Stray cow herds rest in abandoned fields of farmers in the Lanj area of Kangra district. Tribune photo: Amit Sharma

Meanwhile, inquiries by The Tribune revealed that there was an acute shortage of veterinarians in the state. In most of the veterinary dispensaries, the work of doctors was being looked after by veterinary pharmacists. To add to it, in some cases, Gopal Sahayaks who were recruited by the government to assist the doctors are treating the animals.

The problem of stay cattle was becoming very acute in Himachal Pradesh. In some areas of Kangra district, the farmers have given up farming on the plea that stray cattle destroy their crops. Since a study has revealed that artificial insemination was one of the major causes for the number of stray cattle in Himachal, the cause needs to be addressed to solve the problem.

Milk production in Himachal Pradesh was very low. Very few farmers are taking benefits of the government schemes launched by the Central Government for promoting dairy farming. According to the data collected by The Tribune in Kangra district, the biggest and most populous districts of the state, just Rs 10 lakh subsidy has been distributed for promotion of dairy.

Most of the milk in Himachal is imported into the state from the adjoining Punjab.

Though shortage of fodder is said to be one of major reasons for failure of farmers to take up dairying in a professional manner, lack of experts helping the farmers in the field might also be one of reasons.

Palampur, June 25
The state government will set up a Municipal Corporation (MC) at Dharamsala soon. This step has been initiated for the proper and planned urbanisation of Dharamsala town which is considered the second capital of the state.

This was stated by Sudheer Sharma, Urban Development Minister, while addressing mediapersons after the inauguration of the office of the Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) at Baijnath recently.

Sudheer said the office of the SDPO at Baijnath had been abolished by the previous BJP government and the post of the DSP shifted to Solan district. Since it was an anti-people decision of the previous government, he had got this office restored.

He expressed concern over the unplanned growth of various towns in the state. He said the BJP government had failed to come out with a policy and law for the planned development of towns. That is why most of the towns had turned into slums. He had initiated steps for amendments in the Town and Country Planning Act with more stringent provisions to deal with the menace.

He said in the next session of the Assembly, the Act would be amended. He said officials of the Town and Country Planning Department had been directed not to clear those designs of buildings which carried violations. He said defaulters would not be spared.

Bilaspur, June 25
The Deputy Director of Agriculture, Dr GC Lakhanpal, has issued certain instructions and precautions regarding sowing of kharif crops in the district and has urged farmers to ensure that these instructions are followed to have better crops.

The farmers should make it a point to use a medicine against weeds. Atrazine should be sprayed in fields within 48 hours of sowing maize. It is essential to control weeds and other inessential green growth (khar patwar) in the maize crop.

Lakhanpal said the department had provided the medicine, as many as 35 quintals, at various department stores in all parts of the district. He also advised them to ensure that no excess water stood in their fields and rain water was drained properly.

He said the Agriculture Department had provided better quality seeds at 50 per cent subsidy to the farmers this season, more than the demand expected in the earlier estimates.

The farmers have been provided with 1,205 quintals of maize seed, 24 quintals of rice seed, 650 quintals of chari (sankar) seed, 215 quintals of bajra seed, nine quintals of soyabean seed and 15 quintals of mash seed till now in the district during the sowing season. 

The two-day painting exhibition at the Gaiety Theatre by Ashok Ahuja has amply demonstrated that age is no barrier when it comes to pursuing one's passions and hobbies.

A self-taught artist, Ahuja was keenly interested in fine arts and has also painted a few portraits. However, pursuing his academic education in engineering and later getting into business, he had not time to pursue his passion. The desire to paint, nevertheless, continued to linger in his heart and it has impelled him to pick up the brush at an age when most people prepare to retire from their professions.

Ahuja started painting at the age of 58 years and over the past five years he produced numerous works some of which were displayed at the exhibition. The exhibits were mostly portraits and images of gods and goddesses. The paintings of Hindu gods Ganesh and Shiva (in tandav posture) and family portraits stood out.

"I would not have started painting at this age but for the persistent goading by my son and daughter who knew how passionate I was about it," he said. In fact, one of the works at display is his digital portrait created by his son by using a collage of small images.

The only regret Ahuja has is that some of his best works could not be displayed. He excels in painting nudes but these could not be included for obvious reasons. Nevertheless, the appreciation he has got for his works from the visitors has provided him enough encouragement to continue with the hobby.

Banking Ombudsman

The local HDFC Bank organised an interactive session for its customers with Banking Ombudsman (BO) under the aegis of the Reserve Bank of India, here last evening.

The meeting was convened to educate customers about the the Banking Ombudsman Scheme for grievance redressal put in place by the Reserve Bank of India. BO, Chandigarh, RK Sood, was present at the meet attended by a large number of customers.

During the meet, Sood elaborated on the role of the Banking Ombudsman and the procedure to be followed for filing complaints under the BO Scheme for the benefit of the bank customers. He also discussed various aspects related to banking security and the need for customer awareness to ensure safety of their funds.

Harvinder Atma, Zonal Head of the HDFC bank, also shared information on the bank's services and the internal grievance redressal machinery. The session ended with a question and answer session during which the customers clarified their doubts on the BO Scheme.

Development activities

As many as 15 new gram panchayats of Hamirpur district had been included in Mid-Himalayan Watershed Project this year.

An amount of Rs 3 crore has been sanctioned for various development activities under the project for plantation of trees, soil and water conservation works, creating opportunities for rural livelihood and developing infrastructure in the area. The panchayats to benefit from the project are Kalaamb, Sarakad , Swahal, Natsi, Tapre, Sikander, Dimmi, Bafri, Bohni, Kerhwein, Chamned , Panther, Gwalpathar, Badoh and Lambloo.

Telling about the aims of the project, Deputy Commissioner, Hamirpur, Ashish Singhmar, said the overall goal of the project was to reverse the process of degradation of the natural resource base and improve their productive potential. A major thrust of the project was on supplementing the income of people in villages through various activities under the project.

A secondary objective was to support policy and institutional development in the state to harmonise watershed development projects and programmes across the state by evolving best practices, he added.

(Contributed by Rakesh Lohumi and DP Gupta) 

A view of Surad village. Photo: Ravinder Sood

Palampur, June 25
Surad, a small village situated on the foothills of the Dhauldadhar hills, is crying for the attention of the authorities. Residents of the village have fallen victims to the apathy of the state government and a power project company, which is setting up a small hydel project near the village.

The 15-MW power project coming up in this village has proved a curse for its residents. The power project has brought hardships and miseries in the day-to-day life of villagers as it has become a major health hazard.

Dust, emission from vehicles and regular inflow of debris from the adjoining hills have made the lives of villagers a hell.

The entire population of the village is suffering from various diseases like tuberculosis, asthma, allergy and other ailments.

Villagers said Om Power Corporation, a Hyderabad-based company, started the construction of this power project five years ago, since then they were facing these issues.

They said the road leading to the power project site passing through the village had become a major health hazard. Hundreds of heavy and light vehicles use this kucha road daily. Dust and emission from vehicles have polluted the environment resulting in fatal diseases.

Number of residents of this village has already left their homes and moved to Palampur town and Bundla village. They have paid a number of visits to offices of the state government seeking their assistance to solve these issues. They also reported the matter in local police station time and again but all in vain.

Two years ago, The Tribune highlighted the issues of this village in these columns. Afterwards the then Chief Minister personally directed the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, to look into the matter and extended all possible assistance to the residents, but nothing had been done.

Residents also alleged that the company had also not paid them compensation due on account of damages caused to their houses and agriculture land. Project officials said they had already given the compensation to the residents, but they refute the claim of the company and assert that they had not received anything.

Roads, pastures, drinking water source and irrigation channels of the village have also been damaged by landslides due to reckless cutting of hills for the construction of a road leading to the reservoir and tunnel site of the company.

Brij Behari Lal Butail, Speaker of the HP Assembly, recently convened a meeting of the project authorities and directed them to pay compensation to village residents as well as to the state government on account of the damages caused.

He said if the project management fails to implement his order, then the government would resort to stringent action as per law.

Butail added that no power company would be allowed to degrade the environment and unscientific cutting of hills would not be tolerated at any cost, adding that the defaulter would be penalized for the same. 

Mandi, June 25
There is not even a single Doppler radar in the state to predict immediate change in weather and warn the public on time to avoid Uttarakhand or Kinnaur like catastrophes. "The Doppler-equipped weather station can predict movement of clouds, which can help in preventing the entry of tourists or pilgrims in the area witnessing bad weather," experts said.

However, the proposal to set up five Doppler radar climate stations is licking dust in the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. These stations were proposed to be set up at Shimla, Kalpa in Kinnaur, Manali, Dalhousie and Dharamsala. The land for the Shimla climate station had already been acquired, but the Met office did not pay the required money for the project, sources revealed.

These stations failed to come up as land for them could not be provided. Neither the successive state governments nor the Met Department and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) showed any urgency in setting up these stations. The experts said the weather forecasts can prevent man-made disasters like Uttarakhand and Kinnaur. "Tourists should not be allowed to enter valleys, if weather forecast is unusually bad," said the experts.

“The most of the settlements, guest houses and sarais at the high-land pilgrim centres have come up along the river flood plains, which are bound to be swept away by flash flood," they added. The plight of the weather station is understandable. The Met office in Shimla and Kalpa are being run from a rented accommodation. The government is spending crores of rupees on disaster management, but when disaster strikes the administration fails to respond effectively.

Dr Manmohan Singh, Director, Met office, Himachal, said they still needed land for the proposed stations. "The radar can cover an area in a radius of 150 km and predict short-term movement and density of clouds besides unusual weather pattern, which can save human lives and property through timely evacuation," he added. However, automatic observatories have been set up at Kalpa, Recong Peo, Sangla, Pooh that report data through satellite to the MET office. "The Kalpa station had received 202 mm rain few days ago, the highest recorded in June till today and we had issued the weekly warning of rains and snow in the higher hills from June 11," Dr Manmohan said. Earlier, the raging torrents had damaged the National Highway-22 and the link roads in the region.Hundreds of houses were damaged, apple orchards were destroyed in Pooh subdivision while thousand stranded tourists are still being evacuated by the IAF choppers. Meanwhile, in Kullu district. a series of cloud bursts in Solang, Dhundi, Manikaran valleys for the past 15 years continue to trouble weatherman. 

Shimla, June 25
Patients from the hill state requiring treatment of problems like infertility are unaware of prescribed guidelines and treatment options and they invariably face a dilemma, said Dr Umesh N Jindal, Director, Jindal IVF and Sant Memorial Nursing Home, Chandigarh.

Talking to mediapersons here recently, she claimed that about 50 new patients who landed up at her clinic every month from Shimla and the Chail area for the treatment of infertility were confused and not sure about the solution they wanted. Dr Jindal, an expert in obstetrics and gynaecology and a former fellow of the University of Washington, said diagnosis was not a problem, but seeking the right solution was a quite a task for them. Dr Jindal asserted that IVF centres should strictly follow guidelines and protocols. Surrogates, sperm donation, egg donation and embryo donation should all be screened as per medical ethics. —TNS

I was invited to the Academic Staff College of HP University to share my experiences on Scientific Temper with about 40 teachers from colleges of 14 different universities in India (See Photo). The concept of scientific temper was articulated first by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1946 in his book "Discovery of India" when he referred to it as a way of life or a process of thinking.

"Develop scientific temper, humanism and spirit of inquiry and reform" was added as our fundamental duty in the Constitution through 42nd amendment in 1976. Scientific Temper is mentality or outlook; not a special knowledge. It becomes our way of life only when there is self-propelled change in our behaviour.

I give you an example. When I go for haircut to a saloon, I observe that the barber instead of using the traditional razor, now, uses a razor in which half-blade is fixed and changes the blade every time he uses it on a client. He does it on his own. I call it the great behavioural change that has happened with the campaign against HIV/AIDS. A similar behavioural change is required if scientific mindedness is to be diffused throughout the population of India.

It is emphatically required in tradition-bound society of Himachal Pradesh. I confine myself to the educated brethren of mine from whom it is expected that they, at least, reason out or "question" their doings; if not totally give up the myths and superstitions. I have seen well-educated persons stopping their cars whenever a black cat happens to cross the road and they would move ahead only when another car crosses the point. During my morning walks, I pass through a recently constructed gorgeous building with a tyre of car hung at a conspicuous place to act as "chashme-bad-door" or protection from the evil-eye (See Photo).

We educated Indians believe in evil-spirits, god-men, quacks, parrots reading our future, consider sneeze as bad omen, believe that howling dog forecasts doom, give different meanings to different phases of moon. When I was a child, I had heard my educated landlord neighbour shooting gun-fires in air and shouting "chhor Rahua; chhor Ketua" (O Rahu, Ketu, leave Sun) during solar eclipse. We are guided by the Stars in every walk of our life. As if the indigenous superstitions or folk beliefs were not enough, we had acquired superstitions like "avoidable number 13". Chandigarh does not have Sector number 13. Another is to sit cross-fingered when a cricket or tennis match is going on, so that the team whom the viewer supports wins. Without questioning, we follow these rituals as dumb dolls. Are we that?

It was not that only Indians lacked rationality, Britain, where the people and science-mindedness generally move in partnership, gave birth to a recent expression "Cameron's Curse". Even the winnable sportsperson of Britain would lose the day Prime Minister Cameron attended recent Olympics held in London. People started naming it as "Cameron's Curse". The PM decided to stay away from the Olympics one day. Lo and behold! That day Helen and Heather won gold in rowing for Britain.

I confessed before the participants that I doubted whether I was a fit person to talk on scientific temper because, on a Tuesday, I did not bring a water-lift pump home because my grandfather had once said, "Mangalvar ko loha ghar nahin laate." The only consolation I have is that I am questioning myself. The participants also shared their experiences with me: "A person used to string up in office a lemon and few green chillies daily to dodge the evil-spirits.

He would always find the lemon missing from it. He blamed it on the demon. The cat was out of bag when he found that during lunch time, his colleagues removed the lemon from the dangler to squeeze it on curry." Another story was about how a stone was deified because a lady had wiped her finger-tips on it after applying vermilion on the idol in temple. The believers simply followed it without knowing the reason. So, to develop scientific temper, question everything and believe only when you are convinced. 

Palampur, June 25
Himachal Pradesh falls among the first five disaster prone states of the country in respect to natural hazards like earthquakes, flash floods triggered by cloud burst, landslides, avalanches and forest fires.

With the exploitation of around 22,000 MW hydro-electrical potential in the state and two thousand million tons of limestone for the cement plants, the things have moved from bad to worse, and pose serious threat to the fragile ecosystem of the state.

Most parts of Kinnaur, Kulu, Shimla and Chamba districts have become prone to large scale landslides and flash floods because of reckless cutting of hills, blasting of rocks and deforestation by the power projects.

In the last ten years over forty major cloudbursts and flash floods were reported from different parts of the state. Over 4,000 human lives were lost, property worth Rs 5,000 crores were damaged or washed away.

Unfortunately, like Uttrakhand, the state had put environment protection laws at lowest ebb and allowed the power companies and cement plants to play havoc with the nature.

The irresponsible behaviour of the officials and the failure to enforce the environment laws is the biggest problem in the state. Despite the fact that Himachal falls in seismic zone (V), the ban on high-rise buildings is being flouted not only by the public but by the government agencies as well.

The Town and Country Planning Act (TCP), labour laws, environmental laws are held at ransom by the construction companies and Industrial groups. The government and law enforcing agencies have become a mute spectators and waiting for the orders of the courts to come into action.

After the recent flash floods and devastation caused by heavy rains in Kinnaur district, several organisations, NGOs, environmental groups and public bodies have also demanded for the setting up of a “Disaster Mitigation Action Plan” to coup up with the natural disasters that have shaken the state.