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CTU grid system from Jan 23
Chandigarh, December 30 The buses will be run on straight lines only at specified time intervals of only 7.5 minutes on the main roads and the roads dividing sectors. The time gap between the buses connecting different markets will not be more than 15 minutes, on any of the routes. Confirming the change in the bus system by altering the routes, Mr Arun Sekhri, Director of CTU, said the administration had already approved the new format of the bus tickets and short term tenders will be floated shortly to sign in the deserving party for printing the tickets. The new tickets instead of printing a list of confusing figures has instead printed the map of the City Beautiful along with a uniform rate of Rs 5. The CTU has decided to continue with certain important routes for public utility, particularly for the benefit of the people travelling to the city from outside for important services. The old buses which will continue to run on the earlier route schedule include the ISBT(Sector 17)-PGI, ISBT-high court and the ISBT-bus stand in Sector 43, Mr Sekhri said. The CTU has decided to introduce a uniform fee of Rs 5 on all the routes which means travelling from one point to any other point in a single bus, not taking into consideration the actual distance covered. Earlier the fares on the local routes varied between Rs 2 and Rs 9. A senior official clarified that in case one had to change the bus on the way to his destination, he will have to pay Rs 5 more for the new route. The CTU will continue with the passes for special categories of city residents. A general bus pass for a month will cost Rs 320. A pass for a holiday will be worth Rs 20. Employees of the UT Secretariat will have to pay Rs 85 for a monthly pass while students will have to pay Rs 60 per month for a pass. Freedom fighters and widows of war heroes can travel free while the physically handicapped travellers will pay 50 per cent of the fare. The CTU plans to employ at least 120 buses on the grid system. A bus conductor when questioned about the proposed grid system said “the system appeared very good, at least on paper. It will take at least a month to see the realities and point out discrepancies in the proposed grid system. One problem that I can foretell at the moment is the difficulty that people will face in changing their buses. “ He said “the bus stops cannot be made near the roundabout for the very simple reason of traffic congestion. In case the bus routes were also on the vertical and horizontal lines, people while changing buses will have difficulty in crossing roads, at least on roads with a heavy rush, including the Madhya Marg, near the IBST and the Dakshin Marg, besides others. Residents might also complain regarding the uniform fares”.
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10 motorists hurt as oil spills on road
Chandigarh, December 30 One of the injured, riding pillion behind her husband, was rushed to the Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital in an unconscious state. Her condition was reported to be serious. The spill also resulted in a massive traffic jam that lasted for over half an hour. The normal flow of traffic resumed only after a fire tender was called in to wash away the oil slick. Though the exact details were not known even to the police, the cops reaching the spot after more than an hour were of the opinion that the oil might have seeped out of some vehicle, probably a tanker. The onlookers said the cops were informed almost immediately after the first vehicle lost control and rammed against the road berm, but they took their “own sweet time”. A retired government employee, Gurdeep Singh, who was present on the spot, said the fire tender reached the spot before the police vehicles trudged silently. He added that the subsequent mishaps could have been averted had the police acted swiftly. It was chaos all around as people were seen diverting the motorists away from the stretch covered with oil. They also put concrete slabs on the road, blocking the way to the stretch, as no policeman was there to supervise the place. Some motorists did not pay heed to instructions and entered the vulnerable stretch. A car driver had a miraculous escape after his vehicle skidded on the oil film and rammed against the road berm.
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New Chandigarh-Delhi expressway likely
New Delhi, December 30 With this new access-controlled alignment between the two cities, it will be possible to cover the 240- km distance between the two cities in two-and-a-half to three hours flat. Talking to The Tribune on the sidelines of a press conference addressed by Road Transport and Highways Minister, Mr T.R. Baalu, here today, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Chairman Santosh Nautiyal said the NHAI was preparing detailed project reports(DPRs) for six stretches of expressways between Delhi and Chandigarh; Delhi and Jaipur; Delhi and Meerut; Bangalore and Chennai; Delhi and Agra; and Kolkota and Dhanbad. While the exercise for preparing DPRs for the six 1,000-km expressways under the NHDP phase-VI would take about a year’s time, for the moment the top priority on the NHAI’s list was to get the Vadodra-Mumbai expressway rolling, he said. Moreover, some important issues like the need for an expressway based on traffic potential also need to be sorted out. While the six expressways would be planned for a speed of 120 kmph, eventual speed limits would eventually be fixed by respective state government. Incidentally, with access-controlled highways, vehicles can only join the traffic at specific points where inter-change is allowed. For example, for the Delhi-Chandigarh expressway, main inter-change points could be important cities in between, like Sonepat, Panipat, Karnal and Ambala.
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IT park to come up in Mohali’s Phase IX
Mohali, December 30 Harpratap Steel limited was allotted this land by the Department of Industries for a steel unit. A mammoth industrial shed was constructed on the land but never commenced production. The company owed various financial institutions large sums of money. Stating that the promoters have already taken effective steps for expeditious implementation of the project, Mr J.S. Kochar, the company’s consultant today pointed out that the company had already negotiated with major IT Companies for their presence at the proposed IT Park. “The company has paid total liability of Harpartap Steels Ltd. towards banks (ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, IFCI Bank, State Bank of Patiala, and Allahabad Bank) and also one third of the dues towards enhancement of land prices to PSIEC,” he said adding that another Rs 37 lakh had been paid to PSIDC as an initial payment for settlement of liabilities of PSIDC. The chief promoter, Mr Vinod Dhawan, a former national level badminton player and currently president of the Delhi Badminton association and vice-president of Badminton Association of India, said the project was intended to become another global milestone on the horizon of fast developing Mohali city.
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Hang me if found guilty, says Surinder Singh
Chandigarh, December 30 Mr Surinder Singh told The Tribune that the Congress had identified the people behind the move to cause him harm in the elections and the party would deal with them appropriately after the election, scheduled for coming Sunday. Referring to the complaint against him in question, Mr Surinder Singh said there was a civil dispute between M/s Bharat Property Dealers and Mr Daljeet Singh Sodhi regarding an agreement to purchase of an existing commercial site by the latter, but the deal did not materialise. He produced an affidavit purportedly signed by Mr Sodhi that says that he had agreed to purchase of a shop cum office (SCO) site (No 23 at Neelkanth Shopping Plaza, Part II) on the Chandigarh-Zirakpur highway and paid an advance of Rs 10 lakh as earnest money. The affidavit by Mr Sodhi further says “due to some circumstances and with our mutual consent I have cancelled the said bargain and that I have today received back the entire advance/earnest money”. The affidavit is dated May 20, 2005. In his affidavit, Mr Sodhi has also stated that he had submitted a complaint dated May 11, 2005 to the SSP, Chandigarh against Mr Surinder Singh and since the matter stood resolved, he had withdrawn the said complaint. Mr Surinder Singh said the entire complaint was to tarnish his image, but he would still emerge victorious in the elections. His opponents who were politically frustrated were seeing their defeat and thus decided to hit at him. He said. “I have an unblemished record of public service of more than 25 years and never even a finger has been raised against me in the past”. He said he was ready for any inquiry and if found guilty was ready to “be hanged”.
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Admn rejects appeal of Durga Dass Foundation
Chandigarh, December 30 The NGO would now have to deposit around Rs 1.40 lakh as the tax against the collections made during the musical nite. An amount of around Rs 25,000, deposited earlier by the organisation as donation for the Red Cross Society would also be adjusted against the tax amount, said sources in the UT Excise and Taxation Department. Mr S.K.Sandhu, UT Finance Secretary-cum-Secretary, Excise and Taxation, confirmed that the appeal by the NGO had been rejected on the grounds that the exemption had been sought after the show was held. The
exemption can not be granted in back date, retrospectively, he added. As per rules, the exemption has to be sought at least 21 days before the event. The exemption had to be sought for the exemption as the Foundation is an NGO. The case has been sent to the Excise and Taxation Department for issuing notice under the Punjab Entertainment Tax Act, 1956, for the recovery of the tax. Officials of the department had visited the place during the event after receiving complaints that donor passes were being sold for the Jagjit Singh nite. The tickets were marketed by Spice Telecom, main sponsor for the event, and were allegedly sold to ghazal buffs. The tickets had been priced at Rs 500, Rs 750 and Rs 1,000.
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Minakshi’s spooky encounters in Shimla take book form
Chandigarh, December 30 Talking to mediapersons and readers at a special interaction organised by the British Council Library here today, Minakshi, once herself a journalist, spoke about her stories and travels across Himachal Pradesh. The book, described as a “charming potpourri of the supernatural” by Ruskin Bond, is a collection of spine-chilling adventures with spirits in Shimla. She has made a judicious attempt to treat the reader to a variety of ghosts — British and Indian, rural and urban. Stating that the fear of the unknown, enhanced by the mist, darkness and pattering raindrops, is a part of life in the hills, Minakshi pointed out that there have been real encounters with the supernatural and only some people have managed to emerge unscathed. She also read some important parts of the book. Minakshi, who worked in Chandigarh as a reporter for nearly three years, has travelled extensively across Himachal Pradesh. She has authored two more books, ‘Exploring Pangi Himalaya — A World Beyond Civilisation’ and ‘A Guide to Trekking in Himachal’. “This book covers about 65 treks and over 100 destinations,” she said. The energetic young author is currently working on a travel book on lesser known destinations of Himachal, soon to be brought out by Rupa Publications and a reference book on the state. The programme started with a welcome address by Mr Sushant Banerjee, Manager, British Library, while Ms Christina, Deputy Manager, British Library, Chandigarh, thanked Minakshi.
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Stir threatened over hike in water charges
Mohali, December 30 A large number of residents gathered outside the office of the Municipal Council in Phase VII here to chalk out the future course of action. They said that apart from launching agitations, residents would also go to court to challenge the government notification under which water and sewerage charges were hiked. Mr Amrik Singh, a former municipal councillor, said the Director, Local Government Department, Punjab, had issued orders to the Municipal Council to implement the revised rates. He said the water and sewerage rates had already been hiked in 2001. The rates prevalent in Mohali were higher than those in Chandigarh and Panchkula. Representatives of different organisations said after the civic body had cleared a proposal to hike water and sewerage rates at a meeting held on July 29, residents had protested against the decision and ultimately the council had to go back on its decision at a meeting held in October. They said that the government was putting an unnecessary financial burden on the residents of the town which was totally unjustified. Among those who took part in the meeting were Mr Manjit Singh Sethi, Mr Manmohan Singh Lang, Mr Amrik Singh Mohali, Mrs Harbans Kaur, Mrs Manmohan Kaur, Mr Manjeet Singh, former municipal councillors, Mr Balbir Singh, president of the Mohali Industries Association, Mr S.S. Jaspal, president of the Pensioners and Senior Citizens Welfare Association.
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Police issues directions to hotel owners
Zirakpur, December 30 Addressing hotel owners, in charge of the local police post, Mr Shaminder Singh, urged the managements to keep a record of the revelers. They were also urged to make sure that the visitors did not carry any arms and ammunition with them. Urging them to make proper parking arrangements for the visitors, the police official said a strict view would be taken of any disruption of traffic due to wrong parking of vehicles. Similarly, the managements were urged to avoid bursting crackers to avoid pollution hazard. These instructions have been issued on the direction of the Patiala SSP, Mr A.S. Rai, to maintain law and order, Mr Shaminder Singh added.
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MC allotted project on pollution control
Chandigarh, December 30 A spokesman of the MC said here today that the improvement includes closing, capping and passive gas venting of the already filled area and development of a sanitary landfill as per Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) rules 2000 for future dumping of garbage. The project costs Rs 9.55 crore. Mr P.S. Aujla, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, and the Medical Officer of Health, had a meeting with the senior officers of the board at New Delhi recently. As desired by the Central Pollution Control Board, the MC arranged presentation by M/S Jaiprakash Associates Ltd before the officers of the board at New Delhi with regard to the setting up of a garbage processing unit at Chandigarh. With implementation of this project, the dumping ground will be converted into playgrounds and parks, which would thus improve the living conditions of the nearby residents. For closing and capping work of the dumping ground the earth will be taken from Sukhna Lake, which will also help in a big way to desilt Sukhna Lake. Both the projects i.e. remediation at dumping ground and desilting of Sukhna Lake will be implemented in consultation with the Finance Secretary-cum-secretary, Chandigarh Administration, so that both the projects can be synchronized, informed the spokesman.
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Anti-encroachment
drive in Mohali Mohali, December 30 The seized goods were loaded into the Municipal Corporation vehicle
and taken to the store of the civic body.
The drive was started from Phase V later other markets of the town
were also covered. Residents have been making complaints that
shopkeepers were unauthorisedly using market verandahs to stock their
goods. It became difficult for persons visiting the market to use
verandahs for their convenience.
Dustbins for green belts
Chandigarh, December 30 Meanwhile, at a meeting of the water supply and sewerage disposal committee of the MC, it was decided to modify and upgrade water features in the centre of the city in Sector 17. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Ms Geeta Rani and attended by all the committee members, including Mr Subhash Chawla, Pushpa Sharma, Lalit Joshi, Jatinder Bhatia, Ms Harjinder Kaur and other officials of the MC. A meeting of the finance and contract committee of the MC was also held today. In the meeting various agendas, including supply of summer/winter uniforms to Class IV and class III employees of MOH office were approved. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Ms Anu Chatrath, Mayor, Municipal Corporation in the presence of Mr P.S. Aujla, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation and attended by all committee members, including Mr Subhash Chawla, Mr P.C. Sanghi and other officials of the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh. The committee has passed the following agenda items, including allotment of contract for the removal of carcasses, supply of effective micro-organism and micro-nutrients and fixation of the reserve price of the paid parking lots in Sector 22-B for Rs 26 lakh and Sector 35-B along Himalayan Marg for Rs 28 lakh.
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Welcoming New Year the AoL way
Chandigarh, December 30 The city unit of the organisation has come up with a spiritual and fun filled way of celebrating the New Year tomorrow evening. The celebration will be a night full of Satvik dance and ‘masti’ at DAV College tomorrow.
TNS
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Jewellery, cash stolen
Mohali, December 30 According to the police, the thieves took away three tolas of gold, Rs 20,000 in cash and a number of unstitched clothes. Mr B.R. Ahuja, owner of the house, had gone to Delhi along with members of his family a few days ago and no one was at home when the theft took place. Mr Ahuja returned last evening and saw that his house had been ransacked. The thieves had reportedly entered the first floor of the building from an adjoining house which was under construction. Later, they came to the ground floor and stole the items.
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Recall 2005
MOHALI: The year saw a rise in the number of cases of heinous crime as compared to last year despite the police making arrests of suspects from time to time.
The number of cases of murder rose from four last year to seven this year, out of which the police claims to have solved six. According to police data, there were also four cases of attempt to murder, 48 cases of fraud and two of dacoity. The figures in this regard for last year were one, 40 and nil, respectively. There were two incidents of kidnapping this year against three last year. At least 11 cases were registered under the Dowry Act. Roads did not prove to be safe as the number of accident cases recorded were 44 while the number of mishaps in which victims were injured was 25. The latest case of murder was that of a former Quark engineer, Sukhwinder Singh, in Sector 69 this month. His wife and her alleged paramour were arrested in this connection soon after the killing. A young woman was murdered in Sector 68 on April 4. The police suspected that the servant was behind the crime. In another case, a 65-year-old farmer was found murdered under mysterious circumstances at Saneta village on August 25. The prime suspect was later taken into custody. In another case in August a watchman was found murdered in Industrial Area and later four persons were arrested in this connection. Later, on November 26, the body of a resident of Sohana was found near a gurdwara in the village. He was missing and had been murdered. On April 18 a Chandigarh college teacher, Davinderjit Kaur, allegedly committed suicide at her parents’ home in Phase 3 B1 here. Her husband was arrested in this connection. Another college lecturer, Amardeep Kaur, allegedly took her own life in Sector 71 in November. The police booked her husband, her father-in-law, mother-in-law and sister-in-law in this connection. There was an armed robbery bid at a bank near PTL on New Year’s Eve (December 31, 2004). The attempt to rob Rs 36 lakh was foiled by bank employees and the alleged robber was shot at and injured by the bank guard. The police busted an illegal Internet exchange racket on January 15 and later arrested members of the gang. In another breakthrough in September the police busted an 11-member gang of criminals alleged to be behind 14 killings in Punjab and Haryana. Makhan Singh, a resident of Kumbra village, was kidnapped in August by Punjabis in South Africa. He returned home on October 24. Thefts continued despite suspects being arrested on different occasions. According to police figures, the number of cases of theft was 71 this year against 59 last year. Cases of burglary dropped a little to 38 from 43 last year. Goods worth Rs 6 lakh were stolen from a shop-cum-godown in Balongi on August 8. There were also a number of cases of snatching and theft of money from parked vehicles. The police, however, was not active enough in checking the sale of narcotic drugs. Although poppy husk was seized and
suspects arrested in a few cases, no sustained drive was launched to check the drug menace. In a major catch, 525 boxes of liquor being transported illegally were seized on March 19 at a police naka near Sohana. Two persons were arrested in this connection. The police also smashed a call-girl racket on February 16 and arrested 10 persons from a house in Phase I.
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51 kg poppy husk seized from rehri
Chandigarh, December 30 The police saw a man coming on a rehri and signalled him to stop. But the man tried to dodge the police. The police gave a chase to him, but he managed give a slip to the cops and left his rehri behind. The search of the rehri led to the recovery of 51kg of poppy husk. The
accused was identified as Bhagwan Singh of Kishangarh village. A case has been registered in this regard. Liquor seized A case under Sections 61 of the Excise Act has been registered in this regard. Gambling Dowry Missing
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Centra Mall to be city’s tallest building
Chandigarh, December 30 Centra Mall is coming up in the place occupied earlier by Pasco Automobiles after the Administration allowed change of land use. The Mall will be a family entertainment centre promoted by Pasco Real Estates for which Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan has been selected as its brand ambassador. The project has been designed by the Delhi-based Morphogenesis Architectural Studio, headed by Mr Manit Rastogi and assisted by Ms Sonali Srivastava Rastogi and Mr Sanjay Bhardwaj. The building will have a glass facade, 344-foot frontage and a clear visibility to all stores. The building will also have a food court, besides four state-of-art auditoriums and a 53-ft-high atrium. The building will be earthquake resistant. With the Chandigarh Administration giving its goahead for the construction of the building, the half-a-century-old architecture with linear play of horizontal and vertical lines, heavy walls of brick and fieldstone will undergo a massive change. Keeping in mind that most commercial areas in Chandigarh that have an external verandah, the architects have chosen to give an edge atrium instead of a regular central atrium. This will help providing a visible public front to the building which is all glass. The glass on the outer skin has been processed to give a stone-like finish. It will be translucent glass which will enable you to see out from inside, but not in from outside. The building has panels of cold cathode red lighting running along the glass facade that is recharged by the sunlight and emits a reddish hue at night. The building is planned as a simple rectangular floor plate with a strip atrium along the north. This atrium runs through the ground, first, second and third floors providing the retail and food court levels visual interconnectivity. The retail and leisure activities are fully visible along the length of the building making the project easily comprehensible to users. The multiplex sits on the fourth and fifth floors, with the multiplex lobby also fully visible from the road. In addition to the uses, all vertical movement through escalators and elevators is also expressed on the facade. According to the architects, the entire structure is designed “keeping in mind the latest structural codes and is fully compliant with the latest earthquake codes. Orientation of the clear glazing has been kept such that it faces north, thereby reducing heat gain through glass to the minimum. Further, the glass used for the atrium is low-E coated glass, further reducing heat gain and air-conditioning requirements of the building”. The Family Entertainment Centre aims at providing an all-round leisure and retail experience to residents in an ecologically sound and responsible manner. The area of the Mall will be 1,44,000 square feet. The construction will begin next week and take a year to complete at a cost of about Rs 25 crore.
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Scooter launched
Chandigarh, December 30 Launching the new scooter at Amar Motors here, Mr Neeraj Behal, Regional Manager of Kinetic, claimed that this scooter had been created on an entirely new category of two wheelers. “The Kinetic 4s promises the highest mileage of all gearless scooters at 60 kmpl. It also has a strong metal body and is equipped with all metal accessories and extra stepney tyre, and it is priced at Rs 36, 395,” he said. On this occasion, he also announced the launch of an exchange offer for kinetic riders - from their old two stroke scooters with the 4 stroke scooters. “The evaluators will give a market value of the old scooter and the customer will have to make the balance amount, to get a four-stroke scooter. A mechanical check-up camp for the old scooters is also being organised, “ he said. Proprietors of Amar Motors announced a lucky draw scheme, by which all those buying a new scooter would be given coupons. The draw will be held on January 15, and many prizes will be awarded.
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Bank extends working hours
Chandigarh, December 30 The facility was inaugurated by Prof K.K. Talwar, Director, PGI . He applauded the efforts of the bank to render services in the extended hours. Mr O.P. Poonia, Assistant General Manager, assured Prof Talwar to maintain excellence in services.
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