My Himachal 2008

लाहल परमपराओ की घाटी म घर करती आधनिकता की

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

तयोहारो पर भी इस बदलाव का असर साफ दिखता ह बौध सामपरदाय क परति झकाब क कारण लाहल म लोसर को नववरष क तौर पर मनाय जान की परमपरा ह जो फरवरी-मारच म पडता हhellipलकिन अब यवाओ को 31 दिसमबर का हललड जयादा भाता ह और वोह मारच का इतजार किए बगर जनवरी म हपपी नय इयर कहकर लडकिया छडन का मजा लटन को पराथमिकता दत ह

हलाकि हालडा जस मौक पर अभी भी जयादा रौनक होती ह पर उस पर भी अब होली का हललड भारी होता जा रहा ह लाहल म एक और खास उतसव परचलित ह जो पर दश म सामदायिक भाईचार का अनठा उदहारण ह यह ह गौची उतसव जिसम हर गाव क लोग अपन यहा एक साल क भीतर पदा हए लडको की खशी सामहिक तौर पर मनात हएक तय दिन पर सामहिक पजा होती ह जिसम सभी लडको का नवजातक ससकार होता रहा हhellipपर अब इसम भी बदलाव आया ह

कारदग क परधान दोरज मानपा क अनसार अब लोगो क पास पसा आ गया ह जिस कारण कोई साल भर इतजार नही करता और अपनी

सविधानसार पतर रतन का जशन मना लता ह दोरज बतात ह कि गौची को लकर गाहर घाटी म तो उललास दखत ही बनता थासाल भर की तयारी की बाद लामाओ की टोलिआ सामहिक पजा करती और फिर जशन मनाया जाता पर अब तो लामा भी मिलन मशकिल हो गए ह आधनिक यग म लोग अपन बटो को लामा नही बना रह जिसकारण कई ससकारो को परण करन का सकट पदा हो गाया ह हालाकि लामा नही बनान की सथिति म लोगो पर जरमाना भी लग रहा ह पर यह यकति भी काम नही कर रही लोग जरमाना चकान की हसियत जो पा चक ह पर इस हसियत क कारण परानी हसियत का हास हो रहा ह जो यहा की विशष पहचान रही ह

दरअसल लाहल म इस बदलाव को कलल म समाजशासतर क परवकता रामलाल ठाकर जो खद लाहल स ह लाहल म हयी बाहरी घसपठ स जोडत ह और उनक मताबिक यह घसपठ रोहताग स जयादा हयी ह परान जमान म रोहताग स आवागमन इतना सगम नही थाhellipहालाकि घाटी क भीतर आवागमन खला रहता था पर चकि उसपार सभी एक सी ससकति वाल थी लिहाजा जीवन मलय और परगाढ़ होत रह लकिन रोहताग स सडक पहचन क साथ ही सब कछ घलना शर हो

BY Sanjeev Sharma BY Sanjeev Sharma

लाहल परमपराओ की घाटी म घर करती आधनिकता की

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

गाया जो अब इस कगार पर पहच गया ह लकिन अगर रामलाल का आकलन सही ह तो फिर तो यह मातर शरआत ह रोहताग सरग और लह की रल तो अभी आनी बाकी हजो अपन साथ परयटको का रला लायगी और परी दनिया म यह बात मशहर ह कि परयटक पसा तो लात ह पर परमपराए ल जात हhellipतो कया लाहल बीत दिनो की बात हो जाएगा hellipकया यहा कि विलकषण ससकति मातर किताबो म सिमट कर रह जाएगीकया चनदर-भागा दवारा सिचित सभयता चिदी हो जाएगी

यह वोह यकष परशन ह जो मह बाय खड होन वाल हhellipऔर इनका उततर हम जस यायावरो को नही खद लाहल वालो को ही दनाढढ़ना ह कयोकि इस ससकति क पोषण और परितयाग की जबाबदही सिरफ और सिरफ उनही की ह आखिर बदब क डर स कभी दरवाज खिडकिया बद नही किए जात कयोकि शदध हवा भी तो वही स आती हइसलिए समझदारी इसी म ही ह कि शदध हवा भी न रोकी जाए और बदब को फलन नही दिया जाए

उनह काम क सिलसिल म बाहर रहना पडता ह जहा वोह गवार नही कहलाना चाहत और रोम

क नियम जसा दश वसा भष को अपना लत हhellipपर अब यह नियम घर म भी लाग हो रहा ह अधिकाश परष मातर टोपी पहन कर ही लाहली होन का ढोग करना सीख गए ह और उसी म खश ह

दरअसल यहा परष अब छब तो दर करत पाजाम म भी नही दिखत और यवा तो जीन म ही मिलगऔर फशन क यह ldquoजीनसldquo अब जीवन क हर खत म पललवित हो रह ह जनजातीय उतसव म अब मनदासी का गाया hellipभाई सा जी कलग का सला नही बलकि पॉप की धनो पर hellipदस बहान करक ल गयी दिल hellipगाया जाता ह और नाटी की धीमी लय पर डी ज की उछलकद भारी हो गयी ह

BY Sanjeev Sharma

Seabuckthorn brings New Dawn to Lahaul Himachal

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

Ladhak region of Jammu and Kash-mir Lahaul Spiti parts of Kinnaur and Chamba districts of Himachal Pradesh are together known as the cold des-erts of India Due to extreme tem-peratures and sparse forest cover life in these areas is too harsh beyond imagination Cut off from the rest of the country for most of the year peo-ple lived in these regions for ages with difficulty but lately natural resource-based livelihood initiative by people and the government alike has resulted in the economy of the place growing by leaps and bounds

On the basis of geographical condi-tions Lahaul amp Spiti district can be divided into two main regions ie Lahaul valley and Spiti valley Lahaul valley is situated towards west and covers an area of 6097 square kilo-meters In this valley mountain peaks range between 5480 metres and 6400 metres Right from October till

April the whole valley bears intense cold wave as temperature falls below -16 de-gree Celsius on average Due to preva-lence of cold and dry climatic conditions just a handful of tree species like Betula utilis Pinus wallichiana Juniper mac-ropoda Cedrus deodar and Hippophae rhamnoides can grow in this region But peoplersquos hard work has now made it pos-sible to grow other trees like Willow Sa-lix and Populas nigra More importantly people themselves are taking appropriate steps to protect these trees There are about 200 villages in Lahaul valley where with about 14000 farmers

The problem of soil erosion is widely prevalent in Lahaul leading to deposi-tion of silt in Chandra-Bhaga and Spiti rivers Landslides are also widespread and timber and fuel wood scarcity is also a perennial problem here To counter these problems the people of Lahaul val-ley have grown Willows on a very large scale But that was not enoughKeep-

BY Sanjeev Sharma BY D D Sharma

Seabuckthorn brings New Dawn to Lahaul Himachal

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

ing in view the aforesaid problems scientists involved in forest resource development in the region identified seabuckthorn (known as Chharma in local dialect) besides traditional crops like potato peas and medicinal plants as a sustainable solution Seabuck-thorn can be seen growing naturally in higher slopes of Lauhal amp Spiti Pangi area of Chamba district and Pooh divi-sion of Kinnaur district This tree pro-vides fuel protein rich fodder and is considered as good soil binder besides increasing soil fertility by enhancing nitrogen levels But above all its fruits is a rich source of vitamin C E and other nutrients Nowadays life-saving drinks cosmetics and medicines in the form of injections and oils are being prepared from its extracts and there-fore it is in great demand

Keeping in view its demand in do-mestic and foreign markets farmersrsquo organisations were formed in these

areas and the shrub was cultivated on commercial lines for the first time Dr Vi-render Singh a farm-forestry scientist from CSK HPKVV (Chaudhary Sarwan Ku-mar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishwavi-dalya) Palampur who has been working on development and promotion of sea-buckthorn for the last 15 years revealed that the plant has the potential to change the economy of the region He has been making people aware regarding latest re-search regarding seabuckthorn and how they can benefit from it

Recently a team from Policy Analysis and Planning Unit from HPFSR (Himachal Pradesh Forest Sector Reforms) visited Lahaul valley and evaluated the success of the initiative More number of SHGs NGOs and societies have come forward to take up seabuckthorn cultivation Presi-dent of Lauhal amp Spiti Seabuckthorn Soci-ety revealed that they have already been selling their produce to private companies

BY D D Sharma

What Ails My Dear Himachal

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

There is saying in Hindi ldquoKutte ki haddi ka sawaal hairdquo There was a dog which found a dry bone of some animal ly-ing in jungle He picked it up happily and sat in secluded place and started chewing it There was nothing inside the bone But the dog continued to chew it and his gums started bleeding The taste of blood satisfied the dog He continued to chew the bone and enjoy the taste of his own blood

This is the condition of an ordinary Himachali at present He is satisfied with the taste of his own blood oblivi-ous of the fact that it is his own blood he is sucking Today we find that the powers that may be are happy with surveys of Indian states and re-sults thereof It has been concluded that Himachal is the happiest state in the Union of India It will be As I said above that Himachalis are happy sucking their own blood

India attained freedom in the year 1947 and Himachal became a full fledged state in 1971 if I am not wrong All the states had an agenda of their progress but Hi-machal had none There was no agenda of bringing the state at par if not more than the neighboring states of Punjab JampK and Haryana We had no plans for development We never had any vision as to how our state could become a devel-oped state Our Himachalis continued to struggle on individual basis for their up-liftment As a result we continued to flee to plains to find greener pastures There-by becoming displaced persons Today one can find huge Himachali populations in Delhi Chandigarh and even Bombay They are not settled there out of choice but out of their helplessness to find even the basic amenities in our beloved state We look back towards Himachal with longing and ache in our heart Can an old man of sixty think of going back to Himachal and settle there for good No Definitely not

BY D D Sharma BY Thakur Ravi Singh Mandhotra

What Ails My Dear Himachal

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

The reason is not far to seek If he falls sick he has to be rushed to PGI Chandigarh or some private hospitals in Punjab Can an average Himachali afford to do so No And so he dies unattended in some remote village Why so Himachal has the best cli-mate for recuperating from diseases but lacks medical facilities Today Hi-machal could have been a Health state with a number of state of art hospi-tals We have none Thanks to poor vision of our leadership in sixties sev-enties and even till today Even now we are finding hospitals mushrooming in dirty climates of Punjab and Delhi but not in Himachal Half the illness of any person could be cured by the climate itself provided a person gets quality medical attention here

Then one can see the pathetic condi-tion of transportation in Himachal One has to see the condition of na-tional highway from Pathankot to

Manali to get the idea of transport sys-tem in our state This Highway came into prominence during Indo ndash China conflict in 1962 when the army used it to carry heavy artillery to Lahul Spiti After the conflict was over this highway lost its im-portance notwithstanding the fact that it is till date the only road which can be ef-fectively used by the Army to check any nefarious designs of China But who cares Perhaps one should wish that another war breaks out between India and China so that this highway gets his due from the NHAI This is just one road No other road can be said to be of standard except Simla Chandigarh road But of course it is uti-lized by all the big wigs to visit Delhi and Chandigarh

The less said about the railways is bet-ter British Government built two railway lines during the Raj One to Shimla for the obvious reason that they wanted it for shifting their capital during summers to Shimla The second line was built from

BY Thakur Ravi Singh Mandhotra

What Ails My Dear Himachal

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

Pathankot to Joginder Nagar in 1918 Since then neither it has been broad-ened by a single inch nor extended by a single inch One could see the proceedings of Railway Budgets in Parliament from 1950 onwards There have been no demand raised by Hi-machal Members of Parliament for providing rail facilities to this state This despite the fact that there had been MPrsquos from Congress as well as opposition parties sitting out the dis-cussions on railway budget year after year There can be trains to Laloorsquos in laws village but none for Himach-al Then the trains were extended to Jammu after that state persuade the Centre for providing railway line to it The trains which used to terminate at Pathankot were suddenly not even touching Pathankot One can only see the plight of our Defense personnel coming home for annual leaves carry-ing their luggage on their heads from Chakki Bank to Pathankot to gauge

the neglect of welfare of our people Who is to blame Centre Yes to some extent that they are not looking after the inter-ests of Himachal and our facilities are being sacrificed to appease non appeas-able Kashmiris Thousands of crores are being spent to take train to Srinagar At whose cost At our cost This will give a big boost to their economy and increase their tourism potential We will lose whatever little tourist traffic we have But who cares Perhaps the Himachali youth have to take to arms to get the attention of centre and I assure you that they are quite capable of that Our MPrsquos are happy singing praises of railway budgets year after year They forget that in India the basic fundamental of development is rail-way We have climate where we can grow anything that is grown on this planet But where do we take it for marketing in the absence of basic transport facility of rail-way

BY Thakur Ravi Singh Mandhotra BY Thakur Ravi Singh Mandhotra

St Bedersquos In Himachal Wont Be Allowed To Die ndash Ex-Bedians

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

ldquoWe wonrsquot allow itrdquo is what most ex-Bedianrsquos reacted to reports about their alma mater considering shutting down because of a teething financial crisis

An SMS message about providing fi-nancial assistance to keep the col-lege up and going is doing the rounds among former students of St Bedersquos

ldquoNobody would want St Bedersquos to shut downrdquo says Daisy Thakur a former student and a councilor in Parwanoo Municipal Corporation ldquoThe institution is synonymous with Shimlardquo Thakur mentioned having received an SMS from former Bedianrsquos about the finan-cial problems their alma mater was going through

To provide affordable education for girls the institute has been getting grants since British days After In-dependence a central government

agency under inspector of Anglo-Indian Schools was responsible for handing out grants to the institution

The college records showed that the issue of grants for running St Bedersquos was taken up as a Lok Sabha question in 1962 An amount of Rs 2940 was shown to have been handed out

Till 1970 the college was affiliated with Punjab University but after Himachal at-tained statehood in 1971 and a new uni-versity came up it got attached to HPU as a grant-in-aid college

The state government started tightening grants for private colleges in August 2002 and froze it at Rs 710 crores for all col-leges For Bedersquos against an expenditure of Rs 153 crore for 2007-08 the govern-ment released an amount of Rs 118 crore in May 2008 Now that the government has laid out rules for disbursing grants eq-uitably among other private colleges also

BY Ravinder Makhaik

St Bedersquos In Himachal Wont Be Allowed To Die ndash Ex-Bedians

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

a resource crunch threatens the foun-dations of the institution

However a section of students at St Bedersquos were not too happy the way the college was being run ldquoAll is not it well with the managementrdquo said a student not wanting to be identi-fied ldquothe college was better managed last year than what it is todayrdquo A new principal took over last May

ldquoFacilities in the college are going downrdquo says the young Bedian ldquolast year there was more activity on the campusrdquo

The alumni include former bureaucrat Usha Vohra wife of NN Vohra who is the governor of Jammu and Kashmir parliamentarian Parneet Kaur wife of Capt Amaninder Singh the former chief minister of Punjab and famous columnist Talveen Singh

With market forces exerting pressure on most academic institutions for a college that started with a batch of 15 students in 1904 and withstood such difficult pe-riods as the two world wars of 20th cen-tury going down under at a time when a resurgent Indian economy is pushing for setting up more institutions of excellence it would be a tragic should one allow St Bedersquos to die

BY Ravinder Makhaik BY Ravinder Makhaik

विदशी कया जानत ह हिमाचल परदश क बार म

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

दोसतो पिछल सात वरषो म म अमरीकी फरच चीनी तरक ईरानी सवीड जरमन रसी डच कोरियन अफरीकी और अरजटीनी नागरिको का साथ उठता-बठता रहा ह | जब उनस पहली बार मिलत हए जब अपना परिचय दता ह तो व अकसर पछत ह कि यह हिमाचल ह कहा फिर शर होता ह सिलसिला भारत का नकषा चितरिक करक कशमीर तिबबत पजाब और दिलली क दकषिण पशचिम परव और उततर म हिमाचल दिखान का | अगर कह कि हिमाचल हिमालय म ह तो उनको माउट अवरसट और नपाल दिखाई दता ह | पर अगर कह यह वह परदश ह जहा दलाई लामा न शरण ली ह तो कई लोग कह उठत ह अचछा ldquoधरमशालाldquo क पास |

फिर सिलसिला चलता ह उनको पहाडो की ऊचाई नदियो और बधो क नाम गिनान का और यह बतान का कि हिमाचल दवभमि ह | बात निकलती ह तो बरफ का परयटन का जिकर होता ह | फसलो और फासलो का जिकर होता ह | हमारी परगति और पिछडपन का जिकर होता ह | ऐसी अनको वारतालापो का निचोड आपक समकष परसतत कर रहा ह यह सोच कर कि इस सवाल-जवाब स मन जो समझा-सीखा वो शायद हमार परदश की परगति

क परति उठाय जान वाल कदमो का मारगदरशक बनगा |

हम कहत ह कि हिमाचल भारत का सविटजरलड ह | यह कहा तक सच ह अगर पराकतिक सौदरय की बात कि जाए तो हिमालय की भवयता की तलना किसी भी पहाडी इलाक स नही की जा सकती | परनत जिस परकार खान स निकला हआ हीरा जोहरी की कोशिश क बिना बकार पतथर-सा बनाम रहता ह जस बिना आभषण वसतर सवारन-सवारन क बिना किसी सतरी का रप अदशय रहता ह बिना सही वयवसथा और कोशिश क हिमाचल का सविटजरलड सा बन पाना लगभग असभव ह |

सविस लोग समय क बहत पाबनद होत ह | बस अगर पाच बज कर बारह मिनट प आएगी कहा हो तो जयादा स जयादा २0-३० सकिड ही लट होती ह | सडक हर साल धवसत नही होती पल नदी क साथ नही बहत और लोग यहा-तहा कडा नही फकत | जगह-जगह शौचालय और मतरालय बन होत ह | आप इस एक बरा नजरिया या उदाहरण कह सकत ह पर यह शौलाचय सडक किनार बन तकरीबन सभी डाभो स जयादा साफ सथर होत ह | कभी भी बस लठयानी घमारवी भराडीघाट सवारा भोटा सवारघाट म रकती ह हमारी अदरदरशिता एक क बाद एक

BY Dr Vivek Sharma

BY Dr Vivek Sharmaविदशी कया जानत ह हिमाचल परदश क बार म

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

दकानो-मकानो की ओट म बिखरी नजर आती ह | अमरीका म हर रसतरा हर ldquoढाबldquo हर बस सटाप पर साफ सथर मतरालय बन होत ह | माना बीस-तीस साल पहल पहाडो म शौचालय होत ही नही थ पर अब हम परगति क मकाम चडन की बात करत ह परनत मलभत जररतो को अनदखा कर दत ह | य तो कानन बना कर हर ढाब हर रसतरा म वयवसथा करवाई जा सकती ह परनत हम खद ऐसी समसयाओ को पहचान कर उनका समाधान ढढना चाहिए |

कभी कभार मझ भारत और हिमाचल म घम हए विदशियो स मिलकर पता चलता ह कि वो हमार दश म हमस जयादा घम चक ह | यहा ससकत म रचि लन वाल बदधिजीवियो कि कमी नही | महाभारत रामायण कालिदास क पदय कबीर क दोह भगवद गीता क अनवाद गाधीजी कि आतमकथा रशदी क नावल योग स ल कर तिबततियो क ऊपर हए चीनी अतयाचारो स अवगत लोगो स जब म बात करता ह तो सोचता ह कि हमर दश-परदश म आदि गरथो स ल कर समकालीन साहितय क परति कितनी अरचि कितना अनादर ह | मर विदशी मितर पछत ह कि हमार परदश म विशवविदयालय तो ह परनत विशव पटल पर छाप छोडन

वाला शोध यहा कय नही होता कोई साहितयकार कलाकार खिलाडी रासटरीय और अतरराषटरीय मचो पर नजर कय नही आत किसी भी ससथान क विशव परसिदध बनन क लिए आवशयक ह कि पराधयापक और विदयारथी दोनो सहयोग स निषठा स परतिदिन परतिवरष महनत कर | मर विदशी मितरो क अनसार हिमाचल की शानति और रोजमररा की गति शिकषा और शोध ससथानो क लिए उपयकत ह | मरा मानना ह कि शायद हमार आतमविशवास की कमी ह कछ परयास की कमी ह कि दश क सबस जयादा पड-लिख लोग जहा बसत ह वह दश म जञानियो का करमसथल नही माना जाता | कहा हमार सभी परवज सतय और साधना क लिए हिमालय चडा करत थ कहा हम हिमालय कि गोद म बठ अपनी ही सभावनाओ स अपरिचित ह |

दखा जाए तो हिमाचल म फल-फल कनद-मल जडी-बटियो का भणडार ह | पर हम न इनह अचछी तरह पहचान पाय ह न इनका परा फायदा उठा पाय ह | सरकार न भारयसक परयास किया ह और परयटन परिवहन और किसानो क लिए काफी सविधाए उपलबध भी करवाई ह | परनत परयटक सथलो कि सफाई रसतराओ म खान का सवाद पगडडियो की मरमत मदिरो का रख-रखाव ससथानो

BY Dr Vivek Sharma

विदशी कया जानत ह हिमाचल परदश क बार म

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

म शोध कला-विजञान-खल म अभिरचि और अभिवयकति समय की पाबनदी सलभ शौचालयो और कडाघरो का परयोजन इतियादी हम नागरिको क निशचय और परयतन क बिना असाधय लकषय ही रहग | शायद बदरो क बडत परकोप का इलाज बदरो क सघार म ह और यदि आप रामायण पड चक ह तो याद कीजिय कि कस उसम शरीराम भी आतकी वानरो जानवरो को मारन स पीछ नही हटत थ | नना दवी जस हादस रोकना और ऐसा हादसा हो सकता ह सोच पाना हम सबक लिए एक चनौती ह | कोई बाहर स आकर कय हमारी सतिथि का जायजा ल हम बताय कि कया और कस करना चाहिए हम कय न सवविशलशन करक सवारथो को भला कर सवालबी बन कर सवयमव ही समसयाए सलझा ल मरा हमीरपर (और अनय) इनजिनीरिग कालज हिमाचल परदश विशवविदयालय क सभी विदयारथियो शिकषको समाज सवको पञच-परधानो स निवधन यही ह की वो आस और परयास समितिया बनाय जो हमार गावो कसबो विदयालयो मदिरो म परिवरतन लाय |

शायद अपन परदश स बहिर निकल कर म अपन परदश को जयादा समझ पाया ह | हमार

राजय म सख ह शानति ह और असीम सौदरय ह | यादो क झरमट म मदर का सवाद बदरो की छड-छाड सबो का रग चलह की रोटी बटर चिलर मदिरो की घटिया नदियो का ठडा पानी झलती चील की शाख सडको क अनगिनत मोड ह | यादो क झरमट म बस पहाडी भाई-बहन ह जिनका परिशरम सादगी शरधा इमानदारी मर जस सभी परवासी हिमाचलियो क लिए निरतर एक मिठास एक सतोष एक पररणा का साधन रहती ह |

पर जस अपन सबस परिय पतर स पिता सदव सरवोचच परदरशन की उममीद करता ह ठीक वस ही अपन घर-गराम-परदश की ओर नजर दौडाता ह तो काफी-कछ बदलना चाहता ह | जानता ह छोटी-बडी मशकिल ह मसीबत ह जिनका हल करना शायद मशकिल नही | परनत ldquoउदयमन ही सिधयनति कारयाणि न मनोरथः ldquo | इसलिए पहल समसयाओ को पहचान कर उनको समझ कर हम वो कदम उठान होग जिसस हमार परदश स निकला हर यवक-यवती जब कह की वह हिमाचली ह तो दखन वाल को सादा और इमानदार वयकति ही नही बलकि एक परगतिशील परतिभाशाली समदाय नजर आए |

BY Dr Vivek Sharma

BY Dr Vivek Sharma

MH EDITORIAL

HIMACHAL NEEDS A REGIONAL PARTY

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

Stranglehold of a two party system has led to political lethargy in Himachal where interests of the state are tram-pled under for vested interests whose power centers lie elsewhere

No visible protests are seen be it against the powerful cement lobby land mafia hydropower companies or other inter-ests that are increasingly encroaching upon rights of simple hill people

State leaders (no aspersions cast on their intentions) affiliated to national parties are constrained to work inde-pendently for there is a central High Command with a power nucleus whose interests are governed by brute demo-cratic majority to the disadvantage of a fringe hill people

Take the case of CementWe just have two major big cement units operating in Barmana and Dhar-laghat

And those who have traveled on the roads along these plants since the early 1980rsquos say road travel on the route has gone from good to bad and bad to worse

Yet the governments headed by either party (Congress or BJP) only tries to outdo each other in allotting cement units to industrial houses without bothering to take into ac-count the damage done to state infrastruc-ture environment and the social fabric

A landed peasantry gets uprooted in order to make way for these large cement units lowly paid jobs of truckers spending much time away from families are created mining and pollution renders nearby lands fallow scenic beauty of the landscape is scarred turning the place into a tourism and travel liability and the area becomes a hotbed for attracting AIDS

Consider this one of the best limestone mines needed for cement are reported to be in Uttrakhand But there are no cement

BY Ravinder Makhaik

BY Ravinder MakhaikHIMACHAL NEEDS A REGIONAL PARTY

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

units in either Uttrakhand nor in Jam-mu and Kashmir

One reason cement companies have not been able to penetrate these re-gions is because the people in these lands are strongly tied under regional parties which is not the case in Him-achal

Whatrsquos more the governments and courts by enforcing ban on green felling of forests for decades together a re-newable resource or making the prices of timber unaffordable to poor people inadvertently create a local market for cement units

It also kills the local wood craft artisans and adds to the problems of raging un-employment

Irsquom not for denuding the forests but sustainable development does warrant

judicious use of forest wealth

No national party alternately ruling the state will acknowledge these parameters of development because the levers of power operate from outside the state

And the state which lacks a regional party cannot defend the rights of its people on some of these issues

In the last decade I have heard none other than senior congressman Sukh Ram strong-ly oppose cement industry in the state as-sembly

More need to join in to assert our rights on our environment

Take the case of HydropowerThe mighty Sutlej has been flowing for mil-lenniums or ever since the Himalayas start-ed shaping up

Now because the oversized government

BY Ravinder Makhaik

HIMACHAL NEEDS A REGIONAL PARTY

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

cannot meet its rising expenditures it slices up the river and hands it to pri-vate and government companies for power generation

From a river flowing in harmony with the landscape it has become one of flowing gold where each megawatt of power is eyed as an potential goose that lays the golden egg

Look at the case of Pandoh dam divert-ing the River Beas decades ago

Mandi the town of temples is devoid of the life and freshness the river pro-vided to a religious life that must have existed when it had ghats where the religious offered their daily prayers

Norway is the largest producer of hy-dropower in Europe but it consciously has decided not to tap at least 30 per-cent of its existing potential because of environmental concerns

We have no such provisions in our policyOne can walk into the state self identify a hydro project and to hell with environmen-tal concerns peoples water rights and all else

Take the case of land mafiaNo government of the day is even boldly willing to acknowledge the presence of a land mafia

Thousands of benami property deals made on power of attorney or affidavits are re-ported in the media but no serious data is ever disclosed or an inquiry constituted to get to the truth

As the countryrsquos economy grows and as global warming impacts livelihoods the newer rich class buy up properties and farmlands in hills (some do so conveniently with the consent of the government and some without it)

BY Ravinder Makhaik

BY Ravinder Makhaik

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

Simple hill folks are bought out easily and banished from their traditional life-styles forever

If Himachal is to be defended for the people who have maintained the sanc-tity of the Himalayas then it has to be by people who judiciously realize what is good and what is bad for those who have inhabited these lands over centu-ries

Case for Regional PartySurely more than words are needed to support and fund a political outfit

Experiments have been tried earlier but it was Himachal Vikas Congress (maybe not a very good example) which dem-onstrated how a regional outfit could hold the balance of power in a highly polarized political system

Should a regional outfit get center stage (it will not get outright major-

ity but only a controlling stake) brakes to policy detrimental to states interests could be appliedAfter all a regional party is not answerable to any central High Command whose inter-ests at times trample upon the interest of the people living here

Living in isolated valleys where political power is still feudal in nature to form a re-gional party would need cutting across the divide of lower and upper areas

Somebody needs to put a spike in this wheel of alternate power sharing arrange-ment where the game is played out as ndash lsquoyou scratch my back I scratch yourrsquo

Unless the status quo is not threatened no movement forward can be envisioned

If the Himalayas cannot be defended by Himalayan People nobody else willforever

HIMACHAL NEEDS A REGIONAL PARTYBY Ravinder Makhaik

MH INTERVIEWS

An Interview with Ben Heron for the SEED

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

Shimla Hello friends Today Irsquom very glad to introduce you and talk to Mr Ben Heron(centre) of Biolaya Organics one of the winners of SEED Initiative Award for their project investigating Himalayan oregano essential oil as an antibacterial agent for MRSA

Biolaya Organics Jagriti SGS India GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development and the University of West of England joined forces to provide a sustainable income to remote villages of Himachal Pradesh through the collec-tion of Himalayan oregano The distilled oil has strong market potential hav-ing proven to be a potent anti-bacterial agent

The SEED Initiative is an international programme backed by the UN that pro-motes and supports entrepreneurial partnerships that develop innovative locally led solutions to the global chal-lenges of sustainable development The

SEED awards provide backing to projects that are in an early stage of development and have high potential for growth and replication The Himalayan Oregano proj-ect was one of five winners selected from over 400 global applications

Disappointed by the recent publicity in the media Ben says that they have failed to convey the fact that this is primarily a con-servation initiative aimed at providing sus-tainable livelihoods to herb collectors

Letrsquos know more about the project in his own words

Disha Singh How does it feel to win SEED award Please throw some light over the achievement

Ben Heron We are delighted to have won a SEED award It is a huge opportunity for us ndash over the next year the SEED initiative will provide us with raining mar-ket research publicity and general back-ing to take the concept forward Without

An Interview with Ben Heron for the SEED

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

support it would be a very ambitious project but we really feel that the ob-jectives we have set ourselves are now really achievable

Disha Singh When and how did the Oregano oil project started Ben Heron The oregano oil project is part of a broader initiative to conserve endangered species of medicinal plants and develop sustainable livelihoods in Himachal Pradesh We started research-ing wild oregano in 2006 after indentify-ing it as a species that has potential for sustainable collection the fact that its essential oil has value as an antimicrobi-al agent is something that we only came to learn about later while researching options for value addition

Many herb collectors are dependent on the collection of endangered species for their livelihoods Oregano is just one of many non-timber forest products that has the potential to provide the collec-tors with an alternative source of income

This can only happen though if appropri-ate value addition and market linkages are made so that a fair share of the profits can be paid to the collectors

Disha How did Biolaya Organics Jag-riti SGS India GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Devel-opment and the University of West of England get together to bring out the Oregano Oil Project Please throw light over their area of contribution to the research Ben The different partners of the orega-no oil project all contribute unique skills which will be required to make it a success

bull Jagriti is a community-based organisa-tion based in Kullu working on sustainable livelihoods and womenrsquos empowerment in remote parts of the district Jagriti will be working with their village groups to devel-op a small community enterprise to pro-duce oregano oil Their distillation unit will be run by group members and will also be used to produce essential oils for use in

An Interview with Ben Heron for the SEED

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

their handmade soap enterprise

bull Biolaya Organics is a small fair trade company based in Dashal Village in Kul-lu working on sustainable production and conservation of medicinal herbs Biolaya is the main coordinator of the project developing systems for sustain-able collection and distillation quality assurance and traceability and is creat-ing links with companies to market the oregano oil and produce a final product

bull The GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development is an autonomous Institute of the Ministry of Environment and Forests working in conservation of natural resources and ensuring environmentally sound devel-opment in the Indian Himalayan Region The GBPIHED Himachal Unit will be con-ducting studies to assess and monitor sustainable collection methods and car-rying out trials to calculate the econom-ics of cultivating oregano for essential oil production

bull SGS India is a regional unit of the global inspection verification testing and certi-fication company SGS Group Microbiolo-gist at SGS are carrying out research into the antimicrobial properties of oregano oil testing its efficacy against different types of bacteria and fungi and comparing it against a wide range of conventional an-ti-bacterial products SGS conduct routine tests to assess the carvacrol content of the oregano oil

bull The University of the West of England are using state of the art technology to affirm SGSrsquos results and conduct further tests to assess the efficacy and uses of potential end products UWE will be working with SGS to publish a paper in a scientific jour-nal UWErsquos Research Business and Inno-vation department is conducting market research to assess which products the oil could be used in and which companies may be interested to develop these products and create direct links with the producers

An Interview with Ben Heron for the SEED

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

In this way the partnership creates a di-rect link between the primary produc-ers and the final product by developing a transparent chain of research value addition and market linkages We hope that this partnership will create a model that can be replicated with other herb species whereby resources that can be sustainably managed are utilised in a way that directly benefit the communi-ties as well as those who will be using the final products

Disha What are the special features of oregano oil Is it useful in any other purpose than killing MRSA Ben On the internet there are many claims regarding the uses of Mediterra-nean oregano oil People say it can be used to treat indigestion diarrhea ner-vous tension insect bites toothache earache rheumatism and much more Whether or not this is true we cannot say ndash there are a lot of such claims on the internet Very little research has been done on the Himalayan wild oreg-

ano so all we can say with conviction is that it is very effective at killing bacteria and fungus

Disha What is Oregano called in local languageBen We have asked many people in differ-ent areas of Kullu what oregano is called in the local language and most of them tell us that it has no name ndash they call it lsquobekaar ghaasrsquo We have heard from some people in Seraj however that it is called maalza and in the Lag Valley we were told that it is called chumbar In Uttaranchal it is called bantulsi ndash this can be misleading though as there are a number of other species in India that are also called bantulsi

Disha Can it be grown in the farms by the farmers If yes how

Ben Yes oregano can be cultivated but we do not know yet whether it will be prof-itable nor do we know what effect cultiva-tion will have on the anti-bacterial proper-ties of the essential oil These are all areas

An Interview with Ben Heron for the SEED

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

of research that the GB Pant Institute will be looking at in the next couple of years

Disha Will it be possible to see oreg-ano oil being used in bathing soaps in near future Is oregano oil safe on human skinBen Yes we hope to see oregano oil being used in bathing soaps soon Jag-riti have already started production of handmade soaps with womenrsquos groups in the Lag Valley and will be producing oregano soap in 2009 and there has al-ready been interest from a company in the UK to buy the oil for use in an anti-bacterial hand wash

The University of the West of England is carrying out research to assess wheth-er or not the oregano oil is safe to use on human skin Used undiluted on open wounds the oil burns like chilli UWErsquos research will assess at what dilutions it needs to be used

Disha What are the dark sides of oreg-anoBen None as far as Irsquom aware

Disha ldquoOur aim is to be able to pay the local herb collectors the equivalent amount that they would normally earn from collecting endangered medicinal herb species so that they become less dependent on the extraction of these plants for their livelihoodsrdquo What are your plans to implement these wordsBen This is our objective to what extent will be able to meet this aim will become clearer over time We are conducting sur-veys in the villages in Kullu district to as-sess how much people are earning from the collection of endangered herbs At the same time we are also carrying out studies to assess the cost-benefits of oregano col-lection and how much companies can af-ford to pay for the oil

We are exploring the possibility of applying for FairWild certification which is a combi-nation of FairTrade standards and the In-

An Interview with Ben Heron for the SEED

Brought To You By wwwhimachalus

ternational Standards for Sustainable Collection of medicinal plants Through this certification scheme there is an ob-ligation for complete transparency be-tween all the companies involved to en-sure a fair price is paid to the collectors

Disha When do you plan to start plucking and collecting the oregano herb Ben We have already been carrying tri-als for the last two years In 2007 we collected small quantities from different locations at different times of the year so that SGS could do laboratory tests to assess its efficacy as an antimicrobial In 2008 we started identifying collectors who have traditional rights in the areas in which oregano is growing providing them with training and organising a few days collection in each location We plan to organise a larger collection in 2009

Disha Are there any measures tak-en by you people to save the herb from being exploited by the materi-

alistic minds of the peopleBen There is a lot of oregano growing in other parts of the world that are likely to keep the prices of the oregano oil very competitive so at the moment there is no guarantee that this is going to earn us or anyone else much profit If it does turn out to be profitable then it is inevitable that it will attract the attention of traders who have less concern for the environment If this is the case then I believe the most important thing to do is educate the local right-holders about sustainable collection methods and encourage them to protect their own resources Ultimately it is in their interest and the interest of their children to conserve their natural resource base If a large demand is created then we will en-courage cultivation of oregano in peoplersquos high altitude fields

Disha What problems have you faced during the researchBen One of the only problems up until now is from recent publicity in the media which has failed to convey the fact that this is