Chandigarh, April 4
As mercury soars and power consumption goes up, the tri-city seems to be headed for a power and water crises.

Anticipating a shortfall of 50 to 80 mw, UT power officials do not rule out rotational power cuts. To avert a crisis, the UT is paying double the amount to purchase power from the Power Trading Corporation (PTC).

The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation claims the residents will not face any water shortage this summer. But it is considering a ban on the use of water for washing cars from May to June.

Officials in the MCC said around 75 per cent of the city residents were getting a 16-hour water supply, while the rest were being supplied water for about 19 hours. “The area under the Sector 37 water works gets 19 hours’ supply,” said SE, Public Health, SR Aggarwal.

On the power scenario, officials said efforts were afoot to get an additional 50 mw from Power Trading Corporation for the months of May and June. A senior official said: “ Consumers need not be bothered because the purchase is a short-term remedy for the shortage expected this summer. Against the present entitlement of 250 mw, we are receiving only 85 mw to 168 mw power per day. This could lead to rotational cuts as was done last year.”

On the supply of water, MCC officials said: “Our aim is to provide water supply round the clock and we hope to achieve it within the next two years.”

While no power cuts are likely in the months of April and May in the city, given the availability of power in the state this year, Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam has decided to keep residents "informed" as and when the cuts are finalised.

"This year, we have 10 to 12 per cent more power available with us as compared to last year. However, a lot will depend on the weather this year and the subsequent demand," MD Jyoti Arora said.

She explained that the maintenance of the power stations had begun in February and these would be ready before the mercury started to shoot.

The residents and the industry can hope to be informed of rotational cuts beforehand. "Though we used to announce the schedule of the power cuts in selected districts, we are fine-tuning the process to make it more specific. The residents will know exactly when and for how long the cuts will be imposed."

Panchkula, April 4
Students of Government College, Kalka, today took to the streets to protest against denial of roll numbers to 30-odd under-graduates of the first and second year here today.

Tempers ran high at the college campus even as the first examination began amid protests at the college premises. Students who had not been issued roll numbers after failing to qualify under the norms laid down by the university had heated arguments with principal RS Mann, who sought police help after he failed to placate them.

While some students did not have the requisite attendance, others had failed to qualify a pre-examination as also a second examination held to enable them to qualify.

"Why did the college not tell us that we were ineligible when they gave us ‘no dues’ certificate on March 30. The authorities have no business keeping mum on the issue,” said an agitated Ajay Sharma of BA-I.

“It seems our roll numbers are on sale. He asked us to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 each and get our roll numbers. There are other students in the college, our classmates, who are taking the examination even though they don’t qualify for the same,” alleged Anuj Pathak.

Chandigarh, April 4
The new session has begun, but the new NCERT textbooks on various subjects are yet to hit the markets in Chandigarh. At most leading bookstores in the city, books printed by private publishers are available in the market, but at very high prices.

If a set of NCERT books cost about Rs 500, books on the same subject by private publishes could cost two or three times more, said a Sector 17 bookseller. Despite the fact that there could be no resource crunch, either with the NCERT or the CBSE, the much talked about ‘new distribution pattern’ seems a non-starter.

A city based trader, on the condition of anonymity, said this time the distribution had been designed zone-wise. “The real problem is that zones like Delhi, Una, Chandigarh and Kalka get similar books’ quota, but there is large variation in the number of takers. Consequently, when we ask other zone distributors to supply us from their excessive quota, they charge more from us. This ultimately burdens the customers.”

Chandigarh, April 4
An assistant sub-inspector of the Chandigarh Police, who was reportedly under the influence of liquor, was the target of mob fury in Sector 36 before he was taken into custody by his colleagues last night.

The accused has been identified as Om Parkash. He is in his fifties. He is posted in the Sector 11 police station. A case of obscenity under Section 294 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against him. He was later released on bail and placed under suspension for “grave misconduct”. The cop was posted at the Sector 36 police station about two months ago. A departmental inquiry for major penalty has been initiated against him.

Sanjeev Sahni of Sector 36, who nabbed the cop in the act, said it was past midnight when he saw an unidentified man standing under a streetlight in an objectionable manner. As he approached the man, he tried to flee on his scooter. However, his scooter failed to start and he was caught pants down.

Sahni said he took away the keys of the scooter following which the man attacked him and a minor scuffle ensued. Sahni hit his opponent with a helmet. The man surrendered and Sahni called the police, even as the former claimed: “ I don’t care as I am a cop myself.”

Chandigarh, April 4
If you thought the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) has been protecting the environment and your ‘green’ interests, read on. The PPCB is perhaps the only pollution-controlling agency in the country that allows housing projects to be set up next to highly polluting industries. It has also ruled that residents of such colonies will never complaint against the polluted environs they are living in.

Starting with a norm that no housing project could be set up within 500 metres of an industrial unit, in May 2005 the board went on to dilute this norm to 100 metres. A host of promoters, who otherwise would have not been able to procure the all-important no objection certificates (NoCs) from the PPCB, were as a result “adjusted” after dilution of this norm. At least 11 promoters from Dera Bassi alone set up their projects at a distance of less than 500 metres from industrial units, 10 of which are next to red category industries. (‘Red’ category industries are those, which cause a very high intensity of pollution.)

Reportedly under tremendous pressure from the then government, in January 2006 the board did away with the 100-metre rule as well. All that was now required between a housing project and a polluting industrial unit was a 50-feet wide green belt buffer. Twelve housing projects in Mohali alone benefited from this thinning down of the rules. Boundary wall of many of these housing projects is next door to red industries and in many cases the distance between the two is less then 10 metres.

In its January 2006 circular the board also decided to smother all-possible voices of protest. “The coloniser will put in a condition while making registered deeds with the buyer of the flat, that the buyer of the flat will have no right to make any complaint against the intensity of industrial pollution caused by the existing industries even if the industry is meeting with the prescribed standards,” stated the circular.

Chandigarh, April 4
About 75 students and their parents staged a protest at the gate of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 33, against the new Smart School concept being implemented in the school. Reason: the school authorities have refused to promote Class VIII students of the school to the next class.

Later, a parents-students delegation went to Sector 9 office of the education department and raised slogans against the orders of the department outside the office of the DEO as the DPI (S) was not in town.

The DEO pacified them saying that the existing school students would not be shunted out. “Let the higher authorities come, we will review the concept and it would be our prime concern to see the interest of the mediocre students of the school,” she said.

The official spokesperson of the education department also informed them that they should not panic. “The interest of the existing students of all four schools to be converted into smart schools would be safeguarded at any cost. There would be uniform policy for all four schools and no special changes would be made in a particular school”.

They showed their resentment against the administration’s instant orders that as the smart school concept has been implemented in the school, the admissions to Class IX will be made on the basis of percentage of marks they obtained in Class VIII.

For the above 60 per cent scorers in Class VIII - Ankush Bansal, Seema, Sunita Bhatt, Akash, Pinki, Paramjit - it was a shocking moment that they would not be admitted to the next class in their own school.

The parents too were agitated. “Our children have gone into depression. Who will be held responsible if any child does something unpleasant?” asked the parents.

“On one hand, the administration talks about ‘Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan’ while on the other hand they are denying our children admission to their own school, said the 
parents.”

Mohali, April 4
The one-kanal house of the self-styled president of “Khalistan” Jagjit Singh Chohan here wore a deserted look today. He died at Tanda in Hoshiarpur district in the morning.

The house was locked and a Nepalese caretaker, who lived in the garage, was unable to provide any information. The annexe of the house has been rented out.

Even his immediate neighbours in Phase II were not aware of his death till past midday. His contemporary, Dr Sohan Singh, who lived at a little distance away, was also not aware about the death of Chohan when journalists met him.

Jaswinder Singh, a school teacher, who has been a tenant of Chohan for the past many years, said he got to know about the death in the afternoon when a caretaker of Chohan rung up from Tanda.

He said Chohan had stayed for more than six months in this house after his return from the UK in 2001. He shifted to Tanda where he had set up a hospital. He used to come here only after a gap of a month or two and would return after spending a day. The last time he visited Mohali was in November last year.

Kulwant Kaur, his immediate neighbour, said Chohan came to Mohali very rarely. Whenever he came to the town he always left after spending a day or two. She said he did not have any children and had adopted a son of a close relative. The adopted son, Rupinder Singh, had gone to London about a month ago.

Kulwant Kaur said they did not have much interaction with the Chohan family.

Dr Sohan Singh, an activist in the “Khalistan” movement, mourned the death of Chohan, saying that he had met him for the first time on the premises of Sri Harmandir Sahib. Chohan had started a temple radio programme that time. Later Chohan attended a seminar (organised by the Sohan Singh group) at Panchayat Bhavan in Chandigarh.

Dr Sohan Singh said probably in 1980 Chohan had approached him along with his friend and asked him to join him in hoisting the “Khalistan” flag, but he refused.

Chohan hoisted the flag at Anandpur Sahib and then left the country, added Dr Sohan Singh.

He alleged that Chohan often met Congress leadership in Delhi when he was in India and had also joined hands with the government. He had come back to India with the help of the government and later allegedly made efforts to scuttle the “Khalistan” movement.

Chandigarh, April 4
The family of 38-year-old Suresh Kumar Yadav, a senior auditor with the audit department, accountant general, Haryana, in Sector 33, is a worried lot as the local police has failed to trace their son, who has been missing since March 26.

Prem Yadav, younger brother of the missing auditor, told TNS that Suresh had called his family on that fateful day at around 5:45 pm saying he would be late. Since then, there has been no information about him. His family went searching for him late into the night, but to no avail. They lodged a report in the Sector 34 police station the next morning.

Prem Yadav, who is settled in Hong Kong, came here the day he learnt about the disappearance of his brother. The family met the UT senior superintendent of police, who transferred the case to the crime branch. He said on April 1, the police called them informing that they had found Suresh’s abandoned scooter (CH-01-M-9805) from Dhanas near a liquor vend. The scooter was without petrol and it documents were missing. The mobile phone of his brother was also not functioning.

Prem alleged that his brother was facing problems at work and was under stress for the past four months. Following this, he had applied for an inter-section transfer. His call details revealed that the last call was made from Sector 26.

“The staff members at his workplace have not even enquired about Suresh. They are taking the matter causally. But the police is not paying heed to our request to question Suresh’s colleagues,” Prem rued.

However, in-charge of the Crime Branch inspector Satbir said, “We have cross examined the statements of his colleagues, but nothing objectionable has surfaced. As far as kidnapping is concerned, the family would have received a ransom call had that been the case. Suresh was sensitive by nature, which may be a reason for his disappearance.”

He further added that they had flashed photographs of Suresh and also issued a hue and cry notice to all district head quarters. The police was also in touch with hospitals to track of unidentified persons or bodies being brought there.

Suresh has two minor sons and his wife is a housewife. He had been living with his father B.L. Yadav who retired as chief auditor from the Haryana State Electricity Board.

Chandigarh, April 4
The experiment of installing kiosks at various bus shelters across the city has got a mixed response. While at some places these kiosks are a success, at others these remained closed.

Despite some problems, most of the owners of such kiosks are happy. They claim that it is a small investment with good dividends as rent of a kiosk ranges between Rs 1,000 and 2,000. There are a few others who claim that they are not even able to make up the cost of investment due to the placement of bus shelters. This seems to be the reason why kiosks at Sectors 34 and 35 bus shelters have already closed down.

“Undoubtedly, the concept is good as it provides opportunity to poor people to run shops with nominal rent as well as investment. But the major drawback is the lack of security at night. It is very easy to open the windows of these kiosks. Goods worth Rs 10,000 have been stolen from my shop,” said Ramesh Sharma, who has been running his business from a kiosk in Sector 21.

Ramesh Prasad, who is running a kiosk from Sector 11 bus shelter (opposite new the OPD of the PGI), is, however, happy with his business which has been bringing him Rs 3,000 per month. “But the space here is very less,” rues Ramesh, who was a labourer before opening this shop.

Echoing the views, Shamsher Singh, a salesman at a kiosk opposite the GMCH, Sector 32, said the kiosks provided jobs to poor people. “I am getting Rs 1,500 per month from the owner. It’s just like a part-time work,” says Shamsher.

However, the happiest are the commuters who have been getting much-needed facilities like water bottles, cold drinks, snacks, telephone facilities etc. at these kiosks.

“These kiosks are beneficial for commuters, especially in summer. They can quench their thirst or enjoy snacks while waiting for buses. The phone facility at these shelters is just like icing on the cake. Such basic facilities, definitely, save time of the common people,” said Ajay Kumar, a government employee, who uses local bus service to reach his office everyday.

Panchkula, April 4
Haryana Tourism Minister Kiran Chaudhary chaired a meeting of the district grievances committee at the District Secretariat, Sector 1, here today. This was her first meeting after being made minister in charge of the district early this year.

Of the 21 complaints, 10 were redressed on the spot while the respective officers were directed to dispose of the remaining complaints. A widow, Purshotami Devi, complained to the minister that a part of her house was demolished to lay the road from Brat to Tikkar. The officer present at the spot had assured compensation to reconstruct the demolished part of the house. However, two years later, she was yet to receive the compensation.

Chaudhary asked the officers of the Shivalik Development Agency to compensate her on a priority. Jagdish Kumar, a resident of Nanakpur, Kalka, complained that the forest department had forcibly taken possession of his land and a rest house constructed. He, too, is awaiting compensation. He demanded that he should be given compensation in accordance with the prevailing land rates. The minister asked the officials to redress his grievance at the earliest.

Chaudhary asked the officials concerned to install a bigger transformer and a motor by in the next 15 days to solve the problem of electricity and water paucity in Bhoj Kotti. Also, she directed the release of an electricity connection for a tubewell to Billa village.

Residents of Raila village objected to the closure of a road. The minister asked the planning officer to carry out an on-the-spot inspection and resolve the matter to the satisfaction of the people.

This is regarding the news “ Punjab eyes UT farmhouse”that appeared in the April 31 edition of Chandigarh Tribune. It is ironic that where the UT administration has failed, Punjab thinks it can succeed. Though the city attracts a lot of tourists round the year, there has not been enough effort by the administration to develop more tourists sites.

There is plenty of scope for the same as there are several scenic spots in the periphery of the city. Also, there should be more places with joy rides for kids. The city needs to be more sensitive towards children’s need for entertainment.

Chandigarh, April 4
A woman was robbed of her ear rings and mobile phone in broad daylight by two unidentified youngsters near Fun Republic, here, this afternoon.

Chandigarh, April 4
High taxes and freight charges on wheat is keeping away agri-corporates from making a foray in the wheat procurement process in Punjab. The high cost of wheat from Punjab has forced most of the companies like ITC, Adani, Cargill, Glencore and Australian Wheat Board to procure wheat from mandis of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

The reason for this corporate ‘disinterest’ in Punjab is based on pure economics. Punjab charges the highest taxes in North India (11. 5 per cent) on each quintal of wheat procured from its mandis. These taxes (market fee, rural development fund, VAT, cess on VAT and arhtiya commission) is about Rs 145 per quintal.

Also, the freight charges from Punjab to South India (for example Bangalore) works out to be Rs 160 per quintal.

This means that the price a company will have to pay on each quintal of wheat procured from the state, including the MSP of Rs 850, is RS 1055 per quintal.

Comparatively, wheat procured from Haryana (with 10. 5 per cent tax), Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan (with 7.5 per cent tax) and Madhya Pradesh (with 4 per cent taxes) is much cheaper for these companies. Even the freight charges from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to South India (the main market for selling of wheat procured by the companies) is less than the charges from Punjab.

The big wheat traders in Punjab informed TNS that this year, none of the companies have made arrangements to buy wheat from Punjab.

Last year, these traders in Khanna and Rajpura had procured wheat on behalf of the above mentioned corporates. “In 2006, these companies had procured 17 per cent of the total wheat arrival in Punjab, about13.1 lakh metric tons from a total arrival of 82.9 lakh tons.

But this year, these companies have been wooed by the lower taxes and freight in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh,” informed Raj Sood, a leading trader in Khanna, who procures wheat for Cargill, Glencore and Australian Wheat Board.

Officials in agriculture department, Punjab informed TNS that there were unconfirmed reports of certain companies buying the wheat directly from the farmers at their farm, and saving on the 11. 5 per cent tax. “But these appear to be rumours only,” said a senior official. Though wheat arrival has started in various mandis of the state, it is only flour mill owners from Punjab and neighbouring cities of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh who are buying the wheat.

Mahinder Kumar, another leading trader from Rajpura, who procures wheat on behalf of Cargill, KRBL and Adani, informed TNS that almost all of the 4500 quintals of wheat that has arrived in Rajpura so far this year, has been picked up by the local flour mill owners.

“These private mill owners are paying anything between Rs 880 – Rs 913 per quintal of wheat, which is higher than the MSP. So far, all the wheat arrival has been picked up by these mill owners and the government agencies have not stepped in here.

However, in a few mandis like Machchiwara in Ludhiana, it is the government agencies who are procuring wheat,” he added. Kumar also said that though agri-corporates like Bonge had been visiting mandis in Punajb, so far they had not tied up with traders to procure wheat.