New Delhi, August 23
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today admitted in the Assembly that people in the national Capital felt insecure due to rising cases of crime.

During a discussion on the law and order in Delhi, she said something is lacking in policing.

"The police does not attend to the victims properly at times, thereby abetting the criminals. The commissioner of police and the Union ministry of home affairs should take care of malaise," she said.

Cases of robbery and snatching have seen an unprecedented rise this year and by June, their figures had crossed the annual figures of last five years.

Though Dikshit did not accept the opposition members' claim that Delhi had become a crime capital, saying it was a sensational term coined by the media.

Police commissioner Y. S. Dadwal was also present in the Assembly when the members were discussing the law and order issue.

She said that the population of Delhi has gone up to 1.80 crore. Every year, its population increases by five lakh that is one of the reasons for increasing the crime graph of Delhi, she said.

To reduce the population pressure in Delhi, the neighbouring state governments had developed Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurgaon. Lakhs of people have settled in these cities, but 12 lakh vehicles of these settlers come to Delhi, resulting in congestion and chaos in the Capital, the Chief Minister added.

According to a survey conducted by the CII, "Delhi is a most stable city to live in," she said.

Recently, Delhi and the Union ministry of home affairs conducted a workshop in which the crime situation in the Capital was discussed.

The police has prepared to deal with the law and order situation by increasing the manpower. It has opened new police stations wherever required. CRPF personnel are also deployed whenever needed. At present, Delhi police has 60,000-strong personnel, she pointed out.

Attacking the lower system of policing, she said she would ask the home minister that MPs should be made chairmen of the law and order committees at the district-level and MLAs should be chairmen of other committees as SHOs do not care for the elected representatives.

The Chief Minister said when a serious crime takes place, the victim generally goes to the area MLA instead of reporting the incident to the police.

The discussion was started by the BJP MLA, Jagdish Mukhi who said that heinous crime cases are rising in comparison to last year. Citizens, particularly women, do no feel secure in the city as rape cases have been reported in many areas. Senior citizens have been killed during the day in their houses.

The Congress MLAs who participated in the debate were Mukesh Sharma, Tarwinder Singh Marwah and Anil Chaudhary.

New Delhi, August 23
Over 1,000 persons were evacuated from the areas adjacent to the Yamuna whose water level rose further today amid apprehensions that it could still go up, presenting the Delhi government with a full-blown flood crisis.

The water level in the Yamuna remained above the danger mark for the third consecutive day and it reached 205.26 meters this evening, 43 cm above the danger mark, and its width expanded as well taking over large tracts of land displacing many poor families.

Deputy commissioner (East) Ghonkrokta, in charge of flood relief measures, said the water level would go up further as Haryana is releasing 87,000 cusecs of water per hour.

Officials said areas in Wazirabad, Batala House, Usmanpur, Bhajanpur and Shastri Park are worst affected. As Haryana, which is also reeling from the floods, continues to release more water from the Hathnikund barrage, the government is just hoping for the best.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the government has taken all the measures to deal with the crisis and there is no need to panic.

Flood and irrigation minister Rajkumar Chauhan said the water level stood at 205.23 meters at noon. It could rise further as more water released by Haryana would be reaching Delhi soon. Delhi could breathe easy only if it does not rain.

As many as 67 boats with rescue teams are patrolling the Yamuna to rescue people.

The government had claimed on Saturday that the Yamuna water level would recede in a day, but it did not happen as rains continued to lash the city and north India. It had crossed the danger mark of 204.8 m on Friday.

The government has put up relief camps for the flood-hit in Usmanpur, Garhimandu, Badarpur Khadar, ISBT bridge, Shakarpur, Akshardham temple, Old Yamuna Bridge, Geeta Colony and Okhla.

New Delhi, August 23
This August has been the wettest in Delhi in the past 10 years, with 423.1 mm of rainfall being recorded in the month so far, Met officials said on Monday.

"The Capital has been receiving incessant rainfall for the past few days. Delhi in the month of August so far has received 423.1 mm of rainfall, the highest in the past 10 years," said an official at the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

"It is 116 per cent more than the average rainfall in this month," the official added.

From 2005 onwards, the national Capital has been getting an increase in rainfall in the month of August, with two years that saw a lull, in 2006 and 2009.

In 2005, the total rainfall in August was 132 mm, 2006 saw a steep decline with just 98 mm, in 2007 it was 214.3 mm, which increased to 310.7 mm in 2008, a slight drop was seen in 2009 with 216.8 mm.

The all-time high record was set in 1961 when the Capital received 583.3 mm of rainfall.

According to the weather office, the rainfall this year may cross the highest-ever record if it continues to rain for the next few days.

Delhi has recorded 666.6 mm of rainfall this monsoon till Monday morning, which is 40 per cent above the average for the season. — IANS

New Delhi, August 23
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today reached out to the opposition BJP for making the Commonwealth Games a success and asked it not to make things worse by levelling allegations and spreading canards about the Games. This will make the mega event collapse.

"I am requesting you with folded hands not to do this," Dikshit said in the Assembly when Leader of Opposition Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the situation has become worse in rains and wondered if the August 31 deadline could be met.

"There are traffic jams for hours. People reach their houses three to four hours late. There is waterlogging everywhere. Many people have died from electrocution. Earlier, the government had given the May 31 deadline for completion of Games projects, then August 31. However, it seems the government will not meet the deadline," he said

Malhotra also accused the government of not taking the dengue menace seriously. "The national Capital will face embarrassment during the sporting event," he warned.

At this point of time, a few Congress MLAs stood up to support the Chief Minister, saying that the MCD has dug all the roads in Karol Bagh and Paharganj. Water is flooding the place all over which may be the cause of dengue.

The Chief Minister said the government has geared up its machinery to treat the people suffering from dengue. Platelets are enough for the patients. The city's population is around 1.80 crore, but only 400-500 dengue cases have been reported. Of them 25-30 per cent cases are from out of Delhi, she pointed out.

New Delhi, August 23
The upsurge in dengue cases in Delhi continued today with 34 more people coming under its infectious clout, taking the cumulative count of the city to 453.

In view of the unprecedented spurt in the cases of the disease, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has stepped up its fogging exercise by doubling the fogging machines, said Dr N.K. Yadav, chief medical officer, MCD.

According to reports, many localities in Okhla, Jamia Nagar, and Yusuf Saria and Lady Hardinge Medical College has reported higher number of case than what the official data of the MCD reflects.

The spurt in the vector-borne disease in these areas has been clearly due to the poor state of civic amenities—open drains, waterlogging in and around houses along with less than frequent fumigation rounds until last week when the MCD authorities and the Mayor was roughed up by the enraged residents of Jamia Nagar.

Last week, the civic body placed orders for 277 new hand-operated fogging machines in addition to the existing 1,000 machines. We also have 10 vehicle-mounted thermal machines and order for few more has already been placed, said MCD commissioner K.S. Mehra.

Further, both the city health department and MCD officials said that advisories were being issued through radio and newspapers.

“Around 500 more officials have been deployed on the task of checking mosquito breeding and efforts are being made for spreading awareness about the disease by issuing advisories with instructions to look out for any source of mosquito-breeding like coolers and accumulation of water on rooftops etc,” said Dr Yadav.

New Delhi, August 23
The Central Information Commission has slammed the Delhi government and asked it to pay a patient Rs 50,000 for delay in providing him information on free treatment in private hospitals.

Information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said in cases where information sought by a right to information (RTI) applicant pertains to "life or liberty" of the individual, the public information officer (PIO) should ensure it is provided within 48 hours. "The case is reflective of the incompetence and callousness of the public authority," Gandhi said.

"This case represents how the delivery systems to the poor fail. Unless all officers and systems can respond in a time-bound manner, governance cannot deliver to those who need it most," said Gandhi.

Pooran Chand, a resident of east Delhi, filed an RTI application on August 31, 2009, seeking information from the directorate of health services on whether he could be treated free of cost at the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC) here.

The reply was received by Chand after a delay of 12 days.

Chand, who was suffering from compression of spine and needed urgent treatment, moved the application after doctors at the ISIC informed him that his treatment would cost Rs 1.75 lakh.

The PIO of the directorate received the application on September 2, 2009, but failed to provide him the information within 48 hours. Due to the delay, Chand was forced to undergo treatment at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital where he incurred a heavy expenditure. He also took a loan of Rs 84,000.

"If the PIO and all the officers had acted with urgency when the RTI application was received on September 2 and provided the information within 48 hours, the complainant may have been able to avail the free service that he was entitled to," the commission said.

Gandhi slammed the PIO and said if the PIO had acted pro-actively the information could have been provided over telephone to the complainant who had given his contact number on the RTI application.

"It is unfortunate that most schemes which promise to deliver to the poor fail because of lack of sensitivity in implementation," said the commission.

"The government has allotted land to certain private hospitals at nominal rates on the condition that they will provide 10 per cent of the beds to poor patients. This scheme is clearly intended for the economically weaker section of the society," it observed. It criticised the government and the hospitals for not implementing the scheme meant for poor patients.

"The allotment of land at a nominal price is actually a loss to the exchequer and a gift to the private hospitals, on the tenet that the land given to the hospitals for private profit will benefit the weaker sections of the society. However,most persons for whom such scheme is intended do not enjoy its benefits due to lack of proper implementation," said the commission. — IANS

New Delhi, August 23
The Delhi MLAs may soon get a hike of up to 200 per cent in their monthly salary with the Delhi government making a recommendation to the Centre in this regard.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the hike had been proposed by the government and after discussing it with the Opposition BJP, the proposal would be sent to the Centre for approval.

As per recommendation, an MLA who gets nearly Rs 32,000 per month, including all incentives, will get around Rs 70,000.

The ministers, who now get around Rs 36,000 per month, are likely to get around Rs 80,000.

At present, the MLAs also get a monthly amount of Rs 10,000 for employing computer operators.

The Chief Minister made this announcement after the Centre had hiked the MP's salary to Rs 50,000 per month from Rs 16,000.

New Delhi, August 23
Traffic-clogged roads, heaps of debris, rain-soaked slush, lack of parking space...Even as Connaught Place, the famous shopping landmark and city centre of Delhi, has been reduced to a travesty of its former self, the authorities hope to clear the mess by the end of this month.

The circular area with its grand British-era colonnaded white-painted corridors housing big branded stores, some dating back a century, fine dining restaurants and offices, is caught in a quagmire of never-ending construction work. Part of the renovation was planned ahead of the Commonwealth Games to be held from October 3-14, but delays have only added to the mess.

"We are trying to clear everything before August 31 and apologise to the traders," Anand Tiwari, a New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) public relations officer, told IANS.

He admitted that people had been put to inconvenience but said this was true of every development project.

City dwellers once loved to go to CP - as it is popularly called - to shop, work or just have a great time. But with most areas dug up, even those walking around find it difficult to move.

"CP has become hell. It is so difficult to find parking space. The worst is when it rains the whole area becomes messy as it is dug up," said Anupama Srinivasan, who works with a finance company that has its office there.

Another section that has been voicing its woes is the traders. The shopkeepers are struggling due to falling footfalls.

"We can't even think of profit as cost recovery itself is not possible. For Connaught Place shop owners, the monsoon season sale time used to be second only to the business done during Diwali," says Atul Bhargava, president of the New Delhi Traders' Association.

But, since the underground cable network has been disturbed by construction work, electronic payments at shops have been suspended.

According to a shop owner, card payments are not possible and most avoid paying in cash, leading to a dip in sales. Traders claim sales have dipped by 90 percent in the Middle Circle and by 50 percent in the Outer circle.

"We have seen a decline in sales because most of our customers relied on card payment," says a mobile phone store manager in the Outer Circle area. When the work in Connaught Place began in 2009 there was hope and excitement about its lost glory being restored. But that was not to be.

NDMC started the redevelopment work of the commercial hub, including construction of eight new subways in the Outer Circle of Connaught Place, a service corridor in the Middle Circle, facade restoration and other improvements.

A total of Rs.450 crore ($100 million) has been sanctioned for the renovation of Connaught Place but till now the authorities have only been able to use Rs.150 crore.

The renovation work has brought roads in the Middle and Outer Circle of Connaught Place under strain, with construction material strewn near dug up areas.

All this has affected vehicular movement. Routes of several public transport buses, which used to pass through the area, have been diverted. Due to construction, only half the width of the Outer Circle is available for vehicular movement.

Delhi Traffic Police claim to have done their bit to minimise tailbacks.

"We have deployed extra manpower. Even the construction teams are working in coordination (with us). This is to allow smooth movement of vehicles during peak hours," says Rajan Bhagat, the Delhi Police spokesperson.

Power supply in the commercial hub is also unpredictable and most shopkeepers depend on external power supply. "Now we have become used to power voltage fluctuations happening almost thrice a day," says an employee of the famous Nizam restaurant.

With just 46 days left for the Games, all one hopes is to see Connaught Place in the shape and architectural splendour which has won it appreciation across the globe. — IANS

New Delhi, August 23
The Delhi Metro has now carried more than 1.25 billion commuters, since its operations started in 2002, which is even more than the total population of India, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said in a statement today.

Citing the "Census of India and Preparation of the National Population Register" report, it said India's projected population in 2011 would be about 1.20 billion, while the Delhi Metro had already carried over 1.25 billion commuters, 1,27,80,58,892 to be exact, till August 22 since 2002, which is a unique achievement for any urbantransport system.

Currently, over a hundred Metro trains are making more than 2,000 trips a day on a 125- kilometre-long Metro network, carrying over 1.15 million people every day.

Greater Noida, August 23
The father of a gangrape accused was allegedly assaulted today in Dadri by one of the accused after he refused to withdraw the case lodged last month. The brother of the victim was also assaulted by the sister of the accused.

"The family of the accused was putting pressure on us to withdraw the case. They tried to influence us through local political leaders too," said the father of the victim.

"Today, one of the accused, Lala Ram, attacked me with a blade. I suffered injuries . I have lodged a case against Ram at the Dadri police station," he said.

"While the accused assaulted my father, his sister beat me up with stick. She said she would keep on beating me till we withdrew the case against her brother," said the brother of the victim.

The alleged gangrape took place on July 14 this year. Three youths allegedly kidnapped and gangraped a 17-year-old class XII girl while she was returning from coaching class in the evening.

A case of gangrape was registered against the three youths -- Lala Ram, Nirdosh and one other-- at the Dadri police station after the intervention of senior police officers.

"A manhunt has been launched to arrest the accused. Security has been provided to the family of the victim," said Rahul Kumar, DSP.

New Delhi, August 23
The Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport police has arrested a Nepali woman travel agent for allegedly sending Nepali girls to Gulf countries on forged Nepali passport. According to O.P. Mishra, DCP (IGI Airport), the accused has been identified as Kavita (27).

The investigation in the matter was taken up after the immigration department at the airport complained of two girls suspected to be in possession of forged Nepali passports with substituted photographs.

As per the police, initial investigations revealed that the journey was facilitated by Kavita who operates from some hideout in the Outer Delhi area. Kavita was apprehended yesterday and several incriminating documents, including forged nationality-cum-character certificates and stamps of Nepal's home ministry, were seized from her possession.

"Kavita's interrogation revealed that she had once gone to Kuwait where she came in contact with a placement agency. She entered into an agreement with the agency for supplying young Nepali girls. On her return from Kuwait, she started luring innocent Nepali girls promising them job in Kuwait," said Mishra, adding that her modus operandi was to substitute the photograph of the original passport holder with that of her customer.

Kavita has been running the racket along with two of her accomplices (who are on the run) in Delhi as well Nepal.

"Kavita had charged Rs 50,000 each from both the girls, who are in the age group of 20-27 years and are semi-literate belonging to lower middle class families. She used to charge commission from the placement agency in Kuwait as well," said Mishra.

According to information, Kavita has been staying on rented premises in Outer Delhi. She used to change her hideouts quite frequently to avoid police detection.

New Delhi, August 23
In two incidents of robbery last night, eight masked armed men robbed a jewellery shop in Mayapuri in south Delhi and decamped with jewellery worth Rs 20 lakh while in the second incident the robbers barged into a house in Yamuna Vihar and fled with cash and jewellery worth Rs 7 lakh.

In the both the incidents, the police is yet to make any arrest.

In the first incident, eight armed men barged into Jagdamba Jewellers, located at Nangal Raya Market around 8.30 pm and held the people working there at gunpoint.

While four men went inside the shop, four remained outside. According to Mohit, employee at the jeweller, one of the robbers held him at gunpoint and asked for the jewellery to be kept on the counter,”said Mohit, adding that they were wearing masks.

According to an FIR, jewellery worth Rs 20 lakh was robbed who after firing in the air fled in a car and bikes.

Senior police official and the area MP Mahabal Mishra visited the spot . The traders hooted the Delhi police officials who reached the spot.

In the second incident, eight armed men entered the house of one DP Aggarwal and fled with Rs 2 lakh and jewellery worth Rs 5 lakh. The robbery happened at 9.45 pm, 1.30 hours of the first robbery with the same modus operandi.

According to victim Vaibhav Deep, four robbers who were carrying pistols . "They held my father and brother hostage and locked them in one room. Then one of them took me around the house," he said.