THE TIMES OF INDIA, NEW DELHI MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2014 3TIMES CITY

New Delhi: A four-year-oldgirl was sexually assaultedby a minor in outer Delhi’sBegumpur area.

Police said they are yet toapprehend anyone in thecase, which happened lastweek, as the child has notbeen able to identify the ac-cused. The incident came tolight when the child com-plained of pain in her abdo-men. When she was taken to alocal hospital, doctors con-firmed that the child was sex-ually assaulted sexually.

A case was registered, fol-lowing which the cops tookthe girl to her school for iden-tifying the accused. On beingquestioned, the girl pointedto a PWD labourer’s 16-year-old son, but it was found thatthe boy was not present at thespot during the incident. Lat-er, the girl also pointed at hercousin. No one has been ap-prehended because of thelack of clarity, police said.

A case under sections ofPOCSO has been registeredagainst unknown persons.

4-year-oldsexually

assaulted TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: DDA, which isbuilding 10,000 one-bedroomflats in Rohini, has finishedwork on hundreds of themand is planning to completemany more before the re-sults of its 2014 housingscheme draw are announcedin October-end.

The housing agency haspromised to use state-of-the-art technology in the con-struction of these flats in Ro-hini’s sector 34 and 35. Someof them are autoclave aerat-ed concrete blocks to regu-late temperature and reflectheat; fly ash bricks to keeprooms cool, and provisionsfor rain water harvesting.

The rooms are 28 squaremetres large. All the build-ings in the complex havefour storeys with two flats oneach floor.

The flats are easily acces-sible as verandas have beenconstructed to connect thebuildings. Engineers in thearea say that constructionhas been going on without a

pause. “The major civil con-struction work has beencompleted in most of theflats. We have to finish therest of them and take up aux-iliary work like electricityand landscape”.

As a safety measure,DDA has installed fire hy-

drants in every building.The flats will go on sale forRs 14.5-Rs 16.5 lakh when thehousing scheme opens in thebeginning of September.This scheme—DDA’s43rd—has close to 95% of itshouses for the poor and low-income group. This is for the

first time since DDA beganoffering houses throughschemes.

Another category of flat-s—which might become oneof the most sought after sec-tions—will be the two-bed-room apartments in Muk-herjee Nagar, Narela, Rohini

and Kalyan Vihar. At Muk-herjee Nagar, the flats withplinth area of 126 squaremetres will go for close to Rs70 lakh. There are 112 flats onoffer in this complex, whichhas 10 storeys, a lift andCCTV cameras.

However, residents ofMukherjee Nagar who hadbought flats in DDA’s lasthousing scheme in 2010 offera word of caution.

“Scaffolding in the com-plex has been falling off.Three cars were recentlydamaged and we have beentold that fresh tenders havebeen issued to repair the por-tions of the building. Not even five years havepassed since occupantsstarted moving in and thecomplex is already crum-bling,” a resident said.

Agency Says All Flats To Be Ready Before Results Of Housing Scheme DrawVARIED CHOICE

DDA flats to be available under various categories, including the new stock (24,223) and the old ones (811), under the 2014 housing scheme

Type of flat How many LIG 23,078MIG 561Janta 545EWS 700HIG 21Expandable (Type ‘A’) 129Total 25,034

Where most flats under each category to be located

Type of flat Location How manyLIG flats Rohini Sectors 34 and 35 10,875MIG flats Narela A9 384Janta Rohini Sector 4 384EWS Shivaji Marg 700HIG Rohini Sector 29 9Expandable (Type ‘A’) Narela A6 and A10 89

Photo: Piyal Bhattacharjee

DDA to ready Rohini flats by OctFor the first time sinceDDA began offeringhouses throughschemes, 95% of itshouses this time are forthe low-income group

Suhas.Munshi@timesgroup.com

Many villagers in the Mangararea have been concerned thatreal estate companies will startbuilding in the ecologicallysensitive area which used to becommon community land.

The land where the road wasbeing constructed falls undersections 4 and 5 of the PunjabLand Preservation Act, wheremost non-forest activities arerestricted.

The National Green Tribu-nal had in April directed theHaryana government andUnion environment ministryto identify forest stretches inthe area within a month — aprocess that is currently on.

Though Mangar Bani is notnotified as a forest yet, numer-ous agencies including the en-vironment ministry have sug-gested that the ecologicallysensitive area be protected.

The Bani and other parts of the hills are classified as a natural conservation zone(NCZ) in the draft regional plan2021. Organizations such as theSnow Leopard Trust have also

found evidence of predatorssuch as leopard in the area.

“The company was trying toexpand and strengthen the dirttrack so that it is viable for tran-sporting heavy equipment.They could also be laying soilon the rocky surface of the hillto make it appear like agricul-tural land,” said Chetan Agar-wal, an environmental analyst.

Forest staff has broken ele-vated parts of the road with anearthmover but couldn’t domuch about the stretch that hasalready been constructed.

Sunil Harsana, a villagerand local activist said the forestdepartment was immediatelyinformed when villagers sawtrees being damaged.

“The forest staff thankfully

arrived on time and took ac-tion. But we are worried ascompanies may start construc-tions again,” he said.

Activists have sent a letterto the Haryana forest depart-ment.“The land falling withinthe broken down pillars whichis claimed by the company, hasdense forest growth of nativeAravalli species such as dhak,dhau and ronjh.”

The letter cites a stay orderby National Green Tribunal(NGT)which states, “The state government is also direct-ed not to issue any permissionspermitting fragmentation ofthe areas failing in village Man-gar, gairmumkin pahar in dis-trict Faridabad till the nextdate of hearing and in any casewithout leave of the tribunal.”

Locals fear land sharks may return

CLEARING: The company allegedly expanded dirt tracks by felling 40 trees

�Continued from P1

New Delhi: A 32-year-oldpregnant woman was founddead in her house in centralDelhi’s Anand Parbat area onSunday afternoon.

Though the cops suspectthat the woman, Sunita, com-mitted suicide by hangingherself, her family membershave alleged that she wasmurdered by her in-laws for

dowry. Thewoman’shusbandand in-laws havebeen de-tained forquestion-ing.

Thematter was

reported when the doctors ofSardar Patel Hospital, nearPatel Nagar, informed thecops about a dead woman be-ing brought to them with in-juries on her body and herfamily members claimingthat she had committed sui-cide. The woman had injurymarks on her throat and righteye, police said. A team ofcops went to the house andfound Sunita’s dupatta and astool that she might haveused to kill herself.

However, Sunita’s familymembers have alleged thatshe was being tortured by herin-laws for the last six years.They said her husband, Roh-tash (33), who owns a packag-ing plant, had been askingSunita’s brother for money tobuy a plot. They further saidthat Sunita was pregnant andwas to deliver next month.

Sunita’s brother, Vikram,said that she married Roh-tash in 2008 but had left hishouse after her in-laws ha-rassed her for dowry. He saidthat he did not register a com-plaint but approached a wom-an welfare body in Dwarka.“The officials at the welfarebody had asked us not to re-veal the matter to the in-lawsas it might lead to furthercomplications. They passedon the case to the police,” hesaid. The cops have orderedan SDM probe in the case.

Pregnantwoman

found dead,kin cry foul

Sunita

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

INFECTIOUS ENTHUSIASM: The energetic beats of Delhi Drum Circle kept people on their toes

Photos: Piyal Bhattacharjee

New Delhi: Delhiites don’tneed an excuse to dance. Andthis Sunday, many at the week-ly Raahgiri in ConnaughtPlace’s Inner Circle dancedwith abandon to the energeticbeats of Delhi Drum Circle.

The group, formed in 2009,doesn’t use instruments thatmany would recognize butmorning walkers found them-selves drawn to the heady music and the energy vibrat-ing through the scores ofonlookers.

“Delhi Drum Circle used toplay at the deer park but sud-denly we were asked to leave.Now we have regular fixturesat the PVR Priya complex,”said Richa Kapoor, a memberof DDC. “Raahgiri is a greatinitiative because it hasopened up a market like Con-naught Place for street music.Usually we avoid playing atplaces other than our fixedspots because we might beasked to leave anytime. But ifDelhi would permit music onits streets, it would creategreat a positive energy amongpeople,” she said.

Raahgiri is an initiative byDelhi Police and New DelhiMunicipal Council (NDMC),along with Embarq India. It issupported by The Times of In-dia. The concept promotes op-tions that can be exploredwhen an area is pedestrian-

ized. Promotion of street mu-sic, which is popular and en-couraged in several othercountries, is one such option.

Like other Raahgiri days,Delhiites flocked to CP thistime too for their weekly doseof fun on the streets. The emp-ty parking lots became thevenue for gully cricket, bad-minton and football. “As a kid,I used to play on the street out-side my house and traffic wasnever a problem. My children

unfortunately could not enjoysuch simple pleasures. Today,my son and his friends areplaying cricket in the parkinglot. It is great fun,” said SudhirPandey, a businessman.

NDMC is planning to orga-nize social awareness projectsat Raahgiri in future. OP Mis-hra, director (projects), saidthat Art of Living campswould be held in a week or twowhile blood donation was an-other aspect that NDMC isconsidering seriously.

New Delhi MP MeenakshiLekhi, who is a regular atRaahgiri, said that NDMCwould be taking the concept toall their popular markets toencourage people to walk andcycle. “It is about promotinghealthy and green living. Peo-ple have to be given an optionof going to a place that is closerto their houses,” she said.

Delhiites feel liberated,dance away at Raahgiri

Kids had a field day cycling and skating without killjoys

New Delhi: More than 200people, including women andchildren, marched from Tol-stoy Marg to Jantar Mantaron Sunday, protesting againstthe hike in swimming fees atDr Shyama Prasad Mukher-jee Swimming Pool Complexin Talkotra Stadium.

Sports Authority Of India(SAI) has recently hiked the

fees by five to 10 times.The hike aims to bring in

“club culture” in a govern-ment set-up, protestors said, adding that most peoplego to the pool because swim-ming reduces the risk ofmany ailments.

They further said, the feesshould be made affordable sothat more people can join thefacility, which isn’t cateringto its full capacity.

Protest against fee hikeTIMES NEWS NETWORK

The huge turnout at the eventhas offered great businessopportunities. Many go thereevery week just to advertisetheir ideas and concepts. Atheatre group, for instance,went around promoting a playthey will be performing laterthis week

A biz platform too

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

The land where the roadwas being constructedfalls under sections 4 and5 of the Punjab Land Preservation Act, wheremost non-forest activitiesare restricted