Chandigarh, April 30
At the emergency services counter of Government Multi-Speciality Hospital ( GMCH), Sector 16, none was available at the emergency counter to guide patients. Even the board carrying the names of those on duty displayed yesterday’s date - April 28.

Enquires revealed that the reception counter usually remained unattended on Sundays. No staff member was available for duty at the injection room on Sundays. At the emergency services of the hospital fortified with security guards, media personnel were not allowed inside. A visit in the garb of an attendant of a patient revealed that patients, including the elderly, who reached the emergency, were asked to get a stretcher for themselves from outside the main gate of the emergency ward.

Doctors on duty asked one Mahma Singh, an octogenarian suffering from stomach ache, who had trouble even walking, was asked to get a stretcher. When another person standing nearby asked the young doctor to send a ward boy for the purpose as the patients was too old to pull the trolley, the doctor advised him to come forward to help the patient, saying they had only two ward boys and they handled serious patients only.

Emergency services in the city, particularly in government hospitals and the municipal corporation office, on Sundays are as good as naught. This was found by a team of Tribune reporters who visited various offices on Sunday.

Here, a different problem Unavailability of infrastructure, not absence of staff, is the reason behind the poor response of the electricity staff, particularly on holidays. Shortage of staff with vacancies for the post of lineman lying vacant is responsible for the poor redressal of complaints.

Chandigarh, April 30
The municipal corporation's central complaint office remained inaccessible throughtout the day. First, there was no response on phone No.5021633, the complaint office number. Services to the other No. 2711711 were temporarily withdrawn.

Though the Mani Majra complaint office was quick to respond to a call by the Tribune team. The Sector 37 complaint office that caters to Phase II, III and adjoining sectors, remained busy even as the team called on the number thrice at a gap of 30 minutes each.

The team then decided to visited the MCC office, which houses the central complaint office in Sector 17. There was none present in the office. One of the employees at the gates said as it was a holiday, no one was available in the office.

Panchkula/Zirakpur, April 30
As far as the police is concerned, the Vikas Singhal case stands closed.

Having arrived at the conclusion that he committed suicide due to business problems, the police, after recording statements of family members, says the matter has ended.

However, there are a lot of questions unanswered. Initially, the doctor conducting the post-mortem handed over all belongings of Singhal to the family. His papers, phone set and other items were handed over to the family. This resulted in crucial phone records being lost.

Also, the police did not bother to investigate why Singhal was visiting Hotel Mount View on a regular basis since the last three days. Independent inquiries revealed that there was no record about his visit to the hotel.

Those close to him said he was a happy-go-lucky man, known to stand up even in tough times.

Most friends who attended his cremation this morning said it was hard to believe that he could commit suicide on account of business reasons.

Singhal was reportedly “concerned” over the visit of a high-powered committee of the Punjab government which inspected his two projects at Dera Bassi last week.

The projects ran into rough weather following the cancellation of the change of land use by the government in the wake of an interim order of the Punjab and Haryana High court.

A meeting of the Zirakpur Builders Association today mourned the death of Singhal. The meeting said certain “adamant” officials were behind the change of land use which had played havoc with the real estate scenario in Chandigarh’s periphery.

The meeting called upon the government to send positive signals to the industry so that such “unfortunate” incidents did not recur.

Chandigarh, April 30
A high-level probe by the UT’s vigilance department has finally blown off the lid over the issue of restoring prime properties, residential and commercial, in the city.

The probe has established that, different officials of the administration are working at cross-purposes, much to the inconvenience of the city residents.

It has been established that the orders of the adviser to restore at least nine properties were not implemented. In one of the cases, officials concerned transferred about Rs 1 crore to the estate office account. This money paid by the plot-holder went to the state exchequer, but the property was not restored to him. Sources said the estate officials received demand drafts from the plot-holders to the tune of Rs 3 crore - Rs 4 crore, but did not restore the properties to them, despite the legal opinion in favour of the adviser’s order. Sources in the vigilance department said the probe indicated that the implementation of the adviser’s order was delayed on one or the other pretext.

It was found during the probe that the files were first sent by the officials of the estate office to the legal remembrance (LR), then to the law officer in the estate office and after that to the standing council. However, they all reportedly advised that there was no point in making appeals against the adviser’s order.

Sources in the vigilance said a team of officials had been investigating the matter for the past four days under the supervision of senior superintendent of police Dinesh Bhatt. The investigating officials had asked assistant estate officer (AEO) Amit Talwar and section officer Sanjiv Tiwari for “help” in the ongoing probe.

Sources said the restoration of files of commercial and residential properties in Sectors 35, 15, 40, 44, 20-A and two properties in Sector 32 were being looked into by the officials. The adviser had restored these plots after hearing the applicants and sent the same to the estate office for implementation of orders. 

Chandigarh, April 30
City residents could not view their favourite television shows this evening as the Deputy Commissioner's office took away amplifiers from the local cable networking stations.

Cable networks cannot run advertisements or show movies without permission.

Teams raided three local cable networks, WWIL Siti Channel, Sector 20, Prime Channel, Sector 34, and Sky Vision, Sector 40, and dismantled the amplifiers "till further orders".

Sources said the amplifiers were dismantled following complaints that Doordarshan channels, including DD Bharti, Gyan Darshan and sessions of the Lok Sabha, which are mandatory, were not being aired.

A senior official said the local channels were found to be showing movies without the required permission from the producers. Another allegation pertained to running advertisement on the screen along with normal programmes.

Sources in a local cable network said: "We had the permission from Zee TV for running Hindi feature film 'Garam masala’ which was being shown when the team raided our premises.

Talking to the Tribune, Deputy Commissioner R. K. Rao said: "The amplifiers were confiscated under Section 11 of the concerned Act. Cable networks cannot run advertisements or show movies without permission. Showing certain channels of Doordarshan is also mandatory"

Zirakpur, April 30
The four-laning of the Zirakpur-Ambala stretch will open a Pandora's box for the commercial property owners,including resort and marriage palace owners along the Chandigarh-Ambala highway.The commercial property owners' latest worry is the alleged denial of access to them by the National Highway Authority of India(NHAI) following the laying of the drainage system along the highway.

In fact, the NHAI and the commercial property owners are set to be on collision course again. With encroachments on both sides of the road rampant, the battle of wits between the property owners and the NHAI is only going to intensify in the days to come, sources said here today.

A major portion of land in front of these showrooms and resorts comes under the jurisdiction of the NHAI, according to the National Highway Act, Col Sanjiv Puri(retd), project head of the GMR Expressways, the agency executing the four-laning project, claimed today.

Interestingly, sources asserted that a special permission was required by the property owners to have access to the national highway as the land belonged to the NHAI.However, with haphazard construction along the highway, particularly below the Zirakpur flyover, ruling the roost, most of the property owners had not sought permission for the entry to service lanes below the flyover.

The situation was particularly bad in Zirakpur as besides the resorts and marriage palaces, scores of godowns of the MNCs and other big corporates houses were situated along the highway in Pabhat village.The official thinking was that the entry through only natural roads would be allowed and the Zirakpur Nagar Panchayat should provide feeder roads for access to showrooms and other property.

The sources said with a view to blocking the entry of the vehicles the area above the surface of the drainage system is proposed to be constructed at a higher level than the service roads. This area is to be used by pedestrians, Col Puri informed.

Meanwhile, the commercial property owners are up in arms against the NHAI move. The alleged denial of entry to the property owners, who had paid development charges to the civic body, could lead to serious law and order problems, alleges FS Nagra, president of the Commercial Welfare Association(Godown Area) ,Zirakpur.

Representatives of the NHAI, the nagar panchayat, GMR and the commercial welfare association should sit together to find an amicable solution this problem, he asserted.

Panchkula, April 30
Residents of Khera village today descended at the district secretariat, Sector 1, to seek the closure of a liquor vend in their village. Women led the protest stating that the location of the vend was objectionable since it interfered with the free movement of the people in the area.

One of the protestors, Neelam, said the vend had been opened by the panchayat on the premises of the bus stand. “The bus stand has no other shop except this vend. Since buses are not stationed there and only make a brief stop over, it wears a deserted look all the time.

School and college students take their buses from here. Opening a vend would expose them to unsocial elements visiting the place,” she claimed.

Another villager, Vidya, added that the panchayat had four shops at some distance from the bus stand. “These shops are lying vacant for the past many years. If the vend is such a necessity, we have no objection to its being shifted to this location,” she stated.

Meanwhile, at the district secretariat, the villagers gathered to seek the closure of the vend from its present location. They submitted a memorandum to the district administration and said that they would organise dharnas or take law into their own hands by forcing it to close down if the administration did not intervene. 

Chandigarh, April 30
Prem Dutt and Jyoti Parkash, both assistant managers, retired here today after putting in 40 years of service in The Tribune. They joined The Tribune in 1967 at Ambala. Chint Ram who had 29 years’ of service to his credit also retired here today as composing supervisor, The Tribune.

They were given a warm send off by their colleagues.

A farewell party was also arranged in their honour. O.P. Arora, additional general manager, The Tribune, lauded their services to the institution.

Long queues at the passport office in Sector 34, Chandigarh, are a routine affair. There is no shortage of manpower in India. The authorities concerned should recruit more staff so that people do not face inconvenience. It will not only provide jobs to unemployed youths but also save time of the public.

Hardev Singh
Chandigarh

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