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Dust storm hits city
Chandigarh, April 23 Tents were blown away at a few places. Daily commuters and pedestrians had to scurry for shelter. Snapping of cables led to disruption in telephone services at some places. Though a routine weather phenomenon in this part of the season (April to be precise), the speed of today’s dust storm was more than expectation. The Duty Officer at the Meteorological Department said the wind speed was very high and it was at its peak at 10.45 am after which the winds started to recede though these lasted all day long. The sudden inset of violent winds might well explain the changed forecast for tomorrow. After a number of hot days, the Met Department has finally predicted some respite in the shape of partly cloudy sky with a possibility of thunderstorm. The temperature did fall today in response to the altered weather system which was caused by two factors — a western disturbance on north Pakistan and neighbourhood and upper air cyclonic circulation in central Pakistan.
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Seonk fire destroys
vegetation in 100 acres
Mullanpur Garibdass (Kharar), April 23 Though no damage to human and animal life or property has been reported, the damage to trees and vegetation in the areas is being assessed. According to the Kharar forest officials, the fire gutted the entire undergrowth in the hilly terrain. The SAS Nagar district administration team of forest, fire and police officials was on the spot through the day monitoring the spread of the fire. The fire reportedly broke out at Seonk village around 11 am and quickly spread to surrounding areas due to gusty winds. It engulfed the forest area on the hilltop which is quite close to the village’s habitation boundary. The nearby Forest Department’s rest house also escaped the fire fury. A settlement colony of about 100 persons camping nearby had to be evacuated to ward off any disaster. “The effort was to ensure that the fire did not reach the village phirni where majority of the population lives. Our team of guards and villagers brought the fire under control. It took time because the changing wind direction kept changing the course of fire spread,” said Mr Gagandeep Singh, Forest Range Officer, Kharar. Fire officials also had a tough day. “Since there are no motorable roads leading beyond the villages, fire engines could not be used. The fire engines were posted for the protection of the villagers and our men helped the police shift the people from the settlements. Two fire engines requisitioned from Mohali were posted at Seonk village, while one from Chandigarh and another from
the Air Force Station, Mullanpur, were posted outside Perch,” said Mr Bhag Singh, Fire Station Officer, Mohali. The Perch dam rehabilitation colony had to be evacuated by the police. “This was the nearest inhabited area that the fire could engulf. We asked the colony residents to leave their houses and move to the village,” said Mr Parvinder Singh Dhillon, SHO, Mullanpur Garibdass police station. The villagers showed exemplary cooperation in the efforts, he added. “There is no damage to khair trees in the area. Only low bushes, weeds grass were gutted,” said Mr Gagandeep Singh. “The district administration is well prepared to handle such incidents. Since this is a fairly common occurrence during this period of the year and the hilltops are inaccessible to fire engines, the focus would be to remain on high alert and save inhabited areas,” said Mr Arunjit Singh Miglani, Additional Deputy Commissioner, SAS Nagar.
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Dadu Majra fire still smouldering
Chandigarh, April 23 The visibility in a stretch of about 1 km in Dadu Majra was so much hampered that the vehicles plying on the roads had to switch on their lights even during the day. Majority of people on road near Dadu Majra had their faces covered. Residents also complained about breathing problems. Residents blocked traffic late last night. A rally was also taken out today criticising the Administration for not taking care of waste management at the dumping ground. Nearly a dozen fire tenders were rushed to the spot during the day time; however, the fire could not be controlled till late evening. A fire tender could be seen parked inside the dumping yard around 1 p.m. “This is one of several unsuccessful efforts by the Fire Department since morning,” a policeman on duty said. The Dadu Majra residents Welfare Association organised a rally on the occasion. Mr Narender Chaudhary, general secretary, said, “The poisonous gas emanating from the site is very dangerous. Women and young children in the colony are complaining of several health problems, including nausea and vomiting.” Mr Rajesh Bahot, president, said, “The smoke from the garbage dump yard maybe defused for the moment. The fact is that residents continue to smell the stench each day. The earth cover on the site is also not being maintained properly”. Dr
G.C. Bansal, Medical Officer Health of the Municipal Corporation, said, “The waste these days is combustible and fires are an expected happening during this time of the year. The gas from the garbage helped in spreading fire. The fast winds blowing these days also contributed in spreading the fire. We will be able to control the fire by tomorrow evening.”
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11 water testing stations to be set up
Chandigarh, April 23 Water of hand pumps at sectors 15, 22, 34, 47 and Palsora, Dhanas and Dadu Majra villages will be tested regularly at the testing stations. Besides, Sukhna Lake and Attawa Choe, Patiala Ki Rao and Sukhna Choe drains will also be monitored under the programme. Results for biological and chemical analysis of water samples tested at the stations will be forwarded to the UT Administration and the Centre. Mr P.J.S. Dadhwal, member secretary of the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee, said, “The results of water samples are forwarded to the planners at the national level. In case of any unusual results, the matter is forwarded to the local administration for immediate action. There are no areas of concern for quality of water in the city at the moment”. The testing process will involve details on the depth of water, its colour, odour, visible effluent discharge, presence of pesticides in it and human activities around the stations. The tests trace the presence of metals, including arsenic, nickel, copper, mercury, chromium, cadmium, zinc, iron and lead in the water. A special cell has been created to ensure the bio-monitoring of the Sukhna. Funds for buying monitoring equipment, microscopes and all related accessories have been cleared in the annual budget with the aim of starting work on the project immediately. The board has identified two industrial units where water waste minimisation practices will be launched. Chandigarh, being a hub of electroplating units, the inventory needs to be updated. It has, however, been discovered that a majority of the units here were using “the age old plating practices and were generating a large quantity of toxic waste water and sludge”. A senior UT official said, “The reports of water samples prepared by the testing stations will be of immense value to the city. We need to access the availability of underground water which can be utilised. The city does not have any major source of water and has to depend on the Punjab for its water needs. “The data collected by the centres can help in better planning. The UT also needs to work out on treatment options for effluent discharge from industry which is thrown into nullahs causing pollution”.
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Constable commits
“suicide”, probe on
Chandigarh, April 23 Giving details of the incident, sources in the Sector 3 police station said victim had been identified as Sarabjit Singh, a resident of
Dhanoala village in Sangrur District. He was found hanging from a tree at some distance from road by his colleague at around 2:30 pm. The matter was reported to the police which took the body in its custody and later shifted it to the Sector-16 General Hospital. The police has informed the family of the victim about the incident. Sarabjit Singh was married. Quoting the colleagues of the victim, the police said Sarabjit Singh was serving as a special police officer
(SPO) and was inducted in the Punjab Police as Constable after the completion of his training. He was posted with a Punjab Police unit deployed at the Punjab Civil Secretariat. His colleagues further told the police that they had not much information about the victim as he had joined on Saturday only. They added that the incident took place after a dust storm which had uprooted their tents. Sarabjit was busy gathering the things. “We do not know when he went away after cutting a piece of rope from a tent and hanged himself,” said one of his colleagues. Meanwhile, the police has initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC in this regard.
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Revised power
cut schedule
announced
Chandigarh, April 23
10 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.: Sec 1 to 5, 6, (Golf Club) 7-A, 8-A& B, 9-A & B, 10, 11, 12,14,15, 25-A & B, 30-A, C&D, 32-A,B& C, 33-B & C, 45-B, 46-C & D, 29, 31, 47, 48 and 49, part of Sec. 7-B and V, 8-C, 9-C & D, 17-A, 24-A & B, 19-C, 20-C & D, 27-D, 32-D, 33-A&D,34-A &B, 35-B, 45-A & C, 46-B
11.30 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Sec 16, 37, 38, 38(West), 39, 40, 56, Sec 17-E, F G & H, 24-C & D, Sec 25-C & D, Sec. 36-D, Sec. 41-A & B, part of Sec 17-A to D, 18-C & D, 18-C & D, 19-D, 22-A & B, 24-A & B, 41-D , 19-A.
1 p.m. to 2.30 p.m.: Sec 26, 28, 42, 43, 44, 50, 51, 52, 53 54, 55, 61, 27-A, B & C, 30-B, 19-B, 35-D, 46-A, 36-A, B & C, 41-C, 45-D, part of Sec 7-B & C, 27-D, 19-A, remaining area of Sec 6, part of Manimajra, 22-A, B, C&D, 32-D, 35-C, 41-D, 45-A & C, 46-B.
2.30 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Sec 21, 23, IT Park, 35-A, 18 A & B, 34-C & D, 20-A & B, part of 8-C, 9-C & D, 17-A, B, C & D, 19-C, 18-C & D, 19-A & D, 20-C and D, 22-C & D, 33-A & D, 34-A & D, 35 B & C, part of Manimajra.
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Old Forman College boys eager to meet Indian friends
Chandigarh, April 23 Ask them if they have done their homework and all reply in unison, “Those days are etched deep in our hearts. We simply have to close our eyes to travel back in time to the times when we rejoiced with our friends, many of whom came to India following Partition. The legends of FC College reside in India and we are here to locate them and formalise relationships with them.” Heading the team that will also go down to Delhi and Mumbai to form chapters of the association is Dr Manzur Gill — the man behind the revival movement across the world. India, however, is topmost on his mind as he says, “The generation in India is our seniormost. We are in touch with some Formanites like former Indian Prime Minister
I.K. Gujral, former Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, Major-Gen K.S. Bajwa (retd) of the 1947 batch, V.S. Sodhi and 14 others from Chandigarh.” The delegates have identified their seniors in Mumbai also. The objective is to form chapters to promote understanding among the youths of the two countries. As such, for the past two years FC College, Lahore, has been inviting old students from India for its annual celebrations. From Chandigarh, J.S. Jogi, Surjit Kaur, Harbir Kaur, V.S. Sodhi and Brig P.S. Pannu were special invitees at the function held at Lahore on March 22 this year. Also members of the Chandigarh Senior Citizens Association, they welcomed the Pakistani delegation at Punjab Bhavan yesterday. Besides that, they are standing with their friends in the mission of reviving old bonds. Major-Gen K.S. Bajwa, head, Chandigarh chapter, says, “We have to keep the spirit alive and get our children interested in each other’s affairs.” For their part, FC College authorities have liberalised education significantly. They even plan to introduce courses in Hinduism and Buddhism in response to the Pakistan’s youths desire to study these religions. Formanite Prof Hamid Saeed, also on college faculty, says, “Our purpose at Forman is to promote inter-faith harmony. We have just established the Dean of Chapel and will now begin our programme in Comparative Study of Religious Education. Students are interested in studying Hinduism so they can remove prejudices they have long lived with.” Also accompanying the delegation is Dr Peter
Armacost, present principal, FC College, who is equally proud of the initiative his faculty has taken. He said he was working to promote inter-religious harmony at FC College by affording students from all religions an equal opportunity of instruction. Liberalisation of education has come as a major advantage although it has been possible only post denationalisation in 2003. Dr Armacost said, “We have to restore FC College to its pristine glory and use its services to promote peace between India and Pakistan. As I see now, Pakistan in general has a feeling of inferiority over India’s progress. But we must help students look beyond the evident and create collaborations like exchange of students between universities.” That’s precisely what Formanites are here to achieve. |
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Proposal on link roads hangs fire
Panchkula, April 23 These were the road linking Mansa Devi Complex, Panchkula, with Chandigarh at IT Park at Kishangarh village, another link connecting Panchkula at Sector 17-18, with Chandigarh at Mauli Jagran and the third link road to connect Industrial Area (Bharat Electronics Limited), Panchkula, with Chandigarh-Ambala National Highway at Makhan Majra village in UT. The HUDA authorities claim to have completed these link roads falling in its jurisdiction while the UT Administration has failed to keep its promise. A survey by The Tribune revealed that HUDA has widened and carpeted the links while the roads in UT are in a bad shape. Since after the formation of Panchkula in 1972, only one main road (Madhya Marg) links it with Chandigarh. Now, the township has a vehicular population of over 50,000. The peak hours in the morning and evening witness a heavy flow of traffic starting from Fun Republic in Manimajra till Transport Chowk, in Sector 26. "No doubt, an additional route to Panchkula from Sector 26 to Manimajra via Kishangarh and linking to Panchkula behind Fun Republic has provided some relief from traffic jams on the Madhya Marg, yet some more alternate routes are requited to tackle the traffic," claimed Mr Ravinder Bhardwaj, a Sector 7 resident. Mr KK Bhugra, Chief Engineer, HUDA, claimed that they had already laid roads connecting Panchkula with Chandigarh at Mansa Devi complex, Sector
17-18, and adjacent to Bharat Electronics Limited in Industrial Area.
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Punwire ex-employees hold victory rally
Mohali, April 23 The employees, who have been out of job since 1999, are celebrating the sale of the company’s majority assets to the Sun group which has publicly assured the employees that the company would be revived and their jobs restored. On April 20, the Sun group had picked up 20 of the total 22 lots belonging to the company. Bidding a total of over Rs 23.64 crore, the Sun group out-bid over one dozen other bidders to emerge successful. The remaining two lots were picked up by different parties. While Royal Continental Foods out-bid the other bidders to lay claim on a piece of land in Phase VII, Industrial Focal Point, Mohali, for Rs 6.9 crore, SK Disposal shelled out Rs 5.10 lakh for some old vehicles. The entire bidding process was held in the court of Mr Justice Hemant Gupta of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Punwire, once a blue chip company worth Rs 500 crore, had employed over 1,200 persons at one point of time, but had closed down in July, 2000. Punjab Government-promoted Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC) has a stake in Punwire. The defunct company also owes crores of rupees to creditors.
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Pink Rose society case: secretary seeks approved list
Chandigarh , April 23 In an appeal before the Secretary, Cooperative Housing, the appellants said they had apprehensions that the officials in the office of
Registrar, Cooperative Societies, might submit unapproved allottee member list. While reserving his orders on an earlier appeal, the Secretary Cooperative Housing, has reportedly asked the office of the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, to provide the approved membership list of May 7, 2003. The approved list had been cleared by the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB). It may be mentioned that after probing the matter in 2003, the Chandigarh Administration had canceled the membership of five Punjab-cadre IAS officers and a few influential persons who had been wrongly made members of a cooperative housing society. The managing committee of the society had been scrapped and an administrator had been appointed to run its affairs. The orders issued by a former Deputy Commissioner-cum-Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Mr Arun Kumar, had stated that the Pink Rose Cooperative Housing Society had wrongly inducted the IAS officers. The inquiry was conducted to determine how the names of the officers had replaced the names of the allottees. The original files were checked to verify whether the replacement of names had been allowed and who had allowed the replacement.
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SC certificates soon, assures Bansal
Chandigarh,
April 23 Mr Bansal, while addressing the gathering, said the formalities regarding issuance of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe certificates were almost complete and within a month, the residents would get their certificates. Mr Ompal Singh Chavar, general secretary of the committee, said the administration would be releasing the SC\ST certificates to the genuine cases at the earliest as they were facing problems regarding admissions in educational institutions and also while applying for jobs. Mr Bansal honoured at least 10 children from the weaker sections for outstanding performances in their respective classes.
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Sanghi is welfare body chief
Chandigarh, April 23 The elections were conducted under the supervision of a committee comprising Kartar Singh, former Assistant Settlement Commissioner,
M.S. Dhariwal, a former PCS, and Justice Amarjit Singh Sodhi, former District Sessions Judge.
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PGI warns public against giving money to NGOs
Chandigarh, April 23 In a press note issued today, the PGI clarified that the above mentioned NGO had been collecting money from the public on the pretext of organising langar at the PGI. The authorities added no such NGO was permitted to provide langar nor was it providing any langar on the hospital premises. In any case, NGOs that are organising community kitchens at the PGI are spending money from their own corpus and not collecting the same from people. The PGI authorities have warned people not to donate any money to any NGO for any service, including langar at the PGI. In case if anyone is fooling people in the name of generosity by collecting money, they should inform the police control room at 100 and also furnish details of the said NGO to the PGI.
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Factory employee ends life
Kharar/Mohali, April 23 According to the DSP Kharar, Mr Raj Bachan Singh Sandhu, Jai Kumar was from Uttar Pradesh and was working at Punjab Pesticides Limited here. He had not reported for work for the past fortnight. He lived in a rented room in the village. “He probably killed himself two or three days ago. He locked himself in his room and hung himself from the roof beam. Neighbours reported a foul smell emanating from his room this morning after which the police was called in and inquest proceedings started,” said Mr Sandhu. In another incident a person reportedly committed suicide by jumping from the roof of the DC’s office complex in Phase I, Mohali, yesterday. The 40-year-old victim Darshan Singh, a resident of Phase 1 was said to be mentally upset and climbed the stairs to the rooftop and jumped. He was grievously injured and was rushed to the Phase VI Civil Hospital where he was declared brought dead.
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Woman duped of gold ornaments
Chandigarh, April 23 Ms Harbajan Kaur, 65, a resident of Pipliwala Town, Mani Majra, lodged a complaint with the police alleging that two unidentified persons came to her residence on Saturday afternoon. After gaining her trust, they told her that they would pay her double the value of her gold ornaments. The gullible woman fell into their trap and gave them two gold bangles, a pair of earrings and a ring. The con men gave a wad of Rs 10,000 to the woman and went away. Later, when she checked the notes, she found that only one note on the top of the wad was original.
— OC
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Man held with 7 bottles of liquor
Chandigarh, April 23 Sources in the Sector 31 police station said Gobind Kumar of Shanti Nagar, phase II, Baltana, was nabbed from near Ram Darbar while carrying seven bottles of countrymade liquor on Saturday.
Vehicle stolen
Mr Ghanshyam of Daria village lodged a complaint with the police alleging that his three-wheeler (CH-03-U-6279) was stolen from his residence during the Friday night. In another incident, Mr Vivek Sharma of the 3 BRD, Air Force, reported to the police alleging that his motor cycle (CH-03-H-3533) was stolen Sector 26 on Friday. Two separate cases of thefts were registered in the various police stations in the city.
— OC
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3 held for selling shampoo illegally
Panchkula, April 23 According to the police, the arrested persons have been identified as Ismile, Parvesh Kumar and Naresh Kumar, all residents of Delhi. They were selling shampoo door to door. A case has been registered.
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Investors to benefit from consumer boom: TiE chief
Chandigarh, April 23 “Everybody in the world is looking at India as a major market. Retail is one of the biggest areas available to Indian entrepreneur,” the head of TiE, a non-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals headquartered at California, said at an interactive session at the CII Headquarters here. He said there were a lot of success stories of many Indian entrepreneurs who built their enterprise and took it to a certain level. But, he lamented they find it difficult to continue being successful. Mr Iyengar serves on the Boards of Infosys, ICICI Bank, rediff.com among other top companies. Addressing the established and budding entrepreneurs, he said in India the fear of failure sometimes killed many bright innovative ideas. “The Silicon Valley has taught me that failure is good. It helps in a way that you become aware of certain things which you will not repeat in future. But, in the Indian system failure is treated as kiss of death and I believe this mindset needs to change,” he observed. Prominent among those who spoke were Mr I.S. Paul, president of the city chapter of TiE, Mr Manoj Tandon (Nucleus Software), Mr Sanjeev Aggarwal (Daksh), Mr Pawan Khaitan (ABC Paper), Mr Sachit Jain (Vardhman), Mr P.S. Sehgal (Quark) and Mr Partap Aggarwal.
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‘Potato powder’ idea brings her glory
Chandigarh, April 23 Neha's innovative idea has emerged as a joint winner of the "student entrepreneur of the year award" in a contest organised by the prestigious The Indus
Entrepreneurs (TiE), a non-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals headquartered at California. In fact, Neha's presentation during an interactive session — TiE Connect Chandigarh — at the CII here had leading industrialists from the region sitting up and taking note of the innovative idea, which ultimately aimed at the creation of a Rs 300 crore "potato powder" industry in 10 years. "All sections of the society will be the targeted clientele as it will have same price as that of ordinary potatoes," Neha quipped. It is convenient, saves time and available at no extra cost, she added The idea was not without its social benefits as potato growers would be partners in progress. She said the business would grow to Rs 9 crore in the first year and to Rs 60 crore in six years before emerging as a Rs 300 crore venture. Meanwhile, Inder Mohan Singh Bawa from Chandigarh, who worked on "Empasst Corporation" was declared the joint winner of the
contest. The winners were chosen from over 100 entries from different colleges of the region. Mr I.S. Paul, TiE Chandigarh president, said the contest aimed at developing entrepreneurial abilities among students. The ideas thrown up by the participants would provide leads to industries to come up with innovative products.
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Nagra is head of commercial welfare body
Zirakpur, April 23 Despite the fact that the government earned crores of rupees from the godown area, the civic amenities were in a state of drift, Mr Nagra told Chandigarh Tribune. Meanwhile, the following were elected office-bearers of the association: senior vice-president — Mr Rakesh Bajaj; vice-president—Mr Tarun Bhardwaj; general secretary—Mr Shalinder Verma; secretary—Dr Ram Pal; secretary (finance)—Mr Narinder Arora; and executive members—Mr Chamkaur Singh, Mr Ram Parkash Singh, Mr Satish Pandit, Mr Vinod Jain, Mr Rakesh Bansal.
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