Chandigarh, May 11
Sunday morning was not the usual one for residents of Nehru Colony, for they did not wake up in their shanties; rather they woke up on broken bricks of their demolished houses.

“Last night was really cold, and it was really difficult sleeping on broken bricks with protruding edges. My children kept crying throughout the night. However, since my family and I had no other place to go, we slept here on the remains of our razed house," said Suraj, who was collecting bricks and other remains of his broken shanty with his wife and children.

Suraj's family, including three children, was not the only one to have spent the night on bricks. There were several others like them who had to sleep in the open as they could not afford to take shelter in nearby rented accommodations.

“For the past one week, I could not go to work as I was trying to find a shelter within the reach of my pocket for my children. Neither could I find a shelter for them, nor could I make money for the week ahead,” said Vijay Kumar, father of three teenagers, who had been living in the colony for the past 21 years.

Under heaps of broken bricks, one could easily spot school bags, footballs, torn notebooks, clothes, shoes and many household items that once belonged to these residents. Since the crack of dawn, residents of the area had gathered there to collect their buried belongings.

“I was born in this house, and today I will be selling the bricks of my house; each brick will now be sold for Rs 2," cried Lakshmi, who was collecting the bricks with her brother Pardeshi. Uncertainty looms large over the future of these shattered families.

Madhu, mother of an eight-month-old, said, “We were not criminals. For years, we have been paying our electricity bills, then why such a disparity with us. The UT administration has rendered us homeless.”

Panchkula, May 11
A 24-year-old youth was murdered allegedly by his two cousin brothers at Baladwala village in Morni late last night. The victim, Manmohan Singh, was hit on the head with a sharp weapon.

According to the police, the victim's cousins, identified as Sanjeev, alias Sanju, and Shailender, alias Shinda, dragged his body to an isolated area near the village after the incident. Both accused are at large.

After the incident, Sanju went to the victim’s father, Maam Chand, and told him that they had killed his son.

Though the police suspect old enmity behind the murder, they are working on several other theories as well.

Manmohan is survived by his wife and a four-month-old baby girl. While Maam Chand is a farmer, Manmohan was a daily wager.

Sub-Inspector Amit Kumar said, “Three years ago, the victim's father had a brawl with the family of the accused cousins, which turned ugly and both parties suffered injuries. However, the matter was settled in the panchayat.” he said. “We are working on all theories,” he said.

Villagers told the police that Maam Chand had passed unsavoury comments about the accused's mother, leading to the brawl three years ago.

Yashpal, a cousin of the victim, said around 3.30 pm yesterday, Sanju and Shailender came to Manmohan's residence and told him that they had found some work for him.

“Manmohan went with them and around 9.30 pm, Sanju came to my place and told me that they had killed my son,” said Maam Chand.

The family found Manmohan lying in a pool of blood and took him to a hospital in Raipur Rani where he was declared brought dead. The postmortem of the victim was conducted at the General Hospital, Sector 6, which revealed that the victim died of head injuries.

Poor mobile network

Poor mobile network in Morni is again coming in the way of the police in tracing the accused. The police are already groping in the dark in the Saman Dhanak death case in Morni.

Rod may have been used in the crime

Doctors who conducted the post-mortem examination said a rod seemed to have been used in killing the victim.

The police said it was a planned murder. Manmohan's clothers were found torn by the police.

'VIP teachers' to blame, says Minister

Punjab Education Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka said the district was suffering as it had a large number of "VIP teachers". He said action would be taken against teachers in cases where the result was below 20 per cent.

Mohali, May 11
For Varinder Kaur and her family members, it was dream come true when they got the news that she stood first in Mohali district in the Class XII examination of the Punjab School Education Board, the results of which were declared today.

Varinder Kaur, a commerce student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Kharar, topped the district by scoring 94.44 per cent marks (425/450).

Rajwinder Kaur of Government Senior Secondary School of Boota Singh Wala village and Tanya of Sant Baba Wariyam Singh Memorial Public School at Banur remained at the second spot in the district with 93.33 per cent (420/450) marks. They are the students of the science stream. Both the girls stood first in the district in the science group.

In the PSEB overall merit list, Varinder Kaur got the 18th rank, while Rajwinder Kaur and Tanya secured the 23rd rank.

Expressing happiness, Varinder’s family members - Sarbjit Singh (father), Sarbjit Kaur (mother), Ram Pyari (grandmother) and Upinder Singh (younger brother) - said they had an inkling of her good result.

“She used to start studying from 6 am. After her school, she used to attend coaching classes. After returning from there, she spent her time in her room with her books,” said Sarbjit Singh, who works at a private factory in Mohali.

Varinder, who had secured 92 per cent marks in Class 10, said: “I want to be a chartered accountant”.

On the other hand, life was not easy for Rajwinder Kaur as she had to cover a distance of over 10 km on her bicycle to reach the school from her Dharamgarh village.

“My hard work has paid off. Now I want to be an engineer,” said Rajwinder Kaur, who had already cleared JEE (mains). She said: “My aim was to top in the district. I am also happy with my second position here.” Tanya said she was happy with her result and wanted to give credits to his parents and teachers. “I want to become a teacher in my life,” said Tanya.

Zirakpur, May 11
Termed as the gateway of Punjab to the City Beautiful, Zirakpur is not only leaving a terrible impression on scores of tourists who struggle with traffic congestion at this chaotic intersection but also puts hundreds of local commuters to hardship daily.

Inter-state buses going from Chandigarh to Delhi, Patiala, Rajpura, Bathinda and various northern cities of Haryana cross Zirakpur, which marks the confluence of the Chandigarh-Ambala National Highway (No. 21), Ambala-Kalka National Highway (No. 22) and Zirakpur-Patiala National Highway (No. 64) here.

Zirakpur, a small village almost two decades ago, emerged on the international map with the efforts of area MLA late Capt Kanwaljit Singh, who managed to merge seven villages of the area and gave them the status of a nagar panchayat.

With the formation of the nagar panchayat, the sword of the Damocles hanging over the heads of scores of villagers, who had constructed buildings in violation of the Punjab New Capital (Periphery) Control Act - 1952, was removed, following which the area witnessed a massive development.

Scores of private builders flooded the area and carved residential plots in various housing societies and constructed multi-storied buildings to provide affordable housing for people who were unable to buy houses and flats in Chandigarh, which is one of the most expensive cities in the country.

The population of the township increased manifold from just 25,000 as per the 2001 Census. At present, there are 1,50,000 voters in the Zirakpur Municipal Council.

With unprecedented explosion of urbanisation here, population multiplied manifolds and so the number of vehicles. As a result, the intersection started witnessing frequent major traffic jams.

Taking a serious note of public inconvenience due to traffic congestion at this intersection, even a number of judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued directions to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Punjab Government and other departments concerned, but the situation is still same.

To ease the traffic at this intersection of three highways, a flyover was constructed mainly for long-route vehicles heading from Chandigarh to Delhi and on the reverse route. The bridge under area was poorly designed, as the road under the flyover turns to single lane while it is two lane before and after the flyover, leading to a major traffic chaos there.

Wrong side driving

Throwing norms to the wind, motorists prefer driving on the wrong side to reach their destination. Wrong side driving is a menace, which invites accidents. In the absence of proper parking space for cars in the market area, wrong parking of vehicles is another cause of traffic congestion here.

Causes of traffic congestion

The stretch of the Chandigarh-Ambala National Highway (No. 21) under the overbridge (nearly 3-km-long) starting from the Panchkula traffic light point to the Patiala traffic light point is the worst affected. Faulty alignment of open space between the pillars of the flyover and the road berms, encroachments by shopkeepers on footpaths, unauthorised parking of vehicles along the highway and non-designated bus stoppages along the highway are the major traffic bottlenecks here. In the absence of proper bus stoppages for passengers heading towards Patiala and those going to Chandigarh and Panchkula from Patiala, government-run and privately-run buses are adding to the traffic snarls here. The construction of a bus stand along the Ambala-Chandigarh Highway at the Panchkula-traffic light point is yet another traffic hurdle.

Poor planning of local bus stand

Traffic congestion on the Ambala-Chandigarh Highway and the Zirakpur-Panchkula Highway will increase further after the opening of a newly constructed local bus stand adjacent to the Panchkula traffic light point shortly. The building of the bus stand has been constructed by the Building and Roads Wing of the Punjab Public Works Department and the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board. It has three entry and exit points — one each at the Chandigarh-Ambala Highway, Chandigarh-Panchkula road side and Zirakpur-Panchkula road. Experts are of the view that the traffic problem would be aggravated here after the opening of the bus stand.

WHAT NHAI project director says

OC Mathur, project director of the NHAI, claimed to have sent a project for the widening of the Chandigarh-Ambala’s stretch from the Panchkula traffic light point to the Patiala traffic light point to the NHAI headquarters. He said Zirakpur developed beyond expectations. If the pace remained the same, the NHAI would have to acquire more land along the flyover to reduce the congestion on the highway.

No service roads

The overbridge is virtually proving to be a white elephant as it is being used by certain long-route buses and heavy vehicles heading towards Delhi from the Chandigarh and Panchkula sides, while a majority of the local buses and the local traffic are using the highway under the flyover, which adds to the traffic chaos. Vehicular traffic heading towards the Shimla and Panchkula sides has been provided no alternative route. Motorists are using the old Zirakpur-Panchkula section of the highway. In the absence of any service roads on the either side of the Chandigarh-Ambala Highway and the Patiala-Panchkula Highway, vehicles parked in front of the business establishments further add to the congestion. 

When the team of the UT Estate Office was carrying out a demolition drive in colonies of Sector 52, a colony resident called up a local politician for help. The politician was replying ‘Aa rahe hai, raste mein hain’(coming, I am on my way). The leader gave the same reply on two to three occasions. Finally, the colony resident told the leader, “Netaji, ab nahi aaoge to kab aaoge, jab sab kuch khatam ho jayega’(Netaji if you don’t come when will u come?.You will come when everything is over? The UT Estate Office completed its drive but the politician did not turn up on the site. A colony resident said it showed the true colour of politicians. “As elections are over, now, they don’t need our vote”, he said.

Proactive Administration

Otherwise under fire for delaying decisions on files related to public grievances, the Chandigarh Administration is now dealing with encroachments with an iron hand. Earlier, they faced violent protests from encroachers, but now, it has been easy for UT officials to raze encroachments in slum areas. The UT’s
top brass should also adopt the same approach while dealing with issues of public interest.

For media coverage

To get media milage for protesting against the recent fee hike in Panjab University, every student party is making a new strategy to oppose it and requests mediapersons not to share their plans with any other student leaders or members of any other party on the campus. In fact, the student bodies are sending a numbers of memorandums to the media, which they had submitted to the PU authorities in protest against the fee hike to get good coverage.

Who was responsible for the poor result?

Class IX’s poor result has brought out many anomalies existing in the system. While on the one hand, parents had taken to roads to protest against the Education Department on the other, it has exposed the existing loopholes in the system. Even parents are to blame as they do not send their wards to school. However, in the weeklong battle between the parents and the Education Department, nobody took the responsibility for the poor showing by students or no one ensured that they would improve in the future. In between the battle whose responsibility was it after all? CBSE’s new notification came as an interval break, but would the notification actually improve the knowledge of the students, or even after two months, the debate would continue.

‘Have lunch with us’

Officials of the district administration, including a Sub-Divisional Magistrate and owners of poultry farms, gave a slip to women (protesting against the Panchkula administration on the housefly menace) while they tried to serve them food at a dharna venue near the Mouli police post.The women protesters prepared food alongside the Panchkula-Yamunanagar road and asked SDM Gurmeet Singh and Pramod Singla, president of the Haryana Poultry Farmers Association, to have lunch at the spot to feel the magnitude of the menace in the area. The menace has been plaguing the area due to ill-maintained poultry farms for the past decades and the government has simply turned a blind eye to the serious health hazard.

When SHO’s name came under ‘suspicion’

In the mysterious death of Saman Dhanak, while checking the phone details of the girl accompanying him, a number dialed to some “Arvind sir” was found at the time of the incident. Since the first name of the local Station House Officer (SHO) probing the matter is also Arvind, all mediapersons and family members suspected him thinking that it may not been his personal number. Soon, the ‘nervous’ SHO clarified that the number belonged to someone else and not him.

Tussle over paid parking

As paid parking had become one of the political issues in the town during the election campaigns of the SAD and the Congress recently, the district authorities now, seem to be in a hurry to bring the decision in to force without any delay. A meeting in this regard has already been held between the Mohali Deputy Commissioner and the Municipal Commissioner and the latter has already issued a statement that the decision would be implemented soon. "As both candidates of the Congress and the SAD had promised during their campaigns that they would force the authorities not to introduce the paid parking system, if voted to power, the Mohali MC authorities wanted to get it done as soon as the model code of conduct was lifted", said JP Singh, president of the Market Association, Phase III. The members of the association had already lodged protest several times against the issue. As the result of the election is not yet out, the local leaders of both the parties preferred to keep mum on the latest developments in this regard.

Contributed by: Rajinder Nagarkoti, Rajmeet Singh, Aarti Kapur, Mehakdeep Grewal, Bipin Bhardwaj, Hina Rohtaki and Akash Ghai

One fails to understand why the common man has to suffer for the fault of either the Municipal Corporation (MC) or the Administration. It is the responsibility of the authorities to provide satisfactory health services. It would be in the interest of one and all if all the dispensaries, primary health centres, rural dispensaries and other health facilities operative in Chandigarh function under one administrative control. By doing so, not only that their services will become better but they will be managed effectively too. There seems to be a rift or tussle between the MC and the UT Administration. The only and the best course is centralisation of the control of all health services.

Ujagar Singh, Chandigarh

Dual control begets messy management

Government institutions are infamous for inefficiency and indiscipline owing to various factors. In the case in question, there is a dual control and hence, the mess is inevitable. To set the things right, it is better if the control of health facilities is retained by the UT Administration only. The working of dispensaries should be monitored by conducting surprise visits, preferably on monthly basis. By doing so, the authorities can streamline the working on permanent basis.

Chandigarh, May 11
The mealy bug threat is looming over green cover of the City Beautiful.

While the authorities have failed to save trees from the attack of the mealy bugs, the residents are also facing problems. In some areas like Sector 49, where the houses are close to the trees, the bugs have even entered the houses of the residents.Though the authorities have tied polythene sheets close to the bottom of thousands of trees to prevent the bugs from crawling up and sprayed the trees, yet it has been of no use.

Ram Sarup Sachdeva, a resident of Vigyan Vihar Society, Sector 49, said, “The polythene sheets have failed to stop the bugs from damaging the trees. Not only trees, but they have also entered the houses in our society, he added.

Experts say that these pests are potential threats to the green cover of Chandigarh. They are eating into the vitals of trees and sucking their sap. Earlier also in 2000-2001 there was a mealy bug attack, but thereafter, the extensive pest control strategy implemented by the UT Environment Department under the guidance of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) experts, the presence of the bug was considerably controlled by the UT Administration. Kuldeep Sharma, UT Deputy Conservator of Forests, said in December they had issued directions to the UT and MC Horticulture wing to tie polythene sheets and use spray on trees to control these mealy bugs. They will once again write to these departments, he said.

Kishan Pal, Executive Engineer (Horticulture), MC, said that from wherever they had received complaints of mealy bugs they had solved the problem. They would again seek report from their junior officials on the issue, he said. 

Chandigarh, May 11
The Chandigarh Region Innovation and Knowledge Cluster (CRIKC) Institutions celebrated National Technology Day at Panjab University (PU) today.

The authorities said the technology day was celebrated as a symbol of quest for scientific enquiry, technological creativity and the translation of that quest in the integration of Science, Society and Industry. CRIKC Institutions felicitated the Dean, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Amod Gupta, for being conferred the Padma Shri award on the occasion.Dr Gupta was recently honoured by the Central Government with the Padma Shri for his research accomplishments in the field of medicine.PU Vice-Chancellor Prof Arun Kumar Grover presided over the function.

Chandigarh, May 11
The issue of the UT Excise Department “systematically” allowing liquor manufacturers an upper hand in annually increasing the ex-distillery price (EDP) of different brands of liquor in the last seven years has now been raised by the Chandigarh Wine Merchants Association.

“Since 2007-08 to 2013-14, the sources of supply of liquor and beer have been increasing the E.D.P every year. The E.D.P being charged at present is nearly 46 per cent higher as compared to the E.D.P of 2007-08 which is one of the causes of deteriorating the excise policy of the City Beautiful”, said SatyPal, president of the association.The resentment of the liquor traders is that though they know all the factors such as excise duty, assessment fee and value added tax, yet the ex-distillery/brewery prices are not declared while announcing the excise policy.The liquor dealers calculate the landed cost of various brands considering the prevailing EDP of each brand of the Indian made foreign liquor and beer and bid for the liquor vend.

Like the excise duty, the assessment fee and rate of VAT, the E.D.P prices should be declared so that the traders may calculate the landed cost while filing in the tender or bidding for the vend.The association has further pointed out that the anomaly has resulted in the prices of different brands of liquor rising over the years. 

Chandigarh, May 11
As many as 100 persons, who underwent knee replacement, took part in 'boat-a-thon' held at Sukhna Lake early this morning.

The event was organised by Dr Manuj Wadhwa of Mohali-based Max Super-Speciality Hospital.

A few years ago, most of them could barely move their knees due to arthritis pain and activities such as walking, let alone pedalling, were a distant dream for them.

Pedalling a boat was a sign of healthy joints and helped in strengthening muscles and bone power, said Wadhwa, adding: "We chose to organise a 'boat-a-thon' for our patients to ensure that they can enjoy a pain-free life with healthy joints and spread awareness among arthritis patients. We aim at providing them the capacity to lead a healthy lifestyle."

Among the participants at today's event was Harsimrat Kaur (64), who underwent total knee replacement last July after living with arthritis for 12 years.

Earlier, patients in the age group of around 65 years and above used to suffer from arthritis and underwent surgeries. However, those in the age group of 40-45 years are increasingly turning up for knee surgery these days. A high level of stress coupled with modern lifestyle is increasing the incidence of arthritis.

Among those present were Baljinder Bittu, chairman of the FOSWAC (Federation of Sector Welfare Associations Chandigarh) and Dr Rajesh Jogpal, director, Department of Social Welfare, Chandigarh.

Mohali, May 11
High drama was witnessed when several residents of Kumbhra village, mostly women, tried to shut down a liquor vend located near the village here today.

The women moved the cash counter out and also broke some liquor bottles before sitting on a dharna in front of the vend.

The police reached the spot but did not confront the angry villagers.

"We had lodged a protest against the opening of a liquor vend here yesterday also. Chairman of Mohali District Planning Board Amanjot Kaur Ramoowalia also visited here and the contractor had closed the shop in her presence.

We were promised that the vend will be shifted to some other place. However, it was opened again today," alleged Ranjit Singh, a former sarpanch of the village.

Chandigarh, May 11
On Mother’s Day, Late Dr GC Mishra Memorial Educational and Charitable Trust and KB DAV Senior Secondary Public School, Sector 7, Chandigarh, honoured 10 ‘exceptional’ mothers from the city who had worked tirelessly and effortlessly to fulfil the dreams of their children.

The event, “Fourth Maa Samman Samaroh”, was held at Tagore Theatre. Governor of Punjab and UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil honoured the mothers on the occasion.

Among the mothers who were honoured included Lakhvir Kaur, whose daughter Kulwinder Kaur recently cleared the PCS (Judicial) exam despite not having both her hands. Lakhvir, despite having studied only till the primary-school level, had left no stone unturned to ensure that her daughter was able to fulfil her dream.

Savitri Sisodia, a resident of Mauli Jagran, comes from a humble background. When she discovered that her daughter had a keen interest in dance, she picked up an odd job in a school to raise money for her daughter’s professional dance classes. Her daughter has participated in various TV talent shows.

Being an uneducated herself, Vidya Devi Shukla made sure that her son cleared the IIT exam. She raised her son with dedication and provided him all support to clear his exams.

Among the mothers also included a grandmother, Sudarshan Anand (80), who has played the role of parents for her grandchildren. She ensured that her grandchildren’s academics never suffered.

Indu Rampal, a mother of steel nerves, lost her husband when her elder son was just one-year-old and she was expecting her second child. She struggled to make both ends meet. She raised her children by stitching garments. Right now, she is making her son prepare for the Civil Services Examination.

Ramkash is an uneducated mother of four children and a resident of Dadumajra. Her husband is a tailor. Due to her hard work and unconditional support, last year her son got admission to the Chemical Engineering Department of Panjab University. Right now, she is working hard to see her second son become a doctor.

Tejwinder Kaur is a mother of 20-year-old girl, who has genetic disorder. Tejwinder, who has been working as senior assistant in a bank, had scarified her career just to be with her daughter.

Meena Karki, mother of three girls, comes from a humble background. She raised her daughters like sons. One of her daughters has not only made her proud but also the entire city by winning medals in fencing tournaments. Her daughters are known as “Jhansi ki Rani”. Though Meena herself is an asthmatic, she has never let her illness come in the way of fulfilling the dreams of her daughters.

Kamla Sharma, a housewife and a mother of five children, has never been to school. However, she ensured that her children attained highest possible degrees in their field of interest. Last year, her daughter got selected as an HCS executive and son as a tehsildar. Her youngest daughter is pursuing PhD.

Sushma Vashishth considers her daughter as her role model. Her daughter is speech and hearing impaired. When Sushma discovered that her daughter had a keen interest in dance and painting, she took it as a challenge and ensured that she overcame all obstacles to fulfil her daughter’s dream of learning dance. Her daughter has won three national awards.

Chandigarh, May 11
The CPI (ML) Liberation along with various activists staged a protest against the Chandigarh Administration for demolishing slum colonies here at the Plaza, Sector 17, today.

The agitators lead by party secretary Kanwaljeet Singh alleged that the demolition drive was carried out without rehabilitation of residents, rendering them homeless.

The party activists made a human installation, and lay down on the ground at the Plaza, with placards carrying messages like those who toiled to build, maintained and cleaned the City Beautiful did not deserve such a harsh farewell and who was their murderer? -The MC, Chandigarh, the DC, Chandigarh.

Comrade Kanwaljeet Singh said that the installation had been created to create awareness among the masses about the tragedy suffered by the colony dwellers and their children when they saw their houses being brought down by the bulldozers.