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No caretaker for over 3 months
Chandigarh, September 25 Interestingly, while a special investigation team (SIT) had been formed to probe the disappearance of the dozen-odd children, it turns out that Snehalaya worked with practically no staff after the contractor withdrew his 29 employees, a majority of whom were caretakers, on June 1 due to non-payment of dues of over Rs 13 lakh. The employees were reportedly called back on duty on September 9, the same day as the formation of the SIT, after the UT administration hurriedly cleared the contractor’s bills and promised prompt payment to him. Sources said Snehalaya, housing about 250 children in the age group of 5 to 18 years, was without any of its 22 caretakers (aka house mothers), four sweepers and three watch wards for nearly three months. All through this period, the children were virtually on their own, with just a skeletal permanent staff at Snehalaya, that comprised a warden, three watchmen and four gatemen. With watchmen and gatemen working on eight-hour shifts each, the 250-odd children were being virtually looked after by only two staff members during most part of the day and night for three long months. Insiders revealed that after June 1, there were five house mothers on duty in every eight-hour shift, besides the permanent staff. In addition, each shift had one watch ward and at least one sweeper on duty. However, all these were withdrawn after the administration failed to clear the dues of the contractor. Sources said the contractor had written to the administration for clearance of his dues several times, but they failed to settle the same. “He had threatened to withdraw his staff, but that too, failed to evoke a reaction,” said an official on condition of anonymity. Intriguingly, while the issue was hanging fire for over three months, the UT administration spurred into action only after news about the disappearance of children hit the headlines. On September 9, the contractor reportedly redeployed his staff, following an assurance from the administration. Meanwhile, it was reliably learnt that the administration had decreased the strength of house mothers by almost 50 per cent, from the earlier 22 to 11. Staff members expressed surprise at the move and wondered how reduction of caretakers could improve the functioning at the shelter. One positive fallout was that security had been tightened, with an increase of seven gatemen or watchmen, they revealed. Efforts to contact social welfare director Varsha Khangwal were futile as she neither took calls on her cell, nor responded to questions sent to her through SMS. (Concluded)
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Man with Midas touch — to controversy
Chandigarh, September 25 The two scams pertained to teachers’ recruitment to government schools and CTU conductors’ recruitment, both of which were the biggest recruitment drives during his tenure and in recent years. In addition, he was accused of “mishandling” the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The teachers’ cash-for-recruitment scam in September, 2009, during his tenure as the Education Secretary, of which he held additional charge, took its toll on then DPI (Schools) Samwartak Singh, an officer of the Haryana Civil Service, who found himself being unceremoniously repatriated to his parent cadre. The issue of fraud in the recruitment of conductors for the CTU came to the limelight after a Punjab minister alleged in the state Assembly that as many as 139 out of 141 CTU conductors selected were from Haryana, which reflected an alleged regional bias of the Home Secretary. The scam later led to the UT administration cancelling the recruitment after large-scale impersonations were established by the Central Forensic Scientific Laboratory, Chandigarh. Then again, the controversy surrounding the implementation of the RTE Act put him in direct conflict with private schools. While Ram Niwas, a 1985-batch
officer of the IAS, was accused of mishandling the implementation of the Act, in addition to imposing 25 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections, along with being accused of bias against certain schools, the Home Secretary had stubbornly stuck to his guns. His exit from the Education Department is largely seen as a fallout of his tug-of-war with private schools over the implementation of the Act. Ram Niwas’ role as Education Secretary also came under cloud for his approving appointment of his wife to the coveted Government College for Girls, Sector 11. Then again, shortly before he was to relinquish charge, Ram Niwas allocated himself in name his official residence, otherwise designated for the UT Home Secretary. This led to questions being raised on how he had managed to keep his official residence in his possession even after his repatriation. Ram Niwas joined the UT administration when Chandigarh was reeling under the aftershocks of alleged irregularities in the allotment of land for mega-projects, including the Film City and Amusement Park and the IT Park. It was a time when both HCS and PCS officers were avoiding postings to the UT administration owing to controversies and investigations pertaining to land acquisitions by the Central Vigilance Commission and the CBI. Ram Niwas also oversaw some development projects in the areas of tourism, hospitality and art and culture, but also was arbitrary in formulating a policy of seeking a large number of passes from organizations hiring Tagore Theatre to stage programmes. On the somewhat comical side, Ram Niwas would visit government schools and ‘teach’ children about various aspects of life, that often left students and teachers nonplussed. His claim to achievements included interaction with young students; work on upgrade of Rose Garden, Garden of Silence, Japanese and Palm Gardens and crafts melas.
‘Forget-me-not’
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Woman stabbed to death
Chandigarh, September 25 Bhanuvati, a resident of Charan Singh Colony in Mauli Jagran, was declared brought dead at the Sector 6 hospital in Panchkula. The two sons of the victim, Nanku and Bheem, complained to the police that Surinder Singh, Cheeku, Rajiv, Barista and Muniya attacked them with sharp-edged weapons owing to a rivalry.
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22-year-old victim says city no longer safe at night
Aneesha Sareen Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 25 “The attack could have been fatal for me as the sword was directed towards my head. I used my hand to save myself from the fury of the assailants, all of whom were unknown to me. It was a narrow escape,” said Sohail, whose forefinger of the left hand was chopped off in the attack. Although it had since been stitched back after surgery at the PGI, it was not known whether he would recover full control of his finger. In addition, he suffered a serious injury on his neck. Sohail’s presence at Tao was a spur-of-the-moment decision. About two hours and-a-half earlier, he cut his birthday cake with his family and friends Akshay Kapoor, Manit and Manav Gupta at home at midnight. “Around 1 am, the four of us decided to go to Tao to celebrate my birthday,” he said. Son of Rajeev Goel, managing director of Surya Pharmaceuticals, Sohail was among four victims who received injuries after 15 armed men, some of them wearing masks, barged into Tao at 2:37 am and were on the rampage for 41 seconds. Others who were injured were two bouncers and another staff member of the discotheque. “All the assailants were unknown to me. I am surprised at the deteriorating law and order situation in the city. For the first time, I felt that the city was not safe at all for a night life,” Sohail stated. “There was no PCR jeep nearby and there were no policemen in sight when the incident occurred. I could see the bone of my finger after I was attacked. I then realised that my shirt was soaked in blood as I had a deep injury on my neck as well,” he added. “It was my friend who rushed me to the PGI. The police practically did nothing. Even after two days, it failed to arrest the accused despite the fact that he had been identified,” he further said. The 22-year-old had just returned from Delhi, where he had been helping his father in his business, to celebrate his birthday this weekend.
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Left hand doesn’t know what right’s doing
Panchkula, September 25 The Haryana town and country planning department has granted change of land use (CLU) permission to a hotelier for the disputed land, in which connection a criminal case had recently been registered against revenue officials for fraud of panchayat land at the village. On February 9, a case of fraud of a shamlat land deal at Chowki village, worth crores, was registered against the officials, including the circle revenue officer and the land acquisition officer, at the Chandi Mandir police station. The officials concerned had allegedly forged documents and provided ownership of shamlat land to villagers without the permission of district administration since 1984-85. Despite the registration of an FIR and a probe by the CID wing of the Haryana Police, town and country planning Director-General TC Gupta had granted the CLU. The permission for the CLU, to construct a hotel by Polo Hotels Private Limited, was granted on August 18. The hotel applied for the CLU on January 24 the previous year for the construction of a hotel on 7,208 square metres. The letter for grant of permission showed that the land in question bore ‘khasra’ numbers 62, 64, 66, 68, 5/2min, 69 min and 73/3 min in revenue records of the Chowki village in the periphery control area. The same ‘khasra’ numbers had been included in mutation numbers 231, dated February 10, 1987, and 241, dated September 14, 1988, which had been found illegal by the inquiry committee and mentioned in the FIR. Despite repeated attempts, Gupta was not available for comment. Chief town planner JS Redhu said only Gupta was authorised to talk to the media on the matter.
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their dawn after dusk
Chandigarh, September 25 Roshni is not alone as the dance bars have special weekend visitors from as far as New Delhi, even Mumbai and of course different parts of the adjoining states. The new face of the regional capital is unknown to a sizable portion of the city population. Youngsters have weekend specific destinations at different places in Sectors, including 8, 9, 26, 34 and 35. Life here begins well after 10 pm and sometimes continues well into early morning.
While a majority of city residents believed that the city did not stay awake beyond 10 pm, Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru are known as the party lovers paradise. A visit to the bylanes at the rear of showrooms housing the pubs and dance bars was a revelation about the unknown face of the city. The make of the cars and mobikes on display, including the BMWs, Audis, Mercs and Harley Davidsons make style statements. As usual, Roshni was in the city on Friday evening for “a few hours of fun.” Weekends, in particular, show packed venue. Youngsters in different groups smoking or drinking, even in the open, might appear offensive to the traditional lot, however, as Gurinder “Guri” said “call it whatever you want to, however, this is life of the new youngsters. I am sure many of our elders would have done the same in case they had the opportunity. This is our way of enjoying.” A nightclub DJ, requesting anonymity, said, “Today’s generation wants to party harder. Though not as active as other metros, Chandigarh’s nightlife is still happening enough for people from surrounding areas to crowd the city.” Besides partying, bars and nightclubs have become places to socialise after hectic office schedule. Anil Sharma, an IT professional, said, “After a week long schedule of stretched office hours, an evening in a dance bar, on Saturday, along with friends, is very relaxing.”
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Ticket to Mumbai
Without mincing words to state the obvious, Ranjan Kumar, an aspiring model said, “It is very easy to get noticed in a discotheque, here, rather than carrying a bundle of our portfolio pictures to different offices. Professionals from the fashion industry, too, are frequent visitors to the party lounges.”
He said clubs were the best place to get noticed and develop links with people from other cities who might help them in getting a modelling assignment even in other cities. “It’s always good to attend parties when we know that some celeb or a fashion designer is attending it,” he added. On a visit to the weekend late night parties, one can spot many local models, fresh into the profession trying to find their way, with a hope that they might meet people who get them work. Shweta Gupta, another local model, and a frequent disco visitor, said it helped in developing contacts and giving an exposure that certainly helps in the later stages of life. “After choosing modelling as a career, attending parties becomes a part of it,” she added.
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‘Nightlife not just about boozing, partying’
Chandigarh, September 25 Talking to a cross section of youngsters, the Tribune correspondent discovered that apart from waiting for booze and dance sessions at the weekends, a sizable portion of party animals were satisfied with places for a cup of hot coffee and snacks. While it is correct to point out that the discotheques are full to the brim, particularly during the weekends, it is not wrong to say that Panjab University library, too, remains flooded with students. Student groups coming out of their rooms for late night cups of tea and ‘gupshup’ too have not reduced. Mehar Verma said pubs and eateries should remain open even after 2 in the morning throughout the week. “We need quality nightlife, not just night masti. Nightlife is not just about drinking and dancing, it’s something more,” he said. Vandana Mittal, a paying guest in Chandigarh, believed that nightlife was not just about clubbing. “People focus only on certain negative aspects when we talk about nightlife. This needs to change. People should be facilitated to come out of their houses for a late night session in coffee shops.” Shikha Singh agrees that rules should not be forced upon people by ordering closure of shops, restaurants or pubs at a particular time.
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ward woes
Registered voters Sector 61: 2,000; Sector 43: 5,000; Sector 52: 3,000 Khajeri: 5,000; LIG colony: 2,000 Councillor Kuldeep Singh (senior deputy mayor) Party: Congress Ward development fund Of the Rs 130 lakh allotted for civic projects in the ward during the past five years, Rs 96.47 lakh spent till March 2011 Response Councillor has failed to respond to grievances posted by ward residents, both on Facebook and his official email ID Questions asked in MC house in 2010 Despite holding the position of senior deputy mayor last year, Kuldeep Singh failed to table any question at general house meetings of the municipal corporation. Achievements:
Civic amenities The ward, which has been plagued by the stray cattle menace, is characterized by a neglect of civic amenities including the dismal condition of internal parks, nonfunctional streetlights and lack of healthcare facilities.
Civil dispensary: For the past five years residents of the ward have made repeated requests to the authorities to open a health centre in the area, which could cater to their healthcare needs. However, till date civic officials have not even allocated land in any part of the ward for this purpose. Community centre: The residents’ long standing demand for a community center in the ward has also been hanging fire for the past five years. Due to the absence of such a facility they have to organize social functions at far off places in the city. Stray animals The problem of stray animals wandering around is not new to the ward. Stray cows are creating havoc on the streets and in green belts, often obstructing vehicular traffic and even causing accidents. Their dung clutters parks and clogs sewers, which in turn makes the surroundings unclean, often leading to spread of diseases. Sometimes stray cattle attack passersby. Condition of internal parks The state of lush green lawns, plants, bushes and shrubs in internal parks in these sectors has gone from bad to worse with many of them having literally converted into garbage dumps. Refuse from dustbins scattered around and stray dogs is what people see when they come here for their morning and evening walks. No one is concerned about the grass being cut, the bushes trimmed and wild weeds removed. Since these internal parks are close to residential areas people do not prefer to come here often. Nonfunctional streetlights, dilapidated roads About three years ago civic officials had assured the area residents there would be a separate budget allocation for providing basic civic amenities in the city’s southern sectors. However, till date no step has been taken in this direction. The ground reality is that in Sector 43 the condition of internal roads is very bad and streetlights in Sector 52 have remained out of order for a long time. Water supply woes In Sector 43 there is an acute shortage of water supply on the top floors of houses and apartments. The supply is regular only for three hours in the morning and the rest of the time the residents have to use boosters to pump water to the upper floors.
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Housing societies a picture of neglect
Chandigarh, September 25 The administration has collected crores as development charges from the cooperative societies. However, it has failed to chalk out a development plan for these sectors. These sectors are devoid of basic amenities like healthcare, schools, police station, community centres and sports facilities. The land to the cooperative house building societies was allocated under the Chandigarh Allotment of Land to Cooperative Societies Scheme 1991. Two decades later, the inhabitants have to commute to Mohali or neighbouring sectors for household shopping. The residents continue to be at the receiving end as far as primary healthcare is concerned. YP Garg, a resident of Verka Enclave, 49-D, said there is no dispensary or a health centre and residents have to depend on private hospitals in Mohali and pay heavily in case of an emergency. Residents rue that there are no community centres in the whole belt from Sectors 49 to 51. Resultantly, the residents have to go to banquet halls or community centres in Mohali or other sectors of the city for even a small function. Anil Sood, a resident of Popular Society, Sector 49, said the area was full of shrubs and wild grass. Stray dogs and cattle roam freely causing scare in the minds of children and women while commuting on roads. “Nearby Colony Number 5 remains an eyesore, despite administration claiming its relocation to rehabilitation colonies developed by it. This causes law and order problem in the sector,” said Sood. As if this was not enough, residents rue that the administration is shirking from its responsibility of providing basic amenities and facilities. Satish Chandra Sharma, chairman, Group Housing Cooperative Societies’ Welfare Council, said the cooperative societies were considered self-sustaining entities by the administration. “As stipulated in rules, the cooperative societies have to set up and maintain horticulture, public health, sanitation, electrification within the societies on their own,” Sharma said. He said they would submit a memorandum to the Advisor of the Administrator to highlight the problems being faced by the cooperative societies.
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UN-HABITAT thumbs up slum rehab scheme
Chandigarh, September 25 In a brief chat with The Tribune, Dr Joan Clos, executive director of the UN-HABITAT, said making Chandigarh slum-free reflected the political commitment of the Indian government and the local authorities. During his visit to tenements for slum dwellers, Dr Clos was accompanied by Adviser to the UT Administrator KK Sharma, MC Commissioner Prerna Puri and chief architect Sumit Kaur. Earlier, he held a meeting with UT officials where he was given a presentation on making Chandigarh a planned city. Dr Clos, who was on a one-day visit to Chandigarh as part of his India tour, said though rehabilitating all slum dwellers was a major challenge, yet the Indian government’s strategy to minimise slums was heartening. During his seven-day visit to India, which began on September 23, Dr Clos will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja, Minister of Urban Development Kamal Nath and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia to work out strategies for sustainable development in the urban areas. Dr Kulwant Singh, Adviser of the UT-HABITAT, said that India was high on the agenda of the agency with several programmes, including its flagship sustainable cities programme, under progress in the country.
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Jet to fly to Leh twice a week
Chandigarh, September 25 Last Friday, the Jet launched a direct service from the city to Jaipur and a connecting one to Indore. The new flights will take the total number of flights operational from the city from 14 to 15. Jet officials said fares from Chandigarh to Leh will start at Rs 2,635 while those to Jaipur and Indore pegged at around Rs 2,600 and Rs 2,800, respectively, depending on the time of booking. At present a dozen flights operated by four airlines operate from the city. These include six by Kingfisher Airlines (four for Delhi, one for Bombay and one for Jammu-Srinagar), two by Go-Air (both for Bombay) and one by Indian Airways for Delhi and three by Jet Airways (two to Delhi, one for Bombay).
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Stores packed with deadwood
Chandigarh, September 25 Reason: Most of the stores of the department are jam-packed with logs of trees which fall during rains or otherwise during the year as the department has not auctioned the wood so far. The four stores located in gardens that were recently transferred to the MC are full of dead trees. When contacted, MC chief engineer SS Bidda said they had written to the UT horticulture department to vacate the stores that were recently transferred to the MC. “The trees lying in the stores will be auctioned in the coming months,” he said. Sources in the MC said that for the past four years, the authorities have not accorded sanction to auction the trees lying in the stores. Even cases of the auction sent by the department are pending for the past three years. Most of the wood is of ornamental trees, which do not have much monetary value. Sources stated that four gardens, including Rajinder Garden in Sector 1, Leisure Valley in Sector 10, Rose Garden in Sector 16 and Bamboo Valley in Sector 23, have their own stores to accommodate the machinery required for maintenance. Sources said the UT Administration had handed over the gardens and the stores to the MC, but the UT horticulture department was yet to vacate the same. Resultantly, the machinery which the MC horticulture is planning to buy for these gardens is being delayed as there is no place to store it.
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Sector 66 in ‘no man’s land’
Located south of old Mohali, the sector is bereft of basic amenities. With the sector still not transferred to the Mohali Municipal Corporation, the upkeep of basic amenities is with GMADA, which pays no attention to it. Tribune News Service
Mohali, September 25
A survey of the area revealed that despite being well connected with other part of the city, the sector was being largely neglected by GMADA. Most of the parks and green belts are not being maintained. A contractor was using a green belt to park trucks and heavy machinery. Despite being inhabited for the last few years, the sector does not have a proper sector market. The sites in sector booth market allotted few years ago hardly attract any business The residents point out that they hardly see any policemen doing patrolling in the area. It may be mentioned that the sector is located right across the upcoming knowledge City in Sector 81.
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6 am: JCB machines at work; 100 shanties razed in Zirakpur
Zirakpur, September 25 The land located on the Zirakpur-Ambala highway near Paras Down Town Square. A bus terminus, the long-pending demand of Zirakpur residents, will be constructed by the PIDB and the tender for it has been floated. PWD XEN Zorawar Singh stated that the work of the bus terminus would be started within 15 days. MC sources said earlier the encroachment drive was carried out on the same spot in 2003. Meanwhile, hundreds of commuters were put to inconvenience as the traffic was diverted and blocked on the Zirakpur-Ambala highway near Chandigarh barrier, Zirakpur and Panchkula. Several passengers were seen walking on the flyover to board the buses. In the nearly five hours- long drive more than 100 shanties, including shops, were removed with the help of JCB machines. Dera Bassi SDM Rajesh Tripathi led the drive along with SP Bhupinder Singh, PWD Xen Zorawar Singh and staff members, Zirakpur Municipal staff besides the DSP, Dera Bassi, and SHOs were present at the spot. The drive began around 6 am. Heavy police force from Dera Bassi, Lalru and Balongi were deployed to check any untoward incident. Three fire brigades, Anti-riot vehicle, ambulances cordoned off the area during the drive. The administration had give an ultimatum and asked the encroachers to remove their household goods. After repeated announcements the anti-encroachment staff razed shops and hundreds of shanties with the JCB machines. However, the drive was conducted peacefully except for a protest by Nirmala, who owned a shop on the land. The police asked the woman to deposit her documents if she had any. The encroachers alleged that the administration should have given them another piece of land before removing them from here as they had been residing here for the past 20 years. Talking to Mohali Deputy Commissioner Varun Roojam about the drive, he said the administration in its prior notices had informed the encroachers and had asked them to remove their shanties. He said the drive was conducted peacefully without any untoward incident. “Now, the development of the town is the priority and work of the bus terminal will start soon”,
he added.
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Contaminated potable water being supplied to Phase VI
Mohali, September 25 Harjinder Singh, a resident of the area, said the public health department officials swung in to action two days after the complaint was lodged with them. A public health official said an inspection of the area revealed that being the dead end of the supply line the water had begun to stagnate. “ It was cleared immediately”, he said while ruling out any chance of contamination of the water supply.
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Encroachments at housing board flats continue unchecked
Construction of illegal extensions in violation of building bylaws has been rampant to such an extent that almost every internal street in the area has become congested. After realizing the local enforcement agencies have virtually abdicated their responsibility, a few of the residents in Sectors 19 and 18 even blocked passages in their flats and encroached upon open spaces, converting them into parking areas, kitchens or gardens. In several cases the encroachments have led to intrusion into residents’ privacy. Shanti Devi, a resident of Sector 19, has filed a complaint with enforcement officials of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and the municipal corporation accusing a neighbour of having built stairs in such a manner that any one on them could “peep” into her home. When contacted HUDA officials said these sectors were under the civic body’s purview and it was the job of the MC authorities to remove any encroachments. MC executive officer KK Jain On the other hand said he would “look into the matter.”
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Mullanpur Eco City
Mohali, September 25 During the Aerocity scheme, the forfeiture amount was 10 per cent of the earnest money. “ If any applicant is found to have furnished wrong information, the amount financed by banks will be forfeited. To recover money form an applicant, banks will have to take legal recourse,” pointed out a bank official. Officials in GMADA said the guidelines had been made strict to keep speculators at bay and allow genuine applicants to come forward. The clause of allowing one person to apply for only one plot was one of the conditions. It was seen in the case of Aerocity that applicants had filed multiple applications, thereby increasing the number of applications to over three lakh. Sources said during a recent meeting, representatives of the enlisted banks while raising the issue of forfeiture with GMADA officials demanded an assurance that in case any such thing was detected, the earnest money would not be withheld. Though GMADA has not given in writing any such assurance, it is learnt that GMADA will be adopting lenient view in such cases.
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Chandigarh, September 25
People, who matter in the industry are frequent visitors here. We have heard cases where certain local aspirants found their way to Mumbai and Delhi via local discs,” Varun Singh, another aspirant said.
Public utility services
To check the menace of stray cattle in the area the municipal corporation had approved a plan to shift all residents having milch animals within six months, but no action on this front has been taken yet even though a number of reminders were sent to civic officials. In fact, I had allotted funds from the ward development fund for speeding up work on maintaining parks and recarpeting
roads. 
But the sector located to the south of old Mohali is bereft of basic amenities, as 30 per cent area of the un-developed sector is full of wild growth. The sector is still not transferred to the Mohali Municipal Corporation, the upkeep of basic amenities is with GMADA. But the concerned wing of GMADA seldom pays attention to the sector where the residents have been complaining of basic amenities.
Panchkula, September 25