Here, cops have no names
Saurabh Malik

You can tag them as nameless members of a well-known police force. For, slipping into recognition by donning uniforms with names tagged to the stuff is seemingly an uphill task for the cops belonging to Shimla’s famous mountain force.

If their anonymity leaves the “harassed” visitors to the hill station helpless, or sometimes results in the violation of the directions issued by the Supreme Court in ‘D.K. Basu versus State of West Bengal’ case, senior police functionaries are just not bothered about it, apparently.

Having doubts? Just look around and watch cops-with-no-names manage the crowd during the dharnas and rallies organised from time to time. Or else, drive up to the parking lots near the lift, the bus stand or even the Himachal Holiday Home. You will just not be able to attach an identity to the uniformed cop armed with a challan book because his being has no name tag attached to it.

The cops belong to a force that resplendently policed more than just the Mall and the Ridge. It also maintained for itself a glorious image of a well-organised and disciplined force.

But with the police taking over the Raj with the dawn of Independence, the cops have just not been living up to that image. Agreed, exceptions are there. Cops patrolling the length and the breadth of the Mall and the Ridge are dressed up in immaculate uniforms, complete with name tags. But as the saying goes, exceptions don’t form the rule.

Well, the result of the violation is there for all to see. Only recently two motorists had reservations about the challan slip that was handed over to them for a traffic violation near the bus stand, but found themselves unable to proceed in the matter.

The reason: In the absence of a name tag, the only thing they knew about the cop was that he was a challenging officer. The policeman, in turn, challenged them to “do whatever they could” for, he knew they would never be able to establish his identity.

Ask the visitors and they say there is nothing uncommon about it. Everyday, cars with outstation numbers are stopped for one reason or another. In some cases of wrong parking, or venturing out in areas with entry restricted, the initiation of proceedings against the motorists is justified. There can be no doubt about it.

“The issue out here is not just that of right or wrong, but of transparent police functioning,” says Chandigarh-based businessman Dinesh Sharma. Challaned for leaving behind his car along the roadside, he says, “I wanted to take the matter up with senior police functionaries for removing my own doubts about the authenticity of the allegations against me, but in the absence of adequate information on the officer, I just could not substantiate my contentions.”

And what do the senior police functionaries have to say? “Most police personnel wear name tags. Just in case some are without them, we will issue necessary directions in this regard,” says a top police officer.

Well, cops will be cops. You can only hope good sense prevails over senior functionaries and they ensure the wearing of name tags by policemen.

Rules are meant to be broken?
With the right connections, one can easily violate
building by-laws
Ambika Sharma

The flagrant violation of building norms in Solan, where industrial ventures and housing premises are located in the same building, has given rise to a significant question – whom are the rules meant for? No department, be it the municipal committee, Town and Country Planning Department or the district administration, seem to be interested in checking this trend.

Ever since the 2003 central industrial package was announced in the state, there has been a rush of pharmaceutical units in and around the town. According to an estimate, nearly 40 pharmaceuticals units have set up their operations in Solan. A majority of them have rented accommodation lie in thickly populated areas. 

The most alarming trend, however, is the existence of these units along with residences on different floors of the same buildings. Despite the issue being brought to the knowledge of the district administration, nothing has been done to check this adverse trend.

This situation has exposed the residential areas to several hazards. Notably, a number of explosions have already taken place in some of these units due to snag in machinery. While the entire buildings faces damage in such eventualities, it is a virtual danger to the lives of those residing in such buildings. Further, the emission of hazardous waste by these units further exposes the dwellers to skin diseases and other problems if the chemical effluents are not treated and dumped properly.

In such case, a unit located at Shamti has polluted an entire water body, forcing the residents to fetch water from far for their domestic requirements. Several complaints made by the residents failed to bring any action. The toxic effluents duped in the public drains emit foul smell.

It belies logic how a single building can house both residential as well as industrial units. Several such units exist on the Kather bypass, Deoghat, Shamti, as well as Kumarhatti.

However, the officials have their own logic. While the municipal committee, which is supposed to ensure that it’s NoC has found the right use, has overlooked the issue the T&CP department has sent cursory notices that in the absence of a proper follow up become defunct.

The executive officer of the municipal committee B. R. Negi says, “It’s for the house to take such a decisions on what action has to be taken. I can only act after the house takes up the matter and decides upon an appropriate action.”

This was, however, tantamount to shrugging off the onus as being the administrative head of the committee, an executive officer was well equipped to take action in this manner. However, no action has been taken till today.

Moreover, how power and water connections had been issued on such buildings having two types of use is not clear. Officials said it was the influential people managed to get away with such irregularities.

On the contrary, a common man finds it difficult to avail even a genuine NoCs. For instance, a person who went to get a house plan approved from the T&CP was unable to furnish a water availability certificate from the Irrigation and Public Health Department and hence his plan was not approved.

This has put a question mark on the regulatory authorities and a common man is compelled to question the hypocrisy. If the municipal committee, T&CP, Power and other departments do not want to adhere to these norms what is the utility of these departments? questions a common man.

Bumper crop, bumper problem
Rakesh Lohumi

Marketing of apple has always been a tricky affair. A bumper crop does not always mean bumper returns to the apple growers but it does create a variety of problems for them. Despite all arrangements, the growers have to put up with the shortage of packaging material and trucks for transportation of the produce and more importantly bad roads. The glut in the market sends the prices crashing and making the growers all the more vulnerable to exploitation by the arhtias.

This is a bumper crop season and the total apple production is estimated to be over 2.4 crore standard boxes as against 1.32 crore boxes produced last year. So far only 87 lakh boxes have been sent to various market outside the state. Flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rain in August disrupted vehicular traffic in most parts of the state. Not only the road in the interior but even the Shimla-Kalka National Highway, the Hindustan-Tibet highway and other major roads leading to Rohru, Kotkhai, Chopal, Dalash and Taklech in the apple belt were blocked repeatedly.

The growers in the mid-hill areas had to delay plucking of fruit by more than a week, which upset the normal harvesting schedule. Normally during the peak season up to 900 trucks move out of the state daily but this year the number came down to around 200 trucks in between August 11 and 14 when heavy rain caused havoc in the entire state.

The situation has since improved and 550 to 600 trucks are being sent to market every day. The problem of apple transportation has been defying solution all these years as monsoon and harvesting season coincides. More than 60 per cent of the crop is harvested during August when the rainy season is at its peak.

The government has launched a crash programme to improve and upgrade the road network under which major roads in the apple belt are being covered. The availability of heavy earth moving machinery both in the government and private sectors is proving a boon as blockades are now being cleared promptly in most cases. The Public Works Department instantly requisitions the services of private contractors to ensure that traffic is restored at the earliest.

The marketing pattern is also changing with small growers preferring to send their produce to agriculture markets located within the state. Over the past five years markets in places like Rhoru, Narkanda, Dhalli, Solan and Parwanu have started attracting growers. Over 22,000 boxes were being sold daily in the Dhalli market and so far about 7 lakh boxes have been sold off in local markets. As a result, the dependence on the Delhi market, where more than 70 per cent of the fruit is disposed off, is decreasing. It is a good sign, as it will help in breaking the monopoly of arhtias in the Asia’s biggest agriculture market who are notorious for exploiting the growers. Utility vehicles were in great demand as the small growers were now sending their produce to market in smaller vehicles instead of trucks.

The prices have been on the lower side, as the quality of fruit is not good as orchards over a large area in the upper Shimla region, which accounts for almost 80 per cent of the total production, were affected by hailstorm. Besides, dry spell hit the size, colour and juice contents. The superior grade royal delicious variety is selling at Rs 700 to Rs 800 per standard box, which was Rs 200 less than last year. The rich-a-red variety was fetching Rs 550 to Rs 600 per box as compared to Rs 650 to Rs 700 per box last year.

Over the past two years some big business houses like the Adani group and Reliance group have entered the market. The growers will certainly benefit as their operations grow in the state over the next couple of years. 

Road to connectivity
Construction work on the road link from Chamba to Killar via Sach Pass is in full swing
Kulwinder Sandhu

The construction work on one of the most treacherous roads of Himachal Pradesh, the 170 km long Chamba-Killar state highway, passing through the 14,500-feet Saach Pass, is going on a war footing. However, it would take an year for the road to be opened for heavy vehicles.The construction work between Bhagotu and Chandrabhaga Bridge at Sukrali is in full swing these days. More than 300 labourers are working for over 10 hours daily on this highway, even in the adversaries of weather.

Chief engineer of the public works department (north zone) R.S. Kanwar says that the jeepable road between Bhagotu-Killar is one of the most hazardous road stretches of the hilly state because of the hard rock strata and sharp gradients.

The construction work on this road had begun way back in the year 1962 and Rs 50crore has been spent on the construction of this road. Last year, the bus service was started between Barragarh and Bhagotu on July 10 but it continued only for a few days as a sudden snowfall on Saach Pass forced the authorities to suspend it. 

This year, the road was opened by the PWD for vehicular traffic on June 26, after clearing the heavy snow from both sides from Bhagotu towards Saach Pass and from Satrundi to Saach Pass. Again the bus service between Chamba and Bhagotu was introduced from June 30.On transit shipment basis, two light vehicles (maxi cabs) of the HRTC carry the bus passengers from Bhagotu to Killar through the 30 km jeepable stretch between Bhagotu and Killar.

The Chamba-Killar state highway has been a dream of the people of Chamba district since it is the lone road connectivity to Killar, which is the headquarters of tribal belt of Pangi from the district headquarters of Chamba. The tribal people are looking forward to see that their long-awaited desire of motorable road is converted into a reality as this road has assumed greater significance over the years. The alternative road connectivity to Killar is either from Manali-Keylong-Udaypur or from Pathankot via Jammu, Kishtwar and Gulabgarh, which falls under Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir that is a terrorist affected belt. However, these two alternate roads often remain closed for the flow of vehicular traffic.

The 21 km stretch between Bhagotu and Chanderbhaga bridge at Shukrali has been covered under Bharat Nirman Yojna and an outlay of Rs 15crore has been made for the cutting, formation and retaining structures for this road under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna. As many as 20 contractors including one lady contractor Shring Lama have been awarded contracts for numerous works on this road stretch. The construction works come to a grinding halt after heavy snowfall. Moreover, the entire Pangi valley in Chamba district has an extremely difficult terrain coupled with indifferent climatic conditions. Notwithstanding, the state government is committed to provide 100 per cent road connectivity to all the 16 panchayats of this tribal belt within the next three years, claimed the chief engineer R.S. Kanwar.

Presently, only 14 panchayats are connected with motorable and jeepable roads. The Pangi valley has a population of about 21,000 people, spread over an area of 1,601 square kilometers with 54 inhabited villages. So far, the motorable road length of 140 km has been completed within the valley, apart from the jeepable stretch of 57 kilometers.

Earlier, the tribal people were required to undergo an ordeal of 800 km long journey to reach Killar from Chamba via Mandi, Kullu, Manali, Keylong, Udaipur and it took at least four days to reach Killar. Unfortunately, this road is also blocked for the past four months.

The road link from Chamba to Killar via Sach Pass would indeed be one of the remarkable features of road connectivity in the history of the means of communication. This is known as Alwas-Killar road and it is part of the Ahju khara-Mukh-Chamba-Tissa- Alwas-Killar road. The road from Chamba to Killar meanders through Tissa, Barragarh, Kalaban, Satrundi, Saach Pass and Bhagotu.  

Integrating efforts for industrial progress
Jagmeet Y. Ghuman

The industrial fraternity of the region has finally found some tangible support from political circles. Cutting across party lines, six of the state’s seven MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have promised to work out a common proposal for industry betterment. In a meeting held between CII and the HP Council, the six MPs have asked the council to frame an industries growth proposal. The MPs have further assured full support to CII delegates.  

Led by the chairman of HP CII Council Rajinder Guleria, the delegates of various industries associations from Baddi, Parwanoo, Kala Amb and Paonta Sahib attended the meeting. MPs told the CII delegates that there should be a legal road map for industries betterment. Keen to see Himachal a leader in industries growth, they have also suggested for a combined approach rather to do separate efforts.  

Eco-friendly holiday
Located in the interiors of the state, eco-tourism resorts are emerging as a favourite holiday destination
Rakesh Lohumi

Congestion, aesthetic degradation and lack of basic infrastructure in popular hill stations is making tourists opt for a holiday at eco-tourism resorts. In the past two decades, tourist places like Shimla, Kullu, Manali and Kasauli saw speedy but unplanned growth.

The haphazard construction not only marred the scenic splendour but also created problems like water scarcity, traffic jams, shortage of parking space and congestion.

As a result, nature lovers and tourists who once thronged the hill resorts for a break are now heading towards resorts located in little known places. Over the past couple of years a number of eco-tourism resorts have come up in the state. Eco-tourism is being increasingly seen as a sustainable alternative to commercial tourism that has been responsible for aesthetic and environmental degradation of tourist places.

An eco-tourism resort does not require much investment and helps generate economic activity in the interiors. In fact, it is one area where underdevelopment works as a boon enabling the government to transform the underdeveloped area into an economic asset. It also fits in well in the new policy of promoting class tourism in place of mass tourism.

As there are no permanent structures at eco-tourism resorts, there is no change in the use of land. The resorts offer an opportunity to the tourists to experience the thrill of camping in breezy alpine heights.

The Camp Potters Hill that came up five years ago was the first such luxury resort to come up in the Summer Hill Van Vihar. Located close to Shimla, the thatched roof luxury cottages and deluxe tents offer all the comforts. Spread over 100 hectare the resort has numerous forest trails and only the chirping of birds breaches the silence of the resort.

The State Forest Development Corporation ventured into eco-tourism with a camp resort at Dhumni, close to Narkanda. The success of the venture in the very first year has prompted the corporation to replace tented accommodation with luxurious huts and by the start of next season 18 such huts costing about Rs 10 lakh will be set up here.

The tents and other material available from Narkanda will be used to set up another camp resort at Paneo, near the Jalori pass. Explains, managing director of the corporation, K Dass, “The placing of the tents will be such that nature lovers can enjoy the beauty of the place.” There will be more camps set up and attractive packages introduced for the eco-tourists.

An eco-tourism resort has also come up near Shoghi, about 3 km from Shimla-Kalka national highway. Other areas where private camp resorts are doing brisk business are at Mashobra, Kufri, Koti, Naldehra and Narkanda. Some well-known names in the business like Banjara Resorts have chosen the distant Sangla valley in Kinnaur as a location.

Eco-tourism will get further boost with the government’s policy to exploit the tourism potential in wild life and nature parks, sanctuaries and forest rest houses located in the thickly wooded areas in the interiors. An apex state eco-tourism society (EcoSoc) has been formed to promote nature tourism. The forest department, which is the nodal agency for eco-tourism, has already submitted a Rs 9 crore project for development of 12 eco-circuits in the state. The objective of the plan is to develop theme-based circuits with focus on local heritage, bio-diversity, flora and fauna, particularly the herbal resources for which the state is famous. The government has also decided to transfer the control of the 168 selected forest rest houses to the society that will improve them. 

STEP OUT
On the right trek
Yana Banerjee-Bey

It’s the peak of the trekking season and I have had queries from trekkers about blisters. So here are some tips. Buy proper trekking boots, not Hunters, as the cloth rubs against the soft skin above the heels and causes blisters. Buy footwear after noon. Your feet are bigger then! Generally, the right foot is half a size larger among women while the left foot is larger among men. The larger foot must be comfortable. The other can adjust.

Boots must be snug around the heels but allow toes to wiggle. Try them with and without towel socks. With the socks, the space before toes should disappear. On a trek, change into towel or thick woollen socks if walking downhill for long. Otherwise, with every step, your toes travel forward and press against the boot.

Break in boots by wearing at home, school, college or office and walking 5-6 km in them before hitting the trekking trail. If they are going to pinch or rub, you will know. Usually, a boot takes on your foot shape after a little use.

If you do get blisters on the actual trek, pierce the sac and take out the fluid. Use a fresh syringe and needle, or a sewing needle or safety pin (but sterilise in a flame first). Poke the sac and press the fluid out. Watch out for infection – especially during a monsoon trek. The environs should be clean and dry. After the fluid is out, swab with antiseptic and cover with a band-aid. Put on socks to keep covered and clean. Piercing the blister makes it heal fast, plus there is an immediate end to pain. Many people are squeamish about it – it doesn’t hurt at all because the skin is dead.

Avoid cotton socks in humidity. Cotton soaks sweat and dries slower than nylon and wool. The damp fabric lies in contact with the skin, making it blister-prone.

When putting on boots, ensure there is no wrinkling. Your socks’ elasticated hems must be in good condition. Socks with loose elastic can bunch up around ankles and under soles – a recipe for blisters.

If you are saddled with ill-fitting boots, one solution is to wear anklets (similar to knee caps) under your socks. If the problem area is the toes, wind-tape or band-aid around individual toe. Usually, one suffers blisters only on the first day’s walk.

After reaching the camp, pierce and bandage them and you will not have any pain or fresh blisters for the rest of the trek as the spots will be bandaged and protected against friction. Keep walking!

(This column appears fortnightly)

The writer has authored India’s first handbook of adventure sports and is available at y.bey@excite.com

vignettes
It’s all about the ball game
by Shriniwas Joshi

Shimla’s remained the ultimate symbol of many enviable sports brought here by the Raj and tennis is one of them

Wherever Roger Federer sports his racquet, the crowd is there.When I, as one of the ten thousand capacity spectators in Lindner Family Tennis Court, went to see him in the finals of Cincinnati Masters, where he made short work of the American James Blake — beating him 6-1; 6-4— I had fulfilled my desire of seeing the world’s number 1 tennis star playing alive in front of me. He completed a half-century of career in ATP titles by this win. It was a predictable result but the nature of victory further asserted his dominance over men’s tennis in the last few years. The American, despite large support, dug his own grave by making double faults and often shooting the ball out. Federer said after the win, “James goes for a bit more and misses more. It’s quite simple how you have to play against him.”

The tennis here at Cincinnati took me to Shimla, the topography of which is suited to small-area games. With the sporting interest in India now inclining towards tennis, the town has no tennis court worth the name being used for the purpose except, perhaps, one in the Bishop Cotton School. The state government also has no tennis court in its agenda but is concentrating on raising a cricket stadium here. Tennis, however, has been the burning subject for all those who wrote on Shimla. I find an interesting comment by William Dalrymple in Surrey in Tibet, “Despite its extreme remoteness and inaccessibility, Shimla was about Englishness, and the cloying nostalgia of the English exile for home. The town was an escape from the heat, but it was also, tacitly, an escape from India. As one disapproving official put it, ‘sedition, unrest and even murderous riots may have been going on elsewhere in India, but the burning questions in Shimla are polo finals, racing and the all-absorbing tennis tournaments.’ Simla was, and remains, the ultimate symbol of the enviable —- if ludicrous and somewhat careless - self-confidence of the Raj at its high Victorian climax.”

History says that tennis in its current form was played in Britain in 1870s. It was introduced to Shimla in 1888 by the Viceroy Lord Dufferin when a new club was formed here. It possessed a fine covered tennis court. The club failed to compete with its rival United Service Club, closed down in 1891, re-emerged as Hotel de Paris and was later renamed the Grand Hotel. Besides the club, most of the bungalows and cottages in Shimla belonging to the British had tennis courts. Later, Blessington Courts were used in summers for playing tennis, but the credit for arranging tournaments in Himachal Pradesh, in which national heroes participated, goes to Raja Durga Singh of Baghat State. During his reign, Ghouse Mohammed, India’s then undisputed numero uno who had reached the quarter finals at Wimbledon in 1939, had participated in the tournaments held regularly at Solan.

Tennis lovers of Shimla may, however, be happy to know that the lifetime vice-president Graham Tomkinson of Hartham Park Sticke Club in South England, while compiling history of the once popular recreational sport, has found out that ‘sticke tennis’ can be played in IIAS building indoor court built in 1888, which is one of the three surviving playable courts in the world. The other two are in England at Hartham Park in Corsham, Wiltshire built in 1904 and Knightshayes Court in Tiverton, Devon built in 1907.

The club is dedicated to reviving enthusiasm in the indoor game invented in the 19th century as a cross between lawn tennis, real tennis and rackets. Thirty-eight such ‘sticke tennis courts’ were built in England and the British empire, of which only three had survived.

The sticke variety of tennis is played with standard racquets and low-pressure tennis balls. Played by both men and women, it takes place using all the basics of tennis and the same scoring system, with the addition of side and back walls as in squash, but with players in pairs opposed over the net. The dimensions of the court are 78 ft. by 27 ft. as compared to 78 ft. by 36 ft. dimensions of lawn tennis court for doubles.

Tailpiece

Warning: Never fall in love with a tennis player for “love” means nothing or zero to him.

The Shanty Town
Ravinder Sood

Bhawarna, an ancient town of Kangra, 12km from Palampur, is crying for the attention. This town, which used to be a major business centre of the Kangra valley, is losing most of its business activities to nearby places like Palampur, Kangra and Sujanpur Tira. Thanks to the apathy of the state government who has not initiated any step for its development.

The town is devoid of the basic amenities. Roads with potholes, overflowing drains, contaminated drinking water are making living here a nightmarish experience and turning the town into a huge slum. Almost all interior streets of the town are in bad shape. Due to overflowing drains, the water collects on these streets.

Some of the paved streets have been damaged due this. Garbage piles up in every corner of the town. As there is no sewerage system in the town, the sanitary condition of the town is unhealthy and deplorable, giving rise to a number of health problems.

Ishwar Dass Dogar, a senior citizen of the town, sewerage system should be given top priority, as the condition is alarming. Apart from this, the there is also a shortage of potable water. The drinking water, supplied to the residents, carries mud and other waste material and is not fit for human consumption. Water from Kirpal Chand Kuhal is also posing problem as in rainy season it enters into to shops and houses.

Besides, the narrow Palampur-Hamirpur state highway, which passes through this town, has become a major problem for the residents with its frequent traffic jams. At present, this town is being governed by the panchyat, which has no funds. There has been an increase in the population and the panchyat is finding it difficult to sustain its developmental activities with meager funds allotted to it.

The residents’s demands include the basic amenities at par with other towns of the state like streets lights and good roads. They feel the Panchyat should be permitted to charge toll tax from the vehicles and tax on the sale of liquor so that it could raise its own resources. 

The primary health centre that looks after the medical needs of over 2 lakh residents of the area is in a bad shape. There is always shortage of doctors and has no provisions to attend to emergencies.

All serious cases are referred the civil hospital at Palampur or Dr Rajinder Parshad Medical College at Dharmshala. Many a time patient dies before reaching Dharmshala.  Though the government had installed an x-ray machine in the hospital, it seldom works and patients are asked to get their x-rays done from outside which is not costly but time consuming too.

Acting on a public complaint chief minister Virbhadara Singh recently transferred the entire staff. Now it is expected that thing would improve and people would get better health facilities.

Anandi-Kamal award for Delek Hospital
Kulwinder Sandhu

Recognising the humanitarian work, the Voluntary Health Association of India, a Delhi-based registered health care organisation, has decided to honour the Tibetan Delek Hospital at Dharamsala with the Anadi-Kamal award of the year. 

Alok Mukhopadhyay, chief executive of the association, in a congratulatory letter to health minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile Kesang Y. Takla had stated that the hospital was providing cost- effective healthcare system to their community with preventive and rehabilitative health care system.

Takla said this recognition was appreciated by her government-in-exile and especially by the hardworking staff members and volunteers of the hospital. She further expressed her appreciation for the growing services at Delek hospital to serve the community.

Meanwhile, the health department of the Central Tibetan Administration had deputed Dawa Phunkyi, the administrator of Delek hospital to receive the award on September 11 in Jaipur.

The VHAI started the Anadi-Kamal award in honor of famous Sanskrit scholars and freedom fighters Anadi Nath Mukherjee and Kamala Mukherjee for their extraordinary services in undertaking creative food for work programme, creating employment and building community infrastructures to thousands of affected families during the great Bengal famine in 1943.

The organisation advocates people-centred policies for dynamic heath planning and initiates support to innovative health and development programmes.  

CITIZEN FIRST
Highway’s sanitation drive

This is in reference to an article in your paper on 22 August. Himachal government has been allotted funds for sanitation work and though a beginning has been made there is a lot more to be done. Panchayats in the state are working towards providing sanitary facilities in villages but work needs to be done along the highways too. A huge number of trucks are stationed on highways during mornings. The drivers, cleaners and even the migrated labourers add to the filth . Due to all this the water points also get polluted. A provision of adequate toilet facilities on the highway can solve the problem.

J.C. Nijhawan, Solan

Readers, write in

Make Himachal Plus your very own forum and do yourselves and your neighbours a good turn. Highlight civic and other public issues, and air your grievances about government negligence and ineffectiveness, and the apathy of officialdom. Send in write-ups, not exceeding 150 words, to Himachal Plus, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh, or e-mail at himachalplus@gmail.com 

shimla Diary
Khachi basks in Priyanka’s glory

Kehar Singh who has the power of attorney of Priyanka Gandhi’s land. — Photo by S. Chandan

Being the one with the power of attorney given by none other than Priyanka Gandhi for fulfilling formalities required for purchase and construction of a house in the Shimla hills, Kehar Singh Khachi, a Congress leader is the most sought after man these days.

Keen to have an abode in Charabra, a favourite haunt of Priyanka and husband Robert Vadera, she has bought four bighas of land on the outskirts of the town. These days his name appears in every newspaper as he readily shares every bit of information he has about the plans of the high profile family regarding the construction of the house. Being an office bearer of the District Congress Committee people are already approaching him as they feel he would be in a position to get them a party ticket in the Assembly elections due in February. Having helped Priyanka acquire a chunk of land of her liking, he fulfilled all the formalities regarding the registration of land. “I consider myself lucky that I have got this opportunity to interact with a member of the Gandhi family and do something for them,” he says.

He says what makes him even happier is the fact that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a special fondness for the area around the Retreat, the Rashtrapati Bhavan and wanted to have a house here. If not her at least her grand daughter will become a resident of the state.

Day for the Army wives

It was an action-packed week for the wives of the Faujis as they organised a number of activities as part of celebrations of the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) Day, falling on August 23.

The activities spread over a provide yoga education and information on homeopathy, health and hygiene. The wives of the men in olive participated in healthy baby competition, clean housing, rangoli and mehndi contests. The grand finale was organised on August 26, where families of the Army personnel presented a cultural programme. The chief guest at the competition, Neeharika Naidu, president, AWWA, Army Training Comand (ARTRAC), gave away the prizes. She exhorted the families to maintain high moral values so that their husbands can fight the enemies on the war front.

Parking woes

There seems to be no end to the traffic and parking woes in capital as no amount of parking lots seem to be sufficient, especially during the peak tourist season.

Though most of the parking areas have been made by the local municipal corporation but now even the tourism department has made one near Hotel Holiday Home on Cart Road. The three storeyed parking lot, having a capacity of 100 vehicles was inaugurated by chief minister Virbhadra Singh last week.

The government proposes to create four other parking areas in town to meet the parking needs of the residents as well as visitors from outside. The problem pertains not just to the parking of vehicles coming from outside but in most parts of the town, residents park their vehicles on the roads.

Though the government is making it mandatory for keeping parking space in every house but with land being a limitation, it is not being implemented strictly. As such the parking of vehicles on the already narrow hilly roads adds to the traffic congestion. 

This is no acting
Pratibha Chauhan

Lending her voice to issues like female foeticide, honour killings and domestic violence against women take up most of her time. No wonder, it’s hard for her to spare some moments for acting or script writing, the other love of firebrand CPM leader Subhashini Ali.

Being the president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, Subhashini Ali is taking up issues concerning women, be it in the tribal areas of Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand or in Kerala and West Bengal.

“Unless and until women are able to exert pressure on political parties and dispel the notion that they can be voted to power on caste lines alone, the Women’s Reservation Bill would not become a reality,” she opines.

Subhashini feels the elevation of Pratibha Patil to the post of President is a tribute to women in public life but the fact that now NRI’s are coming to India to get their female foetus aborted reflects the shameful state of affairs.

“It is a fact that somewhere deep in their hearts, people have a preference for sons and automatically hold sympathy for all those aborting the unborn daughters,” she says. She feels that there has been a complete lack of political will in implementing the PNDT Act and there is a need for better monitoring.

Her heart pains for the sister and the widowed mother of the Kaithal youth who became victim of honour killing. “The fact that they were even denied a kalash by the village potter for keeping the slain boy’s ashes for fear of being ostracised reflects the sad state of affairs in our country,” she rues. She strongly feels that there should be some strict legislation to punish the caste panchayats who had become self-styled judicial bodies.

She is surprised at the manner in which marriages have taken place in Himachal for seeking the job of anganwadi, for which the government had put the condition of being a native of that village mandatory. “I am shocked to see the many different aspects of dowry existing in our society and marriages taking place only for a job,” she remarked.

Subhashini, who last featured in the film Asoka, could once again be associated with acting and film making as her director son prepares to make a film on the INA and role of his grandparents, Col Sehgal and Lakshmi Sehgal, who contested the presidential election against A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, last time.

“I would love to be involved with the scriptwriting as both films and theatre are very powerful mediums but there is little time I find for all this,” she says.