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December 25, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Ramgarh power transformer destroyed in fire AFTERSHOCK
The burning of a 100 mva transformer at Ramgarh- Madanpur sub station has put off the plans for creating a 66 kv ring main circuit for Panchkula. The ring main circuit was to connect all existing power substations and proposed sub stations in the district. This would ensure an alternate transmission system for supplying power in the district, in case one of the High Tension (HT) transmission lines develop a snag. A ring main circuit, joining the 220 kv Ramgarh-Madanpur sub station to the 132 kv Pinjore sub station and the 66 kv line from Dhulkot, forming a ring, was to be completed by the end of this year. GROUND REALITIES
The inadequacy of fire services in the township once again came to fore today. Only one fire tender was available when the fire was reported. This fire tender, was also not equipped for extinguishing fire caused by chemicals and electric short circuit as it could not use dry chemical powder in its spray. Panchkula, December 24 The fire broke out in the transformer at around 2. 25 pm this afternoon. As a result power supply to atleast six sub stations and an estimated 80,000 power consumers, especially in the periphery of Panchkula and Ambala, remained disrupted for over 40 minutes. Though the exact cause of fire is not yet known, senior officials of Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) have ruled out sabotage. This fire was first spotted by jawans of the 6th Battalion of Indo-Tibetan Border Police , which has its establishment right next to the sub station. Led by their Assistant Commander, Mr Gurcharan Singh, they immediately rushed to the spot to locate the source of fire. In the meantime, employees of UHBVN posted here also noticed the flames coming from the 100 kv transformer here and called the fire services for help. Sources say that as many as 200 drums of transformer oil, each containing 200 litres of the oil, were also lying within the premises. Since this oil is also combustible and the heat from the fire was already warming up these drums, as many as 200 ITBP jawans immediately got to work to first remove the drums. Risking their lives, they first poured cold water over the steaming drums, that were lying very close to the burning transformer, and then removed these. In the meantime, a fire tender from the local fire station here was rushed to the spot. By the time the firemen got to work, the flames from the transformer were flaring at a height of over 120 feet. When the fire broke out the transformer had about 1 lakh litres of transformer oil, which aggravated the situation further. The flames were so high that these could be witnessed from near the New Ghaggar Bridge, about 3 km from Even as senior officials of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam ( HVPN) including the Director, Technical, Mr R.K. Jain, rushed to the spot, four fire tenders and a Dry Chemical Powder tender from Chandigarh, and one each from Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratory, Ramgarh and Chandimandir cantonment area led by Naik Subedar Ravi. N., were rushed in for rescue operations. The fire tenders from Chandigarh and Panchkula were sent for refills twice and the fire could be extinguished only around 4. 30 pm. The firemen on duty said since the fire had been caused by transformer oil, cooling method had to be adopted by spraying dry chemical powder. The spray had to made in jet and spray form in order to douse the flames, said Mr S.K. Gosain, Station Fire Officer, Chandigarh. Later, while talking to mediapersons, Mr R.K. Jain , said they were not in a position to comment on the reason behind the fire. “There is no sabotage, but the snag can be detected only after the fire has been completely extinguished, “ he said. Sources, however, said the fire could have been caused because of over heating of the transformer. He said the sub station supplies power to 66 KV sub stations in Industrial Area, Panchkula, Barwala, Ramgarh, Jauli, Shazadpur and Raipur Rani. “ We have now shifted the power supply for Industrial Area , Panchkula to 132 KV Pinjore sub station and the supply of other transformers from Yamunanagar.” |
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PLIGHT OF SOUTHERN SECTORS Chandigarh, December 24 The Central and the Eastern divisions are slightly better with nine per cent of the total force. Admitting that the deployment of the force was not in proportion to the crime graph, officials of the Chandigarh Police say the deployment had been done in accordance with the population and not according to the rate of crime. Data collected by the TNS reveal that the south subdivision of the police, headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) had just 400 cops to man a population of over seven lakh. This figure includes the force deployed on court duty and duties in respective police stations. The actual force available in the police stations was much lesser than the posted strength. An official said the southern subdivsion comprising sectors 38 to 48, apart from Ram Darbar, Dadu Majra, Maloya, Hallo Majra , Behlana and other slum areas, had the largest area to police as compared to the East and North subdivisions. The sectors in the Eastern subdivision, having a population of around two lakh had a sanctioned strength of just 370 cops and the Central Subdivision, comprising the northern sectors had a force of 340 over a population of over one lakh. Senior police officials say that the force strength in the Central subdivision was sanctioned according to the nature of duties. The sources said at present, only 27 per cent of the total 3,969 police personnel were with the police stations. |
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Police remand for N.K. Jain Chandigarh, December 24 After hearing the arguments for about 30 minutes, Mr K.K. Goyal remanded N.K. Jain to police custody till December 26. Meanwhile, the court also issued a notice to the UT State to file reply on a bail plea moved by N.K. Jain on December 26. N.K. Jain was yesterday arrested by the UT police from outside the CBI office in the evening. Claiming that custodial interrogation of N.K. Jain was necessary, the Public Prosecutor argued that he was the main conspirator in the case and the custodial interrogation was required to find out the detailed information related to the case as also the motive to involve M.K Jain in the case. The Public Prosecution had sought the police custody of the accused for four days. The former Home Secretary of Chandigarh would be taken to certain spots where he is alleged to have planned the conspiracy with the other accused. He would be taken to the spots to corroborate the police theory of a frame-up. The sources said some persons were being called to identify the bureaucrat.
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Porous borders help criminals Chandigarh, December 24 Over the past few months, the criminals have been “literally” striking at will, be it a burglary in a shop or robbing a petrol station. An analysis of the strikes by the organised gang of burglars reveal a disturbing trend. The faith of residents in the uniformed force is sinking as the city and its satellite towns provide safe corridors for criminals. Officials in the uniformed force admit that better coordination was required among the forces in Chandigarh, SAS Nagar and Panchkula. Repeated burglaries in southern sectors of Chandigarh and then in commercial areas of SAS Nagar speak volumes about the crime pattern in the region. After the burglaries in Chandigarh and SAS Nagar in October and November, joint patrolling is being undertaken on a daily basis. It is to be seen how long the campaign will last. Shortage of force and porous borders dotted by slums make patrolling difficult, says senior police official. Citing an example of Rajiv Colony and Indira colony, dotting the Panchkula and Chandigarh border, and Bhagat Singh Colony on
In SAS Nagar, the burglars have been rather daring, striking in a departmental store in Phase 3B2 in the wee hours of December 16, despite regular beat patrolling by policemen on motor cycles. In the incident, four burglars decamped with stuff and cash worth a lakh. Two of them looted the shop, while two held the watchman at knife point. The city's trader community had barely come to terms with this incident when a group of thieves struck a group of shops in the Phase VII market on December 21, succeeding in gaining entry into one shop and decamping with Rs 5,500 in cash. Following this, the police changed its patrolling pattern with patrolling on foot and bicycles by policemen in the night. The police also focussed on regular joint combing operations with the Chandigarh Police in the various slum colonies on the Chandigarh-SAS Nagar borders. Similarly, the Panchkula police, alarmed by three robberies in November and December, was the first to intensify its night vigil and introduced sealing of entry/exit points by setting up pickets. The SHOs and in charge of police posts have now been asked to patrol the entire district from Kalka to Raipur Rani all through the night. Cops have been put on duty outside schools, banks and market places, with an efficient wireless system. Intelligence gathering and verification drives in slum colonies have also been increased. However, this has had little results and robbers/snatchers have been striking at will. In November 15, when a liquor vend was robbed near Chandimandir, the police was immediately informed and pickets all over the district alerted, but the accused escaped. In Chandigarh, an armed gang of burglars struck at Shops in Sector 41, 43, 44, 45 and other southern sectors. |
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Natwar
Singh’s
book released Chandigarh, December 24 Described as an “intellectual feast”, the book has been brought
out by Rupa and Co. and is a collection of 58 essays written by Mr
Natwar Singh from time to time. As the Chief Minister pointed out, Mr
Natwar Singh’s erudition and literary style makes the essays,
absorbing, lively, provocative and entertaining reading. He writes
with verve and zest.
The author has illuminated an astonishing range. Here you have him
playing host to Rajaji in New York, asking Han Suyin to order his
breakfast, regaling heads of state with wit, greeting R.K.Narayan on
the gravel path leading to his Mysore house, witnessing the
functioning of four mighty ladies in a single day. Profiles of
numerous personalities are provided. These include Gandhiji,
Churchill, Tagore, Nehru, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Marquez Paz, Rajiv
Gandhi, Madav Rao Scindia, Indira Gandhi, Mother Teresa to Aung San
Suu Kyi, Forster and Zia-ul-Haq.
Mr Natwar Singh in his remarks said the book release was more or
less a family function attended among others by his brother-in-law,
Capt Amarinder Singh, his mother-in-law, Maharani Mohinder Kaur, and
sister-in-law, Maharani Preneet Kaur, MP. He said he was a book lover
and compulsive reader.
Mr Natwar Singh who was educated at Mayo College, Ajmer, St.
Stephen’s College, Delhi, and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,
joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1953. He served in Beijing, New
York, Warsaw, London and Lusaka and was Ambassador to Pakistan,
Secretary General, seventh Non-Aligned Summit, Padma Bhushan awardee,
member of the eighth and 12th Lok Sabha, Union Minister and Member,
Rajya Sabha since April 2002.
An announcement was also made on the occasion on the behalf of the
publishing company for a grant of Rs 1 lakh for the well-known Punjabi
writer, Amrita Pritam.
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Taming
Ghaggar to benefit Punjab, Haryana Chandigarh, December 24 Punjab Chief Minister, Amarinder Singh desires that the Ghaggar be treated as a part of the national river action plan supported by the Centre. He reiterated this at the 50th NDC meeting in New Delhi on Saturday last. Punjab has framed a Rs 536-crore Ghaggar action plan to check pollution as all along its route it poses a major threat to the health of both humans and livestock and contaminates ground water, affecting land productivity. As many as 33 towns are affected, as domestic and industrial wastes find their way into the Ghaggar. The project has been submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. While 70 per cent of the project cost is to be borne by the Centre, Punjab and the Local Government Department will bear the rest. At the same time, Haryana, too, has prepared a Rs 354-crore Ghaggar action plan which, it claims, has been accepted by the Centre and an assurance received to this effect, according to official sources. As many as 21 towns in Haryana face the same problems and predicaments. The common denominator in the two action plans is to construct sewers to divert the direction of polluting channels, install sewerage treatment plants, provide for low-cost toilets, wood-based improved cremation units and projects for solid waste management. The plans, if implemented, will take care of sanitation and environment of the towns. The two states contemplate to complete the project in phases. While Capt Amarinder Singh wants the Ghaggar project to be a part of the national river action plan, Mr Om Prakash Chautala is keen that Haryana’s project is included in the national river conservation scheme. Punjab submitted the Ghaggar project to New Delhi in May, 2001. This was followed up by Chief Secretary Y.S. Ratra in his communication to the ministry concerned in April, 2002. The Punjab Chief Minister had also taken up the issue with the MPs from the state in Delhi. There is disappointment in both states that their projects have been left out of the 10th Five Year Plan. Sources in both Punjab and Haryana say that the two states should join hands to draft a joint cost-effective project and implement it simultaneously. “It will be much better if Himachal and Rajasthan are also involved, which will set in motion regional co-operation and coordination”.
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ANNUAL ROUNDUP 2002 Chandigarh, December 24 The year began with the plague scare in the city, after some infected persons from Himachal Pradesh were admitted to the PGI in February. Besides two plague deaths in the Rohru area of Shimla, two persons admitted to the PGI died due to the disease. Outbreaks of cholera, dengue and encephalitis fever followed, leading to a dozen deaths. Hundreds of infected persons were admitted to hospitals. Poor sanitation in slums and rehabilitation colonies contributed in large to the outbreaks, bringing in question the role of the Municipal Corporation. The functioning of the major health institutions in the city, too, did not inspire much confidence among citizens, as the Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and the Sector 16 General Hospital are still struggling to acquire the CT-scan machines. The PGI continues to be overburdened with patients. Rumblings in the PGI dominated the headlines throughout the year. Bursting at the seams with the patient rush from the entire region, the PGI should thank its doctors for providing the patients with relief, nonetheless. The two CBI raids on the PGI for investigating alleged bunglings, especially in the engineering wing, made headlines, with the Union Health Minister taking a serious note of it. A faculty short on morale and job satisfaction did not provide any healing touch. Dissatisfied with the work culture and politicking in the PGI, some of its best brains chose to leave it. Some doctors even moved court over selections and promotions. The Governing Body of the institute decided not to readvertise the controversial posts in the Departments of Cardiology, Cardio Thoracic and the ENT. The whirlwind visit of the Health Minister, Mr Shatrughan Sinha, only raised a frenzy in the PGI administration. They, somehow, had to fulfill his wish of introducing the evening OPDs in the PGI from December 2. The ill-equipped and understaffed PGI could not sustain the pressure, leading to the suspension of the service within four days of its introduction. Though the service is likely to be resumed from January 7, 2003, the issue put about 700 resident doctors on a virtual warpath with the PGI administration. If the PGI continued to be in the news for wrong reasons, the GMCH, without specialities like cardiology and neurology, too, continued to depend heavily on the PGI. Its plans of acquiring the ISO 9001 certification appear to be a wild dream. In August, Dr C.P. Bansal took over as head of the Health Department after the retirement of Dr Rameshwar Chander. Dr Chander had done a good job of arresting the spread of cholera outbreaks in the city, twice in rains during his tenure. |
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ANNUAL ROUNDUP 2002 Panchkula, December 24 Flesh trade and narcotics smuggling from here to Punjab also brought the town in news. At least 10 flesh-trade rackets were busted this year, seven in the past one month. The police also cracked down on drug smugglers and seized narcotics worth over Rs 3 crore. There was, however, a decline in cases of murder and attempt to murder; and no increase in robberies, dacoities and suicides. A Punjab militant, Harjit Singh, was arrested in April after he had jumped parole in January. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment and was out on parole from the Patiala jail. After jumping parole, he killed four persons in Ambala and Rajpura, besides committing other crimes. The police failed to crack cases of murder, snatching and bank robbery. The case of bank robbery in Karanpur village near Pinjore remained unsolved. In spite of a number of burglaries, 128 this year, the police failed to catch any burglar. The year saw at least three Superintendents of Police — Mr Manoj Yadav, Ms Charu Bali and Mr Ranbir Singh Sharma — taking over the charge here. These senior police officials tried various ways of improving patrolling to curb burglaries. For the first time in North India, electronic-beat-patrolling system was introduced in the town. The patrolling staff was provided with miniscule tags and readers were affixed in walls of houses of each beat. The reader ensures that the patrolling is effective and carried out all day. However, this failed to curb burglaries. The police crackdown on ‘satta operators’, bootleggers and gamblers showed better results than raids in the previous year.
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Drizzle in city Chandigarh, December 24 The temperature pattern altered in the city with the day temperature coming down and rise in the night temperature. The Meteorological Department has forecast rain and cloudy sky for tomorrow with the minimum temperature going down to around 8 °C. Though only ‘traces’ of rain were reported from the city. Ambala recorded a rainfall of 0.7 mm and Patiala 3 mm. |
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RUN-UP TO MC POLL WARD NO 27 & 28 Panchkula, December 24 The voters of ward no. 27 (Sector 2, H. No.526-1009, Sector 1 and north part of Jainendra Gurukul) and ward no. 28 Kharag Mangoli village, east, west and south Jainendra Gurukul) say that the main issue for these elections will be water supply, sanitation, streetlighting and shifting of lottery stalls from old Panchkula. Both wards will see a three-cornered contest. In ward no. 28 (Kharag Mangoli village and parts of old Panchkula), residents feel that other than improving the streetlighting, the shifting of the Truck Union office from here to a specially earmarked site in Sector 20 is a must. Panchkula: Mr Hemant
Kinger, a candidate from ward no. 26, has written to the Election Commissioner, Haryana, alleging that a large number of fake votes had been detected in the electoral rolls for the forthcoming MC poll.
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Year-end discounts lure buyers Chandigarh, December 24 Until a few years ago, the residents would wait for Divali for their major household shopping. For buying carpets and curtain clothes, besides sofa sets and dining tables, if nothing else. The reason behind their anxiety to buy the stuff during the festive season was not very hard too see. A large number of shops would offer impressive discounts, upto 50 per cent and even more in some cases. Those missing the opportunity would have to wait till the festival season next year if they could, or else they would flip the pages of the newspapers looking for other showrooms offering discounts. But that was years ago. Now the residents who failed to take advantage of the opportunity, have nothing to worry as a substantial number of showroom owners offer 25 to 50 per cent discounts in December-January also. Discounts are being offered on several articles, not just the ones related to Christmas like candles, cakes and trays. One can even buy electronic goods, kids wear, carpets, curtain cloth, bed sheets and covers, besides cushions, pillows, mattresses and towels. A showroom in Jalandhar has announced “buy one get one free” offer. Another carpet house is offering gifts wrapped up in carpets. This is not all. A Delhi-based departmental store with branches in Panchkula and Chandigarh has come up with exciting “Christmas offers”. You can get 10 kg flour at a discount of Rs 30. Five litres of cooking oil is available for Rs 20 less. Besides discounts, showrooms in Patiala and Ludhiana are also offering Christmas gifts. “Buy articles worth Rs 800 and get a cake free”, offers a Ludhiana departmental store. Nearer home, a garment house in Chandigarh is offering bed covers free on purchase of goods worth Rs 2,500. Explaining the trend, city-based industrialist Neeraj Gupta asserts: “Discount is more of a compulsion these days when people wait for offers before buying even toothpaste. They stock the product and wait till the next offer. That’s the reason why the shopkeepers these days wait for opportunities to offer discount”. |
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READERS WRITE THE recent actions by the Panchkula police where they rounded up youth, usually couples, from various parks and took them to the police station to verify their antecedents is a gross violation of their fundamental rights. By arresting and detaining young people who had not committed violation of the law of the land, the police have not only alienated an entire generation but have by far surpassed the mandate conferred on them by the law. At a time when police forces are trying to build better relationships with the community, unconstitutional actions to detain and verify the antecedents of those who are not involved in any type of unlawful or suspicious activity is not constructive. The entire episode requires a detailed analysis. We must question what type of a society do we want to live in and what are the values that we stand for. Today it was young people sitting together, tomorrow it might be people with long hair or those who wear jeans, who are being arrested for verification. Where will it stop? Willingness to ignore or accept this action by the Panchkula police will pave the way for further trespassing by the police into social issues. In India where police forces are endemically regarded as corrupt and inefficient, do you want to give them the authority of entering into behavior benchmarking and arbitrary assessment of moral correctness? Constitutional frameworks are designed to separate the criminal actions from all other actions, the police is then empowered to manage criminal actions. The police is not meant for enforcing irrational social judgments. If some people are offended by seeing young people sitting together then they should look away. Why are they looking at them? Why are they deciding that this should not be so? Parents and children have to jointly evolve a behavioral code. If dating is a family issue, it should be decided within the family. It is not a police issue and it certainly is not for the neighbours to decide. If there is no criminal act going on, then, who are the police to act in such a draconian manner? If the elders are really offended, they should form a citizens’ group which should then approach their councillor to seek a municipal ordinance, or better yet their MLA or MP to seek a state/ Central legislation that forbids two young people from sitting with each other in the park. These types of laws have been enacted before, they are very popular is some countries. Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iran and Afghanistan have at some point managed to enact laws that control association among members of the opposite sex. If we think like the Taliban, then why be shy, let us do things properly and show our true colours. Laws are made to reflect our society and social values. A democratic country must provide genuine freedom. Our democracy is our strongest national asset. Our willingness to tolerate, co-exist, or understand each other must never be undermined. The ugly face of intolerance by a few cannot start dictating the actions of the keepers of law. If the top police officials of Panchkula cannot differentiate between lawful activity and illegal behaviour, they should perhaps be removed from the police force. If they cannot act within the good faith of democratic traditions and constitutional rights, they should not be in the police force. Young people have the right to be in a park, just as much as the elders. MANPREET SINGH, Panchkula Holiday cut As the number of inconvenient closed days in offices keeps rising, one would surely welcome a cut in Sarkari chuttis that the Chandigarh Administration has announced recently. However, the cut should not have been made only on the religious celebrations of the minority communities alone — the cut is on a Muslim, Christian and a Buddhist holiday. The Administration should have shown magnanimity by reducing some minor Hindu holidays as well. Rupinder B.Singhl,
Costlier education The Chandigarh Administration has allotted land to the Delhi Public School (DPS) and the same became controversial. The Bharatiya Janata Party has started an agitation in protest against the allotment of land on subsidised rates and against the rules. The DPS has come and opened the door for the children of Chandigarh region for a bright new world. Admission to nursery, kindergarten, classes I to VI has been started. The academic session for the classes will start from April, 2003. The school is coming up in Sector 40C, Chandigarh.This sector, developed by the Chandigarh Housing Board, is a hub of middle and salaried class which has complained that DPS education will be costliest. The school organisation has been selling a common form for all classes. The fee structure imposes a heavy a direct burden on the parents. The Tribune readers should consider whether these rates are just and fair. The application form being sold by DPS school is Rs.300. Fee for registration form: Rs.200. Admission fee: Rs 10,000; Development fund: Rs.7,000; Caution money: Rs.5,000; Amalgamated fund: Rs.3,000; and tuition fee: Rs.1,500 every month. This amounts to Rs.27,000 in total at the time of admission. The bus transport fee shall be charged later. According to information, there would be many more charges for unwanted purposes. The school is very costly and the parents must fight against this very high fee structure. Otherwise, I am afraid, all the other public schools in Chandigarh and Panchkula will increase the fee indiscriminately. Harjinder Singh,
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Retired officer’s house ransacked Panchkula, December 24 According to police officials, Mr Mahender Pratap was away to Gurgaon when the miscreant entered his residence. The exact loss, police claimed, was yet to be ascertained. Meanwhile, Rakesh, Dharminder and Mandeep were arrested from Mansa Devi complex. Sources claimed that a .2 air gun, a sickle, a knife and a chisel was recovered from them. The three were allegedly travelling in a Maruti car which was reportedly stolen. The police also took into custody a couple for indecent behaviour from Cactus Garden in Sector 5. The boy is a resident of Hoshiarpur, while the girl belongs to Mullanpur village in Chandigarh.
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2 hurt in scuffle with police Chandigarh, December 24 Some other members of the
association reportedly received injuries in a scuffle with the police.
Ravinder Singh Patiala, president of the association, said two more
persons, Jagvinder Singh and Prabhjinder Singh, continued to be on
strike. The agitating persons were protesting against their
retrenchment by the previous regime in October, 2001. The agitating
persons are demanding reinstatement. |
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Petty issue takes serious turn, 3 injured Lalru, December 24 Cases have been registered against Sunder Singh and Ashok Kumar with the Lalru police station. However, no arrest has been made.
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8 hurt as bus, truck collide Chandigarh, December 24 As per police sources, the bus was going towards SAS Nagar from Chandigarh and the truck was coming from the opposite side. Both vehicles were damaged in the collision. The injured are Lakhbir Singh, Rajinder Singh, V.K Sharma, Gurpreet Singh, Praveen, Davinder, Satish Kumar and Gurpreet Singh. |
Burglar
nabbed A member of a gang trying to burgle a shop in Phase 7, was caught while trying to flee on Monday
night. The other burglars fled towards the Matour barrier in Chandigarh. The suspect, hailing from
Ranchi, is reported to have named his accomplices involved in the burglaries. Sources said joint raids were being conducted by the SAS Nagar police and the Chandigarh police to nab the other suspects.
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