The Hindu : New Delhi News : Clean it up

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 29, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

Clean it up

Delhi was rated as one of the world’s dirtiest cities in a survey recently. Even the educated youth at the country’s reputed universities in the Capital such as JNU do not maintain cleanliness in their hostels.

Staircases painted red by the paan-chewing lot, dirty toilets, canteen kitchen surrounded by filth, and dhaba plates and tumblers being licked by stray dogs is a common sight day in and day out.

The roads on the campus are strewn with poly-bags, bottle pieces and wrappers of chips and chocolates.

The students are not to blame entirely as overflowing dustbins at public places such as railway stations, bus stops and neighbourhood parks force some to litter on the road. Residential localities are no better, with streets filled with sewage and unattended waste.

It is strange that there is no proper disposal mechanism for municipal waste. The Government is pressing hard to implement the widely proclaimed ban on use of poly-bags through public announcements and advertisements, but it is not doing anything to clean the water bodies and prevent them from becoming polluted. It is sad that we choose to ignore such vital issues.

Naseer Shafi Bhat,

215, Jhelum Hostel, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi – 110 067.

For full justice

This is with reference to the recent observation of the Chief Justice of India supporting the idea of having zonal Benches of the Supreme Court. Despite being a member of the legal fraternity, I hesitate to endorse the idea of fragmenting the country’s highest court. Though the reasons spelt out by those who support this idea sound convincing and seem to merit no argument, there is one danger. Establishment of regional Benches might lead to emergence of independent judicial power centres across the country detrimental to the “unitary character” of the highest court of justice.

Though the judiciary in our country functions as an autonomous and independent institution without fear or favour, undeterred by stand or policy of ruling elites and unfazed by public sentiments prevailing in an area, there have been instances when High Courts have acted in a manner reflecting regional inclinations and toed the line followed by elected governments in the State. At such times, the Supreme Court has stepped in to order transfer of cases to other High Courts to ensure complete dispensation of justice (Gujarat 2002 riots was one such instance).

This could well be the reason why the Supreme Court very rightly has been rejecting the idea of constituting zonal Benches in its Full Court meetings since 1999.

As far as the question of convenience of hapless litigants throughout the country is concerned, it is pertinent to mention that with the adoption of IT in judiciary much has been done to deal with this mess. For instance, daily cause lists are put up on the Supreme Court website in advance, daily orders and judgments are uploaded the same day as they are delivered, news of adjournments of cases owing to unavoidable reasons is also displayed in time. “E-filing” allows filing of applications, plaints, petitions, etc., as well as accompanying documents through the Internet so that litigants are not required to visit Delhi time and again. Hemant Kumar,

House No. 414 Sector 7, Urban Estate, Ambala City, Haryana.

Power pangs

The residents of double-storey flats opposite St. Thomas School on Mandir Marg in the Capital have been facing prolonged power cuts several times a day for months now as the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) continues to resort to unscheduled load shedding in the area. The staff posted at the NDMC power sub-station in Gole Market would, however, not confirm it. On September 23, the power supply was disrupted around 11 a.m. After half-an-hour I called up the power station and lodged a complaint.

The clerk on duty, noting my flat and phone numbers, said he would have the line checked immediately and the fault rectified. He was courteous enough to call me back after half-an-hour to assure me of early restoration of power.

As the power supply remained suspended up to 2 p.m., I called the power station again. This time there was a different person on the line with a different story to tell. He said the power supply would not be available for some more time as some electrical work was going on in a sanitary store. He, however, denied that it was a power cut. On an earlier occasion, too, the NDMC staff at the Gole Market power sub-station have given such a tricky reply when the power supply in this colony remained disrupted for about four hours from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on July 26. First, the staff attributed the power failure to some electrical work being done on a nearby pillar. Later they said there was no supply available from the main power station near Valmiki Sadan on Mandir Marg to the Gole Market power sub-station. The NDMC Chairman is requested to ensure uninterrupted power supply to this colony if it is not a case of load shedding.

Chetana Gupta,

24/293, Mandir Marg, New Delhi – 110 001.

Railways’ ways

Presenting the Railway budget in Parliament earlier this year, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad sanctioned a new Kolkata-Murshidabad ‘Hazarduari Express’, a tourist special, for the Krishnagar-Lalgola section under the Sealdah division of Eastern Railway.

A successful trial run of the train had already been conducted. The train’s timings were published in the July 2008 non-suburban time table of Indian Railways (Eastern Zone).

The Hazarduari Express has, however, not been introduced yet. It is badly needed. The frequency of trains on this section is very poor. Passengers have to wait for long hours if they miss a train during the peak hours of the day.

I request the Railway authorities to introduce the Hazarduari Express at the earliest to ensure a hassle-free journey for passengers.

Subhayu Saha,

157/5/1, A.C. Road, P.O. Khagra, Murshidabad – 742 103, West Bengal.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi

News Update

Stories in this Section