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December 30, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
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Perch Dam water withheld, allege villagers Unmanned dams
On August 11 two Chandigarh-based brothers had drowned in the waters of Jyanti Dam. At that time there was no guard or any employee of the KAD present at the dam. Today also the Chandigarh Tribune team, which spent over two hours at the Perch dam, could not spot any employee of the KAD. There were three earth-fill dams (at Perch, Jyanti Majri and Siswana) in the immediate vicinity of Chandigarh and were frequented by numerous visitors everyday. Sources in KAD said that because of staff shortage, it was not possible to depute guards at the dams. Chandigarh, December 29 The villagers alleged that the junior engineer concerned was not cooperating with them and was using ‘unparliamentary’ language. On the other hand, the Executive Engineer concerned, Mr K.S. Saini, alleged that the JE was beaten up by the villagers yesterday when he had gone to the dam to release water. Both the parties have lodged their complaints at the Mullanpur-Garibdas Police Station. Mr Saini assured that the water would be released by tomorrow morning. Sources in the Kandi Area Development (KAD), Punjab, which manages the dam, said that because of silting the water level in the dam had been considerably reduced. The villagers do not get subsidy for boring tubewells by the Punjab Irrigation Department as the village falls under a dam project. The Perch dam, an earth fill gravity dam, was constructed under a World Bank project to irrigate land of four villages, Choti Perch, Baddi Perch, Seonk and Nada. The villagers complained that because of the short supply of water, they were only using 50 per cent of the available cultivable land for wheat crop and because of non release of water, their crops were dying. Mr Saini admitted that there was a silting problem and the matter was under consideration of the KAD authorities. ‘‘When we approached the Junior Engineer concerned yesterday he told us that there was not enough water in the dam’’, said Mr Bhag Singh, the village Sarpanch. But the villagers claimed that there was enough water in the dam and that it could be released. To verify their claim a Chandigarh Tribune team today visited the dam. The team found water in the dam’s reservoir. An official said that the rate at which the water was being released from the dam would last only a month.
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Ousted in 1979, villagers still await relief Chandigarh, December 29 Though the administration has implemented various rehabilitation schemes announced for the scooter market, rehri markets and slum dwellers, but it has not bothered to provide any package to these original inhabitants of the city. A visit to any village will reveal that bureaucrats of the city have not bothered even to recognise their existence. Conditions in villages — Khuda Ali Sher, Dhanas, Khuda Lahora and others — are worse than those in slums. People are facing severe shortage of adequate drinking and irrigation water and frequent power cuts. Mr Angrej Singh, president, Welfare Society of Original Inhabitants of All 50 UT villages, claims that the administration has just clubbed 35,000 families of remaining 22 villages with the unauthorised colonies of migrant labourers. Even the census does not properly recognise our existence. Since we do not form a strong vote bank, the political parties do not bother about our problems, he laments. Enquiries at the banks in these
villagers reveal that deposits with their branches have increased from Rs 294.80 crore in September 2000 to Rs 304.48 crore by September 2002 but the advances to villgers just increased from Rs 45.83 crore to Rs 59.74 crore during the corresponding period, registering just 20 per cent credit deposit (CD) ratio against 60 per cent national target. Interestingly, the banks have disbursed loans of Rs 27.46 lakh under the PMRY to just 40 youths against a target of 100 youths. Most of the banks are reluctant to provide adequate credit for any other ventures to these youth. Lack of adequate job opportunities and strict building by-laws have also affected the development activities in the villages. Says Mr Angrej Singh, ‘‘Lal Dora of the villages has not been revised since 1886 though the population has increased manifold. Consequently, the administration is demolishing houses and other constructions outside the Lal Dora, without providing water and electricity connections.’’ Instead of succumbing to the pressure of slum dwellers, the government should announce a policy for sustainable development of the remaining villages. As part of the rehabilitation package, the village youth should be provided job reservation in the police, health and education departments. Further, the government should pay compensation to the villagers in lieu of the village ponds, shamlat land and religious places surrendered by them. Plots should be reserved for the villagers at subsidised rates for any acquisition of village land in the near future, he adds. |
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Special
nakas to check snatchings Chandigarh, December 29 Beginning today, 36 nakas were set up in the city. The nakas were manned by over 240 personnel of the CRPF, the Chandigarh Police and the Punjab Police Commandos. It would be a regular feature until December 31. The Station House Officers
(SHOs) have been directed by the Inspector General of Police, Chandigarh to do checking during naka duties. Though no person was rounded up during the checking, vehicles passing through the nakas were searched. The Superintendent of Police (City) was also present at the
nakas. The nakas had been started to instill a sense of security among the city residents and to check incidents of snatching which often take place between 4 pm and 8 pm. In the last two incidents, the snatchers struck around 8 pm. Another incident in which two scooter borne youths, who had snatched a purse from a woman in Sector 20 and were subsequently caught near Sector 38 by a PCR vehicle, the time was around 4 pm. The police officials did not rule out a similar modus operandi in all incidents of snatching. This year, so far around 90 incidents of snatching have been reported from the city. Sources said the Chandigarh Police was verifying the whereabouts of the snatchers existing on the police records. |
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Kelkar report ‘not binding’ Chandigarh, December 29 He said the government was not bound to accept the recommendations made by
Kelkar. He, however, praised the recommendations to lower taxes and attempt to check corruption. He said his panel would submit the report by January 11 adding “I am confident that the Finance Minister will think over the recommendations and keep in mind the larger interest of the farming community and middle income group. The former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh said the party would contest the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections due early next year on the plank of “good governance and developmental issues.” Rajnath Singh’s statement came in contrast with statement of another General Secretary Arun Jaitley who had said the party would contest the election on the plank of “Hindutva.” Mr Rajnath Singh asserted the performance of the state and the Central Governments would be the issues for the elections. He said the presidents of Haryana and Punjab unit of the party would not be changed now. On BJP’s victory in Gujarat, Mr Rajnath Singh said “We fought it and won it with a thumping majority on the basis of government’s performance. We do not believe in appeasing any community.” Mr Rajnath Singh said the Congress had been creating fear psychosis among the minorities to create a vote bank while the BJP had always tried to induce confidence among them. Mr Rajnath Singh termed the victory in Gujarat as “Vijay Yatra” which would continue in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh in the next Lok Sabha elections. He said NDA partners would have a role to play in the formation of government at the Centre. The new-found confidence of the BJP post-Gujarat victory was likely to create apprehensions among NDA partners, he said. The BJP General Secretary said the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, might campaign for the party in Himachal Pradesh. He said the BJP was trying to give stability to the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh. While appreciating the efforts of the Orissa Government to check starvation, Mr Rajnath Singh said he was surprised how there were starvation deaths in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh despite the granaries of the country being full. The BJP General Secretary said the party had targeted a membership of 4 crore by January 31. He said the party would do a verification of members by February 20 and active members would be made in March. |
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ANNUAL
ROUNDUP SAS Nagar, December 29 The Punjab State Nurses Registration Council paper-leak case saw the arrest of two main accused before the year ended and investigations to ascertain the involvement of others from the Health Secretariat. Two employees of the MC were suspended on the charges of corruption besides the reported visit of the Vigilance Bureau personnel to the office to check out a complaint. The bureau also filed cases against three former ministers, Mr Nirmal Singh
Kahlon, Mr Sucha Singh Langah and Mr Tota Singh, and PPSC scam main accused Ravi Sidhu in SAS Nagar. A complete change of heads of various department was witnessed in the year. Mr Darshan Singh Sandhu took over as the SDM, Mr Yashvir Mahajan as the Additional Chief Administrator (SAS Nagar) for the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA), Mr
T.K. Goel as the Estate Officer, PUDA, and Mr Jaikishan Sharma as the Executive Officer of the MC. Ms Hardayal Kaur became the Vice-Chairman of the Punjab School Education Board. Three more road links, between Chandigarh and the township, became functional as a part of the integration plan to develop basic amenities. The SAS Nagar master plan continued to be a low priority issue with the government having postponed all three meeting schedules in the year to finalise it. The master plan, when finalised, will be used as a guideline for the development in the township over the next 20 years. The SDM's office also took charge of the revision of the electoral rolls of the Kharar constituency. The first round of revision was complete by the end of the year. While PUDA gained from most of its commercial ventures, the public opinion was that these ventures were highly overpriced. This was reflected in some of the mid-year public auctions where many commercial sites did not find any takers. The situation, however, improved towards the end of the year. For the allottees of the residential sites in Phases 77 to 80, it was an endless wait for their plots. With a large part of the land under litigation, it is status quo till a decision on the matter is taken by the court. PUDA also remained in the midst of the long pending decisions regarding amendments in the Punjab Capital Periphery Control Act. While nothing was finalised till the end of the year, speculations regarding the changes remained rife throughout the year. The singular decision that changed the complete financial situation of the otherwise fund-starved MC was the privatisation of the collection of octroi in the township. The decision, which will be implemented from January 1, 2003, was, however, strongly opposed by the Mohali Industries Association and traders' community. While the MC waited for a piece of land from PUDA for a cattle pound, the cattle and pig menace in the city saw a rise in the number of accidents caused by these animals. The council also got into a controversy regarding the location of its garbage dump, which, according to the Air Force Station, Chandigarh, was not safe for its operations. The matter ended after it was decided to shift the garbage dump northward on the same land. The total membership of the council was completed with election of another councillor. Residents, however, continued to complain about the lack of cleanliness in the township. Two groups of the Mohali Industries Association patched up by the year end, bringing an end to an ugly series of events that had marked their division. PUNWIRE employees continued to be on a warpath, demanding revival of the company and their jobs back.
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YEARENDER — 2002 CRIME CHANDIGARH: If the statistics compiled and supplied by the Police Departments of Punjab, Haryana and even Chandigarh are to be believed, there has been a decline in heinous crime while the recoveries made under the Arms Act, the NDPS Act and the Excise Act have shown a substantial increase. Statistics, they say, never tell the truth as these can be managed and manipulated and interpreted the way those in power want. “Yes”, agree some of the senior, both retired and serving police officers. Policemen do not realise that “their manipulations” are contradictory to their claim that the “crime situation has improved and remained under control during the year under review. “If that be so why more people should be carrying ‘kamanidar’ knives, pistols, guns and other lethal weapons recovered by the police of the area concerned. Were they brandishing these illicit weapons to be caught by the police or the police had secret information and apprehended them before they could go out and commit a crime? Why more and more people should be smuggling, carrying and trading in drugs as revealed by more arrests during the year ? “Whatever be the explanations, there is no denying the fact that the crime rate has been on the rise ? And the new trends in crime — the white collar crime, the “supari” business and the cyber crime — are still not reflected in the crime bulletins of the Police Department,” remarks a retired Director-General of Police of a northern state. One of the websites keeps an eye on incidence of every cognizable offence committed in this part of the country. Though the source for the website is reports in the media, yet figures compiled by it are exceedingly credible and genuine. For example, every other fortnight, the Haryana Police has been claiming to have tracked down a number of gangs engaged in thefts, burglaries, kidnappings, extortions and even robberies. But where did these gangs commit the crime. Once the police of one of the northern territories at its annual press conference claimed tracking down two major gangs engaged in theft of bicycles and water meters. The police had claimed to have solved hundreds of theft cases. But the figures supplied by the police for the period reflected hardly any theft of a bicycle or a water meter. How can recoveries be made without these items having been shown stolen ? The officers were answerless. Basically there were six main crime stories from the region that remained in the headlines. The top story of the year was certainly the arrest of then PPSC Chairman Ravi Sidhu under the Prevention of Corruption Act in March. Though the number of cases registered under the Act this year almost doubled to 103 against 58 last year, the ones that remained in the headlines were concerning members of the SAD-BJP Council of Ministers, including Mr Tota Singh, Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, Mr Sucha Singh
Langah, Mr Gurdev Singh Badal. Also taken in custody was a former VC of Punjab Technical University. The other important crime story was the registration of a case against Dr Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, a Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala; who was ultimately dismissed by the Punjab Government. Six persons, including an Akali leader, were shot dead in Bhikhiwind in the Majha belt in May in which a Cabinet minister was named in the FIR by the complainants. The major crime incident with political overtones was the multiple murder (five persons lost their lives ) case at Midhu Khera in Punjab, also in May. Also in the headlines was the Shivani murder case (of Delhi) leading to the arrest of Haryana Inspector-General of Police, Ravi Kant Sharma after a 55-day drama. The most shocking of all crime cases in the region was the lynching of five Dalits in Jhajjar, leading to tension in the area.This incident led to traffic blockades, violent protests and even violence. Another story of police action that hit the headlines was the search of five serai buildings in the Darbar Sahib complex by the police on the eve of the annual elections to the SGPC committee in November. A closer look at the functioning of the Police Departments revealed that while both Haryana and Chandigarh remained stable with action being initiated against some guilty officers, the Punjab Police witnessed severe infighting during the year. Though statistically, the situation may not be that alarming, yet some of the actions remained in the headlines. The Chandigarh police witnessed changes at the top in the last month of the year with a new Inspector-General and Senior Superintendent of Police. A few more changes at the top were expected in the first month of the New Year. One of the important and controversial developments in the Punjab Police was the shifting of the entire top brass of the Intelligence wing following its differences with the Vigilance Bureau over investigating the recruitment scam. Then there were other squabbles involving a Deputy Inspector-General and a district police chief. Even the appointment of Mr
A.A. Siddiqui as OSD (Law and Order) remained in the headlines and the government had to amend its orders after giving Mr Siddiqui sweeping powers in maintenance of law and order. Earlier, Mr Siddiqui was recalled from an inter-state deputation from Manipur where he was posted as the DGP. The Punjab and Haryana police both claimed a decline in penal or heinous crime. For example, Punjab recorded 742 murders (until December 26 this year) against 766 last year. But kidnapping and rape cases witnessed an increase. There were 275 recorded rapes this year against only 235 last year. Similarly, the number of kidnapping cases increased from 546 to 565. Even cases of assault on public servants jumped from 411 last year to 456 this time. Dacoities went up from 39 to 45 but robberies fell to 113 from 124 last year. The situation in Haryana was no different. |
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While most of the city residents will be celebrating the New Year by throwing big parties and presenting costly gifts to their near and dear ones, members of Yuvsatta, a city-based NGO, have decided to celebrate it by distributing sweaters to small children in Colony No. 5 and Janata Colony. Its president, Mr Pramod Sharma, who is working for the past many years in the field of child education, AIDS awareness programmes and waste-management, says: ‘‘How can we think of wasting our money on crackers and parties, when these small children are shivering in the cold nights of the New Year? We are trying to make their tough lives a little bit better by providing education and some help. Cannot people think about them before celebrating New Year?’’ he asks. Not so noble Recently, a retired Professor of Jammu University phoned offices of the local newspapers and asked to send correspondents to attend his press conference at the Press Club, as he had won a “Noble” prize. Though no one was ready to accept his claims, none could not ignore the call. When some of the correspondents did reach there, he was sitting with the copy of certificate, which read as,‘‘ Proclamation of privilege... hereby authorises the issue of a 2002 Noble Prize to Dr Bharat Bhushan Sharma, for outstanding achievement and contribution to worldwide humanity.’’ Though some of the press photographers did not waste time to click his photograph, he could not tell who had sent his nominations for the award, and what was his contribution to society. Within minutes, it became clear. ‘‘A US-based organisation — the United Cultural Convention — had picked up his bio-data from the internet, as he had gone for a study leave to France, and sent this certificate through simple post.’’
Migratory birds that make the regulator end of Sukhna Lake their winter home, have now come to the main entrance of the lake to say hello to the local ducks and geese. The site around the island looks like an aviary. One can have close view of these beautiful birds and easily identify the avian guests. (see photo) With this the main objective of releasing the local ducks and geese by the Environment Society of India (ESI) has been achieved. Every day the caretaker of the ESI feeds the birds at the Sukhna Lake-Island sanctuary opposite the entrance of the lake. Attracted by the feed the migratory birds fly towards the island which is about 2 km away from the regulator end. These birds stay the night. In the early morning hours when nature lovers feed the local ducks and geese, the migratory birds join them in the breakfast. This goes on till 9 a.m. Boating starts at 8.30 a.m. and by 9 a.m. the migratory birds fly back towards the regulator end.
Tough questions More than 100 urban and regional planners had recently gathered at the CII to participate in the national town and country planners’ congress. They discussed more than 60 technical papers for two days on questions relating to the urban and regional planning. On the last day, Mr Karan Avtar Singh, Finance Secretary, Chandigarh, was chairing the session “Chandigarh fringe area development,” when one elderly gentleman entered the hall, and sought permission to speak. He said: ‘‘My name is Angrej Singh, but I will speak in Punjabi. I just want to ask what would you do for the 5,000 families of 11 villages, who were uprooted to set up the modern city.’’ He further asked: ‘‘We had sold this land at the price of Rs 400 per acre, now worth Rs 1.5 crore, where you are discussing the big questions. If the administration can provide land and job opportunities to shopkeepers and slum dwellers, who encroached upon our land, why cannot they rehabilitate us ?’’ No one had any answer, of course.
RadioBuzz RadioBuzz has been the best thing to happen to the city in 2002. This is a revolution of sorts envisioned by two young radio enthusiasts, Charanjit Singh and Hardeep Singh
Chandpuri. Having worked on the concept for several years, the US-trained radio jockey Hardeep returned to the city to join hand with his friend and launch
RadioBuzz, which began as a one-hour weekly show. It has expanded now to two hours of an exciting listening experience for the city residents. There is a growing list of RadioBuzz fans that comprises doctors, teachers, industrialists, businessmen, professionals, defence personnel, and of course, a vast majority of youngsters from 10 years old to
collegiates. “This was a vision that we shared since a long time ago and we are lucky to get enthusiastic response from listeners as well as the advertisers. It is a pleasure to continue to add to the listening pleasure of city residents”, says Charanjit. “Believe it or not, Hardeep has already got a big list of fans in the city”, he adds. RadioBuzz shall soon go daily starting with a one-hour slot at 9.15 am which is targeted also at car owners driving down to their work, says Hardeep.
ATM boom Chandigarh witnessed an ATM boom during 2002 as their number jumped from 38 in 2001 to 88. This means 50 ATM in one single year. With this Chandigarh has the highest number of ATM ratio in India. While India has 8 ATMs per million, Chandigarh has 88 ATMs against the population of about 9 lakh. The aggressive deployment of ATMs in recent times is taking everyone by surprise. Until a few years back, banks could position their ATMs as a unique selling proposition. It has been
commoditised now. The State Bank of Patiala was the first public sector bank to install an ATM in Chandigarh in March, 1995, at its personal banking specialised branch in Sector 8 here.
ICICI, a private sector bank, has the maximum number of ATMs in the city. ATMs are likely to outnumber the brick-and-mortar branches in Chandigarh, says Mr S.C. Dhall, a renowned banker of Chandigarh. —Sentinel |
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Bansal opposes villagers’ displacement Chandigarh, December 29 “I will oppose the displacement of the people tooth and nail, “ he told a gathering of protesters in Kishangarh here today. Mr Bansal, however, clarified that he expressed his support to the project to the Administrator minus displacement of the people. The local MP made these assertions when residents of Kishangarh, who are apprehending demolition of their houses, made a representation to him through the gram panchayat, urging him to take up the matter in Parliament. The representation was given following issuance of notices for the acquisition of the village land, housing 1,500 dwelling units and providing shelter to around 20,000 people, the gram panchayat said in the representation. It said the people were very scared as it would be their second uprooting. The representation said when Chandigarh came into existence, they were removed from Ramnagar and Bangi Majra villages. It alleged that the Chandigarh Administration had not communicated to them whether the lal dora had been extended or not for which several committees had been set up in 1992. Asserting that the administration had extended the lal dora in several colonies and villages of SAS Nagar and Panchkula, it appealed to leave their houses out of the land acquisition drive for the IT park. The representation claimed that they had been assured of a sympathetic view during their meetings with the Administrator, the Finance Secretary and the Deputy Commissioner in the past. Copies of the representation had been sent to General Jacob, Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee President B. B. Behl, INTUC President Rampal Sharma, Congress Mayoral candidate Subhash Chawla, Senior Deputy Mayor Surinder Singh and Panchayat Samiti Chairman Bhupinder Singh Badheri. Mr Badheri extended his support to the protesters, saying all 22 villages under the samiti would stand by the affected people of Kishangarh in their fight against displacement. Mr Bansal asserted there was no need to displace the people for the setting up of the proposed IT park as the city had plenty of land for the purpose. |
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NEW YEAR EVE PLANS Chandigarh, December 29 “This, however, is not the only reason why I visit the club with family on this day. The celebrations are wonderful, with impressive bon-fires lighting the night sky, thumping music, dancing teenyboppers, nice invigorating drinks for all who wish to be on a high and sumptuous snacks. You just cannot stay away from the excitement.” He also says: “I, too, will dance, cut footloose with my family and friends on the illuminated dance floor created specially for the evening till I sweat.” Senior Food and Beverages Manager of CITCO, Mr Anurag Walia, has different plans. He’ll just be watching happy couples twirl all around on the illuminated dance floor on December 31. The reason is not far to seek — he will be on duty on New Year’s eve. He says: “From my marriage in 1988 to 2001, I have been celebrating the occasion away from my family. Last year was the first time since my wedding that I was able to celebrate New Year’s eve with my wife and kids. No wonder, it was a fabulous evening. This year, however, I will again be on duty, but my family and I will wish each other at about 12.30 am.”
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Satjit
Singh
is DSOI
vice-chairman Chandigarh, December 29 Those elected as members of the executive committee are Col J.S. Khurana was elected to the sub-committee on catering and bar, while Capt R.K. Bhardwaj and Capt Hoshiar Singh were elected to the sub- committees on discipline and finance, respectively. Earlier, at the meeting, it was brought to the notice of members that the club had suffered a loss of about Rs 4 lakh on the sale of liquor and aerated water, for which, the members said, there was no justification. The matter would be looked into at the appropriate level. The issue of granting life membership to the Punjab Governor, Lieut-Gen J.F.R. Jacob (retd), Lieut-Gen H. B. Kala(retd),a former GOC-in-C, Western Command, and Lieut-Gen O. P. Malhotra (retd), a former Governor of Punjab, was also discussed. |
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Workshop
on human rights Zirakpur, December 29 Various issues, including rights of women, soldiers, students, doctors and patients, apart from functioning of the Human Rights Commission were taken up during the workshop. Mr Anil Kaushik, chairman of the organisation, who was the chief guest, highlighted the objectives and the purposes of the organisation besides telling people about their rights. Ms Veena Kumari and Dr Lok Raj from Government Medical College, Chandigarh, talked about rights of women and patients. Other who spoke on the occasion included Mr Gurmit Singh, general secretary of central body of the organisation, Col Tarsem Singh, president, Punjab state, Mr Charanjit Bakhshi, Col SS Sandhu, Rana RS Virk and Gen BPS Virk. |
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16-year-old girl abducted Chandigarh, December 29 Thefts cases:
In another case, Iqbal Singh, a resident of Phase X, in SAS Nagar, complained that his Bajaj Chetak scooter was stolen from the parking lot of Punjab Mandi Board office, Sector 17. A Bullet motor cycle was stolen from the parking lot of Hostel no 2 in Panjab University. |
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