|
|
|
|
Illegal mining goes on with impunity along Neugal
Road construction awaits completion even after a decade
|
|
|
|
Drip irrigation technology boon for fruit growers
Pharma Cos cheating consumers on MRP
Police vigil keeps rave freaks on the run
Kasauli Club celebrates annual cultural bonanza
Power employees to hold ‘Halla Bol’ rally on July 10
Pinegrove girls win IPSC soccer championship
Insurance company asked to pay up
vignettes
Use of nanotechnology for healthy environment discussed
Kangra reels under water crisis
Ropeway for Manimahesh Lake sought
Scientists vouch for genetically-modified crops
Bhattiyat untouched by benefits of government schemes
|
|
Illegal mining goes on with impunity along Neugal
Palampur, July 3 The illegal and unscientific mining has resulted in large-scale deforestation, landslides and flash floods. Over 20,000 hectares in the region has been affected by the mining, quarrying and other activities resulting in drastic reshaping of the landscape. The reckless mining along the Neugal Khud which passes through the town has caused a loss to environment and natural water sources. Illegal mining has posed serious threat to the existence of irrigation and drinking water supply schemes which get water from these small rivers of the region. The existence of Kirpal Chand Khual feeding over 30 panchayats comprising 100 villages of Palampur, Bhawarans and Daroh Blocks and Charnamati; and Lower Baijnath Kuhals feeding 15 panchayats of Baijnath block is in danger because of continuous mining in the catchment areas of Neugal and Binwa rivers. Despite repeated requests of the Irrigation and Public Health Department, the Mining Department has failed to check the illegal mining. The local authorities have not implemented the directions of the state High Courts. A senior official of the IPH Department says if no timely action is taken, the drinking water supply schemes will go dry in the next three years. Most of the persons involved in this illegal trade have no legal rights to extract the sand, stone, bajri and other raw materials from these khuds and quarries. Due to political protection, they persons manage to get no objection certificates from various government agencies for
extraction of stone, sand and other raw materials. Water levels of Neugal and other khuds like Binwa, Gaj, Baner, Awa, Bathoo, Mol and Bhiral has also gone down in the past five years. During the summers this year, the people of the region have experienced a worst-ever drinking water crises and drought conditions as most of these khuds had become dry as early as in the months of April and May. Since all these khuds are the tributaries of the Beas, it would also affect the water level in Pong Dam. An official of the BBMB says that large-scale deforestation, reckless mining, quarrying and grazing in the catchments areas of Pong Dam is responsible for the drastic fall in the water levels. The construction of hydel projects has further worsened the situation. The BBMB has written numerous letters to the state government for checking of illicit felling, grazing, mining, dumping and quarrying in the catchments areas of the tributaries of the Beas in Kangra and Mandi districts, but no serious steps were initiated and heavy amount of silt is flowing to the dam every year reducing its life.
|
||
|
Road construction awaits completion even after a decade
Solan, July 3 Out of the 17-km stretch, 8-km portion has been constructed in the first phase at a cost of Rs 1.06 crore way back in 2002, but the remaining stretch, including the laying of a fresh road, has, however, been caught in several problems. Earlier, the villagers opposed land acquisition thus delaying its construction due to lapse of the permission granted under the Forest Conservation Act - 1980 by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Having cleared that hurdle the road now awaits adequate funds as the estimated budget works out to be a whopping Rs 4 crore. Though it has been placed in the priority list of the MLA, it awaited grant of adequate funds from the NABARD for completing the remaining construction. The road has, however, taken almost a decade for its completion as the earlier stretch of 8 km was constructed way back in 2002. The remaining stretch of 9 km has thereafter been awaiting completion. The road has been constructed up to Seri village and it will finally benefit a population of more than 1,000 spread across 10 villages. The lack of interest taken by the previous Congress regime was also a major reason for the delay as no initiative was taken to make adequate funds available. The road will link about 15 villages. The survey for this project was conducted in 1978. Politicians made promises during the election time about the project and forgot about it after being voted to power. Finally in 1990, after repeated requests and persuasion by the villagers, a sum of Rs 15 lakh was paid to those whose land was acquired for the project. But it took another nine years to get the land vacated in spite of paying the compensation. The demarcations for constructing the road were undertaken in 1996 by the PWD. The road, when completed, will benefit the villagers who grow cash crops like tomatoes, vegetables and stone fruits. The produce is carried on hired mules to the nearest market at Chakki-ka-Mor, about 15 km away. This increases its cost. Often these small farmers fail to get an appropriate price for their produce. There is no veterinary dispensary and high school in this stretch of 15 villages. Even the school and the public distribution system centre is about five km away.
|
||
|
Drip irrigation technology boon for fruit growers
Nurpur, July 3 Most of the fruit growers are dependant on rain in this area, but prevailing drought-like conditions have dismayed mango and litchi growers. The drip irrigation system can be proved a boon for those growers who are dependant on rainfall to irrigate their orchards. The Regional Horticulture Research Station (RHRS) has come out with successful results in saving station’s orchards from heat wave and prolonged dry spell by adopting drip irrigation technology. The system is being considered very effective and economical, provided assured water is available near orchards by way of water harvesting storage or natural source like well or pond. According to information, surface irrigation needs plenty of water, which also causes water losses and requires more labour and time. Whereas, the drip irrigation system conserves water and works by way of gravity or electric water lifting motor consisting of the PVC distribution pipes with required diameters, fertiliser tank, control valve, filter and pressure measuring device. It can be operated by one person even during night. The main features of this system are portability of components and irrigation and fertilisation of plants altogether. The irrigated water carrying fertilisers directly reaches the plant roots, increases yield and quality of fruit crops. According to SS Rana, associate director, RHRS, drip irrigation technology had been adopted in upper
areas of the state in 1990 but the same has been introduced in the lower hills just four years ago after the launch of polyhouse concept. He said progressive fruit growers in the Indora areas had adopted this technology in citrus fruit orchards only. “The technology ensures deep percolation with reduced bacterial and fungal growth and at the same time increases yield. The irrigation system costs about Rs 40,000 to 50,000 for one hectare orchard area. The RHRS is imparting technical know-how of the system to the growers, but system installation is being undertaken by private companies,” he said. He also exhorted fruit growers of the lower hill areas to adopt the irrigation technology to protect their crops and plants from drought and prolonged dry spell.
|
||
|
Pharma Cos cheating consumers on MRP
Palampur, July 3 In the absence of any checks by the states as well as from the union government, the common man pays high gap by purchasing medicines at the MRP. In some of the medicines, the margin of profit is up to 2,000 per cent. Evidence to this effect is in the possession of The Tribune. An injection given to a critical heart patient carries a margin of profit of up to 1,200 per cent. Likewise, most of the anti-biotic injections have a profit margin of up to 900 per cent. An MTP kit of a standard company has a MRP of Rs 560 as against its cost price of a mere Rs 62. There are hundreds of such medicines where very high MRP is printed and is being charged from the consumers. The Essential Commodities Price Control Act is applicable in many states which also covers the sale of drugs, but no action has been initiated against the erring companies by any government so far. The Union government had time and again assured the consumers that it would come out with policy to fix the margin of profit of retailers and wholesalers on drugs but nothing has been done so far. There is a general impression among the consumers that the margin of profit in standard drug companies is restricted only between 10 to 20 per cent, but if one goes through the entire sale price list of even standard companies, (in possession of The Tribune) these companies were also allegedly cheating the consumers by allowing margin of profit to the retailers between 100 to 700 per cent. The MRP on medicines is always fixed by the drug companies and the states had no control on it, but under the Essential Commodity Price Control Act, states can initiate action against the retailers or whole sellers for charging excess margin of profit.
|
||
|
Police vigil keeps rave freaks on the run
Kullu, July 3 Though there was no recovery of drugs from the venues, the response to the rave was poor as the police has been keeping watch on the parties. There were just 30 odd persons and a couple of foreigners at the Manali rave party. The police seized unlicensed liquor from the venue. It was being organised at the open resort opposite Vashisht village run by a married couple connected to a senior Congress leader from Mandi, police sources said. The couple told the police raiding the party that it was a new culture and they were trying to change the dull life in Manali. “We do not use drugs in the party,” they claimed. The police also raided another rave at Chalal village on the right bank of the Parbati river. There were odd 130 rave freaks and they dispersed before the police arrived as it rained heavily there, said the policemen. Earlier also, the police had raided a rave party at Chalal which was attended by over 2,000 people, including foreigners. The police had seized synthetic drugs and arrested an Israeli national under the NDPS Act, who has now been bailed out. The police had also foiled a rave party at Tosh village in May last. SP, Kullu, Ashok Kumar said the police had kept a strict vigil on raves in the valley.
|
||
|
Kasauli Club celebrates annual cultural bonanza
Solan, July 3 It was later rechristened the Kasauli Club and converted into a limited liability company in January 1898. Meakins was the largest shareholder of the company. The club soon became the focal point of much activity. Its sports galas and social meetings were the envy of the Simla Hills. The tennis teas on the terrace became famous throughout North India and so did the Saturday dinner dances, where two bands entertained the gentlemen officers and ladies in attendance from the neighbouring cantonment. The club’s membership list reads like a who’s who of the country with several senior Army officials, civil servants, artists, sportsmen, etc., being its members. The GOC-in-C, Western Command, is the Patron of this club and the Station Commander is the ex-officio chairman. The annual “Kasauli Week” provides an opportunity to all its members to interact amidst the cool climes of this cantonment town along with their families and relive the glorious history of this club. As a new initiative this year, the club organised a seminar on “Indo-Pak Relations, Current Challenges and Future Prospects”, aimed at ensuring a better understanding of this key issue among the members. Dr Ajay Sawhney, Director, Institute of Conflict Management, New Delhi, Dr Bharat Karnad, Centre Policy for Research, New Delhi, and Maj-Gen GD Bakshi, SM, VSM (retd), Expert on Defence Matters, also shared their views with the elite audience.
|
||
|
Power employees to hold ‘Halla Bol’ rally on July 10
Hamirpur, July 3 The union had already held a series of rallies throughout the state to mobilise employees’ support and raise these issues in which a large number of employees participated. State president of the union Kuldeep Singh Kharwara and general secretary Hira Lal Verma have been accusing the state government’s faulty power policy for the financial position of the HPSEBL, which is delaying the reimbursements of financial benefits to the employees. They stated, “The board management has created panic among the employees and pensioners by withholding the revised pay scales as financial position of the board is deteriorating.” Union leaders said they had apprised the Chief Minister of these issues and the functioning of certain bureaucrats whose adamant attitude was allegedly harming the interests of the employees and the HPSEBL. The union has demanded an immediate withdrawal of the decision regarding selling out of the BBMB projects share to the HPSEBL on average purchase price and to grant whole power share to HPSEBL free of cost in view of deteriorating financial position of the HPSEBL, besides a bail out package. The HPSEBL union had also been demanding evolving a proper mechanism with regard to continuous disbursal of pension, gratuity and other social security funds and the allocation of appropriate grant to the HPSEBL. The union has vehemently opposed the closure of board’s offices and introduction of franchisee, out sourcing of board works and demanded an immediate recruitment of technical and commercial staff at the lower level as assured by the Chief Minister. To sort out various issues related to employees and different power organisations, the union has asked the state government to hold tripartite meetings between representatives of the union, management of the HPSEBL and managements of the HPPCL, HPPTCL and SJVNL in order to settle various prolonged issues relating to the service conditions of employees of the HPSEBL working on secondment and deputation basis with these organisations. General secretary of the union HR Verma said, “The union had already held rallies and dharnas throughout the state under the ‘Bachao Abhiyan’ and now we are preparing to organise a state-level ‘Halla Bol’ rally at Shimla on July 10 to highlight these issues.” The union has strongly demanded release of financial benefits related to revised pay scale such as arrears, 9/16/23 TBPS/API, revised pay allowances, mobile allowance and enhancement of ex-gratia to Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, respectively, and implement recommendations made by 5th Punjab Pay Commission.
|
||
|
Pinegrove girls win IPSC soccer championship
Solan, July 3 Pinegrove School girls created history of sorts by lifting the title in their maiden attempt. After outplaying Modern School, Delhi, 1-0 in an exciting semi-final encounter, Pinegrove girls outplayed the host team, Raj kumar College, by a similar margin in a keenly contested title clash. Raj Kumar College, who was on a winning streak during the entire tournament, found themselves totally off colour in the final match. The winning Pinegrove School girls who bounced back in the tourney gave a tough time to the host team by their skillful display of the game through their clean passing and control. After a barren first half, Gurpreet Kaur Sidhu scored a field goal from outside the penalty area to shock the host Raj Kumar College in the dying moments of the match. Muskaan Gill was awarded the best goalkeeper and Harjyot the best defender, both of Pinegrove School. The champion team was accorded a grand reception on their arrival back to the school by the staff, students and parents.
|
||
|
Insurance company asked to pay up
Mandi, July 3 The jewellery was stolen by burglars when he brought it home. But the company did not pay the compensation on the ground that he lost it because of his negligence. Dismissing the company’s plea, the three-member forum directed it to return the amount with interest and imposed fine for dereliction in service to its client.
— TNS
|
||
|
vignettes
His 210-page book speaks of how he remained an outsider everywhere he went. The hard-bound edition of the book costs
Rs 595. He says his autobiography is an account of 60s to 90s when he worked as
an IAS officer. Writing an autobiography is a difficult task. Nelson Mandela, when asked to write an autobiography, said, “The trouble of course is that most successful men are prone to some form of vanity. There comes a stage in their lives when they consider permissible to be egoistic and to brag to the public at large about their unique achievements. What sweet euphemism for self-praise the English language has evolved. Autobiography they chose to call it, where the shortcomings of others are frequently exploited to highlight the praiseworthy accomplishments of the author.” I have spent a long time with MKK during my service in Himachal Pradesh. While reading the book, I found that he was writing about the facts, even if at places, these appear to be self-praise. A reader who doesn’t know him might share views with those of Mandela but someone who has worked with him would find genuineness in the work. A reviewer always grades an autobiography on readability, veracity and fundamental truth. MKK scores points on all three facets. Many autobiographers mention the importance of keeping secrets, telling everything in autobiography is unsolicited. Kingsley Amis said he left out a great deal because he did not wish to hurt people he loved. Gandhi’s ‘My Experiments with Truth’ is very different from other autobiographies. He had not concealed anything. In fact, he was rather harsh on himself. He did not want to show the world how good he was. I believe that the account of surreptitious glances at the cleavage of his fiancé or the incident “a filly unridden and a pearl unthridden” could easily be avoided by the author in his book because MKK and Gandhi wrote with different perspectives. A limerick on Uma Nath Sharma, the Chief Secretary of the state from 1974-75, is so bawdy that I leave the job to book-readers. The autobiography is punctuated with humour and makes an enjoyable read. When MKK was posted as magistrate at Bulandshahr, he, wearing shorts at home, was getting oil massage done when he heard a tap on the door. He opened the door only to shut it immediately because there was an advocate in full regalia along with a Muslim lady whom he wanted to produce before the magistrate. MKK shouted, “Why not produce her in court? You can see what state I am in.” The advocate replied, “Jahan panah! Wherever you may be, in whatever state or condition, that is the court.” He has worked with four Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh and his first encounter was with Dr YS Parmar, whom he praised as someone who did not speak casually and talked figures. The matter was regarding the selection of land for Panchayat Bhawan in Shimla. All eyes were set on the spot where the building stands today. At the time of inspection, MKK intervened, “Sir, don’t you think that the place is already congested?” Parmar looked at MKK and said, “Who has to decide it, you or I?” PK Mattoo, a senior IAS, told MKK ‘not to be blunt in expressing opinions’. He also acquainted him with ‘the Doctrine of Lying Low’ that always paid dividends in bureaucracy. Did MKK follow it? His autobiography does not substantiate it.
Tailpiece
He winds up his book with ten pearls of wisdom for budding officers. The third one is: The politicians always have their way. You cannot prevent them. You may at best slow them down.”
|
||
|
Use of nanotechnology for healthy environment discussed
Mandi, July 3 Apart from spelling healthy nano-biotechnology mechanism for the Himalayan region, the penal has also decided to set up a Bionanotechnology Society at IIT Mandi under the patronage of its Director Prof Timonthy Gonsalves. The penal of experts from top research institutes and IITs had gathered in this temple town recently to attend a national symposium on nano-biotechnology at IIT Mandi. The panel decided to develop eco-friendly techniques for synthesis of nanomaterials. “The new models will be practical, safe and efficient, using both the engineered and naturally occurring nano-materials,” they added. Convener of the symposium, Dr Kenneth Gonsalves, a visiting professor from the US at IIT Mandi said, “The healthy nano-materials will be targeted for healthy drug delivery, diagnosis and treatment of diseases related to cardiovascular, metabolic and bonedisorders,” he added. Co-convener of the symposium Dr RC Sawhney said Bionanotechnology Society would comprise experts from engineering, medical, basic sciences and life sciences under the patronage of Prof Timonthy A Gonsalves. Dr Rajesh Malhotra from AIIMS presented his views on the topic. Dr Gonsalves said collaborations between IIT Mandi and HPVK, Palampur, will give priority under the ICAR 12th five year Rs 1,000-crore plan on applications of nanotechnology in agriculture, veterinary and food technology. Dr Muraleedharan, director of materials at DRDO said nano- biotechnology promise a good future for defense and civil in nano-biosensors, drug delivery and medical imaging. “We will tie up with IIT Mandi growing high-altitude herbs,” he said. The panelists represented NIPER, Mohali, IHBT and HPKV, Palampur and AIIMS, Jamia Millia Islamia, AMU, BHU, IISER Pune and IISER Bhopal, DRDO and NPL. They focused on three main themes on “bioscaffolds, tissue engineering, drug delivery, targeting bio nano interfaces”. More than 120 participants summed up the roadmap for this emerging field, especially with respect to Himachal Pradesh. Sixty poster presentations were displayed by students on their research in nanotechnology. A quarterly bulletin will also be released shortly summarise the achievements of the symposium.
|
||
|
Kangra reels under water crisis
Palampur, July 3 Official sources said recently that the water level in most of the drinking water sources, feeding over 100 drinking water supply schemes, had gone down because of unusually long summers. Lower areas of the Baijnath and Palampur subdivisions have adversely been affected as water discharge in the Binwa and Neugal rivers has come down almost to half. Both these rivers feed 100 major drinking water supply schemes of the region. As many as 15 villages of Sulaha, 20 of Jaisinghpur and 10 of Thural were getting drinking water once in a day. To handle the dire situation, the IPH Department has motorised over 100 hand pumps and connected them with the water supply lines. Because of the poor discharge in the local streams, irrigation schemes have also gone dry in many villages, adversely affecting the sowing of maze and other crops. Frequent power failures in the rural areas have also hit the lift drinking and irrigation water supply schemes. In the Chadhiar, Tambbar, Tin Bar, Ashapuri areas, over 2 lakh residents are getting water through lift drinking water supply schemes, which have come to a halt because of frequent power breakdown. In many parts of the region, people have lodged protest over the water shortage. Situation in Palampur is no better as existing pipelines have worn out. There is an immediate need for augmentation of drinking water supply schemes. However, a senior official of IPH Department claimed that the field staff of the department was working round the clock. All executive engineers were personally supervising the situation.
|
||
|
Ropeway for Manimahesh Lake sought
Bharmour, July 3 In the memo, the organisations have said the task to draw the proposal with regard to the ropeway to Manimahesh Lake had already been assigned to state Forest Corporation officials who would also prepare a preliminary report about the project. Forest officials had been asked to identify the spots where it would be feasible to erect ropeway pillars and poles. They would also prepare the estimates about the cost to be incurred on the project. The organisations demanded that the construction work on the ropeway project should be undertaken soon after the approval of the project. They also demanded that the Manimahesh shrine, ancient temples of Bharmour tribal township and other temples in its precincts should be covered under the temple trust as early as possible. The Manimahesh Lake is situated at an altitude of 4,170 metres in the mountainous hilly terrain of Bharmour in Chamba district.
|
||
|
Himachal diary
A master of pen drawings, Cheenu MJS Bhogal, who has captured on the canvas the beauty of all major historical buildings of Shimla and important temples in the
state, has come out with a series of paintings featuring gorgeous birds.
His exhibition featuring paintings of 40 birds in acrylic at the Gaiety Theatre
(See photo) early this week was quite different from the pencil sketches but they all standout for the minute line work on which he has gained mastery as a sketch artist. He works in both mediums, lead and colour pencil, and over the past 10 years he had produced more than 500 drawings ranging from the landscape sketches of the British era to the trans-Himalayan wildlife, flowers and heritage temples of North India. He has also been experimenting with charcoal, pen, chalk, pastels, crayons and water colours. A unique feature of the exhibition was that it was sponsored by a leading Anand Group of Industries, which specialises in manufacturing of auto parts. If more such sponsors come forward to support artists, it would go a long way in promoting new talent in the state, says Bhogal. Regarding his approach to art, Cheenu says he travels extensively to help retain originality and detail in his works. It was most important for the kind of work, particularly the pencil sketches, he was involved in. He opened his own gallery in 2009 where he continues to sketch and welcomes visitors and collectors who delight in the vibrant colour and playful spirit of his work.
Rainwater harvesting on MC’s priority list
The acute shortage of water in the state capital during the ongoing summers
has forced the local Municipal Corporation to seriously think of harvesting rainwater. Although the government has made rainwater harvesting structure mandatory for all new structures and trying to encourage the owners to provide the system in the existing ones, too, the policy was not being implemented in letter and in spirit. As a result, it is not helping much in easing the problem of water shortage. New Mayor Sanjay Chauhan said the corporation would not approve any building plan unless there was a provision for rainwater harvesting system. As merely installing tanks for the storage of rainwater would not help, the corporation would also ensure that proper arrangement for the utilisation of rainwater in toilets and other non-consumptive
purposes was integral to the building plan. Chauhan said even if 25 per cent of the buildings had rainwater harvesting facility, there would be no water crisis in the city during summers. He said it would take people sometime to realise the need and benefits of rainwater harvesting.
Taking loss
personally
The delimitation exercise in the state had obliterated the Bamsen Assembly constituency of Chief Minister PK Dhumal, while the Rohru constituency of some other prominent leaders like former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had been reserved. Now, both of them would have to settle for new constituencies for contesting the election due later this year. Voters of Bamsan and Rohroo had been giving overwhelming support to their respective leaders in every election. Both of them seem quite touchy and emotional about losing support of their trusted voters who had been ensuring their massive victories in successive elections. They had so much faith in their supporters that they only required to visit to their constituencies once or twice just to complete the formality of campaigning. This enabled them to devote time in other constituencies to ensure the victory of the party as a whole. Though both of them are indebted to their voters, they are upset over losing the trusted supporters due to delimitation as it would take some time to develop a rapport with the electorate of the constituencies from where they plan to
contest. (Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta)
|
||
|
Scientists vouch for genetically-modified crops
Dharamsala, July 3 Deepak Pental, former VC of Delhi University and a known expert on plant genetics, in his keynote address said to ensure food security for the increasing population, genetically modified or transgenic crops are the only answer. The genetically-modified crops give higher yield in lesser land and are more disease resistant, he said. China leads in research on genetically-modified crops. However, in India certain unnecessary apprehensions are being cast on the use of genetically-modified crops and their experimentation, he claimed. Recently the Rajasthan government had ordered that entire fields that were being used to test the genetically-modified mustard crop seeds be destroyed, he alleged. Since developing new varieties of crops is a long process, any delay in allowing such research would not be in the interest of the country. India imports 50 per cent of its requirement of edible oils. In case the genetically-modified crops are allowed, this deficit can be reduced considerably, he said. He also alleged that though certain sections were laying stress on organic crops, but studies have shown that such crops are 40 per cent costlier than other crops. Only the rich can afford organic crops, he claimed. Samir K Brahmachari, the director general of CSIR, lauded the research carried out the IHBT in the Himalayan regions of the country. He also released the annual report of the IHBT and said new technologies developed by the IHBT help the farmers cope with climatic changes and increase their income. The IHBT was also playing a significant role to preserve the genome wealth of rare herbs and plants found in the Himalayan region. PS Ahuja, the director of the IHBT, listed the achievements of the institute over the past one year. He said scientists of the IHBT have developed technology to revive plantations over 10 dumping sites of the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) in Kullu district. A house of bamboo has been developed to display environment-friendly house construction technology. A new variety of tea has been developed that gives 25 per cent higher yield than the conventional plants. He said IHBT scientists have also started a project to study the impact of climatic changes on herbs found in the Himalayan region. The institute was also identifying sites in Himachal Pradesh to develop disease-free saffron bulbs.
New variety of tea released
‘HIM SPHURTI’, a new variety of tea developed from the original Kangra tea plantations was also released on the occasion. The scientists who developed the variety said new variety of tea flourishes 10-12 days earlier than normal plantations and give 25 per cent higher yield with better aroma.
|
||
|
Bhattiyat untouched by benefits of government schemes
Kahri (Dalhousie), July 3 The undulating terrain, which remains neglected in the absence of roads, schools and health facilities, is still crying for attention of the government to undertake developmental activities besides livestock rearing. The inhabitants say that the students of the area have to trudge about 5-15 km to reach their respective schools. Consequently, many students especially girls drop out from schools. The talented students have not been able to fulfill their dreams owing to lack of basic facilities. Likewise, health facilities in the area are also in name. The patients in critical condition are brought either to Dalhousie or to Chowari civil hospitals for undergoing medical treatment. There have been instances when patients have lost their lives on way to hospitals. Accepting the truth regarding woes of residents, zila parishad member of Kahri ward Sudesh Thakur said “I am very well aware of the hardships borne by the people of this area. The government has provided educational and medical facilities as per the density of the population. But I would appeal to the government to do more to ameliorate the socio-economic conditions of the people residing in these areas”. The local link roads which connect them to the main highways of Chamba-Khajjiar-Dalhousie-Pathankot and Chamba-Chowari-Pathankot could prove to be the lifelines of the inhabitants of this area.
|
|
||
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Maharaj Krishen Kaw (MKK) (See photo) is a name that rings bells in many minds in the state. Whether as Solan or Kangra Deputy Commissioner or secretary of different departments in the Secretariat, he did really make a mark everywhere.
He has now come out with autobiography ‘An Outsider Everywhere’, published by Konark, New Delhi.
