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September 9, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Board picks up stick to check mass copying Gurgaon, September 8 While speaking to mediapersons here today, the Chairman of the board, Mr Rambir Singh, informed that the flying squad would soon be delegated with the power to give a zero mark to the student found copying in the examination. Under the existing system, the squad can recommend the case of unfair means of copying (UMC) to the board after finding that the student has indulged in copying. The process takes a long time to decide the future of the students caught copying. The power to give a zero mark to the students, caught copying by the flying squad, would act as a deterrent to the students, opined the Chairman. This power may also be given to the superintendent of the centre, added Mr Singh. The board has also decided to shortlist the examination centres in the state where the students are found indulging in copying every year. Such examination centres would be blacklisted, and thereby, they can never be made examination centres in future. Expressing apprehensions about the working of private schools, the Chairman regretted that the management of most of the private schools themselves make arrangements for mass copying for better results of their schools. The board has decided that as far as possible, examination centres would not be made in the private schools, said the board Chairman. During the last five days, the Chairman himself led a flying squad to have first- hand information about mass copying in the supplementary examinations, currently going on in the state. Narrating his experiences, Mr Rambir Singh lamented that the staff of the board, the superintendents and the supervisors and the parents of the students--all are responsible for copying in the examinations. He revealed that the staff of the board had chosen a number of examination centres where proper examinations could not be conducted. The location of these centres was such that the students came to know about the visit of the flying squad, these centres putting the existing rules at bay, said the Chairman. Mr Rambir Singh lamented that maximum copying was reported in Bhiwani district, where the board had its head office. He said it was surprising but pleasing that the results of the examinations were much better at where copying is least reported, such as Ambala and Panchkula. |
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CAMPUS SCENE New Delhi, September 8 The ABVP is busy planning out its victory procession – to be held in the university campus tomorrow – and the NSUI has returned to its drawing board to analyse where it went wrong in its election strategy. But one thing remains clear - the student community is not easily swayed by the shenanigans of glamour politics. An indepth analysis of the results would reveal the factors that went in favour of ABVP or conversely, against NSUI – voter turnout, college lobby and cadre support. As far as voter turnout is concerned, the NSUI was unfortunate with the weather gods playing havoc and ensuring that the already disillusioned voters refrain from polling. Colleges where the NSUI had a stronghold – Aurobindo, CVS and Bhagat Singh – witnessed one of the lowest voter turnouts ranging between 20-25%. Further, KMC, the college which Ragini Nayak -- NSUI’ presidential candidate – belonged to, also witnessed an unexpectedly low turnout. In the first couple of hours, KMC had witnessed the polling of only 25 votes. On the other end of the spectrum, ABVP benefited from a high voter turnout in evening colleges. Two of its candidates – A.A.Sunderdagar and Deepti Rawat – belonged to Aurobindo (evening) where the voter turnout was as high as 70%. Also, Law Center has traditionally witnessed heavy polling and this year was no different. With its presidential candidate – Nakul Bharadwaj – from Law Center, ABVP was able to cash in on the trend. The second factor that worked in favour of ABVP was the college support that they were able to mobilise. Sunderdagar (ABVP) defeated Neeranjan Rana (NSUI) for the post of vice-president by a slim margin of 505 votes. What worked against Rana was that the vice-presidential candidate of CLJ, Rishi belonged to the same college – Swami Shraddhanand, and must have eaten into Rana’s college vote bank. NSUI was also faced with the precarious scenario where three candidates from the Shraddhanand college were running against their secretarial candidate, Vinay Solanki. Not that it eventually mattered, since Deepti Rawat (ABVP) pipped Solanki by over 4,000 votes. But it does depict the error in strategy on the part of NSUI in selecting its panel. |
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Watershed
plan proves a boon to Jhajjar farmers Rohtak, September 8 Jhajjar district falls in the southern part of Haryana and its southern and south-western parts are adjacent to the desert areas of Rajasthan. This area has been infested with permanent sand dunes and was under severe attack of desert-prone conditions. Thus, the hot sandy soil of southern and southern-western Jhajjar required more water for irrigation, as the main occupation of the inhabitants of the area was agriculture. The rainfall is scanty and the underground water level had become brackish due to its continuous harnessing. The district has no natural resource to augment its underground water table. The only stream that flowed through the south-eastern parts of Jhajjar district was Sahibi, which had its origin in the Mewat hills, which are the remnants of the Aravalli mountain range. Experience showed that due to its long passage through the dry and sandy counts, Sahibi had been in spate in years of exceptional heavy rainfall and it remained dry for the rest of the year. The Sahibi stream, thus, sweetened and replenished the underground water along its course generally. And it had played a vital role in the maintenance of sub-soil water table and towards the sweetening of water. But after the construction of a ‘bundh’ on the Sahibi by the Rajasthan Government, it had stopped flowing into Jhajjar district for the past over a decade. This also caused an acute shortage of drinking water in the villages situated in the southern and south-western parts of Jhajjar district. To check soil erosion of the sandy areas from the strong winds that blow during summer, the farmers grew sarkanda (a kind of reed) on the boundaries of their fields. It was under these conditions that the Centre, on the recommendations of the state government, launched the forestation and watershed schemes in the desert-prone areas of Jhajjar. Under the watershed programme, percolation tanks of varied capacities have been dug up in the identified villages for harvesting the rainwater coming from the surrounding catchment area. This has helped in improving the underground water besides providing irrigation facilities to the farmers even during the lean monsoon season. Following the implementation of the watershed programme, the inhabitants of Kutani village and many more covered by this scheme have installed a tubewell to supplement the drinking water needs of the residents. The underground water has turned sweet and piped water is now being supplied to each house from the tubewell. The villagers have also renovated an ancient temple that stood in a dilapidated condition along the banks of the village pond. The farming population of the Kutani village has constructed a kutcha drain to carry the water accumulated in the percolation tanks to their fields. It has helped them in levelling their agricultural land besides increasing their income from agriculture by 10 to 15 per cent, says the Deputy Commissioner, Jhajjar, Mr Mohinder Kumar. The soil erosion, too, has decreased by over 25 per cent, he further claimed. The panchayat has also utilised the scheme for levelling its agricultural land. The panchayat has so far levelled nearly 15 acres of its land, the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mrs Suprabha Dahiyam, said. The panchayat income from this land has increased from Rs 4500 in 1999-97 to Rs 49,000 in 1999-2000, she added. |
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MEERUT Meerut, September 8 Traffic is thrown out of gear due to heavy rain. Electricity supply has also been snapped as several trees fell on the power pole. According to the reports reaching the district headquarters, a family was trapped in the debris of a two-storey building which collapsed on Saturday night. Three persons, including a child, died while two others, the mother and daughter, injured seriously and had to be hospitalised. The family members were sleeping on the ground floor of the house. Deputy Collector Avinash Singh visited the scene and sanctioned a relief of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin of the deceased from the natural calamity fund. Several areas of the city turned into mini pools. The downtown of the city was under 2 to 3-ft water. The areas of Sharda Road, Ghantaghar, Brahampuri, NAS College Road, Baghpat stand, Rohta stand, Idgah Crossing were looking like an island. Several places of Delhi Road were waterlogged. In the rain-lashed city, a UPSRTC bus got trapped as a big tree fell on the road. Several passengers were injured in the incident which happened last night. A team of senior officials visited the areas, affected by the downpour. A power line in Shastri Nagar collapsed by the time the officials arrived to control the situation. General Manager (Water) B D Ahirwar also visited the place. The officials ordered to barricade the area. They told the ‘NCR Tribune’ that the repairing of the line would start on Monday. More than 15 water pumps had already been pressed into service. Round-the-clock control room was set up in the municipal corporation to provide relief to the residents. |
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Admn razes houses, shops of murder accused Sonepat, September 8 According to a report, the demolition operation, which started in the morning, continued till late in the evening. The officials also pointed out that it was a lesson for the crime the accused allegedly committed last Sunday. The accused had built these buildings and shops without any sanction from the Municipal Council. All routes leading towards the buildings and shops were sealed by the police and no one was allowed to pass from there. In spite of this, a large crowd had assembled to witness the demolition operation. The police had to resort to a cane charge to disperse people. In the evening, the officials started the demolition of the Pepsi godown belonging to the accused. The officials removed thousands of aerated water bottles. To make their task easy, they allowed the people to remove them. Thereupon, a large number of people entered the godown and removed the aerated water bottles kept there. They were seen carrying these with them to their houses. |
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Huda plans to spend Rs 200 cr in Gurgaon Gurgaon, September 8 Mr Sehrawat said that a mini-secretariat was being constructed at the cost of Rs 13 crore for housing different government departments under one roof. The whole building, comprising a seven-storey block and two double-storey blocks, were expected to be completed by the end of March 2004. He said that a huge sports complex in 45 acres in which a cricket stadium with a capacity to accommodate 25,000 persons, an athletic stadium with a capacity of 5,000 persons, an indoor stadium and swimming pool with a seating capacity of 2,500 each were being constructed in Sector 38 in the city. Besides having the provision of hostels and commercial outlets, the sports complex would have handball, volleyball, basketball courts, added the Administrator. The complex would cost around Rs 9 crore to the exchequer. Giving details of the modern jail complex being developed by the Huda, he said that the first phase, costing Rs 17 crore, spread over an area of 86 acres would be completed by the end of March 2003. In the first phase, facilities to house more than 1,300 would be constructed. The whole project was expected to cost around Rs 40 crore, informed the officer. The Huda had also taken up the task of widening and strengthening different roads, which do not belong to the department. The old Delhi road from Dundahera to Mahavir Chowk and from Mahavir Chowk to MDI Chowk, and from Atul Kataria Chowk to NH-8 (south city chowk) was being widened from 10 metres to 20 metres with a one-metre wide central verge, informed the official. The cost of these works would be around Rs 10 crore. A musical fountain was being installed at Leisure Valley Park, spread over 25 acres in Sector 29, at the cost of Rs 2 crore, said the officer. A new park, Tau Devi Lal Park, costing around Rs 2 crore was being developed in Sector 22 for the residents of Sectors 21, 22 and 23. Besides all these projects, works on other projects such as a new college building (costing Rs 2 crore) at Sector 9, open air theatre (Rs 2 crore) at Sector 29, a higher secondary school (Rs 1.2 crore), a police station (Rs 50 lakh) at Sector 56, Gymkhanna Club and Old Age Home at Sector 4, various community centres and primary schools etc in different sectors were near completion. |
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UHBVN drive yields good results, better revenue Sonepat, September 8 Mr S. N. Roy, Deputy Commissioner, told mediapersons here today the officials of the nigam had checked several premises of consumers last month and detected 274 cases of power theft. The officials, he said, had imposed a penalty of Rs 26.02 lakh on the erring consumers and recovered Rs 15.39 lakh from them on the spot. The officials also lodged FIRs with the police against 34 erring consumers who failed to pay the penalty to the UHBVN. The nigam carried out checking of meters on the premises of 401 consumers in the urban areas of the circle and detected 60 cases of power theft. The officials, he said, also imposed a penalty of Rs 9.63 lakh on the erring consumers and recovered Rs 7.50 lakh from them on the spot. The officials also lodged FIRs with the police against eight consumers who could not pay the penalty imposed on them. According to the Deputy Commissioner, the officials of the nigam checked 625 premises of the consumers in the rural areas and detected as many as 140 cases of power theft during the month under review. He said a penalty of Rs 12.12 lakh was imposed on the erring consumers and a sum of Rs 6.35 lakh was recovered. In Gohana division, the nigam checked 329 premises of the consumers and detected 74 cases of power theft. A penalty of Rs 4.45 lakh was imposed on the erring consumers and Rs 1.54 lakh recovered from them. |
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MOVING FINGER Water is considered one of the blessings of nature. Of its many uses, its consumption for drinking is perhaps most important. The people the world over have developed ways to harness rain water, dig out and store ground water, filter and purify it and make it fit for drinking. It has been done in our country too, even in the National Capital Region. The effort of the authorities has always been to supply clean drinking water to the people. That the effort of late has not been very successful is obvious from the media reports about polluted water and the water not of drinking standards having been supplied to the people. This has been going on for quite some years. This writer recalls early sixties when a colleague broke the story about water in the Delhi Water Supply Scheme which was getting polluted because of a drain carrying sewage leaking into the reservoir. It had resulted in a jaundice epidemic at that time. The discovery was so interesting that I cannot resist the temptation of referring to it. This friend was having a drink with others and felt that it tasted bad. He was so sure of the quality of his liquor that he thought that water would be bad. He was an enterprising reporter and went to the source of water—the water supply reservoir at night itself and found dead fish floating over water. He made inquiries and discovered the polluting drain. Perhaps many more drains are polluting Delhi’s water today. A newspaper in the Capital has been enterprising enough to have water supplied by Delhi Jal Board in different colonies and found it very poor. Among these places, the water supplied to and in the vicinity of All India Institute of Medical Sciences was also included. The details of the survey are known well by now and the Jal Board chief had tried to defend the quality of water supplied by it saying that it was not so bad after all. Even in early days, water was supplied by vendors in the name of ice-cold water for the thirsty. They used to say that it was not refrigerated as claimed but that poor quality of ice was used in it. Now vendors all over sell bottled water which was described as mineral water earlier but has since been renamed as pure water. Some of the observers who have followed the sale say that it does not go through the process of purification of the same level as claimed by some of the manufacturers. The Delhi Jal Board has started supplying bottled water which is claimed to be pure drinking water. Obviously it is sold. By implication it may mean that the tap water is not so pure as this bottled water. There are many in the city who can afford neither bottled nor tap water and have to depend on dubious sources of drinking water like ordinary wells, bore wells, hand pumps, river water and even stagnant water. The sellers of water through tankers in retail or wholesale for which the people have to pay through their nose are doing a roaring business. Incidentally, they do not supply purified or processed water which comes from private bore wells or tube wells and is raw. Everybody knows that this water is used for drinking purposes even when it is not legally allowed to be used as such. The Jal Board too has a provision for supplying water through tankers to areas which experience scarcity or non-availability of water for whatever reasons. The tankers of the private sector or the public sector both come for a price. As the idea of this small piece of writing is to highlight the quality of drinking water, we are not even referring to the availability part which is a problem of huge dimensions itself. Whenever there is a scarcity, there are bound to be chances of water of doubtful quality reaching the people who need it. Needless to say that the poorer sections of the population suffer the most. That the public bodies and leaders including politicians have not paid enough attention to the problem is proved by the hardship of the people in this respect. Skyscrapers Another is an NGO called Joint Assistance Centre which keeps holding seminars, workshops and studies on disaster management and creating awareness about earthquakes, floods, etc. But the need of the hour is to have many more such persons in the Administration and among the public to make disaster management a movement and not just a subject matter for seminars and lectures.
Ah! those
trees Incidentally, the authorities on Delhi side of the road stretch have still to start felling the trees in their part of the road.
NCR
connection The country has experienced a revolution in the field of communication, so we are told. There are a whole lot of people to take the credit for it, from Pt Sukh Ram to Pramod Mahajan. The entire country has been covered by this revolution. The residents of Delhi and adjoining towns in the National Capital Region should naturally be among the first beneficiaries. But what is the real position? You need to have an STD call from Gurgaon to Noida and vice versa. A common complaint of friends in Delhi is that they often do not get connected with subscribers of telephone in Gurgaon and Noida. Not only that, those living in these towns find it difficult to contact others in the same towns. Very often when I try my residential number from the same town, sometimes from the same building, I am directed to check the number I have dialled or am told that the number does not exist. Now should it not make sense that all the towns under the National Capital Region come under the same system, especially when one can contact a number within 200 kms in the same circle without resorting to STD. Also the service from one town to the other in NCR should be efficient enough for quick and fault-free contact on telephone. This would perhaps be the first step towards integrating these areas and saving the residents the trouble of using more expensive mobile phones to keep in touch.
Panipat
pickles Panipat, known for the historical battles and several monuments which have survived, is also famous for its Panchranga Achar (pickles). Years ago, there was one family producing it, exporting it, claiming all sorts of medals and awards for its quality. They had just one outlet along the Grand Trunk Road passing through the town. Then the family split and there were two manufacturers with two sales outlets near each other on the same road. More manufacturers must have appeared on the scene for a number of sales outlets of the same, or similar brand, have come up in Panipat and the passers-by would not know which is better or which is the original pickle-maker. As if that were not enough, many more outlets have mushroomed in other towns, even in Delhi. Not that there are no other equally popular brands, but this one has maintained its market for five-in-one pickle. |
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DELHI DIGEST
New Delhi, September 8 The Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, Mr Justice S. B. Sinha, while inaugurating the legal aid centre and the medical camp said there should be a sense of social welfare among citizens and the people who are connected with providing legal aid. He said the Delhi Legal Services Authority was committed to providing “Justice for All.’ Such centres shall be opened in different parts of Delhi to enable the general public to get legal service at their doorstep. Mr Charan Singh Kandera, MLA, Narela, Mr Justice Davinder Gupta, Mr Justice Mukul Mudgal, Mr Justice S. K. Aggarwal and other judges of the Delhi High Court were present on the occasion. Growth planned The Osram Group, manufacturers of various varieties of lamps (for general lighting, photo optics, automotive lighting), is expecting tremendous growth in the Indian market. The company has major expansion plans for the Asia Pacific region. While its factories in Korea, Japan and India supply to the local markets, its plants in China, Indonesia and Malaysia produce for the regional and global markets. According to Dr Kurt Gerl, senior vice-president, Osram, the company has established a good sales presence in the region, offering complete product range for the consumer and professional use. “In the coming years, we expect high market growth in China and India,” he said. “Taking into consideration the combination of lamps, electronic control systems and photo semiconductors, our world market share puts us at the first place along with Philips, followed by General Electric.”
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Mahasammelan
to discuss SCs’ problems New Delhi: A mahapanchayat of representatives of Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes held at Sultanpuri Majra village in outer Delhi today decided to organise a mahasammelan on September 21 at Talkatora Stadium. According to Mr Jaikishan, a former MLA and convener of the mahapanchayat, socio-economic and political problems of the downtrodden will be comprehensively discussed during the mahasammelan. It was also unanimously resolved in the mahapanchayat to invite Congress president Sonia Gandhi to the mahasammelan. Mr Jaikishan said, “It has been the common opinion of SCs and BCs that till they work unitedly under one political banner, no solution could be found to their socio-economic and political problems.” The mahapanchayat agreed that the Congress was the only choice for the masses. The other political parties, the mahapanchayat concluded, were merely interested in collecting the votes of the Dalits for their political aims.
TNS New members Appointed Faridabad:
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NCR BRIEFS Sonepat, September 8 Missing youth found killed: Rohtak 220 pickpockets arrested: The police have arrested 56 pickpockets from the South district, 44 pickpockets from the West district, 41 pickpockets from the South-West district, 14 from North-West district, 17 from North district, 21 from North-East district, 22 from Central district and six pickpockets from East district.
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3 bootleggers
held, liquor seized New Delhi, September 8 The accused, identified as Vinod, resident of Raghubir Nagar, Satbir and Kailash, both resident of Paschim Nagar, were arrested from a flat in Vikas Puri when they were in the process of loading the liquor bottles onto their scooters for supplying them to other bootleggers. During interrogation, it was found that Vinod and Kailash were involved in criminal activities in the past. The liquor was meant for supply in Rajasthan, and the accused used to transport them from Bhiwadi for supply in Delhi. |
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SHOWCASE For all those exuberant women, who have an eye for detail and a feel for fashion, Fastrack- the fashion brand from Titan-takes casual fashion notches ahead with its new range of unconventional watches. Fusing innovation and precision seamlessly, Fastrack creates contemporary products of bold self-expression. This unusual fashion collection is all about being a non-conformist, right from how the watch is shaped, to the dials and straps. There are twin straps in contrary colours and top and bottom straps in different colours, both with split dials that leave a strong impression. Cross-Country
collection Scullers women range of Cross Country collection are a great mix of casual woven tops, knitted tops and trousers. Using a fabric that is 100 per cent cotton, the woven tops come in four earthy colours– mushroom, stone, orange and olive. The knitted tops are available in round neck and V-neck styling. While the round neck has a slightly fitted styling, the V-neck comes in nice sleeve. Both the tees come in black, light green, orange and yellow colours. The Cross Country trousers come in comfort and regular fit. Angled pockets, contrast waistbands and a D’ring at the waistband make this collection a combination of comfort and good looks. They are available in black, khaki, olive and beige colours.
Mouth-watering wraps McDonald’s family restaurant announced the addition of ‘wrap’, a new mouth-watering item to their menu. This product is the first of its kind from McDonald, a flagship product, which will cater to the wide customer base for a more filling meal. Wrap comes in two variants–the veg wrap is called the ‘Paneer Salsa Wrap’ and the non-veg is called the ‘Chicken Mexican Wrap’.
Digital technology Arrow International, a well-known name in the digital technology for more than a decade, has launched a complete range of imported automotive, inverter and industrial batteries under the brand name of Okaya. Made in QS 9000 certified plants, these world class Japanese batteries are trusted worldwide by multinational companies like Honda, Suzuki, Isuzu and Yamaha. In the automotive range, Arrow International’s brand Okaya has over 15 models of batteries to suit the requirements of varied automobiles including two wheeler, three wheelers, cars and tractors.
Classy appliances Tefal India has launched Moulinex, a new range of world class household products. The products were unveiled by Rodolphe Lavoise, general manager, Middle East Group, SEB. Moulinex will offer their popular range of products like food processors, blenders, juicers and irons. He said, “the Moulinex brand will bring world class products to the Indian kitchen and with this, we hope to have an answer to the needs of the discerning homemaker.”
LG has launched ‘Whisen,’ designer range of air conditioners in India. Whisen redefines the concept of air conditioning in India by bringing the much- desired aesthetics in home appliances. This premium offering from LG resembles a ‘work of art’ and reinforces LG’s commitment towards developing breakthrough products that combine world class technology with aspirational features and functions. The Whisen range includes a wall hanging and a floor standing air conditioner.
Faster Grinding Usha Lexus has launched a powerful food processor that takes the grind out of cooking. The twin drive design, with unique clutch mechanism, ensures that the food processor also functions as a mixer grinder by the bowl not operating at the same time. Other unique features are jars with flow breakers that do not allow the food to stick to the side of the jar thus ensuring better and faster grinding.
Café Day The Café has introduced new varieties of coffee, pastries, desserts and tea at their favorite café. The new varieties in coffee include Cinnamon Cappuccino, Hawaiia Aloha, Kaapi Nirvana, Vegan Shakes and Masala Chai. The new varieties in pastries include Banana and Walnut Cake, Butterscotch Tart, Butterscotch Gateaux, Noix Miel and Opera Cake.
Matrubhasha cards ITC has introduced a range of over 147 Hindi greeting cards for the 35 crore Hindi speaking people to express their feelings in their mother tongue. This range is part of the ‘Expressions Matrubhasha’ cards introduced by ITC in nine vernacular languages. The all-seasons range includes cards for birthdays, anniversaries, wedding and love. Several festival and occasion-based cards will also be launched in the future. The range includes 147 cards in styles that vary from Heartwarming, Cute, Kuddies and Elegant Expressions and Popup cards.
Newlife Capsule The Lifecare Ayurvedic pharmaceuticals have discovered a new ayurvedic medicine for partial paralysis. The new medicine called Newlife Capsule has now been introduced in the market. The medicine promises results within 5 to 25 days. |
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The skyline in Delhi and in towns around it is changing fast and tall buildings are coming up all over. The potential buyers of property in these buildings naturally ask if the buildings had taken into account the earthquake threat in the region. The property brokers or representatives of builders say something in a roundabout manner which does not clarify the position. The fact is that most of the buildings had come up without keeping in view the region being earthquake-prone. The real danger was realised after the Gujarat earthquake and the wide coverage to it in the media as well as identification of other earthquake-prone regions including Delhi. But then the tall buildings have already come up and most of them have not taken the required precautions. The buyers and occupants of these buildings have no option than to pray to God for being kind. There are some well-meaning persons in the Administration or in the NGOs who keep cautioning the people about the likelihood of such dangers and preparing them for such situations. One such person is the Commissioner of Gurgaon Division who initiated a scheme to train volunteers from among the citizens in disaster management.
When one drove on National Highway No 8, that is the main road from Delhi to Jaipur, one would have felt fascinated with the green on both sides of the road for some miles on both sides of the Delhi-Haryana border. A lot of effort would have gone into the planting and nursing of rows of trees along the road. These days, a tree lover would be sad to see these trees being felled and cut to make way for the expressway which is going to be showpiece for the Capital. The eight-lane road stretch complete with eight flyovers and slip roads between Rao Tula Ram Marg and Rajiv Chowk has to come up within the fixed time and work on it is supposed to have started by way of the field survey and other preliminaries. Cutting of trees along this stretch would have to be the first step in this direction. It has taken a long time and a heavy fee paid to the Haryana Forest Department to start the work on felling these trees. It must have broken the heart of some of the dedicated foresters who treat the trees like their children. It takes years to grow them but a few hours to fell them. How one wishes they were not just cut and turned into timber but transplanted elsewhere. Haryana has some of the best foresters in the country who have planted lakhs of trees in the state even without having much of regular forests. I have seen elsewhere full-grown trees being transplanted. The same could be done here instead of wasting an effort of years. It could be a costly affair but the money collected from the builders of the expressway could be utilised for the purpose.