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Metro may be underground
New Delhi, January 17 At a meeting in Chandigarh last week, which was attended by Punjab chief secretary Ramesh Inder Singh, Haryana chief secretary Promila Issar, adviser to UT
Administration Pradip Mehra and Urban Development Ministry secretary M Ramachandran, it was decided to prepare a DPR on two corridors of the seven which have been identified by RITES.
Corridor-I PGI Government College, General Hospital, Sector 17-Interchange, Sectors 8, 7, 26, Grain Market, Transport Nagar, Railway Station, Manimajra, Motor Market and in Panchkula, Swastik Vihar, Sector 6-Mansa Devi Complex. Corridor-II Motor Market, Panchkula Bus Terminal connecting Sectors 7, 8, 11,12, Maheshpur Corridor-III Sukhna Lake, Mohali Railway Station via Secretariat, Sector 9, Sector 17 Inter-change, Sector 17, Sector 17 ISBT, Sectors 22, 34, 43, Bus Terminal, Sector 52, and in Mohali Sectors 62, 69, Sohana, Sectors 68, 67, 66. Corridor-IV Dadu Majra, Sectors 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31 Industrial Area and Airport. Corridor-V IT Park, Kishangarh-Transport Nagar - Sectors 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 and 105 in Mohali. Corridor-VI Dadu Majra, Sector 93 Mohali. Corridor VII Sectors 14, 25, 38, 40, 55, 58, 73, 74, 91 and 93 in Mohali. Corridor-VIII Zirakpur and ends at Panchkula Bus Terminal passing through Airport-Sector 14 and Sector 11 Panchkula. The governments of Punjab and Haryana and the UT administration is likely to set up an empowered group to work out the mechanism for going ahead with the project proposal which enjoys support of all three partners. Simultaneously, a comprehensive mobility plan for the city will be prepared for which the Centre can also be approached. The
corridors to be taken up initially will be those which have large volume of passenger traffic. The RITES, which did the initial study, had
recommended construction of elevated corridors but there were some reservations due to the city’s claim to heritage status. The proposal under consideration at present says that Metro would be underground in the city and elevated in other areas. Though the present volume of commuter traffic in Chandigarh may not make Metro look profitable, the link has been planned with the future in mind. Those pressing for a Metro for Chandigarh point out that such trains were planned in European cities over 100 years back and were not profitable then. They say
Chandigarh, which is among the best planned cities in the country, needs an
efficient public transport as its population and that satellite towns is bound to rise due to coming up of
projects such as IT parks. Punjab, Haryana and the UT administration have already agreed to the need of
improving bus network in the city by covering more areas and introducing quality buses. Though the cost of the project and the likely time frame will be detailed in the DPR, ministry officials said that if the project approvals come in time and every aspect is closely worked out, the Metro can start its run in Chandigarh in five years. They said that much will depend on the way the stakeholders want the Metro to shape up in the city. The UT
administration has been pressing for a Metro in the city, the officials said.
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The gang of 4 that loves all that jazz
Chandigarh, January 17 A day after thieves decamped with ornaments costing Rs 5 lakh at a ring ceremony at Hotel Taj, the police has gathered enough evidence which points towards the fact that five-star parties are a soft target for this gang of four, all teenagers, among them a girl. Based on CCTV footage, the police has zeroed in on a teenaged girl whose image appears in two recordings in two theft cases in the city in the past weeks. In a theft on December 30, thieves struck at the house of Talwaar Jewellers in Sector 9 and decamped with a purse kept on a chair which contained diamond earrings and a mobile. Yesterday’s theft in Hotel Taj was committed in similar fashion. The teenage girl appearing in the CCTV camera footing obtained from the Taj is also seen in photographs at the house warming ceremony in Sector 9. In Panchkula, a similar theft was committed at a private party some days back. The same girl was caught in this case. However, no case was registered as the theft was small and the stolen jewellery was recovered from the girl.
Modus operandi
Four teenaged boys under 15 always come well-dressed to five-star parties. The gang most likely hires an informer, who may be a DJ or caterer, and targets cash. “Each time the jewellery bag disappears within seconds,” a police official said. Meanwhile, the vigil at Taj has been increased, the police will deploy one beat person on guard at hotel parties to avoid such thefts.
Rs 1 lakh stolen from car
Chandigarh: Getting his car serviced cost a city resident dear as thieves decamped with his bag containing over Rs 1 lakh by breaking open the window of the car here today. Abhi Bhasin had come to Swami Automobiles to get his car serviced. The cash bag was lying in another car which belonged to his friend. As Abhi went inside the showroom with his friend, thieves broke open the back window of his car and fled with the booty.
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Traffic projects hit speed bump
Chandigarh, January 17 An official review of the pending road engineering proposals has revealed that the issues are stuck in official correspondence. Some of the issues were initiated when Gen S.F. Rodrigues (Retd) took over as Administrator more than three years ago. The delay in implementation of several projects by the engineering and architecture departments has invited the ire of the Administrator. Pointing towards “misplaced” priorities, sources, citing examples, said the widening of a rotary on the busy Chandigarh-Panchkula-Kalka road was sent to the chief engineer way back in February 2005. Similarly, a sum of Rs 5 crore has been spent on providing cycle and rickshaw tracks, but the proposal on street lighting is pending since 2005. Another proposal for a road divider on Udhyog Path and a parking on the V3 road between the grain market and Sector 26 is pending approval. The engineering department is yet to implement proposals for closing intersections on roads leading to southern sectors and for construction of more slip roads at 13 points identified on Udhyog Path and Shanti Path.
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Join new posts, JEs told
Chandigarh, January 17 All JEs were asked to join their new posting by lunch time. Sources said senior officers taking note of the news item told the engineering wing that the orders dated December 6 held in abeyance since be implemented with immediate effect.
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Bird flu: Poultry farmers slash egg prices
Panchkula, January 17 The district produces more than 50 lakh eggs per day from its 117 poultry farms housing around 62 lakh birds. The eggs from these farms are mainly lifted by dealers from New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. However, denying any risk of virus in the region, the poultry farm owners said even this time the panic among the consumers had no basis like the previous years. The poultry farmers had to suffer huge losses in 2006 and 2007 even as no case was reported from northern part of the country. The virus in the birds was reported from Maharahstra and Manipur at that time. “No sale was reported from the poultry farms in the region for the last two days due to a sharp decline in the demand,” said president of the Haryana Poultry Association Darshan. “However, the entire stock was lifted today at the reduced prices,” he said, adding that it reflected that the panic of the flu had started subsiding among the consumers of the region. The district administration, taking no chance, has asked the officials concerned to visit the poultry farms regularly to ensure proper cleanliness, collection of samples and to monitor the situation. There was a reason to believe that the region was not prone to the problem, said deputy commissioner Rajinder Kataria. The poultry farms in the region were being run by an organised sector here while it was not so at the places from where reports of flu were pouring in, he said. Moreover, no poultry product was imported from threat region here. Rather, it was being exported from this part of the country, which further reduced the chances of flu affecting the birds of the region, he added.
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Sec-43 bus stand lacks even basic facilities
Chandigarh, January 17 The new terminus has neither an enquiry counter nor a cloakroom. This multi-crore complex, work on which started in 2004, is still without a medical room, cash collection centre, transformer room, cloak room, automatic teller machine, station supervisor/traffic manager room, crèche, fast food centre, and incomplete waiting rooms, toilets and ticket counters. Neither the Transport Department nor the
Chandigarh Transport Undertaking ever undertook a study or survey before commissioning the so-called ultra-modern complex was made fully operational with shifting of major operations from the existing Sector 17 Inter-State Bus
Terminus. The plight of the passengers is not difficult to imagine. Most of them do not know whom to approach for redressal of their grievances, including the basic civic amenities. A terminal building which handles 1,000 buses a day does not have enough of toilets, drinking water fountains and even proper drop-off and meeting point facilities for passengers and their acquaintances. Besides, the frequency of local buses has also been increased to the PGI, Panjab University, Sector 17 ISBT, the Punjab and Haryana High Court and Civil Secretariat. Even after three days of starting operations, the authorities could not provide the adequate basic facilities at the site. Without parking facilities, all three-wheelers and rickshaws are parked on road side in front of the bus stand, from where they pick up passengers. “It is ridiculous to start so many routes along with night bus service from the bus stand, which is not completed and lacks the needed facilities. It should have only be started after completing all work here”, said Ram Parkash, a Kulu-bound passenger. Meanwhile, the Administrator of Chandigarh, Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), who visited the bus terminus, ordered that the promised state-of-the-art facilities would be provided at the terminal and it should be completed by the end of next month. CTU director P.S. Shergill said the decision had been taken to shift all buses to Shimla, Nahan, Patiala, Delhi and Ambala to the new bus terminus in a phased manner by September, 2008.
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Child panel wants punishment for erring doctors
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 17 The commission began its pursuit from northern states, the worst affected. The sex ratio in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and Chandigarh is 798, 820, 896 and 845. In the city for the seminar, Dr Shantha Sinha, chairperson of the commission, and Sandhya Bajaj, member, said the commission had decided to conduct public hearings to address the issue in the North India. “We plan to hold dialogues with the Medical Council of India and urge them to impose ethical standards on nursing homes. We also want them to cancel registrations of the erring doctors,” said Sinha, adding that the commission would also write to state governments to ask local bodies for ensuring daily monitoring of ultrasound clinics. Bajaj shared experiences from Nayagarh in Orissa where she led a team which got 10 doctors convicted for sex determination. “These doctors were indiscriminately killing foetuses. To make money, they were even killing male children. We got them convicted,” said Bajaj. Highlights of today’s seminar inaugurated by Haryana Governor AR. Kidwai were state-specific presentations by officers. Sunil Gulati, director, census operations, Haryana established a co-relation between low status of women and the falling sex ratio. In his analysis of amenities at households levels, he found that lack of amenities like safe drinking water, toilets, cooking fuel, etc impacted the status of women. Dr Manjit Bains, director health services, UT, gave a brief presentation on the measures adopted by Chandigarh to tackle the issue. He said the sex ratio at birth in the city had improved from 773 in 2001 to 860 in 2006. Punjab’s experience was shared by Dr V.K. Goyal who said Punjab had secured eight convictions under PNDT Act. Another initiative with promise was taken by the National Institute for Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) in 30 villages of Kurukshetra district where the sex ratio is the lowest in Haryana. Sulochana Vasudevan, joint director, NIPCCD, said street plays had helped effect mindset changes among communities. “Such projects are essential considering fertility rate in Haryana has come down from 4 in 1992-93 to 2.69 in 2006 (NFHS-III). This decline had affected the girl child more especially because of easy availability of sex determination techniques.” A presentation on the status of implementation of the PC and the PNDT Act was made by Dr I.P Kaur from the Health Ministry, Government of India.
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Oil conservation function begins
Chandigarh, January 17 The conservation function has been organised throughout the country to focus special attention with an objective of creating mass awareness about the importance of conservation of oil and gas, protection of environment. Pradeep Chhabra, mayor, Municipal Corporation, UT, inaugurated the function. Chhabra said, “Limited resources should be put to maximum utilisation. These natural resources are scarce and as well as non-renewable”. V. K. Yadav, chief regional manager, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Chandigarh, said, “A mass rally, cycle rally, drawing and painting competition, quiz competition, LPG and kerosene clinic are been held. Emphasised would be on the younger generation to cultivate the habits of judicious use of these scarce and natural resources.
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Session on US elections
Chandigarh, January 17 Joel talked about the election process and other related information, and about the profile of the candidates contesting the elections. Students were excited about the contents of the session and asked several questions on foreign policy, globalisation, social and cultural life in the US.
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Sunidhi Chauhan makes flash appearance
Zirakpur, January 17 According to Sanjay Garg, partner in the Bollywood Heights project, the young singer arrived with her parents, sister and some family friends to collect her papers. She had booked the two flats almost nine months back. Sunidhi left within an hour of her arrival. The promoters of the project claim that other than Sunidhi Chauhan, Amisha Patel. Ajay Devgan, Isha Koppikar, Hans Raj Hans and a host of film producers and directors have booked flats with them.
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No more flats, please
The High Court orders disallowing multi-storey apartments in the northern sectors come as a relief. High-rise buildings will be an eyesore and will ruin the city’s basic character. In fact, there are far too many flats in the southern sectors already with no space for children’s park. The green cover is also negligible as compared to the northern sectors. There are not many cities in the North which are livable, Chandigarh is an exception. Let the authorities not tamper with the beautiful maiden lest it turns into an old hag rather prematurely. Kavita Khanna, Chandigarh Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at news@tribuneindia.com or, write in, at: Letters, Chandigarh Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh – 160 030
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