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| Friday,
July 26, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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MC deploys 50 more sweepers Chandigarh, July 25 With four hand pumps in Colony Number 5 found to be discharging unsafe drinking water, the corporation has also contacted the Social Welfare Department to deploy Anganwadi workers for creating awareness among people about safe drinking water. The 50 sweepers have been kept on a two-month contract. The corporation was earlier considering removal of the hand pumps but has now changed its decision considering the other water needs of the people. It launched a drive in all colonies to remove insanitary elements by catching 50 pigs and impounding 4 quintal of unauthorised meat from Dadu Majra Colony. As the house-to-house survey in Sector 52 is complete, other colonies are also being surveyed to remove causes of danger to people’s health. Official sources said the colonies would now be cleaned with large number of residents themselves coming up for work. Despite the decision to install boosters in low lying areas, the whole process might take a couple of months. However, the corporation has started surveying of low pressure areas. The survey is likely to be completed in a couple of days. However, private contractors in colonies had virtually stopped working as they had not been getting payments for a couple of months. Councillors have been blamed for the delay as they did not give a satisfactory report of the functioning of contractors. The councillors had been saying that they were not convinced about sanitary conditions in their areas and there was no question of issuing such certificates in these conditions. The corporation has instructed that shortage of drinking water has to be met through tankers in each locality. Anganwadi workers have been directed to tell people that water other than that supplied by the corporation be not used for drinking purposes. The MC employees visited Shaheed Bhagat Singh Colony, Sector 52, Janata Kumhar Colony, Mauli Jagran, Palsora, Nehru Colony, Kajheri and Dadu Majra areas today. |
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CHOLERA OUTBREAK Chandigarh, July 25 Though presidents of two major political parties claimed that their party workers had brought problems of low water pressure and muddy water supply to their notice and the information had been passed on to authorities to be immediately handled, yet the deteriorating health and even death of people did not come to the notice of top leaders. The Congress president, Mr B.B. Bahl, and the BJP president, Mr Yashpal Mahajan, admitted that their workers in the affected areas had not reported to them about people falling sick and deaths. Political parties, whose inherent strength lies in their awakened, trained and number of cadres in each locality and their ability to pass on information for the leadership to take political actions, miserably failed on this account. The political workers are also trained to dissuade people from doing things detrimental to society and people at large as politics is an art of persuasion but hundreds of workers belonging to all political parties did not ask people to remove pits, toilets over supply lines and handpumps resulting in the loss of two lives and at least 1800 getting affected. The BJP which was in the opposition neither held any protest against low pressure and muddy water supply in Sector 52 nor handed over any memorandum to the administration. The internal democracy of the Congress also failed on this account as a person who could have been nursing ambition to challenge the local party councillor, Mr Kuldeep Singh, should have used the party forum to expose Mr Kuldeep Singh's ineffectiveness in the wake of the persisting problem. The BJP's inaction could also be attributed to some extent to the failure of internal democracy. Political parties, which seem to have forgotten their positive social role of educating people and helping them being the largest organisations in the country, did not perform their role. May be the initiative of an activist to take up public issues has been weakened. |
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Cops violating Motor Vehicles Act? Panchkula, July 25 It is alleged that in gross violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, the traffic violators in Panchkula , be it in the township or in Kalka, Pinjore or Chandimandir, are being issued challans by Head Constables and Constables. The Act clearly states that violators can be challaned only by an officer of the rank of Assistant Sub Inspector and above (non-gazetted officers and senior ranks). The challans issued by the constabulary are thus not admissible in the court. However, senior police officials deny that the challans are being issued by the constabulary. The Superintendent of Police, Ms Charu Bali, said the challaning parties in the district were always headed by an officer not below the rank of an Assistant Sub Inspector of police. The traffic wing of the police consists of one Sub Inspector, six Assistant Sub Inspectors, one
Head constable and 18 Constables and upgraded constables. The District Inspector has been given the charge of Traffic Inspector. While the only Sub Inspector is posted in Kalka, all six Sub Inspectors (who are eligible for issuing challans) are deployed in the township. This puts a question mark on the challans being issued in Pinjore and at several other places in the township. A large number of residents allege that at most places in the township, it is the constabulary that is issuing challans to traffic violators. “ Most often it is the Head Constable or the Constable who issues challans . It is very rare that they are assisted by police officers (Assistant Sub Inspector and above rank) from the patrolling staff and other police stations,” informed a resident of Sector 12. With the constabulary issuing challans, the challan forms are not properly issued and have many wrongful entries. A case in this regard is that of a Sector 15 resident, who was issued a challan on It may be noted that the vehicular population in the district is over 50,000, with around 350 new vehicles being registered each month. As against this, the traffic wing consists of only 27 policemen. Also, the traffic police lacks in infrastructure and is way behind the highly modernised Chandigarh Traffic police. They have now sought funds from Police Modernisation Fund to improve infrastructural facilities like purchasing a speed gun, breath analyser, colour television and VCR for training cops, high cross belts, nose masks, hand gloves and night safety jackets for the personnel of the traffic wing of the police. |
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Bid to overawe Bench: court notice to two Chandigarh, July 25 Delivering the verdict, the Bench, comprising Mr Justice N.K. Sodhi and Mr Justice Virender Singh, observed: “We are prima facie satisfied that both the petitioner and his counsel have tried to overreach the Court and overawe the Bench with the object of having their case transferred. Prima facie, there is an attempt at Bench hunting”. The Judges also dismissed the writ petition and “burdened the petitioner” with costs assessed at Rs 10,000 to be paid to Punjab State Legal Services Authority. Going into the background of the case, the Judges added that the petitioner was a member of the Chandigarh Golf Club and had approached the Court to settle some disputes among the members regarding the membership of certain individuals. In their detailed order Judges observed: “It is unfortunate that both the petitioner and his counsel have made strenuous efforts to get the case out of this Bench. Counsel for the petitioner telephoned one of us on July 21 at around 7.30 pm stating that he wanted to meet him. On a query being made as to the purpose of the meeting, counsel pointed out on telephone that he wanted to talk at the residence of the Judge rather than in the open Court about this case and to show a letter written by the petitioner. The request was firmly declined.... The telephone call and the mention of a letter appear to have been made with the object of getting the case transferred from the Bench”. Regarding the issues raised by the petitioner, the Judges ruled: “We are clearly of the view that the club is a private body over which the Chandigarh Administration has no control, much less pervasive control. The club is not a ‘state’ and no writ petition is maintainable against it. In any case, the nature of the disputes raised in the writ petition pertain to the membership of individuals and these disputed can more appropriately be settled in a civil court. We are, therefore, not inclined to interfere in the matter”. |
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Ex-minister’s son dies of bullet injury Panchkula, July 25 The victim, who owned a department store, Farmers in Sector 34, Chandigarh, died of a bullet injury at around 11 pm last night. His mother and wife, Ms Sona Devi, were having dinner in another room when the incident took place. Though the family maintains that the death was a result of mishandling of a carbine, the police has not ruled out suicide. According to information, Ms Prasunni Devi was away to Karnal yesterday and returned at about 10 pm. While she was having dinner with her daughter- in- law, Ravinder Singh reportedly came back home and headed for his room. While the two women were The victim was immediately taken to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, where he was declared brought dead. His postmortem examination was conducted this morning and he was later cremated near Pipli. He is survived by two sons — Ravi Karan and Bulbul. The police has registered a daily diary report in this regard. |
Workers allege assault by employer Chandigarh, July 25 Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, the victims said on July 24, when they were about to leave the factory in the evening, the owner of the unit detained them forcibly and made them work for the night. The night chowkidar was reportedly told to ensure that the two did not leave the factory. When the owner returned in the morning today, he found that both the workers were sleeping. Both were allegedly thrashed resulting in a head injury to Chandeshwar. The workers alleged that they were not allowed to leave the premises even after receiving injuries. It was only around 12 noon when a supervisor in the unit came and provided medical aid to both the victims. A medical examination of both the workers was got conducted at the Sector 16 General Hospital after they approached the police with their complaint. A police official at the Industrial Area Police Station said a Daily Diary Report (DDR) had been entered and the matter was being investigated. The police official said a police party had gone to the factory but the owner, Mr Sumeet Goel was not there. The owner, however, could not be contacted for comments. |
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Samadhaan cautions investors Panchkula, July 25 In a press note, Mr R.P. Malhotra, president of the group, has alleged that certain government and semi- government schemes are luring people to apply for residential, commercial or industrial plots after collecting huge amounts of public money in the form of earnest money at the rate of 10 per cent of the total tentative cost. However, these agencies delay the draw of lots to decide the eligible persons for allotment or hold on possession of the plots for years together after issuing allotment letters. In a related case, Ms Nisha Verma was allotted a residential plot by the Haryana Urban Development Authority in Faridabad. She was allotted the plot in 1998, but failed to obtain possession. When she decided to get a refund from HUDA, she only got 90 per cent of the total amount paid to the department. Mr Malhotra has alleged that this was unjustified as the authorities had themselves failed to give possession. When contacted, senior officials in HUDA maintain that the total consideration amount (10 per cent of the amount paid and its interest plus the interest on the pending amount) had to be deducted as a policy matter. In case HUDA cannot give physical possession of a plot because of some litigation, encroachment on land or a court stay order, the total consideration amount is not deducted. |
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Rotarians urged to
protect environment Chandigarh, July 25 During the Rotary meeting, Justice Kuldip Singh was fondly introduced as a “Green Judge”, due to his passion and care for the environment and his concern for the dwindling resources of nature. “We all remember his landmark judgment on the closure of polluting factories around Taj Mahal, Agra”. Considering that out of 3500 cities in India, less than 300 have a proper sewerage plant, and the high volume of air pollution in the nation’s Capital “sends shivers down our spine”. Justice Kuldip Singh further stressed that even Chandigarh was ill-equipped to handle the sewage generated by the city. “The ground water below the area, where this sewage water is dumped, is unsuitable for drinking because over the years this has seeped deep into the ground. The cholera and dysentery cases, according to him, “are an indication of worse things to come, if we in general and our municipal corporation in particular does not wake up to the cause.” In fact, Justice Kuldip Singh believed Rotary to be an organisation which could help in this cause. He asked the Rotary Chandigarh Shivalik in particular, with Dr G.S. Kochhar leading it, to join hands with him along with other NGOs to be after the government to take drastic steps in this direction. He said: “after we set our existing systems right, only then can we attack the larger aspects of conserving and protecting nature which includes forests and rivers which are again bearing the brunt of our indifference towards mother nature.” |
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Breathing life in ‘Rare Passion’ Chandigarh, July 25 The green colour is meant to enhance the facade of the bike, which has been upgraded to a 300 cc capacity by special technical modification. Talking to the Chandigarh Tribune about his dream machine, Jags said today, “Right from childhood I had this fascination for motorcycles. I could never really settle for one machine. Sometimes I was attracted to the Yamaha; sometimes to Yezdi. Only recently, the Bajaj Eliminator hit me with its amazing endurance power and a powerful rear structrure. Suddenly I wanted to have for myself a bike that combined the best in all three bikes. So I thought of devising my own machine, which could satisfy all my needs as a rider.” Once the passion struck, the search for mobike parts began. While parts of Yezdi and Bajaj Eliminator were easier to get, those of Yamaha were very difficult to procure. Jags said, “I travelled to all regions of Delhi, looking for parts of Yamaha. Once I got them, I began working on permutations combinations.” The final body of the bike, which Jags calls “Rare Passion”, has the front portion resembling that of Yamaha, the basic middle part on lines of Yezdi and the heavy rear section developed to match the endurance of Bajaj Eliminator. In fact the rear tyres which Jags has used in his machine are the broadest available in India. These have been procured especially from Mumbai. The green colour of the bike also has a purpose. Passionate as he always was to possess a sports bike, Jags has coloured his creation green. For that is the routine colour of all sports machines. The bike has been further accessorised to please the onlooker. It has highly sophisticated lights with purple overtones. Power of lights has been increased with the help of extra chargers. Wheel lights also have a purple colour, so that whenever the rider applies brakes, his machine blinks with hues of purple. Apart from arranging special fog lamps from Mumbai, Jags has also installed lights under his mudguards. Although as of today, the bike’s engine is bare, Jags plans to cover it up with a special mould which he is designing himself. The mould will have ventilators to sustain the effectiveness of the engine. With everything in place now, the bike is ready for the most dangerous of rallies. It can endure the worst road conditions and can go on for long periods in time, laced as it with the finest available in market. |
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Vehicles sans reflectors
to be challaned Chandigarh, July 25 The drive is expected to begin in the coming days, said sources in the traffic police. So far the police has been focusing attention on fixing reflectors on rickshaws, horse-driven cart and rehris. An official of the traffic police said in the second phase challaning of the slow-moving vehicles is being started. The police has written to the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation to ensure implementation of the rickshaw bylaws. Earlier, the police has launched a special drive to tame rickshaw-pullers violating the traffic rules. Officials of the traffic police maintain that rickshaw-pullers were involved in a substantial number of road accidents taking place everyday in the city. The officials said it had been seen that the migrant labourers after landing in the city take rickshaws on hire. Having little knowledge about the traffic rules and no road sense, they are often involved in road accidents. It has been widely recorded that often the rickshaw-pullers cut across the road without giving any indication. |
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JCT staff hold protest SAS Nagar, July 25 The matter got precipitated this morning when four employees of the unit tendered their resignation to the management following a call for the same by the management. According to sources, yesterday the management had issued a notice stating that all those employees who wanted to seek voluntary resignation from the firm can do so. The notice also offered that all those who will resign by July 31 will be given their backlog salary and compensation according to their years of service. However, a majority of the employees have rejected the offer and raised slogans against the management outside the factory today. The sources added that while four had already resigned, 16 more will be submitting their resignation tomorrow. The unit has a strength of nearly 680 employees. |
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Protest by factory
staff continues Lalru, July 25 The employees are protesting against the indifferent attitude of the management towards a section of employees of the factory for the past couple of months. The agitators complained that the factory management had issued show-cause notices to six employees for not obeying their orders to increase production. The notices were issued to Inderjit Singh, Surjit Singh, Ram Karan, Amar Singh, Gulwant Singh and Bachhna Ram. Also, the management had implicated four employees — Ram Pal, Ram Karan, Bachhna Ram and Gurcharan Singh — in a criminal case that was registered against them on July 5, said Mr Balkar Singh, president of the employees union. |
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Congress
councillors hit back Chandigarh, July 25 The Congress councillors defended the local MP, Mr Pawan Bansal and the Mayor, Ms Lalit Joshi, in dealing with the cholera outbreak. The councillors said the Mayor had ordered an inquiry into the outbreak and was keenly monitoring help to the affected people. The
councillors also claimed that though the local MP was busy attending
the Lok Sabha session, he was in constant touch with the Chandigarh
Administration and the Mayor. The Senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Surinder
Singh, issued a release saying that any negligence on anybody’s part
in the cholera outbreak would be punished. |
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Senior citizens call on SP SAS Nagar, July 25 The meeting which went on for more than two hours was also attended by the president of the Municipal Council, Mr Kulwant Singh, along with a large number of councillors of the township. A large number of senior citizens stated their problems before the Superintendent of Police, who gave a patient hearing to all of them. He was accompanied by the DSP and SHO, Phase I, Police Station, Mr
J.S. Sohal. |
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Tribune employee bereaved Chandigarh, July 25 One of her sons, Mr Promod Bansal, is a Sectional Head in the Circulation Department of The Tribune group of publications. A prayer meeting will be held on Saturday, July 27 at Baba Balak Nath Mandir, Sector 29-A, Chandigarh. |
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Freedom fighter dead Chandigarh, July 25 Bahti was the founder member of the Azad Party, set up at Amritsar during the freedom struggle. The party was created with the sole objective of securing freedom for the country from the British yoke. The birth of the Azad Party took place at Giani College, near Mochianawala Bazar, Amritsar, on December 31, 1934. Bahti is survived by his wife, Surjit Kaur, three sons and a daughter. The bhog will take place at his residence in Sector 45 on Sunday. |
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Kargil Vijay
Divas ceremony today Chandigarh, July 25 |
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Indira Colony facing water crisis Chandigarh, July 25 |
Ex-secy of society held for cheating Lalru, July 25 According to the police, Kaur Singh, a resident of Dharamgarh village, has been arrested in a case of cheating and forgery he allegedly committed over 16 years ago. Employed as secretary with the society, Kaur Singh was terminated in November 1986 by the management of the Cooperative
Society. He was also charged with possessing stamps of senior officials and producing ‘‘fake documents’’ of a ‘‘fake decision’’, in which he had used fake stamps of management officials in 1998. The department had appointed Mr Amrit Lal Singh as an investigating officer for the case who after proper investigations found that the person had cheated the society after arranging fake documents and stamps of senior officials. The police arrested Kaur Singh after registering a case under Section 420, 467 and 468 of the IPC against him with the Lalru police station on July 7. He was later produced in a court at Rajpura and sent to 14 days judicial custody. One injured A resident of Lalru, Mr Singh was hit by the vehicle while he was crossing the highway. The driver of the vehicle sped from the scene after the incident. A case of hit-and-run has been registered.
CHANDIGARH Suicide bid Vehicle stolen Burglary Eve-teasers held Liquor seized Two held Mobile set seized Woman held PANCHKULA 3 hurt in clash Dowry case |
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Police makes computer sketches of robbers Chandigarh, July 25 The police believes that the suspects were known to be the employees of the victim. Already some persons known to the servant of the victim have been questioned by the police. Sources in the police said servant of the woman had said someone known to him possessed a gun. The suspects appeared to be migrants who spoke chaste Hindi. A police party, which had gone to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh to arrest the suspect, however, returned empty handed. On last Tuesday night, the suspects armed with knives and a countrymade gun had asked about the servant. Incidentally, the servant had left moments before the suspects entered the house. The robbers had taken away Rs 70,000 cash and 140 grams of gold jewellery. A police official said the robbers were suspected to be in the tailoring profession. The suspect spoke in the manner as the tailors from Western belt of Uttar Pradesh. |
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Police zeroes in on suspect Chandigarh, July 25 Sources said the police was hopeful of recovering more fake ration cards. The suspect, Bhim Sain, is involved in forging registration number of vehicles. A clerk of the transport authority had also been questioned for "facilitating" the registration of vehicles on the basis of forged documents. Sources said the suspect used to use fake ration card for getting the vehicles registered. |
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Having tested and tried the aesthetic, mechanical and electrical features of all bikes, Jags finally settled for three most enduring motorcycles — Yamaha 350, Yezdi and Bajaj Eliminator. Jags drove all three for a long time before he decided to create his own “hybrid of sorts,” by combining the best elements of these three machines. The labour for four months finally paid and Jags’s dream machine is now ready for the roads. Only two days back, Jags test drove the self-devised and self-designed vehicle on the city roads. he also painted the vehicle green.