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May 16, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Nine-lane AIIMS flyover: An architectural New Delhi, May 15 Contrasting her party’s track record with that of the BJP, Mrs Gandhi said her party believed in transforming dreams into reality. The Rajiv Gandhi Setu–the nine-lane flyover which she threw open to traffic on Thursday– she said exemplified that spirit. The concept of flyovers in the Capital, she said, was mooted by her late husband and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, when the Ninth Asian Games were held in Delhi in 1982. With the construction of the flyover that dream has been fulfilled, she said. Pitting her party’s agenda of development against the BJP’s politics of division and hatred, Mrs Gandhi said, “We do not indulge in politicking. Our governments, which are busy implementing the policies and programmes for people’s development, do not have the time for anything else.” Taking a dig at the BJP, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said, “They keep saying that the dreams of various projects and programme were given by them but it is we who have translated these dreams into reality ... this is one such reality,” she said referring to the completion of the flyover. Indicating that development would be her party’s plank in the forthcoming elections, Mrs Gandhi said the flyover, like many other public facilities built by other Congress governments, was aimed at improving the life of a common man. “Delhi, being the Capital of the nation, deserves an infrastructure and civic amenities which the people of the country can be proud of,” she said. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the flyover was symbolic of her government’s achievements and would not only emerge as a modern landmark of NCT of Delhi but also become a tourist attraction. She reminisced that when the late Indira Gandhi was shot, she was brought to AIIMS through these very roads over which a “technical and architectural marvel” in the shape of Rajiv Gandhi Setu stood. |
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PVT SCHOOL
NORMS Panipat, May 15 The guidelines have caught the private school owners off-guard. The owners contended that since a substantial number of the schools had been working for years now and were affiliated either to the Haryana Board of School Education or the Central Board of School Education, the new rules were ‘impracticable’. They dealt a death blow to the education of thousands of schools in the district. Coming down heavily on the ‘unrecognised’ teaching shops was all right, but imposing virtually impossible condition like increasing the land area by over 2 acres in the thickly populated urban areas was nothing short of harassment of the private school owners. Even as the tug-of-war between the Education Department and private school owners is on, the losers will be students if the large number of schools were closed. With the government schools woefully short of basic facilities, the fate of thousands of students hangs in balance. It seems that the education department, which allowed scores of teaching shops to flourish with impunity over the years, has failed to spare a thought for the students while farming the new rules. For instance, there is reportedly only one government senior secondary school in the city while there are five government high schools. Can such a limited number of schools cope with the rush of the students if private schools not conforming to new norms were shut down? It was due to better facilities that certain private schools had been favourite of parents and students though they did not fulfil some of the guidelines. The government schools, besides being few in number, had failed to keep pace with their private counterparts as far as infrastructure was concerned. Besides, there are reports that some of the government schools did not fulfil the requisite norms. What would be the fate of such schools, the authorities concerned have no answer. On the other hand, the private school owners are ready for a long legal battle against the ‘unjustified’ guidelines. They had already reportedly moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against certain harsh guidelines. Hearing in the case is reportedly slated for next week. Meanwhile, it is learnt that a majority of ‘unrecognised’ schools and those not fulfilling the new norms have advanced their summer vacations. However, that could give them only temporary reprieve as the authorities had made it clear that strict action would be taken against them after the vacations. |
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CBI COURT New Delhi, May 15 Acquitting a DVB Area Inspector of charges of bribery, Special Judge R.K.Gauba directed the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate to take appropriate action against Tarun Kalra who had levelled false allegations of bribery against K.L.Sharma. Saying that Kalra had revealed the falsity of his own complaint in the course of his statement as a prosecution witness, Mr Gauba directed instituting proceedings under Sections 199 (making false statement) and 211 (making false charge with the intent to injure) of the IPC against him. The Special Judge said the complainant himself had shown by his statement before the court that the accusations were false as he had not met the DVB official personally at any stage before lodging the complaint with the CBI. “There had been no occasion where the accused would give threats or make a demand of Rs 5,000 as bribe for consumption of more power by his manufacturing unit than sanctioned.” Kalra had failed to prove the truth of the charge, the judge said, adding “I do not think he needs to be given any further opportunity of proving the truth of his allegations.” On Kalra’s complaint, the CBI had instituted criminal proceedings against Sharma in 1998. He had alleged that the DVB official, who had been requested to change a burnt cable, had demanded a bribe of Rs 5,000 for consuming more power than sanctioned for his factory in the Naraina Industrial Area. However, while deposing as a prosecution witness, he admitted that he had not met Sharma before filing the complaint. Highlighting several discrepancies in the prosecution case, the court said, “At the outset neither the complainant nor the two independent witnesses have supported the prosecution case. The complainant categorically stated that he had not met the accused DVP official before the raid was conducted on the basis of his complaint.” |
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Faridabad-bound commuters miss the bus literally Faridabad, May 15 Thousands of people travel daily from Faridabad to Delhi and nearby areas for jobs and other businesses, but the state of the public transport network has remained unsatisfactory so far. While a large number of commuters use trains, there are still many who depend on road transport. The Haryana Roadways and the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) operate hundreds of buses daily to ferry passengers. These include long-route buses. But the problem starts after 8 pm when the frequency of buses operating between Delhi and Faridabad dwindle. “It’s very difficult to get any bus after 9.30 pm unless one is lucky to find a long-route bus,” says Anil Kumar, a daily commuter. He said he often has to depend on private taxis or vehicles, which operate after 9 pm. He said these vehicles usually operate illegally and charge between Rs 20 and Rs 25 from each passenger, depending on the time, while the normal bus fare between ISBT Delhi and Old Faridabad is only Rs 15. Another resident here who happened to travel from Delhi to Old Faridabad recently at about 10.30 pm said that there was no bus available for Faridabad at ISBT Kashmere Gate and he had to take a private van. He claimed that the young driver not only drove in a rash manner but the van had no front lights. He said the van operator might have had an understanding with the cops and he was not stopped at any point. Every passenger was charged Rs 20. The driver admitted that he took several rounds at night, as it was more safe and lucrative. |
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Meerut to have its own holy ‘Hardwar’ Meerut, May 15 This was revealed by the Divisional Commissioner of Meerut, Mr Nepal Singh Ravi, in an exclusive conversation with the ‘NCR Tribune’ at his camp office. Mr Ravi asserted that the new look of Garh Mukteshwar would help people in Uttar Pradesh forget the sad fact that holy Hardwar is no longer in UP. Not only a religious town, Garh Mukteshwar would also be a popular tourist centre for relaxation and it would be miles ahead of Hardwar, Mr Ravi claimed. He said that the results of the seminar on the archaeological, historical and religious importance of Meerut division, conducted by the Hastinapur Sodh Sansthan (Hastinapur Research Institute) have been quite encouraging. National and international historians and archaeologists were astonished to see the material found after the excavation in the Hastinapur and adjoining areas in Meerut, including the fossilised blackbuck horn. He said the area of Hastinapur and Kuru-Panchal in Meerut is deeply rooted in the Indian culture and philosophy. The area of the Saraswati and the Ganga (from Bahawalpur in Pakistan to Hastinapur) in Meerut is called the Aryavrat or Brahma Krishi Desh (country of sadhus). The historical importance of the Mahabharata is also rooted in Meerut as the places mentioned in the holy epic were still intact in the areas like Hastinapur, Lakshagraha of Beunava and others. In an answer to a question, Mr N.S.Ravi said that preserving the historical, archaeological and religious monuments was the responsibility of both the people and the administration. During the seminar, ex-director general of the Archaeological Survey of India and noted historian Dr B B Lal, and noted historians Prof S P Gupta and Prof Naryan expressed the need to have a museum in Meerut so that people should know about their past. Mr Ravi said that efforts were being made to establish a museum and start a course of musicology in the CCS university in Meerut at the graduate and PG level. This would help protect the church of Saradhana, buildings of Alamgirpur, buildings in the city of Mughal era and Lakshagraha of Beunava. A detailed proposal has been sent to the Central government in this regard. On the prospects of tourism in the Meerut division, Mr Ravi said that the state in the west had no religious centre after the bifurcation of UP, but now there was a plan to develop Garh Mukteshwar. The proposal to develop it was being considered at a senior level in Lucknow and the Ghaziabad Development Authority would be the nodal agency, he informed. |
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HIGHWAY MENACE Faridabad, May 15 As per report, the boy, resident of Housing Board Colony was trying to cross the road near Bal Bhawan when a speeding bus hit him. The driver of the bus sped away. The victim kept lying on the road for over 10 minutes when a scooterist took him to a nearby hospital. It is learnt that insufficient facilities in hospitals at Palwal and lack of able neurosurgeon led to the death of the child. A large number of accidents take place on the National Highway No 2 every year. The demand for a ‘trauma centre’ and a state-of-the-art hospital in the district has been ignored despite the fact that thousands of vehicles pass through the district daily.
Man held for bid to open fire on court premises New Delhi: Alert policemen today overpowered a man, who attempted to open fire on the Patiala House court premises, averting a tragedy similar to the point-blank murder of a eunuch in Tis Hazari courts. Police said the accused Lalit, a history-sheeter, was apprehended and a case under the Arms Act registered against him. A country-made pistol and two live cartridges were also recovered from his possession. Police identified the person whom Lalit aimed at as one Anees, a pickpocket. The duo, they said, had come into contact with each other in Tihar Jail. The incident occurred in the afternoon near one of the entrances, when Lalit and his younger brother Liladhar, who is facing trial in a case, were coming out from the court. Finding themselves encircled by a rival group, Lalit took out a pistol and attempted to fire at one of them. However, two alert police constables present on the spot, overpowered him before he could pull the trigger.
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SYL canal within a year: Chautala Rewari, May 15 He said that the SYL canal water would provide irrigation facilities to 7.5 lakh acres of land in Ahirwal, which would enable the farmers here to grow sugarcane, fruits and vegetables also in addition to wheat and mustard. He claimed that Haryana was now a pioneer state of the country in tackling the drinking water problem in villages. On the power supply front, the Chief Minister informed that besides generation of additional 792 MW during the past three years, the BHEL authorities had now been directed to accomplish the establishment task of the 7th and 8th units of the Panipat Thermal Plant (which would each generate 250 MW) by July, 2004. After that, the state would be totally freed from power shortage, he claimed. His government was quite keen to see that the residual stuff of sugar mills as well as the accumulated garbage of towns and cities were utilised for generation of power. Making a specific mention of the ‘Sarkar aap ke dwar’ programme, the Chief Minister disclosed that over 33,000 development works had already been completed while as many as 11,889 works had recently been announced under the third phase of the programme. He claimed that now there was not a single village in the entire state where one or the other development work had not been undertaken during the past three years. Earlier, the Chief Minister inaugurated the Rs 1.09 crore Mandhia Khurd Water Works, which would benefit 9,725 residents of Mandhia Khurd, Haluhera, Beharipur, Dhokia, Bodia Kamalpur and Rasooli villages of the Jatusana Assembly segment of Rewari district. |
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Delhi Samata Party elects president finally New Delhi, May 15 The Delhi unit of the Samata Party had been awaiting election of a president for almost a year. After former president of the Delhi unit Promilla Sharma quit, Mr Tewari was nominated convenor by the party president, Mr George Fernandes. By electing Mr Tewari, the party has met the May 15 deadline set by the Election Commission for completing the process of organisational elections. The Election Commission had intervened on the complaint of Mr P. K. Sinha, the then spokesman of the Bihar Samata Party. Mr Sinha had questioned the removal of Mr Raghunath Jha, Lok Sabha MP from Gopalganj, from the post of the president of the Bihar unit of the Samata Party. He had also questioned the nomination of Mr Basisht Narayan Singh, Rajya Sabha MP, as convenor of the Bihar unit of the Samata Party by Mr George Fernandes. The meeting to elect the president of the Delhi unit was held under the leadership of the national election-in-charge of the Samata Party, Mr Uttam Garde. The meeting lasted three hours. Mr Tewari’s name was proposed by the vice-president of the Delhi state Samata Party, Mr Ram Kumar Tanwar, the vice-president of the Delhi youth wing of the party, Mr Satyendra Singh Chhaparia, Mr S. D. Singh, member of the election committee of the party, and Mr Irshad Ahmed, national general secretary of the youth wing of the party. Meanwhile, party workers loyal to Mr Fernandes are understood to have urged him to protect their interests. |
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SPECIAL FOCUS
ON ROHTAK Rohtak, May 15 The university had sought the opinion of the Advocate-General on the representation of Dr (Mrs) Neerja Ahlawat, Research Assistant in the Department of Sociology, for appointment as lecturer in the department. She was appointed research assistant on March 28, 1990, on the basis of her selection in an open competition. At the time of her appointment as research assistant, Dr Ahlawat possessed MA, MPhil qualifications but subsequently she acquired a PhD also in March 1993. The university records reveal Dr Ahlawat has been making representations for adjustment as a lecturer in sociology, more particularly on the strength of the Haryana Government instructions of June 16, 1993, whereby the research assistants working in Kurukshetra University as lecturers in their respective subjects were permitted to be adjusted against the vacant posts of lecturers subject to the condition that the resultant vacant posts of research assistants were to be abolished. She claimed parity vis a vis research assistants of Kurukshetra University and claimed her adjustment on the same pattern against the vacant post of lecturer in sociology. In the meantime, the post of lecturer in the Department of Sociology was advertised for making direct recruitment. Dr Ahlawat also applied and was selected and her name was recommended by the selection committee for appointment on October 17, 1995. Her selection was approved by the Executive Council vide Resolution No 3 dated October 31, 1995, yet she was not appointed. Having awaited for her adjustment as lecturer for a sufficiently long period, Dr Ahlawat approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court by way of a writ petition with the prayer to “issue a writ in the nature of mandemus certiorari of any other appropriate writ, order or direction directing the respondent university to promote/redesignate the petitioner in the cadre of lecturer in pursuance of the government decision of June 16, 1993, and also similarly situated research assistants in Kurukshetra University and Panjab University who had the qualifications for the post of lecturer are promoted/redesignated in the cadre of lecturer and were also awarded the grade/pay scale of lecturer”. The high court, vide an order dated May 1, 2002, disposed of the petition with a direction to the respondents, which include the university and the state government, to decide representation of Dr Ahlawat by passing speaking order within six months. Pursuant to these directions, the university sought guidelines from the Higher Education Commissioner, Haryana, who on November 25, 2002, finally agreed that research assistants working in Maharshi Dayanand University may also be promoted as lecturers on the pattern of Kurukshetra University provided that the posts of research assistants be abolished. The matter was placed before the Executive Council, which as per statute 12 (C) of MDU, Rohtak, is the competent authority for making appointment to the post of lecturer on the recommendations of the selection committee at its meeting held on February 24, 2003. The Executive Council approved the proposal vide resolution no 39 and decided to implement it after getting it legally examined. It was under these circumstances that the university sought the opinion of the Advocate-General in the matter. He said that the proposal put up before the Execuive Council on February 24, 2003, and the decision taken thereupon gave a clear impression that the Executive Council had resolved to revalidate the selection panel approved by it on October 31, 1995, and after revalidating the same it had decided to appoint Dr Ahlawat. If that was so, then the decision of the Executive Council suffered from more than one legal infirmity, he opined. The Advocate-General said in terms of the government policy a selection list remained valid and operative for a maximum period of one year. The revival of the selection panel after a period of more than seven years could not sustain also on the touchstone of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. Moreover, Dr Ahlawat herself never claimed appointment as lecturer on the basis of her selection held in 1995. However, if the Executive Council decided to implement the government policy reflected in its letter of June 16,1993, it would be well within its right to take a uniform policy decision to adjust/re-designate all research assistants against the available vacant posts of lecturer in their respective departments subject to fulfilment of the conditions laid down by the government in its policy circulars/letters of June 16, 1993, and November 25, 2002. “In my opinion, if research assistants working in Maharshi Dayanand
University who fulfil the conditions laid down in the government circulars are adjusted as lecturers against the vacant posts it will not be a case of direct recruitment under statute 12(c) read with statue 22 of MDU. Therefore, such an action will not be illegal for non-compliance of these provisions”, the Advocate-General opined. |
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Camps in villages to encourage Sonepat, May 15 The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Balwan Singh, told mediapersons here today that the first such camp would be organised at Jakhauli village on May 19. Similar camps would be held at Qumashpur village on May 20, Kailana village on May 21, Bega on May 26, Bidhlan village on May 27, Ferozpur Bangar village on May 28 and Rohna village on May 29. The officials of the Agriculture Department would stress the need for diversification of cropping system and encourage the farmers to sow cash crops in place of wheat and paddy. According to the DC, the level of underground water has come down considerably and a large number of tubewells have become idle. The farmers, he said, are being forced to dig tubewells again and spend more money on this account. If such a trend continues for some more time, no water will be available for the sowing of paddy crop, he added. The DC said that if the farmers of the district start sowing cash crops, the problem of underground water will be solved automatically. He said that cash crops would be sown in 8,000 hectares out of 70,000 hectares of paddy crop. He also disclosed that arhar crop would be sown in 3,000 hectares, moong in 1,000 hectares and maize in 1,000 hectares and cotton in 1,000 hectares. He appealed to the farmers to take part in large numbers in the training camps and take advantage of the suggestions made by the scientists of the Agriculture Department. |
| Centre’s missive on
spread of FMD Sonepat, May 15 According to official sources, it has also selected as many as eight districts -- Sonepat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani, Sirsa, Hisar, Mahendragarh and Rewari -- where the disease has assumed alarming proportions. The central government has also asked the state government to arrange the supply of vaccine for immunisation of the animals suffering from this disease. The vaccine would be supplied free of cost by the Centre, it is
stated. Meanwhile, the Animal Husbandry Department, Haryana has drawn up a scheme to immunise the animals suffering from the disease after conducting a door-to-door survey of the affected villages. Raped for five
years!
In her complaint, the girl has alleged that when she was studying in class 10, she started taking tuition from Rakesh, who is a friend of her father. On one occasion, Rakesh succeeded in getting her photographed nude and raping her. Since then, he continued to rape her. On May 9 this year, he again tried to repeat the act but she resisted. Thereupon, he left her house after threatening her with dire consequences. Finally, she narrated the story to her mother who informed the police about the rape. |
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Banquet
hall fined Rs 5.5 lakh for stealing power Rohtak, May 15 According to the information, the vigilance team raided ‘Sitara Garden’ banquet hall last evening and caught red-handed the banquet hall employees stealing power directly from the transmission wire. It is learnt that the banquet hall had been caught stealing power and fined earlier also. Youth
held for luring girl to elope:
MDU entrance exam on May 17:
A spokesman of the university said that the entrance examination of both the courses would be conducted on May 17 and the examination centres for the same had been set up at Rohtak, Hisar and Kurukshetra towns. |
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Jhajjar
second in small savings Jhajjar, May 15 Mr R. R. Banswal, Commissioner, Rohtak division, while addressing the annual prize distribution function organised at Panchayat Bhawan, here today informed that it was no mean achievement. Despite its limited resources, the district surpassed its target of Rs 80 crore set by the state government and deposited Rs 180 crore under the small savings scheme. Road blocked:
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NCR BRIEFS Faridabad, May 15 They are residents of Madhya Pradesh and had come here to sell the banned items. They have been ordered to deposit Rs 1 lakh each as fine. Saini Society poll on May 18 Rohtak: All arrangements have been made for a smooth and trouble-free conduct of elections of the Saini Education Society scheduled to be held on May 18. Claiming this here yesterday, Mr Kalam Singh Gahlaut, election officer and principal of Saini College, said as many as 14 polling centres had been set up for nearly 11,650 voters. He said 70 employees had been deputed on different duties while 11 employees been kept on reserve. NFL gets ISO 9001 certification Panipat: The National Fertilizers Limited (NFL) has added another feather to its cap. It has been accorded the “Certificate of Registration — Quality Management System” by the British Standards Institution Management Systems for its corporate office and central marketing office in compliance with the requirements of ISO 9001:2000.. According to a press note here today, the NFL, which recorded the highest-ever pre-tax profit of Rs 448.79 crore and record sales turnover of Rs 3,651.74 crore during the fiscal year 2002-03, is the first fertilizer company in the country having its total business covered under ISO 9001 certification. The company’s contribution in the domestic production of urea during 2002-03 is estimated at 17.1 per cent as against 16.6 per cent in the preceding year, it added. Two auto thieves held Rewari: With the arrest of two thieves, Bijender, son of Randhir Singh, resident of Bahni Kalan village under Meham police station of Rohtak district; and Pradeep, son of Ram Kumar, resident of Vidya Nagar, Meham Road, Bhiwani, the Rewari district police claim to have busted an inter-state gang of vehicle thieves. Their third accomplice Pawan Sharma, resident of Naya Bazar, Bhiwani is absconding. The police have also recovered three stolen vehicles – one Mahindra Bolero No. HR 16C-5535, one Alto car No. HR 16C-0923 and one Maruti 800 car No. DIG –5637 from them. A case on charges of cheating, forgery etc under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 411 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against them. According to information supplied by Mr Om Prakash, DSP/HQ Rewari , the CIA staff, on a tip-off, made a ‘nakabandi’ at Jhajjar Chowk here on Tuesday during which the accused Bijender and Pradeep were apprehended. During interrogation, they revealed that they purchased stolen vehicles, got them registered on bogus registration certificates and sold them. They also disclosed the identity of other accomplices and made it known that they had all been involved in such activities for the last about two years and a half.
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DELHI DIGEST New Delhi, May 15 The university has asked the students to contact their respective departments to get their results. Bomb hoax at HC: Immediately, Delhi Police personnel, the bomb disposal squad and sniffer dogs took position in and around the court. The police said that the call was made from a PCO in the Khan Market area this afternoon. “The caller said that three people with bombs are heading for the Delhi High Court,” Chief Justice B C Patel said in the open court after the Bench headed by him reassembled to hear the cases immediately after the lunch recess. The Chief Justice continued to hear the matters listed before him so did the other courts. Although the hoax call created considerable panic among lawyers and litigants, business in the court continued as usual after a few minutes. Sonepat According to a report, many shopkeepers rushed out of their shops to save themselves from the gas. On receipt of information, the municipal fire brigade arrived on the spot and managed to control the leakage after a few hours. It is stated that the employees of the ice factory were engaged in repairing the gas pipeline when the ammonia gas started leaking. The employees made concerted efforts to plug the leakage but failed. Thereupon, they informed the municipal fire brigade about the leakage of the gas. The police are still investigating the case. However, no arrest has been made in this connection.
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Baljeet Singh Chadha honoured by DSGMC New Delhi: The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee today honoured Mr Baljeet Singh Chadha at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib in the presence of Mr Paramjit Singh Sarna, President, DSGMC, Mr Manmohan Singh Mohini, Mr Prahlad Singh Chandhok and other members. Mr Chadha is a member of the Queen’s Privy Council of Canada and a member of the Security Intelligence Review Committee of the Prime Minister of Canada. Mr Chadha is a prominent Sikh member of the Indo-Canadian community in Canada. Born in Mumbai, he migrated to Canada in 1973 and created Bal Corp Ltd, one of Canada’s leading trading houses. The DSGMC honoured him with a siropa, a shawl and a set of books.
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Hawala conduit of J&K militants nabbed New Delhi, May 15 The conduit was identified as Zafar Umar Khan. He was arrested from Service Road near the main gate of Veer Bhoomi. A sum of Rs 6 lakh, a pistol along with nine cartridges, a cell phone and diaries were recovered from his possession, the police said. The police had secret information that due to security pressure, the hawala channel had dried up in the Valley and it had been shifted to Delhi. It also had information that money would change hands near Veer Bhoomi. A trap was laid there and the conduit was arrested. The hawala operator who was to hand over the money has also been identified as Rakesh, a resident of Uttam Nagar, but he has absconded. During interrogation, Zafar disclosed that he was a petty contractor and used to take up contract work in forests of Jammu and Kashmir where he came in contact with Umar, a ‘divisional commander’ of a militant outfit who motivated him to come to Delhi for collecting funds for the outfits. He used to come to the Capital and get in touch with the mentors of the militant outfits in Pakistan and on their instruction, money was given to him by hawala operators. He used to take the money back to Jammu and Kashmir. He was given commission for the job. He disclosed that he had come to Delhi three times in the past for the same purpose and handed over Rs 13 lakh to the militants. Contents of his diaries are being scrutinised, the police said. Woman found murdered:
Three years back, she came to Delhi along with her boyfriend Sukhain Mandal. Later, her children also joined them. Thereafter, Alpana and Sukhain used to fight. Today morning when the children entered her room, they found her in a pool of blood. Sukhain is absconding, the police said. Four minors held:
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Civic amenities go for a toss in industrial area Sonepat, May 15 According to a report, power supply there is punctuated by interruptions. Civic amenities such as drinking water, sewage and roads are crumbling at a pace which will soon render these services non-functional. And a general feeling of apathy permeates the environment. Most industries belong to the small-scale sector and produce a diverse range of products such as electronics, machine tools, automotive components and pharmaceuticals. Power supply or the lack of it appears to be the most endemic problem. Industrialists complain of frequent and unannounced power failure. Erratic power supply causes underutilisation of machines and consequently a lower rate of production. It also leads to wastage as power is often cut without warning, disrupting the process of production midway and necessitating a re-start. This is especially true of textile machines. According to many industrialists, power supply trips at least nine to 10 times in a single eight-hour shift. Especially during summer this results in a virtual chaos. Power cables have not been replaced since this industrial area was set up five decades ago. Most industrialists have installed diesel-run generators but they say they have been unnecessarily harassed by the officials of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) because permission is required to use generators. According to an industrialist, additional energy generation charge levied on the use of generators and arbitrary penalties for overloading raises the total cost per unit of power considerably. An official of the UHBVN admits that the nigam officials are aware of the problem facing the industrialists but says that the situation is beyond the UHBVN control. Other civic services in this industrial area are no better. No water tap has been provided either by the Industries Department or the Public Health Department in this industrial area. Even the pipelines have not been laid. The industrialists living in this area are forced to use hand-pumps. But this water is unfit for human consumption. Overflowing sewers are a major menace in this area. The blocked sewer lines and open manholes result in sewage spilling onto the roads. Many side lanes are thus waterlogged. The sewage not only ruins roads but also becomes a major health hazard. Sewer lines have been clogged for many years, reveal many industrialists. After years of wear and tear and lack of maintenance, almost all roads have been rendered practically non-existent. This adds to the inconvenience, also raising the cost of transportation. Some industrialists have a different story to narrate. According to them, many problems of the industrialists are of their own making because of faction-ridden industrialists’ organisations. Many other industrialists complain that the authorities of the Industries Department have been indifferent towards them and harassing them on one pretext or the other for minting money. The single window system introduced by the state government has utterly failed, they allege. They also complain that not only highly placed government officers of the department but local officials also seldom feel inclined to visit the industrial area to acquaint themselves with the difficulties and problems. But they seldom forget to summon the industrialists for the purpose of collecting various types of funds. A similar situation persists in the industrial belt on the GT Road between Kundli village to Haldana border. Several leading industrialists have demanded immediate transfers of all officials of the Industries Department who have had a long stay here and have completely failed to redress their grievances.
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In a speech delivered more with an eye on the Assembly elections due in NCT of Delhi, and the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh where the Congress is in power, Sonia Gandhi said it was the duty of an elected government to pursue the wishes of the people and serve them. “Governments are not elected to rule and exercise control over people but essentially to fulfil their needs,” she said.
