Scooterist knocked down, killed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 25 — A scooterist and resident of Sector 37, Gulshan Kumar, was knocked down by a DTC bus (DL-1-PA-2828) near he small roundabout separating Sectors 36 and 37 here today.

He was rushed to the PGI where he died.

According to the police, the bus has been impounded and the driver arrested. A case has been registered

Arrested : The police claims to have arrested two residents of Ram Darbar who had allegedly robbed Mr Rinku Sharma, a resident of Sector 45.

The police said that Madan Lal and Rajinder Kumar had looted Rs 250 and a wristwatch from Mr Sharma. A case has been registered.

Held : The police has arrested Pappu, a resident of Kumhar Colony, Sector 25, on the complaint of a lady. A case has been registered.

Fraud case : Ude Shankar Gupta of Sector 21 has been arrested in a case of fraud.

PANCHKULA

Theft bid :The local police has arrested one person in connection with a burglary attempt made at a house in Sector 8 here on the morning of April 22. A case under Section 457 of the IPC has already been registered.

According to information available, Raju, Islam and Sehdul, all residents of Dadu Majra in Chandigarh, made the burglary attempt. While Raju, who has been arrested, waited outside the other two sneaked into the house.

Search on for Gathwal's successor

THE Chandigarh Administration may have to invite yet another panel of names to select a successor to Mr Satish Gathwal as Commissioner of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. Twice, the name recommended by the Administration for the post has fallen through for one reason or the other.

In the first place, the Administration had recommended the name of Mr Kirpa Shankar Saroj, an IAS officer of the 1989 batch. The file came back after several months from the Union Government with a suggestion that a fresh panel should be sought and new recommendation be made accordingly.

This time the Administration recommended the name of Mr Manikant Prasad Singh, an IAS officer of the 1986 batch. While the appointment of Mr Manikant Prasad Singh went through quickly, before the formal orders could come here, he got an appointment as Director, Census Operations, a tenure and mandatory posting. As such, he is not expected to take up his new assignment in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.

Mr Satish Gathwal, who completed his tenure in October last year, will thus continue to stay here till a new name recommended by the Administration after inviting a fresh panel of names from Punjab Government is approved by the Union Government.

Mr Gathwal is not the only beneficiary. It has already happened in the case of Mr CSR Reddy, SSP of Chandigarh, currently on leave. His successor, Mr Dinkar Gupta, did not join here. Though the Punjab Government has already sent a panel of four names, including those of Mr Paramjit Singh Gill, Mr Gaurav Yadav and Mr Parag Jain, the Administration is yet to make a recommendation.

Donated

Prof P.S. Sawhney of Punjab Engineering College, who coordinated a national project in honing communication skills of technical students, has superannuated but continues to be in news.

Now settled in Sector 45 here, he has donated all the books on English Communication to the Regional Institute of English so that teachers of the language can use them.

He has made up his mind to devote rest of his life, pro bono publico, especially in the service of the student community and the needy laity who cannot afford the services of reputed lawyers in fighting legal battles, he intends to donate all the engineering books to some good library. His first choice would be any technical institution (non-government) of the region.

Accolades

Prof Arjun Kapur, who has been Professor and Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Punjab Engineering College here where he served for 27 years, has recently won several honours at NCA &T State University, Greensboro, North Carolina, where he is a faculty member now.

On March 25 he was declared "Teacher of theYear" for the School of Technology and received Chancellor's award for excellence comprising a plaque and a cash award of $ 1,000. On April 8, he was declared "Teacher of the Year" for the entire University. He received UNC Board of Governor's Award for excellence comprising a medal of Honour and a cash award of $ 7,500.

Source of comfort

People of the city seem to have started regarding Ms Kiran Bedi as "The Messiah". It is interesting to see people from all walks of life queuing up to meet her, touch her and even fall at her feet.

Recently a man taking an early morning walk at the Lake encountered another man, wearing tattered clothes, riding a bicycle. Hesitatingly, this man on the bicycle approached the other man and asked him softly, "Bhaisahab, would you know where is Madam Kiran Bedi’s house? I desperately need to talk to her". It was with a beaming smile that he noted the way to "Madam’s" house. If somebody has provided a ray of hope around, it certainly is Kiran Bedi.

In another incident, when a city artist drew some maps of certain "dangerous and accident prone" areas of Chandigarh, along with suggestions to make these areas safer, and posted these to Kiran Bedi, the DSP (Traffic) was sent to this artist's house to follow this with him "personally". This artist was then taken around the city to "inspect" the various points that he had mentioned in his map, and his suggestions noted by the DSP (Traffic). The police also promised to get in touch with the artist when "his" proposals would be approved!

Ready to go

That the youth are mortally scared of Ms Kiran Bedi, IGP, is evident from the fact that not only are those with two-wheelers wearing helmets but those without them are also carrying one. The reason they cite is that if they want to hitch-hike home, nobody is ready to give them a ride back unless they possess their own helmet because the IGP's men are on the prowl for rule violators. Since carrying helmets around is a hassle, a helmet lock on the two-wheeler of a college samaritan saves the students from the trouble of carrying these around for the day.

Sanskrit year

The year 1999-2000 is being observed as Sanskrit Year. The Department of Sanskrit, Panjab University, in an effort to contribute its mite to the language and attract students, has come out with a slogan saying,

"Bring Sanskrit Into Your Everyday Life,

Enrich Yourself and Enrich Your Life".

Carriageways

While the Chandigarh police has done well to divert effectively the slow traffic on the main roads, including Madhya Marg, into the carriageways, it will be certainly appreciated if it took up with the Chandigarh Engineering Department the issue of making these carriageways traffic-worthy or smooth enough to take on the slow traffic, particularly the manually driven rickshaws.

On certain carriageways, including the one that takes the traffic to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and into Sector 27 and another that passes before the Sector 7-C showrooms (opposite Oil Bhawan and into Sector 7C, even the fast traffic cannot move on these carriageways not to talk of the slow traffic. It is worth taking notice by the engineering department that the parking of cars/other vehicles outside the showrooms, which also have a few restaurants in the row, seem to be grossly mismanaged that on certain days it is very difficult to pass through. One wonders why open space near the restaurants on the two corners of the block of showroom 1 to 16 cannot be used for parking of cars at least by the shopkeepers. If the owner of one restaurant can use the open space for arranging parties, the space can certainly be used for the comfort of road-users and those who come for shopping in the area.

Parking problems

It is surprising that senior functionaries of the Haryana Government have paid no attention to the parking of vehicles owned by the Government and the Government employees working in the Civil Secretariat. Thousands of employees and visitors have to park their vehicles at the back of the Civil Secretariat by traversing three to four kms unnecessarily.

An official car which drops an officer at the officers gate on the front side of the Civil Secretariat has to go back to the area from near the Chandigarh Club to stay there so long as the officer sits in the Secretariat. An announcement is later made through the mike system to call the driver who again travels a long route to come to the same officers gate on the front side of the Secretariat. A State Government which is committed to economy measures in the midst of financial crunch, can ill-afford such luxury.

On the contrary, the senior functionaries of the Punjab Government have carefully planned their parking for both officers and employees, who neither waste petrol nor time to be on the site in the Secretariat.

To add to the difficulty of the drivers, there is no arrangement of them to sit anywhere or even to have drinking water facility at the back of the Secretariat. Also, those who have to wait for their officer's call till late hours, find the area totally dark in the evening as there is no lighting arrangement at the back of the Secretariat.

Car dealer to pay compensation
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 25 — The Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission here has directed Maruti Udyog Ltd and its local dealer to pay Rs 51,000 as compensation, damages and costs for giving a defective Esteem-VX car to a customer.

In his complaint, Mr Virinder Sharma of Sector 34 had stated that the car which he purchased from the local dealer, M/s Joshi Auto Zone, developed several defects within 10-15 days of its purchase.

The defects pointed out included rattling doors, defective AC and sagging ceiling, besides few other minor defects. The complainant had asked for the replacement of the car, Rs 2 lakh for harassment and mental torture, damages to the tune of Rs 1 lakh with interest and compensation of Rs 50,000 with interest.

The dealer in his reply stated that their was no deficiency on their part as all necessary repairs were made and defective parts replaced as per terms of warranty.

After perusing the records, the commission found that the main grievance which was sustainable with regard to sagging of ceiling upholstery. The commission observed that the ceiling in this case was substandard and had been causing irritation to the complainant. This was not at all expected in a luxury car. And the respondents, both the manufacturer and the dealer had been deficient in rectifying the major defect of the ceiling.

The complainant has been entitled to have a sum of Rs 45,000 as compensation, Rs 4,000 as damages on account of mental harassment and Rs 2,000 as costs.

VVIPs a law unto themselves

This refers to Chandigarh Tribune story “VIP security to be rationalised” (April 14). Dr (Mrs) Kiran Bedi has rightly decided to rationalise the security provided to VVIPs and VIPs. It is wonderful that she has taken the lead by surrendering part of her own personal security, something to be emulated by a host of other bureaucrats in the city whose duties entail much less risk than police officers involved in tackling crime and criminals.

Political VVIPs are a law unto themselves. An MP would need security at his house, and also at his “constituency house”, if he represents a constituency but resides in Chandigarh. A defeated candidate does not lag behind either. He, too, is a VIP and needs security as a status symbol. The Special Protection Group security cover provided to PM and to former PMs and their family members is nothing but a mockery of the whole concept underlying democracy. Whenever such VVIPs happen to be in the city, even on their private visits, the whole earth shakes. Roads are closed for hours. Cops are diverted from policing duties to take care of the visiting dignitaries.

The police is meant for the people of the city and not for VVIPs, VIPs, and sundry politicians. Bold initiatives in giving the city’s police to the city and rationalising the entire VIP security system are welcome.

S.S. JAIN
Chandigarh

Disposal of leaves

Any gardener worth his salt would know that leaf mould is one of the best forms of manure. Is it not criminal, therefore, to waste fallen leaves by burning them? But this is being done on city roads daily.

One would expect some degree of awareness and a little sense of responsibility from the Horticulture Department of the Administration. It is the department which ought to make use of leaf-mould manure in their projects.

It is well known that burning of leaves adds to environmental pollution. Leaves are burnt by sweepers on the road, resulting in damage to the metalled roads. Molten tar-coal deforms at such spots, making roads uneven at edges. As it is, it takes ages for good roads to come about in the first place.

Small bonfires of dried leaves and trash are made under and around trees. Left untended on the side-walks these can damage trees and surrounding vegetation. There should be clear and strict instructions from the Administration regarding the disposal of dried fallen leaves.

VIVEK KHANNA
Panchkula

Bus service

Apropos of news item “How good is city’s bus service”, Chandigarh Tribune, April 12, in which citizens have aired their grievances against the city bus service. There are some other aspects which deserve attention of the authorities concerned and the Chandigarh traffic police. These are:

(i) The city bus drivers, both of the CTU and the Haryana Roadways, have the habit to stop buses in the middle of the road. This brings the traffic to a halt and long queues of vehicles can be seen at peak hours. For example, the bus top near Housing Board Chowk and opposite the Grain Market are vulnerable points. The erring drivers need to be directed to stop the buses at the spot earmarked for the purpose. If they don’t heed to the request, the traffic police should take action against them.

(ii) Many drivers have a tendency to stop the bus either short of the stop or at a distance from the bus stop. People, waiting for the bus for some time, have to run helter skelter to get into the bus, resulting in a chaos.

The CTU and the Haryana Roadways should organise special training classes for the drivers and conductors to inculcate in their mind respect for the citizens and the law.

S.P. MITTAL
Panchkula

Temple forestry

Apropos of the news item “Workshop on improved moisture regimes through afforestation and eco-development”, jointly organised by the Agricultural Finance Corporation of India, New Delhi, and the Forest Department, Haryana, and published in your paper on April 21.

I would like to enlighten the readers that since ancient times, temple forests and water tanks around have served many spiritual and religious purposes. In addition, the temple forests have provided us fruits and supported native ayurvedic medicine. These contained a large number of native tree species ideally suited for tropical stress and drought.

During festivals the devotees not only used to plant saplings but also joined in the desilting of temple water tanks. Unfortunately, the temple forestry is on the decline. The promotion of temple forests in the upper and middle stream areas of water sheds would be of great support to social forestry in reducing soil erosion and maintaining soil and water conservation structures to improve soil moisture holding capacity and improving the productivity of downstream agriculture.

S.K.SHARMA
President
Environment Society of India
Chandigarh

Khandelwal issue

Kudos for clearing the mind of the public about Mr K.K. Khandelwal, the dynamic ex-D.C. of Chandigarh. Well done.

CAPT S.S. AHLUWALIA
Chandigarh

II

Refer to your article dated 16.04.1999 regarding Mr K.K. Khandelwal. It is a well-known fact that corruption lobby working in the Estate Office was so strong that even the Deputy Commissioner was not spared, although the good work done by him can be seen by the public. We congratulate you for highlighting the issue in your paper.

DOLLY DATTA
Chandigarh

III

Mr K.K.Khandelwal wanted to bring about changes to eliminate corruption hence attracted the ire of the corrupt lobby in the Administration. It is good that you highlighted this in your write-up of April 16.

K.K. KAPOOR
Ambala City

Vegetables become dearer
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 25 — Barring one or two vegetables, the prices of almost all other have witnessed a considerable hike in the past three days.

The biggest jump in prices was recorded by cauliflower, as its price increased from Rs 8 a kg to Rs 16 a kg in this period. Its wholesale price also increased from Rs 40 to Rs 60 per five kg. The hike was attributed almost no arrivals of the local variety in the market. The vegetable has started coming from Himachal Pradesh. The price of cabbage has also increased from Rs 5 to Rs 8 a kg. The wholesale price of the vegetable has gone up from Rs 20 to Rs 30 per five kg.

Bittergourd has also become costly in this period. If a kg of it was available at Rs 20 to Rs 24 just three days back, it was priced today at Rs 32 a kg in city markets. Its wholesale price has shot up from Rs 100 to Rs 150 per five kg in this period. The hike was due its non-arrival in the market from chos of Patiala, Ropar and Hoshiarpur districts.

Same was the case with peas, as price of these shot up from between Rs 24 and Rs 30 to Rs 40 a kg. Its wholesale price also increased from between Rs 120 and Rs 25 to Rs 175 per five kg in this period.

Another vegetable, the price of which has gone through the roof is lemon. A kg of lemon priced at Rs 48, just two days back, was available in the market today at Rs 60 today. Traders said the hike was due to a sudden rise in its demand and shrinking supplies from Chennai.

On the other hand, the price of tomato has decreased in this period due to a glut in the market of its local variety. A kg of it priced at Rs 12 two days back, was available today at Rs 8. The price of potato has also increased from Rs 3 to Rs 5 a kg in this period.

The prices of other vegetables are as follows: Gourd — Rs 10 a kg, brinjal— Rs 12, cucumber — Rs 5, capsicum — Rs 48, lady’s finger — Rs 25, squash gourd — Rs 32, carrot — Rs 12, beans — Rs 20, ginger — Rs 48, onion — Rs 8, radish — Rs 8.