MIG allottees live in slum-like area
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 29 — It is a "slum-like" existence for the over 500 allottees of the Chandigarh Housing Board flats in Sector 45-A, thanks to the insanitary conditions created by shopkeepers and residents of Burail village at the back of their houses.

Residents allege that the insanitary conditions created by scrap dealers and dumping of the old tyres, condemned vehicles and garbage, put them to a lot of inconvenience. The domesticated milch cattle and stray cattle only add to their problems

Their ordeal began in 1991 when they were allotted the MIG flats. Since then, they have been urging the authorities concerned to spruce up the area, barricade it and develop a green belt but in vain, alleged Mr Darshan Kumar, office secretary of the Residents Welfare Association, Sector 45-A.

A visit to the area today revealed that garbage was scattered all around this stretch of the land. In addition, though the keeping of the milch cattle in the four villages incorporated into the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) had been declared illegal, yet they were being tethered in the area, giving it a shabby look.

The burning of tyres and garbage, besides being a source of pollution had led to eye and chest infections, alleged Mr Darshan Kumar, adding that petty crimes like cycle and stepney thefts were common in the area.

Since there are hardly any garbage bin in the area, the residents of the village throw garbage in the open, exposing them to serious health hazard, alleged Mr Munshi Ram Chaudhary, adding that the area was being used an open lavatory by certain residents and shopkeepers.

Mr Chaudhary rued that despite the fact that they had spent lakhs of rupees on purchase of the flats, the "village look" remained.

In fact, last year the civic body made a feeble attempt to barricade the area but in the teeth of the protest by the shopkeepers and the residents of the village, it was not done.

Eventful year for HUDA, HVPN
From Gautam Dheer

PANCHKULA, Dec 29 — A substantial rise in the crime rate in the township dominated most of the headlines throughout 1999. The local police has, in many of the cases, remained clueless. At the same time, few arrests and recovery of valuable goods were made. The year saw a sharp rise in cases of theft, robbery, murder, rape, suicide and kidnapping.

Although measures taken by the police, including police-public interactions, combing operations, verification and identification drives and enforcement of traffic regulations in the township, earned applause, these were hardly enough to reduce the crime graph.

The year was a satisfactory one for the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), which earned appreciation for its development projects in the district. Additional dispensaries, community centres and tubewells came up.

Tatkal Dwar, introduced for the first time by the HUDA, evolved a ‘sector intensive approach’ to deal with various problems. It opened doors for participative functioning and prompt redressal of grievances.

The conditions of roads improved, with the HUDA allocating about Rs 2.5 crore for recarpeting 165 km. Most of these projects were undertaken in the latter half of the year. The distress of residents was compounded with insanitary conditions all around. Rise in encroachments in open spaces in front of houses, depicted the slackness of the HUDA.

The HUDA’s policy of demolition of hedges and fences received enormous criticism from residents. Protests, memoranda and demonstrations by the public to persuade the authorities for a revision in its policy, heeded no results.

It was an eventful year for the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam (HVPN), accelerating the pace of reforms and restructuring, under the World Bank aided project. Transformers with enhanced capacity to bear overload, new transmission lines and additional towers for parallel distribution were installed. Efforts to curb power thefts and to realise bad debts were enforced sternly, which yielded fruitful results.

The district health department successfully achieved population stabilisation, with a birth rate at 18 per thousand. The district deaf rate was 6 per cent, which was below the national deaf rate. A couple of health programmes, including the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH), family planning and health awareness drives were launched in rural areas. Advanced audio- metric machine, saw its way into the General Hospital in Sector 6.

The year was a dissatisfying one for teachers as the state government, decided to recruit 13,000 new teachers, but the existing chunk of teachers, working on ad-hoc, part time and probationary basis, were not assured of any preference during absorption.

There was no change in the status of vacant posts of principals and teachers in schools of the district. The year mourned the deaths of three Kargil heroes. For the residents, the year was a feast of art and culture, exhibitions and fashion shows.

'Original settlers' lament loss of 'beauty'
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 29 — In days that are no more, they came here to breathe "fresh air" while sailing for work under the shade of green trees along the open wide roads running in tranquility, aimlessly. Today, at the turn of the century, the "original settlers" feel the city is still "the best", but "dislike" the "unplanned growth" of slums, traffic and "babuism".

But the way the city's "beauty" has gone down over the years is beyond their comprehension. Getting caught in traffic jams with "zig-zagging" youngsters honking restlessly and jhuggis all around were never expected.

"With open roads and greenery, it is still the best place for students, retirees and for service class to live in," says former PGI director, now Municipal Councillor, Dr. I.C. Pathak. "The city, however, is not what it used to be two decades ago. It is no more as clean, as hygienic".

"The unchecked growth of slums," adds Dr Pathak, in Chandigarh in the past 37 years, "is the saddest aspect of the growth".

Agreeing with him, former PGI director Dr. B.K. Sharma describes the "slums" as a "blot on the city. I am not against the poor, but jhuggis just do not gel with the city culture. Worst, the dwellers live in sub-human conditions. It is unfortunate."

He adds, "The well-planned layout, the architecture, wide roads and the greenery had initially attracted enthusiastic professionals, including bureaucrats, doctors, engineers and good politicians, to the city".

Blaming the Administration for "its casual approach in tackling the situation", Lt-Gen. B.S. Randhawa, "in Chandigarh ever since it was born", believes that the deteriorating law and order condition is a fall-out of the increasing number of slum dwellers."

Describing the densely populated slums as a "burden on the original residents", Air Marshal Randhir Singh says, "We have to pay from our pockets for the electricity loss caused due to theft by kundi connections. I don't like it. And this is not all. They are also causing law and order problems in the city, besides being responsible for drug trafficking".

The Air Marshal also blames the "Administration and the architects" for the planning going haywire in the southern sectors. "The aim was to accommodate more and more people in minimum space. As a result, the roads are narrower, open spaces less. You even have buildings higher than the permitted two-and-a-half storeys".

It is, however, the poor traffic sense among "new car owners" which Head of the PGI's ENT Department Dr. Y.N. Mehra, here since 1961, dislikes about the city. "Chandigarh has the best per capita medical care available. Besides, the quality of life here compared to the Indian cities is also good. But traffic sense is missing among the the new car owners. Little wonder you encounter so much difficulty in parking the vehicles".

Bad traffic sense irritates golfer Chiranjeev Milkha Singh and actor-satirist Jaspal Bhatti also. "The drivers change lanes without warning, over-take from the wrong side, keep on honking without any reason. It is just irritating,"says Bhatti. He likes "the greenery, the open spaces, the city as such".

Claiming to be "very happy" living in Chandigarh for 40 years now, renowned heart specialist Dr. G.P. Malik dislikes "babuism" prevailing in the city. "Things here just do not move at the pace they do in metropolitans. This sluggishness is disquieting. Otherwise, life here is comfortable."

Eminent theatre personality Neelam Man Singh also believes that the life here is comfortable, but complains of missing enthusiasm in the air. "You can reach from one place to another within eight to 10 minutes, maximum, so you are left with time for gardening and other activities. The city, however, has no street life, no energy. You have to generate excitement."

She adds, "Chandigarh has no sense of rootedness, history, myth. No memory."

Former cricketer-turned-actor Yog Raj Singh loves the city he was born and brought up in, but the changing cultural scenario here disturbs him. Commenting upon the "fashion shows being organised every other day", he says, "I walked out of a show recently. This is not the way women should be projected. They are to be honoured, not paraded naked."

Mayor Shanta Abhilashi likes everything in the city, hates only the "posters on the walls. Our Chandigarh is the most beautiful city in the entire country. Nothing can match the lake, Rock Garden, Rose Garden and the Shanti Kunj. If there is something I am against, it is the defacing of the walls. All these posters are spoiling City Beautiful's image."

Adventure across hill & dale
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 29 — The thrill of adventure cannot be described, it can only be experienced was what some of the peppy boys and girls attending a week-long winter school organised by the Durga Das Foundation here, said on the concluding day today. The appeal of the activities was infectious and with each passing day being more eventful and different from the previous, the adventurous spirit did not pale.

The winter school started on December 23 introducing children to gliding at the Civil Aviation Club, Pinjore. Some of the kids were a little reluctant to board initially but once they discovered the glory of soaring in the clouds and landed, they wanted in once more.

Friday provided them an opportunity to camp at Nehru Bhavan in Sector 24. The lush setting of the foundation with tents pitched for the night stay surprised one when one saw the children’s fresh spurt of enthusiasm, birth of new ideas and a feeling of joie de vivre. A camp fire was the highlight of the evening. Children sang, danced and played around it. They even went for go-karting near Zirakpur the following morning.

By the end of the third day, inter-school barriers broke and the group became more homogeneous. The bumpy drive to the Mirzapur forest reserve the following day did not dampen their spirits from organising a barbecue. Enthusiasm was at its high as children trekked into the wilds, chose a clearing and got their chullahs going for cooking in the open. Soon there was a veritable feast.

Trekking in the Kasauli hills, traversing and rapling at the will-o-wisp camp in the Sirswan forests and snow games at Fun City were all different experiences exposing them as they did, a life beyond books, home assignment and parents do’s and dont’s.

Tom Sawyers running free in the wilds probing and discovering joys of nature seem a little out of context today, but this group of 52 children from different schools proved just the opposite.