Delhi underground

Supply and demand
Planning for an ever-growing city has always been difficult for civic agencies. Discussing the problem recently,a senior official of the Delhi Jal Board had an interesting take. He said the gap in demand and supply of water and sewage facilities was because of the “pro-poor” policies of the Delhi government and the “anti-labour” policies of the neighbouring states. Dealing with the migrant population,which daily goes to work in the National Capital Region,is a big urban challenge,the official said. A recent DJB survey said nearly 3 lakh labourers living in the Najafgarh belt alone go to work for various construction projects in Gurgaon. The survey also pointed towards a landlord in Najafgarh,who has over 10,000 tenants working in Gurgaon.

Rain dance
Move over modern gadgets and satellites. Our Meteorological Department can predict rain with natural means — peacocks. The Met campus on Lodhi Road has many peacocks roaming about the green fields amid equipment. A met official said to predict rain they need not consult their scientific equipment. “When the peacocks start dancing,we just know the weather is going to turn,” he smiled.

Legally correct
When criminals know the system just as well as the cops,the results are often amusing. Recently,an man arrested for a tailor’s murder inside a minibus in Seelampur told the police that it was “not his intention to stab the man under Section 302 (murder),but merely under Section 327 (voluntarily causing hurt to extract property or to constrain an illegal act).” The accused had stabbed the victim after he resisted his pick-pocketing bid. Citing sections of the Indian Penal Code to a stunned police team,the accused claimed that the victim did not die due to the stabbing but after he fell and hit his head on the seat. The victim’s post-mortem also suggested that death was caused by a head injury not a stab wound.

Sorry,elections around
With elections round the corner and the code of conduct in force,government officials are getting increasingly tight-lipped. Even officials of the Archaeological Survey of India cite the code of conduct when asked about new projects or mere updates.
Their response: “We are working on several projects and are set to give our monuments a completely new look,but we will announce that only after the elections.”

Praying for audience
What better venue to find a crowd than a religious place? Not willing to seek permission from the district administration but still trying to find an audience,activists of a political party allegedly distributed pamphlets in a mosque after prayers. The pamphlets,according to the Noida police,contained serious allegations against BSP supremo Mayawati. An FIR was swiftly registered against unknown people under Section 127 A.

Let’s pool in,my Lord
If you thought the induction and farewell parties of judges are any different,you were wrong. Judges also pool in money to hold parties. A recent circular issued by the administrative officer asks all judges to contribute Rs 100 each for a farewell party to be organised for the District & Sessions Judge of the Delhi district courts on March 31. The note has also earmarked five judges in the five court complexes to collect the money.
As a rule,the circular has also been sent to the office of the retiring chief judge but with adequate clarification that the note was only for her information.