Tribune Exclusive
Himalayan glaciers are alive and kicking!
Kuldeep Chauhan/TNS

  Keylong/Udaipur, July 11
Himalayan glaciers that feed the Chenab and Beas valleys are alive and kicking,
and may "ring in an era of slight cooling". Reason: The longest glacier, Mayar,
and the largest glacier, Bara Shigri, and the monsoon-fed Parbati glacier have
been receiving "better snowfall" for the past three years and have stabilised,
say glaciologists.

Contrary to popular belief, snowfall in the Himalayas, in fact, has been on the
rise and avalanches can be seen near the Chandra-Bhaga-Mayar rivers here in
June. The major glaciers in this part of the Himalayas have shown a positive
trend and it bodes well for hydropower projects and farmers in the region, say
scientists.

The snowfall in 2010-11 was the heaviest since 1979 in the Mayar-Chandra valley.
"It was not dry snow, but was heavy with moisture content that improves the
formation of glaciers", said the glaciologists.

However, its impact on glaciers will be visible after 10 years as a glacier's
"response time is more then 10 years", says Prof Milap Sharma, a geomorphologist
at the Centre for Regional Development, JNU, New Delhi, who has been studying
glaciers over the years here.

Professor Sharma studied four major glaciers - Manthora, Karpat, Ulthampu and
Tharong in the Mayar valley last month and found that the first two have
stabilised and, in fact, Manthora has increased in size. "However, the last two
have reduced, but Ulthampu is a hanging glacier and does not matter much," he
observes.

Professor Sharma says the Mayar glacier is the longest and it has shrunk by just
120 m since 1975. "However, the snowfall has improved during the past three
years and is bound to have an impact on the ice cover. But we need 32 years to
see its impact on climate change," he adds.

Similarly, the Bara Shigri glacier, which has the largest ice cover - 192 sq km
- in the Himalayas, has witnessed no change so far. The 4-km-long Pin Parbati
glacier in the Beas valley has been stable for years, Professor Sharma says.

The scientists say that climate change has shown a cyclic change after 27 years,
alternating between "slight global cooling and slight global warming". "The
trend since 2008 is towards "slight cooling".

But we need another 30 years to draw a conclusion on climate change", Professor
Sharma cautions.

On the other hand, the Snow and Avalanche Establishment (SASE) observes that the
snowfall in the Bhaga valley at Patsio and the Beas valley at Dhundi has
increased during the past five years.xThe Director of SASE, Dr Ashvaghosh Ganju,
said Dhundi received 1,358 cm of snowfall in 2010-11, almost double than the 708
cm received in 2009-10. "However, in the Bhaga valley, we recorded 448 cm of
snowfall in 2007-08 while it was 444 cm in 2010-11. The snowfall shows a cyclic
trend from year to year and hence no analysis can be done, the SASE Director
adds.

Shimla, July 14
Chief Minister PK Dhumal has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give special
attention on the expansion of the rail network in the state, which had been
ignored since Independence.

In a letter written to the Prime Minister, he has pointed out that over the past
64 years only 44 km of rail track had been laid, and with negligible air
connectivity, the state had the dubious distinction of having the least rail and
air connectivity. Thanking him for the inauguration of the Amb-Indora railway
station early this month by the Minister of State for Railways, he said the new
11.63-km Chururu-Amb section was the third block on the 84-km Nangal to Talwara
line and it had taken 37 years to lay 42-km length of the track.

The Chief Minister said Himachal was geographically similar to North-Eastern
states and Jammu and Kashmir and it deserved subsidies on chopper services on
the same pattern. He said the viability-gap funding for operating heli taxis in
the state had been agreed by the Planning Commission in 2010, but this
commitment was also not being honoured.

The repeated pleas of successive governments for expediting the work on the
railway projects had been ignored and even the agreed funding pattern for the
Bhanupalli-Bilaspur-Beri railway line had not been accepted.

The plea for extending the rail network to Leh-Ladakh has also not been accepted
and the strategic line only finds a mention in the socially desirable networks.

He said China had already created a vast rail network apart from the advanced
air connectivity in the adjoining disputed area of Tibet.

The industrial package was to last till March 2013, but it was curtailed till
March 2010. This was perhaps the first instance when the Centre itself reduced
the period of concession announced by it, he added.

He urged the Prime Minister to address these issues and ensure facilities of
subsidised chopper services and restoration of industrial package at the
earliest

Windmills turn out to be white elephant
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service




The sick windmill at Thalot on NH-21 in Mandi. Photo by writer

Thalot (Mandi), July 16
Two windmills, the state government's role model for tapping "green energy", set
up at the cost of Rs 25 lakh each at Thalot and Fagu in Shimla, have turned out
to be a white elephant. The windmills, set up about two decades ago, conked out
within six months.

The state electricity board and Him Urja are blaming each other as an amount of
Rs 50 lakh has gone down the drain. Both have disowned the windmills, which were
set up on the National Highway No. 21 here and the National Highway-22 at Fagu.

The government had set up the model windmills with assistance from the
Netherlands. A private company from South India, which was part of this venture,
disappeared long ago.

Sources said the government had set up the windmills about two decades ago under
Him Urja as a role model to tap "green energy" in the state.

The windmill staff is as clueless about the mills as top board engineers and Him
Urja experts are since they have never seen the mills functioning. "We have no
idea as to when the Thalot mill last functioned and produced green energy," they
add.

HPSEB Chief Engineer RS Rana says the sick units were transferred to the board a
few years ago. However, spare parts and batteries were not available as the
whereabouts of the company, which was to supply the parts, were not known, he
added.

Chief Executive Officer, Him Urja, Harsh Mittar says windmills of around 11 kV
capacity are set up under Him Urja. "These mills were transferred to the board.
We learnt that the windmills had developed some faults. However, we are told the
spare parts needed to run these are not available," he adds, passing the buck on
to the board for their maintenance and function.

Bird-watching site proposed
Balkrishan Prashar

Chamba, July 16
With a view to promoting bird-watching tourism, the Chamba Welfare Association
has put up a proposal to the government for developing a bird-watching site at
the nearby woody hillock where a century-old Suhi Mata shrine is located.

In a statement here today, association president RK Mahajan said the development
of an eco-friendly site would go a long way in attracting tourists, researchers
and students as well.

The development of the bird-watching site will promote eco tourism and support
the protection and conservation of the town's environment and the avian
heritage.

Owning to the proximity of the site to the town, the area covered under a clump
of the woods can be rewarding for birdwatchers.

Local residents who go out for a stroll will be able to see what is around them.

Parking lot to come up near Shimla bus stand
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 17
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal laid the foundation stone of Rs 1.5-crore
project to construct a parking lot, a community centre and a langar bhawan
adjoining the gurdwara near the main bus stand here today.

He said the government had always extended its support to the Sikh community and
it would continue to do so in future. The Sikhs had always been maintaining
cordial and friendly relations with all other communities and the contribution
made by Guru Shri Teg Bahadur in protecting Kashmiri Pandits would always be
remembered.

He said the state government had set up Eternal University at Rajgarh in
Sirmaur, where students from within and outside the state were being provided
quality education. He said as per the Union Ministry of Human Resources, there
was need for opening 1,000 private universities in the country. He said with the
opening of private universities, students were getting quality education at
their doorstep.

Jathedar Avtar Singh (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee), Amritsar,
thanked the Chief Minister for introducing Punjabi as a subject in 100 schools.
He also appreciated his gesture in providing land for the construction of
parking and community centre.

Earlier, Daljit Singh, office-bearer of the Himachal Pradesh Akali Dal, welcomed
the Chief Minister. President, Guru Singh Sabha, Shimla, Jasvinder Singh,
thanked the CM for fulfilling the long-pending demands of the community.

Dhumal also participated in the installation ceremony of an idol of Shri Baba
Balak Nath in the historical Hanuman temple, Jakhu, and inaugurated the new
complex.

HPU gets its own anthem
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 17
It is after four decades that Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) will finally
have its own university anthem, Kul Geet, placing it in the bracket of some
elite universities like Benaras Hindu University (BHU) and Shantiniketan, that
swear by their anthems.

The special executive committee meeting of HPU held here recently approved the
Kul Geet, the vision for which was seen by Vice-Chancellor ADN Bajpai. The Kul
Geet will be formally made part of the university ordinance once Governor Urmila
Singh accords it the approval.

The lyrics of the mellifluous composition with seven stanzas have been penned by
Prof Rajendra Mishra, a former professor in the Sanskrit Department of HPU, who
later became the Vice-Chancellor of Dr Sampuranand Sanskrit University, Benaras.
The music has been composed by the Music Department of HPU.

The lyrics of the Kul Geet describe HPU as a modern seat of learning by
referring to it as "naval Nalanda" (new Nalanda). It elaborates the natural
beauty of the state in the form of the Dhauladhar ranges, rivers, including the
Vipasha (Beas), the Chanderbhaga and the Shatrud (Sutlej) and famous pilgrim
shrines.

HPU, which came into being on July 22, 1970, will celebrate its 41st Foundation
Day this year and it is here that the university anthem will be rendered
publicly for the first time.

Professor Bajpai had initiated the process for having a university anthem
immediately after he joined here and this composition was finally selected out
of the three proposals that had been invited.

Project reports of 3 tunnels by Dec
Balkrishan Prashar

Bharmour, July 17
The Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to prepare the detailed project
reports (DPRs) regarding the construction of three tunnels in different parts of
the state by December this year so that the work on these ambitious projects
could be taken in hand at the earliest.

One of these tunnels is Holi-Utrala in Bharmour mountainous region of Chamba
district.

Official sources revealed that the proposed 4.9-km Holi-Utrala tunnel connecting
Baijnath with Bharmour in Chamba district would be constructed underneath the
snowy Jalsu pass, which would ensure all-weather shorter route.

Officials of the Public Works Department had been asked to acquire speedy
forest-related clearances so that the work could be started at the earliest, the
sources said.

The tunnel will reduce the distance of about 250 km to merely 54 km, which is
five times less than the actual distance via Pathankot.

The work to prepare DPRs on the Bangana-Dhaneta in Hamirpur district and
Bhubbu-Jot tunnel in Mandi district was also underway, the sources added.

Minjar Fair: Chamba awaits VIPs
Balkrishan Prashar

Chamba, July 17
The imposing structure of the Circuit House in Chamba town facing the historic
Chowgan has been spruced up by painting and whitewashing it to greet bigwigs
like the Governor and the Chief Minister of the state. They are expected to
visit Chamba during the eight-day-long International Minjar Fair commencing from
July 24.

The Circuit House is managed by the government for the stay of VIPs and other
guests during the sojourn of their tour.

Rest houses, guest houses owned by other government departments like Himachal
Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation and NHPC had also been requisitioned by
the district administration to accommodate the guests and the visitors coming to
participate in the Minjar festival.

State may have over 25 varsities
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 19
With 12 private universities already functioning in the state and letters of
intent (LoIs) having been issued for eight more institutions, the tiny hill
state will have more than 25 universities if all goes as planned.

However, Education Minister Ishwar Das Dhiman said no new universities would be
opened in the districts which already had one and only Kullu and Mandi had been
left out where no LoI had been given. The maximum number of eight private
universities, including the Jaypee University of Information and Technology
(JPUIT), set up earlier, were in Solan. Kangra district had two and Una and
Sirmaur one each. He said in all 19 LoIs had been given for setting up private
universities of which four had been issued by the previous Congress regime.

Besides, there were four state government universities and a central university
in the state. He conceded that no survey was carried out to ascertain the
requirement of private universities in the state. However, to justify the
decision to open private universities, he cited the statement of Union Human
Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal that the country needed over 50,000
colleges and 1,000 universities to raise the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) from
the existing 18 to 25 per cent by 2016-17.

He said the government had already enacted a law for setting up a regularly
commission to oversee the functioning of private institutions which would start
functioning shortly.

Already some steps had been taken to streamline the functioning of the
universities and these had been asked to put the bio-data and photographs of the
faculty on their websites along with the names of students enrolled till date.
These steps would certainly help in ensuring transparency in the functioning of
the universities, he added.

CM congratulates Kangra woman for scaling Everest
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 19
Chief Minister PK Dhumal has congratulated Flt Lt Rajika Sharma, a woman officer
in the Air Force hailing from Kangra district, for successfully conquering the
Mount Everest, last month.

In a message to the officer, he said her achievement had added another feather
state's cap. The youth of the state were adventurous by nature and had been
participating in such events at the national and international level thereby
bringing laurels to the state.

He added that among the young girls who had successfully scaled the Mount
Everest were Dicky Dolma, Radha Thakur and Deepu Sharma, besides other achievers
from the state. He wised Sharma success in all her future endeavours.

Disaster management authority notified
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 19
The Himachal Pradesh Government has notified the HP State Disaster Management
Authority (SDMA) under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

The Chief Minister will be Chairman of the authority, Revenue Minister its
member and Chief Secretary its chief executive officer. Additional Chief
Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner (Revenue), Principal Secretary (Home),
Principal Secretary (PWD and IPH), Principal Secretary (Health) and DGP will be
its other members.

Secretary (Revenue) will be its member secretary. The authority will be
responsible for the management of disasters in a holistic way involving all the
stakeholders.

The authority will have a vision for the management of disasters in the state,
which include building a safe and disaster-resilient state by developing a
community-based strategy.

Security steps for vital installations reviewed
Tribune News Service

Hamirpur, July 19
Kuldeep Sharma, SP, Hamirpur, held a meeting with officials of the District
Intelligence Bureau, CID and Security Branch here today to take stock of the
situation in the district in the aftermath of the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai
last week.

The SP said security arrangements at all vital installation in the district like
National Institute of Technology (NIT), bus stands, places of religious
importance, especially Baba Balak Nath Temple, Deothsidh, were reviewed and
placed under high alert.

The security agencies had also decided to keep a round-the-clock vigil at
sensitive places and beef up security arrangements. He said the security
arrangements would be reviewed from time to time.

Kuldeep Sharma also warned people to carry identity proof and any person found
roaming under suspicious circumstances would be detained immediately.

Drive to remove weeds to be launched
Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 20
An intensive campaign will be launched in the state soon to remove obnoxious
weeds like lantana, congress grass and crafton which have not only invaded
forests but also agriculture fields, affecting farm productivity.

Stating this while chairing a meeting of a high-level committee to discuss the
"congress grass hatao, chargah bachao abhiyan" here today, Chief Minister Prem
Kumar Dhumal said a steering committee would be constituted under the
chairmanship of the Additional Chief Secretary, Forests, and having the
Principal Secretaries of the departments concerned and Vice-Chancellors of all
universities in the state as members for the purpose.

He said there was a need for launching a coordinated campaign in association
with the departments concerned, gram panchayats and nagar parishads to plant
environment-friendly bamboo, broad-leaved and other fast-growing species after
removing the weeds.

He said over 3,600 sq km area in the state was affected by the weed problem.

Committees would be constituted under the Deputy Commissioners, which would
prepare district-wise plans to be funded under the CAMPA and the MNREGA.

Queen of Hills losing architectural grandeur to modernisation
Rakesh Lohumi/TNS

Shimla, August 7
Notwithstanding the increasing emphasis on the preservation of heritage, the
erstwhile British summer capital continues to lose its built heritage, a symbol
of imperial grandeur, which earned it the title of the Queen of Hill Stations.

Old colonial buildings, which lent a distinct character to the town, have been
disappearing one after the other. While a number of structures have been
consumed by fire, others have been pulled down to make way for multi-storeyed
modern concrete structures.

Two years ago, over a century-old government building Victoria Palace, near
Nigam Vihar, was pulled down to build a spacious office complex to house the
PWD.

The latest casualty is House Number IV in the Brockhurst Estate. The nearly
140-year-old structure was dismantled last month to construct a residence for
the Chief Secretary.

Government agencies assert that the dilapidated building was not a notified
heritage structure. It had become inhabitable and was not beyond repair. In
fact, with no officer willing to move in, the building has been unoccupied for
the past four years.

However, conservationists feel otherwise. Adviser to the State Chapter of Indian
National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) BL Malhans maintains that
the structure could have been restored.

He pointed out that the preservation of "period aesthetics" was the key to
heritage conservation. It required a holistic approach and preserving a few
notified structures would not help.

The Tudor style timber-framed structures were the hallmark of the colonial
architecture and their gradual disappearance would alter the character of the
hill station. It was the first of the structures to come up in the Brockhurst
Estate in the 1870s and the other three houses came up later, Malhans said.

Viplove Thakur, senior Congress leader who was the last occupant of the house,
said it was a beautiful house and she never felt that it was unsafe.

However, Secretary, General Administration, Ajai Bhandari said the building was
not on the heritage list and was virtually an abandoned house. The entire
process had been carried out as per rules.

Superintending Engineer, PWD, Naresh Sharma said the new structure would be
raised on the lines of the old building in accordance with the plan approved by
the Town and Country Planning Department. It was virtually a three-storeyed
structure, including the basement, and the new building would have a covered
area of 340 sq m, slightly less than that of the dismantled building.

As such it is not surprising that some structures have come up even in the
heritage zone in deviation from the approved plans and all that the government
has been doing is to condone the violations and regularise the structures.
Preservation of the heritage is the collective responsibility of the people and
the government.

Fruit growers sore over high carton prices
Rakesh Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 7
The District Committee of the Himachal Kisan Sabha has expressed concern over
the failure of the state government to regulate the prices of cartons and other
packing material, thereby allowing a free hand to private manufacturers to
fleece fruit growers. It has demanded immediate reduction in price of carton,
failing which it will launch a stir.

General secretary of the sabha Sanjay Chauhan said it was shocking that the
apple cartons being supplied by the nodal government agencies like the HPMC were
costlier than the open market price.

The price of a carton had been at fixed at Rs 39 by the HPMC, whereas the best
quality carton was available in the open market from Rs 34 to Rs 37. The
government agency had thus allowed scope to the private manufacturers to sell
cartons at higher rates, he said.

He alleged that the government was functioning under the pressure of private
manufacturers and it was not keen to regulate the prices of cartons and other
packing material. Earlier, it had sold the state-owned carton factory at Gumma
at a throwaway price, leaving the growers at the mercy of private manufacturers.

He said there was a nexus between carton manufacturers and a few BJP supporters,
who were acting like agents of the manufacturers. They were the same people who
facilitated the sale of government-owned AIPIL carton plant at a throwaway price
to benefit carton cartel. Now the high prices of cartons, despite steep fall of
almost 50 per cent in the prices of paper - the main raw material for making
corrugated cartons - clearly reflected the motives behind the government
decision.

The state government announced the release of Rs 50 crore to clear the arrears
of fruit growers, whose fruit was procured under the Market Intervention Scheme,
but it failed to make the payments and instead forced them to buy inputs and
other materials at much higher prices through the HPMC and other agencies.

The sabha demanded downward revision of prices of cartons and keeping in view
the low production and heavy losses caused by natural calamities, the government
should immediately release the payments amounting to Rs 30 crore due to the
apple growers.

250 hydro projects out of 269 allotted to Himachalis in 3 yrs
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 7
The state started allotment of small hydroelectric projects (up to 5 MW) in 1995
but so far only 44 projects of aggregate 172.55 MW capacity, out of the total
small hydro potential of 2,000 MW, have been commissioned.

The government has reserved projects up to 2 MW capacity for bonafide Himachalis
and co-operative societies, while preference will be given to Himachalis in
projects up to 5 MW.

Over the past three years, 269 hydro projects of 511.34 MW have been allotted,
out of which 250 projects of 435.74 MW have been given to Himachalis.

Implementation agreements had been signed for 55 projects with aggregate
capacity of 175.85 MW.

HIMURJA, nodal agency for small projects, has been assigned 19 projects of 76.10
MW capacity, of which, 16 projects of 61.28 MW were found to be viable.

So far, the detailed project report in respect of 13 projects had been prepared
and techno-economic clearances were accorded by the Directorate of Energy.

The 900-KW Saach Project in Pangi has started a trial run, while the 400-KW
Billing Project, near Keylong, is likely to be commissioned later this year.

The Solar Energy Programme has also been given a major thrust and 216 solar
power plants of 2 KW each are being installed at 102 police stations and 114
police outposts shortly.

Besides, two energy parks are being developed at Dr YS Parmar University of
Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, and National Institute of Technology,
Hamirpur. Shimla and Hamirpur are to be developed as solar cities.



   Passengers remain stranded on NH-20 for 12 hours
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Mandi/Kullu, August 7
Over six bus routes at Drang in Mandi remained suspended for buses and Ani
subdivision remained cut off from the district headquarters, Kullu, as the
landslide in the Kot Nullah between the Khanag and Jalori Passes kept blocking
the Banajar-Ani highway for the past 20 hours.

Passengers remained stranded on the Mandi-Pathankot National Highway-20 for over
12 hours and on the NH-21 at 5 Meel, near Mandi, for four hours as landslides
blocked several stretches between Ghatta and Guma on NH-20 and between Mandi and
Pandoh.

The HRTC suspended its bus services to Thaltukhod, Barot and Shivabadar in Drang
today as HRTC buses remained stuck there due to landslides. The Neri-Nablai and
Mandi-Duki roads remained breached due to landsides.

Though the HRTC claimed that they had started transshipment of passengers from
the Kot Nullah in Ani subdivision, villagers resented that they could not
transport essentials and their produce to markets as the PWD had yet to restore
the highway.

NH-20 Executive Engineer PC Katoch said the highway was restored at around 12.30
pm today.

There was heavy rain in the Jogindernagar belt last night that in turn triggered
landslides on the highway, he added. After the flash flood in the Sambal Nullah
yesterday, massive boulders fell on the highway at 5 Meel, near Pandoh, that
blocked the highway till 9 am.

HPU to get National Knowledge Network soon
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 7
The Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) took the first step to have access to the
National Knowledge Network (NKN) when it received the router 7 switch from the
NKN.

In charge of networking Dr Dharinder Sharma formally received the router 7
switch from DK Gupta, senior manager of NKN.

Vice-Chancellor of the university ADN Bajpai, while presiding over a meeting of
officials of the Centre and the university, said here today the NKN installation
process would be completed soon and the modern infrastructure to be set up at a
cost of Rs 2.5 crore would usher in an era of enabling the institution to reach
and cater to the needs of the people living in the remote tribal belts of
Himachal Pradesh.

Bajpai said the university had taken a leap further with Union Minister for
Communication and IT Sachin Pilot fulfilling the promise to integrate it with
the NKN within one week of his visit. The project had saved the university
nearly Rs 50 lakh, which otherwise would have to be invested by it. He said the
university would submit detailed projects and proposals to the ministry to
improve connectivity and help computerise the examination system, providing
Internet to all the hostels and digitisation of the library.

He thanked the minister for acceding to the request for providing Close User
Group mobile phone facility for the university employees, non-teaching staff and
teachers.

The university will be the eighth institution in the country to have the
facility of knowledge transfer through video conferencing and data transfers,
which will be a boon for the hill state with severe geographical constraints.

Villagers say no to Luhri power project
Tell panel that it will dry their water sources, hit crops
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Mandi/Purlog, August 9
Villagers from 11 gram panchayats in Mandi district, under the banner of the
Satluj Bacho Jan Kalyan Samiti, today lodged their objections before a panel
headed by the Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, during a public hearing and said no to
the 38-km-long twin tunnels of the 775 MW Luhri power project being executed by
the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam on the Sutlej.

Interestingly, on the other hand, villagers from the Basantpur area, which falls
in Shimla district on the left bank of the river and where the SJVN is planning
its colony and hospital, supported the project and asked the panel to go ahead
with it.

People from 11 panchayats - Bindla, Purlog, Teban, Sarahan, Gwalpur, Nanz,
Khadra, Baridhar, Shaut, Pokhri and Chamidhar - including their panchayat
representatives, pradhans and BDC and zila parishad members, told the panel that
they were opposed to the construction of the 38-km-long twin tunnels in their
area as these would dry up their drinking water sources and affect crops. They
said the Sutlej would disappear for 38 km that would increase the local
temperature by several degrees that would in turn ruin the apple belt of Dalash,
Ani and Kotgarh and the vegetable belt of the Nanz area in Mandi district as
well.

The villagers objected to the public hearing being held under heavy police
presence and said many of them had to travel up to 120 km to attend it.

Nek Ram, president, Jan Sangharsh Samiti, told the panel that the present form
of the Environment Impact Assessment report of the project was unacceptable to
them and they were opposed to the project.

Ramesh Chand Verma, panchayat pradhan, Bindla, where a powerhouse is coming up,
and Purlog panchyat pradhan Hem Raj submitted letters of opposition bearing the
signatures of villagers to the panel.

Guman Singh, convener of the Himalayan Nitti Abhiyan, and Atul Kumar of the
Satluj Bachao Samiti of Shimla said the present form of the project would ruin
the entire vegetable and apple belt.

Mandi Deputy Commissioner Devesh Kumar, General Manager of the SJVN SK Sharma,
the SDM, Karsog, the DFO, Karsog, besides officials of the state pollution
control board were present and they recorded the objections on the project and
vediographed the proceedings.

Himachal Swabhiman Party launched
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, August 9
Certain former employee leaders and intellectuals from the state have announced
the formation of a new political outfit, the Himachal Swabhiman Party, that has
raised many an eyebrow in the state.

The new party was launched at a function organised at Dharamsala today. A former
BJP ideologue who is now considered close to the movement started by Baba
Ramdev, Govindacharya, was present at the party-launch ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Govindacharya said people were looking for an
alternative to the present political parties in the country.

Parties like the Himachal Swabhiman Party would provide the alternative.

Subhash Sharma, president of the party, when asked whether he had the support of
the Bharat Swabhiman Manch formed under the aegis of Baba Ramdev, said the
presence of Govindacharya at their function illustrated the support.

"We will enrol 1 lakh members in the coming days and extend support to the
movements of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev," he said.

The formation of the Himachal Swabhiman Party and the presence of Govindacharya
at its launch programme has started having its effect. Some are suspecting that
the party may be having the tacit support of estranged BJP MP from Kangra Rajan
Sushant

Small temples to be developed
Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 9
The government is likely to implement the Small Temple Adoption Scheme, wherein
public facilities will be developed for pilgrims at smaller temples in the
vicinity of major government-controlled temples.

The cabinet sub-committee which held its meeting here yesterday under the
chairmanship of Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ravinder Singh Ravi,
agreed in principle to spend money from the bigger government-controlled temples
on creating facilities at smaller shrines.

Ravi said in future the Vikram Samvat year would be inscribed on all the
government foundation and inauguration stones. "A proposal to this effect will
be placed before the Cabinet for approval and since Vikram Samvat epitomises the
essence of Indian culture, the government will adopt it," he said.

The Cabinet sub-committee constituted to review the report submitted by the
high-powered committee for the Administration of Temples held its third meeting
and discussed the detailed report regarding the amendment of Section 29 of the
scheduled temples taken over by the government under provisions of the HP Hindu
Public Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Act, 1984.

He said the state government would issue proper guidelines so that the same puja
could be performed at the time of inauguration or laying foundation stones of
various developmental activities in the state. He added that training programmes
would be held for the priests.

Himuda to reserve plots, flats for Himachalis
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 1
The Himachal Pradesh Housing and Urban Development Authority (Himuda) will make
an amendment to its regulations to reserve plots and flats for bona fide
Himachalis so that their housing needs are met first and only a small percentage
of its structures are offered to outsiders.

Despite a survey undertaken by Himuda indicating that there is a demand for
about 70,000 houses, the agency is finding it tough to meet the demand in view
of scarce land in the hill state.

As such another important decision that has been taken by Himuda is to only make
flats and not offer plots so that the needs of a majority are met since
sufficient land is not available.

"No doubt anyone is welcome to buy a house in the state but we have a greater
responsibility towards meeting the housing needs of bona fide Himachalis; so we
will make an amendment to the regulations to reserve a high percentage for
them," said Ganesh Dutt, vice-chairman, Himuda. He said the matter would be
placed before the board of directors at its next meeting.

A large number of outsiders from all over India are keen on acquiring houses in
popular tourist destinations like Shimla, Kasauli, Solan, Kullu-Manali and
Solan. Though Himuda has no exact data about the number of outsiders who have
applied for a house with it, the number seems to be sizeable.

As a step towards constructing houses at the earliest, the board of directors
has allowed Himuda to raise a loan of Rs 100 crore. "The Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of Himuda has been authorised to raise the loan from any nationalised bank
at the lowest rate of interest so that more land can be acquired and planning of
houses can begin at the earliest," said Dutt.

During the past few months, Himuda has acquired land near Shimla, Solan and
Sirmaur where the demand for houses is very high. About 125 bighas are being
acquired near Mehli on the outskirts of the state capital, about 155 bighas at
three places - Moginanad, Trilokpur and Jarja in Sirmaur district and 115 bighas
near Seel-Raho near Solan.

The maximum demand for houses is in Shimla with 11,000 applying to Himuda
followed by 8,000 for Hamirpur.

The demand is also quite high in the Kasauli, Manali and Sirmaur areas bordering
Haryana and Chandigarh.

However, keeping in view the unavailability of sufficient land, Himuda for the
time being will not carve out too many plots and thrust would be on making flats
so that the maximum possible people can be accommodated.

Job fair at Baddi on Sept 3
Tribune News Service

Shimla, September 1
The Department of Labour and Employment will be organising a job fair in
association with the Baddi University of Emerging Sciences and Technology at
Baddi on September 3.

The department has contacted more than 600 employers through the Baddi
Barotiwala Nalagarh Industries Association and the Confederation of Indian
Industries to ascertain their requirement of unskilled, technical and
professional manpower. They have also been requested to participate in the job
fair.

As per the information received from 23 industrial establishments, 2,454
vacancies of fitter, welder, electrician, tool and dye, electronics and
mechanics, requiring qualifications ranging from Class VII to B Com and B Sc and
diploma in various branches of engineering, are available. Besides, there are
some vacancies for degree holders in polymer science and B Pharma.

Radio-collared bird returns to Pong from China
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Shimla, December 19
A project of the Wildlife Department where migratory birds had been radio
collared last winter at Pong Dam seems to have yielded the desired results as
one of the birds, a ruddy shelduck, has already returned from wetlands in
North-West China while three other birds are on their return journey.

The return of the lone ruddy shelduck that had been collared last year along
with six other migratory birds brought cheer to wildlife experts when the bird
once again descended on Pong Dam on December 11 after traversing a distance of
2200 km from its summer destination of Yixiao Dui and Kareqi Lan ai Rike
wetlands in North-West China.

This time the Wildlife Department will install a satellite telemetry chip on 18
new birds in April-May next year considering the success of its mission. The
three bar-headed geese have been tracked about 100 km away from Pong Dam
somewhere near Mt Kailash and are expected to arrive shortly at the wetland.

It was in April and May this year that six birds — three bar-headed geese, one
ruddy shelduck and two ducks — had been radio collared with assistance from the
Bombay Natural History Society. While the two ducks chose to become locals and
never left Pong, the other four birds left for their summer sojourn in cooler
climes.

"We now have details of the birds' stopover, route taken, duration of non-stop
flight and their ultimate destination in Russia and China with the help of the
global positioning system," said AK Gulati, Chief Wildlife Warden. He added that
the route of three other bar-headed geese was also being tracked and they, too,
were likely to reach Pong Dam shortly.

Gulati said this year 18 new birds would be collared before they returned from
Pong Dam towards Siberia and other cold areas for the summer. The basic concept
of satellite telemetry is to attach a radio transmitter to a bird and track the
signal to determine its movement. The cost of each chip is about Rs 2.50 lakh
and it will send signals for four years with the batteries getting recharged
through solar energy.

More than 1.40 lakh migratory birds of 85 different species descend on Pong Dam
every winter after crossing thousands of kilometres from places as far as China,
Siberia, Russia and Nepal. The largest influx is of bar-headed geese, coots,
common pochards, pintails, cormorants and spot bill ducks.

Centre, state blamed for failure to save temples
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Bilaspur, December 19
Over three main temples and 20 other smaller temples of the rare Nagara style of
architecture, submerged in the Gobind Sagar reservoir since 1964, have virtually
died their natural death due to a protracted blame game between the state
government and Centre over their restoration.

The archaeologists have blamed the apathetic state and Centre's archaeological
establishments for the doom of the temples in water.

None showed interest to fund this multi-crore restoration and transplant project
in order to save these temples well in time, they lamented.

"It is now too late to be talking about transplanting the temples," said state
renowned archaeologist Dr OC Handa. "It will be now appeasing people for the
sake of votes as the temples have been rendered shaky by corrosion and cannot be
transplanted," he asserted.

It took the state government and the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) 15
years to make a proposal of restoring these temples, but nothing concrete has
emerged on the matter so far, said archaeologists.

The temples have drastically corroded their art forms, art relics etched on them
over the years due to the silt menace in the Gobind Sagar. Even a team of marine
wing of the Geological Survey of India has found that the temples are in bad
shape and transplanting them may be a very difficult exercise, said Dr Handa.
"The temples may fall apart during the transplant and nobody now is willing to
touch them," he said.

There are over 12-30 temples submerged in the Gobind Sagar since 1964 when the
Bhakhra Beas Management Board (BBMB) constructed this reservoir by linking
waters of the Beas and Sutlej. Over a dozen temples resurface when the water
level of the Gobind Sagar recedes during summers. The temples are over 300 to
800 years old and are built in the Nagara style of architecture during the reins
of the erstwhile kings of the former Bilaspur.

The district administration claimed that a geological wing inspected land one at
Lunu ground and another near the Gopal temple, the report is still awaited,"
said Sandeep Kadam, SDM-cum-coordinator of the project.

Kadam said former queen of Bilaspur has also expressed her desire to protect the
monument. "She is keen to donate land for the temples here but the land has not
been transferred so far," he added.

Poor condition of road deters tourists from visiting Kasauli
Ambika Sharma

Solan, December 20
The inordinate delay in repairing the Dharampur-Sanawar road and the poor upkeep
of the Dharampur-Kasauli road was acting as a big deterrent to weekend tourists
from Chandigarh and its surroundings.

Though work to broaden and improve the Dharampur-Sanawar road has been going on
for the past almost a year, its slow pace and substandard work had made its
condition even worse.

The large number of potholes not only make driving bumpy but the incessant
digging of the road had also increased the formative width so much so that it
occupies almost half the road at several places thus reducing it to a kutcha
road.

Motorists travelling to Kasauli said though they had been preferring the Sanawar
road to reach Kasauli from Dharampur, its condition had deteriorated
considerably.

Though the PWD was digging side lanes and the road was being broadened, the
tardy pace of work had reduced the utility of the road and motorists were
preferring the other road through Pinegrove School to reach Kasauli.

With the winters having set in, the PWD was now packing the potholes with mud
though it should be using stones so as to add strength to the road.

This was, however, a futile exercise and rains would wreck more damage to the
already potholed road. Since no black top can be laid from November to mid-March
due to inclement weather, the road was left to wither more in these winter
months.

Adding to the woes of motorists was the poor upkeep of the Dharampur-Kasauli
road, which despite having been laid with a black top about two months ago had
started showing potholes.

However, officials of the PWD said the work on the Sanawar road would be
completed soon and the contractor had been directed to complete the work at the
earliest.

Pong Dam new haven for black cormorants
Winged visitors leave reservoir poorer by over 100 tonnes of fish every year
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Bilaspur, December 20
The migratory black cormorants and Indian grebe, the voracious carnivores, have
found Maharana Pratap Sagar (Pong Dam), North India's largest Ramser water body,
a new haven of prey. They eat up more than 30 per cent of fish in the dam every
year.

These 1.32 lakh "migratory flying invaders" from Central Asia, Tibet, China and
Mongolia have been giving sleepless nights to fishermen and fisheries officials
over the years. They come zeroing in on in this new-found winter feeding ground
from October onwards and fishermen accuse these winged visitors of making them
poorer by over a hundred tonnes of fish when they go back by March every year.

The fisheries officials cite figures to support their claims. The fish catch in
Pong Dam has dropped from its peak production in 1988 from 797 tonnes to just
204 tonnes recorded till date this year. Pong Dam needs one crore fingerlings
every year to feed birds and local demands of fishermen, but fisheries can
release 50 lakh fingerlings due to shortage of fish seed.

In 1988, there were just 25,000 migratory birds at Pong Dam and now their number
has surged to 1.32 lakh of over 100 different species last year and this year it
can go up to 1.5 lakh.

Not only this, a large chunk of the "winged nomads" have made Raiser and Karu
islands and Dameta and Katatyar forests around Maharana Pratap Sagar as their
permanent home, says Dr BD Sharma, Director, Fisheries. "A black cormorant needs
300 gm of fish everyday. In all, over 30 per cent of fingerlings of 30 mm and
above are devoured by the birds every year", he asserts.

Cormorants and Indian grebe are excellent divers and can take a plunge as deep
as 10 ft in the dam water and come up with its prized catch. The birds nesting
sites in lake area are full of fish remains, say fisheries officials.

Shuffling in their support, bird lovers and wildlife officials

term fisheries officials' claims as exaggerated ones. Only small and large
cormorants and Indian grebe are meat eaters, whose number is not more than 10
per cent of the migratory birds, says S Gupta, wildlife in charge of Pong Dam.

Gupta says that 90 per cent of birds feed on smaller creatures or marshes along
the chores, not on fingerlings. By March-end they migrate for breeding about 800
km away in the Trans-Himalayan region in summers, he adds.

Even if the birds eat fish, they give Rs 40,000 per year to the

Fisheries Department to add more seeds in the reservoir. The birds eat small cat
fish and not fish seed and fish are poached and eaten by the cat fish, whose
number has surged in the lake, claim wildlife officials.

But biologists dismiss their point by saying that "no bird can act

like human and can discriminate between cat fish or carp, singhara, catla, rohu,
mrigal, kalyanu, mahaseer in dam. "Only singhara (catch 96 tonnes) feed on
smaller fish and the rest of them feed on aquatic plant life in the dam", says
Dr Sharma.

But a major blow to fish life in this Ramsar site (Pong) came in 1988 when flood
in the Beas forced opening up of all its flood gates. "That in turn washed away
the seeds and feeding ground and the production dropped by half that time. But
now we have replenished the feeding grounds", says Dr Sharma.

Cabinet accepts proposal for Shimla development plan
Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 18
The government today accepted in principle the proposal of the Town and Country
Planning Department for a development plan for the "Shimla Planning Area" and
decided to extend the social security pension cover to all those aged above 60
years and residing in various old-age homes in the state.

The state Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Prem Kumar
Dhumal, also decided to release the "revised secretariat pay" to different
categories of employees working in the state secretariat, the Governor's
secretariat, the State Public Service Commission, the state high court, the
Vidhan Sabha and the Lokayukta on the analogy of Punjab with effect from
December 1, 2011.

While accepting the development plan proposal, it decided that the possibility
of acquiring vacant plots in the green area should be explored by the Shimla
Municipal Corporation. It approved various amendments to the Himachal Pradesh
Town and Country Planning Rules in light of the objections and suggestions
received. The Cabinet decided to extend the time limit for preparation of
detailed project reports in respect of the hydroelectric projects allotted for
execution in Dodra-Kwar in Shimla district, Lahaul and Spiti district and the
Pangi area of Chamba to 36 months in view of the difficult geographical
conditions.

It allowed extension to projects at an advanced stage of execution by charging
an extension fee at the rate of Rs 10,000 per MW per month, to be deposited
within 30 days of the issuance of the approval letter. The companies will be
required to pay 12 per cent interest in case of non-deposit of the extension
charges. It cancelled the allotment of Upper Chanju and Lower Chanju projects in
Chamba by terminating the MoUs for not adhering to the provisions.

It decided to open gymnasia in all 3,243 gram panchayats in the state and
approved a higher education allowance of Rs 5,000 per month for specialised
medical officers possessing a postgraduate degree and Rs 2,000 per month for
others with a diploma in different disciplines of medical sciences.

It decided to grant a relaxation of 5 per cent in the minimum qualifying marks
in the Teachers Eligibility Test for posts of TGT (Arts, Medical and
Non-Medical), Shastri, Language Teacher and JBT, to the candidates belonging to
the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, OBCs and differently abled
categories. It accepted the compliance report in respect of Maharaja Agarsen
Technical Education Society and the AP Goyal Charitable Trust for setting up
private universities.

Preserve Mandi School of Painting: Expert
Kuldeep Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Mandi, April 18
Echoing the demand of art lovers and painters of this temple town, renowned
painter Vijay Kumar Sharma (Padma Shri) today urged the government to preserve
and protect the Mandi Kalam School of Painting from its "imminent death" by
setting up an art gallery here.

Talking to The Tribune, Vijay Sharma, who was the chief guest at the concluding
ceremony of a two-day seminar on World Heritage Day organised by the HP RTI
Bureau here today, said, "The Mandi Kalam School of Painting is dying a slow
death as the government has not done enough to preserve and protect it. The
school has a rich heritage and is one of the oldest schools and has been as
popular as the Kangra and Chamba schools of painting".

He said it was a pity that there was not even a single art gallery in this town
to showcase Mandi paintings to art lovers from India and abroad. "I have seen
Mandi paintings showcased in museums and art galleries abroad, but it is dying a
slow death in its birthplace," he said.

Sharma said there was need for starting a training school in the town to train
young painting enthusiasts.

Mandi Divisional Commissioner Rajinder Negi, who inaugurated the seminar,
underscored the need for protecting heritage, including the ramshackle building
of Vijay High School. "It is unique because of its Pahari architecture. We need
to protect it. Institutions should put in coordinated efforts to protect
heritage," he added.

The participants urged the government to set up an art gallery-cum-library in
the Vijay Boys School building and declare it as a heritage building.

They also demanded that the main gate of the Tarna temple be declared as a
heritage item as it was built to welcome the Dalai Lama in the 1960s.

President and convener of the seminar Lawan Thakur said more than 50
schoolchildren participated in declamation and painting competitions. The theme
of the heritage day was sustainable development and role of communities in
heritage protection, he added.

TR Sharma, Superintending Architect, Archaeological Survey of India, said the
ASI would hold functions in Mandi to celebrate its 150 years.