Chandigarh, August 20
A day after the ruckus at Lake Club, the UT Administration today swung into action and suspended Lake Club general manager Rajiv Tuli with immediate effect. Meanwhile, the UT Administration has also marked an inquiry to Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Mahavir Kaushik.

Invitation of the Corona Island party and a copy of the notice which was issued by the general manager. Tribune photos: Pradeep Tewari

UT Adviser KK Sharma today held a meeting with senior officials of UT Administration and the police. Giving details of the meeting, UT Finance-cum-Sports Secretary VK Singh said it was decided that from today onwards, the Lake Club administration would only allow members to book club for family functions. No parties on behalf of members would be booked. Members used to book the club for parties of their friends as well, he added.

In the latest incident, member Sanjay Singla, who is the official caterer of the Lake Club, had booked the club on behalf of an event management company for the promotional event of a beer company.

It was also decided that the Lake Club administration would not allow any party on the ground near the swimming pool. The parties will be allowed only at the big lawn, VK Singh added.

On cancelling the contract of the official caterer of the Lake Club, UT Adviser KK Sharma said a decision would be taken after ADC submits his report.

Talking to mediapersons, UT Adviser KK Sharma said the ADC had been asked to inquire into the incident and submit a report. Action will be taken, both criminal and administrative, if required. “He will find out whether any offence is made out under the Excise Act in the case. He will suggest measures to prevent such incidents in future,” he added.

Meanwhile, after suspending Lake Club GM Rajiv Tuli today, District Sports Officer KS Bharti has been given the additional charge of the post.

On Sunday, when Principal Secretary to the Punjab Governor MP Singh had visited Lake Club for a function of the Punjab Rowing Association, he found youngsters creating a ruckus in the swimming pool. Sources revealed that he immediately directed UT Finance Secretary VK Singh to take action. The party was immediately stopped.

Chandigarh, August 20
A 12-year-old boy was injured after he fell into a 30 feet deep pit in the Shanti Nagar area at Mani Majra today.

The boy, identified as Sumit, received a spinal injury after falling into the uncovered pit where a water booster system was to be installed.

An eyewitness said out of the three pits at the site, two were covered. Sumit was flying a kite near the site and fell into the pit. Children playing nearby raised the alarm and called for help. Hearing the noise, a nearby shopkeeper rushed to the spot with a ladder and saved Sumit.

Sumit was rushed to the Sector 6 General Hospital at Panchkula from where he was referred to the PGI. Besides receiving a spinal injury, Sumit received injuries on his face and other parts of the body.

Sumit is a a Class VII student of Government School, Mani Majra, and his father Naresh is an auto driver. Residents of the area allege that the construction work of the water booster is not going on these days due to rains, but the contractor has not put up a fence around the site or placed any board to warn the residents.

When contacted, MC Chief Engineer SS Bidda said instructions would be issued to all contractors to place warning signs near the construction site to avoid such incidents. He said an inquiry would be conducted and action would be taken against the guilty.

Doctors at the PGI said Sumit sustained injuries in spinal cord but regain consciousness.

Inspector Yashpal Singh, SHO, Mani Majra police station, said the contractor had been identified as Kulveer Singh. “We are looking if it is a case of negligence,” he said.

“We have not registered a case against the contractor so far, but prima facie the contractor was supposed to cover the tank which was at 2.5 feet above ground. The pipes of the water booster are yet to be laid. A detailed inquiry is being conducted,” he said.

Area councillor Gurcharan Dass Kala alleged that no MC official turned up after the incident though a number of calls were made to SDO Amit Sharma and Chief Engineer SS Bidda. He said during his telephonic conversation, the SDO said he was busy with the function of the inauguration of the Valley of Animals in Sector 49.

Panchkula, August 20
The body of a 23-year-old newlywed pregnant woman was found in her in-laws house under mysterious circumstances at Sector 16 in Panchkula today.

The police found a stoll around her neck. The victim, Mehak Garg, who hails from Delhi, married Panchkula businessman Sandeep Garg five months ago. Sandeep is reportedly absconding.

Mehak was rushed to the Sector 6 General Hospital where she was declared brought dead. Mekak was wearing same clothes which she was wearing when she returned from Delhi last evening. Mehak had gone to Delhi 20 days ago for Raksha Bandhan.

Mehak’s family members alleged that her in-laws used to torture her for dowry and they killed her. “Mehak’s in-laws use to torture her. They sometimes did not give her food and she had lost 20 kilos after her marriage. She was expecting also and they have murdered both my daughter and the grandchild,” said Sunil Mittal, Mehak’s father, who had come from Delhi when he heard about his daughter’s death.

Mehak’s in-laws said she committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan. “My husband had come for lunch when we called Mehak to have lunch with us. When she did not respond, we knocked at her door and we were shocked to find her hanging from the ceiling fan. We rushed to get her down, but till the time she was dead,” said Rekha Garg, Mehak’s mother-in-law.

“Mehak was having an affair with someone and did not want to marry our son,” alleged Rekha Garg, mother-in-law of the deceased.

Mehak was two months pregnant. A case under Section 304-B of the IPC has been registered.

Panchkula, August 20
Adarshdeep Singh, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Panchkula, his brother Gagandeep Singh and father Gurmeet Singh, who were involved in a brawl with a head constable of the Chandigarh Police, were arrested by the UT police on Sunday night.

They had allegedly thrashed the head constable and tore his uniform while the he was on duty. They have been booked under Sections 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from duty) and 353 (assault of criminal force to deter public servant) of the IPC. A court has sent them to judicial custody. Deputy Commissioner of Police Parul Kush has ordered an inquiry into the case.

Adarshdeep’s family alleged that the police was not listening to them. “All three men of our house have been sent to jail without substantial proof. We are feeling handicapped. No one is listening to us,” Adarshdeep’s wife Kariman said.

Adarshdeep, who alleged manhandling by the head constable, had also made a parallel complaint, but no action was taken as name of the head constable was mentioned wrong.

“Our investigations are on. He has mentioned Deedar Singh in his complaint where as the name of the head constable is Dilawar Singh,” Kirpal Singh, station house officer of the Sector 34 police station, Chandigarh, said. Contradicting Kirpal Singh's versions, Adarshdeep’s wife Kariman said they had mentioned the actual name of the head constable in the complaint.

Adarshdeep Singh, his brother Gangandeep Singh and his father Gurmeet Singh had a scuffle with the head constable at their residence on Sunday. The scuffle turned ugly and the head constable Dilawar Singh’s uniform was torn.

Dilawar Singh had gone to their house regarding a parking complaint registered against Adarshdeep. It was on Saturday night when Adarshdeep’s family and his neighbours had a brawl regarding parking a car in the garage and a complaint was lodged against Adarshdeep at the Sector 34 police station. Dilawar Singh, the head constable, alleged that he had gone to look into the matter and he was thrashed by Adarshdeep, his brother and his father.

Chandigarh, August 20
For the past one year, 12-year-old Ranjeet has been starting his routine in the morning fetching water on a rickshaw from a leaking water pipeline located near Hallomajra village as there is no water supply to the area where he resides. This is not the story of only Ranjeet but 100 other families residing in Hallo Majra village have been facing water problem while the authorities concerned have failed to find a permanent solution to the problem.

Ironically, the residents of the village are thankful to the authorities who have maintained lackadaisical attitude towards plugging major leakage in the water pipeline from where they daily fetch water to meet their household needs. Women and children can be seen fetching pitchers and buckets in carts and rickshaws in the morning and evening hours from the ruptured water pipeline and leaking tubewell line located near the village.

This is the status of water supply in the area while the budget reports of the past two years say the Municipal Corporation has allocated more than Rs 3 crore for the augmentation of water supply at Hallomajra.

Revealing the fact that during the last MC elections, the water supply to the area had remained good for a month, 60-year-old Raj Kumar said the residents were now waiting for the next Lok Sabha elections. During election days there is neither any water shortage nor any power cut in the area, he added. He said it was strange that a technical problem in the water supply line usually arose after the elections and the authorities failed to take any correctional step.

The president of the village, Sita Ram, said though the authorities concerned claimed that they had laid a new water pipelines, there was no improvement in water supply pressure in the Hallo Majra area.

Sailing in the same boat are the residents of Deep Complex who are not getting the basic civic amenities even after the directions given the municipal corporation officials by UT Administrator Shivraj Patil at a public hearing. The residents complained that even though the authorities had made a standby arrangement by providing water to them through tankers, during summers the consumption increased and they had to depend on other sources to meet their daily water needs.

At a public hearing held at the UT Secretariat in March, the Administrator had directed the officers concerned to extend all basic facilities, including potable water and electricity, to the residents of Deep Complex, till the outcome of the final decision on the status of the area.

Area councillor Jannat Jahan-Ul Haq had brought to the notice of the UT Administrator that Deep Complex, which falls under her ward, was being meted out a step-motherly treatment as there was confusion between the corporation and the UT Administration over its jurisdiction. Owing to this confusion, the people of the area have been suffering as neither the MC nor the UT Administration is taking any interest in providing them with basic amenities.

Chandigarh, August 20
While the decision of Anupama’s parents to move the Consumer Forum against the PGI has led to the external probe committee withhold its investigations seeking a legal opinion on the matter, legal experts in the city have stated that the court case cannot be an impediment to the inquiry.

Anupama’s parents had on August 14 moved the UT Consumer Court alleging negligence on the part of the PGI staff in administering timely treatment to Anupama, which allegedly led to her death on July 17.

At its last meeting held on August 18, the external committee had put on hold the entire inquiry presuming that the case might cast a shadow on the investigations.

“The UT Consumer Court’s proceedings cannot be an impediment to the external probe committee’s inquiry and there are no room for any conflict between the two sides. In fact, in a case of medical negligence, the consumer court usually directs the medical institution to appoint a board of medical experts to review the matter. Here, the same committee can be of immense significance in taking the court case forward,” said HC Arora, a city-based senior advocate.

A former senior standing counsel for the UT Administration, Advocate Anupam Gupta, said, “The inquiry and the court case are independent of one another. The fundamental jurisdiction of the UT consumer court does not involve the grant of the interim relief. The consumer court cannot put a stay on the PGI inquiry. The inquiry, therefore, must be resumed as the report of the inquiry shall be a part of the evidence produced in the court.”

“There may be a problem if the parents refuse to be a part of the external committee’s inquiry,” added Gupta.

Anupama’s father Amit Sarkar, meanwhile, said, “We have already recorded our statement with the committee. Why would we not cooperate with the committee’s inquiry?”

Anupama, a student of Government Model School, Sector 18, died on July 25, at the PGI. She was admitted to the hospital on July 17 after her leg was crushed under the rear tyre of a CTU bus.

Dr SS Gill, chairman of the external probe committee and Vice-Chancellor of the Baba Farid University of Medical Sciences, Faridkot, said, “While we had earlier decided to record the statements of all the people involved in the case, including the doctors, at our last meeting, we decided to first review the fact that the matter is in the court now. We are awaiting a legal opinion and we hope to resume the inquiry in a week’s time.

Mohali, August 20
Cleanliness seemed to be last on the priority list of the authorities of the Mohali Civil Hospital, Phase VI.

Wild growth of congress grass, heaps of garbage lying scattered and unattended besides its main entrance and stinking toilets in several wards are enough to show the picture of ill-maintenance of the hospital.

A random visit to the hospital revealed that the premises were surrounded by the wild growth of congress grass, a weed, which is highly infectious even for a healthy person. Apart from that, heaps of garbage was seen lying in open just near the main entrance of the hospital, depicting the poor state of affairs.

Even cleanliness inside the premises was not up to the mark, as toilets in the general ward and other wards were found stinking and in a deplorable condition.

“It seems that stink has become a part of the hospital. Though it is difficult to sit in such inhumane conditions, we are helpless,” said Rajinder Singh, an attendant of a patient being admitted in the general ward of the hospital.

“If there are dirty surroundings having infectious weed on the hospital premises, one can easily judge the vulnerability of the patients,” said Simran Kaur, a patient.

However, a private contractor has been hired to maintain the cleanliness in the hospital.

Senior medical officer, Dr Rajiv Bhalla, said they had got several complaints from the patients and staff as well.

“We know all is not well here as far as cleanliness of the premises is concerned. We have also made complaints to the authorities concerned against the contractor on the issue,” said Dr Bhalla.

Chandigarh, August 20
Frequent rainfall has brought some relief to the UT Administration, as the water level at the city’s landmark, Sukhna Lake, has also increased.

As the water level has increased, boating business of Chandigarh Industrial Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO) has also started picking up.

An official of the UT engineering department associated with de-silting work of Sukhna Lake said the recent rainfall had increased the water level in the boating area.

The water level at the lake has touched around 1152.5 feet, which was around 1,151 feet last week, he added.

An official of CITCO said as the water level had increased, tourists were also turning up in large numbers at the lake. The boating business, which was only generating around Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 last week, had now reached around Rs 35,000 to Rs 40,000 now.

After the rains, the UT engineering department has also stopped the de-silting drive at the lake. The official said they would only start the drive when the area would be dried up.

The UT officials believed that that the recent rainfall would also create run-off in Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, which will bring more water for Sukhna Lake from the sanctuary.

Mohali, August 20
The police is yet to arrest Amandeep Kaur, Superintendent of Police (vigilance), hawaldar Harminder Singh, Rajinder Singh, Rajiv Sood and Paramjit Singh in the suicide case of Ranjeet Singh, an excise and taxation officer.

The Mohali police had registered a case against the SP and other persons on August 18 following the directions of the state government.

Mohali SSP GS Bhullar said the special investigation team (SIT), being formed to investigate in the case, was busy in collecting records in the case.

“I have already directed the team, headed by the SP (D), to complete their investigations at the earliest. The team is on the job and collecting facts and evidences. The next action against the accused would be taken soon,” said SSP Bhullar.

Notably, an inquiry had already been conducted into the case by IAS Mansavi Kumar and IPS Harpreet Singh Sidhu, following the directions of the state government.

Ranjeet Singh had committed suicide on April 11 last year. He had allegedly taken the extreme step at his Phase II residence following his arrest by Amandeep Kaur in the corruption case, which his wife Manjeet Kaur claimed a false one.

Mohali, August 20
It was a narrow escape for inmates of girls’ hostel of the Chandigarh Group of College (CGC) at Landran when some parts of the Plaster of Paris (POP) fell off from the ceiling following heavy rain in the area.

Rashpal Singh Dhaliwal, president of CGC, confirmed that nobody was hurt in the incident as all inmates, six in number, were having dinner at the hostel’s dining hall at that time.

“I got the information and went to the spot immediately. Luckily the inmates were not in the rooms when the incident happened. Though the building is up to mark, we will check all rooms tomorrow to avoid any such incident in future,” said Dhaliwal.

Meanwhile, DSP DS Mann said the police did not get any report in this connection.

Chandigarh, August 20
Alleging police inaction in a fraud case, a complainant has accused the UT police of not taking any action on the FIR lodged a year ago.

The FIR was registered against Gurinder Garg and Varinder Kumar, officials with Sanjivani Infotec Private Limited, last year.

The FIR was registered against them for allegedly committing fraud of around Rs 30 crore on the pretext of sale and purchase of around 104 acres of land near Mullanpur at the Sector 3 police station in June, 2011.

The complainant, Devinder Singh, claimed, “Following his complaint, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the Chandigarh Police to complete the probe within 90 days on April 26, 2012, but the police failed to compliance the court’s orders and a contempt of court notice has already been issued against the Chandigarh Police.”

Singh also claimed that the role of a famous advocate is also under the scanner and the Chandigarh Police is deliberately not taking any action against the booked persons.

Chandigarh, August 20
UT Adviser to the Administrator, KK Sharma, inaugurated a pumping station for tertiary treated water at Sector 48-A today.

The authorities constructed this pumping station at the cost of Rs 1.5 crore. In order to conserve fresh water being used for irrigation purposes, a project for supply of tertiary treated water was conceived at the cost of Rs 36.72 crore in 2007.

MC Mayor Raj Bala Malik, area councillor Davesh Moudgil were also present on the occasion. — TNS

Chandigarh, August 20
Chandigarh-bound passengers on board the Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi Express had a taste of hospitality of the Railways when they were greeted by stray dogs on the platform number 1 at the Chandigarh railway station this morning.

In the absence of any check by the railway authorities, the stray dogs had ventured on to the platform. Not only passengers, but the visitors who had come to receive their guests were kept at bay by the stray dogs. For quite some time, the dogs virtually did not allow the passengers and commuters to move freely.

“I had heard of the stray dog menace on the city roads, but stray dogs at the platform are shocking,” said Gaurav Verma who had come from Delhi.

The visitors alleged that the stray dog menace at the station is increasing day-by-day and the authorities are taking no action to resolve it. Sharing their experience, the visitors said they were horrified and scared as the stray dogs roamed freely on the platforms.

Another visitor said the seriousness of the authorities to resolve the menace could be made out from the fact that the dogs were squatting in front of the office of assistant station master, who was busy in controlling the rail traffic. He said the official of the railway station on the platform duty when approached had a piece of advice for the passengers to avoid them.

Meanwhile, residents of Sector 21 today made a complaint to MC Commissioner VP Singh about the stray dog menace in their area. Sachin Sharma, a resident, stated that the stray dogs have made their lives miserable. If the municipal corporation is helpless on the issue, they should plan to outsource the work of catching and sterilisation them in order to effectively control the menace in the civic body limits.

Chandigarh, August 20
Adviser to the UT Administrator K K Sharma today inaugurated Valley of Animal Garden in Sector 49, and dedicated it to the residents of the city. The scheme to develop the garden, which is spread in a seven acre area, was sanctioned under the central financial assistance scheme of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, at the cost of Rs 140 lakh.

Officials of the corporation revealed that the site for the garden was selected in the southern sector as the area was low lying, full of wild growth, earmarked as green belt. Valley of Animal consists four biomes, namely temperate, green grass, desert and forest. Two pairs of dinosaurs, herbivore and carnivore, named as Diplodocus and Tyrannosaurs Rex, have been installed at two entry points. The dinosaurs are approximately 25 feet in height. Parking lots have been constructed at both entries to accommodate around 200 cars.

MC Mayor Raj Bala Malik, MC Commissioner V P Singh, area councillor Harphool Chander Kalyan and other councillors, senior officers of Chandigarh Administration and MC were also present on the occasion.

Mohali, August 20
Heavy rain this evening once again brought misery for residents as water entered a number of houses in various parts of the town. The traffic was also hit.

Residents came out on roads in many areas to look for ways to drain out the water. Help from the fire brigade was also sought as there was flooding in parts of Phases I, IV, V, III B 1 and III B 2. Household items like sofas, carpets, computers and other items lying at a low level got damaged when rain water entered certain houses.

Kuldeep Kaur Kang, former municipal councillor and a resident of Phase IV, said that GMADA had raised the level of the shopping street too high when it was widened. This obstructed the natural flow of water from the area and caused flooding. They had already suffered when water had entered houses after a heavy rain about a month ago. The road had to be broken to drain out water. The position was again the same todays and a JCB was called to dig the road for providing an outlet. GMADA had so far failed to find a solution to this major problem. She said that there was about 2 ft of water in about 100 houses in the area.

Residents of Phase III B 2 also faced a similar problem, said Kuljeet Singh Bedi, former municipal councillor. Water had entered seven and 10 marla houses. Residents were facing the problem over the past many years but authorities concerned had failed to provide any relief even after spending about Rs 3 crore on improving the drainage system in the area.

Water had also entered a number of HL houses in Phase I. Fire brigade had reached the area to pump out water.

Though the local fire brigade received calls from Phases I , IV , V for help , shortage of staff proved to be a hurdle in providing immediate relief. The fire engine first went to Phase I as there was only one driver. Residents of other areas had to wait till the staff got free from Phase I.

Panchkula, August 20
The newly constructed Kaushalya Dam, which had gone completely dry and was to provide water only by the next year due to dry conditions, is now ready to provide water to the town soon .It was only after the rain on Sunday that the water level in the dam had risen by 12 meters and the Irrigation Department declared that the dam was ready to supply water this year.

It was a couple of months back when the officials of the department were ardently praying for rains because it was only after the rains the dam was to get functional. But their hopes were dashed and they got disappointed because of long dry spell and less rainfall, they were compelled to postpone their plans for a year. But now things have totally changed after the showers.

"The rain has done wonders. The water level has increased to 462 meters from 450 meters. And now we can say that the dam is ready to give water to the town," Praveen Kumar, Executive Engineer, Irrigation Department, said. He said the department had informed HUDA that the dam was ready to provide water to the town. Earlier, the officials were predicting rains by June 15 to end water woes, but owing to the poor rains hopes were dashed. The Dam is expected to provide around 40 cusecs of water to the town.

Chandigarh, August 20
The central government's provisional ban on bulk messages and the cap of five messages per-day on pre-paid numbers has badly hit the campaign for student council elections at Panjab University (PU).

Unable to communicate through SMS even with their own representatives, the student leaders are resorting to social media, apps and BBM for the purpose, and also to promote their nominated panel members.

Panjab University Student Union (PUSU) representative Sumit said, “While the PU officials had imposed restrictions on nearly all modes of publicity, including rallies and posters, reaching out to students was possible at least via SMS. However, the temporary ban on sending bulk messages has made it difficult for us to even inform the students about important activities. We had to create a fresh community on Facebook this time to keep the students posted about our initiatives.”

Manoj Lubana, campus president of Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) said, “We had to inform our members about an urgent meeting to be held on Tuesday. There are 123 members on campus and I will have call up everyone individually since the messages will not work. Already when the per-candidate expenditure is capped at Rs 5000, this ban which is going to be effective till August 31, will add to our expenses incurred on phone calls.”

The student council elections will be held in the first week of September.

Chandigarh, August 20
A class II female employee of the UT Education department has lodged a complaint of sexual harassment against a fellow male employee with higher officials of the department.A four-member committee has been set up by the department to inquire into the matter. The final report of the committee is still awaited.

According to the sources, the formal complaint was made last week on August 14 and considering the seriousness of the issue, Director Higher Education (DHE) Ajoy Sharma constituted a committee to look into the matter on the very same day.

In the complaint, the female employee referred to the incident which took place last month and sought early intervention of the department. Both the employees work in the DPI school branch.

Sources informed that both the parties would shortly file their replies to the said committee. The members appointed to the committee include Registrar (Schools) Urmil Gupta, Assistant Director (vocational) Suman Sharma, Superintendents Manju Shri and Jasbir Singh.

Confirming the development Ajoy Sharma, who is also DPI (colleges) and responsible for all the employees of the directorate, said, “The committee has been constituted after the formal complaint but I would not like to make any comment before the committee submits its report.” The report is expected in three-four days, he added

The complainant, when contacted, also refrained from saying anything before the committee’s final report.

The accused employee, on the other hand, claimed that all charges against him were false. He also said that he had full faith in the committee.

The incident however has exposed working atmosphere in the department. Many say that indiscipline, groupism and lobbying has disturbed the working conditions.

Chandigarh, August 20
Senior professor Promila Pathak of Panjab University has withdrawn her nomination from the faculty constituency for the upcoming Senate elections.

She had earlier raised an objection over the candidature of Dean College Development Council (DCDC) Naval Kishore which was turned down.—TNS