New Delhi, September 24
Trouble compounded today for Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit, already under fire over privatisation of power supply, as Congress MLAs opposed her idea of taxing groundwater.

“On Monday, Congress MLAs will strongly oppose the Delhi Jal Board (Amendment) Bill-2005, which is a ‘black’ legislation,” party legislator Mukesh Sharma told a news conference at the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) two days after Ms Dikshit introduced the legislation in the Assembly.

If signed into law, the legislation will also empower DJB staff to inspect addresses and seal pumps extracting groundwater illegitimately.

Groundwater extraction in Delhi will require DJB permits, with the utility registering existing users in notified areas once the law comes into force.

“The move will not only encourage corruption in the DJB, but will make poor people using handpumps to extract water prone to humiliation and harassment. We will not let it happen,” Mr Sharma said.

He also accused the DJB of incompetence, saying it has failed to ensure proper water supply in the Capital.

Mr Sharma said he has given an eight-point amendment proposal, signed by party MLAs to the Delhi Secretariat.

“If there are some technical hitches in withdrawing the controversial clauses, it could be sent to a Select Committee,” the legislator said.

Chief Minister Ms Shiela Dikshit was, however, quoted today as saying that the Delhi Jal Board (Amendment) Bill 2005 aims to regulate indiscriminate exploitation of ground water and not to burden the consumers.

The bill intended to regulate “connections already there” in view of the depleting ground water level in the Capital and “not sell the state’s coffers,” she said.

“Only a token amount will be charged from the users.” The bill laid down conditions for harnessing ground water in public interest, she added.

The bill was introduced in the Assembly on September 22 amid apprehensions from the opposition and some congressmen that it would place a heavy cess burden on the consumers. Meanwhile, amid rumblings in the ruling Delhi Congress, Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit and her bete noire party unit chief Mr Ram Babu Sharma today sought to portray unity by sharing dais at a programme here.

The Chief Minister, however, took a dig at her detractors in a veiled manner by saying that Congress men had “diverted” from the path shown by their leaders like Lal Bahadur Shastri. “We have no dearth of great leaders in the Congress to inspire us. If we have diverted from our paths, it is our own fault,” she said at the function organised by the DPCC to pay tributes to Shastri whose 100th birthday will be observed on October 2.

When the DPCC chief, who has been leading a campaign against Ms Dikshit, was asked about differences in the party unit, he tried to downplay it saying “I have no problems with anyone. Everyone has to be together for the progress of the party.”

This was the first joint public appearance of Ms Dikshit and her detractors since latest round of rebellion broke out against the Chief Minister about two months back.

Besides Sharma, MPs Sajjan Kumar and Krishna Tirath and MLA Tajdar Babbar, all known detractors of Dikshit, attended the programme. AICC General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi and the former Prime Minister’s son Mr Anil Shastri also attended the function.

All the speakers paid glowing tributes to Shastri, recalling his honesty, integrity and the famous slogan he had coined - ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’.

Ms Dikshit has been facing stiff opposition from members of her own party which became apparent during the agitation against increase of power tariff when they even called for her removal. 

New Delhi, September 24
It was the usual story after the rains here today: waterlogging, traffic snarls and roadblock following the uprooting of trees. Four persons were also hurt when a tree fell on their car at Parliament Street this morning following heavy showers.

The car was going towards Connaught Place when the tree, close to the entrance of Akashwani House, fell on the road. The four injured were rushed to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where they were discharged after first aid.

Traffic on the road was disrupted for sometime following the blockade caused by electric wires getting entangled with the branches.

According to the Met Office, 33.8 mm of rainfall was recorded till 5.30 pm with heavy downpour reported from all over the city. It has predicted a cloudy sky and further rainfall in the next 24 hrs. Showers that hit the national Capital around forenoon today left large parts of the city waterlogged. The low-pressure area over Andhra Pradesh that caused heavy rainfall in the state had moved northwards, leading to continuous rain in Delhi, the Met office said.

With today’s downpour the city was now close to reaching its average quota of 64 cm of rainfall. Till September 16, it had already recorded 56.5 cm of rainfall this season.

The maximum temperature recorded was 27.6 degree Celsius and the minimum was 25.2 degree Celsius. Roads were clogged due to the rains, leading to traffic snarls at several places, including Central Delhi.

New Delhi, September 24
Activists who gathered to celebrate the International Girl Child Day today had little to rejoice with 93 million women and girls missing from the world population because of sex-selective abortions, female infanticide, starvation and malnutrition deaths.

NGO Chetna, which organised an interface of less privileged girls, pointed out that besides millions of women dying an unnatural death due to abuse and neglect, statistics revealed that 80 per cent of refugees around the world were women who had to face the brunt of discrimination.

The NGO further said that in India, besides 5 million girls being killed in the womb, 10,000 girls were killed after birth.

A concept paper released by the NGO pointed out that the problems did not end if they survived as they were subjected to abuse and discrimination through out their lives. ‘’While two-third of the world’s illiterates were females, two-third of children kept out of school were girls,” the NGO said, adding that 36 million girls were out of school in India alone.

On the abuse of girls, it said 50 per cent of sexual assaults were committed on girls below the age of 15. Participants at the interface organised by the NGO, Childhood Enhancement through Training and Action (CHETNA), included several stakeholders and policy makers who interacted with scores of less privileged girls who apprised them of their problems.

CHETNA said several NGOs, including Navshrishti, Balvikaas Sahara, Badte Kadam, had joined it towards fulfilling the basic vision of achieving women friendly society and system and provide them the basic rights of survival, protection, development and participation.

On the urgent need to provide women with their basic rights, the NGO said a recent World Bank study had indicated that when women and girls were empowered, the overall health and well being of a society was greatly improved by decreased population growth, faster economic growth, less corruption in governance, increased agricultural production, more children to go to school, reduction in health hazards and a lower childhood malnutrition and child mortality.

CHETNA Director Sanjay Gupta said International Girl Child Day could be really celebrated only when all problems faced by girls and women were solved. For this, there was a need to sensitize the community towards the problems encountered by girls and women around the world, he added.

New Delhi, September 24
A Kargil hero allegedly died of negligence by a hospital in Janakpuri area of West Delhi when he was denied medical attention after being stabbed by scooter-borne assailants.

Kantilal Guliani (45), who retired as Naib Subedar last year, was denied admission in Orchid Hospital in Janakpuri last night after he was stabbed on his thigh and stomach by two men on a scooter who tried to snatch his bag, according to sources.

Mr Guliani, who presently worked at a security-cum-placement agency in Adhchini, was on his way to his office, they said.

He was rushed to the hospital by pedestrians, who found him in a pool of blood, where doctors refused him admission saying it was a police case and he should be taken elsewhere.

By that time, Guliani’s relatives also arrived and continued pleading for admission, which was further denied. A short while later, Guliani died, which infuriated his relatives and the crowd ‘gheraoed’ the hospital and ransacked its office damaging its computer, furniture and breaking some of its window panes.

They also manhandled some of the doctors and the ‘protest’ continued till early morning.

Meanwhile, police have also not registered a case against the hospital despite clear-cut instructions of the Supreme Court in this regard that no one could be denied admission in a hospital in an emergency case. It has registered a case of murder and kept the body in the morgue of Deendayal Upadhyaya Hospital until post mortem was done.

New Delhi, September 24
The first disaster management centre set up by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) at Raghubir Nagar in West Delhi became operational today following the inspection of the Lt-Governor, Mr B. L. Joshi, and the Municipal Commissioner, Mr Rakesh Mehta.

The Lt-Governor said Delhi was prone to disasters, especially natural ones like earthquakes, breakout of major fires, floods and release of hazardous material in inhabited areas. It required immediate disaster relief operation in order to save human life, prevent immediate human suffering and mitigate great destruction and damage to property.

The MCD had been assigned the task of post-disaster care, efficient functioning of the disaster management equipment, debris clearance and removal, road clearance and proper sanitation. In order to keep itself in readiness, the Municipal Commissioner said the MCD was procuring equipment through the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation at a cost of Rs 9.5 crore for which funds had been provided by the Delhi Government.

He said the MCD had identified three locations for stationing disaster management – Raghubir Nagar, Okhla Industrial Area Phase – II and Shastri Park. Spread over an area of 8000 square metre, the Raghubir Nagar disaster management centre, which became operational today, will cater to Rohini Zone, Karol Bagh Zone, Najafgarh Zone, part of City Zone and Sadar Paharganj Zone. The Okhla Industrial Area – II will cover Central Zone, South Zone and part of City Zone while the Shastri Park centre will cover Marginal Bund Old GT Road, Shahdara South and North, part of City Zone and Sadar Pahar Ganj Zone.