Palampur, January 31
The local civil hospital which caters to the medical needs of over 3 lakh patients is a hospital only in name.

Though the state government has posted 17 doctors including half a dozen specialists, people are forced to visit the Government Medical College, Tanda, or private hospitals in the neighbouring state of Punjab.

There is no gynaecologist in the hospital for the past four months causing great inconvenience to the public. Earlier the post was vacant and when a gynaecologist was posted here, he proceeded on leave three months ago. Since then neither deliveries have been conducted nor gynae surgeries performed here. A dozen cases from the gynaecology department are referred to Medical College, Tanda or to a private hospital daily.

Though Dr KS Dogra, Chief Medical Officer, Kangra while talking to The Tribune claimed that a private gynaecologist had been hired by the hospital, but hospital records revealed that she had not been called nor did she visit the hospital even once in the past four months. Gynaecology department patients were regularly being referred to other hospitals.

The hospital surgeon has been deputed by the CMO in family planning camps. Since then surgical operations in the hospital have also come to a standstill. Even minor surgeries are not conducted. Patients requiring surgery are referred to Medical College Tanda or private nursing homes. Patients have to wait for 4-5 months to get operated.

A patient outside the civil hospital told The Tribune that he was examined by a surgeon in November 2011 for surgery. The operation date was given for April 2012, to be conducted after a gap of five months as the surgeon was busy in family planning camps. A number of other patients were also asked by the surgeon to come in April 2012 for surgery.

Senior officials of the Health Department do not bother to improve the functioning of this important health institution.

This is the only health institution in the region comprising Palampur, Baijnath and Jaisinghpur subdivisions, which has an indoor capacity to admit 100 patients. Over 200 to 300 patients visit the hospital daily for the treatment of different ailments.

The state government had upgraded this hospital 20 years ago. Posts of doctors were also raised to 15, still there is not much relief to the patients because of non-cooperative and unhelpful attitude of health officials.

There is no provision in the hospital to attend to an emergency. Serious cases are seldom treated here and patients are straightaway sent to Chandigarh, Jalandhar or Ludhiana, which is not only costly but beyond the reach of poor people.

Many times, the patient dies on the way for want of medical care. Likewise, most of the accident cases are also not attended to in the hospital.

The hospital is ill-equipped and there is always a shortage of medicines, including life-saving drugs, cotton, bandage, x-ray films, bedsheets and blankets. Patients are always asked to buy medicines from the market.

However, Director Health Services Dr DS Chandel, when contacted by The Tribune said that medicines worth lakhs of rupees had been piling up in the stores with CMOs in their respective districts in the state and there was not shortage of medicines at all, even life-saving drugs are available in the stores. He said the state had adequate funds provided under NRHM to buy medicines. He stated that Chief Medical Officer Kangra should take care of such matters and watch the welfare of poor patients. Such matters should be redressed at the CMO level and the guilty should be punished, he said.

Solan, January 31
With a steep decline in the forest area due to a large scale commercialisation, the monkey population is witnessing a sharp increase in the last few years in the Kasauli tehsil owing to loss of habitat.

Not only scores of big and small hotels and resorts have sprung up on every nook and corner of the National Highway-22 from Parwanoo-Dharampur, but also on the Dharampur-Kasauli road. This has led to clearing of the forest area where trees have been chopped to pave way for resorts and flats. One can have a fair idea about the loss of forest area while travelling from Dharampur-Kasauli where palatial houses and resorts seem to be competing with each other to erect concrete structures surpassing each. Such is the desperation to acquire a piece of property here that even the nullahs, which serve as a passage for the rainwater, have not been spared.

An adverse fallout of this commercialisation has been the wiping away of the natural habitat of the monkeys, thus, forcing them to venture into the towns for finding food.

Apart from destroying maize and various fruit crops, the monkeys have been attacking women and children in the semi-urban areas where in the absence of any fields they fail to get enough food to feed themselves.

Though the Wildlife wing of the state Forest Department has been claiming to have sterilised the monkeys when complaints of monkey menace was made to them, its impact failed to be seen as the simian population has been witnessing a steep rise since the past several years.

However, every year after the breeding season monkeys seem to have added a significant number of members with the young monkeys also joining the troupe. Since the nearest centre is located at Shimla, it has failed to reach out to the far-off areas of Kasauli tehsil.

The monkeys which used to be found in forests earlier are now either found lined up all along the NH-22 in search of food or invading the houses and even entering kitchens by forcing open the doors if left unbolted.

The Kasauli-based Central Research Institute routinely receives cases of monkey bites where women and children from the neighbouring areas are the victims.

Ashok Chauhan, DFO, Solan, said 70-80 monkeys had been caught this year for sterilisation but they were let out in the same area after that.

He said a large scale commercialisation was eating into the natural habitat if the monkeys.

He added that the dry winters posed specific problems when forests offered little food and the focus shifted to the habitations.

Though the Wildlife Department was planting 30 per cent fruit trees, this was a long-term strategy and no short-term measure was in place to address the problem of monkey invasion in the semi-urban areas.

The permissions accorded to the various nature camps to operate in the forest areas in the district was also responsible for reducing the natural habitat of the simians who were forced to turn towards the habitations. This ill-planned move to allow investors to run virtual hotels from the forest areas has further affected the natural habitat of the simians. 

Dharamsala, January 31
The anglers’ meet that is held every year in the Pong Dam reservoir has brought to fore alarming decline in numbers of the famous game fish of Indian rivers the golden mahseer in the Beas.

The anglers gathered here found it difficult to catch the famous fish in the Pong reservoir. While talking to The Tribune, KB Rahlan, Secretary-General of Himachal Angling Association, said that over the years, the population and size of the golden mahseer has been going down in the rivers of Himachal. The government is not taking any step to check the declining population.

He said in 1976 the National Commission on Agriculture in its report under the fisheries chapter pointed out the decline in Mahseer population all over the country. In 1978, immediately after its inception, the Himachal Angling Association demanded that golden mahseer should be included in the list of endangered species. After hectic lobbying by environmentalists, the fish was declared as an endangered species in 1990.

Despite being declared an endangered species, neither the state nor the union government took any serious step towards protecting the mahseer population.

According to data collected by the Himachal Angling Association, mahseer in the catch of local fishermen using cast nets has dipped to as low as 2 per cent in the last 10 to 15 years,.

The decline in natural population of golden mahseer is more alarming due to the fact that the scientists have not been able to breed the fish variety under controlled conditions.

The Fisheries Department of Palampur Agriculture University has been trying to breed golden mahseer but the experiments have not yielded any result.

“If the scientists fail to breed the fish in controlled conditions and government fails to take necessary steps, the famous game fish of Himalayan rivers might disappear into extinction,” Rahlan said.

The fish experts when contacted by The Tribune revealed that the construction of dams had obstructed the smooth migration of mahseer brooders. Destruction of migratory routes and breeding grounds due to illegal mining in the rivulets was the basic reasons for their declining population.

During the upward journey to cold streams, brooders heavily loaded with eggs and slowly moving in shoals are easily killed with chemicals leading to destruction of the future population. The state government should spread mass awareness regarding breeding routes of mahseer fish. The rivulets that are being used as breeding routes by the mahseer should be protected from mining activities, the anglers felt.

The government should also fund a research project for producing mahseer fingerlings in captivity so that they can be released in wild to maintain the population, they opined.

In dams also, the fish ladders should be made mandatory so that the upward migration of fish for breeding purpose is not affected, the anglers demanded.

Gushaini (Kullu), January 31
Local NGOs, Directorate of Fisheries and Conservator, Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) have rejected the report of the three-member panel, which said that the Plachan project would not affect the movement of fish in the stream and would not harm the local ecology.

They have termed it as “misrepresentation of facts which ignored the negative impact of silt and construction of a 3-MW project on the Plachan khad, a tributary of the trout-rich Tirthan river, and local ecology of the GHNP, which is being declared as a world heritage site by UNESCO”.

Backed by NGOs, the Directorate of Fisheries and the Conservator of the GHNP have sent a written communication on the panel report to HIMURJA in connection with the case of arbitration between Swastik Projects Private Ltd and the state government.

Arbitrator Justice Surinder Sarup (retd), appointed by the High Court in 2006, has asked HIMURJA and other stakeholders to submit a written communication by the first week of February.

Rejecting the panel report in his reply to government agency HIMURJA, Ranjiv Bharti, representative of the NGOs, stated, “The panel report is patchwork. It is work of contradiction and misrepresentation of facts. The panel spent an hour on the spot and was a part of a pleasure trip organised by the Swastik company”.

Bharti further claimed that the panel, which is examining the issue of compensation to the company as directed by the High Court in its judgment on September 10, 2007, did not study the local ecology and fish life, which needs time.

He has cited the High Court judgment and the statement of Chief Minister PK Dhumal in the Vidhan Sabha stating “no project will be allowed on the Tirthan river being promoted for angling and ecotourism and with the GHNP making efforts to get it declared as a world heritage site by UNESCO”.

Director of Fisheries Dr BD Sharma had stated that the project tunnel and weir (a small dam) would damage fish life in the Tirthan river and its tributaries, negating government’s efforts of preserving and protecting the Tirthan as “an exclusive habitat of the rainbow and brown trout”.

The brown trout has been thriving in the river for the past over 100 years. Fish farming was badly hit and many fishes died in a recent flash flood in the Tirthan, a fact ignored by the panel, he noted.

Similarly, Conservator, GHNP, Ajay Srivastav stated that the panel did not have any wildlife expert.

The panel’s observation that the project would not be a corridor for wild animals was unrealistic as animals and local villagers had been coexisting in the GHNP in a symbiotic relationship, he added.

The 10-paged panel report, which is available with The Tribune, on the other hand, claimed that the Plachan project would not affect the movement of fish in the stream and local ecology.

The brown and rainbow trout were introduced in the Tirthan in 1910 and were not naturalised in the river, the panel said in its report. The panel members claimed the weir would not affect wildlife as the area was inhabited by villagers and was not a corridor for wild animals.

The three-member panel of Prof AL Ramanathan, School of Environment Science, JNU, Delhi; Prof AR Yousuf, Dean, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kashmir University; and Dr Nitai Kundu, senior scientist, Wetland Management, Kolkota, accompanied by company officials, had visited the site on April 4, 2011.

They were greeted by strong protests at Faryari village located within the buffer zone of the GHNP.

The arbitrator is likely to consider these communications in Chandigarh to dispose off the case. HIMURJA had allotted Plachan project to the Swastik company in 1996, but it cancelled its MoUs along with those of seven other projects in May 2004 after the government issued a notification banning projects on the Tirthan river basin in its bid to promote angling and eco-tourism in the Tirthan valley.

Nurpur, January 31
Chief engineer (North) of the Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) DR Chowdhary inspected and recently reviewed a number of ongoing development works in Nurpur PWD circle .

He gave directions to the department officials to keep strict vigil on the quality of construction material being used in the ongoing projects.

According to official information, Chowdhary inspected the proposed sites of the two bridges to be built on Surdwan and Sajwan rivulets in Indora Assembly segment. These bridges have been proposed under the local MLA’s priority works to be built by NABARD funds. Around Rs 8 crore will be spent on the construction of the two bridges.

Chowdhary said after the inspection, he suggested certain alternations in the sites keeping in view the hydraulic data and directed the officials to prepare the Detail Project Report (DPR) accordingly.

Meanwhile, the PWD chief engineer also inspected the construction of 6-km long Bhogrwan-Patti-Samlet link road at Indora being built under the Prime Minister Gramin Sarak Yozna (PMGSY).

He also reviewed construction work of the community health centre building being built at a cost of Rs 1.5 cr at Rehan. He also directed PWD authorities to repair damaged roads, bridges and culverts in the area on priority basis.

He was accompanied by BS Thakur, Superintending Engineer PWD circle Nurpur, and YP Sambyal and AK Gupta, executive engineers Nurpur and Fatehpur division, respectively. 

Hamirpur, January 31
The Information and Public Relations (IPR) Department has started a special campaign in three districts of the state to popularise government schemes to facilitate maximum people through cultural programmes.

The department is using cultural troupes for this campaign who are providing vital information to people in villages about various government schemes through street plays, songs and skits.

Artistes of three clubs, Kangra Lok Manch, Dhauladhar Sanskritik Yuva Manch, both from Kangra district, and Amar Jyoti Sanskritik Kala Manch, Ghumarwin, who are carrying this campaign, were trained by the IPR Department for this purpose.

At present, the first phase of this campaign is going on in Hamirpur, Una and Bilaspur districts.

Health schemes like the Rashtriya Bima Yojna, Matri Shakti Janaji Yojna, Mukhya Mantri Chhatra Swasthya Yojna, etc, are being publicised during the campaign.

The cultural troupes are also making people aware of various social evils like drug addiction, infanticide and schemes like “Beti Hai Anmol” to save the girl child.

These troupes have already held programmes in Hamirpur district at Ukhali, Mair, Amroh villages of the Hamirpur Assembly segment and several places in Sujanpur and Nadaun Assembly segments.

Telling about this programme, Gurmit Bedi, district public relations officer, Hamirpur, said: “This campaign has been launched to make people aware of various state government schemes so that they can draw the maximum benefits from these schemes”.

He said: “While artistes are making this campaign entraining through cultural programmes, employees of the department are also displaying boards, posters and banners carrying details about the schemes, besides supplying informative literature”.

The IPR Department intends to organise 50 programmes in Hamirpur district - 10 each in every Assembly segment of the district in the first phase.

Schoolchildren exhibited their artistic skills during the month-long craft workshop organised by the Department of Language, Art and Culture at the Gaiety Theatre by creating pieces of art from waste material.

The workshop was organised to create awareness among children regarding environment preservation through recycling of waste material and imparting basic skills to help them make various useful items from domestic waste.

They learned the tricks within a short period and each of the 26 participants made about nine to 10 pieces, which were displayed on the final day of the workshop (see photo).

The creations included flowers from egg trays, photo frames from discarded cartons, carry bags from rice sacks, paper bags from old calendars and a lot of other useful items.

They also made flower vases from PoP and sceneries and other items using broom sticks.

On the spot painting competition was also organised during the workshop for which participates were assigned environment-related themes.

Kangra, January 31
The Aman Staya Kachroo Memorial Trust, set up by the state government immediately after the death of Aman Satya Kachroo, a 19-year-old first year MBBS student of Dr RPGMC, Tanda, has proved to be a non-starter. Even after a lapse of nearly three years, the trust is craving for funds despite the government decision to provide a grant of Rs 50 lakh, a corpus fund to the trust up to five years in five instalments.

In the past three years, after the trust was formally set up in 2009 by the government, it had not undertaken any activity to create awareness about ragging.

The government, so far, hadn’t even drawn up any calendar about the activities to be taken by the trust in educational institutions, including DRPGMC, Tanda.

The trust aimed at keeping a check on ragging and making society in general and student community in particular to institutionalise zero tolerance to ragging. The SDM, Kangra, had registered and attested the trust through its five trustees, Chief Secretary, Vice-Chancellor (HPU), Principal Secretary (Health), Secretary (Education) and principal of Tanda Medical College.

The founder trustees were supposed to nominate two more trustees, one from the Aman Kachroo movement, but nothing has been done in this direction too.

On November 11, 2010, Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu convened the first meeting of the trust, which was attended by all the founder trustees, besides the Director, Medical Education, and the proceedings were submitted to the government on December 12, 2010, for an approval.

Despite repeated reminders in January and April last year, the state government failed to grant an approval to these proceedings even after the lapse of more than a year.

During a meeting on July 10, 2009, the state Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister PK Dhumal sanctioned an additional Rs 10 lakh for the trust, but till date it was not received by the trust.

Sources said by this time, more than Rs 30 lakh should have been in the trust accounts to run its activities, but on the contrary the trust was craving for funds as budgetary provision as proposed had not been made by the higher authorities till date.

Director, Medical Education, Dr Jaishri Sharma, said she had no role to play in the trust and she was simply an invitee in the meetings.

Dr Anil Chauhan, principal, DRPGMC, Tanda, said he had requested the Director, Medical Education, to take up the matter with the government to release the approved grant to the trust.

Principal Secretary, Health, Ali Razvi, was not available for comments. Rizvi had last year assured that he would look into the details of the trust and its progress and would do the needful to make the trust functional, but nothing had been done in this direction till date. 

n Even after a lapse of nearly three years, the trust is craving for funds despite the government decision to provide a grant of Rs 50 lakh, a corpus fund to the trust up to five years 

Chamba, January 31
The conferment of Padma Shri Award on Vijay Sharma, a renowned artist of Chamba by the Government of India for his distinguished services in the field of art (painting), has brought laurels not only to Chamba but also to the entire state.

Chief Minister PK Dhumal has congratulated Vijay Sharma on the conferment of the award. Meanwhile, various organisations and institutions have also felicitated Sharma for the grand achievement.

Vijay Sharma is one of the foremost artists gifted in traditional pahari miniature painting style and is a recipient of the President’s National Award for Master Craftsperson.

He has played a vital role in reviving the tradition of the pahari painting and the pictorial handicraft of “Chamba rumal” embroidery. “My aim is to ensure the continuity of the great tradition of pahari paintings of the state by transmitting the secrets of painting techniques to the budding artists of the state,” said Sharma. 

Kangra, January 31
Members and artists of the Kangra Arts Promotion Society congratulated Vijay Sharma, a renowned miniature painting artist, on receiving the Padma Shri this year for his contribution to this art.

BK Agarwal, president, Kangra Arts Promotion Society, Dharamsala, presently Principal Resident Commissioner, Government of Himachal Pradesh, in Delhi, in a statement here said Sharma had contributed towards the development of Kangra and Basholi styles of miniature painting.

Agarwal said this recognition was not only for his individual achievements, but also for the Kangra paintings, which had a glorious past. He said Vijay Sharma of Chamba, was not only an artist par excellence, but had also enriched this art by writing many books on the technique and historical perspective of Kangra and Basholi paintings.

He said he had learnt the art of miniature painting from Sharda Prasad, Bharat Kala Bhawan, Varanasi, and Ved Pal Sharma ‘Bannu’ of Jaipur. He had received the State Award, 1980 (Government of Himachal Pradesh). The National Award for Master Craftsperson for Basohli Painting in 1990 was awarded to him by the President of India. He said the AIFACS Award was conferred on him by the All-India Fine Arts and Crafts Society on the 50th Year of Indian Independence in 1997.

He said the Kangra Arts Society also expressed gratitude to this great artist of this hill state for providing expert guidance to the society in training young artistes so that the tradition of great Kangra painting did not die with the passage of time.

Agarwal said Vijay Sharma was associated with the society since its inception in 2007 and hoped that he would continue to patronise this art through this society in future too. He said members of the society were all jubilant for this great achievement of this artists which would prove to be a big boost for the artists involved in Kangra and Basoli miniature paintings.