New Delhi, June 20
With the monsoon just round the corner, Delhi Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit today reviewed the flood control measures being taken in the Capital and directed the concerned agencies to concentrate on vulnerable areas.

Chairing a meeting of the Apex Committee on Flood Control, Ms Dikshit directed the Divisional Commissioner and Municipal Commissioner to coordinate the flood control measures.

While the Divisional Commissioner would act as the nodal officer, a central flood control room has become operational at the office of the DC (East) which would function round the clock up to October 15 or till the monsoon withdraws, an official spokesman said.

The control room would issue necessary flood warnings and directions for evacuation, arrange food articles and relief supplies and liase with all concerned agencies.

Nine sector committees have also been made functional in the nine districts, the work of which will be supervised by a cabinet minister, while 25 other control rooms have been set up to streamline functioning of the flood control personnel.

Desilting of drains was also reviewed in the meeting, with Ms Dikshit instructing the concerned departments to complete the exercise.

She also directed the concerned agencies to identify low- lying areas and ensure proper arrangements in case of heavy rainfall.

The Divisional Commissioner may also seek assistance from Army in controlling flood, evacuating marooned people and distribution of food supplies.

In all, 101 pump sets, 35 wireless sets, 50 boats, 471 lifejackets and 58,500 EC bags and sufficient number of divers have been deployed to deal with any situation.

For purpose of studying the flood situation in the river Yamuna, reference to water level at old railway bridge is taken as basis. The warning level for the Yamuna at this point is 204 meter and the danger level is 204.83.

The highest flood level recorded was 207.49 metres in 1978. Now, the scenario at Yamuna bed has changed with shifting of jhuggies and the Delhi Government has synchronized its flood control measures accordingly. 

New Delhi, June 20
Apprehending that the prices of most of the essential commodities, especially pulses, in the Capital was showing an upward trend due to forward trading, Delhi Government today asked the Centre to take steps to ensure that the price hike was checked.

In a letter to Union Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Minister Mr Sharad Pawar, Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit expressed concern over the recent spurt in the open market prices of certain essential commodities.

“There is an urgent need to ensure that certain essential commodities remain within the affordable reach of the common man, particularly of the targeted groups,” Ms Dikshit wrote.

She said several delegations, mostly comprising women, have met her to convey the distress caused to the common household due to the price rise.

The Chief Minister requested the Union Minister to take a personal interest in the concerns of the ordinary consumer and take appropriate steps for ensuring that the prices of edibles of daily need do not go beyond the reach of the common man.

The issue of the upward trend in prices of essential commodities was discussed in the meeting of the Delhi Cabinet, chaired by Ms Dikshit, yesterday, after which it was decided that the matter will be taken up with the Centre. 

New Delhi, June 20
Alleging that power theft took place with the active involvement of employees of the private distribution company BSES, a citizens’ group today asked the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) to take immediate action in the matter.

In a letter to the DERC, People’s Action, a platform for residents’ groups, also said the honest citizens should not be made to pay for those who were stealing power by way of a tariff hike.

“It can be conclusively proved that theft cannot take place without the active or passive collusion of discom officials. They own the lines, they own the poles, the transformers, even the meters in our houses,” People’s Action president Mr Sanjay Kaul said in a statement.

“The people who fix these meters are their employees, the people who check these meters are their employees. They have powers to enter homes, raid premises and yet they are not able to control theft,” he said.

The letter also warned the Commission that it was being seen as being soft on the discoms and demanded that the DERC acts in favour of consumers.

Meanwhile, NDPL today claimed that in mass raids conducted last week, its Enforcement Team detected power theft of 1200 KW, worth Rs 2 crores in penalties.

The biggest theft was detected at a plastic moulding factory at Lawrence Road Industrial Area, Keshavpuram which was stealing 387 KW of power by tampering meter. The factory, operating a number of plastic moulding machines, ovens, heaters and compressors is likely to face penalty charges of over Rs 83 lakh. Another unit was raided at Naraina Industrial Area which had tampered with one phase of the three phase meter, slowing it down by 40 per cent. The unit was booked for a load of 53 KW and is likely to face penalty charges of more than Rs 11 lakh.

During the drive, the Enforcement Team booked 21 commercial establishments for a total connected load of 76 KW in Kamla Nagar, Azadpur, Rana Pratap Bagh, Wazirpur, DSIDC Narela and Sultanpuri. These establishments were stealing power either by hooking or tampering their meters.

In the domestic category, 81 consumers were booked in Rohini, Kamla Nagar, Rana Pratap Bagh, Adarsh Nagar, Model Town, Shastri Nagar, Village Poothkalan and Naraina Vihar. Most consumers in this category were tampering with their meters. These consumers, stealing 264 KW of power, are likely to face penalty charges totalling Rs 28.9 lakh.

In other raids, about 700 illegal hookings were removed in JJ Cluster Suraj Park and JJ Cluster Lal Bagh. The residents of these colonies were stealing around 150 KW of power by hooking from the NDPL Low voltage Lines.

New Delhi, June 20
Delhi Urban Development and PWD Minister Dr A K Walia today asked NDMC Chairperson Ms Sindhusree Khullar to prepare an action plan to revive the glory of Connaught Place as general sanitation conditions prevailing in the Inner Circle and Palika Bazaar were not satisfactory.

Dr Walia, who visited the Connaught Place area, stressed the need of providing a “clean look” to the entire area.

The Minister expressed “surprise and shock” over the accumulating garbage at various places in the Inner Circle and Palika Bazaar.

“Parking in the Inner Circle was banned as vehicles were parked on the main carriageway, causing difficulty to people,” he said.

Dr Walia said the condition of two roads — Mother Teresa Road and S P Marg — was also not satisfactory.

“The general condition of roads and footpaths is far from prescribed norms,” he said. He instructed the NDMC to upgrade the roads.

During the visit, Dr Walia was accompanied by Vice Chairperson NDMC Ms Tajdar Babbar and NDMC Chief Engineer.

Meanwhile, making a surprise visit to Hindu Rao Hospital and Kasturba Gandhi Hospital today, MCD’s Standing Committee Chairman Mr Jai Kishen Sharma announced that Rs 50 lakh will be allocated out of his special budgetary provisions for the improvement works relating to maintenance of the hospital.

Besides this, Rs 1 crore more will also be arranged out of councillor’s fund for this purpose.

Leader of the House Mr Jitender Kochar along with other senior MCD functionaries also visited the wards, kitchen and OPDs of the Kasturba hospital.

They announced budgetary provisions to the tune of Rs 50 lakh for the improvement in the maintenance of the hospital.

During the visit, the civic body functionaries also interacted with the patients, who complained about bad behaviour of security personnel and rampant corruption. 

Faridabad, June 20
Describing the ongoing opposition from certain quarters to the pact with Reliance group for setting up a 25000 acre Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Jhajjar district as “politically motivated and unjustified”, the Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, said it would “usher in an era of development” leading to the generation of revenue and employment. He said it would be “instrumental” in changing the economic status of the region and Haryana.

Talking to mediapersons at a function held here today, the Chief Minister said that the opposition to the issue was “baseless and aimed at getting political mileage”.

Critical of the Opposition parties, particularly BJP and INLD, he said their criticism of the SEZ pact was an example of “double standard”, as two similar SEZ pacts had been signed in Gujarat and Rajasthan where the BJP was heading the government. He wondered why the BJP leaders did not oppose the pacts reached in their respective states, where SEZs were to be set up in Jamnagar and Jaipur.

Regarding the reaction of the Indian National Lok Dal, the CM pointed out that the INLD government had acquired a land of about 657 acres for such a work in 2004 and had purchased the land at a rate between Rs 3 to 5 lakh per acres, while his government had been paying a compensation of at least Rs 21 lakh per acre to the people whose land was being acquired.

About the opposition from his own party, particularly by Congress M.P from Bhiwani, Mr Kuldeep Bishnoi, the CM said that the stand of Mr Bishnoi was his personal and not of the party, as the Cabinet had approved it.

It may be pointed out that the Reliance group would pump in an investment of thousands of crore, generating lakhs of direct and indirect employment in the SEZ.

The state would gain considerably in terms of overall development, as a 2000 MW gas-based power plant would be set up, which would provide one of the cheapest power supply in the region.

As regards the employment to be generated, Mr Hooda said that a provision had been made under which at least 25 per cent of the jobs would be given to those whose land had been acquired. Stating that the SEZ would be coming up on a land that was not much of a use, he said the economic status of the both the residents and the state would improve.

About the failure’ of the government to bring the SYL water, he said the government had already started the construction work on new canal at a cost of 260 crore to provide water to South Haryana.

Later, the CM presided over the concluding function of the convention of the representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions of Haryana at the MCF auditorium here. 

Gurgaon, June 20
The need for management of water resources was highlighted at a seminar organised by the Gurgaon unit of Institute of Architects.

The seminar, “Water View”, was sponsored by Fontus Water Ltd, a leading suppliers of water and wastewater treatment plants.

Speakers representing various oranisations expressed the need for proper conservation, harvesting and treatment of water, as they hold the key to a better future.

Speaking on the occasion, the chairman of local unit of

Indian Institute of Architects, Mr Vivek Logani, emphasised on the conservation of water, as important step in the direction of finding solutions to the issues related to water and environment.

Mr Kapil Gupta, vice president of Fontus Water Ltd., said new construction coming up in Gurgaon could incorporate the tested ideas and techniques of water cycling, harvesting and purification to make significant savings.

A number of presentations were also made by experts in water purification, sewage treatment, pressure-boosting and rainwater harvesting.

Faridabad, June 20
Giving a clarion call to revitalise the Panchayati Raj institutions, the Union Minister for Panchayati Raj and Youth Affairs, Mr Mani Shanker Aiyer, asked the youth to participate in it in a big way.

He regretted the non-involvement of the youth in the Panchayati Raj institutions and highlighted the need to make the local bodies independent and financially strong.

He said the youth have to take the initiative and avail of the opportunity instead of waiting for the government to act for their welfare.

The Minister was speaking at the inauguration of a two-day state level convention of the representatives of the Panchayati Raj institutions and ‘Yuva Mandals’ of Haryana, at MCF auditorium here yesterday.

He regretted that while the people criticized the government for its failures, they did not come forward to participate in the decision making process by staying aloof from these institutions.

‘Individual may go to the secretariat at Chandigarh if he had some personal work, but not for issues that involved the community development programes’, he said.

He said the youth should not only create an awareness among the people of the village, but should take part in every meeting of the Gram Sabha or village panchayat, to keep a track of the development programmes. 
“If you don’t question or demand anything, how will the government come to know what ought to be done”, he asked.

Accepting that there were still gaping holes in the implementation of the Act, he emphasized the need to delegate more rights, funds and authority to the Panchayati Raj institutions.

He exhorted the elected members and the youth clubs to take up the challenge and work with unity. He also added that the menace of corruption and social problems like female foeticide could be easily dealt by the youth.

Earlier, addressing the function, Mr Phul Chand Mullana, Education Minister of Haryana, asked the Union Government to release more funds and authority to the local bodies in order to strengthen the Panchayati Raj system.

He said the Haryana Government had decided to fill up about 2700 posts of Gram Sachiv (Village Secretary) and had decided to pay remuneration to the members of the local bodies, including the Sarpanch.

The Chief Parliamentary Secretary of Haryana, Dharmbir Singh, said that about 500 stadiums would be built in the villages for development of sports, at a cost of about Rs 40 crore.

Noida, June 20
In view of a large number of applicants showing interest in the Noida Authority scheme for small industrial plot, the last date for the receipt of application has been extended to July 7, 2006. It had already been extended earlier up to June 20, 2006.

But long queues of applicants, who were unaware of the extension in last date, were seen in front of Vijay Bank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank, Punjab National Bank and State Bank of Patiala.

It may be pointed out that the Noida authority had launched a scheme for small industrial plots on its foundation day on April 17, 2006.

In all, 623 plots of different sizes are available in sectors 63, 67, 88b and Noida Phase-II. Some 18,000 applications forms of the scheme have already been sold out. After extending the last date some 2000 forms are being printed additionally, it is learnt.

According to insiders, the scheme has attracted a large number of applicants in spite of many hurdles.

The craze for putting up units in Noida continues unabated. Many have already started “using their influence” to somehow procure at least one plot in the scheme, he said.

Although Noida authority officials were seen telling applicants that last date has been extended, still they were not prepared to take any chances and stood in queues before bank counter to deposit their forms. 

Greater Noida, June 20
Even as management institutes have been charging hefty fees from students as hostel charges, they have hired cheap apartment flats to make easy money.

A number of management institutes have reportedly hired flats in apartment buildings so that they do not have to invest in the construction of hostels in the institute campuses.

According to sources, there are at least three dozen management and technology institutes in Greater Noida, while more than 25,000 students are receiving higher education here.

According to UPTU rules, while these institutes ideally should have their own hostels, they can hire buildings to use as hostel if they do not have land for constructing hostels.

However, in order to make fast money, many of these institutes have found it convenient to hire apartment flats as student hostels.

According to sources, these institutes charge amounts ranging from Rs 32,000 to Rs 70,000 on an average from the students for hostel accommodation and mess charges.

It may be pointed out that while the hostel facility is provided for 10 months, the fee is charged for the full year.

Noida, June 20
In a revelation that is sure to ‘frighten’ residents here, findings of a study undertaken by the Fire Department in Noida recently revealed that more than 70 per cent of buildings in Noida lack fire protection devices.

Even the multi-storey buildings, shopping malls and other commercial complexes coming up in the area are also without the mandatory fire fighting devices. Any big accident in these circumstances can prove fatal for hundreds of people working in such buildings.

Sources in the department said that either the multi-storey complexes, malls etc have not been equipped with fire-fighting gadgets or the equipments have been rendered in-effective by lack of use.

Even though over 100 multi-storey apartments have come up in Noida so far, only 45 per cent of these are fitted with dependable fire protection equipment.

Wherever fire-fighting equipments have been provided in the commercial buildings and apartments, the inmates are not abreast with its handling process, which can result in a major tragedy.

A glaring fact that has come to light is that “during the construction of building complexes nobody ever considers it necessary to obtain an NOC from the Fire Department”. Even the Noida Authority does not verify whether the fire-fighting appliances are in place while issuing the completion certificate of buildings, sources said.

Unfortunately, the Fire Department does not have the power to impose penalty or award punishment for the non- compliance of these legal provisions.

The authority for such action is vested with the Noida Authority, where it is viewed in a routine bureaucratic and apathetic manner.

Mr. R.P. Gupta, an official in the Fire Department, said the responsibility of his department is only to identify the hazardous buildings and submit the reports to senior authorities, who are supposed to take the necessary action in the matter.

This dual control is perhaps the reason why deterrent action is seldom taken by the authorities. The owners of buildings, who are sent notices for default, seldom care to respond, the officer added.

The Noida Authority Administrative officer, Mr. Deep Chand, however, said that notices are sent and actions are also taken. However, he was unable to give the exact number of cases where some action had been taken in the past for such violations. 

Noida, June 20
Agitated villagers disrupted trains on the Delhi-Howrah rail line in Dadri for over an hour, after the body of youth was found on the track near Ajaibpur railway station.

The angry villagers alleged that a youth, identified as Balle (son of Sarjit from the village), had been kidnapped and murdered. They alleged that two bullet empties were found near the body.

As a result of the disruption, Rajadhani Express and Delhi Howrah Express were delayed by over an hour as villagers pelted stones at the train compartments.

The police have registered cases against 11 persons in this connection.

According to reports, villagers marched to the spot and damaged the signal and forcibly stopped 2421 Bhubaneshwar-Delhi Rajdhani Express when the news of Bhalle’s body having been found reached Rithori village.

As a result, number of express and goods trains were delayed at different places.

The police from Dadri, Jarcha and Bisarakh police stations along with the PAC rushed to the spot. Later, the trains were flagged off by the Superintendent of Police and CO.

Earlier, in a report to the police, it was mentioned that criminals came to the village in two cars and had forcibly taken away Bhalle. None of the accused have been arrested so far. 

New Delhi, June 20
US-based Joint Commission International (JCI), which certified Indraprastha Apollo Hospital last year, has sought an explanation on various medical aspects of the Rahul Mahajan case.

Sources said that the JCI, a global body for patient safety, has asked the hospital to explain Rahul’s test results.

The Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Anupam Sibal, however, denied the same and said that he had nothing to say about the matter.

The hospital spokesperson, Dr Karan Thakur said that they have received a “routine” communication from JCI and added that he had no clue about the contents of the communication.

New Delhi, June 20
Clearing confusion on whether repair work can be carried out in buildings following enactment of a new law for halting demolitions and sealings, the MCD today notified that minor reconstruction work can be done without prior permission from the civic body.

The civic body said that as per provisions of the building bye-laws, works such as plastering or patch repairs, re-roofing, flooring, replacing fallen bricks and reconstruction of portions of building damaged by storm, rains, fire, earthquakes or any other natural calamity can be carried out without obtaining permission from it.

Greater Noida, June 20
One person was killed and one injured when a truck rammed into a motorcycle near Dara village under Greater Noida police station. According to the police, the truck hit the rear of the motorcycle on Sunday.

The deceased, identified as Sonu, was the son of the injured Mohelal, a resident of Jahangirabad in Bulandshahr, who was going to his village on the motorcycle.

Twelve-year-old Sonu was killed on the spot, while father was seriously injured and rushed to the Kailash Hospital in Greater Noida.

The police have registered a case against the truck driver, who was handed over to the police by the local people. The body of the deceased has been sent for the postmortem examinations. — OC

New Delhi, June 20
The Nehru Planetarium and the Amateur Astronomers Association have arranged observations and public presentations here tomorrow on summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere.

In Delhi, the sun would be seen rising tomorrow at 5.24 a.m. and setting at 7.22 p.m., as compared to 7.10 a.m. and 5.29 p.m. on winter solstice on December 22. —TNS