Palampur, April 3
Despite the fact that the state government has been spending crores of rupees to provide better health cover in the state, the health services in changer area of the Palampur region are in a shambles.

Though various private agencies have adjudged the state’s rural health services as best in the country and have also given various awards to the state government, poor rural health services have virtually put a question mark on the credibility of awards received by the state government. In reality, the picture is quite disappointing. Poor management, inadequate paramedical staff and shortage of medicines have made the situation worst.

Primary Health Centres (PHCs) situated at Thural, Jaisinghpur and Dheera in the changer areas are in bad shape. In the absence of proper infrastructure, residents of these areas have to travel to Palampur even for petty medical treatment. There is no indoor facility in these health centres resulting in hardships to the public.

Though the state government has appointed two to three medical officers in each PHCs, these institutions have merely become referral health centres and no emergency cases are taken here. Even patients suffering from a simple disease are referred to sub-divisional hospital at Palampur or RP Government Medical College Tanda.

Even normal deliveries are not conducted in these PHCs causing great inconvenience to the public. Most of the delivery cases are either referred to Palampur or RP Medical College Tanda. Doctors posted at these centres have been drawing salaries between Rs 75,000 and Rs 90,000 per month.

The state government had introduced free ambulance service in the state but the PHC Dheera has failed to get this service despite the fact that this centre caters to over 50 panchayats of the changer area. Moreover, there is always shortage of medicines. Even for minor laboratory tests and X-rays, the patients have to go to Dharamsala and Palampur by covering a distance of 30 to 60 km. 

Nurpur, April 3
A fish seed-cum-breeding farm on the banks of Pong Dam reservoir, which was proposed by the state Fisheries Department two years ago, is hanging fire thanks to the apathy of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB). The BBMB was supposed to lease out nine hectares at Batahari near Fatehpur on the foot hills of Kangra district. The ambitious project was estimated to cost Rs 12 crore, out of which Rs 5 crore were earmarked under the National Agriculture Development Scheme.

In order to set up this farm, the Fisheries Department had applied for taking the identified land on lease from the BBMB two years ago. The department had to sign an MoU with the BBMB if the land was leased out. But due to harsh conditions laid down by the BBMB, the department could not get the land. The BBMB has imposed a condition of depositing Rs 82 lakh in advance and Rs 2.5 lakh per year as lease money.

Fisheries Department Director BD Sharma said the government had again taken up the matter with the BBMB authorities two months ago and urged them to either take requisite cost of the identified land or lease money per month. But so far no communication has been received from the BBMB. He said the department had proposed to breed 3 crore fish at this seed farm to meet annual requirement of the local fishermen. 

Mandi/Kullu, April 3
The beetle menace at night hours and the fluctuating temperatures have created panic among pear and stone-fruit farmers in the low-altitude areas of the region.

Though farmers have not been showing much interest in cultivating pear and peaches because the fruit is highly perishable, they remain clueless about the “mysterious disease”, which has been marring the chance of a good pear crop for the past three years in a row.

On the other hand, scientists attribute the failure of the pear crop to beetle attack and the fluctuating temperatures during bloom time. The ideal temperature should be between 4°C and 24°C during bloom time.

The pear variety affected the most is the red barglet, which is cultivated in the region, farmers said. The bloom is there, but the buds release a liquid and then these dry up and result in crop failure, said Bhim Singh, a farmer from Bajaura.

“We applied an insecticide during the pre-bloom stage, but it did not work and the fruit set is missing in the pear orchards,” said farmers in Nagwani-Bajaura belt.

Pear is a low-chilling fruit crop which is cultivated in lower areas of Chail Chowk Gohar, Chambi, Drang areas in Mandi and Banjar and Kharal-Seobag areas in Kullu district.

“We have not harvested a good pear crop in the Kharal valley for the past three years, the largest pear growing area in Kullu district,” said Prem Kumar, a farmer. “We are hoping for a good crop this time as pear orchards are still in pre-bloom stage here,” he added.

Shakti S Bhardwaj, Associate Director, YS Parmar Horticulture and Forestry University Fruit Research Station, Bajaura, said beetles attacked the pear bloom during the night time and eat up its buds and flowers. The second reason for the failure of the crop is the sudden fluctuation in the minimum and maximum temperatures and drought condition during the bloom time, he added.

He said they had advised pear farmers to spray insecticides during the pre-bloom stage to control the beetle menace. But farmers ignored the spray as they could not spot insects which attacked in late evening hours and at night, he said adding that the insecticides were effective in controlling the insects. 

Bilaspur, April 3
Repeated attacks by leopards in various areas of the district resulting in huge losses of their cattle and pets have become a cause of concern for the villagers here.

According to reports, leopards have killed two goats in the adjoining villages of Padhyaan of Gaahar gram panchayat and Lanjhta village of Bhapral gram panchayat, about 50 km from here, recently.

Gaahar panchayat president Nirmala Devi said a leopard killed a goat of Banarasi Dass in Padhyan village.

Earlier, a leopard had killed a goat of Rattan Singh of Lanjhta village.

Several village elders, including Dhani Ram, Dalel Singh, Suresh, Pinku, Rajesh, Prem Singh, Rakesh, Yashwant Singh, Pyare Lal, Anil Dhiman, Dina Nath, Sanjiv and Amar Nath said since leopards had been appearing regularly in these villages, they feared for the safety of their children and the Forest Department should do something to catch these animals.

The villagers also resented petty payment of Rs 375 given by the government for the loss of a goat.

They said one could only purchase a rooster with the amount. Goat or sheep loss compensation should at least be increased to Rs 2,000, they said. 

Chamba, April 3
The post of a gynaecologist and an ENT specialist has been lying vacant in the Regional Hospital, Chamba, for a long time. Members of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti of the Regional Hospital, Chamba, zila parishad chairperson Santosh Thakur and municipal council president Anita Thakur raised this issue in the governing body meeting of the samiti held under the chairmanship of Chamba Deputy Commissioner Sharabh Negi here recently.

The Deputy Commissioner said he would apprise the state government about the problems being faced by the people. The meeting accorded an approval to the budget estimates of about Rs 4.45 crore for the next fiscal year starting from April 1 this year.

Chamba, April 3
The NHPC Region-II Executive Director Sharat Chandra Sharma has called upon the delegates of the Northern Region Power Utilities to be vigilant and work together to face the challenges in the field of power generation and its effective distribution.

Sharma stated this while inaugurating the 73rd meeting of the Operation Coordination Sub-committee (OCC) organised by Chamera power station-II at Chamba recently.

“With a renewed thrust on development of hydropower in the country, the NHPC has drawn up a massive plan to generate additional hydropower for national development and will always cooperate with the OCC,” the executive director asserted.

Addressing the representatives, the Northern Regional Power Committee (NRPC) Member Secretary PK Pahwa pointed out various problems being faced by the NRPC in the grid operations.

Earlier, welcoming the delegates of northern region power utilities, Chamera-II General Manager Pradeep Johar underscored the need for mutual co-operation and information sharing for generating power in a better way.

Johar further stated that OCC was the only forum which could lead the power sector to new heights by establishing proper co-ordination among different power utilities.

Around 55 representatives of power utilities of the northern region participated in the meeting. Issues related to the grid stability were deliberated thoroughly and some important decisions were also taken during the meeting.

Chamera-I General Manager Janardan Choudhary and the NRPC coordinator Ajay Telgaonkar also attended the meeting.

Solan, April 3
Deputy Commissioner C Palrasu today initiated process to settle 4,346 “chakota cases”, which pertained to grant of government land on lease, in the district with 250-300 cases pertaining to Nalagarh and Dharampur blocks having been dealt with today.

Since such cases were pending for years, the DC today convened a special meeting where the Solan SDM, Raman Sharma, tehsildar and other revenue officials were directed to grant land on lease to people for five years at the notified rates, which were 5 per cent of the land rates of 1970.

The DC said the exercise helped sort out pending cases as nearly 250 to 300 persons attended this one-day camp. The move would help the poor to take up agricultural and other activities on the land.

The lease was granted for a period of five years as per the state government directions.

Solan had taken a lead in initiating this process, the DC said, adding that the remaining cases would also be dealt with soon.

“Chakota” was a lease right given to people of the areas that had merged with the state after its dissociation with Punjab and the government had decided to grant them a nominal lease for five years so as to enable them take up agricultural and other activities on this land. 

As I was entering Chopal, a small township about 100 km from Shimla, I saw a PWD board declaring “God’s Creation: Beautiful Chopal”. But God’s creation are the majestic deodar trees, many of which were cut by the infamous jungle mafia for which Chopal always carried a black spot. The buildings there had to cast off the old texture because Chopal had faced fire hazards eight times in the past. I, however, located two old structures on which I am writing.

I would narrate a story first which was narrated to me by CRB Lalit, a resident of Bhot (Chopal) village. The story goes like this: Raja Bhag Chand ruled the state of Jubbal from 1629 to 1676. When Garhwal attacked Jubbal, Bhag Chand lost the battle and was captured. In captivity, he started loving the daughter of Raja Garhwal and made her pregnant. The Rani tried to induce him to marry her daughter promising him to secure his release. Bhag Chand refused and somehow escaped to Jhina, a village in Chopal. His long confinement had resulted in dishevelled hair, unkempt beard and was unrecognisable. A person from Bhot village recognised him while Bhag Chand showed exemplary skill in archery during ‘Thoda’. He was made to sit on a throne of stone (shila) there; anointed as king and was then taken to Jubbal. Since then it became a ritual that every fresh incumbent to the throne would be anointed at Jubbal, but had to sit on the shila at Jhina to be the raja of Chopal too.

The oldest building that I could locate in Chopal was that of the forest office. The building was made of ‘dhajji’ walls and profusely used wood dated back to 1937 (see photo). Raja Bhagat Chand was ruling the state then. The Gazetteer of Shimla Hill States -1910 reads: “Among the hill states, Jubbal holds the premium place both in the extent and value of its forests and the condition of their management. The demarcated forests have a wooded area of 56,730 acres of which 30,750 acres contain deodar, the remainder being stocked with pine, fir, oak and other inferior species. The forests are in charge of an extra assistant conservator of forests deputed from Punjab, who works under the orders of the divisional forest officer (DFO)”.

It was, therefore, no wonder to me that a forest office building was constructed here 75 years ago. The present record of the building shows that Lokinder Singh was the first DFO here but the dates of his tenure are unknown. The record is straight after 1950 when Satyavrat joined here.

The other building that I am talking about is the residence of a SDM commonly called Purana Thana (see photo). It is on the Chopal-Nerwa road and was built in 1945-46. Raja Bhagat Chand had a desire of constructing a building in Chopal where he could stay in summers. Attar Singh, a 77-year-old teacher, who was born and lived at Chopal and, at present, running an Anand Marg school from his earnings, told me that the Raja got it built but could not stay here as he abdicated the throne and installed his son Digvijay Chand as the king on October 12, 1946. Digvijay Chand joined the Indian Foreign Service and did not stay here. Then the Thana from near the hospital was shifted to this vacant building in 1952-53. When MC Chauhan became the SDM in 1980, he made it the residence of the SDM.

However, MC Chauhan was the SDM, Chopal, for four times. Chauhan gave it a name “Broad View” but that never caught the fancy of the people and it was still known as the Purana Thana. A face lift to the building was given in 2007-08 without dislodging the old features of the design.

The collection of Ritu Kalra, a dental surgeon and a former Army officer, stood out at the three-day philately exhibition, (see photo) Simpex-2012, organised by the Department of Posts at the Gaiety Theatre.

Her philatelic treasure trove is complete with stamps, first-day covers, miniature sheets, lithographs (stamps without perforations) and postcards. Apart from size, the sheer variety of stamps, representing diverse aspects of almost 200 countries across the globe, make her collection one of the best in the country.

The oldest Indian stamp of Queen Victoria (four annas denomination) dates back to 1854. It is only the second stamp of the British era. One of her rare possessions is the stamp issued to mark the first aerial post of the United Kingdom in 1911. Her collection of Indian stamps of the post-Independence era is complete right up to 2012.

Her album of Korean stamps before the division of the country is most invaluable. Besides, she also has rich collection of rare stamps of the erstwhile princely states of India like Bhopal, Travancore and Patiala.

However, Ritu considers her collection of “error stamps” (stamps with printing errors) as the most prized. They not only include printing mistakes like absence of perforation, spill over of ink and colour variation, but also major blunders like incorrect spellings. Under postal regulations, any stamp with error has to be destroyed and it cannot be released. This makes error stamps invaluable and they also fetch maximum price at auctions.

She said interest in philately had started picking up again across the world and Internet had played a major role in it. Philatelists were now more well-connected and aware of the value of their possessions.

She was fascinated by colourful stamps as a schoolgirl and it turned into a passion as she grew up. It is an expensive hobby as maintaining old stamps requires much effort, time and money.

PL Verma, in charge of Philately Bureau of the Postal Department, said the aim was to promote the hobby of stamp collection among the youth. The collection of participants has been getting richer with each passing year.

Skill development courses in colleges

In an initiative to enhance the employability of pass outs, the government has decided to start skill development courses in colleges across the state.

In the first phase, the courses will be introduced in degree colleges with more than 1,000 students on roll. There are about 30 such institutions in the state. The course focuses of honing communication skills and overall personality development. Principals of the colleges will be free to select the company for the purpose. The Education Department is in the process of finalising the plan and the courses will start from the ensuing academic session.

Palampur, April 3
The mini-secretariat built at a cost of Rs 6.5 crore by the Himachal Pradesh Government in the town is in a bad shape. The building was inaugurated by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal with much fanfare on March 2, 2011.

Even after the expiry of one year, the government has failed to provide basic amenities to the visitors and the staff posted here.

There is no regular water supply connection in the building, which is causing inconvenience to hundreds of visitors who come to this complex daily to meet different officials.

As per the order of the state government, a number of government offices were shifted to this five-storeyed complex. The officers posted here have been facing a lot of difficulties. In the absence of water supply to the newly built complex, all toilets have become non-functional.

The officers posted here had to use the toilets of adjoining buildings which are away from the new complex. Before making the new complex functional, no provision was made for proper entry and parking of vehicles. In the absence of basic amenities, several other departments are reluctant to shift their offices.

Enquiries made by The Tribune revealed that the building was inaugurated in haste without making provisions for water supply, electricity, internal telephone cables and Internet lines.

The office of the Chief Minister was misguided by the district authorities that the building was fit for inauguration. The General Administration Department also approved the inauguration schedule of the Chief Minister without verifying the facts. One wonders how the offices were shifted when there was no water supply inside the building.

Landline phones are yet to be installed in the building as no phone cables were laid till date. In fact, there were a number of shortcomings in this building and it never deserved inauguration.

Mandi, April 3
A project to conserve and characterise Himachali hill cow breed has yet to see the light of the day in the state. The results of the research on the Himachali breed are awaited at the agricultural university, Palampur.

Farmers who have brought their sturdy pahari bullocks at the Nalwar cattle fair at Nagaun in Sundernagar rue that hill breed of cows has been pushed to the brink.

“The government has no plan on the ground to protect and promote this breed,” says Labh Singh from Karsog.

The plight of pahari cow breed is understandable as the National Bureau of Genetics (NBG), Karnal, does not recognise it as a breed. The breed is yet to be characterised as there is no research on its characterisation so far, scientists said.

Though there is a popular belief among farmers that the hill breed is better adapted to cold climate and its milk, urine and dung have medicinal properties, scientists have yet to crack this secret.

Project Director, Conservation, Characterisation of Himachali Hill Breed, agricultural university, Palampur, Dr RL Khajuria said: “We are hopeful that pure hill cow breed is unique and qualifies for a separate breed as criteria fixed by the NBG. The research is identifying the properties of its milk, urine and manure.”

He said the results of the research were being finalised.

“We will characterise and conserve the breed once it is recognised as a separate breed by the NBG. The stock of the hill cow breed has diminished and is replaced by the cross breed of Holstein and Jersey cows. The breed survives in remote pockets in the Karsog-Seraj belt in Mandi, remote areas of Kullu, Bara Bhangal in Kangra, Kinnaur and Bharmour, the scientists said.

Farmers in the apple belt have almost abandoned rearing up pahari cows and bullocks. They keep Jersey or cross breed of cows for milk.

Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry, Mandi, Anil Sharma said the department had collaborated with the university and would take up its conservation once the research was over.

Farmers prefer high-milk yielding Jersey cows and pahari bullocks were used in the hilly region for ploughing, he added.

Kangra, April 3
The exhibition of paintings, held in London from March 20 to 30 last, by artists from the Kangra valley gave a boost to the new generation of artists. The 10-day-long exhibition, which concluded at Mayfair in Central London, was inaugurated by Lord Matthew Evans of Temple Guiting from the County of Gloucestershire.

Lord Evans, former Chairman and Managing Director of Faber and Faber and the Royal Court Theatre besides being vice-chairman of the British Film Institute, lauded the efforts of promoting art and culture through such exhibitions.

The exhibition featured paintings made by students of the Chitera School run by Kangra Arts Promotion Society (KAPS), a non-profit society working for promoting Kangra art and creating a new generation of artists of Pahari miniature painting style.

Five Benches, another non-profit organisation from Himachal Pradesh, brought the exhibition to London.

Five Benches is working towards expanding the scope of literary and cultural discourse in Himachal and help promote Himachali culture in different parts of the World.

The State Bank of India was the main sponsor of the exhibition.

BK Aggrawal, president of KAPS, said the traditional Kangra paintings represent one of the finest miniature painting styles from India and this great art originated in a small hill state ‘Guler’ in the lower Himalayas in the first half of the 18th century when a family of Kashmiri painters trained in Mughal style of painting sought shelter at the court of Raja Dalip Singh (1695-1741) of Guler.

Solan, April 3
As part of the Cultural Bridges Exchange Programme, Pinegrove School, Dharampur, hosted a group of 25 members, including six chaperones of The Teeland School, Wasilla, in Alaska, US, last week.

After having toured various places of historical and cultural importance in India, including Delhi, Agra and Amritsar, the team got a glimpse of the Himachali culture and learnt about the Indian education system by attending classes and interacting with the students of Pinegrove School.

The guests were provided an insight into the cultural richness and traditions of India through a cultural extravaganza showcased by the students. The team from Alaska later gave a peep of their cultural heritage through presentations and lectures, thus, facilitating a cultural exchange and further strengthening the bond between the two nations. This cultural amalgamation and intermingling helped to dissolve the physical differences between the students from both the nations.

Students and staff got an opportunity for interacting on a variety of issues. The group also visited the Governor at the Raj Bhawan and also visited the Institute of Advanced Studies at Shimla, where it got a glimpse of the history of the state and its importance during the British rule.

Katherine Ellsworth, head teacher of Teeland School, while elaborating on the importance of such exchanges, said, “Such visits of these young ambassadors representing their nation go a long way in bridging the gap among various communities and are a great learning experience for the students and chaperones alike”.

Aaron Mitchell, the tour leader who has chosen to bring a group back to India for a second time, said, “A tour to Alaska is also envisaged later this year for the Pinegrovians, where they can share their experiences”.

Capt AJ Singh, headmaster, Pinegrove School, while terming it as a significant opportunity to bridge the gap between the cultures of the two countries, said, “It helps foster brotherhood and build friendship among two different communities separated by half the globe and the Pinegrovians were eager to visit Alaska for sharing a similar experience”. 

Palampur, April 3
After the success of “Parivartan Rally”, which was organised by the Congress at Jawali last week, where former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was the chief guest, it looks certain now that he would be back in the state politics and lead the party in the state assembly elections, which are scheduled to be held in the next six months.

Since the Congress suffered a setback in the assembly elections held in Punjab, Goa and Uttar Pradesh recently, there was a demand from the party workers that Virbhadra Singh, senior Congress leader and Union minister, should lead the party in the state Assembly elections. Singh has been the Chief Minister of the state for five terms.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who held consultations with Virbhadra Singh recently, also discussed the state’s assembly elections with him.

After the defeat of Congress in 2007 assembly elections in Himachal, Virbhadra Singh was shifted to central politics. Later, he was elected Member of Parliament from Mandi parliamentary constituency and elevated as Union minister in the Central cabinet.

Sources said after the defeat of Congress in Punjab, the party high command had realised that the state Congress needed a leader with a mass base like Virbhadra Singh who could bring back the party to power.

In the present political scenario, the Congress cannot afford to take risk by banking only on “anti-incumbency” factor, which had not helped the party in Punjab too. Besides, the BJP government also commanded good popularity in the state because of its pro-people policies and populist decisions.

Singh, while talking to the mediapersons at Nurpur, said he would abide by the orders of the party high command. He said the top priority of the party was to oust BJP from power in the state. 

Kangra, April 3
The National Federation Cup Powerlifting Championship - 2012 was bagged by Maharashtra in both the men and women categories which concluded at Rait village near here recently.

Kewal Singh Pathania, state president, Powerlifting Federation, Himachal Pradesh, said the overall championship among men was bagged by Maharashtra, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, while Maharashtra bagged gold, Vidharbha silver and Karnataka bagged bronze among the women categories.

He said in the 57-kg category, Sudha Kumari of Bihar, Tejeshwani Naidu of Andhra Pradesh and Akshita of Karnataka bagged first, second and third prizes, respectively.

Rakesh Kumar of Uttar Pradesh and E. Rajan of Tamil Nadu were strongmen, whereas Sudha Kumari of Bihar and Tejeshwani Naidu of Andhra Pradesh were strongwomen of the Federation Cup 2012.

He said the Indian Federation Cup Powerlifting Championship - 2012-cum-National Deadlift Powerlifting Championship - 2012 started on March 29 and concluded on Sunday at Rait. As many as 732 powerlifters, including 202 women, from all over the country participated in the championship.

Pathania said two teams comprising 35-40 persons were selected for the Asian Powerlifting Championship - 2012 scheduled to be held in Udaipur, Rajasthan, in May this year.

Ram Lal Thakur, president, HP Olympic Association, and a former Sports Minister, who distributed the prizes among the winners, said conducting the powerlifting championship at the rural level was appreciable. He was critical of the state government for not showing interest in developing minor sports. He said when Virbhadra Singh was the Chief Minister and he was the Sports Minister, 70 per cent of the funds were spent on minor sports and 30 per cent on cricket, but the present government was doing just the opposite of it.

Arjuna Awardee Sumrato Dutta, General Secretary, National Powerlifting Federation, said five years ago, when powerlifting was introduced in the state, only three persons participated but with the effort of the State Powerlifting Federation in the current event, 22 participants from across the state in different categories participated.

Kewal Singh Pathania said an International Powerlifting Championship would be held at Dharamshala in days to come.

Palampur, April 3
The Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department (PWD) has failed to complete the repair work of one-kilometre stretch of the Ghuggar Nala road in the past 10 years. This is one of the busiest roads of the town which leads to the ancient Nala Mandi and the cremation ground.

Despite repeated requests of the residents to PWD officials, the damaged stretch of the road was not repaired.

It has become difficult to move on the road, as overflowing drains are a regular feature here.

According to information collected under the RTI by Sharat Rahalan, a resident of Ghuggar, the PWD had conveyed in writing that it had already spent Rs 5 lakh on the road in 2010. Though the department metalled the road, it failed to improve the drainage system.

Earlier, Rajya Sabha member Shanta Kumar had also given funds for the construction of the road and strengthening of the drainage system. However, nobody in the PWD knew where the money was spent.

Ajay Sharma, assistant engineer, PWD, said a fresh DPR for the road had been prepared by the department. “As soon as it gets the design and funds, construction work will be taken up,” he added.