Noida, June 27
Power cuts of two to six hours during peak hot summer days in most sectors of Noida have made people miserable and angry. It is never known when power supply will be shut and when it will be resumed. Due to overload, power-tripping 10 to 20 times a day has become a routine.

In industrial areas generators and captive power plants are being heavily depended upon in view of the undependable power scenario. Though UP Power Board officials always claim things are normal in their areas.

A.K. Garg, RWA President of Sector-27, said in his sector there is a power cut of two to six hours daily. “When we ring up sub-station as to when power supply will be resumed, the engineers say they were not aware that there was a power cut in the sector.”

This is true about most of the sectors.

According to Yoginder Kumar Sharma, president of the Sector-12 association, on Thursday night there was a power cut from 12 to 3 am. At such times, people are forced to roam on roads. The power department officials are used to treating the public impolitely and usually bluff them.

Sector-34 general secretary and Sector-26 RWA president M.S. Dhami said there are four-hour power cuts during nights also.

Sector-15 resident Gaurav Malik said his sector was facing 5 hours power cut daily. In Sectors 33, 23, and 37 also there are power cuts of 2 to six hours daily.

RWA officials allege that UP Power Corporation was indiscriminately giving new power connections without the corresponding increase in the power transmitters’ capacity. This is one of the main causes of power cuts in Noida during this hot weather.

New Delhi, June 27
Residents took to the streets yet again today as the national Capital continues to reel under power and water shortage.

People demanding regular water and power supply in the city, blocked the traffic, vandalised offices of power distribution companies and demonstrated outside the residence of Delhi power minister A.K. Walia.

Some Delhi government officials, on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Dikshit had also spoken to Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the issue.

State power minister A.K. Walia also met Sonia Gandhi today to discuss the issue of power shortage in the Capital. Last night, an angry mob, reportedly, surrounded the minister’s east Delhi residence, protesting against extensive power cuts. Walia was able to control the situation only with the help of an MLA from Laxmi Nagar.

Keshav Nath, a resident of Shakarpur who was protesting outside the minister’s house, said, “There is no light and no water for the last two days and nobody is listening to us. The inverters have also gone down. We have made several complaints to authorities but all in vain. Moreover, the senior citizens are finding it really difficult. Who is responsible if they fall ill?”

Delhiites witnessed outages for two to six hours the areas of Karol Bagh, Mukherjee Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Hauz Khas, Janakpuri, Uttam Nagar, Mayur Vihar, Dwarka, Palam, Dishad Garden, Okhla and east Delhi.

According to officials of Delhi Transco Ltd, the company had supplied only 4,218 MW yesterday as against the demand of 4,275 MW.

The agitated protesters ransacked the Discom’s office and blocked traffic in several areas today. Due to the grid problem at Loni yesterday, several areas went without power for over nine hours.

Smeeta Jha, a resident of Hauj Khas said, “We are buying Bisleri water at more than the cost price because of non-availability of water.”

Noida, June 27
Hundreds of vehicles piled up in 3 km-long queues an either side on railway road Dadri which witnessed an 18-hour traffic jam on account of road repair and carpeting. The situation was worsened by a tailer-truck which broke down in the middle of a lane to which all traffic awas being diverted.

The commuters and the drivers had a harrowing time while the cops appeared helpless in making the vehicles move.

While the contractor had blocked one lane of the road for repair work and traffic from both side was being driverted to the single lane, a trailer truck collapsed on the single lane, fully blocking the entire road.

The jam lasted from Thursday night to Friday afternoon. Incidentally, all traffic to Noida, Greater Noida moves via Dadri’s railway road only.

Road repair is going on for the past one month where one lane has been blocked while the traffic from both direction is made to move on the other lane.

As the dumper and trailer had broken down in the middle of the road, the contractor had also reportedly stopped his work, leaving tarcoal drums, crushed stone, and equipment, further adding to the chaos.

The people caught up in the long traffic jam in hot weather were feeling very miserable and helpless.

On one account or the other, Dadri has been facing traffic jams for the past few months, which had also brought all trading and business activity almost to a standstill.

New Delhi, June 27
Senior citizens, hailed to be the custodian of India’s culture, are a worried lot today. They feel neglected and insecure in the national Capital largely due to its surging crime graph and the government’s callousness towards them.

Unhappy with the treatment meted out by policy makers, the matured community registers its dissatisfaction over the state’s provisions of security for old people.

A retired official of the United Public Service Commission (UPSC), on condition of anonymity, said the government’s apathy towards us was evident from the fact that the Delhi police had registered only 7,000 senior citizens while their actual figure was 9.5 lakh.

Himanshu Rath, chairperson of Agewell Foundation, feels senior citizens are vital to a nation’s heritage. So their rights need to be protected. “There have been cases of violation of rights of the elderly and crime against old people. In fact Delhi tops the list of crime against senior citizens. But the government has failed to respond with urgency,” he said.

In India, over 48 per cent senior citizens are neglected by their families and only 15 per cent of them register complaints.

According to Help Age India, last year 42 per cent of the total number of crimes was reported against senior citizens.

An official from Help Age India points out, “Nearly, 90 per cent of the total crimes against senior citizens are due to property. The police, special legal cells and courts need to work for the speedy redressal of complaints and cases filed by senior citizens.”

Social activist and president of Vision International A.S. Bhatnagar says there is a lack of awareness on the plight of senior citizens. It is important to sensitise parliamentarians and bureaucrats about their malady. He feels a few concessions like — the one in Railway tickets — is not enough to improve the condition of helpless old people, who most of the times end up living on the mercy of their children.

People who are in need of help the most are deprived of it. And this is true in the case of our senior countrymen who face a lot of hurdle in getting themselves insured.

Raman Chaudhary (72), a resident of Greater Kailash, shared, “Most insurance companies are reluctant to provide insurance to people who have crossed 70 years of age and health insurance to those above 80. Insurance facility should be available to senior citizens as long as they live.”

Being cultural ambassadors of the country, old people should be issued identity cards so that they can get concessions at tourist places and sports complexes. This should be done before the Commonwealth Games, suggested Chaudhary.

Underlining the dichotomy that exists in the definition of senior citizens, many senior citizen organisations have demanded a uniform age for them at 60 years. Any citizen completing 60 years can attain the requisite status in the eyes of ministry of social justice, but he/she is yet to qualify an exemption from income tax, which is allowed only after 65 years.

Karan Singh of Indian Council of Cultural Relations suggests for resurrection of traditional value system. He said, “To save our collapsing cultural ethos and value system, resulting from intrusion of western practices, the Indian educational system warrants a reform. Only this can bridge the gap among the young and the old.” 

Noida, June 27
Deaths in accidents, especially road accidents, have become a common feature of daily life in Noida and Greater Noida. As a result people are also losing their cool and giving vent to anger and frustration increasingly.

Tarun Sharma, 19, the only son of Chander Shekhar Sharma, a scrap dealer of Habibpur village under Bisarakh police station, was allegedly knocked down by a Tata-407 near Habibpur village on Friday. .

While the driver of Tata-407 was trying to flee, abanndoning his vehicle, angry villagers nabbed him and mercilessly beat him to pulp and torched the Tata-407.

A police team which rushed to the spot had difficulty in rescuing the driver from the angry villagers.

He was rushed in a serious condition to Kailash Hospital in Greater Noida.

Tarun was reportedly doing a pilot’s training course in Delhi and at the time of accident was coming to his village from Dadri on his bike on Friday afternoon. As Tata-407 had hit his bike head on, Tarun Sharma had died on the spot.

In another accident, a boy of eight was killed in Kasna by a dumper while in Phase-II a person was knocked down by an unidentified vehicle.

Raja, son of Pawan Chaudhary of Tughalaqpur, had gone to play near Ansal Plaza with his friends. While playing, the child slipped on to the road where a dumper hurtling at high speed had crushed the child. After some distance, the driver stopped the dumper and fled, leaving his vehicle. Raja was rushed to Kailash Hospital where he died later.

Another accident took place at Phase-II Katchehry road where an employee, Hari Shankar, 45, was taking a stroll on the road. He was hit by an unidentified vehicle. Hari Shankar also died ono the spot.

In yet another accident at the under-construction complex of WHO Housing Society, Verinder, 23, a mason, slipped from the ninth floor and died on the spot.

New Delhi, June 27
Three youths were killed in a brawl that ensued when a group of young boys barged into the house of one Vikas Sharma in the Chirag Dilli area of south Delhi last night.

According to the police, some armed assailants broke into the house of Vikas and attacked him with knife and iron rods. When his friends Vijay and Babli came to his rescue, the assailants stabbed Vikas and his friends.

After the incident, all assailants managed to flee. But Vikas’s neighbours managed to catch one of the assailants. He was brutally beaten up. However, this assailant is yet to be identified.

The police took the injured to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. “Vikas and the assailant who was beaten up by his the neighbours died in the hospital last night. While Vijay succumbed to his injuries this morning,” said a police official adding that Babli was recuperating at the hospital.

According to sources, six armed men attacked Vikas in his house. “We, initially, thought that some robbers had barged into his house and rushed to help him. We caught an assailant, thinking him to be a robber, and beat him up. It is only now that we have come to know they knew Vikas and attacked him due to some past rivalry,” said a neighbour.

The attack was apparently a result of old enmity. A few days ago, Vikas had lodged a police complaint against the assailants. He had accused them of eve-teasing.

According to police sources, Vikas had attended a wedding party with a girl over a month ago. When one of the assailants misbehaved with the girl, he lodged a police complaint.

“It was a minor and a common thing that often happens when people are dancing in marriages. Vikas had complained about it to the police and we had admonished those boys. These youngsters attacked Vikas last night just to take revenge,” said an official close to the investigation.

A case of murder and attempt to murder has been lodged against the accused at Malviya Nagar police station. The police is trying to nab the culprits. “A complaint has been lodged by both the parties against each other. No arrest has been made so far,” said a police official. 

New Delhi, June 27
With the arrest of three men — Pankaj Kumar, Rajesh Singh and Dharambir, the Nand Nagri police has busted a gang of vehicle thieves. Three stolen motorcycles and two mobile phones were seized from them.

The three were arrested near SDM office in Nand Nagri yesterday while driving a stolen motorcycle.

They admitted their involvement in over 10 cases of motorcycle theft. They also accepted to have committed over 30 cases of mobile phone theft. They said they mostly operated in the areas of R.K. Puram, Kotla Mubarakpur and Vasant Kunj.

On the instance of the accused, two other stolen motorcycles were also recovered.

New Delhi, June 27
The Delhi high court has asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to get three areas of the Capital swept at night.

Justice Manmohan in a recent judgement asked the MCD to implement night sweeping in the Dwarka, Rani Bagh and Pitampura areas after the Residents Welfare Associations (RWAs) of the three areas favoured this.

The court also asked the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to file a report on the status of implementing its night sweeping plans by August 7, next date of hearing.

During an earlier hearing, the MCD commissioner had been asked why action should not be taken against him for contempt of court for not abiding by its orders.

The court was hearing a public suit filed by advocate Ravinder Raj for implementing night sweeping in the Capital. — IANS