CMYK

ND-ND

4 THE HINDU SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

NOIDA/DELHI

CITY/NCR

NEW DELHI: It has been yearssince the electric furnaces atthe Green Parkcrematorium were used andthe local civic body’s plan torevive the facility remainsmired in confusion.

Traditional wood-basedcremations have beentaking place at the SouthDelhi MunicipalCorporation’s facility inGreen Park, but the twoelectric furnaces and anair-conditioned mortuaryare lying shut.

In addition to that,grieving families bringingtheir loved ones for the lastrites have to contend withfilthy approach roadsleading to the cremationground. Pigs can be seenscavenging on piles ofgarbage in the vicinity of thefacility. According to locals,the electric crematoriumwas opened in 2003, but wasclosed in 2004 without anyexplanation. SDMCMunicipal Health Officer(MHO) Dr. N.K. Yadav said:“The electric crematoriumhas been shut for some timeas we don’t have the fundsfor necessary repair andmaintenance.”

Dr. Yadav added that thecivic body had planned toconvert the facility into onepowered by CNG in 2010,but funds under theYamuna Action Plan werepulled out at the lastminute. “We had called thetenders and were about toallot it when we wereinformed by thegovernment that the fundswould not be given,” said Dr.Yadav.

However, he added thatrenovation work would becompleted this year. “Wehave written to the DelhiGovernment to let us use

funds from the plan headand we are hopeful ofstarting work soon,” said Dr.Yadav. The plan to renovatethe electric crematoriumhas found mention in thelast three budgets presentedin the SDMC, including inthe ongoing budget sessionfor 2015-2016. In his speech,Standing Committeechairperson Subhash Aryasaid two electriccrematoriums will beconverted to CNG in 2015-2016.

“The EngineeringDepartment is working onit, but we are not sure of thedeadline yet,” said Mr. Arya.However, a South Delhiresident and social activist

who had filed an RTIapplication about thecrematorium in 2011 saidnothing seems to be moving.R.C. Gupta had asked thethen-unified MunicipalCorporation of Delhi whythe electric crematoriumwas not functioning.

“I never got a reply, butthe Health Department toldme that it was beingconverted to CNG. Evennow, they are just passingfiles around,” said Mr.Gupta.

He added that theinsanitary conditionsaround the cremationground are another problemthat is not being addressedby the authorities.

Electric crematorium that

remains shrouded in dust Facility in Green Park was closed in 2004

Damini Nath

LAST JOURNEY: Path to the crematorium in GreenPark is strewn with garbage. — PHOTO: SHIV

KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

NEW DELHI: A court here hasheld a landlord guilty of tres-passing into the flat of his ten-ant from Manipur andcriminally intimidating herunder the influence of liquorat Mohammadpur village nearR.K. Puram last year.

The landlord had enteredthe flat of the tenant, JennyGangte, when she was at heroffice. Her cousin, Rebecca,was present there at that time.Rebecca, tenant’s sister Babyand brother James also stayedwith her in the flat. The com-plainant in the matter, Tin-gremsiam, tenant’s niece, hadcome to meet her on the day ofthe incident.

The prosecution chargesagainst the accused were thathe had thrice entered the ten-ant’s flat. First time, on thepretext of checking the waterproblem in the flat. Secondtime, he forcibly entered, saton the bed and threatened tokill the complainant and ruinher life when she protested.Third time, he had broken intothe flat as the tenant’s cousinhad bolted it from inside.

The two had then rushed toanother room and bolted itfrom inside to escape theaccused.

Though the court hadframed charges of molesta-tion, criminal trespass andcriminal intimidation underThe Scheduled Castes andTribes (Prevention of Atroc-ities) Act, 1989 but the courtheld the accused guilty of onlycriminal trespass and criminalintimidation.

“Even though he was thelandlord of the premises, hehad no right to forcibly enterthe flat in possession of thetenant, and at the materialtime in the possession of thecomplainant. He thus com-mitted the offence of housetrespass in order to commit anoffence punishable with im-prisonment i.e. criminal in-timidation,” AdditionalSessions Judge Reetesh Singhsaid.

Court holdslandlord guiltyof intimidatingNE tenantNirnimesh Kumar

NEW DELHI: The postal depart-ment takes 15 days to delivera speed post resulting in awoman missing out on herchance of being appointed asa JBT teacher. However, thedepartment stands protectedagainst claims of deficiency inservices by virtue of a statutewhich says a post office is notliable to compensate if dam-age caused was not wilful orfraudulent.

The post office derives thisprotection from section 6 ofthe Indian Post Office Act,1898 which says no official ofthe post office shall incur anyliability by reason of any loss,mis-delivery, delay or dam-age, unless he has caused thesame fraudulently or by hiswilful act or default.

In the instant case, a wom-an from Gurgaon, was deniedany relief by the Gurgaon Dis-trict Consumer Disputes Re-dressal Forum when sheclaimed a compensation ofRs. 20 lakh from three postoffices after her applicationsfor JBT teacher’s appoint-ment failed to reach the DelhiSubordinate Services Selec-tion Board’s office in time.

The woman had sent twoapplications for appointmentof JBT teacher by way ofspeed post registry on De-cember 31, 2009 through postoffice, Pataudi, Gurgaon withlast date for submission as Ja-nuary 15, 2010.

The Speed Post registryfailed to reach it in time toDSSS Board at Karkardoomahere even as a speed postshould have reached within

48 hours. She moved the District Fo-

rum against Post Office, Pa-taudi, District Gurgaon, themain post office in Gurgaonand the post office at Karkar-dooma and also the DSSSBoard seeking compensation.

In their reply, the post of-fices at Gurgaon told the Fo-rum that the complainant’spost was dispatched to SpeedPost Centre, Delhi on Decem-ber 31, 2009 for being deliver-ed to its destination.However, the centre in NewDelhi inadvertently dis-patched both the articles toKrishna Nagar head officedue to heavy work in connec-tion with mailing AIEEE ad-mission forms. Her postswere received at Krishna Na-gar office on January 15, 2010and were anyway taken toDSSS Board but they refusedto accept the same.

The post offices on theirpart said it was the fault of theBoard that it refused to ac-cept the applications andwent on to claim protectionunder section 6 of the IndianPost Office Act. The Board inturn said it could not acceptany application after the ad-vertised date and time.

Accepting the arguments,the District Forum held thepost office not liable. Conse-quently, no case of deficiencyof service is made out, it said.

‘Post office cannot be heldliable for postal delay’Akanksha Jain The postal department

stands protected againstclaims of deficiency in services by virtueof a statute

NOIDA: Booze lovers in Noidaspent a whopping over Rs. 600crore on various types of liquorlast year and there was an in-crease in the sale of high-endalcohol brands here.

“In 2014, consumption ofcountry liquor was 80 lakh bot-tles, foreign liquor 56 lakh bot-tles and beer 131 lakh bottles,”District Excise Officer Kul-deep Yadav said on Friday.

“The department has earnedexcise revenue of Rs. 448 crore.The sale price calculates toaround Rs. 624 crore,” he said.

Talking about measures en-forced for checking liquorsmuggling, Yadav said, “As li-quor rates in Haryana arearound 30 to 50 per centcheaper than the rates in UttarPradesh, liquor mafias smuggleliquor into Noida to earn fastbucks. We conduct raids andinspect vehicles to check thesmuggling.”

“In 2014, around 85,000litres of smuggled liquor hasbeen seized, 17 vehicles im-pounded and 400 liquor smug-glers sent to jail,” he said.— PTI

Liquor worth Rs. 624 croresold in Noida last year