Chamba, November 27
The Union Ministry of State for Environment and Forests has asked the state government to ensure that no work on the hydropower projects is started until the permission under the Forest (Conservation) Act is obtained and to report if there are any violations.

This was the text of a recent communication received from the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests (Independent Charge) Jyanti Natarajan in response to a letter written by a local environmentalist, who is a lawyer, Dharam Malhotra, to the Union Ministry concerning the present state of affairs with regard to the hydropower projects in Chamba district.

“The project proponent cannot start work on the forestland or even non-forestland until permission under the Forest (Conversation) Act for the forestland involved in the proposal has been obtained,” the ministry stated in its communication.

Malhotra said in case the state government failed to report the violations under the Forest (Conversation) Act made by the companies executing the hydropower projects in Chamba district, the matter would be taken up directly with the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for necessary action.

Out of 65 hydroelectric projects under construction in Chamba district, there were many whose forest clearances were still awaited but the construction on these projects had been started which also needed a “thorough probe”, Malhotra said.

He warned that people of Chamba would not allow the state government to sell off the interests of the wooded region by transferring several bighas of land to non-Himachalis without permission under the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act merely in the name of hydroelectric projects 

Chamba, November 27
Wildlife is one of the most valuable, attractive and fascinating gifts bestowed on the Himalayan region. From time immemorial, there has been a close link between wildlife and man. The man, in the beginning, was dependent mostly on wildlife for his survival.

With the passage of time, the man started taming and domesticating some animals. When human population was less and wildlife was in abundance, there was no need to protect wildlife, but with the increase in population, preservation of wildlife became important.

The Himachal Government has taken a number of steps for the conservation of wildlife in the state. The beautiful animals and birds found in the state are our invaluable assets and should be preserved not only for our benefit but also for the regeneration of endangered species like western tragopan, monal and snow leopard, etc. To conserve the entire range of biodiversity, the state government has established a network of protected areas, comprising two national parks and 32 wildlife sanctuaries.

But still there are some areas, particularly in Chamba district, which are very rich in wildlife and are not parts of any sanctuary or a national park. In Chamba district, the Sahoo area is one such tract, which has got a variety of wildlife and is fit to be declared a sanctuary.

Another area is opposite Sanghni-Langera across the river. This area is very rich in wildlife and there is almost no habitation, which makes it suitable for being a part of the sanctuary. The Pangi tribal valley has also such terrains.

An official survey revealed that Chamba district was, at one time, a repository of wild fauna and flora. Its thick, extensive and varied flora, gorges, inaccessible alpine and high-lying areas provided safe abode for wildlife. Gradually, the forests were cleared to make room for villages and cultivation and, in this process, the wildlife was greatly affected.

This was followed by the rule of kings who, having realised the significance of wildlife, enforced rules for its protection and reserved some areas as their ‘shikargahs’ where wildlife was scrupulously protected.

The interior areas of the district were not easily accessible during those days and the wildlife, which was pushed into the interior areas, remained protected. But after Independence, more and more areas were opened by roads and the population also increased. All these factors had an adverse effect on the wildlife.

The rugged terrains and clearly distinct agro-climatic and physio-graphic zones in the state harbour area-specific animals and plants. The snow leopard, ibex and snow cock have made cold deserts their home, the cold temperate regions of the state form natural habitat of musk deer, Himalayan thar, brown bear, monal and western tragopan.

Whereas the lower reaches of the state abound with sambhar deer, barking deer, wild boar, ghoral and leopard among mammals and pheasants, including cheer and white crested kaleej.

The wildlife fact sheet in Himachal reveals that the number of recorded species of mammals are 77, birds 463, reptiles 44, fish 80 and aquatic fauna 436.

Palampur, November 27
Jwalamukhi, an ancient religious town, 50 km from here, is being neglected by the state government. Thousands of pilgrims visit this town daily as the 300- year-old famous Jwalamukhi temple of Goddess Durga, also known as the temple of flames, is situated here.

Most of the interior streets here need immediate repair. Due to overflowing drains, water collects on these streets, making them stink, adding to the difficulties of the pilgrims in walking. Garbage can be seen in every nook and corner of the town. There is no sewerage system in the town, which has given rise to insanitary and unhygienic conditions.

The sanitary condition of the town is deplorable, creating a number of health problems. The condition of the interior localities of the town is the worst. These have been virtually reduced to slums.

Besides, the narrow Kangra-Hamirpur national highway, which passes through this town, has become a major problem for the local residents because of frequent traffic jams daily. At present this town is governed by a nagar panchyat, which has no funds to keep the town clean. There has been a manifold increase in the population of this town and the panchyat is finding it difficult to maintain the town with meagre funds allotted to it every year.

The residents of the town say that the temple trust has an annual income of over Rs 5 crore. This money should be utilised for the betterment of the town. Besides, additional funds should also be sanctioned to the nagar panchyat for the installation of streetlights, construction of a drainage system and repair of internal roads.

Jyoti Shanker, a former member of the nagar panchyat, says sewerage must be laid on top priority as the prevailing conditions are alarming. Apart from this, there is also shortage of potable water in the town and there is a general complaint that drinking water being supplied to the residents is not fit for human consumption.

Palampur, November 27
The tourism industry, one of the major sources of revenue in the state, is passing through a crisis in the absence of a proper infrastructure like better roads, rail and air network.

Air services to all the three airports of the state, Shimla, Dharamsala and Kullu, have been suspended for the past three months, following a lock out at Kingfisher Airlines, adversely affecting the tourist traffic to the state.

With the opening of Jammu and Kashmir circuit for tourists, after a gap of 15 years, the state tourism has come down by 30 per cent. Travelling agencies prefer Kashmir to the state because of better air connectivity, cheaper hotels and less tax.

The state has a long way to go to catch up with the front-ranking states like Kerala, Goa, Haryana, Uttrakhand in this field. Promotion of tourism is essential for fast development of the state because it can fill the coffers of the state, being an important revenue earner and source of foreign exchange.

In the past 10 years, much stress was laid on the development of a few places like Shimla, Manali, Dalhousie and Dharamsala as major tourist centres. But tourists have been facing problems like parking of vehicles, lengthy traffic jams and shortage of drinking water.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) also came to the rescue of state tourism industry by sanctioning Rs 428 crore in the year 2011 for the development of the state.

The government’s new ‘master plan’ for the development of tourism has remained on paper.

Recently I visited Rajkiya Kanya Maha Vidyalaya (RKMV) in Elysium Hill. The visit was nostalgic because in this building was RPC Sanatan Dharma Bhargava College, of which I was a student. I did my first post-graduation (political science) from here. The name Elysium to the hill was given in 1838 as a delicate compliment to Misses Emily and Fanny Eden, sisters of Lord Auckland, Governor General of India, who stayed at Auckland House. Elysium in Greek means ‘the place of ideal happiness’.

RKMV, today, is housed in a building that existed by the name of Elysium Hotel. Dr Blake was a surgeon in the East India Company’s service. He got a plot of landin Elysium Hill as grant from the Political Agent Sabathu in 1828. He got built Auckland House in one portion of the plot and let the other, where stood Elysium Hotel later,remain vacant. The doctor sold the property to Lord Auckland in 1836 who further sold it to Dr J Ransford in 1840. He kept the parcel of land for 18 years with him and in 1858 sold it to Colonel Peter Innes of the Bengal Army. It remained as such with Peter Innes, promoted as General, till 1868. This was the time when Punjabi Muslims were the most affluent traders in Shimla and the leading firm here then was Messers Hoosain Buksh and Company which functioned from 1875 to 1947 under the proprietorship of Mir Nadir Hoosain from the premises where the present-day Alpha restaurant is. He had purchased the Elysium Hotel and five other properties on the Elysium Hill -- Belvedere, Battesley, Rookery, Rook Nest and Sylvan Hall. I could not find the name of the person who got Elysium Hotel constructed but it was in existence in 1904 when the first edition of ‘Simla-Past and Present’ was out.

Elysium Hotel remained with Hoosain Buksh and Company till 1947 when a majority of Muslims from Shimla was inclined or forced to go to the newly created Shangri-La of theirs called Pakistan. During ‘partition-time’, Elysium Hotel was converted into a protected camp for high-class Muslims while Neela Gumbaz mosque at Lower bazaar was the shelter for poorer ones. In 1945, Shimla got its first degree college that was opened at Summer Hill by Goswami Ganesh Dutt of Sanatan Dharma Sabha, Punjab. It was shifted to Elysium Hotel when the fugitive Muslims had evacuated it, probably in 1948. The college functioned in the double-storied barrack-type part of the building (see photo) while the tenants lived in timber-framed farm house type of the portion (see photo). The Principal of the college also lived in one of the sets and the last one to reside here was RN Mehrotra, who had taught physics to me. Elysium Hotel remained an evacuee property till 1953 when by an order of the court, it was allotted to one Shiv Nath s/o Lajwanti.

In the early 1950s, the Municipal Committee (MC), Shimla, which used to be the richest MC in India, burnt its fingers by starting a college at Corstorphan Hotel, Lakkar Bazaar. It was called Bhargava Municipal College or BM College. Bhargava was borrowed from Gopi Chand Bhargava, who was second-time Chief Minister of Punjab from 1949 to 1951. The MC could not run the college beyond six years due to financial constraints and it was merged with the local SD College in 1956 and was renamed as Rana Padam Chandra SDB College. Rana Padam Chandra was the prince of Jubbal State and patron of SD College from the very beginning.

RKMV was started in 1978 when the government took over RPCSDB College. Its first Principal, who joined duty in 1977, was HC Rai, a prominent artist who was initially principal of the College of Arts, Nahan. When the Arts College was closed, Raiwas shifted to the general education. RKMV, today, is the leading college for women in Himachal Pradesh and boasts of strength of about 4,000 students. Though the college has supplemented the accommodation by constructing a Vigyan Bhawan, yet the dated building with its old-world charm has been retained and that pleases me.

Hamirpur, November 27
The resettlement of over 30,000 families, evacuated from the three districts of Bilaspur, Kangra and Mandi, for building Bhakra, Pandoh and Pong dams respectively in Himachal Pradesh have remained unresolved for several decades.

The rehabilitation of oustees has always been an election issue in Assembly elections since 1962. Both the Congress and the BJP have made promises to oustees, keeping an eye on the voters spanning 10 Assembly constituencies but successive government have failed to solve their problems.

More than 32,000 families living in these districts had to leave their home and hearth as three main dams- Bhakra, Pandoh and Pong Dam were built to set up Bhakra hydel and two BBMB power projects on the Beas.

The oldest problem of settlement of oustees has been in Bilaspur district where a population of over 50, 000 was displaced for constructing the Gobind Sagar Lake (reservoir to feed Bhakra Dam) as the entire Bilapsur town and about 168 sq km area submerged in the lake in 1963.

Majority of the evacuated families shifted to the new Bilaspur town, surrounding areas and some of them were forced to settle on forest land.

About 3,600 evacuated families were allotted land in Hisar, Sirsa and Faridabad districts of Haryana and Sri Ganga Nagar district of Rajasthan. 740 families returned back from these states as they could not take possession of land allotted to them there.

Several issues related to rehabilitation of evacuated families like ownership rights to oustees settled in urban areas and on forest land declared encroachers by the High Court, development in the affected area, settlement of about 1000 families, who are yet to get land after 54 years and giving ownership rights of land to people living in Harayna and Rajasthan are major concerns of the Bhakra Dam oustees.

In case of Pong Dam about 20,000 families were evacuated from Nagrota Suriana to Nurpur in the 1970s to facilitate building of the dam.

Majority of Pong Dam oustees were allotted land in Rajasthan but they could not take possession of the land there as it was forcible encroached by local farmers.

Failure to take possession and highhandedness of farmers of Rajasthan forced the allottees to sell their shares at throwaway prices and return back as only about 2,000 big farmers could occupy the land there.

A large number of Pong Dam oustees are still struggling to get rehabilitated and many issues are still lingering on. The problems of 992 families ousted for construction of Pandoh dam in Mandi district during the late seventies have also remained unresolved. The surplus land taken from them has not been returned to them, ousted people are still looking for rehabilitation, solution to silt problem along Suketi khud persists and their demand for employment in the BBMB project has not been met.

After the Supreme Court’s verdict asking BBMB to pay 12.5 percent share to HP government in BBMB projects with arrears of about Rs 4,000 crore, all oustees’ organisations have demanded spending this money on rehabilitation and development of the oustees.

On being asked about the Congress party’s view on the problems of oustees, HPCC president Virbhadra Singh said, “After coming to power the Congress government would resolve the problems of oustees by taking up their problems with the central and concerned state governments.”

Chief Minister PK Dhumal said, “The state government has identified land to be allotted to oustees in Bilaspur and we have also made efforts to resolve the problems of Pong Dam and Pandoh Dam evacuees”. 

After coming to power, the Congress will resolve the problems of oustees by taking up their issue with both the Central and state government
— Virbhadra Singh, HPCC president 

The state government has identified land to be allotted to oustees in Bilaspur and we have also made efforts to resolve the problems of Pong Dam and Pandoh Dam evacuees
— PK Dhumal, Chief Minister 

Solan, November 27
Even as the industry in the state has attracted investment worth several crores, the percentage of educated unemployed youth continues to be high in the state.

As many as 8.25 lakh unemployed youth are registered in the state as per the figures of the Labour and Employment Department.

The Central industrial package announced in 2003 had raised hopes of the unemployed, but apart from providing limited avenues, it has failed to provide much relief to the youth. While investors blame it on the lack of employability owing to absence of appropriate vocational trades among the state youth, the successive governments, too, have failed to introduce industry-oriented trades in its eight Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and 21 private polytechnic institutes.

The government has failed to tap potential areas where gainful employment could have helped youth tide over unemployment. Although there were almost 15 to 20 textile units, no course in textile engineering has been opened in any of the technical training institutes. This led to an inherent shortage of workers in these units. According to an in-house survey conducted by a leading textile unit, only 24 per cent of the workers managed to sustain in the heat intensive textile industry, which often faced shortage of labour.

Trades like textile fitters were not found in the state as there was no such vocational trade in its ITIs. Similarly, in engineering units, which worked as ancillary units for the big auto companies like TVS Motor, crucial CNC operators to run automatic machines were not found here. Even other crucial trades like sheet metal operators were not found and had to be hired from Punjab.

Though the state has managed to attract nearly 350 pharmaceutical units, no vocational trade to cater to their needs has been introduced till now. This has led the investors to open a vocational training institute on their own at Baddi, where crucial trades are now being taught for ready placements.

Since the technical aspect, including machine engineering, was not included in any course curriculum of any industrial training institutes in the state, they failed to get adequate operators.

While these operators comprised nearly one-third of the total strength of a pharmaceutical unit, their unavailability in the state created problems for the entrepreneurs.

With the mandatory clause of providing 70 per cent employment to the locals being binding on the investors, it was not possible to employ such a large number of technicians from other states. They would be granted a six to nine months training and they would be readily absorbed by the industrial units as the trades were much in demand.

Though successive governments had been talking about introducing industry-specific trades in its industrial training institutes (ITIs) after the Central Industrial Package of 2003, not much had been done in this direction.

Though some ITIs had been upgraded as centres of excellence, they failed to fulfil the requirements of the industry thus, creating a huge gap between the demand and supply.

Chamba, November 27
With the advent of snowy weather, the Pangi Welfare Association has reiterated its demand to start a regular helicopter service between Chamba and the Pangi tribal subdivisional headquarter township of Killar, either weekly or fortnightly for the facility of tribal people and government employees.

The Pangi Welfare Association, which is an organisation of the tribal people of the Pangi tribal valley of Chamba, held a meeting recently and discussed various issues relating to the tribal areas and passed resolutions for submitting these to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister.

The president of the association, PL Thakur, said the tribal valley remained closed due to heavy snowfall for almost six or seven months when the Saach Pass was covered with snow and the tribal residents had to reach Chamba by travelling a long distance of more than 500 km via Kishtwar and Batot in Jammu and Kashmir. The Saach Pass generally opens for traffic in May or June after melting of the snow every year. Not only this, even the distance between Sansari Nala to Killar township of the Pangi tribal valley had to be covered by trudging on the snow, facing an imminent threat to life, Thakur said.

At the meeting, a resolution concerning the construction of Chehni-Devikothi tunnel to link the Pangi tribal valley to the all-season highway was also passed, Thakur added.