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Stray dog menace
PART II
The 2007 census revealed that even in the old sectors of the city the stray dog figure was more than 100. There were 113 stray dogs in Sector 7, 115 in Sector 15 and 220 in Sector 20. In the newer sectors the figure was even higher. The report revealed that Sector 44 had 215 dogs, Sector 47 had 160 and in Sector 45 it is 143.
Experts, including doctors, say that unlike humans, the dog population growth can be as much as 8 to 10 per cent annually. By that figure, the estimated population (as compared to 2007 when the census was done) should today be over 9,000 dogs currently roaming about in the city. That estimate, however, is vehemently contested by Dr BK Salwan, Medical Officer Health (MOH) in the MC. As the head of the medical services provided by the MC, Salwan claims that his department has worked diligently to prevent the dog population from increasing. Citing the Animal Birth Control Programme that the MOH department undertakes, Salwan states that out of the 5,713 stray dogs, they have sterilised 5,543 dogs in the past four years (September 2008 to March 2012). If that figure is to be believed, then 97 per cent of the dogs in Chandigarh have been sterilised. The ground reality, however, may be different. A week ago, Amit Malhotra, residing in Sector 44, went to the MC complaint centre and formally lodged a complaint that a stray bitch had delivered six pups on the staircase leading to his house and no one could enter or exit his house as the bitch snarled at anyone who approached them. After he filed the complaint, an MC team shifted the pups and the bitch to a park nearby and left. The Tribune on a visit to the MC complaint centre observed that complaints pertaining to litters or attacks on residents poured in on a regular basis. Malhotra's complaint was a case in point. In Part I, The Tribune had revealed that there were at least 10 cases of dog bites everyday in the city. The total number of dog bites last year alone was 3,785. The figure reveals that the stray dog menace is far from curbed as the MC claims. City residents also scoff at the MC claims of bringing down the dog population. Jamshed Ali, a shopkeeper in Sector 15, says: "Two years ago, there were three stray dogs roaming in front of my shop but today I can spot a group of seven dogs in the same area which exposes the claims of the authorities of effective sterilisation." A Panjab University student, Majinder Singh, says: "For the last three years, a bitch who stays behind our hostel number 5 has been delivering pups every six months. Such cases are common in other parts of the university also." Kesar Singh, a resident of Sector 51, is livid over MC claims that it has curtailed the population of stray dogs. "Let them visit my sector and see how much the stray dog population has increased in recent months. How can they claim they are undertaking sterilisation every month?" In Manimajra, Himani, a college student, remarks: "The population of dogs in our area has increased manifold. If the dogs do not change their territory and were sterilised regularly, how come their population has increased in the last three years?" Clearly the MC has a lot of answering to do. For a start, it should launch a fresh census to determine the actual number of stray dogs. The ground reality: what citizens say
— Jamshed Ali, a shopkeeper in Sector 15
— Himani, a resident of Manimajra
— Manjinder Singh, a PU student
— Kesar Singh, a resident of Sector 51
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Southern sectors bear power brunt
Chandigarh, May 10 Electricity department officials said the fault had occurred in the 220-KV grid sub-station in Mohali, which further supplied power to 66-KV station of Sector 52, Chandigarh. Due to the fault, the UT electricity department only received 50 per cent power from Mohali sub-station and there was no electricity in many southern sectors. MP Singh, superintending engineer (electricity), said that they had repaired the fault and now the power supply was normal. He said to provide power to residential areas they had stopped power supply to the Industrial Area Phase I and II. Mohammad Aamir, college student and resident of Sector 45-D, said as the examinations were on, it became difficult to study with no electricity. He said if the department wanted to impose cuts they should do so during morning hours instead of at night. Rekha, another resident of Sector 45, said that last night she made numerous calls to the electricity complaint centre, but the number was found to be
busy every time she dialed the number. Rajinder Pandey, IT manager and resident of Sector 44-C, said that employees at the complaint centres of the electricity department should attend to the calls of the harried consumers. An official of the electricity department added that one of the reason for the breakdown of power supply lines was that the consumers did not come forward to declare their actual loads. Last year, only 5,000 consumers approached the electricity department to declare their actual electricity load. He added that the total consumers, including domestic and commercial have increased from 1,30,000 in 1991 to over 2,20,000 currently. With the increase in number of consumers, the power load has also increased as consumers have now started using air conditioners instead of coolers in summers. However, there has been no corresponding increase in the number of transformers as the UT administration does not have details on power load from residents resulting in frequent tripping of power supply, he added.
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Man stabbed to death in broad daylight at Daria
Chandigarh, May 10 He was a resident of Colony Number 4. The incident took place at 4 pm when the victim was resting in his shop and two persons came in a car. They initially asked him for a mobile recharge coupon and then called him to a side outside the shop.The moment the shopkeeper went out, he was stabbed. Both accused fled in a car bearing Haryana registration number. The victim was rushed to the Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32 where he later succumbed to his injury. The body has been kept in the hospital mortuary and will be handed over to the family after a post-mortem examination. Family of the victim told the police that Pawan Kumar, who runs a hotel in
Dariya, had a scuffle with Javed some days ago and they claimed he was behind the crime. A case of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code
(IPC) has been registered at the Industrial Area police station against unidentified persons. The victim is survived by wife and two children.
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VIP vehicles still plying with tinted glass
Chandigarh, May 10 With the UT traffic police challaning over 1,000 persons in the city for black filming, the drive seems to be only for the general public as the officials and VIPs in the city are driving their official cars with black films. The traffic police, which has been making tall claims to challan all vehicles with tinted glass, has overlooked the cars of the VIPs. As per the Supreme Court's order dated 27, which came into effect on May 4, "a maker may manufacture vehicles with tinted glass which have visual light transmission (VLT) of safety glasses windscreen (front and rear) as 70 per cent VLT and side glasses as 40 per cent VLT, respectively. No black film or any other material can be pasted on the windscreens and side glasses of a vehicle". The order also states that the cases of the persons who have been provided with Z and Z+ security may be considered by a committee consisting of the Director-General of Police/Commissioner of Police of the state concerned and Home Secretary of that state/Centre. But the committee will grant exemption certificates "only in relation to official cars of VIPs/VVIPs". Moreover, citing a poor example, the traffic police, while removing black films are littering roads as they are openly throwing these on roads. In a city, where plastic is banned, films are being openly littered by policemen. While issuing challans, the officials throw the films on roads. On Sunday, residents of Sector 28 had to go through a harrowing time when shopkeepers of the area set the black films on fire.
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Hotel Mountview gets revenue of Rs 1.32 crore
Chandigarh, May 10 In the last
one and a half month, the hotel has posted revenue of Rs 1.32 crore from
5,154 room hired by the Indian School of Business (ISB). Since the
business school started its academic session this year but its
residential accommodation was being readied in its complex at Sector 81,
Mohali, a large number of rooms were rented out for the month of April
and May. Last year, the room occupancy of the hotel had dipped. The
business gains importance in light of the IPL season business going to
JW Marroitt hotel. In 2010 and 2011, the hotel used to get good business
during the cricketing season. CITCO officials said the in such a
season, the business from ISB was a promising development. With at
least two five star hotels and a number of other hotels coming up in
Chandigarh, the fear of losing out the hospitality business to private
players has been a cause of concern for the officials. “The
corporation should have a professional marketing team to attract
business and remain in the business. Going with the level of facilities
and large ground, the hotel should remain ahead in business”, said an
official. Recently, the corporation in its board meeting has decided to
hire a consultant to attract business. Sources said the corporation
earned major profit from banquet halls and restaurants. During last
year, the hotel had recorded a significant fall in profits.
Food
festival a regular feature
To attract more business, CITCO has decided
to hold regular food festivals. After organising a Thai and Chinese food
festival from tomorrow, the corporation has decided to hold festivals
with themes based on burger and coolers, south Indian, and greek food
festival.
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Lawyers resume work, MC employees continue stir
Mohali, May 10 Employees of the civic body staged a dharna that went on for two hours. They also raised slogans against the government for failing to provide protection while performing duties. Devinder Pal Sharma, convener of the 17-member committee formed to take up the case, said the police had failed to cancel the case registered against Kesar Singh and other employees of the council even though they had been given two days' time. He said essential services being provided by the civic body had so far not been disrupted as residents would face harassment. The employees were giving more time to the police to take necessary action, failing which the agitation would be intensified. He said there was no need to register an FIR when a council employee was beaten up while on government duty. Injustice had been done with employees. Amarjit Singh Longia, president of the Bar Association, said though the lawyers had resumed work today the demand for the cancellation of the case was still there. He said the district authorities had given an assurance that the needful would be done. And if no action was taken in this regard by Monday, future course of action would be chalked out. Employees of the civic body have been alleging that a member of the enforcement team, Kesar Singh, was beaten up by lawyers when he had gone to remove rehris parked illegally outside the court complex in Phase III-B1 on May 4 . The lawyers, however, had alleged that they were attacked by the council employees when the latter had objected to the corrupt practices being adopted at the time of removing rehris.
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Residents of Colony Number 4 sans water
Chandigarh, May 10 Her area has been completely deprived of the routine water supply for the last six days. This is not only the story of Sumiksha, but women folk of more than 900 families residing in the area are facing the same problem. The residents of the colony today staged a protest against the authorities also. Women were seen standing in long queues at nearby factories during day time to fetch water from there for their day-to-day needs. A resident of the area said that they had been forced to transport water on cycles, motorcycles, bullock carts and women got their pitchers filled from the water tankers. During a visit to the colony, the residents complained that a tubewell which was installed to cater to the needs of five blocks of the colony had become defective due to which the water supply had been hampered. Area councillor Satish Kainth said that he had been complaining about the grievances of the people to the public health officials but no action had been taken so far to resolve it. He said the MC Chief Engineer had assured him that by tomorrow the authorities would make the tubewell functional and provide water to the residents of the area. The residents were agitated and said that they were facing a lot of problems, as they had to stand in line before the tankers in the mornings and evenings, to fill buckets of water, to meet their daily needs.
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Chandigarh scan
Prof Pran Nath Mehra Memorial Trust awards for excellence in plant sciences were conferred on prof SP Vij, prof SP Khullar, prof TS Sareen, prof IS Dua and prof AS Ahluwalia at the department of botany, PU campus, here today by prof RC Sobti, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University. The awards were given away to them in recognition of their contributions and achievements in various fields of plant sciences. Talk
The First Friday Forum organised a talk on “an idea that can change your life” by Simar Onkar, applied psychology professional, at the Government College of Art in Sector 10 here today. The speaker insisted that though balance is not easy to achieve, it pays rich dividends if deeply reflected upon, both for analysing a problem and for seeking an apt solution for it from within itself.
Dickens 2012
The British Council is working with over 50 countries worldwide to coordinate an exciting range of educational and cultural events celebrating the bicentenary of the UK's most prolific and influential novelists: Charles Dickens. The celebration also marks the 12th anniversary of British Council Library in Chandigarh. To mark the occasion, the library is organising 'Dickens 2012' from 9-19 May 2012 at the library.
Additional charge
The Chandigarh Administration has given the additional charge of Chief Executive Officer, Chandigarh Housing board (CHB) to the Additional Director (Administration), Government Medical College and Hospital
(GMCH), Sector 32 , Jasvinder Kaur, in addition to her own duties during the earned leave (ex-India) of Rajesh
Jogpal.
Mohali scan
Fun in pool
Tiny tots of Golden Bells Public School, Sector-77, Mohali, had fun spending time in the ‘Fun Pool’ of the school. The students felt relaxed, beating the heat in the pool.
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Investors get reprieve
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 10 Those property owners, who had entered in to GPA before the Supreme Court order on banning of GPAs, would be allowed to get the property transferred in their name. The issue has been discussed at several meeting of the CHB officials. The property owners who had bought the CHB flats on GPA after the five years lock in period had been demanding transfer of properties. As per the allotment rules, the flats can be sold after a lock in period of five years from the date of physical possession of the property. In the past, the CHB has relaxed the five-year lock-in period but later withdrew the relaxation. Sources said while allowing the transfer of flats after the five-year lock in period, the CHB was contemplating to take action against the allottee, who had sold their properties before the lock in period on the basis of GPA. Since the GPA are not valid in light of the Supreme Court order and sale of the property before the lock in period was illegal, the authorities had drawn a list of around 300 such allottees against whom action would be taken.
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Residents of Sector 52 colony gherao SSP’s residence
Chandigarh, May 10 The incident took place around 1 am when over 30 residents went to the SSP's house to inform him about the cold attitude of the police post in charge towards them. The residents of the colony alleged that the Sector 61 police post in charge sub-inspector Jaspal Singh had failed to keep the situation under control and did not address their grievances. The SSP then ordered that the agitating residents be taken to the Sector 17 police station, where Jaspal Singh was summoned and he assured the residents that he would look into their grievances. This is the third incident this year when disgruntled residents have amassed and protested outside the SSP’s residence. On April 2, residents of Mani Majra gathered outside the SSP residence after a shopkeeper was assaulted by a group of youths. On March 14, two constables of the Chandigarh police, inebriated condition, fired gunshots outside the SSP residence. Both the erring policemen were later dismissed from service for indiscipline.
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Officials pay no heed to DC's orders
Several directions related to public convenience and maintenance of law and order in the town being issued by the DC time and again have fallen on deaf ears. During a meeting in the first week of April, Roojam had issued orders asking officials to make out-of-order traffic lights functional before the start of the Indian Premier League matches at the PCA Stadium. But the order remained on paper only. On April 19, in a review meeting, the Deputy Commissioner had instructed GMADA officials to repair the non-functional traffic lights before May 5, but no one paid heed to the order. In the same meeting, Roojam had directed the officials to make temporary lighting arrangement on the road separating Phases VII and Sector 70 (which is being widened and has been dug up about three feet on both sides) to avoid any mishap at night. May 5 was the deadline. The DC's orders failed to move GMADA officials. Similarly, Roojam had issued orders to remove rehris from roadsides, but the officials did nothing in this direction. “Such a behaviour on the part of the officials is really shocking. This means regular meetings and review meetings held by the officials of the district administration are a mere formality," commented a senior official of the district administration.
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Monkeys make residents’ lives miserable
Mohali, May 10 "We have to hire services of a langur on a monthly rent of Rs 10,000. To deal with monkeys, we send it to the sites, from where complaints are received," said Jagdish Shahi, Estate Officer, MC. He added that the population of monkeys in the town has also increased in the past couple of years. Mostly, the complaints regarding the menace had been pouring in from Phase IV, V, III-A, III-B1, III-B2, 7, Sector 70 and some newly developed sectors, added the official. As the area has a number of trees and green vegetation, one can spot these around Ranbaxy and semi-conductor factories. They even enter residential areas at times. "Earlier, the monkeys used to come once or twice in a month. But now a few of them have started living in our locality, which is really scary for all of us," said Manju Mishra, who resides in Ivory Tower flats in Sector 70. She added that the residents had approached the MC a number of times to get rid of the menace, but to no avail. Similarly, Jasmine of Phase IV said a group of monkeys visited their locality twice a day. "We cannot dry clothes in the open. They (the monkeys) are so fearless if you try to scare them they retaliate and attack. They also chase children playing in parks," added Jasmine. Recently, a monkey had bitten a 65-year-old woman residing in Phase III-B1 and 13-year-old boy, a resident of Phase III-A.
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Chandigarh, May 10 The book by Sandhu, a Punjab and Haryana High Court lawyer, contains information on the legal systems, the structure and functioning of the courts in Europe. The chapters dealing with European Civil Code and Laws for Indo-European business are of particular relevance to NRIs and Indian businessmen with interests in Europe. — TNS
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Low water pressure supply in town
Mohali, May 10 A press note issued by the department of water supply and sanitation said the morning supply would be at normal pressure while the evening supply would be at low pressure. There would be no supply at noon. The affected areas are Phases I to VII, IX to XI, Sectors 70 , 71, Shahi Majra, Matour villages and Industrial Area, Phases I to V.
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Water shutdown
Chandigarh, May 10
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Panchkula: The Income Tax officials today conducted a survey at a hardware shop-cum-office of a property dealer here. The IT sleuths reached the shop owned by New Ram Chandra in Sector 12-A, and Pragati Estates in Sector 20 in the afternoon and started checking documents. The survey was on till the filing of the report.
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Contractual teachers cry foul
Chandigarh, May 10 The college has made it compulsory for the contractual teachers to sit on the porch of the college building near the administrative block during the examination hours, from 8.30 am to 12:00 in the noon and from 1.30 pm to 5:00 pm. They have been doing this since April 2. One of the contractual teachers said that they have divided themselves into two groups, while one group sits during the morning hours, the other sits in the afternoon shift. “It’s compulsory for us to sit throughout the exam in the porch during summers, doing nothing,” a teacher said. Another teacher said that the college is unnecessarily harassing them by making them sit under the name of disciplinary duty without any work just because they are on contract. There are days when more then 15 teachers are sitting on duty together. When contacted, college principal Achila Dogra said that the contractual teachers are made to sit at the porch to check that outsiders do not enter the college, as examinations are going on. “There are four examination centres in the college and to make sure that examinations are not disturbed, the teachers are asked to perform the disciplinary duty,” Dogra said. Principal further said that the contractual teachers are paid salary during this period, even when there are no classes, so there is nothing wrong in assigning them duties. Teachers stated they were also assigned the duty of informing students about their examination centres.
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Now, law students claim questions out of syllabus
Chandigarh, May 10 Students complained that two 15-marks questions from Unit II and III turned to be out of syllabus. One of the 4th semester students said that the questions led to confusion among the students following which they consulted the teachers in the department and discovered that the questions were out of syllabus. This is the second time such an error has been detected during the ongoing law exams. On May 1, the second semester students complained that a 15 marks question was out of syllabus in the unit-IV of examination of Family Law. The two questions that appeared in the Unit III of the same examination were from Unit-II following which majority of the students couldn't attempt the unit. Nishtha Jaswal, chairperson, law department, said that she has been informed that some questions were out of syllabus. "The matter would be sent to the Board of Studies for further decision," Jaswal said. The list of errors made by the PU in examination papers is growing bigger as the exams are progressing. On April 19, the BSc-I students appearing for the botany examination in all colleges were surprised to find the answers to a 10-mark fill-in-the-blank question printed in the question book. On April 26 question paper of BA-III Hindi exam that was supposed to be of 90 marks turned out to be of 84 marks only.
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Education officials practising favouritism, alleges complaint
In 2009, the department, headed by DPI (S) Sunil Bhatia, sanctioned earned leave to Sucha Singh, a work experience instructor at GSSS, Sector 45, in lieu of duty performed by him during summer vacations for the period August 7, 2000, to October 29, 2004. The department claimed that he was on deputation at the DEO office during this
period. However, going by the complaint received by adviser to the UT Administrator KK Sharma and Education Secretary VK Singh, the department, in response to an RTI application, produced an attendance record which is clearly fabricated as it shows Sucha Singh present in office even on national holidays like the Independence Day, Gandhi Jayanti and even Diwali. Interestingly, while Such Singh was deputed to the GMSSS, Sector 22 A, from July 2002 to October 2002 as per official records, his attendance has still been marked at the DEO office. “There is rampant favouritism in the department and this is a classic case. While a normal teacher is harassed to get his due, the department faked Sucha Singh's presence in the DEO office to get him earned leave. The point is evident from the fact that he has been marked present on August 15 and all gazetted
holidays. The days of year have also been messed up, with a Monday being marked as Sunday. Also, he was even marked present in the DEO office while he was already deputed to a Sector 22 school. He is being given undue favours as he is close to a top
senior official,” read the complaint. When contacted, DEO Ram Kumar failed to elaborate, saying the matter pertained to period before his tenure. Repeated attempts to contact DPI also proved futile. Meanwhile, Sucha Singh claimed ignorance about any such complaint
or register.
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VC given representation
Chandigarh, May 10 Dr RPS Josh, a fellow, demanded that the CPF should be deducted in affiliated colleges as per the Panjab University calendar norms (that is 10 per cent of the total salary) from the date of enforcement of this scheme, since 1986. Josh in his memorandum demanded that a fact-finding committee should be constituted to check that the teachers of unaided colleges are paid as per the UGC norms, to ensure they are not exploited by the colleges which pay them low salaries. Josh demanded that the local conveyance allowance of teachers evaluating answer books in Ludhiana, Moga, Abohar, Khanna, Hoshiarpur, Dasuya, etc should also be brought on a par with teachers of Chandigarh. He also demanded that the transfer and approval cases of the teachers of Punjab and Haryana should be cleared immediately.
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MC claims that it has curbed the stray dog population to around 5,000
Chandigarh, May 10
The city is becoming a paradise for dogs. Despite claims about the dogs being territorial, I can’t understand how their number is increasing. Even if we chase them out, they are back within a few hours.
The rising dog population is a matter of concern in the city. It is unsafe for children to play in parks because of the lurking canines. In our locality, no walker ventures out in the park without a stick.
A bitch staying behind hostel no. 5 has been delivering pups every six months over the last three years. Where is the sterlisation programme? Dogs can be seen all over the campus. There have been several instances of dog
bites.
It seems senior officials of the MC don't travel by foot. There is no other reason they can't comprehend the severity of the problem. We feel scared to even step out of our homes after
dinner.
Mohali, May 10
Chandigarh, May 10