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Slums face water shortage
Chandigarh, June 10 There have been reports of quarrels between slum-dwellers over fetching water from public taps. Inhabitants of Colony No. 4 and Colony No. 5 were seen ferrying water in cans and buckets from nearby areas today. "As the pressure of water in public taps is low and water tankers reaching the colonies are unable to meet requirements, we have no alternative but to look for alternative sources of water in the Industrial Area or at the 'sampark' centre nearby," said Inderjeet of Colony No. 5. At Colony No. 5, Savitri and her three children were seen standing in a long queue, waiting for their turn to fill buckets. "It takes between two and three hours to get fill one bucket of water. Ferrying water from outside for household chores has become a headache," she said. On the other hand, officials with the municipal corporation claimed that the supply had improved in urban areas and there was no shortage of water. Water was being supplied in the morning and evening as per the time schedule, they added. Contradicting the official claim, Kajal of Colony No. 4 said she had to fetch water from a unit at the Industrial Area as there was hardly any supply of water in public taps in the area where she resided and residents were mostly dependent on water tankers.
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Double delight for local boy
Chandigarh, June 10 Braving all challenges, Sunil Kumar will finally manage to achieve his dream of pursuing engineering from one of the best colleges. “I am keeping my options open. My preference will be software engineering,” he said, accepting congratulations from his neighbours at his Sector-38 residence. The entire street where Sunil lives was in a jubilant mood after the AIEEE results. Sunil’s father, who earns a living by ironing clothes, left no stone unturned to support his son pursue his studies. Even luck clicked for Sunil, who was provided free coaching for IIT and AIEEE by ther GIITJEE, a local tuition centre. Delighted after the success Sunil said although he scored an all-India rank of 2072 and 32 state ranks in the AIEEE, his first preference would be the IIT. “I am waiting for IIT counselling and will try for software engineering from IIT-Delhi,” Sunil said. Sunil has already secured a place in the city’s engineering colleges, including the Punjab Engineering College. His success mantra is hard work, determination and consistency. Sunil did class XII from the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16. Speaking about his goal, he said it was the beginning and there was a long way to go. “My first target was to crack the entrance exams and take admission to an engineering college. The next goal will only be decided once I start my degree course,” Sunil said. Determined to change the life of his family, Sunil is eager to complete his four-year bachelors in engineering and start earning. Sunil was recently honoured by the UT Administration for excelling in entrance exams.
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CITCO yet to recover over Rs 11-cr dues
Chandigarh, June 10
Records revealed that the UT Administration alone had outstanding dues of Rs 2.82 crore. Departments of Punjab had to pay Rs 18 lakh and those of Haryana Rs 14 lakh.
CITCO sources revealed that outstanding dues from various debtors increased from Rs 9.88 crore in 2009-2010 to Rs 11.14 crore in 2010-2011. Of the outstanding amount of Rs 11.14 crore, Rs 55 lakh had been pending for more than three years. A scrutiny of CITCO records revealed that Rs 6.12 lakh was pending against the Indian Hockey Federation for more than five years. It had been repeatedly pointed out that efforts had not been made to recover the amount. Organisers of the Indian Cricket League had reserved rooms at Hotel Mountview in 2008. The hotel management had failed to recover Rs 7.29 lakh from the organisers. Records of Hotel Shivalikview showed that Rs 13.76 lakh was outstanding against 10 shopkeepers.
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Montek to be chief guest at PGI
Chandigarh, June 10 While a documentary related to the journey of the PGI since it was inaugurated by the Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, on July 7, 1963, will be screened on the occasion, the authorities have already ordered to procure coffee mugs, Parker pens and T-shirts to be released as souvenir. The chairman of golden jubilee celebration committee, Dr SK Jindal, said Ahluwalia would be the chief guest and Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal the guest of honour at the inaugural function and the function will be presided over by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Ghulam Nabi Azad. All the former directors will be honoured and a commemorative stamp will be released, he said. The work to prepare the documentary has been assigned to documentary filmmaker Gaurav Chhabra. The other activities include seminars on different topics, display of research work and other achievements, alumni meet and cultural programmes. It is proposed that workshops of displaying research work in last 50 years are conducted, said Dr Jindal.
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SAD-BJP bask in glory
Congress, SAD-BJP workers clash at various polling stations Umesh Dewan Tribune News Service
Patiala, June 10 The Akali activists distributed sweets and fired crackers to express their joy, whereas the BJP leaders were spotted dancing on the roads. Amid the slogans of the Shiromani Akali Dal Zindabad, the visibly-elated Akali Dal leaders hugged each other and offered sweets to everyone. Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Surjit Singh Rakhra and Education Minister plus SAD incharge of Patiala elections Sikander Singh Malooka termed the election results as “historic”.
Rakhra and Malooka said the people of Punjab have shown their faith in the SAD-BJP government by coming out in full support for the combine. Taking a dig at the Congress leaders, SAD general secretary Prem Singh Chandumajra said, “Congress claims that Patiala is their stronghold but if you see the election results it speaks otherwise. The allegations of the booth capturing are all false.” Chandumajra said the party has also won all the four corporations, which itself speak for the work done by the SAD-BJP combine. Extremely happy over the poll results, present Mayor and SAD winner from Ward Number 26 Ajit Pal Singh Kohli said, “The results are results of the development works done by the SAD-BJP house during the past five years. We assure the people of Patiala that in the coming five years multi-crore development projects would be undertaken.” The Akali Dal Patiala President and Chairman of Patiala Improvement Trust, Inder Mohan Singh Bajaj, described the win as “victory of the development-oriented approach of the SAD-BJP.” Speaking to The Tribune, BJP Senior Deputy Mayor and winner from Ward Number 36, Anil Bajaj, said what was important that the people came out in large number to vote for a better future.
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2 hectares gutted
Panchkula, June 10 Both the fires were controlled by forest guards before it could spread to other areas. The fire at Badwa happened due to short circuit.
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BJP organises rally against inflation
Chandigarh, June 10 The rally was part of the party campaign to organise regular rallies and generate public opinion against the price rise during the UPA Government. Councillor, Saurabh Joshi, said a large number of people participated in the rally. More such rallies are being organised by the party in the coming days. — TNS
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Seminar on practical issues in cost audit, accounting record rules organised
Chandigarh, June 10 The seminar was based on recently issued Cost Audit Orders, Notifications and Circulars by Cost Audit Branch, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India. During 2011 and 2012, the government has issued various notifications regulating the maintenance of cost records data by companies, the last being issued on June 4, 2012. Jasdeep Kaur, chairperson, Chandigarh Chapter of Cost Accountants said that the Orders, Notifications and Circulars issued by Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India are implemented in letter and spirit and giving recommendations to industry to reduce cost, improve manufacturing process, giving performance analysis for the benefit of industry and other advisory in the reports. Rakesh Bhalla, vice-chairman, Northern Region, said that on the one hand this is an opportunity for cost accountants and at the same time it is a big challenge for producing quality result and giving value added services to the Industry. With the introduction of records maintenance in all industries, industry will be benefitted as they will get the awareness regarding the cost of production, wastage, efficiency level and ultimately help in enhancing revenue of the company and government exchequer.
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Residents face chaos as summer reaches peak
With demand outstripping supply, residents are put to chaos during peak summer. The administration resorts to power cuts which are not scheduled in advance. With the public outcry, these are stated to be scheduled, yet these do not end the woes of consumers. This factor also affects the water supply of the city, putting the residents to double whammy. Further jolts have been imposed on residents by way of increase in the tariff, affected twice by the authorities. The city is receiving 47 per cent of its power from Punjab, 5 per cent from BBMB and the remaining 48 per cent through Nalagarh in HP. The distribution and transmission loss are pegged at 18 per cent by the Administration. The present power entitlement of the city is 250 MW. The emand last year touched 272 MW and this year it was anticipated to reach 320 MW. The situation is worsening year after year and there has not been any conscious effort on the part of the Administration to effect any improvement. A lot of hue and cry is made and the media highlights the issue, but we have yet to see any concrete policy to circumvent the crisis. On the one hand, the city suffers from power cuts and 'kundi' connections in the colonies. The Administration has been discriminating while imposing power cuts as the southern sectors suffer more than the northern part, inhabited by VIPs. Besides scheduled and unscheduled cuts due to shortage of power, these are resorted to as transmission cables are unable to bear the load. The grids fail, the transformers blast and the department has only assurances to offer to the residents. No conscious effort is made by residents to conserve energy in times of crisis. This confounds the problem further. If a Metro is introduced in the city, our power requirement will go up by 200 MW daily. It is high time that the Administration, with its heavy hierarchy in the electricity department, wakes up from slumber and envisages a policy that will mitigate the woes of residents. Satish Chandra Sharma, Chandigarh. At snail's pace
I paid Rs 34,000 under the VDS in November for load to be increased from 12 KW to 49 KW, but so far the load was not incorporated in our electricity bill. The department walks at a snail's pace. People have installed booster pumps and underground pipes are worn out. No one seems bothered. Chandigarh was being governed nicely till the Chief Commissioner was the administrative head. With the transfer of powers to the Governor of Punjab and the setting up of the municipal corporation, the situation has deteriorated. The Adviser has no powers at all. The bureaucracy has raised its hands. Innocent residents are frustrated. Rajeev Prakash
Foreign jaunts
Chandigarh Administration is all agog with its redundant activities like planning foreign jaunts in the guise of study tours for improvement in governance. Why does it not seem bothered about adequate supply of power? Never was there any time in the history of Chandigarh when there was erratic supply and unscheduled power cuts like now. Gurmit Singh
Southern belt
As the mercury continues its rise day by day, thanks to the unanticipated power cuts, residents are having no respite this summer. The southern belt is the most hard hit, with unannounced cuts throughout this summer. Residents are having a difficulty in planning their daily schedules as important household chores cannot be done due to unscheduled power cuts. Power is also showing a heavy fluctuation. It was never like this before. Students in hostels had a tough time this year because a majority of them had no power back-up. Adil Arora
Hydro power
Undeclared power cuts add to the sufferings of the residents of the city, who are already faced with acute shortage of drinking water in the scorching heat. On June 2 alone, there was no supply in Sectors 18, 19, 20, 23, 27, 35, 36, 37, 40, 41, 45, 48 and 49. Power supply was also snapped in Phases V and VI of Mohali while Panchkula and Kharar too were rendered 'powerless' for about six hours on another night. The Chandigarh Administration should come up with a concrete proposal to educate people on how to save electricity. Seminars should be orgaised sector-wise with the help of resident welfare associations of various sectors. Concepts like power cuts and load-shedding are old concepts and are not going to work in the coming years. A World Bank report says roughly 40 per cent of residents in India are living without electricity. The best way to meet this menace is either to produce more electricity or to save electricity. Hydro-power projects are the main source of producing low-cost electricity and this is a one-time investment. The municipal corporation and the Chandigarh Administration should ensure that timers are working properly to switch streetlights and lights at parks off and on. A lot of electricity is being wasted as timers are not working. Kulbhushan
Kanwar, Chandigarh
Scheduled cuts
Unscheduled power cuts in most of the sectors have started bothering residents of the tricity lately. It becomes very difficult for people to do their daily chores. The authorities should schedule power cuts and the timings should be given in the newspapers so that people can plan their work according to it. If these small steps are followed, it will not only be convenient for residents, but also help save electricity. Isha Dahiya
Too discriminatory
Everyone knows that there is an acute power shortage, particularly during summer, across the country and Chandigarh is not an exception. Since there is no power plant to generate power, the city has to depend upon other sources. Owing to acute shortage, there are frequent scheduled and unscheduled power cuts in the name of maintenance. Southern sectors are the worst hit by these scheduled and unscheduled power cuts. But at the same time, there are seldom such power cuts in the northern sectors of the city, especially Sectors 1 to 5, as their power system is 'maintenance-free' forever. Why such a glaring discrimination? Consequent to these power cuts, residents living in southern sectors are facing sleepless nights in sweltering heat at night and even in incessant rain. Apart from frequent power disruption and voltage fluctuation, which have become a routine affair in this part of the city, mosquito menace is there to add the woes of residents. At at the same time, residents of our northern areas are enjoying nights in air-conditioned rooms without any disruption. It is not only that people are suffering owing to disruption of electricity. Frequent disruption has led to damage of electrical appliances like televisions, refrigerators and washing machines. Owing to the gravity of the situation, there is great resentment among residents, particularly students, the aged, the infirm and infants. It will be desirable that there is equal distribution of power as all residents, whether living in southern or northern sectors, are paying equal direct and indirect taxes. Why is there stepmotherly treatment with residents living in southern sectors? The lame excuse of the Chandigarh Administration that people have not disclosed their load, which has been increased in recent years, is untenable. The Administration can easily plan out to tackle the increased load on the basis of population as well as on the basis of increased power connections. It is crystal clear that the consumers, including domestic and commercial, have increased from 1,30,000 in 1991 to over 2,20,000. On the one hand, because of shortage of power, residents are facing numerous problems, and on the other, our policy framers are enjoying their luxurious life in air-conditioned rooms. It has been observed that even when officers are not in their rooms, their air-conditioners are frequently running, wasting power. To take pity on the miserable condition of residents of southern sectors, villages and colonies, air-conditioners provided to various officers need to be withdrawn. SK
Khosla, Chandigarh
Solar energy
The frequent power cuts across the tricity have made the life of people miserable. The residents of the tricity are facing the heat of power shortage and unscheduled power cuts, ranging for hours daily. In the absence of power supply, water supply also gets suspended. Summer without power and water makes life pathetic for residents. There are frequent power shutdowns and consumers are not made aware in advance about the power cuts. The residents have to brave the heat and humidity with unscheduled power cuts being imposed daily. There are long-duration power cuts, besides frequent tripping. Power crisis has thrown normal life out of gear. The MC should impose rotational power cuts. A schedule must be prepared and implemented for load-shedding. The electricity board should also put up this schedule in newspapers and on its website for the perusal of consumers to keep them informed about the power-cut schedule in order to make consumers plan their work in advance. The use of solar lights and solar cells must be encouraged so as to make the maximum use of solar energy. Shruti
Chawla, Chandigarh
End discrimination
The Chandigarh Administration is guilty of indulging in unannounced power cuts in scorching summer. There is no fixed time for power cuts. Even during night, electricity supply is snapped without any warning, when people are in deep slumber. People suffer sleepless nights as the cuts are for long durations. Children are the worst victims of power cuts. This happens only in southern sectors, which are thickly populated with 'aam aadmi'. The residents of these sectors are surely given stepmotherly treatment compared to those who live in posh northern sectors. This discrimination must end immediately and the Administration should see that there are no undue and unannounced power cuts in the future. The system of power cuts must be streamlined. There should be daily press notes and radio information about proposed power cuts so that people can do things accordingly. RK
Kapoor, Chandigarh
SMS alerts
Despite tall claims by officers of the Chandigarh electricity department of uninterrupted power, barring maintenance, Chandigarh has been experiencing power cuts, ranging from 45 minutes to one hour on a routine basis. At present, the peak demand of power in Chandigarh was between 280 MW and 300 MW. This time, it was expected to be around 350 MW. At present, Chandigarh had no power-generation capacity and got power supply from various Central power-generation stations in the region. The UT Administration can ask mega-companies like Jindal Steels and Power Limited to help. The Chandigarh electricity department and the UT Administration top brass should ask meter-readers to enquire about residents' mobile phone numbers. The electricity department should assign them the job to send SMS alerts to citizens on possible power cuts. The process of collecting mobile phone numbers is easy since meter-readers are expected to visit every industrial unit or dwelling once a month. The SMS initiative can provide information to citizens on power cuts. Sachin Sharma,
Chandigarh
Children suffer
Summer has come and it has brought unscheduled power cuts too. The power cuts are not for half an hour or so, but many times, more than that. No electricity means no water. The most important things needed in summer are electricity and water. For children, whose holidays are on, no electricity means no television and no computer. In the heat outside, children cannot even go out and play. For college-goers, their exams are still going on and many times, the unscheduled power cuts happen to take place at night. A few who work in the day study at night, but due to power cuts at night, their study suffers. Due to the unscheduled power cuts during day and night, people are facing hardship. In many areas, continuous power cuts have put people in discomfort. Besides this, there is also shortage of water supply, which is causing major problems for the residents. Not only Chandigarh, but residents of Mohali are facing power cuts. A few residents of the city complain that when they call the electricity department to report mismanagement, the officials do not pick up the phone. If power cuts cannot vanish or decrease, they should be scheduled so that people finish their work before the power cuts. No distinction should be made between northern and southern sectors. Guryog
Kaur, Mohali
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Maharana Pratap Jayanti was celebrated o the premises of Maharana Pratap hostel Campus in Sector 25 (West) Chandigarh here on Sunday. The chief guest for the occasion was Thakur Kaul Singh, Himachal Pradesh State Congress President and guest of honour was HS
Rana, chairman Police Complaint Authority Haryana. Col Devender Singh, president Hry Rajput Pratinidhi
Sabha, Varinder Rathore, general secretary All-India Youth Congress and Chetan
Chauhan, secretary All-India Youth Congress were present on the occasion. Hundreds of people of all communities from the
tricity, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal attended the function. The society gives scholarship of approximately Rs 3 lakh every year to needy students.
Sweet water distributed
An NGO,
Tammana, organised chhabeel at Sector 43 bus stand for the passengers. Apart from the above, special hygiene measures were taken into consideration while preparing the sweet water.
Protest
Residents of Hallomajra staged a protest against the indifferent attitude of the Chandigarh Administration in solving their basic problems here on Sunday. The residents stated that they were not being provided with the basic amenities. Since the area falls under the Chandigarh Administration, the MC was not owning the area and as a result the residents were
suffering.
UIET students design online portal
Students of University Institute of Engineering and Technology
(UIET), Panjab University, Chandigarh, have come together and designed an online
network(www.KedderWolf.com), for interaction between professional students undergoing 6 weeks/ 6 months trainings, doing major or minor projects, undergoing research and collaborating in groups in any field. This website was inaugurated by director UIET Professor Renu
Vig. <http://www.kedderwolf.com> is an online portal for people to share, innovate, discuss and collaborate. The web portal gives its users the ability to form different groups and projects where people with same interests and goals can join and form a team to work on their respective project. Concentrating on the formation of working groups, it has an extensive feature allowing users to completely customize and control their project group functioning.
Photography workshop
The month of May brought about a fashion photography workshop which is a one of a kind workshop joining two creative institutions i.e. the University Institute of Fashion Technology, Panjab University, and the College of Art, Sector 10. While the students of the UIFT benefit from the college of arts facility (equipment), resources, Dr Anand Sharma’s expert teachings under the aegis of the versatile principle Mr DS
Kapoor, the students of the art college benefit by showing their creativity and create fashion backdrops in a very fashionably arty and original way. This concept of the tie up between the two creative institutions is the brainchild of Dr Prabhdip
Brar, a faculty member at University Institute of Fashion Technology, also an alumnus of the art college
Jan Sangarsh
Abhiyan
In continuation to the preparations for the Jan Sangharsh
Abhiyan, which started from June 7, a meeting of office-bearers and workers of District No 2 incorporating wards 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11 was held here on Sunday in Sector 37. A large number of party workers of Distt No 2 attended the meeting. District general secretary Ateet Kakkar began the proceedings by welcoming the state office bearers and all the party workers. Sanjay Tandon called upon all the party workers to make Jan Sangharsh Abhiyan a grand success and urged them to reach Maloya on June 16 for a massive rally to be organised by Distt 2 and Mahila
morcha.
Dr Kiran Bedi, while addressing hundreds of
Sarpanches, panches and students during Aryans 6th foundation day celebration and scholarship distribution ceremony in Aryans campus here said, “Panchayats and various bodies working at village-level should join hands with educational institutions and work for providing education to the students of rural areas & should run special programmes for this”. She added that higher education was becoming out of the reach of common man. In such a situation it is the moral responsibility of the public representatives, educational institutions and social organisations to
help the needy students and give them a chance to show their talent.
Awareness
programme
DSM, a Netherlands based MNC, organised a gathering to spread message about a project of the World Food Programme
(WFP). In a function held here on Sunday, the theme was "Hunger is solvable". Almost 50 participants participated in the march. Employees joined hands along with their children to support this noble cause in spreading the message that “Hunger is Solvable”. The march was supported by members of “Bharat Vikas
Parishad” who also came forward to support this noble cause.
Ambulance started
A high-tech Mercedes Benz Ambulance was flagged off at Fortis Hospital,
Mohali, here on Sunday. Fortis is the first hospital in the tri-city to have invested in this state-of-the-art Ambulance, which will help in saving lives of people, especially trauma and critical care patients, as it will now be possible to start highly specialised treatment in the ambulance itself. Giving details of the high-tech Ambulance, zonal director of the hospital said, “The ambulance is well equipped with high quality and the latest equipment like syringe pumps, ventilators and monitors. The medical team on the ambulance has also got training for treating trauma and critical care patients.” — Tribune Reporters
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Over 28,000 take test for railways
Chandigarh, June 10 The railway officials supervising the test said as many as 57,000 candidates were scheduled to appear at 133 examination centres across the city. The railways had run one special train for the candidates coming from outside Chandigarh. Special buses were run from the railway station to the different examination centres for the convenience of the candidates.
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Minor held for impersonation during exam
Chandigarh, June 10 The juvenile was appearing at Government High School, Phase I, Ram
Darbar, on behalf of a candidate, Kulbir Singh, a resident of Jind district, Haryana. The juvenile was caught by headmistress of high school and was later handed over to the local police. The police sources said the juvenile has recently cleared his Class XII. Later, the minor was sent to a juvenile home by the police team. Meanwhile, a police team was also sent to Jind
district in Haryana to arrest the candidate Kulbir Singh. A case under Sections 419 and 420 of the IndianPenal Code has been
registered at the police station Sector 31.
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Student organisation plans tour to attract votes
Chandigarh, June 10 In a similar bid, the Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) is organising a three-day trip to Kulu-Manali for around 100 first-year students of University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET). The trip will begin on June 15. Two buses have been hired for the tour and the bookings for lodging have been made. The students will be enjoying trekking during their tour as well. UIET has the strength of around 2,500 students which is the highest in university and considered as a deciding factor in student elections. However, the party leaders are not waiting for the new session to begin or the election dates to be announced. They have already started to rope in the first-year students in a bid to garner support for the next elections, expected in September. SOPU President Manoj Lubana said they have organised the tour for the students; however, each student joining the tour will have to pay Rs 1,300. “It’s just we have made everything easy for the students by arranging the buses and accommodations at lower rates. Usually the students are busy with their summer internships and don’t have time to organise a trip,” Lubana said. Throwing parties at discos and treating students with lavish food and movies before elections is common at PU, even though the Lyngdoh recommendations clearly states that the expenditure of each candidate contesting elections should not exceed Rs 5,000. Even other student organisations of the campus are planning to hold similar tours to ensure students’ support in the upcoming elections.
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A major chunk of outstanding dues, Rs 9.54 crore, pertains to the credit extended by the head office of CITCO. The serious anomaly was detected during an audit of CITCO records by the audit department.
