Shimla : Himachal Pradesh has been grappling with monsoon-induced challenges, as a landslide struck an under-construction tunnel in Sanjauli, Shimla, on Tuesday morning. The tunnel, part of a 450-meter-long stretch near the Sanjauli helipad, is a segment of the larger Kalka-Shimla four-lane project.

Stones and debris began to fall on the tunnel on Monday night, prompting the evacuation of workers and machinery to safer locations. The landslide's severity caused significant debris to accumulate at the tunnel's entrance, with officials from the Public Works Department noting the continuous fall of stones.

NHAI Project Manager Achal Jindal confirmed that the landslide was due to heavy rainfall and assured that no workers were present inside the tunnel at the time. Relief teams have been deployed to manage the situation and facilitate the resumption of construction.

This construction project, aimed at improving connectivity between Shimla and Chandigarh, involves significant infrastructure, including tunnels, bridges, and bypass roads. The four-lane project is expected to enhance transportation efficiency upon its completion in 2026.

Shimla, Dec 24 (IANS) Shimla's climatic conditions have changed many times and old-timers blame it on the abnormal rise in human activities that have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The capital of Himachal Pradesh, which is known for the grandeur of many of its buildings that once housed institutions of imperial power when Shimla served as the summer capital of British India, has been witnessing snowless Christmas Eve since 2016 when heavy snowfall occurred.

This time too, there will be no "white" Christmas in Shimla and elsewhere in the state. A mellow sunshine will greet you throughout the day at most of the tourist destinations with the weather bureau predicting open skies till December 26.

Before 2016, the erstwhile capital of British India saw Christmas snows in 1991 when 49 cm of snowfall was recorded. Though some years between 2014 and 2018 had mild spells before the Yuletide spirit.

Also except in 2010, there has been no white New Year's Eve either in the past 12 years.

Deforestation and pollution are blamed for the change in Shimla's climatic conditions, says a study by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

It says Shimla's harsh winter, which normally commenced in November and ended in March, has declined after the mid-1980s. The study examines the snowfall trend in Shimla from 1990 to 2007.

The local IMD says the entire state will witness bright sunshine on December 24 and 25. In the past week, the temperatures of Shimla were much higher than that of New Delhi.

Snow cover is a big draw for tourists, and members of the hospitality industry are excited by the possibility of a white Christmas as the festival falls right after the weekend.

"People are asking about the possibility of snowfall before and after Christmas," local hotelier D.P. Bhatia told IANS.

"We are telling them to come and enjoy balmy sunshine amidst the hills," he added.

The mountain peaks viewed from Shimla's historic Ridge and Dharamsala and Palampur towns have been wrapped in a blanket of snow.

According to the IMD, the weather in hill destinations of Shimla, Kasauli, Chail, Kufri, Narkanda, Dharamsala, Palampur and Manali is 'warmer' and perfect for a break from the biting chill of the plains where the sun has largely been fogged out.

Met officials, however, are wary about the chances of snowfall on New Year's Eve. They say it is still too early to predict whether Shimla or Manali or Dalhousie or Kalpa will have snow cover the next year dawns.

However, excited holidaymakers, mainly from the northern plains, have already started descending on tourist resorts across the state with the hope of a "white" Christmas.

Many of them have booked rooms in the hope of a white Christmas.

Dinesh Guleria, a senior executive with a Chandigarh-based multinational company, said: "If it snows, we would love to spend the Christm+as holidays in a homestay in Narkanda. Otherwise, we will enjoy sunny weather in Shimla."

"Most of our properties have been packed to capacity with Christmas holiday-makers," a senior official with the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) told IANS.

The HPTDC runs 57 economy and high-end hotels across the state. He said the arrival of the tourists in Shimla, Narkanda, Kasauli, Manali, Dalhousie and Dharamsala is quite good.

However, the popular tourist resort Narkanda, some 65 km from Shimla, is bereft of snow like Shimla and Manali.

But Manali is getting a good share of tourists as its nearby hills have plenty of snow.

According to Global Forest Watch, an online platform that provides data and tools for monitoring forests, from 2001 to 2022, Shimla lost 583 ha of tree cover, equivalent to a 0.27 per cent decrease in tree cover since 2000, and 292 kt of carbon dioxide emissions.

Under the guise of climate "scepticism", most of the old-timers in Shimla narrate the tale of indiscriminate construction that has turned the summer retreat of the then-British rulers into a concrete jungle in the past few decades.

Some residents have been wondering if the rise in minimum temperatures in recent years in winter is a result of global warming, though scientists have said the overall warming trend should not have any effect on local weather on such short-time scales, as per current models.

New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS) Tata Power on Tuesday announced the activation of its electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure along the Chandigarh-Shimla highway, covering a total distance of 111 kms on the popular route.

The strategically positioned EZ Charge stations at Hotel Falcon Crest on Chandigarh-Shimla Highway around Kandaghat and The Oberoi Cecil, Chaura Maidan Road near Shimla, enhance the feasibility of EV travel on the route, the company said.

The first charging point for EVs is located at a distance of 83 km from Chandigarh to Hotel Falcon Crest, and the other charging point is at a distance of 26 km from Hotel Falcon Crest to The Oberoi Cecil.

“Consumers can easily locate the two stations using the Tata Power EZ Charge mobile app. They can also make online payments for their charging sessions or use an RFID Card to simply Tap.Charge.Go,” the company statement said.

EV travellers coming from Delhi to Shimla can also use multiple charging points along the route to Chandigarh, refuel at the scenic Kalaghat Falcon Crest hotel location, and then proceed to Shimla, where they can refill again at Oberoi Shimla or Oberoi Wildflower Shimla, the statement added.

Tata Power said its nationwide EZ Charge network now spreads over 420 cities with more than 62,000 home chargers, 4,900 public and semi-public charging points, and 460 bus-charging stations that are present at diverse and strategic locations expanding EV charging accessibility across the country.

The company is also present across major national and state highways on diverse locations such as hotels, commercial complexes, car dealerships, etc., across more than 25 states and five union territories, it added.

Shimla, Nov 12 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday celebrated Diwali with soldiers in the remote and strategic area Lepcha in Himachal Pradesh, close to the India-China border.

PM Modi shared his pictures with the soldiers on X, "Reached Lepcha in Himachal Pradesh to celebrate Diwali with our brave security forces."

Dressed in olive green, the Prime Minister interacted with soldiers.

Since 2014, PM Modi has been following his tradition of celebrating Diwali with soldiers.

He last celebrated Diwali with soldiers in Himachal Pradesh on October 30, 2016.

Lepcha falls in Lahaul-Spiti district, spread over 13,835 sq km. The climatic conditions in the entire district are harsh as much of the land falls under a cold desert where the mercury drops below minus 20 degrees Celsius during winter.

After assuming the post of Prime Minister, PM Modi has been celebrating the festival of Diwali with the soldiers either on the International Border, or the Line of Actual Control or Line of Control. 

In 2014, PM Modi celebrated Diwali with the soldiers at Siachen Glacier, in 2015 he spent time with soldiers at Amritsar border; in 2016 he celebrated Diwali in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh and in 2017, he went to Gurez in Jammu and Kashmir.

In 2018, the Prime Minister celebrated Diwali with the Army personnel in Kedarnath in Uttarakhand while in 2019 he went to Rajouri in Jammu, in 2020 he celebrated Diwali in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer; in 2021 he celebrated Diwali in J&K's Nowshera and last year he spent time with Indian Army soldiers in Kargil during Diwali.

Shimla, Aug 17 (IANS) Rescuers on Thursday retrieved a body when it resumed search operations on the fourth day in the Himachal Pradesh capital where a massive landslide washed away a Hindu temple. With this, the death toll rose to 14.

The body was of a professor of Himachal Pradesh University here, an official told IANS. It was retrieved two km away from the disaster spot.

The authorities are suspecting that at least seven people might be trapped in the mud pile.

The officials said all, except one body, were identified and handed over to their family members.

Relatives of people have approached the local authorities to know about their whereabouts.

“So far we have received information about seven missing people and we are on the job to locate them,” a rescuer said.

He said the dead included seven of a family, comprising three children, who were inside the Shiv Bawadi temple in Summer Hill when the disaster occurred.

Pawan Sharma, 60, who owns a shop in the Summer Hill market, his wife Santosh Sharma, 57, son Aman Sharma, 32, daughter-in-law Archana Sharma, 27, and three granddaughters aged between 12 and 1.5 years were at the temple for a havan when it collapsed.

While bodies of four of the family members have been found, three are still missing with rescuers say chances of their survival look bleak.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu, who visited the spot immediately after the disaster, described it “an unprecedented tragedy”. He said the state is battling the worst natural calamity in 50 years.

On the same day, Shimla witnessed another landslide in Fagli where five people were killed. A day later at least five houses collapsed in the Krishna Nagar area close to the Old Bus Stand in Shimla in which two people were killed.

Shimla, Aug 14 (IANS) At least 22 people were killed in Himachal Pradesh on Monday owing to the heavy rainfall for the past two days that triggered statewide flash floods and landslides, officials said.

Nine people were killed as a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in the state capital caved in and collapsed, police said.

The temple was located in Summer Hill. At the time of the disaster 25-30 people were present in the temple. There was rush in the temple owing to the holy month of Shravan.

Five people have been rescued from the debris, a police official told IANS.

Confirming the death toll, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu said as of now nine bodies have been retrieved. “The local administration is diligently working to clear the debris in order to rescue individuals who may still be trapped,” he said in a statement.

In another natural disaster, seven people were buried alive in the Kandaghat area of Solan district after a cloudburst that triggered a flash flood and mudslide.

The disaster occurred at around 1.30 a.m. at Jadon village in Dhawla sub-tehsil, some 45 km from the state capital.

Officials told IANS that four bodies have been recovered and five rescued. Rescue operation is underway despite intermittent rain to trace three missing persons.

The rainfall havoc has caused significant damage to infrastructure and affected the lives of many people in the hill state.

In Mandi district, six people died due to rain disasters.

Mandi Deputy Commissioner Arindam Chaudhary said the death toll might increase.

Two houses and a cowshed were damaged at Majhvar village, where two people are reported to be missing.

Chief Minister Sukhu said reports of cloudbursts and landslides have emerged from various parts of the state resulting in loss of lives and property.

“I urge the people to avoid areas prone to sliding and to stay away from water bodies,” he said.

The Chandigarh-Manali highway has been shut for traffic between Mandi and Kullu since Friday, while alternative routes between Mandi and Kullu were also blocked due to landslides on Monday.

The flow of the Beas River between Manali and Kullu has increased considerably. So are areas adjoining the river in Kullu, Mandi, Hamirpur and Kangra and Nurpur towns.

Shimla, Aug 7 (IANS) Tourists going to Shimla, the erstwhile summer capital of the British Raj, for savouring history will find the Raj-style structure laced with repugnant modernity with local authorities adding the ingredient of eateries to the newly restored Town Hall building on the most famous promenade Mall Road, a hub of commercial activity.

The Town Hall was refurbished to its past glory with the Asian Development Bank funding of Rs 8 crore.

The Municipal Corporation Shimla, one of the oldest civic bodies in the country, has virtually relegated the piece of history into a food court and this decision has angered old-timers.

The majestic Town Hall was built in 1908 in typical hill architecture style with smoke-emitting chimneys.

It was initially designed as a library by British India. After India’s partition, some of the offices of the municipal corporation were housed in it till its handing over to the government for restoration in September 2014.

Civic body authorities say the permission to allow fast-food chain outlets to operate is necessitated by economic reasons. But those who have patronised it for decades say it will soon lose its character.

“When there is already so much commercial activity on the Mall Road, what is the need for such activity in the Town Hall, a storehouse of the grand British legacy,” octogenarian Durga Ram Sud, who is born and brought up in Shimla, told IANS, while pointing towards a hoarding up by the food outlets outside the building announcing their opening soon.

Another old-timer Naresh Gupta remarked: “This marvellous building represents the graceful style of colonial architecture and attracts the tourists here, especially the Britons who visit to trace their roots.”

He said the government should open a library and a museum to showcase artifacts of British India, besides the state's rich cultural, artistic and archaeological heritage.

Aghast over the insensitivity towards the British heritage, B.D. Sharma, a former Press Secretary to the Chief Minister, told IANS that the late Virbhadra Singh was the only Chief Minister who took interest in restoring and preserving Shimla’s glory.

“Virbhadra Singh took special interest in restoring the Town Hall’s legacy. He even arranged funds from the Union government for its restoration. His predecessors took no interest in the town’s grand heritage. And that is the only reason that the Town Hall is now going into the private hands for petty commercial gains,” added an upset Sharma, a vocal voice against rampant construction and amendments to byelaws from time to time to create concrete jungle in once scenic Shimla.

Protesting the decision to open a restaurant in a portion of the Town Hall towards the Ridge, former Shimla mayor and CPI(M) leader Sanjay Chauhan wrote an open letter to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu to cancel its lease, which was granted by the previous BJP government in violation of norms.

He said the previous government exerted pressure on the civic body after which a resolution was passed in it to lease out the property in private hands for commercial activities.

Going back into the past, in August 2018 a majority of locals in a public hearing, organised at the behest of the Himachal Pradesh High Court to get views on putting Town Hall to judicious use, demanded setting up of a public place so that the tourists could get a glimpse of state’s rich cultural heritage.

The Tourism Department, that executed the restoration work under the Shimla beautification plan, had refused to hand over the building back to the Shimla Municipal Corporation.

Then Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur dedicated the restored building to the public on November 29, 2018. In one of its hearings on the proper utilisation of the building, the high court was categorically clear in saying Town Hall was not meant for the Municipal Corporation.

For utilising the building as a public convenience, the court asked the government to prepare a comprehensive conceptual plan regarding its utilisation.

In December 2017, the high court had observed that the iconic structure could be used either as a museum or a library rather than leaving it at the mercy of the “babus” by allowing a public office to run from there.

“Undoubtedly, it is an important and significant landmark of the town. Intrinsically, it is part of its heritage. It’s in this backdrop, we are of the considered view that a decision must be taken with regard to proper use of the building after its restoration,” the high court had remarked.

The Town Hall building is in the half-timbered Tudor style -- all-wooden frames and shingled eaves. Its exteriors and interiors were refurbished by polishing and repairing the stone work.

The windows and rooftops were totally replaced and the Gothic facade was improved, say officials involved in its restoration. Himachal Pradesh's economy is highly dependent on tourism, besides hydropower generation and horticulture.

Shimla, April 1 (IANS) Not withstanding the drubbing in the recent Assembly polls, the BJP leadership in Himachal Pradesh is once again banking largely on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'charisma' in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls as it believes that it equals the ruling Congress's vote share in the state.

Also as the principal Opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is aggressively grilling the government on its policies ranging from closing 920 offices and institutions, comprising schools and colleges, to political vendetta to the appointment of Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, which it says is a drain on the exchequer and against ruling by courts.

However, the confident saffron brigade aims to retain all four parliamentary seats -- Mandi, Hamirpur, Kangra and Shimla -- with record margins as it was in 2019 when it was contested under the leadership of first-time Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, who is currently the Leader of Opposition.

In election results last December, the Congress got an absolute majority by winning 40 seats, six seats more than the half-way mark of 34 in the 68-member House, reducing the outgoing BJP legislators from 44 to 25 seats.

With the Congress securing 43.90 per cent vote share, the gap is of less than one per cent between both traditional archrivals.

"The government is vindictive. The Chief Minister took oath on December 11 and on the very next day he took a decision to de-notify over 900 institutions opened by the previous government," Jai Ram Thakur told IANS, adding "the governments kept changing in the past but no regime has acted with political vendetta like this."
Contrary to the Opposition's charges, a confident Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, on completing 100 days of helm on March 21, said the government has fulfilled five of the 10 poll guarantees, including restoring the Old pension Scheme that will benefit 1.36 lakh employees.

In this brief stint, there is no allegation of corruption against the government.

In fact, the government dissolved the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission after taking into consideration charges levelled in the inquiry reports indicating involvement of many officials from top to bottom in the paper leaks scams and other irregularities in the past three years.

The commission had become the hub of corruption selling jobs and depriving the meritorious candidates, he added.

On his first decision to de-notify government institutions, Sukhu said these institutions were opened with no staff or budgetary provision.

However, an optimistic former Cabinet minister and BJP leader Suresh Bhardwaj told IANS that the party will win all four seats of Himachal Pradesh in 2024.

"The BJP is strong in Himachal Pradesh. In recent polls, our vote share is equal to the Congress despite the unfavourable results. Otherwise, any Opposition party in Himachal used to get less than 40 per cent votes. As far as 2024 polls are concerned, the BJP will fight it under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi," he said.

Regarding the party leadership, four-time legislator Bhardwaj, 70, who lost the Assembly polls as he was shifted to new battleground Kasumpti from his stronghold Shimla (Urban) at the last minute, said in Himachal there "is no leadership issue as our party believes in an organisation-driven campaign".

"As far as issues are concerned, the present Cong government has lost its credibility so soon. Now they are backtracking on the poll promises, withdrawing and denotifying schemes and institutions started by our government to facilitate people.

"The Congress lied to the people of the state, made false promises. It does not have any issue and is busy in saving the Gandhi family only. The BJP is going to the people not only in Himachal but across the country."

"Policies of our government-led by PM Modi and the anti-people policies of the state government will be the main issues in Himachal in the 2024 polls," Bhardwaj told IANS.

The saffron party had won 44 of the 68 Assembly seats in 2017 with a vote share of 48.8 per cent, up from 38.47 per cent in 2012.

In December 2022, the Congress dislodged the BJP in Himachal, which maintained its tradition of voting the incumbent government out of power since 1985, by just 37,974 votes. The difference in the vote share between the two parties was a mere 0.9 per cent.

In the 2019 Parliamentary polls, the state's ruling BJP retained all the four Lok Sabha seats as its candidates won by a record margin.

Hamirpur sitting MP Anurag Thakur, Kangra candidate Kishan Kapoor, Shimla candidate Suresh Kashyap and Mandi sitting MP Ram Swaroop Sharma won their seats by defeating their nearest Congress rivals.

For former chief of the national cricket bodies Anurag Thakur that was the fourth consecutive victory. He won by over 3.81 lakh votes against Congress legislator Ram Lal Thakur.

From Kangra, the largest Lok Sabha constituency in the state in terms of voters, BJP's Kishan Kapoor won by a margin of more than 4.47 lakh votes.

In the Shimla (reserved) seat, Suresh Kashyap, now the state unit party chief, won by over 3.23 lakh votes, sitting MP Ram Swaroop Sharma, now dead, won the seat by a margin of more than 3.63 lakh votes.

A total of 38,01,793 voters -- 72.25 per cent of 52,62,126 eligible ones -- exercised their franchise on May 19, 2019, in a single phase to select their representatives to the 17th Lok Sabha.

Forty-five candidates, including a lone woman, were in the fray from the four seats.

With the electorate in the Lok Sabha polls traditionally favouring the party at the helm in the state, the 2019 elections were seen as a referendum on the state's 17-month-old Jai Ram Thakur government.

Shimla, March 7 (IANS) Five pedestrians were crushed to death and three injured when an SUV hit them while they were walking on the Shimla-Chandigarh national highway in Dharampur town on Tuesday, police said.

According to eyewitnesses, the recklessly driven Innova vehicle hit the pedestrians, mostly daily-wage earners, from behind at around 9 a.m.

The vehicle was on its way from Dharampur to Parwanoo.

Car's driver Rajesh has been arrested, police said. Some of the victims fell into the gorge with the impact of the accident.

Further details were awaited.

Shimla, March 5 (IANS) It was Russian painter and philosopher Nicholas Roerich's daughter-in-law Devika Rani, the Indian film star, who came to Naggar in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu in 1942 where Roerich came in 1927 from St. Petersburg and made the tiny village his home.

It was on Devika Rani's request that local weaver Sheru Ram of Banontar village weaved an urban size shawl on his pit loom.

Later, inspired by his handicraft work, Pandit Urvi Dhar stepped into the manufacturing of shawls commercially.

Today, traditional weavers in the hill state have kept the handloom heritage not only alive but also earned name globally.

The Kullu and Kinnauri shawls all rare masterpieces of the embroidery.

The state government is organising awareness camps and training classes for weavers who are also being directly benefited through various components of the cluster development programme, officials said.

Equipment related to handlooms are being made available to the weavers.

Marketing facility is being provided through the state Industries Department in fairs and exhibitions. Their products are widely sold in national level events like trade fairs, Dilli Haat, Surajkund, etc.

The Himachal Pradesh State Handloom and Handicrafts Development Cooperative Federation Ltd., popularly known as HIMBUNKAR, is a state-level apex organisation of primary cooperative societies comprising weavers and artisans engaged in production of handicraft woven on handloom and are promoting the Kullu shawl and caps since many years.

Around 1944, the Bhutti weaver co-operative society was registered under Punjab Cooperative Society, Lahore, presently known as Bhuttico, and trained thousands of Kullu women to fashion the Kullu shawls.

In 1956, Thakur Ved Ram became a member of this society and revived it again and since thereafter Satya Prakash Thakur, the Chairman of Bhuttico, has been running Bhuttico all over Himachal, and is providing employment to thousands in this cottage industry and others who are directly or indirectly associated with it.

Today, the annual sale of Bhuttico is around Rs 13.50 crore.

The state government has also started schemes for encouraging weavers and incorporating the latest techniques of textile production.

Earlier, the Kullvi people used to weave plain shawls but after the arrival of Bushehari craftsman from Rampur in Shimla district the trend of patterned handloom came into existence.

Typical Kullu shawls have geometrical designs on both ends. Besides geometrical designs, the shawls are also woven in floral designs, which may run all over, on the corners or on the borders only.

Each design may have one to eight colours. Traditionally, bright colours, viz. red, yellow, magenta pink, green, orange, blue, black and white were used for patterning and white, black and natural grey or brown were used as the base in these shawls.

Currently, these bright colours are being replaced gradually by pastel colours.

Much renowned for the convolution and finesse in weaving, Kinnauri shawls are unique.

In October 2010, these intricately patterned woollen shawls hand-woven by the indigenous community of Kinnaur district, was granted a patent under the Geographical Indications (GIs) of Goods Act.

Their elaborate geometrical designs have a strong Central Asian influence. The motifs woven have a very special symbolic and religious significance. Its designing techniques are greatly influenced by Central Asia and Tibet.

Few textile engines have been working as motivators by their innovative skills and ideas giving new dimensions to the handloom industry.

One such young textile engineer, Anshul Malhotra, from Mandi district is working as a motivator for the weavers.

Honoured with Nari Shakti Samman by the President on International Women's Day last year and the Kalanidhi Award twice at the Surajkund Fair, she's engaged in giving new dimensions to the handloom industry with the skill inherited from her grandfather and father.

She is using her skills to create new designs according to the market. Apart from Mandi, the weavers of Lahaul-Spiti, Kullu and Kinnaur districts have also been associated with her.

She has been providing training facilities to the weavers for weaving as per the market demand. Designed and made in Himachal by her, the Kano saree gained immense popularity last year and was also a part of many fashion shows.

With the encouragement of the government and the skill of the weavers, the handloom industry in the state is proving to be helpful in self-reliance, employment generation and preservation of traditional skills.