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| Friday,
July 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Govt houses invite break-ins? Chandigarh, July 17 Despite having a huge
budget for repair and maintenance of government houses, the Chandigarh Administration seems to be neglecting the houses of employees in IX-type and X-type accommodation. Houses have not been provided with protective barbed wire fencing. The boundary walls are no more than five feet high, in view of the limits set by building bylaws. In case of houses which have their rear on V-3 or sector-dividing roads, the permitted height of the wall is 5 feet and 11 inches. In case of houses not on these roads, the boundary wall has to be five feet. The Administration should either raise the height of the wall or put up barbed wire fencing which could deter miscreants. The same problem is faced by people living in government houses in Sectors 19, 20, 23 and 27. Though the height restriction is in place for private houses also, residents in these houses have made their own provisions like barbed wires or security gadgets. |
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UNFAIR
MEANS CASE Chandigarh, July 17 The university has now decided that the three teachers be exonerated absolutely, but a criminal case be registered against the student. The story here has been a classic case of reversal of the earlier order which will end an arduous journey of events for the teachers under question who were held guilty even without having been heard on the issue. The case first went to the Unfair Means Committee, which looked into the alleged connivance of the centre officials with the student, enabling him to smuggle out the answer sheet from the examination centre. The committee had held the officials — centre superintendent, deputy superintendent and the assistant superintendent—guilty of helping the student at a centre in Moga. The case then went to the Syndicate, where major loopholes were pointed out in the drafting of the case. It was also pointed out that the teachers were being “unnecessarily” dragged into the case. The Syndicate then constituted a committee of its members, including Mr Ashok Goyal, Dr Dinesh Talwar, Mr S.S.Virdi, Principal S.C.Marriya, Prof S.L.Sharma and the Registrar, which has given a clean chit to the teachers. It may be pointed out that the answer sheet of the candidate had only 16 pages, instead of the
usual 36 pages. When the candidate was summoned for questioning by the UMC committee, he maintained that he had been given only the copy under consideration during his examination. The committee was not convinced with the plea of the student. It was also detected that the answer sheet was in a dilapidated condition, which showed that it had probably been smuggled out of the centre. The UMC committee had asked for the presence of the teachers, who did not turn up as the message was “not clear”. The committee then debarred the candidate from appearing in the university examinations and recommended that a criminal case be registered against the teachers on duty. When the matter was taken up in the Syndicate, it was felt that it had been unfair on the part of the university to hold teachers guilty without hearing them. Doubts were also expressed about the way the UMC committee had drawn the conclusion about the involvement of the teachers. The Syndicate decided to grant a hearing to the teachers. The special committee of the syndics finally recommended that the teachers were absolutely innocent and some major error had probably occurred in the examination branch on the campus. The matter will once again come up before the Syndicate. |
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Girl succumbs to injuries Chandigarh, July 17 Monica, a resident of Sector 52, was employed with a private firm at Panchkula and was returning home at the time of the accident. She was rushed to the General Hospital, Sector 16. The bus (CHO1-G-5862) was being driven by Amarjit Singh. He has been booked under Sections 279, 337 and 304-A of the IPC. The grieving family took the body to their native village in Una district, Himachal Pradesh, this evening. Meanwhile, a resident of Kajheri village, Balwinder Singh (37) died of poisoning at the General Hospital last evening. He was brought to the hospital by his parents and friends after he was found lying unconscious around 5.30 pm in the verandah of his house yesterday. The police has ruled out any foul play in the case as the victim’s family has not raised a finger of suspicion at anyone. Inquest proceedings have been initiated under Section 174 of the CrPC. According to the victim’s father, Mr Madan Lal, the entire family, except Balwinder, had gone to attend a marriage when the mishap took place. |
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5 seats reserved for city students Chandigarh, July 17 The Department of Secondary and Higher Education in the HRD has conveyed to the Chandigarh Administration that five degree-level seats have been allocated for the academic session 2003-04. One seat each will be reserved in the following colleges: R.V. College of Engineering, Mysore Road, Bannerghata, Bangalore, (computer science/engineering); Veermata Jijabai Technology Institute, Matunga, Mumbai, (computer engineering); and Delhi College of Engineering, Bawana Road, Badli, (Samaipur), Delhi, (electronics and communication). Two more seats will be reserved at BITS, Pilani, Jhunjhunu district, Rajasthan (one in computer science and the other in electrical and electronics). |
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Where school kids drink unclean water
Chandigarh, July 17 Right behind the main school building, surrounded by tall grass and mire, alongside a discarded iron tank, four taps connected to overhead tanks are supplying water unfit for human consumption. "When it is peak summer, the two water coolers installed in our school are not sufficient to cater to the needs of everybody. By interval, the water in the coolers is finished and we have to fall back on the supply from tanks which are not cleaned on a regular basis. Water from these taps is used for sweeping the floors and the laboratories,” students of the school complained. The authorities insist that the two water coolers are sufficient to meet the requirements of the students. “We have adequate supply of fresh drinking water which is supplied trough the coolers. The students have been asked not to drink water from those taps since it is unfit for drinking. Besides, we have not been informed of any shortage of drinking water in the school or else we would have made arrangements,” the school Principal, Mr Dilbagh Singh, said. However, when a teacher asked a group of students if they consumed water from the taps behind the building, two of them replied in the affirmative, contrary to claims made by the school authorities. The teacher present with the students said these taps were installed to enable children to wash their hands and faces after the games period. Interestingly, while the school authorities insisted that students had been advised against consuming water from the taps, there was no sign or announcement around the area stating that water from these taps was unfit for human consumption. “Our teachers have announced this in the classrooms and that is about all we can do. If the children still consume this water, we see no harm because it is not contaminated. We wash the tanks once a month,” the Principal said, backtracking from his earlier statement that the students were not allowed to drink water from the taps.  |
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Tribune impact Chandigarh, July 17 Justice Verma said the matter should be speeded up as delay in construction was causing cost escalation. He asked the FS to prioritise all projects and only those projects should be taken in hand which are of topmost priority. In the report it had been highlighted how projects had been delayed due to faulty planning and lack of vision and coordination between various wings of the Engineering Department and other departments. The Administrator asked the Finance Secretary, Mr Karan Avtar Singh, to monitor the construction of the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32 on a monthly basis. The FS in return has promised that the D-block of the GMCH would be completed in one year and the C-block would be done by August 15 this year. The Administrator, sources in the officialdom said, pointed out to The Tribune report and asked why such lapses in planning take place. On the issue of the working women’s hostel, the Administrator was told that the Union Ministry of Social Welfare, Government of India, was to provide 25 per cent of the grants for the project. These had been held back as the Ministry wanted the size of the rooms be reduced from its existing size. Justice Verma has asked his officers to write to the Ministry seek its opinion on the 25 per cent share. “Seek a clear yes or no, and if the Ministry declines then just go ahead with the project on your own as it was a priority project for the city”, Justice Verma told the officers. |
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Functioning of landing system partially restored Chandigarh, July 17 Pilots spoken to said that the ILS could be fully engaged while landing and they had to rely on other factors to bring the aircraft on ground. The ILS helped the pilot to align his aircraft with the centre-line of the runway and then guides his rate of decent on the final approach. The ILS has two components — the localiser, which helps in alignment with the runway and the glide slope indicator, which gives the correct angle of decent. “While the localiser is functioning, the glide slope indicator is still non-functional,” a pilot with a civilian airline told TNS. “In the absence of landing aids, touching down during bad weather, specially when there are clouds or visibility is poor, can be termed as a dangerous exercise, and requires a lot of skill and caution,” a former Air Force transport pilot remarked. Being primarily a military airfield with a small civilian air terminal attached to it, all air traffic control facilities, including navigational and landing aids as well as safety measures, are the responsibility of the Air Force. “The matter has been raised with the Air Force, but they have been non-committal on this issue,” an official of the Airports Authority of India maintained. “The normal angle of decent is about three to three-and-a-half degrees, but without landing aids it could be more or less, which could be disastrous,” the officer said. In such situations, pilots go in for what is called as a “timed decent” in aviation parlance. Here the rate of descent is calculated physically by the air crew using speed, altitude and time parameters. Further, after alignment with the runway, pilots begin their decent from a higher altitude than the normal altitude when the ILS is fully functional. The Air Traffic Control allows decent only when the pilot confirms that the localiser is engaged and the runway is in sight. |
Additional gullies to prevent flooding in city Chandigarh, July 17 The corporation is also issuing notices to the residents failing to remove construction material and debris from outside their houses even after the completion of work. This is not all. The corporation authorities are also seeking public co-operation. They are requesting the residents not to throw garbage, leaves and cut grass on the roadsides. The material and the garbage, washed away by the rains, were blocking the drains, resulting in the collection of water. The sources add that the residents failing to remove the debris from outside their residences are liable to be fined. It is mandatory for them to throw the debris at the authorised “malba dumping sites” earmarked all over the city, the sources add. Giving details regarding the new gullies being constructed, the sources in the Corporation claim that the same will allow additional water to flow in, thereby preventing the roads and streets from being flooded after heavy rainfall. The decision to construct more gullies is significant as stagnant rain water was throwing life out of gear at several places in the city, particularly near the roundabouts. The stagnant water was not merely resulting in the breakdown of the vehicles and preventing the commuters from travelling, but was also damaging the roads, even the newly metaled ones. Confirming the information regarding the setting up of extra gullies, corporation Chief Engineer V.K. Bhardwaj says that regular surveys are being carried out by the authorities to identify the “sensitive areas” where water is still accumulating. The Chief Engineer adds that the corporation has already constructed over 250 road gullies all over the city for ensuring free flow of rain water during the monsoons. “That is the reason why the accumulation of rain water is far less in 2003 as compared to the previous years when the roads were transformed into streams,” he asserts. Explaining the reasons behind the accumulation of rain water, the Chief Engineer reveals, “Water never accumulates in the city even if it keeps on raining without a break for days together, thereby proving the fact that the drains are absolutely clean. The problem arises only when the rainfall is heavy”. He adds: “Whenever there is a downpour, the water takes
some time to flow off the roads. It is because the storm water drains
in Chandigarh are not wide enough. These are just half inch wide. That
is why the gullies are being constructed all over the city”. |
Remove flags, MC to BSP
unit chief Chandigarh, July 17 The flags were put up before the Swabhiman rally of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and had not been removed till today, sources said. Though no permission was required for putting up flags, it was expected from the political party to remove the flags and banners after the rally had been held, an official said. He, however, said the party had taken the required permission for putting up banners. Citing a recent case, he said the BJP had also put up plastic flags along the main roads ahead of Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani and BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu’s visit to the city, but these were removed the very next day of the leaders’ visit. |
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City to have consultant for solid waste management Chandigarh, July 17 This was decided at the execution committee meeting of the Central Pollution Control Board with regard to its pilot project. The committee decided to float tenders for engaging a consultant for managing, maintaining, supervising and improving the condition of the dumping ground. The committee also decided that the officials of the corporation would visit Pune early next month in this connection. The committee, chaired by Municipal Commissioner M. P. Singh, decided to give 37 mobile phones to the supervisory staff of the Medical Officer, Health. It was also decided to launch garbage segregation scheme at the house-hold level from Sector 27-A early next month. As per the scheme, the corporation would provide each house two bins to keep bio-degradable and non-biodegradable waste. Purchase of more rehris to be given to NGOs and Residents Welfare Associations for strengthening house-to-house collection was also approved. The committee decided to start the construction of more sahaj safai kendras improve the garbage collection mechanism. It was also decided that those approved would be put up before the Chief Architect. It was also decided to give corporations sweepers engaged in road sweeping carts to carry garbage. Each sector would have four carts. |
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Divert sewage into sewer line, Verma tells MC Chandigarh, July 17 Taking up the issue of the increasing menace of flies and mosquitoes, especially in the southern sectors near the rivulet, Justice Verma said the choe was primarily meant for drainage of storm water and flow of sullage to the choe had to be stopped. A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of senior officers of the Chandigarh Administration today. It was mentioned at the meeting that there were 44 points across the city from where sullage was being directed towards storm water pipe network, which ultimately comes to the N-choe, leading to the degradation of its water quality. This degraded water becomes the breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies. Meanwhile, Justice Verma has asked the Finance Secretary to get the choe cleaned within 15 days. The Finance Secretary said cleaning work was already on and had been completed up to Sector 23. The rest of the choe would be cleaned within 20 days. During the meeting, Justice Verma directed the Finance Secretary to take early steps for the expeditious execution of expansion of the sewage treatment plant in SAS Nagar and Sector 47. Justice Verma said it was a matter of concern that more than 50 per cent available sewage was not being treated due to non-expansion of treatment plants. The Finance Secretary has been asked to take up the issue with the Planning Commission and the Finance Ministry for getting funds released for this project urgently. Justice Verma said to minimise the cost of pumping the treated water back to Chandigarh from SAS Nagar, small sewage treatment plants should be set up in main institutions consuming more water than 100 million gallons a day. He said sewage of these institutions should be treated in that institution itself and tertiary water from this plant could be used for irrigation purpose by those institutions. He said the use of potable water for gardening by such institutions should be banned. This will result in saving the cost of pumping back tertiary water from SAS Nagar to Chandigarh. The Administrator said steps should also be initiated for early completion of the sewage treatment plant in Sector 47. |
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Beautification campaign on in Sector 17-E Chandigarh, July 17 Advertisements hanging around walls, a common sight 15 days back, have now vanished and all imposing glow sign advertisement panels like Capital Book Shop, Barista, Meena Bazar, Blue Eyes and Bata, among others, have been removed to be brought in conformity with the modified control order. This small but the most active business area of the region alone accounted for 291 out of 595 violations spotted in the entire sector through a door-to-door survey conducted by the Municipal Corporation. The voluntary movement, being considered a trendsetter for more modifications in the 1954 advertisement control order and bringing symmetry in advertisement display in the entire city, has followed major demands of traders being accommodated in the new design for advertisement display by the Chief Architect. As per the new order issued on July 2 for Sector 17-E, now traders have been allowed advertisement panels with six-inch projections outside the verandah, two by eight feet display on the floors above the ground and between windows and two by ten feet advertisement along the beams inside the verandah. The six-inch projection has solved an architectural problem coming in the way of advertisement display as even shops which were two or three bay could not have panels covering their entire shop. Pillars in the verandah had become a hindrance and the old order limited the display between two pillars. These modifications in the order have largely met the new requirements of advertisements and have opened up opportunities for other markets to follow suit in consultation with the Municipal Corporation. Sources said with 235 of 291 violations having already been removed, the Municipal Corporation has extended the deadline for the removal of violations for further seven days till Tuesday. Traders will, however, have to make payment for allowing projections on the government land to the Municipal Corporation as per the order. A trader whose display is up to 25 square feet will have to pay to the corporation Rs 2500 per square feet per annum and Rs 3000 per square feet per annum in excess of each 25 square feet. The effort to restore the pristine glory the Sector has followed a series of meetings between traders, Municipal Commissioner, Chief Architect and Chief Administrator since February. Now the experiment will be expanded to the entire city. Modifications will now be made in each market with the involvement of the traders’ associations. The voluntary efforts have not come easily as trade stalwarts of the market had to lose a big amount they were getting for the display of advertisement of different products from the companies, Mr Vikas Jain, who had been in the forefront of the cooperation, told Chandigarh Tribune. |
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Adviser to head art purchase panel Chandigarh, July 17 Other members are: the Home Secretary; the Finance Secretary; the Director, Tourism; the Director-General, National Museum, New Delhi; Prof P.N. Mago; the Principal, Delhi College of Art, New Delhi; the Chairman, Chandigarh Lalit Kala Academy; Dr B.N. Goswami, art historian; Dr D.C. Bhattacharyya; Dr Rita Sharma, Keeper (Coins), National Museum, New Delhi; and the Director, Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh. |
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MC to engage man for crematorium’s upkeep Chandigarh, July 17 A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the committee held today under the chairpersonship of Ms Shyama Negi. The committee decided to give Rs 5,000 per month salary to a mechanic from a company specialising in the maintenance of electric crematoria as the crematorium had been intermittently going out of order. It also approved Rs 6.75 lakh for the augmentation of lighting arrangement in Sectors 35 C and D markets. A sum of Rs 2 lakh have been contributed by the Mayor, Mr Subhash Chawla, from his discretionary fund for the purpose. The committee also approved Rs 4.89 lakh for lighting arrangement on the new southern outer road of Ram Darbar. The committee has also asked officials to prepare estimates for Sector 37 market as well as the entire stretch of southern sectors to improve street lighting arrangements. |
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Sentinels of consumer rights to get awards Chandigarh, July 17 Under the Swami Vivekananda National Award, top three voluntary consumer organisations that have done outstanding work to promote consumer movement, particularly at the grassroots level, will be given cash awards. The prize money will be Rs 50,000, Rs 40,000 and Rs 30,000 for the first, second and the third organisation, respectively. These organisations should be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, or any other similar statute. Moreover, these should be in existence for the past three years with at least 100 members. The National Award for the youth and women will carry a prize money of Rs 20,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000, as the first, second and the third prize, respectively, along with a certificate of merit. The applicants for the youth award should be between 15 and 35 years of age. However, there is no age limit in case of women. The performance of the youth or women, who apply for the award, will be judged from their work in taking up important consumer cases with special efforts to get consumer grievances redressed, bringing out new ideas for consumer protection through exhibitions, seminars and demonstrations. Interested organisations, youths and women can apply for these awards before July 31 to the Food and Supplies Department, Chandigarh. In case of more details, information maybe obtained from the said office located in the Municipal Corporation Building, Sector 17. |
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Reduction in taxes on CSD items sought Chandigarh, July 17 In a statement issued here today, the president of the All-India Defence Brotherhood, Brig Harwant Singh, said the move was unfortunate. He said defence personnel were not residing in the state on their own will, but had been posted there by the government. Imposition of additional taxes would result in making them pay higher prices for various items than their counterparts in other parts of the country. The statement added that as far as ex-servicemen settled in the state were concerned, the move would hurt them more. They get the lowest pension among government pensioners and they were expecting some relief from the Chief Minister, who himself was an ex-serviceman. |
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40 jhuggis removed Panchkula, July 17 The drive was led by the Estate Officer, Mr Ashwani Kumar Sharma, who along with his team and cops first razed the illegal hutments in Sector 10 and then moved on to Sector 3, opposite the Majri chowk. A number of kiosks were also removed with the help of a JCB machine. Interestingly, by the time the enforcement staff finished work in Sector 3, they received information that hutments removed in Sector 10 earlier in the morning had been rebuilt. The demolition squad then moved back to Sector 10 and again removed the encroachments. Later, they dug up huge pits on the reclaimed land so that the squatters could not rebuild their hutments. |
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City institute to house Prof Sher Singh’s books Chandigarh, July 17 Informing that the decision to donate books had been taken to help others into scholarly pursuits, Mr Amarjeet Singh, son of Prof Sher Singh, today said, “The library features a brilliant collection spanning a variety of subjects. The collection has thousands of rare books on various subjects, including religion, sociology, anthropology, literature and others. Since the books are rare, the Institute of Sikh Studies has decided to stock these in its reference and research section. Prof Sher Singh was awarded Padmashri in 1982. He was also honoured by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) with the title of “International Professor of Sikhism” in 1995 for his outstanding contribution to the field of literature and comparative study of various religions. At present the books are being serialised by the institute and these will be shortly available to readers and scholars. |
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Congress seeks BJP apology on demolition drive Chandigarh, July 17 President of the unit D.D. Jindal in a statement issued today countered the claim of Mr Jain on getting the drive stalled. Stating that the demolitions was part of a conspiracy of the BJP, he said, “Why the drive was not stopped at the outset when it was within the power of the ruling party at the Centre.” Mr Jindal also criticised Mr Jain for creating confusion. |
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One not enough Panchkula, July 17 |
Boy wins car Panchkula, July 17 The result was declared at Ludhiana on July 15. According to a press note, the first prize is 1 kg gold, while two second prizes of Swaraj Tractor are being offered. There are three third prizes of Maruti cars. |
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