Revive advisory, sector panels: Vineeta
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 30 — Equitable administration, activation of various advisory and sector committees, check on growth of encroachments, land for genuine cooperative house building societies and provision of footpaths appear high on the priority list of Ms Vineeta Rai, Adviser to the Administrator of Chandigarh.

Talking to The Tribune 40 days after she assumed charge of her new assignment here, Ms Rai says for a responsive administration, involvement of people is necessary.

“All the advisory committees and sector committees need to be revived and activated. For maintaining the separate identity and special status of this city, involvement of people at all levels is essential. Ever since I came here, lots of people come and meet me. I have extended my public hours to almost the whole day.

“And when people come, they talk about various issues and problems. Some of them come with information on new encroachments, while a few others will tell about streetlights still on at 7 a.m. I admire the civic sense of some of the people who come and meet me. Their concern for the city and its upkeep is laudable,” she says.

“Chandigarh,” she says,” has been essentially a city of government employees. You have people who held key positions and settled here after retirement. Then you have more than 80,000 students and nearly 2 lakh who live in authorised and unauthorised colonies. So it is a heterogeneous city. Being a planned city, certain parameters are to be followed to maintain the special character of the city. Squatting with impunity is a major problem.

“I agree that there is need to be better coordination not only at the top but at every level of the administration. For example, coordination is required between the Housing Board and the Estate Office to check violations of building bylaws and encroachments.

“Because of encroachments, certain important projects have been delayed. For example, work on Primary Health Centre for Government Medical College and Hospital is held up because of 267 unauthorised jhuggis at the site. The work on the third alternate route to Panchkula from Chandigarh is held up because of similar obstacles. In case of the second route between Panchkula and Chandigarh, the road has to pass through forest area, for which permission from the Union Forests and Environment Ministry is required.

“Yesterday I had a preliminary meeting on encroachments. After I came here, there has been one anti-encroachment operation in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Colony, Phase II, where more than 200 jhuggis had come up. Ninety per cent of these were not inhabited,” Ms Rai says.

She agrees that there has to be a firm policy on rehabilitation so that the antecedents of those rehabilitated are verified before allotment. “In fact, there is a need for a coordinated effort between Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh for regional urban planning and development. I have held meetings with the Chief Secretaries of Punjab and Haryana. They have been very open and responsive.

“In the wake of growth in the periphery of the city, the pressure on services in the city is bound to increase. Those working in industrial units within the 16 km periphery are naturally dependent upon health and medicare facilities available in the city. The PGI has more than 1,800 beds. The GMCH has 250 beds and 250 more are to be added. Similarly, the pressure on housing and other services will go up. Even if the labour to be employed for developing a new town is to be accommodated here, it will be a major problem. The states must cooperate in coordinated urban growth and planning and develop requisite infrastructure so as to minimise dependence upon Chandigarh.

“I also feel that housing is one area where some decision must be made. There are 63 cooperative house building societies awaiting allotment of land. They need about 240 acres. To meet other requirements of basic services, open spaces, roads, schools, the total requirement of land may work out to be around 400 acres. I have been meeting representatives of cooperative societies. I personally feel that all such genuine cooperative societies must be allotted land. We are going to take a decision in this regard very soon,” Ms Rai says.

The Adviser feels that Chandigarh has a very large population of students. But little is being done for this segment of population.

Talking about the fourth phase of Water Supply Augmentation Scheme, Ms Rai says the earlier proposal to bring in 20 mgd of water from Bhakra mainline stands approved. The Ministry of Urban Development has marked several queries to the revised proposal for expanding the scope of the fourth phase to 60 mgd. “We are going to take it up with the Department of Urban development,” she says.

Another area that needs immediate attention is welfare of pedestrians. “I do not find any zebra crossings to facilitate movement of pedestrians. The city must have a good network of footpaths and pedestrian ways. Since I am new to the city, I do not know much about public transport system here. But the figures are amazing — 4 lakh vehicles in Chandigarh! A city like this should be a pedestrian’s paradise and not a nightmare.”

She maintains that the Administration will make an endeavour to strengthen and maintain existing network of civic amenities. “We will soon have complaint cells so that people can go and lodge their complaints about various problems they face. The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is also contemplating to set up 10 complaint centres.

“The corporation must do something to generate some revenue on its own. Property tax, for example, should be introduced. How long will the Corporation continue to survive on grant-in-aid? Whatever revenue it will generate will be ploughed back into development works,” Ms Rai adds.

Talking about the administration, Ms Rai is hopeful that appointments of new Chairperson of the Chandigarh Housing Board, Finance Secretary and the Commissioner of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation will come through within the next fortnight. Once these appointments are made, panels of names would be sent for appointment of Chief Vigilance Officer and Chief Electoral Officer of Chandigarh. These appointments are to be made by the Central Vigilance Commission and the Election Commission.

The new Inspector-General of Police, Mr S.K. Singh, is also expected to join on June 1. “I will soon have a complete new look team,” she discloses, saying that a decision about the appointment of Director of Health Services will be taken next week.

Problem of low water pressure
From Our Correspondent

MUBARIKPUR, May 30 — The problem of low water pressure in various villages in Dera Bassi subdivision is becoming acute with the continuous rise in the temperature for the past three days. Due to the low water pressure in the villages, including Mubarikpur, Meerpur and Haibatpur, the residents have to face numerous water-related problems.

The residents of Mubarikpur, Meerpur and Haibatpur are getting water supply from a tank filled with water from two tubewells.

The leakage of water from the main pipe carrying water to the tank has forced the residents to store water for their domestic needs.

The choking water tank in Mubarikpur village has compounded the problem as the low water level in the tank fails to maintain the pressure to meet the water requirements on the first and second storeys of various houses in the area.

The residents allege that the main pipe of the tubewell, near the Ghaggar, has been leaking for the past two years and the shed over the tubewell is in a state of negligence.

Mr Ramesh Gupta, former Chairman, Market Committee, Dera Bassi, said that villagers had dug three to four feet deep underground water tanks to meet the water shortage. The water level of various wells in the area had also declined.

The residents say that a steep rise in the population of the area over the past five years has affected the water supply. A delegation of the residents met the authorities concerned but no action has been taken to improve the situation so far, they allege. Keeping the population rise in view the government should sink more tubewells to meet the water shortage, they demand.

Mr G.S.Ghai, Executive Engineer, Public Health, when contacted, said that the Subdivisional Officer had been directed to take immediate action regarding the water leakage.

Roundabouts a hub of activity
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 30 — residents within close proximity to roundabouts throng them late in the evening. Their activities attract the attention of passers-by and are quite interesting.

After dinner, they saunter down the road to share light moments and issues that weigh heavy on their minds. They share jokes and relax for some time.

"We come to the roundabout with our neighbours every evening to exchange the day's happenings. Visiting homes of friends gets monotonous after a while. However, there is something new the roundabouts have to offer everyday, whether new faces or new passers-by," says Mr Sandeep Sharma, an accountant with Estate Office. He is accompanied by his wife and neighbours.

Mr Randhir Malhotra, a businessman, along with his wife, says they come to the roundabout to have fun. "Ours is a joint family and we have very little time to ourselves. Coming to the roundabout gives us an opportunity to be together. Moreover, people from all walks of life and all ages lend charm to the surroundings," Mrs Sushma Malhotra says.

A teenager, Rahul Agnihotri, comes to the roundabout with his friends because "it is public property and I happen to be the public. I am taking only what is due, nothing more, nothing less''. His friends — Vipul, Sunny and Jassi — agree with him.

In this cross-section of humanity, children are an integral part and most of them are accompanied by their parents. Seven-year-old Shweta Bali says, "I have made many new friends near my house, since quite a few of these children come from my sector. Earlier, the evenings held very little charm, since all I could do was to play all by myself. Now we meet early in the evening and then at this roundabout. We discuss school, our pranks and the punishments we get for them, away from the sharp ears of our parents.''

Her friend, Chitleen Mukherjee, adds that there is precious little their parents can do when "little children have mischief up their sleeve and get together to work out a strategy to get their way with their parents". Other children nod their heads in approval.

Mr Chaman Lal, who comes with his wife and two daughters, says, "This kaleidoscope of humanity is a learning experience for all of us. We are not hesitant to chat with the other families that are around and go home wiser than before and richer with new friends.''

Quite a few of them come to escape from the cramped houses which leave very little space for fresh air to come in. They opine that living in small flats does not permit a garden at home and they come to the roundabouts to be in the midst of greenery and for a feel of the lawns they are deprived of.

During the day these roundabouts are a riot of colour. At night they are transformed into pleasure grounds for people of all ages.

No road to vet dispensary
From Our Correspondent

MULLANPUR-GARIBDASS, May 30 — The veterinary dispensary here is crying for an approach road.The only veterinary hospital in the area, it caters to more than half a dozen villages.

But it lacks basic facilities, the primary one being non-availability of a power connection in the building. The electricity was provided here initially but later it was disconnected as it was kundi connection.

Sources in the local dispensary revealed that even though the Electricity Department has cut the power line, the dispensary staff had managed to get the kundi connection. In the absence of proper supply, it becomes difficult to maintain such facilities as refrigerators and boiling equipment.

Mr Hardev Singh, a local resident, complained that on several occasions the doctor is not available and they have to rush animals to Kharar for treatment. Another resident said that several times even injections are not available with the dispensary staff.

Another problem highlighted by the public is the absence of an approach road to the dispensary. A dispensary employee said that they had to break a portion of the boundary wall of the building to make way in the view of the rains.

Mr Jasdev Singh, a resident of Ratwara village, added that it becomes extremely difficult for them to carry their cattle to the dispensary in the rains.

Visitors from different villages rued lack of any provision of facility of drinking water in the premises. Sources in the dispensary staff further revealed that even they are deprived of the water facility as the water supply remains only before their arrival to the dispensary.

A costume house
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, May 30 — One roof under which one would be able to locate everything from dinosaurs to elephants, to centipedes, to Donald Duck, to Adam and Eve, to robots, to Shaktimaan and to apples and strawberries and pansies and even Roman sandals, parrot noses, hand-cuffs and jewellery, would obviously be nothing less than a warehouse of exciting experience. And all these are costumes for theatre, films, school functions and private birthday parties which are housed by the husband and wife duo of Surinder and Roopa Sood who have stored around 25,000 such items in their house in Sector 18 in Panchkula.

Surinder Sood, a known theatre personality of the region, who has been seen in productions like J S Likhari’s “Curfew” and “Footpath” and has also directed “Aashad Ka Ek Din”, “Raja ka Baja” and “Panchi Aise Aate Hain”, including a serial for Delhi Doordarshan “Maanas Ki Jaat”. Surinder also covered Holla Mohalla for Star Plus for Mallika Sarabhai’s programme “Arts Update” last year. An advocate by profession, this theatre lover, who met his wife, Roopa, on the sets of a stage play, did try out various ventures before finally setting up a costume design and rental enterprise around eight years back.

Roopa, who designs most of the costumes, while talking to the TNS team around her house, a whole storey of which seems like an emporium of various colourful costumes, said, “We started designing costumes and keeping them in one bed-box. And today we even have our own laundry, our own set of workers and now even have rented the next-door house to store our dresses”.

The journey around the ‘costume house’ is like more of a fantasy-round where glittering jewellery teamed with ghagaras and lenghas, beckoning colourful masks of chimpanzees and ducks, worth-a-try different kinds of turbans and caps can be seen all round. The floor where the costumes are kept has different sections for animal dresses, different for rhyme characters which has delightfully imaginative costumes for apple, ball, cat and the like, and a section that houses only insects like the house-fly and the honey-bee.

“During the time when the Hollywood film “Dunston Checks In” became a rage here, many kids came to us with their parents demanding Dunston look-alike masks and costumes for them. These days a lot of kids ask us to create Shaktimaan costumes. For some stage productions we have even designed and created costumes for green-chillies, spoons and would you believe it even a pizza!”, said Roopa laughingly. Her 18-year old daughter, Shweta, a student of B.Sc in Panjab University, who conducts dancing classes for kids and seems to take keen interest in her parents’ extraordinary venture, said, “I keep on thinking whether there is anything that we would not be able to create. We have even been able to create costumes for atoms and cells on demand. Sometimes when kids come to us for renting or even busying certain costumes, I even tell them dialogues to go with their costumes”.

The recent production of dramatist Dr Atamjeet Singh, “Main Ghhah Hain” had seen the Soods doing the stage sets and lighting, giving the solo-performance of Sangeeta Gupta a wholesome appearance by creating huge dolls, resembling human figures up on the stage.

The intriguing journey of the “costume house” seemed complete when Roopa showed around fairy-wands and magic boxes used by magicians on the stage and then a row of sea-animals like penguins and oysters filling an entire room!

'Ambedkar's dream still unrealised'
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 30 — Expressing concern over the deterioration of standard of education, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker said that education system particularly in the rural areas of, the state has virtually collapsed.

Mr Atwal, was speaking at a seminar on the life and works of Dr B. R. Ambedkar, organised by the All-India Depressed Classes Welfare Association at Punjab Bhavan here today.

Mr Atwal said the level of deterioration of the education standard could be gauged from the fact that not a single aspirant with a rural background has been able to make it to the competitive examinations such as Indian Administrative Services (IAS) or the Indian Police Service (IPS) during the past 10-15 years. Without holding anyone responsible for the deplorable state of basic education, he said the main objective of the authorities and social organisations should be to strengthen the education system at the village level and this alone would go a far way in realising the dream of equality of Dr B.R. Ambedkar.

Describing Dr Ambedkar as a great personality, Mr Atwal said he strived hard to bring about a change in society and infuse a spirit of dignity among people, particularly the downtrodden and deprived ones.

Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, local Mayor, lamented that Dalits were not getting their due in the country, even as a section of them has been able to make progress in different walks of life. He said that even in a comparatively development oriented state of Punjab, where Dalits were not in such a bad position as in other states, they were being ignored. "You can judge it from the fact that though Sikhism is largely based on Dalits, no importance was given to gurdwara of Baba Jiwan Singh at Anandpur Sahib during the tercentenary celebrations organised by the Punjab Government," he added.

He said awareness was creeping in the Dalit samaj and its members had risen to top positions like that of President of India, and now their ultimate goal should be to wrest the country's top executive position of Prime Minister.

Mr Raj Kumar, former Chief Parliamentary Secretary of Haryana, said even after 50 years of independence, 85 per cent of Dalits have got nothing, which was quite opposite to the dream of Dr Ambedkar. "The biggest reason for this is that Dalit officers and intellectuals have no sense of compassion for their brethren," he said.

Mr G.D. Hans said there was no need of reservation for Dalits if equal status was granted to them in society. He pointed out that there was a big lacuna in the Indian Constitution as there was no provision for punishment to those indulging in its violation.

Prof Bhajan Kaur of Panjab University said Dr Ambedkar was not a man, but a movement, and used his entire energy for the uplift of the downtrodden. Unlike most of his contemporaries, he worked for achieving social justice and not political reforms alone. She alleged that the policy of reservation was not being implemented properly.

Mr Gurdial Singh Aarif said Dr Ambedkar's role should not be limited to his effort for the uplift of Dalits, but his ideals were relevant to all human beings. He said nothing could be achieved in the direction of equality if there was no harmony between the philosophy we propagate and our life. He said Dr Ambedkar was a zinda shahid as he kept sacrificing himself for others all through his life.

Getting number on first dial rare
From Our Correspondent

CHILLA (SAS Nagar), May 30 — Subscribers of the Manauli rural telephone exchange are finding a lot of difficulties in registering complaints as the local exchange remains closed for days together.

Residents of Chilla, Manauli, Pappri and other villages complained that their telephones remain non-functional. Both incoming and outgoing calls are affected in the area.

Mr Kuldeep Singh, a local resident, said that one has to dial several times to get the desired number.

On several occasions, the subscribers said, the tape says that certain telephone numbers are out of order though they are fully functional. Another problem is of calls from overseas being distorted.

Mr Varinder Singh, another local resident, said they have to go to Sohana or Phase XI, SAS Nagar, to make calls as their phones do not work properly.

According to a number of subscribers in the area, the maintenance and office staff come for only a few hours a day. The Sarpanch of Manauli said that most of the time the staff are hardly available at the exchange. In the absence of any worker at the local exchange, the generator set is not operated, resulting in the non-functioning of telephones.

When The Tribune team visited the Manauli telephone exchange, none of the officials was present. The exchange was locked from outside and a piece of paper was stuck in the lock. The paper was found to be a complaint regarding non-functioning of telephones at Parali village, about 10 km from the exchange.