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Cash-strapped MC sends lakhs down the drain
Chandigarh, April 3 A study of the project involving laying down of a 56-inch storm water drainage pipe near the railway crossing in Mauli Jagran establishes the arbitrariness with which the MC passed the estimate of Rs 20 lakh. Not a bit sensitive to the actual site conditions, the estimate seems to have been prepared with least sympathy for tax payers’ money. A visit to the site confirms that the MC could have easily saved Rs 12 lakh had it considered the ground reality and actual site requirements of the area before going ahead with the clearance of the estimate. Highly placed sources in the MC admit to the wastefulness of the project which received the MC’s administrative approval in October 2003. The project involved expensive works which are not really required, experts point out. The area already has in place a 48-inch pipeline to augment the storm water drainage system. Furthermore, the new 56-inch pipeline has more length than was actually required to boost the existing system. Says an MC official, “They went ahead and laid a pipeline along the area where water was already coming in the open channel. The project would have served a better purpose had the water been diverted across the road instead of being diverted from the place where it was already flowing freely. Where we have spent 20 lakhs, we could have managed in about seven lakh.” About 500-metre-long pipeline has been finally laid whereas a 150-metre- long pipeline would have been sufficient, as per the observations made by some technical experts. Even residents of the area told The Tribune the pipeline had been laid in the area where it could have been avoided. Unmindful preparation of the project’s estimate finally caused the MC a loss of 12 lakh.
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Holiday in various convent schools
Chandigarh, April 3 Prominent Catholic schools of the city include Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Sector 26, St John’s High School, Sector 26, Carmel Convent, Sector 9, St Anne’s Convent School, Sector 32, Little Flower Convent School, Sector 14, Panchkula, St Stephen’s, Sector 45, Mount Carmel, Sector 47. However, there will be no holiday in other schools of the city tomorrow, the DPI (Schools), Mr D.S. Mangat, said. Most of the private schools of the city were scheduled to open for the new academic session tomorrow after a break of over a fortnight following their annual examinations. Panjab University and all colleges affiliated to the university would function normally and examinations would be held as per schedule. Meanwhile, in a statement issued, here today, Bishop Gerald Mathias added that the Bishop, clergy, religious and the faithful of the Catholic Diocese of Simla-Chandigarh would mourn the demise of the Pope till his funeral but will never be able to forget the Pope. A special Mass would be celebrated by Bishop Gerald Mathias at Christ the King Cathedral on April 4 at 6 pm. Special prayers would be offered for the deceased Pope in all churches during the Sunday Masses. The Bishop said the Pope was a spiritual leader not only for the Catholic faithful but was a guiding light and a moral voice for the entire world. “He was the champion of justice and peace and spoke authoritatively in defence of human life and dignity. He condemned every armed conflict and war and inspired millions of people of all faiths by his courage to face suffering and sickness,” the Bishop said in his statement.
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Tributes paid to Pope
Chandigarh, April 3 At the Sector 19 Cathedral the Bishop of Diocese Gerald Mathias conducted a Mass that featured a thanksgiving this morning. The Catholics prayed that Lord be merciful to the departed soul and give him eternal peace. Although the Mass at the sector 19 Cathedral and St Anne’s prayer hall was attended by hundreds of Catholics, the Special Service in the honour of Pope will be held at the Sector 19 Church at 6 pm tomorrow. Besides prayer offerings, the Mass will feature a tribute to Pope John Paul II by the Bishop of Diocese. He will speak about the life of the pontiff and recall his sacrifices at the altar of religion and humanity. Once the date of Pope’s funeral is announced by The Vatican, Catholic Churches in Chandigarh will hold another Mass to commemorate the same.
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Governor mourns Pope’s death
Chandigarh, April 3 In his condolence message, the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, General SF Rodrigues (retd), expressed his condolences to the members of the Christian community. Describing the Pope as the apostle of peace,
General Rodrigues said he was a dedicated and good human being, who had guided the destiny
of the Christianty for several years. The President of the Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD), Mr Parkash Singh Badal, described the Pope as the prophet of peace, love and human understanding and his death was an “irreparable loss” not only to the Christianty but also the whole world. The World Sikh Council (America Region) said the Pope dedicated his life to promoting peace and justice and inter-religious dialogue among religions of the world. “The Pope was a beacon of hope and joy for millions of Catholics and people of other faith in the world. He would continue to be a source of inspiration for generations to come,” Mr Amolak Singh, chairperson of the council, said. The president of the local unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Mr Gurbachan Singh, termed the Pope as the messenger of peace”. Meeting put off Conference of the Chandigarh-Punjab Union of Journalists, slated to be held on April 4, has been postponed due to three-day mourning declared by the government following the Pope’s death.
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BSNL phones go dead
Chandigarh, April 3 Industrialists and newspaper offices in the area had a tough time reaching out to their contacts and sources in the series 63, 64 and 65. All BSNL connections of The Tribune and The Indian Express stopped functioning and scribes had to use their mobiles to get inputs for their stories to meet their deadlines. The General Manager (Administration and Maintenance), Mr K.K Sarangal, said the snag developed due
to a problem in one of the batteries feeding the exchange. Nearly 11,000 connections in the mixed areas of Sectors 29, 30, 31, Industrial Area, Phase I and II, Ram Darbar and nearby areas were paralysed as the cells in the battery had got damaged. A team of technical experts led by the DMGM (South), Mr Rahul Jauhri, rushed to the exchange and the process of replacing the damaged cells started. No problem was reported from the area being fed by the main exchange in Sectors 17 and 34. He explained that the exchange runs on a system of two parallel batteries and second one is always a stand by and we have bypassed the faulty one to restore the services. Meanwhile, BSNL subscribers in Mani Majra have been facing problems dialling Airtel and Spice mobile connections from their landline connections for the past three days. A senior official in that area, when contacted, said the problem could be due to congestion in the other networks and not the BSNL. However, specific cases, if any would be attended to but it had nothing to do with the exchange in Ram Darbar, he clarified.
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For Admn, Saharya still CJ!
Chandigarh, April 3 Justice Arun B. Saharya continues to be the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and Mrs Nirmal Yadav the Registrar (General) on the Chandigarh Administration site despite the fact that not only these two, but their successors too have spent a long innings at the high court and moved on. Justice B.K Roy took over from Justice Arun B. Saharya and spent a purposeful innings in the city before being transferred out recently. He has been replaced by Mr Justice D.K Jain, a judge of the Delhi High Court, who has been elevated as Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Similarly, Mrs Nirmal Yadav was succeeded by Mr Pritam Pal and after the transfer of Mr Pritam Pal, Mr M.S. Sular took over as the Registrar (General) of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. However, the website of the Chandigarh Administration is yet to be updated.
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Passing Thru
Which book/s are you working on these days?
My fourth book, ‘Fanoos’ (Chandelier), is due to be released. In fact, its publication brings me to India. It is a collection of short stories. I am also working on a travelogue, ‘Sarhadon Par de Meel’, and plan to write stories for Indian children settled in Canada to acquaint them with the folk heroes that we’ve grown up reading about. Do your writings centre round the Indian diaspora? Experiences of the Indian immigrants in Canada form merely a backdrop and are not the focus of my writings. My latest book as well as earlier titles — ‘Cactus de Phool’, ‘Chaandi da Gate’ and ‘Phool Patiyan’(collection of poems) — are mostly about emotional, psychological and social problems people face in adjusting to the way of life in that country. Some stories are about the predicament of the women and children growing up there. But all my female characters are portrayed in a positive light, as victors and survivors. — Chetna Keer Banerjee
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Fire services lack fire
Panchkula, April 3
This despite the fact that a sum of Rs. 1.50 crore has been collected as fire tax since 2001 by the MC. However, fire services have remained as static as these were when the township was established. Residents lament that they were forced to pay fire tax for the overall improvement of fire services here, but what to talk of improvement in the facilities, they still have to rely on Chandigarh fire services in case of an emergency. Since 2001, a sum of Rs 60 lakh is collected as fire tax each year. It was only last year that the then Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) government had exempted all residential premises from paying fire tax, and fire tax collected in 2004-05 was over Rs 20 lakh. Officials say that approximately Rs 1.50 crore has been collected as fire tax till date. There is a shortage of firemen and there are only two fire engines catering to the entire district. The MC had made a request to the Urban Development Department for purchase of a fire engine, which was sanctioned a few months ago. “We have already deposited Rs 12 lakh with the Director Supplies, Haryana, for the purchase of the chassis of a fire engine and a fire tender, and these are likely to reach here by the end of this month. We will then invite tenders for constructing the body of the two engines, and these would be operational within three months,” said an official of the Urban Development Department. Sources say that though the State Finance Department had sanctioned 47 new posts for the Fire Department almost three years ago — 26 posts of firemen, nine each of leading firemen and driver/operators, and one each of fire officer, assistant fire officer and peon — as of now there is a sanctioned strength of just 18 personnel (three drivers, 11 firemen and three leading firemen, and one fire officer). The government guidelines say that there has to be one fire tender per 50,000 population and a leading fireman, four firemen and a driver have to be present in a single shift . The population of Panchkula district is around four lakh, but only one driver and three firemen are available at a given time. The government had started the process of fresh recruitment of firemen two years ago and interviews were also held. But since then, the recruitment process is hanging fire. It was also proposed to add a hydraulic platform worth Rs 2.75 crore, construct two garages and family quarters at the fire station. However, the proposal to buy the hydraulic platform has been shelved, even though high-rise buildings have come up in Sectors 5, 14 and 20 and Mansa Devi Complex. The fire engines presently with the department are successfully in case the fire is at a height of up to 35 feet only.
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Mobile
dental clinics for troops in far-flung areas Chandigarh, March 3 Stating this here today, Director- General, Dental Services, Lieut-Gen R C Dhir, said some of these clinics would be attached with the Army Medical Corps field ambulances, which were meant to provide medical cover to troops in forward areas. General Dhir said most of the dental equipment for the mobile centers would be imported, though vehicles and infrastructural paraphernalia would be indigenous. Presently, the Army has 15 mobile dental centers which also provide dental cover to the Border Roads Organisation and the Assam Rifles. The Army's dental chief also said troops deployed in high altitude areas, particularly in the Siachen Sector, faced relatively more dental problems vis-a-vis their counterparts deployed elsewhere. This, he said is because of a combination of lack of water to maintain oral hygiene, high calorie cariogenic diet and lack of oxygen. The Army Dental Corps is a small and young corps, having about 450 officers. Its intake is 25-30 officers annually for which it gets about 3000 applicants. The challenge here, General Dhir said, is not numbers but the quality of candidates. Besides, updating its equipment and modernising its centers, the dental corps is also introducing new professional courses for officers. Earlier, General Dhir inaugurated a Professional Update on All Ceramic Crowns, organised by the Western Command Military Dental Centre (CMDC) in Chandimandir, near here. About 150 dental specialists in prosthodontics from the three services as well as civilian hospitals attended the meet. In his inaugural address, General Dhir said dentistry had made tremendous advancements in the past decade, with new technologies evolving at a fast pace. To keep dental surgeons abreast of the latest techniques, conducting professional updates has become a necessity, he added. Stating that the Army Dental Corps has excelled in all fields of dentistry, CMDC Commandant, Brig K. Ravishankar, said the update was planned to make civilian and military dental surgeons fully conversant with the emerging technique of implanting all ceramics crown. Principal, Maulana Azad Dental College, Delhi, Dr Mahesh Verma, Dr Sanjay Kalra from BRS Dental College Chandigarh, and Mr Danesh Vazifdar from Mumbai, delivered guest lectures, bringing out the esthetic benefits of ceramic crowns. Besides three technical sessions,a live demonstration on the procedure was also organised.
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Ray of hope kindles for the visually challenged Chandigarh, April 3 Braving the summer heat, the chilly winters or the heavy downpour in monsoons, these visually challenged persons have been staying in a tent outside the Directorate of Social Justice office in Sector 17 for the past 18 months. As the seasons change, these men, under the aegis of the Netraheen Jagriti Sangh, Haryana, continue to brave the vagaries of nature, sleeping, cooking, washing on the roadside. Hope for a better future and to get social justice is what has kept them going. From facing imprisonment for staging dharna at Chandigarh, or marching their way to Delhi to seek an audience with the President, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, these men have left no stone unturned to make their voices heard in the corridors of power. Many of them have not been to their homes for months now. "Our families bore hardships to send us to special schools and colleges where visually impaired students were given classes. Now that we have completed our education, we are unable to make our living because no jobs are being offered to us. We cannot go home accepting defeat from a callous government," says Mr Balraj Singh of Bawanikhera in Bhiwani. With Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, offering to accept their demand of granting 1 per cent job reservation, has brought cheer among them. "Finally, our long struggle to get our due in society is likely to reach its logical conclusion soon," says Mr Ram Avtar Sharma, who hails from Loharwala village in Bhiwani. These protesters had met the Chief Minister and Social Welfare Minister, Ms Kartar Devi, on March 21 after they had threatened to launch a fast-unto-death from March 22. "The Chief Minister assured us that after the model code of conduct for the Panchayat elections is withdrawn, the job vacancies for visually impaired would be filled and the job reservation criteria will be strictly enforced," says Satyavan, a resident of Redau village in Sonepat and graduate in History Honours from Delhi University. They say that 2700 jobs for the handicapped have been lying vacant in various Haryana Government departments and boards and corporations. "But the previous government refused to fill these posts. Even before Mr Hooda became the Chief Minister of Haryana, he had promised to accept our demands. He had come to meet us in Burail Jail in February last year when we were arrested after a dharna at Matka Chowk, Chandigarh," says Mr Naresh Kumar of Yara village in Kurukshetra. These agitating men have been staging dharna here since September 29, 2003. Though the Central Government had announced a 1 per cent reservation for visually challenged persons (from 3 per cent reservation for handicapped) in 1995, the Haryana Government has failed to allocate jobs to visually impaired. The Netraheen Jagriti Sangh says that only a 100-odd visually impaired persons had been given jobs during the past five years.
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Dr Prem Singh’s book discussed
Chandigarh, April 3 The main paper on the book was read by Dr Raunaki Ram from PU’s Political Science Department. He said socialism has still the need of the hour because it talked of equality. Discussion on the book was initiated by Dr Gurbachan, former professor in English at Delhi University. He said the downfall of socialism spelt doom for the Soviet Union and no leader, not even Gorbachev, could have saved the country from decline. Dr H.S. Mehta said Gorbachev’s Perestroika was anti-socialism and pro-capitalism. Pritam Singh, a former bureaucrat, talked about the fast-track times, adding that there was a need for looking beyond Marxism. Other speakers were Dr Bhupinder Brar, Dr Randhir Singh and Mr N.S. Rattan, who gave the presidential address.
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Dry leaves smoulder under MC nose
Chandigarh, April 3 A survey of the city during early morning and late evening hours on Saturday showed piles of dry leaves being burnt with impunity. “This happens everyday and nearly everywhere in the city,” Mr Jai Pratap Singh, a resident of Sector 38 (West), said. Remains of small fires as well as smoke were seen at different places in Sectors 11, 15, 16, 30, 35, 36, 38 (West), 45 and 46. It was a common sight to come across piles of leaves on roadsides, particularly during the morning. “Burning of leaves during rush hours, especially in the morning, is definitely not a pleasant sight,” Mr Arun Kumar, an employee of the State Bank of India, said. A sizeable portion of the city population complained of dry leaves not being removed from the roads by the corporation because of which residents had to come forward and arrange for their disposal. A senior officer of the corporation said cleaning leaves from the compound of houses was not their duty and it was practically not possible “for us to clear the leaves from the streets”. He said the corporation had limited staff and machinery, which was engaged primarily in handling the bigger problem of cleaning the city garbage. It was pointed out that the corporation had a fleet of only 11 tractor-trailers to handle the city waste. The corporation was likely to get six more tractor-trailers from other wings of the corporation next week. It was also pointed out by the officer that a private party had offered to pay for the picking up of leaves. Dry leaves were to be compressed by a machine, but political interference seeking open tenders forced the issue to be sidelined.
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Commissioner examines liquor shop site
Panchkula, April 3 A court had appointed Ms Pushpa Dimri as local commissioner on March 30, to see if the liquor shop in Sector 18 here was located near a temple and school. A resident of Sector 18, Mr Vinod Jaggi earlier moved the court, pleading that the liquor shop be closed as it was near a school and a temple was located nearby. However, the state argued that this shop was a major source of revenue and could not be closed.
TNS
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Buses bypassing Panchkula, rue residents
Panchkula, April 3 The association has alleged that though instructions have been issued to all depots in the state to ensure that the buses from other districts in Haryana pass through the Panchkula bus stand, these instructions are not being followed by other bus depots for the past several years. Mr S.K. Nayar, president of the association, has urged the Transport Minister, Mr Randeep Singh Surjewala, and the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr Chander Mohan, to look into the matter. He urged that the frequency of buses from Panchkula to Delhi and other important places should also be increased. He demanded that the infrastructure at the bus stand should be improved.
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Ex-servicemen hold meeting
Chandigarh, April 3 They also nominated presidents for Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Ropar districts at the meeting held under the chairmanship of Capt Kanwaljit Singh, general secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal and MLA, Banur, at his residence. Col Surjit Singh Sandhu was nominated president of the ESM Wg, Patiala (rural), Capt Manjit Singh Dhindsa, president of the ESM Wg, Patiala (urban), Sub Sukhpal Singh president of the ESM Wg, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Honorary Capt Gurmit Singh, president of the ESM Wg, Ropar.
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3 students held for molesting girls
Chandigarh, April 3 Veer Vikram Singh of Bathinda, Saurabh Rishi of Patiala and Rajat Sharma of
Ferozepore were arrested for allegedly misbehaving with girls. They were later let off on bail when a PCS officer of Punjab gave their sureties. According to the police, the students reached the discotheque early evening and had beers and joined a group of girls on the dance floor. Suddenly, the discotheque staff heard girls crying. The disco staff called the police which initiated the action against the boys. The engineering students had come on a six-month training to the city and were working in a company based in Sector 17.
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Thief held from PU campus
Chandigarh, April 3 According to the police Amit Sharma of Sector 18 was caught red-handed while stealing on Thursday night. The police recovered one gold chain, cash worth Rs 200 and an identity card from him. The room belong to Mr Surinder Pal Singh Brar, who caught the thief and reported the matter to the police. A case has been registered in this regard in Sector 11 police station.
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4 held for selling underweight LPG cylinders
Chandigarh, April 3 Bharat Lal of Colony Number 5 was arrested on the complaint of a Sector 18 resident S.K. Ojha for allegedly supplying a cylinder which weighed 1.7 kg less than the standard weight. Lal is a worker with the Shivalik Gas Agency. He has been booked under Section 420 of the IPC and Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act in Sector 19 police station. Mohit, Rishi Pal and Kishan were arrested by a team of the Mani Majra police for allegedly unauthorisedly possessing 13 gas cylinders in a separate case. The arrests were made on the complaint of Food and Civil Supplies Inspector P.K. Dhawan.
Vehicle stolen
Rajinder Kumar of Sector 20-D reported that his Scorpio (PB08 AK 0497 was stolen from in front of his house No 3086.
Arrested
A Sector 56 resident Ajmer Singh was arrested for allegedly carrying five bottles of unauthorised liquor.
Held for gambling
A Sector 20-C resident Sunil Kumar was arrested from near the Sector 20 petrol pump for allegedly gambling in public. The police recovered Rs 470 from him.
Thief held
PANCHKULA
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Suicide by woman: police raids in-laws’ house
Mohali, April 3
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Allahabad Bank issue opens on April 6
Chandigarh, April 3 The issue is being launched to augment the capital base of the bank and meet its future capital requirements arising out of the implementation of the Basel II standards. The capital will also be utilised for general corporate purposes, including development of infrastructure to support business growth and service customers besides meeting the expenses of the issue. Mr Ashwani Kumar, DGM, Allahabad Bank said, “we have pursued growth opportunities in the retail banking sector and continue with the highest proportions of low-cost deposits among public sector banks. The fresh capital offering will help the bank in meeting the Basel II standards.” The issue is being managed by SBI Capital Markets Limited, DSP Merrill Lynch Limited, ICICI Securities Limited, J M Morgan Stanley Pvt Lt, Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited and Enam Financial Consultants Private Limited.
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