Change of Guard in Himachal Pradesh

BJP swept the assembly election 2017 in Himachal by winning 44 seats out of 68 assembly seats; however its Chief Minster candidate and party Chief lost their respective seats. Congress tally was reduced to meager 21 seats from 36 seats they won in 2012 assembly elections; five of its cabinet ministers failed to retain their assembly seats. Communist Party of India (Marxist) opened its account by winning the Theog constituency seat, two independent candidates won from Jogindernagar and Dehra constituency seats. BJP bagged 48.8% votes compared to 37.47 % in the 2012 assembly elections. Whereas congress got 41.7% votes compared to 42.81% in the last elections. Which meant congress was able to retain its majority votes percentage; whereas BJP augmented its vote percentage by 11.33 percent-this made all the difference. In the last elections other parties' vote percentage was 18.72% and this around it came down 8.3%. 0.9 % of voters in the state pressed NOTA.

Congress, from the start of this election, looked in disarray: many factions and rifts within the party organization were on display. Its whole campaign gave a tired and retired look. Candidates in many of the constituencies were decided at the eleventh hour (Congress ticket in Theog constituency was decided on the last day of nomination). Not much support came from Delhi as well, it looked congress gave more thrust on the Gujrat campaign. In short, it relied too heavily on Shri Virbhadra Singh. Whereas their counterpart BJP, looked like a well-oiled machine: organized, resourceful, well planned with pedantry analysis of the voter and campaigned with a purpose. It set a target of 50 plus seats-- almost achieved it.  

For almost two-decade and a half, the Chief Minister post of the state has alternatively swung from Shri Virbhadra Singh to Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal. As the former was not able to save his Government and the latter lost his assembly seat it’s very likely now that a new man will hold the highest office of the State. Change, in a democracy always augers well: it ushers a new vision leaving its past behind with the hope of prosperity for voters. Meanwhile, all of us should savor Democracy as voters rejected the status quo and vote for a change: Change for good.

NGT Ban: An effort to restore the ecology of Shimla.

The National Green Tribunal in its landmark judgment on 16^th November 2017 banned any new construction activity in green forest and core areas of Shimla, including the entire portion around the circular Cart Road. Yogendra Mohan Sengupta, a local resident had filed a petition before the NGT three and half years back. Any, future construction in the areas beyond the core area and green belts of Shimla that also cover the city’s heritage zone has been prohibited as well. The tribunal also imposed a complete ban on the regularization of illegal and unauthorized constructions. The hopes of the violators of the TCP norms ignited by the amendment brought in the TCP Act, 1977 by the State Government are dashed to the ground by this order. However, notable relaxations have been given to public utility buildings i.e. hospitals, schools,s and offices building of essential services. The Order also bars the following:-

§  Any residential, commercial, and institutional construction within 3 meters of state or national highways in the entire State.

§  Complete ban on the felling of trees in catchment forest and sub-catchment of water streams and sources.

§  Slope norm for construction reduced to 35 degrees.

The tribunal in its order running into 145 pages comes down heavily on the officials of Himachal Pradesh State Pollution Board and Town and Country planning department for complete dereliction of duty. The tribunal held them responsible for allowing indiscriminate construction and they are hands in gloves with the violators. The direction has been given to the state government to act against the officials of these two departments whose names appear in the order. The NGT also ordered the constitution of an empowered committee to keep a check on any violation henceforth. The committee will comprise of two components: i) the six members Supervisory committee will constitute experts from premier institutes such as Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, National Disaster Management Authority, and Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh (it will meet once every three months) ii) the nine-member implementation panel (it will meet every month). In the cases where plans have been submitted and the construction work with deviations has been completed prior to this order, the competent authorities can regularise such structure by taking environmental compensation at the rate of Rs5000/- per sq. ft. in case of residential construction and Rs 10000/- per sq. ft. in commercial or residential –cum- commercial buildings, the order reads. NGT has also directed that an action plan be prepared for providing appropriate infrastructure, water and sewerage facilities, roads, greenery, other public amenities, and retrofitting of existing structures (especially public utilities), particularly with the earthquake-resistance structures in the areas which have been indiscriminately developed and lack such facilities.

All the elected councilors of various parties have adopted a resolution asking the state government to file a review petition against the NGT orders. Various associations / NGOs have come against this ban in unison. United we stand—in this case, we fall. One of the associations named Nagrik Sabha had also threatened to launch an agitation. As expected, very few are welcoming the order. This reaction from various stakeholders pretty much sums up the present situation. For years, we all have contributed to exploiting the fragile ecology of cities. Consequently, the city is facing problems with drinking water, traffics, parking, and drainage system.

 Shimla has a historic core surrounded by accretions that have come up over the years at a break-neck speed. The majority of accretions are the result of haphazard construction that leads to deplorable living constructions. The regulatory authority to people, all are responsible for this mess created in the city. People exceed all limits of avarice, regulators were sleeping and authorities never showed the spine to take stringent actions.

Slowly, but surely humans are sadly losing their relationship with nature. We hardly care for our rivers, forests, wildlife, environment, etc. We are constantly stretching them to their limits. It’s important we find the right balance to maintain sustainable growth. Development does come at a cost; however, development should never come at the cost of our beloved Mother Nature. This ban certainly provides us an opportunity to exonerate all of us from our past misdeeds. Now, the ball is in the government’s court and it would be interesting to see whether it succumb to the vote bank politics or show some spine to implement the order. Mother Nature deserves better!