Fire station faces many problems
From Our Correspondent

PANCHKULA, July 7 — The fire station based in Sector 5 here has survived for long against many odds. The Panchkula fire station is one of the most ill-equipped and under-staffed stations.

The fire station, which falls under the jurisdiction of HUDA, is unfortunately the only functional fire station in the district, making it difficult — operationally and logistically — for the department to meet any contingency. The post of station fire officer (SFO) or the commanding officer has been lying vacant for many years. In the absence of an SFO, all administrative and functional works of the department are carried out by subordinates who at times find it very taxing to cope with the workload.

With Panchkula having been declared a civil defence area, correspondence by HUDA with the fire station in the context of the Kargil crisis was made on June 25. The letter advised the station to prepare its operational and strategic plans and to ensure alertness of both men and machines. Under the guidelines, the station should have one commanding officer, four trailer pump parties, four leader firemen, 24 firemen, four drivers, four messengers, two jeeps, one motor cycle and an escape ladder.

The authorities, before issuing such instructions, did not realise that the fire station here, for several years, had been ill-equipped and under-staffed, the responsibility for which lies with the authorities themselves. The fire station has only two motor vehicle engines against the prescribed four. There is only one driver and too on an ad hoc basis for the two vehicles against the laid down norm of four drivers.

As per requirements, the station should have around 24 firemen, but there are only five. There is no escape ladder in the station, the most basic of all equipment. In summers, the station has to deal with almost four to six fire cases everyday in the district. The work is carried out in three shifts. The fire station has a total staff of around 12, hence the average per shift comes around to be two to three employees, keeping in mind the probability of the staff falling sick or going on leave as against the laid down number of 13 to 14 employees per shift.

There are many government and private buildings here, including the Mini Secretariat, which is reportedly without any functional fire and safety measures.

Many employees are in low morale due to HUDA’s alleged irresponsible attitude for not ensuring adequate placement of its employees as quoted at the time of their appointment. HUDA on September 26, 1996, invited applications from within the department for appointments of firemen and drivers. Physical tests and interviews were held on September 30 and out of the 35 applicants, only seven were selected and posted at the fire station.

Most of them were already working as “chowkidars” with HUDA. Although HUDA had invited applications for the posts of fireman and driver, all seven selected persons were kept as ''firemen helpers'', a post which does not exist in the department all over the state.

HUDA took the plea that the staff was not trained in fire and safety norms and hence the designation was temporary. All selected persons were relieved for undergoing a three-month training course as firemen at the Haryana State Fire Fighting Training Centre from August 3 to November 4, 1997. Although the employees have completed the required formalities, they have still not got the posts for which they were appointed.

The service book registers the designation as “chowkidar”, the designation in the records of the station is that of a firemen helper and the employees are working as firemen and have also been issued identity cards and uniforms of firemen. The employees are not getting any additional allowances enjoyed by the firemen of the department.

There are no residential quarters for the employees and it is almost impossible to gather them all at one place during an emergency.

Institute gets a new life
From A Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, July 7 — Since its acquisition by the Government Medical College and Hospital, the Government Institute for Mentally Retarded Children (GIMRC) in Sector 32-C here has been doing a commendable job for rehabilitation of mentally retarded children and eradication of mental retardation.

According to the Head of the Department of Psychiatry and Joint Director of the institute, Dr B.S. Chavan, the institute had hardly had any facilities, trained staff or means of transport at the time of its takeover in December, 1998. He added that of the 35 students, only 17 attended classes.

He said during the last six months, trained staff was recruited on contract basis and the contract would be renewed or the staff would be regularised, provided they performed well. He added that the institute had two buses at its disposal and transportation facility had been provided to mentally retarded children in Chandigarh, Panchkula and SAS Nagar.

The institute organised a health mela in March, 1999, in which 120 mentally retarded children from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh were examined free of cost. Intelligence quotient tests were conducted to determine the extent of retardation and parents were informed about common problems in children and skills to handle them.

It also organised a two-day workshop for parents of mentally retarded children. Experts delivered lectures and gave inputs to handle children. "On the last Saturday of every month, the institute trains parents and has changed their attitude," said Dr Harpreet Kaur, a clinical psychologist of the institute.

Speech therapists, paediatricians, psychologists and psychiatrists visit and treat the children free of cost. Trained teachers teach yoga, music and sports. The institute assesses the performance of children. In addition to library facility and trained staff, it has adequate infrastructure and sufficient teaching aids for these children.

The institute has hostel facility with food arrangements, day boarding, regular medical check-up by specialists from the GMCH and indoor and outdoor games. It plans to organise day camps in and around the city to create awareness about mental retardation.

According to Dr B.S. Chavan, of the 12,000 mentally retarded children in the city, only 2,000 were undergoing treatment. He said to take better care of their children, home-based training would be provided to parents who were either reluctant or were not in a position to send their children to the institute.

Dr Chavan said, "The proposal of 'Genetic Counselling' is on the anvil. with this we can find out the probable cause for mental retardation. With counselling, parents will be able to have healthy children." He claimed that after its acquisition, 90 children got enrolled and the response was encouraging.

Commerce admissions begin
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 7—The admissions to the commerce stream of Class XI got underway at the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22, here today. The process began with interviews of students of the reserved category. A total of 49 candidates were admitted and distributed among the 10 schools offering the course.

Admissions of students who had applied in the general category commenced and 34 students were admitted in it. While 16 students were admitted in GMSSS-16, 14 candidates opted for GMSSS-35. A student with 90 per cent — the highest for the day — was admitted to GMSSS-35 and the lowest went to one with 80 per cent marks.

Out of a total of 1080 seats in the commerce stream, only 83 admissions took place during the course of the day. While there are 60 seats each in GMSSS-40 and GMSSS-33, the remaining eight schools have 120 seats each to offer. A large number of students are expected to throng the venue for admission to the commerce stream since quite a few have a score ranging from 70 per cent to 80 per cent. Admissions for these students are scheduled for tomorrow.

In the science stream, interviews were conducted at GMSSS-23 for students who had scored above 60 per cent. There are a little over 10 seats in most schools except GSSS-15, GSSS-27, GSSS-Manimajra and GGSSS-20 in the non-medical stream. While all seats in GMSSS-16 and GMSSS-35 have been filled, all other schools still have about 10 seats each in the medical stream.

The admission to the arts and vocational education stream will commence tomorrow at GGSSS-18 with the interview of students with 80 per cent and above in the general category and students who have applied in the reserved category.

There are 4400 seats in the humanities stream in 27 schools and as many as 975 seats in 17 schools offering vocational education.

Society leaves many high and dry
By Rajendra Sharma
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 7 — Families of Kargil and Dras martyrs can pin their hopes on the government for taking care of them, but there is none to protect the interests of hundreds of serving and retired Army and Air Force officers who have been duped of their life’s savings by the Shivalik Environment Cooperative House Building Society.

The hopes of these officers and other members of the society have been shattered even for getting undeveloped promised plots following the decision of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) to acquire the entire 126 acres of land situated at Saketri village behind Sukhna Lake. A notice under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act was issued by HUDA on March 16, 1999. The entire process for the acquisition of land will be completed on or before March 15, 2000.

The compensation to be paid by the Collector for acquiring this land would not be sufficient to repay the amount members of the society had paid. The maximum compensation that the government pays is Rs 5 lakh per acre. The total amount that the society would get in lieu of 126 acres of land will be anything between Rs 9 crore and Rs 10 crore. The total amount that the society had collected was alleged to be Rs 27 crore.

Maj Bachitter Singh, one of the Administrators appointed by the government for looking after the affairs of the society, says that it is true that the police has filed challan against Mr Balwan Singh, controversial ex-Executive Engineer of the state electricity board and the main accused in cheating the members. His trial or conviction by the court for duping the members of crores of rupees gives them little solace.

He reveals that he had paid Rs 2.40 lakh through a demand draft and Rs 1.20 lakh in cash for “miscellaneous expenses”. Mr Balwan Singh had issued him a receipt for Rs 2.40 lakh. But he did not pay any receipt for Rs 1.20 lakh. He was promised that he would be given a two-kanal undeveloped or one-kanal developed plot at Saketri. “How will I prove that I have paid a sum of Rs 1.20 lakh in cash for miscellaneous expenses when I was not issued any receipt.”

Architect Bachhitar Singh, another Administrator of the society, reveals that there was no uniform pattern in issuing receipts to the members. While certain people paid more amount than the receipt issued to them, there were also members who paid less money but were issued receipt for more money. Those who paid in cash were not issued receipt at all. There are also instances where members simply did not pay any money but were issued receipts. There were others who paid the money partially in cash and partially through demand drafts.

He says that the Administrators had issued a notice in newspapers inviting claims from the public amount membership of the society. He said a total of 400 applications were received. The society has confirmed the members of 160 persons who had made payment through cheques and demand drafts. The uphill task before the society now is how to establish the membership of those who paid the money in cash. “We are trying to examine each case on its merit,” he adds.

Mr Bachittar Singh sees light at the end of the tunnel. He says there is a Supreme Court ruling saying that if any society owns 100 acres or more of land, it can apply for getting a licence to develop the land. He is hopeful that the Administrators would be able to prevail upon the government to issue them a licence for developing land and allot plots to its members.

He, however, admits that the society is in a messy situation for various reasons. First, Mr Balwant Singh did not hand over the record of the society. Therefore, they were not able to compile its account. They have compiled the accounts only on the basis of the information that was made available by HARCO Bank and the value of the registration deeds. The total amount available with the society is only Rs 17 lakh.

All 400 members were taken for a ride by Mr Balwan Singh by showing a letter that the Haryana Housing Board issued to the society on May 16, 1997. The letter, inter alia, said “the Housing Board is very much interested in the execution of the housing project at Saketri village. But before its execution, the title of land has to be transferred in the name of Housing Board. Accordingly, a case for exemption of stamp duty has been referred by the Housing Department to the Revenue Department for exemption of stamp duty.

“You should, therefore, keep the land ready for transferring its title to the Housing Board. However, the layout plans will be submitted to the Director, Town and Country Planning-cum-Deputy Comm-issioner (Periphery), for approval before implementation of the scheme.”

The Director of Town and Country Planning had turned down the proposal moved by Mr Balwan Singh. However, he never disclosed this fact to members.

Another factor why people were taken for a ride was that Mr Balwan Singh was able to rope in serveral senior IAS and IPS officers or their wives or children as members of the society.

Prominent among them are Mrs Savitri Verma, wife of Mr R.S. Verma, now Chief Secretary of Haryana, his daughter, Ms Upasna Verma, A.K. Prashar, IPS, Mr J.V. George, DIG, Mr Madusudan Parshad, IAS, Sushila, wife of Mr R.R. Banswal, IAS, Shakuntala, wife of Mr Vijay Kumar, IAS.

The Judicial Magistrate, Mr Tejwinder Singh, in whose court the challan has been filed against Mr Balwan Singh and other suspects, has fixed the case for July 13 for framing of charges.

The society was registered way back on May 25, 1990, with Mr Jasbir Singh as President and Mrs Sushila, wife of Mr R.R. Banswal as Vice-President. Mr Deepak Chowdhry, son-in-law of Mr Balwan Singh’s brother Cashier, Dr Minna, wife of Mr Balwan Singh as General Secretary. There were three members of the committee. They were Mr S.K. Diwan, son of Mr D.C. Wadhwa, Mr Balwan Singh himself and Mrs Urmila Rao, wife of Mr R.K. Rao, an HCS officer.

Rose Garden home to rare trees
By Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, July 7 — Apart from offering hundreds of beautiful species of roses, the Sector 16 Rose Garden, biggest such garden in Asia, is also home to a number of elegant trees, rare in this part of the country.

These trees, aged around 25 years, were planted during 1975-76. They were brought to City Beautiful under the instructions of the late Dr M.S. Randhawa, the then Chief Commissioner, who had envisaged an elaborate plan to adorn the city with the maximum varieties of ornamental plants and trees. Even though after initial experiences a number of species were considered 'unfit' for the city, yet a considerable number of species of trees proved to be successful and were credited with offering a colourful look to the 'Jungle of Concrete', as the city was called during early years of its inception.

Though all of these trees are graceful and vivacious, yet, Eucalyptus digilupta, a rare tree belonging to the eucalyptus family, is a treat to the eyes. Most of us might not be aware about its presence at the entrance of the garden on the Madhya Marg side. What is most beautiful about the 75-foot tree, only two of which are presently existing in the whole of city, is its smooth and multi-coloured bark.

Interestingly, the bark of tree depicting red, yellow, bluish grey and green colours, witness a change in the pattern of colours with the change of season. "You can see more of red during monsoons and it is blue and yellow, which adorn its bark during winter," said an official of the UT Horticulture Department, responsible for the maintenance of the garden.

Unlike the normal varieties of eucalyptus, the 'rainbow' variety sheds a mass of leaves, for which, it is dubbed as very 'clean' tree, growing at a slow speed.

As one enters the garden from Madhya Marg, one comes across a beautiful cluster of seven tall, lush green coniferous trees of the rare Agathus robusta variety. The only other place in the city and perhaps in the entire region, where these trees are found is the Botanical Garden of Panjab University. As many as 20 trees were brought in the city from the Dehradun-based Forest Research Institute by the Horticulture Department, out of which only seven are surviving. As is clear from its name, the tree is very strong and can withstand windstorms of high velocity.

Oblivious of the name of the tree, even an ordinary visitor is likely to appreciate and fall in love with the crimson red flowers shooting out of Erithrina crystalgii, particularly if he or she is visiting the place in April, when it is in full bloom. The flowers with a 'forest on fire' look last a longer period and are usually there up to the end of October. While there are about four such trees in the garden, there is only one other tree in the city at the Sukhna Lake.

Most of residents might have grown or at least enjoyed a look of Araucaria cooky, the most common variety The garden has something in store for them in the shape of Araucaria bidvalii, the rarest of rare species to be found in the northern region. The only place in the city, in addition, where people could have a look at the variety is the UT Guest House. "It is unlikely that you can come across the variety of the tree in the whole of the region," said Mr Hardev Singh, Xen, UT Horticulture Department. He said he had been specially asked by Dr Randhawa to bring the species from Dehradun, as his idea was to experiment with maximum varieties, out of which the fittest and most suitable to region would survive.

Another rare, sturdy and beautiful creature is seen near the water feature. Taxodium mucrunnotum, the tree with a papery bark and drooping branches with small leaves suits the particular spot, with the fountain creating wet and slushy surroundings, in the sense that it is mainly grown on marshy lands.

The entry point, facing Shanti Kunj Garden, has its share of rarities in the shape of a cluster of Hamolium tamentosa variety of trees, known for offering shade to a place through their crown-like appearance, with a clean silver colour bark.

One can also enjoy the sight of Nagkesar another rare tree with green flowers growing near the milk bar in the garden.

Hospital cries for maintenance
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, July 7 — The Saket hospital in Sector 1 here, a wing of the Saket Institute for Orthopaedically Handicapped and Rehabilitation, appears to have fallen on bad days. Poor maintenance of the building and unhygienic conditions have turned the place into a health hazard, putting to risk the lives of hundreds of patients and their attendants.

The Governor of Haryana is the President of the hospital. It was created to cure and rehabilitate the othopaedically handicapped, who are generally poor.

Stink greets visitors to the hospital. The doors of the wards facing the balcony have not been repaired or replaced for quite some time. The damp walls of the wards and other rooms have not been whitewashed.

The bolts of a number of doors and windows are missing. The main door at the back of the hospital has not been replaced, providing easy access to stray dogs to pick up hospital waste from trash bins.

The toilet blocks have leaking taps and broken doors. Some sanitary fittings are missing. A toilet block on the second floor, shared by male and female patients, has not been properly maintained.

The lights are not adequate in the wards, with a number of electric points being non-functional. Some patients complain that rodents move about freely at night.

Operations have to be stalled during power failure as there is no generator set. Sources say sometimes lives of patients have been put in danger due to power failure.

Patients complain about inadequate drinking water facility. There are no proper streetlights around the hospital complex.