Chandigarh, September 23
With the administration of DAV College, Sector 10, struggling to maintain a normal atmosphere on the campus amid the ongoing tussle over the principal’s chair, the drama took another turn today when two students groups got into a brawl over the council room.

Cops and students, belonging to the HSA and PUSU, on the DAV Sector 10 campus in Chandigarh on Thursday. Tribune photos: Manoj Mahajan

Tension erupted again on the campus, which has been a virtual battleground for almost a week now with goons hovering in the corridors, when some members of the Panjab University Student Organization (PUSU), which had won the PU student elections this year, made their way to the newly constructed council room to take it over. They were reportedly intercepted by members of the Haryana Student Association (HSA). Both groups entered into a vehement argument, which led to a violent spat.

“They refused to let us open the council office saying we weren’t allowed to do so. When we tried to reason with them they began hurling abuses and shoving us around,” claimed a member of the student council.

The HSA members however claimed otherwise and accused the PUSU members of beating them up without any provocation.

While both groups clashed on the campus neither the teachers nor the security staff dared to intervene. It was only after the police as well as Balbir Singh Josan, the suspended college principal, arrived at the scene that the two groups ceased quarrelling.

When contacted Josan said he had been able to persuade both groups to “sit down and settle matters amicably”. While he refused to comment further, a source close to him said it was not the college members of HAS but some outsiders who had started the trouble.

“Last year there was no election so no council room. This year we have given a room to the chosen group and that is what became intolerable to others and they broke into a fight,” said a senior official.

The brawl also triggered a series of allegations and counterallegations. A senior member of the DAV management claimed it was the “work of Josan’s goons who were holding the college to ransom”.

The UT administration, which was entrusted with the task of ensuring normal functioning at the college, appears to have failed in a big way.

Mohali, September 23
In a typical case of the district administration proposing and the Akali councillors disposing, an item regarding beautification of roundabouts on the agenda of the municipal council’s general house meeting today was not approved on the floor.

The proposal had been forwarded by the Mohali deputy commissioner as part of the announcements made by the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal to spruce up the town and upgrade its infrastructure.

The item was among several others in the agenda that had been tabled at the house meeting for approval. However, since the Akali councillors outnumbered those backed by the Congress party, none of the proposals listed could be passed. However, due to the showdown between Akali and Congress councillors, the crucial issue of development of the town was pushed aside.

Even other important matters like making Mohali a solar city, cleaning of the N-choe, purchase of machinery for the MC’s sanitation wing, clearance of old-age pensions and allotment of sanitation work were kept in abeyance.

The rigid stand adopted by opposition councillors of the ruling group attracted criticism as they refused to clear

even a request by two ‘safai sewaks’ (cleaners) to be granted a loan of Rs 20,000 each for the marriage of their daughters.

As soon as the meeting began, BB Maini said a majority of the councillors would not be able to confirm the proceedings of the meeting held in July as they were not present. 17 out of 28 councillors backed Maini, who said they would not even be able to clear the items on the agenda because cost estimates for development works of their wards had not been included by the authorities concerned.

“Moreover, the proposal of upgrading the civic body into a corporation, which was to be discussed in the house, had not been included in the agenda. A meeting could be called again after cost estimates of Rs 20 lakh for each ward were included in the agenda”, Maini added.

Congress MLA from Kharar Balbir Singh Sidhu, an ex-officio member of the civic body, asked why no decision was taken when the issue of making the Mohali council into a corporation was discussed in 2005-06. Rana, however, said the meeting to discuss the corporation issue would be called as he still had time to take up the matter. According to the rules the meeting would have be convened within 14 days from the day the request was submitted.

Rana denied there was any discrimination as far as the inclusion of cost estimates for development projects were concerned. “Only ‘common works’ of the town were included in the agenda and not of particular wards”, he added.

Paramjit Singh Kahlon said estimates for their wards were ready with junior engineers but still these were not included in the agenda for today’s meeting. Harmanpreet Singh said councillors were answerable to the people who had elected them. “By not taking care of development in their wards they had to cut a sorry figure”, he added.

Holding a meeting and getting the items on the agenda cleared by the general house has become a headache for the ruling group headed by Rana ever since it was reduced to a minority about a year ago. At the last meeting held on July 6 the quorum of the meeting got completed with great difficulty as opposition councillors had stayed away from the meeting.

Chandigarh, September 23
Holding Rajinder, Raj Kumar and Ajmer Kaur guilty in a dowry death case, the court of additional district & sessions judge Ved Prakash Sirohi today sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment for ten years. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on each of the convicts.

According to the prosecution, the deceased, Rajni, got married to Rajinder in 2005. It was alleged her brother-in-law, Raj Kumar, mother-in-law, Ajmer Kaur, as well as her husband, Raj Kumar, used to harass her for dowry and had demanded she get a car.

The prosecution claimed the suspects used to beat Rajni up as she did not bring the car from her parents. It alleged that as she was unable to fulfill her in-laws’ demands she committed suicide. She was found hanging at her home in the Industrial Area on May 20, 2006.

An FIR was later filed in the case on the complaint of the deceased’s maternal uncle, Vijay.

Chandigarh, September 23
Digging deep into the Sukhna Lake conservation issue, the State of Haryana today informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the water level had dropped from 18 feet in 1958 to just about 4.5 feet this year; and the “alarming situation” warranted “certain management” practices.

Haryana, on its part, was spending approximately 2.4 crore on the execution of the proposed works for the “treatment” of the catchment area in 2010-11, the State told the Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari.

The State added that structures set up for preventing the silt from flowing into Sukhna Lake had been “silted up” in the absence of regular maintenance; and added “a regular maintenance is required to reduce the soil erosion from the catchment area”.

The Tribune has been running a Save Sukhna campaign. As the case came up for hearing this morning, an affidavit by the State of Haryana through deputy conservator (forests) Vijender Singh Kadian said approximately 1055 hectares of the catchment area fell in Haryana; and added that Sukhna Lake was under the Chandigarh Administration’s overall control, but Haryana was equally concerned.

Elaborating, the Indian Forest Services officer said the state had initiated steps including tree plantation. He added the construction of water harvesting structures in the Shivalik region had also ushered in economic growth for the agrarian community.

Giving details of the projects proposed to be undertaken in 2010-11, Kadian said vegetative shrub barrier was being set up at an estimated cost of Rs 1,70,100, check dams were being constructed by spending Rs 22,69,500 and cement structures were coming up at a cost of Rs 24,50000. Plantation was being undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs 41,30000 and an earthen dam was being set up at a cost of Rs 65,00000.

Chandigarh, September 23
The failure of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation to repair the storm water pipeline forced two Dadu Majra families to spend sleepless night yesterday following cracks in their houses.

The houses adjacent to the storm water pipeline have been facing waterlogging problem for the past many years. One of the affected residents, Malkit, showed cracks on the walls and floor of his house and said they were living under constant fear.

Complaining about the indifferent attitude of the MC, Malkit said the authorities concerned had been urged to repair the storm water pipeline a number of times, but to no avail. He said due to faulty work in laying of the pipeline, area residents facing waterlogging problem during rain.

Area councillor Kamlesh said the Mc authorities had failed to initiate action against the contractor. Kamlesh, however, said she would meet the official concerned and apprise him about the situation.

Showing cracks on the boundary wall of his house, another resident, Ujang Singh, said the storm water pipeline had burst many times resulting in waterlogging in the area.

Chandigarh, September 23
Taking Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal to task, local BJP chief Sanjay Tandon said he was the “chief engineer” of defection.

Talking to mediapersons here today, former minister Harmohan Dhawan, who accompanied Tandon, said: “During the MC elections, the Congress got only 12 seats and it also the mayoral election. However, due to his mastery in defection, Bansal managed a majority in the house.”

“Jitender Bhatia, who recently joined the Congress, was elected by the residents against Congress. During the election, Bhatia got 2,700 votes, BJP 1,700 and the Congress candidate could manage only 900 votes. So, Bhatia became councillor on the basis of votes polled in his favour against the Congress. After joining the Congress, he not only cheated residents of the area but also lost the moral right to retain the councillor’s seat. He should resign from his post and face fresh mandate,” Dhawan said.

Dhawan alleged that Bansal was using government machinery for his own political gains. He said that the BJP would approach the administration and seek action against officials supporting Bansal.

Chandigarh, September 23
Green belts that have been developed in the City Beautiful are in a shambles owing to the lackadaisical attitude of the municipal corporation (MC) for maintaining the same.

A classic example of this is the green belt in Sector 34 which has not been properly maintained by the authorities for the past one year.

This green zone, instead of providing a whiff of fresh air to residents, has been converted into a garbage dump, tarnishing the beauty of the area.

During a visit to the place, it was found that most of the park had been dug out by the public health department for laying pipelines, due to which most of the walker paths had been damaged.

Even in a corner of the park, the horticulture department has collected some junk material like railings, benches, grills, swings and slides.

Some residents of the area said the work of laying pipelines was started by the department eight months ago, but till date it had not been completed. Even grass is growing unevenly in the park. In some areas, there is not a single blade of grass. Shrubs have mushroomed here and there. Trees have not been pruned for long, impeding walkers. Benches, too, have been installed without any canopy. There are a few lucky ones which get shade from trees.

Residents complain that people of the area have stopped going to the park, as there is no proper path for the joggers and even the flower beds had not been developed by the authorities. They allege that a number of requests have been made to the public health and horticulture department of MC for improving the condition of the park, but nothing has been done so far. Now even our children also cannot go there to play as the park is uneven and families cannot stroll or relax on its benches due to unhygienic conditions.

Panchkula, September 23
The district police would soon have the live fingerprint scanner from the state police as it was facing problem of working without a forensic team, which would function from the premises of District Courts complex.

The scanners would be set up after about one month as the construction work is going on in the court complex. Live finger print scanner is a device, which outputs the fingerprint images of a person in a TV signal after capturing them via CCD camera using the reflection and refraction of a ray.

Superintendent of Police Maneesh Chaudhary, while giving details of the project, said two-week training has already been provided to officials concerned of the Panchkula police. He said the live fingerprint scanner would cost about Rs 2 lakh and would be attached with the centralised database fingerprint scanner in Madhubhan. With this they would be able to preserve the data for more than 50 years, he added.

Chaudhary said old system of getting finger prints of the accused was getting obsolete. Besides, the paper got damaged with the passage of time. He said with these scanners the police could check the fingerprint of criminals within few minutes after each crime by matching it with already stored fingerprints. The new system would certainly help in tracking down the criminals without wasting time, he added.

He said the trained cops, who would take charge of these live fingerprint scanners, would be immediately called on the spot of crime. They would collect the fingerprints samples from crime spot and would match it with the stored data.

Chandigarh, September 23
A total of 98,088 children vaccinated during the pulse polio campaign held in the city from September 19 to 21.

Children between the age group of 0 to 5 years were administered polio drops by health teams comprising health officials, students, teachers and volunteers from all sectors of society.

The door-to-door polio coverage was done by special deputed teams covering the population residing in the construction sites, slums and particularly in the areas of influx of migrant population. District family welfare officer, Dr Soma Rani said the polio drive had been a success.

Chandigarh, September 23
The Chandigarh administration today undertook to introduce air-conditioned buses for lawyers of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The undertaking was a part of the administration’s endeavour to solve the parking problem on the High Court premises. The buses would ferry advocates to and from the High Court premises from different parts of the city.

The undertaking was given by senior standing counsel for UT Sanjay Kaushal on Thursday during the resumed hearing of the case on construction of the High Court parking and traffic problems in the city.

Taking up the issue, Justice Hemant Gupta directed Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Association president Gurinder Singh Attariwala to point out from where such buses should start on experimental basis.

Senior standing counsel also informed the Bench that construction work of a multi-level parking in the High Court has been resumed.

Chandigarh, September 23
An unidentified man in his fifties was found dead in a rivulet behind the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium this morning. In another incident, the body of a vagabond was found near the local bus stand in Mani Majra.

The police received information at around 11.30 am that a body was stuck in a rivulet flowing behind the cricket stadium. A police team rushed to the site and recovered the body, which was shifted to the Sector 16 Government Multi-Specialty Hospital.

DSP (Central) Jagbir Singh, who reached the spot, said no injury marks were found on the body and it appeared that the man had slipped in the rivulet and was drowned. “The exact cause of the death would be ascertained after the post-mortem report. Efforts were on to establish the identity of the deceased,” he said.

In another incident, a shopkeeper noticed a body near his shop. The police was informed, which reached the spot and shifted the body to the GMSH. Area SHO said no visible injury marks were found on the body. The police is yet to ascertain the identity of the deceased.

Mohali, September 23
The Punjab department of Housing and Urban Development at a recent meeting chaired by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has allowed the promoters of mega projects to execute certain development works by spending out of the External Development Charges (EDC) they are liable to pay to the government.

According to sources, promoter can undertake only those development works that were of common interest to a particular area with the approval of the department of Housing and Urban Development. For execution of any development work that falls within the definition of external development, the EDC account of the promoter will be credited at PWD rates, which will promote private participation in the development of the state.

Government has already directed all development authorities in the state to submit list of external development works that were required to be executed and get it approved from the authority concerned. After approval, the list will be published in the state gazette.

The development works to be executed by the promoters in the jurisdiction of GMADA (Mohali Planning Area) include all grid roads between railway line and Kharar-Banur road.

The roads that can be constructed by the promoters should be as per the approved master plan and must provide connectivity to major roads.

In Mullanpur Planning Area, all grid roads providing connectivity to major roads will be constructed by promoters in that area. Roads connecting major roads from both sides in Dera Bassi, Banur and Zirakpur planning areas have also been allowed to be constructed by the promoters by spending from their EDC account.

The outfall storm sewer, outfall sullage sewer and electrification along these roads would be considered and allowed on case basis. The promoter intending to undertake development works chargeable to EDC would be required to submit outline plan/drawing of the development work envisaged. Outline plan/drawing should be strictly as per approved master plan.

The Punjab government as a policy allows private sector players to develop residential, commercial, industrial etc. townships within the state.

The internal development of such townships is the responsibility of the developer, while external development is to be carried out by the development authority concerned.

External development charges are levied on the project developers. The external development charges so levied by the authority are spent on providing external linkages to the projects in the form of master plan roads and services. However, as per policy, 25 per cent amount of the EDC is paid upfront, while the remaining amount is payable in installments in three years.

Most of the projects developers in the state are in default towards the payment of the EDC and in view of the world-wide economic recession, the Punjab Government had also declared a moratorium towards payment of EDC. Due to non-receipt of the EDC amount, authorities find themselves in a tight spot to provide the infrastructure as per the master plans. Also, the project developers have been holding protests that development authorities are not spending enough money on external development.

Mohali, September 23
Three ultrasound machines of the Fortis Hospital were sealed by officials of the Health Department, as some irregularities were allegedly found in the working of the department concerned. Dr PK Shridhar, Civil Surgeon, said a team led by Dr SP Surila, District Family Welfare Officer, had inspected the ultrasound centre of the hospital and found that the work was allegedly not being done in accordance with guidelines laid down under the PNDT Act. The hospital had failed to maintain a proper record of the patients who had gone in for the ultrasound examination.

He said an advisory committee would hold a meeting on Monday and discuss the matter.

Panchkula, September 23
Residents of Sectors 23, 25, 26 and 27 took out a peace march to register their protest against the dumping of garbage in an open space in Sector 23, here, today.

The residents after the march formed a joint action committee to highlight their problem.

They had held protests earlier also and even caught hold of the people who were involved in dumping the garbage in the area illegally. The garbage was stinking and it made their lives hell, they said.

Committee executive member Satpal Yadav said that the residents would meet Deputy Commissioner Ashima Brar tomorrow in this regard.

Mohali, September 23
A fire broke out in an office at Sector 67 last night damaging some of the items there.

According to fire brigade officials, fire broke out in Sebi Square around 9 pm.

There was lot of smoke in the building and a few windowpanes had to be broken to provide an outlet for the smoke. A UPS in the building probably caught fire and the flames were brought under control so that the fire did not spread to the other parts of the building. 

Chandigarh, September 23
In a unique initiative, the UT education department has come up with a plan to organise talent hunt for about 8,000 students studying in city-based Alternate Innovative Education centres.

The programme, which will be first-of-its-kind aims to bring these children to join mainstream education at par with their counterparts in co-scholastic activities.

“The students studying at AIE centres come from EWS backgrounds and are school dropouts.

Though we provide them every facility to bring them at par with their mainstream counterparts, however, the co-scholastic activities need to be improved. The project will give them enough exposure and is bound to change things,” said PK Sharma, DPI (S).

The competition will be conducted in two categories. The first would be for applauding talent in singing, dancing, drama, painting, mimicry and fancy dress and the other would be dealing with creative aspect of activities like card making, candle decoration, flower making and clay modeling.

The coordinating NGOs have been directed to ensure that the activities should be limited and according to the child ability.

The community teacher in charge will prepare the children in their respective centres and forward the participation details to the cluster by October 4. The competition would be done at the cluster level from October 11 to October 13.

During the tourism week, a city ride will be organised for the AIE children from the Shivalikview in the hop-on-hop-off bus.