City: Shimla

“We began the tourist season on a happy note, mid-way we crumbled,” says Anup Thakur, President Manali Hoteliers Association. “Highways got choked, the 40-45 km Kullu–Manali road turned into a nightmare, while the administration slept through it all”. Unprecedented summer heat in the northern plains saw tourists flocking to Shimla, British India’s winter capital, in search of a cooler haven. The other popular tourist destination, Kullu-Manali, with its scenic drive to the 13059-feet high Rohtang Pass got crowded too. And while the rush was a boon for hoteliers and the state’s tourism industry, for visitors and locals alike, it proved…

“I can safely say 50 to 60 percent of Shimla youths are drug addicts, consumers and even peddlers,” said Gaurav, 40, who runs a Drug Rehabilitation and Counselling Centre in Shimla. Once an addict himself, Gaurav said in many cases parents are not willing to accept that their child could be an addict. In his own case, Gaurav credits his parents for helping him fight his drug habit by sending him to a rehabilitation centre in Punjab. Now, Gaurav is doing his bit for others who have fallen into the same habit. “Not all are lucky like me to be…

“This is only a Band Aid and will not work as a long-term measure,” said Sunita Narain, Director General Centre for Science and Environment, about the state government’s claims that Shimla’s water shortage problem has been solved and there will no water crisis this year. “The solution lies in conservation measures and recycling of waste water. Citizens should be involved in water conservation of and made aware about the value of each drop of water saved,” added Sunita Narain. The approximately two lakh citizens of Shimla are certainly aware, remembering as they do the unprecedented water crisis of last summer,…

Come May 19th, it will be fauji versus fauji for the first time ever in the Shimla reserved Lok Sabha seat. Perhaps not so surprising given that the state has 1.6 lakh ex-servicemen and over 62,000 serving personnel, with Shimla alone having over 10,000 ex-servicemen (total electorate 11,53,363 as per 2014 figures). Shimla parliamentary constituency is comprised of 17 assembly segments across three districts: Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur. Retired Col Dhani Ram Shandil of the Congress is pitted against former air force senior non-commissioned officer Suresh Kashyap of BJP, both two-time sitting MLAs and belonging to the Koli community. BJP…