Running on divine patronage
From Gautam Dheer

PANCHKULA, Dec 10 — Government Degree College at Barwala, near here, affiliated to Kurukshetra University, has survived many odds.

The college exists in a building that housed a primary school till 1993, when it was taken over for use as a college. This co-educational college which conducts courses in humanities and commerce, when started, reportedly had broken doors and wild growth of vegetation all around.

For the over 350 students, there are only five rooms. The college runs two classes in the open. The space available is further limited as some rooms are used as stores.

Students find it hard to study in the open due to the vagaries of weather. The college building is dilapidated. Damped, broken roofs and unplastered walls portray a picture of neglect.

The college does not have a sewage connection. Septic tanks are used for the purpose. The two small toilets for the students emit foul smell throughout the day. There is no arrangement of stored water in the toilets. The classrooms do not have a single light point for illumination. Routine study work is much dependent on the light through broken ventilators and windows. Electric wires hang from fan points to the main switch, posing a threat of short-circuiting.

The classrooms do not have proper blackboards, many of which are broken.

The college lacks in safe drinking water in the absence of water tanks or refrigerators. According to sources, what adds to the misery is that besides one hour of water supply in the morning, the supply is available only every third day. The electricity supply is also available every alternate day.

The college is not fully walled, resulting in trespass activities.

The college is under-staffed and the posts of a clerk, stenotypist, head clerk and restorer for the library are lying vacant for a longtime.

This is the only college that caters to the needs of over 40 surrounding villages.

Low water pressure plagues Panchkula
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, Dec 10 — The township has been receiving water supply at a low pressure for the past three days, affecting routine household work. At present, the public health wing of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), operates about 70-deep bore tubewells, which have proved inadequate for the water requirements of the town.

The worst-hit are the residents of the upper floors. Ms Anita Gupta of Sector 10 said water was available to them for one-and- half hour in the morning and for two hours in the evening but with a low pressure. The problem of water shortage is gravely felt in sectors 10, 16, 15, 12, 4 and 9. Residents of these sectors feel that the crisis of low pressure has not been dealt with seriously and the problem has aggravated.

The President of the Citizens Welfare Association, Panchkula, Mr S.K. Nayar, said the association had given representations to HUDA several times, but nothing had been done so far.

Mr M.L. Malhotra of Sector 16 said the problem had compounded in certain areas after the Public Health Department started direct supply of water from the tubewells. “ The problem could be minimised if HUDA sets up some additional over- head tanks-cum-boosters,’’ he added.

Mr Ravinder Rawal of Sector 15 said that for the third consecutive day the water tanks on the third floor had remained dry. The supply to the second floor had also been hit.

At present, there are only three boosting stations— in Sector 1, 8 and Industrial Area, Phase I — which are not sufficient to deliver the goods, considering the fast growth of the town.

The residents have also contributed to the problem. Mr Shyam Sunder of Sector 15 said that residents of the Housing Board colony were pumping water to their tanks on the second and third floors directly from the main line. This had further reduced the supply to other pockets.

Besides low pressure, residents of sectors 4, 12, 12-A, 2, 9 and 15, have also complained that they are getting muddy water in the morning. Dr Sunil Dutt Rabra of Sector 12-A said supply lines in certain places were leaking and mud was getting mixed with the fresh water supply. In many areas of Sector 12, water has accumulated in the open spaces as a result of negligence of the authorities concerned.

‘’Water in the sectors is supplied through a network of pipelines from the over- head tanks, underground water reservoirs and tubewells. Often leakages in the supply lines as a result of tampering, mostly by migrant labourers, results in a low pressure,’’ said an official of the department.

Chrysanthemums bloom in their colourful best
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 10 — The Sector 33 Terraced Garden is all spruced up for the 13th annual Chrysanthemum Show which will be formally inaugurated by the Administrator of Chandigarh, Lieut-Gen J.F.R Jacob (retd).

Hundreds of chrysanthemums (guldaudis) in their colourful best blooms have been displayed. More than 10,000 chrysanthemums have been displayed or entered in various competitions held as part of the show.

While finishing touches were being given to arrangements at the garden, a team of judges was judging the collections entered in various competitions. Virinder Sharma of Panchkula was in the limelight as he bagged 10 first prizes, six second prizes and five third prizes.

Mrs Georgina Roy of St. Xavier's School, Mr Raj Kumar of SAS Nagar, Mr Vijay Kumar of Rail Vihar, Ambala cantonment, Mrs S.D. Singh of Sector 9 A and Mr Shangu Ram of IMT Colony were among the other major individual prize winners.

In the institutions category, the Chandigarh Housing Board dominated the competitions as it walked away with seven first prizes, three second prizes and five third prizes. The board was followed by the Sector 39 Institute of Microbial technology, Hotel Mountview of CITCO, HUDA, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, Mums and Dahlias and Sandha Enterprises.

The garden wore a festive look as the musical fountains were being repaired and put in order. The lights and sound system, too, was being decked up for the two-day festival.

The garden, which is perhaps one of the best maintained gardens in the city, has well-trimmed lawns, a good bloom of marigolds and other seasonal flowers. The executive Engineer, Mr Raghbir Singh, and Subdivisional Engineer, Mr Arun Kumar, were supervising the arrangement of flowers for display.

While one half of the garden has been kept for competitions, the other half has been used by the Horticulture Wing of the Engineering Department of the Municipal Corporation for a beautiful display of chrysanthemums. The varieties displayed include incurved chrysanthemums, reflexed chrysanthemums, spider chrysanthemums, anemone chrysanthemums, Korean single and Korean double chrysanthemums, pompon chrysanthemums, button chrysanthemums and spoon chrysanthemums. In fact, the variety displayed is so large and so colourful that one does not find a colour or size of flower missing from the show.

Besides, there is a big display of photographic blow-ups of various varieties of chrysanthemums near the entrance to the garden. While the opening ceremony will be a solemn affair, some cultural items will be organised during the remaining time of the festival.

Luxury package tour on Kalka-Shimla rail line
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 10 — To exploit tourism potential in Himachal Pradesh, the Railways will tonight start a special package luxury tour with the upper-class tourist traveller in mind. This will include special coaches, besides top class hotel accommodation and other facilities.

The Kalka — Shimla narrow gauge railway line, built by the British almost 100 years ago, will be put to use for the purpose.

A special coach, run on the lines of other luxury trains on the tourist circuit, will be starting from the Old Delhi railway station tonight. Tomorrow morning at Kalka, passengers on this special coach will be transported to Shimla on the narrow gauge section. With early snow in Shimla, railway officials are expecting a big rush. Two trial runs in November were a big success.

The special coach will be attached with the Kalka mail and will have sleeping capacity for 30 passengers. At Kalka, the first-class passengers will be taken by rail car to Shimla, while those travelling in AC II class will be ferried on the super fast Shivalik Deluxe express. The cost of the tickets — approximately Rs 7000 for AC I class and Rs 5,700 for AC II class travel — will cover everything from accommodation to sight seeing and meals.

The cost of tickets for children will be Rs 3,700 for AC I class and Rs 3,050 for AC II class. Booking can be made on the countrywide computer network. The journey from Delhi to Shimla and back will be taken care of by the Railways, while sight seeing of nearby resorts like Naldhera, Chail and Narkanda will be handled by the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department. Travel by road will be on luxury buses.

Each week the trip will start on Friday night with tourists boarding the Kalka Mail from the Old Delhi railway station. The travellers will return to Delhi on Wednesday morning. But boarding will be allowed only at Delhi. The five-night package includes night stay in Chail and Narkanda. Both hill stations are about 3 hours journey by road from Shimla.

Sources in the Ambala railway division, who are part of the planning team, said the idea was to have a package tour that would come with everything paid with the ticket itself. Thus, the passenger only buys a train ticket and is assured of all facilities as is the concept of other luxury trains in the country.

Music is state of mind: Wattal
By Sonoo Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 10 — He is called a star-maker, a wonder-boy and a music industry in himself, who has discovered and re-discovered a whole range of now-highly-popular artistes — Daler Mehndi, Bhupi,Baba Sehgal, Hans Raj Hans, Bobby Cash, Sanjay Raina, Hema Sardesai, Ali Haider, Poornima and now Shanker Sahney. Music composer Jawahar Wattal, who insists that his claim to fame has been putting the music of North India on the map of India, was in the city today to launch his “newest find”, Shanker Sahney said: “For me music means a state of mind, and I have been able to empathise with the sensibilities of the common man”.

Listing his secret formulae for success, a handsome and a very confident Wattal said: “Successful music today is like instant coffee. But I believe that there needs to be something which lingers with you, when you hear any piece of music. That is why I don’t do quick music, but albums which take something like six months or more to produce”.

This Delhi boy, who started off as a youngster deeply interested in music did his masters in Business Administration from Delhi itself. He struck big when he first composed the in-house flight music for the Indian Airlines in 1984. Then came about 3000 jingles, “countless” scores of plays and tele-serials like ‘Fauji’, ‘Sanjah Chulha’, ‘Himalaya darshan’ and ‘Quizmaster’.

And the big break? “That was in 1989, when I met Baba Sehgal, and technically cut the first album— ‘Dilruba’, with him”.

When asked about his penchant for discovering and working with new artists he remarked: “My job is to create music, and all I like doing is promoting new talent in this industry. Because, for me, a new artist is like an empty frame, which I can colour the way I want to”. About his much-talked about relationship with Daler Mehndi he said: “There has never been a fall between us. We have a professional relationship and that’s about it”.

After the creation of so many stars, working with the doyens of the Indian music industry like Shubha Mudgal and Ustad Shujaat Khan, and also the 1998 Channel V Best Music Composer of the Year Award, what next? “The logical end to my work in this millennium would be to work with an international star or to take the Indian music to the West. I would like to take the Laawani, or the bhangra to the West now”.

The dreamer that he calls himself, this star-composer said that his all-time dream would be to work with either Lata Mangeshkar or Asha Bhonsle, “who have become awards in themselves in the Indian music industry”.

On his newest find, Sahney, he said: “He would be the next singer to watch out. The singing sensation of the milennium”.

But why the launch in the City Beautiful? “Daler Mehndi was launched for the first time in this city. So this to-be star of the next century obviously had to be launched in the same place. Sounds logical enough to me!”.