Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University (HPAU) for Rs 35 lakh in January this year has proved to be a white elephant as it has been utilised only for holding two farmers camps in the state and covered a distance of only 340 km in past eight months. This was disclosed by HPAU in information supplied to local RTI activist Naveen Pathiana in its 40 pages reply.

HPAU had admitted that it could not make full use of this van and farmers were deprived of the facilities at their doorstep because of financial crunch and negative approach of senior officials.

Indian Council of Agriculture Research had allocated Rs 32.5 lakh for the purchase of this super-speciality van because of sincere efforts of one of the scientists. HPAU was the first university of the country to whom this super mobile van project was sanctioned.

This van was flagged off with grate pomp and show by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, who also holds the portfolio of agriculture, on February 2. Lakhs of rupees were spent on its inauguration by the university authorities as top brass of the state agriculture department was invited for its inauguration ceremony.

While flagging off the van, the Chief Minister had stated that Himachal had taken lead in getting the country’s first mobile diagnostic-cum-exhibition unit available for the services of farmers at their doorstep. He said, besides, it was not always possible to carry ailing animals to a veterinary hospital, but the mobile unit would be able to treat such animals at their doorstep. But the inside story is contrary to his statements.

It is unfortunate that the university authorities failed to utilise the facility provided. Soon after its launching, HPAU seem to forget to utilise the services of this costly van for the benefit of farmers. During entire rainy season, the van remained parked in open as the university failed to allocate even a garage for this vehicle. Even Vice Chancellor of the university was well conversant with the situation, but failed to initiate action.

Senior official of the Extension Education Department of HPAU admitted that because of financial crises and lack of budget allocation, the van could not be sent in the state for holding camps and for other farming welfare programmes. He said despite repeated requests to senior officials, no funds were made available and the vehicle remained stuck inside the campus.

Hamirpur, September 27
Anna Hazare’s campaign against corruption has stirred large sections of society in fight against the corruption, the judiciary has proved its firm commitment in convicting those found guilty in corruption cases.

A few years ago, it was rarely heard that any government official had been sent to jail, but now many corrupt officials are being convicted and imprisoned.

In this context, even a small state like Himachal Pradesh, where corruption by the government officials is relatively less in comparison to other states, at least three middle-level officials involved in corruption cases have been sent behind bars.

Sher Singh, a former state drug controller, who was caught with huge unaccounted money, has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by the District and Session Judge, Solan.

Similarly, the Himachal Pradesh High Court had also upheld a two-year sentence given to an HAS officer by a special court in Kangra for accepting bribe.

In another such case, a former district food civil supplies & consumer affairs controller of Hamirpur, Ajeet Singh Rana, was recently jailed for three years along with a fine of Rs 15,000 by the District & Session Judge, Hamirpur, for accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000.

After the trial, the court found the official guilty of accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000 from president of the Jahu Krishi Cooperative Society.

The accused has also been sentenced to one-year imprisonment under section of 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act along with a fine of Rs 5,000.

All these instances prove that the judiciary is also acting in firm manner to give a strong message to corrupt officials.

Dr GR Sud opened the door of the top floor of his own house “Mount View” at Jakhu and greeted me in when I went to meet him. My first impression was that he had lost the élan of his young and not-so-young days. He sat in the sofa (See photo) and his first sentence was, “I am in the 93rd year running”. When I started raking over his past, he narrated each incident quoting the exact month and year of the happenings. I revised my initial observation seeing the old panache sparking in him.
He was born at Bagrian village in Ludhiana district (now in Sangrur) to father Gainda Ram and mother Ganga Devi. His father was a petty contractor and on his death, the family moved to Lahore where GR’s elder brother was a doctor. He did his post-graduation in English from Forman Christian College, an institution of repute in Lahore.

His first break in teaching was at a private college in Lahore where his maiden directorial venture was Ram Kumar Verma’s one-act play “Shivaji”. The approaching Partition of the country had made the situation tense in Lahore in the summer of 1947. Apprehending communal riots, GR’s mother and his nephew pushed him out of Lahore and he came to Shimla in May 1947 to stay with BK Sharma, later principal of SDB College here, at Boyee Cottage Summerhill.

He developed friendship with Thakur Ram Dass, a cashier in Mercantile Bank (presently ICICI Bank), who also owned Marina hotel. GR shifted to Marina from Summerhill in June 1947. The riots began with the Partition of the country. In Shimla, it rained heavily in September that year and GR is a witness to those faces pale with fear, drenched in the downpour, standing in clusters not sure whether they would reach alive in the land which Quaid-e-azam had promised them to be their Shangri-La. These scenes reminded him of his mother in Lahore.

Knowing that his mother has reached safe from Lahore at his sister’s residence in Jalandhar, GR left for Jalandhar and took to teaching at Doaba College there. The charm of Shimla pulled him back to be senior translator here in the Legislative Assembly of the Punjab government. That was the time when girls were allowed to appear as private candidates for the FA and BA examinations in Panjab University and to cater to such students, two colleges were started here at the Christ Church and the Masonic Hall. GR shifted to the YMCA in 1949 and Masonic being adjacent to the YMCA, he took advantage of satisfying his urge to teaching by hoodwinking the bosses in the Legislative Assembly.

He accepted the teacher’s job on September 7, 1949, at Bhargava Municipal College and thus started his serious journey in dramatics. He directed several one-act plays, “Bimaar Ka Ilaaj”, “Dus Minute”, “Lakshmi ka Swagat”, and “Kaumudi Mahotsav” by Ram Kumar Verma to name a few. Usha Sinclair and GR directed a full length play “The Barretts of Wimpole Street” in 1950. The play written by Rudolf Besier is the story of epic love of Elizabeth and Robert Browning. The costume play was a hit in Shimla.

Outside the college, his contribution to the plays by Panjabi Theatre and Little Theatre Group was properly acknowledged. He directed “Monkey’s Paw” in the college which had Vera Sunder Singh (Priya Rajvansh) as heroine.

When the college merged with the local SD College in 1956, he joined that college where he directed Lady Gregory’s “Spreading the News”; Bernard Shaw’s “You Never Can Tell” and Franz Kranti’s “Refund”. I did major roles in all three plays. He was later selected in the government education service and served at Mandi and Solan. His doctorate on “Experiments of Eugene O’Neil” in 1973 took him to the Regional Centre/HP University as Professor of English.

His superannuation in 1980 did not deter him from his enthusiasm and he arranged a drama competition through Shimla ADC in 1999. Wherever he went, he carried his passion for dramatics with him and when I broached upon his pet subject, I found the verve and dash enlivening on him.