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Jumbled numbers put help on hold
Chandigarh, September 23 This became amply clear in case of two major incidents in the past two days - an accident near Banur and a dacoity in Kalka. In both instances emergency numbers failed to come to the rescue of the
victims.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), which provide these numbers to a large number of departments, seems to be the main culprit. While the fault repair number -- 198 -- remains perpetually busy, connecting to the changed inquiry numbers--1951 and 1952--is a herculean task. The BSNL's directory inquiry service--197--is yet to be updated. It shells out incorrect information. A warm greeting awaits callers dialling the grievance redressal unit (GRU) of the Chandigarh police (5051555). Despite the hello tune "Pal pal dil ke paas tum rehte ho……", the call is never answered. Similarly, a call to the woman and child support unit on 1091 does not get through. However, the attendant on the senior citizen’s helpline (1090) is prompt to respond. The police control room (100) is also quick to respond. In the recent dacoity in Kalka, police help could not reach the victims on time though the assailants remained at the victims’ house for nearly 30 minutes. Every time the neighbours dialed 100, they got connected to the Himachal Pradesh police control room. Even though 100 and 101 are available to the public, these can be accessed only through the landline. Residents of Panchkula end up getting connected to Chandigarh on dialing these numbers from mobiles. The number for fire services and that of medical emergency hardly find mention on police notice boards and are certainly not available at public places. Callers from BSNL landlines in Mohali are able to access the police at 100 and the Mohali fire station at 101, but there is no connection to the Mohali Civil Hospital for an ambulance when BSNL landline callers dial 102. Instead, they are connected to the ambulance service at Government Hospital, Sector 16, Chandigarh. From a mobile phone, callers are able to access the Mohali police control room on 100 but at 101 and 102 they reach Chandigarh stations for these facilities. Residents of Zirakpur calling on 100 from a landline get connected to the police control room in Rajpura and on using a mobile phone to the Panchkula police. The number 101 from a landline connects to the Rajpura fire station and from a mobile to the Chandigarh fire station. From Dera Bassi, 100 and 102 are non-functional and there is no response on 101 either from a landline and a mobile phone. Lalru residents trying these numbers from landlines are unable to access either 100 or 102. Mullanpur Garibdass residents get connected to the Chandigarh Police, the fire station in Chandigarh and the general hospital in Chandigarh. From Nayagaon, the number 100 takes callers to the Chandigarh police control room.
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Shrine wall comes up on govt land
Mohali, September 23
In the absence of cooperation from the district administration, the GMADA team which had been keeping a watch on the site for two days, had to leave, as it was outnumbered by hundreds of kar sevaks. Construction began in earnest at the site after that, with the kar sevaks aiming to complete the wall before the break of dawn. The construction would bring a large chunk of land outside the place of worship under their control. The land, claim GMADA officials, belongs to the authority. GMADA Chief Krishan Kumar said: “We sent letters to the deputy commissioner and the police asking for help. We called them up too. I talked to the DIG here and the ACA Mohali had a word with the SSP. But no one reached the spot. My team could be attacked. In such a situation we had no other option but to call the team back.” Said DC HIS Grewal: “I did receive a letter from GMADA, which I have forwarded to the SDM. She was to assess the situation and report.” Since the SDM was on leave, tehsildar Mohali Manjit Singh on duty, said: “I do not have any orders to assess the situation or assist the GMADA team.” The SSP of SAS Nagar, RS Khatra, said he was ready to send his force, but not without specific orders from the district administration. “There is a procedure for such operations. There has to be a duty magistrate at the spot,” he added.
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After 5 months, cops give up on murder case
Ramanjit Singh Sidhu Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 23 The identity of the victim, who appeared to be in early forties, was never established. The body was found lying in a pit covered with several layers of clothes. The victim’s hands and legs were tied. Marks on the victim’s neck suggested that he was strangled to death. His mouth was gagged while his body was tied with a nylon rope. He was wearing trousers, a shirt and a half-sleeve sweater. As no sign of struggle was found near the body, the police believed that the man was put to death elsewhere and his body dumped near the Chandigarh-Mohali border. After failing to identify the victim, the police cremated the body. The police flashed the victim’s photograph to nearby areas, but in vain and the investigation reached a dead end. The case was investigated by two sub-inspectors, who eventually recommended that the case be closed. With this, the case was discarded as “untraced”.
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Mandi man held with panther hide
Chandigarh, September 23 Inspector Vijay Kumar said the 29-year-old Karam Singh of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh was nabbed at the Sector 26 Grain Market. He told the police that he had purchased the hide from a Shimla resident for Rs 20,000 each. He was in city in search of a customer. Karam Singh was lodged at Himachal Bhavan in Sector 28. But suspecting a police raid, he tried to flee and was caught from the Grain Market. Experts from the wildlife department were called ollowing which a case under the Wild Life Act was registered. Karam Singh worked as a salesman in Chandigarh for eight years, left the job six months ago and returned to his native village to trade in dry fruit.
— TNS
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Kid needs help; Will someone pitch in?
Chandigarh, September 23 Suraj has started suffering from fever since the beginning of the year, said Ganga Devi, the mother of baby from Bihar. “When Suraj got no relief under the treatment of local doctors, we took to the child at a bigger hospital in Darbhanga near our Doharia village of district Madhuabani where doctors suggested us to take the baby at the PGI, said Ganga Devi. The baby is suffering from TOF9 Tetrology of fallot) a congenial complication, said doctors at the PGI. It would require at least Rs 70,000 for the treatment which included cath angiography also, added the doctors. “My husband Mohan is a labourer in Mumbai and I live with my two kids at the village where my father-in-law is a farm labourer. The earnings of both are hardly sufficient to meet both the ends and it is difficult to arrange such a huge amount for the treatment of my baby”, rued Ganga Devi. “To the worst, my husband could not go to his work for the past four months after he came from Mumbai for the treatment of baby”, said Ganga. The donors can contact PGI Public Relation office at phone number 0172-2756006.
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Kang: Remove Naya Gaon, Karoran from forest Act
Tribune News Service
Mohali, September 23 “For many years, unplanned growth/development has been ongoing without any objection from forest or any other department concerned. These people in the periphery of Chandigarh are facing extreme hardship on account of inclusion of whole area of villages like Naya Gaon/Karoran, Nada, etc. in the list of forest areas due to a technical error committed on the part of the state government itself. Although there is no sign of forest in these villages, these have been covered under the PLPA, 1900, which is a state Act. As a result of negligence/wrong affidavit submitted by the Punjab government in the Supreme Court, these villages come under the purview of Forest Conservation Act,” he has written. “For the past many years”, he adds, “I had been pursuing the case with the union ministry of environment and forest for exclusion of Nada and Karoran villages closed under the PLPA from the list of forest areas. Subsequently, the Government of India had, as a special case, given approval to de-listing of 265.59 hectare in Nada and 442.11 hectare in Karoran village from the list of forest area. Following this clearance, after examining all aspects, the department of local bodies had notified the formation of nagar panchayat, including Naya Gaon, Nada and Kansal villages. The local body was to take up planned development of the area, in public interest, which is more or less now a haphazard concrete jungle,” he says. However, the PLPA is acting as stumbling block in the way of planned development of the area. Likewise, farmers/residents of the Kandi belt of Mohali, Ropar, Nawan Shahr, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur districts have been facing extreme difficulty on account of their lands falling under the PLPA. He has requested Badal to direct the all officials/department concerned to take steps to de-notify Nada and Karoran villages (NAC Naya Gaon-707.70 hectare) from the PLPA as a special case in public interest so as to provide for planned development, including metalled roads, sewerage, drinking water, streetlights and other amenities.
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Bus queue shelters that shelter none
Chandigarh, September 23 With the authorities turning a blind eye towards the maintenance of these shelters, the commuters have been suffering the most, especially in the rainy days. The broken seats, torn-off bus time tables and backdrop flexes just added to the woes. All this gives a clear picture of the authorities’ careless attitude towards ensuring the upkeep of the shelters. During a survey of the city, a TNS team found that condition of shelters at Sector 24, 37, 30, 32 and many others was in a pathetic state. With the absence of back wall or any other material to cover it from the sides, people get drenched even inside the shelters in a rainy day. Even CTU time-table is also missing from many
of them. The shelters are proving to be a source of good income to the authorities concerned but now the companies to whom the shelters were allotted have failed to maintain them. Sources said the shelters were allotted to the companies for their advertisement but they were responsible to maintain the shelters. The Municipal Corporation was also authorised to cancel the contract if any of them found guilty of poor upkeep. Now, the authorities must get up from deep slumber and check the condition of the shelters. Tarvinder Dhingra, OSD, Municipal Corporation, said, “Recently some shelters were found in a bad shape and the contracts with the companies had been cancelled and allotted to new companies. In the coming days, we will hold a proper survey to check all the shelters”,
he ensured. The broken seats, torn-off bus time tables and backdrop flexes just added to the woes. All this gives a clear picture of the authorities’ careless attitude towards ensuring the upkeep of the shelters.
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CHB residents’ council protest from Sept 30
Chandigarh, September 23 The federation has announced a rally on October 7 after holding day-long fast from September 30 to October 6. Addressing a meeting of members of the federation, Nirmal Dutt, chairman of the federation, said, “Sensible officers should respond to our demand and respect public opinion”. The federation also demanded that the elected councillors should be on the panel of board of members of the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) as they understood the problems of the residents better. In a charter of demand given to mediapersons, the federation has sought transfer of ownership and conveyance deed without inspection of the premises, ownership rights in three months from the date of application, language of affidavit to be simple and need based, cancellation of notices issued to the occupants and making the dwelling units constructed by the CHB lease free. The federation’s chairman also sought that the corporation should be given more powers in respect of development works and the ward development fund of the councillors should be increased. In support of the federation, Harjinder Kaur, mayor, Jatinder Bhatia, Pradeep Chhabra and D.S. Babla, all elected councillors, were present on the occasion.
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Private partnership will defeat purpose
Arun Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 23 UT director, Health Services, Dr M S Bains, has been asked to assess the pros and cons in setting up the project as a public-private partnership venture. Earlier, their was a proposal to set up100-bed trauma centre. But after the initiative of General S F Rodrigues (retd), city administrator, a 500-bed super-speciality centre was proposed. The negotiations are also being held with a dental college, situated at an advanced country, to set up the dentistry facilities at the centre. The emergency cardiology services will also be provided at the hospital. Involving the private partner in the project will prove a bottleneck in executing the plans chalked out by the administration as the partner will point out to the expenses incurred on them comparing the profits, said a senior doctor in the UT health department. The main motive of providing the emergency medical services to the needy will be negated by the fact that the people would think twice to approach the hospital keeping in view the higher charges, which is an imminent thing in an institution running with the involvement of a businessman, opined another senior doctor.
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Slip road or parking place
Chandigarh, September 23 The administration’s cold attitude towards the completion of the pending work is visible to every one who crosses Sector 20, 30, 31 and 32 through Dakshin Marg. The work started a couple of months ago has been put on a pause by the authorities concerned. The pending work has disgraced the “City Beautiful” and the markets adjoining the carpet-needy slip roads. The scattered pebbles, sand and even some cemented slabs on these slip roads have absolutely blocked the way for commuters to pass through these. Now, some of the devotees of gurdwara have started parking their vehicles finding these slip roads unused for traffic. “The administration has become very careless towards the public inconvenience matters. The works remain pending but the authorities have no time to pay heed towards them”, lamented Gurpreet Singh, Sector 20 advocate. “The pending work is really a shame for the authorities concerned. We all try our level best to keep the gurdwara clean but the pathetic state of the slip road just outside it, gives a very bad feeling”, rued Gauravjit Singh Jagpal, a devotee . V.K. Bhardwaj, chief engineer (UT), said, “The work is hanging just because of the rainy season. As of now, the season is about to end, the pending works will be done on priority basis.”
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Defence seeks removal of judge advocate
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 23 In a representation sent to the Chief of the Army Staff, Col Virender Singh (retd) has raised objection over close interaction between the prosecution counsel and the judge advocate outside the court and has contended that they are hand in glove with each other. The defence counsel has claimed that he found the prosecution counsel and the judge advocate sitting in a room along with documents pertaining to the case and discussing the matter. He has also pointed that the accommodation of the prosecution counsel and the judge advocate being co-located in the same building was also against the provisions of the special army orders issued on the subject. He added that when the matter was raised in court, the court declined to adjudicate it. The defence has also sought that appropriate directions be passed so that the judge advocate and the prosecution counsel are not accommodated in close proximity of each other. Seeking the adoption of equitable standard, the defence has also pointed out that while the prosecution counsel was provided accommodation near the vicinity of the trial, no arrangements were made for the defence counsel even though he was a retired officer.
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Jordan Valley Day celebrated
Chandigarh, September 23 It was on this day during World War-I at Khan-e-Sumeriyah in the Jordan Valley (Palestine) that a troop of Deccan cavaliers led by Risaldar Badlu Singh charged a vastly superior enemy. The Risaldar, though mortally wounded, pressed ahead with the attack and routed the enemy. He was decorated posthumously with the Victoria for his courage in battle. To mark the occasion, a wreath laying ceremony was held to pay homage to the martyrs, which was followed by a special sainik sammelan. A cultural programme by soldiers and their families and a traditional barakhana were also organised. The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, Lt Gen Aditya Singh, who is also the Colonel of the Deccan Horse was present at the event. The Deccan Horse was raised in 1790 by the Nizam of Hyderabad as an Irregular Cavalry. In its 217 years of existence, the Regiment has won over 300 gallantry awards, of which 34 are post-Independence. It has participated with distinction in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars.
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12 couples tie knot at mass wedding
Mohali, September 23 While 11 of these marriages were solemnised according to Sikh rites, one was held according to the Muslim rituals. The couples were blessed by residents, local politicians and social workers. Manch president Shamsher Purkhalvi said the organisation had spent over Rs 57 lakh in getting couples from poor families married. He added that 54 couples had tied the knot with their assistance. He said the couples had been given household goods to help them begin their new life comfortably. SAD Kharar in charge Jasjit Singh Bunny gave Rs 51,000 to the couples. Deepinder Singh Dhillon, Harbhajan Singh Yogi, R.S. Khaira, Rajbir Singh Padiala, Lachman Singh Changera, Harmanpreet Prince, Jaswant Singh Bhullar, T.L. Eashwar, S.K. Behal, Charanjit Singh Walia, Hardev Singh and S.S. Bains were among those who attended the ceremony.
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Adventure bug bites city trekkers
Chandigarh, September 23 As many as 20 people trekked, with the most senior being 71-year-old former bureaucrat
D.V. Bhatia, and the youngest a 10-year-old, said Supreet, trek leader and honorary president of CATS. The trekkers assembled at Hotel Chandigarh Beckons at 5.30 am and reached
Jabli, where they had breakfast. The group then trekked to Garkhal, with a stopover for lunch, and then proceeded for to Kasauli. The most pleasant surprise came when the group decided to look around in the house of noted author Khushwant Singh, who happened to be there with his son, Rahul Singh. They invited the group in, showed them around, and them presented a duly autographed copy of ‘Not a Nice Man to Know: The Best of Khushwant Singh’.
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Plant to dispose of meat waste
Chandigarh, September 23 Elaborating about the project, a spokesman for the MC said the total cost of the plant would be about Rs 45 lakh. The plant was likely to be commissioned within four months. After the plant is commissioned, the MC would be able to get the waste disposed of scientifically. As a byproduct, approximately 18-20 KWH of power will be generated, which would be used for running the slaughterhouse. The plant has been designed to dispose of waste for 20 years.
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Various depts must coordinate
The Chandigarh Administration and Municipal Corporation are doing their best to keep the city as clean and tidy as possible. Every effort is being made to provide its residents with an absolutely clean and healthy environment. A glaring drawback, however, is the lack of co-ordination between different wings. To cite an example, whenever the electricity wing orders chopping of tree branches, which are touching or damaging the electricity wires during storms/rains, the chopped branches are just left on the roads to rot and interfere with the flow of traffic. It would be much better if the horticulture wing of the municipality takes prompt action in removing the malba. Some months back, the walkways outside the showrooms in Sectors 17 and 18 markets were beautifully brick-lined with interlocking bricks. But again, the surplus and broken bricks remained at the site of over three weeks, giving the area an untidy look and also kept blocking the already scarce car parking area. I am sure with a little effort such situations can easily be avoided. D.B. Singh, Chandigarh 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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Maruti, Bullet stolen
Chandigarh, September 23 Two separate cases of thefts have been registered.
Meter stolen
Shish Pal of Sector 24-C reported to the police alleging that water meter was stolen from his residence on September 21. A case of theft has been registered.
Injured
A pedestrian, Kehar Singh of Mohali, was hurt after being hit by an unidentified vehicle near Sector 4, 5, 8 and 9 rotary on Saturday. He was admitted to the PGI and a case of causing injuries due to rash and negligent driving has been registered against an unidentified driver.
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Robbed by man in khaki
Chandigarh, September 23 Yashpal of Sector 49 reported to the police that he was coming in his car when two motorcyclists chased him and signalled him to stop. As one of them was in police uniform, he stopped his vehicle. The man in khaki said they had information that he was carrying drugs in the car and began to search the vehicle. They opened his briefcase carrying Rs 50,000. They took away Rs 40,000 and before he could do anything disappeared. A case has been registered.
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Police remand for car theft accused
Panchkula, September 23 He was arrested from Sector 1 following a tip-off late last night. His three accomplices are still at large. Sources said Joginder, Rajbir, Desa and Raju entered into an argument with Avtar Singh and his friend Rohit when the two groups were having a dinner at a dhaba in Zirakpur. When Avtar Singh left the dhaba in a car, the four culprits followed him and forced him to stop the vehicle at a deserted place. They then forcibly took away the car. The car was found abandoned at Bartana with an empty fuel tank.
— TNS
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Meet on exporters’ demands
Chandigarh, September 23 He said the government would look into the demand of exporters seeking refund of tax on services, which remained uncovered in a notification issued recently.
— TNS
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