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Cleaning N-choe: The D-Day
The rain water rivulet has turned into a drain carrying the sewage from the leaking pipelines, in different parts of the city. The Punjab and Haryana High Court meets today to review the clean-up of the N-Choe where the Chandigarh Administration and the Punjab Government are expected to give their, respective, presentations.
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UT to inform HC of blueprint for clean-up
Chandigarh, April 20 Information available from UT Administration suggests the measures - to be brought to the high court's notice - include the setting up of a committee for looking into increase in pollution levels in the area around Kajehri village. The sewage in the choe is murkiest, as it passes through Kajehri. The need for setting up the committee was being felt, as it is predominantly an area inhabited by colony and slum dwellers. Already, Kaushal has carried out a detailed survey of the area. It is believed Kaushal will, in fact, give details of the action plan being formulated by the administration to effectively deal with the problem. The details are expected to be furnished in the form of a reply to be placed before the Bench Wednesday morning. Advocate Ranjivan Singh, appointed amicus curiae or the "friend of the court" on the previouis date of hearing, is also expected to produce the copies of orders issued from time to time in the matter by the high court. Chief Justice Mudgal had earlier asked the Administration to specify "the steps contemplated to improve the condition of the choe". The news-report in these columns was directed to be treated as a public interest litigation. The Chief Justice had observed: Le Corbusier, who planned the City Beautiful, wanted to retain the water body to keep the residents of the city in contact with nature. "The Choe is a seasonal rivulet and the water flowing through it without there being rains for long makes one curious about the origin of water flowing through it".
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"The administration is basically responsible to check the problem of silt in the 'choe' and the growth of weed to allow free flow of water, particularly during monsoons. We have tendered the exercise under which will ensured that the entire tract is cleared by June 30. As far as cleaning of the sewage potion in the 'choe' is concerned, the matter will be handled by the Municipal Corporation."
"We have identified different points, in the choe tract, which had a leaking sewer. The corporation fixed the leakages at 12 different points along the choe. The cleaning up of the choe is handled by the Chandigarh Administration and they already have an action plan in place. The biggest issue involved in the problem was identifying the weak links in the sewage. After the completion of the process, plugging was a mere formality.”
"In a recent meeting, the UT officials assured that they will be carrying out an extensive exercise in plugging the leaking sewages which flow into the N-Choe portion flowing through Mohali. Officials of Mohali's Punjab Water supply and Sanitation wing have been told to plug all the points, on our side. The expenses for the same would be provided either by MC or GMADA. The sewage treatment plant of GMADA is likely to become functional by May 31 and it would treat entire sewage generated from Mohali city".
"We have identified a point in Phase 9 which is the source of pollution, at the point. The source of sewage flowing in to N choe near the bridge of Sector 63 and 67 is being identified. One meeting with GMADA officials has already taken place and joint inspection with UT officials is being held. The matter will be handled, at the earliest".
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Conceding speedy action by the concerned wings of the administration in Chandigarh and Mohali in cleaning up the polluted N-Choe, Chandigarh Tribune has picked certain issues, incorporating readers response to the campaign, which need a careful handling, for long run, maintenance of the clean choe tract. 1No decision yet on the mechanism of handling the sewage at Kajheri clearly shows the matter had been ignored, till date. The administration has constituted a committee to decide whether an independent sewage treatment plant at the site was sufficient or a special sewage pipeline for the entire area and neighbourhood needs to be developed. 2One of the biggest issues involving the total cleaning of the N-Choe is fixing individual responsibility for cleaning up of the 'choe'. At the moment the work is divided between the administration and the Municipal Corporation. The concerned officers need to be made accountable. 3Instead of an adhoc approach of fixing problems, the administration first needs to identify all the loopholes and draft a neat plan of action, with help of the experts. 4The N-Choe, in particular and related issues need to be put under the supervision of an expert. The UT needs to appoint a special officer, with the required expertise in the subject, to ensure a long term association with the project. 5 Besides cleaning of the 'choe', the authorities need to make a special plan for handling the accompanying menace of mosquitoes and houseflies. 6 Mohali administration cleaned the N choe few years ago. The drive was left unfinished in the middle. GMADA needs to execute, on ground, its project to clean the wild growth and filth deposited at the base of the choe. 7 Chandigarh and Punjab authorities, need to create specific places for the treated sewage water, if any, to facilitate aquatic plants and fish. 8 Instead of waiting for the N-Choe to be cleared fully, the authorities need to begin the alternate exercise of cleaning the embankments along with an intense plantation drive. 9 The concerned authorities need to explore alternate methods for reducing the BOD levels in water. The oxygen rich water can be used for tertiary purposes, including irrigation.
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Doc’s parents seek probe into death
Chandigarh, April 20 Nagendra’s parents have dismissed the suicide theory, saying their son was being harassed by his seniors. They have asked the police to thoroughly probe the matter. The police today handed over the body to the family after doctors conducted a post-mortem, which was recorded on video. The police said preliminary investigations into the death suggested it to be a case of suicide. However, they were looking into all aspects leading to the death. A police official said the absence of a suicide note also indicated that it could be an accidental death. A senior police official said they were yet to check the laptop of the deceased and could not say anything for sure at this stage about the suicide note. “The parents were satisfied with the role of the police and also with the investigation. I have assured them of fair probe,” said the UT inspector-general of police PK Srivastava. Nagendra’s father Ayeppa Reddy told mediapersons that his son a brilliant student and could never commit suicide. He had talked to his mother a couple of days ago, telling her that he was being harassed and did not want to work in the PGI. “We told him to quit the job and come back if he was so much uncomfortable and had also booked tickets for him, not knowing that such a tragedy would befall us,”
Reddy said. Nagendra, a junior resident, had joined the PGI in January. He was having a problem in hearing, which could also be a contributing reason to his being upset, as he might have been facing problem in working, said a police official.
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4th incident in eight months
Chandigarh, April 20 The earlier three incidents were all suicides and included a junior resident, a nurse and a nursing student. The latest in what some observers term as a “series of suicides” was Gursharan Kaur, a nurse in the PGI, who committed suicide in March this year. Her suicide was preceded by that of Anshu Mathew, an MSc (nursing) student of the National Institute of Nursing Education (NINE) at the PGI in January. Prior to that, 26-year-old Pradeep Sharma who, ironically, was a junior resident with the hospital’s psychiatry department, committed suicide in September last year. Gursharan Kaur had allegedly committed suicide by injecting some poisonous substance is her rented accommodation in Phase II, Mohali. Following her suicide note in which she had blamed a man named Gurjit Singh for allegedly “ruining her life”, the police had registered a case of abetment to suicide against him. However, they are yet to solve the case. Anshu Mathew, the MSc nursing student at the PGI, had committed suicide in January this year. Her parents had stated that she was being mentally tortured by her guide and principal. An inquiry was initiated after other students of NINE accused the college authorities of harassment. After submitting an inquiry report to the PGI administration, the authorities have recommended “charge sheeting” of Inderjeet Walia, the former principal of NINE. In September last year, Dr Pradeep Sharma committed suicide after hanging himself in his room. However, his suicide note had stated that no one was to be blamed for his death.
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Allegation shocks faculty, batchmates
The allegation of ragging by Dr Reddy’s parents has come as a shock to both the hospital faculty and his batchmates. They deny occurrence of ragging on both the campus and in the hostel where he was residing. A PGI spokesperson said he was pursuing MD in the blood transfusion department and had joined as a postgraduate trainee and not as a student three months ago in January. “There was no question of ragging as he did not fall into the category of a student. They are contractual paid employees,” said Dr Vishal, president of the Association of Resident Doctors.
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Cops admit lapses, pull up their men
Chandigarh, April 20 A senior police officer said the mechanism of gathering information and maintaining informers had been adversely affected in the past several years due to a continuous reduction in source money by the government. The officer said they were formulating strategies to apprehend the robbers, but it appeared to be more or less a routine exercise. “We are conducting a meeting with the Panchkula and Mohali police and are sharing information. Records of snatchers and robbers are being scrutinised to keep an eye on their activities. All sub-divisional police officers, station house officers and those in charge of police posts in the city have been directed to conduct special checking. We are preparing sketches of the accused,” UT SSP SS Srivastva said. UT IGP PK Srivastva said steps were being taken to improve basic policing in the city and to revamp the beat system. “The SSP is working on modalities to improve the beat system and will come out with a plan in the next few days. We will attach about 70 newly recruited constables with police stations to give a boost to the beat system, which will further help in strengthening the information-gathering mechanism”, he said. The IGP asked the Police Control Room (PCR) in charge to provide him detailed reports of information on robberies and action taken by the PCR. The IGP would go through the logbook and examine whether there were any lapses on the part of the PCR personnel. Sources in the police said the PCR staff failed to react to the situation as the robbers went on looting women in different parts of the city, but were not spotted by any police team. One of the victims, Kusum of Sector 26, tore the T-shirt of her assailant before he sped away, but no policeman on duty spotted a man riding a motorcycle with a torn T-shirt. An official said the victims informed the police regarding a jute rope tied around the leg guards of the motorcycle, yet the robbers managed to disappear.
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Robbers strike again, loot woman at gunpoint
Chandigarh, April 20
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Indian convicts in UAE ‘framed’
Chandigarh, April 20 A two-member team comprising Navkiran Singh, the NGO’s general secretary, and lawyer Gagan Aggarwal who visited Dubai and Sharjah on April 13-14 to meet the death row inmates, claimed that despite promises from various quarters proper legal aid was not extended to the prisoners resulting in their conviction. “Our two-hour meeting with the 17 Indians revealed the high-handedness and religious bias of the Sharjah police in the runup to the conviction,” Navkiran stated. “None of them was apprehended at the crime scene and after their arrest they were allegedly beaten up and given electric shocks,” he claimed. Talking about the CCTV footage that the police produced in the shariat court, Navkiran Singh said, “30 days after the crime was committed the youths were taken to the scene and the whole episode appeared to be orchestrated. Later the concocted evidence was shown in the court as CCTV footage,” he alleged. “They (Indians) were also made to sign on documents in Arabic as none of them could understand them. In fact, the trial proceedings also took place in Arabic,” Navkiran said. “None of the suspects was supplied a copy of the charge sheet. They were also forced to show disrespect to their religious symbol (‘khanda’). The victims were also not allowed access to their religious books,” he added. The Indians, in the age group of 17 to 30 years, have been sentenced to death by a Sharjah court for killing a Pakistani man and injuring three others in January 2009 following a fight over an illegal liquor business. The murder reportedly took place in the Al Sajaa area of Sharjah in the UAE. According to the police the victim died of stab wounds after suffering brain damage. Navkiran said the principal lawyer hired by the Indian consulate in Sharjah was an Arab while his assistant was from Kerala. Since all 17 Indians did not know any language except Punjabi the case was not properly represented in the court resulting in miscarriage of justice, he asserted. The case comes up for hearing at the UAE appellate court on May 19, “They were also forced to show disrespect to their religious symbol (‘khanda’).The victims were not allowed access to their religious books,” Navkiran added. Meanwhile, parents and relatives of the convicts still see a ray of hope for their release. “My son had gone to Sharjah about two-years back in search of greener pastures. We’re really unfortunate that we cannot do much for him. However, the NGO team’s visit has revived hopes of my son’s release,” Pyare Lal, father of 25-year-old Subhan, one of the 17 Indian convicts, told The Tribune. Jaswinder Singh, a Ludhiana resident whose brother Kulwinder Singh is among the Indians on death row, said, “Earlier we had lost all hope as we weren’t able to elicit any response from any quarters. However, now after the NGO’s intervention we are getting a phone call from Kulwinder every Sunday.” Urging the Indian prime minister to intervene in the matter, Jaswinder reiterated all Indians had been falsely implicated by “certain antisocial elements”.
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Tribune Impact
Mohali, April 20 According to a GMADA spokesperson, the authority’s land acquisition collector announced the compensation awarded under section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 to acquire 771.34 acres of land on April 16. The land has been acquired for mixed-use development along both sides of the road beginning from Sector 66-66A to Chatt village on NH 64 near the proposed international airport at Mohali. According to the schedule, landowners in Manauli, Matran and Chachu Majra villages, who submitted their claim forms yesterday, will get their compensation cheques on April 21. The claim forms from Chatt, Kisanpura and Narayangarh villages were received today by the land acquisition collector and the claimants would be handed over the cheques on April 27. For Bakarpur village, the claim forms would be received on April 27 and 28 and the cheques would be given on May 6 and 7. The schedule for paying compensation to the remaining landowners will be announced after May 7. The GMADA spokesperson said as the number of landowners concerned was over 3,200 it was necessary to organise the payment of compensation in an orderly manner.
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Infant dies of diarrhoea
Chandigarh, April 20 According to the child’s grandfather Kartar Ghai, a resident of Dhanas, the child had vomited in the morning yesterday and had a serious bout of diarrhoea, following which he was taken to a private doctor, who had given medicine and later referred him to the GMSH. Nobody in the hospital or the health department was willing to comment on the death of the child. Sources at the GMCH hospital had said that the child was brought to the hospital at a very “late” stage. A doctor said either the parents of the child delayed bringing the child to the hospital or the private practitioner, who had reportedly examined him, had failed to make the correct diagnosis.
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PU foreign aspirants rue lack of online entrance test facility
Chandigarh, April 20 Aspiring candidates are required to come here just to appear in the entrance test, not knowing whether they would clear it or not. Lack of online entrance facility is now proving to be a deterrent in enrolling quality students from other countries for whom the university has even reserved seats in various departments. “My friend, who wants to study engineering in the university, is facing difficulty in acquiring visa. Even if he comes here to appear in the entrance exam, there is no guarantee that he would get admission. It eventually wastes a lot of money and time,” said Bwanika, from Uganda. While students can apply online in certain courses that do not require competing in entrance exams, for the rest of the courses a trip to the university is a must. Even though official figures indicated an increase in the number of international students enrolled in the university and affiliated colleges from last year (135 in 2008-2009 to 191 in 2009-2010), a number of seats allocated for them in professional courses were lying vacant, said sources. Officials at the Dean International Students (DIS) office informed TNS that after the implementation of online application system two years back, the number of enquiries by foreign student shot up drastically. “Besides online admission, the other major problem is of food and accommodation for foreign students,” said Phramaha Subrachai, who is pursuing PhD (education and administration). “Most of our foreign research scholars are above 50 years of age and come with families. We are looking for post-graduate students interested in biosciences and physical sciences,” said DIS Keya Dharamveer.
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Strict attendance, admission rules
Actions recommended by
the committee
Chandigarh, April 20 These were some of the crucial decisions taken at a meeting of 21-member high-powered committee today. The committee was constituted to find a solution to campus violence. However, the true test will lie in its implementation. The committee also decided that in the event of any future incident of student violence on the campus, the authorities would treat the matter seriously and erring students would not be spared, said a committee member. The committee recommended a check on college students visiting the campus. College students pay frequent visits to Student Centre on the campus. Senate member GK Chathrath suggested that identity cards of students be checked. In a serious observation, a committee member said certain department chairpersons were known to be encouraging students to create trouble on the campus. Though the committee member did not name anyone, he stressed on the need of tightening noose around attendance of such student leaders and habitual offenders. The committee found that although only one major incident of violence had occurred in the last one year, such incidents brought a bad name to the university, said Sudhir Kumar, Director Public Relations. “Need of the hour is a proper coordination between various quarters of the university,” said Kumar.
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Low Attendance
Chandigarh, April 20 It is uncertain whether Nitin would appeal to the court to permit him to take exams, as he could not be contacted for comments. The first exam of final semester will begin on April 21.
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Chandigarh Tribune expose on pitiable condition of the N-Choe, a quintessential example of natural serenity, was carried out in a four part series by Sanjeev Singh Bariana and
Rajmeet Singh from April 6, 2010, onwards.
Chandigarh Administration
Municipal Corporation
Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA)
Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation