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Centre critically examining Sonia Vihar water project New Delhi, November 18 An expert group of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had earlier disfavoured the new “state-of-the-art” technology from being used for water treatment, yet it was adopted later, official sources said here. “An entirely new technology which is considered more suitable for the European rivers has been put to use in the project. Turbidity in Indian rivers is much higher. We will see how suitable the new techniques are to the Indian conditions”, they said. The experts said since the project belongs to the Delhi government, “as of now we will make only critical observations”. The project to bring water from the Ganges in Uttaranchal for domestic supply to Delhi is being implemented by a French company Degremont, which is using the “pulsator-based” technology for water treatment as differentiated from the conventional clarifier method used in the country. DJB Chief P K Tripathi, however, said that under agreement with Degremont, water of a specific quality has to be delivered after treatment. He said regardless of the technology used, it was more important that quality parameters for treated water are met as stipulated in the contract. Sources said the expert group did not find the technology suitable for the 20 mgd Bawana plant, yet it was later adopted for the 140 mgd Sonia Vihar project. They said the Tapi plant in which the pulsator technology was used was found to be operating below capacity at 5.6 mgd, as against its potential of seven mgd, by the group. Generally water treated is much more than the capacity of the plant. Moreover, the functioning in such plants is compressor-based, leading to higher consumption of chemicals, owing to which the maintenance cost is higher. Since the Organisational and Maintenance (O&M) cost has to be borne by the DJB, it will have to foot the bill. The group pointed out that the maximum turbidity in the European rivers is not more than 50 NTU (Nelson Turbidity Units) and pulsators are ideally suited for water treatment in the continent. In Indian rivers, the turbidity or the solid content varies from time to time and increases drastically during the monsoon season. In Tapi river, it ranges from 10-1,800 NTU and in Yamuna and Ganges from 35 to 5,000 NTU for which the clarifier-floculator device is used to good effect. Mr Tripathi said the speculation about technology was purely theoretical in nature, as the project is yet to be operational. He said only time will prove its success, and to ensure that Degremont has been asked to operate it for 10 years. This has been decided by the constructing company itself to ensure that the technology is tried and tested for a long enough period, he added. |
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Legal hurdles could spoil Nisha Sharma’s big day Noida, November 18 Formal invitation cards have been distributed to relatives and close friends for the wedding which, according to the boy’s father, will be a marriage without any dowry. But with just a few hours left for the marriage her detractors are trying to throw a spanner in the works. The advocate of groom Munish Dalal, who had been sent to jail along with his mother for demanding dowry in Noida on May 11 last, is busy putting some legal hurdles in the way. Says Munish Dalal’s advocate, Rupesh Sharma, “Manish was sent to jail for allegedly demanding dowry at the marriage mandap on May 11 after he was arrested by the police under Section 496(a) of the IPC ”. This section, he said, applied to a husband or his family members who are accused of harassing a married woman. Since the marriage had not taken place it was patently wrong to have implicated his client in it. But ignoring all this, Munish Dalal was sent to jail as husband of Nisha along with his mother Vidya Dalal for two months. Sharma claimed the District Magistrate of Ghaziabad, Mr Santosh Kumar Yadav, had assured him that some decision would be taken after consultations with legal experts. He had sent a fax to the Chief Minister, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, in this connection, he said. There is another contender in the case – Navin Rai. He had presented a certificate from a marriage court to prove that Nisha was his lawfully wedded wife. This claim was refuted by Nisha and her father D.D. Sharma. They had claimed that Nisha’s signature on the so-called marriage certificate was forged. Navin Rai’s advocate R. K. Singh says this case is still in a law court. He demanded that a final decision on Nisha’s signature on the marriage certificate be verified from the Central Forensic Agency in Agra. Advocate R. K. Singh contends that if Nisha Sharma goes in for a marriage in these circumstances, it will be illegal under Section 494 of the IPC and Section 5 of the Hindu Marriage Act. “We can even proceed against Ashwani under Section 495 of the IPC for knowingly marrying an already married woman”, he adds. Navin Rai will prefer filing an application in court to stop Nisha’s proposed marriage. Nisha’s father has said his daughter’s marriage will in any case be solemnised on November 19. He said his daughter had nothing to do with Munish Dalal and Navin. |
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Robbers break into strong room Ghaziabad, November 18 The dacoity was discovered in the morning today. The lone security guard, Kalicharan of Dholana, was found to have been strangulated in the basement of the bank by the morning shift security guard Santan who came in at 9.30 am. He informed the manager and the police. The sensational looting in the posh locality has created panic in the business and trading circles as well as given a jolt to the police and the administration. SSP Hayanarain Singh, SP(City) Umesh Srivastava and other senior cops rushed to the bank. According to the SP (City), the dacoity was the handiwork of more than six persons. This branch of the State Bank of India, which deals in transactions worth crores daily, also deals in foreign exchange. There were crores of rupees lying in the strong room of the bank but the criminals could take away only Rs 81 lakh. The police recovered three gas cylinders from the basement, where the intruders had cut the strong room with gas cutters. They had made an opening big enough for a person to squeeze through. They broke the lock of one strong box, containing currency notes of Rs 50 denomination. The other box containing Rs 100 notes was already unlocked, the police said. Besides, a whisky bottle with one quarter of liquor left in it and a piece of rope with which they had strangulated the guard were also found. There were remnants of someone having vomited at some places in the basement. There was a total of Rs 1.32 crore in these two boxes alone, out of which the intruders took away Rs 81 lakh. There was no sign of gunfire. Nor were there any stab wounds on security guard Kalicharan’s body. |
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WARNS OF
PUNITIVE STEPS New Delhi, November 18 The division bench comprising Chief Justice B C Patel and Justice A K Sikri gave one last chance to the city police, Foreign Regional Registration Office and the MCD to make the required effort and file a compliance report in respect of various orders passed by the court earlier in this regard, failing which coercive action could be initiated. On September 24, the High Court had directed the Delhi Police and other authorities to take steps as per the Action Plan and submit a monthly progress report in the court. The judges also told the authorities to identify such illegal migrants, totalling around 13 lakh, who had earlier been allotted alternative residential plots under welfare schemes for slum dwellers. The court also issued a notice to the government on an application seeking a probe into reports of illegal Bangladeshi and Pakistani migrants joining the Army. The orders came on a petition, filed by advocate Chetan Dutt, which claimed that 28 lakh illegal Bangladeshi migrants unauthorisedly residing in the city were depriving benefits, including denting electoral rights, meant for ‘real’ Indian citizens. Some vested interests wanted such people to be here and now ‘outsiders’ comprised ten per cent of Delhi’s population, who could dilute and thereby vitiate the election process here, the judges said. Most citizens of the country were too mild to complain, they added. The court referred to an affidavit by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) T N Mohan, which said lakh of illegal Bangladeshi migrants were residing in slums in areas like Seelampur, Seemapuri, Azadpur, Nizamuddin, Jangpura, Ansari Nagar, Sadik Nagar, Alaknanda and Yamuna Pushta. Such persons were allowed to stay and even procure identification documents, including voters I-cards, by corrupt officials and politicians, without realising its consequences, the bench said. After the court’s intervention, an Action Plan was drawn out on the basis of a report of a high level meeting in May 2002, chaired by the Home Secretary. To start with, it was decided that identification and deportation proceedings would be initiated against 100 such persons per day, which was to be gradually increased. But even the initial figure was not met and only about 300 to 400 proceedings per month were initiated, the court noted. Meanwhile, the bench dismissed a plea by Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Maha Sabha seeking deletion of names of alleged illegal Bangladeshi migrants from the Capital’s electoral rolls. |
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Big haul of psychotropic drugs New Delhi, November 18 Based on secret information that 40 cartons containing a large number of injections were lying at Gill Sandhu Transport company, Mori Gate, the sleuths raided the company and seized the norphine injections. During investigation, the sleuths went to Jalandhar and found that the injections were purchased from Chandigarh by Praveen Kumar. Later, the consignment reached Delhi and was lying in the transport company, when it was seized. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Narcotics) D. L. Kashyap said that Praveen Kumar confessed that he had obtained the license to deal in the drug from July 7, 1997, to December 31, 1998. But, even after the license had expired, he continued to deal in the business through one Amit Dawar. Amit, who also runs Dada Pharmaceuticals in
Ludhiana, was running the illegal business through Praveen’s company. Praveen comes from a poor family and used to get one per cent commission on the deal. During the deals, Amit used to make multiple drafts for Rs 49,0000, so that he could avoid making extra payments during the transactions in the banks. Dawar used to hire transporters to send the illegal goods to Bhagirath Place for disposal and sometimes he also used to come in his own vehicle, said Kashyap. |
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Rs 4 lakh reward in Swiss rape case NEW DELHI: The South district police today increased the reward from Rs 50,000 to Rs 4 lakh each for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of suspects involved in the rape of Swiss diplomat outside the Siri Fort Auditorium. Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern range) Satish Chandra said that the reward has been increased to Rs 4 lakh each for anyone providing information in the case. TNS |
Birth registration rules in Haryana under review Rohtak, November 18 Disclosing this, the Director, Census, Mr Sunil Gulati, said the state government had advised the Education Department to reveal the source of date of birth of a child while getting admission to the school and issuing transfer certificates. This is being introduced so that the correct date of birth of a child is entered in the school register at the time of admission. If parents do not have the birth certificate of the child, they will have to file an affidavit giving exact date of birth of the child, Mr Gulati said. The registration of birth and death in rural Haryana will hence forth be done by the Health Department. Prior to this, the SHO of the police station concerned was the registration officer for recording births and deaths in rural areas. The new system has been introduced on experimental basis in Panchkula and Ambala districts and will be extended to the rest of the state soon. Mr Sunil Gulati said a campaign on issuance of birth certificates to children below the age of 10 years had been launched from November 14 with the objective of achieving 100 per cent registration of births and deaths in the state. The level of birth registration in Haryana was not very encouraging and was marked by non-delivery of certificates among the beneficiaries. The percentage of registration of births in Haryana was comparatively lower than many of the states in India. States like Kerala, Goa, Pondicherry and Delhi had achieved almost 100 per cent registration whereas it was only 76 per cent in Haryana. The level of birth registration in Himachal was 95 per cent, Gujarat 88.8 per cent, Maharashtra 91 per cent, Tamil Nadu 93.5 per cent, West Bengal 98.3 per cent, Punjab 92 and Chandigarh 85 per cent. Mr Gulati said surprisingly of all those who got the birth registered 85 per cent failed to collect the copy of the birth certificate. Last year, approximately 5,63,004 children were born in Haryana and out of this 4,26,194 births were registered but only 3,15,141 (74.6 per cent) collected birth certificates. Collectively during the last decade it was estimated that only 5.4 lakh had collected the certificates. |
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New Dy Mayor makes little difference Faridabad, November 18 The replacement of the Deputy Mayor showed the frustration prevailing among the majority of the elected
corporators, feel the insiders. The present civic body, elected in April 2000, is yet to complete its five-year term in March 2005, but has seen replacement of two mayors and a deputy mayor so far. The senior deputy mayor had also been suspended on charges of certain irregularities, but was reinstated after the court decision. Mrs Renu Bhatia, deputy mayor, had also been suspended after a case was registered against her. However, Mrs Bhatia was reinstated after she had challenged her suspension and the decision was in her favour. According to an elected
corporator, the MCF had become a hotbed of petty politics. He admitted that the post of deputy mayor or senior deputy mayor had hardly any authority worth mentioning. He said there were certain corporators who instead of paying attention to the development works and the problems faced by the civic body had been trying to divert the attention of the public by raising unimportant issues. He claimed that the removal or replacement of the Deputy Mayor was the handiwork of some corporators and local politicians who wanted to show their influence in ‘official’ circles. According to the BJP leader and MLA from Mewla
Maharajpur, Mr Krishan Pal Gurjar, “There were certain political persons and
corporators, who for their vested interests, keep hatching conspiracies and campaigns.” He said the MCF instead of providing a proper development had become a play field of the ruling party leaders. The senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Shiv Charan Lal Sharma, also admitted that the replacement of Deputy Mayor would have no affect on the overall picture. He demanded that all the corporators should work unitedly to improve the functioning of the civic body instead of indulging in cheap tactics and
groupism. |
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SPECIAL FOCUS
ON GURGAON Gurgaon, November 18 Another angle related to the farmers’ new-found love for barley is the contract farming by the agro-based industries. According to experts, about a decade back Haryana had about 3,80,000 acres of land under barley cultivation. But the apathy of the government towards its support price compelled the farmers to shift to other crops like wheat. Consequently, the present acreage is just about 35,000 acres. However, for the first time in Haryana the Malt Company(India) Ltd, one of the largest producers of malt in the country, broke new ground as far as contract farming is concerned. The firm started this concept in a small way in select areas of Gurgaon district. Later, the initiative was expanded to select areas of Faridabad and Rewari districts. The trials were successful. Encouraged by this, the company has now decided to expand the base in the state and has drawn out a strategy to promote contract farming, according to the firm’s Director, Mr Vikas Jain. With barley plantation showing signs of getting into circulation the state’s Agriculture Department has also pitched in promoting the move and making it a case of industrial raw product. Significantly, Haryana is considered to be producing about 70 per cent of the malt produced in the country. With the state closing the Malt Company the production is done only by the private firms. At present, the Malt Company (India) Ltd is the only one in the business of contract farming with farmers for barley. With the other malt producing firms showing signs of joining the party, barley growers, it seems, are likely to have a nice time in the future. This optimism in the farming sector stems from the fact that though the country, especially Haryana, does produce a fair amount of barley, quite a portion of it is maltable. The rest of it goes as fodder for cattle feed. To improve the quality of domestic barley and to produce malt matching international standards the company has taken the lead in developing different varieties of the crop under contract farming, according to Mr Vikas Jain. Barley is the only raw material for the manufacture of malt. Malt as industrial product is used in preparing instant and liquid food/beverages like Horlicks, Bournvita, Milo, Bear whisky etc. Many in the farming community feel that the space which the barley farming had lost to wheat in the past few years may go back to their old cropping pattern as inputs required for it in comparison to wheat are negligible. Hence, the cost input is less in comparison to wheat. With the private firms providing them quality seeds and also underwriting the possible loss on the produce the farmers could not ask for more. |
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Basmati growers fail to get
remunerative price Sonepat, November 18 Sonepat has been one of the leading districts in paddy cultivation and the basmati as well as muchhal varieties have been preferred by the farmers because the sale prices of these varieties have been three to four times more than the minimum support prices of common varieties of paddy. Around 25 per cent of the total paddy area is covered by these varieties every year in the district. According to information, basmati was purchased by the rice millers and exporters at the rate of Rs 1,800 to Rs 2,000 per quintal last year whereas during this season the farmers could get the highest price up to Rs 1250 per quintal only. Similarly, the farmers have been given the price of Rs 750 to Rs 800 per quintal for muchhal variety during this season. But during last year’s season it was purchased at rates ranging from Rs 1,450 to Rs 1,500 per quintal. Raj Singh, a leading paddy grower and member of the Kisan Welfare Club, informed NCR Tribune there had been significant decline in per hectare production of these varieties. The average per hectare production which used to be around 60 quintals in previous years came down to 40 to 45 quintals during this season. “It has been a double loss to the growers of these varieties and most of the farmers could not recover the amount spent on in-puts, including ploughing, transplantation, harvesting and lease amount in many a case”, he said. According to the official press note, basmati has been purchased at the rates of Rs 931 to Rs 1,235 and muchhal at the rates of Rs 711 to Rs 840 per quintal during this season. |
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Farmers rally against imposition of penalty Sonepat, November 18 According to a report, the demonstrators also sat on a dharna there. They were led by Mr S N Solanki, president of the Haryana Committee of the CITU. They warned that if the penalty was not waived off, the farmers will have no alternative than to intensify their agitation, on the issue. The authorities of the irrigation department assured the farmers that they would review the cases of imposing the penalty on the farmers who are involved in the canal cut cases. Many farmers told this correspondent that a breach in the Western Yamuna Canal occurred on July 9 and the standing crops in the vast area were submerged in the water in Chitana and some nearby villages whereas the breach occurred in Hullaheri village. The farmers of the affected villages like Hullaheri, Chitana, Khizarpur Jat Majra, Barwasni, Machhri and Kheri Dahiya have demanded the compensation from the government for the loss suffered by them on account of this breach. When the farmers received the notices of the penalty, they staged a demonstration on November 14 in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office and submitted a memorandum to him demanding the waiving of the penalty. Many farmers said that the notices of the penalty were unjust as they had not made the breach in the said canal.
Burnt power transformers Burning of electricity transformers in Gohana division of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has become a major problem for the officers of the Nigam. And most of the incidents of burning have been reported from the rural areas of the division and the main cause of the incidents has been the overloading of the transformers due to power thefts and ‘kundi connections’. According to information from the division, as many as 163 transformers were burnt in the division during the past seven months, registering an increase of 41 transformers when compared to the burnt transformers of the corresponding period last year. And the Nigam has to incur an expenditure of around Rs 1.30 crore on the repair of the burnt transformers. The executive engineer of the division, Mr R S Dahiya admitted that there had been increase in the cases of power thefts by using kundi connections mainly in the villages. “These thefts have been causing double loss to the Nigam—one, an estimated loss of about Rs 35 lakh per month in the shape of power theft and the other, repair of burnt transformers costs around Rs 80,000,,” he said. Mr Dahiya explained that mostly those people in the villages who have not even obtained power connections from the Nigam were involved in kundi connections. And as the incidents of attack on the Bijli Nigam employees going for checking were increasing, it has become difficult for them to conduct raids without police protection, he said. He also explained that when one transformer is burnt due to overloading, the consumers shift their connections on the other transformer and due to sudden increase of load on the other transformer also, it gets burnt. |
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Kotwali goodwill meet a washout as Dy DM fails
to turn up Noida–Dadri, November 18 They threatened not to say the Id Namaz in Idgah if the roads leading to it were not repaired on time. They wanted to register a complaint with the Deputy District Magistrate in this connection. They said that they might send a complaint against the Dy DM to the Chief Minister, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. The cream of the town had been invited to attend a meeting in the city Kotwali to sort out the problems people might be facing in connection with the Id celebrations. Police Circle Officer R.S.Gautam kept assuring the invitees that the Dy DM would shortly reach the meeting, but the latter did not show up, the people said. Dadri town is known for its spirit of brotherhood. People vividly recalled those riotous days of December, when the whole state was witnessing communal tension, Dadri was the only safe place then. Even the Bajirang Dal and the Shiv Sena leaders had reached Idgah to greet their Muslim brethren. The road to Idgah is so damaged that it has partly turned into a drain. If the road is not repaired before Id, people might refuse to say their Id prayers in Idgah. |
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Nirankari Samagam concludes New Delhi, November 18 “There is nothing wrong about Maya that should make it a curse, it is man’s own attitude that renders it so. After all, the entire universe- visible, animate and inanimate is the creation of the Almighty. If the Creator is True and One, how can the creation be a curse”, questioned Baba Hardev Singh. He went on to add that saints and prophets never detached man from the material world completely. They only advised him against getting entangled in it. The spiritual head advised people to avoid getting entangled in the rat race for earning money. The final day of the Samagam included a poetic symposium on the theme, ‘Let us not ignore humanity while racing for Matter’. More than 30 poets recited their poems in Punjabi, Multani and Hindi. The Chief Minister, Ms Sheila Dikshit, also addressed the crowds and thanked Baba Hardev Singh for his spiritual blessings. |
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Bhai Chanan Singh memorial lecture New Delhi, November 18 With the help of slides, Prof. Goswamy surveyed the practice of portraiture in Punjab for ages. Speaking about the portraits of the Gurus, he categorically stated that the available examples represented only the impressions of the artists. In fact, the Sikh philosophy receives Guru not in physical representation but in the form of shabad or bani. However, certain things have been universally accepted, e.g. mala, godri, kharavan, two swords of miri-piri, kalgi, baj and horse. Dr L M Singhvi, MP, chairman, Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, in his presidential remarks, praised Prof. Goswamy’s presentation as the one characterised by the values of propriety and proportion. Dr Jaswant Singh Neki thanked the larger audience of scholars and philosophers that had listened to the talk with rapt attention. |
One arrested for murder of driver in Sonepat Sonepat, November 18 According to a report, all other culprits named in the FIR are absconding and the police have launched a massive hunt for them. It is stated that the victim Rajesh was a driver and he was attacked with deadly weapons by the alleged assailants while he was returning home after giving meals to his parents who were staying in a room constructed in the fields. One of the alleged assailants also fired shots at him. However, the brother of the victim escaped unhurt in the firing. He identified the assailants and made a complaint with the police against them. According to another report, the Rai police have registered a case against some unidentified persons allegedly involved in the murder of a 10th class student Sandeep of the Motilal Nehru School of Sports at Rai on August 10 last. This action followed the report of viscera which was sent to the laboratory for testing by the police after conducting the postmortem of the body. Sandeep disappeared on August 10 and his body was found floating in the swimming pool of the school next day. Thereafter the school administration sent the information to the parents of the victim. The registration of the murder case has caused a panic among the teachers and the students of the institution as well as the school administration. Police sources say that investigations were still in progress. However, no arrest has been made in this connection. The suspects are being interrogated. Meanwhile, the Rai police have recovered 352 bags of stolen rice and launched a hunt for the driver of the vehicle in this connection. The rice bags belonged to Dawat Rice Mills and the Director of the Mills, Mr Surinder Kumar, had lodged an FIR with the police on October 30 last against the truck driver. |
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Trader killed as van collides with canter Sonepat, November 18 According to a report, the seriously injured person was rushed to the local civil hospital wherefrom he was shifted to a trauma centre in Delhi for treatment. The Rai police have registered the case and further investigations were in progress. The body of the victim was sent for the postmortem examination. It is stated that the victim along with three associates left Sonepat for Hardwar for a holy dip there. On the return journey, two of his associates Satish and Mukhi got down from the van in Delhi. Thereafter, Ramesh Batra and Prem, alias Lota, left for Sonepat, resulting in the death of Ramesh Batra and injuries to Prem. According to another report, Mr Krishan Kumar of Bandepur village sustained serious injuries when he was hit by a speedy tractor on Sonepat-Rathdhanna Road near here last evening. The injured who was returning home, was immediately hospitalised and stated to be out of danger. The police are still investigating the case. |
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Two held for murder of PWD ‘chowkidars’ New Delhi, November 18 The police also claimed to have solved 11 more cases of thefts of electrical fixtures on the roads in Delhi. The accused Mohammad Shamsul Jamal alias Guddu (20) and Feroz (35), both residents of Bihar, were involved in stealing the bulbs on roads and confessed to the police that they were involved in the murder of the chowkidars. They also confessed to have been involved in two more murders in Mayur Vihar and Noida. The police received a secret information about the presence of the accused in the Yamuna Pushta area this morning around 8 am. A team under the supervision of ACP, Preet Vihar, D K Gupta immediately rushed to the hideout and nabbed the accused.
Man commits suicide A 25-year-old man originally from Calcutta and residing in Nizamuddin area committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan. The deceased Amit (25), was living in a rented accommodation in Sarai Kale Khan and had a love marriage four years ago. The police said that two months ago, his wife had left him as he was an alcoholic. The police have recovered a suicide note in Bengali from the spot.
Two women killed
in collision Noida (Dadri): Two women lost their lives while three persons sustained serious injuries in a Maruti car–tractor collision on GT Road last night. According to the Dadri police, Rajwatti, resident of Browni Narsena, Bulandshahr, was returning from Delhi along with her daughter Manju, relatives Pami, Meenu and Kishen Pal. Kishen Pal was driving the vehicle. When they reached near Chitkera village a tractor was coming from the opposite direction. Kishen Pal reportedly lost control of the car which hit the tractor.
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Faulty policies sound the death-knell for Ghaziabad industries Ghaziabad, November 18 According to entrepreneurs, hundreds of small industrial units of Ghaziabad have been ruined. Even the periodic meetings of Udyog Bandhu have failed to evolve effective policies to save the industrial units from ruin. The defective power and taxation policies have adversely affected the productivity of industrial units here. One fails to mark much industrial activity in industrial areas on Meerut Road, Bulandshahar Road, the South of GT Road, Link Road and the Kavi Nagar industrial area. An ominous silence seems to have descended on these industrial areas. As against the adjoining district of Gautam Budh Nagar where a number of multinational companies are setting up units in Ghaziabad a number of industrial units, already established, are planning to close down or relocate elsewhere. Unfortunately, there is a complete lack of initiative from the administration to reverse this trend. A number of entrepreneurs feel it is all due to defective taxation policy and grossly inadequate and faulty power supply. While large and multinational companies can afford to pay high rates of power supply middle- level Indian companies find it difficult to pay such exorbitant power tariff. The president of the Ghaziabad Small Scale Industries Association, Mr M. L. Arora, says power is the number one problem of small entrepreneurs in Ghaziabad. Although the administration has announced 20 hours of power supply to industries but in reality it is only from 8 am to 5 pm, laments Mr Arora. Another problem is that some of the industrial areas like Hapur Road, GT Road, Patel Road and Mukand Nagar have become predominantly residential areas. Here industrial units have to bear additional power cuts from 5 pm to 10 pm daily. Two years ago, it was decided at a meeting of Udyog Bandhu that the feeder of the industrial area and that of the residential area would be separated. But sadly enough it had not been translated into action, Mr Arora added. |
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