Mani Majra fort dying
By Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 9 — The authorities of the well-planned City Beautiful, it seems, care two hoots for monuments of archaeological and historical importance if the condition of the Mani Majra fort is any indication.

The only major monument of archaeological importance in Chandigarh, SAS Nagar and Panchkula is dying a slow death in the absence of any conservation work. Dilapidated condition of several outer portions of the fort indicates that time has taken its toll.

Built by a local chieftain, Garibdass, and and his son, Gopal Singh, in the second half of the 18th century, the fort is in a state of utter neglect. Though some construction activity had been undertaken to salvage the inner portions of the fort by the residents, who inherited it as parental property, the outer portions is nearly in ruins

Since the Chandigarh Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) cannot undertake any conservation work till the revenue record of the fort is found, valuable time is being lost, with the result that the wall enclosing the magnificent fort had developed cracks at several parts.

The walls and wooden balconies of the fort have developed cracks over the years thereby endangering the fort area. To top it all, one of the six bastions, supporting the massive structure, has collapsed making the whole structure vulnerable, particularly during the coming monsoon.

In may be recalled that the ASI, which has conducted an on-the-spot study of the damage to the fort, had written to the Deputy Commissioner to supply revenue record of the fort to the ASI so that it could write to its office in New Delhi for the conservation work. It is learnt that the "patwari" of the area had written back saying there was no revenue record of the fort available.

According to the Superintend-ing Archaeologist, Mr C. Dorjee, the ASI has now written to the Deputy Commissioner of Ambala and the District Revenue Officer and their response was awaited.

He said that when the revenue record was made available to the ASI, a proposal to include the fort in the list of monuments of national importance would be forwarded to New Delhi. This would be first monument of national importance in the Chandigarh .

Urging the Chandigarh Administration to take over the monument after paying suitable compensation to the ancestors of the rulers, Mr Dorjee said after the conservation work by the ASI the monument could be developed as a major tourist attraction in the city.

As the area was well-connected through regular transport and was centrally-located, it could add the concept of heritage tourism in the City Beautiful. The huge lawn around the fort would be an added attraction, he said.

'Quota should be from this year'
From A Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, June 9 — The notification of the Chandigarh Administration of reserving 85 per cent seats in different professional courses for students passing their qualifying examinations from schools and colleges of Chandigarh from the next academic session has been received by and large with resentment regarding its date of implementation.

Parents criticised the administration for the delay while students, who are appearing for various competitive examinations in the current session, feel 'disowned' and their chances of getting admission remain 'bleak' since 85 per cent reservation is already available to the students of neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana and the remaining 15 percent to the domiciled residents .

Mr M. L. Vohra said that it has been a long-standing demand of the residents of the city for raising the quota, and though the notification adheres to their aspiration, it is applicable from the next academic session only. This jeopardises the career prospects of eligible students this year.

Former Additional Advocate-General, Punjab, Mr Ashok Aggarwal, is of the opinion that the admissions should be based purely on merit since reservation debars entry of deserving students into prestigious institutions. He added that in 1980, the Supreme Court gave the ruling that the maximum reservation a state can give to its educational institutions cannot be more than 85 per cent but now all states have started defining the notification as per their convenience. He welcomed the notification by the administration but disapproved of its implementation to the next year.

Dr Neena Singla pointed out that the other states, including Delhi, already enjoy this privilege so why should students of Chandigarh suffer. She favours an all-India combined entrance tests but asserts that in the present situation, it becomes imperative for the Chandigarh students to have a separate quota or else their chances of securing seats in the professional courses remains low.

According to Shweta Sharma, a non-medical student, the notification is useless to the students since she took the entrance test this year and the present status in Punjab Engineering College is 60 per cent to 40 per cent. She fears that if she is unable to get a good rank in the Combined Entrance Test, she would have to replan her future and perhaps even drop her idea of becoming an engineer.

Another student, Amarjot Kaur, reiterated that students are being victimised by the decision of the administration. When Punjab has already issued the notification regarding reservation for its students, why is the UT Administration delaying it. If other states deprive UT students from appearing in their exams, the administration should also use such clauses which make students of these states in taking the tests of known institutes of Chandigarh.

Mr B. K. Sood, a former educationist, pointed out that there should be a combined entrance at the national level as in the case of CBSE medical test, IIT and similar entrance tests. Favouring the notification by the administration, he said that a line has to be drawn somewhere. The administration has its limitations and cannot satisfy everyone. The next batch will reap the benefit. So, at least they have a reason to rejoice.

Creating unhygienic conditions
By Rupesh Kumar

CHANDIGARH, June 9 — The unauthorised scrap dealers (kabaris) in the Industrial Area, Phase II, have created unhygienic conditions and problems of encroachments, besides endangering the lives and properties of the people in the area.

The foul smell of the waste and rotten material is hazardous for those working here. The waterlogging has also become a problem as the stagnant water emits foul smell and causes many diseases. Mr Sunil Singh, a morning walker, said: "Due to the bad odour and increase in the population of mosquitoes, it has become almost impossible to have a stroll in the morning."

The 28 kabaris, who have encroached upon prime land in the Industrial Area, Phase II, are running their businesses from vacant plots.

But when it comes to pulling strings, the kabaris seem to be second to none. Armed with letters from chief ministers to Unoin ministers, they are trying to press the Chandigarh Administration to take a lenient view on the move to evict them.

Mr Prem Chand, a former President of the Kabaris Welfare Association, said that several Union ministers had requested the Administration to take considerate view while settling them, but nothing concrete had happened so far. He claimed that they were having good terms with local politicians.

The President of the association, Mr Prem Parkash Bansal, said that the kabaris were not financially well off and they could not afford to buy sites in auction. He said: "We had requested the Administration to allot sites on concessional rates, but till now nothing had been done."

The scrap dealers have been operating from here for the past 20 years. The kabari business supports at least 2,500 families. Mr Vijay Singh, a scrap dealer, said that a couple of years ago, the UT Administration had auctioned sites for kabari shops in which each plot fetched between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 22 lakh. Due to the high bids no one from amongst us could buy a plot, he added.

The existence of kabaris has led to an increase in the cases of theft in the area as the thieves have a ready market to sell the stolen items. It is also causing major health and fire hazards.

Eleven kiosks of scrap material along roadside were gutted in a fire incident last month. Polythene bags, wooden items, used oil containers and waste papers were among the major items gutted in the fire.

Industrialists allege that the presence of a large number of scrap dealers has endangered the lives and properties of other entrepreneurs.

According to a government source, the Administration has given its approval for allotment of 28 kabari sites to the dealers in Sector 39 and a decision on the price of the sites would be taken soon.

On the other hand, five members of the association alleged that since they were doing their business for the past 20 years and their names were included in the several surveys conducted by the Estate Office but due to factionalism in the association their names had not been included in the last survey carried out recently. They demanded that the authorities should conduct another survey so that their names were included.

Wishes of Indians come true
By Arvind Katyal
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 9 — ‘You can win if you want’ hold true for yesterday’s winning side, Indian Cricket team, which captured the hearts of ninety eight crore Indians waiting eagerly for this moment of glory. It was war of emotions, especially, due to the prevailing tension between the two countries, since the past one month.

It was an evening with a difference as people took positions not for any war, but to give moral support to the team, in front of their television sets. Somanyu, a Class II student prayed for victory, “Oh God, help us only this time, for India’s victory”. The attendance in offices was thin and as bosses too remained engrossed in watching the match, it was a merry time for employees.

Blue uniformed Indians and parrotgreen uniformed Pakistan players at the lush green ground of Old Trafford gave viewers a more serene environment to look at. Crowd present in the stadium too controlled its emotions, regardless of whether Sachin, Dravid, Prasad, Akram or Inzamam was playing.

So exciting was the match that even a less enthusiast would have glued to his TV set. It were the wishes of the people which gave India this victory, Dr Vikram Talwar, a keen sportsman, said. Hard work, dedication, team spirit — the list of qualities that were seen in Indian players last evening are endless. The boys deserved kudos at every level, Mr Jagdish Chander a retired professor said. When this reporter spoke to these persons, they were in high spirits and wanted to explain how India won Kiranjit Chahal, another sportsperson, viewed the victory as a blow to the overconfident Pakistan team led by its captain Wasim Akram who before the match had even called this a practice match. Eventually, they were totally eclipsed by a unified Indian side. These comments on this Indian victory obvious when people have shown so much interest Cricket. They expect the same kind of reciprocation from the Indian team also. Cricket, the game of big money, has already made inroads into ordinary households. The way all commercials are targeted towards the youth, kids, and family, justifies its popularity also.

But the main question is, whether this rejoicing will continue for ever or will it be as short lived as a Daffodil. The latter seems correct in the Indian context because whenever Indians have fared badly, they have faced the wrath of the people, who considers it their right to win every match. Azhar is latest example and this time he was much eulogised by everyone.

Critics in the past fortnight, had urged everyone not to go in for such applauds, as back home India and Pakistan were engrossed in a major conflict. Many lives have been lost and whether one loses or wins, those precious lives are not going to be restored. One of the senior columnists had even suggested sponsors to donate money to kins and family of those killed in military operations and displaced refugees. By doing this, sponsors can gain immense publicity.

When in last April, at SAS Nagar, India versus Pakistan match was to be held nearly 1,000 person from Pakistan had come to the City Beautiful. They termed the present fight as a political and meaningless one. Some of them told about strengths of a common culture, language and eating habits, shared by both countries. Many of the relatives of the visitors were living in India for ages.

In sports, one cannot show the same feeling as in a war. The fear of losing lives is there in a war but in cricket, it is the prestige which is at stake.

How silt gets into Sukhna
By Devesh Anand
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 9 —In the summer months every year, a group of dedicated persons, young and old, assembles at the dry end of Sukhna Lake to participate in the ‘shramdan’ to save this pride of the City Beautiful from being silted up. This artificial lake created in 1958 as a landmark of the city, has in the past 40 years shrunk by two-thirds of its original size.The volunteers, who at one time came in hundreds, seem to have given up, except a few die-hard “silt addicts” who are still trying to keep the flag of ‘shramdan’ flying, but they are a worried lot. They fondly remember the days when this annual operation was carried out every year without putting any burden on the administration. Even machines such as draglines, dumpers etc, were provided by various agencies free of cost. Gradually machines have taken full charge and the voluntary human effort has practically come to a halt.

Mr M. Chhibber, the District Forest Officer and the Co-ordinating Officer of the ‘shramdan’ movement, pointed at the gravity of the situation as far back as 1993. Without understanding the spirit behind the movement, he said, no amount of ‘shramdan’ would give any relief unless the underlying causes of the siltation were properly understood and attended to. Since 1996 the number of volunteers has vastly reduced. An officer on the spot said, on condition of anonymity, that even if ‘’shramdan’ had become a regular feature, it had not achieved much.

Siltation is a natural phenomenon. It can be lessened, not stopped. In spite of all the enthusiasm behind the noble sentiment of ‘shramdan’ , the lake will be silted up again unless the gully-heads that eat up the hills and the table lands and fill up the bed of Sukhna Lake are plugged, the soil is stabilised and a carpet of vegetation is established in the entire catchment area, according to Mr Chhibber.

The Save Sukhna Lake Society still exists, people still feel the urge to participate in this noble work, but the problem is not only that of removal of silt year after year, but also of slope stability, erosion in the catchment area, eutrification, water quality disorder and proper protection of the Sukhna wetland as suggested by an environmentalist.

This year mechanised desiltation has been taken up employing poclain, dozer, JCBs, tippers etc., by the BBMB, Punjab and Haryana Governments and several other agencies. Mrs Anuradha Gupta, President of the society, revealed that 150 retention dams had been constructed to check the inflow of silt into the lake. Sukhna’s catchment area is made up of 4,207 hectares. Nearly half the retention dams have been filled up with silt thus preventing 320 hectare meters of silt from flowing into the lake. Another 8,69,477 cubic feet of silt had been removed from the bed till May 31. ‘Shramdan’ during the period 1988-1993 has accounted for 310 lakh cubic feet of silt.

The immensity of the problem can be judged from the copious erosion of the Shivalik, hills, the catchment area,by a number of rivulets such as Sukhna, Kansal, Ghareri and Nepli besides Patiali Ki Rao,Jayanti Devi etc., and the losses of vegetation cover. The gradient of the land surface in the area is towards south-south west and it varies from 37 metres per km near the foothills to 9 metres per km near the city. On the flanks of the Shivalik and in the foreland the annual rainfall ranges from 500-800 mm (in the foothills) to 1000-1250 mm (on the steep slopes). Experts keep pointing at the ad hoc approach to the desiltation operation. The entire work to save Sukhna needs to be taken with a holistic approach.

The remote sensing application data published by the Punjab Remote Sensing Centre emphasises the need for checking erosion in the catchment area and undertaking sound conservation measures. The study shows that the vegetation in the Shivalik hills from top to bottom can be classified as: (1) mixed forest cover with Khair-a shrunken lot; (2) scrubs with stunted trees-a little more; (3) grass/ herbs with stunted trees-major part of the hill slopes and upper reaches; (4) plantations, herbs/vegetation-very little, mostly on the banks of channels.

The adjoining part of the Sukhna Lake catchment area, with a high gradient, has almost no forest or vegetation cover. The experts observe that the intensity of erosion tends to decrease from the hills to hill slopes, to the catchment slope (Kandi), to the immediate slope of the Sukhna to almost stillness in the coalescing alluvial fans where much water is lost. A vein-like erosion profile by the streamlets has been noticed.

Sukhna deserves some concerted and scientifically planned measures to survive. The problem is not unique. Small or big reservoirs,ponded areas,wetlands etc, do get filled up with sediment accelerated stream erosion and rapid reservoir siltation. A number of corrective measures have been undertaken in such cases the world over. ‘Shramdan’ is significant to make the people participate and create awareness,but the solution lies in checking this natural disaster with state-of-the-art measures. Or the forces that are bent on erasing the smile from the face of the City Beautiful, may have the last laugh.

Cops spoil fun at discos
From a Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, June 9 — It is dark — that is the first thing that strikes one when one enters a disco. No, that is the second thing. First it is the police personnel wanting to jot down one's name and address who make an impact. After that embarrassing interrogation, the sound of music gets loud and one is in the midst of bodies swaying to earshattering beats. Welcome to glamorous discos.

But with the imposition of the 10.30 p.m. deadline on city discos and the harassment meted out to disco-goers, who are required to give their names and addresses to the policemen, the Saturday night fever has subsidised in the City Beautiful.

Some youths are the most scared lot as they fear that policemen would ring up their parents. Contrary to this, some are of the view that their parents have accepted the discotheque as a place for good healthy entertainment. Seema Bhardwaj, a hosteler, says, "it was tough during the first two years. Youngsters would come on the sly. Now they come openly and do not mind if they are recorded on 'Channel V' TV cameras."

The owners of discotheques allege that despite a notification that allows opening of commercial establishments till 1 a.m., the police has imposed a ban on the opening of discos beyond 10.30 pm. They add that they do not serve liquor and keep a watch on mischief-mongers. Ranjan Singh Guddu, a regular disco-goer, says, "nowhere in the country are discos closed at 10.30 pm. This is happening here because a couple of months back, two women allegedly accompanied two men from outside a disco and they were allegedly molested. A better way could have been devised to deal with the problem."

Regular disco-goers are against discotheques closing so early. "The real enjoyment of going out is at night. What about working people? Due to soaring temperature, no one likes to go at 5 p.m.," says Jaspreet Singh.

the man behind the start of night life in Chandigarh, Vicky Bajwa, says, "when the disco opened, people thought it must be a sleazy joint where suspicious characters go to fiddle around with drugs. But now people have realised it is a place where one can go for one day in a week and forgets all his or her frustrations and tensions."

Notwithstanding the restrictions imposed, people are trying to adjust themselves to the changing trends. "So far so good" is how Akhil Goyal, Secretary of the Panjab University Students Council, rates the pouring in of crowds at discotheques. "It is double enjoyment when the group is well-behaved," he says, favouring the opening of more night clubs in Chandigarh.

The disco culture has nearly set in, with indications that this influence of Western culture is going to be infectious.