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Site on potholes may herald smooth ride
This website has been developed by four self-employed young technocrats. One of them, Nakul Goyal now lives in the USA and other three—Sumit Bahl, Karan Goyal and Divanshu Bahl—are local boys. However, main role the development of the website has been played by Nakul and Sumit. All these young technocrats have inspected most of the roads in the City Beautiful to collect information regarding potholes. And wherever they saw any pothole, they photographed it and put its detail on the website. By now, they have put information regarding two dozen potholes on the above mentioned site. There is complete detail about every pothole and in some cases, these details are accompanied by a photograph also. The site is for the tricity-Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. ‘‘Anyone who finds any pothole anywhere in these three cities, can get the same photographed and send to the website through e-mail on infochandigarhpothole.com. and it will be put on the site immediately. Details can be sent without a photograph about the location of the pothole. We will be opening the site four times in a day and also check e-mail simultaneously’’, says Nakul, who is in the city these days to meet his parents. When asked about the objective of creating this website, Nakul says that it has been created to provide an opportunity to people to share their jerky road experiences with others. ‘‘Now almost all young boys, girls and other citizens have mobile phones with a facility to click photographs. They can easily take a photograph of the pothole and send it to us. And from our site, the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh, Municipal Committee of Mohali and authorities concerned in Panchkula can gather information regarding the potholes to get the same repaired at the earliest possible’’. He said ‘‘after carrying out repair work these government bodies can inform us and we would remove the information regarding the repaired pothole from the site. In due course, this site can prove very beneficial and serve many purposes. Even those coming from outside to Chandigarh can gather information from the site to find out which road is worth travelling on and which is not. Even advisories from the Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula police regarding traffic diversion during the visit of VIPs or major demonstrations can be put on the site. And information regarding any road to be closed for a few hours or more for repair on any specific day can also be put on this site’’, he added. He said a similar site was being made in Bangalore by some public- spirited youth. The municipal authorities there download information from that site and inform the site managers after carrying out repairs of the damaged parts of the road. Nakul, who had also developed a software for California police to flash information regarding missing or abducted boys to all policemen within seconds, says that Chandigarh and its surrounding areas were emerging as a major destination for Information Technology. ‘‘We want to do some creative things like the launch of this site to inform the world that Chandigarh really deserved to be such a destination’’, he adds. He said he and his colleagues would welcome suggestions from technical minds to make this site more public friendly by making some more suitable additions.
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Reunited with family after 2 years
Chandigarh, December 21 Suffering from loss of sense of comprehension and a partial memory loss, he was reduced to virtual wreck, abused by passersby and fed only by some good Samaritans. His unkempt hair, overgrown nails and tattered clothes had transformed his identity. His family back home in Uttar Pradesh kept on searching for him in the nearby areas. Little did they know that he was hundreds of miles away from home struggling with life in a pathetic condition. One day, a social worker on noticing the condition of Sajid, called up the UT Red Cross for help which found a home for him at Jai Durga Deaf and Handicapped Children Welfare Centre, Centre 27, here on December 4. “All the man could speak was his name and the name of his two sons. It took a lot of hard work, persuasion and medical treatment to make his recall the place he belonged to”, said Dr P.D. Gautam, Chairman of the Centre. “The day we brought him here, he consumed 35 chapatis. He had an erratic behaviour. We gathered hints from the inconsistent replies he gave and we managed to contact his family members. He is unable to explain how he landed in the city”, said Dr Gautam. Due to efforts by the Centre, Jahid was finally united with his son, Rashid, who came from Nagina to take him home. Thrilled on being united with his father, Rashid, told the Chandigarh Tribune that he had never given up hope. “The moment I got the call, I took a bus and landed in the city”, he said. He recalled that his father went missing about two years ago and they searched for him in and around Delhi. Four years ago, he had gone missing but was traced in Punjab. “We have spent the major chunk of family earning in getting him treated. But it did not help”, said Rashid.
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Bansal supporters to go to Delhi today
Chandigarh, December 21 The local unit of the Congress, which is at present split into two groups, has four candidates in race for the coveted post from Mr Bansal’s group and two others from President of the local unit. B.B Bahl’s group. Mr Pradeep Chhabra, Mr Surinder Singh, Mr H.S Lucky and former Mayor Subhash Chawla are among the possible contenders from Bansal’s group, the names of Mr Chandermukhi and Ms Shyama Negi are among the contenders from the Bahl group. Sources in the party add that while the Bahl group has almost decided upon to field Mr Chandermukhi as the mayoral candidate, there is a split in the Bansal group on the nominee. The fracas in the group came to the fore in the meeting of the Youth Congress yesterday when the President of the local unit of Youth Congress, Mr H.S Lucky, put forth a proposal of unanimously recommending his name for the post before the party high command. Even though Mr Lucky has denied the reports that have appeared in various sections of newspapers and has also refused to accept Mr Rajeev Awasthi and Mr Ashwani Kaushal, who had opposed him in the meeting, as vice-president and general secretary of the youth Congress. He has sent a press note denying yesterday’s incident by getting signatures of few party workers, but the same does not bear his signature. Rumours of a split in the Bansal group a few days ago were also put to rest through a similar press note stating that they stand united. Mr Surinder Singh is staking his claim by saying that he will be the first Sikh to be nominated for the post and a representative of the villagers, Lucky is seeking support on the ground of having big plans for the Youth Congress. Mr Pradeep Chhabra has already started knocking at the doors of the party high command at Delhi. Even as Mr Chawla denies being in the race his supporters feel that the choice of the next Mayor of the city is crucial as elections to the civic body are due next year. He should not only see the party through an easy win but should also be able to keep pace with the Administration for carrying out various developmental works. Mr Chandermukhi Sharma is banking on his goodwill at the Centre. He is also staking claim on the ground that at the time of the formation of the MC, Mr Bansal had assured that all Congress councillors would be given a chance to occupy one of the 15 posts at least once during the tenure of the MC. Hence, he is the right claimant for the post this time. Meanwhile, Mr Bansal , who is pre-occupied with the inquiries in Operation Duryodhan and Operation Chakravyuh, is too busy to concentrate on the affairs of Chandigarh. Hence, his supporters have no option but to go and meet him in Delhi. What remains to be seen is that whether Mr Bansal
himself chooses the next mayoral nominee or authorises Mr B.B Bahl to do the needful.
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Admn seeks reply from MC
Chandigarh, December 21 Sources say that the Administration has taken a serious note of the issue which was raised in the meeting of the MC House yesterday. During discussions, it came to light that MC has still not got some of its land, cases regarding which are pending in the courts, demarcated till date. They do not have the required details of the land which is actually being occupied by the illegal occupants, who managed to get stay orders against land vacation from various courts, sources add.
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Jewellery worth Rs 2 lakh stolen
Mohali, December 21 According to information available, the owner of the house was out of station when the theft took place. The thieves decamped with about 25 tolas of gold jewellery, diamond rings, 4 kg of silver, watches and cash. It is reported that Mr Mohinder Singh Matharu had gone to Khanna along with members of his family as his father had died there. When his elder son came back on Sunday evening everything was alright. But when his son came back on Tuesday evening he found that the house had been ransacked. The thieves had reportedly entered the house from the back courtyard and gained entry into the building after removing a window pane. They searched all the rooms in the house as things were lying scattered everywhere. The lock put on the main gate of the house was intact. The police is investigating the matter.
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Mutilated body found
Kharar, December 21 The body was found lying in bushes in the fields and seemed to have been mutilated by animals. It was not immediately clear whether the man had been murdered or had met with an accident. Information in this regard was given to the police by a woman. The DSP, Mr Raj Bachan Singh Sandhu, and the city police post in charge, Mr Ramesh Kumar, reached the spot. The body was sent to the Civil Hospital for a post-mortem examination. The post-mortem is likely be conducted after about two days as the police wants the body to be identified. This is the second case of a body having been found in the Kharar area in the past four days. On December 18, a 22-year-old resident of Badmajra village was found murdered and his body was recovered from bushes on the outskirts of the village. The victim was later identified as Harjinder Singh.
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33 LPG cylinders seized
Ambala, December 21
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Over 50,000 Indians at Haj
Chandigarh, December 21 Giving out further details he said that the Haj operations were entering the fourth week and were going on smoothly. So far 181 special Haj flights had brought these pilgrims, 30961 of whom were currently in Mecca Mukarrama. The pilgrims include five Indians over 100 years of age. These include Mr Hafizur Rahman (105) from Assam and Mr Chote Khan (106) from Uttar Pradesh. Four out of these five were taken for the Haj by the Haj Committee of India and one by a private tour operator. He said about 1200 pilgrims had arrived in Azizia, where Indian pilgrims were being accommodated for the first time. For the Indian pilgrims the Indian Haj Mission Office, the Medical Mission Office and 10 branch offices and branch dispensaries were fully functional and are giving round the clock service to the pilgrims. The spokesperson said that the Indian pilgrims had expressed satisfaction over the accommodation provided as well as the transportation arrangements made for travel to Haram Sharif from
Azizia. He also disclosed that a toll free 24-hour helpline had been established for the benefit of the pilgrims. Its number is 8001160055. For screening the pilgrims, new x-ray machines have been installed at the main Haj Hospital in Mecca and Madina that have so far examined 44603 pilgrims and cleared them for the final pilgrimage. According to the Indian Consulate spokesperson, health authorities at Mecca have expressed satisfaction over the medical arrangements made by the Indian Haj Mission and are considering suggesting to other Missions to replicate this experiment.
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Man died accidentally, not murdered
Chandigarh, December 21 The police had recovered the body of Raju, a native of Bihar, lying in a pool of blood along the roadside in the colony. A case of murder had been registered in this regard on the basis of a statement given by one Kedar Nath, who runs a public call office there. There were injury marks found on the rear of victim’s head. The DSP (South), Mr K.I.P. Singh, said the investigations revealed that it was not a murder as the police had earlier believed it, but was an accidental death. Even the post-mortem reports had not ruled out the possibility of the victim’s head being crushed under the tyres of the bus. He added that the injuries were not inflicted by a sharp-edged weapon as earlier believed by the police. The DSP said during the interrogation, a priest of the Shiv temple in the colony, from where the body was recovered, told the police that he heard a roar of bus engine in the morning. The body was found later and was lying where the bus was parked. The police worked on the clue and impounded the bus (UP-44-C-9262) from a Manimajra workshop late last night, where it was taken for a routine maintenance. The bus belonged to Kedar Nath, who informed the police about the body lying in the colony. The police said the driver and cleaner of the bus did not care to see under the bus and moved the bus, resulting in the death of the victim. The DSP added that the case had been amended to causing death by rash and negligent driving. The police had booked Om Prakash, the driver of the bus. Earlier in the day, the police had called Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) experts to the scene to reconstruct the sequence of the event.
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Board asks administration to help check noise pollution
Mohali, December 21 Noise pollution has become a problem in the town as persons holding marriage functions played at very high pitch even after the stipulated time. The problem was discussed at a meeting held in the office of the SDM, Mr M.L. Sharma. Others, who were present at the meeting, were Mr S.K. Sharma, SDO, PPCB, Mr Tarsem Singh Rai, Municipal Engineer of the local civic body, and Mr Rajesh Kumar, Accountant of the Secretary of the Kharar Market Committee. It is learnt that the PPCB official requested the SDM to provide all information to the Pollution Control Board regarding persons who sought permission to play music at marriage or other functions so that a team of the PPCB could monitor the noise levels during surprise checks. The information gathered during such checks would be forwarded to the SDM for appropriate action. According to pollution control norms, the noise level should not disturb people living around marriage palaces or community centres. People holding functions at places located near educational institutions and hospitals had to be more careful so that the noise level remained within the premises of the building where the function was being held.
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PPCB ultimatum to industrial units
Mohali, December 21 The owners of eight industrial units set up in different parts of the industrial area were called for a hearing yesterday at the camp office of the PPCB located in Sector 34, Chandigarh. The PPCB had served notices last month to these industrial units for violating pollution control norms after it had found during a check that the effluent treatment plants had not been installed by some units while these were not functional in the case of other units. According to sources, out of the eight industrial unit owners who presented themselves before the chairman, two of them said that they had set up effluent treatment plants after they were served notices. The owners of the remaining six units assured that these would be set up within the time period given to them. It is alleged that these electroplating units were causing water pollution in the area as untreated water was being thrown into the sewer lines. The industrial units that were inspected by officials of the PPCB were R.D. Industries, Arsh International and Power Magic, Phase IX, Metal and Metal, Phase VIII, King Forgings, New Age Metal, Super Industry and Continental Engineering, Phase VII and K.P. Industries, Phase V.
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Construction of link road sought
Mohali, December 21 Mr Amrik Singh said in a press note here today that a deputation of municipal councillors had met the Punjab Governor on March 7, 2001, and requested that all link roads that connected Chandigarh to Mohali should be constructed soon. He said though a number of link roads had been constructed, PUDA had not bothered to construct the road linking Sector 65 to Sector 47. He said he had requested PUDA officials a number of times in this regard but nothing had been done so far. In fact, an estimate for the construction of the road had also been prepared twice over the years but no work
had started. He said PUDA could not sell plots in the area reserved for the bulk material market because the link road connecting Chandigarh had not been constructed.
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Rights panel seeks report from IG
Chandigarh, December 21 Mr Arvind Thakur, general secretary of the Human Rights International, had alleged that the inmates were beaten up in the high-security Burail Jail here. Rajesh, alias Raja, who was in judicial custody, was allegedly beaten up by certain jail employees, reportedly without “any provocation”. Rajesh, who was produced in a court, alleged that a jail official wanted him to change his counsels, Mr Amar Singh Chahal, and Mr Arvind Thakur. “When I refused to change my counsels, I was mercilessly beaten up with belts,” Rajesh had alleged. Then the Chief Judicial Magistrate
(CJM), Ms Neerja Kulwant Kalson, ordered that the medical examination of the accused be done at General Hospital, Sector 16. Rajesh was booked by the Chandigarh police for allegedly scaling the wall of the Burail Jail to meet his wife inside the jail complex.
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Poor children get toys, clothes
Chandigarh, December 21 Small kids, learning with the efforts of an NGO under the project Pustak for educating and empowering slum children, were thrilled and excited to receive the gifts. Interacting with Mr P.H. Vaishnav, former Chief Secretary, Punjab, Col Ravi Bedi, Dr Tehal Kohli and other volunteers, Mrs Rodrigues emphasised that the sustainable, community development programme for empowering the poor children and upgrading their life had been an integral part of the UT endeavour and needed to be further stepped up.
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Seminar on Right to Information Act
Chandigarh, December 21 Mr Mukesh Sharma, General Manager of the FCI, Haryana and Punjab, said governance defines the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economy and social resources. He said the Right to Information Act had empowered the citizens to seek information from any public office, subject to the related provision in the Act. The Act ensures greater accountability and greater transparency. Prof Veer Singh, Dean University, Instructions of Panjab University and Dr
A.C. Vaid, Principal of GGDSD College, Sector 32, also spoke on the occasion.
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Gold, cash stolen from car in PU
Chandigarh, December 21 Mr Rajiv Bedi of Sector 38 (West) lodged a complaint with the police alleging that his bag containing a gold ring, a driving licence, a cheque book, a credit card and cash Rs 2500 was stolen from his car, which was parked near Ankur public School in the Panjab University campus on Tuesday. A case of theft has been registered in this regard.
Theft
Mr Ajay Kumar of Sector 41-D reported to the police alleging that two gold rings, two gold earrings, a gold chain and Rs 1350 were stolen from his residence during Monday night. A case of theft has been registered in the Sector 39 police station.
Motorcycle stolen
Mr Balwant Singh Rawat of New Indira Colony, Manimajra, filed a complaint to the police alleging that his Bajaj calibre motorcycle (CH-03-3470) was stolen from his residence on Monday night. A case has been registered in the Manimajra police station.
Gambling
The local police has arrested Bittu of Sector 29 from rehri market in the same sector and Javed of Colony Number 4 from the same locality for allegedly indulging in gambling at public place on Tuesday. The cops recovered Rs 210 and Rs 205 from their possession. Two separate cases under Gambling Act have been registered in this regard.
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Sangrur resident held for cheating
Chandigarh, December 21 Giving details sources in the Sector 34 police station said a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy under Sections 419, 420 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code has been registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Mr H.S. Kandola, Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh. It was alleged that Pargat Singh of Bhutian village in district Sangrur appeared in a physical test in place of his class mate Karamjit Singh. The test for the general category candidate was conducted for the post of fireman at the Sector 46 spots stadium on Tuesday. The accused was caught while taking the rope climbing test, when the examiner checked the photograph of candidate on the form. The police was called at the spot. The cops took Pargat in custody while Karamjit managed to flee from the spot. Pargat was produced before a local court today, which remanded him to judicial custody till January 3, 2006. A senior police officer when contacted said efforts were on to trace the other accused.
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7 parking zones fetch high prices
Chandigarh, December 21 Of the total 19 paid parking sites, seven were auctioned today, while the remaining would be auctioned tomorrow. The parking area in front of Sahib Singh Verma in Sector 17 was not included in today’s auction for the MCC is planning to computerise the paid parking here. To begin with this paid parking will be manned by the MC employees but once it becomes fully operational, there will be no need to for any manpower at this proposed automatic paid parking site. Sources in MC disclose that it would take time as at present a proposal is being formulated to study similar arrangements in some other parts of the country. The paid parking Zone-I in Sector 8 in front of SCO 19, 20 and 21 fetched Rs 26 lakh against the reserve price of Rs 12.84 lakh, while Zone-II of Sector 8, in front of SCO 117-119 fetched Rs 11.30 lakh instead of RS 7.65 lakh. The parking site in Sector-9, in front of SCO 9 to 30 and 34 to 55 were auctioned for Rs 21.40 lakh against a reserve price of Rs 17 lakh. The parking site in Sector 35-C, whose reserve price was Rs 44.20 lakh, fetched Rs 54.1 lakh. The Zone I and II of Sector 34 City Sub centre fetched a price of Rs 36.10 lakh and 26 lakh, respectively, against their reserved prices of Rs 23 lakh and Rs 18.80 lakh, respectively. The parking site in Sector 22-C went for Rs 13.95 lakh against a fixed reserve price of Rs 13.90 lakh. The above mentioned parking areas were put to hammer today under the supervision of the Additional Commissioner, Mr O.P. Popli. At present paid parking system exists in six sectors, including Sectors 8, 9, 17, 22, 34 and 35. Four other paid parking areas are Sector 5 Lake Club, Shanti Kunj, Sector 16, the back of Neelam cinema, Sector 17 and Piccadily cinema in Sector 34. As per the decision of the House, the contracts now on will be on calendar basis for one year from January onwards. Meanwhile, car passes will be issued on a payment of Rs 300, while the charges for the two-wheelers will be Rs 150. Cyclists and rickshaw-pullers will be exempted from paying any parking fee. The colours of the passes to be issued to mediapersons, gallantry awardees, handicapped persons, monthly city passes and sector parking passes will be of different colours to avoid any confusion. They will also have halogen marks to ensure that no duplicate passes are made.
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Chandigarh, December 21
