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May 5, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Is Delhi usurping others’ rights over
water? New Delhi, May 4 The population has risen to 14 million. The Yamuna water is not available for most part of the year. The level of groundwater has retreated from about 2-5 metres to 8-12 metres. Delegates to a seminar held recently in the Capital believe the NCT of Delhi could be usurping others’ rights over drinking water to serve its burgeoning population. Vikram Soni of the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, says the Capital imports 250 million cubic metres of water from the Ganga, Yamuna and Beas catchments. The import of 250 MCM of water from the catchment of these rivers is causing ecological imbalance at the cost of the inhabitants. The Tajewala barrage, about 220 km north of Delhi (near Yamuna Nagar), is the seat of Western Jamuna Canal from where water is fed to NCT of Delhi through the Haiderpur water works. The total Yamuna water availability annually is about 376 MCM per year. Of this, there are large evaporation and other minor losses that may be estimated to be at least 30 per cent. So the actual water use from Yamuna is 264 MCM per year. Water from the Upper Ganga Canal is brought through a pipeline from Murad Nagar. This amounts to 200 cusecs or 180 MCM and another 290 MCM from the Beas in an open canal that joins the Western Yamuna Canal. After the 30 per cent evaporation, the water available from this source is about 190 MCM per year. The total water use from all these sources is about 630 MCM per year, a large fraction of which is not local but imported from other river basins. Soni believes the population density and high irrigation and fertility of hinterland around NCT of Delhi does not permit the import of water to service the Capital. In the NCR, the water requirement for agricultural use is roughly 200 MCM per year or 0.2 MCM per sq km per year. But the hinterland catchment have higher fertility and more intensive cropping, so their water use may be higher, say, 0.25 MCM sq km a year. The carrying capacity from the total river water resource for NCT of Delhi works out to about 6.3 million people. The carrying capacity from the total catchment augmented reserve works out to about 1.5 million people, a total carrying capacity of about 7.8 million people, which is about half of the total population of NCT of Delhi. Any excess of population beyond a city’s carrying limits can be to the detriment of the people who live there and also to those whose catchment areas are being usurped to serve the city’s excess population. As degradation of their environment takes place and their life sustaining sources deplete due to the excessive transfer of their waters to serve other regions, people from these catchment areas will soon be demanding their rights, Soni said. |
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Sheila presses Haryana for early completion of
canal Panipat, May 4 Addressing the gathering she said the ambitious venture, projected to cost Rs 314.75 crore, would provide additional 360 million gallons of water per day to Delhi on its completion after three years. In view of the severe water crisis in Delhi during summers, she appealed to the Haryana Irrigation Department engineers to complete the project within two years. In a message that was read out in absentia, Mr Chautala said that the canal will be made of concrete to check loss of water owing to seepage; it will be completed in three years. Mr. Chautala hoped that the canal would prove a major step in supplying water to Delhi and also emerge as a symbol of mutual cooperation between the two states. He said Haryana was helping the national Capital quench its thirst by supplying water from its own share, this despite facing water scarcity. He went on to suggest that effective steps should be taken to meet the growing demand of Delhiites for drinking water, so that it can reduce its dependence on Haryana. Ms. Dikshit, on her part, said, “We are good customers... we will pay money on time”. Elaborating, she said: Delhi and Haryana governments had been discussing the venture for the past 12-15 years, but no headway could be made because of two major constraints, acquisition of land and paucity of finances. “It was only in the last few years that the two governments took up the project seriously as a result of which the ambitious venture has become a reality”. At present, raw water for Delhi’s Haiderpur Water Treatment Plant comes from Haryana through an unlined canal. Owing to heavy seepage losses (30 per cent), the water released from Munak head works does not fully reach Haiderpur. The new canal, with a length of 102.43 km, will have a carrying capacity of 707 cubic feet per second and will be fully dedicated to the Delhi Jal Board. The concrete lining of the canal will limit the water losses due to seepage to only 4-5 per cent, Ms Dikshit said. |
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Deliberate delay in appointing Faridabad mayor? Faridabad, May 4 Several members of the Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF), who are agitated over the stand taken by the authorities on the appointment of a new mayor, have alleged that the corporation was being dragged into a ‘constitutional crisis’. Members of the corporation have accused the authorities of ‘playing a waiting game,’ so that the ‘ousted’ mayor, Mrs Anita Goswami, could get some relief from the apex court, where she has reportedly filed a petition challenging the high court’s order. Mrs Goswami had been a staunch supporter and an activist of the ruling Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). So, the delay in the appointment of a new mayor on the part of the authorities was ‘understandable’, said her political opponents. They have further accused the authorities of violating the rules of the Haryana Municipal Act which provides that the senior Deputy Mayor of the corporation be given charge till the appointment of a regular mayor, said Mukesh Sharma, a local Congress leader here. He said that the Haryana Municipal Act contained clear guidelines about such a situation, but the authorities had been delaying the matter ‘unreasonably’, leading to a ‘functional crisis’ in the corporation. He said several works and files regarding development schemes had been pending and the some of the decisions required the assent of the corporation members, who could not meet till the post of the mayor was filled. It may be recalled that the senior Deputy Mayor, Mr Shiv Charan Lal Sharma, had been given the charge of mayor last year, when Ms Goswami was voted out after a no-trust move by its members. One of the members of the House, Mr Daya Shankar Giri, has served legal notices to the Divisional Commissioner and Commissioner, MCF, for delaying the appointment of a new mayor. Mr Giri has alleged that the authorities were ignoring the court orders and could be charged with contempt. It is learnt that the present situation has annoyed the majority of the members as they cannot expedite the pending projects of the corporation. |
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Passenger arrested in curious tit-for-tat Noida Then, in a flip-flop, the police arrested the passenger who had informed the police about the conduct of the constable. Constable Chhaterpal Singh had helped himself to a peg too many before boarding the bus for police lines in Surajpur. He allegedly misbehaved with passengers and tried to check their tickets. When some passengers objected to this, he threatened to teach them a lesson. He even tried to assault two passengers when they tried to argue with him. Near Kulesra, two youngsters got down from the bus and asked the cop to join them. Then, they beat up the cop in the presence of a large crowd; later, they fled with his handcuffs. Instead of arresting the youths who had given the constable a thrashing, one Rajpal, who had informed the police station about the incident in the bus, was arrested by the police on the suspicion that he might have known the youths.
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PILFERAGE Noida, May 4 The applicants had been allotted residential plots in this sector in 2000 through a computerised draw; however, it has taken the Noida Authority about two years to hand over the possession letters. Even though the Authority has recovered the full payment from the applicants and the registries have been also completed, the allottees are yet to acquire physical possession of the plots. During this gestation period, which has been euphemistically dubbed “a no-man’s land”, the mafia has been frantically going about its business of pilferage. Plots in A Block — from A-68 to A-87 – are affected and are pockmarked by deep trenches and ditches. The allottees have alleged that not only private, but also government construction agencies are involved in carting away the earth from the sector. It seems that the chief minister has been exerting pressure on these agencies to expedite the construction of the Noida-Greater Noida expressway. The project is under way at a short distance from the expressway. The allottees, who had deposited their life’s savings in their dream homes in Sector 46, live in dread of the anti-social elements. They are also worried as to when the actual possession of the plots will take place. The Noida Authority bigwigs admit that this was a serious situation and action will have to be taken after a thorough probe. |
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YC chief detained for protesting against New Delhi, May 4 The police picked up Lilothia from his residence while he was in a meeting with his party workers. Hundreds of his supporters thronged the police station and raised slogans against the VHP. He was later released at around 1.30 pm. Lilothia told the gathering that he was planning to organise a ‘Kalam Diksha’ programme to counter the VHP’s efforts. The aim of the Kalam programme would be to fight against the fundamentalist forces and voice against the religious diktats. |
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Survey favours creation of alternative jobs to stem rural migration Sonepat, May 4 The measures suggested include liberal loan advancements, cultivation of herbal plantations, setting up of the food processing units and milk chilling plants, long-term policies for dairy development and special afforestation drive. It has been pointed out in the recently published reports that the people in these categories are facing serious financial problems in setting up income generating activities in the prevailing situation. Above all, the reports point out that they do not even have the immovable properties to mortgage for loans. The reports have suggested that the people in these categories should be provided liberal finances for starting some income generating occupations. Expressing concern over the deteriorating economic conditions of the landless labourers and rural artisans, the reports reveal that the national housing bank has earmarked a sum of Rs 5,000 crore for house constructions, but it seems no one is interested in the states to utilise it due to differences in legal actions over mortgaging of the landed property within “Lal Dora” between the banks and the revenue authorities. In reference to employment generating activities, the reports have suggested to the Haryana Government to encourage the farmers to undertake cultivation of herbal plants and sell them to the pharmaceutical companies. The reports state that the Indian pharmaceuticals have attracted world attention over the years. The Panchayati Raj institutions in the villages should be provided technical guidance for promoting herbal plantation, which will inspire the individual villagers to take this up as their new occupation. The reports further suggest that the agriculture land in the areas of Sonepat, Bahadurgarh, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ambala, Panchkula, Karnal, Jind, Hisar and Panipat are geographically and environmentally suitable for promoting large-scale vegetable cultivation, which in turn would provide opportunities for setting up of food processing units to provide direct and indirect employment to large number of people in the region. The surveys stress the need for promoting various job oriented occupations like fish farming, manufacture of shoes and sweets and fabrication of wooden toys. Citing the examples of the countries like Denmark, Australia and Canada, the reports suggest the promotion of dairy development on the same pattern, pointing out that animal husbandry could easily be adopted as there was plenty of dry and green fodder available in Haryana villages. However, the government needs to implement long-term and firm policies to check the ongoing migration from rural to urban areas. The reports have also laid stress on bringing more areas under afforestation, which would increase income-generating activities in one way or the other, mainly for the rural population. The total areas under afforestation in Haryana was only 1,551 sq. km and more than 600 sq. km area out of it falls in the districts of Panchkula and Yamunanagar, the reports state. |
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ROAD RAGE CASE New Delhi, May 4 The police said that the suspects were a group of three to four persons and were travelling in a black Cielo car. The suspects, in the early twenties, were tall and well-built. The police have launched an intensive search in Delhi and the adjoining districts and are particularly on the lookout for the black Cielo car. On Friday night, at around 10 pm, the victim, Sunita Chadha, a resident of Sector-8, Rohini, was on the way to her mother’s house in Sector-18 to pick her children. Her two daughters were supposed to go on a picnic to Shimla the same night. Sunita, who was travelling in a Maruti Esteem car, found some persons fighting near the power house at the overbridge nallah. As she stopped her car and tried to intervene, Sunita got into an altercation with the youngsters in the Cielo car. The youngsters, angry at her intervention, followed her car for about a 100 meters and pumped two rounds in the right side of her chest. Sunita, who was rushed to the Ambedkar hospital, was declared brought dead. Many relatives and friends had gathered at the residence of Sunita to offer their condolences. They also requested the police officers to arrest the suspects involved in the ghastly crime. The police has asked the public to co-operate and provide information about the suspects to SHO Prashant Vihar – 27557184 & 27561877, mobile – 9810502180; ACP Rohini – 27492157; and DCP North-West – 27229835. Votaries of mining re-surface Faridabad: While the Supreme Court is yet to decide whether to retain the ban imposed on mining activities in the 5-km radius of the National Capital Region or not, people who want the ban to be lifted have initiated a drive to spread the word that pollution would be kept in check, if mining activity is allowed to be resumed. It will be recalled that the hearing on a PIL filed in this connection is over and that the court has reserved its order. |
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Common man pays dearly for dark
days New Delhi, May 4 He said that a common man today is not aware as to who should be held responsible for the power cuts and discrepancies in billing. Mr Goel said that the Delhi Government cannot shy away from its responsibility by taking the excuse of privatisation of electricity in Delhi. The Delhi Government headed by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is responsible for the power cuts even though the distribution has been transferred to the private companies. The Chief Minister should disclose the steps taken to improve the electricity position. Mr Goel asked why timely action has not been taken to ensure the smooth supply of electricity in Delhi. To know the view of a common man about the deteriorating power situation and resolve the grievances of the consumers, Mr Goel organised a Janata Bijlee Adalat wherein the General Manager BSES Central and East Delhi distribution company, Mr S C Tankiwala, and other senior officers were present. Hundreds of people made complaints and said that they remain without electricity for 10 to 12 hours. They have to pay frequent visits to the power offices to get their bills corrected, the complainants said. |
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Residents allege irregularities in house tax assessment, partiality by survey staff Sonepat, May 4 In general, it is alleged that Kharkhauda Municipal Committee falls in the ‘C’ grade, though the house taxes imposed on the residents are of municipalities in the ‘A’ grade. The residents are upset that they are being supplied with the final bills, whereas it was mandatory on the part of municipal authorities to issue notices under Section 78 of the Municipal Act, 1973, before finalising the house taxes. There are allegations that the officials of the survey teams had adopted partial attitude while assessing the house taxes of their near and dear ones in the town, clearly reflected in the bills provided to them. One Yash Pal Gupta of the town alleged that while he had two shops at the same place and of the same dimension, the house tax on them varied considerably. One shop was assessed at Rs 160, whereas a house tax of Rs 1,200 has been imposed on the other shop. “Such irregularities were reported from other areas also,” he said.
Demolition drive The civic authorities in Gohana town have launched a special drive to remove encroachments by the shopkeepers, rehriwallas and others on the roads in the town. The responsibility for the demolition drive has been assigned to Naib Tehsildar, Sanjay Bisnoi, BDPO Deepak Kumar Yadav, secretary Municipality, Suraj Prakash Bahl and market committee secretary, Lal Chand Bisnoi. Last week, encroachments were removed from the shops on the main Gohana road from Ambedkar chowk to Jind road. The anti-encroachment drive continues in different parts of the town. |
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3,000 held in massive law and order campaign New Delhi, May 4 During the campaign, a notorious criminal Hari Om Jat, a life prisoner who had jumped parole in November 2002, was also arrested in the North-East district and a Webly Scot revolver was recovered from his possession. He said that he had purchased the weapon to eliminate another criminal Pushpender Jat. ‘Stranger rolls’ were prepared for 3,706 persons as they could not provide proper residential address in Delhi. Thirty-eight persons were arrested under Arms Act. Six wanted criminals, six proclaimed offenders, four gamblers, 85 bad characters, 16 bootleggers, 47 persons under Excise Act and two auto-thieves were also nabbed during the drive. As many as 1,700 persons were challaned for violating traffic rules in different parts of the city. The police also placed pickets at more than 100 checking points and maximum challans were made for vehicles driven with high beams. As many as 138 persons were booked for dangerous driving, 10 for drunken driving, 98 for jumping red lights, 107 persons were challaned for riding vehicles without helmet and three were challaned for driving in the no-entry zone. The police chief was accompanied by the joint commissioners of all ranges and additional commissioners with the deputy commissioners of police of districts. |
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NCR BRIEFS Sonepat, May 4 The villagers alleged that the action was partial as the land measurement was not done properly. They alleged that only the poor had been made the target of this drive and the encroachments of the influential persons remained untouched. On the other hand, the acting sarpanch of the village Ravinder Dahiya stated that a number of people had encroached upon the ‘phirni land’ of the village and 30-feet-wide phirni had been left with hardly 20-feet width. According to information, a demolition squad with JCB machine and led by the BDPO, S S Dhiman and ASI Anil Kumar descended on the village in the morning and announced that all encroachments be removed immediately. When the people showed reluctance in carrying out the orders, the JCB Machine was pressed into service. Obstetrical society meet Rewari:: Obstetricians and gynaecologists of Rewari, Narnaul and Mahendergarh participated in an informative and educative conference organised under the auspices of the Rewari Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society (ROGS ) as a part of its continuing medical education dissemination programme here on Friday . |
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Sugarcane farmers resent non-payment of
dues Rohtak, May 4 Claiming this here today Mr Dalip Singh Hooda, convener, Human Rights cell of District Congress Committee, alleged that the sugar mills had so far failed to make payment for the produce of farmers for March, April and May. He said Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala had failed to keep his word as he had publicly announced many times that the farmers would be paid for their produce within 15 days. The Congress leader alleged that the farmers had been facing acute hardship due to non-payment. Several farmers used to visit the sugar mills daily to inquire about their payments but in vain. He also alleged that almost all the ponds in villages had been dried up causing acute scarcity of drinking water for cattle. Besides, he said the farmers had been getting irrigation water in 42 days which had adversely affected their crops.
Prizes distributed The Director-general of Police, Mr Mahender Singh Malik, gave away prizes to nearly 250 students of Vaish Technical Institute during the 14th annual prize distribution function held here this afternoon. Later, he inaugurated ‘Mahadev Vatika’ in the Vaish Technical Institute. His wife, Ms Krishna Malik, inaugurated a canteen on the campus. The office-bearers of the Vaish Education Society and its governing body along with the principals of different institutes being run by the society attended the function. |
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The May Queen Gurgaon, May 4 While radio star Raman Bhanot compered the programme, the audiences were regaled with lilting music in between the ramp walks. Nine contestants competed for the super ‘May Queen’ contest and for the ‘Miss Beautiful Smile’. While Ms Shipra Rode won the May Queen contest, Ms Diksha Mitra bagged the Miss Beautiful Smile prize. Speaking on the occasion, the managing director of the Western Resort club, Mr Ranjit Goyal said that the event was to give an opportunity to the budding talent.
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Boy killed while crossing road Sonepat, May 4 Biker killed A motorcyclist was killed and his associate suffered serious injuries when their motorcycle was hit by a mule cart on Atayal-Ahulana link road about 25 km from here last evening. The victim was identified as Naresh of Ahulana village and the injured as Parkash. The injured was taken to hospital and is stated to be out of danger. The police are still investigating the case.
10 RI for charas The Additional Session Judge, Mr R K Bishnoi, has convicted one Suraj Bhan of Nooran Khera village under the NDPS Act and sentenced him to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1 lakh or in default of payment of fine, the accused would undergo further one year rigorous imprisonment. According to a report, both the sentences will run concurrently. According to the prosecution story, the Baroda police had arrested the accused following the recovery of contraband charas from his possession and sent the challan to the court of law.
Computer centre Mr Subhash Vashisht, secretary of the District Red Cross Society inaugurated a computer centre in the Kath Mandi area here last evening. According to a report, a one-year and two-year diploma courses will be the main attraction for the trainees. |
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SHOWCASE Oriflame has introduced a “bindi set”. The quintessential bindi, traditional adornment for Indian Women for centuries, is coming now in a high quality avatar from Oriflame. Peter Hauggaard, CEO, Oriflame, said, “Oriflame is keen to respond to the beauty and adornment needs of the Indian women. The bindi is an everyday make-up for Indian women and it is truly one thing that makes her unique from her contemporaries around the world.” Hindustan Lever has launched Rin Supreme Bar. The bar is a Nil Mineral-No Mitti Bar. It does not contain any minerals as present in other conventional bars, since the birth of detergent bars in the late 60s. Sanjay Behl, Manager, HLL said, “Conventional detergent bars contain almost 40 per cent mined ingredients in their formulations. These coarse minerals, mined from the earth are used to give structure to the bar.” Mattel Toys, a leading toy company has launched 1:18 Die Cast Motorcycles. The collection of 1:18 Die Cast Motorcycles are Mattel’s latest offering from the Hot Wheel’s brand. These collectibles are realistically styled and have working parts. The assortment of Hot Wheels 1/18 scale Die Cast motorcycles offers replicas of famous bikes from popular brands as well as original Hot Wheels designs. Wanna feel winter
in sultry days? Whirlpool has launched nine new air-conditioner models in both the Window and Split segments under the Magicool range. The unique feature has been designed for super-quick cooling and is available in both one ton and 1.5 capacities. Besides, the super cooling system and tropicalised super cooling rotary compressor have all been designed to ensure quick and powerful cooling. Make-up for
your feet Woodland has introduced an exclusive ladies summer collection–‘Make-up for your feet’. The new range of women’s footwear with its innovative designs is a dream come true for the ladies customers. Comfortable in wear and beautiful in looks, they enhance the beauty of the feet. The new products comprise flipons and sandals, fabricated in multi-styles through high-fashioned Italian designs with superlight PU sole. More washable than ordinary emulsions Dulux has introduced the new Supreme 3-in-1 interior Acrylic Emulsion in the market. The emulsion is three times more washable than the ordinary emulsions. Hina Nagarajan, general manager, ICI Paints, said, “Dulux Supreme 3-in-1 is a value for money brand, even though it is priced a little higher than the ordinary emulsions.” Orion International’s has launched new Delkor and Watta Batteries. These batteries are ISO 9001 and their major worldwide OEM’s include Volvo, Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Nissan. Orion has a strong network of 1,500 dealers engaged in market. Inverter with latest
in digital technology Su-Kam has announced its highly advanced DSP Sine-Wave inverter. Kunwer Sachdeva, CEO Su-Kam said, “The new product DSP-Sine Wave inverter is the most user-friendly, interactive inverter with the latest in digital technology. Our inverter would use the same technology as laptops, mobile phones or other hi-tech gizmos, we have developed an intelligent inverter.” MTR Foods has launched two new products, Dal Makhani and Peas and Mushroom Curry offering choice and authentic flavours to the vegetarians in their ready-to-eat category. J Suresh, CEO, MTR foods said, “MTR believes in constant innovation in order to offer consumers a wide range of complete meal solutions made with top quality ingredients. It was a challenge to make the new products because we wanted to develop a ready-to-eat variation of popular dishes that would be tasty, nutritious and hygienic.” Avon has introduced two new fragrances – Iceberg and Ozone. Iceberg, the perfumed body talc from Avon has fresh and aromatic notes which keep you cool and refreshed all day long. The Ozone talc is available in an aromatic woody fragrance. Sensual & radiant
floral fragrance Christian Lacroix has launched ‘Bazar’, for men and women. The women’s range is a sensual and radiant floral fragrance. The men’s range is a transparent, marine and woody fragrance. For peaches and cream skin Oriflame has introduced ‘Tea Tree Corrective Coverstick’. The Tea Tree skin care products consists of moisturizing gel, wash and tone foaming gel and anti-blemish solution. The coverstick is a dual purpose anti-microbial corrective coverstick to hide and treat blemishes. The oil products are the natural solution to problematic oily skin and have a host of renowned antiseptic and anti-microbial properties. It is non-greasy and has a clean invigorating scent best suited to the Indian climatic conditions. Wheel, streets
ahead of others Hindalco has launched an exclusive Aura alloy wheel for Tata Indigo. The sleek-looking wheel is designed by the styling department of Telco and developed by Hindalco. The Aura alloy wheel specially designed for the Indigo provides a wide range of benefits: it improves fuel efficiency and ensures faster pick-up. |
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