The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

Cholera at BSF camp confirmed
Tribune Reporters

Other than the patients from the BSF camp, four patients from various places in the region have been admitted to the PGI with gastroenteritis. They are Roshan Lal, a PGI employee, Sachin, Charno Devi and Deepa.

Mohali/Kharar, June 5
In what may be the first breakout of cholera this season, the PGI has confirmed the outbreak of the disease at the BSF camp here. While a woman resident of the camp is admitted to the PGI with cholera, 10 persons from the camp, suffering from diarrhoea, were rushed to the Civil Hospital at Mohali in the evening. Another jawan from the camp, suffering from gastroenteritis but suspected of having cholera, is also admitted to the PGI.

Lily Das, wife of a jawan posted at the camp, was admitted to the PGI this afternoon with severe gastroenteritis, which was later confirmed as cholera. The Ropar health authorities were informed by the PGI and a team of doctors was rushed to the camp. The team discovered that at least 10 jawans at the camp were suffering from diarrhoea, who were then taken to the Mohali Civil Hospital and one was rushed to the PGI.

While Lily Das was kept in isolation through the day, she was later shifted to an isolated portion of the female ward. The other patient at the PGI, Jagdish (47), is said to be suffering from gastroenteritis and the cholera confirmation report is still awaited. Those admitted to the Civil Hospital are S.K. Verma, Chubhan Singh, Surjit Lal, Ram Das, Suraj Singh, G.K Rai, S. Islam, Rajesh Singh, Sarvesh Kumar and Jatinder Singh. Three of them have been on intravenous fluids and the rest on oral medication.

All 10 have been isolated in a special ward created out of two rooms. The Deputy Medical Commissioner, Dr A.K. Khullar, along with the Civil Hospital in charge, Dr Balbir Singh, said special care would be taken of the patients and any signs of deterioration in condition would be closely monitored.

According to the Ropar Civil Surgeon, Ms Rana Harinder, although the first set of reports of Lily Das pointed towards cholera, more tests were being conducted at the PGI. She added that the likelihood of the disease spreading beyond the camp was low as the BSF jawans were using their own source of water supply. Their supply of water was supplemented with water tankers at the camp. She added that water sampling of the camp would be done tomorrow.

The open camp located on the Sohana-Landran road has 250 persons living in tents, barracks and quarters. Lily Das, wife of M.C. Das, had come to stay with her husband at the camp from Assam two days ago and was also suffering from cancer. Dr S.P. Singla, SMO in charge, Kharar Civil Hospital, who led the team to the camp this evening, said the camp residents were not using proper toilets and were easing themselves in the open. He added that since the camp residents ate at a common place, chances of infection having spread through the camp were rather high.

He suspected that Lily Das, who had just arrived from Assam, could have been the carrier of the disease to Punjab. He said chlorine medicines for the water supply had been provided to the camp-dwellers and they had been instructed to boil water before consuming it.

On May 21, a five-month-old at the Balmiki Colony was found to be suffering from cholera. Although later the health authorities had refused to confirm it as a case of cholera, a private hospital had reported it to be the first case of cholera in the township.

Interestingly, the Health Department, Ropar, had in March this year, collected 200 drinking water samples from various places in Ropar. No samples had been taken from the camp on the pretext that the BSF unit was depending on its own supply of water.

Girls shine in all-India PMT
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 5
Girls continue to maintain the lead in securing the top positions in examinations. Results of the All-India Pre-Medical Entrance 2004 has placed girls ahead of boys.

All highly ranked candidates in the region had focused on improving their performance in individual subjects by taking coaching from individual tutors. Some had enrolled with coaching academies to polish their skill to attempt questions.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Vasudha Goel, ranked 13th in the medical entrance examination, said she wanted to become a surgeon and would opt for the Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi. A student of SGGS Collegiate Public School, Sector 26, Vasudha, hailing from Ambala, had taken accommodation on rent along with her mother and sister to prepare for various competitive examinations.

She had secured 87.8 per cent marks and 89.4 per cent marks in the Class XII and Class X examinations respectively. Daughter of a heart and chest specialist, she said the re-examination had helped her to improve upon weak areas.

For Aditi Gupta, a resident of Sector 15, excelling in life comes more as a family tradition. She was ranked 17th in the entrance test.

Her elder brother, studying at IIT, Delhi, has been her source of inspiration. Feeling satisfied with her performance, she said she wanted to become a cardiologist. She had got 92.6 per cent marks in the Class XII examination. Earlier settled in Bathinda, the transfer of her father to the city was a blessing a disguise as she got a chance to improve upon weak areas.

Placed 22nd, Shivani Sharma, wants to become a dermatologist. She said by becoming a skin specialist, she would do a yeoman’s service as skin-related problems were bound to rise with rising levels of air and water pollution.

Daughter of a doctor couple, this was her second attempt. She had secured 84.6 per cent marks in the Class XII examination from Hill Grove Public School, Shimla. Asked about the controversy relating to the question paper leak, she said it was a failure of the system and did not affect her performance. She had represented Himachal Pradesh at a national-level science seminar at Kolkata in 2000. Her choice was the Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi.

3 mishaps at same spot, 2 of family killed
Our Correspondent

Kharar, June 5
In a series of three accidents at the same spot, a father-son duo was killed and five others injured near Mamupur village, about 5 km from here, last night.

The first accident took place at the spot on the Morinda road around 9.15 p.m. when an Indica car coming from the Ludhiana said towards Chandigarh collided with stray cow. The driver, Rajan Oberoi, and another person travelling in the car, Suresh Kumar, sustained minor injuries and the car got damaged.

About 15 minutes later a Tata mini-truck, going from the Kharar side towards Ludhiana, hit the animal lying on the road in the darkness and overturned. Two occupants of the vehicle, Gurvinder Singh (22) and Harjinder Pal Singh (51), sustained injuries in the mishap.

The police reached the scene and some villagers gathered there. The police was making efforts to remove the damaged mini-truck when around 10.15 p.m. three persons on a scooter were seen heading towards the spot.

According to the police, people shouted in order to warn those on the scooter, but it was too late. The scooter smashed into the mini-truck killing the driver, Jatinder Kumar, and his father, Ravinder Kumar. The second person riding pillion, Priyanka, daughter of Ravinder Kumar, sustained injuries. The family was returning after meeting Ravinder Kumar’s another daughter, married in Chandigarh.

They were taken to the Kharar Civil Hospital, where two victims were declared brought dead. Priyanka, who was in a state of shock at the hospital, said it all happened so suddenly that she could not recollect what exactly led to the accident. She was not aware of who brought her to the hospital.

The postmortem examination of the two bodies was conducted at the hospital today. According to the report, Jatinder Kumar died of a head injury while his father sustained injuries on the head and the chest. The police initiated proceedings under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Parties condemn helmet drive
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 5
Leaders from various political parties joined hands against the decision of the Chandigarh Police to make helmets mandatory for women driving two-wheelers. At a joint press conference addressed in Sector 17 here today, they passed a resolution stating that the local MP, Mr Pawan Bansal, would lead an all party protest against the “senseless” challaning drive initiated by the police on the issue.

Claiming to be saviours of police-harassed women drivers of the city, the representatives of every party, in a joint statement, gave a 48-hour time frame to the police to abandon their drive failing which they will swing into action to restrain the police from carrying out the drive.

Speaking on behalf of those present, Mr Surinder Bhardwaj of the JD (U), said that while they were not against women wearing helmets, they were not even for the imposition of the helmet rule on women. He maintained that wearing of seatbelts, too, was not required within city limits and the police merely thrust the rule on public.

“The police should educate the people, present the helmet-wearing rule as a case of self-security rather that dwelling on creating fear by going on a challaning spree. The drive is only aimed at bringing in money by way of challans,” Mr Inderjeet Singh Grewal of the CPM added.

Representing the Congress, Mr Ram Pal Sharma and Mr Subhash Kataria argued that while the police was harping on accident victims not wearing helmets who had died in the city, no statistics of women who died despite the fact that they were wearing helmets was being provided.

“The panacea for accidents lies not in wearing helmets but taking half-bodied trucks off the roads, ensuring official vehicles are not used by officers for private works and checking rash driving by state-run buses,” they held.

Mr Hem Raj of the BSP, Mr Bhagwati Prasad Gaur of the Ram Leela Maha Sabha, Mr Gurpratap Singh Riar, SAD, also extended support to the cause. They said that the police had no business hurting the religious sentiments of public and appealed to the Prime Minister to intervene and diffuse the tension by ordering suspension of the drive.

Claiming that no rule spelled out that helmets had to be ISI approved, they were critical of the crackdown of the police on roadside vendors selling helmets. "All it has achieved is that hundreds of people have been rendered jobless," they stated.

The BJP chose to keep out of the muddle. When contacted, Mr Satpal Jain said he had no idea of what was going on regarding the helmets since he was out of the town for the past one week. "I have just come back and will let you know about my stand after consulting the party president," he added.

However, Ms Ranjana Shahi of the BJP added that most women feel that the cost they end up paying in accident is much more than what they spend on buying a helmet. "They know they ought to wear a helmet but still don't. For this, the police should mobilize opinion in favour of wearing of helmets. Political parties, if they insist on doing away with helmets, must take responsibility for any death on the roads or else let the law take its course.

Mohali MC seeks expansion of outer limits
Move to bring five sectors under its control
Chitleen K. Sethi
Tribune News Service

Mohali, June 5
The Mohali Municipal Council has asked for more area to be brought under its control. In a fresh proposal sent to the Punjab Government, the council has demanded expansion of its outer limits in view of a spurt in development of areas outside Mohali’s current boundaries.

Given a nod, the proposed expansion will lead to the council controlling five new sectors, the upcoming railway station, the material and bulk market and the Industrial Area, Phase VIII A. The expansion is expected to generate an additional income of at least Rs 5 crore per year for the council.

Mr Kulwant Singh, council president, said that “the first proposal to this effect was sent to the government in December 2000, within days of the new council taking over the reins of the township. But no action was taken on it. Reminders followed and the case was forwarded to the Punjab Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA). But the file has not moved since. We have sent the proposal once again and included newer areas, as in the past years many of the areas here have developed fully but still have not been included in our limits.’’

Currently spread over an area of 23.86 sq km — the area from which it is collecting revenue— include residential areas from Phase 1 to Phase 11, Sectors 70 and 71, Matour village and Industrial Area, Phase 6, Phase 7, parts of Phase 8 and the Phase 9 Focal point.

The proposed expansion area, over 2000 acres is located on the South-East and North-East fringes of the town. Starting from the Kambala railway station, the proposed boundary would skirt villages Mauli Baidwan and Sohana and join the causeway over a seasonal rivulet at Lakhnour village. From where it will be extended to the Balongi bypass. However, the populated areas of Mauli Baidwan, Sohana and Balongi and Kambala have been excluded as the civic body will have to spend huge amounts on providing basic amenities to these villages.

The proposed railway station at Kambala village along the Chandigarh- Ludhiana rail link has been included to earn revenue from freight. On the Southern side, the MC has been demanding the inclusion of Sectors 66A, 67, 68 and Sector 69 within its limits. These sectors are populated and fully developed but have not been handed over by PUDA to the council. ‘‘We had earlier demanded that Sectors 76 to 80 be also given to the council but we were in a fix after the land acquisition proceedings for these five sectors were stayed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court,’’ said Mr Kulwant Singh.

‘‘Other than these we propose to include the Phase VIII Industrial Area developed by the Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation (PSIEC). Other than Godrej, ICI paints, newspaper Hindustan Times, Quark etc have opened offices here. But we are not earning penny from them despite the fact that they use our infrastructure, roads, markets parking etc.’’ he said.

Sources pointed out that while the council was desirous of getting a majority of the fully developed areas under its jurisdiction, it had refused to adopt many villages that fell within the borders of SAS Nagar. Sohana, Kumbra, Kambala, Mohali villages were like blots in the otherwise developed and modern infrastructure, said the sources adding that an attempt had been made to force the council to adopt Balongi and Ballomajra villages but it was objected on the grounds that the provision of basic amenities would not be economical for the authority to provide.

The sources said a proposal for constituting an NAC in Balongi comprising nine panchayats — Balongi, Balongi colony, Badmajra, Badmajra colony, Raipur, Jhujjhar Nagar, Daun and Bahlolpur — with an area of around 4,000 acres had been shelved after it was objected to by PUDA.

COMMUNITY

Arrangements in schools to watch Venus transit
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 5
City residents will be able to watch the rare celestial event- the transit of the Venus across the Sun scheduled to take place on June 8, after 122 years. Telescopes are being installed across the city for general public interested in watching the event and understanding the phenomenon. These telescopes will be installed at nine different places in the city, including the DC office, Sector 17.

This was stated by Mr G.S Bains, Project Director, Department of Science and Technology, Chandigarh Administration, here yesterday following a sensitisation programme organised for science teachers of various government schools in the city. He said that telescopes complete with solar viewer filters had been provided by the department to Saint Kabir Public School, Sector 26, GSSS School, Karsan, the Department of Chemistry, Panjab University, C.L. Aggarwal, DAV Model School, Sector 7, GSSS Sector 38 (W), Tender Heart School, Sector 33, and Dev Samaj College of Education, Sector 36. Other than these telescopes would also be installed in the office of the DST, Sector 17.

Activity kits of the event for children have also been provided to the schools. The science activity kits containing booklets and leaflets carrying information about the planets, transit, an animated version of the transit, a pinhole camera, and a solar viewer will be distributed among the schoolchildren to view this rare event.

Issuing a warning that the Sun should never be seen directly with the naked eye, Mr G.S Bains, said that it was necessary to view this event with the help of a solar viewer but not continuously. Avoid direct viewing of the Sun, also avoid using smoked glasses, colour film, binoculars, telescopes and exposed films for this purpose, he added.

Meanwhile a press meet was organised at the Northern Cross Astronomical Observatory, Sector 16, yesterday regarding the Venus transit. Mr Pradeep Mahajan, Director and Astronomer, said that on June 8 the Venus would be seen as a silhouette passing across the face of the Sun. The last time this event seen in the recorded history was in the year 1882 December. The next transit would be seen in 2012 June.

Protest in front of SDM’s house
Our Correspondent

Kharar, June 5
A protest was staged in front of the house of the SDM, Mr Sukhvinder Singh Gill, here today over the alleged illegal construction of a building on the national highway at Mundi Kharar.

The protesters alleged that a property dealer was carrying out construction work on the building without getting the plan approved from the municipal council. The construction was causing damage to a nearby shop, they added.

The SDM said he had visited the site and had sent a report to the Ropar Deputy Commissioner in this regard. He said the construction was being undertaken in violation of the law as the building was not at a minimum distance of 10 metres from the national highway and the building plan had not been cleared by the civic body.

CRIME

9 hurt in group clash, 12 booked
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, June 5
Nine persons, including a woman, were injured, one of them seriously, in a clash between two groups at Burail village, here late last night. The police booked 12 members of both groups in cases of attempt to murder.

Following a minor scuffle between Jaswinder Singh, alias Jassi, and Balwinder Singh, alias Thakur, at the Burail market last evening, a group of at least 20 persons of the Jaswinder group reached the house of Balwinder and attacked his family members late last night.

In the attack, Balwinder Singh, his grandfather Desh Raj, and his uncle Abhimanayu, sustained injuries. The injured were taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32. Seriously injured Desh Raj was later referred to the PGI after his health deteriorated due to critical head injuries.

In a complaint to the police, Balwinder alleged that Jaswinder, along with Hardeep Singh, Manjit Kaur, Surinder Singh, Lakhminder Singh and some others attacked them with sharp-edged weapons causing them serious injuries. The police has booked Jaswinder Singh and others under Sections 323, 148, 149, 506, 507 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

On the other hand, Hardeep Singh complained to the police against Balwinder Singh, Desh Raj and Abhimanayu causing serious hurt to them. They were booked under Sections 323, 324, 506, 507 and 34 of the IPC.

Two held in theft cases
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, June 5
The UT police has arrested two persons, and registered four cases of theft in the city in past 24 hours.

A press note issued by the Chandigarh police said that Vijay Singh of Panjab University Complex, Sector 25, was arrested for pilfering petrol from a scooter parked at Teacher’s flats. He was caught red-handed while committing the crime last night.

A case under Sections 379 and 411 of the IPC was registered against him at Sector 11 police station on the complaint of Mr Sukesh Sharma, a resident of Panjab University, Sector 14.

In two cases of thefts two video phones and a brief case were stolen from a car (DL-4C-0262), that was parked near Sector 10 petrol pump. Mrs Varinder Negi, a resident of Sector 24, who owns the car, said that the thieves took away the goods after breaking the rear glass of her car.

In another case of vehicle theft, Mr Mohan Lal, a resident of Sector 22, complained that his scooter (CH-01F-0328) had been stolen from Sector 21 market. A case has been registered.

BUSINESS

No bye-laws on sale of rabbit meat in city
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, June 5
Sale of rabbit meat in the city is going unchecked by the UT Administration for the past more than two weeks. Even though bye-laws are yet to be framed by the UT Administration regarding the sale of rabbit meat, it is being sold at certain leading super markets, meat shops and eating joints of the city.

It is for the first time that rabbit meat has been introduced in this part of the region. Non-vegetarian residents of the city and its satellite towns — Panchkula and Mohali — will soon be able to relish it in city hotels, restaurants and clubs.

Introduced by a Coimbatore-based rabbit meat selling firm — ABI Rabbits — for the first time in Chandigarh two weeks ago, the rabbit meat is being sold by Farmers Supermarket, Sector 34, JD’s and Bhatia’s supermarkets in Sector 35, Singh’s Chicken, Sector 22, and some other leading stores in the city.

While the frozen rabbit meat is available at Rs 220 per kg in the supermarkets, the eating joints are charging Rs 260 per animal with gravy and Rs 240 for a roasted one.

The Municipal Health Officer (MHO), Chandigarh, Dr G.C. Bansal, however, expressed ignorance about the sale of rabbit meat in the city. He said no licence had been issued to anyone for the sale of rabbit meat in the city, nor any one had applied for it.

When contacted, Dr M.S. Kamboj, from the MC Health Department, made it clear that the UT Administration had no set rule or any bye-law regarding sale of rabbit meat in the city. He also claimed that both a shopkeeper as well as a wholesaler could sell rabbit meat since it had not been classified as yet.

Being a new introduction to this part of the region, the Coimbatore-based company had despatched about 200 kg of meat to the city on a trial basis after getting orders from more than a dozen sellers.

Talking to this correspondent, Mr Rupinder Singh Guron, director of JD’s and Farmer’s supermarkets, claimed that customers had given a good response even though rabbit meat was being sold in the markets on a trial basis. ‘’This is a new concept and the number of customers will be higher during the winter’’, he said.

Asked about the quality and the hygiene of the meat, Mrs Vaanhi, marketing executive of the firm, claimed that they were supplying good quality meat from Coimbatore after getting a medical certificate from veterinary inspectors of their state. She added that their company was already in the rabbit meat business in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The Southern Regional Research Centre, Kodaikanal, in Tamil Nadu after a research on rabbits has certified that as compared to chicken, goat meat, pork and fish, it is more delicious, enriched with proteins and lowest in fat ratio. Moreover, the rabbit meat the is recommended for heart patients as it contains the lowest calories.

Mrs Vaanhi said were in the second phase, the product would be introduced in Ludhiana and Jalandhar.

Rabbit is a domestic animal and is reared in farms for meat and fur while hare is a wild animal covered under Schedule 4 of the Wildlife Act. The species is protected and pouching and hunting of hare is prohibited under the provisions of law.

Workshop on making compost
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, June 5
The potential of women to act as change agents in society has been the touchstone of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s community outreach efforts in the little village of Bhoj Palasra, in the Morni Hills of Haryana. A workshop on the creation of compost, jointly organised by the CII (Northern Region) and the Voluntary Health Association of Punjab, saw this spirit come to the fore, when 25 or 30 rural women joined hands to construct two models for generating organic compost at their village.

The project demonstrated how women could utilise easily available local raw material like cow dung and biomass to create organic manure. This manure, free of harmful chemicals and toxins and rich in nutrients, could be used in the fields or sold in the market to generate additional income.

Dr U.N. Roy from the Department of Rural Development, National Institute of Technical Teachers’ Training and Research, Chandigarh, conducted the session. The villagers were shown video films on the benefits of using organic compost and techniques of creating such a resource themselves. The two demo pits, maintained by the village women for the project period, would subsequently be replicated by individuals on their own land to serve their needs, according to the organisers.

Adventure park set up at Morni
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, June 5
A state- of- the- art adventure park has been set up by the Haryana Tourism Department at Morni. This park, which will put Haryana on the map of adventure tourism, will be open to the public from next month.

Officials in the state Tourism Department say that the park has been set up on a five-acre piece of a hillock, between two taals at Morni. The park has been so designed that it does not interfere with the ecology of the land. There are no mechanical or other swings found in most amusement parks; rather obstacles adding to the adventure theme have been set up.

The park has been set up at a cost of Rs 80 lakh and will have river crossings, Tarzan swings, tree houses, a maze, tree-top works, a haunted house (where visitors will have a rendezvous with fibre-glass mummies using light and sound effects), etc. A kutcha house on this land is being redecorated and converted into a restaurant.

Morni is the only hill station in the state and attracts a large number of trekkers and adventure sport enthusiasts from the region. Adventure camps are a regular feature here which attract upto 3,500 visitors, including NCC cadets, Scouts and Guides and families who come here from September 2003 to April 2004, and enjoy the virgin beauty of Morni.

Says Ms Navraj Sandhu, Director, Haryana Tourism, “This year, many corporate houses from Delhi brought their employees to Morni for trekking expeditions and rock climbing. This quaint hill station was also one of the favourite destinations for a weekend getaway. The park will further add to the adventure spirit at the Tikkar taal.”

This adventure park is the brainchild of Ms Sandhu, who says that utmost care has been taken to ensure that the park caters to all age groups. She says the park is so designed that children, youth and elders, all can have fun. “In fact, we have created a separate children’s section, which will have all geometrical shapes and will be brightly painted. Huge butterflies in different hues are being set up in the children’s section, while the haunted house is for the adults,” she says.

A unique thing about the park is that students of two Chandigarh colleges — Chandigarh College of Architecture and the Government College of Art — were commissioned to create the park. While students of the Chandigarh College of Architecture were involved in the designing of the park, the art work (at the entrance, in the haunted house, etc) has been done by students of the Government College of Art.

Prof Brahm Prakash, Principal of the Government College of Art, says five students of the college and a few former students, assisted by faculty members, Mr Rajesh Sharma, Mr Sanjeev Kumar and Mr JS Jolly, were involved in designing the haunted house and the entrance of the park.