& V I C I N I T Y
Wednesday, December 9, 1998
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C H A N D I G A R H & V I C I N I T Y |
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Wednesday, December 9, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Courier
to deliver telephone bills Need
to raise fish output stressed Kidnapping
case: bail granted Trains
still running late Judicial
remand of Jerath extended PVC
winner's death mourned |
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Illegal
construction may be regularised CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — The Punjab Government has decided to take a sympathetic view about the illegal or irregular construction of hundreds of houses and shops in the periphery of the Union Territory of Chandigarh. About 28,000 dwelling units of various sizes and shapes have come up during the last two decades, all in violation of the Periphery Act. These houses, godowns and other constructions have come up all around in Kharar tehsil, Zirakpur, and Mullanpur areas and in almost all the scores of villages in the 15 km radius of Chandigarh. Even in Haryana, there had been violations. Strictly speaking even the urban estates could be considered a violation as the original Chandigarh plan restricted all new construction in the 15 km radius. Population pressure and urban needs besides prohibitive cost of houses in Chandigarh made it necessary to set up Mohali and Panchkula. If the government succeeds in Punjab, it would have its effect in Haryana and Chandigarh also. Officials here said people who had been agitating and worried after the court order may heave a sigh of relief. The majority of them are from lower middle class and could not think of having a home in the urban estates. The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal who had several meetings with his ministerial colleagues including the Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh and senior officers from the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) and Urban Development Department found himself in a no-win situation. At one hand was the order from the Punjab and Haryana High Court to demolish all such constructions and report back to the court and on the other was the needy house owners. "We have to consider such issues not strictly from the legal point of view. After all there are over 1.5 lakh people living in these houses, hutments and farm houses. We have the highest regard for the court and its orders. But for the political rulers, the welfare of the people is also important. These dwellings had been coming up for years. No one cared. Roads were laid. Electricity and water supply made available and the people were registered as voters too. Now the total messy problem is in our laps", a senior minister explained the government's compulsions. It is possible some demolition may take place which totally violates the Act or is close to those areas which are regular colonies like the Mohali urban estate. But in general there would be no wholesale demolition. These constructions, at times haphazard, would be turned into proper urban estates and the PUDA would regulate these. Those who had land to develop colonies may also be accommodated and allowed as per the PUDA regulations. The Government is also considering the extension of "lal dora." In fact, the Chief Minister directed the departments concerned to take note of the increase in population and the needs of the people and suggest extension of "lal dora". The last land consolidation that took place in the fifties had fixed the village boundaries beyond which no dwelling unit could be called legal. But a large number of farm houses have sprung up all over the State. "Farmers have an inherent right to put houses wherever it suited them," Mr Badal has told the officers and asked them to take up this on priority basis. In fact, during the discussions when the officers pointed out about their commitment to the court and sought guidelines, they were told that at least one, regular colony had come up in village Baltana close to Zirakpur and the then Governor had blessed this along with his senior officers. "If it could be done in one case, it cannot be refused in other cases", the Ministers pointed out. In the next few days, the
government may work out details and then approach the
High Court for approval. |
Hunt for
‘imaginary’ leopard CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — Policemen armed with self-loading rifles and top forest officials carrying tranquilliser guns combed the forest area of the CSIO here today for an unidentified beast. But after the 90 minute operation they came out with shrubs and thorns all over and without spotting the imaginary leopard or even its pugmark. The drama began to unfold at 12 noon when an unidentified person rang up The Tribune informing about a leopard having been spotted in a house in Sector 30. A telephone call to the Chhat Bir Zoo Director got the confirmation that an SOS about the leopard had been received from the UT Chief Wildlife Warden. A police patrol van and the forest officials were already at the spot when The Tribune team entered the wooded area of the CSIO campus. Mr Charan Singh, told The Tribune that he had seen "Big, big eyes". He had beaten a hasty retreat just after a look at the eyes. A forest official, Mr Jaswant Singh, also claimed having had a look at the "deadly eyes". We met Mr Gurmeet Singh, Chief Wildlife Warden of Punjab and Mr H.S. Sohal, his counterpart in the Union Territory. Some Students of the Indo-Swiss Training Centre also claimed having sighted the leopard around 8.30 p.m. By then the Chhat Bir Zoo Director, Dr Vinod Sharma, also arrived. One of the key eyewitnesses, a student, said he had seen the beast "galloping" like a horse. That statement put at rest that the animal was not a leopard. But seeing the rumours spreading panic on the campus, Dr Vinod Sharma and Mr Sohal visited the spot where the forest official had spotted the beast. They ventured into the dense forest where there was a thick undergrowth near a silver oak tree. No pug mark could be seen. By now the officials were sure they were on the hunt for an imaginary leopard. But the panic on the campus could not be ignored. They launched a "haka" to drive out the beast. Special armed policemen were posted forming a cordon around the forest area as drummers comprising the "haka" team drummed up a tempo and shouted their hearts out. Dr Sharma and Mr Sohal kept their tranquilliser guns pointed as they made their way through thick shrubs and thorns. The operation continued
for 90 minutes. But at the end of the three-phase
operation no beast could be spotted. Thorns and shrubs
had to be removed from the winterwear of the officials.
But they had succeeded in restoring confidence on the
campus. The hunt for the "imaginary" leopard
was over. |
Sambar
strays into city market, captured CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — A sambar strayed into the Sector 8 market here this morning. The beast, however, was released into its natural habitat after it was captured by staff of the UT Wildlife Department. According to sources in the department, a full-grown sambar was reportedly seen running towards the market before entering into a shop-cum-flat around 9 a.m. Later, Wildlife Department officials reached the spot. The sambar was captured by using a net. While the officials were busy capturing the beast, a large number of curious onlookers, particularly children, and office-goers, gathered to have a glimpse of animal. When contacted the UT
Chief Wildlife Warden, Mr H.S.Sohal, said the sambar was
later released into the Nepli reserve forest. He said in
all probability the sambar strayed into the area from the
Sukhna side. |
Builder told
to refund money with interest CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — The UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered the refund of Rs 4. 60 lakh, along with 18 per cent rate of interest, paid by a city resident to a coloniser for a cottage at Jabli (Himachal Pradesh). Besides this, costs of Rs 500 have also been imposed on the respondent. Justice J B Garg and Mr Sada Nand, president and member, respectively, of the commission, announced an ex-parte judgement in the case. According to the order, the complainant — Mr Subash C Kohli, a resident of Sector 18 — in response to a brochure issued by the coloniser, M/s Silver Oaks Health and Tourist Resort Private Limited of Sector 35, made an initial deposit of Rs 50,000 on August 28,1990, at the Chandigarh office of the company for a Type C Majestic Cottage, comprising of two bedrooms with attached bathrooms and a lounge-cum-dining room. Mr Kohli had contended that a sum of Rs 7. 37 lakh was deposited by him and the respondent was required to hand over possession of the cottage within one year from the date of receipt of the deposit of the earnest money. Although four years had elapsed before the institution of the complaint, neither the construction work has been completed nor the possession delivered. The complainant had asked the respondent company to deliver the possession of the fully furnished cottage or compensation by payment of 24 per cent interest for the period the money had been lying with the company or in the alternative refund of the money with 18 per cent compound interest and damages of Rs 4 lakh or restraining the respondents from allotting the land to any other concern. Although a lawyer had on five occasions appeared on behalf of the respondents , no reply of any kind was filed following which ex-parte evidence was ordered. The commission stated that
it had been established that the complainant had paid the
amount but the respondent had been deficient in not
handing over the possession of the flat.
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Courier to
deliver telephone bills CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — After attempting telephone directories delivery through a private courier company, the local Telecom Department has now started a scheme to deliver telephone bills through courier. The Principal General Manager, Mr Prithipal Singh, said this was being done on an experimental basis in Chandigarh. He said the delivery of directories through courier was a good scheme. He, however, said due to complaints from subscribers, payments to the courier company had been stopped. The courier company would
come to deliver the bill the next day if the house is
found locked, he added. |
Need to
raise fish output stressed CHANDIGARH, Dec 8—The fish production in the plains, which is 4,000 kg per hectare per year, is nearly twice that produced in the hills every year. Measures to increase production in the rivers was the main thrust of a seminar on "Conservation and development of natural fishery resources of western Himalayas'', which concluded at the ICSSR complex, Panjab University, here today. Besides passive conservation by checking illegal fishing, making the offence more punitive and deploying more staff for watch-and-ward efforts, active conservation is being undertaken to increase fish in these rivers, Dr Kuldeep Sharma, Director (Fisheries), Himachal Pradesh, said. Active conservation involves producing fingerlings on a large scale and stocking them regularly in rivers. This, he said, was the only recourse left to revive the declining fisheries in flowing water. Though stringent clauses had been included in the Fisheries Act their implementation remained a far cry. Dr A.G. Pooniah, Director, National Burean of Fish Genetic Resources, Lucknow, presented a paper on "The importance of habitat inventory for conservation of endangered species" . He discussed that the specific micro-habitat requirement each species of fish requires is being upset by changes in land and water use patterns. The need is to undertake more habitat inventory studies to identify the requirements of each species so as to maintain the overall health of the stream. Dr Anish Dua (Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar) spoke of the impact of human activities like use of pesticides, water diversion, tourism and road construction, among others, on fish biodiversity. All these activities have decreased the natural habitat of fish and have eliminated breeding grounds. A session of fish culture in the Himalayas and development of fish hatcheries in this area was also held. These will be developed to promote indigenous fish. Capt T.S. Bedi spoke on mahaseer angling and popularisation of the sport. This fish gives a good fight, attains the biggest size and is found in this Himalayan stretch. The seminar concluded on
the note, "Conserve fish to eat fish." |
Kidnapping
case: bail granted CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted bail to Nikhil Syal, son of Mr Rakesh Kant Syal, proprietor of Golden Forests, in an alleged incident of kidnapping of girl on October 6 in Bathinda district. Mr Justice R.L. Anand, who handed down this order, held "with the deletion of the offence under Sections 363 and 366, I.P.C., the case for bail to petitioner is otherwise made out because he is in judicial lock up and is no longer required for the purpose of investigation. Even the offences under Sections 279 and 427, I.P.C., are bailable. Bail to the satisfaction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bathinda." The judge further held: "Let the intimation of the passing of this order be sent to the Area Magistrate who is seized of the matter under Section 167 (2), Cr P.C. and it has been stated at the bar by the counsel for the petitioner that the bail application has been argued and the order has been reserved for December 9. The counsel for the petitioner will inform the learned Magistrate also with regard to the passing of this order". In his two-page order Mr Justice Anand observed: "Before I part with this order, it has been brought to my notice by the learned Deputy Advocate-General that directions be given to the petitioner and his companion Raghav Awasthy that they shall not leave the country without prior permission of the Chief Judicial Magistrate concerned and they shall surrender their passports, if any, before the investigating officer. Ordered accordingly." An F.I.R. was registered
against Nikhil Syal at the instance of Mr Ajay Pal,
father of Ms Bunny Bedi, alleging that his daughter was
kidnapped by Nikhil Syal and his friend, Raghav Awasthy,
on the evening of October 6. When this information was
given to the police, the police party chased the car of
the petitioner in order to rescue the life of Ms Bunny
Bedi and in that process of chasing, the car of the
petitioner struck against a tree and the offence under
Sections 279, 437 and 34, I.P.C., were added in that
regard also. |
Trains still
running late CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — The experiment of the Railways to restore partial traffic on the damaged New Delhi-Ambala section by running six express trains at a controlled speed today did not help the passengers much as the trains run on the section were late by several hours. Besides, the diversion of all other express trains caused delay to travellers for the sixth consecutive day. The express trains operated today were run at a controlled speed of 30 km per hour. From tomorrow, the trains that will pass on the New Delhi-Ambala section are the New Delhi-Amritsar Express and the New Delhi-Jalandhar superfast. Besides, Dadar Express, Jammu Mail and Flying Mail, that were run today, will also run tomorrow. Shan-e-Punjab that was run between New Delhi and Amritsar, was delayed by more than three hours. The same train will run on its reverse leg tomorrow. The movement of trains northwards from Delhi will be no better tomorrow as the position of cancelled trains, terminated trains and diverted trains remains the same. The diversions have been delaying thousands of rail passengers daily, besides leading to crowding in roadways buses and harassment to daily commuters. All major and long-distance trains were running late by two to four hours. Shatabdi between New Delhi-Chandigarh and Swaran Shatabdi between New Delhi-Amritsar were delayed by nearly four hours each. The following is the list of major trains that have been cancelled for tomorrow (December 9). New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi, New Delhi-Bathinda (inter-city). New Delhi-Kalka passenger. Note: Both up and down trains have been cancelled. Terminated trains are: Unchahar Express (Allahabad-Ambala) will terminate and originate at Delhi. Ekta Express (Bhiwani-Kalka) will terminate and originate at Panipat. The following major trains have been diverted via Saharanpur-Shamli. Shatabdi Express (New Delhi- Kalka), Shatabdi Express New Delhi -Chandigarh), Himalayan Queen (New Delhi-Kalka), Himachal Express (New Delhi-Una), Kalka Mail (Howrah-Kalka). The following major trains have been diverted via Rohtak-Jind- Narwana-Jakhal-Dhuri. Swaran Shatabdi (New Delhi- Amritsar), Malwa Express (Indore-Jammu), Paschim Express (Mumbai -Amritsar), Sachkhand Express (Nanded-Amritsar), Dadar Express (Mumbai-Amritsar), Muree Express (New Delhi-Pathankot), Jhelum Express (Pune-Jammu), Pooja Express (Delhi-Jammu), Swaraj Express (Mumbai-Jammu). Note: Pairs of diverted
trains running in downward directions have not been
diverted and will go through the lone usable track on the
Ambala-Delhi section. |
Judicial
remand of Jerath extended CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — Duty Magistrate Tejwinder Singh today extended the judicial remand of K.K. Jerath, Chief Engineer (under suspension) of the Chandigarh Administration, in connection with FIRs No 2 and 3 until December 10. Jerath was produced before the Duty Magistrate because the Ilaqa Magistrate, Mr Jasbir Singh had proceeded on leave. When the prosecution made a request for granting police remand of Jerath in these cases, the Duty Magistrate directed it to produce a copy of the order handed down by the Additional Sessions Judge, Mr S.S. Lamba, dismissing the revision petition filed by the UT Administration against the order of the Duty Magistrate on Sunday, Mrs Vani Gopal Sharma. Mrs Sharma had ruled that Jerath would be considered in judicial custody in FIRs No 2 and 3 from November 27 — the day he surrendered in the court. Since the prosecution
failed to produce the order of the Additional Sessions
Judge, the Duty Magistrate extended the judicial remand
of Jerath until December 10. |
PVC
winner's death mourned CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — A meeting to condole the death of Col Hoshiar Singh (retd), Param Vir Chakra, was held by members of The War Decorated, a registered charitable association of PVC, MVC, Vr C and MC winners, here today. Brig Sant Singh, (retd)
president of the Association, said gallantry award
winners from the city and vicinity assembled and paid
homage to a war hero who passed away at Jaipur on
December 6. A two minute silence was observed in memory
of the departed colleague. They passed a resolution,
expressing sympathies with the bereaved family. |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — The BJP may find it difficult to choose its candidate for the post of the next Mayor as three party candidate are likely to be eligible for the post. The election to the post, which is reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate, is slated to be held on December 23. Earlier only two candidates elected from the Scheduled Caste wards — Mr Kewal Krishan and Mr Rajinder Kumar — were eligible for contesting the post. Now Mr Bachan Singh, who was elected from a general ward, is also in the race. While Mr Bachan Singh and Mr Kewal Krishan are from the Jain group, Mr Rajinder Kumar owes allegiance to the group led by the present Mayor, Mr Gian Chand Gupta. Ms Kamlesh of the Congress is also eligible for the contest if her party fields her. Water shortage: A Congress councillor, Mr Raj Kumar Goyal, alleged that there was an acute shortage of water in Mani Majra on Monday and water pressure also low in certain parts on Tuesday. He said despite repeated effforts no senior officer could be contacted. A middle-level official, when contacted, could not do anything to improve the situation. Mr Goyal further alleged that a sewerage pipeline overflowed at the Housing Board Chowk, Mani Majra, putting the residents to a lot inconvenience on Sunday. The water supply line in Mauli Jagran break down frequently as it was made of plastic. He urged the civic body to
make functional two tubewells at Mauli Jagran whose
boring work was done many months ago. |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 8—The two-day workshop of the Curriculum Development Centre of the University Grants Commission which concluded at the Panjab University campus here today accorded approval to a number of recommendations on various geoscience courses. The workshop was organised by the the Centre of Advanced Study in Geology of the university. The recommendations included the framing of the syllabi for geoscience courses keeping in view employment opportunities. The Chairman of the department and the Director of the centre, Prof R.S. Chaudhary said as many as 23 heads of geoscience departments of various universities agreed that a uniform syllabi should be implemented with certain laxities to the universities according to their local requirements. The workshop also approved recommendations for introducing geology and geophysics as professional courses and the geoscience subject at the plus two level in the country. The participants felt that the UGC should constitute a committee to examine the issue of opening departments of earth sciences. Internet: "The engineering colleges in Punjab will be linked with the Internet and E-mail facilities". This was stated by the Director, Technical Education, Punjab, Mr Nirmaljit Singh Kalsi, who was speaking at a seminar on "Prospects of IT industry, problems, challenges and opportunities", organised by the Chandigarh Management Association and the University Business School at the campus on Monday. Mr Kalsi said, computer education would be made compulsory from primary and secondary level. Besides a proposal to spend Rs.100 crore for promoting the information technology in the state, the state government was planning to set up an IT park at Mohali, he said. The Advisor, Knowledge
Enterprise, Panjab University, Mr. S.K Bijlani, General
Manager Chandigarh Telecom Mr Prithipal Singh and the
President of the CMA, Mr Keshav Sachdev also spoke.
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CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — A
resident of Labour Colony 31, Ram Naresh, succumbed to
his injuries received in a accident while three others,
including an 86-year person, were injured in separate
road accidents today. Scooterist, Jora Singh, was hit by scooter on the road separating Sectors 9 and 10. Meanwhile, an unidentified pedestrian was hit by a scooter near Dhillon Cinema. He has been admitted to the PGI. Vehicles stolen: A car and a brand new motor cycle have been reportedly stolen from Sector 22. A car owned by Mr S.K. Goyal of Sector 22 was stolen while a new Enfield motor cycle of Mr Madan Singh Thakur of Sector 29 was stolen from near the Aroma Hotel. Woman held: A woman, Kohni, was nabbed by the police for allegedly carrying 15 pouches of whisky. A resident of Janta Colony, Sector 25, was booked under the Excise Act. Meanwhile, the driver of a Haryana Roadways bus, Anjani Kumar, who was nabbed by the police for rash driving was found to be under influence of liquor at that time. He had rammed the bus into the streetlight poles in Mani Majra. Admitted to PGI: A resident of Sector 8 , Naushad, was admitted to the PGI after he allegedly consumed a poisonous substance. PANCHKULA Viscera examination: The viscera of plus two student, Prateek , who was found dead in the hostel of local St Soldier Divine Public School on Monday, has been sent for chemical examination. Sources in the police said the autopsy of the deceased had not revealed the exact cause of his death. Meanwhile, the autopsy of an unidentified person who was found lying along a road at Raewali village in Raipur Rani, has revealed deep cut marks on neck and face. There were also injury marks on his jaws. One booked: Jeetinder, alias Karan, of Chandigarh has been booked by the police for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 16 year old girl. The girl, a resident of Sector 15 here, was allegedly enticed by the boy who reportedly took her to Tanda in Hoshiarpur district and then to Chintpurni in Himachal Pradesh where he reportedly forced her to marry him. Earlier, the police had
registered a case of kidnapping on the basis of a
complaint lodged by the brother of the girl, Rajan. He
had complained that his sister who was a student of a
government school in Manimajra did not return home on
November 28. The girl returned home on Monday and told
her parents about the incident following which the police
amended the FIR. |
CHANDIGARH, Dec 8 — The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) today directed the Selection Committee constituted by the Haryana Government to consider DSP Raj Pal Singh for promotion to the I.P.S. at its meeting to be held tomorrow "without taking into account the withholding of integrity certificate of the applicant on the basis of adverse remarks in his A.C.R. and the criminal case, if any, lodged against him." Mr R.K. Nehru, Vice-Chairman of the Tribunal, who handed down this order on an application moved by D.S.P. Raj Pal Singh, also directed the Selection Committee that "till the next date of hearing the results with regard to the selection in question of all the candidates shall be kept in a sealed cover." Decorated with the Gallantry Police Medal, the highest decoration for a police officer, and having been given more than 100 commendation certificates and cash award, Mr Raj Pal Singh appeared in person before the Vice-Chairman and impleaded among others the Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Bansi Lal, the Union Home Ministry and the Home Secretary of Haryana as respondents. The Vice-Chairman issued notice to all respondents for December 18. The applicant alleged harassment and victimisation at the hands of the Chief Minister with a view to circumvent his promotion to the I.P.S. The DSP alleged that "immediately after taking over as Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, started harassing the applicant due to political vendetta. "Citing the reasons for the vendatta, the applicant stated that his close relation, Mr Dharam Pal Sangwan, who was elected as an MLA in the 1991 elections as a candidate of Mr Bansi Lal's party, the HVP, subsequently joined the Congress. This infuriated the Chief Minister against him. He further alleged that in one of his assignments he had investigated the case against dreaded criminal Jatinder Pahal and Sat Pal Pahari, who were arrested for the charges of murder and kidnapping. "Mr Bansi Lal bore a grudge against me because Sat Pal Pahari was member and office-bearer of the Haryana Vikas Party" and a "supporter of Mr Bansi Lal." In his 109-page application, the DSP cited several instances of harassment, including denial of a posting, work, residence, attempts to tinker with his seniority, spoiling of his ACRs and even initiation of vigilance enquiry "at the behest of the Chief Minister." He has also levelled certain allegations against Mr H.S. Mohan, the then Director, State Vigilance Bureau, who allegedly "manoeuvred a false source report" against him and then bypassed the SSP, DIG and IG Vigilance to refer a report to the Chief Secretary. The applicant further
alleged that "the Chief Secretary also in order to
please Mr Bansi Lal agreed on that letter for
registration of an FIR" against him without getting
the matter examined by the Vigilance Branch of the
secretariat. This case was registered against him the
same day. |
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