Chandigarh, April 22
Acknowledging slippages in basic policing and intelligence gathering following spurt in burglaries and daylight robberies at gunpoint, the UT SSP has issued a set of six instructions to the police force, asking it to tone up patrolling in the city.

In a meeting with all sub-divisional police officials, SHOs and in charge of police posts, the SSP instructed them to develop sources for gathering information, intensify patrolling, especially during morning and night hours, and maintain surveillance on activities of both old and recently released convicts from jails.

The SSP also directed police officials to hold public meetings with residents and market welfare associations and motivate them to take preventive steps to prevent property crime. Besides, the Police Control Room (PCR) staff has been advised to be more pro-active and supplement the local police.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, the SSP said their plan to improve the beat system was at the final stage. The police has selected three police stations - Sectors 17, 19 and 34 - located in each of its three sub-divisions - central, East and South - on a trial basis, in which police personnel will be deployed exclusively on beat duty and assigned the job of gathering information at the grassroots. They have been advised to be in touch with and motivate residents and market welfare associations to assist the police in preventing property crime.

Interestingly, the jurisdiction of these police stations does not include the areas in which recent incidents of robberies, burglaries and chain snatchings have occurred.

Admitting that there is a sudden spurt in the property crime, which directly reflect on poor policing, the SSP directed his force to take effective steps to not only prevent but also to detect property crime in the city.

The DSP (East) and the DSP (Crime) have been directed to analyse the CCTV footage provided by two shop owners from Sectors 7 and 24, respectively. They were told to take help from experts to get a better and clearer image of the culprits captured on the CCTV cameras.

The SSP said he was also in touch with the Panchkula and Mohali police with whom they were sharing information on a regular basis to track down robbers and burglars.

Four incidents of robberies at gunpoint within a short span of an hour on Monday followed by 10 incidents of burglaries on Tuesday have reflected poorly on the PCR and other patrolling police personnel in the city on duty in the areas where the crime was committed. The SSP said though no lapses of the PCR staff had come to light during inquiry, there was a definite need for them to improve themselves.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal met the SSP asking him to enhance night patrolling, educating shopkeepers to install safety gadgets, make PCR response quicker, improve the intelligence gathering system and make police officials of the area, wherever crime is commuted, accountable.

New low-floor green buses under the JNNURM scheme, with the ticker running on the windscreen.

An old grid bus with a tiny board, displaying the areas it passes through in a hardly readable font.

Chandigarh, April 22
A total of 417 buses, 41,500 kilometres of daily travel on local routes and another 11,500 kilometres of travel on suburban routes, yet there is neither any printed timetable, nor display boards in the city to inform passengers about buses and their routes.

Welcome to the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU), which daily transports about 85,000 passengers commuting in and around the city. It is a miracle that they manage to do so without providing route plans in the country’s first planned city, with the third highest literacy rate.

This is notwithstanding a number of official tours that many high-ranking UT administration officials have made to Western countries in the past on the pretext of improving tourism and public transport in the city.

At the Chandigarh railway station, where nearly 15 long-distance trains, in addition to shuttle trains, pass through daily, a solitary display board in a badly defaced condition is the only indication that CTU buses ply to and from the railway station. No one remembers for how long the display board has been in this defaced condition.

Similar is the situation at the ISBT, Sector 43, which caters to passengers arriving from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Though the CTU section at this bus stand has signboards displayed at platforms, the buses are rarely parked at the respective platforms. There is nothing that is available in the name of any printed information about these buses.

The situation is no different at the ISBT, Sector 17. The bus stand presents a shabby look, with the paint of the platforms displaying information about buses chipping off at places.

Information boards displayed above the windscreen of many buses is not legible from a distance. By the time a passenger is able to figure out what is written, the bus has left. The passenger is invariably faced with choosing between boarding the bus and then figuring out its destination or asking fellow passengers before boarding it. The chances of missing the bus are high in case of the second option.

It defies logic that at a time when the CTU is pumping in crores in modernising its working, it suffers a lack of imagination on printing a timetable and a route plan for buses.

“We did have time tables and route plans, but since there is nothing fixed, it did not work well. Sometimes school timings are changed. Sometimes new buses are added on the same routes, which means having to incorporate changes,” says a CTU official.

Maybe when new buses are final and the system is in sync with the existing arrangement can there be printed information, he adds. But will ‘stability’, which has not come in more than four decades of the CTU’s existence, come at all?

Chandigarh, April 22
It is rather disappointing as a commuter that despite having added a substantial number of buses to its fleet and incorporating high-end technology such as GPS (global positioning system), grid system, electronic boards on some bus queue shelters and computerisation, what the CTU still falls weak on is basic information about its buses.

To probe it further, this correspondent travelled on half a dozen routes and all types of buses that the CTU had added to its fleet across the city. While travelling on CTU buses is otherwise comfortable, obtaining information about bus routes is the biggest challenge.

Travel on recently introduced green low-floor bus funded under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)

On reaching Sector 17, I was hoping to find the timetable painted on the wall of the bus queue shelter at Sector 22, opposite the ISBT at Sector 17. But on glancing at the timetable, I had to ask other passengers waiting at the bus stop here for information. This was because the timetable mentioned some 15 route numbers, sans any information on their actual route. I asked a woman waiting at the bus stop. She was headed for Sector 38-West. “I know which bus goes to my area and that is all I know. I too asked someone the first day I had to travel. This is all I know about bus routes,” said the passenger, who identified herself as Kamla.

While this conversation was still on, a bus travelling on route number 1-C halted near me. Without bothering, I just boarded it. On board the bus, I got to know that this bus originated at the PGI and returned to the hospital via Sectors 15 and 16. The journey took 20 minutes.

Chandigarh/Mohali, April 22
Power cuts, both scheduled and unscheduled, continued to make residents’ life miserable in Chandigarh and Mohali today.

While in Chandigarh, the power cuts during the day have left residents high and dry, outages during night hours in the satellite town of Mohali has forced residents to spend sleepless nights.

The use of coolers, air-conditioners and fans following the prevailing heat wave conditions have forced the UT administration to impose rotational power cuts in Industrial Area. Under the new arrangement, power supply to a row of industrial units would be switched off to conserve electricity and meet the rising demand, an official said.

As against an assured supply of 184 MW, the administration was able to manage a supply of 265 MW last year, while the demand has reportedly crossed over 300 MW. Since Chandigarh has the highest per capita consumption of 1,168 units per day, it is not surprising that various areas of the city face power cuts. Power tripping is more common in the high-density areas from Sector 31 onwards where a large number of air-conditioners have been installed without the corresponding increase in the sanctioned load, an official said.

However, Mohali is bearing the brunt of the frequent power cuts. Frequent tripping in certain areas adds to the problem. The water supply also gets adversely affected due to the long power cuts.

Students appearing in various examinations are a harried lot following prolonged power cuts. Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Phase IV, Mohali, said the Punjab government had last year claimed that the situation would improve in the years ahead. But there is hardly been any improvement. One could bear the scheduled power cuts to some extent as work could be planned accordingly. But the unscheduled power cuts imposed during the day and even at night has made the life miserable.

Anita Rani, a resident of Phase X, Mohali, said residents of Phases IX to XI are also facing water shortage as water could not be pumped from the underground storage tanks due to power cuts.

Chandigarh, April 22
Panjab University is just midway through the examination schedule and it has already registered around 80 unfair means cases (UMCs), which works out to be almost half of last year.

Claiming it to be an alarming number, Controller Of Examination AK Bhandari asserts, “Since the last three years, we have, on an average, registered 150 cases annually. For most of the courses, not even half of the total number of examinations have been held till now. We already have so many cases. We take so many measures to curtail it and try counselling students about the harms, but they do not listen.”

Official sources say five or six cases are being registered every day, with the most frequent reason being procurement of examination-related text (chits) from the student. “If we go by the figures, it is still the good old chits or ‘farras’ that seem to be the most-preferred source of cheating. Many students hide those in their pockets and a girl or two has also been caught with answers written on her arm and hiding it under her sleeve,” reveals a university official.

Going by the data, mobile phones seem to have scored second in the order of preference, where despite of clear instructions, students have been found guilty of carrying those to the examination centre.

“It is clearly mentioned in our instructions that no mobile phone can be carried inside the examination centre, but students do it. Before the examination starts, all invigilators ask students to submit their mobile phones to them and collect those after the conclusion of the examination. Even after this, if a student continues to keep a mobile phone in his pocket, his intentions do become doubtful,” adds Bhandari.

Last but not the least, students trust their peers as many have been caught either exchanging answer sheets or question papers.

Some go a step ahead in being helpful as a student has been caught allegedly writing answers on one of her friend’s answer sheets.

Chandigarh, April 22
Panic gripped Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26, this morning when a bomb shell was found on a garbage heap on the roadside.

The police said it received information about the bomb shell from a ragpicker around 8 am.

The bomb disposal squad of the Chandigarh police reached the spot and cordoned off the area. A team from the Operation Cell and crime branch of the Chandigarh police was also called there.

The police took the bomb shell to the Bapu Dham police post.

The police dug up a pit in an open area near the police post and kept the bomb shell in it with some sand bags around the pit.

The police informed the Army officials about the recovery of the bomb shell, who were yet to come to dispose of the shell.

In-charge of the Bapu Dham police post Jasminder Singh said they were yet to verify whether the bomb shell was a live or a dead one. “We will try to find out from where it has come,” he added.

Chandigarh, April 22
In view of the heavy rush to Shimla as summer vacations are just a fortnight away, the Railways have started a special train with an attempt to provide respite to tourists stuck in the long waiting list.

Besides tourists from the city and across the country, foreign tourists head to the hills of Himachal Pradesh to escape the intense heat of the plains. There are five toy trains operating on this 96-km narrow-gauge heritage track already. This special train is now the sixth on this route.

The special AC chair-car train, which can accommodate 104 passengers, leaves the Kalka railway station at 6:30 am and reaches Shimla around 10:30 am. “More special trains will be run between Kalka and Shimla as the arrival of tourists picks up,” a railway official said.

“In the past, we have had a long waiting list of passengers wanting to travel by the Kalka-Shimla train this time of the year. To ease the passenger flow and give them an option other than travelling by road, the train has been started. The waiting list will be compiled on a day-to-day basis,” said YP Singh, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Ambala Division.

This special train, a replica of the Kalka-Shimla toy train, would be a daily affair, the DRM said. “With new locomotives received for the Kalka-Shimla Railway, we have extra rolling stock and locomotive for this special train,” he added.

Residents of Chandigarh appreciated the move. “We had to either get tickets booked a month in advance for the Kalka-Shimla train or go by road. Shimla is the most sought-after destination for tourists, especially during the summer vacations. With this extra train, a lot of passengers will be relieved,” said Meenakshi Malhotra of Sector 43.

Chandigarh, April 22
The much-awaited mini escort project of the UT administration was inaugurated today with Home Secretary Ram Niwas flagging off special buses for the government schools at GMSSS, Sector 16, today.

The project, which aims to provide subsidised transport to the government schoolchildren, will in first phase be implemented in the schools of Sectors 16, 18, 19, 28 and 35 wherein over 500 students will avail the facility of over nine buses at the rate of Rs 400 per child.

The transporter concerned will be responsible for the collection of bus fee and ensure that the buses have provisions of speed governor, first aid kits, fire extinguishers and fulfill all conditions of the Motor Vehicle Act.

“These buses have been started to bring the government school students at par to the private ones. It is a first of its kinds project in the country where the government school students have been given such a facility. It will also help us to curb the malpractices prevalent amongst the private school bus operators,” claimed Ram Niwas.

Chandigarh, April 22
The Chandigarh administration on Thursday decided to increase the refundable security money for booking of open spaces in Phase III of the Rock Garden from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000. A decision to this effect was taken at the governing body meeting under the chairmanship of Home Secretary Ram Niwas.

Now the booking shall be strictly done for 24 hours i.e. 10 am to 10 am. CCTV cameras will also be installed on the premises of the Rock Garden. The incomplete work at Phase III of the Rock Garden will also be restarted. A new concept “village life” depicting the rural life in India will be introduced in Phase III.

Chandigarh, April 22
To keep a check on bogus voting, the District Bar Association has told its members, who are going to use their franchise at the election, to provide self-attested affidavit to cast their vote.

The elections are scheduled for tomorrow.

Returning official Harsh Tandon said the Punjab and Haryana High Court council had instructed them that the voters needed to provide the self-attested affidavit before casting their votes.

“According to the Bar constitution and Registration Rule 2009 passed by the Punjab and High Court Bar Association, all voters will have to provide the affidavit on the day of election mentioning that they would not cast vote in any other association,” he maintained.

“The performa will be available with me on the day of election,” Tandon added.

“Though there was no bogus voting reported earlier, still we are taking precautions so that no dispute arise. We don’t want to take any chance,” he maintained. “We would also be putting up CCTV cameras to keep a tab,” Tandon said.

The work will remain suspended tomorrow.

Chandigarh, April 22
There has been little change in demands and manifestos of lawyers contesting the District Bar Association elections. While the construction of a new district courts complex figures prominently, relatively smaller things are more of concern to lawyers.

Advocate Raminder Pal Singh says, “The contestants are fighting only for their so-called self-respect and are least bothered about the welfare of the court and lawyers. There is no provision for water coolers at the complex. There is only one water cooler, which is not working properly. The water is too contaminated to drink as the water-purifying system is dysfunctional. The canteens are no good, providing substandard food. The Bar should provide us with a floor at the Sector 43 judicial complex temporarily till chambers are constructed.”

Many other lawyers have similar complaints. “The toilets are filthy and nobody takes care of those. Most of the time, the doors are locked. If someone is lucky to find the doors open, one cannot enter due to intolerable stink. Some of the toilets built recently lack proper facilities. There are no lights and sewerage is a problem,” says a woman advocate.

Says Rupesh Kumar, another lawyer, “Hundreds of lawyers enter the profession every year. The Bar should see how they can be accommodated in an appropriate manner. Many lawyers cannot pay chamber fees and there should be some provision for them.” Advocate Rajan Lohan says, “The Bar president should own responsibility in a positive and constructive manner for the welfare of members, especially new entrants.”

Advocate Devinder Singh says, “The Bar should have guidelines for all members. It should introduce a group insurance policy so that it can support the family of victims like Vijay Pal Singh, who died in an accident earlier this year.” Another lawyer says on the condition of anonymity, “All members who are contesting the elections are wooing us with parties and other facilities so that we vote for them. These gimmicks cannot work here as most candidates only promise and do nothing.”

Mohali, April 22
It was the misbehaviour with the wife of his roommate at Sunny Enclave, Kharar, that led to the brutal murder of the 39 year-old Kharar-based contractor Sikander Singh.

The contractor’s roommate Krishan Chander Batham lured two common friends Monty and Sonu to eliminate Sikander. On April 18 night the two youths, who had criminal background, called the contractor to Sector 66 behind the Sohana Police Station on the pretext of allegedly arranging a prostitute for him. The victim was allegedly a womaniser. “The moment the contractor reached the spot they attacked him with daggers and poured petrol on his body to conceal his identity. The dagger and petrol were arranged in advance by the suspects”, said Mohali SSP GPS Bhullar while addressing a press conference here today.

Krishan had promised to pay Rs 30,000 to Monty and Sonu to eliminate the contractor. The Mahindra Scorpio jeep, owned by the contractor, was also promised as booty.

While Krishan and Monty have been remanded to police custody, the third suspect Sonu is absconding with victim’s vehicle.

The SSP said the victim, along with Monty and Sonu, was last seen on April 18. After conducting raids at Amritsar and other places in Mohali, the police was able to arrest Krishan, along with his Santro car (PB 02 AT 5007).

Krishan, however, said after he was arrested in the case of immoral trafficking at Panchkula on February 5, his wife approached Sikander for help and that’s when he misbehaved. “Sikander also used to blackmail Krishna. Irked with his blackmailing, Krishan decided to eliminate him,” said the SSP.

Mohali, April 22
Different schools in Mohali celebrated the Earth Day today. An array of green activities marked the celebrations. At Shemrock Senior Secondary School, Mohali, the students took out a rally holding placards spreading awareness about environment.

The students of Anee’s School celebrated the Earth Day by promoting the message of conserving environment for a secure and green future. The school authorities held a rally to help the students propagate their ideas of saving earth from further degeneration. At Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), Mohali, more than 300 students of different vocational courses and staff members participated in the programme.

Dildar Khan, director of JSS, said the purpose of the programme was to sensitise and create awareness among youth and common people about various issues like conservation of soil and water. The environment committee of Saupin’s School, Sector 70, Mohali, celebrated the Earth Day. President of the Environment Society, Mohali, RS Chowdhary highlighted various topics such as global warming, dwindling forest cover, piling of non-biodegradable wastes and melting of glaciers.