Reckong Peo (Kinnaur), May 11
Mangesh C (21), an architecture graduate from Chennai, who was travelling in a Xylo which skidded off the road near Purvani Jhula on May 8, is feared drowned in the Sutlej. The Kinnaur administration today called in two teams of the Army which started search operations.

The vehicle carrying four persons, including the driver, which was on its way from Pooh to Karcham in Kinnaur district, plunged into the turbulent Sutlej. Three of the four occupants of the vehicle fell out while the vehicle rolled down but Mangesh could not jump out and remained trapped in the vehicle which fell into the river.

The tourists, who planned a night halt at Kalpa, were travelling in two vehicles and the owner of the company where Mangesh was undergoing his internship, was in other car with his family members while the ill-fated vehicle was behind when the tragedy struck.

The occupants of the car noticed the Xylo falling off the road and raised the alarm. A woman died on the spot while another occupant Livachia Dhawal, who sustained major spinal injuries, was rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh.

Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner DD Sharma said search teams of civil defence, Home Guards, ITBP and hydel retrieval vans of hydel power projects had been pressed into service for search and the administration was also writing to the authorities of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to provide divers for rescue operations.

At present, two Army teams from Powari and Chaulling consisting of 25 jawans, headed by Capt R K Badhouri and Naik Subedar Hussain are intensively searching the river. V Bhasker, maternal uncle of the missing boy, also reached the spot with the hope that the body would be recovered and at least his last rites would be performed.

He said Mangesh, a resident of Chennai, was the only son of his parents and had just completed his architecture and was doing his internship at Ahmadabad. The family members were happy that Mangesh had got a job but all their hopes and dreams have ended abruptly with his tragic death.

The rescue operations are carried out at 5 am as the discharge of the water is minimum in the wee hours and rises during the day time due to melting of snow in the higher hills.

Sundernagar, May 11
In times to come, residents of central part of Himachal will not get delicious mangoes from Jarol area situated near here as thousands of mango trees were felled recently as the work of four-laning between Gara More and Nagchala has been underway on war footing.

Jarol area situated near Sundernagar is known for its mango crop quality. The mangoes of this area are popular not only in Mandi district but also in adjoining districts Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kullu and Kangra.

Hundreds of tourists can be seen purchasing Jarol mangoes from a large number of shops temporarily set up in summers along the 5 km patch on roadside of National Highway 21.

As one enters Mandi district from Bilaspur, a large number of mango trees can be seen from Slapper up to entry point of Sundernagar town. It was around more than 100 years back that mango trees here were first planted by the royal family of Suket Estate (Sundernagar). Subsequently, local residents started planting mango trees in this region and used to earn a lot on account of selling the mango crop. It is said that after independence, when the Congress committee was formed in Sundernagar, a basket of mangoes was sent to Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India.

With the project of widening of the existing National Highway 21 to four-lane underway, thousands of mango trees were felled for widening of road. According to local residents, the cutting of trees was going on in a reckless manner. It was also stated that had the authorities acted with care, a large number of trees could have been saved.

On the other hand, officials from Forest Division Sundernagar said around 10,500 trees of different species were felled. Around 8,700 were on private land and around 1,800 on government land. The permission to fell trees was accorded by the Central Government and that to fell trees on private land was accorded by the state government. It was further claimed that the number of trees marked for felling was on the lower side and efforts were made to save every tree. It was admitted that there was a large number of mango trees among those felled.

According to some local mango orchardists, due to felling of a large number of mango trees, mango production would be affected adversely and residents of Mandi and adjoining districts might not get mangoes from Jarol in future.

Solan, May 11
The lackadaisical approach of the Public Works Department (PWD) in repairing a portion of the Dharampur-Sanawar road where a sizeable portion of the road has caved in, despite lapse of more than a month, has put a question mark over their working.

The Dharampur-Sanawar road stretch which caved in. The PWD is yet to repair it. Photo by writer

Hundreds of vehicles, including trucks, use this road on a daily basis and the caved in portion lying near Dharampur has made driving risky.

Ajay Kumar, a driver who plies the utility vehicle on the road on a daily basis, said it had not only become difficult for two vehicles to cross from the spot where the road has fallen in, but drivers unaware of the road condition could face the risk of an accident at night.

Traffic jams had become a norm on the road stretch as vehicles line up on both sides in the absence of adequate space. Though some work had begun and crate wire structures were being laid to initiate repair, instead of completing work, PWD workers were involved in erecting a wall after widening the entrance of its rest house at Dharampur a few meters away from the spot.

This speaks volumes about the priorities and short-sightedness of PWD officials for whom the repair of a falling road had failed to be a priority. The two sites were barely a few meters away and repair of road was halted after laying some crate wire structures.

Interestingly, this 6-km road was widened and repaired last year after spending nearly Rs 22 lakh on each km. Despite this exorbitant expenditure, a portion of the road has caved in barely after a year, thus putting a question mark on the sub-standard work. The PWD workers have recently filled up the potholes on this road.

Manish Kumar, a truck driver, said the PWD should repair this fallen portion of the road at the earliest as it has become risky to drive heavy vehicles, especially those carrying building material and have substantial weight.

Other heavy vehicles carrying water for various construction sites also ply frequently on the road along with tourist buses who visit a nature camp.

A girl shields herself during a storm in Mandi on Sunday. Photo: Jai Kumar

Rain and storm are considered harmful for stone fruits and apple crop as freak weather during May is not conducive to good crop. The local MeT office has warned of squall and hailstorm at many places during the next 48 hours due to western disturbances.

Rain lashes Chamba

Chamba: The entre region of Chamba had been lashed by rain accompanied by thunderstorm since last night while the mountain peaks experienced a fresh spell of sleet, according to reports reaching here today.

The reports said the rain was harmful to rabi crops. Despondency prevailed among farmers of the region.

Experts of the agriculture sector were of the opinion that the current rainy conditions could damage the ripe wheat crop.

Chopal/Narkanda (Shimla), May 11
Guchhi is being found in apple orchards and deodar and pine jungles and even in backyards of houses this season. The collectors of guchhi, a foodie’s delight in five-star hotels, are busy searching for this morchella fungus in humus-rich pine jungles.

The guchhi has sprouted not only in pine jungles, but also village collectors are elated to find this foodie’s delight right in the margins of apple orchards. The guchhi is a much sought-after edible morel in luxury hotels and is thought to have medicinal value across the world as no one can produce it artificially, said scientists.

“We have sold guchhi worth Rs 50,000 and are still counting,” said elated Rimpu Chauhan of Shantha. “The guchhis have sprouted in the margins of apple orchards and on the less frequented premises of houses here because there is a lot of moisture due to heavy snowfall, and spells of rain and thunder aid guchhi production in nature,” he claimed.

From jungles of Shilgranh, Sarahan, lower Churdhar in Chopal to pine forests of Narkanda, Tikkar, Jubbal and Rohru in the apple belt, the guchhi collectors never had such good guchhi seasons. “It is a myth that gucchi is disappearing from the hills of Himachal. It is thriving in the margins of apple orchards and pine jungles,” observed Dinesh Banchta, who collected 250 grams of guchhis within 30 minutes of search in his apple orchard at Shilgran village located at a height of 7,500 feet.

Thanks to the good sprouting of the guchhi this season, it is not only the villagers, but even Nepali labourers are making a beeline for the jungles in the wee hours to collect guchhis and come back home late in the evening.

This year, guchhis are being found in abundance at key locations in the deodar jungle, said Ram Bahadur, a Nepali labourer who was collecting gucchis in the Narkanda jungle with his family. "It is more profitable than working as a daily wager to earn Rs 200 per day. In fact, 100 gm of dry guchhi fetch Rs 1,400 in a day," quips Megh Ram, a villager.

Guchhi collection is also being reported from Tirthan and Sainj valleys, Anni Dalash, Bishlidhad and Khanag and jungles in Kullu Manali. It is a good source of income for villagers every year as the season lasts from March to May and each family collects 1 to 5 kg of dry guchhi, said Raju Bharti of Tirthan.

The food delights vary from simple daal guchhi with roti or naan or to guchhi biryani in five-star hotels in the metros. The dish costs high as a fancy food choice, said Mohan Lal, a guchhi buyer.

All efforts at cultivating this morchella esculenta fungus in artificial surroundings have failed so far. “We cannot multiply guchhi and worldwide studies are on to tap its potential," said Dr Vijay Thakur, Vice-Chancellor, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan.

Dharamsala, May 11
In many government institutes across the state, guest faculty is being exploited. The regional centre of the Himachal Pradesh University at Dharamsala is one such government institute. It was set up at Dharamsala to cater to low-lying areas of the state about 15 years ago.

The institute has professional as well as post-graduate courses in many subjects. The regional centre of Himachal Pradesh University has degrees in law (LLB), Master of Mass Communication and many other post-graduate courses.

About 800 to 900 students are enrolled in the regional centre each year. However, there were just one or two permanent lecturers in the entire institute. The remaining faculty is enrolled as guest faculty. The Master of Mass Communication course is being run entirely with the support of the guest faculty. As per the university norms, since the Master of Mass Communication degree is being offered by the centre, it is supposed to have permanent faculty members as professors, associate professors and assistant professors.

As per the university rules, the guest faculty includes specialised professionals to provide guidance to students. However, the entire faculty in the regional centre of Himachal Pradesh University is being paid Rs 150 to Rs 200 per lecture as they are enrolled as guest faculty. Technically, however, guest faculty cannot be enrolled throughout the year.

The guest faculty is enrolled just during the lecture days.

Apart from the regional centre of the university, many government and aided colleges of the state are running professional courses such as BBA and BCA on self-financing basis.

All government and aided colleges in the state running such courses have hired just guest faculty for teaching the students.

In Government College Dharamsala, an MBA degree is also being offered. There is no permanent faculty.

However, the institute has hired faculty on contract basis that is supposedly better than guest faculty.

Many government colleges are also running in temporary and ramshackle buildings. The regulatory body formed by the Himachal government for maintaining quality in education institutes is just monitoring the private education institutes.

Inspections are carried out in these institutes to find out if they are adhering to the norms fixed by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and UGC for recruitment of faculty. However, there are no checks on the government colleges and institutes.

The laxity in implementation of UGC or AICTE rules in government colleges is also leading to exploitation of teaching faculty at many places. Many lecturers in government colleges and regional centre of Himachal Pradesh have been serving as members of guest faculty for the past many years. The government has been paying them paltry wages ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 per month. Starting salary of various regular lecturers is about Rs 30,000 per month.

It has been suggested that the state government should put government colleges and institutes under the regulatory body so that they follow norms fixed by the UGC or AICTE and the lecturers are saved from exploitation.

Palampur, May 11
The state government has failed to take steps to either legalise encroachments by power companies or recover lease money and other liabilities from these firms. Several companies executing power projects in the state have encroached upon thousands of acres of government land.

Government had sought lease money from these companies but in the absence of any lease deed, most of these companies are yet to give in to the demand. These firms have already commissioned their power projects, are generating power and earning profits amounting to crores of rupees.

Official sources said in Kangra district alone, an amount of over Rs 40 crore plus interest was outstanding as arrears of lease money against 23 power companies.

The power company handling a power project in Palampur has to deposit Rs 23,04,66,767 as arrears of lease money and other liabilities outstanding with the state exchequer. Besides, there are half a dozen other power companies whose liabilities of lease money range between Rs 3 crore to Rs 8 crore.

The Revenue authorities said most of the companies had also occupied land falling under the reserve forest category, which could not be leased out or transferred without the permission of the Government of India.

Moreover, people have vehemently opposed the setting up of power projects in their areas. They have protested extensive damage caused by these companies to their natural water resources, irrigation channels, local paths, roads and drinking water supply schemes. They have submitted a number of memorandums, from SDMs to Chief Minister, but to no avail.

In many areas, due to large-scale blasting and reckless cutting of hills for executing tunnels and power houses, several villages have become unsafe, with many houses developing cracks. About half the population of Surad village near Palampur has migrated to safer areas in the past three years because of regular landslides and felling of debris during monsoon.

Till date, neither the government nor power companies have paid any compensation to the affected villagers or government department whose property was damaged. Residents said the police, forest and other government agencies, instead of initialing action against the power companies, have harassed them for staging dharnas.

A senior officer of the forest department said he had already directed his junior officer to submit him a report in this regard. However, villagers alleged till date, neither the Divisional Forest Officer, Palampur, nor any junior officer of the department visited the village to assess the situation.

Sundernagar, May 11
The use of domestic LPG cylinders in the commercial establishment at Sundernagar has increased manifold in the past few months but officials of the civil supply are yet to initiate action against this illegal practice.

The domestic cylinders are being used at tea shops, sweet shops, dhabas, hotels and other commercial establishment. Interestingly, these shops are situated beside the national highway, state highways. In some cases, these shops are situated outside the office of the Civil Supply Department and SDM, Sundernagar.

The situation is said to be alarming on the outskirts of the town where the use of domestic LPG cylinders is indiscriminate.

According to local residents, owners of these establishments were cheating the government by not using commercial LPG cylinders as the price of a commercial cylinder was much higher than a domestic cylinder.

Residents say these owners are also cheating customers by selling products at exorbitant rates.

A large number of educational institutions are situated at Sundernagar and many students are living as paying guests.

All canteens use the domestic LPG cylinders for providing meals to the students. Residents claim they had lodged complaints in the past, but to no avail. Instead, the use had increased manifold, they added.

Officials of Civil Supply Department claim they had initiated action against shopkeepers, but were not in a position to give details.

Himachal Pradesh Upbhokta Sangh president Amar Chand Verma said he had received many complaints from Sundernagar town and an action would be initiated against these commercial establishments soon.

Reckong Peo/Wangtoo (Kinnaur), May 11
The deluge of storage dams constructed by hydropower developers in the tribal Kinnaur district of Himachal, bordering Tibet, has not only caused damage to the ecosystem, but also threatened the rich culture of tribals.

The century-old traditions and distinct cultural identity of tribal people which sustained the ecology and environment in spite of slow pace of development are at risk and “innocent and honest” tribals are becoming vulnerable to the influence |of big companies having plenty of money and other resources.

“Our land, water and power have been polluted, glaciers are melting fast, rivers are vanishing, underground tunnelling and reckless blasting have become a bane for people in many villages, but more serious fallout is that power developers are usurping the lands of tribals and maneuvering them,” says a local resident.

“Tribals were misinformed about the benefits of the projects and with an increased number of projects coming up in the area, the number of non-tribals, who have already lost their say in policy matters, is increasing at a fast pace,” said RS Negi, president, Himlok Jagriti Manch.

Kinnaur has about 53,000 voters, including a large chunk of non-tribal voters, engaged in projects. Presently, four major projects namely Nathpa Jhakri (1,500 MW), Baspa II (300 MW), Karchham-Wangto (1,000) and Bhaba (120) have been commissioned, four are under construction and eight have been sanctioned.

About 4,000-5,000 outsiders come to work and become voters after a year and if this continues, the demography of the district would change and non-tribals would outnumber the tribals.

Director, Tribal Studies, HPU, Aparna Negi agrees that there are allegations of innocent tribals being taken for ride by creating euphoria of prosperity. Locals are being lured for short-term gains but now the tribals are becoming aware of far-reaching adverse effect.

However, they should start a movement from the grassroot level to save identity and protect the environment, she says, adding that, “I have my roots in Kinnaur but whenever I visit the area, it is very painful to see the destruction of environment and rich culture being vitiated due to outside influence and intervention”.

“We are inviting destruction in the name of scientific development as power projects have badly affected agriculture, horticulture, bio-diversity, river system and blasting has shaken the mountains trigging landslides during rain and snow,” says Shyam Saran Negi, first voter of Independent India.

Environmentalists opine that mountains in the Himalayan region are still young and shifting of plates is a common phenomena, but power developers claim that effect of blasting is limited to only 35-feet radius and if there are reports of sinking of villages located at a distance of 600-1,200 feet, it is not due to underground blasting, but some other geological reasons.

Nurpur, May 11
Residents of Nurpur have demanded the shifting of the office of the Block Medical Officer (BMO) from Gangath in Indora to Nurpur.

They said the then Virbhadra Singh government had opened the Nurpur BMO office at Gangath about three decades ago. Local political leaders had failed to oppose such an irrational step at that time due to the lack of political will.

Interestingly, the Indora Assembly segment has its own BMO office at Indora and at present two such offices are being run in the same segment. Inquiries reveal that the Nurpur BMO office at Gangath runs two Community Health Centres (CHCs), 14 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and 61 health sub-centres of Nurpur subdivision. Sixtythree female multi-purpose health workers and 42 male workers are rendering their services in this health block.

The state government had opened the BMO office away from the subdivisional headquarters. Local Municipal Council chairperson Krishna Mahajan and Town Welfare Committee’s general secretary Prem Dass Sahotra have urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to order the shifting of the Nurpur BMO office from Gangath to Nurpur keeping in view the long-standing and genuine demand of people of the area after the Lok Sabha elections.

Shimla, May 11
Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) Vice Chancellor Prof ADN Bajpayee, whose three-year term is expiring on May 24 next, today again came under fire from Students Central Association (SCA) for allegedly lowering the academic standards during his tenure.

The SCA alleged that the academic graph of the university had declined during the tenure of Bajpayee and the percentage share of Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and National Eligibility Test (NET) which was 1.945 per cent and 1.364 per cent in December 2011, had come down to 0.426 per cent and 0.687 per cent in December 2013.

The members of the SCA alleged that in December 2008, the percentage of HPU students who cleared the NET was 1.503 per cent, but it reduced to 0.557 per cent in June 2012, 0.531 per cent in December 2012, 0.754 per cent in June 2013 and 0.678 per cent in December 2103, indicating that the academic atmosphere prevailing in the university was not conducive for academic pursuits.

SCA secretary Piyush Sewal said the situation was no different in JRF examinations and as compared to the pass percentage of 1.037 per cent in December 2008, the results had declined to 0.358 per cent in June 2012, 0.354 per cent in December 2012, 0.325 per cent in June 2103 and 0.426 per cent in December 2013.

The students who are up in arms against the VC have alleged that he has created total mess in the university and are demanding his resignation. Despite charging heavy fees, the university has failed to provide basic facilities to the students, professors are continuing even after registration of cases against them and suspended lecturers are being reinstated, they added.

Claiming that in the past three years, the number of students in ICDEOL has reduced to 2,500 as the academic atmosphere in the university has been badly vitiated under the leadership of ADN Bajpayee due to his style of functioning, the students stated that his tenure would be remembered for corruption and fee hike, increase in non-subsidised seats without proper faculty and infrastructure, privatisation of examination and introduction of self-financed courses.

Hamirpur, May 11
A conference on advances in basic and applied sciences was organised at Career Point University by the School of Basic and Applied Sciences in Hamirpur on May 9.

The conference was inaugurated by Vice-Chancellor Prof PL Gautam. Prof CB Gupta, BITS Pillani, Rajasthan; Prof Deepak Pant, Central University, Dharamsala; Prof Subhash Chand, NIT, Hamirpur; and Prof DC Gautam, HP University, Shimla; presented their research papers during the seminar.

The focus of the conference was recent advances in basic and applied sciences such as human cloning, simulation and its applications in the field of science, e-waste management, structure determination and phase identification etc.

Sixty-five research papers were presented in the conference on related topics. A book on abstracts of the research papers was also released by the Vice-Chancellor. Prof MR Sharma, Dean, Academic Affairs, highlighted the importance of organising the conference and thanked all the delegates.

Nurpur, May 11
A bus stand proposed during the previous Dhumal government at Chogan here has been hanging in balance for the past few years as its construction is yet to begin notwithstanding transferring of requisite land in the name of the State Transport Department.

Nurpur sans bus stand even after tall promises and assurances by the successive state governments. However, it has three bus stops at Niazpur, Dhakki and Chogan on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway.

Hundreds of passengers can be seen waiting for buses on these bus stops. Following persistent demands of Chogan residents, the then MLA Rakesh Pathania took the initiative for the construction of the bus stand during the previous Dhumal government’s regime.

Its construction had been proposed on the premises of a dilapidated building of veterinary hospital. This building has been declared unsafe. The new veterinary hospital has been proposed at Matholli near Jassur for which the land had been allotted, but the construction could not begin due to a land dispute. But the court’s decision has paved the way for the construction of the building.

Inquiries reveal that the Animal Husbandry Department had transferred its 2,047.31m land in the name of the State Transport Department so that the proposed bus stand could be built on it. But after the change of government in the state, the development project seemed to be put on the backburner.

Meanwhile, local MLA Ajay Mahajan asserted that the state government had given its nod in the current annual budget and this bus stand would be built by the Bus Stand Management Development Authority (BSMDA).

“The board of directors of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation were likely to float tenders for the construction of the bus stand within the next few days. The permission to fell 29 trees from the proposed site of the bus stand has been granted by the deputy commissioner Kangra to the Nurpur Municipal Council,” he informed.

Former MLA Rakesh Pathania while criticising the state government for delaying the construction of bus stand at Nurpur alleged that the Virbhadra Singh government was neglecting the area.

Palampur, May 11
Dr Paramvir Singh Ahuja, Director, Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur, has been appointed Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Born in 1952, Dr Ahuja pursued B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Agriculture from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, and Ph.D from the University of Nottingham as a Commonwealth Scholar.

He initially joined as Head, Plant Biotechnology and Biodiversity Conservation Division, CSIR complex, Palampur, which is now known as the IHBT. He took over as the Director, IHBT, in April 1998.

He has over 200 research publications, 100 reviews and conference presentations to his credit. He has over 20 patents and some of these are licensed and commercialised.

He has contributed in the area of conservation and improvement of medicinal and aromatic plants. His work on reproductive biology, tissue culture of MAPS led to development of the gene bank at CIMAP. He has provided leadership for the production of several somatic hybrids in Tropane Alkaloids and has been a pioneer on the work on hairy root production and secondary metabolites. His contribution on characterisation of Indian tea germ plasma is another landmark achievement. His research on tea, rose and potato transgenic in the difficult woody plants is globally acknowledged. He has worked towards extending rural technologies to remote tribal locations in Himalayas. — OC

Mandi, May 11
A team of officials of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU), Shimla, visited the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Medical College building at Ner Chowk here. The team inspected the infrastructure in the college to grant it university affiliation.

The college building, inaugurated by Union Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes in March 2013, had asked the ESIC authorities to start the academic session from this year.

Professional courses such as MBBS and others, started by the college, will be given affiliation by HPU and before granting affiliation to courses, the HPU team made an on-the-spot assessment of the infrastructure here.

The team also inspected the facilities being upgraded in the local Zonal Hospital, which was being linked with the college till the completion of the hospital.

The college will enrol 100 students for the MBBS course (40 from the state, 40 from the open pool and 20 seats are reserved for children of ESIC employees). It will also run a 500-bed superspecialty hospital later.

The ESIC college authorities have already applied for approval from the Medical Council of India (MCI) and are waiting for the inspection of the college by it.

The consent of affiliation of its courses by Himachal Pradesh University and the MCI will pave the way for starting the first session from August this year. Dr DS Dhiman, Dean of the college, said, “The HPU team was satisfied with the infrastructure being provided to the college and we are likely to get affiliation from the university soon.”

Chamba, May 11
Making a plea to the state government for providing free potable water on the pattern of the Delhi and Mumbai administration, the Chamba Welfare Association has urged the government to roll back the recent hike in the water rates.

In a memorandum submitted to Himachal Pradesh Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Minister Vidya Stokes prior to the Lok Sabha general election, association president RK Mahajan and general secretary SK Kashmiri said the people had the right to have free drinking water as part of the life guaranteed under the Article 21 of the Constitution and it is the duty of the government to supply free potable water to its citizens.

Moreover, the orders of the government with regard to imposing 10 per cent increase in water supply charges every year were unjustified, demanding that the orders of 10 per cent hike should be rolled back forthwith, the association office-bearers demanded.

In the memorandum, they also brought to the notice of the Irrigation and Public Health Minister that the water supply scheme of Chamba was running without pumping, electricity and other charges.

Therefore, the 10 per cent increase in water supply rates should be withdrawn without delay so that the people of the region could get relief and lead a life happily, they contended.

Palampur, May 11
Property worth Rs 20 lakh was destroyed in fire that broke out in a residential complex at lower Bhora village, 20 km from here, yesterday.

The police said 15 rooms were completely gutted while five rooms were saved by efforts of villagers. LPG cylinders inside one of the room added as the fuel to the raging fire.

It is learnt that the fire was first noticed during midnight by villagers who raised alarm and within few minutes, hundreds of villagers reached the spot and made efforts to douse the fire.

Later, fire fighting engines were summoned from Palampur, but by the time fire brigade reached the spot, a major portion of residential complex was already burnt.

The residential complex was owned by five brothers. The police said five brothers Narveer Patial, Jagveer Patial, Balveer Patiyal, Sarveer Patiyal and Harveer Patiyal suffered maximum loss in the fire.

Meanwhile, SDM, Palampur, Bhupinder Attari visited the spot and took stock of the situation. He directed revenue officials to submit a detailed report of loss suffered by victims so that necessary relief could be given to them as per the HP State Relief Manual.

Kangra, May 11
"Sub-Himalayan Journal of Health Research" publication of Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (DRPGMC), Tanda, was launched by Dr VM Katoch, secretary, Department of Health Research, Government of India and chairman, National Advisory Board of the journal.

Dr Katoch said this young medical college had emerged as a trendsetter in the last five years. It was the first institution to experiment with research methodology workshop aimed at developing research projects and, thereby, established a 'Tanda model' that was later propagated across the country, he said.

He said the Tanda medical college organised the first workshop on Knowledge Management Policy of the Department of Health Research, Government of India, and initiated development of projects based on this policy. The institution had also made remarkable progress in other fields of medicine, said Katoch.

He said a super-specialty block had come up in the institution with facilities for neurosciences, cardiology and cardiovascular thoracic surgery. The institution had achieved the 18th rank among all government-run medical colleges in the country, he said.

Katoch said the journal would cater to the research needs of medical sciences with a special emphasis on research in rural, tribal and other inaccessible areas of the sub-Himalayan region.

Dr Anil Chauhan, Principal, said the last three years had been particularly significant when the college got permanent approval for 50 MBBS seats from the MCI, besides permission to increase them to 100. He said postgraduation degree courses commenced with five seats in three departments. These had now increased to 48 seats in 15 departments, he stated.

With WHO approving the Department of Community Medicine as a fellowship training centre, in addition to many ICMR projects and postgraduate thesis in various departments underway, the need for an institutional scientific publication was felt.

The Principal said the journal would publish research articles on health problems of the population of sub-Himalayan region on a priority basis.