Sleeping bag absorbed blast shock
By Amarjit Thind
Tribune News Service

CHANDI MANDIR, Aug 16 — "Even though our brave and gallant jawans have laid down their lives to capture the peaks on the Line of Control (LoC) in the Kargil sector, the mines planted by the enemy while retreating will continue to take their toll on our men guarding the strategic heights. The conditions are still very harsh and will be more so in the approaching winter ", says 23-year-old Rifleman Tek Bahadur Gurung, 4 \ 3 Gurkha Rifles, who was injured in an anti-personnel mine (APM) blast. He is presently convalescing at Western Command Hospital.

"I was part of a party that was sent to relieve men of the Ladakh Scouts, who had captured the Padma Post in the Dras sub-sector. The men had fought valiantly, many laid down their lives, and had been holding on despite intense shelling. They had even thwarted a couple of attempts by the enemy to re-capture the post.

It was decided that the men were to be relieved and the supplies replenished. Accordingly, a company of 35 to 40 men was detailed for the job and "we started the ascent on one of the most inaccessible posts in the area. Despite the shelling at irregular intervals, we made good progress. The terrain was such that the party had to make brief halts for the men to catch their breath," he added.

"We finally reached a small clearing below the ridgeline below the our position from where the only way up was by the help of ropes. The sheer cliff face could be negotiated by this way only. The men started climbing up and made their way to the bunkers.

"When my turn came, I too negotiated the slope and made my way to the place I was to be billeted which was under the cover of some rocks. I was lowering my sleeping bag when there was a loud bang. It was then that everyone realised that the areas near the post had been mined.

"The sleeping bag and other material absorbed the shock of the blast. Otherwise, my right arm would have been completely blown away. Although the painful wounds on my arms are deep at some places but not that serious. My left hand was also injured but no bones were broken.

"Following this incident, the entire area was cleared and efforts were afoot to de-mine it when I was lowered down the ropes for my journey to the base camp where I was given medical attention before being shifted to this hospital for convalescence," he recalled.

The unmarried soldier says that his mother and a younger brother back home survive on the remittances sent by him and his father, who is a government servant. He is a resident of Gairiswara village in Syangja district of Nepal.

"I hope to be discharged soon and am anxious to join my mates on the front line," he adds cheerfully.

40 fully grown trees to be shifted
By Prabhjot Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Aug 16 — More than 40 fully grown up trees on Dakshan Marg, which were once ordered to be axed to make room for slip roads, will now be transplanted. The Chandigarh Administration, after a considerable debate , has now finally decided to physically shift these trees — transplant them — along the roadside at the nearest available open spaces.

To begin with, an estimate of Rs 3.40 lakh has been approved for transplantation of 40-odd trees at the intersection of Sectors 21,22, 34 and 35. A Delhi-based company — Plumule Agro — has promised 75 per cent survival of the transplanted trees.

Now when a policy decision has been taken not to axe any tree while undertaking widening of roads or providing of slip roads in different parts of the city, more than 30 fully grown trees facing the axe at the Housing Board Chowk on the Chandigarh-Panchkula road, may also get a reprieve. However, in this case, no proposal for transplanting these trees has been taken up. It is most likely that no felling would be allowed in future.

In continuation of this decision, the Administration is also in the process of approving the estimate for the transplantation of six grown up trees which come in the way of a link-up between the old block and the new block of the Sector 17 Inter-State Bus Terminus.

The Horticulture Wing of the Engineering Department reportedly gathered information about a similar exercise which had already been successfully undertaken on the Pune-Mumbai National Highway. A similar experiment has also been successfully carried out in the Union Capital.

Though the newly introduced concept of transplantation of grown up trees is a little expensive, it has shown good results.The survival rate of the transplanted trees has been reported to be between 70 per cent and 80 per cent.

According to initial estimates, the cost of transplantation works out around Rs 10,000 per tree. Now when the Administration has taken a policy decision to shift grown up trees, more than a hundred trees facing the axe all over the city will be saved. Those facing the axe are mainly at the intersections or are positioned in between the proposed or under-construction slip roads.

More than 65 grown up trees on Dakshan Marg were ordered to be felled early this year. They were to be axed to make room for slip roads to ease congestion on this busy dual carriageway. The felling was approved in principle by the Chandigarh Administration. However, the felling was deferred and work on completion of these slip roads was also held up.

Though one of the slip roads at The Tribune intersection was completed, two trees which figured in the alignment of the new road were not felled. They were pruned and still stand in the middle of the road.

The proposal for transplantation of these roads and their subsequent estimates are yet to be approved. The Sectors 21,22,34 and 35 project would work as a pilot project. On an average, a felled tree of more than eight to 10 years of age, gets about Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 depending upon the quality of its wood. The environmentalists and the Forest Department, however, put the price of a fully grown tree at more than a lakh of rupees based on its utility, its role in ecological balance, playing host to birds and other factors, including release of oxygen and absorption of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The last major felling was at the intersection of Sectors 27 and 28 where more than 30 trees were felled late last year. Earlier to that, a group of trees were felled on Himalaya Marg near the intersection of Sectors 17 and 18. Similar large-scale feelings were undertaken in Sector 20 to make room for day stalls in place of old rehri markets in the Sector.

Fully grown trees at the intersection of Sectors 21,22, 34 and 35; The Tribune intersection (junction number 38) and Loha Chowk (junction number 37) had been approved for felling. The number of trees at these two intersections is about 65.

Similarly, the Sectors 21,22,34 and 35 intersection (junction number 34) and the Sectors 22,23,35 and 36 also have a number of trees that actually stand at these intersections.

Since the work on development of Sector 34 has been given to Chandigarh Housing Board, a number of grown up trees have also been shortlisted for felling. The only alternative considered earlier was to reduce the width of the proposed slip roads.

Potholed roads irk users
By Arvind Katyal

CHANDIGARH, Aug 16 — Chandigarh witnessed rapid commercialisation during the past nearly ten years and the development vis-a-vis growth was expected. But sadly, there are some areas where providing infrastructure remains a far cry till date.

The city has seen the fastest growth during past few years in sector 8, 9, 35, 34, 7, 26 22 and 17. The latest one to become the hub of commercial activity is Sector 20. Its two blocks situated on the Dakshin Marg, popularly known as Tribune road, fall in C and D portions. there is hardly any vacant space available on the first and second floors.

The entry to sector 20-C is blocked by a tree. The road starts with a big pothole.

"The convenient location and a host of other factors made us open the office here," said G.D.S. Ahuja, who opened his office last September, visualising better location and hope of good business. "Now the visitors dare not come to our office, as the roads are full of potholes and no one has taken care to metal it," he complained.

Mr K.S. Brar, owner of a business centre, said the road had not been metalled for the past many years. He demanded immediate proper metalling of the road.

Mr Sanjeev Raina, Regional manager with Krishi Rasayan exports (P) Ltd, was repentant of opening the office in this sector. He had to cut a sorry figure when his Managing director came from Calcutta. "Once I tried to shift the office to sector 34, but change in address would have made it difficult for dealers and distributors to locate it," he said.

Two working girls Suman and Sheetal said tyres of their mopeds had been punctured several times. The roads in sector 20-D has not been metalled for years, felt Ankush, a student. "my father has asked me to go on bicycle instead of Hero Puch," he said.