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All set for Ramlila in city CHANDIGARH, Sept 26 — More than 50 colourful pandals and Ramlila stages are being set up in the city for the 10-day performance to narrate the story of the Ramayana. Ramlila starts on Thursday with the birth of Lord Rama, followed by the slaying of Ravana on Dasehra and culminating in the raj tilak of Lord Rama on the 10th day. As the city gears up for Dasehra and Divali, religious fervor is fast catching up with the city residents who are looking forward to all the celebrations, including the late-night Ramlila where everyone in the neighborhood gathers and enjoys this highly entertaining version of the story of Lord Rama. "Our aim is to create newer scenes each year so that everyone who has seen Ramlila earlier enjoys it. Although the story remains the same, it is the presentation of a particular incident or act which is to be done differently," says Mr S.C. Saxena, Treasurer of the Ordnance Cable Factory (OCF) Sanskritic Manch. The OCF Sanskritik Manch has been organising Ramlila for more than 30 years now and its revolving stage has become an attractive feature for the audience. "We constructed this circular revolving stage in 1984 and on this we enact four different scenes one after the other so it almost seems like a film, the continuity is unbroken." says Kulwant Singh, an employee of the OCF and designer of the stage. Some sectors will have Ramlila at more than one place. Sector 22 will have Ramlila at Nehru Park organised by the Chandigarh Ramlila Committee and another by the Garhwal Sanskritik Mandal. "We have some very entertaining features as fillers when the scene changes. We have skits, patriotic songs but nothing vulgar." says Amit, working to reset the pandal which they had set last night but had got washed away due to rain. "Our unique feature is a magic act with which during the Shiv vardan act the Chandrahans sword will be placed in the arm of Lord Rama,"says Pradeep, a professional magician, who has been with this group for 34 years. "Since camera effects have been used in Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan on TV, people who come to watch Ramlila here expect some form of visual special effects and we are all prepared to cater to that," says Sanjeev Sharma. "We intend to use computers for these effects on the stage next year," adds Ranjeet. And how does it feel to play the Lord Rama? "I have been playing this role for the past six years and now I don't even have to rehearse much now. People call me Ramji and it feels good to be known with so much respect," says Vicky Sharma. Artisans from UP have arrived at some of these sites to start the process of making effigies of Ravana, Meghnada and Kumbhkarna. At the organisational level various Ramlila organising committees have been clearing the open spaces and making arrangements for water tankers, seating and other facilities. Meanwhile, the police has chalked out an elaborate plan to ensure the safety of the visitors to Ramlila. As many as six DSPs, 18
inspectors 25 non-gazetted officers and 212 constable and head constables will be on the special duty to prevent any untoward incident. The police on Ramlila duties was briefed by the SP (City), Mr Baldev Singh. In addition to this, it was also decided to ask the organisers to make proper arrangements for seating people, lighting, and placing of sandbags to prevent any fire mishaps, besides making adequate arrangements for parking of vehicles at a distance. Besides, special teams will be constituted to keep watch on the anti-social elements after the dispersal of the Ramlila shows at midnight each day. |
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Heartbreak at Sydney CHANDIGARH, The gradual progress of the team at Sydney was followed with keen interest by hockey enthusiasts back home. For once hockey was the talking point at gatherings. Umpteen telephone calls received at newspaper offices from people about the match timing reflected the general interest of the public. The present team, which was a blend of youth and experience, had trained hard for the Olympics. The coaching camp at Bangalore, expert tips from specialists and the untiring efforts of Baskaran did show positive results at Sydney. But today was not India’s day as Dhanraj Pillay, Baljit Dhillon, Saini, Mukesh, Riaz and others struggled in the face of adversities to overcome the stubborn Polish resistance. The continous rainfall added to the Indians’ misery but what really put paid to the team’s hopes was the absence of Mukesh, who was given marching orders towards the fag end. When defender Dilip Tirkey put India ahead with a brilliant effort in the 53rd minute, many an Indian home witnessed delirious scenes. People sitting glued to TV sets here and elsewhere were all set to celebrate India’s entry into the semifinals when Poland’s Tomasz Choczaj dealt the fatal blow with hardly two minutes remaining for the match to end. Like countless Indian homes, silence was all pervasive in my drawing room, which only a few minutes earlier witnessed cries of jubilation following Tirkey’s feat.On learning that India were out of contention, my school-going son studying in class two went and wept quietly in a corner. As did the Indian skipper Ramandeep, Dhanraj Pillay and others at Sydney. A heartbreak indeed after raised hopes. |
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Cable services remain
disrupted CHANDIGARH It was a day of endless tries with the TV remote controls for the viewers to get picture on the screen. With the Sydney Olympics in progress the worst affected were the sports lovers who wanted to watch the India-Poland hockey match, besides other sporting events. People wondered whether the cable operators were on strike in support of their Delhi counterparts who had gone on strike since last midnight to protest against the “lop-sided” amendments to the Cable Act. However, according to sources in the Siti Cable, through which most of the city and its nearby towns get the satellite channels, at least 10 of their amplifiers which pass on the signal had got damaged with the result that cable services to several areas were disrupted. The areas affected, according to the sources, included Sectors 20,29,30, Hallo Majra, Zirakpur and Bartana. The sources claimed that the technical staff was on the job and snag would be rectified soon. However, the Managing Director of Siti Cable, Mr Sandeep Bansal, could not be contacted for his comments. Meanwhile, a resident of Sector 29, Mr Gurinder Singh, speaking to Chandigarh Tribune over the phone came down heavily on the crisis management of Siti Cable. “When we pay through our nose to the cable operators it was our right to get quality service. The “blackout” during the biggest sport extravaganza in the world smacked of their indifferent attitude towards the quality telecast”, he said. |
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Tourism potential of city untapped CHANDIGARH Past year, the city received 4,36,350 domestic and 11,478 international tourists. The figures of the past five years reveal that the number of tourists visiting the city is increasing. However, on the World Tourism Day, it will be safe to admit that the city does not attract enough tourists. Experts say that tourism is a much misunderstood word that is mixed up with “junky, chunky, razzle dazzle”. The city, despite its tremendous tourism potential, continues to be treated as a transit point. Tourism is much more than this. The average room occupancy in big hotels, including Shivalikview and Mountview, reveal than about 65 per cent of the hotel clients in the city belong to the business tourist category. About 15 per cent of the tourists are institutional travellers and only about 10 per cent are conventional tourists. Officials of the Department of Tourism admit that there have been shortcomings in planning due to poor visualisation in the past. A major obstacle in the development of tourism in the city is that tourists do not have a direct exposure to information of their interest. To remove this obstacle, the Department of Tourism is making ambitious plans. “Various projects and tourism promotional schemes for the city are in the pipeline,” says Mr Ashok Sangwan, Director Tourism. “We are trying to bridge the gap in tourist information by collaborating with the Union Department of Tourism,” he says. Dr Gulshan Sharma, Director of the ITFT, says that the tourism potential of Rock Garden has not been encashed properly. “Studies reveal that light-and-sound programmes always generate a good revenue. Such programmes can be introduced in Rock Garden and Leisure Valley,” he says. Tourism is classified into five categories — heritage, sport, adventure, business and leisure. Dr Sharma says that the city has enough potential to qualify as a lucrative destination for tourist of each category. “The only problem is that these characteristics of the city have not been showcased properly for the world.” Mr Uttam Dave, an expert of the hotel, tourism and leisure industry, says, “Chandigarh, besides being an architectural wonder, is also a gateway to the hills. The city can be a major tourist attraction with its facilities. It lacks only in places for amusement. Considering the spending power of the people in and around the area, by now,
someone should have thought of building a big theme park.” Mr Manmohan Singh, President of the Tourism Promotional Society of Chandigarh, says, “In the name of entertainment, we only have a couple of discotheques and restaurants. Chandigarh has a conventional soul in a modern body. Therefore, anything that is introduced here is judged within the framework of traditional values. Visitors who expect the city to be cosmopolitan are often disappointed.” He says that the city needs to represent its cultural and social ways of entertainment that it has borrowed from its neighbouring areas, showcased with neat presentation. “A disco culture may not be acceptable to the city, but it can be projected as a city of theaters. The city has the advantage of being close to the national capital, which should be tapped.” Experts also say that the Administration should realise the city’s potential for weekend tourism. Sport facilities, adventure tours or even the gardens here have not been fully exploited. All over the world, cities are being promoted on the basis of minor attractions. The clue is to tap the potential of the city without compromising on its values. Dr Gulshan Sharma says that the city has tremendous potential for tapping business tourism. “We need to build up infrastructure with trained human resources and adopt a pragmatic approach. An integrated tourism development programme in collaboration with the neighbouring states should be developed.” The city, with its green belts, can easily become an ideal centre for holding conferences and conventions. “Cities like Cannes and Vienna, that have a similar per capita income and population compared to Chandigarh, are doing better than the city in terms of earning revenue from tourism.” With most business houses opening their branches in the city, Chandigarh can become an important business tourism destination. It can even become a green city, a city of gardens or an adventure-sport
centre.
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Poor connectivity to surrounding towns CHANDIGARH, Sept 26 — Try dialling a telephone number to Ropar, Shimla, Ambala, Kalka, Rajpura, Solan, Baddi, Barotiwala, or other towns located within a 50-km radius of Chandigarh. Even going by official estimates, chances of your failing to get connected are as high as 70 per cent. Some subscribers allege that it sometimes takes several hours and numerous attempts to reach places like Ropar, Kurali, Morinda, Solan, Nalagarh, Barwala, Rajpura, Kalka or Raipur Rani, whereas it is much easier to reach bigger cities like Shimla or Ambala. Industrial units in Baddi, Barotiwala, Lalru and Dera Bassi have their offices in Chandigarh or their senior officials live here, so the calling rate between these towns and Chandigarh, Panchkula and SAS Nagar is very high. Circuits which route calls between Chandigarh and these towns are much less in number than required. When call traffic peaks, the circuits get congested, resulting in a poor connectivity. From Chandigarh, Panchkula and SAS Nagar, callers dial telephone numbers within a 50-km radius by either prefixing ‘’ 90 ‘’ or ‘’ 92’’ to the STD code of that station. These calls are treated as local calls and can be placed from any local phone. Mr Rakesh Kapoor, General Manager Telecom ( presently officiating as Principal General Manager Telecom), says: ‘‘The media to route the calls are being upgraded and augmented. The department has full knowledge of the problem and work is being carried out”. He admitted that augmentation between 70 per cent and 200 per cent of the existing capacity was required to meet the needs of growing telecom traffic originating within a radius of 50-km of Chandigarh. More capacities are being added for cities located further away, he added. On the other hand, sources said that in the past six months the call traffic, which includes Internet and mobile telephone traffic, has gone up drastically while the number of circuits remains the same. Meanwhile in a separate incident today, service to more than three thousand phones connected onto the Sector 34 exchange and installed in various sectors in the city was disrupted. Upon lifting the handset subscribers could hear ‘‘Sorry for the interruption, only emergency services are available’’.  |
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City Beautiful: a potential tourist spot? CHANDIGARH Chandigarh Tribune on Tuesday spoke to city residents and asked them whether the city had the potential to emerge as an ideal tourist destination in India. Most of them are surprised as to why should a tourist opt for Chandigarh at all? It does not have the open beaches of Goa, heritage of Rajasthan or snow-clad mountains of Manali. What it does have are excellent educational and sports infrastructure, architectural and landscape beauty. They say that flow of tourists could be increased by cashing in on these. “A novel idea to attract national and international tourists is to promote Chandigarh as a centre of academic learning and vocational training”, says Dr B.S. Ghuman, lecturer, Department of Public Administration, Panjab University. During the summer vacation, he says, the university, colleges and institutes can easily start short-term courses, both for the young and the elderly, on the lines of Oxford. During the summer, the whole town turns into a language and cultural centre in teaching English and is invaded by students from all over the world to learn English. Even Nek Chand’s Rock Garden and Vijay Pal Goel’s Kala Sagar are ideal spots to organise workshops on how to use broken chinaware, glass bangles and utilising waste aesthetically. Mr M.L.Vairagi, Assistant Director, Yoga, of the Sports Department, Haryana, says, “In order to attract tourists there is a need to set up meditation centres in the forests beyond the lake or at the Leisure Valley”. These centres will serve to attract an untouched segment of tourists — those in the age group of 50 to 60, who want to relax. Presently such centres are proving quite popular in Rishikesh. Mr Rakesh Mohindra, Secretary, Chandigarh Amateur Cycling Association, says: “The city has enough potential to attract adventure lovers”. Sukhna lake can offer an ideal locale for water sports, including canoeing and kayaking. It can play host to any international championship like the Asian Rowing Championship to be held in December. The Shivalik hills that form the city’s backdrop, can attract a lot of adventure tourists. Mr Nirwan Kumar, who was the second General Manager of Hotel Mountview (then called Government Officers Hostel), believes, “The city has the potential to be promoted as a convention centre in the northern region to ease pressure on Delhi. Why not construct a large auditorium with a capacity of 1,000 persons equipped with modern communications and translation facilities?” Even huge tracts of land can easily be converted into world class exhibition and trade fair complexes as is done in certain German cities. He rues the monopoly of the administration over the tourism industry. Mr Narinder Singh ‘International’, a Punjab state awardee, believes, “The administration should capitalise on event tourism”. He says the camping ground near the lake, which is presently ‘occupied’ by the CRPF, should be vacated as it is an ideal spot for tourists, especially painters and photographers, who want to capture the rising and the setting sun. He feels, as do many of us, that a boom in the tourism sector here is something that is just waiting to happen. |
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Italian cuisine at Foodcraft Institute CHANDIGARH The two-day festival, held on the occasion of World Tourism Day tomorrow, was inaugurated by Mr Vivek Atrey, Director, Public Relations, Hospitality and Technology. The demonstrations on cold desserts were conducted by the bakery and confectionery chef, Mr Mohammad Shahid Hussain, and Ms V.M. Kempulakshmi. The afternoon session on Italian cuisine was conducted by Mr Jitinder Thakur and Mrs Shashi Bhatia. The sessions concluded with an open quiz with prizes sponsored by the Tourism Promotional Society of Chandigarh. Tomorrow’s session includes a quiz on tourism, besides a special feature, ‘globe trotter’s’, which will feature international cuisine from eight countries. |
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Dharna by rehriwalas CHANDIGARH The rehri-phari owners holding placards gathered outside the MCC office and raised slogans against the Chandigarh Administration and the MCC authorities Their rehris-pharis were removed by the authorities on September 21. The members alleged that the authorities removed their establishments without giving prior notice. They demanded that an inquiry against the officials who removed their establishment. The agitators demanded they should be allowed to do business again. |
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150 donate blood SAS NAGAR The camp, which was sponsored by the State Bank of India, was inaugurated by Dr B.C. Gupta, Secretary, Department of Labour and Employment, Punjab. The other bodies involved in the organisation of the camp, which was conducted by a PGI blood bank team led by Dr Anuradha Kalra, were the Innerwheel Club and the Rotaract Club. The camp attracted, besides others, donors from Guru Nanak VBT Polytechnic, the Consumer Awareness Group, the Phase VII Industrial Area branch of the State Bank of India, Dharamgarh village and the Diplast factory. The Rotary Club gave a certificate and the Bank of Punjab a timepiece to each donor. Refreshments were served by the Innerwheel Club. |
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CORPORATION
BEAT CHANDIGARH At a meeting here, the committee, fixed the minimum sum for bidders. While the amount for bidders for the taxi stand up to an acre of 2,000 square feet will be Rs 5,000, for bidders bidding for taxi stands having an area over 2,000 square feet, minimum of Rs 7,500 quoted. It may be recalled that the House of the corporation had decided to levy charges on taxi stands. Later, it was decided to auction them. Both decisions had come in for criticism by the Chandigarh Taxi Operators Union, which had dubbed the charges as “too heavy” and demanded that the charges be at par with those of the other states. Through another important decision, the committee finalised the terms and conditions for the auction of the Circus Ground, Sector 17, the Nehru Park, Sector 22, and the Exhibition Ground, Sector 34, for the Divali mela. The three sites shall be auctioned on a chunk basis for setting up temporary stalls for 10 days starting October 17. However, permission for setting up stalls in the Sector 17 Plaza will be given for three days only from October 24. The auction will be held on October 3. The committee also gave its nod for purchase of 190 garbage containers. Besides this, fabrication of dumping places was also given a go ahead. Similarly, the panel also okayed the auction of some machinery of the Public Health and electrical wings. The panel also approved the payment of Rs 12.76 lakh the Chandigarh police personnel on deputation with the corporation. Members wanted the IT policy to be tabled before the committee, before the corporation gave its nod to the free ‘right of way’ for laying optical fibre cables in the city. |
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DC fails to turn up MULLANPUR-GARIBDAS The otherwise dirty streets of the village were specially cleaned up today to welcome Mr Gurwinder Singh Grewal, DC. Girls of the local school were to perform at the function. Villagers had reached the venue to listen to the DC. Many of them had come to hand over their grievances to him. The news that he would not be coming disappointed all those who were present there. The DC was not available for comments. All
preparations had been made to inaugurate the centre and the villagers did not want their labour to go waste. So on their request the sarpanch, Mr Diwan Singh, did the job. |
Man assaulted and injured CHANDIGARH , Sept 26 — A resident of Pipliwala town in Mani Majra was injured when he was assaulted by certain unidentified persons in early this morning.In a complaint to the police, Mr Sunil Kumar alleged that around 1.30 a.m. he was woken up by someone in black uniform with yellow patka. About five to six persons were also standing in the street and one of them told him that they wanted to search the house. They did not allow him to move out and one of them snatched his gold chain weighing about 10 gm. When he tried to run outside, they assaulted him with sticks and caused injuries on his head and arm. They ran towards the railway line. Later it was found that they had also taken away Rs 1,800 from the almirah. He claimed that he and his wife could identify the culprits. He was rushed to the Primary Health Centre, Mani Majra, for treatment. A case under Section 397 of the IPC has been registered. Rickshaw thief held Crushed to death A case under Sections 279, 337 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered. Jewellery stolen A case under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC has been registered. Four arrested A case under Sections 13, 3 and 67 of the Gambling Act has been registered. Theft
reported Whisky seized Assault case The police has registered a case under Section 325 of the IPC. SAS NAGAR Chain snatching cases Earlier the Chandigarh police had recovered gold chains and cash worth Rs 1 lakh from them. Sukhdev Kaur, mother of Raghbir, had also been arrested for being involved in disposing of the chains snatched by the duo. The booty was used the duo to play billiards and on other leisurely activities. |
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One hurt in
mishap CHANDIGARH, Sept 26 — A person was admitted to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, after he was injured in an accident involving two trucks near Banur on the Zirakpur-Rajpura highway late in the evening today. The exact number of casualties were not known. According to sources, the injured has been identified as Paramjit Singh. The victim, the sources added, might be suffering from internal injuries and was being kept under observation. He was brought to the hospital by a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police. Efforts to get details regarding the accident proved futile as no one was answering the phone at the Zirakpur police station despite repeated attempts. The sources added that the telephone had been disconnected due to non-payment of bill. |
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ESIC amnesty plan date extended CHANDIGARH, Sept 26 — The amnesty scheme for the withdrawal of prosecution cases against defaulting employers has been extended up to February 28 next year, Mr B.C. Bhardwaj, Regional Director, Employees State Insurance Corporation, (ESIC)said in a statement here. The scheme would be available also to those who had availed the amnesty benefit during 1992-93. Even those employers against whom prosecution cases U/S 85(A) had been filed could avail the benefit under the Scheme. The scheme would also be available to those employers against whom non-payment of contribution had been assessed on an ad hoc basis if they deposited the contribution as per their records and produce the relevant records for inspection. |
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