The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

Girl dies as vital facilities missing at PGI
Precious moments lost due to callousness; authorities deny charges
By Poonam Bath
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 1 — Simran Uppal died at the age of 20. Twelve hours after an accident with a stray dog.

But those vital moments in which her life could have been saved were inhumanly wasted at the PGI. The CT scan was not functioning. No ambulance was there to take her to a private diagnostic centre for the test. Worse, no barber was there to shave her head before the surgery. A flower nipped in the bud!

When Col Uppal and a relative wheeled the BA final year student into the surgical emergency of the PGI four days back, they were told that the CT scan machine was out of order and that they should immediately get the test done from outside. Since they had come to the PGI in the ambulance of GMCH-32, from where she had been referred after

Sorry state of affairs
Ambulance not available
CT scan machine out of order
No barber to shave patient’s head
Organ donation offer goes abegging

the first aid, they asked for an ambulance but they were asked them to make their own arrangements.

“We just did not know what to do since our own vehicle was not with us and the patient was serious and bleeding profusely,’’ says Colonel Uppal. “However, we were lucky and a Maruti van of a private diagnostic centre came to drop a patient and we used the same to take our daughter there,” he stated.

Narrating the tale of suffering, the Colonel said in the absence of an ambulance with the provision of wheeling in the stretcher, the patient had to be bodily lifted by four persons to put her in the van and then take her out at least four times in that condition.

“I shudder to think how I would have done this exercise had I been alone, ‘’ he remarked

“The CT scan was done promptly at a diagnostic centre in Sector 16 and we were told to rush back to the PGI with the wet X-ray plate as the patient was serious and had clots in the brain. All this exercise took almost three hours as the accident took place at 9.30 a.m. and we managed to reach back at the PGI at 12.30 pm. All this time which was wasted in going from place to place and the inconvenience that was caused to the patient could have been avoided had the CT scan machine in the PGI would have been working,’’ lamented Colonel Uppal.

“Back in the PGI, we all family members were made to do lot of running around to get the medicines and to locate a neurosurgeon before the surgery. Furthermore, there was no barber available to shave off her head and the doctors asked us to get a scissors and blades from the market. By then some of our relatives had arrived, so we could arrange for a barber,’’ he said.

“Thanks to our personal contacts, things were better at the operating theatre where thy were waiting to operate her. The operation went off for nearly two hours and the clots were removed. However, we were told that we will have to wait and watch. But our daughter, who was moved from the operating theatre to the surgical ward never gained consciousness and died at 11 p.m. the same night,’’ revealed the father. Talking about the sequence of events that led to her death, he often repeated that “my daughter’s precious life could have been saved but for the indifference on the part of the authorities concerned and the resultant delay, especially at a time when every moment counted.’’

Mrs Satinder Uppal, the mother of the deceased, highlighted the inhuman behaviour of the doctors and the other staff on duty while dealing with the attendants. “The gown of my daughter was ripped open in front of my 19-year-old nephew minutes after her death, on the directions of a doctor,’’ says a sobbing Mrs Uppal. “The rude and callous behaviour of nurses and security staff also added to our woes. Nurses were buy chatting even as we kept requesting them to suck out blood from her lungs as she was finding it difficult to breathe,’’ she lamented.

“And when they finally sucked out a bottle and a half, it was already too late. The ordeal did not end here. We had lost our daughter, but we were very keen to donate her eyes and kidney so that we could see someone else live through her organs,’’ the mother revealed. “But the PGI authorities took their own time and harassed us before we could see a part of our desire fulfilled.

The father recalled that in the first instance the authorities refused to do so saying it was a medico-legal case. “When I pleaded that the accident had taken place with a stray dog and no second party was involved, they still insisted on getting a clearance from the police and asked the mortuary attendant to keep the body in ice. To our dismay, the attendant said that no ice was available. However,we managed to get the certificate from the police and the eyes were removed. However, the kidney could not be donated since these had to be removed immediately after a person,s death and all this took us quite some time”.

The parents of the deceased, who are finding it hard to come to terms with the tragedy, strongly felt that the accident could have been averted had there been no encroachments, high parapet on the side of the road, haphazard parking of cars in front of the Sector 33 mini market.

“The head injury would not have been so serious had she fallen on the ground or had found a place to manoeuvre her vehicle after hitting into the dog. Our daughter is dead. We are not going to get her back. But the authorities concerned should learn a lesson from this and make amends so that many more precious lives are not lost in the times to come”, appealed Colonel Uppal.

“The staff and doctors at the PGI should be more sympathetic and human in dealing with such cases so that people did not suffer the way we did right from the time we reached the hospital.

Colonel Uppal is left with his 17-year-old younger daughter, who just wants o commit suicide as the thought of living without her elder sister is dreadful.

“I struggled all through in the Army to give my daughters the best of everything in life. But with Simran gone, what is left for me. How do I go on and what? This question haunts me every now and then. She had done well and was eagerly awaiting her result and had started applying for the mass communication courses. But now we have no interest in anything as all our dream have been shattered due to the callousness and apathy of the authorities”, she said.

A senior official of the PGI, when contacted, dismissed most of the allegations saying that the matter was not brought to the notice of any official by the aggrieved parents at any stage even as they were readily available and could be contacted on telephone at odd hours. Moreover, there could be one odd lapse at some stage but not a series of them leading to an ugly experience. However, we would inquire into the matter, the official assured.

“It is not possible to react to the issue without examining it properly,’’ he added

IGP: police to be made people-friendly
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 1 — “An efficient and people-friendly police will be my priority besides eradicating corrupt practices within the department,” said Mr B.S. Bassi, who took over as the 11th UT IGP here today.

Interacting with mediapersons after assuming charge, he said there was a great need to keep a watch on the migrants in the city, keeping in view the large numbers living and arriving in the city. He said the present system of registering and verifying their antecedents would continue.

Mr Bassi, an officer of the 1977 batch, stressed that there was need to sensitise the personnel to respect human rights. The people, too, needed to be informed about the topic, he added.

Commenting on the rising number of white collar crime, the IG said it was a national phenomenon but he was aware of the problem and emphasis would be on its detection and prevention. Since, cyber crime was yet to hit the city, once such cases are reported, action under the relevant act would be initiated.

He said there was a lot to be done in the sphere of traffic management, crime control and reducing the number of grievances involving the department. Similarly, the department also will look into the aspect of making certain busy business centres vehicle-free zones to make the city more environmentally friendly, as was being done in some cities across the globe.

Besides, he said the department would also work towards removing problems faced by the people in getting FIRs registered or get their copies. He said a system could be evolved where the people could get their complaints recorded on the telephone and the FIRs could be sent to the complainants through post.

Earlier, he held a meeting with all senior officers of the department. Those present at the interaction included Mr Asad Farooqui, SSP, Ops, Mr Ajay Kashyap, SSP, HQ, Mr Parag Jain, SSP, Mr Balbir Singh, SP, Traffic and Mr Baldev Singh, SP, City.

Mr Bassi has served in Pondicherry, Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi. He was the Additional DCP, New Delhi, DCP, Security, DCP, North East and the DCP, North District. Besides, he was with the IB and before joining here underwent a nine-month advanced professional programme in administration at the Indian Institute of Public Administration.

Keeping the memory of AN-12s alive
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 1 — To keep the memory of their flying days on the venerable AN-12 transporter alive, a get together of veterans was organised by the locally based AN-12 Officers Association here yesterday.

Secretary of the association, Wg Cdr Bajwa, said that about 25 families attended the get-together and shared experiences and adventures of the old days, when the AN-12 had been the workhorse of the Indian Air Force.

Inducted into the IAF in 1961, the AN-12 was finally phased out of service on June 30, 1993, after performing what probably must have been the most sustained and spectacular array of tasks undertaken by any transport aircraft anywhere. Every year on this day, former AN-12 aircrew get together for a social evening to remember the old days.

An initial order for 8 AN-12s was placed with the erstwhile Soviet Union, with the first aircraft becoming operational with No.44 Squadron — The Mountain Geese — on March 1, 1961. A second order for another eight aircraft was placed in early 1962.

This gave the IAF a credible heavy airlift capability, moving troops, equipment, weapons, vehicles, ammunition and rations mainly from Chandigarh to Leh, establishing in the process, a firm airbridge to the roof of the world.

The first test came in October, 1962, during the Sino-Indian conflict. In fact, it was an AN-12 on a routine sortie which first noticed Chinese troops in the DB Area of Ladakh and reported the attack. Thereafter the AN-12 fleet joined hands with the C-119 Packets to lift elements of the 3 Infantry Division and 114 Infantry Brigade to Leh and Chushul, respectively. AMX-13 tanks of 20 Lancers were also airlifted to Chushul.

Prior to 1962,Chushul airfield received one odd aircraft in a day. The conflict saw as many as six AN-12s and eight C-119s touching down on its rough surface during the brief daylight hours.

The Chinese debacle raised the need for expansion of the IAF and consequently 25 more AN-12s were procured. Another squadron on this aircraft — No.25 Squadron — was raised at Chandigarh in July, 1963.

By then the AN-12 had become the workhorse of the IAF, taking over strategic tasks, including long-range maritime patrolling and the long trek across the Himalayas to the Soviet Union for fetching supplies from the Packets, IL-14s and C-47s.

The AN-12 proved its mettle during the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict performing a wide array of tasks. Twelve AN-12s took part in the famous airdrop of paratroopers at Tangel in the eastern sector, while eight AN-12s were deployed for concentration bombing in the western sector. Carrying 500 and 1000 pound bombs, AN-12 also carried out bombing runs in and around Karachi from an altitude of just 400 feet. Often, to confuse the enemy, the AN-12s flew through Jammu and Kashmir, entered hostile airspace from the north-west, thereby giving them a straight run home.

The IAF also undertook experiments to explore the possibility of the AN-12 landing the icy terrain of the Antarctica. A 9,000 feet long runway was prepared for the purpose at Dakshin Gangotri, the permanent Indian station on the frozen continent.

The AN-12s, along with the newer generation of transport aircraft, also took part in Operation Pawan in Jaffna and Operation Cactus in the Maldives.

Tribune employees bid farewell to Bhambri
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 1 — Employees of the Tribune Trust today hosted a farewell lunch for the outgoing General Manager of the Trust, Mr S.D. Bhambri.

While praising Mr Bhambri’s almost two-decade stint as GM, the President of the Tribune Trust, Mrs Serla Grewal, said he had an unblemished record. She asked the employees to carry on working unitedly to take the institution further. Prof R.P. Bambah, a Trustee, also attended the function.

The Editor of The Tribune, Mr Hari Jaisingh, said he enjoyed working with Mr Bhambri and gained valuable experience from him while adding that the institution gained a lot during his tenure. He said the institution was ready to meet the challenges in the future. The Editor said all employees, regardless of their status in the organisation, had good relations and a family type atmosphere prevailed.

The Additional General Manager of the Trust , Mr O.P. Arora, said during Mr Bhambri’s tenure the relations between employers and the employees were cordial. The President of the Tribune Employees Union, Mr Balbir Singh Jandu, said Mr Bhambri solved matters relating to employees in a democratic manner. He also welcomed the new General Manager, Mr R.N. Gupta. Among others who attended the function were Mr Vijay Saighal and Mr H.S. Halwarvi, Editors of Dainik Tribune and Punjabi Tribune, respectively.

Employees of various sections garlanded Mr Bhambri and presented bouquets to Mr Gupta.

Police remand for Goel till July 3
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, July 1 — Mr K.B. Goel, former superintendent and co-accused in the alleged corruption case involving Mr N.K. Jain, former UT Home Secretary, was sent to police remand till July 3 by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Sant Parkash.

Mr K.B. Goel was arrested by the CBI yesterday for his alleged involvement in the bribery scandal rocking the Chandigarh Administration. Mr Goel allegedly took money from people at the directions of Mr Jain.

Mr Jain had also allegedly asked Mr Goel to get in touch with people interested in the settlement of their cases. He had also allegedly passed favourable orders in all such cases, indicating that the parties concerned were accommodated by breaking rules. The FIR also stated that as per the evidence, Mr Goel was collecting money from people. He had also allegedly taken Rs 1 lakh each from five persons to recruit them for the post of typist-cum-receptionist, UT Secretariat in November, !999.

The public prosecutor, seeking four days’ police remand for the accused argued that the CBI had to recover five typing sheets on which there were orders for the posts of typist-cum-receptionist, UT Secretariat, from him. The prosecutor further argued that the accused had to be interrogated to know about the involvement of anyone else from the selection committee which had made the recruitments.
|

Pavements uprooted by laying of cables
By Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, July 1 — Public money amounting to lakhs of rupees spent by the SAS Nagar Municipal Council on laying pavements in different markets here has gone down the drain with a private telephone company "carelessly" digging trenches to lay telephone cables in the past few days. In some cases freshly laid pavement has been uprooted.

Worst affected by the digging work are the the shopkeepers who squarely blame it on the lack of coordination between the council and the private telecom company engaged in laying the telephone cables. In most of the cases the trenches have not been properly filled with soil after laying the cables. The ongoing spell of rain has added to the woes of the shopkeepers as the dug up portions of earth has caved in.

Due to lack of illumination in the markets the trenches threaten to become death-traps. In the Phase 7 market at least two pedestrians had a miraculous escape from a caved in portion of the pavement, said the shopkeepers.

Inquires reveal that the private telephone company had been granted permission by the council to dig up the trenches subject to certain specific guidelines issued by the latter. In case of Phase 7 the company had deposited a fee of about Rs 23 lakh for the permission. The cables were being laid to provide telephone connections to the shopkeepers.

However, conditions like proper earth filling and compacting were hardly being observed. Mr Inderjeet, who runs a toy shop in the Phase 7 market, lamented that other guidelines like the digging work should not affect the movement of people had not been observed. He said putting proper illumination sings at the site to avoid any mishap were not being adhered to. He observed that the careless digging work had badly affected his business as it had blocked the passage to his shop.

Mr Bhupinder Singh, a property dealer in another pocket of the Phase 7 market, said he had to spent money from their pocket to get the damaged portions of the pavement repaired.

Another shopkeeper, Mr G.S. Saini, said the workers dug up a trench in front of his shop only to realise that it was dug at a wrong site.

A similar grievance was aired by shopkeepers of Phases 3-B 2 and 5. Mr Hardeep Singh of Phase 3-B 2 said the filling of trenches had been done in a haphazard manner and in the process most of the pavement tiles laid recently by the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA) were broken.

The careless digging work has also jeopardised the special beautification drive reportedly launched at the instance of Chief Minister Mr Parkash Singh Badal. The Administrator of the council, Mr Jaipal Singh, said he was aware of the matter.

He said directions had been issued to the private telephone company to repair the damaged pavements in a time-bound period. The junior engineers of the council had been asked to ensure that the pavements were repaired.

COMMUNITY

Citizens' forum

Should Chandigarh have an international airport?
By Dr Yoginder N.Mehra

Chandigarh is a rapidly growing city and is the regional centre for the north-western India for commerce, trade, tourism. It is the entry point for the Himachal Pradesh and UP hills and the plains of Punjab and Haryana and to some extent the northern districts of Rajasthan.

The city has headquarters of the Governments of Punjab and Haryana and the UT of Chandigarh.

The civil airport has most of the facilities for the landing and take off of large planes. It has the civil airport which can be very economically modified to take the load of an international airport. The regional offices of the Central Revenue Department exist here.

There is a large NRI community from Punjab and Haryana. Nearly 30 per cent of the passengers utilising the facility of Indira Gandhi International Airport belong to the area served by Chandigarh.

The number of delegates from other nations attend the academic and commercial international conferences hosted by the PGI, Panjab University, CII and the PHD Chamber of Commerce and and other organisations.

There is heavy traffic from the faculties of the PGI, Panjab University and other academicians from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh teaching and research institutes, who would be saved the botheration of travel to Delhi.

Indira Gandhi International Airport at Delhi is very crowded and has become insufficient and inconvenient for the regional travellers. I know the difficulties of getting connecting flights for abroad one has to reach Delhi usually one day earlier.

Anyday one can see hundreds of taxis on the GT Road carrying foreigners and NRIs and local travellers. Unfortunately, the accident rate on the overcrowded highway is very high. The tourists are quite often cheated by the taxi drivers on the long journeys from the interiors of Punjab to Delhi.

Then there are exports and cargo movement. This region has a very big pharmaceutical industry besides other exportable items. These exports are time bound. If better connectivity and movement is provided, the country can earn more foreign exchange.

The new arrangement of privatisation of Air India would certainly generate more traffic and Indian Airlines will be able to take full advantage of seat sharing quotas. Chandigarh, Jalandhar and Ludhiana and other cities already have good travel agencies. These will also benefit in providing efficient services to the people of this area. I would strongly request the Governments of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory to put an urgent demand for upgrading of Chandigarh as an international airport.

Film review

An initial crowd-puller
By Sanjeev Bariana

CHANDIGARH: ‘Refugee’ (Piccadily) might not live up to great expectations but the cast is definitely an initial crowd-puller and has every reason for doing so going by the cast and the movie setting.

J.P. Dutta is a name no regular cinema watcher can miss. Crucial border areas of the deserts of Rajasthan at their glorious best have perhaps never been portrayed with so much of precision of vision even by the tourism promoters of the land. Among his ventures ‘Ghulami’, ‘Border’, ‘Hathyar’, ‘Kshatriya’ and ‘Yateem’ are few which bear the business trademark of the director in showing the land and its story.

The backdrop for the story here is the Rann of Kutch and illegal border crossing for people seeking their identity.

In this case one feels that a shorter journey towards the end would have saved little more strength of the movie to run longer and the movie-goers to come back sooner. There are certain moments of drag in the release minus which the presentation in a land of people lesser known on screen looks different in its beauty.

Abhishek Bachchan (Ambitabh Bachchan’s son) and Kareena (Karishma Kapoor’s sister) are no small names to add glamour to the presentation. Not to miss that both, Abhishek and Kareena, have put up commendable performances but it surely looks like a better bet for Kareena.

Abhishek is a porter engaged in managing trips for people from India to Pakistan and the other way on a small commission. Kulbhushan Kharbanda is a Muslim immigrating from India to Pakistan. He has just managed to run away from Bangladesh. He is sent to ‘refugee’ custody by, a commission agent, Ashish Vidyarthi, in the business. Anupam Kher, father of Bachchan, sees nothing wrong in transporting people either way because the land was once one.

Abshishek discovers Kareena among the family members of Kharbanda on the trip and the ‘love at first sight’ holds the key for the vehicle of the movie. Sunil Shetty, a Pakistani cop, falls for Kareena. Jackie Shroff, with the Border Security Force, is a committed cop travelling border villages.

Kareena denies marriage to Shetty revealing her true love. She is arrested with Abhishek on the border by Pakistani cops. An adversary kicks Abhishek on the border of death and packages him on a camel to the Indian territory. The camel is also laden with drugs which lands the hero in Shroff’s hands.

The story also shows a meeting between the Pakistani and Indian officials where besides pointing out personal/national grudges a need for peaceful negotiation is also mentioned.

Anupam Kher, Ashish Vidyarthi, Shadab Khan and Sudesh Berry have managed mentionable performances.

The film has been produced by O.P. Dutta himself. Saroj Khan is the choreographer to tunes set by Anu Malik and lyrics by Javed Akhtar. Particularly mentionable is ‘jise tu na mila’.

Another special mention is the photography of the border. The crew seems to have travelled lesser known lands and does present noticeable scenes of lesser known sights of our own land.

Also mentionable is that a number of soldiers are real and guns are real too.

Citizens and public offices

Getting salaries an ordeal
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH

Time: 12.15 pm.

Place: Extension counter of the State Bank of India, PGI.

Problem: Long queues of Class IV employees of PGI, who have to wait for 3-4 hours in hot and humid weather to get their monthly salaries. Shortage of space and staff on the counters further add to their woes.

Background: The problem is almost three years old ever since these employees started getting their salaries from the extension counter in the premises. Nearly 2000 odd employees virtually crowd the place outside the counter on the first two days to get the salaries. These employees were earlier drawing the salaries from their respective departments. But now they have to draw the same within the specified time from the bank.

Present situation: Long queues of people can be seen from the door of the counter to nearly a distance of 50 ft on the road during the first two three days of salary disbursement. Few employees start collecting at the place from early morning after finishing their night shift and by 9 o’clock it becomes difficult to pass through the area. The others who join the queue late at times have to go back without getting their salary even after waiting for 2 hours. The place where the extension counter is situated, opposite the office of the Superintendent Hospital Engineer (SHE), is congested and large numbers have to wait outside as only a few can enter at a time. It is very difficult for old people and ladies to draw salaries on the rush days for fear of getting pushed around or somebody snatching the salary.

Sources further reveal that regular work in the PGI suffers on the salary days since employees have to wait for 2-3 hours before the payment is made to them. In some of the departments, they are also being marked absent when they do not attend to the work on time. Another person alleged that even the educated persons among Class IV employees are forced to get cash payments as no cheque book is being issued to them.

Employees further point out that shortage of staff manning the counters, particularly those distributing the salary are responsible for their problems. They start distributing the salary at 11 O’clock and close it by 1.30 p.m., hence the duration is too short for most people to get their salaries. The Class IV employees have been demanding that more staff should be put up at these counters and the timing should also be extended till 4 in the evening as is the case with the main branch.

Employees’ speak: Kanhaiya Lal, one of the employees waiting for his turn, said: “How do the authorities expect us to perform our duties when we have to wait 2-3 hours to get our salaries? Patients in the wards also have to suffer.” A woman employee suggested that there should be a separate queue for women so that those in need of money can collect it on the first day itself. Most of the employees were in favour of extending the time in line with the main branch. Jeet Ram working in the main OT pointed out that the problem gets aggravated due to lack of discipline. While the stronger ones push their way inside, the others have to wait endlessly and return back without getting a penny even as their need may be much more, he added.

Official version: Mr Jatinder Chadha, Chief Manager, State Bank of India PGI branch, when contacted said that the rush of employees is on account of being the first day of salary disbursement. Moreover, since most of the Class IV employees are keen to draw their salaries on the first day itself to meet their urgent needs, the situation worsens. However, we do send additional staff on the first two days to cope with the rush. Even today, as many as 600 people were given the salaries. As regards the short duration of time, he said that the extension counters are supposed to remain open for this period only. They start late as they have to collect the cash from the main branch and that too takes time. Mr Chadha said that even Class IV employees are issued cheque books if they have a minimum bank balance of Rs 500.

A boon for the unemployed youth
From Our Correspondent

LALRU, July 1 — Unemployed youth of this area will have a lot to cheer about following the opening of a Centre for Punjab Youth Training and Employment (CPYTE). The centre was inaugurated by Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Punjab Finance and Planning Minister, here today.

This will be the 8th centre in the state which has been established by the Punjab Government to provide employment to the unemployed youth not only in the industrial sector but also the Army and paramilitary forces after giving them guidance and proper training.

To extend the benefits of this scheme at the grassroots level, the selected candidates will be given a stipend of Rs 400 per month, besides free food and boarding. During the training period, the candidates will be taught English and Hindi.

As many as 300 candidates will be given training by 24 staff members of the CPYTE (a majority of whom are army personnel) for three months.

Candidates seeking entry should be between 18 and 25 years for industrial training courses, while those willing to join the Army and paramilitary forces should be in the 16-21 years’ age group. Educational qualification for these groups have been fixed as under-matric and matriculation, respectively. A physical fitness test will also be conducted by the the officials prior to admitting the candidates.

Addressing a public meeting, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, said that the scheme was opened in 1990 for unemployed youth of three border districts of the State. Keeping in view the progress and the results achieved by the organisation for absorption of youth in Army, paramilitary forces and Industrial sector, the scheme was extended to the whole of Punjab, and it was decided that such camps will be organised in each district.

As many as 64,200 youth have been enrolled with the organisation till date of which 38,867 have been absorbed into various industries, while nearly 17,585 have been recruited in the Army and paramilitary.

He also assured that the next Army and paramilitary forces’ recruitment camp will be organised at this centre.

Mrs Satwant Kaur Sandhu, Printing Stationery and Youth Welfare Minister, said that 7,000 youth were imparted training by the CPYTE annually. The Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and poor sections of society will be the major beneficiaries of the scheme.

She emphasised that the organisation was also engaged in imbibing self-discipline, spirits of national integration, secularism, dignity of labour and work culture besides imparting technical skills among the youths.

Colonel Davinder Singh Sandhu, Director-General, CPYTE, thanked the government for opening the centre at Lalru.

Besides a large number of local residents, also present on the occasion were Mr S.S. Sidhu, SDM, Colonel Surinder Singh, In charge CPYTE, Lalru, Colonel T.S. Sidhu and Colonel G.P.S. Patheja, Deputy Directors, CPYTE, Mr H.S. Bhullar, DSP, Ms Satwant Kaur Juneja, SMO, Dera Bassi, and Mr Daler Singh Multani, SMO Lalru.

Waterlogging rising alarmingly: expert
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 1 — The problem of waterlogging is assuming alarming proportions in Punjab. The area under waterlogging keeps moving as represented by figures of another 3000 square kilometres coming in grip of waterlogging in the coming year.

The state already had 4889 square km under waterlogging problem, said Mr D.K.Chadha, Chairman of the Central Ground Water Board while addressing a press conference here today. The conference was called to highlight a new a water scheme in Panjab University (PU).

As much as25 per cent of the area was already waterlogged in the state and signs showed that it could rise to 35 per cent in the coming year. Harvesting rooftop water for home services is an important project started at P. Mr Chadha said the university was an area where manpower was available to continue the research work in a related project which should be made use of. He said that three-month training programmes in the related field were on the anvil.

Prof M.M.Puri, Vice Chancellor, underlining the gravity of the solution, said the Centre for Adult Education and Continuing Centre would circulate literature in connection with the problem for enlightenment of the general pubic soon.

Prof R.K.Kakkar welcomed the guests. He underlined the problem areas showing specifically problem areas which were logged because the water was not used.

In a wider perspective, Dr Chadha said that waterlogging was a national calamity. Canal water seepage and "unuse" of ground water were areas which needed careful handling. The Central Ground Water Board has an annual budget of approximately 25 crore for research activities in the related fields.

The total demand of water for domestic purposes in the city is aground 4 lakh cubic metres per day. The existing supply however was only 2.70 lakh cubic metres. The major source is the canal water and the remaining comes through tubewells.

In the UT there are 130 tubewells for urban water supply and 30 for irrigation purposes. The depth is up to 300 m metres.

The board has assessed the ground water resources in a study. The findings says that recharge through rain water currently was 14 MCM.The sub-surface ground water inflow was 15.66 MC. Stage of ground water development was 82.7 per cent. Total annual ground water discharge was 24.54 MCM.

It has been suggested that the availability of ground water recharge had to be augmented adopting the artificial recharge techniques. In the urban are the natural recharge from rainfall was further reducing because of construction of roads, buildings and paved areas.

The board has identified certain areas for adoption of the artificial recharge in Chandigarh. These include circular crossings ( water accumulated at roundabouts causing inconvenience e can be channelised into ground water); Madhya Marg( during rainy season rain water accumulates at certain places. The surplus water can be channelised); Sukhna Choe ; Leisure Valley; and roof top rain water among others.

The board in the city is at the advanced stage of preparation of such similar schemes for the TTTI, Sector 26, the College of Architecture and the Department of Science and Technology, Sector 26.

2000 to be PF ‘compliance year’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 1 — The year 2000 had been earmarked as ‘compliance year’ for the Provident Fund office during which all defaulting and non-complying establishments would be brought in the mainstream, said the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Mr M.R. Meena, while addressing the annual Enforcement Officers’ (EOs) conference of the Punjab region here yesterday.

He urged the EOs to work according to the latest instructions issued by the head office and establish cordial relationships with the employers to encourage voluntary compliance.

Officers in charge of all sub-regional offices, including Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Bathinda besides the sub account office Jalandhar attended the conference.

Enforcement Officers Ashok Sharma and Vinay Vashisht of Ludhiana and Narsi Singh of Chandigarh were awarded for their outstanding in the area of compliance for the year 1999-2000.

Residents’ memo to state EC
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, July 1 — Members of different local resident welfare associations in a representation to the Punjab State Election Commissioner have lamented that in the draft voter list released by the ERO, complete blocks of houses had been left out in a number of cases.

Citing examples they said in ward No. 2 the list from H. No 450 to 500 was missing. In ward no. 9 the HIG house in Phase 2 had been totally left out. In ward no. 19, the voters from house no. 1601 to 1641 and from H.No. 1401 to 1460 were missing. Similar examples have been cited in ward no. 8, 11, 14, 15, 18, and 19.

They said the procedure for demanding ration card from the voters filing their claims was nowhere mentioned in the Punjab Municipal Election Rules. Citing Section 29 (7) of the Act, they said that form no. 7 to be filled by a claimant had to be accepted by the ERO as correct. The condition to be a voter was that he should be residing in the constituency and should be above 18 years. The fake votes, if any, had to be verified on the basis of objections filed by other persons. They alleged that the enumeration staff had not gone from house to house to get the form no. 5 filled by their occupants.

CRIME

Murder case registered
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 1 — The police has registered a case of murder against a Sector 15 doctor, and a Sector 27 couple and their daughter for allegedly poisoning their neighbour’s son.

According to police sources, Mr G S Garcha, a resident of Sector 27 - D, alleged that his son was reportedly poisoned by his neighbours, S. S. Bedi, Baljit Kaur and their daughter Raj Preet, besides Dr Kaura of Sector 15. The boy had been admitted to the clinic of the latter at about 5. 30 p.m. where he expired later on.

A case under Section 302 \ 34, IPC, has been registered.

Arrested

The police has arrested Ombir, a Sector 38 resident, for allegedly setting a woman, Aneeta, a resident of the same colony afire after dousing her with kerosene. She was admitted to the PGI with 40 percent burn injuries. A case under Section 307, IPC, has been registered.

Injured

Mr A K Singh, a resident of Chandimandir was hit and injured by a car, DL-3C-K-3449, near the Modern Housing Complex turn. While the injured was admitted to the Command Hospital, the driver fled from the spot of the crime.A case under Section 279 \ 337, IPC, has been registered.

Trespass case

Sector 47 resident Neelam reported that Arjun Lal and his son Manoj trespassed in her house and assaulted her. A case under Section 452, 323, IPC, has been registered.