New Delhi, August 7
Delhi Jal Board (DJB) is all set to release the first installment of 65 MGD of water from the Sonia Vihar water treatment plant to the water-parched areas of the Capital tomorrow.

Sources in the DJB said that 65 MGD of water from the plant would be released to areas in South and East Delhi that have been facing recurrent water shortages.

“Delhi Jal Board will be releasing water for the citizens of Delhi from the Sonia Vihar WTP on a trial basis from tomorrow. Water supply would be released to large parts of South and East Delhi. Initially, around 65 MGD of water will be released and this quantity will be augmented in phases, once the system stabilizes,” a DJB release said.

The release of 65 MGD of water, the first step in the direction of supply of an additional 140 MGD to various areas in the capital, is a significant step to meet water needs of Delhi, the sources said.

An estimated 40 lakh people on the capital stand to benefit from the additional water supply, the board sources said.

The sources added that the fleshing of the 300 cusecs of raw water, released by Uttar Pradesh to the plant on June 28, was almost over and the water would be made available to the residents of East and South Delhi by tomorrow morning.

‘’Fleshing of the 300 cusecs of water released by Uttar Pradesh is almost complete and the supply will be made to the residents of East and south Delhi early tomorrow morning,’’ sources added.

Work on testing of the underground reservoirs and pipelines for supplying water from the treatment plant has been going on for the past one month.

All the existing underground reservoirs, transmission and feeder mains and other peripheral and distribution network were tested so that the ability to absorb the additional quantum of water in terms of pumping hours, supply duration and pressure was thoroughly assessed.

Planned in 2000 to meet the water requirements of a population of 3.5 to 4 million people in South and East Delhi, the Sonia Vihar state-of-the-art water treatment plant, with a capacity of 635 million litres per day (140 MGD), will take care of the present water shortages in the capital.

Delhi’s present water supply of 670 MGD is far short of the total requirement of 900 MGD. However, the commissioning of the Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant is expected to enhance water supply by 25 per cent.

The 28 underground reservoirs and booster pumping stations connected with the plant are intended to ensure availability of water in a rational and equitable manner.

Work on testing of the underground reservoirs and pipelines for supplying water from the treatment plant has been on for the past one month.

The plant had been set into operation by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on May 22 after Uttar Pradesh had released 70 cusecs of water to the Sonia Vihar Plant as per an agreement with the Delhi government.

Though the Chief Minister had then promised that the water would reach the people of Delhi by July, the delay in the release of the entire quantity of 300 cusecs of water by Uttar Pradesh had led to a delay in water supply.

New Delhi, August 7
About 200 significant posts are lying vacant in Asia’s biggest fruit and vegetable market at Azadpur for many years. As a result, even the routine work in this ‘Mandi’ is badly affected. The posts range from the rank of deputy secretary to that of a peon or sweeper. Despite several pleas by the market committee, nothing has improved so far. According to sources, out of 18 posts of deputy secretary, seven are lying vacant. Despite much claim by the Delhi government of making the market fully computerized, out of 18 sanctioned posts of computer operator, 10 are vacant.

“There is a small dispensary in the market but out of three posts of medical officer of this dispensary, two are yet to be filled. Even dressers for this dispensary are to be recruited,” said a local merchant. “There is only one sanctioned post of sanitary officer that too has been lying vacant for years. Out of three posts of sanitary inspector, two are yet to be filled. This apart, eight posts of sanitary guides and about 60 posts of sweepers are to be filled. There is only one sanctioned post of security officer which has been vacant for years. Fifteen posts of park attendant are also vacant.

Details about these vacancies are available at websites of the Delhi government and Delhi Agriculture Marketing Board. The Delhi government and Delhi Agriculture Marketing Board are toying with the idea of handing over both tasks to the private hands,” he lamented.

The chairman of this market, Mr Jai Kumar Bansal, said that security and sanitation of this market should not go into the private hands. Everyone knows the track record of private players in this field.

According to the Minister of Food and Civil Supply and Chairman of the Delhi Agriculture Marketing Board, Mr Raj Kumar Chauhan, the board will definitely take action after the arrival of proposal by the market committee regarding the vacant posts. 

New Delhi, August 7
The staff and karamchari union of Shivaji College, who have been seeking a probe into the administrative and financial irregularities allegedly being carried out by the Principal, have expressed concern that the university administration is taking too long to respond to their demand.

The staff association and the karamcharis, who boycotted the examinations in March this year to draw the attention of the university administrators to the alleged financial and administrative bungling in the college, claim the Principal has “misappropriated funds from the provident fund of teachers”.

“The Principal, Ms Rama Patnaik, has invested about Rs 2 crore from the employees’ PF for a period of 10 years in a bank without any permission or consent. Even the PF committee of the college is not authorised to invest the money beyond three years,” said Dr Triyug Singh, a faculty member.

The investment made by the Principal comes with a clause that if the money deposited is withdrawn before the stipulated time it will invoke a penalty of one per cent per annum, staff members have pointed out.

Peeved at having to suffer loses, the faculty members said, “Even when the interest rates have come down, teachers in other colleges are still getting about seven to eight per cent rate of interest whereas we are getting a mere five per cent. We cannot afford to lose our money.”

While the college governing body (GB) has agreed to institute a fact-finding committee, staff members claim there is no official notification of the same. A member of the GB told The Tribune, “It was verbally decided that there would be a fact-finding committee that would present its report in 45 days to the GB but as of now even the minutes of that meeting are awaited.”

Staff members also claim that the Principal had in violation of rules ordered “large-scale construction in the college and renovation of her own residence”. “The work has been abruptly called off because of the MCD’s drive against illegal constructions and now there are incomplete construction works spread across the college. Fourteen cabins that were constructed in the library, supposedly for tutorials, are lying unused because nobody can climb four floors to reach them,” Dr Singh said.

While the Principal remained unavailable for comments, sources said the university administration and the UGC had been apprised of the situation in Shivaji College where even the salaries for staff were not disbursed on time.

The DUTA, which had today called for a one-day strike to protest against the delay in instituting an inquiry against the Principal, had urged the administration to send Ms Patnaik on leave pending the inquiry. 

Greater Noida, August 7
The police claim to have recovered huge quantities of arms and ammunition from the four persons allegedly involved in the murderous attack on dreaded criminal Sunder Bhatti when he was being escorted by the police to Noida Phase-II court last week.

Two AK-47 rifles were also used in the ambush, according to the police. The plan to eliminate Sunder Bhatti was finalised in Nithori village on August 1. A couple of youths aged between 18 to 20 years were selected from adjoining villages and provided with arms and ammunition. They were given liberal dose of booze and promised a huge amount of money as a reward for the attack.

SP Rural, said that on a tip-off, four of the accused were arrested from Sakera village on Friday night.

Those arrested were identified by some local villagers as Karmveer, Sonu, Dharmindra and Vinode. The police recovered a pistol, one revolver and a large number of cartridges from them.

All of them confessed to have involved in the attack on the police van, in which Sunder Bhatti and other accused in a murder case were being escorted to the court, near railway crossing on August 2. Karamveer, Dharmindra and Vinode were also involved in a murderous attack on a transporter in Alfy Co under Kasna police station area. The three had been released from a jail a few days back.

The SP said Amit, nephew of Ram Pal, who was killed in police encounter, had planned the attack on August 1 in Nithori village. A Tata 407 was acquired from a transporter and around 6 youths from adjoining villages had travelled in the vehicle. Amit, Rajesh, Jater and Jugla, were reportedly in a Scorpio when they attacked the police van. Amit and Jugla had rained bullets from two AK-47 rifles, the SP claimed.

New Delhi, August 7
There are several Delhi laws which create hurdles for the economic growth of the national Capital. It might seem surprising, but they exist in the statute. Some of the laws are quite outdated that they have lost their significance.

Of the 259 laws that exist, more than 50% have lost relevance and only serve as irritants now. Some affect day to day business activities – the point being made is that while some are clearly oppressive, the others are vague and therefore encourage discretion and corruption.

The law today lies scattered, said Bibek Debroy, Secretary General of PHDCCI. Some of the laws pointed out by the study were: Cycle-Rickshaw Bye-Laws, 1960, Section 17 A: Any cycle rickshaw found plying for hire without a licence or found driven by a person not having proper licence as provided under bye-laws 3(1) and (2) shall be liable to be seized by the Commissioner or a person duly authorized by him in his behalf.

Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, Section 420:

The ice-cream salesman will not shout to attract customers nor will he sit or lie on the trolley at any time.

Delhi School Education Act, 1973: The school must obtain “Essential Certificate” by establishing that its existence serves the public interest. The Administrator decides by taking into account “the number and categories of recognized schools already functioning in that locality, and general desirability of the school with reference to the suitability and sufficiency of the existing schools in the locality and the probable effect on them.”

The Delhi Intoxicants License And Sales Rules, 1976: The Delhi Intoxicants License And Sales Rules, 1976 specify the maximum quantity of intoxicants to be sold by retails in Delhi for different categories like foreign liquor imported or made in India (except beer and cider) is 12 litre and beer imported or made in India is 9litres. A licensee cannot sell liquor to any soldier of the rank of non commissioned officer or under or to his family members nor to a policeman, excise officer or railway servant.

The Delhi Financial Assistance to Incarcerated or Released Prisoner’s Rules, 1991: The Delhi financial assistance rule is not applicable where the prisoner’s total family income exceeds Rs.8, 400 p.a. This would imply a household income of less than Rs.700 per month.

The Delhi Food (Restrictions On Service Of Meals By Catering Establishments) Order, 1974: Rule 3 of this order says that a proprietor is not allowed to serve for a meal more than two courses served together. Two courses consist of one substantial dish and one subsidiary or two subsidiary dishes. A substantial dish shall consist of a non-vegetarian dish or a curry preparation of non-vegetarian dish or a curry preparation of vegetarian dish and any other preparation of wheat and wheat flour. A subsidiary dish is a sweet or a savory dish consisting mainly of vegetable or eggs.

The Delhi Guest Control Order, 1976: Rule 3 restricts the amount of food as specified in the schedule that could be served to specific number of people in a party or a function. The Delhi Shops And Establishments Rules, 1954: This rule says that in every establishment (i.e. shop, hotel, theatre etc) all the inside walls and the ceiling shall be lime washed at least once in two year.

The Delhi Shop And Establishments Rules 1954: Deductions from wages- If the employee is absent from work due to “stay-in-strike” or any other unreasonable cause an amount of “2 pice per rupee” could be deducted form his wages by the employer. 

Gurgaon, August 7
The district administration may have to take a stern stand against certain elements who have constructed a banquet hall illegally around the Air Force Ammunition Depot.

District Town Planner (Enforcement) and Naib Tehsildar as Duty Magistrate along with the police force went to demolish the illegal constructions around the 900-metre radius of ammunition depot on August 3.

The high-powered team demolished a number of illegal constructions, including two banquet halls in the above-mentioned area. But when the team reached ‘Celebration Point’, a prominent banquet hall, near Sheetla Mata Mandir, the officials were surprised to find that “about 500 anti-social elements had climbed the adjoining buildings as well as confined the officials to the spot and threatened to pelt them with stones and brickbats if the demolition was carried out”.

Here, it is pertinent to mention that around 20 banquet halls besides other constructions have come up illegally in this area.

The Deputy Commissioner advised the officials on phone not to demolish the illegal hall and come back. 
On August 5, with sufficient police force under the supervision of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), the DTP Enforcement team with the duty magistrate again went to demolish the illegal hall, but this time also, they faced the same situation and came back without demolishing the hall.

In her report, the DTP has stated that the ‘anti-social elements led by Anil Rao, Jitender Kataria and Pardeep, alias Meenu, openly challenged the demolition squad to carry out demolition and shouted that a hundred person may die, but the ‘Celebration Point’ would not be allowed to be demolished.

They shouted that they had links with the high-ups and could spend crores of rupees to stop the demolition. The anti-social elements even warned the officials of dire consequences if they kept demolishing the structure, she said.

As these elements were armed with iron rods, lathis, bricks and stones, it was not possible to demolish the structure, added the officer.
The DC told ‘The Tribune’ that the administration would not succumb to such pressure tactics and take legal action against all of them. 

Noida, August 7
Eleven industrial units have been declared as the most hazardous and accidents prone in Gautam Budh Nagar district here.

The most hazardous factories of the district include HPCL, NTPC, LG, Samtal (TV units), Delfo, Yahama, Anmol Bakers, Surya Foods and New Holland Tractors.

Despite the site safety precautions being followed by the units, a committee has been constituted to keep an eye on off site situation in these units. Two biscuit manufacturing factories have also been included in MAH category.

A meeting was held in Flex Industries to discuss the control measures needed for tackling the hazardous situation in case of accidents in industrial units. Attending the meeting, Mr R K Dubey, director, Hazardous Management Institute, Bhopal, explained the measures evolved in Bhopal after the gas tragedy to tackle the hazardous situations in industrial units.

Mr Dubey said as per the strategy evolved, in the MAH units coming under the most hazardous category, 25 tonnes or more LPG or profane gas were considered unsafe. The unit management would be responsible for management of hazardous situation, he said, adding that the core committee would be responsible for overall controlling the hazardous situations, including safeguarding the adjoining residential and industrial areas and the agricultural land and crops and from risk and damage.

For the safety and treatment of people affected by accidents, traffic management, fire fighting, railway, and traffic management were discussed and finalised in separate meetings.

Assistant Factories Director, Mr. P.K. Chobey, said that in view of large stores of gas in MAH units, special precautions and arrangements had to be made.

A licence from explosives department was also required, he added. After these emergency controls and gadgets were in 
position, the formal permission was accorded for units to go functional, he said.

The Biscuit Co Surya Foods has started the manufacturing process on liquid diesel oil (LDO), instead of gas.

The country manager of Delfo, Manish Singh said his factory was in MAH category due to 40 tonnes storage capacity of LPG.

Greater Noida, August 7
Greater Noida seems to have outpaced Noida as far as land rates are concerned. An auction for 290 acre land under four schemes of residential colonies was sold for Rs 1,650 crore, four times the reserve price yesterday when bids were opened.

The per sq mt rate here was Rs 16,352, while in Noida the maximum price attained so far is Rs 13,000 per sq mt. Greater Noida will get Rs 1,650 crore for 290 acres, as against Rs 1,583 crore received for 340 acres in Noida, which had 50 acre more land.

The GNIDA had launched a scheme of 9 plots about four months ago. Reserve price was kept at Rs 3840 per sq mt. In all, 53 organisations had entered bids out which 31 were disqualified and only 22 took part in the bids.

Deputy CEO Harish Kumar Varma informs that the costliest plot was bought by ELDK securing the Omikran plot of 18.15 acre at a rate of Rs 16,352 per sq mt.

A 100 acre plot in Myu Sector has been acquired at Rs 13,750 per sq mt by Unitech and another 50 acre plot was bought by Omaxe at Rs 12,250 per sq mt. In Eta –2, a 48 acre plot was sold at Rs 13,750 a sq mt to Ansals. An 8 acre plot in Zeta sector was sold at Rs 13,514 per sq. It was acquired by MI builders.

Two plots of 8.75 and 8.18 acre in Zeta sector were acquired by a Poorvanchal Institution at the rate of Rs 13,555 and Rs 1,55,115 per sq mt, respectively.

A 30 acre plot in Omikaran was sold to UP Township for Rs 14,050 per sq mt and another 20 acre plot was sold at Rs 16,200 per sq mt to Supertak.

Gurgaon, August 7
Work on natural gas distribution project in Gurgaon city has begun and the gas distribution company, Haryana City Gas Distribution Ltd, is certain that the first phase would be completed on schedule which is the end of this year.

The first phase of the project, which is estimated to be of about Rs 38 crore, has plans for seven CNG filling stations and one City Gate Station. HUDA has already provided land to the firm for setting up these stations on 20-year lease. All the stations would be inter-connected.

In fact, the construction work for laying the pipe networks was kicked off yesterday.

Giving a presentation on the project, the Senior Vice-President of Haryana City Gas Distribution Ltd, Mr M.S.Khatkar, said that although the deadline for the project was the yearend, the firm has decided to commission and dedicate one CNG filling station on Haryana Day, that is November 1.

The station would be either in Sector 17 or 14. Besides, the firm has plan to cover the entire city in phases. Works on the second phase would commence soon after completion of the first leg, he added.

The firm is sure to complete the project on schedule as the spadework like design and engineering works has been completed, material ordered and line pipes have been received and permission for construction of pipelines obtained.

A salient feature of the first phase of the project is that it would have 225-km distribution pipeline.

Also, 135 kms of service pipelines would be laid. There would be four district regulators.

The city gas distribution project would cover all the sectors—industry, commercial and personal vehicles and domestic sectors. It would provide an alternative to LPG cooking gas cylinders in houses through metered system.

According to Mrs Khatkar, his firm has also got permission for similar project in Rewari, Rohtak and Jhajhar.

Indraprasta firm has been got the assignment for similar project in Sonepat and Panipat.

Adani Engineering, another firm has got assignment for the same project in Faridabad and Ballab garh.

New Delhi, August 7
The senior leaders of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) — Mr Harvinder Singh Sarna, president, Mr Rajinder Singh Techno, general-secretary, and Mr S. Bhajan Singh Walia, member — today said the controversy over the ‘Golden Palki’ was being raised by leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Panthak) as they had no other issue to raise before the Sikh sangat.

“Neither they contributed anything for this palki nor were they connected with it,” they said in Chandigarh.

The entire money for the palki was given through Jagjit Singh Kochhar to Baba Jagtar Singh Kar Sewawale.

“He is the same saint from whom the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhank Committee (SGPC) got two golden palkis made for Gurdwara Ram Sar, Amritsar, and Sri Darbar Sahib, Tarn Taran,” they added.

The opponents of the DSGMC have been accusing that the palki was financed either by Mr Ponty Chadha or by Mr Santa Singh or by Mr Jagjit Singh. All these persons belong to one family. Interestingly, Mr Jagjit Singh Kochhar, while talking to the press some days ago, had disclosed that all payment for the palki was done through him though he did not say that he had paid the money.

New Delhi, August 7
Students of government and aided schools in the Capital will get a free health check-up with the Delhi Cabinet today clearing a scheme for providing the facility to 12 lakh children in the next three years.

The Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, cleared the scheme which would involve NGOs working in the field of child welfare.

“The target is to provide free medical check-up to 12 lakh children over the next three years,” the Chief Minister said.

The NGOs will be required to provide health check-up to 65 children per day to meet the target under the scheme to be rolled out from this very academic session.

New Delhi, August 7
An exhibition of photographs by Mr D.S. Jaspal, an IAS officer, will be inaugurated here tomorrow by Union Minister of State for Tourism, Ms Ambika Soni.

Sponsored by the WWF, the exhibition, entitled ‘Tryst with Trees’, would have photographs taken by Mr Jaspal who travelled nearly 30,000 km in the past six months to document 48 sacred and historic Sikh shrines, named after 17 species of trees.

The shrines studied for the project include Baba Budha Ber Sahib inside the Golden Temple complex, Gurdwara Bohr Sahib in Anandpur Sahib, Gurdwara Jand Sahib in Gumti Kalan (Bathinda), Gurdwara Tahli Sahib in Nawanshahr, Gurdwara Ber Sahib in Sultanpur Sahib, Gurdwara Datun Sahib in Leh and Gurdwara Ritha Sahib in Uttaranchal.

A keen photographer, Mr Jaspal, not only visited some of the historic shrines in Pakistan, including Nankana Sahib, but also went up to Leh in support of his thesis that Sikh Gurus were “environmentalists” who had realised the significance of “trees”. During the course of his research, he found that in some of the gurdwaras, trees as old as 400 years were being preserved.

Using a Nikon 12-mega pixel, D2X digital camera, he has captured some extraordinary images depicting spiritual fervour and devotion centered on sacred trees.

This is perhaps the first time that anyone has worked on the trees in Sikh temples to emphasise the need for their preservation.