Choori (Chamba), May 15
After patching up the seepage problem at certain points that had cropped up during the testing process of the headrace tunnel recently, the Chamera hydroelectric project stage III is shortly going to accomplish all the tests and other measures which are under way.

“The project is expected to be commissioned in June thereby adding an additional power capacity of 231 MW to the progress and prosperity of the nation,” general manager of the project AK Malhotra said here recently.

With the commissioning of the NHPC’s 231 MW Chamera hydroelectric project stage III, the state government will get a share of 12.5 per cent as free power of the generated energy of the project.

Besides, the adjoining states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Chandigarh would also be the beneficiary states for getting power from the project.

Malhotra said the construction of the project was in its final stage on the Ravi in Choori village in Chamba district, adding that after the completion of the project, it would generate 1,108 million units of electricity.

“In the underground powerhouse of the project, there are three generating units having a capacity of 77 MW each and out of these three units, all the technical tests of one unit has been completed. The tests of the rest of the two units are in progress and will be completed soon. Simultaneously, the testing process, including safety measures and the technical aspects of all other components, are also being accomplished,” the general manager said.

The NHPC has been entrusted the responsibility to produce ‘green energy-hydroelectric power’ through harnessing water resources available in Chamba for the past 37 years.

The 198-MW Baira-Siul Hydroelectric Project at Surangani in the district was commissioned on April 1982 as its first hydroelectric project in the country after the formation of the NHPC in 1975. The project was taken over by the NHPC on January 20, 1978. The NHPC further added generation through 540 MW from Chamera power station I at Khairi in 1994 and 300 MW from Chamera power station II at Karian in 2004.

Palampur, May 15
The power transmission lines being installed by mini-hydel projects coming up on local streams of the Dhauladhar hills have resulted in various problems to local residents.

In many villages people had come on roads and lodged their strong protest for the haphazard and unplanned installation of transmission lines, they had stopped the execution works at many points.

In the absence of any planning and policy on the behalf of the state government, every project had been laying its independent transmission line from the power house to the nearest power grid. At present one dozen transmission lines are under construction in the region. It 

may be recalled that over a dozen power projects are coming up in Palampur area of the state.

Transmission lines under construction had damaged hundreds of acres of agriculture land in many villages of the region. Hundreds of villagers met local officers here recently and demanded action against the power companies which had encroached upon their lands without their consent and erecting transmission lines, damaging their fields.

Villagers alleged that in the absence of administrative and political will, power companies had been left free by the state government and caused heavy losses to them first by the execution of roads, water channels, tunnels, buildings and later with the installation of transmission lines. There was no one to listen to their grievances.

Villagers demanded that the government should come out with a long-term policy in this regard. It should direct the companies to construct a single-transmission line and all the power companies should use the same for transmission up to the grid. It would not only reduce the cost of construction and there would also be minimum losses to their fields. Parveen Sharma, local MLA, while talking to mediapersons here, said he was well conversant with the problems being faced by affected villagers.

He said he had already met them and would soon convene a meeting of owners of power companies and persuade them to erect and use a single line jointly. It would not only solve the problems of villagers, but also reduce their cost of construction to one-tenth.

Bilaspur, May 15
The District Congress Ex-Servicemen Wing here has demanded a commensurate increase in the pensions of Vir Naris due to an inordinate rise in the price of essential commodities.

This demand was raised by the wing at a district-level meeting presided over by Captain Ram Singh and attended by a large number of ex-servicemen. Col Lekh Ram Sharma was the chief guest on the occasion.

Addressing a meeting here recently, Col Sharma urged the Centre to take immediate steps to implement the long-pending demand of ‘one rank, one pension’ and also to increase the pension of ex-servicemen from the present 50 per cent to 70 per cent due to the increasing price rise.

The meeting adopted resolutions demanding canteen facility at Barthin and the availability of all essentials in the present canteens at Ghumarwin and Bilaspur town.

Earlier, many ex-servicemen had complained that several items were not being made available at the Bilaspur town canteen outlet since the past few months and this was causing difficulties to their families.

The meeting decided to send copies of resolutions to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister, so that immediate action should be taken. — OC

Kullu, May 15
The presence of the highly endangered, elusive western tragopan can now be felt more clearly in the Great Himalayan National Park in the state, with its numbers multiplying.

Park authorities say the population of this brilliantly coloured pheasant species in the park has gone up and so has its sighting.

“The density of the western tragopan in the park was 6.5 birds per sq km (in this year's Census). Last year, it was six birds per sq km, while it was just five birds in 2010,” Ajay Srivastav, director of the park, said.

For population estimation, the western tragopan, like other pheasant species, needs specialised techniques. One of the standard Census techniques is recording their call counts at a specified time and location.

Srivastav said the estimation was done at 18 locations. “This exercise is now a part of regular monitoring protocol being followed in the park to ascertain the status of population dynamics of the western tragopan”.

As per the estimation figures of the last two-three years, it is clear that the population of the western tragopan is on the rise.

Srivastav attributed the increase to management strategies in terms of protection through regular patrolling of the area.

From March-end till mid-June, all pheasant species breed. "The male tragopan gives a loud chorus before dawn during the breeding season. In the estimation, every male call is counted, which gives an index of the population in a specified area," Srivastav said.

He added, "The mating call is different from the distress call".

During the estimation, all teams were given global positioning systems (GPS) and data sheets to record the altitude and the calls of the tragopan.

”In this method, it is assumed that each call can be equated to a breeding pair,” Srivastav said.

The western tragopan belongs to the family Phasianidae, which also includes peafowl and red jungle fowl. It's the least studied bird in the world.

Being a shy bird, it is rarely sighted and is found at an altitude of 2,000 to 3,600m in the temperate forests of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Jennifer RB Miller, who studied the park in April-May 2008 during the US Fulbright Student Research Scholarship, says the populations of three pheasant species - western tragopan, koklas and Himalayan monal - in the Great Himalayan National Park have grown since surveyed in the late 1990s.

“Surveys conducted in the late 1990s indicated that pheasant populations in the park were declining. In 1999, the government legally notified the park and the authorities began enforcing the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act. Relative abundances of all three pheasant species were significantly higher (in 2008) than in previous surveys," says Miller in her paper titled "Himalayan pheasants in the Great Himalayan National Park" published in the Indian Birds journal in 2010.

With magnificent glaciers, lofty mountains and gurgling streams, the Great Himalayan National Park, spread over 754 sq km in Kullu district, is one of the richest biodiversity sites in the western Himalayas.

The park is home to 203 bird species and 31 mammal species, three reptiles, nine amphibians and 127 insect species, besides 425 species of plants.

The famous mammals in the park are the leopard, the Himalayan black bear, the brown bear, the rhesus macaque and various herbivores like the goral, a small antelope, and the Himalayan tahr, a wild goat that lives on the steepest cliffs.

One of the most elusive species in the park is the snow leopard. It can be spotted in the highest portions, adjoining the Pin Valley National Park. — IANS

Solan, May 15
Cement plants might have earned disrepute for polluting the environs of this hill state but the use of inflammable pine needles, which otherwise cause forest fires, as fuel is serving a social cause besides generating income to the locals.

The efforts of forest officials of the Kunihar forest division and the management of Ambuja Cements Limited at Darlaghat has yielded positive results and several hundred tons of pine needles are being used as fuel in the plant’s operations.

Since the mid-Himalayan forests falling in Solan and Kunihar forest divisions abound in ‘chir’ forests which spill needles, putting the otherwise useless pine needles to use has been a challenge.

In Kunihar division alone, as much as 1,828 hectares of pine forests have 23 fire lines stretching along 67 km with 19 sensitive beats. There are 348 fire sensitive forests in the private grasslands covering 198.93 hectares.

Efforts of DFO Kunihar Prem Mahajan have helped work out this arrangement and collection of pine needles by the locals has become a common sight in the area now.

The step has not only helped to keep forest fires at bay but also provided employment to the locals. Pine needle collection is done by involving self-help groups, joint forest management committees, local individuals/stake holders for which they are paid Rs 1.50 per kg on the spot by Ambuja Foundation. Almost 50 quintals of pine needles were collected this month.

Kunihar DFO Prem Mahajan said forest fires cause considerable damage to the vegetation and also spoil the natural habitat of animals.

He added that fire has an adverse effect on soil, water and ecological balance of the affected area.

The soil building micro-organisms are destroyed and the area is rendered susceptible to erosion and decreasing productivity, he said.

Growth of surviving vegetation is adversely affected, and the vegetation damaged by fire becomes venerable to insect and fungal attack, he added.

Forests becoming accessible through national and state highways, village roads and common paths has helped fight forest fires easily.

Bilaspur, May 15
The annual World Nursing Week was celebrated at Kol Valley Nursing Institute, Harnoda, near here recently. Kashmir Singh Thakur, a prominent social activist of the area, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Thakur paid floral tributes to Miss Florence Nightingale, a pioneer in the nursing movement.

He said this legendary figure had set up an extraordinary example of serving humanity by introducing this movement which had resulted in saving lakhs of lives every year and reducing the miseries of much more humans in the world.

He said those in this training should be proud of their profession as they have the satisfaction of serving the suffering people apart from earning livelihood.

Thakur also gave away prizes to the winners of the competitions held on the occasion. A quiz competition was the highlight of the function. An enchanting cultural programme was also held on the occasion.

The girls who excelled in their presentations included Chanchal Chauhan, Pallavi, Nisha, Reena, Savita, Sangeeta, Tanvi, Raksha, Anuradha, Pooja, Reena Bhaik, Kusum, Suman, Pravin, Sheetal, Babli, Shalini and Kiran.

Those present on the occasion included a large number of student trainees, institute director Anjana Thakur, principal Deepak Shaudly, superintendent Dina Nath Sharma, Jagdish Kumar, staff members Mahadevi T, Lata Sharma, Poonam Sharma, Jyoti Sharma, Priyanka Sharma, Nirmal Dhiman, Hansa Devi, Sapna Sharma and Abhishek, parents, villagers and panchayat representatives.

Kangra, May 15
Dr Rajinder Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC), Tanda, which provides medical treatment to 60 per cent of the population of this hill state, is lacking super specialty facilities.

The state government had promised to start super specialty services in the hospital and construction of a super specialty wing is already in progress. The major challenge for the government is to arrange trained manpower for running this super specialty wing. There are a few super specialists available in the state and practically almost all of them are working at IGMC, Shimla. There is unequal distribution of trained doctors between the two big hospitals of the state. There is a lack of faculty at RPMC, while surplus manpower is available at IGMC, Shimla, but are non-transferable. In this scenario, it is a major challenge for the government to arrange trained manpower for RPMC, Tanda. Details gathered by The Tribune indicate a major imbalance, rather total neglect of DRPGMC, Tanda, despite 100 MBBS and 48 postgraduate students getting admitted to this college every year. In the Department of Cardiology, there are five super specialists at IGMC against MCI requirement of three, whereas DRPGMC, Tanda, has none. In the Urology Department, there are four super specialists in IGMC and none at DRPGMC.

In Cardio Thoracic Surgery Department, IGMC has four CT surgeons against MCI requirement of three but DRPGMC has only one. In the Neurosurgery Department, IGMC has two super specialists and DRPGMC has one but in remaining departments of paediatric surgery, nephrology and gastroenterology, IGMC has one super specialist each, while DRPGMC has none.

To cater to the gastroenterology patients, one doctor was got trained from PGI for endoscopy by TMC.

The situation is even more critical in some non-clinical departments. Both the IGMC and DRPGMC have an annual intake of equal number of 100 MBBS students. The Pathology Department at IGMC has nine faculty members against six sanctioned which includes 3 professors, with one of them holding the post of director, Medical Education.

DRPGMC had only three doctors which included one regular and two RKS (Rogi Kalyan Samiti) appointees. The other departments are no better equipped in terms of doctors.

In the Physiology Department in IGMC, there are five doctors against four, whereas at DRPGMC there is only one, appointed through RKS.

In the Anatomy Department, there were four faculty members against four in IGMC and three in Tanda and in Forensic Medicine there were four against the required three in IGMC and two at Tanda.

The Tanda Medical College, Kangra, and IGMC, Shimla, were being run through a common cadre till 2008 but because of non-availability of faculty for the Tanda medical college, the state government decided to create separate cadres to both medical colleges in 2008 and faculty members working in common cadre were given option of choosing one of the two. It was decided that faculty members would not be transferred from one cadre to another.

A workshop on film-making was organised as part of “Pink Buransh” festival to celebrate the centenary of St Thomas School, Shimla, where schoolchildren produced a two-minute documentary.

Film-maker Vivek Mohan, who conducted the workshop,(see photo) came out with the idea of producing the documentary titled “The Power of One” to educate people about the importance of the right to vote in a democratic set-up and motivate them to exercise it. The title of the documentary itself reflected the theme that each vote mattered. The film was screened in the presence of chief electoral officer Narinder Chauhan who appreciated the effort.

The beauty of the documentary was that in a few frames it takes the viewer from the freedom struggle to the modern age of rock music to successfully drive home the point that every youth must get registered as a voter soon after turning 18 and must exercise this right to make a difference in the system.

The first shot focused on the statue of Lala Lajpat Rai with a finger raised (to signify the power of one) at the Scandal Point. It was followed by a visual of children playing cricket on the Ridge where an umpire raises a finger to make a decision, demonstrating the power of one. In the end, the youth are shown singing the hindi rock ‘sadda haq, aithe rakh’, when a passing girl quips ‘karma nahin kuchh, batein lakh’. The clip ends with a text message exhorting people to vote.

Manikaran, May 15
Religious tourism is taking off in a big way in the state, with the holy town of Manikaran now being included in the state government's must visit spots for domestic and foreign tourists. Manikaran is located in the Parvati Valley between the Beas and the Parvati, northeast of Bhuntar in Kullu district.

Scores of domestic tourist visit the place every year, but this year, there is huge footfall of the international tourists as well.

"We are in Manikaran. It's a very good holy place and there is a hot bath as well," said Russian tourist Sashe. Devotees were seen offering prayers in temples and a gurdwara.

It is believed that when Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati were walking across the valley, she dropped one of her earrings. The serpent deity, 'Sheshanag', seized the earring and disappeared. The piece of jewellery was recovered after Lord Shiva performed the Tandava - cosmic dance.

The executive head of the Manikaran gurdwara and Shiv Temple, Baba Ram, highlighted the significance of the holy place.

“Those who visit this place, we treat them as visitors send by god. We serve them as the guests of god, as according to our tradition, guests are God's messengers. That is why we treat them as gods. We treat everyone equally,” said Baba Ram. He also mentioned that a ‘langar’ - community kitchen - is organised in order to serve food to all the devotees despite their caste, creed and religion. — ANI

Saho (Chamba), May 15
Tucked in the beautiful Chamba valley, the hamlet of Saho, some 12 km from Chamba town, is bestowed with abundant natural beauty which has helped it become a part of the ‘har gaon ki kahani’ scheme started by the Tourism Department.

The nucleus of the village is the historic temple of Chandrashekhar Mahadev. The temple dedicated to Lord Shiva dates back to the 10th Century. The Chandrashekhar temple was erected by Rana Satyaki, who was the ruler of Sarahan, the ancient name of this region.

Rana Satyaki raised this magnificent temple to endure the pain of losing his beloved wife Somaprabha.

Also, he embellished it with fine stone sculptures in a classical manner for which he engaged accomplished Kashmiri sculptors.

In a love poem in Sanskrit incised on a stone tablet associated with the temple, Rana Satyaki speaks highly of his wife’s beauty and virtues. The stone tablet is now housed in the gallery of the Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba.

The richly embellished entrance porch shows Shiva in his cool and ferocious aspects acting as ‘dwarapala’. Apart from these, the façade of the temple bears stone sculptures depicting Natesh Ganesh and Gaja Lakshmi, a rare occurrence in the temples of western Himalayas.

Unfortunately, these marvels in stone are now coated with thick layers of synthetic enamel paint which has defaced the artistic merit of the sculpture.

The paint of the sculptures has been erased with sand paper at some places thus harming their texture.

The issue was also raised vehemently by Kameshwar Mahajan, chairman of the local Shri Chandrashekhar temple development committee at a seminar on ‘har gaon ki kahani’ organised by the department of tourism and civil aviation at Saho recently. The seminar was presided over by local MLA BK Chauhan.

The temple committee has requested the state Department of Languages and Culture to deploy a team of experts to save the stone images from further deterioration and remove the ugly paint layers with chemical treatment thereby restoring their pristine grandeur and glory.