New Delhi, July 8
Power supply situation in the Capital as well as the entire northern region may improve in the next two-three days with the Centre and Delhi Government finalising an action plan today to get 500 MW for the city and another 1,450 MW for the region.

According to Union Power Secretary Mr R V Shahi, who held a meeting with senior officials of Delhi Government, NTPC, PGCIL and Central Electricity Authority today, the situation would improve from Wednesday.

The Capital would get about 500 MW electricity from NTPC’s Kawas gas-fired plant in Gujarat, while another 1,450 MW would be added for the northern region, he said. As Northern Grid does not have a direct link with western region, the Kawas power would flow via Eastern Grid, he added.

Some units such as those in Ropar, Anta and Auraiya (Uttar Pradesh), which were shut for maintenance, would resume generation within the next three days. Besides, the Tehri hydel project in Uttaranchal would start generation from July 12, he said.

While about 150 MW would flow from Tehri, 125 MW would come from NTPC’s Dadri plant in Uttar Pradesh, 200 MW from Vishnuprayag plant in Uttaranchal and 125 MW from Anta. The Nathpa Jhakri plant in Himachal Pradesh, which has been facing problems of high silt levels, would also generate power during evening peak hours, he said.

This assurance, however, came in the face of reports that efforts to revive the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Project failed in the evening today as silt blocked its blades.

Delhi is facing a shortage of 700 MW. This year’s demand for power in the city has risen to 3, 900 MW as against the 3, 700 MW estimated requirement in July.

Fed up with the situation, residents of an East Delhi area allegedly attacked the office of the discom BSES last night, ransacking the establishment and damaging some of the equipment. Around 25 people gathered outside the office of the discom in Krishna Nagar area at around 10 pm, shouting slogans, said a BSES spokesman, adding that eight to ten of them entered the premises and began throwing chairs and computers.

He said the situation was soon brought under control and the power company has not taken any police action against the people.

In another incident, some residents blocked the road at the busy Vikas Marg in East Delhi today to protest the long power cuts.

Most parts of the city including Mayur Vihar, Preet Vihar, Dwarka, Lajpat Nagar, Janak Puri, Subhash Nagar, Laxmi Nagar and Model Town remained without power throughout the night. The power crisis is all the more biting due to failure of monsoon rains in Delhi so far, although the clueless Met office continued to harp on its standard statement that the same were expected “within the next 48 hours”. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit today directed setting up of a central control room for better coordination among Transco and the discoms to ensure smooth power supply.

New Delhi, July 8
Delhi Government’s liquor policy permitting entry of private vendors has come in for severe criticism from the Supreme Court for the manner in which authorities implemented it and continued to entertain new applications even after the cut-off date.

Delhi Government, under its L-52 licence scheme, had permitted private parties to sell Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) under certain regulations in 2004-05 but on March 9, 2005 took a decision that henceforth no fresh permit would be given.

“If a policy decision had been taken by a competent authority, the Finance Minister as far back on March 9, 2005, we fail to see any reason as to how the officials of the state could proceed with the processing of applications (of private parties for licence) even thereafter,” a Bench comprising Mr Justice S B Sinha and Mr Justice P K Balasubramanyan said.

The Court rejected the government explanation that the applications were entertained on the premise that the Union Cabinet might approve the same, observing that it was only an after-thought.

The indictment of Delhi Government came on an appeal by Kuldeep Singh, whose application, received after March 9, was rejected by the Excise Department but some other persons were entertained.

Though the Court rejected Kuldeep Singh’s appeal, holding that he did not have a legal right to claim licence after the cut off date, it said the government had not acted in a fair manner by granting licences to some other similarly placed persons.

New Delhi, July 8
Coming down heavily on Delhi Government for the worsening power situation in the Capital, three years after the privatisation of distribution, Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Legislative assembly Prof Jagdish Mukhi has demanded a CBI probe into the privatisation of DVB.

“The result of privatisation of Delhi Vidyut Boar (DVB) is apparent to Delhiites that after three years of privatisation of electricity, there is a big break down in the whole of Delhi and there is a loadshedding of around 6-8 hours,” Prof Mukhi said in a statement issued on Friday.

“The loadshedding, the fast running meters and steep hike in tariff is an outcome of privatisation of distribution of power,” he said.

Alleging that that there was a big scam of Rs 12,500 crores in privatisation of DVB, Prof Mukhi demanded that the LG order a CBI probe into the privatization of DVB.

Gurgaon, July 8
Meagre water supply and erratic power seems to be the bane of residents of the posh DLF City here.

A large number of residents, especially those in Phase-I and Phase-II of DLF, raised slogans and held demonstrations for several hours against the DLF management outside its office in Phase-I today. Senior citizens and women accounted for a good chunk of the agitators.

The manner in which residents, including the president of DLF Qutab Enclave Residents Welfare Association, Mr R. S. Rathee, raised slogans was a clear indication that they were on the warpath and were disillusioned not only with the DLF management but also the government machinery.

The residents alleged that although water supply had been for less than half an hour each day since the past couple of months it had dwindled further in the past 36 hours. Ms Shankardass, Ms Celine David and Ms Ila Sharma, who were part of the demonstration, alleged certain houses had not got a drop of water since the past two days.

The residents were also sore with the woeful power supply.

Mr Sumeet Chadha of DLF Phase-II told newspersons that he had been going to sleep with his little son in his car with the AC on due to the erratic supply of power at his house.

The residents’ grouse was that while the DLF management reasoned that the poor supply of power was on account of lack of upgradation of infrastructure by the electricity department in DLF City department officials maintained it was the responsibility of the DLF management. The residents were convinced the DLF management was evading responsibility by passing the buck.

The behaviour of a top DLF official had irked the residents today. They had gone in a group with their complaint. The residents demanded sacking of the official.

They were further enraged as the official allegedly stomped off from his office while shoving aside residents on his way out. The residents, however, took to the streets and continued with their sloganeering with vigour.

The residents alleged that they had met the management a few days ago. With things deteriorating, they had turned up to meet the management personnel yet again today.

They alleged that children had to go to schools without taking a bath. They were coping with the situation by purchasing water from tankers. While water from a tanker was earlier priced at Rs 300, the service providers had hiked it to Rs 500, making a killing out of the plight of hapless residents.

A senior citizen of Phase-I, Mr R .S. Sahini, and Ms Celine David said that things had deteriorated on account of multiplexes, corporate offices and malls set up by the DLF management in DLF City.

These were given 24-hour water and electricity backup.

New Delhi, July 8
Two more youngsters tried to jump off the infamous district centre in Janakpuri, prompting the police to put up permanent pickets at the high-rise to prevent any suicide attempts in the future.

The step was taken after five persons, many of them students, jumped to their deaths from the building in the last four months and three others attempted to take their lives this week.

A 19-year-old girl, identified as Neha, had last night threatened to jump from the fourth floor of the building, but was prevented by police who registered a case of attempt to suicide against her.

According to police, she is a resident of Varanasi and decided to take the extreme step because of a relationship problem.

Minutes after that, a man in his mid-thirties also tried to leap off the building, but was prevented by shop keepers. According to eyewitnesses, the man claimed that his mother had a kidney ailment and his wife had deserted him.

Besides deciding to keeping a vigil in the area, the police has also asked the shopkeepers to be alert to prevent any suicide attempts.

High-rise buildings in Janakpuri have recently become favourite spots for suicides and as many as six such incidents were reported in the last one year. 

New Delhi, July 8
The Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit today inaugurated the 18th Mango Festival organised by Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation Limited with the support of APEDA and National Horticulture Board at Talkatora Indoor Stadium today.

Five hundred varieties of mangoes were displayed at the venue, including famous ones like Alphonso, Kesar, Banganpalli, Totapari, Safeda, Neelam, Fazli, Mallika, Dusheri, Malda Amarpali.

Apart from the opportunity to view and savour the various varieties of mangoes, the two-day festival offers a package deal of fun for both adults and children. Culinary demonstrations by Indian Culinary Forum, interactive recipe contests, quiz and slogan contest and entertaining cultural extravaganza sponsored by Sahitya Kala Parishad and Punjabi Academy all created an atmosphere of fun, education and entertainment.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Dikshit said that India was the largest producer of mangoes in the world. Around 1,200 varieties are grown all over the world.

Traditional growers of mango who have attained expertise over generations are participating in the festival.

This year’s festival has an active involvement of hotel and food processing industry that would present an integrated holistic approach.

Gurgaon, July 8
The local court has remanded Baljeet Singh, Station House Officer (SHO) of the DLF police station, into 14 days’ judicial custody. He was arrested by the state Vigilance Bureau while taking a water purifier as a bribe from a complainant yesterday.

The Superintendent of Police, state Vigilance Bureau, Gurgaon Range, informed that Baljeet Singh was caught red-handed while taking the water purifier from Anil Sharma. The complainant had handed over his complaint to the SHO around 15 days ago to take action against certain persons but Singh kept dilly-dallying.

The SHO told Sharma to get a water purifier, costing around Rs 9,000, if he wanted to get his complaint registered, informed the SP.

Anil Sharma then approached the state Vigilance Bureau against the SHO. The City Magistrate was appointed the duty magistrate to conduct a raid.

After finding the water purifier at his residence, three inspectors from the bureau also searched the SHO’s office and his official residence within the police station but nothing objectionable was found from the premises. Baljeet Singh was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, added the SP.

He further informed that the accused Baljeet Singh refused to agree to a voice test. His voice had been recorded by the Vigilance Bureau while he was demanding the water purifier as a bribe from the complainant.

The SP reiterated the Vigilance Bureau had been directed to keep a close watch on the working of officials posted in its range. The bureau had recently arrested two head constables, Ravinder and Kartar Singh, from the premises of the Sadar police station for allegedly taking Rs 1,000 from a kiosk owner selling paan and cigarettes, he added.

Faridabad, July 8
Hundreds of residents of Greenfields Colony here blocked traffic on National Highway 2 here at the NHPC chowk here this morning in protest against the short supply of drinking water in the area.

The protesters, who included mostly women, sat on a dharna on the highway at about 10.30 this morning after an altercation with the officials of the management of the colony. The site manager of the developer of the colony was allegedly manhandled by the protesters. The blockade was lifted after about one and a half hour following intervention by the district officials, including the SDM and the DSP, who reached the spot after some time.

The officials reportedly assured that water supply would be improved immediately. Officials of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and the Power Department were called to give assurance to the residents, who claimed that there was not more than half an hour of supply daily and they had to depend upon the private tankers for their daily needs.

It is reported that the management of the colony has to spend about Rs 5 lakh per month for water supply from private sources. The colony has a population of 5000 at present. 

Bulandshahr, July 8
Some villagers in Daryapur village under Kotwali Dehat police station shot dead a history sheeter late Friday night.

The criminal was a gambler who used to borrow money from people and refuse to but would not return it.

The assailants shot him dead in front of the former village pradhan’s house. The victim died on the spot.

According to the police, Aasif, alias Gola, son of Noor Mohammed of Daryapur village under Kotwali Dehat was a listed history sheeter in the local police station.

The villagers had borrowed Rs 500 from Aasif’s younger brother Nasir. On Thursday evening, Nasir insisted on getting his money back. This led to an altercation between Nasir and the accused.

Meanwhile, Nasir and Aasif went to the house of ex-pradhan to lodge a compliant. This infuriated the accused party who went back to their house in protest, but returned a little later armed with revolvers.

As Aasif and his younger brother Nasir were stepping out from the pradhan’s house, the members of the opposite group rained bullets on them. Aasif, alias Gola, was hit by a bullet and died on the spot.

The police raided the houses of the accused, but none have been arrested so far.

Greater Noida, July 8
With a large number of students having failed to obtain admission to engineering and technical colleges, the management of different colleges in Greater Noida is allegedly being threatened by some criminals.

For instance, in a recent phone call to MD of Galgotia College, a caller, who identified himself as a relative of dreaded criminal Sunder Bhatti, said “If my ward is not admitted, it could result in a tragedy to you. You could even lose your life.”

The Kasna police had reportedly nabbed the caller who is being interrogated.

SO of Kasna, said the managing director of Galgotia Engineering College had complained that someone had threatened him with death if he did not admit a particular student. The caller had identified himself as a relative of Sunder Bhatti.

According to a plan, the caller was asked by the MD to come to college for admission. He was nabbed by the police as soon as he reached the college.

During interrogation, the candidate identified himself as Omendra of village Cheeni under police station Dankore.

The police said such threats were “normal” before start of a new academic session.

New Delhi, July 8
Scattered thundershowers and squalls could hit the national Capital over the weekend, weather officials said on Saturday.

India Meteorological Department director B P Yadav said: “There is no change in expectations. Over the next two days we are expecting scattered thundershowers and maybe a squall.” New Delhi and major parts of Haryana and Punjab are the only areas in the country where the summer monsoon has failed to arrive.

However, maintain that the spells of good rainfall in June, which came earlier than the June 29 starting date, have ensured that the average monsoon would be better than normal. 

Greater Noida, July 8
Bisarakh police have arrested a criminal who was wanted in a dacoity and murder case in Bulandshahr.

The criminal nabbed after an encounter is one of the top 10 criminals of Bulandshahar police station.

The police have recovered a pistol and some live cartridges from him.

This criminal is wanted in Dadri, Surajpur and many other police stations of Gautam Budh Nagar district in about a dozen cases of dacoity and loot.