Vox Populi: Municipal councils are defunct organisations

The recent episode of Chandigarh MC questioning the presence of local MP and former railway minister in the house is one such trivial issue.

Do our elected representatives forget that they are there to see that issues and problems affecting the polity are their first and foremost charter instead of scoring political points over the opposition?

The local media also encourages this trend by copious coverage of such episodes with photographs. The other disturbing trend is the percolation of political party affiliations into Residents’ Welfare Organisations (RWOs) in sectors.

These sector organisations are supposed to be apolitical and non-government organisations,registered as such. The trend of local political bigwigs being invited to inaugurate new projects in sectors must be curbed.

Instead,a senior citizen should be doing the inauguration or foundation. The other perturbing trend is to increasingly delegate the work of the MC to the RWOs without providing any audit authority to stop any illegal encroachment or misuse of government facility.

For instance,parks used for parking of vehicles is a taboo in MC rules. Despite this ban,people wave at you the MC’S permission paper issued by officials. I strongly contend that the present course of handing over parks to RWOs for maintenance must stop and Chandigarh MC should perform its assigned charter of duties.

Col K D Pathak (Retd)

Chandigarh

Lack of planning for cycle tracks

Words like ‘planned’ and ‘city beautiful’ for Chandigarh are slowly diminishing simply because of unexpected flow of huge population. The city was initially planned by renowned architects for a much smaller population.

Now it is grappling with problems like traffic congestion,bad roads and lack of norms for cyclists.

Earlier pedestrians,and now cyclists are the number two casualty in road accidents. The simple reason behind this is that pot-holed,unlit cycle tracks keep cyclists off these stretches.

In pitiable condition,they have turned into damping sites and parking lots,making cyclists vulnerable to casualties. The city has the luxury of cycle tracks and many people who are fond of cycling,but lack of facilities has become a hindrance since these are not maintained and four wheelers are a common site on the tracks. Another major problem is the connectivity on the tracks. The Chandigarh Administration should start connecting the cycle tracks so that cyclists need not commute with rest of the crowd after every chowk. Cycling should be promoted and awareness should be created in schools and colleges. More importantly,interconnectivity of cycle tracks is the need of the hour.

Puran Kant

Chandigarh

Youths need to drive safe

This refers to the news report,“Car-truck collision claims two,one battles for life” (Chandigarh Newsline,October 29). It is sad and even shocking to read about young boys,in the age group 18-25,being killed in road accidents in and around Chandigarh every other day. In some cases either the victims or the accused are found to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol. But not all victims are drug addicts. Young boys drive bikes and cars at very high speed,ignoring all rules. Jumping red lights is a routine among them. This reflects that the Registration and Licensing Authorities do not take adequate care in testing abilities and capabilities of aspiring young drivers. Driving licenses are issued without proper testing and training. Often,accidents involve cars and trucks where truck drivers are mostly on the wrong side of the road or law. Drivers need to be given regular and proper training about road safety methods. Only then will there be hope for safe and comfortable driving in the country.

R K Kapoor

Chandigarh

Health dept should conduct more raids

The Health Department conducts raid at the time of festivals to keep a watch on adulteration and to check on the conditions under which sweets are prepared. However,these raids should be conducted by the department throughout the year. The New Food Safety Act is quite clear regarding adulteration. The said Act is very strict and the same is for the benefit of general public. According to this Act,not only can the sweets be checked,but all food items in shops of various types can be inspected.

The checking done by health department is correct. Sweets are required to be stored in a certain temperature to remain fresh otherwise with the passage of time or due to bad arrangement,they become sour. However,this change in taste is not due to adulteration in the manner of preparing these sweets. In fact,it is due to the passage of time as sweets are highly perishable in nature. Sweets,properly prepared in large quantity on festival seasons,can also have a sour taste if they are not properly stored. Those indulging in preparing adulterated sweets should be punished in accordance with law.

Sukhpal Singh

Chandigarh