The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

	Raids on illegal tubewells in Gurgaon Underground base receding at alarming rate Ravi S.Singh Tribune News Service Gurgaon, January 20 In a major offensive by the district administration against the illegal exploitation of underground water resource, two teams today jointly raided the premises which were running unauthorised tubewells for commercial and personal usage. The Deputy Commissioner, Gurgaon, Mr Rakesh Gupta, said that the stringent measure was called for as the entire Gurgaon City had been declared sensitive on account of the fast receding underground water table. No one would be allowed to illegally exploit the resource base, he added. He clearly signalled caution to the culprits saying that the drive to stop the hawkish method of unscrupulous elements would be intensified. The two teams, each headed by the District Revenue Officer and a hydrologist, found illegal tubewells functioning at 13 places. Break-up of the cases are nine in Sector 52, one each in Sectors 54 and 29, Rajiv Chowk and village Jharsa. FIR has been registered in all the 13 cases under Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986. It is notable that while in Sector 52, all the cases have been registered against five different Group Housing Societies, in village Jharsa and Sector 54, the culprits were alleged to be drawing underground water and were doing commercial business as they sold it to the customers through tankers. The culprit, relating to the case at Rajiv Chowk, is a contractor of the private business firm involved in expansion of the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway. The contractor was exploiting water for commercial use right near Rajiv Chowk on the highway. The raid today has elicited appreciation from wide-ranging quarters in view of the growing scarcity of water and the alarming rate at which the underground base was receding. Though many feel that the official machinery owe an explanation to the masses on its ostrich-like approach to the malady for such a long time. Take the case of the raids and registration of cases against the Group Housing Societies in Sector 52. Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has given possession of the land to the societies concerned more than fours years ago. However, they have yet not been given water connections. The affected parties’ complaint to the raiding team was in the form of a question: from where could they get water if not from the questionable tubewells? The general opinion is that they have only exposed the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Anyone can see a large number of illegal tubewells functioning in the posh DLF City and other private colonies of the licensed areas of Gurgaon city. The licensed areas are the ones in which the private builders are allowed to set up colonies. The construction works in these colonies and DLF City are done with the help of water drawn from the illegal tubewells. There are umpteen cases where, apart from the big brand names of builders/floaters indulging in crime, even individuals constructing houses bore tubewells with impunity to facilitate their construction works. Construction workers and migrant laboureres use water for their daily needs. It is learnt that some commercial establishments, including a notable hotel near Old DLF Club, and restaurants are engaged in this illegal act.
	Draft Master Plan, a political stunt: RWAs Syed Ali Ahmed Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 20 Terming the Draft Master Plan 2021 finalised by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) as a mere ‘political stunt’, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), city planners and civil society groups in the Capital have expressed their strong reservations over the draft. Ms Alpana Kishore, a town planner and convenor, New Delhi People’s Alliance (NDPA), said, “The Draft Master Plan for Delhi is poorly planned and a sure recipe of disaster for the residents of the Capital. It is a plan without vision for the city, as it is short sighted electoral necessity that would endanger its very existence.” “This is not a Master Plan for a city. It is solely a response to political considerations and does not apply itself to the considerations required by planning parameters,” said Mr Sanjay Kaul, President of the Peoples’ Action. “The proposed Master Plan does not address all sections of society and limiting its scope to cater to a narrow segment makes it a skewed document unable to address the real needs and concerns of the city that go beyond the narrow political scope,” he added. “This short sighted document as prepared, does not address the real carrying capacity of the city, its population nor did it take in to account the massive load the new regulations and notifications would impose on the city. This plan has raised question marks over the methodology used for it and the logic used for the regulations and classifications contained in it,” said eminent city planner Mr Kuldip Singh. “Where is the tangible vision for the city?” questioned MIT educated planner, Mr Arun Rewal, who has worked for the City of Dallas in the planning department and on several planning issues in Boston and Delhi. “This is a fixer plan – it fixes things for some people. But legalising alone can’t work without considering how the city will grow after that and what the realities of the situation will be on the road ahead? Nothing has changed – the regulations are as randomly imposed as before without any coordinated logic or holistic vision. This can only postpone problems not solve them.” “The changes in the Master Plan focus on demand accommodation not supply management,” said Mr Atul Goyal, Convenor, United Residents Joint Action (URJA), an apex body of RWAs. “At some point, the city’s ability to generate services and carrying capacity will break down. The Master Plan document as articulated does not balance this demand accommodation with supply planning to channel the city’s growth in a sustainable and viable manner,” he said. The civil society groups, including the RWAs and planners, reserved the right to question the basis of the Plan by using the RTI to find out exactly how many objections filed with the DDA had been incorporated in the new Master Plan, what the recommendations of the committees and working groups set up by the DDA had been and how many of these recommendations were accommodated in the new Master Plan. “RWA’s plan to take this Master Plan on roads, as it goes totally against the interests of residents and their peaceful fundamental rights,” said Mr Varinder Arora of People’s Action.
	BJP sets up aid centre for traders at HQ Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 20 Taking demolitions and sealing as election issues, the Delhi unit of the BJP has set up a Traders’ Assistance Centre at its headquarters on 14 Pandit Pant Marg. The Delhi BJP president, Dr Harsh Vardhan, said the centre had been set up to solve the problems of traders and industrialists of Delhi who had suffering as a consequence of sealing, demolition and arbitrariness of the MCD. The centre had become active from today. Dr Harsh Vardhan said a team of senior leaders of the BJP would do the work of listening to the complaints and finding a solution to the problem besides forwarding their complaints to the competent authority. The team would include Mr Subhash Arya, Mr Vijender Gupta, Ms Arti Mehra and Mr Yogender Chandoliya. Senior advocate Alok Kumar, former Secretary of Delhi Bar Council Abhey Verma and former Secretary of Delhi Bar Association Sanjeev Nasiar would assist in this work. Criticising the government, he said the Congress government had started sealing and demolition without any consideration. Many innocent persons had fallen victim to sealing, which was done in haste. Employees and family members of traders were suffering due to this. These people were now running from pillar to post with their complaints. “No one is listening to them whereas the Supreme Court has clearly directed sealing done in a wrong way should be removed”, he said. Premises of traders dealing in non-hazardous commodities had also been sealed. Forty marble shops at Raja Garden and Rajouri Garden on Ring Road had been sealed whereas that area had been declared commercial. The marble shops neither caused any pollution nor harmed the health of the public. Now, these shops were not being desealed despite continuous requests from traders. This had affected trade adversely. Consumers were also facing difficulties. They were compelled to purchase marble from other places at higher costs. Dr Harsh Vardhan said many clinics and pathological labs, which were not covered under the purview of sealing, had been sealed. These included the clinics run by Dr Amina Hussain (Naveen Shahdara), Dr Naresh Gupta (New Rajdhani Enclave), Dr Devender Dave (IP Extention), Dr Atul Malhotra (Madhu Vihar), Dr Praveen Roy (Chander Vihar), Dr Rohit Saxena (IP Extension), Dr Atul Saxena (Chander Vihar), Dr Tapishaji Kumar (Madhu Vihar), Dr Reena Gupta (Patparganj), Dr Anurag Wahi (Madhu Vihar), Dr Ajay Kumar Aggarwal (Patparganj), Dr Vijay Kumar Arora (Madhu Vihar) and Dr Bevender Tyagi. He said many traders had submitted affidavits saying that they wanted to trade in the exempted 24 commodities. Despite that, the seals on their shops were not being removed. Many traders had said they would reduce the area of their shops to 20 meters. Their requests were also not being acceded. They had already met Union Urban Development Minister Ajay Maken, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and members of the Monitoring Committee.
	MCD asked to provide space for displaced shopkeepers Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 20 The Mayor, Mr Farhad Suri, today issued instructions to the MCD officials asking them to make available appropriate space to the shopkeepers relocated from Jama Masjid area. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has been developing the area near Shastri Park drain to rehabilitate all such shopkeepers. The Mayor issued the direction during a meeting with senior officers of the MCD convened to sort out the issues concerning the shopkeepers of second hand clothes market. Inspecting the development work, Mr Suri freely interacted with people and representatives of Old Clothes Shopkeepers’ Welfare Association. He issued on the spot instruction to officials for redressing their grievances. Earlier, the Standing Committee of the MCD had passed a resolution to construct an underground market at the very place where Old Clothes Market existed. The resolution tabled before the committee described that the market would be developed on the line of Palika Bazar at Connaught Place.
	Ban on tenant, servant without police verification Bijendra Ahlawat Tribune News Service Faridabad, January 20 The district administration has imposed a ban under Section 144 of the IPC, on renting out residence and employment of domestic help without the police verification. It has warned of a legal action under Section 188 of the IPC against the violations. An order was issued by the office of the Deputy Commissioner. The order states that it has been found that house owners and landlords do not provide full information about the identity of their tenants and servants to the police stations and this leads to the possibility of a crime. Exercising the powers under Section 144, the Deputy Commissioner has banned such an activity with immediate effect. The house owners will have to submit the required information about their tenants and servants to the police and avoiding it could lead to legal action against them, says the order. Such an announcement has been made for the first time in the district. Earlier, the police had launched a campaign in this connection, but there was not a single response on voluntary basis, claim the police department sources. The city has a total population of about 15 lakh which include a large number of migrated population from the neighbouring states. While the total population of the district has been around 22 lakh, the city has been in the news over the reported hideouts of criminals and anti-social elements. One terrorist who was gunned down in Delhi last year had taken a house on rent in Ballabhgarh town here, say the security agencies.
	Stress on need to strengthen small enterprises via rating Abhay Jain Gurgaon, January 20 A seminar on empowering the small and medium enterprises through rating was organized by SME Rating Agency (SMERA) at GIA House. SME Rating Agency which has been promoted by the State Bank of India (SBI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda, Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), etc, organized this seminar in association with Yes Bank, which has been endeavoring to create channels for small enterprises by providing customized financial solutions to them. Inaugurating the seminar, Mr V P Bajaj, president, Gurgaon Industrial Association (GIA), said that the small and medium enterprises were the nucleus to the industrial growth of India and they were in fact the feeders to the large industrial units. The central and state governments had framed policies to encourage their growth and offer all possible incentives in consideration of their limited resources, pointed out Mr Bajaj. Elaborating on the need of rating, Mr Bajaj said that the rating agencies uplifted the strengths of a small-scale unit and addressed the issues which were faced by it in outsourcing the credit from the banks or financial institutions. While SMEs were taking rapid strides, it had become imperative for them to acquire a standing in the international market and boost their operations in domestic market, added the president. He emphasized on creating a special place by SMEs in the Indian economy and hoped that the seminar would adequately address the issues which SMEs usually faced in respect of credit facility, acceptability with customers, suppliers, etc. Focusing on the role of small and medium enterprises, Mr K C Papreja, general secretary, GIA, said that the government had implemented a series of measures to bring about sustainable growth to SMEs. Business partners in India and abroad had capitalized on the potential of SMEs for creating a scalable, high quality and low cost supply infrastructure, said Mr Papreja. Dwelling on the importance of rating for the small-scale sector, Mr Papreja said that rating had become an important instrument for the development of small-scale industries and it helped in improving their image. According to him, the rating created confidence and raised comfort levels of the customers, suppliers and business partners of small and medium enterprises. Making the presentation on rating, Mr Sumeet Mehta, regional manager, SMERA, explained how rating had helped in the development of small-scale sector. He supported his contention by stating that some of the small-scale enterprises had improved their exports and financial stability through rating. Mr Amit Verma, senior vice-president, Yes Bank, said that the bank was engaged in promoting the Indian entrepreneurship and was keen to play a role in promoting the small-scale sector in particular. He said that Yes Bank had set up SME business banking division to cater to the needs of small-scale enterprises. Presenting the vote of thanks, Mr S B Aggarwal, past president, GIA, appreciated the deliberations of the seminar and said that the credit facility was the basic need of small entrepreneurs who had limited resources. The seminar on credit rating organized by SMERA had brought about the concept of empowerment of SMEs and explained in simple terms the relevance of credit in the context of intense competition in present times, added Mr Aggarwal.
	Retd inspector convicted of culpable homicide Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 20 Nearly 17 years after the death of an arrested man in police custody, a retired Delhi Police inspector was today convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Four other co-accused have also been found guilty for causing grievous hurt to the victim. Finding sufficient incriminating evidence against Inspector H. P. Singh, who was then posted at the Geeta Colony police station in East Delhi, Additional Sessions Judge Rajender Kumar convicted him under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC. Victim Subhash Chand was severely beaten in the lock-up on the fateful night of January 23, 1990, and a week later he allegedly succumbed to his injuries in a city hospital. The other four accused, Budh Prakash, Sudesh Rani, Ashok Kumar and Shammi, who were the landlords of the victim, have been convicted under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the IPC. The court would pronounce the quantum of sentence on January 23 after hearing the arguments. According to the prosecution, Chand was bashed up at the police station by Singh in the presence of the victim’s landlord and had gone there to lodge an FIR following an altercation between them and the deceased.
	5 awarded life term for killing boy Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 20 A Delhi court today sentenced five persons to life imprisonment for murdering a boy over six years ago. The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr Rajender Kumar, convicted Akram, Mohammad Izhar, Gurdeep Singh, Moin Ahmed and Rishi under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC after finding sufficient evidence against them. According to the prosecution, Amik, a resident of Gujrat Vihar in East Delhi, was attacked with a sharp-edged weapon by the accused on April 19, 2000 after they entered his house with the intent to commit dacoity. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on each of the convict.
	Search on for four kids of Sahibabad Parmindar Singh Ghaziabad, January 20 The Sahibabad police have launched a search operation to trace four kids who went missing from an area under Link Road police station. FIRs for these four children–Reza Ansari, 5, d/o Zahuddin, Aman Kumar, 10, s/o Babu Ram, Ajay Singh, 8, s/o Mahabir and Prakash, 5, s/o Prem Babu were registered by the Sahibabad police promptly, taking a lesson from what had happened in Nithari, Noida. These children had gone missing between July 26, 06 and January 1 from the area under the jurisdiction of Sahibabad police station. Taking these as kidnapping cases, the police have registered reports against a number of suspects. Meanwhile, SO Link road police said investigating officers had been asked to collect all details of the missing kids at the earliest. The police officials are contacting the parents of the missing children and enquiring from them about the exact circumstances under which the children had gone missing.
	Misty, but mercury rises to 8.2 degree C Tribune News Service New Delhi, January 20 The Capital woke up to a misty but warmer morning today and Delhiites got some respite from cold as the mercury rose to 8.2 degree Celsius, one degree above normal. Though visibility was low because of shallow fog and mist in the early hours, it did not affect road, rail and air traffic. The runway visibility range at Indira Gandhi International Airport was around 1,200 m in the morning and all flights, both domestic and international, operated on schedule, airport sources said. The minimum temperature at 8.2 degree Celsius was a notch above the normal for this time of the season while the maximum temperature was 24.7 against 22 degree Celsius reported a day before, said the Met Department. The weatherman said the minimum temperature was likely to increase in the coming days.