Drug use worries residents
From Our Correspondent

MULLANPUR-GARIBDASS, April 7 — Rampant sale of drugs that can only be got through the prescription of a Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP) at Mullanpur-Garibdass village is causing concern among residents of the village.

Residents complain of open use of such drugs by youngsters of the village and surrounding areas. A number of young persons from Chandigarh come here to have a “kick” because of the easy availability of the drugs at the place.

The drugs can be purchased without much bargaining with chemists here. The easily available drugs are norphin, phensedyl, hist, fortwin, nitravate, among others, said a local doctor.

There are at least seven chemists in the village selling these drugs. The chemists’ shops are located near the main road, which is a lucrative spot for the sellers as well as the “buyers”. Most of the buyers are from Chandigarh as the drugs are not easily available in the UT because of strictness, said Mr Diwan Singh, sarpanch of the local gram panchayat.

This correspondent, posing as a customer, visited a chemist near the main bus stop along with a local resident to buy some drugs. The chemist asked them to show the prescription slip but after a little insistence, he gave a bottle of phensedyl and two vials of norphin for Rs 70.

Law is very clear regarding the sale of such drugs. These can only be had through the prescription of an RMP. Such directions are also printed on the packs of Schedule H drugs.

On information provided by the villagers, this correspondent visited the place where persons inject the drugs. There were a lot of empty bottles and vials scattered near the Mullanpur river. The correspondent met two addicts who had come from Chandigarh. They said that they got the “stuff” from a shop at Mullanpur. They also revealed the procedure of the use of drugs.

“We mix 2 ml of Avil tablet into 10 ml vial of norphin before injecting it. Dissolving of tablet is necessary to avoid hard dose of norphine”, said one of them. Chemists charge us more than the actual rate.

Mr Dwarka Dass Puri, a senior citizen of the village said the authorities should take immediate action as there was a fear of young villagers falling in the trap of such drugs.

The police at Mullanpur-Garibdass said it could not take any action. Nothing could be done without the cooperation of Drug Inspector, it added.

Unhygienic conditions worry villagers
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, April 7 — Residents of Abheypur village here are being forced to live amid unhygienic surroundings. The main cause of their worries is chocked sewers.

Hardly any day passes when an overflowing sewage does not enter the houses forcing the residents to save their household goods from being drenched in the sewage. Even after receding the sewage leaves behind a stench. Spread of an epidemic is another issue troubling the residents.

Squarely blaming the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) — entrusted with the job of maintaining the essential services — villagers say that repeated complaints to the officials concerned had failed to make any dent.

The sarpanch of the village panchayat, Mr Jagdish Singh, says that initially about a 1-km long sewerage line was planned by HUDA. Later on being insisted the line was extended but without a proper proposal. He claimed that the diametre of the pipes used to lay the line varied at different spots. The problem had aggravated as the network of the sewerage opened into a bigger pipe at one spot. A blockade in the main pipe resulted in the overflowing of sewage in the village, he alleged. HUDA officials, on the other hand, say that throwing of garbage in the line had resulted in the blockade.

With a population of over 8,000 the problem is worse during the morning and evening hours when the discharge in the line swells. Recently a representation requesting laying of parallel sewerage line to ease pressure on the existing one was submitted to the Chief Minister, says the sarpanch.

The village along with other villages in the urban estate was planned to be developed by HUDA as a model village, but lack of basic amenities project a poor picture of the village.

They complain that potholes had developed at a number of places on the incomplete road. Requests to HUDA to lay premix on the phirni road had fallen on deaf ears.

Mr Jagdish Singh says that with a meagre grant given by the administration it is not possible for the village panchayat to get all the pending works completed and has to depend on HUDA in this regard.

Apart from this open spaces around the village are being used to dump garbage. A number of dust bins placed at different sites around the village were removed within six months, says the sarpanch.

Where is the environment task force?
By Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, April 7 — A task force called the ‘Paryavaran Vahini’, was constituted twice by the UT Administration under a national scheme initiated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Its purpose was to create environmental awareness and encourage involvement of people in the protection of forests and wildlife. It has become a non-entity due to the alleged lack of initiative on part of the authorities concerned.

The scheme was launched by the ministry in 1992, covering 184 districts in the first phase. The alleged lack of initiative on part of the UT Administration was apparent from the beginning as the task force was constituted in the UT for the first time in 1995 only. It was set up by the then Deputy Commissioner Mr Chhattar Singh, who was also the Director of Forests at that time.

According to sources in the committee constituted by the administration in this regard, even the first meeting was not attended by the then Deputy Commissioner. According to the ministry guidelines, the District Collector had to be the nodal person in running the affairs of the task force constituted at the district level. The districts, including Chandigarh, were selected on the basis of high incidence of pollution, density of population and forest cover.

The approach of the administration towards the scheme was such that except once, no meeting of the 20-member committee was held between 1995 and 1998.

The committee was reconstituted by Mr K.K. Khandelwal, the then Deputy Commissioner, in 1998, by selecting six non-government organisations, a school, a college and 12 persons as its members. This time, the situation turned worse. After the reconstitution of the committee on May 22, no meeting had been held till date, in spite of the promise by Mr Khandelwal that there would be a monthly meeting of the committee, the sources said.

The administration included some persons, who had little interest in the venture. “I was not even given any literature regarding the task force and its role. I also did not get any letter from the administration,” said Dr K.L. Passi, a member. He said that he had not bothered to find out the progress of the venture.

Similarly, Mr Prem Kumar, another member of the reconstituted committee said, “I did not take much interest in the scheme and my name might have been included on somebody’s suggestion”.

“None of the members have got the monthly token grant of Rs 200, promised in the scheme by the ministry,” complained Mr S.K. Sharma, another member of the committee.

According to the members, though the officials have made them prepare their photographs many times in the past six months for making identity cards, these have not been issued so far. Mr Sharma said he had again received a letter from the Environment Department seeking his photographs for this purpose. He said he would not send the photographs now. He demanded that the committee be reconstituted.

The officials of the Forests and Environment Departments, requesting anonymity, admitted that except once, no meeting of the committee was held so far. One could imagine the willingness of the authorities to create awareness among people about environmental protection from the fact that both Environment and Forest Department had only one copy each of the booklet describing the aims and objectives of the scheme. “ We are keeping it for official reference,” said officials of the departments.