New Delhi, January 5
With an eye on the assembly polls later this year, the Delhi Government today gave an in-principle approval for the regularisation of over 200 unauthorised colonies in the city to pave the way for their development on a par with other areas.

A meeting of the Delhi Cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit approved the long-pending proposal to regularise the settlements which were given provisional regularisation certificates in 2008.

The Cabinet today met to discuss the issue of regularization of these colonies which came up on the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) and Forest land. The issue was discussed at length keeping in view the clearance received from all the agencies and departments, including the Department of Urban Development.

"The Cabinet has given in-principle approval for regularisation of 205 unauthorised colonies," said Urban Development Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely. Out of the 205 colonies, officials said 157 colonies came up partly on forest land while 48 settlements have encroached on land belonging to the ASI.

The government decided to regularise the colonies after getting clearance from the Forest Department and the ASI, they said. The government in September had regularised 895 unauthorised colonies which are home to around 35 lakh people.

The Cabinet has also decided to immediately start developmental works in all the colonies which have been regularised. "We will come out with the list of the 205 colonies, which have been given approval for regularisation by the Cabinet, within 15 days," the minister said.

The government has already asked all the three municipal corporations to take the help of professional architects in making the layout plans for the colonies which were already regularised.

It had issued provisional regularisation certificates to over 1,639 unauthorised colonies ahead of assembly polls in 2008. The then Dikshit government, while distributing the certificates, had promised to regularise the colonies if the Congress came to power for the third term.

After the Congress' defeat in municipal polls in April, Dikshit had asked all the departments concerned to expedite the regularisation process.

New Delhi, January 5
Coming down hard on the current Delhi police leadership, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi today said that community policing, in accordance with the government agencies, civic bodies and NGOs, is the need of the hour to eliminate any more criminals rising from the neglected underprivileged class in the Capital.

Speaking to The Tribune on the 25th anniversary of 'Navajyoti', a crime prevention model that runs in over 100 villages in Delhi and Haryana, Bedi added that she hoped that the Justice Verma Commission would suggest an external audit of the police force which would help fix responsibility.

"Let the law universities conduct these audits. An assessment of the police force would highlight both its highs and lows. The problems, shortcomings and the wrongdoings would also be better addressed. It is highly important to plug loopholes in the policing system," she said.

Commenting on the law and order scenario in the Capital, the former cop said that the police department was facing a 'breakdown', adding that years of deterioration had led to the present state.

"This isn't what the Delhi police used to be. Responsible policing cannot be expected overnight. It's a long process. And certainly the current state is not satisfactory. It's an accumulated decline in the standard of policing," Bedi said when asked if she felt that the Delhi police handled the gangrape case aptly, especially in the light of the crackdown at India Gate two weeks ago.

"The Delhi police doesn't understand crime prevention. A lot of offenders from the underprivileged classes take to small-time crimes due to problems like lack of employment, drug addiction and illiteracy. A community policing model is the need of the hour. Or else, the police forces will continue to be disconnected with the people they serve," she added.

New Delhi, January 5
Taking serious note of power cuts being effected by the power distribution companies (discoms) in various parts of the city, the Delhi Chief Minister today directed discoms to ensure 24x7 supply.

Dikshit told the discom officials to fulfill their commitment towards the customers. She said that the power cuts seem to be unjustified as the peak demand is moderate at 3500 MW.

She said that the power sector in the Capital is not facing any shortage of coal as claimed by discoms. She also instructed the power department to monitor the situation and bring it to the notice of the Chief Secretary and the Chief Minister in case power cuts continue in the city.

Meanwhile, condemning the frequent long power outages ranging from 2-5 hours, several Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), today demand compensation in bills for longer power cuts.

"The Delhi government had recently issued a full page colour advertisement in the national dailies, claiming that Delhi is the only state in the country providing 100 per cent power. This claim has fallen flat on the first day of the New Year. Discoms should be fined for regular power cuts and consumers compensated," said Rahul Suri of South Extension Part-I RWA.

S.P. Chauhan of Garhi, near East of Kailash, said they have to face two-hour cuts, three to four times a day. Vanita Kaul of Kailash Hills said that they had been facing cuts of three to four hours for a few days, especially during nights.

"Many of the problems are caused by general breakdown due to poor instrumentation and substandard material used by discoms," claimed Manmohan Mehra of Kiran Vihar, East Delhi.

Debobani Banerji of Govindpuri said that the area has two to three hours cut every night.

Deepak Gupta of West Patel Nagar said hardly a day passed when there was no power cut.

New Delhi, January 5
While the Delhi police remains embroiled in accusations in the gangrape and murder case of the 23-year-old physiotherapy student, clamour for justice for the departed braveheart continues at Jantar Mantar here.

In terms of numbers, crowds might have dipped over the last couple of days, but the anger against the authorities' lackadaisical approach towards women safety showed no sign of ebbing even as the day was marked with the launch of helplines both for the people with aggressive or criminal tendencies and those in distress.

A faculty member at the department of commerce at Delhi University, Dr Neelam Gupta said, "Nowadays the police is not for the security of people. It is for the politicians and the bureaucrats instead. Today the law is on paper only."

A member of the Art of Living which today launched a helpline for people under stress, Gupta suggested yoga, meditation and counselling for all and called for making moral education mandatory for students.

"No qualification is required to enter politics and it suits our politicians. It is tragic that criminals are running the country. Effective policing is lacking. People too have to take a collective responsibility and resolve to help someone in need. People have to rise above their selfish selves," said Sanjula, a chartered accountant from Vasant Kunj, underlining the duty of passers-by in such crimes. 

New Delhi, January 5
To cap unequal allotment of points to the nursery applicants, the Directorate of Education (DoE), Delhi government, has directed the schools to disclose the scores of applicants.

In a circular issued earlier this week, the schools have been asked to make the scores of their applicants public. Most schools have adopted a 100-point system.

The move has come in a bid to attend to numerous complaints that the DoE had been getting over the last week.

All the categories, including distance from the school, girl child advantage, sibling or a family member being an alumnus are allotted points by the schools.

The department gives a free hand to the schools to allot these points according to their needs. However, certain schools had displayed some categories which weren't mentioned at all by the DoE.

Also, it was advised that more points should be allotted to the distance criteria, yet there were certain schools which allotted no points to distance. Hundreds of complaints had been received on the DoE portal over the last week.

"This will reduce the complaints and also help in a more transparent admission process since parents would now be aware of their scores," said a senior official in the department.

"Not just the total score, parents would also get to see the points allotted, category-wise. This would draw attention to any discrepancy during the display of the final list of candidates,” he added.

New Delhi, January 5
A rare bariatric procedure involving curtailing the size of the stomach conducted by a team of 10 doctors at BLK Hospital here has given a new lease of life to a morbidly obese man weighing 180 kg. He suffered from obstructive sleep apnea, a life-threatening condition of sleep and breathing disorder in which breathing passage is blocked for a few moments during deep sleep.

"The day he reported to our OPD, he was lethargic and kept falling asleep in the chair in the waiting area. Apparently he would snore loudly and suddenly stop breathing many times during the night. He required emergency admission and minutes after admission he crashed and had acute respiratory failure due to prolonged sleep apnoeic spell. He was immediately put on a ventilator to support his respiration," said Dr Deep Goel, director of the private hospital's department of bariatric surgery.

"Obstructive sleep apnoea, a life-threatening problem, is extremely common among obese people and can contribute to the development of pulmonary hypertension and cor pulmonale. Massive obesity is the underlying cause and is an absolute indication for weight loss surgery," he added.

"Along with increasing weight, I started having breathing troubles. I consulted various doctors but I could not get the right treatment. Here doctors advised my family that I should undergo laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy which despite risks has helped me to breathe properly," said Munish Chand who suffered respiratory failure in the hospital and was operated for laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy which is commonly known as stomach stapling.

The surgery used for management of morbid obesity was performed for three hours by a team of 10 doctors which included critical care doctor, anaesthetists, lung doctors and surgeons.