Kangra, January 15
Dr NK Kalia, martyr Capt Saurabh Kalia’s father, whose son was tortured and later his mutilated body was handed over to India by Pakistan during the Kargil war, described the mutilation of the bodies of the jawans of the Indian Army in Jammu and Kahmir as absolutely shocking, painful and unfortunate.

Dr Kalia said, “I don’t know why Pakistan indulges in such actions.” He said during the Kargil war, the matter did not concern Saurabh Kalia alone, it was an isult to the Indian Army and Pakistan every time tried to lower India’s prestige by indulging in such actions.

In reply to the question that India’s perceived soft approach encouraged Pakistan to repeat such ghastly acts, Dr Kalia said it was absolutely true.

He said India did not do anything regarding the Saurabh Kalia incident and Pakistan presumed that India was a soft state and it could do anything.

Dr Kalia said strong action was required and only then Pakistan would desist from indulging in such actions.

He said, “I think India should act swiftly before bringing such incidents to the notice of Pakistan and the international community that Pakistan indulged in such ghastly acts.”

Meanwhile, GL Batra, father of Param Vir Chakra Vikram Batra, said the ghastly incident was not an isolated case and Pakistan was habitual of doing it.

Batra said the Indian Government should adopt the policy of tit for tat. They should be taught a lesson at an appropriate time so that they do not do it again, he added.

Sundernagar, January 15
Finally, the dispute over silt throwing into the Suketi khad by the Bhakra-Beas Management Board (BBMB) which has been causing an environmental problem in the Balh valley (the most fertile area of Himachal Pradesh) for the last three decades has reached the Supreme Court (SC).

The BBMB has taken the silt-dredging matter (which it used to dredge into the Suketi khad from the Balancing Reservoir, Sundernagar district, Mandi) to the Supreme Court.

The BBMB recently filed a Special Leave Petition (SIL) before the Supreme Court of India against the judgement dated August 31, 2012, which was passed by the Division Bench of the Himachal Pradesh High Court vide which the BBMB has to seek permission from the HP Pollution Control Board before October 31, 2012, regarding the disposal of silt in to the Suketi khad.

A Division Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justice Aftab Alam and Justice Ranjan Parkash Desai, while admitting the petition filed by the BBMB for hearing, has directed that till the next date of hearing which has been fixed for January 21, 2013, the petitioner will not be forced to comply the order of the high court.

The BBMB earlier filed a writ petition before the high court that the provisions of water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, were not applicable to it. The Division Bench of the HP High Court has dismissed the writ petition observing that there was no merit in the petition filed by the BBMB and further directed the BBMB to seek permission from the HP Pollution Control Board which was mandatory under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, regarding the disposal of silt into the Suketi khad.

This petition was pending before the High Court since 2003.

To get silt-free water for electrical generation at the 990-MW Dehar Power House, the BBMB used to dredge out silt from the Balancing Reservoir, Sundernagar (where water of the Beas has been stored) into the Suketi khad which passes through the Balh valley and has damaged the fertile land of thousands of farmers in the Balh valley of Mandi district.

Earlier, the BBMB used to dredge out silt into the Suketi khad throughout the year, but afterwards it restricted its disposal during the monsoon season.

The farmers of the Balh valley, which is spread over 20 km on both sides of the Suketi khad, have been raising voice against the BBMB that their land-holdings have been ruined completely and have become barren as the silt dredged out from the Balancing Reservoir at Sundernagar had flowed into their fields and completely destroyed their land. The HP Pollution Control Board has issued notices to the BBMB to seek mandatory permission under the Water Act 1974 which has been challenged by the BBMB on the plea that provisions of this Act were not applicable to it. This petition was dismissed by Division Bench of the HC of HP.

Kangra, January 15
Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur visited Zonal Hospital, Dharamsala, recently and handed over the certificate of ISO healthcare quality management system certification to the hospital management.

The Health Minister stated that the hospital was the first to get this recognition. ISO 9001 offered a framework for healthcare quality management by which a hospital can manage all of the required healthcare quality certifications.

He appreciated the cleanliness and innovations in

patient care management like CCTV, modern equipment for mopping floors, digital patient display systems and a clean water facility for patients. The minister talked to patients and enquired about the care they were getting in the hospital.

The hospital had witnessed a consistent increase in utilisation of services from 93,532 in 2008-09 to 165,176 in 2011-12.

He stated that all hospitals would be upgraded to ISO quality standards in a phased manner and rural healthcare services would be strengthened to decrease load on secondary services to improve their quality.

The minister also emphasised on containing the cost of healthcare through the use of generic drugs. ISO accreditation was the most widely recognised mark of quality in the business world today, kept one focused on efficient, effective, and safe patient care.

He further said that the ISO process supported consistency and continuity in organisations in the delivery and documentation of patient care and also created a foundation for continuing improvement through quarterly internal audits and annual independent audits, which were required for maintaining registration.

Mandi, January 15
The heritage buildings and protected monuments in Mandi are in a shambles as the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the district administration and the Municipal Council of Mandi have no proper coordinated conservation plan for these monuments.

From ASI-protected Panchvakhtar temple and the recently discovered Ardhnarishwar temple to Damdama palace, all these places are facing neglect. Even the heritage building, Darabar Hall, which houses the post office, is in a bad shape due to poor maintenance.

The Panchavakhtar temple has become a haven for drug addicts and nearby jhuggi dwellers, who defecate on the outer premises of the temple that makes the visit of tourists, mainly foreigners, a stinking experience.

No new colony or structures can come up within the 100 mt of any ASI monument but the Panchvakhatar temple has jugghis all around it as the local administration failed to rehabilitate the slum dwellers in a permanent legal colony. “The local councilors have votes in mind and removal of the jhuggis mean they would lose votes,” said an art lovers.

“We have given suggestions to the ASI and administration to conserve Ardhnarishwar, the only monolithic temple after Masrur temple of Baijnath in the state, Panchwakhtar, Raj Madhav and Bhootnath other important temples but nobody cares,” said Dr OC Handa, a senior archaeologist who has authored several books on the art and architecture of Himachal Pradesh. “We lack coordination for conservation and need immediate steps to save the monuments from damage,” he stressed.

The INTACH has recently started the restoration work of Bhootnath temple, which was damaged by the local committee by painting the 13-14th century temple with chemical colours. We will remove paints and restore its beauty,” said officials of the INTACH.

The vandalism has also marred the historic temples like Mahamritunjay by adding a crude artificial parikrama roof and Tarna temple, which is painted and Damdama Palace, which houses Raj Madhav, the presiding lord of Shivratri fair. But now Damdama is more or less besieged by the benami property tycoons and government or private tenants. They run their private ventures on its premises and the Damdama palace has run into legal troubles.

ASI superintending archaeologist Zulfikar said they carried out the regular maintenance work of the monuments. “We are ready to coordinate with the district authorities. They have to relocate the nearby jhughis,” he added.

Devesh Kumar, DC, Mandi, said they with the help of the Municipal Council were trying to resettle the slum dwellers under the Rajiv Awas Yojna but Damdama palace and Raj Madhav were private properties and they were open for suggestions, he added. 

The fortnight that I had recently spent in Chandigarh remained enveloped in fog and cold. But I had heard a quote “life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; ?it is learning to dance in the rain”. So instead of sitting close to heater in a comparatively warmer room, I walked aimlessly, about 12 km daily, to acquaint myself with Chandigarh; witnessed Dabang-2 in a multiplex, a luxury for us who live in Shimla, the town that has two ordinarily ordinary theatres; visited Sukhna Lake and various exhibitions, tasted, for the first time, a special Jaleba of six-inch radius fried in pure ghee from Gohana (Sonepat district) in one of them; saw “Arre Sharif Log” and “Aath Ghante”- two plays written by Jayvant Dalvi and Sujit Saraf respectively at Tagore Theatre. Dalvi who had written brilliant “Sandhya Chhaya” disappointed me with his pen and the director of the play with his style of making a crude play still cruder. The second play was good.

No one realises how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on the old familiar pillow so returning to Shimla, the town where I have grown, graduated and greyed, is always a pleasure. Adding to this pleasure is Himalayan Expressway which is a 27.5 km-long four-lane project from Zirakpur to Parwanoo on National Highway-22, a portion of which bypasses Pinjore, Kalka and Parwanoo. This portion is a 10-km stretch, 5.5 km falling in Haryana and 4.5 km in Himachal Pradesh, and, believe me, driving on it is a wonderful experience. A blog reads: “Hi guys, it is real good news for people travelling to Shimla from Delhi or Chandigarh. The new bypass which will help you avoid Pinjore, Kalka and Parwnoo is finally open. I recently travelled across it — drive on the bypass is fabulous, very scenic and, of course, very convenient. Enjoy the drive minus the head- splitting jams at Pinjore, Kalka and Parwanoo.” The four lanes against a background of Shivalik hills appear to us as if it were a dreamland — so beautiful, so picturesque and so scenic (see photo).

The bypass was opened to vehicular traffic on the night of April 5, 2012, and it started saving time of about 26,000 vehicles that ply from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh to Himachal Pradesh daily. I was at the start of the bypass at five minutes to three and had crossed it at 3.15 pm. It was a great relief; otherwise I was, in the past, witness to hours long traffic jams in the towns now bypassed. Is it also not a reprieve to the residents of the towns who were at greater health risk due to smoke emitted from thousands of stranded vehicles? Do you also know that many patients had died here when ambulances ferrying them were stuck in jams for hours? Do you know that a doctor had to conduct delivery in a car when it could not move ahead due to traffic jam and the pregnant woman in it was in labour pains?

The work on this bypass had started in March 2008 and was completed in slightly more than four years. Is it not a long time for having a four-lane project in a stretch of only 10 km? I am told that there were many hiccups in the form of land acquisitions both in Haryana and Himachal that were to be crossed besides the cutting of small hillocks and providing them a proper angle of repose by raising retaining walls or using nets (see photo). It also comprises time-consuming eight bridges and four underpasses. My only plea is that good work has been done that requires to be maintained -- maintenance is where we keep our eyes closed. I believe that if one deserves four claps for doing good work; one deserves eight for maintaining it.

Tailpiece
A European’s view: Most drivers in India don't drive, but just aim their vehicles in the intended direction. Don't you get discouraged or underestimate yourself. Except for a belief in reincarnation, the Indian drivers are not in any better position.

Chamba, January 15
If the sun shines brightly on museums in Himachal today, it is because of Dr Vishwa Chander Ohri. Ohri ensured that the antiquities of the region were recognised, exhibited and preserved for posterity. Ninety-year-old Ohri is acclaimed worldwide as a senior scholar and an art historian, especially in pursuit of the Himalayan arts.

Following in the footsteps of the great archaeologist, Prof JPH Vogel, Ohri joined the Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba, in 1958. Soon after joining the museum, he gradually came to know about the deteriorating condition of several categories of art objects, particularly of Pahari miniature paintings and historical documents, including manuscripts.

The documentation of museum objects was a major work, which he did on scientific lines. He not only catalogued the entire museum collection but also enhanced the repository by adding hundreds of antiquities, especially Chamba rumal, pahari drawings, musical instruments, rare photographs and ancient coins.

In 1973, Dr VC Ohri was transferred to Shimla for establishing a new museum there. This was a challenging task and Dr Ohri but he set up the State Museum, Shimla, from a scratch. On January 26, 1974, the state museum with four galleries was inaugurated by the then Governor S Chakravarti.

Apart from strengthening the museums, Dr Ohri’s recognised the talent of several craftsmen and encouraged them to continue the traditional arts. Prakash Chand, Latif, Lalita Vakil, Hakam Singh and Vijay Sharma were the artists, who were greatly benefitted by Dr Ohri’s expertise and all the artists received prestigious National Awards in various fields of arts.

Dr Ohri transmitted his vast knowledge to his student Vijay Sharma, an artist-scholar of Chamba, who was recently bestowed with one of the highest civilian award, Padma Shri, by the Government of India.

Dr Ohri has extensively travelled to Europe and the United States in connection with his scholarly pursuits. He has also specialised in the study of “takri”and “harda”scripts.

He has collaborated with the noted art historians in India and abroad. Dr Ohri has authored several books on arts and has numerous research papers to his credit. 

Chamba, January 15
Himachal Pradesh Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri has directed the forest officials to conduct a probe into the muck disposal activities of the hydropower projects that have already been commissioned or are under construction in Chamba and in the state.

While addressing mediapersons at Chamba recently, the forest minister said if it was found that hydropower companies or the civil contractors, engaged in the construction of the projects, had not disposed of muck at the approved site then they would be brought to book and cases would be registered against the defaulters alongwith the officials accountable for the lapse.

“Irregularities with regard to the mining in the green cover by the hydroelectric projects would not be tolerated at all,” the forest minister warned.

Besides, the forest officials would also monitor the hydroelectric projects periodically to find out whether the prescribed norms, laid down for the construction activities, were being followed, the minister said. The minister said the forest officials had been directed to adhere to the prevailing forest laws and deal strictly with the evil designs of the forest mafia and thereby saving the forest wealth of the state.

“Since Himachal Pradesh is endowed with rich environment because of its immense forests, the emphasis will be laid on the protection of medicinal herbs,” the forest minister said. The Forest Mnister said lawbreakers would be handled stringently.

Palampur, January 15
The Kangra Valley Travel Agent Association has expressed grave concern over the drastic fall in the inflow of tourists to the valley this year. While addressing mediapersons, a spokesman of the association said the tourist industry of the valley was passing through a serious crisis as during the winter season, less tourists visited the valley as compared to the previous year. He said the valley had also seen a shortfall in the inflow of foreign tourists.

Suspension of air services at all three airports in the state was attributed to be one of the major reasons for the fall in the number of tourists. Besides, travel agencies were preferring Kashmir as a better destination in comparison to Himachal because of subsidised air fare and cheaper hotels there.

Most of the tourists destinations like Dharmshala, Palampur, Macleodgunj and Bir seem deserted these days. Earlier, these places were first choice of foreign tourists. An owner of a private resort at Bir said every year he had advanced bookings of foreign tourists from Europe, USA and Israel but this year he had no business.

The association members said air traffic to all the three airports -Dharmshala, Kulu and Shimla- was suspended in September 2012 following lockout in Kingfisher airlines.

The association urged the Chief Minister to intervene to save the tourism industry and persuade other airlines to operate in the state.

Palampur, January 15
A steep rise in road mishaps in Palampur town has worried senior citizens and parents of schoolgoing children as in most of the cases victims were pedestrians.

In the past six months, 36 accidents involving two-wheelers were reported from various parts of the town in which six persons lost their lives.

Police sources said large-scale encroachments on both sides of roads in the town were responsible for mishaps.

The stretch from Nehru Chowk to Bindravan of the Palampur-Dharamsala state highway- 24 had virtually turned into a death trap where fatal accidents were taking place everyday due to the narrow road.

Chaman Lal, a resident of Gwaltikkar, died when he was hit by a scooter near a tractor workshop at Ghuggar last evening.

Though the police had registered a case under Section 304, IPC, the person riding the two-wheeler was yet to be arrested.

The police admitted that most of the accidents had taken place near the tractor workshop and a dhaba where owners of these two shops had encroached upon the state highway.

The police said to check accidents these shops should be removed.

Though the police and the PWD authorities were well conversant with the situation, they failed to initiate action despite a large number of causalities.

A junior officer of the PWD said earlier it was planned to widen the highway after removing the encroachments on it but because of political interference and Assembly elections the plan could not take-off.

Meanwhile, the Palampur Welfare Forum and Save Palampur, two social bodies of the town, today urged the Superintending Engineer, 5th Circle of the HP PWD, Palampur, for the removal of all encroachments on the highway between the Nehru Chowk and the SSB Chowk in the town. These bodies also appealed Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who also hold the portfolio of the PWD, to intervene in the matter.

The year-long celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda commenced with much fanfare across the state on January 12. Processions with tableaux depicting glimpses from the life of the Swami were taken out at about 150 places in the state. The celebration will continue through the year during which a series of activities involving youth will be organised.

The State Vivekananda Samaroh Samiti has drawn up an elaborate plan to involve maximum number of youth in constructive activities ranging from ‘Surya Namaskar’ to promoting yoga. The activities will be held on February 18 and a “Bharat Jago Daur”, a run for creating awareness and raising the self-esteem of the people, will be held. Head of the samiti Dalel Thakur said the plan was to organise ‘Surya Namaskar’ in all the schools of the state on a single day. Similarly, a motorcycle rally will also be held across the state on a single day.

A door-to-door campaign to educate people about the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda will also be launched during which volunteers will visit households and distribute literature and pictures of the Swami. Seminars and conventions will be organised on women-related issues. Besides ‘kishori shivir’ (camps for adolescent girls, ‘dampati sammelan’ (programmes for couples) will be held.

Palampur, January 15
Non-payment of lease money by hydropower companies executing over 100 power projects in the state has come to light.

It was learnt that these companies had already occupied thousands of acres of government land, but had failed to deposit the lease money with the exchequer so far.

These projects are situated at Mandi, Kullu, Chamba, Shimla, Kinnaur, Sirmaur and Kangra districts of the state.

The matter came to light following information gathered under the RTI by a local resident. The details supplied under the RTI said in the absence of lease deeds signed with the state government for leasing out state lands to these companies, the lease money could not be deposited.

Some of the power projects are under construction since 1995, but these are yet to sign lease deeds with the state government.

The construction of most of these power projects was taken up before 2002, since then neither state officials nor power companies bothered to complete the lease documents.

On the other hand, officers of the Revenue and Forest departments liberally allowed these companies to encroach upon the government land, including the reserve forests. Even no notices were served on these companies for the recovery of lease money in the past 10 years.

Deputy Commissioners of some districts of the state did not know that how much government land was under the legal or illegal possession of these companies. A senior officer of the state government admitted that liabilities on account of lease money payable to the state could cross the figure of Rs 500 crore and if the same was recovered it would fill the coffer of the fund-starved state government.

Rampant corruption in the state had made the matter worse and power companies were at liberty to loot the state’s wealth.

However, it was learnt that Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was well versed with the situation and he was likely to set up a high-level team of revenue officials headed by IAS officers for the finalisation of lease deeds with the power companies and also to recover the lease money under a time-bound plan.—OC

Mandi, January 15
Apart from weeding out the scraped 10,000 files and preparing e-book of the smugglers, booked under the NDPS Act, the Mandi police showed a new way of using information technology.

The police managed to get judicial custody of the accused in Mandi jail through videoconferencing without producing them in the courts.

Abhishek Dular,SP, Mandi, said they had removed 10,000 useless files in the police stations and prepared an e-book of the accused, booked under the NDPS Act for the last two years.

The record could come handy in keeping a watch on them in case of contraband smuggling, he added.

THE SP said the police had booked the people, who violated the traffic rules, through complaints posted on facebook and blog by the citizens.

So far the police had received 2,132 complaints, out of which 202 were received through SMS, 42 through e-Samadhan and 525 through the web-portal of the police.

Dular said they had trained over 50 police personnel to maximise the use of the IT in policing. “Today we have Internet connectivity in all the 10 police stations and SDPOs offices in the district and use e-mails to have paperless police stations,” he added.

He said they had digitised the service records of all policemen under the personnel management information system (PMIS).

The Mandi police blog became a forum for the public as more than 30,000 had visited it so far, the SP said.

The policemen were trained under 111 various training courses through various agencies to make the police IT-savvy and public-centric. The police has also used the IT in tracing the missing persons. The SP said the police had traced 228 out of the 327 missing and at the end of 2012 99 persons were still missing. 

Nurpur, January 15
Following rationing of granting drug licences to wholesale and retail chemists in Punjab, the drug menace and quackery are on the rise in Nurpur and Jawali subdivisions of lower Kangra district, thanks to the frequent distribution of drug licences by the authorities concerned to outsiders without verifying the credentials of the aspirants. Some chemists, based in Punjab, have been running wholesale drug shops in the remote areas where scope of wholesale business is very low.

Some of the drug licence holders after failing to get licences in Punjab have shifted their trading activities to the remote rural areas and selling banned drugs to drug addicts after procuring licences in Himachal Pradesh. There is no check on these illegal activities in the area. This has put a question mark on the functioning of drug controlling-cum-licencing authorities, who are allowing outsiders to run drug trade after denial of licences in their own state. Moreover, drug licence holders are active in the rural areas without any authorisation.

The local social organisations have demanded to curb the menace by restricting the issuance of drug licences. Navneet Marwaha, State Drug Controller, said there was no rationing of drug licences but licencing authorities were supposed to verify the eligibility of applicants, seeking drug licences. “I can take action only after receiving any specific complaint,” he added.

Bilaspur, January 15
“I am committed to ensure that cement manufactured in Bilaspur district and in the state is sold at cheaper rates than the adjoining states and I will leave no stone unturned to ensure that these cement companies adopt a pro-people policy and abandon their policy of exploiting our natural resources at throwaway prices.”

This was stated by Bambar Thakur while speaking at a function organised by his supporters at Dholera Temple Complex after his victory in the recent elections .

Thakur said another plank of his election campaign was to improve deplorable conditions prevailing in the regional hospital. These had been a cause of irritation to hundreds of patients who visited the hospital.

He said paucity of doctors and nursing staff would be removed, adding that he had already met Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur and all attempts would be made to remove shortcomings to make the hospital much more useful to masses.

He said steps would be taken to improve drinking water supply in Bilaspur. He said Rs 1.50 crore Seedha Drinking Water Supply Scheme would be implemented soon.

Thakur appealed to all officers and employees to work with dedication and commitment to implement policies and programmes of the Congress government. Prominent Congress leader and district Bar president Tejaswi Sharma also spoke at the function. 

Chamba, January 15
In the 56th National Rifle Shooting Championship, which was held in Delhi recently, KL Shah of Chamba won the silver medal in the air pistol veteran category and brought fame to Chamba and Himachal Pradesh.

KL Shah was the fourth senior most veteran shooter of the country who won a gold medal in the 54th National Shooting Competition Championship that took place at Jalandhar in 2010.

Shah had also succeeded in winning gold, silver and bronze medals in various all-India shooting competitions.

Speaking to mediapersons, Chamba District Rifle Club president Prem Sharma said other shooters who won medals for Himachal Pradesh, included General Baljit Singh Jaswal of Kangra district and Kuldeep Kumar of Mandi district.

Prem Sharma said in the 56th National Rifle Shooting Championship, beside KL Shah, Indu Shah and Irfan Ali had also participated in the competition.

Indu Shah managed to qualify for the forthcoming Kumar Surinder Shooting Championship, likely to be held during April. Indu Shah secured 379 points during the competition.