कमरुनाग झील

कमरुनाग स्थानीय देवता मंदिर के कारण प्रसिद्ध है, जो मंडी जिले के मुख्य देवता हैं, कमरू घाटी के पर्वत की चोटी पर स्थित कमरुनाग का मंदिर, अण्डाकार आकार की झील है जो कमरुनाग झील के नाम से जानी जाती है। झील और मंदिर देवदार के पेड़ों से घिरे हैं। झील समुद्र तल से 3200 मीटर (लगभग) की औसत ऊंचाई पर स्थित है। कमरुनाग हिमालय पर्वतमाला के विशेष रूप से धौलाधार, पीर-पंजा पर्वतमाला और बलुआ घाटी का दृश्य प्रस्तुत करता है। यह स्थान ट्रेकिंग और कैम्पिंग के लिए आदर्श है।

कमरुनाग के लिए कोई सीधी सड़क नहीं है, यह केवल ट्रेकिंग द्वारा पहुंचा जा सकता है, निकटतम सड़क संपर्क रोहंडा में है जो मंडी से 55 KM और सुंदरनगर से 35 KM दूर है।

कमरुनाग में मेला: सरनाहुली मेला 14 जून से 16 जून तक हर साल झील के किनारे आयोजित किया जाता है, मंडी और हिमाचल के नजदीकी जिले के बहुत से लोग मेले में आते हैं, भक्त झील में सिक्के चढ़ाते हैं, ऐसा कहा जाता है कि झील में सिक्कों और धातुओं की मात्रा अज्ञात है।

मानव हस्तक्षेप के कारण कमरुनाग झील अपनी प्रकृतिवाद खो रही है, लोगों के सिक्के, फूल, मुद्रा नोट और अन्य सामान जो प्रदूषण फैलाने वाली झील हैं, पर्यावरण के बारे में सोचने के लिए अपना उच्च समय, पारिस्थितिकी तंत्र की सुरक्षा सुनिश्चित करने की आवश्यकता है, इसकी तरह का अनुरोध, कृपया कोई भी फेंक न दें झील में आइटम और अन्य लोगों को भी ऐसा करने के लिए कहें, जो धार्मिक विश्वास को पर्यावरण से दूर रखने के लिए बेहतर है।

जलवायु:

कमरुनाग घाटी में पूरे साल बहुत ठंडी जलवायु होती है, सर्दियों और बारिश में बहुत भारी बर्फबारी कभी भी हो सकती है
सर्दियों में तापमान हिमांक से नीचे चला जाता है। कमरुनाग की यात्रा के लिए गर्मियों का सबसे अच्छा समय है और गर्म कपड़े लाने की सलाह दी जाती है क्योंकि मौसम यहाँ अप्रत्याशित है।

निवास:

चूंकि कमरुनाग के पास कोई सड़क संपर्क नहीं है, इसलिए दिन के उजाले में इस स्थान की यात्रा करना और वापस जाना बेहतर है, फिर भी रात के प्रवास के लिए मंदिर के पास कुछ सराय (सरैन) हैं, अन्य विकल्प झील के पास डेरा डाले हुए हैं।

भोजन: 

कृपया खाद्य पदार्थों को लाना सुनिश्चित करें क्योंकि यहां कुछ भी उपलब्ध नहीं है, लेकिन यदि आप स्थानीय मेले में घूमने जा रहे हैं, जो हर साल 14 से 16 जून तक आयोजित किया जाता है, तो अन्य दुकानों के साथ-साथ खाद्य स्टाल और मुफ्त लंगर (मुफ्त खाद्य पदार्थ) ) वहाँ पहुँच जाएगा।

साहसिक गतिविधियाँ:

कैम्पिंग और ट्रेकिंग मुख्य साहसिक गतिविधियाँ हैं और ट्रेकिंग और कैम्पिंग के लिए अच्छी संभावनाएँ हैं जो कामरू घाटी में साहसिक पर्यटकों की अधिक आवक ला सकते हैं।

कमरुनाग कैसे पहुंचे?

उपलब्ध ट्रेक विकल्प

रोहंडा से कमरुनाग ट्रेक की दूरी = 6 KM (2-3 घंटे का ट्रेक) - मुख्य मार्ग
सरोआ से कमरुनाग ट्रेक की दूरी = 8 KM
धनगर से कमरुनाग तक की दूरी = 10 कि.मी.
कमरुनाग से शिकारी देवी तक की दूरी = 16 कि.मी.

परिवहन:

कमरुनाग तक कोई सड़क संपर्क नहीं है, निकटतम सड़क रोहंडा में है जहाँ से कमरुनाग तक पहुँचने के लिए आपको 6 KM का ट्रेक करना पड़ता है, रोहांडा से कमरुनाग तक बहुत ही खड़ी और संकरी सड़क है, अगर आप शारीरिक रूप से स्वस्थ और सक्षम हैं तो कमरुनाग की यात्रा करना उचित है। अपने पैरों पर 10 KM से अधिक की यात्रा करें।

प्रमुख स्थानों से दूरी:

मंडी से रोहंडा: 55 कि.मी.
सुंदरनगर से रोहांडा: 30 किलोमीटर
मनाली से रोहांडा: 165 किलोमीटर
शिमला से रोहांडा: 148 किलोमीटर
चंडीगढ़ से रोहांडा: 208 किलोमीटर
आस-पास के आकर्षण:

सरोआ: सरोआ यहां से 15 किलोमीटर की दूरी पर चैल चौक के पास एक खूबसूरत जगह है और मंडी से 45 किलोमीटर की दूरी पर है, जो पहाड़ के रिज पर समुद्र तल से 2230 मीटर की ऊंचाई पर है।

देवीगढ़: देवीगढ़ एक छोटा सा गाँव है और चैलचौक के ऊपर जौनी घाटी में घने देवदार के जंगल में खूबसूरत जगह है।

रेवाल्सर झील: जिसे त्सो पेमा लोटस झील के नाम से भी जाना जाता है, मंडी से दक्षिण-पश्चिम में 22.5 किमी दूर स्थित है। इसे हिंदुओं, सिखों और बौद्धों के लिए एक पवित्र स्थान के रूप में रखा जाता है।

जंजैहली: जंजैहली देवदार के जंगलों और पहाड़ों से घिरा हुआ है, जो साहसिक गतिविधियों जैसे रात की सफारी, लंबी पैदल यात्रा, ट्रैकिंग और पर्वतारोहण के लिए सबसे अच्छी जगह है।

बड़ौत: 33 किमी की दूरी पर स्थित एक अच्छा पिकनिक स्थल। मंडी से मंडी - पठानकोट हाईवे पर। यह ट्राउट मछली पकड़ने और एक रोपवे के लिए प्रसिद्ध है जो पर्यटकों को आकर्षित करता है।



सुझाव:

• होटल / अतिथि गृहों को उपरोक्त संख्याओं से पूर्व के आधार पर बुक करें क्योंकि कई आगंतुकों या पीक सीज़न (अप्रैल - अगस्त लगभग) के कारण कमरा उपलब्ध नहीं हो सकता है।
• सर्दियों में टूटे हुए पानी के पाइपों के कारण पानी की कमी हो सकती है, जिससे तापमान में गिरावट हो सकती है, इसलिए अपने साथ कुछ पीने योग्य पानी की बोतलें ले जाएं।
• पर्याप्त पेट्रोल @ एनएच के साथ अपने ईंधन टैंक भरें, क्योंकि पहाड़ी क्षेत्र में कोई पेट्रोल पंप नहीं है।
• पहाड़ी क्षेत्रों का दौरा करते समय, कृपया गर्म कपड़े पैक करें और प्राथमिक चिकित्सा किट ले जाएँ।

Kalka-Shimla rail line to get additional coach for high-end inbound tourists

World Heritage Kalka-Shimla rail line will have another attraction. The Indian Railways is all set to introduce a special ‘Jharokha’ coach open from the front and the rear. The first of a kind in India, the coach will be attached to the train on demand only. While railway authorities are adding new attractions to the 97-km track, the Himachal Pradesh government has demanded fresh survey of tunnels and bridges on the track to assess their strength for the safety of passengers.
Sources in the railway department said, "It is fitted with eight luxury seats along with small tables. For a better view, the coach is open from the sides. It is a one of a kind coach introduced in the country."
The popularity of rail journey on the 97-km heritage track, having 917 sharp curves besides 102 tunnels and 988 bridges, could be known from the fact that during holidays, Northern Railways is forced to run special holiday trains on the narrow gauge to cater to the high demand, The Times of India reported.
Sources said during peak tourist season, rail cars were much in demand as small groups of high-spending tourists, especially foreigners, preferred to have special coaches for their upward journey to Shimla. "The new coach has been introduced with the aim to serve the needs of high-end tourists," they added.
Vinay Kumar Arora, Superintendent, Kalka Railway Station, said that though the new coach has been built, it has not been put in service. He said its trial run was conducted during the visit of the world heritage team. "Once charges are fixed, the new coach will be made available on demand and attached to the regular trains," he added.
This is not the first time that railway authorities have planned to add an attraction to the Kalka-Shimla track. Earlier, a proposal was mooted to have a special coach for children with popular cartoon character painted on them, but the idea failed to take off, sources said.

Polls put road project back on track

State Highway 10 that passes through the apple heartland of Himachal and was a sensitive poll issue during assembly polls last year is still far from completion. While the previous BJP regime failed to ensure its completion, now, keeping in view the 2014 polls, Congress government in the state has fixed a deadline of December 15, 2015 to complete the road project.

The 80km road project, which has now become a bone of contention between BJP and Congress, was approved over five years ago. The project was awarded to Chinese government backed Longjian Road and Bridge Limited Company on February 22, 2008, and was slated to be completed by June 4, 2011. After the Chinese firm sought an extension, the previous BJP government set fresh deadline of June 20, 2012, but even after this the project remained incomplete. As the company failed to meet deadline, the government finally cancelled the contract.

Sources said that the state government in February this year had sent fresh tender documents to World Bank. In the revised documents, a proposal was made to complete the project in two phases. Sources said the first phase was of 48km stretch from Theog to Kharapathar, while the second phase was for a 32km stretch from Kharapathar to Rohru.

Officials said a fresh contract agreement was signed between project director Naresh Sharma and Director of C & C Constructions Ltd. R. N. Aggrawal in the presence of Andrew Vogle, independent contract supervision consultant for the World Bank-funded project in Shimla on November 19, 2013. "Codal formalities of both phases have been done and the company has been asked to mobilize resources by the first week of December," said an official.

According to officials, the entire work would take around 30 months to complete. "Efforts are on to complete the project by December 2015," officials added. The project cost has been worked out at Rs 323 crore.

100-year-old steam engine runs on Shimla heritage track

Shimla on Wednesday witnessed running of a 100-year-old steam engine on a heritage track along a short 1km stretch between the railway station and the bus stand.

Shimla residents and tourists were thrilled to see the only existing narrow gauge vintage KC-520 steam engine chugging off. This was the engine that first ran on the Kalka-Shimla track in 1903.

Till the seventies this steam engine ferried coaches on the Kalka-Shimla track, and on Wednesday when it came to a halt at the railway extension platform near the bus stand, it was given a rousing reception by the people gathered there.

The special guests who travelled on it were from Switzerland and are associated with Bernina mountain railway. They are in Shimla under the idea exchange programme. Accompanied by senior railway officials they enjoyed their brief ride in the 1903-made engine that had two coaches attached to it.

This steam engine was brought out of retirement from Saharanpur. As per records, the KC-520 engine is said to be built by North British Locomotive Company for Rs 30,000 and was put out of service in 1971 with the advent of diesel locomotives.

The KC-520 was again put into use in 2001 for small trips between Shimla and Kathleeghat for foreign tourists as well as high-end tourists and people from the corporate sector, and at a cost of around Rs 1.08 lakh for a short trip for 25 people it became a popular attraction.

When the engine completed 100 years of its existence in 2003, Indian Railways and Himachal Pradesh government gave a privilege ride to then railway minister and 100 invitees on the historic KC 520 steam engine pulling the Kalka-Shimla toy train.

Road travel a risky affair in Himachal Pradesh

In Himachal Pradesh travelling in buses have become a risky affair for the passengers as poor condition of roads coupled with rash driving and lack of monitoring is resulting into frequent road accidents. After each accident magisterial probe is ordered which fails to deter private bus drivers from rash and negligent driving. Recent bus accident killing 21 people in Sirmaur district on September 27 has once again brought to fore the vulnerability of people travelling in buses.

Since July this year Sirmaur district alone has witnessed 41 people being killed in two bus accidents. After Sirmaur accident deputy commissioner of Sirmaur had announced magisterial probe but according to sources thousands of accidents take place in the state every year in which hundreds of people lost their lives. Sources said magisterial probe report is sent to concerned department after each accident but no remedial measures are ever taken on these reports which results into more accidents.

Himachal Pradesh has around 7500 to 8000 buses registered in the state for transporting passengers. If the buses coming from other states and those involved in transporting students and other institutions are added then number reaches around 9000. In the remote locations buses are the sole medium of transport and their less frequency results into overloading. According to officials in state transport department they have resource constraints and have shortage of manpower in keeping regular check on the buses plying within state.

Traffic Tourist and Railways Wing (TTR) of Himachal Police had done a survey on rad accidents between 2006 to 2012 and in the survey 314 black spots were identified where 4488 accidents took place in six years resulting into death of 1048 people and injuries to 6844. According to sources, suggestions of this survey was forwarded to state PWD department so as to develop these accidents prone areas called as black spots but nothing much has happed till date.

While rash driving, overloading, untrained drivers and poor roads are among the factors that have led to the rise in fatal accidents, majority (97.84 %) of the accident were due to drunken driving and human error.

Following Sirmaur tragedy Himachal Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Kumar had directed the police officials in all the districts to launch special campaign from October 1 to 15 against drunken driving and over speeding especially in accident prone area.

IGP, administration and welfare, S R Ojha said that it has been observed that drunken driving and over speeding are the main causes of accidents resulting into loss of precious human lives. "In order to check such incidents DGP had directed to launch special campaign," he said.

Ojha said that drive would be launched particularly in the black spots (accident prone areas) of state and SP's of all the districts have been advised to use scientific equipment's like Alco Sensors and Doppler Radars.

Via: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Road-travel-a-risky-affair-in-Himachal-Pradesh/articleshow/23825161.cms

Virbhadra seeks expansion of Shimla, Kullu airports

Chief Minister Shri Virbhadra Singh has raised the issue of expansion and modernization of all the airports in the State with the government of India. Chief Minister, who met Union Civil Aviation Minister Shri Ajit Singh in New Delhi today, raised this issue. 

He requested for increase in the length of Shimla airport runway so as to facilitate the landing of bigger aircraft in the state. He demanded to provide adequate budget to the airport authority for restoring the original length of the run way in time bound manner so as normal flights could be plied on the airport before the winter tourism season .

Chief Minister apprised the Union Minister that the length of the Shimla airport runway had been effectively reduced to 3800 feet from original runway length of 4100 feet due to soil erosion. He said that at present the ATR aircraft cannot take-off with full load. The airport authority of India had drawn up plan to restore the original length of the runway which would mitigate the load factor problem. He offered all infrastructural and other assistance from the state government in restoring the original length of the run way. 

Shri Virbhadra Singh demanded the expansion of the airport and increase in the length of the runway by at least 600 ft so that the bigger aircraft could land safely at Shimla airport.

Chief Minister further requested expansion of Kullu airport adding that the state government had conducted feasibility study through IIT, Roorkee in consultation with airport authority of India. It had concluded that the Kullu airport could be further expanded and the presentation of the study had already been sent to the civil aviation ministry. He requested for allocation of adequate funds for the expansion plan of the Kullu airport.

Shri Virbhadra Singh requested for setting up advance technology and equipments at Shimla, Kangra and Kullu airports so as the larger aircrafts could land during all weather conditions. He asked for time bound action in this regard keeping in view of safety and convenience of the air passengers.

He also requested the union minister for developing infrastructure facilities for landing of large bodied fixed wing aircraft in the state and said that state government had submitted a proposal to airport authority of India for conducting feasibility study for new airport at Kandaghat in Solan district. He requested the union minister to direct the airport authority of India for identifying the new locations for setting up big modern airport to meet the growing demand of air services in the state. 

Chief Minister also requested to start smaller aircraft services of Air India to the state on the pattern of the north eastern states and also provide cheap and reliable air services in the state .He demanded construction of airport at Kaza in Lahaul-Spiti district on the pattern of Leh airport and said that Kaza airport will be more viable both economically and technically in comparison to Leh airport. Besides it would also boost the tourism in entire tribal and snow bound areas of the state which had immense tourism potential.

Shri Ajit Singh said that top officials of the civil aviation ministry would hold detailed discussions with the Himachal government officials on the expansion and modernization of all the airports in the State. He said civil aviation ministry was giving top priority for ensuring reliable and economic air services in the state. The ministry was exploring the possibility of plying the private airlines services in the state which had smaller aircrafts and would work for lasting solution of the problem.

Satellite phones to keep foreign trekkers safe

Kullu police have mooted a proposal of providing satellite phones and global positioning systems (GPS) to foreign trekkers to ensure their safety. This move comes over a fortnight after two French nationals went missing while on a trek in the Dhauladhar ranges.

The French nationals who disappeared 20 days back have not been traced as yet. The police point out that had they been equipped with satellite phones or GPS, they could have easily contacted the authorities in Dharamshala to tell their exact location.

The picturesque Kullu valley attracts thousands of backpackers from foreign countries every year. A haven for tourists from Israel, Italy, UK, Germany and France, it has also gained notoriety for charas and missing foreign trekkers. In the last seven years, 21 deaths have been reported, while 19 foreigners have gone missing in Kullu since 1992.

Known for the tough geographical conditions in the interiors, landline phones are not available in this area while mobile phones often do not work due to poor network. At such places satellite phones could prove the difference between life and death.

"We have seen that lack of communication network and no way to pin-point the exact position of missing trekkers has proved a biggest hindrance in carrying out effective search and rescue operations. Keeping this in mind, we have submitted a proposal to the state government to procure seven satellite phones and 10 satellite-linked GPS," said Kullu SP Vinod Kumar Dhawan.

Dhawan said sattelite phones and GPS would help in saving precious lives of missing trekkers. He said all private tour operators in Kullu district would be warned not to conduct treks without informing the police. "A trekking team would have to inform the police about the route plan of the group and provided a satellite phone and GPS to enable so quick tracking in case of any emergency."

As the use of satellite phones is banned in Himachal Pradesh due to its strategic location, it has been decided to fix a frequency to ensure safety. "These would only be used during an emergency by the trekkers and no international call would be allowed. These phones would allotted to the group on rent and only after taking security," SP added.

Kullu police have planned to use satellite phones and GPS for the cannabis eradication programme as their teams face problems in establishing contact with the district headquarter from remote locations.

Panoramic View of Sanjauli Chowk