The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Delhi and neighbourhood

	Compensation sought for Blueline victims Ritu Sharma New Delhi, February 19 As Blueline buses continue to kill innocents in the Indian capital with impunity, rights activists are urging the authorities to pay compensation to families of the victims. An organisation that brings together families affected by the recklessness of the privately owned “killer buses” is calling upon the government to come to the aid of the bereaved families. Although the government is under no obligation to do that under the law, there has been at least one precedent. In October 2007, when a speeding Blueline bus mowed down seven people in Badarpur area in south Delhi, the Delhi government promptly announced Rs.100,000 to each of the distraught families. Now People’s Action, an NGO, says this must become the norm. “The apathy of the government towards the victims of Blueline buses is deplorable as the buses are licensed by the state,” said Sanjay Kaul, president of the association of the families of Blueline victims. “The Delhi government was prompt in declaring ex g ratia compensation to the kin of the seven killed in Badarpur. It is only when the number of people killed is large that the government wakes up,” Kaul lamented. People’s Action has appealed to the National Human Rights Commission, seeking an end to the “discriminatory attitude” of the Delhi government. Under the Motor Vehicles Act, the government is not liable to compensate accident victims or their families. “As per law, only the owner and the company insuring the bus is liable to pay compensation,” advocate Namita Rai explained. The scenario is different in some countries. In Britain, the weather and the condition of the roads are taken into account while fixing responsibility for an accident, said Lokesh Kumar, a lawyer. “If the government has failed to maintain the roads, the onus of the mishap lies with the state,” said Kumar. With accident victims mainly left to fend for themselves in India, many lives get ruined, more so if the families are poor. A fatal accident involving a Blueline led to a double tragedy here this week. When Akhid Ali, the only breadwinner of his family from Bihar was crushed to death Sunday by a Blueline bus, his wife, unable to cope with the loss, hanged herself to death in the hospital, leaving behind their month-old child. Experts say that even when compensation claims are processed, legal tangles often prolong the agony. Following a Supreme Court ruling, now drivers of Blueline buses along with the bus owners are made a party in the accident case, said Kumar. But in most cases, the drivers simply run away, delaying the disposal of the cases. Under the Motor Vehicles Act, in case death occurs due to the fault of the driver, the compensation is calculated on the basis of the life expectancy of the deceased multiplied by his income. But compensation amounts calculated under the act, last amended in 1994, is generally very low. Following a public outcry after a spate of Blueline accidents last year, the central government filed an affidavit in the Delhi High Court seeking amendments to the act to raise compensation amounts. This has been approved by the Lok Sabha and is now pending in the Rajya Sabha. Once this becomes law, Rs.100,000 would be given as compensation to families of victims who die in accidents, Rs 50,000 each in case of grievous injuries and Rs 25,000 each for minor injuries. The victims can also claim third party insurance if the vehicle is insured. The central government was also directed by the Delhi High Court to take into consideration the rise in cost of living while deciding the final amount of compensation. Delhi has about 4,000 Blueline buses, which form an important part of its chaotic public transport system. Last year, the fleet caused about 120 deaths on the capital’s roads. This year, the figure is eight — so far. — IANS
	Bus transit system faulty: People’s Action Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 19 “Everywhere in the world wherever a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system works, the key to its success is an ‘integrated model’ which works with multi-disciplinary mechanisms allowing seamless transfer and transit to commuters. That requires that the entire model is implemented in one go and only then opened to public. The BRT system cannot work if the system is implemented in parts,” said Sanjay Kaul, president of People’s Action. This project will not be successful in Delhi as this is being implemented in phases. In November 2007, People’s Action had challenged the HCBC now renamed BRT system by sending a 21-point questionnaire to the project proponents. It was only after the proponents received this questionnaire, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit came out saying that the entire six-route corridors would be developed concurrently and financial clearance for the project was obtained quickly. “But now with growing deaths and the traffic chaos showing no signs of dissipating, the Chief Minister has backtracked, adding to the fact that this project is doomed and that it has been a colossal waste of public money and young lives,” said Kaul. “The entire BRT project is a classic example of governmental arrogance and insensitivity to citizen’s views,” said Wing Commander J.S. Chadda of United RWAs Joint Action, (URJA) South Delhi. Experts have confirmed that the fundamental premise of this model is wrong for Delhi. “The BRT works only where there is availability of vast roads,” said a technocrat. People’s Action is more stringent in its comments. “This project suffers from a blinkered view,” says Kaul. He confirmed that international companies dealing in implementation of multi-modal bus transit system have repeatedly confirmed that the BRT systems only work if implemented in toto. “Now the problem for the government is that if it continues with developing other routes, it will devastate Delhi five times. This will uproot decade-old trees, concretize footpaths and cause accidental deaths,” Kaul added.
	PF fraud 27 court employees held Ghaziabad, February 19 Twenty-seven employees have been arrested here on charges of embezzling Rs 7 crore from the Provident Fund account of the district court following a CBI judge’s complaint against 83 persons. They were today sent on transit remand for production in a special anti-corruption court in Meerut and a hunt is on for the others. Special CBI judge Rama Jain lodged an FIR at Kavi Nagar police station against 83 persons, including chief treasury officer Ashutosh Asthana, on Friday evening, senior superintendent of police Deepak Ratan said today. He said a police team arrested 27 court employees, including four women, on Saturday and a search was on for the others. The embezzlement of around Rs 7 crore from the PF account of the district court came to light during an audit conducted by the vigilance team of the Allahabad High Court, he said. Thirteen Class III employees, 30 Class IV employees and 39 others have also been named by the judge in the complaint. Ratan said they have been charged under sections 409 (breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 467, 468, 471 (forgery) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy). — PTI
	Court reserves order on Games Village site New Delhi, February 19 The Delhi High Court today reserved its order on the ongoing construction of the Commonwealth Games Village that has been challenged on the grounds that it could harm the ecological system of the Yamuna riverbed. A division bench headed by Justices A.K. Sikri and Rekha Sharma reserved the order after hearing the arguments from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and environmentalists. “We are giving one week’s time to all parties in the case to file their affidavits if they want to say anything else in the case,” said the bench. However, counsel for the petitioner P.S. Parikh again stressed that the riverbed should be protected at any cost. The court also last month proposed to the government to constitute a monitoring committee to oversee the ecological aspects of constructing the facility near the Yamuna River to house the players during the 2010 mega sports event. The court’s proposal came soon after the government pleaded that the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) had recently given a green signal to the project. The court’s intervention came after a petition by environmentalist Rajinder Singh was filed alleging the construction of the village on the Yamuna riverbed might harm the eco-system. — IANS
	UP blasts Accused shares experience with JNU students Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 19 Aftab Alam Ansari, accused of causing the November 2007 blasts in Uttar Pradesh, along with his lawyer Md Sohaib and journalist Manoj Singh shared his experience with Jawaharlal Nehru University students here. JNU Students’ Union had invited Ansari to share his experiences. According to JNUSU press release, the CID had arrested Aftab in Kolkata. He was later handed over to the UP special task force (STF). He was held as the chief accused in the serial bomb blasts that occurred on several court premises in UP last year. It further read that the UP STF tortured him for 22 days in order to make him confess that he was Mukhtar alias Raju. “Hundreds of innocent Muslim youth are becoming victims of communalism prevailing in our society,” said Sandeep Singh, president, JNUSU. “JNUSU and Forum for Democratic Initiatives (FDI) have sent petitions to the Prime Minister and the Minorities Commission demanding action against the police personnel responsible for Aftab’s harassment. We have also demanded an apology and compensation for him,” added Sandeep. “It was due to the concerted efforts of his mother, his lawyer, some journalists and People Union for Human Rights (PUHR) that he was declared innocent,” said Sandeep. “Not only did the court declare him innocent, the shameful conspiracy by the UP STF to frame a Muslim youth was exposed.” “Aftab’s case has raised questions regarding neutrality of the press and the role of some apparatuses in the judicial system,” stated the press release. “An atmosphere of communal stereotyping and minority witch-hunting has been created,” it read.
	SC for second life to Appu Ghar New Delhi, February 19 Appu Ghar, the capital’s popular amusement park for children that closed down Sunday after more than two decades, may have a second life as the Supreme Court Tuesday asked the government if it could allocate a new site for it at market prices. Appu Ghar, adjoining the exposition grounds of the Pragati Maidan near the Supreme Court in the heart of Delhi, was closed down to make way for the construction of an administrative block of the apex court. A bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat, P. Sathasivam and Aftab Alam asked the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the Land and Development Office to file their affidavit by March 27 detailing if they were ready to allocate an alternative site to International Amusement Limited (IAL), which runs Appu Ghar. Earlier, the firm’s counsel and former la minister Arun Jaitley pleaded to the court that the firm, while running the children amusement park for last 25 years, had made huge investments in it. Jaitley contended that his client has a plethora of documents to show that it was a permanent allottee of the land by the International Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), a government agency that manages the Pragati Maidan. IAL, however, is ready to shift the park from its current premises in the Pragati Maidan to serve the larger public interest, pleaded Jaitley. He told the court that the DDA, Delhi’s land management agency, had earlier indicated it was not averse to allocating an alternative site for the park at market rates. On Nov 30, the bench had ordered the urban development ministry to hand over the possession of nearly 15 acres of the Appu Ghar land to apex court authorities and of the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) after evicting IAL. The ministry had allocated the land to the apex court for expansion of its premises and to have a separate administrative block and a record room for the court. A part of the land, measuring 6,202 square metres, is set to go to the DMRC to build Metro railway tracks and stations. — IANS
	Residents move HC against DMRC New Delhi, February 19 The Azadpur Gaon Welfare Association has urged the Delhi High Court to halt the project of building a mall-cum-Metro station by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) at Ring Road Azadpur as it is being built at the reserved green area. Puneet Mittal, counsel for the petitioner Rai Singh Rana said according to the master plan, the area where the DMRC is building its station is earmarked for the green belt and the private builders and public authorities have connived to violate all norms to obtain prior sanction before the construction. Justice Sanjive Khanna has fixed February 25 as the next date of hearing and asked the petitioner to furnish some more details pertaining to the case. Mittal told the court that the action of the respondents is not only arbitrary and illegal but it is unreasonable and mala fide and is in complete defiance of the master plan. In addition to DDA and DMRC, the petitioner has made Lt Governor and the PWD (Delhi) a party in the petition. Mittal said the authorities had not sought any permission to construct the mall-cum-station in the area thereby violating Article 21 of the Constitution of India. — UNI
	Tunnel machine lowered at INA Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 19 The Delhi Metro underground construction at INA and Jor Bagh witnessed the lowering of the first Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) in this section today. The 88 tonne machine was lowered at INA and the operation that began at 10.30 am took the entire day. The massive machine was lowered by a 400-tonne crane, specially imported from Taiwan for the purpose. The underground tunnelling from INA–Jor Bagh will be done at a depth of about 15 m. DMRC spokesperson Anuj Dayal says that as the soil in this area is very soft, the tunnel boring machines will be used as an Earth Pressure Balancing Machine. The machines will balance the earth pressures while the concrete lining of the tunnel is being made below the surface to avoid earth settlement and collapses during construction. This special boring machine known as Earth Pressure Balancing Machine (EPBM) will take 15 days to assemble below the surface after which it will commence actual boring. Since there will be two tunnels for to and fro movements of train in this section, another EPBM will be lowered after a month at INA for building the other tunnel.
	8 Delhi ACPs transferred Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 19 The Delhi Police today transferred eight assistant commissioner of police (ACP). ACP Narender Pal Singh, who was posted in public grievances (PG) cell, Outer District, has been transferred as ACP Sultan Puri. While ACP Om Kumar Singh has been posted to public grievance cell, Outer District. He was earlier posted at Ist Battalion of Delhi Armed Police (DAP). ACP Rajinder Singh Dahiya who was posted at Sultan Puri has been transferred to crime against woman (CAW) cell. ACP Hansraj who was posted at PCR has been transferred to Delhi Cantt while ACP Savitri Sharma and ACP Indrawati Bhoria have been sent to PCR and Ist Battalion Delhi Armed Police (DAP) respectively from CAW Cell. ACP Vinod Kumar Gupta has been transferred to Rashtrapati Bhawan while ACP Sushma Sodhi would move into CAW Cell.
	Feeder service from Dwarka Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 19 The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation will start a feeder bus service from Dwarka Sector-10 Metro Station from February 20. The route for the service would be Najafgarh Chawla Stand, BDO Office, Deenpur, Goela Village, Goela Dairy, Qutub Vihar, Amrahi Village, Dwarka Sector 19, 18 & 12 and Dwarka Sector-10 Metro station. Six buses will run on this 10-km route with a frequency of about 15 minutes. At present, 49 feeder buses are already plying on six different routes. The buses are running with an average ridership of 30 passengers per trip.The Delhi Metro has already short-listed 36 feeder bus routes for which 419 buses are required. At present, routes from Shastri Park Metro Station, Pitampura Metro Station (two routes), Janakpuri Metro Station, Rohini West Metro Station and Vishwavidyalaya Metro station are running successfully and other routes are being started gradually as more buses are manufactured, said the DMRC.

Notice to consumers opposing e-meters
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 19
The BSES has begun serving notices to those who have been opposing its efforts to implement government directives for installing electronic meters, a BSES official said.

He said that nearly 78 per cent of electro-mechanical meters have been replaced by the state-of-the-art electronic meters in its licensed area.

The official said, “We have issued notices to the remaining 22 per cent of our consumers and sought their cooperation to facilitate BSES in making Delhi 100 per cent digital.”

Women bag lifters arrested
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 19
The Chandni Chowk police today arrested three women bag lifters — Sheela 42, Pooja 38, and Geeta 30.

While Sheela and Pooja are residents of Jhuggi Jwala Nagar, Geeta lives in Kasturba Nagar. According to DCP/North Office, while complainant Nanu Bahan was returning home after meeting her relative in Kauria Pul, she stopped near Bankhandi, Chandni Chowk, for drinking water. She had kept her bag beside her. Meanwhile, the trio lifted her bag and tried to flee.

Nanu raised the alarm. Local policemen, who happened to be in the vicinity, nabbed the three with the help of a passerby.

SFI meeting decries UPA on higher education
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 19
The ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was criticised for showing reluctance in fulfilling promises related to higher education at a public meeting held on Jawaharlal Nehru University campus here. The meeting was organised by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI).

Academician Jayati Ghosh and former DUTA president Vijendra Sharma addressed the meeting.

“We want the UPA government to understand that higher education is an important sector,” said Roshan Kishore, secretary, SFI. “The government should fulfil its promises, before making any further commitment.”

Jayati Ghosh spoke about her proposal to the knowledge commission. The proposal suggested of income slabs that categorised school-level students in three separate levels depending on the amount they paid as school fee.

Tourist guide found dead

New Delhi, February 19
The body of a 36-year-old tourist guide from West Bengal was found hanging from a ceiling fan in a hotel in Paharganj here, the police said Tuesday.

Ranjeet, who checked in at the Darshana Guesthouse last week along with 120 tourists from 24-Pargana district of West Bengal, was found dead in his room no. 408.

The hotel staff had to open the room door, locked from inside, with a duplicate key when repeated knocks failed to get any response from Ranjeet.

The tourists accompanying him called up the hotel staff after they did not get any response from Ranjeet.

“There was no sign of struggle inside the room. Prima facie it looks like he committed suicide. We have informed his family in West Bengal,” a senior police official said. — IANS

Pickpocket arrested

New Delhi, February 19
The Subzi Mandi police has arrested Anand, 20, charged with pick pocketing.

Anand is a resident of Kabir Basti, Malka Ganj.

According to DCP/North office, while complainant Naresh Gupta and his mother were shopping in the area, he felt that someone had put hand in his pocket. He immediately raised an alarm. The local police subsequently nabbed Anand. — TNS