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Cloth godown gutted
Chandigarh, August 31 No causality was reported as nobody was present in the godown during the incident. A resident of the area, Kripan Singh, noticed smoke coming out of the godown at 5.58 am and he asked his neighbours to call the fire brigade. A fire official said the team had to struggle reaching the spot due to narrow lanes. The official said the operation was delayed by 15 minutes as the firemen had to attach three water pipes from the fire tender to the spot. Three water tenders, a water boozer and an emergency rescue tender were pressed into service to douse flames. A visit to the village revealed that all four fire tenders were parked on the roadside due to narrow lanes. A fire official said the team had a tough time to communicate with the firemen who were operating water tenders for the supply of water as the vehicles were parked at a distance from the spot.Station fire officer Sham Singh, who was leading the fire operation, said there was zero visibility in the 35 feet long shop. He said that emergency rescue tender was used to break the rear wall of the godown to clear the smoke. The operation lasted for 11 hours as minor fire continued to erupt in the shop till the evening. He said after inspecting the fire site tomorrow, notice would be issued to the owner of the shop for not installing fire safety equipment and for setting up an illegal godown in the residential area without permission. A fireman revealed that there was no passage in the shop between bundles of cloth.
Illegal godowns
Residents of the area had a tough time this morning as their houses were filled with smoke. They stayed away from their houses till the firemen doused the flames. A local resident, Priyanka, said there were a number of shops in the area which were used for storing inflammable material. Another resident Satish said the incident could have turned into a major tragedy if an auto loaded with LPG cylinders was not removed from outside the shop on time.
Fire at SBI
A minor fire broke out at the electric junction box of the State Bank of India, Sector 17 branch, on Friday evening. It took two fire tenders half-an-hour to douse the flames.
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Villagers sitting on tinderbox
Aarti Kapur Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 31 Thousand of residents reside in these villages. Today when a fire broke out at Burail village, fire tenders were unable to reach the spot as it became difficult for them to make way through a congested street. A number of illegal structures have come up on the street. When asked why notices were not issued to violators, an MC official said as per the existing law, 100 per cent conversion of a house into a shop was allowed. The official added that amendment had been made in the fresh bylaws, but no action could be taken until it was approved. In 1996, Burail, Attawa, Badheri and Buterlla and in 2006 Hallo Majra, Kajheri, Palsora, Maloya and Dadu Majra were transferred to the corporation. When contacted, MC Additional Commissioner Lalit Siwach said notices had been issued to the villagers as per the existing village bylaws, but fresh bylaws were yet to be approved by the Administration. Last year, new bylaws were drafted by the MC building branch and sent to UT Administration for approval. Sources in the corporation revealed that for the past one year, a number of meetings had taken place in this regard, but nothing concrete had been done so far. As per the new bylaws, conversion of 100 per cent residential area into a commercial one will not be allowed either by the Administration or the municipal corporation. Residents will be allowed to convert only the ground floor of a building into a commercial area. As per the new norms, if a building does not have any parking space, the permission for converting it into a commercial site will not be given. The clause of penalty to be imposed on the violators has also been proposed in the revised draft. In 2007, after surveying all nine villages, the MC had found that most of the construction work undertaken by the villagers was in violation of the building by-laws, framed for the planned development of the villages. Even the percentage of the encroachment in these villages was very high, due to which most of the development projects were facing problem in their execution. The team also found that most of the buildings were constructed by the villagers at their own will and no rules had been followed. In some of the villages, the residents even constructed four-storeyed houses without caring much about the building bylaws. Due to major commercial and residential encroachments in these areas, a little scope has been left for widening of roads.
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Murder accused fires gunshots in Sector 34
Chandigarh, August 31 The murder accused fired three shots into the air and managed to flee. The UT police, which has been making tall claims of improving co-ordination with police of the neighbouring states, had no prior information of the murder accused roaming in the area. The incident took place near the Sector 34 gurdwara, which is stone’s throw from the police station. The UT police has registered a case of endangering life of others against him under Section 336 of the IPC at the Sector 34 police station. The incident took place around 4.30 pm when the accused, travelling in a Toyota Fortuner SUV bearing a Punjab registration number, fire three gunshots in Sector 34. The police has recovered three 9mm cartridges from the spot. The Chandigarh Police was informed by passers-by. Sandeep Singla, an eyewitness, said that two cars, including the Toyota Fortuner, were parked in opposite directions and the occupant of the Fortuner suddenly opened gunshots toward another vehicle. It later came to light that a team of the Punjab Police had come in a Scorpio Getaway to arrest murder accused Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, who allegedly killed one Happy Deora in Ferozepur in July this year and was absconding ever since. The Punjab Police received a tip-off that Sekhon had come to meet his girlfriend in Sector 34 and it laid a trap. The Punjab Police personnel came in civvies and had just parked their car near the Sector 34 gurdwara when Sekhon saw them and opened fire. They chased him but failed to apprehend him. The case has been registered on the complaint of inspector Dalbir Singh of the Punjab Police who informed about the incident to his counterparts in Chandigarh.
Wild chase
The Punjab Police personnel came in civvies and had just parked their car near the Sector 34 gurdwara when the accused saw them and opened fire. The police chased the accused but failed to apprehend him.
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Road rage leaves two injured
Chandigarh, August 31 The incident took place when Monu Deswal, a resident of Sector 15, went to have an ice-cream at Aroma at 2 pm along with his two friends on a motorcycle. The student is taking IELTS coaching in the city. A Swift Dezire (PB 18 T 4999) overtook their bike. A chase followed and both the occupants of the car then started teasing them, which resulted in a heated argument. On reaching the Sectors 22 and 23 lights, the occupants alighted from the car and confronted the motorcycle-borne youths. A violent scuffle then ensued and Pawas Preet and Lovpreet beat up Monu, his friends Ajay and Anand with hockey sticks and sharp-edged weapons. Ajay Kumar and Anand sustained injuries and are undergoing treatment at Government Hospital, Sector 16. The accused were arrested and sent to judicial custody. — TNS
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Three call centre employees lose Rs 17,000
Kulwinder Sangha
Mohali, August 31 The victims, who are working at Competent Synergies in the Phase VII Industrial Area at Mohali, complained to the police that fraudsters used their State Bank of Patiala debit cards in Ludhiana over a period of three days. General manager (administration) of the call centre Paramjit Singh said the two victims, Karan Singh and Lalit Kumar, were residents of Sector 56, Chandigarh, and the third victim, Ravi Kumar, resided in Sector 38, Chandigarh. He said the victims suspected that someone at a petrol station in Sector 39, Chandigarh, was involved in the fraud as their debit cards had been used earlier at that station. They said on the days of the crime in Ludhiana, two of them were in Chandigarh and the third at his workplace in Mohali, and the debit cards were with them. He suspected that someone had cloned the ATM cards. In a complaint to the Chandigarh Police, Lalit Kumar said his salary of Rs 9,972 for July was transferred to his salary account on August 8 and someone withdrew Rs 9,000, Rs 500 and Rs 400 on August 9 from a Punjab National Bank (PNB) ATM in Ludhiana. Again, Rs 70 was withdrawn at a petrol station near the Ludhiana railway station. On inquiry, he was told that occupants of a car, including two boys and a girl, used the ATM card at the filling station. The petrol station had a CCTV camera footage which showed the debit card was swiped by the girl. In his complaint, Ravi Kumar said Rs 4,565 was transferred to his salary account on August 9 and someone withdrew Rs 4,500 on August 11 from a PNB ATM in Ludhiana. The third victim, Karan Singh, told the police that Rs 2,773 was transferred to his salary account on August 9 and the very next day, someone withdrew Rs 2,700 from a Canara Bank ATM in Ludhiana.
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Model Code of Conduct comes into force at PU
Chandigarh, August 31 Fearing any clash between the supporters of different student parties, the university has decided to restrict the timings for the students to stay at the party tents till 11pm. Dean Student Welfare (DSW) Prof AS Ahluwalia said all the student parties had been told about the new restriction in order to maintain peace on the campus. The student parties, after a hectic campaigning schedule during the day, used to reach the tents and discuss strategies for the next day. The meetings, sometimes, used to last till early morning; however, the students won’t have this liberty this year. Objecting to the new restriction imposed by the PU authorities, Panjab University Students’ Union (PUSU) leader Sumit Goklaney said the party tents were no less than homes for the party workers till the elections got over, and the university could not force them to vacate the tents till any incident of violence was reported. “We would ensure peace at our tent. Nobody can ask us to leave as the tents are erected within the campus, and being PU students, it’s our right to use the campus,” Goklaney said. Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) president Manoj Lubana said the day-to-day election planning would suffer due to the restriction on the timings. “The supporters get free from campaigning at girls’ hostels at around 9pm, following which they have to go for campaigning at boys’ hostels. They reach the tents by 11pm to plan the further strategy; however, now it seems we will have to conduct the meetings somewhere else,” Lubana said. The police sources said there were chances of a clash between the members of SOPU and PUSU. There is also a possibility of a dispute between the members of the Indian National Students Organisation (INSO) and Hindustan Student Association (HSA), the police said. Other directives
We were harassed
Student leaders have alleged that during the installation of party tents on the Panjab University campus today, the police unnecessarily harassed the party workers and instructing them to park their vehicles the way the policemen
desired.
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No de-siltation at Sukhna for 2 yrs
Chandigarh, August 31 Sources said that there are about 190 check dams in the sanctuary which are able to check the flow of silt in the Sukhna Lake but it also reduces the flow of water. A senior official of the UT Administration said there are a number of water bodies in the sanctuary with good water storage capacity. Carrying out de-siltation exercise means the storage capacity of these water bodies would increase. To end the water crisis at the lake, the UT Administration has recently proposed to bring water from Patiala Ki Rao to Sukhna Lake. A senior official of the UT Administration said that they have made an estimate that there is 3.25 km distance between the Sukhna Lake and the Patiala Ki Rao. He added that they would lay a pipeline from the higher point of Patiala Ki Rao to Sukhna Lake and would bring water through the pipeline. The Haryana government had already turned down the Administration’s request to provide water from the Kaushalya Dam in Pinjore. The Administration wanted a separate water channel, which the government was laying from Pinjore to Panchkula.
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GMADA conduct survey to measure road level
Mohali, August 31 Residents of HM houses had blamed GMADA for their plight when rain water entered their houses and demanded a permanent solution to the problem. It is learnt that the survey was carried out to locate the area from where the water flowed towards the effected pocket, and where it could be tapped. The level of road on the stretch dividing Phase IV and the industrial area was measured, and also of the shopping street which was recently widened by GMADA. The level of the roads was checked after a gap of every 100 ft. The measurements were recorded from both the sides of the road as well as of the centre portion. GMADA officials said that one causeway had already been provided by the development authority and if need be another causeway could also be planned. The stone wall constructed by the civic body on one side of the pocket would be demolished and replaced by metal railing as it blocked the flow of water during rain. AK Sinha, Chief Administrator, GMADA, had visited the affected pocket last week and met residents. He had directed concerned officials to look for a solution to the problem and submit a report in this regard in one week. Residents had alleged that rain water started entering their houses after GMADA raised the level of the shopping street when it was widened. GMADA officials, however, said that water from other areas flowed towards Phase IV and the drainage system provided in the colony was unable to take the load. — OC
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Rs 443-cr loan to priority sector
Mohali, August 31 Roojam said that a sum of Rs 220 crore was disbursed under agriculture advances to the farmers of the area, Rs 131 crore to micro and small enterprises and Rs 92 crore to the other priority sector (housing and education etc up to June 30, 2012. Pardeep Singh Kaleka, Additional Deputy Commissioner, who was the chief guest, said that the banks should focus more on agriculture, particularly dairy development as it would not only provide employment to the youths, but also fulfil milk requirement in the state. PKJain, Chief Lead District Manager assured the district administration of active participation of banks in poverty elevation programmes. Shashi Kumar, DDM, NABARD, appreciated the bankers for extending banking services in all 25 identified villages having population above 2,000.
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45-yr-old man attempts suicide
Chandigarh, August 31 The victim, Sanjiv Goyal, was staying alone. His wife and children were staying away owing to a matrimonial dispute. The police said he was suffering from severe depression, which was the reason for his taking the extreme step. The victim took the extreme step in the morning after he collected some clothes and set them afire and then sat on them after pouring some oil. His neighbours heard his cries and came to save him. The police was called who rushed him to a hospital.
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UT officials ‘dilly-dally’ implementation of service Act
Chandigarh, August 31 The delay is all the more serious as there are clear cut guidelines for redressal of public grievances issued in 2010 by the department of administrative reforms and public grievances, Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. In January this year, the UT officials had held a meeting to study the pattern of Punjab before introducing the Right to Service Act in Chandigarh to ensure timely delivery of various services to residents and penalise bureaucrats who were delaying the implementation of the Act. The Act implemented in Delhi was also studied. The Punjab government had promised the delivery of 67 citizen-centric services and more were being introduced. The seriousness of the Administration became evident when a social activist used the RTI Act to seek information about the grievances redressal officer of the Chandigarh Administration. The applicant, Ajay Jagga, was told by the department of information technology that though there was no post of grievance redressal officer, the Administration had given the additional responsibility of grievance redressal officer to the respective central public information officers (CPIOs) under the RTI Act. Interestingly, a number of CPIOs were not aware of the orders issued by the Administration and the responsibilities of the grievances officer. Unable to get any satisfactory reply, the social activist has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice has recommended that the state and UTs should have a dynamic public grievances redressal mechanism in place and time limits should be fixed for the approval or rejection of an application. The redressal should be made within reasonable time as prescribed for each stage without indulging in lengthy technicalities of the procedure. It was also recommended that officers responsible for the delay should be made accountable and suitable action be taken against them. But so far the Chandigarh Administration has failed to put in place any such mechanism.
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716 shops auctioned, CTU gets Rs 1.98 lakh
Chandigarh, August 31 Around 80 people participated in the auction and 16 shops were leased out for 11 months. These premises were lying vacant for a long period as a result of shifting of Interstate Bus Terminal from Sector-17 to Sector-43, Chandigarh.
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3 more direct flights to Mumbai from city
Chandigarh, August 31 As per information, Indigo Airlines is starting its two direct flights on the Chandigarh-Mumbai route from September 10, apart from Spicejet's daily flight before September 14. With these additions, the number of direct flights from Chandigarh to Mumbai will increase to seven from four at present. Besides, the Air India, too, has a connecting flight to Mumbai via Delhi in the morning. Director of the Chandigarh Airport HS Toor stated that the time slot had already been allotted to Indigo airlines and they were in the process to set up ground-level facilities. He said, "Overall connectivity is strengthening in the local airport. With the new additions, we will have about 22 airlines landing and taking off at various time slots throughout the day." While Indigo officials could not be contacted for further details, Spicejet local official Manpreet Singh said the move was taken as demands kept pouring in from various quarters. "Our Spicejet flight connecting Chandigarh with Mumbai is expected to start by mid-September," he added. The existing Chandigarh-Mumbai air traffic includes two flights by Go Air, one each by Kingfisher and Jet Airways. Local manager of Go Air Vinod Raina said, "Mumbai has a connectivity with cities like Goa, Bangaluru and Chennai." The local airport also has five to six direct flights from Chandigarh to Delhi. Air Mantra, which at present has a flight from Chandigarh to Amritsar, has in its pipeline a new flight from Chandigarh to Jammu. Recently, the Spicejet also started a flight connecting Chandigarh with Srinagar.
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Efforts on to save victim's leg
Chandigarh, August 31 The victim, a Kajehri resident, has undergone a preliminary surgery and has been kept under observation. Kumar was rushed to the PGIMER on Wednesday night after sustaining grievous injury on one of his legs. Santosh is
the only breadwinner in his family. "Kumar is still unconscious and has been kept under observation. He has suffered serious head injuries as well. We do not want him to undergo amputation," said a senior doctor. "We have pinned our hopes on the doctors as it will become difficult for us to make both ends meet if something happens to Santosh," said Shyam Lal, the victim's father. The doctors had stated
yesterday that Kumar would have to undergo amputation. The accident occurred at 9.30 pm when an SUV,
said to be driven by a gunman of a minister, hit a car, moped, cycle and an ice-cream vendor before hitting an electricity pole near Sectors 33
and 34 leaving four persons injured. The police arrested the driver, Bittu, who was later released on bail.
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NCC sailing expedition flagged off
Chandigarh, August 31 The team members were flagged off from Chandiagrh today by Brig Satish Kumar, Group Commander, Chandigarh NCC Group. Wishing success to the expedition, he advised the participants to take due safety precautions while operating in the deep waters of the Gobind Sagar. He said that such expeditions are essential to inculcate confidence and leadership qualities. During the expedition, the base camp will be established under the command of Capt (IN) GM Singh at Lathiani near Una in Himachal Pradesh, from where the cadets would sail using three Whaler Class boats and two Cadet Class sailing boats. The team would cover over 435 kms and visit places like Bangana, Marhau, Kohdra, Porohian, Bhakhra, Galu, Kosharian, Kanphara, Nakrana, Raipur and back to Lathiani. Captain Singh said that the cadets will be trained to represent Chandigarh in inter-group competitions and then represent the NCC Directorate of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh at the national-level camp at Visakhapatnam in October-November this year. The cadets will be exposed to various kinds of naval training that include sailing, boat pulling, ship modelling, shooting, drill, communication, kayaking, windsurfing and seamanship. Cadets will also undertake social activities in and around Lathiani.
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Model Code of Conduct comes into force at PU Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 31 Members of the Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) and Panjab University Students’ Union (PUSU) would not be allowed to take any other route while campaigning that would take place in the presence of a huge police force. The parties will also be given separate time schedules to campaign in boys’ and girls’ hostels. Chief Security Officer (CSO) PK Dhawan said to avoid any dispute between the student parties, specific routes had been identified. “PUSU has been asked to take their procession from near the backside of boys’ hostel No. 2 and 3 that leads to girls’ hostel No. 1. With this route the supporters of PUSU and SOPU would not come face to face as the SOPU tent is erected on the way to girls’ hostels,” said Dhawan. He further added that the SOPU leaders had been asked to carry their procession directly towards girls’ hostels from their tent. The university has further decided to allot particular timings to the student parties to campaign at hostels. The parties would be restricted from carrying out processions at the same time. “There would be a gap of a minimum of half an hour between the campaigning by both the parties at any particular hostel to avoid any dispute or clash,” Dhawan said.
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Varsity not responsible for any mishap during trips
Chandigarh, August 31 Dean Student Welfare (DSW) Prof AS Ahluwalia said: “We have uploaded the instructions on the PU website so that the parents come to know that such trips are organised by the student organisations and university has no role to play in them.” The student organisations had recently arranged one-day trips to Kasauli, Morni, Pinjore gardens and religious destinations in Punjab. In a complete violation of the Lyngdoh Committee recommendations, freebies were being offered to the students. The DSW said all possible efforts were being made to keep a record of expenses made by student parties. Financial observers had been appointed for this purpose and, he said.
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SOPU repeats old promises
Chandigarh, August 31 SOPU leaders seem to have learnt the text of old manifestos by heart and their promises have remained the same, partly because they have not delivered on them, say students. Some of the issues that have been repeated include student representation in the Senate, reduction of fee especially in self financed courses, smart classrooms, household insurance, recruitment of regular faculty and re-implementation of teacher evaluation. Chetan, a PU student, says the new students get misguided by the repetitions of issues in the manifestoes. “Newcomers coming to the campus get attracted to the long list of promises; however, they are not aware that how many of these have been repeated for years,” he said. Sunil Chauhan, another student, says the parties should come-up with such issues that can be fulfilled during the one-year tenure of the student council. Some of the new promises made by the party include choice-based credit system in all the courses, industrial training and summer workshops for all PU students, subsidised-books shop at the AC Joshi Library and installation of sheds at all hostel parkings. Defending the manifesto, SOPU campus president Manoj Lubana said that every year they make over thirty promises through their manifestos; however, after winning the elections they get hardly eight months to fulfill all of them. “The leftover promises are taken up during the next session. Whether the party wins or loses, efforts are made to fulfill all the demands of the students,” Lubana said.
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Flouting election norms, UILS holds freshers’ party
Chandigarh, August 31 The student polls were announced on Thursday evening, soon after which the code of conduct came into affect. According to the code, no function or party could be organised in the university till the elections got over. The security during such functions was also an issue due to which the police had asked for the cancellation of the event. Gurmukh Singh, station house officer at the Sector-11 police station, said they had in written asked the university to postpone the freshers’ party; however, PU went ahead with the function. “There was no permission taken from the police to organise the function,” he said. The SHO said they had written to the PU authorities to postpone all such functions, even if officially organised by the departments, till elections got over in order to maintain peace on the campus. Earlier on August 29, a cultural function organised by the students of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology was stopped by the police due to security reasons; however, even after the election schedule being announced, the freshers’ party was not cancelled. Dean Student Welfare Prof AS Ahluwalia when said that it was not possible to cancel the function on such a short notice. He said it was an official function due to which the department was permitted to hold it. “I have issued orders today that no department will be permitted to hold freshers’ party till the student elections get over,” DSW said.
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Three more flights are set to start from the Chandigarh airport to Mumbai within a fortnight.