Vignettes: The way the government works

There are several bhararis in Himachal Pradesh. Etymologist Dr Vidya Chand Thakur writes that bharari is the corrupt form of "barar" which means bush-berry. These places have been named Bharari because all these had either bushes or trees of the fruit "ber". Presently, I am talking of that sunny, silent locality in the north of Shimla known as Bharari. It is 3 km from Lakkar Bazaar. It was connected by a single unmetalled road till 1914, and called today as the upper Bharari road. Many buildings like North Oak (the present Chapslee School), Petersfield, Cloverly (the present Police Lines), Groombridge (the present Nanak Kuti) and Brance Peth (the present Laureate Public School) dotted the road. The second road to Bharari, now called Lower Bharari road, was built in 1914-15 by the side of which the British had raised three beautiful villas – Hermillena, Garshui and Dawlish. Barring Garshui, the other two have been converted into flats.

The Lower Bharari road, now, is the main connect to Shimla – good for pedestrians and motorists because it has a levelled gradient. With the upcoming of localities at Dudhli, Ragyan and Kamiana villages, besides Kuftadhar and lower and upper Bharari, the traffic on this road is regular and steady. The hills on the sides of the road, since 1914, were enjoying the angle of repose. One fine day the PWD decided to disturb this angle. Why? I do not know, but hearsay is that it was done to benefit the contractor to get stones from a nearby place so that he could to do the soiling of an adjacent road. One voice was that the contractor was the blue-eyed boy of a high-flier, who wanted to help him. There were as many voices as there were tongues, but all smelt a rat.

JCBs were put into operation and the hill on the side of commonly called Bara Mor (the big turn) was dug open. The unscientific way of digging washed a portion of the road to a khad carrying the newly built parapet with the debris. Why were the parapets made earlier, if the hill on the side of the road was to be dug? Anyhow, the debris blocked the way of not only vehicle-drivers, but also of pedestrians for a day or so. The hillock here today presents a hazardous picture with big rocks popping out of the hillock (See Photo). Any day, any mishap can happen. Gauging the danger to which the PWD has put the public to, the Executive Engineer concerned has installed two boards on the ends of the dangerous portions (See Photo). The wordings on the board indirectly mean: “We have done what we wanted to do and passers-by should now take care of themselves”. This type of work puts the government to go on backfoot and with all its intention of doing well for the public, it earns a bad name.

I want to inform that Shimla hills as a part of the Himalayas is one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world and these were formed by plate movement and are fold-mountains. These, because of tectonic pressure and dynamics, have not stabilised. The Himalayas have to be seen in a sharp contrast with the igneous rock-based mountain ranges such as the Aravallis, Vindhyas and Satpuras, which are amongst the oldest mountain ranges in the world and are relatively stable. Our hills are still in a state of metamorphosis. Young, unstable hills have a tendency to suffer from landslide. Soil stability is ensured by vegetation, ranging from grasses to shrubs to trees. The photograph shows that it is not possible to grow vegetation here – the damage has been done beyond repair. It may need a big retaining wall or let the rocks slip till the hill attains the new angle of repose. Wallace Stegner writes in "Angle of Repose": “It is touch that is the deadliest enemy of chastity, loyalty, monogamy, gentility with its codes and conventions and restraints.” Touch these unstable hills and the result is as you see it.

Tailpiece

How the government works? It breaks your legs, sells a wheelchair to you, then regulates your use of the wheelchair. Finally, it assures you that without the government you wouldn’t be getting around so well.