The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

THE DAY AFTER
Thin attendance in offices
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 1 — Even as the New Year was less than 12 hours old, the festive spirit took over offices and employees of the government in the Chandigarh, here today. In any case very few employees had turned up and they just waited for the Administration to announce the half day holiday on account of the procession on the occassion of Gurpurb which falls on Tuesday.

This made it a virtual four-day weekend for babus in the government offices as Saturday and Sunday are routine weekend holidays while tomorrow is again a closed day. This brings all activity to standstill while the odd person visiting the offices today was advised to come on January 3. An official said that only 10 per cent of his staff had reported on duty. By and large attendance was no more than 30 per cent in offices of Chandigarh Administration.

On the other hand, unlike most other government offices in the city, which had a thin attendance, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, had a normal working day, till lunch time. Even though it was raining and employees could have availed a restricted holiday to participate in the Gurpurb procession, most preferred to work on the first day of the year. One of the employees pointed out that since tomorrow is again a holiday, it did not make sense to take a holiday today.

In the second half of the day the newly elected Mayor, Mr Raj Kumar Goel, had called all the councillors and officials of MC for an informal get-together. He sought their co-operation to ensure proper allround development of the city.

Interestingly, none of the 13 BJP and Akali Dal councillors were present. Besides the Congress councillors, only five nominated councillors were present. These include Ms Saudamini Bambah, Ms Surya Pandit, Dr I.C Pathak, Mr R.S Kailey and Major Gen (retd) Gurdial Singh. The issue of forming sub-committees did not figure in the discussions and the new Mayor was confident that he will nominate members to all the eight sub-committees in the next few days. Officials, with whom various development works which have to be undertaken during this year were taken up and they in turn assured to make the city more clean and green.

In Panchkula also the attendance in offices was poor on account of holidays during the last week and a holiday tomorrow as well. Added to the absence of officers was the excuse of no electricity, which rendered working impossible. During work hours, most of those present were seen exchanging pleasantries instead of being in the offices. In SAS Nagar also a similar situation prevailed when large number of employees failed to turn up while festive spirit prevailed in offices.

Meanwhile, the Mayor of Chandigarh, Mr Raj Kumar Goel, along with the Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Gurcharan Dass Kala, today called on the UT Administrator, Lieut -Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd) to convey New Year greetings. Mr Goel urged the Governor to allocate more funds for the MC, so that all pending work could be completed in the last term of the House. He also asked him to visit Mani Majra and the grain market areas. The Administrator assured them all possible co-operation.

Later they met the Deputy Commissioner, Mr M. Ramsekhar, and sought help on various issues, which needed his intervention.

Power, phone services disrupted
From Tribune Reporters

Chandigarh/Panchkula/SAS Nagar, Jan 1 — Rain since last night led to disruption in power supply in large parts of the city and its adjoining townships while thousands of residents, under the influence of the new year spirit, wanting to place telephone calls to their friends and relatives, only heard a busy tone or the monotonous ‘‘this route is busy please dial after some time ”.

Actually the two townships were virtually cut off from the rest of the world as communication links broke down. Call traffic had doubled than usual between midnight and 12.10 a.m. The situation worsened between 8 a.m. and 8: 45 a.m when the digital telephone exchange (D-TAX) shut down on account of over loading and then rectified by itself due an automated programme in the exchange which shuts off when the traffic goes beyond certain level, said sources. This is a safety mechanism to prevent the entire system from collapsing telecom officials said while explaining the reason for the occurrence that had telephone users irritated.

A source said daily about 30,000 telephone calls are made between Chandigarh and SAS Nagar. This figure was double today. The same was true with call attempts between Chandigarh and Panchkula. Subscribers complained that they could not receive calls from their children, friends and relatives living in distant cities. All STD call traffic is routed through the D-TAX at Chandigarh. The problem was also for mobile phone users who could not reach regular land line phones or vice versa.

Panchkula phones either had no dial tone or a number of lines got interconnected each time the bell rang. Adding to the inconvenience was the fact that the computerised complaint failed to take note of the problems of telephone users. “Each time I dialed to put in my complaint, all I heard was that the exchange was down. Another time, the computer failed to record the number correctly,’’ Mr A Katiyal, resident of Sector 12, said. An official of the Telecom Department informed that this was primarily on account of problem in the pulse of the computer programme.

In SAS Nagar, subscribers wanting to dial numbers in Chandigarh could not reach any number. However, calls within SAS Nagar were possible. Dial tone was missing in case of thousands of phones. Mr Amrik Singh, a municipal councillor of Phase X, said he could not exchange new year greetings with his relatives and friends as his phone was not functioning.

On the power front in Chandigarh, a 33-KV substation in Sector 37 developed a snag, leading to power problems in several adjoining sectors. Power supply also failed in Sectors 18, 19, 20, 32, 33, 46, 47 and 48 for varying periods of time. The Chief Engineer, Mr R.K. Jain, claimed that supply to areas catered by the Sector 37 substation was routed through alternative sources but the repair job took about six hours. Rain had also caused damaged on several pole-mounted transformers.

In Panchkula, the worst-affected were Sectors 20 and 21, power supply could not be restored for nearly 12 hours after the link snapped. In other sectors, power played hide-and-seek on a day when heaters and blowers were required the most. ‘‘The lights went out just after midnight and we thought it was the department’s way of wishing us a happy new year, little realising that there would be no electricity till the morning’’, said Mr Rajkumar, a resident of Sector 21.

Employees of the department began work today and could restore supply only after noon. The XEN, Mr M.R. Murari, said power to the sector had gone off on account of a system failure in the area while in other pockets of the township the disruption was because of the first rain which posed such problems.

In SAS Nagar, power failed in several parts of the industrial area, and residential areas like phase III, phase III-B-1, phase III -B-2, Phase IV, VII, X and XI. All problems are being attributed to rain. Mr S.S. Barnala, a Municipal Councillor from Phase XI, said that they had to welcome the new year with a power failure soon after midnight. The problem persisted till morning. Even in the Municipal Council office a generator had been put to use.

Mr Varinder Kumar, a shopkeeper in Phase V, said power supply to Phase VII had failed around midnight.

It’s back to business
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 1 — The first day of the new millennium dawned for most citizens of the city with lots of promises and the rain gods showering their blessings all day long.

In fact, most people came out of their homes in the late afternoon and thronged the various market places, cinema halls and other hot spots in the city. The rains failed to dampen the spirit of the residents who were determined to begin the year on a new note.

For the Chandigarh police, the day brought some relief with the personnel back on their duty. All the senior police officers who had been engaged in meetings all the past week, trying to make security arrangements for the various New Year bashes in the city, it was reportedly back to the pavilions with the partying over peacefully.

Panjab University decided to have a somber beginning in the New Year by resuming work today. But the day being declared a half day on account of the Gurpurb celebrations. The students from various departments were unable to catch up on the pensive mood and reportedly decided to skip classes and instead catch with friends on how the winter break was spent.

Where there was the hangover of the revelry, there was also the promise for achievement in the coming year. Mr Abhinav Gupta, an executive trainee in a pharmaceutical company here, while explaining why he chose to come to work after revelling all night said that it had more to do with the belief that the prospects of whole year were linked to how one had spent the first day of the year.

Sharp drop in temperature
First rain after September 26
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 1 — Intermittent rain which started late last night continued to lash the city and its surrounding areas throughout the day to mark a wet beginning to the New Year today. The rain slowed down vehicular traffic, resulted in a sharp drop in temperature, made attendance drop in offices and brought cheer to the farm sector.

The city had recorded 21 mm of rain till 5:30 p.m. on Monday. The maximum temperature was 12.2° C, which was 8 degrees below the normal average for this time of the year. Day-time temperature was 10 degrees lesser than Sunday’s maximum temperature. On the other hand, the minimum temperature was quite close to the maximum. The minimum temperature was 11° C. This in itself was 5 degrees above the normal.

The rain ended a long dry spell as it had not rained since September 26. The ongoing spell was expected to last for the next 24 hours, the local meteorological office said. The rain has occurred due to the confluence of a western disturbance approaching from Rajasthan and an upper air cyclonic circulation , the Director of the local met office, Mr S.C. Bhan, said today. The minimum temperatures will not drop till the cloud cover remains, he explained.

The dry spell had led to several minor ailments and worry among power engineers working in the hydel projects of the regions. Already an alert had been sounded on the use of water from the Bhakra Dam and hydel projects like the Pong, and the Ranjit Sagar. With today's rain, some inflow of water will be maintained. Sources in the power sector said inflow will start trickling down mountains into the reservoirs by Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile in the city and its surrounding areas, the rain slowed down traffic on major highways. Streets were full of water. On the Chandigarh-Shimla road, near Pinjore vehicles moved at a very small pace. Same was true around the diversion created on the Chandigarh-Ambala road near Dera Bassi. The road on the diversion is narrow and rain only caused delay. Several city residents who saw opportunity of seeing snow in Shimla left for the hill station this morning. Those who could not make it to Shimla due to enormous rush opted for Kasauli, Chail and Dagshai.

Wet roads also resulted in several minor accidents as scooterists slipped and cars skidded while braking. Even last night several tipsy revellers had tough time negotiating turns. In offices people huddled around heaters and doors were shut to keep out the cold.

Shopkeepers reported bad sales. In any case the low turnout was expected on January 1 as people usually get up late and with the rain today people preferred to remain indoors. The rain also brings cheer for the farm sector as it is considered good for the wheat crop.

Accident insurance cover for cops
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 1 — Keeping its promise to work towards the welfare of police officials, the Chandigarh Police today announced accidental insurance cover for rendering financial assistance to the kin of employees dying in mishaps. Over 4,000 personnel are expected to benefit from the project.

Announcing the scheme at a press conference convened at the Sector 9 Police Headquarters, Inspector-General of Chandigarh Police Bhim Sain Bassi said, "it will be provided to all police personnel, including the ministerial and Class IV officials, besides police hospital staff, for one year".

Terming the scheme as "unique", the IGP said the personnel would be insured for Rs 3 lakh each. He added that no premium would be deducted from the salary of employees already contributing to the Chandigarh Police Welfare Fund.

Giving details, Mr Bassi said that the premium would be deducted from the fund. "Personnel who were not the members of the fund would be required to pay annual premium of Rs 111. The money would be deducted from their salaries," the IGP clarified.

Claiming the policy to be initially for one year starting from today, Mr Bassi elaborated that the insurance would cover "death due to accidents caused by external, violent and visible means". It would, however, exclude death due to suicide.

The insurance policy, he added, would be applicable even when the victim was not on duty. Moreover, it was in addition to the benefits already being extended to the personnel from the Police Welfare Fund.

The decision to introduce the scheme was significant as "duties performed by the police personnel were making them somewhat vulnerable to accidents". Otherwise also, the IGP, during the annual press conference held on December 28 last year, had promised measures for the welfare of cops.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Inspector-General of Chandigarh Police Ajay Kashyap said the scheme "met a long-felt need for providing adequate financial assistance in cases of mishaps".

Mr Kashyap stated that Chandigarh Police Home Guards were also being covered by a similar insurance scheme. He added that under the project, Home Guard personnel would be insured for Rs 1 lakh.

The premium, he revealed, would be paid from the Chandigarh Home Guard Welfare Fund and the cover would not "entail any financial burden on the personnel".

SPEAKING OUT
Let’s change for the better in New Year
From Kulwinder Sangha

SAS NAGAR, Jan 1 — There is much that needs improvement in the town and with the beginning of the New Year, residents and others who work here are looking forward to a change for the better.

Among the host of problems being faced are those relating to sanitation, pollution, medical facilities and traffic management.

Here are the views of a few prominent persons:

Mr Kulwant Singh, President of the Municipal Council says that there is a need to make the town green and clean. All the green belts in the town will be properly developed, more saplings planted and care will also be taken of trees that already exist. All efforts will be made to keep the town very clean but public cooperation in this sphere is must. If residents ensure that garbage is dumped at a proper place, half of the sanitation problem gets solved.

He says that auto rickshaws running on diesel were adding to the pollution in the town. Such vehicles will be stopped from operating here.

Mr Gurmeet Singh Chauhan, SP, says that the traffic system needs to be regulated here and all efforts will be made to bring about a positive change. The presence of traffic police at strategic points will be ensured. Parking problem will also be looked into. He, however, feels that the involvement of schoolchildren, like NCC cadets and scouts, in regulating traffic and guiding people can be of much help.

He says that people involved in commercial activities often stick posters on government guide maps that have been put up at various points here. This, he feels, should be stopped as a large number of visitors to the town are being put to great deal of inconvenience.

The local SDM, Mr Jai Pal Singh, hopes that the New Year will bring about an improvement in the condition of internal roads, streetlight functioning and the sanitation aspect. He feels that the public toilets in the town have been totally neglected. They should be well built, by using marble and granite, and can be given on contract.

He is of the view that the space that falls between the boundary wall of houses and the roads should be beautified by planting perennial flowers. He also wants the shopkeepers to vacate the market verandahs, which they are encroaching upon, as the space is meant for public use.

Dr Rana Harinder Brar, CMO and in charge of the Civil Hospital here, says “We are waiting for the construction activity of expanding the hospital to start so that it becomes functional at the earliest”. Even though the 50-bed hospital has been upgraded to 200-bed hospital it does not have a building to expand its activities.

She feels that there is a need to make the migratory population of the town aware of the two big challenges, AIDS and TB, being faced at present. Health problems have always originated from slums.

Dr Kehar Singh, Chairman of the Punjab School Education Board, says that a habit of cleanliness needs to be inculcated. Public places are seen littered with plastic carry bags and other things. He is of the view that schoolchildren can be involved in keeping the areas clean. He wishes that a model school is set up in the town which is able to provide quality education at reasonable charges.

He feels that SAS Nagar should be developed as a centre for cultural activities and wishes that the board can play some role in this sphere.

The Mohali Industries Association President, Mr S.S. Sandhu, says that the infrastructure of the town should be properly developed as it is going to become an important IT centre. He feels the need of good hotels, clubs and a golf club here. The town should not be known as a poor cousin of Chandigarh. Instead, a marked improvement should be brought about in spheres like sanitation, streetlighting and telephone services.

He says that as industry is contributing a major part of the civic body’s revenue in the form of octroi, a representative from the industry should be involved while planning the development of the town.

Mr S.R. Chaudhari, a former Ambassador to Tunisia, Somalia, Norway and Iceland, who wants a “Green Mohali” says that in the New Year his Environment Protection Society will concentrate on the protection of trees from residents who indiscriminately cut these for personal convenience.

He wants PUDA to remove encroachments from public places, especially green belts, and plant different varieties of saplings there.

COMMUNITY

No celebrations for them
By Kiran Deep

CHANDIGARH, Jan 1 — The day, when the city residents were busy in exchanging good wishes with their family members, relatives and friends, there were hundreds of others from different walks of life, still carrying on their battles and protesting against the injustice allegedly being met out to them. Despite rain hundreds of employees of the Punjab PWD, members of the Haryana Employees Union of General Category and Backward Classes, Punwire MARTS-Employees Union, and Diet Students Welfare Association Punjab observed strike here today. Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, members of different unions said that they would celebrate New Year only after the fulfillment of their demands.

“It’s the 139th day of our strike. Every day, five of us from different districts observe hunger strike. The New Year began without much hope”, said Mr Darshan Singh, member of the District Institute of Education and Training Student Welfare Association.

Mr Shanker, a member of the Punwire MARTS-employees Union, SAS Nagar, who had worked for 14 years in the Punwire said: “It’s the 197th day of our strike”. He further added that many of his friends had joined other institutions, but he was hopeful that one day the government would help them .

Another employee of the Punwire, Mr Kalu Ram, who worked there more than 15 years said that he had no reason to celebrate New Year. He said, “How can I celebrate new year when more than 1000 employees of the company are jobless and are passing through a bad phase of their lives. We are unable to fulfill the daily needs of our families. Employees are observing strike in Sector 17, in the hope that the government will provide them jobs. Only then we will be able to celebrate New Year.

Members of the PWD Employees Joint Action Committee, Punjab, are on strike for the past 43 days. About 80 of them are living in tents and facing a shortage of food, water and electricity. Far away from their families, the members of the committee are having a tough time here and there is no one to listen their problem. It was the 43rd day of their strike and they hope that in the New Year Punjab Government would recruit them on permanent basis. Mr Amrik Singh, from Gurdaspur, a member of the committee said that they had a very tough time here. The Punjab Government had not taken any step yet, to solve our problem and we hope that in the New Year, government would think about our problem”, he said.

The president of the Haryana General Category and Backward Class Employees Union, Mr Desh Raj Lamba, said they would celebrate New Year only after the fulfilment of their demands regarding the implementation of the Supreme Court decision on reservations. He said the union burnt an effigy of reservation at 12.30 a.m. today and would continue their strike. Mr Lamba said that they hoped that soon the Haryana Government would accept their demands. Hundreds of the members of their association today continued with their strike despite the rain and cold.

Traffic police creating chaos at roundabouts?
By Nishikant Dwivedi

CHANDIGARH, Jan 1 — Is the Chandigarh traffic police itself responsible for creating traffic bottlenecks by challaning vehicles at the various city roundabouts?

With the senior police officers in the city conceding that traffic jams were a common feature at the various roundabouts, they had now decided to install traffic lights at some of the roundabouts and help clear the choking of traffic during the rush hours.

Interestingly, while the roundabouts in the city are a hot spot for the local traffic police to wait and net in the traffic violators, the nakas put up at the roundabouts, specially during the night hours, cause problems for the other commuters who happen to pass by as the cops prefer to stop the violators at the roundabouts rather than taking them away at some distance.

The cops recently started challaning the vehicles driving with high beams during the night hours adding to the woes of commuters. A senior police official said, ‘‘These vehicles could be challaned during the night hours only’’.

According to sources in the Police Department, as many as 100 new vehicles hit the city roads every day. In Chandigarh, there are over 4.75 lakh vehicles. Perturbed at constant jams and accidents, the Chandigarh police has recommended the installation of traffic signals at the city roundabouts instead of replacing them. To begin with, the police has “short-listed” six roundabouts for the experiment, including the ones near the Kisan Bhavan, Piccadilly and Batra cinema.

Justifying the decision to put nakas at the roundabouts, a police official said, ‘‘At roundabouts, it is much easier to stop a vehicle as compared to stopping a vehicle in the middle of the road’’.

The cops set up their trap on all the four roads running through a roundabout. The constables stop the vehicles and the offenders are then allegedly told to park the vehicles on the road. Then the constable take the driver of the vehicle to the officer who issues the challan.

According to police sources, a challan takes at least five to 10 minutes. The reason: offenders often try to persuade the challaning officer not to issue the challan. Another thing which has been observed is that the offenders first try to persuade the constable or the home guard jawan, who stops them.

And all this happens at the cost of innocent cummuters who cross the roundabout among the large number of vehicles stopped by the traffic cops. However, a senior police official said, ‘‘Our personnel take special care not to disturb the normal traffic’’.

When contacted, Mr S.S. Randhawa, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Traffic) said, ‘‘Roundabouts are the ideal place to stop a vehicle’’, and added, ‘‘our personnel never stops the vehicles in the middle of the roads but always in the side of the road.”

Looking for good times ahead
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 1 — Residents of Mani Majra and nearby areas can look forward to better times as the area falls in the wards of both the Mayor and Senior Deputy mayor, Mr Raj Kumar Goel and Mr Gurcharan Dass Kala, respectively. The wards, which had been ignored during the past four years, would get proper attention.

Emphasis would be laid on sprucing up roads, providing proper sewerage and storm water drainage, besides maintaining proper cleanliness. The Congress councillors had, from time to time, been seeking the development of their wards in the House meetings but not much had been done. Even Mauli Jagran would stand to benefit as it happens to be in the ward of the new Mayor.

Meanwhile, Congress councillors are resentful of the fact that the Mayor is once again focussing on the development of Mani Majra, where the Governor had been at least twice or thrice earlier. He should treat all city areas equally and ensure that the Governor visited those wards where he had not been before.

CRIME

Car stereo, documents stolen
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 1 — A car-stereo and some audio cassettes were stolen from the car of Mr Ranjit Singh, a retired deputy district attorney, while it was parked outside the Chandigarh Club, soon after 2001 was ushered in.

In his complaint to the police, Mr Ranjit Singh, a resident of Sector 44, said his driving licence, car’s registration certificate and some house keys had also been stolen along with the other items.

Mr Ranjit Singh said he had found the items missing only after reaching home. “After returning from the celebrations at about 12.30 am, I noticed that the left window was partially open, but suspected nothing. It was only when we looked for the house keys that we realised that the items had been stolen,” said Mr Ranjit Singh. He said the car had been properly locked when it had been parked outside the club.

The police has registered a case under Section 379 of the IPC. Further investigations are on.

Theft bid
A PCS officer, Mr A.S. Dhindsa, has reported to the police that some unidentified persons entered his Sector 19 house to commit a theft.

He has said that the attempt was made while he was out of station for two days. The police has registered a case under Sections 454 and 511 of the IPC and further investigations are on.

Thief caught
A Sector 27 resident was caught while he was trying to steal a bicycle. The police registered a case against the accused, Sanjay Kumar, under Sections 379 and 411 of the IPC on the complaint of a Panchkula resident, Mr Mahesh Kumar.

Gamblers held
The police registered cases against three city residents for gambling at a public place. According to the police, Bishal Kumar of Sector 25 and Sanjay Kumar and Rakesh Kumar, both residents of Sector 31, were gambling in the Industrial Area when they were caught. Playing cards and Rs 160 were seized from their possession.

Eve-teaser arrested
Arun Kumar of Burail village was arrested after midnight for indulging in eve-teasing outside Tagore Theatre in Sector 18 here. A case has been registered against him under Section 294 of the IPC.

Woman killed as jeep rams into stationary car
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Jan 1 — One woman was killed and four others sustained serious injuries, in an accident involving a car and a jeep on the Kalka-Shimla highway near Sector 21, here today.

According to sources, the victims were employees of the Kandi project and were going to home after doing their duty, when a jeep (HR-01D-4279) rammed into their stationary car (CH-03A-7215) from behind.

Ms Manjit died on the spot while Ms Babita, Ms Babli, Mr Jagdish and Mr Vijay Trehan sustained injuries. Seriously injured Babita was rushed to the PGI in Chandigarh, where her condition is said to be critical. The other injured have been admitted to the local general hospital.

Eye witnesses revealed that the collision was so forceful that a commuter, Jaswant Singh who was waiting for a bus also sustained injuries.

A team of Red Cross Society was pressed into service for helping the victims by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr S.K. Monga.

The police has impounded the vehicle and arrested the driver after chasing him for a long time. A case has been registered against him.