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Life On The Edge
Mohali, August 20 The reason: the police on this killer stretch cannot be contacted. The national police emergency 100 number does not work here. Nor does the ambulance service number 102. If you are living in Chandigarh’s periphery and need to call for help, a fervent prayer may be the only recourse. Residents in Zirakpur, Dera Bassi and Lalru on the precincts of a modern city like Chandigarh and Mullanpur Garibdass and the Majri block have no access whatsoever to the three national emergency numbers: 100 for police, 101 fire brigade and 102 ambulance. The number 100 is non-functional, number 101 connects to the fire brigades at Nangal and Rajpura and if a caller gets through number 102, the general hospital in Sector 16, Chandigarh, is at your service, ignoring the civil hospitals at Mohali and Dera Bassi. Mobile phones here are of no use, despite the claims made by mobile companies. Connectivity to these numbers is non-existent. At Dera Bassi, the 100 and 102 numbers were found non-functional while there was no response on 101, both from a landline and a mobile phone. A Lalru resident trying these numbers from a landline did not get through on 100 and 102 and at 101 the fire station at Dera Bassi responded to the call. All these numbers were unavailable on a mobile phone. Neither the Dera Bassi civil hospital, nor the police station can be reached here through these emergency numbers. The police stations at these places have mobile numbers which only a handful know. In case of an emergency on the Chandigarh-Ambala Highway, where fatal accidents take place almost everyday, commuters cannot call the police for help. The police has not bothered to get their mobile numbers displayed on roadside boards. A resident of Mullanpur Garibdass could not get connected on number 100 from a landline. In the Majri block, none of the three numbers functioned from either a mobile or a landline phone. The Civil Hospital in Mohali, which also has an ambulance service, is not connected to any emergency number. Mobile calls to 100 reaches the control room in Mohali, but a call from the mobile to 101 lands the caller at the Nangal Fire station. According to the police, the fault lies with BSNL which is supposed to make sure these emergency numbers respond. “Since Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula have the same area code, the numbers keep getting connected to other stations,” said SP R.S. Khatra.
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100 GMADA sites go under hammer today
Mohali, August 20 The most coveted among these are the 20 residential sites offered by the authority. One kanal plots are available in Sector 63 (Phase IX), 64 (Phase X), Sector 69 and Sector 70. Other than these, 10 smaller plots are available in Phase XI. “We received earnest money from over 90 bidders today. Tomorrow we expect an even better response,” said GMADA chief Krishan Kumar. GMADA has fixed Rs 7950 per square yard as reserve price for residential sites. Among the commercial properties, the most sought after are the shop-cum-office sites in Sector 70. On the Chandigarh-Sohana road these sites have in the past fetched PUDA record-breaking amounts. The sites available in two sizes of 120 square yards and 240 square yards have
been reserved at a price of Rs 18,8000 per square yard. SCOs have also been offered in Sector 67 where the reserve price has been fixed at Rs 140973 per square yard. Shop-cum-flat sites are available in Sector 64 and Sector 71.The sizes vary from 121 square yards to 127 square yards and the reserve price from
Rs 1,50,400 per square yard to Rs 1,52,727 per square yard. GMADA is for the first time offering built booths in Sectors 66, Sector 48C and in the City Park Sector 68. These 18 sites vary in size. As many as 18 booths will be available in Sector 67. The sizes vary between 33 square yards and 35 square yards and the reserve price has been fixed at Rs 89,012 per square yard. GMADA will also offer 14 single-storey shops in Sectors 60 and Sector 63. In four sites at Sector 60, GMADA has allowed these shops to have basements. These have been reserved at a price of Rs 19,19100 per square yard and the size varies between 75 square yards to 77 square yards. The 10 sites in Sector 63 are sized between 45 square yards to 47 square yards and the reserved price fixed at Rs 1,43,500 per square yard. The auction tomorrow begin at 11 am.
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GMADA’s visiting hours
Mohali, August 20 A telephone helpline has also been made functional by GMADA for the convenience of the public. Any aggrieved person may report his complaint at the helpline No. 0172-6533398 round the clock. All these complaints are computerised and thereafter sent to the officers concerned for disposal.
— TNS
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Teej dress code has councillors fuming
Chandigarh, August 20 Upset over the attitude of the ‘mayor’, the councillors allege that the matter is going out of hands. Many had earlier objected to the amount of Rs 10 lakh being spent on the event.The event is likely to be held this weekend. Later, the choice of Shanti Kunj as the venue of the event had also been objected to. Now the fact that a dress code is being suggested for the event has ‘upset’ many senior councillors. According to sources the mayor held a meeting of the councillors today. In the meeting it was suggested that the councillors should follow a distinct dress and colour code for the two-day event. It was also suggested that the councillors could be dressed in their traditional attire for the event. Intrigued by the suggestion many councillors found it offending and ridiculed it openly. Talking to TNS, some senior councillors stated that such an event was nothing but wastage of time and money. “A health camp could have been organised instead of all this. This is being done just for the personal satisfaction of a few,” stated a senior councillor. Some councillors, who were already against the idea of celebrating this festival, refrained from attending the meeting. Many who did attend it, later objected to the formation of committees where they were assigned different duties, while others stated that they had not received any formal intimation and were thus not aware of such a development.
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Truck owner found dead
Mohali, August 20 According to the police, the victim, Paramjasjit Singhm, a resident of Phase IX here, left his home for Delhi, his truck loaded, on Saturday night at 9pm and reached the petrol station at 9.30pm. The petrol station employees told the police that he asked them if he could rest there for a while. He parked his truck about 100 meters from the station and went inside. The truck remained parked through the day yesterday at the spot. Only when the petrol station employees noticed blood at the truck’s door this morning did they realise that the occupant was lying dead inside.
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VIP Craze
Chandigarh, August 20 Aditya Goyal, another local resident, paid Rs 2 lakh for CH-04A-003 while HMM Coaches paid Rs 1.48 lakh for CH-04A-009. The number CH-04A-055 bagged Rs 32,000. Other prominent numbers auctioned at the site were CH-04A-0002(Rs 17,500), CH04A-004(Rs 49,000), CH04A-05(Rs 45,000), CH04A-007(Rs 40,000), and CH04A-008(Rs 15,000).
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PAN Pangs
Chandigarh, August 20 Over seven years after the death of Arun Rishi, a former employee of a Chandigarh-based private organisation, the department has asked him to surrender his duplicate PAN number. In fact, Rishi’s case is not an exception as hundreds of other persons have been issued similar notices to surrender their duplicate PANs. They are, however, clueless about what they are supposed to do in such a case. The notices say that the assessees had "inadvertently" been allotted more than one PAN. "You may be aware that having or using more than one PAN is against law and attracts a penalty under the IT Act," it says. In future you should use the PAN at serial number first. All other PAN(s) allotted to you would become non-operational and should not be used, the notice advises. However, if the assessee wanted to use any of the other PANs, he should inform the Assistant Director (Systems), Computer Centre, Income Tax Office, Patiala. within 10 days. Department officials claimed that the drive to undo duplication was aimed at benefiting the assessees so that they use single PAN for all transactions. However, the assessees are not impressed by the department's logic. Instead of asking the assessees to inform about their exact PAN, the department should get the information from income tax returns."It is unnecessary harassment by the department," alleged Kapil Khanna, a Chandigarh-based tax consultant. The assessees asserted that since the department had all data about them, including the PAN, in their record, there was no need to issue notices to hundreds of persons. Since the data about PANs was computerised, the department should not have issued more than one PANs to the assessees in the first place, they added.
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Janta Colony bereft of basic amenities
Chandigarh, August 20 Shortage of drinking water, insanitary conditions and lack of infrastructure plague the colony in the vicinity of Chandigarh. In fact, tap water is available only for about 20 minutes a day. Left with no other option, the residents are forced to go to Khudda Lahora and the PGI to fetch water. The residents have submitted written applications to many officials, but the problem persists. “The government takes water charges for three months in advance, but despite this we do not get adequate water,” rued Uma Shankar Yadav, a resident of the colony. Another resident of the colony, Chhote Ram Tiwari, said, “The watchman of the tubewell situated at the waterworks operates the tubewell in an irregular manner. We have complained to the officials concerned with requests to transfer him, but no action has been as taken yet”. Admitting to the water shortage, assistant engineer G.S. Bola said, “A new tubewell is being dug specially for Janta Colony.” In fact, inadequate drinking water is not the only problem the residents face. Streets remain covered with sewage in the absence of proper drainage facilities. The accumulation of sewage around houses poses threat of water-borne diseases. Adding insult to injury, there is no government dispensary in the colony to provide treatment to poor residents. No doctor visits to the colony. Besides, there is no school in the colony.
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Fire safety no concern for Mohali admn
Mohali, August 20 Whenever there is a major fire, authorities suddenly wake up and order probes, followed by suspensions and get surveys done. But the reports submitted in connection with the surveys then keep gathering dust. The council submitted a report based on the survey of the fire brigade about the highly fire prone rehri markets about two months ago to the SDM. Another report of the civic body was sent to the SDM about a month ago regarding a survey about fire safety measures in hotels, restaurants, dhabas, marriage palaces and community centres. The two reports failed to elicit any action on the ground. Sources said the fire brigade officials carried out a survey of 46 hotels, restaurants, dhabas, sweets shops, lodges and textile sale points and according to the report as many as 40 did not have any fire fighting arrangements. The report said these included popular joints like Franco hotel, Guru Nanak Sweets and Swagat Sweets Shop, all in Phase I, Gawritex in the industrial area, Katani Sweets, Katani Hot Shop, Hot Millions, Ganga Lodge, Domino’s Pizza, all in Phase III B 2, Amrit Ice Cream & Fast Food, and Khalsa Vaishno Dhaba in Phase V, Gobind Dairy & Sweets in Phase VII and Hotel Town Pride, Phase IX. The survey said the fire fighting arrangements were not satisfactory at Bassi theatre in Phase II. All community centres in the town and five marriage palaces -- Jyotjee Palace, Shehnai Marriage Palace, Dara Studio, Celebration Marriage Palace and Bawa White House -- in Phase VI and IX of the industrial area. According to the report of the civic body, fire incidents could happen in these business establishments due to short circuit, loose electrical wiring, LPG leakage etc. A survey carried out earlier by the fire brigade officials about fire safety arrangements in rehri markets of the town had painted a grim picture of the state of affairs there. The report that covered the rehri markets in Phase I, IV, VII, X, XI and Sector 71 said there were no fire safety measures in place, ventilation was poor, no proper exits had been provided in case of emergency, there was temporary loose electrical wiring all over and no facility for water storage. Tin sheets had been used to make khokhas in most of these markets, which added to the danger. In case of a major fire there was every possibility of loss of life apart from damage to property. In fact, fire had broken out in the rehri markets of Phase I and XI after the report was submitted to the authorities concerned. Though there was a minor fire in the Phase I market, three khokhas had got burnt in Phase XI on July 31.
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Drive against drunken driving fails to sizzle
Chandigarh, August 20 The traffic police had engaged a “spy-brigade” of NCC cadets to put a check on instances of drunken driving. The UT superintendent of police (Traffic), A.S Ahlawat, during the launch of the novel scheme to curb the menace of drunken driving, had said the cadets would keep an eye on persons driving after downing a couple of drinks. The cadets were to inform the traffic police about such violators on its toll free number 1073. However, despite the hype and publicity, the fleet of traffic police, equipped with 10 alcho-sensors, including five new alcho-sensors, having five interceptor vehicles, six motor cycles and 140 traffic police personnel managed to book only 14 motorists for drunken driving. This despite the fact, that the city has over 350 taverns, pubs, bars, hotels and discotheques. Hundreds of youth drink and drive on Saturday nights after attending late night parties. Taking into account the number of hours put in by the traffic police at these nakas, the record reflects poorly its performance. Drunken driving nakas are held for three hours from 10 pm to 1 am at four places in the city on four days in a week. Citing shortage of manpower as the reason for the scheme falling flat, Ahlawat said, “More than 50 per cent of the force remains deployed for VIP route alert every day. We are facing the shortage of staff and are just managing things with our level best.” About the NCC cadets he said, “Most of them were busy with their examinations or studies. I hope they will provide better assistance in the coming days”.
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Industrial Area set for infrastructure upgradation
Chandigarh August 20 Giving information in this regard, an official spokesman said an Empowered Committee, headed by home secretary, Krishna Mohan, had been constituted which decided about the short and long term action plan for improving the infrastructure of the area. The MC is undertaking this entire work. The short-term measures included widening of roads, augmentation of streetlights, storm water drainage, sewerage, beautification of entry points and development of additional surface parking etc. The long-term measures included Rehabilitation of Colony Number 4 and Sanjay Colony, upgradation of power, construction of subways, development of multi-level parking and utilisation of 121 vacant plots. The Administration will spend Rs 17.14 crore on widening and strengthening of various roads in Industrial Area Phase-I. The renovation work of road from Bhushan factory to Purv Marg passing through Ordinance Factory and Hind Motors to PASCO road is going to start in September and will be completed by December 31. Similarly, revised estimates are under process for the renovation work of road from Purv Marg to Railway Station Road and the work would be completed by December end. The revised rough cost estimate for the widening and strengthening of a group of internal roads in blocks A, B and C and the construction of truck parking is under preparation. Tenders have already been received for the construction of three temporary parkings in Industrial Area Phase-I at an estimated cost of Rs 64.36 lakh. The construction of temporary parkings will also be completed by December 31.
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Fauji Beat
To keep their firm hold on the Army, the British resisted its Indianisation. Thus barring a miniscule minority of Indian officers, the Army continued to have British officers. Given the fact that in World War II, the highest command given to an Indian officer was that of a brigade, one can imagine how inexperienced the Indian officers, who were suddenly catapulted to senior ranks, were when the country became independent on August 15, 1947.
The Indian politicians and bureaucrats, on the other hand, had a fairly good experience of governance and administration. This was because the politicians had fought elections and formed governments in various provinces during the Raj days and the Indian Civil Service (ICS) officers had acquired enough experience to handle administrative problems due to their service having been Indianised much earlier than
the Army. Due to their inexperience, especially in the field of civil-military relations, it was easy for the politicians and bureaucrats to sideline the senior Army officers. Maj-Gen D.K. Palit, in his book, ‘War in high Himalayas: The Indian Army in crisis’, says: “Repeated coups in neighbouring Pakistan, spearheaded by the Army (which still enjoys a special place in the ruling set-up), reinforced the deep-rooted paranoia, which plagued Indian politicians. One illogical consequence being that the Army is still kept at a distance from
policy-making councils of the government.
Army’s first
challenge
Immediately after the partition of the country in August 1947, the Army got involved in the mammoth task of evacuation of refugees and internal security duties in and around Punjab. While it was still grappling with this problem, it faced its first serious challenge from Pakistan. This challenge stemmed from the indecisiveness of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir about accession to India or Pakistan. It was only in September 1947 that the Maharaja said no to Pakistan about accession to her. Upon this, Pakistan sent hordes of tribesmen supported and led by the Pakistani Army into Jammu and Kashmir. When the enemy was only 40 km from Srinagar on October 24, the Maharaja requested India for military help, followed by signing of the Instrument of Accession on October 26. This opened the door for the entry of the Indian troops into Kashmir. But it was too late. Nevertheless, the Indian Army saved the situation. The rest is history.
IMA’s Platinum Jubilee
The Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehra Dun, is completing 75 years of its existence on October 1. In view of this, we carried some historical facts about it in our column on August 7. Two more epoch-making events are brought out in this piece. The first one is that the senior-most Indian Commissioned officer passed out from the IMA in 1934, in the order of merit, was the late Maj-Gen K. Bhagwati Singh, and next to him was the late Brig Harbhajan Singh. Their Indian Commission (IC) numbers were 1 and 2 respectively. The second one is that both Maj-Gen K. Bhagwati Singh and his son Admiral Madhvendra Singh, now a former Chief of the Naval Staff, reviewed the passing-out parades at the IMA. While the father reviewed the 25th passing out parade, the son reviewed the passing out parade in June 2002. This event is said to be unique in the military history.
— Pritam Bhullar
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Army cyclists set national record
Chandigarh, August 20 The 15-member team was flagged off on July 30 from Leh at 5.30 a.m. They reached Kanyakumari at 11.30 p.m. on August 17, a statement issued here said. The earlier record, as available in the Limca Book of Records, was held by Hari Shankar Yadav of Lucknow. He had set a record of completing the same journey in 19 days 21 hours and 30 minutes in Oct-November 2005. The Army team has improved upon Yadav's timing by one day, three hours and 45 minutes. On reaching Kanyakumari the team was given a rousing welcome by the citizens of the town. Lt Gen Arvind Mahajan, Director General, EME, was himself present to greet the cyclists. The team also carried the flame for the forthcoming World Military Games, to be held in Hyderabad.
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3 BRD chief promoted
Chandigarh, August 20 He will take up his new assignment as Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Engineering (A) at the Air Headquarters next month. Air Cdre Srivastava had assumed command of 3 BRD on September 30, 2005. He will be handing over charge of 3 BRD to Air Cdre P.S Luthra on August 31.
— TNS
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Onam celebrations on Aug 26
Chandigarh, August 20 A variety cultural programme followed by "Onam sadhya" (traditional Onam feast) and distribution of new clothes for Onam will be the highlights of the celebrations, according to a press note issued here today.
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Monsoon misery In general, the condition of roads in Panchkula is worse than in Chandigarh. Even the drainage system of Panchkula roads is quite defective. During monsoons water is collected near all the round abouts making it difficult for people to move around. The drainage of anterior roads is again quite hopeless. On road side outlets for storage of water is made without proper camber of roads resulting in the accumulation of water. It is requested to the Panchkula administration to elect a body to solve these problems. HUDA should also help in maintaining the drainage system of roads before the rainy season for hassle free driving. S. K. Mittal Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at news@tribuneindia.com or, write in, at: Letters, Chandigarh Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh – 160 030
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23-yr-old killed as truck hits scooter
Chandigarh, August 20 The injured, all in their early 20s, were rushed to the PGI, where Neeraj, who belonged to Pinjore, succumbed to his injuries. His colleagues, Sumit of Amritsar, who sustained a severe head injury, is still unconscious while Pinku Karadwal of Karnal fractured his right leg in the mishap. They were both on the pillion while Neeraj was driving the scooter. Neeraj was a civil engineer and was working with a private company near Mullanpur along with his two friends. The accident took place at around 1 am. The trio was coming from Fun Republic and were on their way home to Mullanpur. Pinku told the police that as soon as they approached the Transport Light Point a truck (HR-38-H-4534), which was coming from transport area collided with their scooter. The front tyre of the truck hit the scooter following which Neeraj lost his balance and it hit against the truck again before crashing on road. The police said the victim’s helmet was completely crushed in the mishap. The truck driver, Raju, was arrested on the charges of causing death due to rash and negligent driving. The truck was loaded with apples. Neeraj, was living in a rented accommodation with his friends. He was unmarried. His father is a head constable in Punjab Police. The police said the body was handed over to the family after post-mortem examination.
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Sketch of absconding thief released
Chandigarh, August 20 The in-charge of the Sector 22 police post sub-inspector Charanjit Singh told TNS that a sketch of Hassan, who belonged to Malda district in West Bengal, had been prepared and they had also procured a photograph of his accomplice Mohammad Sarfaraz, alias Ayub. They were suspected to be members of a gang involved in burglaries. He further informed that a police official had taken IMEI number of Hassan’s mobile phone set. The mobile call details revealed that Hassan had purchased a local connection on December 15. The call details showed that he made a large number of calls to West Bengal. The police officials also traced his local address to a guest house in Attawa village, which was mentioned while applying for a mobile phone connection. The staff at the guest house informed the police that four persons had taken rooms in the guest house on August 7. The police suspects that the foursome was on reconnaissance mission before committing burglaries in the city. Earlier, when they were in the city several incidents of thefts in mobile phone shops were reported in the city. On August 18, shopkeepers of the Sector 22 market handed over a thief to the police. The suspect had allegedly broken into a shop selling mobile phones after gaining entry through a window. The complainant and owner of the shop, Prabhat, then alleged that instead of arresting and registering a case against the accused, the policemen made him sit in the police post the entire day and later he managed to escape from there.
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Barber, his friend stab man, arrested
Chandigarh, August 20 The police arrested Javed, a barber and resident of Hallo Majra, and Mohammad Yameen of Sector 29 on allegations of causing injuries and criminal intimidation. The victim, Chaman, was admitted to the Sector 32 Government Medical College and Hospital. Chaman was attacked outside his residence. A local court has remanded the accused in judicial custody.
Bags snatched
Jai Singh of Kullu district reported to the police that on Sunday night he was travelling in a rickshaw along with one Raju. At the Sectors 27 and 28 traffic lights point, four youngsters riding on two motorcycles passed by them. A few minutes later, two of them turned around and snatched his bag. It was around 10.30 pm and before they could react to the situation, the other two came back and snatched a bag from his co-passenger. The bags contained Rs 7000, two mobile phones and some other articles. A case has been registered in the Sector 26 Police Station.
Caught
stealing
Jaswant Singh, a watchman, lodged a complaint with the police alleging that Ajay Kumar of Maloya Colony and Nanak Chand of Dadu Majra Colony were caught while stealing 150 kg of iron rods from Law Bhavan, Sector 37, on Sunday. A case has been registered in this connection.
Jeep stolen
Narinder of the Advocate Society, Sector 49, reported to the police that his Mahindra pickup jeep (CH-03-V-3036) was stolen from Sector 34 on August 15. A case of theft has been registered.
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Kidnap complaint lodged
Panchkula, August 20 Sources in the hospital said yesterday that a woman entered the maternity ward of the hospital and identified a woman who had delivered a baby boy. Posing as a relative of a doctor, she took the baby from the mother for weighing. However, an alert staffer, suspecting foul play, intervened and did not allow the woman to take away the baby. On being questioned, the woman turned around and ran away. She left the hospital premises in a vehicle bearing a Punjab number plate, which the police is investigating. “We have posted a security guard outside the ward and are educating women against handing over their babies to unidentified people. We are also thinking of putting up posters to drive home the point,” Dr Bansal said.
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